HARD ROAD: Heaven Bound

by Terry McDonald

  The last man took advantage of this delay and ran down the road in the direction Jake had come from. Jake fired twice as he gave chase, but the man was dodging and weaving, running for his life. Both shots missed.

  As the man passed where the girls were hiding, Beth burst from the trees, firing her pistol as she ran towards him. He screamed in agony and lurched into her. She fired her pistol again as they fell. They landed with him on top, her arm pinned in such a way she could only shoot him in the side. She continued firing until her magazine was empty, converting his scream to an unbroken squall of agony.

  Jake was there. He yanked him off of her and put a bullet in his temple, killing him instantly. Beth scrambled to her feet.

  “Are you all right?” he asked, looking at her blood soaked clothing.

  “Yeah, the blood’s his. Where’s Al? What happened to him?”

  “I think he’s okay. Stay with Janie, I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

  Jake ran, worried because he didn’t see Al coming. As he drew near, he could hear him moaning and saw he was still on his back. Al attempted to sit, but fell back with a low cry.

  “The man broke my leg when he jumped me,” he said, his voice filled with pain. “I heard it snap.”

  Jake squatted beside him. Al’s lips were split and bleeding and lumps were forming on his face. “Where do you think it broke?”

  “Over there where he first got me.”

  “Which leg, where?” Jake clarified.

  “This leg here,” he said, gingerly touching the middle of his left thigh.

  Jake slit Al’s pants leg with his knife and gently examined the thin leg.

  “You heard it break?”

  “Sounded like breaking a piece of wood. It hurts, Jake.”

  “I know it does. At least it’s not a compound fracture, but I’m going to have to hurt you some more. After I drag these men off the road, I’ll have to drag you too. I can’t risk bending your leg... Then I’ll have to go to where your sisters are, and move one more body. As soon as it’s done we’ll come back here.”

  “Just hurry, I don’t like being out here like this.”

  He dragged the dead men into the high brush, grunting with the effort required to move the fat one. He had Al stretch his arms over his head and drug him through the same break in the brush. Al yelped a couple times, but not very loudly.

  Jake ran back down the road and began dragging the last man. Beth came from hiding to help him and they made short work of concealing him.

  “Beth, you and Janie grab your packs. As soon as you round the bend, you’ll see a break in the brush on the right side where I drug the bodies out of sight. Al’s in there too.”

  “Is he okay?”

  “He’s got a broken leg, and he’s beat up, but he’s alive.”

  Jake took time to straighten the brush they had disturbed hiding the body. He moved to the other side of the road and straightened the brush Beth and Janie had disturbed, grabbed his pack, and hurried to the bend. He could hear Al, still moaning. Again, he took time to straighten the brush, working backwards to where Beth and Janie were kneeling beside their brother.

  “His face,” Beth said with concern, “it’s swelling something awful where they hit him, and his mouth’s bleeding. I think they knocked some of his teeth loose.”

  “I’ll look, but not right now. We have to get ready. They must have dropped these men off earlier hoping someone would fall into their ambush. Somebody’s sure to come eventually to relieve them. For all we know there may be others in the area who heard the ruckus.”

  “Al can’t walk,” Beth stated.

  “We’ll deal with it. I hate to take time, but you and I need to clean the blood off the pavement in case someone did hear the commotion and come before we’re ready. There’s not much, but enough to notice.”

  Beth and Jake swabbed the blood from the pavement using bath towels and water from their canteens.

  “This is bad isn’t it?” Beth asked as they worked.

  “You know it is,” Jake replied, “John Saint may move his entire crew to hunt us down. By my count we’ve already killed twenty of his gang.”

  “Do you have a plan?”

  “Yeah, I do. We pray no one else is in the area to hear the ruckus. We’re going to play the ambush game too. We’ll kill whoever comes to relieve these people. Al’s broken leg complicates things. We need a vehicle.” Jake stood and reached to give Beth a hand. “That’s good enough.”

  “What next boss?” Beth asked, holding the bloody towels out from her body in disgust.

  “We make sure Janie knows she has to stay near Al, no matter how long we’re gone. I have some morphine injectors in my pack. He’s going to need one.”

  Jake rummaged in his pack, while Beth, after throwing the bloody towels towards the dead men, engaged Janie, speaking in very serious tones. He tossed two towelettes to Beth and continued rummaging. After half emptying the pack he removed a plastic box filled with military issue squeeze tube units of morphine. Each tube had a sterile needle attached. He removed three and went to where Al lay quietly moaning as Beth gently cleaned his face.

  “How are you doing, Champ?”

  “My leg hurts, Jake.”

  “I know it does. Your femur’s broken. It’s one of the biggest bones in your body. I’ve known grown men who cried like babies from that kind of pain.”

  “The only reason I’m not is ‘cause Janie’s scared.”

  “I’ve got something to help you,” he held one of the tubes where Al could see it. “Watch what I do. You hold it like this and bend it until it snaps.”

  “I heard it snap,” he said. “It sounded like my leg breaking.”

  Jake chuckled. “You’ve still got a sense of humor.”

  “I wasn’t trying to be funny.”

  “I know you weren’t,” Jake replied with sympathy. “Now watch, next you twist and pull the plastic cap off…this is going to sting…jab it straight in your leg like this.” Jake demonstrated by bracing Al’s broken leg and plunging the needle into the leg just below the hip. Al yelped in pain. “Then you squeeze the tube hard and pull it out when you’re finished.”

  “That hurt,” Al, said angrily. “Why’d you stab me?”

  “Count to twenty,” Jake instructed.

  “What?”

  “Just count,” Jake repeated.

  Al began to count, but stopped when he got to eleven.

  “I don’t hurt as much,” he said in amazement.

  “That’s the beauty of morphine,” Jake said. “All the pain will be gone in a few minutes. I’m going to leave two of these with you. In about three hours or so, the pain will come back and you’re going to want another shot. Hold off doing it until you have to, because I don’t know how long we’ll be gone.”

  Al turned his head to spit blood. “Where ya’ll going?” he asked worriedly.

  “Not far, only a few hundred feet down the road. We need transportation. Beth and I are going to ambush whoever comes to relieve these guys and take their vehicle.”

  Jake stood and went to where Beth was talking to Janie.

  “We need to go,” he said. “She understands to stay here and keep quiet till we get back?”

  “I know,” Janie answered for herself, “and I’m going to be brave like Beth says, but ya’ll need to stop leaving me and Al by ourselves.”

  “Let’s hope this is the last time,” Jake said. “I know this is scary, but Beth and I are going to make it better. Would you mind putting the things back in my pack?”

  He turned to Beth. “Grab your AK and a spare magazine. Put a fresh magazine in your pistol, get a full canteen and let’s do this.”

  They returned to where Beth shot the man.

  “I hate to say it, but we need to drag him back to the middle of the road.”

  “We just finished dragging him off,” she said in exasperation.

  “I know. I’m at a disadvantage here. Things keep happening and I’m m
aking plans as I go. We need him out here as bait so whoever comes along will see him and stop.”

  “Okay, okay, I see. Let’s get it done,” she said with a harsh tone. “I’m ready to kill some more of them sons-a-bitches.”

  “Christ girl,” Jake said, surprised at the venom in her declaration. “You need to calm down.”

  “Don’t you tell me to calm down,” she said, even more harshly. “I mean what I say. I want to kill them.” Her wild expression was enough to frighten even him.

  “I mean calm down enough so we can do this without getting killed ourselves,” he said, in an attempt at placating her, “I know you hate them for what they’ve done to you three, but learn to hate in cold blood. We’ve got a job to do and we need to do it right for their sake.”

  Beth made a visible effort to pull her emotions in check. “You want to kill them too, I see it in your face, but you’re right, I’m so mad all I can think about is pulling the trigger.”

  “Mostly what you see is anger at myself. I should have listened to you and went cross country,” Jake said.

  “Yeah, you should have... but who knows. We're almost at that shortcut. We could have come across that bunch anyway.”

  They positioned the dead man in the center of the road where a vehicle coming from either direction would see it and have to stop. Jake took time picking positions for the ambush.

  “I’ll be at my spot on the other side of the road. They’ll stop in front of the dead man. I hope they only send one truck, but there may be more.”

  “How will I know when to start shooting?” Beth asked. She was much calmer.

  “When I start shooting,” he answered. If you see a vehicle with someone still in the driver’s seat, shoot him first; otherwise, shoot at whoever is closest to you. Don’t stop shooting until everyone you can see is dead. I’ll do the same. Are you sure you’re good enough with a rifle to do this?”

  “Daddy taught me and you’d best believe I’m good enough. I damn sure won’t stop till they’re dead.”

  “Good, we don’t want anyone getting back to Saint. We need as much of a head start as we can get.”

  CHAPTER 7

  They settled down to wait. Clouds rolled in, and the night turned chilly. Hours later, shortly after sunrise, Jake heard the sound of an engine approaching.

  “This is it,” he called to Beth, making sure she was awake. “They’re coming.”

  Luck was with them and only one vehicle came into view. It was a military pickup with a canvas-covered cargo area. There were two men in the cab of the truck. The driver swerved and came to a stop beside the dead man. The canvas sides made it impossible to tell if anyone was in the back bed.

  The man in the passenger’s seat got out cautiously, and stepped to the front to inspect the body, pulling a pistol from the holster at his hip as he moved. After kicking the body to make sure it was dead, he stood for a long moment observing the area.

  “Okay, it’s clear,” he called out. “Let’s get him loaded and report back.”

  The driver stayed put, but two big men climbed over the tailgate and joined him at the front. They had rifles slung over their shoulders and pistols like the first man.

  “What about Ralph and the—.”

  The bark of Jake’s rifle cut his sentence short. From his position, Jake could only see the driver’s arm and shoulder, so he targeted the man giving the orders, and shot him in the head.

  A shot rang out as he swung to acquire another target. He fired his rifle, and another shot rang out. The two remaining men fell to the ground, one of them screaming and clutching his belly.

  Jake broke cover as another shot rang out and the screaming stopped. Beth fired several more rounds into the downed men as he rushed to the driver’s door, pistol drawn. One glance at the small hole in the plastiglass windshield and driver’s brains splattered around what was left of the rear window, told him Beth had followed his instructions. The microphone of the dash-mounted radio was still in its berth.

  Jake checked the other three bodies. They were dead. He heard thumping noises from the rear of the truck. As he turned to check it out, he saw Beth burst from concealment.

  “Stay back and be ready,” he called out. “There’s somebody in the truck.”

  Beth stopped in her tracks and brought her rifle to bear.

  “No, don’t shoot,” he called again, “let me check it out.”

  Jake returned to the front of the truck and squatted in order to have the metal of the engine shielding him from the back of the truck.

  “Whoever is in the truck, throw out your weapons,” he shouted.

  No weapons were thrown, but he did hear several more loud thumps.

  “I mean it. There are eight men out here ready to cut this truck to ribbons. THROW OUT YOUR WEAPONS NOW!”

  The thumping became stronger and faster paced. Jake gave Beth a cautionary wave. Keeping low, he worked slowly around to the back of the truck. Once there he popped up for a quick look, popped back down, then popped right back up.

  “Come on over Beth,” he called, before climbing over the tailgate into the truck. A few seconds later, he scrambled frantically back out, almost falling onto Beth as she joined him.

  “There’s a lady in there,” she said.

  “Yeah,” Jake replied, rubbing his chin, “a crazy lady who tried to kick my head off.”

  “She’s roped, and got a rag tied around her mouth. She’s probably scared half to death.”

  “Well Beth, why don’t you climb in there and untie her. Watch out though, she can kick.”

  Beth stepped onto the trailer hitch protruding from the bumper of the truck and leaned in over the tailgate.

  “Lady, we ain…, don’t have much time. My brother's hurt and we need to get out of here. Don’t you be kicking at me!”

  She responded by kicking the floorboards and uttering muffled words through the gag.

  Beth climbed into the truck. Jake, worried about how much time was passing, went to the cab and dumped the driver onto the pavement.

  Using a jacket he found on the seat, he swabbed away most of the gore. He felt the truck bouncing, and Beth came around to the driver’s side, a woman with a badly bruised face close behind her.

  “This lady here is Agnes,” Beth said.

  “I’m glad to meet you Agnes,” Jake responded. “You’ll have to forgive us, but we don’t have time to talk. We’ve got a boy with a broken leg we need to pick up, and we have to put some distance from this place. Do you have any injuries that need immediate attention?”

  “I’m fine,” she responded. “Let me know what I can do to help.”

  Jake tossed the jacket onto the pavement, cranked the truck and waited until the others were in. He drove rapidly to the bend in the road, shut the engine, and jumped out. Beth and Agnes joined him.

  “Okay,” he said, “let’s get Al and our stuff loaded in a hurry.”

  He led the way to where the kids were hiding. Al was sitting, his back braced by their packs. Jake ordered Janie to the edge of the road to stand guard.

  “I’m sure glad to see ya’ll,” Al said, his voice laced with pain.

  Jake went to him. “Are you out of morphine?”

  “No, I’ve got one left. I was about to use it when we heard the shooting start. The last one put me to sleep and I was afraid to take it.”

  “You can do it now, you’ll be glad you did when we move you.”

  Jake turned to the others. “Let’s load up, don’t worry about being careful. It doesn’t matter if they find these bodies.”

  They moved the packs in one trip and returned for Al. It was obvious he had taken his injection. His face no longer twisted in pain.

  “We’re going to move you now,” Jake told him. “We’ll try not to hurt you son, I’ll find some place safe and get you better, just bear the pain as best you can.

  “Let’s get him to the truck. We don’t want to bend his leg. I’m hoping it’s only fractured.” Jake tur
ned, startled by a sound from behind him. Agnes was holding Al's rifle. The sound he heard was her releasing the clip and ejecting the chambered round.

  She squatted beside Jake, handing him the clip and bullet. “We need to splint this boy's leg before he's moved. Judging from the bend, it’s broken, but it's not a compound fracture. Let's keep it that way. His rifle will serve well enough. We need some ties to bind it to his leg.”

  Jake asked, “Are you a nurse?”

  “Fifteen years of service,” she responded proudly.

  “You have no idea how glad I am to hear that,” Jake said.

  Using strips torn from one of Jake’s undershirts, it took only moments to secure Al's leg. He screamed as Agnes used her hands to force the leg straight so Beth could secure it to the makeshift splint. Together, they lifted him carefully into the bed of the truck. Janie helped by making sure they didn’t bump his head.

  “Beth, you and Janie ride in front with me. Agnes, would you mind riding back here and make sure he doesn’t roll around?”

  Agnes climbed into the back of the truck. Jake latched the tailgate and hustled Beth and Janie into the cab. He drove as fast as he could while taking into consideration he had passengers in the back.

  From the crushed plants on the road, he could tell other trucks had driven even further than the ambush point. Within minutes, he slowed and stopped at a shallow, wide creek that passed through a double culvert under the road. He got out and surveyed the creek, noting the slant of the graveled embankment and the depth of the slowly flowing water. He returned to the cab and backed the truck several yards.

  “What are you doing?” Beth asked.

  “Maybe wasting time, I’m not sure. We need to get off this road. I saw this creek on the map. It crosses the cut not too far along it. If we turn off at the cut from the road, we’ll crush so much brush we may as well put up a sign. By the same token, if we stay on the road, the plants we'll be crushing will lead any pursuit straight to us.”