by Hunt, Jack
Her mouth dropped when she saw them move from a grinder to a blowtorch. A sharp blue flame sparked up and she could now hear the sound of hissing. They were determined to get in and she was determined to live. She grabbed up one of the two-way radios and hoped to God that Jill or Gary had turned theirs on.
Chapter 28
Jesse’s heart was pounding. What sounded like glass cracking beneath boots caught his attention. He brought up the Glock preparing himself for the fight of his life. Minutes earlier he’d crept upstairs fully expecting to startle the homeowner, but no one was in the house, or at least in the room he’d snuck into. It was a master bedroom with a large queen-size bed, flowery drapes, a closet and several side tables.
“You might as well come out,” the gruff voice said. “We’ve got your friend.”
He didn’t respond. Sweat beaded on his forehead. In all the years he’d lived in New York City he’d only ever encountered one life-or-death moment and that was with those assholes who robbed him on New Year’s Eve. Back then, he really had no fear of dying. He was so tired of living and missing Chloe, he wouldn’t have cared if the guy had pulled the trigger and left him for dead. It would have been sweet relief to an existence that didn’t feel whole or good. It was surprising how much this event had shaken him. It had rocked him to the core and made him think about who he was, what was important in life and… his thoughts went to Maggie. He couldn’t believe he was thinking about her at a time like this.
“You know how this is going to end. Now if you come out, maybe we’ll let you live.”
He knew what they were doing. One of them was trying to get him to talk while the other tried to locate him. He peered out of the door down the corridor. It was pitch-dark. Not even the light of the stars provided any illumination. Jesse heard the sound of stairs creaking, and someone getting closer. He looked over his shoulder towards the window and considered climbing out. Then he had an idea. He slipped off his sneakers and padded across the hardwood floor and pried open the window. He pulled back the drapes, then quickly returned and got inside the closet. He squeezed himself into the corner and twisted the slats on the door so he would have a good view of whoever came through the door. He made sure he had a bullet chambered, and he held the gun close to his chest aiming it upright.
“You know, it doesn’t have to end bad. Just come out and we’ll talk about it.”
Who were these people? How many had they done this to? Had they killed the occupants of the house he was in now? After seeing the way Elliot dropped those men back in New York City, he was certain now that there were those that would do anything to survive even if it meant killing a stranger.
Another creak.
They were getting closer.
Jesse took a deep breath. His hands were sweating. He tried to control his breathing but whatever calm he managed to experience soon vanished when the door opened. Any second now. His heart was beating so fast he was sure the stranger could hear it. A hulking man entered, his handgun raking the room, he then looked towards the window and hurried over to it.
“Steve.”
“Yeah?”
“Check outside. I think he went out.”
The sound of boots down below. The man turned and dropped down beside the bed, then as he got up he looked at the closet. Jesse swallowed hard. Go. Get out, he thought as he watched the guy skirt around the bed and get closer to the closet. The stranger unloaded three rounds at eleven, twelve and two o’clock then reached forward with one hand to grasp the door.
“Martin. You okay?”
He paused at the closet door.
Don’t open it. Don’t! Jesse thought.
Then he released it and walked out of the room. “Yeah, did you find him?”
“Nah, if he got out, he’s gone.”
The guy walked out of the room and Jesse heard him heading across the corridor. He waited a few more minutes before he reached up and opened the door on the closet. Sliding across the ground he stayed low and peeked around the corner. He was still on the second floor going through the next room. Jesse contemplated making a run for it, but he knew the other guy was on the ground floor. It was too risky.
He moved back as the guy came out of the room. Did he see him?
He heart was slamming inside his chest as he heard his boots approach. Fuck.
Then, just at the last second, he must have turned and headed down the stairs as he heard boots on the steps.
Five seconds, ten seconds, twenty, he counted off in his head before taking another look and then slipping out. He heard the sound of glass crunching down below and figured the men were leaving. A wave of relief hit him, and he was about to head down when he passed the bathroom. A dark figure exploded out, smashing him into the wall, causing the gun to drop. It was the same guy. He must have heard him and was waiting for him to emerge.
Back and forth across the corridor they jostled, slamming into the walls.
“Steve?” the man below called out.
Jesse had a hold of the guy’s wrist and was smacking it against the wall to get him to drop the gun but it wasn’t working. The guy headbutted him, and everything went dark for a split second. Driven by adrenaline and a will to survive, Jesse forced him back into the bedroom until the back of his leg butted up against the bed causing him to lose his balance. He fell on top of Jesse and they rolled off the other side of the bed. Now Jesse was below and he was on top.
The gun went off in his hand, firing a round into the wall.
He had hold of Jesse’s throat with one hand and was trying to bring the gun around so he could aim it at his head, but it wasn’t working. Jesse reared his knee and jammed it into his groin as hard as he could, then thrust him back with both legs sending him toppling over. Bouncing up to his feet, he charged the guy, who was now on the ground, by driving his knee into his face.
Downstairs a gun went off, once, twice, then a third time.
His attacker managed to get up and crack Jesse across the jaw. His head jerked to the side, but he wasn’t out of the fight yet. He drove his shoulder as hard as he could into him, knocking him back through the open window. Both of them went out, toppling head over heels down the roof’s incline and then over the edge.
When Jesse landed, it knocked the wind out of him. He coughed and spluttered and looked to see where the guy had gone. He was a short distance away and in the same pain as him. A few feet from him was the gun. Jesse rolled over trying to get to it, but the guy was doing the same thing. His hand clamped onto it before Jesse could reach it and he lifted as Jesse lunged forward. They rolled, and the gun went off.
Chapter 29
There was no answer on the other end of the two-way radio. “C’mon!” she yelled causing her kids to become afraid. She looked at them and saw the terror in their eyes. Another glance back at that surveillance video and she knew they would eventually get through. Hot molten metal dripped down inside. She hurried over to the main door and closed it using two large latches to lock it in place, then returned to her kids. She was torn on what to do. On one hand, her best chance of survival was to stay inside but on the other, if they got through that hatch with the blowtorch there was no telling if she could hold them off with the rifle. On the other hand, she could wait until they were inside the decontamination area, then get out via the escape hatch but then they would have to get Kong up and that wouldn’t be a quick or easy task.
She picked up the two-way radio again. “Pick up.”
Nothing.
She couldn’t believe this was happening to her. It seemed like a surreal nightmare.
“Mom…” Lily began to say something but Rayna was too focused on watching the two men at work. Anyone who would take the time to bring a blowtorch to a shelter wasn’t going to give up until they got inside even if it took them an hour. Where the hell were the police? She wished she’d taken Jill up on her offer if only for the sake of the kids. The shelter provided a false sense of security. Certainly it was better than being
in a house but still, she felt like a trapped animal. She knew the main door would hold them for at least an hour, maybe more and they still hadn’t got through the main hatch, but she could see he was now working on the second hinge.
Thirty minutes passed, and they weren’t letting up. The men stopped once or twice so they could take turns but that was it. When one of them was working on the hatch, the other would have a cigarette and would head off to check that no one was coming. She could see him walk around the house, out to the driveway and look either way then return. This time when the guy who referred to himself as Trent returned, he turned on a flashlight and began browsing the perimeter. What was he doing? He trudged through the long grass and appeared as if he was looking for something. Then she exhaled hard. No. He had found the two air vents. He banged on them a few times and the noise echoed inside the shelter. While she couldn’t hear his voice, she could see him calling out to his buddy Austin. Austin put the blowtorch down and joined him. He was pointing to the air vents. Austin nodded and headed off around the house.
“What are you doing?”
Trent brought his mouth up to the air vent and began yelling, that’s when she heard him. “Hello down there! Wakey wakey!”
All three of them and the dog looked up at the ceiling.
“I’m growing a little tired of trying to get in that hatch. They don’t make it easy, do they?” He took a puff on his cigarette and blew it out. “So here’s what I’m going to do. You open up the hatch and come on out, and we’ll let you go on your way. No one needs to get hurt here. All we want is what is inside. Okay?”
Was he expecting them to reply? Rayna walked over to the air filtration system. She could disconnect it in two areas if need be in order to hook it up to a separate filtration system just in case of a biological attack. Right now all that was being pumped in was the air from outside.
Trent continued. “Or we can give you a little motivation.”
He took a deep drag on his cigarette and breathed out, down the air shaft. Then he looked off to his left. Austin came over with the portable generator and a large tube. It was quite clear what they were about to do. They were going to hook up the tube to the generator’s exhaust and feed it down into the air supply. While Austin got it set up, Trent went over to the second air vent and stuffed several rags inside of it.
Rayna cast a glance at the air filtration system. It could handle nuclear or biological but carbon monoxide? She hurried over to the notebook on the counter and looked through it for details about the air supply. She eyed the video and could hear Trent yelling down to her to make up her mind.
She flipped past the page and then thumbed it back over. Her finger ran down the list until she saw it. She had the capability to shut off the outside source of air for up to six hours because during the first few hours of a nuclear attack, smoke, carbon monoxide, and radiation particles could enter through the air intake. However, as she continued reading, she came to the instructions on how to hook up the air intake so that it filtered through the large canister to prevent contaminants from entering.
Hurrying over to the unit, she went about setting it up using the quick disconnects and then stepped back from the unit. Her eyes darted over to the video. They’d never tested it out but if there was ever a time it needed to work, it was now. There was a carbon monoxide detector inside. She knew that the threat would build quickly in a sealed-off area if any escaped. Her eyes scanned the device waiting for it to beep.
Outside Trent shrugged. “Well, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
He nodded to Austin, and they fired up the generator.
Chapter 30
Jesse didn’t even realize he was holding his breath as he rolled off the dead man. In the heat of the moment he had completely forgotten about the second man. A figure burst out of the house, and he reached for the gun. He was just about to squeeze off a round when he heard his voice.
“Whoa! Don’t shoot, it’s me,” Damon yelled.
Jesse lowered the handgun and looked up into the sky.
“I killed the other two.”
Damon walked over and extended a hand. He clamped onto it and pulled him up.
“Close one, huh?”
“Too close,” Jesse replied. He cast one final glance down at the dead man, scooped up his gun and shoved it in the small of his back before heading around the front of the house. As they emerged, Elliot was coming across the road, his hand still holding the bloodied knife. His face had been battered and blood was streaming down from the corner of his eye.
“You look like shit!” Damon said.
He groaned. “I feel like it.”
From farther down Maggie came into view. She hobbled over and reached up to touch Elliot’s face but he winced and pulled back. “Everyone okay?”
“I could use a change of underwear but besides that, I’ll survive,” Jesse said casting a scowl at Elliot. “I hope it was worth it.”
Elliot gripped his ribs. “It was. I’ve got wheels.”
Jesse turned back and raised an eyebrow. “As in more than two?”
Elliot chuckled and jerked his head towards the house he’d come from. When they made their way over, he looked down at the body with multiple stab wounds. It was a sick sight. “I was in the middle of hot-wiring it when…” He thumbed towards the vehicle and Damon slipped underneath to work his magic. “Yeah, I haven’t quite got the hang of it,” he said before groaning through gritted teeth.
A few minutes later Damon brought the engine to life. He tapped the front of it and smiled. “Three-quarters of a tank. I’d say that’s good news.”
“Let’s get the hell out of here.”
They climbed in and Maggie took out some bandages from Elliot’s backpack and used them to clean him up and cover the wound on his forehead. It was red, and swelling, no doubt he would have one gnarly bruise by the morning. Damon backed out of there and tore away. With a vehicle, they were now looking at it taking them less than four hours to reach the town. They passed through numerous towns, some that were in an even worse state than Hopewell Junction. It was after three in the morning by the time they got onto I-87 that would take them through the last leg of their journey. It had been a hellish day of hiking and biking. They stopped once on the way to refuel by siphoning a couple of vehicles but that was it. Elliot had made it clear that no matter what, whether it was a gang, the police or even the army, they were to keep going and for once no one disagreed.
Jesse looked in the back after two hours of driving and saw Maggie sleeping, her head leaned against Elliot who was also out cold. The warmth of the vehicle was lulling each of them to sleep.
“You want me to take a turn driving so you can get some sleep?”
“Sure, if you want.”
He veered off to the side of the road and they swapped over.
As Damon came around he asked, “How does it feel?”
“To drive?”
“To have killed someone,” Damon said, hopping in and putting his feet up on the dashboard.
He gave the engine some gas, and they pulled away driving on through the night. To be honest, he really hadn’t dwelled on what had happened. It wasn’t like he was trying to kill the guy. The sad fact was that it could have been him lying back there.
“I could ask you the same?”
Damon glanced at him. “You’re dodging the question.”
“Um.” His eyes flitted to his rearview mirror to see if Elliot was awake. “I don’t know. I don’t feel anything. No remorse. No guilt. Is that wrong?”
“No. He did try to kill you.”
“It’s not just that. I…”
“You haven’t processed it.”
“Well, have you? Was that the first time you killed someone?”
He cleared his throat and looked out into the blackness of upstate New York. All they could see for miles were the silhouettes of evergreen and barren trees reaching up like gnarled hands, and vast farmland with large barns. Some of
it was covered in a thin layer of snow the farther north they went. All of which reminded him of how tough it was going to be to survive the winter without heat.
Damon piped up. “Yeah. It was the first time.”
“Are you just saying that to make me feel better?” Jesse asked.
He chuckled. “Just because I did time inside, it doesn’t automatically mean I killed anyone. And in answer to your question, I feel the same way. No guilt or remorse but maybe that will change in time.”
That was what worried Jesse. He could handle a lot of things but guilt, even if he had fought back in self-defense, guilt could crush a man. He cast a glance at Elliot in the rearview mirror wondering what demons he was wrestling with. Had it come from killing others, seeing others die or both? And if it affected Elliot enough that he would walk away from his family, what effect would it have on him?
“When you get back, what are you going to do?”
“See my lady, have a few words with a friend of mine,” Damon said.
“Same guy that put you in the situation that landed you inside?”
He nodded and stared out the window.
“You think he did it on purpose?”
“I guess I’ll find out once I return.”
No more words were exchanged between them. Damon closed his eyes. Jesse gave the engine some more gas, and they drove on through the night.
Chapter 31
“Why isn’t it working?” Trent said pacing back and forth. They’d been pumping in fumes from the generator for the last hour and that bitch still hadn’t emerged. Trent glanced at his watch while Austin crouched beside the generator staring at him.
“These things have an air filtration system on them which can handle carbon monoxide.”
“What?”
“Yeah, they’re designed to withstand a nuclear fallout or biochemical hazard.”
