by David Nees
She whispered, and he heard the smile he felt under his lips. “We gonna have a bar and a big family…big as you want, Billy…I love you.”
And she breathed her last and went limp. He kept kissing her face, crying harsh tears, calling her name out over and over in choking sobs. He had to keep squeezing the sodden towel, he could not let go, so he leaned down against her and rocked her with his whole body, his hands straining beneath him, refusing to let her go, refusing to acknowledge that she was gone.
“Hang on, hang on,” he kept repeating, mixed in with, “I love you, I love you.”
But she could not hear his words.
Chapter 27
Catherine rushed back toward the area where her allies were hiding. She had given up on going directly to the hospital before she had gotten down the stairs; she didn’t know how fast she would be able to get any help to come back with her, and the important part was to get Lori Sue there. Maybe the police had a hidden vehicle that she could use.
Her hopes were dashed as soon as she got back. Everyone was still there, she found the conference still in progress, but Charlie told her that even the van that had been used in the armory raid had been dropped off back at the station. “We were delaying showing our hand,” he said.
“But I need some help,” she exclaimed to Jason and the others. “We’ve got to get Lori Sue to the hospital.”
Jason looked at her in surprise. “I know she’s helped us, but we can’t just postpone our attack to accommodate her. You have to think of the larger issue here.”
Catherine glared at him and shook her head. Turning to Kevin, she demanded, “Are you going to ignore me also?”
She could see Kevin’s concern. After a moment he turned to Jason and Rodney. “You two keep getting the men and materials ready. You know how we’re dividing up. I’m going to take some first aid supplies and go back with Catherine. After I help Lori Sue, I’ll meet up with the north attack team.”
“Is that wise? To run off on this side mission?” Jason asked.
“It’s not a matter of being wise or not. It’s what I have to do.” Kevin’s tone squashed any further objections.
“You’re not talking about just Band-Aids are you?” Catherine heard the panic rising in her voice.
“We brought better than that. Military field dressings, compression bandages, clotting powder, and antiseptic.”
“Bring a morphine injector as well,” Rodney offered.
“Catherine, take the M110 with you as well,” Jason added. “We’re running out of time.”
Catherine nodded and she and Kevin left the room.
It was a fast walk, too fast for real caution, with their rifles held low under their coats as well as possible. They were lucky and saw no patrols. When they arrived at the condo, they saw Donna approaching the entrance with a nurse. The nurse was carrying a folding stretcher under her arm.
“You went to the hospital,” Catherine exclaimed.
“Yes. Billy asked me to go, he wasn’t sure you’d make it through any militia.”
Catherine nodded. She held up her hand as Donna was about to open the door. “What’s your name?” she asked the nurse.
“Janet,” the nurse replied. She looked nervous. “I’m not sure I should be here, Dr. Morgan said I should go.”
“It’s going to be all right,” Catherine replied. “But we have a guard tied up in the lobby. He’s in the corner.”
A fearful look broke out on Janet’s face. The nurse began to back away. “He can’t see me helping you.”
“Don’t worry. You keep on the far side of the rest of us. He won’t see who you are, but you’re coming in and helping, no matter what.” This last Catherine said as firmly as she could. It felt a little odd to Catherine to be giving orders, not suggestions, to someone older than her, but she had no time for being nice.
“Come on,” Donna said, practically dancing. “Every minute counts.”
They went through the door and quickly crossed the lobby, keeping the nurse shielded. After climbing the stairs in a rush, they burst out into the hallway and started down it. The nurse gasped and stopped at the sight of Leo’s body.
“Keep going,” Catherine said, shoving the nurse forward.
When they got to the open door, they found Billy rocking Lori Sue in his arms on the floor. A loud keening sound was coming from him.
Everyone stopped and stood still.
Finally Catherine slowly approached him and touched him on the shoulder. He flinched, growling like a feral cat. “Don’t touch her. Stay away!”
Everyone backed up.
“We brought help,” Catherine said, her voice coming out in a shaky whisper.
“Don’t need your help. You too late!”
She straightened and looked back at the nurse. “We’ll wait outside.”
“Billy, I’m so sorry,” Donna said in a broken, choked voice beside Catherine. Catherine took her arm and pulled her away. They went out into the hall.
Donna was sobbing. She sank down against the wall, her face contorted with grief.
“Billy lost his dad,” Catherine mumbled to the woman. “He’s got no one. This may be too hard for him to take.” Donna looked at Catherine in confusion, and Catherine remembered that Donna didn’t know Billy at all. Donna only knew Lori Sue.
She looked at Kevin. His eyes were full of sorrow, but his expression was firm. “I’ve got to go,” he said. “We have to get on with this battle. Leo may be dead, but the militia is assembling their defenses. If we wait, more people will get killed in the fight. We’ve got to attack as soon as we can.”
Catherine looked at her fiancé. She was filled with anger and pain which wanted to burst out somewhere. She held it in and didn’t lash out at him. She knew he was right. “I know. You go. I can’t leave Billy now.” She closed her eyes for a moment, then met his gaze again. “Tell me your plan so I can join you. I’ll come as soon as possible.”
Kevin glanced toward Donna and the open door. He stepped closer to Catherine. “I’m going to divide us into two attack groups,” he said quietly. “Both groups will consist of members of my squad and clansmen. This arrangement will balance the clan’s shooting ability with our larger weapon capacity.
“Charlie’s got some civilians who are checked out on weapons…as much as they can be without shooting.” He grimaced. “Not the best soldiers, but this is going to be so tight that we need the bodies. And they’ll be fighting for their town, as well as their own lives. I’m splitting them between the two groups.” His smile was sad. “So that’ll give us two groups of about twenty-five to thirty fighters each.
“We’re going to attack the central headquarters area from the north and south. They’ve barricaded themselves in there. I’m going to lead the northern attack and Rodney and Jason will lead the southern attack. We know there are some patrols still outside of the barricades, somewhere in town. They could be a problem. They might find one of our two groups on its own, pin it down or hurt it bad. It’s dangerous to divide a small force, but we have to hit the main compound in two places at once. Charlie and his officers will harass them and keep them busy, keep them from joining the main battle, blur the picture…and I’m banking that there just aren’t very many fighters left outside the barricades. I think most will be defending the main compound. So we can attack Stansky from two sides, like a pincer move. Look….”
He led her a short way down the corridor and knelt. He took out the street map from the Humvee, and he spread it on the floor. He pointed. “My group will be on the north side. Rodney and Jason will come in from the south.” His finger traced the approach routes. The barricaded blocks had been thickly outlined in pencil.
“And I go on a roof here,” Catherine said. She knelt with him and pointed to a block to the west of the pincer attacks. “I can snipe at the militia and try to keep them pinned down while you’re attacking. I’ll be a block away, but if they have mortars I may be able to spot them and take them out.”
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Kevin nodded. He folded the map quickly. “Sure you’ll be able to find a good rooftop?”
“I’ll find one.”
He touched her cheek, and then he rose. “Be careful.”
“You do the same,” Catherine replied. She felt a sudden swell of sadness at the anger that had been between them, and she added, “I love you.”
He smiled down at her. “I love you too,” he said. She saw his eyes go behind her to the doorway, and pain crossed his face. Then he turned and hurried toward the stairs.
She remained on one knee watching him stride down the hall. Then she turned and got up and went back to the room. The nurse had come out and was standing awkwardly next to Donna. “You can go back to the hospital,” Catherine said. “Thank you for coming.”
Catherine went back into the apartment, with Donna following. She sat against the wall and motioned for Donna to do the same. She sat to wait for Billy to finish his grieving.
Finally Billy stood up and carried Lori Sue back into the bedroom and laid her down on the bed. He had stopped crying some time back, and a grim purpose had begun to fill the emptiness inside him. He felt them come into the room behind him.
“You take care of her?” he asked.
“I will.” Donna replied.
“I’ll be back. I’m goin’ huntin’ now. Gonna kill that man responsible for all this mess. Man who started up the killin’ again. Cost me my pa, now my girl.”
“Billy, let me tell you what’s going on,” Catherine said behind him. “There are plans, and the fight is going to begin soon.”
“You can tell me, but I know what I’m gonna do. I know where he stays. I’m going after him.”
“Who are you going after?”
He finally turned his gaze from Lori Sue. “Stansky.”
“Can we work together? I don’t think you should just run into this battle by yourself. You might get killed. You could be caught in a crossfire.”
Billy shook his head. “I’m huntin’ alone. You do what you gotta do. I’ll do what I gotta do.” He glanced around for his rifle. It was still out in the front hall where he had dropped it. He moved past Donna, and Catherine stepped in front of him.
“Billy, let me help.”
He stood there, looking at Catherine. The sight of her penetrated the darkness growing inside him. This was a girl he had known growing up. There was a bond between them. They had never been close, but they had been part of the valley, and they had both fought to defend it from Big Jacks and his gang. That day had only been two years ago, but it seemed to him now that they had only been children then. The killing and the hard decisions since the EMP attack had put childhood behind them both. He didn’t see the young girl he had known anymore, and the boy in himself was gone.
He shook away those thoughts; there was no time for them. This was a time for fighting, and revenge.
“You do what you gonna do,” he told her again. He didn’t speak harshly but there was no give in his voice. “Don’t follow me. No one’s waiting for me, so I can do this by myself.”
Catherine sighed. “At least let me show you how the attack is going to take place. I don’t want to see you get caught up in the middle of it. Here. I’ll show you in here.”
She turned and led the way to the kitchen. Billy reluctantly followed. She was hunkered down on the floor tiles, scratching lines on the floor with a kitchen knife. She said it was a map. He could see the crude outline of the downtown compound. She told him how they would attack the central area. He took it in mechanically.
The map gave Billy an idea. “I can go in opposite of where you’ll be. Like using the back door.”
“That might work. But you should take a carbine, not your hunting rifle. Take the guard’s weapon. You need to be able to shoot faster than you can with your bolt action.”
That made sense. He nodded and turned to go. He stopped at the door to the bedroom and took a last look at Lori Sue. Then he headed out, picking his rifle up from where it lay beside the bloodstain on the carpet. The guard might not have brought enough clips to make the M16 useful to Billy.
If there was enough ammo, he decided he would hide his own rifle in the shrubbery along the edge of the apartment building.
He didn’t expect to live to retrieve it.
Catherine pulled on her pack, slung the M110 sniper rifle on her back, and picked up her Bushmaster carbine. She turned to Donna Bishop. “Are you sure you want to stay? This was Leo’s place. Someone might come by.”
Donna looked at Catherine. “I’m going to take care of Lori Sue,” she said. Her voice was dull and soft. She had changed out of the gown into a dark blue sweater and jeans.
“Do you have a weapon? You should have a pistol at least. In case one of the militia comes in.”
Donna nodded and picked up the 9mm lying on the floor. Catherine looked at the way she was holding it. “Do you know how to use that?”
For an instant the woman’s tired eyes lit up, and her voice was sharp with anger. “I shot Leo with it.”
Catherine thought it might have been a lucky shot. “Let me make sure you know how this works,” she said. She leaned her carbine against the wall and carefully took the pistol from Donna. She made sure a round was chambered and ready to fire. She showed Donna how the safety worked. “If you have to use it, just flick this off. Then point and pull the trigger. Hold it with both hands so it doesn’t go flying, and aim it just like you were pointing your index finger at someone. For close range, you’ll probably hit what you’re pointing at. Can you do it?”
“Yes,” Donna said. “I won’t let anyone hurt me, or do anything to Lori Sue. I’ll stay here and wait. Maybe if anyone comes they’ll go away when they see Leo dead in the hall.” Her eyes flicked toward the door, and she shuddered. She was quiet a moment. “How can you do this?” she said in a different voice.
“What?”
“Go back out there. Kill or maybe get killed.”
“I don’t think about it.” Or I try not to. “I’m good at what I do…a good shot. So I can make a difference. I can help end this. It’s all I’ve ever wanted to do…protect myself, my family, and try to stop bad people from hurting us.”
“Will you win?” Donna asked. There was something—an almost apologetic pleading—in her eyes. “Will this be the end of people like Leo and Stansky?”
Catherine ignored the first question. There was no point thinking about that. “I don’t know. Probably won’t be the end of bad people. But with him gone, we’ve got a chance to make a normal life again.” Catherine looked at the carpet for a moment, gathering her thoughts. Then she looked Donna in the eye. “I don’t know how many bad people there are out there. I don’t know if we’ll ever have a real country back again. So we have to build something good right here and help it grow.” She picked up her carbine again. “It seems to me that the more good people we can bring together, the more we can run our lives with respect and the less chance bad people will have to get power.”
She turned to the door. “I gotta go. No more talking.”
Chapter 28
Catherine ran down the stairs and crossed the lobby to the entrance, past the tied-up guard, who abruptly ceased his struggles when he saw her. She didn’t even look at him. She did see that his pack in the corner had been tipped on its side, and the M16 carbine was gone. Billy had taken it, and whatever extra magazines had been in the pack. Catherine stopped at the lobby door and peered through the glass. She knew she was going to stand out, with the barrel of the M110 sticking up behind her even if she held the carbine down low against her side. There would be no talking her way out of any encounter with the militia. It would be hard to be careful though. She had to get to the spot she had picked.
She pulled open the door and went out.
Her backpack and the M110 made an awkward combination bouncing on her back. While jogging through the streets, she tried to keep a mental picture of the map in her head. She was passing through unexplored territo
ry. The adrenaline surging through her filled her with energy and an odd sense of exhilaration. As if she was daring the danger that lurked in the city.
She was not sure how far along she was when her luck ran out.
Coming around the corner of a laundromat, she surprised a small militia patrol. Five men turned towards her. “Stop!” one of the men shouted.
Catherine spun and ran back around the corner. Shots rang out. She sprinted down the block. She counted down the seconds she thought it would take the militia to make it to the corner. A third of the way down the block she ducked into a doorway that shielded her from the street. The entrance was made of granite. She dropped to the ground, hoping anyone aiming for her would be focusing higher up. She peeked around the edge, with the tip of her rifle leading the way. There were three men just coming onto the street.
Catherine didn’t hesitate. She put her sights on the one furthest out in the road. Her shot hit him in the chest, knocking him backwards. Before he hit the ground she brought her aim back to the middle one. She hit him in the gut. He staggered back and slumped to his knees with a loud groan. The man nearest the laundromat had now reacted and Catherine’s third shot missed him as he ducked back around the corner.
Can’t stay here and get trapped. Catherine jumped up and ran further down the block, looking for another doorway to hide in. Nothing. But one building was set out further than the others. She ran past it and stepped into its shadow. It provided a few feet of cover. She swung her rifle around the corner of the building and watched the street. Nothing moved. There was just the dead man in the street and the one dying on the sidewalk. She watched for tense seconds that dragged into a couple of minutes before she concluded that the others had decided to go another way, not wanting to risk getting shot.
Better get moving.
She turned and ran down to the next intersection. She would go around the block and continue, but she would move more carefully. She didn’t want to risk another encounter. The sound of the gunfire would have carried, and now someone knew she was on the streets. Other patrols might be more alert and she might not have the ability to duck and run next time.
