by Dennis Elder
Gracie whispered loudly into Mark’s ear. “No… thank you!”
Mark let her hang there for a few moments until the excitement began to wane. Slowly she let herself slide down and her feet touch the sidewalk again. She stepped back and smiled. Mark smiled too. Gracie was beginning to form an attachment with Mark.
“We better get back inside, just in case there are any more around,” suggested Mark as he quickly scanned the neighborhood.
“Yea better get back in side,” said little Gracie as she picked up her weapon. Then they both turned to the house and slowly walked back toward the front door.
“You saved my bacon girl,” said Mark. “I owe you.”
“And you saved mine,” said Gracie. “And I owe you.”
As they reached the front door Mark stopped, smiled and said, “I think you and I will ride scout today. You certainly earned it.”
Gracie kept her head down but she was beaming with pride. Mark, their commanding officer, had recognized her. She decided right there and then that she would never let him down.
Once they got inside Mark couldn’t believe that no one had at least heard the gunfire, let alone the pounding HBs. But everyone was sacked out on the floors and in the bedrooms.
“What the…” said Mark.
Suddenly Jake popped out of one of the bedrooms still half asleep and made for a bathroom. There was still water pressure in the house. He noticed Mark and Gracie out of the corner of his eye. They were just standing in the entryway and so stopped.
“What’s up boss?” asked Jake.
“What’s up?” countered Mark. There was brief pause.
“Didn’t you hear the gunfire?” pleaded Mark.
“What gunfire?” responded the innocent and still half-asleep Jake. “And what’s up with the blood?”
Chapter 64: Dead and stinky
Dr. Kevin Phillips woke early. While Marylin continue to sleep on the broken down old trailer couch, he quietly slipped to the front of the trailer and carefully pulled back the curtains. He hoped it would give him a good view of the two men that had been following them south on I-15.
But it was still too dark to see anything. There was a slight glow out there, like from a fire, but you couldn’t see any detail. Kevin turned back around and sat down on a kitchen chair. The legs were uneven and he found himself slowly bobbing back and forth from one short leg to the next while staring down into the trailer’s dark living room. The kitchen area was on the left and Marylin slept on the couch lying against the right wall of the trailer. There was probably a bathroom down the hall, back where the dead lady slept. The smell of her dead body didn’t seem as bad as it had been.
“Maybe the nose gets use to that kind of thing,” thought Kevin to himself.
He didn’t sleep to well the night before. Every time there was the slightest sound he woke with a start. His head felt heavy suddenly and slowly he laid it down on the Formica top of the small trailer’s kitchen table. The Formica felt cool on his skin.
“Just a few more minutes rest,” he thought.
He was sound asleep in less than 30 seconds.
The next thing he knew the sound of Marylin’s soft voice and equally gentle touch was waking him up.
“Hey sleepy head. Couch not comfortable enough for you?”
Kevin sat up straight and looked at his watch. The rim of the Formica table left a red outline along Kevin’s right cheek.
“Dam,” he said as he turned to the trailer’s curtains. Another hour had passed since he first woke up. He didn’t like it that he’d fallen asleep when he should have been figuring out what those two guys were up to.
Kevin cracked the curtains again and looked toward the I-15 freeway. The two men were still there. He pulled out the Zeiss binoculars and focused the eyepiece. They were huddled around a small campfire with their backs against the concrete divider running down the middle of the road. They were eating and drinking and watching. Their two guns were leaning against the barrier next to each of them. The larger of the two kept looking around, first toward the trailer park and then at some of the other buildings. Marylin wanted to look at the men too, so Kevin handed her the binoculars.
“Don’t open the curtains too much,” warned Kevin. “The human eye is very adept at noticing the slightest of movements.”
Marylin focused the binoculars on the two men.
“Why don’t they just move on?” Marylin wondered aloud.
“I was hoping the same thing,” responded Kevin.
Marylin kept watching the two men. Kevin moved to the kitchen and began checking to see what food they might find. He was extremely thirsty.
“From the looks of those guys we might be here for a while,” suggested Kevin. “Better see what kind of food we have on hand. Might have to wait them out.”
Kevin found a box of tootsie pops and turned to Marylin.
“Hey,” he said as he held up the tootsie pops like he just found treasure.
Marylin turned. “Oh, those are my favorites. Got a cherry one?”
Kevin looked over a few in the box and brought one out and tossed it to her. She caught it in one hand.
‘Nice catch,” praised Kevin.
“Nice throw,” responded Marylin in a whisper as she pulled the wrapper off the candy and stuck it in her mouth. “Love these,” she added.
With the tootsie pop firmly planted between her right cheek and gum line, Marylin turned back to her binoculars and continued watching the two men. After a minute she moved the tootsie pop to the other side of her mouth.
“I still have a bad feeling about these two guys. I don’t think they’re going anywhere until they find us,” she said.
“Yea, probably,” said Kevin as he opened the refrigerator door and then closed it quickly. The smell was overwhelming and he nearly vomited.
“Don’t go in the fridge,” warned Kevin. “Everything in there is officially dead and stinky,” he continued.
“Roger that,” replied Marylin.
Chapter 65: Faster, Faster
Mary, Lenny and Pam left the hospital for the last time just before the sun began to rise. They wanted to get away from the area before fat Chucky recovered from the shot he took in the foot when he and his buddies tried to make friendly with Mary and her brood the day before. Mary didn’t know where they were going exactly, maybe Hesperia or even farther to San Bernardino. All she knew is they needed a new place to stay that was out of fat Chucky’s reach.
Lenny and Pam spent the previous evening going through the local sporting goods store. They found three good backpacks, a long red wagon to carry Sally in and a small bike for Cedric to ride. Mary had stayed back in the hospital to watch Cedric and Sally.
Lenny and Pam took their AR-15 rifles but thankfully did not need to use them. They filled the packs with water bottles and some energy food from the grocery store and hauled it all back to the hospital by 11 pm.
It was close to 9 am by the time they got to the 1-15 freeway. They walked up the southbound on ramp. Mary and Pam both pulled the wagon behind them as the struggled up the unusually steep onramp. They had padded the wagon with cushions and pillows. Little Sally rode in comfort with official Princess Puffy sunglasses and an umbrella to shade her from the sun. Lenny was pushing Cedric and his bike up the incline.
“I’ve been up this incline a thousand times and don’t ever remember it being this difficult,” joked Lenny.
“Faster, faster,” touted Cedric as Lenny strained behind him.
“Maybe because every other time you were driving that sweet Miata convertible of yours” said Pam from the side.
“It’s a pity there aren’t any more convertibles,” said Mary. She and Pam finally reached the top of the incline and stopped to take a breather. Lenny was right behind them and bent over to put her hands on her knees. She was breathing harder than anyone else.
Cedric stood down with both of his legs on the ground. “Push me again, Aunt Lenny,” the boy said. “This ti
me faster.”
Mary smiled. “Kids…” she thought to herself.
When Lenny rose up from her knees she reactively reached for her AR-15 strapped to her back. But it was too late.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” said Chuck calmly from behind them.
Chuck and his three friends were standing behind Mary and Pam. They had been waiting for them. Each of the four men had their guns leveled at the women. Mary and Pam spun around too, but they were too late to react.
“Looks like I guessed right, eh boys,” said Chucky with a smile on his face. “All we had to do was wait for our pretty little conchitas to come to us.”
Then Chuck dropped his smile and moved slightly to his left while pointing his shotgun at little Sally in the red wagon. Chuck limped badly when he moved. His foot was covered with a dirty white bandage. There was blood seeping through, and part of the bandage was hanging loose.
“Drop what you got,” or I’ll off the kid,” said Chuck, in a way that Mary knew he would do it if they didn’t comply.
Mary put her AR-15 down carefully on the concrete roadway and instinctively moved between little Sally and Chuck’s shotgun muzzle. She felt suddenly naked without her rifle. It had become a part of her. Pam and Lenny put their rifles on the ground too and slowly stood up.
Chapter 66: Hey
Once Major Mark and his band of 19 finally got back on I-15’s north bound land, it was nearly 8:15 am. They had never left this late in the day. But that was all his fault and man did he take some flak for it. Even Silvia gave him a piece of her mind.
“I thought you said rule number was no one, never goes off by themselves!” she barked during breakfast. “And you said rule number two was never forget rule #1.”
Mark had no comeback for that one. The guys were all smiling and laughing. That was OK. He knew he deserved it. After Mark’s close all with the HB’s, everyone appreciated a little lightening of the mood.
When they finally pushed off from the house and driveway they got a good look at all the dead bodies and shell casings lying around, there were a few comments. The best one came from Tyrone.
“Man O man a cheviots,” began Tyrone. “Gracie ain’t no spacey no more, that’s for damn sure!”
Jake agreed and added an “Amen!” as the group formed up and headed toward the freeway on ramp.
Soon they were in their second hour of peddling. They had accidently gotten on the North bound lane without realizing it. Nobody said a thing. The rule had always been to stay in southbound lane. Less cars on the southbound side meant less car crashes and less glass. Mark didn’t even notice it until Gracie brought it to his attention. That HB thing had gotten into his head a little. They would switch over to the other lane at the next break in the freeway’s concrete divider.
Gracie, on the other hand, was riding high. She was pumped that she and Mark were riding out in front together, as scouts. It made her feel special. Her handling of the HBs had earned her some street credit, even with the regulars. Today was like a new adventure for Gracie and she and Mark would be riding together all day on scout duty. It was hard for her to not smile. The only hard part was Gracie had to wear the stupid helmet. It was too big for her little head and it kept moving around and screwing up her forward vision. But she never complained.
Even though their bikes were heavy with equipment, the high-end road bikes were very quiet. Mark’s ears suddenly picked up at the sound of a kid crying. The farther they rode along, the louder the sound got. Mark instinctively hit the brakes on his bike. Gracie did the same. Mark got off this bike and pulled his Bushmaster off his back and into his hands. Gracie followed his every move.
“You hear that crying?” whispered back to Gracie.
She had removed the helmet and quietly laid it down on the concrete road.
“Yes” she responded. “Up ahead… on the other side of the barrier.”
Mark nodded his head in agreement. Then he picked up the radio and called back to the group. Junior Taylor was first in the bike line and held the radio.
“Hold up,” said Mark over the radio. Junior brought the group to a halt and quickly formed up in their standard defensive position. They were all getting better and better at it.
Standard concrete barriers that run between most freeways are about three feet high – especially in the open country. But in cities where there is more traffic the barriers are often higher, usually about five feet. Inside, and about five miles on both sides of Victorville California, the town they were riding through, the barriers were all five feet high.
Mark whispered to Gracie. “Follow me, keep your head below the barrier, and absolutely no noise.”
They both moved gracefully forward. The crying never stopped. Soon they heard other voices – an argument was going on. When Mark was sure they were just on the other side of the conversation, he stopped and put a finger to his lips. Gracie nodded. Mark reached into his pocket and pulled out a signal mirror.
“Give me your gum,” said Mark to Gracie.
She pulled out the well-chewed ball and handed it to Mark. He pulled his K-bar knife out and stuck the gum between the end of the knife and the mirror. Slowly he raised the small mirror one inch above the barrier. Now he could see what they were up against.
“I told you to shut that kid up,” barked Chucky.
Pam was holding Cedric in her arms and was shielding him from Chuck and his three companions. Cedric was terrified and couldn’t stop whimpering.
“Maybe if you put your gun down dufas, the kid might calm down,” said Mary in a defiant tone.
Chuck just smiled. “I told you she was a keeper,” said Chuck to his buddies. His companions all smiled a sheepish grin and nodded in mutual agreement.
“Fire in her eyes,” said one of other men as he smiled and bobbed his head up and down like a spoiled five-year-old. His gun was still pointed at Lenny. “She’ll be a fun one when we get ‘um back to the shop.” The guy was nervous with anticipation.
“Time to take care of the kids?” questioned the other man. He was equally nervous.
“Shut up bone head,” barked Chucky. “I told you to shut up about that.”
Mary suddenly realized the men intended to kill the children. They were only interested in her, Pam and Lenny.
On the other side of the concrete barrier Mark instantly understood the same thing.
Mark pulled the radio to his mouth and whispered.
“We’ve got a hostage situation up here. Four hostiles - all male, and five civilians – three women and two little kids. The women and kids are on the far side of the southbound lane just across from my position. The hostile are in the first and second lanes. The hostiles all have rifles. Couple of shotguns and two hunting rifles,” continued Mark and she twisted the mirror a bit. “The guns are pointed at the kids and women.”
“What do you want to do?” asked Junior. Several of the rangers were gathered around Junior and straining to hear the radio.
“We need four men to do a jump, squat and shoot,” whispered Mark.
“Like over the barrier?” asked Junior.
“Right,” said Mark. Pick the lighter guys for the jump. I’ll distract them. If you hear a shot that’s the jump trigger. Otherwise I’ll let you know when by radio.”
“Roger that,” said Junior. The regulars quickly gathered round Junior as he laid out the situation.
Mark turned to Gracie. The barrier is too high for you to shoot over, so I’m going to do this solo. However, I could use your help.
“Anything,” said Gracie. Her heart was pumping again. Seemed like every day there was some kind of crazy challenge. Strangely she was starting to like it.
“I need you to get down on you hands and knees so I can stand on your back,” said Mark.
Gracie instantly followed Mark’s direction. Then Mark stepped on her back and popped his head up over the barrier. He leaned his Bushmaster down against the barrier. Gracie struggled with Mark’s full 240
pounds on her back. But she knew Mark and those people were depending on her.
Mark looked over the scene. Nobody noticed his head sticking over the barrier. So, he decided to introduce himself.
“I wonder if any of you gentlemen have the time?” said Mark in a booming tone.
Chucky was so startled by Mark’s question his knees buckled and he nearly fell down. When he stumbled he spun toward Mark’s voice and instinctively fired his shotgun. The pellets ricocheted off the dividing wall a good twenty feet away from Mark. Mark didn’t completely duck down but he dropped his head a little. Then he raised it up again he put his empty hands in the air.
