by Nees, David
Jason turned back to the stairs.
“Stop,” Gino said. “I know you’ve got a gun on you. Take it out slowly and set it on the ground.”
“It’s in my coat pocket,” Jason said. He reached in, took the 9mm out, and laid it down.
“Put your hands on your head and let’s go.”
Gino picked up Jason’s gun and put it in his pocket. The two men went back to the mezzanine. Pale light came through the warehouse windows, casting faint shadows on the empty floor. Enough light made its way through the mezzanine windows to make out the family huddled in the corner.
They gasped when Jason appeared with his hands on his head and Gino behind him holding a large gun.
“This is nice and cozy. A family camping trip? Now Jason just has to go find the old man to make it complete. Sit down,” he told Jason.
“What are you going to do?” Jason asked.
“Wait ‘til morning. Then we’re all going to visit Vincent. He can decide what will happen next.”
“He’s not going to like your messing around, neither is Joe.”
“I’ll take that chance. Somehow I think he’ll like you sneaking around even less.”
“What’s going to happen to us?” Ruth asked.
Gino looked over at her. He gave her a crooked smile. “That’ll be up to Vincent. If it was me, I’d put you to work with the whores. The ones who take care of the members. You still got some looks on you.”
“No!” Ruth said. Her response was almost involuntary.
“The boy,” Gino continued, “I’d put him on the coal gang, getting water for the men. When he gets a bit bigger, he can start wielding a shovel like the others. As for the girl…she’s a bit young, but she’ll be ready in a couple of years. I’d put her in training, if you know what I mean.”
Jennifer started to cry.
“You’re a mean man,” Ruth exclaimed “How can you be so cruel?”
“You don’t mean anything to me. You’re just something to use. If we can use you, fine. If not, I get rid of you. You crossed the line when you went off with wonder boy here. Now you got to pay the price.”
He turned to Jason. “Of course, if Vincent or your new best friend, Joe, think you’re just fine then all is forgiven. No problem. We’ll find out everything tomorrow.”
“You better leave my mother and sister alone,” Tom said from the corner.
“Well ain’t you a feisty one? What’re you gonna do? Beat me up?”
Now Jennifer spoke up. “You’re just a big bully. No one ever taught you manners.”
“You better shut your mouth or I won’t wait to let Vincent decide what to do with you.”
Jason let his arm slowly move to his side as Gino focused on the children. At that moment Tom sprang up and started for the door. Gino lunged after him.
“No you don’t you little punk.” He grabbed at the kid.
Jason leapt to his feet and launched himself at Gino. He slammed into him and both men fell heavily to the floor. Jason scrambled desperately for the gun in Gino’s right hand. His hand closed over it and a deadly wrestling match ensued, both men grunting in an effort to control the weapon. Gino rolled over onto Jason who wrenched his torso in a violent twist, throwing his legs to one side, in an attempt to right himself.
At that moment, Tom jumped on Gino’s back. The boy had a pocket knife in his hand. He plunged the blade into Gino’s right arm. Gino screamed and Jason tore the gun from his hand. Gino flung the boy off his back; he landed on the floor, slamming up against a desk. Jason turned the gun on Gino and pulled the trigger, hitting him in the chest.
The gun’s explosion was loud, accompanied by a flash and screams from all three of the family. Then it was silent except for a few gasps from Gino as his life slipped away. Jason stood up.
“Tom, are you alright?”
The boy looked up from the floor and nodded.
Ruth and Jennifer were holding one another. Tom was staring at Jason, almost in shock.
“Thanks,” Jason said. “You saved my life and the lives of your mother and sister. That was a brave thing you did.”
The boy looked at him and then crawled back to his mother, who wrapped her arms around him.
Jason picked up the knife, wiped the blade on the man’s shirt, and folded it back into its handle. He stepped over to the family and gave it back to Tom. The boy hesitated but took it and put it back in his pocket.
The three of them were softly crying, huddled in each other’s arms. Jason put the .45 in his waist band. He reached into the dead man’s coat pocket and retrieved his 9mm, then grabbed Gino by the arms. He dragged the body out of the office and down the stairs. After pulling Gino across the warehouse floor, he left him in a far corner and went back upstairs.
Ruth looked at Jason with fear in her eyes.
“You killed him,” she said.
Jason didn’t answer her.
“Did you have to kill him?”
Jason gave her a long look. “Yes.”
“What happens now?”
“You wait here and I try to free Ernie. Same as before.”
“But what about him?” Ruth nodded in the general direction of the stairs.
“Nothing. He stays where I put him.”
“Won’t others be looking for him?”
“They will…and me as well. But they won’t know where to look and they won’t be looking for you and the kids. No one can connect us. It will take some time for anyone to figure out what’s going on. Hopefully, by then, I’ll have freed Ernie and you can all escape together.”
“When they find Ernie missing, they’ll come looking for us. They have a record of where we lived.”
“But you’ll be long gone.”
“Will they come after us?”
“Probably not. I’m going to disrupt things even more. I doubt they’ll be concerned about you or Ernie.”
Ruth still looked fearful. “What are you going to do?”
Jason shook his head. “You just keep the kids together and quiet until I return with Ernie.”
Ruth nodded. She looked at her children and then back at Jason. “But what if you don’t come back? What do we do?”
Jason squatted down and put his face in front of hers. “You wait two days. If Ernie or I don’t show up, you take the kids and leave. Walk north, the direction we headed to get here. Do not go back into town.”
“Without Ernie?”
“Without Ernie.”
Chapter 28
___________________________________
A fter making sure Ruth and the kids understood the need to stay put, Jason left. It was still dark with about five hours to go before the sun came up. He took his backpack, with some food and water, his 9mm with its suppressor and the extra magazines. He left his M110 and his M4 behind along with most of his camping gear. He was thankful that the train being unloaded was not a full day’s walk away; there was no car to speed him along.
Outside of the building the air was sharp and cold. The moon, now higher, gave its pale light to the stillness that reigned in the abandoned warehouse district. He didn’t expect to find anyone here with the major businesses now out of operation.
Jason breathed in a lungful of the cold air and started jogging north along the road. If he could keep to a good pace, he’d get to the camp that morning. With some scouting, using his binoculars, he hoped he’d be able to identify Ernie and then locate where he would sleep. He’d have to go into the compound that night to free him. The danger would be not only the guards, but the other men in the tent.
An hour later he stopped for five minutes, drank some water and stretched. Then he started again. Muscles not having been called on to run for hours for some time, protested, but Jason kept going. His body would adjust, although he noticed that it took longer as the years went by. You can’t stave off the effects of age forever. He had a flash of insight into the challenges facing older people in this more dangerous age. He was in a race in some se
nse to achieve a level of stability in a chaotic world before he got too old. It was a worthwhile goal, for him, his family, and others around him. Four years into the post-EMP world and this is still my goal. Will we ever get there? He had no answer to his question. He just kept running. What he would do next was set by the commitment he had made to Ruth and her kids.
The Catawba River loomed ahead. He’d have to wade and swim across like before. The cold night would not make it easier. He paused at the shore, still in the cover of the bushes that grew thick beside the river. He took off his coat, boots, and socks and put them inside the plastic in his backpack. He was farther north with the I85 bridge downstream but nowhere in sight. After scanning up and down the river, Jason waded into the water. The shock made him gasp. He waded as fast as he could and when the water got chest deep, he broke into an awkward swim. Once his feet hit the bottom again, he started pushing for the shore.
On the other side, after getting into the cover of the trees, Jason took off his shirt and pants and squeezed the water out of them as best he could. He put them back on, along with his dry socks, boots, and coat and started jogging again. He worked his way through the woods until he found a road. When he came out on pavement, he followed it northeast, not the direction he wanted to go, but he set out on it anyway. Faster to run on the road than to stumble in the dark of the woods. A mile up the road he came to an intersection. Jason turned left and kept going. He was headed west now, a direction that would lead him to the rail line. Once he found that, he’d just run along it until he reached the abandoned train. An hour later he was running down the tracks.
His body ached from the cold and damp of his clothes. His coat, even though dry, failed to fully stem the chill that pressed in on him. The running, however fatiguing, helped, causing his body to generate more heat from the exertion. But it was taxing; he had to resist the urge to slow down and walk or stop and sleep.
Dawn saw Jason still jogging along. His body had loosened up and settled into a rhythm. He was tired, but felt he could maintain his pace. The key was to not go too fast and to take a short break every hour. The day grew warmer. Jason could feel the late fall sun on his back. The extra warmth felt good. He would soon be at the camp.
Later that morning, Tony sat down at his table in his favorite bar. Rocco came by and talked with him for a few minutes, drinking some bad coffee. Carlo came in a few minutes later.
“Anyone seen Gino?” Tony asked. “He’s usually here first thing.”
Both men shook their heads.
Tony thought about that for a moment. He’d given Gino permission to follow Jason and settle his suspicions once and for all. Tony found it tiring. If Gino couldn’t get past it, he wasn’t going to pick him to run the crew when he went off to work with Jason on the coal project.
Jason hadn’t shown up either and, after an hour of sitting around, Tony got up. He’d go on some of the rounds himself. He wasn’t worried. Whatever was going on, it seemed to have held up both Jason and Gino. When they got back, they’d report to him and he’d settle things once and for all between them.
“You see either of them, tell ‘em to come see me.”
The men nodded and left.
Jason saw the locomotive ahead and immediately turned off the tracks and into the woods. He was reasonably dry now after some hours of running through the cool air. He made his way through the trees, being careful to not snap branches lying on the ground. He was not wearing any camouflage gear but his dark pants and jacket helped. Find a place to scan the work crews. I need to find Ernie and keep track of him throughout the day. He didn’t expect to get any sleep and there had been none last night. Fatigue was going to become a problem soon.
As he got closer, he heard the clank of metal on metal and the noise of an old diesel engine, probably the front-end loader. Jason crawled to the edge of the woods. He was on the opposite side of the tracks from the work camp. His vision was limited. He took out his binoculars and studied the area. After scanning the scene, he couldn’t locate Ernie, so he backed up and moved forward in the woods. Thankfully the crews were working only a small section of the one hundred car, mile-long train. Crawling forward to a new vantage point produced the same results. No Ernie in sight.
I’ll never be able to pick him out from watching with the binoculars. Got to get into the camp. Jason retraced his steps until he was far enough down the track to cross it without being seen. Now on the same side as the work camp, he moved forward through the woods. When he got closer, he stopped. He took off his backpack and straightened his clothes. He slipped his 9mm into his coat and stepped out onto the road leading up to the camp.
He walked with a confident stride as if he belonged. At the entrance, a guard braced him and asked him what he was doing.
“I’m taking charge of the coal project next week so I’m here to check out the operation, get a head start. Big Al and Joe Nicoletti assigned me to the project.”
The man looked confused.
“We didn’t hear anything about that.”
“I doubt you would. First it hasn’t officially happened yet and second, you’re not someone who’d get notified.”
“How’d you get here? You walk?”
“What difference does that make to you?” Jason acted as if the question was an affront to him. “I was dropped off down the road. I’ll be going back there later today to meet my ride back to town.”
Jason stepped up to the man.
“Now let’s not waste more of my time. I have a lot to see. If you got any questions, get your supervisor here and I’ll explain to him how you weren’t helpful.”
“No need to do that. Just give me your name so I can tell my supervisor.”
“It’s Jason Rich. Now do you give me a pass? I don’t want to have to go around explaining myself to every guard.”
The man gave Jason a badge that he pinned on his jacket. With that Jason walked into the camp. As he was walking around a man approached him. He wore a police uniform.
“I understand you’re going to be in charge of the project,” the man said when he came up to Jason. “The entrance guard told me.”
“That’s right. Jason Rich is my name, what’s yours?”
“Todd Waymire. I’m the boss of the work camp. No one told me about you.”
“It’s not official until next week.” Jason looked the man over, noting his uniform. “Are you in the police department?”
The man smiled. “Kind of. The department’s been joined with the militia. We’re all under the new structure.”
“And what’s the new structure?”
“You don’t know?” Todd now gave Jason a questioning look.
“I’m new. Recently brought in to straighten things out. Joe and Big Al need to increase coal production.”
“Well we’re under the organization’s command structure.”
“The family.”
Todd nodded. “Nino was fired?”
Jason looked at Todd with a blank face.
“Nino Vitale. He was in charge. We didn’t see much of him.”
“Yeah, he was fired. I’m replacing him. We need to do more than just strip coal trains. Of course, you should know that we need to up the level of production here. That’s important because we have to put men to work on other sources.”
“That’s a tall order.” Todd looked concerned. “More production with fewer men?”
“That’s my orders. I’ll work with you and we’ll figure it out. For now, I don’t need you to walk around with me. I want to do it alone and talk with everyone. Nothing personal, but I get better information that way.”
Todd reluctantly withdrew and let Jason go on alone.
For an hour Jason listened to crew bosses talking about their work, which was essentially the equivalent of chain gang slaves, in a cold, clinical manner. Then he spied Ernie. Jason caught his eye and walked up to him. Ernie looked at him but didn’t say anything. There were other workers in earshot, so Jason asked him
some general questions.
“What do you do here?”
Ernie followed Jason’s lead, answering as if he didn’t know who he was.
After a few more questions, the other workers moved on.
Jason whispered to him. “Tell me which tent you’re in, row and number.”
The sleeping tents were in three rows, with five tents to a row. They were set up beside the mess tent and the rows went back from there into the field. Fencing has been set up around the perimeter to keep the men inside.
Ernie thought for a moment, glanced at the row of tents and replied, “Second row, fourth tent.”
“Get outside tonight, late, after midnight. Can you go to the latrines?”
The latrines were set up away from the tents in the far corner of the field.
Ernie nodded.
“Are guards posted at night?”
Ernie nodded again.
“I’ll meet you at the latrines. I’m getting you out. Your family’s waiting. What time is the shift change?”
“We work 8 am to 4 pm. Then we’re off to 8 pm. Then it’s back to work till 4 am, then off from 4 am to 8am. Eight on, four off, round the clock.”
Jason thought for a moment. “Meet me at the latrines at 5 am.”
He moved on before Ernie could ask any questions and continued his inspection.
When Jason had completed what he thought looked like a thorough inspection, he went back to see Todd.
“I got a good idea of how things are going. I’ll be seeing you next week when I officially take over.”
“I hope you saw that we’re working as fast as we can. With no way to unload the cars directly into trucks, or even the loader, we’re stuck with the slow, manual transfer.”
“We’ll work on that. You’re right, the key is to try to eliminate the manual parts of the process.”
“Just so you understand, no one’s slacking. We’re doing the best that we can.”
“Don’t worry. I won’t throw you under the bus with Joe. My ass is on the line as well.”