Ranger Martin and the Search for Paradise

by Jack Flacco

  Eyes darted back and forth among the kids sitting at the table. Somehow, they all thought they had to answer Ranger’s call to action. They did. Sunglow stood on her feet first and raised her glass, “I’m with you, Ranger.”

  Almost at the same time, Matty and Jon rose with their drinks in their hands, looked at each other and said, “We’re in.”

  Randy was next. “I’m in, too.”

  Feeling everyone’s eyes on him, Silver squirmed in his seat. He grabbed his glass and sipped it. He wondered if he could crawl under the table and hide. He wouldn’t have such luck. He shook his head, rose from his chair, and said, “Oh, all right. I’m in.”

  Without planning, everyone let off a, “Yeah!”

  “On one condition.” Silver said then gazed at his glass. “That I can call dibs on the last of the peach juice. Damn, this is good!”

  They all laughed. At once, they nodded to one another, patted each other’s backs, and thought the same thing. They were now a team.

  As the glasses clinked and everyone exchanged words with plenty of laughter and smiles, Randy leaned over to Matty and whispered. When he had finished, he waited for her reaction. He didn’t have to wait long. She raised her eyebrows then smiled.

  * * *

  The violet rays of the Nevada sunset flooded Las Vegas with warmth. Many of the lights along the strip still functioned and many of the local hotels still looked as if people would have been carousing inside at the gaming tables. Emptiness though, packed the buildings.

  High above, inside the Costavano Hotel Ranger and the kids had secured, the filters replenished the water of the pool. A door opened, creaking ever so slightly as guns peeked through the crack. When no other sounds greeted them, Randy pushed the door all the way. Matty followed him inside and he closed the door behind them.

  “You’re crazy, Randy.” Matty let the gun fall to her side as she examined the pool area.

  The sunset painted the room with color. Orange filled the interior rendering it warm for the teens. As they strolled along the edge of the water, they enjoyed the view from the window. On the left and right of the pool, windows separated the area leading to the workout rooms, but the larger window showed off Las Vegas in its full glory.

  “Why are we here?” Matty asked.

  “I was hoping I could talk to you without anyone else around.” He said, staring out the window into the vast, sun-soaked city.

  “You have me now. I don’t think there’s anyone here stopping you from saying what’s on your mind.”

  Now, Randy had a flower hidden in his back pocket and was careful Matty wouldn’t see it. He had inserted it by the stem and had allowed the flower’s pedals to flatten and dry so as he could give the keepsake to Matty at the right moment. He thought if any time was the right moment it would have been when they finally were alone. As they stared out into the distance of the Las Vegas nightlife, watching the lights come to life as the sunset slowly disappeared into the night, Randy pulled the flower from his back pocket and waited until he made eye contact to give it to her.

  “If this has anything to do with you and me, Randy, I don’t think there isn’t anything left to say. You know I have feelings for you, but now’s not the time to get involved. You know that.”

  “I thought I could change your mind. I brought you here thinking that if you knew how I really felt it would make things right. You know I don’t want anything happening to you, right? I’m just—”

  “Look, Randy. If this whole undead thing were to go away then yeah, sure, I think we’d have a chance. Not a day goes by that I don’t think of you. You’re always in my thoughts. But, not now. We can’t get together. I’m not ready for that. Not yet, anyway. I mean, you don’t know how many times you run through my head. I’m really being honest here. My problem is I would hate myself if anything were to happen to either one of us and left the other alone.”

  “All your reasons don’t make sense to me, Matty. On one hand, you’re saying you want to spend your life with me and on the other hand, you don’t want to break my heart. I’m not asking for a commitment. I’m asking that we’d open ourselves up and tell each other our real feelings. That’s all. That we be honest with each other.”

  “I can’t. You have to respect that. If it were a different lifetime, yes. Not now. Don’t you understand?”

  “No. I don’t understand. We’ve been through a lot, you and me, and we’ve saved each other so many times. It drives me crazy to see you with Silver to—”

  “Wait. Is this what this is all about? That you think I’m falling for Silver?”

  “It’s crossed my mind.”

  “You’re wrong. Totally wrong. He means nothing to me. I’ll admit, we’ve had words, but nothing in me says he’s someone I’d like to spend time with more than you. You see that, don’t you?”

  “I’m trying.” Randy slowly slipped the flower he had for Matty back into his pocket.

  “There’s no one else. No one.”

  “Then if there’s no one else, why can’t we be more than friends.”

  “My God, Randy!” Matty pulled away from the window and walked toward the edge of the pool. The reflection in the water from the light above reflected the timelessness in the room.

  “What’s wrong with what I said? We both like each other. We have the same ideas with how we’d like to see how our lives go, and there’s nothing in the world that ought to prevent us from being ourselves to one another. Is that so bad a thing to want?”

  “Yes. It is.”

  “Why? Why?” Randy threw his hands in the air in exasperation then marched to the edge of the pool to be with her. “I don’t get it. I really don’t get it at all.”

  “Don’t you see?”

  “No, I don’t.”

  “If we open up to how we really feel for one another, we’d think of nothing else. And because of that, we wouldn’t know what to do if one of us were gone. I can’t handle that.”

  “But you’re saying that as if it has already happened. You’re not even giving us a chance.”

  “I can’t give us a chance. Respect that. I can’t bear to deal with the feelings of losing you if we were closer than we are now.”

  “That doesn’t even make any sense to me. You’re making it sound like we’re not even friends. Is that what you’re saying? That we’re not friends?”

  “Maybe that’s something we need to do. Maybe we need to stay away from each other in order for us to remain focused with everything else going on.”

  Randy left Matty by the edge of the pool and walked back to the large window overlooking the city. He drew comfort from seeing the outline of the other hotels in the distance. Somewhere out there, he thought, he’d find peace.

  Matty drifted next to him, and said. “Randy?”

  But Randy didn’t answer.

  “I’m sorry. I’m sorry for having said that to you. I didn’t mean it.”

  “You meant it. I saw it in your eyes. You meant it.”

  “I didn’t mean for it to come out the way it did.”

  Again, he stayed quiet.

  “You know that, right?”

  It took some time before Randy answered. When he did, he turned to her wanting to make sure she understood. He said, “You’re right.”

  Matty took a step back not knowing what he meant. Was she right about not meaning what she said or was she right about something else?

  “Perhaps we shouldn’t be friends in order for us to remain friends.”

  What was he talking about? She didn’t mean what she said. She said she was sorry.

  “You’re right. I was fooling myself to think we could have been more than friends, that we could have grown old and have a family together.” He took a step toward her, “You don’t have to worry about me. I’ll never say those three little words that keep flooding my brain. I’ll stay out of your way, and I’ll make sure to never again attempt to make this friendship work.”

  “Randy—”


  “What is it? What did you want to say to me that you haven’t already said?”

  Matty stared at her feet.

  He walked away from her until his conscience tugged him back. He gently pulled the flower from his pocket he kept preserved and gave it to her. “This is for you. Do what you want with it. Maybe one day you’ll realize what happened today and you’ll finally come to understand my feelings for you. Until then, I won’t bother you ever again.”

  Matty stared at him as if she was waiting for more words to pass between them, but the words of reconciliation she longed for never came. She thought whatever she would say Randy wouldn’t listen. He wouldn’t listen because he had shut down. For that, she didn’t know what to do. They had fought before, but never like this. She thought he had never spoken to her the way he did that evening. She received his words as if they were bricks—solid and unbreakable. At the same time, she couldn’t shake the darkness that had surrounded her. She took the blame for it. She could have allowed Randy into her heart, but if she did, she would have regretted losing herself to him. Matty had to stay true to herself until they reached Paradise. Then and only then, in the safety of the city, would she allow him into her heart.

  Randy’s face drained to a pale white as he peered over Matty’s shoulder to the window of the workout room. The pool area went quiet and the sound of a tap filled the room. Another tap caused Matty to turn toward the sound. A chewer was smacking its head on the other side of the glass. It soaked the pane with its drool while pressing its skull on the surface. Again, it hit the glass with its rotten face and screeched at the teen. Eaters roaming the floor drew into the workout room joining the first. The crowd grew. Two, four, seven, a dozen. All of them smacked their heads on the surface of the glass.

  Matty then turned her head to look over Randy’s shoulder to the other workout room and the glass separating them. More eaters, thin from famine, drawn in death, they pounded the window alerting others to come get their meal. They had found sustenance and weren’t about to let their victims escape.

  Then, more pounding occurred, this time from the other side of the door where the teens had entered the pool area. They couldn’t believe their ears. The room began to jostle. The door began to shake, twist and move at the pounding from the other side. Realization seeped into the teens’ heads that the undead had them surrounded and they had nowhere to go but to fight.

  When the door blew open with an invading zombie crowd screaming, at the same time, the windows shattered from both sides of the room. Eaters climbed through the openings and Randy had already decided how to handle the situation. He pulled his knife, left Matty behind and sprinted along the edge of the pool. The first of the zombies took the brunt of his blade when he poked and slashed his way through the crowd. Randy didn’t hold anything back. He had a secret weapon that not even Matty knew he had. His insides boiled in anger from her rejection and he didn’t care what happened to him. He needed to vent in the most brutal and inhumane way he could—ripping apart the undead as they would have ripped him apart.

  The crowd from the door had little room to maneuver since the edge of the pool was in the way. Randy took advantage of the small path and waited for them. The ones that made it through had hunger dripping from their eyes as they dragged their way to the boy.

  Matty couldn’t believe what was happening. She couldn’t believe Randy had taken them all on without worrying of dying. She knew then he didn’t care anymore. She couldn’t do anything anyway. From her side, chairs, pool supplies and tables block the undead from getting to her. As long as she stood behind Randy, she was safe.

  Green blood sprayed on the broken glass from the workout room and the door leading to the corridor. Heads rolled. Arms fell. Eyes rolled into the pool, plucked from their sockets by the kid with the attitude and willingness to take one undead life after another. Randy slashed, jabbed, cut, splattered and poked his way through the horde. He hadn’t used his gun and the crowd began to dwindle as he pressed toward the center of the melee.

  As his knife slammed into the top of one of the undead, the crowd behind Matty got thicker, tossing the tables and chairs that had blocked their way. The zombies would never surrender for a chance to eat another human for their pleasure.

  Despite Randy having killed every single one of the undead that had crawled over the windows of the workout room, more of the chewer army spilled into the area from the corridors.

  When the crowd behind Matty grew heavy and she had pulled her gun to end the fight in her own way, Randy wrapped his arm around her waist and threw her in the pool. Water splashed everywhere as she hit the surface and sank to the bottom only to rise soon after to tread water.

  From both sides of the room the zombies had dragged toward the teen. He saved Matty, but now he needed to save himself. His anger still burned hot in his gut, as his knife did not cease to penetrate the skulls of the undead.

  “Randy! Save yourself!” Matty screamed from the center of the pool.

  Randy holstered his knife and right when the zombies had stretched their arms to grab a hold of the young man, he dove into the pool to be with Matty. Once he floated to the surface, he kept his gaze fixed on the crowd that had surrounded the waters.

  The kids floated for some time looking at the zombies, their rotting faces, their lustful eyes, wondering what they’d do next. As the kids floated next to each other, Randy didn’t look at Matty once, but Matty couldn’t help but gaze at Randy. He had save her life and she knew she’d do anything to save his. She hadn’t a clue as to what the crowd thought or wanted to do next. She continued to tread water in hopes they’d go away.

  Randy knew better, though. The zombies were like sharks circling their victim before going in for the kill. He was waiting for them with his knife in his hand and a scowl on his face that would have frightened even the worst of killers.

  The first of the undead fell into the pool. Then a second. Then a third, fourth and fifth. Everywhere the teens looked, the undead dropped from the sides. The longer they treaded water, the more had fallen in until fear gripped Randy and Matty’s faces. The teens splashed about on the surface not falling victim to the chewers that had dove into the water with them.

  Then something wonderful happened to the zombies as they dropped into the pool. Unlike what the kids thought would happen, the undead sank to the bottom. Their rotting corpses walked the deep from side to side never posing a threat after all. As the pool filled with bodies, Matty noticed the zombies’ reach underwater was short. The kids began to laugh thinking how ridiculous a place they found themselves.

  Within seconds of that realization, Randy had an idea. He began to splash, to scream, to holler his way to the chewers left on the edge of the pool. He tried his best to entice the remaining corpses to join their undead brothers and sisters in the pool.

  It didn’t take long at all. The last of the undead soon dropped into the pool, and like their friends, sank to the bottom. They had extended their hands, but they couldn’t reach the kids. Apart from a few that had stayed behind, all the undead had fallen into the water with no chance of ever getting out.

  Randy swam to the edge opposite to where the remaining undead followed him. He drew himself from the water, then, dripping wet, he marched to the two zombies heading for him. His knife didn’t see rest. He slashed one in the throat and threw it in the water. He punctured the last in the mouth then slammed it on the ground. Randy wanted more. He threw himself on top of it, knees to its chest and went crazy stabbing the undead. Green blood doused the wall and floor nearby.

  As Matty withdrew from the water, a fright took hold of her seeing Randy. She had never seen him that way. As the water dripped from her face, she gulped with fear.

  Chapter 9

  Two cards drifted across the green felt gaming table and hit Silver’s spot. Another two cards went to Jon. Sunglow dealt her own hand opposite the players holding all the chips and leading the others to make their bets in a friendly game of Blackja
ck.

  Meanwhile, across the aisle, behind the kids, Ranger took his time reviewing the map lying on the bar. He traced multiple routes in and out of the San Francisco area to familiarize himself with the layout.

  Back at the table, Silver leaned over and saw that Jon held a jack in his hand. He didn’t know what the kid held as the covered card though. Silver had an eight. He said, “What you want to do is stand on seventeen. The odds will play against you if you decide to go beyond that.”

  Jon glanced at his covered card and asked Sunglow for another.

  “Right.” Silver said. “But instead of asking for another card you say, ‘hit me.’ If you’re happy with what you’ve got, you say, ‘I stand.’ Got it? You have to get to twenty one without going over.”

  When Sunglow passed him a two, Jon said, “I stand.”

  Silver scratched his head spotted the two and the jack on the table and saw the seven Sunglow held for her hand. Dealer has to stand on seventeen, he thought. He said, “I stand.”

  On the table, Silver had an eight, Jon had a jack and a two, and Sunglow had a seven. Silver studied the cards, then thought Jon could have gone bust although the kid might not have known it. As for Sunglow, he thought if she had a ten or a face card, he had a chance in beating her. He decided to take his chances and flipped his card revealing a king. There, he thought, he had an eight and a king, he’d win for sure with eighteen. Sunglow tossed her card over and revealed a ten, just as Silver had suspected—seventeen for her. He was winning. Next came Jon’s turn. He revealed his card on the table and showed a seven. Silver counted the cards quickly, a jack, a two and a seven. Silver groaned.

  Jon had nineteen. Jon won. The boy beat his fists in the air, then reached over and collected the pot in the center of the table. He said, “That was fun. That’s two million dollars for me.”

  “Don’t spend it all in one place.” Silver said.

  “Oh, I won’t.”

  “What are you going to do with all that money?” Silver asked, even though he knew money was worthless. It didn’t stop anyone from dreaming.