Valley of Reckoning

by N A Broadley

  “What happened?”

  “She’s been shot. I patched her up, but she’s lost a lot of blood,” Brian replied, grimacing.

  Doc rushed through, his hair tousled from sleep and a shadow of stubble on his cheeks and chin. Jill stood right behind him. With gentle but quick movements, he cut the shirt from Sarah and pulled away the bandage to reveal a four-inch-long, deep wound. It already showed signs of infection. Brian stood helplessly by the table until Jill ushered him over to where Beth sat.

  “Brian, take Beth back to her room. We need room to work, and you two are just in the way.”

  Brian nodded and reached to help Beth up. She glared at him in protest.

  “No, I want to be here when she wakes up!”

  Brian clenched his teeth in frustration.

  “Damn it, Beth! For once don’t argue.” As tired and stressed as he felt, dealing with her stubbornness was the last thing he wanted to do right now.

  Glaring at him, she brushed his hand away and struggled to stand. With an awkward hobbled gait, she made her way back to her room, feeling him close behind her.

  Sitting on the bed, she sighed deeply. She felt a pang of guilt wash through her. She glanced at Brian standing by the window. He looked exhausted. Tired lines framed his eyes and his mouth. His shoulders slumped with fatigue.

  “I’m sorry,” she murmured. “I’ve just been so worried about both of you.”

  Brian nodded, his gaze falling on the common center of the compound, watching the darkness of night slip away, into the gray light of early morning. His eyes burned with grit from the trail, and he rubbed his hand across them. Turning to Beth, he gave her a tired smile.

  “It was a hard trip and once I scrounge up a cup of coffee and wash up a bit, I’ll come back and fill you in. Be patient, Beth, please.”

  She nodded pulling the blanket from her bed across her chilled legs and feet.

  “I will. Go get some coffee.”

  While Brian went in search of a cup of coffee, she pulled a set of clothes from her backpack and struggled into them. They smelled freshly washed, and she smiled. Mary Anne must’ve laundered them for her. The shirt proved easy to put on; the pants were a different story. Biting back tears of frustration, she maneuvered her bad leg in first. She clenched her teeth against a moan of pain while she got her other leg in. Slowly she pulled them up over her hips, being extra careful not to brush the bandages that lined from her hip to mid-thigh. She couldn’t believe how much the simple task, of putting on pants, exhausted her. She sat on the edge of the bed and panted from the exertion.

  A light tap on her door startled her, and she glanced to see Jill poke her head through.

  “Sarah’s fine. Doc stitched her up and gave her a starter dose of antibiotic. She’s sleeping comfortably now.”

  Beth breathed out a big sigh of relief and smiled.

  “Can I go see her now?”

  Jill nodded. “Yes, you can.” Then she raised an eyebrow as she saw Beth fully dressed.

  “You’re gonna end up busting those stitches wide open, Beth. You gotta take it easy. Give yourself a chance to heal,” she scolded. Beth nodded.

  “I’m fine. I feel fine.”

  Jill helped her to Sarah’s room to wait.

  Beth crooned softly and smiled when Sarah opened her glass blue eyes.

  “Hi, baby girl,” she whispered.

  Sarah hitched back a sob and reached her good arm toward her. Beth hugged her back tightly.

  “I’m so sorry, so sorry, baby,” she cried bending her face into Sarah’s hair.

  “It wasn’t your fault, Beth.”

  Snapping her head up in shock, she looked deep into Sarah’s eyes and squealed.

  “You’re talking?” Sarah laughed and nodded.

  “Yes, you noticed,” she teased then yawned. The pain medication that Doc gave her started to kick in. Beth smiled and laughed in delight.

  “I knew you could talk. I just knew it!”

  Sarah nodded sleepily. She felt Beth pull and tuck the blankets around her.

  “Go to sleep, baby. We’ll talk later. I’m just so thankful you’re back and safe now.”

  ∞

  Brian stepped into her room, and Beth saw that he’d showered and shaved. The scent of lavender soap clung to his skin. He carried two cups of coffee and placed one on the bedside stand for her. She saw that he looked much better, not so scruffy and a lot less frazzled.

  “I missed you. I’ve been so worried,” Beth said. Her legs were tired from pacing, or in her case, hobbling around trying to get some strength built back up. She now had them propped up on a pillow.

  “I’m glad you missed me,” he teased, but his eyes reflected more. Did she see hope? Longing? Beth couldn’t tell.

  “C’mon outside. We’re having a meeting with Roger to discuss what we’ve found out about Bobby and his gang. We’ll fill you in on what has happened. There are some things we all need to think about.” Brian said then drained his cup and set it on the stand beside hers.

  Raising an eyebrow in curiosity, Beth nodded then glanced toward Sarah’s room.

  “She’s still asleep,” Brian said. He wrapped an arm around her to help her off of the bed. She leaned into him heavily. The strong smell of lavender soap drifted up to her nose. It felt good having his arm around her.

  “She’s gonna be fine, that is one strong girl.”

  And it was true. For someone so young, so abused, Sarah possessed the fighting spirit of a warrior. He admired her for that.

  They approached the table and Beth saw some faces she recognized, and several she didn’t. Roger, who sat in a chair next to the picnic table, jumped up to pull a chair over for Beth. Mary Anne had her face buried in her notebook, and she looked up and smiled when Beth sat down. Cain sat next to a woman Beth didn’t know, and Spike leaned against the opposite end of the table sipping on a cup of steaming coffee. Two other men sat on chairs next to the table along with Julie and Jill. Doc stood off to the side, his eyes staring off into the distance and she could tell, his mind was far away.

  Introductions were made all the way around, and Beth nodded and smiled at each person.

  “Rose helped Sarah escape,” Brian said as Beth glanced at him in question. As if hearing them, the young woman smiled shyly and nodded.

  “Nice to meet you, Rose, and thank you so much for helping us get our Sarah home,” Beth murmured.

  She gently hugged the other woman. She wrinkled her nose at the rancid, sweaty odor that wafted from the woman and into her nostrils. How long had it been since this poor woman had seen a shower she wondered? Her breath caught in her throat as she felt the thinness of her. They’d all lost weight over the past months, but this girl was skeletal! It was apparent she hadn’t probably eaten a good meal in quite some time.

  “Okay, let’s get started,” Roger announced. He took a stand at the head of the table. “Now, Brian and Spike have filled me in quite a bit on what happened and what they’d learned of Bobby and his gang. We’ve got quite a shitload of trouble heading our way.”

  All eyes were on him, and Beth studied each face while he talked. She saw expressions of fear and anger.

  “So? We go at them sooner!” Julie snapped. As part of the defense team, she portrayed a no-nonsense, get it done type of attitude.

  “That would be fine, if we knew what we’d be walking into, but going in blind is only gonna get us killed,” Calvin replied.

  Julie, Calvin, and Thomas were the leaders of the defense teams. All strong personalities, all with military backgrounds. They were instrumental in planning and executing the plans that kept the compound safe.

  Brian stood up and coughed lightly. He held a cup of coffee in his hands. “I can help with that.”

  All eyes turned to him.

  “Right now, I know Bobby’s group is at least a hundred plus strong. They are confident almost to the point of reckless. They will be heading this way. So, the question is, do we take the fight to them
? Or do we hold our ground here?”

  Spike nodded and stood up.

  “We’re thinking an ambush—the same way they did to us a few weeks ago. Like Brian said, this man and his gang are reckless, bold. They don’t believe anyone can stop them. So, let’s surprise them. One thing we did learn when we were forward observing the town. Bobby is lazy, and so are his men. They won’t take the trails to come here and trust me; he is coming here! They will stick to the main road. And it is there that we should attack and keep them from ever reaching the compound.”

  Beth listened and watched. Murmurs spread around the table, and heads nodded. Mary Anne pressed a hand over her eyes tiredly, worry showing on her face.

  Rose stood up, drawing the attention of the group. “I have spent the last four months as a prisoner of Bobby and his gang. They came into my town in February. They killed my parents and took my younger sister and me. My younger sister is still there. She is only seven years old, and my heart is shattering just thinking about what is happening to her! You have no idea of what they are forcing the prisoners to do. Mainly women and children,” she said then shuddered. Her eyes filled with tears. Mary Anne reached over and grabbed her hand gently, nodding her head for her to continue.

  “He uses women and children for slaves, trade, and, sex trafficking. The men he uses as part of his force. They have no choice. Either join him or die. He’s going from town to town, killing and pillaging. I spent a long time in his house for what he calls training,” she spat, red-faced with shame, “and I saw the map on his wall, listened in on his meetings with his men. He intends to take this compound and the whole of the North East one way or another. He’s part of a bigger group called the Alliance, and they have gangs from out of Boston and New York. They’ve not yet formed into one group, but when they do, they will number into the thousands,” she finished.

  Beth saw dark scowls, anger, fear, and shocked expressions around the table.

  Spike stood up and cast a warm glance at Rose. On the journey, he talked with her about what she’d been through. She spoke to him of her life before the event, about her little sister. What she’d told him gave him chills. Bobby and his gang were animals. The cruelties, the tortures of the women and children, of the town’s people they held prisoner. Just to name a few things he’d done.

  “So, do we agree? We ambush them?” Spike asked.

  Julie, Thomas, and Calvin all nodded. Roger, seeing their agreement nodded as well.

  It’s time they took the fight to the enemy. It’s time to free the town.

  “We’ll meet back here at noon. We’ve got to gather our groups, fill them in and outline our strategy,” Thomas said. His eyes were those of a soldier preparing for war.

  Beth’s mind spun with turmoil. She wanted to grab Sarah, Jessie, and Brian, and just run! She wanted to be back on the trail and didn’t care about the hunger, the exhaustion, the cold, and the mud. Part of her wanted to believe this problem was not her problem. Another part of her knew and felt guilty, because she felt it was because of her that Bobby and his gang were now planning an attack. She felt guilty that she brought this miserable excuse for a human being, Bobby, directly into the path of this compound.

  Hatred burned deep in her heart and she clenched her fists in anger. Why couldn’t people pull together and form communities? Why did people like Bobby feel the need to harm and destroy? She thought of her neighbor and how he attacked her in her kitchen so long ago. How many did he hurt before her? And why hadn’t she paid attention to her neighborhood—tried to pull her neighbors together to help each other survive? Had she been buried so deep in her misery that she couldn’t see the forest for the trees? Shaking her head, she gritted her teeth until they ached. The early morning sun failed to chase away the chill that coursed through her body.

  Brian moved beside her and crouched in front of her chair. He looked deep into her eyes and saw the turmoil there. “You know I have to do this, right?”

  Beth nodded. Yes, he did have to do this. She knew that. He would help stop Bobby and his gang, once and for all. For her sake, for Sarah’s sake, and for all those others that this man had hurt.

  “You just promise me. Promise me you will come back!” Beth hissed with tears in her eyes. Brian looked at her with an expression of determination and nodded. It was a promise he intended to keep. He hadn’t wanted this war. But he felt he had no choice but to fight it. Too many men like Bobby touched his life in one way or another; touched it in ways that seared pain into his soul. He’d be damned if he would let Bobby ever hurt Sarah or Beth again. And the only way to ensure that would never happen again would be to take care of the gang for good, in the only way he knew how. With blood!

  Mary Anne sat beside Beth. She grasped her hand and squeezed it.

  “I know you’re scared. I’m scared too. But trust me when I say, this is what our men have trained for. They won’t let this gang within ten miles of us here. My Roger will see to that!” she assured Beth.

  When the others got up to leave, Doc moved over beside Jill, and Beth listened in on their conversation.

  “I want you to grab Grace, Eli, Max, Evan, and Tillie. We’re gonna need them,” he murmured. Jill nodded, set her lips into a firm grimace, and rushed off to do what he asked.

  “Mary Anne, can you assign three people to put together medical trauma bags for us? We’ll need four of them for each medic.”

  Mary Anne nodded.

  “Who are you sending out?”

  “Grace, Eli, Max, and Tillie. Evan will stay here with Jill and get the hospital ready. We’ll do triage out in the field. God help us,” he said softly then swore.

  Beth groaned. They were sending medics along with the army. She felt helpless and useless. As an EMT, she could’ve been helping out in the field. But because of her broken hip, she could do nothing! Pulling herself up from the chair, she turned to Mary Anne. Nervous anxiety crawled through her like an electric current.

  “Is there anything I can do to help? I can’t stand this! I can’t stand to sit back like an invalid and do nothing!” she growled.

  Chapter Eleven

  Bobby led the men out into the early morning darkness. A heavy mist dampened the air, and he pulled his jacket tighter around him. The festivities of the night before left them all sluggish and tired. Many angry, petulant glares met him while they all assembled at the crack of dawn. The public hanging and whipping lasted long into the night and pumped the men up for the fight ahead of them. A smile curled his lips as he thought of the night before. The drinking, the cocaine flowing, the screams with each strike of the lash as it hit the whore’s bare back. The faces of his men while they watched greedily and hungrily. And then the faces of the townspeople, the horror and fear of their expressions as he forced them to attend and observe. It served a good lesson to those who might entertain the idea of ever crossing him.

  He’d left twenty-five men to stand guard in town. The rest were with him. They would make their way through town after town on their way to the compound. They were a show of force that would instill fear in everyone who saw them pass through. He knew that the mute bitch and Rose would not be able to reach the compound before him and his men. They were traveling on foot. He and his men traveled on horseback. No, he didn’t worry about them tipping off the compound. Licking his lips, he thought of the strategy he and his commanders had laid out. They came up with plenty of surprises and the perfect plan. Feeling pretty pleased with himself, he kicked his horse, sending her into a run. The damp wind hit his face and he grinned.

  He thought of his plan. It was simple really, he would burn the compound down! By the time he finished, it would be nothing but a pile of rubble, ashes, and dead bodies. A few miles outside of the compound, his group would split into four teams: north, south, east, and west. They would attack from all sides simultaneously.

  At first, it would be with Molotov cocktails, sending fire into the heart of the compound, which would be followed by the little explosive s
urprises Ray had made for him. The firebombing would send the men, woman, and children scurrying like little vermin. Then he and his men would move in, take down any resistance, and the compound would be theirs. All of its supplies, and all of its whores. Then he would wait. He would wait for that mute bitch to arrive. And boy, did he have a surprise planned for her. She would pay dearly for killing six of his men.

  Laughing softly, he pulled a cigarette from his pack, lit a match, and took a deep drag; enjoying the burn in his lungs. He stared off into the distance. His mind teased him with ideas of what he planned to do to the girl. On either side of the road the thick woods hummed with the call of birds and insects, and the dark inky night faded into the gray of early dawn. The air felt crisp, misty and cool; perfect for the early morning ride.

  ∞

  Mitch Smalley tossed a cracker over his shoulder and watched the rooster dive for it. Shaking his head, he laughed. How in the hell had he ended up with this freakin bird? Stuffing the remainder of his lunch in his saddlebag, he mounted the nag and gave her a soft pat on her neck before kicking her gently on the flanks to get her moving. Before they’d gone even a hundred yards he heard the pounding of hooves coming from behind him, around the bend in the road. With a quick nudge, he led the horse into a thick stand of brush at the side of the road and crouched low. He looked at the rooster and hissed a warning. The scent of pine filled his senses. The thick, green leaf cover hid him, and he peeked through the branches of a low hanging limb.

  “One squawk and I’ll ring your neck.”

  The rooster looked at him with its beady eyes and growled.

  “I mean it, Peckerhead!” Mitch whispered.

  He watched a large group of riders pass a few yards away from him. His gun loosely grasped in his hand but ready, just in case. He didn’t like the looks of this. Many of the men he noticed wore gang tats on their bare arms. His stomach sank. He intently observed them from his hiding spot. Disjointed conversations met his ears, snippets of information, and laughter. He wondered where they were going, and his gut told him that wherever they were headed would soon see a whole lot of trouble.