Sympatico Syndrome Trilogy Box Set

by McDonald, M. P.

  Hunter took a deep breath, darted across the gap. Buddy came with him, thankfully, not making any noise. When he reached the cover of the car wash, he stroked Buddy’s head, then crept around the back of the car wash, taking care not to kick anything on the gravel-strewn blacktop. Weeds grew out of cracks as the asphalt gave way to the grass that surrounded the lot.

  When he reached the corner, he whispered and motioned for Buddy to lie down and stay. The dog obeyed, his ears perked as he watched Hunter.

  Crouching behind the air pump, he watched the men circle the horses. The mare shied away as far as the rope would let her go while Red snorted and took a few quick steps towards the strangers. The men backed off, throwing suggestions to each other.

  Hunter looked to see if they had any weapons, but if they did, he couldn’t see them. It was then he noticed that the girl’s wrists were tied together in front of her. He was close enough to see a bruise on her cheek. Anger rose in him. Just because there was nobody around to enforce the laws didn’t give the men the right to do anything they wanted to another person.

  He watched for several more seconds not seeing any weapons, but he had a feeling they were armed. Guys like that probably had a whole arsenal. They just didn’t see a need for it now.

  Out-numbered, and his only weapon a bow and arrow, he wasn’t sure what his next move should be.

  The girl yelped, raising one foot and that’s when Hunter noticed she was barefoot. The guy holding her arm, shoved her forward, laughing when she fell to her knees. Her shoulders shook, and although Hunter didn’t hear her, he imagined she was crying.

  The one who had shoved her pulled a gun from behind his back and aimed it at the girl.

  “I’ve had about enough of your crying. I think it’s time I put you out of your misery.” He turned to the other men, who watched Red, their hands out as though to calm him, but apparently neither had any experience with horses because their sudden lunges for his halter only made the horse more skittish. “You guys care if I get rid of her? I’ve had all I can take of her crying.”

  The tallest guy shrugged. “Whatever. We’re kinda busy now. Do what you gotta do.” Red snorted, and both men backed off, cursing the horse.

  The one with the gun grinned and leveled it at the sobbing girl’s head.

  Hunter didn’t think; he just reacted, letting the arrow fly and notching another before the first had even reached its target. His hours of studying speed shooting videos on Youtube and practicing the techniques paid off. At the time, he’d pretend he was in a video game, shooting at imaginary foes, but these guys weren’t imaginary, and this was no game.

  The gun went off, but Hunter’s shot had hit the man in the chest, and he’d pulled his arm back reflexively, his aim at the sky when he’d fired.

  Red reared at the gunshot, catching one of the men in the head with his hoof. Hunter winced at the impact. The other man stumbled back, shouting for help. He reached behind himself and withdrew a gun, leveling it at Red, but when the shooter didn’t reply, he turned, his gaze locking on the shooter, now down on the ground. The other man’s jaw dropped at the sight of Hunter’s arrow sticking out of the man’s chest.

  Then he crouched, his gun leveled as he sought out the source of the attack. “Who’s out there?”

  Hunter drew back behind the air pump, but peeked between the coiled vacuum hose, still able to see the gunman. Buddy huddled at his side, alert, but not alarmed and Hunter suspected the dog had been hunting a time or two. His heart hammered in his ears, and he fought to control his ragged breathing. Fear and adrenaline made him feel as if he’d just sprinted a mile. His mind raced even faster than his heart. Should he let another arrow fly? Or wait to see what would happen? If he shot and missed, he’d be a sitting duck. But he couldn’t crouch here forever. Already his thighs burned.

  The girl had curled into a fetal position, and even from his distance, Hunter saw her shaking in fear. Any second, the remaining guy standing could decide to finish her off. Hunter took a deep breath and waited for a good shot. He had to take it. Not only did his life depend on it, but he had a feeling that her life did as well.

  The man stepped over to the shooter, nudging him with his toe. Hunter’s jaw tensed, willing the man to face him and give him a good shot. Instead, he stood with his right side to Hunter.

  When the shooter didn’t move, the guy gave a harder kick and swore. He glared at the girl as if she had caused the shooter’s death. “What happened?” He kicked her in the ribs. She cried out.

  “I don’t know! I didn’t see it.”

  “Bitch!” He kicked her again, but turned, apparently searching with his back to Hunter. If only he weren't wearing a pack. Hunter noted the direction the grass blew and made mental adjustments as he pictured the arrow hitting its target. It was an exercise he did before every competition. Only this time there was no circular target, but he didn’t need an actual bullseye to pretend one was painted on the guy’s shirt.

  The man slowly turned full-circle, and Hunter felt his gaze rake over the air pump, sliding past, but then returning. He must have seen something. Hunter took a deep breath and straightened for an instant to get a better look. He saw the bullseye and took his shot.

  The arrow hit the man high on the left side of his chest. He staggered back but didn’t go down, firing at Hunter.

  The bullet pinged off the air pump, and Hunter cringed even as he notched another arrow.

  “Come out where I can see you, you asshole! Why don’t you show yourself like a real man?”

  Hunter’s eyes narrowed, anger burning away the fear and he stood. “A real man? What would you know about a real man? You beat on helpless girls!”

  “Screw you!” He lifted his gun and Hunter loosed the arrow at the same time a gunshot rang out. His arrow missed high.

  Flinching, Hunter braced for the bullet, but it never came. The man dropped.

  The girl held a gun in her hands, her arms still outstretched and pointed at the man.

  It took a few seconds for Hunter to process what had happened. She must have picked up the first shooter’s gun. Hunter hadn’t paid attention to where it might have landed when the man fell, but he didn’t see it on the ground anywhere. He started towards her, but she steadied the weapon. “Don’t!”

  He raised his hands. “Whoa.”

  “Don’t come any closer!”

  Red snorted, and Hunter tore his gaze from the girl to the horses. Both were literally at the end of their ropes, tugging hard and in danger of breaking them.

  “Look, I’m not going to hurt you. Let me see to the horses, okay?” He also wanted to see how the man Red had kicked was doing. Was he dead? What if he woke up and started shooting? He wanted to get to him and disarm him before he came to.

  She bit her lip and then nodded.

  Hunter held his arms wide, the bow in one hand, the other empty as he edged towards the horses, maintaining eye contact with her until he had to turn his full attention to the animals. Buddy followed Hunter, but his ears were pricked forward, and his tail wagged a few times as he looked at the girl.

  As he passed the guy who’d been kicked, Hunter took one look and averted his eyes. Red’s hoof had caught the man in the temple, crushing the side of his head. This guy wasn’t going to bother them anymore.

  “Easy, Red,” Hunter spoke softly. Soothingly. He caught the halter and stroked the horse’s neck. “It’s okay. It’s all over.” The poor horse was soaked in sweat, and the mare wasn’t any better. Her eyes rolled in fear. He moved over to her, stroking her muzzle until her breathing slowed. She dipped her head, pressing it against his chest. He chuckled. “I know. It was pretty scary.” He pressed his forehead against hers until Red nudged him, seeking more attention. “Hey, Red. Don’t worry. I haven’t forgotten you.” He scratched the spot at the top of Red’s neck; the spot he knew the horse loved having scratched. After a few more moments, he had the horses calmed down. Turning, he looked for Buddy, but the dog wasn’t the
re.

  He twisted, and then shook his head, a wry smile on his face. Buddy was getting all the attention he wanted from the girl. She’d looped her still bound arms over Buddy’s head, her face buried in the dog’s fur.

  Elly crept onto the other bench seat in the cabin and peered through the smoked glass. A man burst into sight and raced onto the dock. He wasn’t heading right towards them, but towards a smaller boat docked a few slips down and on the other side of the pier. The pounding of his feet shook the whole dock, and she could feel the vibration transmitted through the hull where the boat was tied off.

  When the man scrambled into the boat, and she cringed at the fear twisting his face. He kept shooting looks in the direction from which he’d just come. Who was he running from? And why was he so afraid?

  A few seconds later, two men emerged from behind a yacht club and strolled onto the pier. They laughed and shared a bottle of vodka.

  “Tony! Come on, man. We have a lot more booze.” The men snorted with laughter, bumping into each other, obviously sharing what they thought was a hilarious joke. One guy raised the bottle and waved it around. “We got all the booze in the world!” He tilted the bottle, guzzling it before the other snatched it from him, upending it in his own mouth.

  Tony ignored them, his hands darting out, probably flipping switches she couldn’t see. Elly didn’t know if it was his boat or if he was trying to do what they had done. The men got closer, trapping him in the boat as they stood on the pier, swapping the bottle back and forth.

  “What’s the matter, Tony? You act like you don’t want us around?” The jovial tone was gone.

  “Look, I don’t want no trouble. Just let me get the boat started and we can go for a cruise on the lake, okay? That’ll be fun, won’t it, Kevin?” Tony pleaded as he moved to shut the glass window between the front and the back as if the tiny barrier could protect him.

  Kevin jumped into the front of the boat. “You think we got it, don’t you? But we don’t.” Then his threatening manner slipped as he broke into a fit of giggles. “At least, I don’t think we do. What do you think, Dante?”

  The other guy didn’t answer. He stared at Tony then looked at Kevin, his expression confused. Without a word, he collapsed and fell into the lake.

  Tony pressed back into the boat, trying to put as much distance between himself and the remaining man.

  Kevin broke into another fit of giggles and Elly shuddered. She longed to help Tony, but she didn’t know what they could do.

  Jake slipped the gun from the back of his waistband, and Elly whispered, “What are you doing?” She’d forgotten he had the gun.

  Jake edged off the seat. “I’m going out there and shooting that guy—Kevin.”

  “What? You can’t do that. He’s clearly infected with the virus.”

  “Yeah, I know and I’d just be putting him out of his misery and maybe saving Tony before he gets infected too.” Jake easygoing demeanor was gone.

  Elly wanted to help too, but it was too risky. “You can’t. You could catch it from him.”

  “Not if I shoot him from here.”

  Elly narrowed her eyes. “Are you some kind of marksman, because I don’t think it’s going to be easy to hit a target a hundred feet away while you’re both on rocking boats.”

  “But we can’t just let that guy die. I don’t think Tony has it yet. He seemed too scared.” His head dropped for a second. “Too many have already died. We got to save whoever we can.” It was a solemn pronouncement coming from a teenager, but the circumstances forced early maturation.

  She sighed. “I agree.” She peeked through the window again. For the time being, Kevin seemed to be relaxing at one end of the small speedboat while Tony was at the tip of the boat leaning back over the water and appeared ready to jump in the lake. The water was still pretty cold, but it was the least of his problems. It would solve Tony’s problem, but it would still leave Kevin too close for comfort. What if he started exploring all the boats? He was mere feet away. All it would take was one of them to sneeze for him to hear them. Then what? It was better to be proactive.

  “I’ve got an idea…what if I distract him? He might follow me and then you could sneak up and shoot him from behind.” She couldn’t believe she was advocating cold-blooded murder, but Kevin was sick, and he’d die anyway. They were just going to make sure he didn’t infect anyone else before he succumbed to the disease.

  Jake nodded. “Yeah, okay.”

  “Wait…have you ever used that before?” She gestured to the gun, concerned at the way he handled it. He didn’t seem comfortable at all.

  At first, Jake put up an air of confidence, but as she stared at him, her arms crossed, his shoulders sagged. “I never fired a gun before in my life.” He gave a short, wry laugh. “I only found this piece this morning.” His head shot up when Elly, who had been ready to examine the gun, snatched her hand back. “Don’t worry— I wiped it down real good, so it shouldn’t be contaminated or anything. And it’s loaded. I know that much. I’m awesome at shooting in video games, but, yeah, never shot anything more than a water pistol.”

  Elly reached again. “I know how to use it. I go to the firing range all the time back home.”

  After a brief hesitation, he handed over the gun.

  The first thing she did was make sure the safety was engaged. She didn’t want to shoot herself as she climbed out of the boat. “Come on. You get to be the diversion now.”

  Jake nodded. “Yeah. Okay.”

  They created a brief plan. She would wait in the cabin until the man followed Jake—if he did. That was the tricky part. She gave him the bottle of scotch as bait. “Here, we know he likes booze. Just don’t let him have it if you can help it. Oh, and make sure you’re not standing right behind him. Get off to the side so I have a clear shot.”

  As quietly as possible, Jake exited the cabin, leaving the door open only an inch so she could get out quickly, and he leaped lightly onto the dock. Already, she was glad he was the bait because there was no way she was that agile.

  Jake took a few steps towards Kevin, pretending to stagger. “Hey, dude! Look! I have this bottle of primo booze!”

  Elly leaned over the bench seat and watched through the window. Kevin lounged in the front of the boat while Tony sat on the edge as far away as he could without falling in the lake. His head lolled towards Jake. Then he sat up, a grin splitting his face.

  “Whaddya got there? Whiskey?”

  Jake shook his head. “Nope. Scotch. Top shelf stuff.”

  “Well now,” Kevin tossed the now empty vodka bottle into the water and staggered to his feet. On his first attempt to step out of the boat, he almost fell into the harbor, and Elly wished he would. “I’m up for scotch…what about you, Tony?”

  Tony shook his head, but he kept a wary eye on both Jake and Kevin.

  Kevin made it onto the dock, swaying for a few seconds.

  Then Jake laughed. “You gotta catch me first!” He took off down the pier towards shore.

  The second Kevin passed their boat, Elly bolted from the cabin and climbed up onto the pier. She banged her shin on the edge of the pier but ignored the pain as she ran behind Kevin. She hoped Jake didn’t run too far. She wasn’t sure she could keep up with him. Luckily, Kevin couldn’t keep up with him either, and as soon as he reached the shore, he stopped and bent, his hands on his knees.

  “Wait up, kid!”

  Elly stopped about fifteen feet from him, released the safety, and raised the gun. Jake had moved to the side, out of the line of fire. “Hey!”

  Kevin straightened and turned at the sound of her voice. He smirked. “Well, hello there!”

  He didn’t seem to notice the gun, and Elly tried to pull the trigger but froze. She took three steps back. Maybe she could get him to leave. “Go away! Or I’ll shoot!”

  “I don’t think so. Not now when things just got interesting.” He leered at her.

  “Shoot him, Elly!” Jake danced on the balls of hi
s feet in her periphery. She wanted to shoot but hadn’t counted on how hard it was to pull the trigger when the gun was aimed at another person. If he was attacking her, she knew she could, but this guy made no move towards her, probably because he was still out of breath.

  She drew a deep breath and steadied her aim. “I’m sorry.” She pulled the trigger.

  Kevin dropped in a boneless heap. There was no look of surprise or any last words. Just one second, he was leering, the next, he was on the ground.

  “Great shot, Elly!” Jake skirted around Kevin.

  Elly reengaged the safety and lowered the gun. She felt sick, and her hands shook. What if he was still alive? Oh God. There was no way she was going to be able to finish him off if he was still alive. “Is…is he dead? We should make sure.” Her voice sounded funny in her ears.

  “I’m pretty sure. His eyes are open, and he’s not moving or blinking.” He stepped to Elly’s side. “I don’t want to get too close to him to check, but you hit him right in the chest.”

  She handed him the gun and, numb, headed back to the boat.

  Tony had moved to the front of his boat and was standing on the seat, and leaning forward.

  Elly nodded to him. “You’re safe now.”

  Tony nodded. “Thank you.” But then he eyed Jake. “What about him?”

  Jake grinned. “I was just pretending to lure him away from you. We saw what was happening and decided we had to help.”

  “Not we…you. You were the one. I was ready to just lay low.”

  Jake’s grin faltered. “Are you mad at me?”