by Chris Pike
“You’re right,” Nico said, trying to keep his emotions at bay.
“Let’s get going before it gets too hot. I’ll take his hands, and you take his feet,” Josh said.
Nico slung the thermos over his shoulder then the two men worked together to take Tony’s body away from the river and onto dry, higher ground. Fortunately the land sloped away from the river at a gradual slope, and while Tony’s weight was considerable and his body had stiffened, taking him to the truck was a feasible solution. The truck had been stashed about half a mile north of the river in a thicket of mesquite, so by the time Nico and Josh reached their destination, their muscles told them they needed to rest.
They gently placed Tony’s body on the ground, and Nico covered Tony’s face with one of the shirts he had found the previous day. He needed to protect his partner’s face from flies buzzing around trying to alight on it. He figured it was the least he could do.
The truck had succumbed to the fire as suspected. Tires had been flattened, windows busted, and the interior gutted. Josh peeked in, making a quick check if anything of value was left. A plastic water bottle had melted into the seat which showed the spring coils poking through the charred upholstery. The plastic floorboard mats had disintegrated and the hardened dashboard had warped. Whatever food or water might have been in there was now burned rubbish.
“I’ll check the back for the shovel,” Nico said. Using his index finger, he tapped the truck handle testing it for latent heat. It was still too hot for his bare hands, so he removed his vest to use it as a potholder. Wrapping the vest around his hand, he opened the trunk, spied the shovel, and removed it.
Nico drank thirstily from the thermos then handed it to Josh. When he finished, he placed it on the ground.
While Nico dug, Josh scouted the surrounding countryside looking for rocks to place atop the grave to prevent wild animals from digging up Tony’s body.
Josh made several trips out into the charred land to collect stones, one time returning with a jagged piece of his crashed training jet.
The rising sun unleashed hot and miserable agony, and with the humidity increasing, rivers of sweat soaked Nico’s shirt. After an hour of digging, the shovel hit a hard root of a mesquite tree and progress ground to a halt. Nico sat down to take a breather.
Josh came back with a handful of stones and emptied them onto the ground next to the grave. He dusted his hands on his flight suit and surveyed the grave. “I think that’s deep enough for the time being.”
Tony’s body had become stiff with rigor mortis. His legs had frozen in place, bent at the knees, with his arms close to his body. Josh and Nico lifted Tony’s body and placed him in the grave, face up. Nico repositioned the shirt over Tony’s face, an act of reverence for his partner.
He hated thinking his last memory of Tony would be his ashen face. He cleared his throat, picked up the shovel, and started tossing dirt into the grave.
After only shoveling a bucketful of dirt into the grave, Nico stepped back. He thrust the shovel into the ground blade first. “He still has on his wedding ring. I think his wife would like to have it.” Nico tentatively stepped into the grave, slid Tony’s wedding ring off his finger, and dropped it into his pocket. He bent over and searched Tony’s pockets. First the shirt then the pants. He removed Tony’s wallet and slipped it into the same pocket which held the ring.
Nico stood there a moment straddling Tony. An odd expression spread across his face and his shoulders dropped. He realized the predicament.
“What’s wrong?” Josh asked.
“His legs,” Nico said, motioning to them with a wave of his hand. “They’re bent and the grave isn’t deep enough to cover his knees.”
“You’re right.” Josh scratched his itchy neck. “Step out and I’ll try to straighten them.”
“I’ll try,” Nico added.
“No, you’ve done enough. I’ll do it.”
Unwilling to argue and thankful Josh had volunteered for the gruesome task, Nico stepped out of the grave and stood to the side.
Kneeling at the side of the grave, Josh used his hands to push down on Tony’s right knee. Nothing happened. Josh tried again. Still no luck.
Nico said, “Hold his leg in place and I’ll step on his knee. I think my body weight will loosen it.” Nico stepped over to Tony’s body, and said, “Forgive me, Tony.” Nico put a hand on Josh’s shoulder for balance then stood on Tony’s knee, letting his weight push the leg straight.
With a crack, the leg straightened.
“It worked,” Josh said. “Try the other side.”
With Tony’s legs now straightened, Nico shoveled dirt over his partner’s body. When he finished, Josh worked quickly to place stones and the piece of his crashed jet on the grave. He methodically placed stones onto the grave, picking through the pile for the right size and shape as if he was searching for a piece of a jigsaw puzzle.
Afterwards, Nico and Josh stood to the side and observed a minute of silence in honor of Tony.
“Well, I guess we need to head our separate ways,” Nico said.
“What are you planning to do?” Josh asked.
“I’m going to head over to Tony’s house. His wife is probably out of her mind with worry about now.”
“Where’s the house?”
Nico gave the approximate location and mileage to where Tony’s house was. “From here, the main highway is about three miles to the north. When we get there, I’ll flag down a car and ask if I can use their cell phone. There’ll be someone at the station who can pick me up.” Nico paused. “Come with me, and I’ll get someone to take you back to the base.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
Chapter 9
After an hour of walking through the charred, flat land, Nico and Josh came up to the barbed wire fence set back from the road.
“What the…?” Nico exclaimed, trailing off.
All along the long stretch of country road, cars and trucks sat idle. Fortunately, the grass fire that had incinerated the grass and half-grown trees on the east side of the road had not been able to jump the pavement.
“What do you think is going on?” Nico asked.
“I don’t know. It’s the weirdest thing I’ve ever seen,” Josh replied.
Nico pinched down the top rung of the barbed wire, and gingerly stepped over it, then held it down for Josh. Choosing a careful path, they maneuvered the sloping sides of the ditch then stepped onto the road. A woman who was about a hundred yards down the road waved frantically to them. She yelled, but the wind and distance carried her voice away.
“Let’s see what she needs,” Josh said.
Jogging to her, they stopped when they approached her car. “Do you need help?” Josh asked.
The woman looked at them quizzically, glanced at the car, then slowly stepped away.
The car door swung open and a man brandishing a semi-automatic pistol jumped out and waved the gun.
“Give me your money and credit cards,” the man ordered. His eyes were bloodshot, he looked like he hadn’t slept in days, and smelled about the same.
Nico shot a quick glance at Josh, who returned a wide-eyed scared-as-crap expression.
“Did you not hear me?” the man asked. “Give me your money!”
“We don’t have any money,” Nico said. His Glock was concealed under his vest, but he had no time to draw it. The man didn’t know he was armed, allowing Nico to use it to his advantage.
“Don’t lie to me.” The man waved his pistol threateningly. “I’ll shoot you if you lie to me.”
“We’re not lying,” Josh said. He shot a quick glance at Nico. “His truck burned up in the fire and I had to eject when my plane went dead. We don’t have anything.”
“I’ll empty my pockets for you,” Nico said. He put his hands out to show there wasn’t anything in them. “I’m going to reach into my pockets now. Okay?”
“Yeah, I guess so. Don’t make any quick moves.”
Nico kept his
eyes on the man as he reached into his pockets. He slowly pulled the white cotton liner out for the man to see. “I told you we don’t have—”
Josh lunged for the man. The man flinched and swiveled the pistol to Josh. He pulled the trigger but nothing happened.
The pistol had jammed.
In the second the man tried to unjam the pistol, Josh rushed the man and grabbed his gun hand.
Nico lunged forward and using both hands, he wrestled the pistol from the man.
Josh grabbed the man in a headlock and threw him to the ground face down. He shoved a knee into the man’s back while twisting his right arm up to his neck.
Nico stepped back, peered into the chamber, and unjammed the pistol. He ejected the rounds and pocketed them, then tossed the pistol into the high grass on the other side of the road.
The man kicked his legs and flailed his unrestrained arm. He screamed, “Stop! Stop it. You’re going to break my arm!”
“Stop struggling or I will!” Josh shouted.
The man continued to struggle.
Nico unholstered his Glock and fired a round into the air then aimed the pistol at the man. Finally the man stopped struggling. “Good. I’ve got your attention. You make one move and I’ll blow a hole in you. Understand?”
The man turned his head and looked at Nico. “Yeah.”
“Josh, you can let him go. I’ve got him covered.”
When the man pushed up on his hands, Nico said, “Stay on the ground. Don’t move until I tell you to. Got it?”
The man nodded.
“Josh, search the car for any more weapons.”
“Don’t you steal anything of mine!” the man yelled. “I swear I’ll get you if you do.”
Josh opened the front door and checked the console and glove compartment then swung his hands under each seat.
“You,” Nico said, pointing to the woman who had flagged him down. You sit next to your boyfriend. “Got any weapons on you?”
The woman shook her head. Her eyes were wide and she looked like a deer in the headlights. “What are you going to do?”
“Nothing, if you do as I say. Now sit down.”
The woman did as she was told and sat down next to the man. “Do you know what’s going on?” she asked. “We tried calling for help after our car stopped, but our cell phones aren’t working.”
“Mine isn’t working either,” Nico confirmed.
After Josh shut the back door, he yelled, “All good.”
“Alright,” Nico said. “We’ll be going on our way.”
“What?” the man exclaimed. “I want my gun back.”
“So you can try to shoot me? No way,” Nico said.
“You can’t leave us here without any protection. Suppose somebody else comes by? How am I supposed to protect myself?”
“You should have thought about that before you tried to shoot me.”
The man scowled. “You can’t leave us here. Aren’t you the law or something?”
“I am, and I should arrest you, but I’m not going to. If I ever see you again, I will, so you’d better stay low. Understand?”
“Yeah. But I still want my gun back.”
“You saw where I tossed it. You can get it when we leave.”
“I want the bullets back too. A gun without bullets is no good,” the man said.
Nico retrieved the bullets from his pocket, jiggled them in his palm, then tossed the bullets over the fence and into the pasture. “You have your bullets now.”
* * *
Once Nico and Josh were further down the road, Nico glanced back at where the man and woman were. They were in the pasture, their heads lowered, and looking for the pistol and the bullets.
“Think they’ll find them?” Josh asked.
Nico shrugged. “By the time they do, we’ll be long gone.”
The South Texas sun rose high in the sky and the men plodded on, one tired step after another. Nico uncapped the thermos and took a swallow of water, then handed it to Josh. “You can finish it. There’s only a little left.”
Cars had haphazardly stopped on the road, and each time they passed a car, they peeked inside, looking for water.
A cloud floated high in the brassy sky casting an island of shade upon the weary travelers.
Yards ahead, an old Suburban appeared to hold the most promise. Nico had observed several traffic stops of SUVs, noticing the amount of stuff people kept in them, so as he approached the vehicle, his apprehension grew. He peered in the back and spied an entire case of bottled water still wrapped in plastic, the kind bought at Costco.
“There’s water,” Nico said. He tried opening the door. “It’s locked. Check if it’s locked on the other side.”
They wiggled each door handle, only to find the car locked.
Josh stood to the side. Sweat beaded his forehead and he wiped it away. They had not seen anyone else since the couple who had tried to rob them. “I don’t know about you, but I’m really thirsty.”
“Me too,” Nico said.
“Think it would be okay for us to bust a window out?”
“Considering this is an emergency, I would say it’s okay. Got anything we could use?”
“I’m all out of rocks,” Josh said. “I’ll check the culvert over there. There’s probably a loose piece of concrete. Or better yet, you could shoot out the window.”
“Let’s try to break it first. I need to conserve ammo.”
“Gotcha. Be back in a moment,” Josh said, sprinting to the culvert.
While Nico stood guard at the car on the outside chance another wayward traveler would want the water, Josh dug around the culvert looking for a piece of useable concrete. He pushed tall grass out of the way, stepped over a puddle of water, and brushed aside some loose gravel. Spying a crack in the concrete drainage pipe, he tugged at it with both hands. Using all his weight, he planted his feet, and pushed and pulled the cracked piece. It only wiggled a bit.
He stood back and thoughtfully assessed the pipe. From the looks of it, the pipe had been here for years and was slowly succumbing to the rain and wind, freezing temperatures, and blistering sun compromising the integrity of the structure.
Getting an idea, he clambered up the side of the ditch, stood atop the pipe, and put all his weight on the edge.
It moved.
He stepped back and planted his left foot to the side then pushed down on the pipe with his other foot.
“Any luck?” Nico shouted.
“I’m just about there!” Josh yelled. “Give me a moment.”
After several tries, a chuck of jagged concrete broke loose and fell with a splash into the mud puddle.
Coming back to the SUV, Josh showed Nico his prize. “Think this’ll work?”
“Go for it,” Nico said.
Josh put his left arm over his eyes to protect them, then with the power of a major league pitcher, he hurled the concrete block at the front passenger side window. It shattered on the first try, leaving tiny cubes of safety glass to decorate the seat and floorboard. Reaching in, Josh manually unlocked the SUV.
Nico looped around the SUV and opened the trunk lid. He retrieved several bottles of water, handed a couple to Josh, then kept two for himself. Tired from the walk and the stressful events of the previous day, the two men sat on the back, taking advantage of the shade the raised trunk lid provided.
Nico downed the water in several gulps then placed the empty container in the trunk. He started on the next one, this time drinking slowly. Josh drank thirstily and when finished, he wiped the back of his hand across his mouth.
The sun beat down on the land, making the scorched earth hotter and drier. A meadowlark landed on a fence post, tweeted a melody, preened its feathers, then flew to a more suitable spot on the opposite side of the road to hunt for insects where the land and livestock had been spared from the wildfire.
A prickly pear cactus decorated the otherwise dull land in a welcome hue of green pads that looked like large, thick leave
s. Ripened purplish fruit begged to be picked.
Mesquite trees dotted the flat land. In the pasture, several cows idly chewed cud and glanced curiously at the travelers.
“I could use something to eat,” Josh said.
“I’ll check if there is anything in the console,” Nico replied.
Digging around the console, he pushed aside a plastic wrapped traveler sized Kleenex package. At first he was uninterested in it, then thought what the heck, he might need those for later use so he pocketed it. There were several packets of mayo and ketchup, napkins from Shipley’s donuts, then digging further, he found two peanut butter and oats nutrition bars. Satisfied there was nothing else of use, he opened the glove compartment and found several individual packages of Fig Newtons.
“Look what I found,” Nico said. He proudly held up the bounty he had found. “Lunch is ready.” He handed Josh a nutrition bar and Fig Newtons.
“I’m so hungry, I could eat anything,” Josh said. He tore open the nutrition bar, broke off a piece, and ate it. He let out a satisfied sigh. “It’s almost as good as pancakes and crispy bacon.”
“Almost,” Nico said.
For a while the two men ate the meager rations and drank another bottle of water. Nico was the first to speak. “So, Josh, where are you headed?”
“I guess into town with you. The base is too far from here to walk. I’ll try to catch a ride in town somewhere or find a phone to call in.”
“How many jets do you think were in the air when you were?” Nico asked.
“I’m trying not to think about it. Considering we’re the busiest Air Force training base…” Josh dropped his head. “I had several good buddies flying at the same time I was.”
“Maybe they were able to eject like you.”
“Possibly.” Josh wasn’t too confident about his reply, and didn’t want to think about what had happened to his buddies. Changing the subject, he said, “You got a girl?”
Although he didn’t answer immediately, Nico’s thoughts went to Kate, reflecting on their brief conversation. He wanted to say Yeah, I do, yet he didn’t. She would never belong to anyone. She was too spirited.
