by Dennis Elder
“I don’t need any,” said Kevin as he turned back to watch the two men.
Marylin screwed the cap back tight on to the bottle and shoved it into the backpack. She was beginning to catch her breath and stood slowly back up to join Kevin at the window.
“Got any ideas?” said Marylin.
Kevin knew they were going to have to move sooner or later. They were too exposed sitting in the open behind the building. He turned around and scanned the structures behind him. About 50 yards back there was a mobile home park with 20 or more trailers in it. To the right there was an auto repair shop. The shop was closer but if they ran there now they’d be spotted for sure. Because their pursuers were up high on the overpass, Kevin worried they could also be spotted if they walked backwards toward the trailers. He reviewed the options with Marylin. But she couldn’t think of any better alternatives.
“Then we better stay here until they move,” suggested Kevin.
Five more minutes elapsed but neither Ralphy and Squeaky, nor Kevin and Marylin moved a muscle. It grew darker with every passing minute.
Ralphy was still convinced that staying up high on the off ramp would give them a best chance of spotting their prey. “Unless there already inside a building,” he thought to himself.
By now Squeaky was getting restless. The thought of losing out on capturing the woman made him want to act, not stand around on the off ramp.
“Let’s go down there and flush um out,” proposed Squeaky. “Like you said, they can’t be very far. Must be in one of those buildings over there.” Squeaky pointed in the same general direction that Ralphy had pointed to earlier.
“Maybe,” replied Ralphy. “And maybe they’re watching us right now, waiting to see what we’ll do.”
“Right, so let’s go down there and make um show themselves!” said Squeaky.
Generally, Ralphy dealt with Squeaky by ignoring him. But lately Squeaky was becoming a pain. The little excuse for a man was looking up at Ralphy obviously hoping he would agree to ride down toward the town. But Ralphy wasn’t budging. So Squeaky put his hands on his bike’s handlebars and one foot on a pedal.
“Well I’m goin down then,” said Squeaky.
But he never made it. Like a shot Ralphy reached out with his right arm and grabbed Squeaky by his dirty shirt collar and pushed him over and on to the ground. When Squeaky went down he caught his foot under the bike’s pedal, and he got a good ankle scrape for his trouble.
“Not yet,” said Ralphy again as he looked down at Squeaky. “We stay here until I say we move.”
Squeaky was getting tired of Ralphy giving orders all the time. “Big man on campus,” thought Ralphy to himself as he checked his bleeding ankle. He’d follow along for now. But Ralphy had been cooking up a few of his own ideas. Not only did he have plans for the woman, but he had special plans for Ralphy too.
“Sure, sure,” said Squeaky, as he stood first and then picked up his bike. “I was just thinkin…”
“Well don’t think,” barked Ralphy as he turned his attention back to the desert town. “Just do what I tell ya.”
Ralphy didn’t say anything else. He would keep quiet for now. But after they had the woman he’d take care of Ralphy. That brought a smile to the face of the little man. He could wait. He was a patient guy.
Twenty more minutes passed before Ralphy finally decided to ride down the hill on onto Baker Blvd. He kept his eye on the town as much as possible. He was still convinced the man and the woman had to be close by.
Marylin had been sitting with her back to the Post office wall. But Kevin kept watch through the darkening windows. When the two men began their ride down the overpass hill he looked down at Marylin.
“Better stand up,” said Kevin. “Be ready. We may have to move fast.”
Marylin got up and looked through the windows. The two men were about halfway down the ramp and coming closer. Her instincts told her to run and hope for the best. But Kevin knew better. The trick would be to stay hidden behind the Post Office as long as possible and keep the small building between them and the two men. Kevin sensed Marylin’s anticipation. He reached down for the smaller backpack and swung it up an over both his shoulders.
“Follow my lead and stay close to me,” said Kevin. “We’re going to stay behind this building as long as we can. If they ride past us then we’ll just keep the building between them and us. So, we need to keep very quiet.”
“What if they split up and come round us from both sides?” asked Marylin.
“Then we make a run for it to those trailers,” said Kevin as he pulled the old revolver from his belt. It brought him some support just holding it in his hand.
Ralphy and Squeaky slowly rode down Baker Blvd. They carefully checked each building they approached. Now they had their eyes on the Post office. But nothing moved. There was no sign of the couple. Ralphy applied his bike’s wobbly Wal-Mart brake and slowly rolled to a stop. Marylin and Kevin heard the brake noise. Ralphy had stopped directly in front of the Post office. Squeaky stopped next to him. Ralphy had a feeling they were being watched.
Kevin kept one eye fixed on the two men. Marylin kept her head down.
It was alike a Mexican standoff. Kevin thought about backing up toward the trailers but walking on the loose gravel might give them away. So, he stayed put. Marylin looked up at him.
“Where are they?” she whispered.
Kevin put his finger to his lips. Marylin’s heart was racing. Again, her instinct was to run. But she would stay with Kevin. At least he had a gun. Kevin kept his eyes on the men. They were not moving. As the minutes passed Kevin suddenly realized it was nearly dark. He’d been so focused on his pursuers that he didn’t notice the fading light.
“Maybe the darkness will help us,” he thought to himself.
Ralphy did notice how dark it was getting. In 15 minutes it would be completely dark and they wouldn’t be able to see a thing.
“OK,” began Ralphy. “Here’s what we’re gonna do.”
Squeaky nodded his head.
“I’m sure the man and woman are close by,” he continued. “Based on where we were and where they were before we came up over the rise back there I’m guessing they are very close, and on this side of the freeway.”
“Yea,” asked Squeaky. “So, what we gonna do?”
“We know they need to get back on the freeway to go south. It’s the only way out of town,” said Ralphy as he calculated his next thought and turning his head to the freeway and back to the town.
“If we set up a roadblock, like a hundred yards or so down on the freeway,” said Ralphy as he pointed south at the road. Squeaky followed Ralphy’s finger with his head and eyes.
“If we set up say about there,” continued Ralphy again, pointing to a specific spot on the freeway. “We can wait um out.”
Squeaky could go with that. It fit his plan. They still needed to find the woman. Ralphy’s idea was a good one. Squeaky didn’t have a better way of finding her.
“Yea,” said Squeaky. “That sounds good.”
Ralphy and Squeaky moved across the open ground with their bikes toward their preselected roadblock spot on southbound I-15. From time to time Ralphy would stop and look back toward the place they came from. But still nothing moved. So, the two convicts continued to walk forward and finally climbed up on the freeway shoulder. They walked to the spot Ralphy picked and leaned their bikes up against the dividing rail. Then Ralphy turned to Squeaky.
“Go down to that gas station and find some water and food,” directed Ralphy. “And bring back a bottle of bourbon if they got it.”
“You bet,” responded Squeaky. The little man was off in a flash. Ralphy kept standing and watching. “Maybe they’ll show themselves just before it goes completely dark,” thought Ralphy to himself.
But Kevin and Marylin hadn’t moved. Kevin decided they’d stay behind the Post Office until it was completely dark. And then they stayed another 30 minutes to make sure. The good news
was Kevin was able to hear the men’s earlier conversation and he knew they were going to try and wait them out.
Finally, Kevin and Marylin crept away from the Post Office in total darkness. There wasn’t any moon in the sky yet. Earlier they’d whispered to each other that it was critical that they move very slowly. One accidentally kicked rock or can would surely give away their position.
It took them ten minutes to finally reach the trailer park. At the second trailer they found an unlocked door and so they slipped inside like two church mice. Inside Marylin fumbled a bit in the dark but soon discovered a couch. She sat down as quietly as possible. The worn-out cushions seemed to sink almost to the floor, but compared to the open ground, they felt wonderful.
The smell was bad. Kevin found an overweight woman in the trailer’s back bedroom. She was dead, lying in her bed. Kevin closed the bedroom door to keep some of the smell down and then crept back toward the trailer’s living space. When he got to the front window, he slowly peaked through the curtains. Hopefully they would have a good view of where the two men were sitting on the freeway. They’d know for sure in the morning.
Kevin finally moved backwards and sat down next to Marylin. They were both exhausted. It was only then that Kevin pulled out their remaining water bottle and took a drink.
Chapter 63: What’s up boss
Mark’s watch alarm went off on schedule at 5:30 am. But he didn’t wake the rest of his 19-person team. The loss of Robert during yesterday’s firefight in Cajon pass had been hard on everyone. So, the Major decided to let everyone sleep in another hour.
He grabbed a magazine off the kitchen counter and slipped outside for some alone time. He’d been so keyed up over the last week that he’d never had chance to relax.
“Maybe a little me time would be good,” he thought to himself as he scanned the neighborhood. Everything seemed quiet.
There was a red BMW in the driveway and the door was unlocked. He let himself in and put the seat back to accommodate his six-foot four-inch frame. After thirty minutes of reading about which celebrity was cheating on who, plus checking out a few of the coming movies, he set the magazine down on the passenger seat and closed his eyes. The early California sun was streaming into the car’s cabin and the warmth felt good on his face. Soon he dozed off and dreamed of his high school days in Utah and working with his grandfather in the yard. His grandfather was a good man, trustworthy, kind and very good to Mark. He missed him.
Suddenly Mark was awake. The car was jiggling. He was disoriented at first but soon realized the BMW was surrounded by HBs. They weren’t saying anything, just staring at him inside the car. Their distorted faces were pressed hard against every inch of exposed window glass – like a bad horror movie. Their hands were on the glass too and their eyes were fixed hard on him. Mark instinctively reached his left hand to the door lock and flipped the switch. But the gamma rays had fried the battery and the door locks remained open.
He knew they were attracted to movement and sound and so he played dead, hoping they’d lose interest and wander away. He closed his eyes and tried to relax.
But they didn’t wander away. Slowly the HB closest to Mark on the driver’s side started slapping the window with his right hand. Not hard at first. It was like he was just testing the idea of slapping the window – like it was something he’d discovered for the first time in his life. Two of the other HBs on the other side of the car noticed the slapping and slowly began to slap the window too. One of the HBs had a wedding ring on and the sound suddenly became more threatening.
As each minute passed the car jiggled more and more. Soon all the HBs were slapping and pounding on the car windows. They were moaning and groaning too. The sound was deafening inside the car. Mark tried to stay cool but he was being bounced around so much he instinctively had to move his hands to the wheel to steady himself. The sudden movement seemed to encourage the HBs as the car began to rock back and forth even more violently.
If Mark opened the door he might not be able to punch his way through the growing horde of HBs. In growing desperation, Mark pressed the car’s horn, but nothing sounded.
“Come on you guys,” thinking of his team inside the house. “Can’t you hear this racket?
As the car continued to rock, one of the HBs on the passenger side door stopped banging on the car window and methodically turned his attention to the door handle and stared at it. The HB didn’t know why he was staring at the door handle, but it reminded him of something, something he use to do.
Gracie woke up with a start. She got the living room couch last night and was grateful. The cushions were comfortable and she slept well. She sat up slowly on the edge of the couch with her back to the living room window. She scratched her head and licked her lips several times. Through the large window’s sheer curtains the BMW silently bounced and rocked as now thirty seven HBs pounded on its German engineered cabin. “Better keep quiet,” thought Gracie while she watched the HBs. Gracie suddenly noticed Mark wasn’t in the Lazy Boy across from her. Mark slept in the Lazy boy last night. Mark always seemed to stay close to Gracie. She appreciated that.
“Maybe he’s in the bathroom,” she thought.
Mark knew he was in trouble and would have to make a desperate break for the house sooner or later. Rather innocently the rear passenger side door suddenly popped open. The door didn’t swing open. It just popped open slightly. The banging, slapping and moaning didn’t quit either, but the door was open an inch or two. Mark noticed it and reached back with his big hand and pulled it shut. The rocking continued. Thirty seconds later the front passenger door popped open. Just as Mark reached over to close it, five sets of fingers and hands groped inside and slowly pulled the door open. Five wrinkled and swollen HB faces quickly filled the doorframe and looked in on Mark.
“Hey,” said Mark in weak attempt at humor. “You guys need a lift?”
Instantly the five HBs surged into the opening, their hands reaching and their teeth snapping. The only thing Mark could think to do was pull up his long legs and swing them into the faces of the oncoming HBs. He started kicking and hard as he could. But for every HB he kicked in the face and out the door another immediately took their place. The HB’s hands clawed at Marks shoes and pants. He felt a sharp bite as one of them bit into the shin on his right leg. In total desperation he grabbed on to the emergency break and yanked on it to give his thrusting legs more leverage. As he pulled on the handle he noticed it was loose. With all his strength he yanked the long emergency brake handle free from its mount. He felt another bite on his left leg and kicked the perpetrator right in the nose. In a flash Mark sat up, turned the more pointed end of the brake handle toward the hungry HBs and thrust the end into the eye socket of the closest person. The steel shaft was blunt on the end but easily pushed through the eye socket and into the guy’s brain and the guy dropped dead instantly, his head and body slumped on the BMW’s passenger seat. Mark quickly focused on the next HB and repeated the thrust with the same result. With each thrust, pints of blood gushed into the car’s interior. The HBs continued their assault. The hand break gave him a second chance, but he was growing tired.
“I don’t know how long I can keep this up,” he thought, as he struggled to keep the HBs off him.
Just then a single shot rang out. Then another and another. But the four remaining HBs inside the BMW’s passenger side doorframe kept on coming and Mark kept on scrambling their brains with the brake handle. The HBs on the outside suddenly turned their attention to the person firing the gun. The shots continued to increase, growing faster now. The blood and other HB gunk on the windows made it hard for Mark to see who was doing the shooting but he noticed the majority of pack was now moving toward that person. The shots continued.
Gracie fired her weapon methodically as she backed up. The first 15 HBs were easy kills. She caught most of those from the side while they were fighting each other to enter the BMW’s open passenger door. But now they were coming after her and
she was having to back up more and more quickly to keep her distance from the pack.
“Only five more to go,” she thought calmly to herself.
Bang, bang, bang, bang, and then click, went her AR -12. Just as the magazine emptied she ran out of maneuvering room and backed up against the neighbor’s trailer. She was trapped and the last HB was almost on her. The old Gracie panicked and simply closed her eyes.
But the HB never reached her. She heard a thud and a grunt and then opened her eyes to see Mark standing over the last HB, who was now flat on the ground. Mark was completely covered in blood and he was out of breath. He held some kind of pipe looking thing in his right hand.
A few moments passed as they eyed each other.
Then Mark spoke. “Thank you.”
Gracie instantly dropped her rifle and jumped on Mark with her arms around his neck. Her legs were off the ground and Mark was stumbling around trying to keep his balance.
