The Chief walks over to his gun and stands sideways, looking down at it. He has told no one about Maria and why should he now?
David regrips his gun with both hands. The Chief leans over without bending his knees, bounces the gun in the palm of his weathered hand, testing the weight. “Truth be told, I quite admire you and your tenacity, Coop’s death not withstanding. If I have to die, this way’s not so bad.” The Chief looks off into the distance and takes in a deep breath. “I was never a holy man, but I feel we were meant to find each other to fill the holes in our hearts. To counterbalance the evil of the Boss.”
David pulls out a photo of Coop and his wife from his back pocket and holds it up next to the barrel pointing at the Chief. “I thought of burying this where he died, but instead I decided to give it to his wife.” David lowers his gun and tosses it to the Chief to mollify both their anger. He opens his arms wide. “Will you help me Chief? This all started with you taking a chance on me at the river. I can’t do this without you. The men look to you.”
The Chief taps his gun against the outside of his knee; his hand red from gripping the handle. It sounds like hollow plastic about to give in.
The Chief says, “ahh,” wipes his eyes with the inside of his arm, “it’s my fault he died, if I helped him, he would still be here talking about his wife, you made a mistake attacking the dead, but we could have fix it as a team like we’ve been doing…you have my word to help you get the Boss.” He holsters his weapon and David does the same after.
David says. “I admire you for making the harder choice not to kill.”
Ava watches on and waits a few minutes before interrupting the men. “David, when did you get back?” She hands him his journal.
David arches an eyebrow. “What’s this?”
Ava answers him before he finishes asking again. “Youngblood and I scouted the area, he sketched schematics of the camp.”
David says. “And Phillip?”
Ava bites her lower lip, nodding her head. “We also saw Abigail holding hands with Youngblood’s mother, Sora. No one could sleep last night.”
David says. “Me either.” For a split second, the first good news in forever provided salve for his guilt. He thinks about shaking the Chief’s hand and celebrating, but lets it be a mirage in his head.
He scans Ava’s notes and he can feel the Chief’s eyes burrowing into his back, a few paces behind him.
David says. “I see here, you wrote one way in and out. You sure?”
“There may be cracks in the carwall for men to escape one at a time, if that.”
David says. “Or the bunker opens up on the other side of the mountain. We need to get them all outside, and keep that door closed.” David draws on the dirt with a stick, a big circle inside of a square, and one pathway leading away.
The Chief says. “What do you have in mind?”
David says. “I’ve been working on an idea since we met.”
Ava says. “I been saving my rage for tonight, I bottled it all up and now it’s time to crack it over their heads.”
David crotches down with shaky knees worst than Coop’s. “Throwing a bunch of shit at the wall and hoping something sticks doesn’t make for a good plan. We need a specific idea. An exit strategy is needed and usually not thought of. That’s where you come in Ava.”
Ava lets out a sarcastic snort sounding like air brakes chuffing. “Don’t keep us in suspense.”
“For starters.” David draws on the dirt with a stick explaining the plan. “Tomorrow night, us three will camp in some of those cars and at sunrise you and the Chief will blow up all their Jeeps, once I’m on the wall. They will be scared and tired, giving us the slight advantage.”
The Chief says. “We will have to kill the night guards quietly.”
David picks up the bow and arrows.
Ava says. “We could puncture the gas tanks in the middle of the night and use some of our grenades.” David points at her in agreement.
The Chief says. “What if not all of them come out?”
David says. “If I only see about half the guys run out. I will kill them all when they close the door behind them, then I’ll try to blow the door up with my launcher.” David scratches the back of his head and turns around in a flash in response to a noise. “But that will force us to come back and attack them at night.”
Ava says. “We’ll lose the element of surprise and they’ll see us coming.”
David says. “True, I wish they all would come out, so Phillip and I can attack them from the inside while you and the Chief from the sides.”
The Chief says. “How do you know we can trust Phillip?”
Ava says. “Moving on.”
The Chief says. “My guys can run them over on the road. We can’t let the Boy Scouts hide in the bunker, they could starve us to death, they know the terrain and might flank us if we drag this out.”
Ava says. “The plan…”
David says. “Yeah?”
Ava says. “It sounds like shit, what else you got?”
David thinks about the Hospital mission with Coop. “None less dangerous than this one. For instance, me and Youngblood ask to join the group and when the Boss comes out, Lou snipes him in the head and the Chief fires on the rest of the guys and you are the getaway driver.”
Ava says. “If we do it at night, that’s not a bad idea.” She looks at the Chief. He nonchalantly nods as if his wife tells him she’ll be back later.
David says. “Killing all or most of them is not the issue, the difficult part is rescuing our friends.”
Ava says. “What do you got Lou and Youngblood doing?”
David says. “Working on a contingency plan.”
Ava says. “So, what’s the plan, Boss?”
David says. “I need to sleep for few hours then we can continue this.”
Ava says. “Wait.” Her eyes light up. “Not yet. I also saw Jude, you remember him, right? That throws a monkey wrench into all of this.” She moves her hand in a wide circle as if she’s mixing a cauldron and all of them are the Three Witches shaping the future.
The Chief looks like a person on the outside of an inside joke. “Who?”
David says. “He was part of our group, then he betrayed everyone for Paul. Jude’s a definite traitor. Save Paul and Jude for me.”
The Chief and Ava look at each other, thinking about Delilah saying Paul’s her brother. David’s now on the outside, he ignores their connection. “Have any of you read the Odyssey?”
The Chief says. “I saw the movie.”
Ava says to David. “Just tell us already.”
David says. “Well in this ancient story, the hero is not not allowed to return to his family for years who are in trouble. Once he gets to his home he doesn’t rush in and announce his identity and try to save his family like a fool. He has survived the curse of the Gods because of his intelligence and knowing when to exercise restraint and patience. And that is what we need if we want to succeed rather than just killing a few guys to make us feel better for a moment. We only have enough firepower for one war.” He stabs the stick in the dirt.
The Chief shakes his head. “Each minute my sister and friends stay in that wretched place is another chance they might get killed or used as a toy. Do you know any other stories with Deus Ex Machina?” The irritation in his voice is not off-putting.
David says. “Youngblood could try to join their group and tell Phillip and Sora to help us, and as soon as Youngblood gives us the signal.” David makes an X over his head. “Then we can.” It looks like a cross to the Chief, who says with finality. “I don’t like it.”
David says. “We can’t just blitz them, we don’t know what kind of weapons they possess. One rocket launcher.” David makes a chopping motion over his palm. “Fin.”
Ava says. “I’m hearing a lot of nothing.”
David breaks the stick into half. “We’re running out of food, they could know we’re here…let’s stick to the original
plan. I go in as the Chief’s prisoner in exchange for Phillip, Sora, Abigail and we hope the Boss considers it.” David takes a breath and his overtaxed heart tightens.
David puts up both hands in a stop gesture. “I know-I know there is over a dozen prisoners I’m excluding and abandoning to the wolves. We can’t save the world. We are literally a handful of people trying to punch the Devil in the mouth and live to talk about it.”
The Chief crosses his arms under his chest and looks down.
Ava says. “Then what?”
David says. “Everyone leaves the camp and lives happily ever after.” He looks and sounds like his old-self with a singular mission guiding him. Gets up and walks away.
The Chief says to Ava. “If David provokes the Boss and gets him to bring all of his men to watch him die, we could fire down from the top. It could be our best shot.”
Absentminded, she says to him. “Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.”
The Chief stays back watching Ava catch up to David down the way.
David’s lying down in Ava’s shadow. “The end is nigh, can you feel it?”
Ava says. “Here drink this water.” She hands him a bottle. “Because you must be thirsty from all that nonsense you’re talking.”
David demands in a small voice. “Get some rest Ava.” He holds his stomach to soothe the peptic swirling and rising acrimony.
Ava broaches the subject with the finesse of a fast talking auctioneer. “David, the plan is stupid…thinking positive is not going to change the world over night, but thinking negatively will only make it worst. There has to be another way. What else you got?” She repeats the last part louder.
David says. “Let it go. The plan is thin…but then again we all fooled ourselves everyday thinking we had a chance against a group, ten times our size, just keep on being naïve, you’ll be happier.”
She sits back on her heels, her voice goes up a childish octave. “Do. Or do not. There is no try.” Waiting in vain for corroboration.
David doesn’t humor her and in a deadpan delivery says to her. “I’m not in the mood.”
She says. “David, we did it. It felt like an eternity to travel a few hundred miles, don’t go soft on me now.”
David says. “I’m not. I’m making the hard choice for everyone…It was a desert of misery and suffering, but there it is, the promise land.” He stands and points. “We all can’t walk away that’s not how life works.”
She says with lessening conviction. “What if we…”
He cuts her off and whimpers, then says. “A part of me doesn’t want to go down there and die. How selfish and sick is that?”
Ava says. “It’s normal to be afraid.”
David says. “When does the feeling stop?” He wants to hear the truth out loud, his head needs a break.
Ava gulps then says. “Never for us.”
David says. “We are not allowed to have it all and this world reminds us everyday. I’ve killed more people than I’ve saved. With so few people left, each murder has more meaning.”
Ava says. “So does each life you rescue.”
David says. “Tomorrow we will go in the heart of darkness again. Are you with me?”
Ava says. “Never stop being.”
David says. “You’re the last person in the world I trust, I want you to know that. You’re the reason I came back after Coop’s death.” She gives him a mirthless smile.
He sets the alarm on his watch. “At midnight tonight, I go in. Tell the others and get some rest.” He closes his eyes and puts Coop’s quilt over his face to block out the flood of sunlight. Ava grumbles and lingers wanting to say something, but walks away in the end.
A part of him wishes that gun went off in his burnt down bunker. One last hard decision versus a lifetime of them.
The long day wears on. He hasn’t slept more than a few hours this past week.
7
The paramilitary men congregate in the nave of their sanctuary; revered materiel is placed to the side so a friendly contest can ensue.
Redden clouds sail overhead in the vastness. Phillip uncrosses his arms as the two young men get up from the dirt and jauntily shake hands.
Matthew comes up to Phillip with a cup. “It’s moonshine, I have a guy.” Phillip shoulder grazes the cup out of Matthew’s hand when he paces away through the parting scrum.
Paul’s with the two fighters in the center of the crowd, he has his hands on both of their backs, with a big smile across his face like a proud father.
Phillip shouts. “I challenge Paul.” Laughs die down.
Paul looks for the Boss then looks with the rest of the men, staring at Phillip. One of Paul’s friends steps beside him and says to Phillip. “I’ll fight you.”
The Boss steps down off the front of the truck he was laying on. “Paul, I think you should let him fight for you, this is all silly anyways. Phillip tosses his jacket into Paul’s friend as he walks up to Paul.
Paul says to Phillip. “What’s on the line?”
Phillip says. “Life.”
Paul says. “That’s not how it works here.”
Another of Paul’s friend comes near Phillip with his hand over his handgun. Phillip punches the man in the nose, knocking him out cold; Phillip swings at Paul, grazing him on the temple, forcing him to the ground. More people immediately get up and hasten towards Phillip.
The Boss shouts. “Stop…Paul, are you going to fight this man, hand-to-hand, or not?” Paul crawls on the dirt with both hands and yells. “Wait.”
The Boss begins his sonorous performance. “It’s simple, Phillip wants to prove he belongs here and he wants his daughter back and his bunker.” The Boss walks around addressing everyone as if they’re siting in coliseum seats. “Can you blame this man for wanting what’s his?” He looks only at Paul. “Paul don’t accept his challenge, what do I care.” The Boss gives him an insouciant shrug in the bright light. “But if you don’t accept his challenge. You are banned from this ceremony from here on out. Why let a man choose yes only when he knows he will win? This is about proving yourself. The women here are being tested. This is our chance to feel a small part of what they feel every fucking day.” He stomps his foot. Takes a breath, softly places a hand over his heart and extends the other towards Paul. “If these are just fun silly games to you. You won’t miss them because they never mattered.” The furrow across his forehead deepens as he falls silent for the mob to decide.
“Hurry up.”
“Fight pussy.”
“Kick his ass.”
Paul paces in a semicircle, his cowboy boots disappearing in the dust bowl.
The Boss is rolling up his sleeves, says to Paul. “Step aside I’ll fight him for you because that’s what you, he, and everyone else wants to see. I take no umbrage in that fact. I’m not afraid to lose. It’s the best teacher.”
All the man are cheering. “Boss. Boss. Boss.”
The cavalier Boss strolls over to Phillip with his hands raised in victory already. He stops equal distance between Phillip and Paul; the cheers are getting louder and echoing off the mountain that looms from behind. Paul pulls on the Boss’s shoulder from behind, shouting over the cheers. “Stop, move aside. I’ll play along.” Paul removes his T-shirt.
The Boss says. “It’s natural to be scared.”
Paul throws his shirt in the Boss’s face. “Nice show.”
The crowd is now cheering. “Paul. Paul. Paul.”
Both Paul and Phillip stand over six feet and weigh over two hundred pounds. Paul unbuckles his belt and throws it to the side; Phillip does the same while Paul twists to face the Boss. “If I win you are banished from camp…what…are you afraid to wager, you don’t have to if you don’t want to, it’s only a silly game.”
The soldiers hush and lean off their seats forward, the Boss looks at the entire crowd in one spin, rubbing his lips. “Deal.” The crowd goes crazy as the Boss wide steps backwards. Phillip raises his arms higher, waiting.
Paul says t
o Phillip. “Have you thought about this?”
Phillip says. “I haven’t stop.” He storms towards Paul with callous knuckles near his chin.
Paul throws the first punch and the crowd becomes a riot again falling onto each other from the hoods, trunks, and roofs of the cars. He then swings his right hand multiple times and pummels Phillip’s raised biceps, but with each swing, Phillip bends his torso, protecting his face. After a slower swing from Paul, Phillip uppercuts him in the torso. Paul drops his hands and Phillip slams his right fist on his enemy’s mouth, punishing gravity drags him down to his knees, followed by a squirt of blood.
“Paul get up.”
“Kill this man.”
“He got his bell rung. He’s toast.”
Phillip takes a step back, sweeps his chin up, indicating to Paul to get up. He sips water from a metal pail and swashes out blood, the whole time casting a suspicious eye at Paul and his fans.
Paul runs and darts a flying knee into Phillip’s chest, who’s heels skate backwards and a side mirror to the lower back keeps him standing. Phillip snuggly places his palms face down on the top of his head, elbows pointing down to block Paul’s rhythmic Muay Thai knees to his sternum.
Phillip can’t see, only feels bones striking bone in a battle of density. Paul re-laces his fingers behind Phillip’s head and continues to pelt kneecaps into Phillip’s forearm wall, weakening it with each blow.
With a push of his lumpy forearms, Phillip shoves Paul a foot back then feints to the side, letting Paul drive his knee through the window. Phillip kicks Paul behind the kneecap of his one standing leg, then kicks in the door where Paul was. It vibrates like a bell.
Paul does a roundhouse kick, Phillip ducks underneath, and Paul brings his leg back across Phillip’s chest as he bolts back up. Phillip feels a hot sting, looks down, and realizes boot spurs sliced him opened.
Phillip’s trying to keep the fight within the minimum light. Backing up, Paul looks left and right behind Phillip and on the next step he trips on a cinder block.
Genesis Virus Page 53
