The Horns of Avalon (Purge of Babylon, Book 8)

by Sam Sisavath

  Gaby hurried out from the back, focusing on the hole in the wall next to Benford’s awkwardly sitting form. She half expected Mason’s men to use the momentary distraction to attack, but they didn’t, and she made it to the front of the bank without having to dodge bullets. She leaned against the wall and peeked out at the street. When she couldn’t see another living soul outside, she pulled back behind cover.

  “Anything?” Danny asked behind her.

  “No,” she said.

  “Of course not. Why make it easy for me? My luck’s not that good.”

  “What now?”

  “Gear up,” he said.

  Danny slid the Smith & Wesson into his empty holster, then walked over to the pile of weapons in the corner and helped himself to an M4, slung it, and began snatching up magazines from the floor and stuffing them into his barren pouches.

  “Grab that 203,” he said. “It might come in handy.”

  Gaby crouched next to Benford, ignored his accusing stare, and picked up his rifle. She poked through his pouches but couldn’t find any ammo for the grenade launcher attached to the weapon.

  “He must have used up all the grenade rounds,” she said.

  Danny grunted. “Figures.”

  She didn’t bother taking the spare magazines on Benford. She was already flush with Fritz’s, and they were interchangeable with the M4. She slung the rifle and stood up, then stared at the hole again.

  The Jeep was still out there on the sidewalk, so tempting and yet so impossible.

  “Did you find the key?” Danny asked.

  “No, but we didn’t look through all the bodies yet.”

  “Keep an eye out,” Danny said, and jogged through the lobby and disappeared into the back room.

  Gaby leaned against the wall and this time took her time looking up and down the empty streets of Gallant, Texas. She let out an involuntary sigh as the reassuring warmth of sunlight brushed against her skin.

  Something caught her eye as it traveled up the street, whipping past the parked Jeep. She glimpsed a small strip of paper with black lettering on it…it was another one of Mercer’s propaganda flyers. She followed the white sheet’s progress until it disappeared up the street, then realized she was leaning too far out and pulled herself quickly back inside.

  Stupid. If there was a sniper out there, you’d be missing a head right now.

  They had to be out there somewhere, close enough to the bank to keep an eye on Mercer’s men. The most obvious choice would be the two-story department store directly across from her. The sign above the front doors read “Gallant’s Best,” and the front exterior was painted red and white with shades of blue. A nod to the American flag, maybe. She squinted but couldn’t tell if there were things other than just curtains covering the building’s windows. But if Mason’s men were in there, the best spots to watch the bank would be either the roof or from behind one of the second-floor windows—

  She heard a squawk behind her and glanced back at the two-way radio still clipped to Benford’s hip.

  “Talk about a curious development,” a voice said through the radio.

  Mason.

  “Does this mean you and Danny boy got the upper hand on Mercer’s dickheads?” Mason asked.

  She stared at the radio but didn’t reach for it.

  “What’s the matter, kitty cat got your tongue, sweetheart? Don’t be shy. If I’d wanted to harm you, I would have done it when you stuck your head out a second ago.”

  Goddammit.

  “Go on,” Mason said. “I won’t bite. Much.”

  She crouched and grabbed Benford’s radio but didn’t use it.

  Mason didn’t seem to mind. “I know what you’re wondering: How did that handsome devil escape Mercer’s boys? Admit it. It’s been on your mind ever since you found out I’m still out here kicking and winning it.”

  She couldn’t help herself and finally keyed the radio. “You’re confusing me with someone who give a shit.”

  “She lives!”

  “But I’ll tell you one sure thing, Mason: Your luck’s not going to last forever. One of these days you’re going to find yourself in a noose that you can’t slip out of.”

  “Why so serious, sweetheart?”

  “I’m not your sweetheart.”

  “Sweetie, then?”

  She looked up as Danny slid quietly across the lobby and pushed up against the wall on the other side of the hole. He looked over at her and shook his head: No key.

  “I see Danny boy made it through okay, too,” Mason said through the radio.

  Danny cocked his head questioningly.

  “He can see us,” she said. “I don’t know where he is, but he can see us right now.”

  “That sneaky little twat,” Danny said. “You’re right; I should have plucked out his lying tongue back in Starch.”

  “I told you.”

  “Yeah, yeah.” Then, “You know, Benford and Fritz weren’t completely wrong. We could make a run for it.”

  “What about Nate?”

  “Right. Nate…”

  “We can’t leave him here, Danny. I won’t do it.”

  “There’s always Benny…”

  “Danny…”

  “Kidding!”

  The radio squawked and Mason said, “I know what the two of you are discussing right now. ‘Should we make a run for it? Surely,’ you’re saying, ‘facing anything out there is better than staying put when it gets dark.’”

  “Asshole’s kinda psychic, isn’t he?” Danny said.

  “I don’t know about the psychic part, but the asshole part’s spot on,” Gaby said.

  “Just remember,” Mason was saying, “I just need the two of you alive. They said nothing about keeping you in one piece. Do keep that in mind.”

  Gaby looked across at Danny. “Promise me.”

  He nodded. “We’re not going anywhere without Mal Reynolds.”

  “Who?”

  “Firefly?”

  She shook her head.

  “Never mind,” Danny said. “Point is, we’re not leaving without your boyfriend. And you can take that to the bank. Or, well, since we’re already at the bank…”

  “Thank you,” she said, and got up and tossed Danny the two-way radio before dashing into the back of the building.

  “What am I supposed to do with this?” Danny asked after her.

  “Sweet talk him to death.”

  “I’ll give it a shot, I guess,” Danny said.

  Gaby slipped inside the manager’s office in the back and caught her breath, because where Nate was supposed to be, there was just an empty sleeping bag—

  “Gaby,” a voice said.

  She spun around and found Nate behind her, leaning against the wall while clutching a large book in front of him. His face was pale and covered in sweat, and he didn’t look like he could stand at all if not for the wall propping him up.

  “Jesus, Nate,” she said.

  “I heard shooting. What happened? Where are we?” He glanced around the room. “Looks familiar…”

  “We’re back at the bank,” she said, and went to him.

  She helped him sit down on the floor, positioning his back against the wall to keep him from toppling over. He flinched with every movement, but just the fact that he was finally awake (and alive) made her overjoyed.

  “What’s with the book?” she asked.

  “My secret weapon,” he grinned.

  “Looks dangerous.”

  “I swear it weighs like 500 pounds.” He paused for a moment and looked down at his stomach. “By the way, I think I was shot.”

  “Danny and I dug the bullet out. You don’t remember?”

  He shook his head. “I don’t remember a thing.”

  “That’s okay. What matters is that you’re awake and alive.”

  She stroked his face and leaned forward and kissed him. Tenderly at first, afraid of breaking him, then just a little harder.

  “Gaby,” he whispered.
<
br />   She pulled back slightly. “Hmm?”

  “You have blood all over you, babe.”

  “I know.”

  “Whose is it? Do I want to know?”

  “It’s not mine or Danny’s, and this time it’s not yours, and that’s all that matters,” she said, and kissed him again.

  16

  Lara

  The sign on the wall read “Roustabouts 5:00 A.M. sharp” with the “5:00 A.M.” in large blocky red letters. She had seen similar signs along the rig, but especially around the living quarters where, she assumed, the “roustabouts” congregated.

  “Five a.m.?” Bonnie said, almost whispering. “I don’t think I’ve ever had to wake up at five a.m. even when I was flying around the world doing runway work.”

  “Must be nice,” Lara said, matching Bonnie’s pitch.

  “Being hot has its privileges, what can I say? You could have passed for a model, you know. What are you, five-seven?”

  “Five-five.”

  “Never mind, then.”

  “Gee, thanks.”

  “Just being honest.”

  They stood in the back of the communications room, watching Riley wearing a headset and standing over a console lined with buttons and monitors while a young woman who had introduced herself as Terry manipulated the controls. The woman, who looked to be in her late thirties with naturally curly hair, seemed to know what she was doing, even though Lara could see her fingers tapping nervously on the table. Lara could only hear snippets of the ongoing conversation, and all of it from the room’s side. While Terry was clearly nervous, Riley was calm and his voice remained steady throughout.

  “Roger that,” Riley was saying into the mic sticking out of his headset. “We’ll be ready to receive you by then. Ocean Star out.”

  Riley took off the headset and handed it back to Terry, whose hands were shaking as she took it. “Jesus Christ, Riley. I never want to do that again. I think I’m going to piss my pants.”

  Riley put a comforting hand on her shoulder and squeezed. “You did good, Terry.”

  “You think they suspect anything?”

  “If they did, then they wouldn’t still be on their way here.”

  “Where are they coming from?” Lara asked.

  He looked over. “Texas. We’re going to be getting a lot more units coming our way for refueling and resupplying now that the first phase is reaching its end.”

  “And then back to the war?”

  “Some of them. But most will be heading back to The Ranch.”

  “The Ranch?” Bonnie said.

  “That’s what the younger guys call it,” Riley said. “It’s our main base of operations. It’s also where Mercer planned all of this and where we built up the forces that’re being used in Texas right now.”

  “So what happens when this unit shows up?” Lara asked.

  “We’ll pretend like everything’s okay and refuel and resupply them and send them on their way.”

  “Just like that?”

  “That’s the plan.”

  Lara exchanged a look with Bonnie.

  “What?” Riley said.

  “What happens if they don’t buy it?” Lara asked.

  “They will,” Riley said. “We’ve done this before. Besides, I know the unit that’s heading our way right now. One of them is a good friend of mine. I would know if they suspected anything,” he added, looking back at Terry when he said it. “We just carry on like business as usual, and everything will be fine.”

  “You sound pretty certain,” Lara said.

  “I am.”

  “What if you’re wrong?”

  He shook his head. “I’m not.”

  * * *

  “He’s cute,” Bonnie said.

  “Who?” Lara asked.

  “Riley. Baby blue eyes.”

  “Is that what they call them?”

  “Tall, broad-shouldered…”

  “From what I can tell in the few hours I’ve been here, he’s not taken yet, so feel free to make your move.”

  “I was thinking more about you.”

  Lara sighed. “Bonnie, I brought you here to help me do inventory and figure out how much space we’ll need to clear on the Trident to accommodate Riley’s people, and because Carly can’t—and won’t—leave the bridge until Danny calls in—so don’t start with me.”

  “I’m just saying; you could do worse.”

  “I don’t have to do anything. And my love life—or lack thereof—is not up for debate.”

  “Sorry,” Bonnie said.

  The two of them turned a corner and pushed their way into the stairwell. Every step they took produced a loud clang, something that used to bother her—anything that made a lot of noise, especially when she was the cause of it, bothered her—but she had become used to it after going up and down the Ocean Star all morning.

  “Sorry,” Bonnie said again. “You’re right; it’s none of my business. I’m just worried about you, that’s all. We all are.”

  Again with the “we.”

  “Tell everyone I’m fine,” Lara said.

  “I know you are. That’s why we trust you with our lives.”

  Maybe you shouldn’t, because I don’t know what the hell I’m doing.

  “We’re behind you,” Bonnie said, apparently taking Lara’s silence as approval to keep going. “We know every decision you make is because you’re looking out for us. Everyone on the boat believes that. We have a lot of faith in you, Lara, and we care about your well-being.”

  “Like getting me a boyfriend?” she said, and this time smiled at the ex-model.

  “Something like that,” Bonnie smiled back. “Baby blue eyes, Lara. Baby blues.”

  “Yeah, yeah,” she said as they reached the landing at the top of the stairwell.

  The door in front of them was a thick metal airtight structure with a round wheel instead of a traditional lever or knob. Bonnie gripped the wheel and spun it with both hands, then pushed the heavy door open.

  They stepped outside and onto a staircase that overlooked the Ocean Star’s top deck. Lara tugged at her jacket’s collar as they made their way down and over to one of the edges overlooking the western part of the platform. They leaned against a chipped yellow railing with the water sloshing below them while signs around them warned of the importance of hard hats and holding onto the railings at all times.

  She had no trouble locating the Trident anchored nearby, swaying slightly back and forth against the waves. It was only about a football field’s length from them, and if she stared hard enough she could just make out Blaine’s outline on the bridge and Carly pacing behind him.

  “Carly’s going to burn a hole in the bridge’s floor,” Bonnie said.

  “She’s worried about Danny,” Lara said.

  “Hopefully he radios in soon. I’d hate to lose him, Gaby, and Nate.”

  If we did, it’d be my fault for sending them out there in the first place.

  “Yeah, me too,” she said instead.

  There was a white tube connecting the Trident to an old gray refueling ship that was about a quarter of the yacht’s size. The vessel had been attached to the other side of the Ocean Star when they first approached the rig, so they hadn’t seen it before. For a while she wasn’t sure if Riley could live up to his promise of fuel, but he’d proven her wrong. The more she learned about the rig’s importance to Mercer’s war efforts, the easier it was for her to believe that Riley’s mutiny was not going to be well-received. The fact that Riley planned on taking the refueling boat with them, along with the inventory and armory, would only add to the insult.

  He’s risking a lot.

  No, that’s not true. He’s risking everything.

  Two men wearing black tactical gear and carrying rifles walked past them. They were part of Riley’s security personnel and were back at their stations now that he didn’t need to hide them from her anymore. There was also someone on the crane in the background. Lara had seen the man’s si
lhouette every now and then, but never for too long. That would be the oft-mentioned, never-seen Peters.

  She unclipped her radio and pressed the transmit lever. “Blaine, come in.”

  “Blaine here,” the big man answered. “Everything good over there?”

  “We’re on schedule. Faith’s taking Bonnie back to you with the first of the supply runs in a few minutes. Depending on how close Mercer’s men are from us, there might be one more, at least for now.”

  “What about the refugees?”

  Lara and Bonnie exchanged a grin.

  “He’s not wrong,” Bonnie said. “They are sorta like refugees.”

  Lara said into the radio, “They’ll come over later once Mercer’s people are gone. Missing civilians would be a huge tip-off that something’s not right on the Ocean Star.”

  “Good point,” Blaine said.

  “How long before the tank’s topped off?”

  “Ten more minutes, give or take. Has Riley told you where we’re taking him yet? It’d be nice to know now so I can get started figuring out the best route there. It’d also give me something to do other than watch Carly wear out the carpet back here.”

  “I’ll let you know when he tells me. Until then, be on the lookout for Bonnie in a few.”

  “Roger that,” Blaine said.

  She put the radio away. “You should get going,” she said to Bonnie. “They’re probably finished loading the supplies by now.”

  Bonnie took out a notepad from her back pocket and scanned it. “That’ll be the cooking oil. He’s giving us half of his stock. Hot and generous.”

  Lara rolled her eyes. “Get going.”

  “Yes, sir, ma’am, sir,” Bonnie said.

  She gave Lara a mock salute, then pushed off the railing and headed down the nearby stairs, her boots clanging off the steps after her.

  “Where did you get that thing, anyway?” a voice asked behind her just before Riley appeared next to her a few seconds later, taking over the spot Bonnie had just vacated.

  She knew Riley was only in his early thirties, but he looked so much older than that. It wasn’t just the lack of sleep either; there was a heaviness about everything he did and said. In another place, another time, he would be handsome and she might have gotten weak in the knees if they had met in a bar or at a party, but now, watching him staring at the Trident, she could only think about the burdens of leadership and the choices he’d made. Not just for him, but for forty-seven other souls.