Runner Boy | Book 2 | Rider Kid

by Mackey, Jay

  I’m to be in the first group. Rob and Rachel will be in one of the fence groups. I’m glad they’ll be together so that Rob can watch out for her. I know she thinks she’s fierce and I tell people that, but I’m afraid for her anyway.

  As we wait around for the go signal, Flip gathers each of the groups separately around the hood of his car. He’s got a little hand-drawn map and he goes through the details of his plan with each group.

  Our group is last. The four of us huddle together: Flip, the older woman, the younger black student and me. He smooths the map on the car hood and shows us the camp layout. There’s almost a full moon and a few zillion stars, so we can see the map without having to use a flashlight.

  “Here’s the gate, set back from the main road around this curve,” says Flip, pointing out details on the map. “Maggie and me will drive up to the gate and get the drop on the two guards. Dak,” he nods to the student kid, “I’ll drop you off near the road. You come through the trees to where you can see the gate, and you’re the backup. If anything happens to Maggie or me, or things go haywire at the gate, you’ve got to surprise the guards by coming out of the trees. Do what you have to do. Got it?”

  Dak nods. He’s carrying a handgun. I hope nothing goes wrong at the gate, because he’s not likely to be able to shoot anybody from the trees with that thing.

  “Now you, Brady. I’ve got a special assignment for you.” Flip looks from the map back at me. I grin back and nod, trying not to look as nervous as I feel.

  Flip goes back to the map. “The lodge is back here, tucked into the trees. The front faces out toward the gate, but it’s not visible from the gate. The building has two back exits, and group two will be covering those. The front door is going to be your responsibility, at least until I can get from the gate to the lodge. There are eight to ten militia and staff in the lodge, and I need you to keep them from getting out and into the trees, where they will disrupt our plan. Okay?”

  “Sure,” I say. “So do I come in through the gate with you, or through the trees with Dak?”

  “Neither.” He points to the map at a location outside the camp. “This whole area here is a hill. Not much of one, but it’s a rise, used for grazing animals, so it’s all bare. From there, across the pond and down this road, you’ve got a clear view of the front of the lodge. It’s a long ways, maybe a quarter of a mile, I’m not sure, but I’m hoping with your rifle you can scare those sons of bitches enough to keep them inside.” He nods his head a couple times and looks at me again.

  “Okay,” I say with little confidence. It’s hard to picture all this from the little map.

  “Plus, from there you can see a lot of the camp. You can control the area from here . . .”—he points to the gate—“. . . to here . . .”—he points to the lodge—“. . . and over here to the cabins where the guards stay.” He points to some little squares on the left of the drawing.

  I think Flip can tell I’m a little unsure. He says, “Tell you what. I’m going to send the other two groups in a couple minutes, let them get set up and give them time to cut the fence. Then we’ll circle around and I’ll show you the hill. You can take a look and let me know if there’s a problem, okay?”

  “Sure. That sounds good,” I say. Jesus, I hope this isn’t some impossible assignment. If I can see the door, I’m sure I’ll be able to shoot it, but I can’t quite picture it. And will shooting at the door keep the militia inside? I hope so. It’s a warm night, but I didn’t notice my hands sweating until just now.

  Not long after the others had piled into their vehicles and left, Flip motions for us to load up and leave too. We pass by Jerry’s pickup, which is parked by the side of the road, facing the other way. Jerry, Jake and their group are hiking through the trees to the back of the lodge. Rob and his group are coming in from another direction.

  Flip stops after a short distance to let Dak off. He points to the trees Dak is supposed to go through to get near the gate. Then we set off again. We pass by a sign for the summer camp and pass the private road that leads down to the gate. We turn right on a farm road and go down maybe a half mile or so. I see the little hill off to the right, and Flip pulls over and motions me to get my rifle and follow him.

  We go over a barbed wire fence, which Flip tells me is nowhere near as nasty as the coiled wire used to encircle the camp. We go up the little hill. As we near the crest, Flip motions me down, and we go the rest of the way on hands and knees. At the top, I see the camp. There’s a little lake between us and the camp buildings. He points out the gate, which we can see off to the right.

  “Keep down. The guards at the gate can see you if they decide to look this way,” he says. Then he points out the lodge, back along the road leading into the camp. “It’s to the right where the road forks. Can you see it? It looks farther than when I scouted it out the other day. I don’t know if that’s too far to take a shot or not.” He’s looking through binoculars at the camp. He holds them out for me to look, but I wave him off.

  “I’ll use my scope,” I say, and sight my rifle down at the lodge. My scope is a really good one. It’s massive, which lets more light in, making it usable in low light like we have tonight. The moonlight is just enough to let me see the lodge.

  There’s a large window in front, and a door on the left, under a separate little porch roof. The door has glass windows, which I think is probably good. If I shoot out the glass, it will make a lot of noise and scare the militia away from the door.

  I look through the big window in the building. There’s a small light coming from inside, and I see through the sight that there’s a lantern sitting on a table near the window. I point it out to Flip.

  “I can’t really see that through the binoculars,” he says. He points over to the left. “See the cabins there, past the barn and the little sheds?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Those are where the guards sleep. There are other cabins past those, back in the trees, where the prisoners are held. Two guards wander around down there. I don’t think they have any schedule or route. But watch for them. They could cause trouble for us.”

  He motions for us to belly crawl back down the hill so we’re out of sight of the guards at the gate.

  When we’re ten or fifteen yards down, he stops and says, “When Maggie and I roll up to the gate, we’ll try to get the drop on the guards. When we do, I’ll shine my flashlight up at you. Then I want you to create a disturbance in the lodge. I’m thinking you shoot through the front window. That’ll be the signal for the other groups to go. You try to keep the militia inside. Same for the cabins. Try to make them stay in the cabins, or at least stay low and under cover. Sam and his group will be down near the prisoner cabins, trying to get them out. See if you can give them some cover. Do what you have to do, okay. I’ll leave Maggie with the guards and drive down to the lodge, so watch out for me.

  “But here’s the deal. If something happens at the gate, let’s say a shot goes off, or the guards get the drop on us, or especially if an alarm or loud noise goes off, then you’ve got to take your shot. That’ll tell the others to go. Hopefully, Dak will be able to help us out, but I don’t want to blow the whole plan just because we make a racket up at the gate. Got it?”

  “Are you sure? Maybe I could help Dak out to get you and Maggie away from the guards or something?”

  “No. Your job is the lodge. The lodge and the cabins. If the guards get out, they’re going to outnumber us two or three to one. It’ll be chaos. Watch out for the ones who are patrolling. And remember to wear your bandana when you come down to the camp.”

  He grabs me by the arm and gives it a squeeze. He starts to leave, but then stops and leans close again. “I’m sorry to leave you with all this. I know it’s a lot. This hill is like the command post. I’d be up here myself, except that I can’t make the shots that you can. Even if I had your rifle, I’d be useless up here. Plus, I need to do the gate. That’s where the most danger is. But I know you can do this, and you’r
e the only one I know who can. Okay?”

  I nod. What am I going to say?

  He grits his teeth and nods back. I get it. We have a plan. Now we just have to do it.

  29

  49 days until the Pulse Anniversary

  I wait on the hillside until Flip has gone back down and driven off with Maggie. Then I crawl back up and get situated into a good shooting position. I find a nice rock that I can rest the rifle on to keep it steady. Now I just have to wait for things to happen at the gate, and ignore the mosquito buzzing in my ear.

  I think Flip must have waited awhile for everyone to get in place, because he doesn’t show up at the gate for what seems like a long time. At least four mosquitos’ worth.

  I see one of the patrolling guards wander down near the cabins. Another appears briefly near the lodge, and he goes inside. They’re both wearing red hats, so they’re militia. I’m feeling like this plan is shit. There are too many variables, too many guards in too many places. I wish I could stop it all right now.

  When Flip appears at the gate, he surprises me. He doesn’t sneak up; he drives right up and squeals to a stop just short of the chain blocking the entrance. His headlights are shining right at the gate, partially blinding the guards, who both come out of the little hut across the road from where I’m watching. I can see the action without using my scope. Flip gets out of the driver’s side door, and I see that he’s not wearing his bandana. I guess it would be a dead giveaway that something’s going down if he jumped out of the car wearing a bandana. The guards are holding their hands up to block the light, and appear to be saying something, but I can’t hear what it is. Flip is talking back, waving his arms around, pointing into the camp. He approaches the guards. Maggie gets out of the car wearing a bandana.

  Quickly Flip reaches behind his back and comes out with a gun that he points at one guard’s face. The second guard finds himself surprised by Maggie, who now has a gun aimed at him. Flip is pointing back to the hut, then at the ground. The guards stand where they are, holding their hands in the air. I notice neither of them are wearing red hats.

  Flip moves close to the one guard. He shoves the gun right in his face, forcing the guard back against the wall of the hut. It looks like Flip is jamming his gun into the guard’s mouth, even though the guy has nowhere to go. It looks like Maggie is yelling at Flip, or maybe at the guard he’s pushing back into the wall, it’s hard to tell. But she grabs Flip’s arm, the one that’s holding the gun, so I’m wondering what the hell’s going on. She’s pulling on Flip while still trying to point her gun at the second guard. Things are out of control. Flip yells something at Maggie, then back at the guard.

  BAM! A shot rings out! Flip! He’s shot the guard! No, the guard is ducking away. It looks like the shot went into the wall right next to the guard’s head. Maggie’s still pulling on Flip to get him off the guard. The second guard is crouching, holding his hands up by his head, like he’s afraid he’ll get shot.

  The shot was loud enough to rattle whoever’s not asleep in the camp, and maybe wake a few too. I look over at the camp. The patrolling guard, the Red Hat, is near the barn, and he’s looking toward the gate.

  Flip is standing over a guard who now is on the ground. Maggie is back with the second guard, and he’s on the ground too. Flip backs up, stomps his feet and yells something. He’s clearly pissed.

  The Red Hat near the barn is moving quickly toward the gate. He’s carrying a rifle of some sort.

  I’m not sure about the plan, but I know what I have to do. I sight at the lodge, at the lantern in the window. I take a breath, relax, squeeze. “CRACKKK!” My rifle is loud. It seems to echo forever.

  Through my sights I can see I’ve hit the lantern. There’s no light in the window. No window either.

  The Red Hat is moving toward the gate stops and ducks, looking up at the top of the hill. I doubt he can see me, but he has to know this is where the shot came from.

  I cock the rifle and move my aim to the door. It starts to open, so I squeeze off a shot, “CRACKKK!” The window in the door shatters. I cock again, and aim another at the door. “CRACKKK!” Nobody is coming out now.

  I steal a look at the gate. Maggie is still standing over the guards who are hopefully still alive. Flip is getting something out of the car.

  The Red Hat is running to the gate now, holding his rifle up, pointing to the gate. Shit. I need to stop him. There are small trees lining the road between where the Red Hat is running and the gate, creating dark areas where I can’t see him and giving him cover against whatever Flip and Maggie try to do.

  “CRACKKK!” I hit a tree not too far in front of the running Red Hat. He’s just coming into the area where the headlights from Flip’s car are shining, so I can see just enough of him to tell that he stops and takes shelter by one of the trees. He fires a burst from his automatic rifle up at me but hits nothing. Flip and Maggie are now aware of the Red Hat, and they move out from the headlights, over behind the hut.

  While the Red Hat is stopped I look for movement by the lodge. That’s when I see the flicker of flames inside. I know what happened—I shot the lantern, which has oil and a live flame, and it’s touched off a fire. Damn.

  I take another shot at the door. “CRACKKK!”

  Quickly, I reload my rifle. It only holds four rounds, plus one in the chamber. Before I can take another shot I hear automatic rifle fire that sounds like it’s coming from behind the lodge. Whoever’s in the lodge is trying to get out the back way. I hope that rifle fire is Jerry.

  “CRACKKK!” I think I see a head poke out from the doorway of the lodge, so I put a shot into the door to scare him back inside.

  Now there’s some small arms fire off to my left, from where the cabins are. I look that way through my sight but can’t see any movement.

  The Red Hat has come out from behind the trees and is running toward the gate, moving from tree to tree. He shoots a burst toward the gate. I’ve got to do something. Damn. He stops behind the last tree. Flip and Maggie are still hiding, and all they have is handguns. I don’t know where Dak is.

  The tree isn’t very big, and the headlights are bright enough that I can see the Red Hat’s gun in front of the tree. It looks like a boot is sticking out behind the tree where he’s kneeling. I take a shot at the gun stock. “CRACKKK!” Shit. I miss. But I either graze the tree or the guard hears the bullet whizz by, because he pulls back behind the tree.

  I know the problem. I have my sights set for a longer shot, like to the lodge. The Red Hat is much closer, so I missed high.

  The boot is clearly visible now. Aim just a little low. “CRACKKK!” Hit it. Maybe just nicked a bit of the toes, but the Red Hat is knocked over onto his back, his rifle flying several feet in front of him.

  I hear something off to my left, and see movement by the cabins. “CRACKKK!” I shoot the door to the first cabin, hoping to keep the guards inside. I can see something moving behind the cabin. Probably a guard from the other cabin. I’m not going to shoot him.

  The Red Hat in front of me is now on his belly, crawling toward his rifle.

  “CRACKKK!” I hit close to the rifle stock, close enough to scare the Red Hat and make him crawl back to the tree.

  I look to the lodge again. Nobody is outside there yet, I note as I reload again.

  Flip is running toward the Red Hat, holding his handgun out in front of him. When he reaches the Red Hat’s rifle, he picks it up and points it at him. Flip turns and yells back toward Maggie, who’s in the process of tying up the gate guards. Dak, who’s appeared since I last looked over there, is helping her. He sees Flip waving at him, yelling something, so he stands and runs to Flip, who hands him the rifle and points at the Red Hat. Flip takes off running toward the lodge.

  I put one more shot through the lodge door to cover Flip when he’s nearing the lodge. The flames are clearly visible now through the window, so I don’t know if he’ll be able to go inside, or if there’s anyone else in that front room. He loo
ks like he’s yelling, and pokes his head in quickly, then steps through the door for a second before coming back out. He disappears into the trees and darkness as he runs around the left side of the lodge.

  There’s more gunfire near the cabins, including some automatic rifle fire. I can’t see any movement over there, so I feel frustrated. I can’t help if I don’t know what’s going on. That’s Rob and Rachel, either shooting or being shot at, or likely both. I’m tempted to come down from my hill, but it’s a long way around the lake to get into the camp. I’d have to go to the gate and in from there, so I decide to stay in my perch.

  Someone runs out from behind the cabins to my left. I quickly take aim, but see it’s just a kid, maybe my age, and he’s not carrying a gun. He’s followed by another man, and—wait, this one looks like Wilson! It is. Wilson!

  Two others are close behind. They run to one of the barn-like buildings just on the other side of the lake. I keep watching and several more people appear, including a woman wearing a bandana. It’s Rachel. Still alive.

  In short order I put on my bandana and run down to the gate where Maggie’s standing near the gate guards, their hands tied behind their backs. I move on to Dak and the Red Hat, who’s holding his damaged foot close, trying to carefully take his boot off.

  “Did you see what happened?” I ask Dak.

  “No,” he says. “I couldn’t see what happened. The hut blocked my view. Maggie said the guard said something that made Flip almost shoot him. Then, I don’t know, I heard all this shooting and didn’t know who was shooting who. I got closer, but I didn’t want to come out of the trees until I could tell where all the shooting was coming from.”

  It would have been nice if he’d come down to help a little sooner, I think. I continue down toward the camp, glad that I didn’t kill that Red Hat. I can’t tell how bad he’s hurt, but he’s alive. I had to shoot. That’s what I tell myself: I had no choice. I had to shoot him, or he was going to shoot Flip and Maggie. I’m mad. I shouldn’t have had to do that. But I don’t know who to be mad at. Flip, for the fucking plan and for putting me in the position that forced me to make decisions on who lives and who dies? The Red Hat himself, for continuing to go after Flip and Maggie even after I tried to warn him not to? Myself, for not finding another solution?