Ranger Martin and the Search for Paradise

by Jack Flacco

  * * *

  Sometime later in the early afternoon, Ranger spotted the Costavano Hotel off Sands Avenue in the middle of Las Vegas. As he and the kids had noticed before, the lights hadn’t darkened in that area. The slot machines still had the swirly signals pointing to them, the entrances still had the sound of recorded welcome messages greeting guests, and they hoped the air conditioning in the hotel was still working as usual. When he couldn’t see the undead anywhere in the area, Ranger pulled over next to a tourist stand where the day before the change, visitors would have bought maps to the attractions nearby. Cars with their doors open stood in the middle of the street, evidence the area had the drastic event of the apocalypse take place in their neighborhood.

  Once Ranger parked the truck and got out with Randy, the car trailing behind stopped several feet from the SUV. Jon couldn’t wait to get out of there. He led the others to Ranger with an enthusiastic sprint.

  “What are we doing here, Ranger?” Jon asked.

  “We’re staying her for the night.”

  “What’s so special about this place?”

  Ranger didn’t answer. He simply strolled to the entrance of the hotel holding his gun as insurance against the chewers who would dare take a chance against him and his friends.

  Sunglow soon joined Ranger, Randy and Jon while Matty and Silver followed last.

  “Are you sure your friend knows what he’s doing?” Silver whispered to Matty as he gazed at Ranger holding the door for the kids.

  “I trust him with my life.” Matty answered.

  After hearing those words, Silver relaxed his grip on his gun. He didn’t know any of the kids well and the question about trust was always on his mind, even though the zombie slayer had saved them from the parking lot near the donut shop, but had allowed the eaters to take Mark’s life. Matty may have trusted him, he thought, but he had yet to see any evidence that he himself ought to trust him.

  Once they entered the hotel, which also housed a huge casino on the ground floor, Ranger and the kids stared into the distance studying the floor and all its toys. Wads and wads of cash lay on the Blackjack, Roulette and Poker tables. Chips of every denomination, some in stacks, some thrown to the ground, filled the top of the velvet green tabletops. Red carpet covered every inch of the floor. Gold plated bannisters lead to the elevators near the back of the floor.

  Everyone’s eyes lit with surprise. It must have been the best place they’ve ever seen or been to in a long, long time. The anticipation of seeing more took away their fear that eventually a chewer would appear and remove them from their fantasy to bring them back to the reality of a world gone insane.

  Jon ran to one of the slot machines and admired its bright lights. He caressed the side of it as if his fingertips hadn’t felt anything like it. While the others looked on, he searched the floor. Back and forth, he panned the area until he found a few coins in another slot machine. He knew which one he wanted to try first. It had Egyptian hieroglyphics as symbols he had to match and the lever he had to pull was large and bulky. No matter, what he wanted to do was a one-time thing—or at least he thought. He slipped a coin into its slot and it made a clinking noise. Then he pulled the lever. The tumblers with the symbols rotated in all directions slowly to come to a halt with three Sphinx symbols hitting the display. A slight sound emanated from the machine to travel up and down a musical scale.

  “Hey,” Jon said, “I won! I won!”

  Ten coins in all crashed into the plate below making an awful noise in the distance. That was all it took. Three chewers appeared from one of the back doorways and raced toward the group.

  “Oh-oh,” Jon quickly took his winnings and ran into the group.

  “No guns.” Ranger said.

  Randy and Matty knew what that meant. They’d been through this before. They pulled their knives and created a front with Ranger leading the way while Matty stood on the right and Randy on the left. Sunglow and Silver took the rear, not knowing what to do. They had pulled their guns in view, but how long would it have been before they’d have to use them?

  The three eaters crashed through a hedge of plastic plants lining the bank of elevators stationed in the back of the hotel. They toppled over one another, crushing each other with the anticipation of catching their prey. Through the games table they crossed, seething and drooling from the mouth, dripping their juices on the carpet below.

  Within three feet, Ranger and the kids met the undead head on. Ranger took the first swipe, slashing the throat to one of the beasts then stabbing it in the forehead to spurt green. Randy came next, pounding his monster in the face. As it wobbled on its feet, he plunged his knife in the creature’s temple. It dropped into a pool of blood.

  Matty was last. Unlike the other two zombies, hers pushed her forward with its hands then clawed at her shirt. It had thrown her off-balance. When Randy stepped in to help, she said, “Don’t you dare.” She sliced through the bottom of the undead’s jaw to introduce her blade into its brain. It released her and shook as it collapsed to the floor.

  “We’ve got two more.” Ranger said, pointing at them as they dragged from a hallway on their right next to a bank of slot machines.

  Anger burned in Sunglow’s stomach as she saw the malevolent eaters head toward them. She wanted to prove herself to the group, so she looked around and found a plant by the entrance with a two-foot stick injected into the soil that held the plant upright. With both hands, she jerked it from the pot and strode to both of them without worrying they could have had her head by the end of the melee.

  In the meantime, Silver pushed Jon behind him and stood still while leveling his gun and aiming at one of them. Ranger, Matty and Randy, their hands covered in emerald goo, had seen Sunglow approaching the chewers with the stick that looked more like a baton, and couldn’t believe she, being all but fifteen, would dare take them on both by herself.

  It didn’t bother Sunglow, though. She twirled the stick in her right hand as if she had played the part of the cheerleader before. When one of the undead reached for her arm, she quickly smacked the belly muncher in the hand, jabbed it in the chest, and thrust her finger in one of its eyes, spewing green puss from the socket. Reeling in agony, it stepped back. But Sunglow wasn’t about to let it get away. She flipped the stick in her hand and stabbed it in the other eye spilling its life on the carpet. It fell as the second beast headed straight for her neck with extended arms. It didn’t make it very far, her hand formed a fist and it landed directly on the eater’s nose, crushing it, splashing jelly everywhere. The last thing the eater saw was Sunglow’s stick traveling at full speed into its skull. It died instantly and when she pulled her makeshift weapon from the putrid shell, it dropped to her feet as she stood over them like a victorious warrior.

  Randy gulped, not having seen anyone do what Sunglow had done before.

  Five bodies in all littered the floor, their blood trickling from their corpses and not a jitter found among them. When Ranger holstered his weapon, he approached Sunglow. “Why, I can’t believe what I saw if someone were to have said, ‘lookie here.’ Where did you learn how to do that?”

  “I had brothers who used to tease me.”

  “I would hate to see what you had done to them.”

  “They’re dead.” Sunglow said, remembering how Mark had died an hour earlier, in part because Ranger had wanted to grab a new pickup for himself.

  “Oh.” Ranger bent and wiped his hands on the shirt of one of the bodies. He wasn’t stupid. He got the passive aggressive message about Mark. He didn’t need a roadmap.

  Out of his simple thoughts, Jon said, “Thanks, Silver. Thanks for keeping me safe.”

  “Don’t mention it. Maybe one day you’ll save me.”

  Not wasting any more time, Ranger rose from the dead bodies, checked the doors and asked everyone to spread out. They needed to secure the area, but not without being smart about it. He asked everyone to move out in twos, bind the doors and meet back in the lobby wher
e they would find out the next part of his plan. Right now, no one had a clue. They only knew what he told them and nothing more.

  * * *

  Having secured all the doors to the hotel, and locking the windows so that nothing could get in or out, Ranger sauntered to the bar next to the gaming tables in the back where he sat on a stool and drank a can of soda he had found under the counter. The kids had broken up into groups. Matty and Silver sat on the carpeted steps near the elevators while Randy and Jon stood overlooking the gaming floor from a second floor balcony. Sunglow was walking toward Ranger, wondering what came next.

  When Sunglow sat on the empty stool next to him, Ranger was draining the last of the soda on the counter. He had placed his shotgun in front of him where he turned to the teen wondering what she wanted after giving him the cold shoulder.

  “Are you gonna tell us why we’re here?” Sunglow asked, opening a bag of nuts she had found in a bowl sitting on the counter.

  “This is where my wife and I spent the weekend before the change. We came here ‘cause we didn’t have a proper weddin’ of sorts. We wanted to be together before I went on the road again.”

  “What are you saying to me? That this is all some sort of nostalgic visit? That I’ve lost a friend of mine because you wanted to relieve a part of your life you’ll never get back?”

  Ranger stared at her from the mirror hanging behind the counter. “I’m sorry about Mark. I thought it would have been a good idea to trade that car you drive with a pickup so we could carry more supplies.”

  Sunglow also stared at him from the mirror, but she didn’t say anything.

  “It was never my intention for him to die. You see that, don’t you?”

  “He took care of me and Silver. We didn’t have to fight for what we found. We took it and that was that. It was only after we ran out of food that we went exploring and found the silo. At first, we thought someone had abandoned it. But after seeing how fresh supplies sat in the loading dock and the garbage in the waste bins hadn’t produced maggots, we knew our stay wasn’t permanent. We were expecting you.”

  “That accounts for not openin’ the gate to us at first. Why did you open that gate?”

  “I don’t know. I saw something in you that I didn’t see in a long time.”

  “What was that?”

  “Humanity.”

  While Silver and Matty shared a laugh, Jon watched his sister from the balcony. Randy stood next to him. They couldn’t avoid the sight of her as she had fun.

  “Don’t beat yourself up, Randy.” Jon said. “Matty’s gone through a lot with you. Don’t think she’ll forget you that easily.”

  “I’m not even thinking about it. She’s already told me where I stand.”

  Jon’s gaze drifted to the main floor window outside and noticed movement in the street. At first, he thought it as a bag or newspapers floating in the distance, but as he carefully examined it, he knew they had more on their hands to worry about. He whispered as best as he could, “Ranger. Hey, Ranger.”

  Ranger and the others lifted their heads to Jon.

  “We have company.”

  Grabbing his shotgun from the bar, Ranger walked toward the window where Jon said he’d seen movement. The afternoon sun hid behind the buildings and rendered the entrance to their hotel a cool shade. As he approached the window, he also saw movement.

  Randy and Jon ran down the staircase not knowing what it was. All they knew was that they had to see it and try to make sense of it. Matty and Silver followed soon after.

  The window overlooked the parking lot. It spanned the entire length of one side of the building. Ranger and the kids stood in a line against the window studying what Jon had seen. In this order, Ranger, Matty, Jon, Randy, Sunglow and Silver froze as they took in the sight and couldn’t believe their eyes. It was the first time in a long while anyone’s seen anything like it.

  It walked around wagging its tail. It didn’t bark, but the way its hair sat on its back, seemed as if the creature didn’t have anyone who had taken care of it in weeks. Its hair, matted. Its eyes drooped. The dog could have had a better life hadn’t it been for the change.

  Ranger walked to the entrance where the dog followed him from the other side of the window. He opened the door and knelt beside it. The canine hopped with its front paws to rest on Ranger’s leg. A smile penetrated his face as he ruffled its fur on its head with affection. Several minutes later, he rose and locked the dog safely from inside the building.

  The dog trotted on the carpet, bouncing and jumping on the kids, licking any of them who would pick it up. It was a small dog that should have had white hair, but looked brown because of scrounging around for food.

  “Here boy,” Matty said, then gave him a handful of cookies from her backpack. “There you go.”

  It dove into the food as if it hadn’t eaten in weeks. Within seconds, they were all gone and the canine was sniffing for more. It whined.

  “Aw, don’t worry. One more, okay?” Matty dug into her bag again and gave the dog another cookie. “That’s all I have.”

  It chewed the last of it then licked itself.

  Looking into her backpack, Matty’s face turned to worry. She had a couple of snack bars to keep her filled until the group went scavenging. Yet, if they didn’t find food soon, she’d have to make alternate arrangements. She wasn’t sure what those alternate arrangements were.

  “I think this is a good time as any to tell you why we’re here.” Ranger said.

  “We were wondering about that.” Silver said, and hopped his butt on one of the Blackjack tables to relax.

  “You mentioned this is where you and your wife spent a weekend before the change.” Sunglow said as she ran her fingers through her short blond hair, feeling the need to shower.

  “The map I have will take us through Yosemite. I figured we’d rest here for a couple of days before takin’ that trek across that area. I’ve been there before and it ain’t where you’d want to break down. Then we have the journey across to San Francisco to worry about, and by that time, I don’t know how many supplies we’ll have left.” Ranger pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes at the same time. “Yeah, this is where I’d spent some time with my wife. That’s my business.”

  “You’re kidding?” Silver said. “Sunglow, Mark and I followed you here. Mark’s not here anymore and you have the nerve to say it’s none of our business why we’re here? How about trying that again?”

  Ranger marched and got into Silver’s face. “Since when do you feel you have the privilege to ask me to do anythin’? I wasn’t the one who fried those soldiers on that fence back at the silo. If we had let ‘em be, we probably wouldn’t be here right now.”

  “We would have had to leave anyway, Ranger.” Jon said, pulling his hero’s sleeve hoping to stem Ranger’s anger. “You said that yourself. Remember?”

  “Yeah, I remember.” Ranger squinted with suspicion wondering what Silver would do next to make their trip all the more unpredictable.

  Chapter 8

  Late in the afternoon, when the group sat in the hotel restaurant finishing their meal, after they had ransacked the kitchen of all the gourmet ingredients leftover from the change, Ranger rose from the table and took a very large gulp from his very large mug. He wiped the canned tomato juice mustache from his face, and said, “We have a journey ahead of us and it won’t be easy. We’re on our way to a place called Paradise, which ain’t nothin’ more than gettin’ to San Francisco. But it’ll be enough for us to see if it’s true or not. I’m bettin’ it is.”

  Bodies of the undead littered the entrance to the restaurant. Before the group could have had a decent meal, they had to rid the place of those left behind from the change. The fight was a gruesome one. A dozen bodies in all laid in pieces on the beautiful red carpet. The group had torn through them, as would a hoe through a wheat field. The spray of green had hit the walls and floor.

  Under the table in the restaurant, as Ranger was
making his speech, all the kids’ shoes and pant legs had stains of zombie blood all over them. They hadn’t had a chance to clean the mess. The anticipation they felt when entering the restaurant had been so great that they neglected to look after their clothes before sitting for a meal together. Jon, whose feet dangled from the chair, had green stains under his shoes.

  “I’m also hopin’ by the time we get there we don’t have to fight through a legion of these belly suckers just so we’d feel safe again. Even if right now we’re feelin’ safe. This grand hotel is waitin’ for us to discover its mysteries, but I gotta tell ya, let’s not get too comfortable here. We don’t want to become complacent, victims of our own design.”

  Matty stared at her plate tracing the edge of it in disinterest.

  Ranger saw Matty’s bored look, then said, “Look, I’ve never been good with speeches. I think the last speech I made was at one of my cousins’ weddin’ and he later said I should never have gotten up.”

  Everyone laughed.

  “But I wanna be honest with ya. I think I owe you that.” He shuffled his feet and scratched his face of the stubble as he suddenly found his empty plate interesting. “I blame myself for those I’ve lost under my charge. I should have looked out for them. And I didn’t.”

  Matty raised her head and said, “Ranger, you don’t have to—”

  “Now listen, I ain’t one to hide behind my reasons for doin’ the things I do. I owe y’all an apology and that’s what I’m gonna do.”

  She nodded her head then looked at Jon who smiled at her, lending support.

  “We’ve got two vehicles outside. Now if anyone don’t want to follow me, then that’s okay. You can go right ahead, take the car out there and leave. Bygones be bygones. If you do decide to follow though, I promise you I’ll protect you and won’t let anythin’ happen to you. You have my word as the peaceable man I am. I just want y’all safe. Nothing else.”