Jake cursed under his breath at the vines and roots that tried to trip them, slowing their progress. Beth was moving so quietly, he glanced back to be sure she was still with him. They arrived at a point where they could clearly see the upper half of the school bus above the brush.
“Sneak low from here,” he whispered. They moved stealthily towards the road to a point directly across from the bus. In addition to the school bus, there were two pickup trucks and a four-wheeled ATV. One of the pickups was angled in front of the bus. A quick glance told them the passengers taken from the bus were prisoners.
The men and women were lined in a row standing with their backs against the bus. All but two. One, a Hispanic man, was sitting with his back against the front tire, his hands clasped to his bloody belly. Another man, with curly brown hair, was face down on the pavement with a puddle of blood surrounding his head. Three terrified young children huddled together at the rear end of the bus.
There were at least ten armed men standing between, Jake and Beth, and the passengers. One of the men, a tall lanky fellow with red hair, was walking slowly back and forth in front of the captives, not saying anything, He stopped abruptly and grabbed a young white male by the hair and bent him over, placing a pistol against the top of his head.
“Am I going to shoot him next, old man?” he shouted. “Is that what you want? I’ll shoot them one at a time until you tell me where you’re going and where that armored truck is. Is this what you want? Do you want me to shoot him in the head?”
Connie was near them, back pressed against the bus. His shirtfront was spotted with blood from his bleeding nose and lips.
The young male began begging for his life, screaming for Connie to tell them. Tears and snot were dripping from his bent over face. His bladder released and a wet stain began to flow from his crotch down the front of his pants.
"You've got ten seconds old man," the killer shouted.
"Ya gonna kill us all anyways ya bastard. Ya mamma pushed shit out her pussy," Connie shouted back.
The red head shifted the pistol from the young man’s head to point it at Connie. Connie didn’t flinch.
"Pull the trigger ya piece'a shit."
"Not yet, you son of a bitch," the redhead said, placing the barrel back to his victim's temple. “One...two..."
“We can’t shoot from here,” Beth whispered. We’ll hit our friends.”
“Drop the rifle, pistol only, do it quick.”
Beth complied.
“Okay. When I say go, charge in, get close, and start shooting.
“Let’s do it,” she whispered back.
Jake reached to touch her hand and then pointed towards the bus.”
“Go.” He whispered.
The count was at seven when they burst from concealment, crossing the road almost faster than a person could blink. Beth fired first, taking one of the men full in the back and swerved to fire again. Jake’s first shot also took a man in the back. He saw the red haired man, holding the young victim, turn in surprise and shift his aim towards Beth. He went down as he fired, his legs swept from under him by Connie. The scene erupted in gunfire as the men recovered and began to react.
Time stood still as Jake found one target after another. He felt a sting high up on his left thigh, but kept shooting until there was no one left standing that needed shooting. Immediately his eyes went to Beth. She was wild eyed, still searching for targets. A bloodstain was slowly spreading from her calf down her pants leg.
A man, bleeding from a wound, groaned as he tried to sit and aim the pistol he still held. Jake and Beth reacted in the same instant, their rounds adding to the one already in his chest. He groaned again as he fell back. Connie had his captive locked in a chokehold with his legs wrapped around his waist. Jake went to Beth.
“You’re bleeding. Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” she answered, “you’re bleeding too.”
Jake checked his thigh where he’d felt the sting and saw the blood seeping through the fabric of his jeans.
“We’ve both been shot in the left leg,” he said in amazement. “Does it hurt?”
“I don’t even feel it.”
“Iffen you folks ain’t about ta bleed ta death,” Connie shouted, “Lester over there is. This bastard shot him in the guts. What ya want me ta do with him? I can wring his neck easy enough.”
“No, let’s keep him alive for now. Are you okay?”
“I’m fine, the bastard hits like a baby. Ya sure ya don’t want me ta kill him?”
“Not yet, I need to debrief… talk to him first.” Jake replied. He motioned towards the others seemingly paralyzed against the bus. “Why don’t some of you tie him up and make sure those people we shot are dead... And somebody help Lester?” Jake moved close to Beth and pulled her down with him as he sat.
“We’re both bleeding pretty bad,” he told her. “Check your pants to see if you can feel two holes.”
He checked his pants leg while she checked hers. He found two holes.
“One hole,” Beth reported.”
“Damn, the bullet is lodged in your leg. Use your hands and put pressure on it. Do you have a radio?”
“In my jacket,” she replied, reaching for it.
“No, I’ll get it.”
Jake fished the radio from her pocket and keyed it.
“Jake here, do you copy? Over.”
“I copy Jake,” Agnes answered, “We heard the shooting, are you okay?”
“We’re mostly okay, but we’ve got a man belly-shot down here. Beth and I have superficial flesh wounds. We’ll be coming your way in a few minutes.”
“I copy, Jake. Over.”
*
“You need to plug your holes,” Beth said when he finished talking. “You’re bleeding worse than me.”
He located the entry and exit points of his wound, used his hands to apply pressure, and turned his attention to the others. A chubby Hispanic woman was beside Lester, moaning, and speaking soothing words in Spanish to him. He was very pale.
“You and you,” Jake said, using a bloody hand to point at the young man who had been threatened earlier and to a young black male. Let’s get Lester onto one of the pickups. Do either of you know how to drive?”
“I do,” the black male responded.
“Good. As soon as you get Lester loaded, you drive that truck. My wife and I will take the other truck. The rest of you get back in the bus and follow us.”
“What about this piece’a shit?” Connie asked, indicating the man he’d captured by kicking him in the side. He was securely trussed hand and foot with bailing wire and gagged with a filthy rag.
“I think those two fellows can throw him in back of the truck I’ll be driving.” Jake replied. “No need to be gentle either.”
Calling out, “I got that boss,” another of the men from the bus, a very big man with skin as dark as coal, moved from where he was comforting two of the children. He took the prisoner from beside Connie. Lifting the man by his hair and belt, he carried him to the other pickup and tossed him over the side like you would a bale of hay. The man hit the metal bed with a thud.
Jake stood and pulled Beth to her feet, their hands slippery with blood. The fabric of his jeans was soaked to the bottom of his leg. His right boot dripped blood and left a print with every step to the truck.
He climbed into the driver’s seat and led the vehicles back to the camping grounds. He drove with one hand, using the other in an attempt to stanch the steady flow of blood from his leg. When they arrived at the campsite, he stepped from the truck and passed out.
CHAPTER 18
Jake awoke inside a tent lying on a sleeping bag. After a moment of disorganized thought, he remembered passing out and tried to sit. He felt pain in his right thigh and seeing the big white bandage on his leg, realized he was not wearing pants. He could hear people talking outside the tent and called to them. “Hey, somebody bring me some jeans?”
Beth shouted, “I’ll get y
ou some.” A minute later, she slid through the opening and handed him a pair of jeans. “How does your head feel?”
“My head feels fine,” he replied, “I got shot in the leg.”
“When you passed out you slammed your forehead on a rock. You should see the knot.”
Jake reached to touch his forehead. “I don’t feel anything,” he said in confusion.
“Got you,” Beth said, laughing.
“Christ girl, you’re so silly. How does your leg feel?”
"It was throbbing like a toothache but its better now."
"How long was I out?"
“Not long, about an hour. Eva said you lost a lot of blood, and that’s why you passed out when you stood. She told me the bullet nicked an artery. Eva had her hands full with Lester, the man who was shot in the stomach. Agnes put a belt very tight around your leg and stopped the bleeding. When Eva came to work on you, she said your wound was full of those nanobots. I looked, and they are like a white fog. She said, as far as she can tell, you have good blood flow to your leg.” My hole has nanobots too, but Agnes pulled my bullet out with tweezers before they got in there.”
“Jeez darling, we were lucky today,” Jake said. "We managed to save those people and escape with only flesh wounds. I'd hate to be laid up from a shattered bone, or worse.
“I don’t see the lucky part," she replied. "We were fast, and we were cold blooded. We were in charge today, not them. Now Saint has ten less men, and we saved those people.”
“When you put it that way, it makes a lot of sense. You’re turning into a warrior.”
“I told you I was going to get as tough and dangerous as you are. Considering how much trouble you keep getting us into, I reckon it’s a good thing I am.”
“Hey, it’s the trouble finding us,” he responded to her gibe. "We need to get out of this tent. I’ve got a distinct flavor of chocolate in my mouth, and when that happens it makes me want a distinct flavor of you.”
“You smell like Old Spice to me.”
“Do I smell like that now?”
“You sure do, and I like it.”
“I like the way you smell right now too.”
“I’m not wearing perfume,” she said.
“Oh yes you are, girl,” reaching to pull her to him. “Even your sweat is perfume.”
She bumped his leg as she cuddled close. It hurt but he did not care.
Sometime later, they emerged from the tent. Jake felt refreshed, but once again, Beth’s hair, as Agnes would say, looked like she had stuck her head in a blender. She went to the truck to retrieve a brush from her pack.
The only people in camp were Eva and Connie, sitting at a concrete picnic table, and the young blonde male from the bus sitting off alone, close to an old stone fire ring. Jake could not help but notice the way he glowered at him. He walked over to Eva who was laying MREs and canned goods on the concrete slab of the picnic table.
“Where’s everybody?” he asked.
“They’re scattered in all directions. Let’s see, Agnes, Al and Janie are guarding down at the fork. Sam, that’s the young black man in the group, took a bunch back to where the fight was to clean the area. Lester, that’s the man shot in the abdomen, is in a tent along with his wife, Mercedes, and their daughter Julia. Sarah and her husband Ishi are down with the cleanup crew, and their two children, Daniel and Abbey, are asleep in the bus.
“Lester will live as long as sepsis doesn’t set in. The bullet hit his decorative belt buckle. The buckle slowed the bullet, but he had bits and chunks of plastic and metal buried in his fat layer. Thankfully, none of them pierced through into his abdominal cavity, because all I had to work with was Connie’s pocketknife. He keeps that thing as sharp as a scalpel. Lester had one large gash I sutured with a sterilized sewing needle and cotton thread.
“There’s another girl with the cleanup crew, Carol, I think, but like I said, they’re all over the place.”
“I can see you’re good at remembering names. Hey Connie,” Jake said, turning to the older man, “would you mind taking a little walk with me.” Jake turned back to Eva, “It is okay for me to walk?”
“Walk if you want, it’ll help your leg heal faster, besides, the nanobots are in charge of your wound, not me. It’s a good thing they are too. There was nothing I could do about a missing section of artery. Just try not to bump it or over stretch it. Also, so you’ll know, I used the last of the morphine on Lester.”
“Let’s go then,” Connie, said, “longs it ain’t too far. These arthy legs of mine don’t want ta carry me none ta good lately.”
“Just a stroll.”
“A stroll I can handle, I could use a cane though. Most times my knee don’t hurt so bad, but I kind’a twisted it bringing down that loudmouthed asshole this morning.”
“We’ll look for something as we walk,” Jake said, leading the way. “Where is the loudmouthed asshole?”
“He’s still in the back of the truck where Ishi throwed him. The doctor lady wanted ta loosen the wires a bit, but I advised agin it.”
“What’s with the young man back there, why isn’t he helping the others?”
“Nobody wants to get close to him. They plain don’t like him. Hell, I don’t like him. Lazy, snotty little brat.”
“He’s not that little,” Jake observed. “At least he didn’t tell them where we were when he had a gun to his head.”
“Actually he’s twenty four and weighs over two hundred, but he’s little in the mind is what I’m saying. All the time telling us his parents wouldn’t want him, ‘sociating with our kind’, but the good for nothing scab ain’t got any trouble with eating our food.
“He’s that bad, huh?”
“Nothing but trash. He was a jock in high school. Seems like some of the hits he took playing football shudda knocked some sense inta him. The only reason he didn’t rat you out is because he didn’t know where we was headed. Piece of crap peed himself, and he’s still got on the same pants. Sometimes I think about shootin’ him, but I keep hoping he’ll mature inta some sense.”
“You’re a kind hearted man Connie. I would have run him off... I want to thank you for bringing down that fellow this morning, he was about to draw down on my wife.”
“Ta hell with that son, we’re the ones doin’ the thankin’. The whole time I was standing there, I told myself ya had ta heard the shots over at the camp. I told myself ta be ready to move. I felt something about ya, mister. I knew ya’d come.”
“I’m glad you were ready. The others just stood there.”
“Ain’t none of the others fighters, they’re good folks, but they ain’t fighters.”
Jake stopped and pointed to a dried fallen branch close to the pavement.
“What do you think about this piece?” He picked it up and flexed it before handing it to Connie.
Connie took the offered stick with an L shaped crook at one end and took a few steps with it.
“I think you done found me a cane, a bit heavy, but almost as good as a store boughten one. I could trim it down some, but I’d best leave my knife sharp in case the lady doctor has need agin.”
They turned to the roar of engines approaching from behind. The four-wheeled ATV and a pickup truck sped into the campsite. They stopped to unload several passengers before continuing towards them. The vehicles slowed as they drew near and stopped. The young black male was driving the ATV, the passenger’s seat filled with weapons. The body of the dead passenger from the bus was on the rear seat. The bed of the pickup was piled high with the bodies of Saint’s men.
“We got the place down there cleaned so you can’t tell anything happened,” the young man reported. “We’re going to dump these bodies at the end of the campground.”
“That was good thinking,” Jake said, extending his hand. The young man grasped it in a strong grip.
“We know your name. Mine's Sam, and the fellow driving the pickup is Sheldon. The big ugly black fellow beside him is Ishi.”
; “I heard that, boy,” Ishi shouted good-naturedly from the truck, “You better watch that mouth of yours.”
“As far as cleaning down there,” Sam continued, “Your woman sent us. She took charge after you passed out. We’re taking the bodies as far back as we can. We don’t have a shovel, so we’ll just cover James with whatever we can find,” he said, tilting his head towards the back seat.
“Was he a friend of yours?” Jake asked. “Should we have some sort of service?”
“He was an atheist,” Sam replied, “I don’t think he’d want one.”
“What you want us to do with this truck and the four-wheeler?” Sheldon called from the truck.”
“You may as well leave them with the bodies,” Jake said. “Matter of fact, don’t even bother unloading that trash, just let the truck roll into the woods, they can rot where they are. You should unload first,” he told Sam, nodding towards the weapons.
“I hear that,” Sam said. “We’ll see you at the camp.”
He cranked the ATV, spun around, and sped off. The truck continued up the road.
Jake and Connie talked a bit more before returning to the campsite. Beth, much more presentable, was at the table helping Eva. Jake had a short conversation with them before limping over to the remaining pickup truck. As soon as the man saw Jake he began thumping the bed of the truck with the heels of his boots, trying to mouth words past the gag in his mouth. Jake, shook his head, and checked if the keys were in the ignition.
He cranked the truck and drove in the direction Sam and the others had taken. He pulled to a stop where the road made a sharp turn.
The two vehicles had made a mess of the undergrowth when driven off the road. The men were busy covering the body of their friend with rocks and branches.
Jake stepped from the cab, shouted to them not to bother with his truck, and walked further along the curve in the road until he was out of their sight. In an effort to clear his mind, he made a point to pay attention to his surroundings as he moved.
He came to a place where a large tree had fallen close to the road. He sat on the trunk, opening his senses to the forest around him, the sounds, and scents of nature helping him reconnect with the real world.
HARD ROAD: Heaven Bound Page 24