Five Roads To Texas (Book 10): Salvation

by Gamboa, Allen

  A vinyl open/closed sign slid off the thin door’s window edge and fell to the dust covered floor behind it. The two big storefront windows were also covered in heavy, black, goth-like drapes, ensuring they couldn’t be seen by anyone in the street outside.

  “This place smells real nice. I don’t think any of the infected have been in here yet.” Jesse said, kneeling behind what appeared to be the checkout counter.

  “It’s a candle shop.” Ram said quietly, in the darkened store he could make out several tables and shelves filled with various candle shapes. Some looked like castles, rainbows, cauldrons, unicorns, knights. A real medieval fantasy theme going on.

  “A candle shop? No wonder it’s undisturbed.”

  “When I was younger I always thought it would be cool to have a dragon shaped candle. They used to have a place like this back in the Sunrise Mall in Sacramento. Had all kinds of candles. Never could figure out how they stayed in business. Course, that was thirty some odd years ago.”

  “Ram, you ARE old.” Jesse grabbed a piece of paper off the ground and pulled her small mag light out of her bug out bag. Careful not to let her light be seen from behind the counter, she illuminated the paper that turned out to be a Grand Opening flyer for the store.

  “Wax On. Wax Off.” She clicked off the light. “What a dumb name for a candle shop.” “Probably thought they were clever.”

  “Looks like they just opened up right before the shit hit the fan.” Jesse set the wrinkled flyer on the dusty countertop next to one of those Ipad card readers and a bowl filled with old, chalky mints.

  “Bad timing.” Ram said as he hunched down and made his way behind the counter. He shrugged off his pack and quietly set it down on the ground next to him. “Smells way too good for those shitbags to wanna lurk around here.”

  “Maybe you should grab a couple and drop 'em in your pockets.” Jesse smirked. “That is hilarious partner.”

  “You think those UN ass berries have passed by us?” “Ass berries?” Ram chuckled as he shook his head.

  Above them the sound of the helicopter grew louder and louder. The two big storefront windows suddenly began shaking from the aircraft’s rotor wash as it flew just mere feet above the rooftop of the candle store. Some of the candles on the shelves shook and fell from the vibration. Then it quickly faded away as the helicopter moved on to another section of the town

  “That was close.” Ram said quietly, his heart racing a bit. Jesse just nodded in agreement not wanting to speak and, though it was quite impossible, unintentionally summon the helicopter back their way by speaking aloud. “Let’s just hang here a minute.” Ram broke the silence.

  “Sounds good.” Jesse whispered as she rested her back against the counter. She noticed her hands were shaking a little. Adrenaline.

  “Here.” Ram handed her a peanut butter power bar from his pack. “Eat.”

  “Thanks.” Jesse tried to steady her hand, her rosary rattled a little as she unwrapped the bar. “Guess I was wound up a little tighter than I thought.”

  “It’s been a busy day.” Ram winked. “Just eat and drink. That’ll help.”

  “Yeap.” Jesse took a bite from the power bar then pulled her last water bottle from the bug out bag. “The crash rocked me a little bit.” She said, trying to regain control of her adrenaline spin. “Been a rough day Jesse. Don’t worry kiddo. We’ll get out of this mess. Just need to hang tight and let these dick heads move on.”

  “Sounds good.” Jesse took a big drink from the lukewarm water bottle then tried to relax. Ram was right, today had been a total shit show. They just needed to slip the Korean patrol and find their way. Back to the American lines, wherever they were, if there still was one.

  There was a loud bam as the front door abruptly burst open. The wood splintered as the thin wooden door swung hard against a wall. It smacked against the sheet rock so hard that it shattered the small glass window pane. Shards of the broken glass showered the dirty tile floor. Ram and Jesse dropped to the floor from their sitting positions as three Korean soldiers entered the darkened building. Light from the violated doorway illuminated most of the candle shop. “Swell.” Ram said under his breath as he crawled slowly over to the edge of the counter. He unholstered his Beretta and tried to quietly chamber a round. He glanced over his shoulder to see Jesse laying on her back, rifle up and ready to fire.

  “What the fuck is this?” One of the soldiers grumbled in Korean. “Candles.” Another replied in his native language.

  “Ha.” One of the soldiers picked up a candle that was shaped like a unicorn. A sticker that said ‘Hold for Karen’ slid off of it and fell to the floor. The soldier held it up for the others to see. “The Lieutenant would love this.”

  “He would.” The other Korean private chuckled.

  “Shut up.” Corporal Chu snapped as he glanced around the shop. “Search the building. Private Yun, check the back.”

  “Yes Corporal.” Private Yun nodded as he carelessly dropped the unicorn candle to the floor and headed toward a curtained off area that both Ram and Jesse hadn’t even noticed was there.

  Chu waved for Zin to go with the other private. The soldier nodded then quickly followed the soldier into the back of the store.

  The Corporal scanned the open area of the candle shop and scoffed. This was just another frivolous American store, candles shaped like animals and buildings. Chu shook his head then walked over to the counter, his rifle loose in his hands.

  The Corporal was tired of this chase already, he was sure this was a dead end but he didn’t want the Sergeant on his ass about not searching all locations. They’d been searching for this Ramacher since the fall of the medical clinic in Texas. The American had been pretty savvy, or lucky up to now, somehow avoiding capture. Chu took another step toward the checkout counter.

  “It’s clear.” Yun loudly announced, almost causing the Corporal to flinch. “Nothing but boxes of candle making supplies and some calendars of cats.” Yun said, stepping back through the curtains, his rifle carelessly at his side. “Cat calendars. No wonder we were able to infiltrate them.”

  “Americans.” Zin smirked.

  Chu was just about to step around to the rear of the checkout counter when the two soldiers had reentered the showroom. He stopped just short of being able to see Ram and Jesse hiding in the shadows just a few feet away.

  “Good.” Chu turned and grabbed a handful of the chalky, stale, mints from a glass bowl on the counter top. “I guess we are done here. I don’t see anything of value. We can inform Sergeant Hahn that this area is clear.”

  “Good, I’m hungry.” Yun stepped on the unicorn candle and smashed it into the floor with a well shined, booted foot.

  “Me too.” Zin said heading toward the open, broken doorway.

  “Here.” Chu tossed them a couple of the mints. “That should hold you over until we find the Americans.” The three soldiers' boots crunched across the broken glass against the tiled floor as they exited the candle shop.

  What seemed like an eternity was actually only minutes as the two waited for the soldiers to leave. Once Ram could hear the three men’s voices fade away he let out a sigh of relief. Ram reached down and tapped Jesse on the boot and slowly went to a crouching position, then steadily he stood up.

  “Fuck me.” Ram whispered.

  “That was way too close.” Jesse added.

  “Definitely. I think it’s time to split.” Ram said, grabbing his bug out bag and shouldering it on. Jesse did the same. “I guess we head back the way we came?”

  “I don’t think we have a choice.”

  Ram nodded. “Come on. I’m beginning to smell like sandalwood.”

  “It’s a nice change Ram.” Jesse tapped him on the shoulder. “Maybe you should rub some candles under your pits?”

  “Really?” The older man seemed offended. Jesse just chuckled and shook her head. “You're too easy. Come on Pops. Let’s get the fuck outta here before more of those

  a
ssmonkeys return.” She glanced down at the squashed unicorn candle on the floor and sighed. “That was a cute candle, I always loved unicorns.” She cleared her throat and looked back at Ram, a little embarrassed. “ When I was a little girl... when I was a little girl I loved them.”

  “See Jesse, you do have a heart in there.” He smiled as he tapped the outside of her plate carrier. “There’s hope for you yet.”

  Chapter Forty-Eight

  IF YOU WANT SOMETHING DONE RIGHT

  Salton City, AZ

  “Wait?” Lieutenant Kang shouted into his headset as he competed with the sound of the Little Birds engine. “Find them! They have to be somewhere in that block!” From the copilot's seat he glanced over at the aircraft’s commander and twirled his fingers around motioning for him to turn the helicopter back. The man nodded then slowly banked the aircraft to the left, changing course to the same direction they’d just come from.

  “If you want something done right!” He grumbled aloud to himself then reached back and tapped the door gunner hard on the shoulder.

  “Keep your eyes open, Sergeant. We can’t afford to let the American slip past us again.” “Sir.” The man gave the Lieutenant a curt nod as he vigilantly returned to watching the area beneath the helicopter.

  “Remember, don’t shoot the male. I don’t care about the woman.” Kang lifted a bullhorn from between the two front seats. Maybe he could coerce the slippery American to surrender on his own, ending this whole thing without wasting anymore time. The cocky officer leaned out the open door and shouted into the electronic bullhorn.

  “Ramacher!” Of course it sounded more like Whamacher to anyone that was listening. “This is Lieutenant Kang of the United Nations, surrender peacefully to my men and we will not harm the woman!” The officer cleared his throat then repeated the message. After a few minutes of circling the block he tapped on his headset and spoke to both the door gunners. “Anything yet?”

  “No sir.” They replied almost in unison.

  “Damnit!” Kang cursed as he again spoke into the bullhorn. “Ramacher, show yourself and surrender or I will have no other choice then to open fire. I know you are down below us so surrender or I will kill both of you!” Of course no one below could make out what he was saying because of the helicopter’s rotors and engine.

  “Lieutenant?” The door gunner, Sergeant Sam, was about to tell him no one on the ground could understand a word he’d just spoken when the officer cut him off.

  “Wait, sergeant.” Kang swiftly raised a finger to silence the man, hoping his bluff would work on the American. “Ramacher, surrender now! It is for the good of your America. The UN is here to help.”

  The door gunner just shook his head, mumbled something that equated to ‘dumb shit’ in Korean and returned to scanning the areas below him when something struck hard at the side of the helicopter. The pilot flinched, causing the aircraft to drop several feet. Another thud smashed into the sheet metal beneath the helicopter.

  “What’s happening?” Kang asked, his voice tight and filled with distress.

  “Someone’s shooting at us!” The pilot shouted, a little shocked at the bullet strikes as he tried to gain some altitude away from the snipers field of fire.

  “Get us higher!” Kang said as a round crashed into the windscreen in front of him. This at first frightened then, angered the Lieutenant. Another round struck the back on the officer’s jump seat almost causing him to shit himself. “Get us higher damnit!” Kang shouted, giving the pilot an unnecessary and redundant command. The helicopter's driver knew they were under fire and that he had to evade being shot down from the unseen sniper below them. He didn’t need another officer pointing it out. Especially an idiot like Kang. The pilot, Guen, pulled back on the cyclic and swiftly looked side to side trying to find the source of the gunfire. Through his headset, Guen could hear and feel the door gunner fire at something below them. The startled pilot continued to speedily increase the distance between the aircraft and the snipers. Suddenly Sergeant Sam’s weapon became silent.

  “You get them?” Kang asked into his headset as he tried to turn in his seat to get a better view. “No.” Sam shook his head and pointed to an area of the town that was encircled by a large wood and steel barrier. “ It came from down there somewhere on that fence line!”

  Another round from below them struck Kang on the right side of his face. The bullet literally knocked him upside the head leaving a bloody, shallow, furrow from beneath his right ear all the way up through his eyebrow and into the inside of the helicopter windscreen. The Lieutenant lost consciousness for a few seconds, his head dropping to his chest.

  “Lieutenant!” The pilot shouted, horrified at all the blood splashed across the cockpit. Guen reached over, still fighting to control the helicopter and grabbed Kang by his bloody shirt and jerked him back and forth. “Lieutenant!”

  Kang suddenly came to, blood filling his eyes he pulled himself out of the pilots grip. The officer's head hurt like hell but he was still alive. He reached over to his injury and found it was pretty superficial. The American's bullet had basically just grazed the side of his face. The Lieutenant was incredibly lucky that the round had been a .22 caliber. Anything bigger and better aimed, he probably would have been missing half of his face. Still bleeding, Kang adjusted his headset and glanced over at the pilot.

  “I am fine. Just took off a little skin.” He said, ears ringing.

  “Good.” Guen nodded, surprised that despite all the blood that his commander had just sustained a minor injury. “Shall I head us back?”

  “No, Guen! Swing back over there and blow that fence to hell!” He snarled. “They tried to kill me! Now they all will die!”

  “Kang! We aren’t even sure if that’s where the round came from. I’m not wasting any rockets on that fence. Besides, I saw some of the motorcycle units down there. Our mission is to…”

  “I know what the mission is! I'm in command! It’s my mission. I know what the target is! Those Americans almost killed me!” Kang growled into his headset mic as he wiped away some more blood. “You do what you’re told. Nobody fires on us without retaliation! Sergeant Li and his men are safe from any friendly fire.” Kang had been the victim of physical abuse from a long line of superior officers. The Lieutenant had long suffered the beatings from higher ranking soldiers.

  That ended today. He would no longer take physical abuse or attacks from anyone. The officer snapped, all he wanted was vengeance on those that had hurt him.

  “Yes Lieutenant.” The pilot said, defeated. Guen had saw the dark change in Kang’s demeanor. Fragile egos were a real thing that ran rampant in the North Korean army, no one ever wanted to be the bottom dog.

  “You sure you didn’t see them?” Kang, fighting a skull piercing headache, asked the door gunner once again.

  “Not directly.” Sam pointed back to the wall. “I thought I saw a muzzle flash from the northeast corner but it was quick and I was busy with the gun.” He stared at the Lieutenant’s bleeding face. “Sir, maybe we should return to the landing zone, get you treated.”

  “Regardless of my injuries, the Americans down there, they are a threat that needs to be quickly dealt with!” The Lieutenant mainly meant the threat had been to himself since he had almost come face to face with death from a round fired from the barrier below.

  By the time Kang was finished with his rant at the door gunner, the pilot Guen had spun the helicopter around. Now the aircraft was ready for a strafing run on the enemy fence line. The Lieutenant swiftly gave the pilot the go ahead to commence an attack on the barrier. Guen scoffed, not needing anymore instructions from the fool hardy Kang. The pilot just nodded affirmatively and unleashed one of the rocket pods, sending its entire payload of Hydra 70 rocket projectiles screaming toward the metal and wooden barrier.

  “American dogs!” Kang smiled not even considering the fact that his long sought-after target Ramacher could be anywhere in the danger zone down below the aircraft. Bef
ore the fired projectiles even struck their target, Kang ordered Guen to launch the rest of the Little Bird’s Hydra 70’s.

  Chapter Forty-Nine

  JUST SWELL

  Salton City, AZ

  “Holeee-shit!” Ram shouted as the helicopter roared overhead, unleashing it’s remaining payload of rocket projectiles at a 12-foot barrier that was located about a quarter mile away from them. The old guard, reacting faster than he’d ever moved in his life, grabbed Jesse by the rear of the woman’s backpack and jerked her down behind the dismal safety of a dust covered Mini Cooper that was missing all of its wheels and tires. Before Jessie could utter a word, the explosive projectiles struck their target, shaking the ground and the tiny car they were using for cover. A wave of intense heat rolled over Jessie and Ram as the small rockets impacted and detonated, destroying a good chunk of the fence line. To the old guard it sounded like the end of the world was happening. The two lay flat as the helicopter quickly swerved off in the other direction and fired another salvo at a different area of the big wall. The two guards' ears rang as one more loud volley of explosions rocked the walls of the barrier, this time they were thankfully spared another wave of breathtaking heat.

  Ram quickly draped himself over Jesse’s prone form, his slung rifle struck the asphalt as hot and flaming shards of metal and wood rained down upon them. Thick clouds of black smoke and intense heat filled the air as some of the remaining sections of the fence line began to swiftly burn, ignited by the rocket attack. There was a loud sizzle and smell of steam as a fire hydrant caught in the explosion emptied it’s thick stream of water fifteen feet into the air. The debris littered asphalt was suddenly splashed with water, adding more drama to the rubble laden street. Ram was just surprised the town’s water system still worked.