100 A.Z. (Book 3): The Mountain

by Nelson, Patrick T.

  “Well, I guess we should be moving. We’ll try again later,” Chambers said.

  Four days later, they left the scrub desert and entered a pine forest. This slowed their progress some, as the terrain was steeper and more difficult. Chambers kept morale up by encouraging tales of masculinity among the men. It soon became a contest of feats and daring acts. Ellie listened absentmindedly. She had already set her mind on not befriending any of the men in the group. Or even learning their names. It was a consequence of Chambers being in charge that all these men would probably die – in her experience.

  They crossed the New Mexico border sometime that day, they were unsure where, as they’d left the ancient roads and struck out across the landscape. They wanted to avoid any interaction with westerners from Tucson. Sal indicated Tucson would be a tough nut to crack (they were an unruly lot) and would first require Sal to have many more people on his side.

  Who was on Sal’s side? Ellie wondered. Paco left two weeks prior with five horses carrying loads of weapons Sal had bribed him with. The weapons would supposedly secure Vaca’s support and all the forces Corpus Christi could bring to bear. “Supposedly” being the key word. How secure was an alliance if they were only willing to support because of bribes? Maybe that was why Sal seemed quieter lately. He was seeing the potential for failure, and how weak his position really was. How weak they all really were. He had over a thousand lives in his charge at Los Alamos. Perhaps he was finally feeling the weight of that responsibility.

  Or maybe he simply forgot to pack alcohol, and that had turned his mood.

  “Keep a sharp eye out,” Sal murmured to the group as they approached a meadow. He was imagining shooters hidden all around.

  “I got it, you nervous nelly,” Chambers bristled as he stopped his men and rode ahead to scout it out. Ellie waited for a sniper to take the opportunity to rid the world of Chambers, but it never came. Not that she wanted to see him dead, really, but she was honestly concerned for the safety of the men under his command.

  The rest of them rode through the meadow. No shots came. Ellie breathed easier once they were on the other side.

  “We haven’t shaken them. I saw them yesterday. They’re still back there,” Sal said quietly to Ellie. “They’re persistent. We may have to try something different, otherwise they’ll choose the moment to attack. We want to choose that.”

  “A–a-attack?” Ellie asked.

  “Yeah. What do you think we brought all these guys with gun for?”

  “I-I-I just remember how bad the last team was.”

  Sal stared at Ellie. “Yeah. Good point.” He paused. “You’re pretty smart, El. I’ve underestimated you. Sorry about that.” He turned and spurred his horse on to catch up with Chambers and discuss, leaving Ellie mystified at his compliment.

  “There, look. Smoke,” Chambers pointed out the smoke to Sal. It was first light. They’d made camp in a comparatively protective area of rocks and trees. The man on lookout had seen the smoke and woken Chambers.

  “About the size of a campfire. Probably our tail,” Sal said.

  “Let’s check it out. I’m thinking we need to give these troublemakers a little morning surprise,” Chambers said.

  They left their camp erected and mounted up as quickly as possible. The smoke was a mile or two away and there was plenty of cover between it and them to hide their movement. They stopped their horses once they neared rifle range, and closed in on foot. Chambers and six of the men went to sneak up on the camp while four stayed back with Sal and Ellie.

  “Don’t worry, ma’am. Just watch–my buddies will take care of this,” one of the young men winked at Ellie.

  Ellie started to say something but tripped over the words. All she could think was, “How is this kid going to get killed?” The thought saddened her and she turned away from the conversation, leaving him to wonder what he’d said wrong.

  Chambers and the six men cautiously approached the source of the smoke. It was indeed the fire from a campsite. It was mostly just bellowing out smoke, now. Once they determined it was safe they inspected the campsite. There were footprints, but they couldn’t tell if it was from more than three people.

  “They were here, alright,” Chambers said, coughing from some of the smoke.

  “They left some trash over here. Bones,” one of the men said.

  “Yep, probably had a nice dinner last night while we slept unawares,” Chambers said.

  “Chicken,” the man added before coughing himself.

  “Who cares what it was!” Chambers spurted out.

  “Well, sir, there aren’t many chickens around here. Where do you think they got them?”

  “I don’t know! I guess it will have to be one of the great mysteries of this trip!” Chambers said angrily. He was sulky because they were being followed. He didn’t like being followed. These trips were supposed to be restful, jovial, an excuse to get away from his wife. Instead they were long, uncomfortable, and filled with poor sleep. Now he had an annoying cough, too.

  Sleeplessness and discomfort would have been preferable to what came next. Soon they were having difficulty breathing, their chests felt like they were on fire, and their skin was itching like mad. There had been something toxic in the fire, Sal guessed poison ivy or sumac. The men following them had set a trap, and Chambers had fallen for it. One of the men was particularly bad, and was fighting for every breath as he struggled to stay on his horse. Sal had to take charge.

  “Get the sickest men off their horses and put them on a horse with a healthier person. We can’t have them falling off. You four,” Sal pointed to the men who hadn’t breathed the smoke. “Those rocks ahead, set up an ambush. Our tail is going to make a move soon. We’ll press on with the injured to lure them on. Take them out. Ellie, they’ll need your help. Take this. You had basic firearms training, right? Of course. Sorry I never gave you one before. Shoot to kill, these pricks are coming after you. That’s why they’re here.” Sal spurred on his horse to get the wounded moving. Ellie stared at the pistol he’d handed her. Coming after her? What did that mean! Why would anyone come after her?

  “S-S-Sal?” Ellie stammered, but he didn't respond.

  Ellie and the four men positioned themselves in the rocks on the side of the trail. They hunkered down for the wait, unsure how far behind their pursuers were. They put two men on either side of the trail, with Ellie further back with the most experienced man, Ray. He was older, probably nearing fifty. He’d retired from fieldwork years ago, but was pressed back in to service with Sal’s “administration.” His eyes were tired, but still fierce. Ellie reluctantly absorbed all of this information, whispered to pass the time in the hours they waited. One bit she did listen to eagerly – Ray knew Obevens. Had trained him, in fact. Called him a sharp kid.

  Ray had no clue why these men might be after her. He’d heard Sal say something about Obevens and Sal’s sister, but wasn’t sure what. He knew that wasn’t much help, and said he was sorry. He was a little foggier mentally than he used to be. Otherwise, he’d be leading this expedition. Chambers was a fool, but Ray didn’t trust himself to lead.

  “Shhh,” Ray said to himself as his body tensed up. “I heard something.”

  Ellie froze and stared at the trail. She didn’t see anything.

  A minute passed and a deer appeared on the trail. It was browsing the forage and occasionally stopping to survey its surroundings for predators.

  “Hmm. Nothing,” Ray shrugged. “Maybe those boys aren’t trying their scheme today. Tonight, though, for sure.”

  But nothing came that night. Or the next. The men exposed to the smoke worsened. Hideous welts appeared on their arms and faces. One in particular was struggling so much to breathe that it looked like he might end up suffocating. Ellie had no idea that smoke from a plant could be so dangerous. She finally had enough and confronted Sal.

  “S-S-Sal! Why are those guys after me! How do you know!”

  Sal lowered his head and tended the fir
e.

  “The night before we left Los Alamos I went out to my communications building. They stopped me, told me to hand you over or they’d kill lots of people. It was just three guys, so I wasn’t too worried. I said ‘Sure, I’ll give you the girl, but why are you after her?’ They said Obevens was sweet on her, and Sara needed to send a message to the Captain. I had no intention of giving you over, Ellie, trust me. I just told them I would.”

  “Y-y-you talked to them?!? Y-y-you knew all this and didn’t tell me?”

  “I know, I’m sorry. I didn’t want to scare you, El.”

  “M-m-my name isn’t El!”

  Ellie stormed off and left Sal to stew in his discomfort. He had done the right thing, he was sure, but it hadn’t earned him any points with Ellie.

  She left the protection of the camp and headed off to be alone for a minute. Sal yelled after her that she needed an escort. She replied with some choice words.

  “Well, she didn’t stutter,” Sal noted.

  As she stomped through the woods Ellie muttered to herself about what a jerk Sal was. He was selfish, conceited, manipulative…she was better off on her own…she’d rather deal with the three guys trying to kill her than Sal. She sat down on a rock and shook her head, still grumbling about Sal, Los Alamos, these trips, looking at stupid imagery, and anything else that popped up. A bird landed next to her and looked inquisitively at her.

  “Sh-sh-shut it,” she muttered at it.

  It twittered away and landed in a nearby tree. She watched it absentmindedly. Obevens had done something to anger Sara. Obevens was still alive. This thought snapped out of her anger. She realized it was insane being alone and away from camp. She jumped to her feet and rushed back toward camp. She heard something rustle in the brush behind her. She didn’t stop to see what it was, just sped up.

  “Listen Ellie, I’m sorry, I thought…” Sal began when he saw her, but she shushed him, motioning silently that there was something behind her. “Okay, okay. Form up!” Sal ordered the four healthy men to take positions and await the attack.

  Once again, it never came.

  The four men began to get drowsy in the afternoon sun and Sal called off the watch.

  During the night, the two men on guard duty held a quiet conversation.

  “They’re after the girl.”

  “Yep.”

  “Only her.”

  “Yep, we’re just in the way.”

  “…”

  “What’re you thinking?”

  “Maybe we should give her up. Then they’ll leave us alone.”

  “We don’t need her for this mission, she’s just dangerous.”

  “Who knows if there are only three of them out there? There might be more.”

  “They’ve already taken six of us out of commission. I don’t want to be number seven.”

  “Agreed.”

  Ellie awoke to the sounds of gunfire. She sprang from her sleeping mat and drew the gun Sal had given her. She was inside a tent and couldn’t see outside.

  “That’ll scare them off,” she heard a voice say. It was the young soldier who had winked at her earlier. Despite her best efforts, she had learned that his name was Tyler.

  “Dogs, er…maybe coyotes, or some cross breed. Running things with teeth, that’s what they were, ma’am,” Tyler said toward Ellie’s tent. He had picked up Chamber’s habit of calling her ma’am.

  She got out of her tent, still shaking with the adrenaline and holding the gun.

  “Whoa, don’t let Chambers see you with that, he’ll flip. Not that he can do much about it right now,” Tyler tried to sound jovial, but he was obviously stressed about something.

  “O-o-okay,” Ellie stammered, looking around. Waking to gunshots wasn’t something she particularly enjoyed. She looked beyond Tyler and saw Sal sitting on the ground. He was hunched over as if something heavy were weighing on his shoulders. It was a look she’d never seen on him before.

  Emboldened by his vulnerability and apparent onset of some degree of maturity, Ellie approached him.

  “Sal, what is going on?” she asked clearly.

  “Oh, you know, same old stuff,” he waved his hand as if to deflect the question. He didn’t make eye contact.

  “N-n-no. What is going on with you?”

  “I’m not sure. I mean, I know, but I’m not really sure what it’s about.”

  “W-w-what?”

  “This feeling.”

  Ellie just looked at him. It was hard to admit, but she was a little concerned about him.

  Sal moaned and rubbed his eyes as if wrestling with something. He started grinding his teeth, saying “Dang it, dang it, dang it!”

  Ellie wasn’t sure what to say. Maybe he was going crazy, not growing up?

  “Okay! I did it! It’s my fault Obevens was captured! My fault those guys came after you! My fault you are now in danger! Arrgg! You happy now?!”

  “W-w-wha…?”

  “You still don’t get it.”

  “G-g-get what?”

  “How do you think we got away from Sara? You think she was just going to let us go?”

  “O-O-Obevens gave himself up…?” Ellie said half questioningly.

  “I made a deal. I gave Obevens to her in exchange for our release!”

  Ellie stared at Sal, feeling slightly dizzy.

  “Y-y-you made a deal with her? He’s with that psycho woman because of you?”

  Ellie kicked him once, hard. Then again, harder. Then over and over, uncontrollably. She lost all awareness of her surroundings as Sal tried to shield himself from the blows.

  “Stop it! Stop it!”

  “He’s gonna die because of you!”

  “Ouch! We don’t know that! OUCH! Listen! I’m sorry, I’m trying to do the right thing!”

  “D-d-do the right thing and drop dead!” She stopped kicking him. Out of breath. He was still on the ground amidst a dust cloud from her assault. “So all that time – sneaking out of that cell, crushed under those nasty corpses, when those men came to take him away – you knew what was going to happen! It was a part of your plan?! The “great leader?!” I hate you!” She screamed the last part. It was probably the loudest sound ever from Ellie’s being.

  “What? How would I know that was going to happen?!” Sal protested, suddenly confused.

  “You made a deal with her before we even escaped!”

  “No! Oh wait, you think that…no, no! No, El! I didn’t know that was going to happen!”

  Ellie was still breathing heavy, staring at him with a mixture of confusion, frustration and extreme suspicion.

  “El! I didn’t make a deal with her ahead of time! I’m all broken up because I let them take him. I didn’t fight it. I was glad he offered to go. I was, in essence, making a deal with her! I mean, that slimeball Guirguis was the one there, but it was really her I made the deal with. And because of letting Obevens give himself up, you’re in danger. It’s my fault! I was the leader, I should have fought!”

  Ellie shook her head and dropped to the ground, exhausted from the roller coaster. She sat in the dust next to Sal, squinting at him, fresh anger rising.

  “S-s-so did you or did you not make a deal with her?”

  “Not a deal directly, not like that. No, I just… Ellie…You are so special to me…”

  “S-s-stop!”

  “Okay, okay. I would hate for anything to happen to you, that would kill me. Obevens is with the crazy lady. He did something to piss her off. She knew the best way to get at him was through you.”

  She started to form a protest, a question to his statement. She shook her head some more. “W-w-why me?”

  “You don’t get it, do you? Man, you are clueless. Obevens, maybe, just maybe, thinks you’re kinda special.”

  Ellie stopped shaking her head and looked at him. He wasn’t lying.

  “N-n-no, we’re just friends.”

  “Ha! Yeah, right! And zombies eat their vegetables. You silly girl! Yeah, he’s in l-u-r-v
with you. I mean, just like I am.”

  “Stop that!”

  “Sorry, sorry. I suppose not like me.” He begrudgingly admitted. “No, he loves you so much he probably only wants one wife. With me, you would still be one of many wives, so I can’t say I love you as much. Heck, it’s probably not love. Probably some brother, sister thing I’ve confused for love. I’ve never been good…”

  “Sal, shut up,” she cried. Tears were coming down her cheeks. She wasn’t sure why. Obevens didn’t really love her. It was just another Sal trick.

  “Let me say this, and I won’t use the ‘L’ word anymore. Somehow, through some divine miracle of fate, or mystical alignment of the cosmos, I’ve changed. I can’t really explain it. Thinking about you getting hurt, and knowing it would be my fault… I couldn’t take it. I realized that I’ve been selfish. So selfish. Here I am, responsible for all these lives, and I’ve never respected that responsibility. I’ve just been playing games. I’ve only looked out for myself, only thought about me. That is wrong! So, so, so wrong! I have to protect these people, I have to do the right thing, whatever that is! I don’t get it, I know, and you’re looking at me like you don’t believe me. I deserve that. I’ve lied about a lot. I have no credibility. Believe me, though, I’ve changed.” He paused, thinking over what he was saying. “It sucks!”

  Ellie sputtered a tearful, sardonic laugh. “W-w-what? It sucks to care about people? Yeah, it’s hard thinking of others before yourself. Welcome to being human, Sal.”

  “Heh, yeah, good one,” he said pessimistically.

  Ellie rubbed her eyes. “S-S-Sal. It really wasn’t your fault. Obevens’ capture. Even if we had fought…” but Sal interrupted her, suddenly perking to attention.

  “Something’s wrong.” He looked about, almost like an animal sniffing the air for danger. “Come on!” As Sal grabbed her the silence was punctured with the sharp sounds of gunfire in the distance. It sounded like it came from where Tyler and Ray were positioned. There was an answer to the gunfire even further off.

  They ran away from the shooting toward where the sick were convalescing, but their progress was halted by two of the healthy men on the team.