by Connor Mccoy
“Marco!” Now Doctor Nguyen’s voice was much closer. The cry also was accompanied by rustling grass.
He’s almost here. “Polo!” Jacob came to a stop as he yelled it. The rustling grew louder, accompanied by a mix of stomps and a metal squeaking that sounded like a wheel turning.
Jacob soon discovered the source of the sounds. Doctor Nguyen emerged from the brush just ahead, pushing his way through the blades while ushering his bicycle along. His face lit up when he laid eyes on Jacob.
“Thank God!” After halting, he kicked out the bike’s stand and anchored it. “I’ve never have been so happy to win a game of Marco Polo.”
“Me neither.” Jacob let out a great sigh of relief. “I thought I’d had lost you. With all this darkness, I barely can see a damn thing.”
“Really? You could have had me fooled. The damn sun kept setting and you just pedaled and pedaled like you could see for miles. I thought you had night vision or something built into your cranium.”
Jacob wiped sweat off his forehead. “I was on autopilot. I should have turned around and checked on you. How did you get out here?”
“It wasn’t long ago, maybe an hour. It was getting dark and I was pretty lost in thought. I guess I don’t have much excuse either for getting myself lost. Anyway, I must have turned on an old dirt road that was grown over. I started hitting these blades of grass. I almost fell over. I put on the brakes just in time but I had lost my sense of direction. I couldn’t find my way back to the road. I called and called but never could track you down until I spotted that little moving flame off in the distance.” Nguyen pointed to Jacob’s torch. “Neat little beauty, isn’t it?”
“Yeah.” Jacob coughed. Smoke was wafting through the air from the torch. “Hey, how about we get back to the road so I don’t have to hold this thing any longer? It’s starting to play hell with my sinuses.”
“I hear you.” Nguyen started pushing the bike past Jacob.
But before Jacob could turn back toward the road, a shout rang out across the field. Jacob needed a moment to process it, but it sounded like, “Hey, you see something?” in a nasally male voice.
Jacob froze. “Who the hell is that?”
“I don’t know.” Doctor Nguyen turned his head. “But he doesn’t sound like someone I want to run into.”
The voice sounded as if it came from the northwest. Jacob’s ears picked up the sounds of soft rustling in the grass. Someone else was out there.
“Jacob, I think we should make ourselves scarce. I ran into some pretty bad smells out here, almost definitely carcasses. Could have been animals, but I wouldn’t be surprised if there were some dead people around here.”
“But with this damned torch, they’ll spot us even if we start moving,” Jacob replied, “Actually, they might even see us better if we do start back to the road.”
“Then put it out! Get rid of the flame and let’s get going!”
Jacob hesitated. “No offense, but you’ve been wandering around in the dark for a while. Without this light, we both might end up lost. I did try to walk exactly in a straight line from the road, so if I turn completely around…” Jacob spun around exactly one hundred and eighty degrees. “…we might make it to the road. I just hate taking the risk.”
“Well if we keep walking, we’ll end up anywhere but here, and right now I’d like to get out of here. Now kill that torch!”
Jacob obeyed. He pushed away some of the grass with his boot so he could expose the raw soil. Then, he flipped the torch around and plunged it into the dirt. He stomped the head of the torch good and hard in the dirt to extinguish the flames.
The nasal voice returned, along with a second man’s voice, this one deeper. Jacob couldn’t make out much beyond “thought I saw a glow over there,” and “move your ass.”
“Okay.” Jacob cringed. The sudden enclosure of darkness spooked him. It was like being trapped in an endless sea of dark shapes with almost no point of reference to tell where he should go.
“Put your hands on the handlebars,” Nguyen said, “Over to your left. Keep a firm grip. That way, we won’t get separated out here.”
Jacob found the handlebars. “Got it.” Holding the bike quelled his fear a little, since he at least was holding on to something solid.
“Where’d that light go?” yelled out the deep-voiced man, “I don’t see it!”
“It was over there!” cried out the other man’s voice. “Just keep walking this way and keep that light from going out.”
Jacob’s blood chilled. Whoever was out there possessed their own light, so they could traverse this terrain with some short-range sight while he and the doctor were trekking blind. That realization induced him to walk faster.
“You think they can hear us?” Nguyen asked in a soft tone.
“I don’t know. Let’s just try to pick up the pace and keep our voices down. With this tall grass around us, it’s not like they can run after us.”
“True.” Nguyen laughed quietly. “It’s hilarious. I’m not nearly as scared as I should be. I guess I almost feel at home in this tall grass. I hit a few places like this with Sam back in the day. I remember one time I had to fish him out of a swamp.”
“Really?” Jacob asked.
“Yeah, and then I caught a cold. The bastard managed to stay well even though we both were up to our shoulders in cold water.”
Jacob chuckled in a soft tone. “I bet you and Sam are going to have a ton of stories to exchange when we get back to his home.”
Nguyen uttered, “I suppose.”
Jacob frowned. “You think there will be any problems seeing him again?”
“I don’t think so. But I don’t fancy telling him what happened in Middleburg.”
“I’m sure he’ll understand that you didn’t intend for things to get so out of hand.” Jacob sighed. “Although I’ve never seen Sam really pissed off. Is there anything I should know about?”
Nguyen paused for a moment. “Don’t call him ‘Mr. Clean.’”
Jacob frowned. “What?” He wondered if Nguyen meant the bald-headed mascot for that line of cleaning products. With his mostly bald head, Doc Sam did resemble Mr. Clean somewhat. “Why?”
“Because he’ll get creative. A wise acre who argued with him called him that. I don’t know what Sam did to him after that but that man just kept saying, “The horror, the horror.”
Jacob chuckled, though a little nervously. “I guess no one should get on his bad side, huh?”
The beginning of Nguyen’s comment was cut off by the sudden stench of a dead body. The pair stopped their trek and looked down, but only a silhouette was visible in the grass. Still, it looked human enough to unnerve Jacob down to his toes.
“You weren’t kidding about the smells out here,” Jacob said, in a harsh whisper.
He wondered if this person wandered out here and died, or if he was killed and dumped out in this field. Without the power of law enforcement, depraved lunatics were free to maim and kill as they pleased. Jacob shivered at the thought that this countryside might become a dumping ground for murderers.
In the quiet, he heard rustling from behind them. Those other men still were on their trail. “We’d better hurry,” Jacob said. He didn’t know who those guys were, but Jacob vowed he would not end up out here among the dead.
Jacob’s heart pounded. Did they miss the road? They should have encountered it by now. I never should have put out that torch. His nerves continued fraying due to the constant rustling of the grass and chatter of the men. Jacob and Doctor Nguyen never could outdistance them.
“I think we might be in trouble. We should have found the road by now,” Jacob said.
“Let’s hope you just took a slight detour,” Nguyen said. “But if we are traveling exactly the opposite of the direction you took to find me, then we should find the road soon. Our angle just might be steeper.”
A few seconds later, Doctor Nguyen’s assessment proved correct. Jacob pushed his way out of th
e grass and into open space. His boot touched down on solid asphalt.
“We made it,” Jacob said, almost disbelieving.
“There’s your problem.” Nguyen pointed to a small shape behind them that looked like Jacob’s bike. “You were in the right direction but you approached at a steeper angle. You missed your bicycle by a few yards.”
The crackles of the grass turned Jacob’s head. Now that he dared to look back, he noticed a small orange glow approaching through the foliage.
“We can take shots at my sense of direction later. I have to get my bike so we can get the hell out of here.”
Jacob slowed down his bike once he reached Doctor Nguyen. “We’ll talk on the road.”
Nguyen mounted his ride. “You’re the boss, Mister Avery.”
As the two peeled out, two dark shapes emerged from the brush, one clutching a lantern. One of them screamed, “Hey! You assholes, stop right there!” But Jacob and Nguyen quickly opened up a lead on the two men. Without any kind of ride, the mystery men were left behind in a matter of seconds.
“Thank God.” Jacob sighed. “I don’t want to know what was in store for us with those guys.”
“Do we keep on going?” Nguyen called to him from behind, “Or do you plan on a rest stop?”
“We have to.” Jacob took deep breaths between sentences. “I have to get to Domino and the kids. I wouldn’t want to pitch camp out here anyway, not with what we’ve just seen. Besides, I think we’re close. If we can just push on, I think we can make it in the next hour.”
“I should have asked this earlier, but how do we make sure we don’t play ‘Find the Doctor’ again?” Nguyen asked.
“Well, let’s just keep talking. If I don’t hear you saying anything, that’s a bad sign.” Jacob laughed.
“Perfect. Prolonged conversation. One of the three things in life I’m absolutely mediocre at. So, what do you want to discuss?”
Jacob tried to think. Ironically, he couldn’t think of a subject to bring up. The long journey had exhausted his mental faculties. Family was all he could think about.
“Do you have any children?” Jacob asked.
“I’ve had four dogs through the years that might count, but aside from that, no.” Nguyen cleared his throat. “I thought of starting a family but I never quite got there. My brother’s a different story. He’s married, has a wife, adopted daughter.”
“Really?” Jacob asked, “Are they in town with him?”
“His wife is. His daughter, Amanda, isn’t.” Nguyen sighed loudly. It sounded like this was a painful subject. “She’s in Minnesota, studying neurology. Third year student.”
Jacob winced. To be that far away with a total breakdown of aircraft and automobiles must have devastated Trang and his wife. “I see,” Jacob said. “I’m sure that must be hard on all of you, especially your brother.”
“I couldn’t say whether having Amanda so far away during all of this pushed Trang into that darkness, but I can say I would not be surprised,” Nguyen said.
Jacob thought of his own family. What if they were hundreds of miles away and he couldn’t reach them? What would that realization do to him? His opinion of Trang softened, if just a little.
“If you like, I could talk about her,” Nguyen said. “It would help. It helps me to think of her as still being out there. Perhaps one day we can see her again.”
“Sure,” Jacob said.
Chapter Twelve
Brandon and Jubilee had pulled on their shoes and hitched their belts over their nightclothes, their belts containing their gun holsters. Domino was both proud of her children and sad for them all at once. She and Jacob had trained their son and daughter to use firearms, to be mindful of their danger, and that such weapons only were to be used in emergencies. And now that emergency had arrived.
Domino glanced at the doorway to the living room. The intruder or intruders so far had not barged in through the door from Doc Sam’s treatment room. She was terrified for him, yet she couldn’t divert any effort to saving him. Her children came first. She held no doubt that Sam understood what she had to do.
Her mind raced. Brandon and Jubilee could leave through the front door, but the treatment room’s entrance was too close to the front yard. The invaders might spot her children from there. Jubilee was too weak to run fast, although she kept saying she was up to it. Her daughter was brave, but Domino knew the teen had been through a lot.
The better bet was to go through the house and out the back. The treatment room was not connected to the house by any other entrance. So if the invaders wanted into the house, they would have to go around the home to the living room door or the back door. Odds are they might choose the front door first since it was the easiest, but if they were craftier, wanting to take whoever was in the house by surprise, they could opt for the back.
They couldn’t delay any longer. “You two remember your training?” Domino pressed against the wall near the doorframe while keeping a vigil on the front door. “The wounded man scenario. Jubilee, you’ll play the injured, Brandon, you act as her cover.”
Brandon’s hand patted his belt. “Got it.”
Domino and Jacob had run their children through a number of scenarios should trouble erupt. Under the “wounded man scenario,” one of them was injured, but not enough to preclude running on his or her own. So, the uninjured party would act as a point man to cover for the wounded person.
Jubilee seemed like she wanted to object, but Domino quickly cut in to say, “Believe me, Baby, I’ll feel better knowing you’re safer. And I know you can take care of yourself if you have to.”
Jubilee nodded. Her objection appeared defused. Now was the time to move.
Domino stepped out, her gun pointed at the living room door. “Go! Go!” Jubilee sped out first, then Brandon, who ran around her, tracking her closely as the pair retreated from the door to behind the living room sofa. The doorway to the hall was their destination. Domino kept herself between the front door and her children.
Brandon and Jubilee were closing in on the hall. Almost there. Once they made it, Domino would trail them until they reached the kitchen. Then, she would switch and take point ahead of Brandon, opening the back door and scouting ahead for trouble.
A good plan, just as long as something didn’t interrupt it. Unfortunately, Domino spotted movement through the front window. Their plans were about ready to go to hell.
Two dark shapes that looked like men rapidly closed in on the front door. Domino dashed to a spot between the sofa and the hall door. “Run! Now!” she shouted.
Brandon and Jubilee took off into the hall. At the same time, a bullet blew through the door knob. Then a leg kicked in the front door.
Evander!
There was no doubt. She spotted him pulling back from the door. Those bastards! The pair were a bunch of dangerous druggies after all. What had they done to Sam?
She squeezed the trigger once, but a shot through the nearby window forced her to duck and retreat behind the sofa. Someone was firing at her, and it wasn’t Evander. It must be Zell. Figures. The Lutz cousin was in too poor condition to physically storm through the front door. He must be sniping at her from outside.
Domino kept down as more gunfire erupted through the window. It was intense. Domino felt the sofa vibrate as bullets struck it. One even shot through it, just inches above her head.
Damn. Where did they get that ammo? They weren’t packing that kind of heat when they showed up here.
She heard the front door burst all the way open. Poking her head out enough to see, Domino spotted Evander in the doorframe.
Oh no you don’t!
Domino aimed and fired at him. Evander dove for the ground. Thanks to his thin frame, Evander poured on speed and got out of Domino’s range quickly. Domino wasn’t sure whether she nailed him. To pursue him, she would have to crawl out from behind the sofa, but that would expose her to Zell’s gunfire.
Shit! Evander’s in here. But my babies shoul
d have made it to the kitchen by now. There’s no way they can catch up to them if I hold them at bay for just a little longer.
Brandon kept the gun trained toward the living room as Jubilee hobbled down the hall toward the kitchen. As soon as they heard their mother cry for them to run, they bolted.
Jubes, I hope you’re not lagging, so we can save Mom. Brandon could understand if she was. He wanted to help out Mom, too, but he knew the drill. If they stayed in the fray, their mother would have to divide her attention between them and the shooters. Retreating was the only way.
Once they crossed the threshold into the kitchen, Brandon switched places. Now he had to take point toward the back door. If the invaders were occupied in front, then he and Jubilee should have a clear path out the back and into the yard. They could make a dash to the bunker from there.
Brandon was just a few steps from the door. He reached for the first of the locks that held it secure. Doc Sam had shown him each lock and how to unlatch them all quickly in sequence. He was to start at the top…
“Brandon, run!” Jubilee cried.
Jubilee’s cry was so startling that Brandon complied without asking. She was bolting for Sam’s workshop, her gun drawn.
As Brandon crossed past the window above the kitchen sink, he understood. A dark shadow just had passed the pane, and it looked like he was packing a rifle. Judging from the shape and build, it had to be Zell Lutz.
“Mom!” Brandon cried, “Zell!” That was all he got out before the door was suddenly pelted by gunfire. Bullet holes tore mostly through the hinges, with some shots penetrating the lock. .
The sound of the pounding bullets wreaked havoc on Brandon’s ears. He had heard gunfire before, even up close, but not with the constant rat-tat-tat that Zell Lutz was putting out. It must be a semi-auto. The sound was so painful that he kept his hands clamped on his ears.
Fortunately, Jubilee could and did act. Now nestled down by the closed workshop door, she fired her weapon through the kitchen’s back door.