by Eric Vall
“There’s blood,” I said as I pointed to the large wet puddle of red on the couch that dripped down to a trail in the carpet.
“I’ve got a bad feeling about this,” Tara whispered.
“Shit.” I stepped over the TV and followed the trail of crimson around the back of the couch.
A middle aged man in what was once a blue button-up shirt leaned against the back of the couch. He was covered in blood from a bullet wound in his right shoulder, and his head, covered in short blond hair, slumped limply to the side. A gore covered pump-action shotgun sat in his lap.
“Oh my god,” Tara whispered. “Is he dead?”
I watched for a moment but didn’t notice his chest rise or fall. “It looks like it.”
“Damn it, we were too late,” Tara said.
I leaned forward and poked him with the barrel of my rifle. If he was dead, we could get moving again, but I couldn’t leave until I knew for sure. I waited a second but then let out a sigh. The man wasn’t moving. I turned back to Tara. “We gotta go.”
“We can’t just leave him here, can we?” The blonde asked me with a frown. “It doesn’t seem right.”
“There’s not enough time to take care of him right now. Once we have rescued Jenny and taken care of the National Guard, we will come back and bury this guy.”
“Alright,” Tara sighed.
I left to leave when the man against the couch coughed. As I spun around, I saw his eyes flutter open.
“Who’s there?” he asked as he reached for his gun.
“Whoa there,” I said as I knelt down beside him. “We’re friends.”
“Yeah, we’re not with the soldiers,” Tara added as she joined me beside him.
“Bullshit,” he sputtered. “You didn’t kill me so you came back to finish the job. Well I won’t go down so easily.” The tried to pump his shotgun but winced and dropped it back onto his lap.
“Try to stay still,” I said. “She’s telling the truth. We are chasing after the National Guard to get back the shit they stole. Betty sent us this way.”
“Wait, Betty’s still alive?” he asked. “Shit, I didn’t know.”
“It’s okay,” I said as I put a hand on his shoulder. “Were chasing down the guys who attacked you. Think you can tell us what you know while we patch you up?”
“I suppose,” he said. “I got a first aid kit in the bathroom.” The man pointed towards the stairs.
“I’ll grab them,” Tara said as she ran off.
“What’s your name,” I asked the man as I pulled out my knife. I cut away his shirt to reveal a nasty hole in his shoulder. I couldn’t find an exit wound, meaning the bullet was still in his shoulder.
“Names Briar,” he said as he relaxed back against the couch.
“Well Briar, mind telling me what happened here?” I asked.
“Well, I heard the rumble of engines and went outside to see several big trucks pulling up,” he said. “I was surprised to see a running vehicle and assumed the government had finally decided to send help. Fuck was I wrong.” He started to laugh, but it devolved into a coughing fit.
“Relax,” I said as I put a hand on his chest. “How many trucks were there?”
“Four,” he said. “They were older looking military trucks. Like the ones you see in those World War Two movies.”
“Got the medical supplies,” Tara said as she rushed down the stairs. She rushed over with a small white box and popped it open.
I frowned as I looked at the contents. There wasn’t much there except peroxide, antibiotics and bandages. We’d need to find something to get the bullet out with.
Tara popped open the bottle of peroxide, soaked one of the bandages in it, and started to dab at the area around the hole.
Briar squirmed as the liquid bubbled up around the wound.
“How many guys were there, Briar?” I asked him. If I could keep him talking and keep his attention from what Tara was doing, this would go a lot smoother.
“I-I dunno,” he stammered, “Maybe two dozen? Everything happened so fast, and I didn’t think to count the number of guys.”
“It’s alright, that’s fine,” I said. “After the trucks rolled up, what happened?”
“A guy approached me and said that I had to provide food and supplies to them,” the wounded man started. “He said that they were authorized by the President or some shit. I tried to explain that I didn’t have much and what I did have I needed to stay alive.”
“I bet this guy didn’t like hearing that,” I said.
“No, he didn’t,” Briar said as he winced.
“Sorry,” Tara said as she pulled back.
“Keep going, we gotta get him patched up,” I told her.
“I wish Paige was here right now,” Tara said as she tossed aside the bloody bandage and then grabbed a fresh one.
I nodded in agreement and then turned my attention back to our injured informant. “Continue.”
“Well, he told me that anyone standing in their way was considered an anarchist or some shit,” the man said. “He said that if I didn’t hand over a portion of my goods they were authorized to take it by force. So, I slipped inside, grabbed my gun, and told them to get the hell off of my property.”
“I take it that’s how you got shot?” I asked with a grin.
“Yeah, but I got a couple rounds off,” he said.
“Did you hit any of them?” Tara asked.
“I don’t know,” he said as he shook his head. “They pushed me back into the house and plugged me in the shoulder. That sorta took me out of the fight, and they spent a while taking my shit. I watched them through a window. They took all my pigs, my horses, and even raided my barn for hay. When I saw them coming for the house I took cover behind the couch. I must have passed out before they came inside.”
“I think they thought you were dead,” I said. “They trashed this place pretty good and even lit your shed on fire.”
“Well shit,” Briar muttered. “I have nothing now. Well, nothing but my life and my house.”
“Alright, I cleaned the area and stopped the bleeding,” Tara said as she sat back and tried to wash the blood from her hands.
“Try not to move around a lot,” I said. “There’s a good chance you still have a bullet in your shoulder, and without the proper tools we can’t do much about that right now. Once we take care of this National Guard issue, we’ll swing back this way and see if we can’t get it taken out.”
“You’d do that for me?” Briar asked.
“Of course,” I said.
“Yeah, we’re neighbors,” Tara added. “We gotta stick together.”
“Well, is there anything I can do to repay you?” Briar asked. “I mean, you might have just saved my life.”
“Just stay put and rest up,” I said. “Once we get back with your stuff we might talk about setting up a trade deal, but we don’t have time to do that right now.”
“If it helps any they headed south once they left this place,” Briar said.
I pulled out the map that Betty had given me and nodded. “There’s another farm in that direction,” I said.
“Yeah, that’s where the Millers live,” Briar said.
“Do you know if they stuck around?” I asked.
“I saw them less than a week ago,” Briar replied with a nod.
“Do you think they’ll give the soldiers any trouble?” Tara asked.
“No,” Briar said. “The Millers have a couple young kids. They’ll do whatever they have to in order to make sure their kids stay safe.”
“Shit,” I said. “We gotta go then.”
“If you cut through my back fields, you can make it directly to their farm,” the wounded man suggested. “Even on foot you should be able to save a bunch of time.”
“Could we ride through the fields on a four wheeler?” I asked.
“Yeah, it’s simple enough terrain, and those are light enough that you shouldn’t get stuck.”
�
��Perfect,” I said as I gave the man a smile. “Alright, like I said, stay put. If all goes well, we'll be back here before the day is done.”
I stood up and nodded to Tara. She returned my nod, and then we both rushed for the front door.
The weather had taken a turn for the worse as the constant drizzle had increased to steady rainfall. The ground under our feet was spongy and anything not covered in grass or vegetation had quickly started to turn to mud. It was going to make traveling a bit of a bitch, but it might also help us. People tended to pay less attention to their surroundings when they were getting rained on.
“Do you think these National Guard guys might hurt those kids, Tav?” Tara asked.
“They’re kidnapping women and shooting farmers, so I wouldn’t put it past them,” I yelled over the rain.
I wanted to think that hurting children was a low that few men would sink too, but these National Guard guys had already done some pretty bad stuff. Every stop today gave me more reasons to hate the people we chased, and another reason to fight like hell to get Jenny away from them. At least the weather seemed to be on our side. It would slow down a convoy of large trucks a lot more than it would a couple people on an ATV. Again I was thankful for the four wheelers. They had been an invaluable find.
We arrived back at our camo ATV and hopped on. The rain soaked us through to the bone, but neither of us seemed to feel it. We were too intent on our mission to let the wet chill of spring weather bother us today.
I started the engine and looked back over my shoulder at the platinum blonde. She was still beautiful despite the fact her hair clung wetly to her face. “Hold on tight.”
“Yes, sir,” she replied with a nod.
I opened the throttle and tore off across the back fields of Briar’s farm and headed south towards where the Miller’s lived. I just hoped that we could make it in time.
A bolt of lightning shot through the sky above us and, for a moment, illuminated the world in brilliant blue light. A second later the roar of thunder shook the earth.
“This is good,” I shouted.
“How is this good?” Tara asked as she looked to the sky. “Aren’t we basically riding on a lightning rod?”
“Kinda, but the sound of thunder and the rain will hide the noise of our vehicle,” I explained. “It’ll be hard for them to hear us coming now.”
“Let’s hope this keeps up then,” Tara replied.
I nodded and kept my eyes forward as we bounced across muddy fields.
The heavy rainfall didn’t let up, and the ground grew softer as I drove. Water poured down my face, and I squinted in an attempt to keep it out of my eyes, and Tara clung tightly to my waist and buried her face in my back as we rode.
Despite the weather, our journey went quickly. It was mostly open plains with a few trees scattered throughout so we barely needed to do anything but keep the four wheeler pointed in the right direction. We stopped at a fence line that was the border of the Millar’s property and proceeded on foot.
I tromped across the muddy ground, through an overgrown field, and past an empty stable until I could hear the faint rumble of large engines over the rain.
We’d caught up to them.
I stopped and looked back to see Tara several yards behind me. She struggled to keep her footing on the soft ground and fell a couple times. Wet mud caked both her legs, part of her chest, and her right arm. Yet she wore a determined grimace on her face that kept me from stepping in to help her.
“Why’d we stop?” she asked when she got close.
“They’re still here,” I said. “Keep your eyes open and your weapon ready. Don’t fire until I do and make sure who you're shooting at has a uniform on. We don’t want to hit any civilians.”
“Got it, I’ll make sure I know what I’m shooting at before I open fire.”
“Good, now come on, the house is just up ahead,” I said as I nodded forward.
Then I turned around, pulled my gun up to my shoulder, and moved steadily forward. I had no idea what to expect and was more than a little worried about what trouble we might be about to get into. I let out a long exhale and told myself that this was just another counter-insurgency operation.
A few minutes later, we reached the back of a large two story home. It was a huge place with white vinyl siding, a porch swing, and huge bay windows.
I stayed low, avoided the windows, and slid along the house until I was able to peek around the side. There, twenty yards away from me, were four old military trucks. None of the soldiers were in sight, and just as I brought up my gun the lead truck started to roll off down the road. The others followed after, and I watched as they slipped farther and farther away.
I wanted to open fire before they dropped out of sight, but knew it was a bad idea. Jenny was in the back of one of those trucks, and I was just as likely to hit her as I was any of the National Guard. I gritted my teeth and slammed a fist against the side of the house.
“What’s wrong?” Tara asked.
“We’re too late,” I said as I turned to her. “The fucking trucks just left.”
“Well, can we catch up to them or anything?” she asked.
“Not on foot,” I said. “If we had the ATV, we could catch up quickly, but it’s back at the fenceline.”
“Should we go grab it and chase after them?” she asked.
I wanted nothing more than to do just that, but as I looked at the house next to me I frowned. After what we saw at Briar’s farm we couldn’t leave here without checking in on the family who was supposed to live here.
“We can’t. Not yet.” I slammed my fist against the house again and let out an angry sigh.
“Hey, are you okay?” Tara asked as she reached out and put a hand on my shoulder.
“I’ll be fine,” I muttered as I looked away from her.
“That’s not what I asked,” she said.
“It just really pisses me off that it’s the National Guard doing this shit,” I said. “They are supposed to be this country’s defense force, and here they are shooting farmers and stealing young women. Not only are they making the military look bad, but they’re also pissing in the face of the country they are supposed to protect.”
“Hey, we’ll get them,” Tara assured me. “We’ll make these guys pay for all this shit.”
“I know,” I said with a sigh. “We were just so close.”
“That means we’ll get them next time,” Tara said with a faint smile.
“You’re right,” I sighed. “We gotta keep going. Let’s see what they did to the Millers.”
We waited a minute around the side of the house to make sure that the trucks were really gone. The rain started to lessen, and the sky grew lighter once more as we crept around the side of the house and toward the front door. Tara and I kept our weapons down so as not to spook anyone inside, and I knocked on the large walnut front door.
For a moment there was no response. We could see light on through the windows, but that didn’t mean much now that the National Guard had come through.
“Maybe the Millers left, and the place was empty when the Guard got here,” Tara suggested quietly.
“Or maybe the family stayed but had a violent disagreement with the troops,” I said.
“Well how long do we wait to go in and find out?” Tara asked. “If someone is hurt, we can’t just stay here.”
“I know, but if everyone inside is okay, they are going to be a bit on edge,” I said.
“Should we knock again?” she asked.
“Yep,” I answered, but there was no response, so I realized I had to make more noise.
“Hello!” I called out as I knocked again. “If there is anyone in there, we’re here to help!”
“Yeah, we aren’t with those military guys!” Tara added.
The door creaked open to reveal a tall man with shaggy black hair, a black eye, and a large revolver in his hands. He eyed us both and tried to keep his weapon steady. It was clear by the tremor in
his hands, and his wide green eyes, that he was afraid.
“Sir, we just wanted to check in and--”
The man cut me off as he stepped forward and jabbed his gun into my face. His finger tensed on the trigger, and I was worried that if something spooked him, I would have a bullet between my eyes before I had a chance to explain myself.
“Go, the fuck, away,” he hissed.
Tara and I looked at each other, dropped our guns, and raised out hands. We really didn’t have time for this.
Chapter 8
“I said fuck off,” the black-haired man said.
“Listen, we really don’t want to hurt you,” Tara said.
“I don’t think you’re in any position to make threats,” the emotional man said as he pointed the gun at the blonde.
“We just saw Briar not an hour ago,” I said, “and these National Guard guys got him good. We patched him up, but the whole situation left us a bit angry.”
“How do I know you’re not lying?” The man with the gun asked. “You could have killed him and then come for us.”
“Why would we do that?” Tara hissed, and I could tell she was getting more angry at the guy every second he had the gun pointed at her.
“We’re here because Betty’s granddaughter Jenny got taken by those soldiers,” I said. “We want nothing more than to get her back and return all the stuff that was stolen.”
The man swallowed hard and shifted the gun from Tara, to me, and then back to Tara.
“You say you know Betty?”
“Yeah, met her, Dan, and Jenny a week back,” I said. “We showed up today to do some trading and learned about this National Guard caravan.”
“Like he said, they took Jenny,” Tara said. “If you don’t need help then fine, we have better stuff to do anyway.”
I looked over at my companion and raised an eyebrow. I had never seen her so aggravated. Something about this whole situation really seemed to be pissing her off. I couldn’t confront her about it here, but it seemed that I would have to dig into the issue later.
The man lowered his gun and let out a sigh. “I’m sorry. Those guys were just here a few minutes ago. If you know the sorta stuff they are doing, then you can understand why we might be on edge.”