by Eric Vall
That’s when I heard the first thud against the door behind me, but I was confident the door would hold for a couple more minutes.
I quickly glanced over the lip of the building and noticed some of the other groups had already started to head towards the sound of gunfire, but these men also didn’t seem to be looking up at my location. I figured I was just dealing with a lone shooter, so I carefully glanced around the town and waited.
I saw the muzzle flash a split second before I ducked. The bullet bounced off the brick on the lip of the building, and I leaned up again. The man shooting at me was behind a mailbox about a block to my right. he had a lever action rifle in his hands and his eyes were fixed on the rooftop.
I slid over a few dozen feet on the roof, pulled up my rifle, trained the sight on him, and feathered the trigger. My weapon gently kicked against my shoulder, and the thug crumpled to the ground as he let out a last shot from his lever action. His shot went wide of course, but I still ducked down low against the roof.
The pounding on the door behind me intensified as I continued to pick off new targets. Most of the groups had either headed towards me or taken cover, and I couldn’t help but smile as I trained my gun on two bikers who thought they had found a safe place to hide. They clearly didn’t know where I was shooting from because they were crouched down on the wrong side of a burned out sedan. I had a full line of sight on them as they stared out into the darkness opposite the apartments.
I shook my head and put two bullets through each of their chests. As they fell, their torch rolled along the uneven ground and started a small pile of trash on fire.
The door behind me burst open, and I spun, rifle in hand, to see half a dozen angry bikers flood out onto the rooftop.
“We have you corner--” The big man in the lead started to shout, but I was already shooting, and my bullets tore through the first group of men as if they were made of red paper.
Half of them fell to the ground twitching where they stood, but the other half tumbled back into the building and down the stairs. I could hear more screams of alarm behind the men I first shot, so I knew there were probably more waiting in the stairwell.
Nothing another grenade couldn’t fix.
I pulled one from my chest and flicked the pin and handle free as I ran toward my rope. I gave it to the count of two, and then I tossed the deadly baseball into the open door of the building.
I really didn’t have time to look, but I heard the explosion and the screams that followed right after.
I made it to the opposite side of the roof, scooped up my backpack, picked up the rope, and jumped over the edge. I heard more gun fire up above me and on the other side of the building, but I guessed that they still didn’t know exactly where I was.
And soon I would be gone.
“He’s getting away!” I heard someone yell from up above as soon as I hit the ground, so I turned around, raised my rifle to my shoulder, and took a shot. I actually didn’t expect to hit the man since I only had half an instant to aim and he was three stories up, but I got lucky, and the bullet gave him a bloody third eye.
“There he is!” someone screamed from the street to my right, so I spun and laid down some cover fire in that direction as I ran toward the truck.
“Stop him!” I heard someone else scream to my left, and I sent a couple of bullets that way as I heard a few gun blasts behind me. It was still dark out, and I was running fast, so I didn’t even hear the bullets fly past me, but I knew it was just going to be a matter of time until someone got lucky.
It was really time to get the fuck out of here.
Bullets whizzed past me as I reached the truck, and the roar of motorcycles engines filled the air. I tossed my backpack in through the open window and climbed into the cab. Then I kept low as I grabbed the wires and tried to start the truck.
Bullets tore through the thin metal body as the engine chugged, but refused to start.
“Oh, come on,” I growled. “Fucking work.”
As if it could hear my words the truck roared to life.
“Yes!” I exclaimed triumphantly as I stomped on the gas.
The tires spun for a moment before the vehicle lurched forward, and I drove with one hand while I grabbed a molotov from my bag.
I was tearing down the side streets of the town, and for a moment it looked like I would make a clean getaway, but then I saw lights flash in my rearview mirror and I glanced back to see eight motorcycles gaining on me fast. The gate came into view ahead of me, and I could vaguely make out two men on top of it working to lower a gate of scrap metal to block my path.
Well. Shit.
I clung to the steering wheel with my left hand and then flicked my lighter over the molotov. I didn’t know exactly how it would help me, but I figured throwing it on one of the fuckers would probably create a lot of chaos.
Birdshot tore through my rear window as my molotov wick caught flame. I slowed down just enough to let the group of bikers get right behind me before I tossed the flaming alcohol out of the window and sped up.
I watched with a grin as a wall of flame erupted behind me and engulfed five of the bikers. I put some distance between the last three as they swerved to avoid the flames.
“Oh shit,” I yelled out as I turned my attention back to the mostly closed gate in front of me. It looked like the truck still might fit under the gap that remained, but it was going to be close. I ducked low, slammed my foot down on the gas pedal, and prayed that I’d make it through.
The front of my truck disappeared under gate, and for a moment I thought I would just squeak by, but then there was a horrible screeching sound as the gate tore off the top part of the truck cab, and I was showered with bits of metal and shattered glass as the wind tore at my hair.
Then I came out the other side, and I let out a gasp when I realized I had gotten through alive.
My moment of triumph was cut short by the sound of approaching motorcycle engines, and I looked behind me to see that two riders had slid under the door and out onto the road after me.
My own motorcycle was two miles away, and I wanted to lose these creeps before I got there, so I shook my head, pulled my pistol, and stayed low as more birdshot tore at my ride.
The throaty sound of an unmuffled engine roared up my left side as my pursuers continued to gain on my ancient truck. The first one pulled up next to me, and he tried to angle his shotgun toward my face with his free hand.
I slammed on the breaks as he pulled the trigger, and then I put three pistol rounds into the back of the biker as he tried to swing around for another shot. His bike wobbled and veered off the road before it slammed into a tree.
The second biker shot past me while he fired wildly with a pistol of his own, but he only succeeded in putting a few more bullet holes in the truck body.
I pressed hard on the gas again, and the blue truck lurched forward with an angry groan. I got up to the truck’s max speed of fifty five and started to tail the last bad guy.
The biker slowed and went to spin around, but realized too late that I was already behind him. My front fender clipped his bike as he tried to turn, and he was thrown off like a flicked action figure. These guys weren’t wearing helmets or leather jackets, so I figured he was dead when his skull bounced off the asphalt.
Then I was free.
I just kept on driving, and two minutes later I pulled my mutilated vehicle off to the side of the road by where I’d hidden my motorcycle.
One quick inspection later and I had stepped out of my truck, stripped off my biker vest, did a quick check of my chest for injuries, and then tossed the vest into the cab. Then I entered the woods, retrieved my bike and rolled it toward the truck. Ideally, I would have loaded it into the bed using a ramp, but I didn’t have one, so I just heaved the front wheel of my motorcyle up on the bed with brute strength, deadlifted the back end, and then pushed it the rest of the way on with the rest of my loot. There was enough space for everything, but I gave all th
e contents of the bed a quick once over to make sure nothing was going to fall out.
“The girls are not going to like it when I tell them that I got into a fight,” I said with a chuckle as I climbed back into the glass covered front seat.
“Well, thanks for getting me out of there safely,” I muttered as I patted the dash of my new truck. “Now let’s go home.”
I pulled back onto the road and started out for the campus at a casual pace. As the adrenaline wore off, it hit me how tired I was, but the rush of fresh mountain air and thoughts about how happy the girls were going to be when they saw all the shit I’d brought them helped me to stay awake.
An hour into my trip I started to relax as the sky grew lighter above me. No more bikers came after me, and I smiled as I got to enjoy the sight of a perfect sunrise through the dense mountain trees.
It had kind of been the perfect night, all things considered. I’d killed a bunch of assholes who deserved it, stole their stuff, and got out alive.
Chapter 16
The campus looked empty when I pulled back into the parking lot with my unknown truck, and I was glad to see that they were still sticking to our hiding plan. The girls had been doing so well lately that part of me wondered if I shouldn’t have brought one of them along. Then I looked back to the torn up truck and thought maybe going alone had been a better idea.
“Hey guys!” I yelled out. “I’m back!”
Rolly poked his head out first, the hunting rifle in hand, to make sure it was really me. The moment he set eyes on me he grinned, slung the rifle over his shoulder, and disappeared back into the dorm building.
I leaned against the truck and waited as the group all filtered out a moment later. At first they were all smiles and laughter, but their demeanors soured as soon as they noticed the bullet holes and missing top of the truck.
“Are you okay?” Anna asked as she rushed to my side.
“Yeah, you aren’t hurt are you?” Paige said as she immediately started to inspect me for injuries. She frowned as she flipped over my hands and saw the raw red rope burns.
“I’m good,” I said. “Really good actually. You should see the other guy’s truck.”
“What happened?” Tara asked. “Oh my god, is that blood?”
“It looks like blood!” Bailey gasped.
“Are you hurt?” Paige asked as she grabbed my arm.
“He’s--” Anna started to say, but I raised my hand.
“Ladies, settle down,” I said with a laugh. “I’m alright.”
“Then what happened to this truck?” Rolly asked as he thumped on the hood. “Wait, don’t tell me, you found it like this?”
“Not exactly.” I admitted. “The rust was always there, but it had fewer bullet holes and a complete cab when I took it.”
“What happened to this just being a scouting mission?” Anna groaned.
“Things got complicated,” I said.
“So you got caught?” Bailey asked.
“No, nothing like that,” I replied.
“Oh good, so you decided to pick a fight then,” Paige groaned as she rolled her eyes.
“I thought you said you weren’t going to do that,” Tara pouted.
“Like I said, things got complicated,” I reiterated.
“Well, come on,” Paige said as she took my arm and started to pull me gently towards the firepit. “You can tell us all about it while I take care of your hands.”
“Someone grab my backpack,” I said to the others. “I have something in there for Rolly.”
“More bourbon?” The handyman asked with a raised eyebrow as he grabbed the bag.
“Something better,” I said. “Check the main compartment.”
Rolly unzipped the backpack and rummaged around inside for a moment before he pulled out a small orange pill bottle. His eyes went wide and he looked over at me.
“Heard you were getting low,” I said with a smirk.
“Who told you?” He asked.
“Paige and Bailey caught me before I took off yesterday,” I said.
“You’re welcome,” Bailey said as she gave Rolly a wide smile.
“Next time don’t keep this stuff from me,” I said.
“I just didn’t want to bother anyone,” the handyman muttered with a shrug.
“I know, but I could have looked into this earlier,” I explained. “We gotta take care of each other, old man.”
“Alright, alright,” Rolly said with a laugh. “I’ll keep you in the loop next time.”
“I appreciate it,” I said as Paige sat me down. “The same goes for the rest of you. If you have something important like this come up tell me immediately. This is the kind of stuff we need to stay on top of if we want to survive long term.”
“Will do, Tav,” Paige said as she grabbed her backpack and pulled out her first aid kit. The brunette grabbed the neosporin, burn cream, and some clean bandages.
“Is it story time yet?” Tara asked as she took a seat next to me and leaned on my shoulder.
“Yeah, please explain why you lied to us,” Anna said.
“Wow, angry much?” Tara said.
“Well he gave us his word,” Anna replied with a shrug.
“I am sure he has a good reason for doing what he did,” Bailey said.
“I didn’t mean to lie to you,” I said. “I honestly only planned for this all to be a scouting mission. Though there are gifts in my pack for the rest of you.”
“Oh?” Bailey asked as she raised an eyebrow and pulled my bag closer. She rifled around inside before pulling out several packages of birth control and a couple of the antibiotics.
“Yes!” Paige yipped as she pulled one of the packages from the bag.
“I know Tara doesn’t need the birth control,” I explained, “but I would rather be safe than sorry when it comes to the rest of you.”
“Great idea,” Paige said as she dug through the pack. “You got a ton. It should last us a long time.”
“How long?” Anna asked as she moved closer so she could see into the bag.
“There have to be four hundred packs,” Bailey said. “Split between the two of you, that will last a long--”
“Three, you mean,” Paige said as she pointed at Anna, then herself, and then Bailey.
“Uhhh,” Bailey cleared her throat, and her cheeks turned a bit red. “Tav and I actually aren’t--”
“Duh,” Tara laughed. “You should start taking some now so you are ready when Tav goes bareback with you.”
“You just say what you want to say, don’t you?” Anna rolled her eyes at the platinum blonde.
“Hey, if you bitches want to get pregnant, be my guest,” Tara scoffed. “But I can tell you from experience that it feels fucking fabulous when Tav comes inside of--”
“Leeeeeettttsssss just leave it at that,” Anna interrupted as she waved her hands to cut off the other woman.
“Thanks, Tav,” Paige said as she grinned at me. “I’ll start taking them. We won’t be safe for a month, but I’m looking forward to not having to worry about getting pregnant.”
“Yeah,” Anna agreed as she smiled at me.
“What’s this other stuff?” Tara asked as she picked up a bottle of amoxicillin.
“Pharmacy grade antibiotics. I figure it will be good to have in case one of us gets an infection or a really nasty cut,” I said.
“That’s awesome,” Paige said. “How many bottles of that stuff did you manage to snag?”
“Just four, but that pharmacy was pretty well stocked,” I said. “I bet you could pick out a lot of good stuff there with that medical knowledge of yours. Who knows what sort of stuff I passed over just because I had no idea what it was.”
“Next time we go that way I will look into it,” Paige agreed.
“Thanks for getting all of this stuff for us, Tav,” Tara purred. “You really do know how to take care of a lady, or four.”
“Tara, now is not the time,” Anna said as she rolled her eyes. “
I, for one, would still like to know why Tav went all Rambo on those bikers.”
“Yeah, what happened?” Paige asked as she spread neosporin on my wound.
“I met our enemy,” I started. “The bikers have a home about a half a day’s drive from here. It is right where Paige said it would be. Almost every town between them and us is a charred husk. These guys have a real thing for arson.”
“So the smoke we saw while we were on the mountain was the bikers then?” Anna asked.
“Yeah, sure looks that way,” I said.
“What did their camp look like?” Paige asked.
“They took shelter in a small town about half a days drive from here. Unlike us these guys don’t worry about sustainability as they seem to just raid the surrounding area and take what they need.”
“That doesn’t seem like a good long-term plan,” Rolly said. “The area is bound to run out of supplies, eventually.”
“Yeah but these guys are too busy reveling in the chaos of this new world to really care,” I said. “You should have seen how many bodies they had thrown out onto the outskirts of town. It didn’t look like the people who lived there got to leave nicely.”
“Oh god,” Bailey muttered as she put a hand over her mouth.
“They decorated their gate with anyone wearing a uniform too,” I said. “These guys really hate any reminder of old world authority or anyone still trying to maintain it.”
“Is that why you got in a fight?” Tara asked.
“No, but while I was sneaking around their boss came out and gathered the idiots,” I said. “This guy got his gang all worked up and talked about going on the warpath again.”
“Oh,” Bailey said.
“That’s why you did then, isn’t it?” Anna asked.
“Yeah, they were heading to Lanceton first,” I said. “They were going to burn it to the ground along with anyone they found in it.”
“But we aren’t in Lanceton, so why should we care?” Tara asked.
“My guess is that they didn’t plan to stop there,” Rolly mused.
“Exactly, these guys were going to torch every place they could find,” I said. “Plus, Lanceton is still full of valuable supplies, and I would rather it not burn down.”