by Liscom, Sean
“Look at those two signposts. Both are bent toward the road and to the north.”
“So?”
“This is where I'd do it.....” he said to himself and climbed out of his saddle. He handed Jill the reigns and began walking in the middle of road. After a dozen yards or so, he walked to the ditch and picked up something shiny and then he kept walking. Several times he knelt down to examine something that Jill couldn't see.
When he got to the bent posts, he stopped and then started to slowly back away. He pulled the neck of his shirt up over his nose and mouth and continued to back away. Sensing something wrong, Jill kicked her horse in the sides and began to move in his direction.
“What’s the matter?” she asked. The question was no sooner out of her mouth when she smelled it.
Death. The foul odor of decomposition was heavy on the slight breeze. She was off of her horse before it came to a stop, running toward the source of the stench.
She skidded to a stop at the edge of a small gully on the east side of the road. Laid out side-by-side were five bodies. Two of which were headless. Piled next to them were the mangled remains of four dirt bikes and empty backpacks.
Her pause was only momentary. Bounding down the embankment, she quickly circled the human remains. Her eyes searching for any details that might give away their identities. Dan joined her about a minute later to help with the examination.
“It’s not them,” he almost gagged from the smell. Jill seemed unfazed.
“No, it’s not. These were the guys chasing them.”
Thursday August 24th, 2017
Lund, Nevada.
As soon as the last drop of clear liquid left the I.V., Sheriff Wagner stepped into the hall and hailed the nurse. Both of them came back into the room and nurse Finley set about removing the stint from my arm. As soon as she had left the room with the I.V. tree in tow, the cuff was removed from my wrist.
“Your clothes should be done just about any time,” Sheriff Wagner reassured me. “In the
meantime, why don’t you finish filling me in on the rest of your story?”
“Where was I? Oh yeah, Duckwater. Anyway…..” I continued to tell her about my recent activities. Of course I left out all of the details about the ranch, Melissa and anything else that I didn’t care to tell her.
As far as she knew, I was picked up by Ray and his men outside of Lovelock after I left Reno. I told her that I used the ambush in the Amargosa valley to my advantage and escaped my captors and I’d been on the run ever since.
She had asked about all of my scars, again I told half-truths. I felt really bad about lying to the woman, she was just trying to do her job. She seemed to be genuinely interested in helping me move on with my mission, what she knew about it anyway.
When I was done bringing her up to speed, she filled in some of the details that I was missing since I stopped to rest at the pond two days prior. She told me about my horse that had wandered into town without me and how they sent a search and rescue party out. Once discovered, they brought me to their clinic and kept me from dying.
They had done all of this under the noses of the local enforcers. She and her little town had
done basically what we had done at the ranch. They stood down and played nice to get the
enforcers to relax their guard a little. I could only hope that the results had been the same for Jill and the ranch.
At around 1pm, my clothes and the rest of my gear was brought into the room. With it was an extra set of civilian clothes. Blue jeans, white t-shirt and cowboy boots. Sheriff Wagner explained that my fatigues would stand out like a sore thumb. I thanked her and she stepped out of the room so I could get dressed.
The jeans were a perfect fit and so were the boots. The t-shirt was a bit snug but I could deal with it. I left it untucked and shoved my handgun into the back of my waistband. It wasn’t really well concealed but it was good enough. I was in the middle of shoving my clean fatigues into the backpack when she came back in the room.
“You about ready to get out of here?”
“Yes, ma’am!” I shouldered the pack and winced a little when it hit my back. That was gonna hurt for a while I reminded myself.
“Here, one more thing…..” She reached into her back pocket and pulled out a sheriff’s badge. “Put that on your belt and if anybody asks, you were out making rounds of the outlying mines and ranches. Got it?”
“Okay?” I said as a question.
“Since the enforcers showed up, I’ve helped several people get through town with this tactic. Idiots apparently can’t do math otherwise they
would have figured out that I’ve got about 20 deputies!” she laughed as we left the room and the small clinic.
What I thought was a medical clinic had actually been an elementary school before the EMP. I discovered that when we walked out the front door into the summer’s heat. It was on Main Street with its tattered flag still fluttering in the breeze. We turned left and walked along the shoulder of the road for a couple of blocks.
If anybody took notice of me, they didn’t show it. The Sheriff waived at several people who were out tending to gardens and she received cordial waves in return. We turned left again on 3rd street, went a block and turned right on 1st street. We followed that until she stopped in front of a white single story house with a four foot high chain link fence surrounding the front yard. After going through the gate and into the house, she pointed me down a hallway off to the left.
“Spare room is on the right, feel free to drop your gear in there. Bathroom is across the hall. I do have running water but the water heater is toast. If you want a hot bath, gonna have to do it the old fashioned way. There’s a fire pit out back with a giant stock pot sitting on the
grate to heat up water.”
“Do I smell that bad? That's the second time you've mentioned a bath,” I joked.
“Honestly? You're still pretty ripe. A whole lot better after Finley cleaned you up, but still ripe,” she laughed. “Listen, I'm gonna go get dinner. Why don't you get cleaned up? There are towels in the hall closet and there should still be a razor and shaving cream in the medicine cabinet. Help yourself to any of it.”
“Thank you,” I replied and headed for the spare room.
Thursday August 24th, 2017
North of Duckwater, Nevada.
Dan and Jill had spent the better part of two hours walking the ambush site and doing what they could to recreate what had happened. From the evidence that they had gathered, they deduced that the broken steel cable they found had been strung across the road. Four of the bikers had been snared in it and the fifth one had been shot three times.
They had discovered the spent shell casings and marks in the sandy dirt that would indicate where the sniper had been positioned. Due to the size of the disturbance on the ground, it was probably Jason on the trigger.
The shiny piece of metal that Dan had found in the ditch was part of a broken motorcycle hand brake. One of the bikes that had been wrecked was missing a hand brake
assembly and the rest of the broken one was found lying on top of the pile.
There was evidence of a horse being tied up to a small pinyon juniper tree that was also in the gully. There was no water to be found in the pile of gear nor was there any food. They found the guns and ammo stashed in the culvert that ran under the road.
As their quest for knowledge continued, they found a set of horse tracks leading off to the east along with a set of large tire tracks. Heading north out of the gully, they found where a motorcycle had also left the scene. When they took a water break, they discussed what they had found.
“There’s a lot going on here that doesn’t make much sense,” Dan started. “Five dead bikers, four wrecked bikes, tire tracks and hoof prints leading east and a dirt bike heading north. The bikers were stripped of all their useful gear and their weapons were hidden from plain sight….. This is weird.”
“It looks almost as if they split up,”
Jill remarked.
“Why would they do that?”
“Something changed, something happened. I’m guessing that it happened pretty fast too.”
“Why do you say that?”
“The hoof prints. The horse was digging in hard when it left here. You follow the trail a few
yards out and the stride gets longer and longer. If you look at the tire prints, it’s easy to see that the vehicle was under heavy acceleration, like it was giving chase. The dirt bike trail is the same way,” she said. Dan looked over to where the dirt bike tracks were. From where they were sitting under the tree, he could easily see them.
“You WERE paying attention in my tracking class!” he chuckled. “That still doesn’t explain why they might have split up.”
“The only thing I can think of is that Jason knows something that we don’t.”
CHAPTER 29
Thursday August 24th, 2017
The ranch.
When Sheriff Watson had delivered the three enforcers to the ranch, they were held on the lawn just as Bill had ordered. Their hands were bound tightly behind their backs and then their elbows were bound from the back.
Their boots had been removed and shackles placed on their ankles, their knees were bound together and they were forced to sit on their knees. Another section of rope went from their wrists to their ankles. It was long enough for them to stretch upward a little but not long enough as to allow them to get comfortably straightened out.
When exhaustion and cramping muscles had set in, they were forced to lay face down on the grass. The shackles and ropes were never removed. They were never denied water. If they were thirsty, they were given water. Sun shades had been set up to protect them from direct sunlight.
Braden stood in the security shack and looked out the window. He couldn't believe that Bill had actually ordered all of this. At first, he thought it was cruel. It was when Bill took a
break after the first day and told him of the
atrocities these men had committed that he changed his mind.
Torrance was right. These were evil men. Today was day two of the “questioning”, that's what Bill called it. Braden hadn't been in the barn but he sure that it went a lot further than just a few questions. Seeing what the men on the grass were enduring, he didn't want to know what was really happening in the barn.
Turning his back on the window, he walked to the desk and sat heavily in the office chair. He was not only giving Bill the authority to do what he needed to do, he himself was guilty by association. That was a heavy burden indeed.
There was a knock at the door of the shack and a moment later the younger Alex Perez walked in. Braden wasn't sure how the young man did it, how he kept the bounce in his step. Alex sat in the chair across from him.
“Pretty crazy what's goin on out there,” he remarked.
“Crazy times, Alex.”
“You can say that again, boss. Listen, I've been doin some thinkin.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah, I have. Little bit ago we were talking about building those observation posts, remember?”
“I remember. We seem to have gotten a little sidetracked.”
“Well, it seems to me that now would be a good time to get back on that little project.”
“We don't really have the manpower to get it done, Alex.”
“I beg to differ, sir. We have all of the manpower we need.”
“How's that? Both Teams are held up in Elko. Team 2 is still MIA, Jill and Dan are out looking for Melissa and Jason. Unless you plan to use women and children, I don't see how we can do it.”
“I was talkin to Sheriff Watson when he brought these guys out, he told me that Mayor Calvert is using his prisoners to put in observation posts and other fighting positions. We've got 18 prisoners sitting on their asses out there in the barn. We could do the same thing the Mayor has done,” the young man suggested.
“I'm not sure that's such a good idea, Alex.”
“Beg your pardon, sir. Why? Those men have offered no resistance what-so-ever. We have given them food and water. Doc and Sam have taken care of their medical needs. All they are doing right now is consuming our resources. Don't you think they should earn their keep?”
“It's not really that easy, Alex.”
“Yes it is, sir. Put me in charge of the remainder of squad 3-2. There are only three
people left from that squad and their morale is shot. Mike, Ben and Chad really need something
constructive to do. Put me in charge and we will get the job done!” Braden put his elbows on the desk and rested his face in his hands for a moment.
Such a young man to be taking on such a burden is what he was thinking to himself. That and wishing the Jason was here. He’d know what to do. What was it Jason had once told him about leadership? Oh, yeah. Make a decision. Right or wrong, make a damn decision. He looked back up at Alex.
“You think you can handle the job?” he asked pensively.
“Without a doubt, sir!” his enthusiasm was boiling over.
“Alight, Alex. You get your shot. Rally the remainder of 3-2. Get them lined out this afternoon and take charge of your prisoners first thing in the morning,” he heard himself say.
“Thank you, sir!” Alex bolted out of the chair and headed for the door.
“You’re welcome,” his decision was made. Right or wrong, it was made.
Thursday August 24th, 2017
Lund, Nevada.
After enjoying a very hot bath and a shave, I
re-dressed in the civilian clothes and emerged from the bathroom. I felt like my lease on life had
been renewed. I strode down the hallway with a little bit of bounce in my step.
Sheriff Wagner was in the kitchen, right in the middle of skinning a second rabbit. She handled the skinning knife like a pro and had the hide removed in seconds. On the counter, next to the first rabbit were four large potatoes.
“Hope you like rabbit,” she said over her shoulder.
“I’ve been eating canned dog food! Rabbit sounds delicious!” I joined her at the counter. “Anything I can do to help?”
“Knives are in the top drawer. How about you quarter up those potatoes?” she motioned to the drawer with her chin. I grabbed a small knife and set about the task that I had been given.
“Going out to get dinner has kinda taken on a whole new meaning,” I chuckled, trying to make small talk.
“This was actually pretty easy. There’s a guy down the road a ways that raises rabbits. He pretty much supplies what’s left of the town with its meat. The vegetables are right out of my garden. Bout as fresh as you can get!”
“From what I saw on the walk over here, it looks like you guys aren’t doing too bad.”
“We’ve held our own. We actually scaled back production a little, at least until we find out what’s gonna happen with Ray Judge and his
band of enforcers,” I thought about what she said for a moment.
“You did the right thing, you know.”
“Come again?” she asked.
“Standing down. It was the right thing to do. Probably saved a lot of lives.”
“Yeah. It doesn’t make it any less of a bitter pill to swallow though,” she started putting spices on both of the prepared rabbits.
“I know,” I said quietly. “If you don’t mind my asking, why haven’t you taken out the enforcers?”
“You ask a lot of questions, Mr. Kenshaw,” she rammed a thin steel stake through the entire length of the first rabbit.
“I’m the curious type, Sheriff.”
“Kaitlyn,” the second rabbit was pierced by a rod. “Call me Kaitlyn. We keep them around just in case Ray makes another appearance.”
“Kaitlyn, I might be overstepping a bit here but I think you need to get rid of them. Arrest them, whatever. It really doesn’t matter. Get rid of them and get ready to stand and fight,” I said evenly. She began to feed potatoes onto each end of the steel rod now.
“A little overstepping?” she laughed. “I do like a man that can speak his mind, but I think
that’s a little over the top.”
“The day is going to come when we are all going to be drawn into this fight. I figure that we
should choose when and how, we should take the initiative.”
“Jack, you’ve seen your share of violence and then some. I’m judging by all of your scars. You sound like a hard but fair man. The thing is, I’m no warrior. The people of this town are not warriors. They’re farmers and ranchers. I used to be a school teacher. We’ve toughened up a lot but that doesn’t make us fighters,” she said as she put the last chunk of potato on and picked up both rabbits.
I followed her out the back door and found that she already had a fire going in the fire pit. There were two sets of “Y” stakes poking up on either side of the pit. She carefully hung both of the rabbits on the spit and took a seat in a lawn chair. I sat on a stump that looked to be well worn by many a butts planted on it.
“Can I ask you another question?” I started.
“Sure.”
“Why do you have a gun?”
“What do you mean by that?”
“The place that I came from, we had guns and they took all of them. Why were you allowed to keep yours?”
“I was told that I wasn’t a threat. I was also told that it is my job to keep the peace. I’m the only one left that has a gun. They took all the others,” she replied.
“Then they’ve already made a fatal mistake.”
“How so?”
“They underestimated you.”
“Or maybe you over-estimate me,” she chuckled. “Like I told you, I’m not about to pick a fight with these guys. Yes, I have men watching them and if need be, they can take them out. That’s as far as it goes,” she reached over and turned the rabbits so that they would cook evenly.
“Why did you give me back my gun?” she looked at me thoughtfully for a few seconds before she spoke. The tone of her voice shifted slightly.
“Off the record?”