Fall of Houston Series | Book 2 | No Other Choice

by Payne, T. L.

  “Nope. We would have heard them,” Jaz said.

  “All these are locked up tight. I have the keys,” Gus said.

  Isabella threw her head back and looked down her nose. “Then, I have no idea. And after the ass he made of himself yesterday, I don’t care.”

  Will couldn’t say he was exactly sorry to see Kevin and the band leave though it was selfish, he knew.

  “Can we go now?” Isabella said, walking past Will.

  She didn’t look all that upset. Maybe she was glad they were gone as well.

  “You sure we should leave with those two across the hall?” Will whispered. He didn’t know why, but he’d somehow felt better about them staying there when he’d thought the band was there to watch them. That made no sense now that he thought about it. But not much did these days. He was tired and stressed. He couldn’t rely on his spidey sense in these unprecedented times. No one was acting normal. Whatever the hell normal was, anyway.

  “I asked Hector to come to sit with Jaz and keep an eye on our place,” Gus said.

  “You’re concerned about that couple we found at Mr. Hernandez’s apartment yesterday?” Isabella asked, rubbing her temples. “Did they do something?”

  “No. We just don’t know them,” Gus said.

  Isabella nodded. “I get that.” She started to turn and wobbled. Will caught her arm to steady her.

  “Are you feeling all right?” Will asked.

  She looked flushed. She’d been through quite a lot, physically and emotionally, and had never received medical attention for the injuries she’d suffered in the car wreck. They weren’t eating and drinking properly, and the stress was hard on the body.

  Will touched her forehead with the back of his hand. “You're burning up.”

  “What?” Jaz said, backing away from her. “I don’t want it, whatever it is. I got a bun baking in here.” She rubbed her stomach. “I can’t get sick.”

  She didn’t look pregnant to Will, but Melanie hadn’t looked like she’d been expecting almost until she’d given birth to Cayden.

  “Let me see your arm,” Will said. “Your burns could be infected.”

  “They’re fine. I put antibiotic cream on them this morning and I’ve been keeping them covered,” she protested but gave Will her hand anyway. He peeled back the bandage. It looked nasty, but the smell was what told him it was infected.

  “What about cuts or scrapes to your legs or feet? If you have open wounds, this nasty water could make you really sick,” Will said.

  “No. I inspected myself when I cleaned up last night. My clothes were still dry under the trash bags.”

  “Do you feel nauseated?” Will asked.

  “Maybe a little.”

  “I think you should stay here. Let the others go check out the grocery store,” Jaz said through the T-shirt covering her mouth and nose.

  “She’s right. Stay here. Get some rest. I’m going to see if I can find some antibiotics.” Will leaned close and whispered, “Ask Cayden to stay with you, please.”

  Isabella smiled.

  “Cayden, your dad would like for you to stay and babysit me. Would you mind?”

  Will sighed heavily and looked at Cayden.

  Cayden smiled and bobbed his head.

  “Lock the door, Cayden. Don’t let anyone in—not even Kevin—not until I get back,” Will said. He placed his hand on Isabella’s shoulder. “You okay with that. After last night, I kinda don’t want my son caught in the middle of round two.”

  “He’s not coming back. Even if he does, I am not opening the door,” Isabella said.

  “I imagine he has a key. Better slide the door chain over,” Will said.

  “I will, Dad,” Isabella said, smiling as they turned to head up the stairs.

  Cayden rushed to her side and ran his hand around her waist. Will watched them climb to the third-floor landing, where they disappeared from view. He listened for the door to open and close. A second later, Cayden came to the window and called down. “It’s all locked up tight.”

  “We’ll be back soon,” Will said.

  He didn’t like this situation one bit. If they didn’t need supplies for the road trip and antibiotics for Isabella, there’d be no way he'd leave Cayden behind. But somehow, he believed that Isabella would watch out for his son. He kept telling himself that it was just a quick run to the grocery store. He’d get in, get what they needed, and get back. After that, they’d get on the road out of town.

  “Do you have a weapon of some type?” Will asked.

  Gus held up a baseball bat.

  “What the hell are you going to do with that, old man,” said a male voice behind Will.

  Will spun around. Two twenty-something men approached them.

  “I asked Javier and Rudy to come. They live in that building there.” Gus pointed to one of the apartment buildings across the small courtyard. “They know how to handle themselves.”

  Will wasn’t sure, but if Gus was willing to trust them, what choice did he have? This was important. After this, he could very well have everything he and Cayden would need to make it to his sister’s. He wanted to be ready to go the minute the water receded enough to travel.

  “All right. Let’s do this then,” Will said.

  Six

  Will

  Day Six

  The doors to the large chain grocery store were broken, as were all the windows. The awning above the door had been shredded by the hurricane-force winds, and a tree branch protruded through one of them. Packaged foods were floating on the surface of a foot and a half of water.

  Gus went in first, followed by Rudy and then Will, while Javier stood outside, watching for anyone approaching. As soon as Gus flicked on the flashlight, Will knew anything that wasn’t inside a can or a jar would be ruined. Rudy rushed past the checkout and disappeared.

  Gus pushed aside a cardboard display and turned to his left toward the canned foods aisle.

  “I think we should stick together, just in case we run into trouble,” Will said.

  “I got your back, bro,” Gus said.

  Will pushed aside the floating debris in front of him and grabbed a shopping cart. “Good to know.”

  They filled Will’s cart full of soups and stews and then stocked Gus’s cart full of peanut butter, jelly, tuna, and canned fruit. There was no bottled water or sports drinks, but there was plenty of juice. Will pulled several cases of juice box drinks from the top shelf. Those would be good for travel. He needed beef jerky, nuts, energy bars, anything with a lot of calories that was lightweight and would sustain them for several days.

  Will and Gus were searching for batteries when they heard voices. From the sound of it, there were at least three males. Gus immediately headed toward them.

  “What is it?” Will asked.

  “Rudy. He’s arguing with some dudes.”

  Will pulled his pistol and stepped out behind Gus. He glanced back at their shopping baskets. There was nothing in that store worth dying for, but he’d agreed they’d have each other’s backs. He’d expect Gus to come to his aid if he needed him. He just hoped he wouldn’t be dealing with a whole neighborhood of people and that they could talk their way out of the situation without exchanging bullets.

  As soon as Will rounded the aisle, he saw Rudy standing toe-to-toe with three young Hispanic males.

  “We were here first. You need to get your punk-ass outta here,” the shorter of the three said. The kid, no more than five feet three inches tall and less than one hundred forty pounds, with thick, curly black hair, stood at the end of the aisle with his chest puffed out.

  Rudy had his hand on his waistband. Will knew this wasn’t going to end well. He scanned the store for others that might be with the kids. He needed to know how many of them he would have to fight to get out of there.

  “Ain’t no five-o coming here to save your bitch ass,” the kid said.

  Gus stepped forward. “Bro, there’s more than enough here for everyone. There’
s no need for any of that.” He walked toward them.

  The kid took a step back and relaxed his shoulders slightly. The two with him turned and ran.

  “Miquel? What the hell are you doing?” Gus asked the kid.

  “Same as you, old man,” the kid said.

  “Old? I got your old man right here,” Gus said, grabbing his crotch.

  Rudy pointed to the kid. “You know this dude?”

  “Yeah. He’s my homeboy’s nephew,” Gus said.

  “Is Daniel here with you?” he asked the kid.

  “Nah. Daniel got shot yesterday. Didn’t you hear?”

  “How the hell was I supposed to hear? The phones are out,” Gus said.

  “Nobody came to tell you?”

  “No. What happened?”

  “Some bitch-ass Asian dudes jumped him over near the Gulf Freeway last night. We were at home and Daniel came running in saying someone was planning to blow up the interchange.”

  “Wait? What?” Will asked

  “Do you need hearing aids, pops? I said someone was attempting to blow up the freeway.” The kid turned his back to Will and continued. “Anyway, Daniel and a bunch of us went to check it out. Those dudes shot first. They had AKs and shit. Daniel wasn’t the only one hit. Those Asian dudes took out five of our guys.”

  “What the hell are they doing over here?” Rudy asked.

  “Don’t know, man,” the kid said.

  “Did they succeed? Did they blow up the freeway?” Will asked.

  The kid looked over his shoulder. “Did you not hear those explosions last night?”

  Will had. He’d hoped it was another one of the refineries or something. It had to be the people from the list Kim stole.

  Without a word, Will turned and walked back to where he’d left the shopping cart. He could no longer wait for the floodwater to recede. He needed to get Cayden and get out of town today before the insurgents could trap them in the city.

  As he pushed the cart through the debris-filled water heading for the door, a shot rang out in the parking lot. Javier, the kid that had remained outside to keep watch, was crouched behind an overturned sedan. To his left were two soldiers. They were returning fire at someone out of Will’s view. A round hit the building just to the right of the door, sending Will scrambling for cover behind a display of rental carpet cleaning machines. Will bumped his head hard on the metal shelving, the pain of the impact causing him to see stars. He shook it off as he ran in a crouch toward the back of the store in search of an exit. Will heard Gus and Rudy yelling Miguel’s name. A second later, Rudy ran by.

  “What happened? Is Gus all right?” Will asked.

  “The kid. He’s been shot,” Rudy said before disappearing through the front doors.

  “Wait, Rudy,” was all Will got out. He didn’t wait around to see if Rudy got mowed down by whoever was fighting outside. He ran back to where he’d left Gus.

  “Gus!” Will yelled.

  Gus appeared in the aisle. “Help me, Will,” he called out.

  “What the hell happened?” Will asked.

  “Two of the Asian dudes ran up on us. They shot Miquel. I need to get him home.”

  “Where are they now? Are they still in the store?” Will asked.

  “I don't know. They ran off.”

  Will began unstrapping his body armor.

  “What are you doing? Grab his arm and help me,” Gus said.

  “We need to apply pressure to his wound or he’s going to bleed out,” Will said, pulling his T-shirt over his head and stuffing it into the wound in the boy’s abdomen. He held it tight as he slid an arm around the kid’s waist. “Some dudes are shooting out in the parking lot. They’re probably with the ones that shot the kid. It’s not safe to leave out that way.”

  “I have to get him home to his family. I need you to help me,” Gus said. He sounded desperate. Will glanced down at his hands pressed against the boy’s abdomen. By the looks of things, there was no way this kid was going to make it. Going out there would be a suicide mission.

  Gus shoved his arms under the kid’s shoulders and legs and picked him up.

  “Gus, wait,” Will said.

  “I’m taking the kid home. You do what you want.”

  The front of the store exploded with gunfire. The battle was now inside the store. Any moment, it could be him bleeding out on the floor.

  “All right, let’s hurry out the back. I sure hope no one is waiting to ambush us,” Will said, and he picked up his body armor and slung it over his shoulder.

  As they stepped through the loading bay door, three guys ran up. Will pulled his arm back and went for his pistol, but Gus shook his head. “It’s okay, I know them.”

  “What the hell? Did you shoot Miquel?” one of the men asked as they approached.

  “No. Shut up and help me carry him home,” Gus said as he and Will headed toward the road.

  “Over here. Put him in my ride,” the tall skinny kid said, pointing to an older model four-door Chevy.

  Someone opened the car door, and Gus slid into the back seat first. Will did his best to keep the pressure applied to the wound as two of the kid’s friends lifted him into the back seat and placed his head in Gus’s lap. Will crawled in, and in seconds they were tearing out of the parking lot as fast as the vehicle could go in a foot and a half of water.

  The Chevy stopped outside a rundown two-story house several blocks from the store. The neighborhood was filled with brightly painted homes and narrow streets. The front door of the house flew open as they pulled into the drive and a middle-aged woman wearing shorts and a spaghetti strap tank ran toward the car.

  “My baby! My baby!” the woman cried as she yanked open the car door.

  As they rushed Miquel inside, Will stood on the walkway shirtless. He stared down at his blood-soaked hands. He knew the kid wouldn’t make it. Not with the amount of blood he’d lost. Another family would be grieving a senseless death that night. As a father, Will knew they were going to be living every parent’s worst nightmare.

  Will was rinsing the blood off in the floodwater when several young men stormed out of the house, rifles in hand. Will raised his hands in the air but they ran past him like he wasn’t there. He exhaled and turned to watch them go. Miquel’s relatives were going after the guys who’d shot him. They wanted blood, but they had no idea what they’d be walking into.

  Will turned in a circle. He needed to get back to Isabella’s apartment, but he had no idea where he was. He walked out into the middle of the street, trying to recall which way they’d come. After settling on a direction, he turned to his left and stepped between two abandoned cars.

  “Will,” Gus called out. “Wait up.”

  The shirt Gus was wearing was soaked in the kid’s blood. He looked like he’d aged ten years in the last twenty minutes.

  “How’s the kid?” Will asked as Gus caught up to him.

  Gus shook his head. “Died in his mother’s arms. Thanks for helping me get him home.”

  “What really happened back there in the store? Why did Rudy run?

  “Rudy’s brother is in a rival crew. He knew he’d be blamed.”

  “But the Asian dudes shot Miquel. Do you think this relates to what happened to your friend on the interchange? I saw the military out in front of the store. I think we were just caught in the middle of their battle.”

  “Maybe. I overheard one of Miquel’s cousins say they took something from them. I guess they wanted it back.”

  The last thing he needed was to get caught in some war between the kid’s family, the military, and the insurgents.

  “Our block is mostly college students and elderly folks. I hope that shit doesn’t spill over to our complex,” Gus said. “We’ll try to stay out of it if it does.”

  “Let’s hope that doesn’t happen,” Will said. That sealed Will’s resolve to not wait for the water to go down to leave. Cayden had been through enough, and Will wasn’t about to wait around and let them get trappe
d inside some battle that had nothing to do with them. Isabella’s face flashed before him. She was sick. They’d run into the kid before he’d had a chance to find her medicine. He couldn’t leave her sick and defenseless. Especially now, with this new threat.

  “Where’s the nearest pharmacy?” Will asked.

  “There’s one on the corner near the grocery store, but they hit that place before the storm came in. I doubt you’ll find anything left in there.”

  “Isabella needs an antibiotic. I doubt that druggies took those. I need to have a look, at least,” Will said.

  Gus washed his hands in the floodwater and dried them on his jeans. “Okay. Let’s go in the opposite direction to the fighting.”

  “Lead the way,” Will said.

  Will was surprised at how exhausted he was after only walking a few blocks in the knee-deep water. He tried not to think about all the cancer-causing chemicals soaking into his skin, not to mention the bacteria, E.coli, and everything else.

  They stood outside the pharmacy staring at the busted windows and door. The store was on a slight incline and the water in the parking lot wasn’t as deep. Will was hopeful that maybe inside the store was dry.

  “They probably only took the good stuff,” Gus said, stepping through the entrance.

  “Let’s hope they could read then,” Will said.

  The water inside was only ankle deep, but he could tell that it had made it to the top of the checkout counter, meaning any second shelf items would be ruined. Will grabbed a handbasket nearby and pushed through the debris on the floor. A display case full of cell phone cases floated by as they made their way back to where the prescription medication should be. Will wondered if they’d ever see working cell phones again.

  He’d never been tethered to them like a lot of people and hadn’t cared for social media or gaming apps. He did like streaming music though. It had been odd that the only music he’d heard in days was the live tunes from Kevin’s band. Will perused the debris, looking for anything that Cayden or Isabella might need. Most everything was ruined by the putrid water, but the sunscreen and bug spray on the top shelf was still good. Will threw some in his basket and followed Gus to the medicine aisle.