by Hunt, Jack
Tommy was dead.
“Gunnar,” Brooke cried, her voice a mixture of shock and fear.
He cast a glance to see her clutching Callie.
Gunnar burst into a sprint, setting his handgun back in its holster just as he arrived and looked down. He dropped to a knee and noticed the gushing wound. She was struggling to breathe. The round Butch had managed to fire had caught her in the chest. “My boy. Tommy. Is he okay?”
He stared her square in the eyes, knowing she was about to die. Gunnar slowly nodded.
Callie clutched his hand. “Look after him. Please, Gunnar. Look after him.”
“I promise,” he said.
Arianna came up behind him just as Callie took her last breath.
All three of them looked on in shock.
Roughly forty minutes later, Gunnar rose, his clothes covered in dirt. He stood beside two shallow graves, wishing he didn’t have to be the one to bury them.
“The kid didn’t even get a chance to live.” He shook his head, tired of the suffering and death. It never stopped. But this one shouldn’t have happened. They were Americans. The same nation. He wiped a wet bloody hand across his cheek.
“At least she didn’t die thinking he suffered.”
He nodded.
“They’re together now. Free of this hell,” Brooke said, turning and heading back to the hotel.
“Brooke. We’re not staying.”
“I know. I just want to grab a few things,”
As she disappeared into the hotel, Gunnar glanced at Arianna.
“Thank you,” she said.
“For what?”
“You know.”
He shrugged. “Figured you’d do the same for me.” Gunnar tossed down a shovel he’d found in the maintenance room of the hotel and picked up his rifle. Although it felt like they needed to stay longer, say more, give space for those who’d died, they couldn’t linger. There was no telling who had heard the gunfire or who else was out there.
“Where now?” She asked.
“Eugene. The farm. We’ll keep moving. It will be daylight soon. We need to be gone from here by then. More troops will be out looking to mop up the remaining militia. We need to be far away from here.”
Brooke emerged, holding a handgun, wearing the jacket of one of the dead. She handed Gunnar’s jacket back. “Thank you, I won’t be needing it anymore.”
19
Raj had sold out Darius for a piece of property in the south of Branson. Fall Creek Marina was a beautiful, quiet spot on the upper end of Lake Taneycomo, not far from the Table Rock Dam. It was touted at one time as offering some of the best trout fishing in the country. But to Raj, it smelled of opportunity. Although Eric was young, and wet behind the ears when it came to survival, he’d kept his ear to the ground, heard the rumors and it didn’t take long to learn what Raj had gained for helping the PLA.
It wasn’t like it was a mystery. Offers of going up in the world, being given more rations, better homes, better treatment, was talk in all the towns. It was this manipulative approach that had reeled in many. It was exactly what Gunnar had spoken about — the lack of trust destroying America’s chance of rising. The irony was the Chinese were simply handing back what already belonged to Americans in the first place.
Homes.
Property.
Food.
It was a joke but many were willing to shed loyalty for upper-class living.
The marina was less than ten minutes away, south, a clear shot through the neighborhood they were already in. A thick forest butted up against Fall Creek Drive, offering them a better look at the facilities and the dock.
Eric pointed to the apartment block on Anglers Pointe.
“He owns them all. They kicked out the previous owners.” Eric gave them the number of the apartment and told them he needed to go home. His parents would return soon and he had to be there.
Snow was hesitant to release him and said it was probably best they kept him nearby. With the risk of others turning coat, they couldn’t take another chance.
So, in the early hours of the morning, the seven of them approached the apartments, two going around back to ensure Raj didn’t escape, while Miles, Snow, Lucius, and Scarlett went up to the door with Eric. “You sure this is it, kid?” Snow asked.
He nodded. After trying the handle and finding it locked, Snow told them to stand back. He was about to slam his foot against the door when Miles told him to wait. Chances were he would have anticipated some kind of retribution. “Hold on a second,” he said. He went out to the second-floor balcony through a set of doors and peered through the window. The bedroom was empty. There was no one in there. He returned. “He’s not there.”
They turned to Eric and he shrugged. “I don’t know. I was told it was here.”
“By who?”
“A friend who knows Raj.”
Miles frowned then turned to the others. “Check all the windows.”
“You don’t think he’s here?” Scarlett asked.
“If this was you and you were given keys to two apartment blocks and you fear retaliation, would you stay in the same bed every night?”
“He doesn’t fear retaliation,” Lucius said. “He’s in an enclosed city with collaborators and PLA patrolling at all hours. What does he have to fear?”
“You seen the PLA?” Miles asked, cutting him a glance.
All of them looked around.
Regardless, they dispersed and went to each of the windows and peered in. Many of them had the blinds down except for a couple, one of which Eric had mentioned. It was a toss-up. They could go kicking down all of the doors but that was liable to cause a racket and if they didn’t get the one that Raj was in, well, he could escape or hide before they even found that weasel.
“I think I’ve found him,” Lucius said, pointing to a lower apartment.
They made their way over and peered through. The bed had someone in it, or maybe it was meant to look like that. A ruse. They couldn’t see clearly enough. It was nothing but a mound and that was with shining a flashlight through the window.
“So?” Snow asked.
“Let’s just bust the door down,” Lucius said.
“I don’t feel good about this,” Miles countered looking at Eric. “Something’s wrong.” Miles stepped away from the building, his eyes roaming.
Lucius groaned. “Let me guess, your Spidey senses are tingling.”
“Shut up,” Scarlett said.
“Touchy!” he replied, holding both hands up.
“You said he owns all of this, yes?” Miles asked. The kid nodded. There were four more apartment blocks similar to these further down, where the road curved around, and even more, if they went south. “He could be in any of them.”
Eric shook his head. “No. I was told explicitly he moved into that room.”
“You were told what they wanted you to tell others. He’s not here,” Miles said, backing up. “This feels like a trap.”
“Miles. What are you talking about?” Snow asked.
He didn’t respond but instead looked back at the kid and grabbed a hold of him. “How much are they paying you?”
He practically lifted him off the ground with one hand.
“What?”
“How much?”
“Nothing. I…”
“All right. Fine. Come with me,” he said, dragging the kid toward the apartment. Snow hurried to catch up.
“Miles, what are you doing?”
He didn’t slow but continued talking. “What’s a kid doing awake at this time of night? Huh? That hole in the ground. His need to get back. The house with sheets over the furniture. His parents not around in the middle of the night. They are paying him to be their eyes.”
“No, he’s just a kid,” Scarlett said.
“So are the runners for the camp.”
He didn’t waste any time taking him up to the door of the apartment and positioning him squarely in front of it. “What happens when tha
t door opens?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he replied.
Miles struck him across the face. “Don’t lie to me.”
“I was told this was where Raj lived.”
“No, you were told to bring anyone here who was looking for Raj. Now tell me the truth or I’m going to throw you at that door and we’ll see what happens.”
The boy looked up at him with fear in his eyes. Snow tried to intervene but Miles pushed him back. “Tell me the truth.”
The boy’s eyes roamed. Miles slung his rifle over his shoulder and grabbed the boy with two hands. He lifted him and was about to throw him when Eric broke down. “Okay, okay. Please. Don’t. They said they would kill my parents if I didn’t do it.”
All of them looked on in shock.
Miles lowered the boy.
“What would have happened?”
“It’s rigged,” Eric said. “Explosives.”
Snow looked at Miles and back at the boy. Lucius saw red and lashed out striking the kid across the face. “You mother…” One of the other guys had to hold him back.
Eric cowered and began crying.
“Explain yourself,” Miles demanded.
“They took my parents a week ago, after killing your friends.”
“All of them?”
“No, the PLA is still searching for some of them. A man named Santiago told me that I was to watch the house every night and if anyone showed, I was to tell him. If they caught me, I was to lead them here. I swear that’s the truth. I don’t know where my parents are. He told me if I did this, in a few months they would be returned to me.”
“This Santiago sounds like a real piece of shit,” Scarlett said.
“And Raj?”
“He’s alive. He’s not here,” Eric said.
“Well, no shit, Einstein,” Lucius added, glaring at him.
Snow pulled Miles away while the others kept an eye on the kid.
“You believe him?”
Miles looked back at Eric who was being held with a gun to his head. “Now I do. He was willing to wait until the last few seconds before he broke. You don’t do that if it’s just your own life. He’s scared. The PLA murdered teens and used them against their parents to extract information. This is no different. It’s sick. Definitely twisted but no different.”
“You have an eye for these kinds of things.”
“No. I just learned to smell bullshit and this war is full of it.”
“Well now I owe you one. We all do.”
Miles scanned. “Let’s get out of here. I wouldn’t be surprised if they have this place under surveillance.”
They came to learn that Raj wasn’t the proud owner of a marina but had been placed in charge of overseeing an entire community. His loyalty to the PLA, more specifically to Santiago, had proven its weight in gold. He had risen in the ranks, and been placed in charge of Country Bluff Estates, a premier neighborhood ten minutes away by car, an hour by foot. It was a new form of control they had yet to see in Camdenton.
Although the PLA wasn’t keen to let go of the reins, Miles was sure that Mayor Morgan was banking on this kind of thing becoming the norm. On the way over, Eric explained how it worked. One man or woman was placed in charge of overseeing x number of homes, often a small neighborhood. While they were responsible for matters that took place within, if those inside became a nuisance to the city as a whole, not only would the neighborhood suffer, so would the one in charge.
“And collaborators?” Miles asked.
“They are assigned to that neighborhood but Raj calls the shots.”
“That’s a lot of weight to have on your shoulders,” Snow said.
“Time we lift it from him,” Miles added as they arrived outside his home that was still blanketed in darkness. Another hour and daylight would be upon them and their job of finding out who survived and where the first lady and her daughter were would get even more difficult.
Raj’s home was located at the mouth of the neighborhood. A quaint, two-story house, with brown shingles, stone foundation, and vertical cream-colored siding. There were paving stones that snaked up to the house, and it was surrounded by multiple bushes and pine trees. It seemed untouched by the horrors of warfare.
Two collaborators sat outside on guard. There was no one around back but as they watched them from the tree line, they noticed the routine the guards would go through. Every five minutes one of them would get up and walk the perimeter of the home with a flashlight out. The first one would return and the other one would do the same again. Rather than risk the chance of them alerting the PLA, they opted to take them out from the shadows. Two clean shots to the head with a silencer. Their bodies slumped over but were quickly repositioned in a way to look as if they’d fallen asleep on the job.
The mistake Raj had made was giving the collabs keys to the home.
Rifling through their pockets, Miles fished them out and tried four of six keys until he found the one. As soon as the door was unlocked they were in. Moving without a sound they made their way up to his room. Miles eased the door open, his rifle aimed at two mounds in the bed. Snow went around to deal with the female while Miles pressed the barrel against Raj’s forehead. “Wakey, wakey, Raj!”
His eyes blinked open and for a second he must have thought it was a nightmare as he didn’t move, then as his brain came alive, his eyes bulged like a fish. “You’ve been a naughty boy, haven’t you?” Miles tutted. The woman beside him awoke but her scream was muffled by Snow’s hand as he dragged her naked body out of the bed. “How about we all go down and have a little conversation… okay?”
Raj nodded. Raj was a thin Indian man. As he pulled back the covers, they all got a glimpse of his manhood before he covered himself with a robe. He never spoke a word as they led him down and pushed him back into a recliner chair.
Redford held a gun to his head while the others stood by the windows and kept an eye out for soldiers. “Where is Darius?” Snow asked.
“I don’t know.”
“You don’t know or you want to play games? Because we’ve already had our fill of fun for one night.” Raj’s eyes darted between them. “Yes, that’s right. We know about the trap. The kid told us. Are his parents alive?”
Raj nodded.
“So what did they offer, Raj?” Miles asked. “This place, that girl, a few extra fucking beans on your plate?”
“They would have killed me if I didn’t help.”
“And yet here you are with a gun to your head. Ironic, isn’t it?” Snow said.
“The first lady and her daughter. Where are they?”
“They’re being held by Santiago. You won’t get to them. I told Darius that before he arrived. I said it was a waste of time. I tried to prevent him from coming. You have to believe me.”
“Well, Raj, I’m afraid we don’t.”
Snow fired a silenced round into his kneecap. “That’s for Palmer.”
With tears flowing down his cheeks he gripped his leg, crying out.
“How many died that night?”
“Eight.”
“You bastard.”
“I tried to help but…”
Snow shifted his gun to shoot the other knee but Miles stopped him. “No.”
“I knew those guys,” Snow said.
“And I’ve known people who’ve died too. I get it. But we need him.”
Snow put his gun back into its holster and sat down in a chair and glared at Raj. Raj clutched his knee, wincing and crying in pain. “Where are they being held?” Miles asked.
“At the Hilton Convention Center. There are soldiers everywhere. You won’t get in. And even if you did, it might be too late. They were meant to transport them today or tomorrow. I wasn’t lying to Darius. God, Snow, you have to believe me. I didn’t want this. I had no choice just as Eric didn’t.”
Eric stood by the doorway, peering into the living room, looking sheepish.
“And Darius?”
; “I told you. I don’t know. He and two other guys managed to escape. They haven’t been seen since. The PLA has been looking all week. I thought he’d escaped.”
Snow leaned forward, hands clasped together. “Was he injured?”
“No. No he wasn’t.”
Snow nodded and looked at him.
Miles crossed his arms and studied Raj. “Where do you think he’s gone?”
Lucius chimed in. “If he knew that, don’t you think he would have told the PLA?”
“That depends if he’s telling the truth.”
“I am telling the truth. Please. I don’t want to die.” He sounded pathetic as he pleaded for his life.
“Then what else can you tell us?”
“That’s it. That’s all I know.” Snow rose to his feet and took out his handgun. Raj tried to get Miles’ attention but he looked away, knowing what was coming.
“Snow. No. Please. I don’t want to die.”
“Neither did Palmer, neither did the other seven guys.”
A single round and it was over.
20
Gunnar
A fiery sun burst across the horizon in Cole County, Missouri. After leaving the Super 8 hotel just south of Eldon, they’d ventured into heavy woodland that surrounded Saline Valley State Wildlife Area. There wasn’t a home or a person for miles. At some point in their trek toward Jud’s uncle’s farm, tiredness took hold. None of them had slept and there was only so long they could stay awake. Gunnar and Arianna whipped together three simple lean-to shelters. They were basic, fast to set up, and would suffice for a few hours.
A flock of birds wheeled overhead as Gunnar’s eyes blinked open.
He glanced at his watch, his eyes taking a moment to adjust to the brightness of day. It was almost seven in the morning. He rolled off a huge pile of leaves and took a moment to work out the tension in his neck. At his age, sleeping rough wasn’t as easy as it was in his twenties. Arianna and Brooke were still sleeping. He ambled down to a stream twenty yards away and splashed some cold water over his face. The shock instantly jolted him awake. Coffee came in second to cold water. It had always been the fastest way to wake up. He ran some of it around the back of his neck and looked out through the sea of oaks, pines, and briar patches. The forest was alive with tree frogs and crickets playing their familiar chorus. Gunnar scanned the area, his mind reliving the previous night’s encounter with Butch and his pals. An ache formed in the pit of his gut as Tommy and his mother came to mind.