by Dennis Elder
Most of the younger kids were wiping tears from their eyes. The major knew they would appreciate a decent burial for Boon, but he also knew that all that the gunfire was sure to bring other men to this site. He weighed the consequences and decided.
“A quick burial and then we’re gone,” barked Mark. “Randy you and the other men take Boon off the road a bit and dig him a grave. Call out when you’re ready and everyone will come down for a quick goodbye. Give his Bushmaster and SmartScope to Jacob.
The rest of us will gather all the bikes and stack them ready to go up on the overpass.
Randy and the other men moved quickly and pulled Boone’s lifeless body over the off ramp’s West wall and down to where there was softer ground. Once the men disappeared Mark motioned everyone forward.
The others moved efficiently, moving their own bikes and then the bikes of the gravediggers to the very top of the parkway road, where they stacked them neatly against the wall. Nobody talked.
Mark picked up Boone’s blood stained handgun, pulled out the firing pin and tossed the gun’s parts over the wall. The only thing left was Boone’s bike lying on its side back down the off ramp.
Tyrone stayed with Jeremy who couldn’t stop crying. But slowly the boy quieted to a whimper. And Tyrone keep him close and gave him constant words of encouragement.
“It’s gonna be all right,” said Tyrone. “Boone would have wanted you to come with me now. I’m gonna take good care of you. You and me and Teresa are gonna become a little family of our own. Nobody’s gonna hurt you none. Boone would have wanted that.”
Everything was ready on the parkway. They were set to go. Mark kept checking his watch. It had been 10 minutes since he got to the overpass.
Just then he heard Randy’s voice from the dark and below them, “We’re ready, Major.”
“OK quick now. Everyone over the side and to the grave side,” said Mark.
By the time everyone gathered around the freshly dug grave, Mark suddenly realized that Boone had usually been their religious spokesperson.
“Boone would have been the one to deliver a eulogy for anyone of us,” began the Major. “Since he’s no longer with us, I’ll see if I can say a few words over him.”
The Major took a breath. This was much harder than he expected. Jeremy’s whimpering could be heard in the back. Several of the others were wiping tears away.
“I’ve known Boone Seratan for a long time,” said Mark. “He was the best, and I mean the very best organizer I have ever met. Man, could he keep to a schedule.”
Several of the men gave a modest laugh.
“Nobody could keep a schedule like Boone Seratan,” repeated Mark. “But he was much more than that. He was family. One our family and he will be sorely missed.”
Suddenly Mark couldn’t continue. His throat was constricted and he couldn’t keep his own tears back. Silence reigned. Then finally, someone spoke.
“And he’d be the first one to tell us to get our asses in gear,” said Doc.
That too got a few tear choked chuckles.
And so, the service for Boone Seratan came to a quick end. They had to move on and try to keep ahead of whatever menace that was sure to follow them. The group climbed back up to their bikes and speed off into the darkness.
Chapter 113: All distraction
Ivan and Claudio had learned the value of a good bike through Ralphy and Squeaky’s exploits. So, before the other men took off after the women, he also located 25 additional bikes, and set them aside. Good thing.
Ivan sent two armed men to find out what had happened down toward the South. He picked two that looked like they could ride fast. It took the men about an hour to reach the overpass and checkout the damage. Their guards were dead and nobody was around. It took them another hour back to report.
They ran to Ivan’ office and described the dying fire, the blood, the guard’s bodies, a bicycle and the thousands of expended mini gun shells. It was still dark when they got to the overpass so they didn’t notice the fresh grave to the side. Once Ivan finished questioning the men, the two riders were excused from Ivan’s office.
“You thinking what I’m thinking?” offered Claudio, suspiciously.
“Maybe,” said Ivan. “Perhaps the group of nine women and escorts never traveled up highway 127. It was all distraction.”
“I’m thinking the same thing,” added Claudio.
“I think maybe we sent one hundred men on wild goose chase,” continued Ivan.
Claudio could see Ivan growing angrier and angrier.
“Agreed,” said Claudio.
Ivan’s mind raced. Claudio kept his mouth shut. He knew it wasn’t wise to say much whenever Ivan started getting angry. He would always look for someone to blame, and then usually kill.
“The men and women we thought were on highway 127 just fought way through our South guard post and are now somewhere in the Las Vegas,” said Ivan.
Claudio shook his head in agreement.
“Where is map Ralphy brought,” asked Ivan, as he jumped up looking around the office.
Chapter 114: Flat, Flat, Flat
In two and a half hours Major Harris and his remaining band of twenty one souls had traveled only ten miles. It was their slowest pace so far. They were riding as fast as they could, but they were also riding at night. It was something they had never done before and even with the headlamps, their bike tires and tubes fell prey to scattered road glass over and over again. And it was happening to everybody’s bike.
Mark had positioned Jake, Frank and Sam up front just in case they ran into problems. The three men had their bushmasters close, but their baseball bats closer. Randy, Tyrone and Mark brought up the rear - their bushmasters and baseball bats just as available.
Everyone else road in the middle, in a single file.
Sam was working on a bike flat. They were about 2 miles from I-215, a belt route Mark planned to take until they got to Highway 562, then they’d travel North again.
“How much longer on the flat,” Mark heard himself say from the back in a loud whisper.
“Almost finished,” responded Frank from the front of the group.
Whenever anyone got a flat they were to sound off and say “Flat, Flat, Flat,” just loud enough so everyone would stop together and in place. When the two-person team repairing the tube was finished, and ready to move again, they were to say, “ready to go.” Then everyone would push off together. It kept everyone on their toes and ready to move quickly. Mark noticed that most of his fellow rider’s water bottles were half empty.
“They are getting tired at this pace,” Mark thought to himself.
The headlamps were certainly bright against the dark sky, and helpful when repairing bikes. But they didn’t give off enough illumination to see glass in the road until it was too late. When they moved it looked like a carnival ride snaking along in a semi straight line.
“Ready to go,” said Randy.
Everyone pushed off again and began to build speed.
“Please God,” whispered Sylvia. “Please let us miss the glass.”
But after another mile, the sound of escaping air erupted from Tyrone’s bike and he said loudly, “Flat, Flat, flat.
The group slowed to a halt again and Tyrone jumped off his bike and pulled out his repair kit, working at flank speed to find and repair the hole.
Chapter 114: Wake ‘um all
Its 390 feet to the very top of the Planet Hollywood Casino. From there a person can see most of the Las Vegas valley.
Ivan sent a runner to the top of the building about a minute after he found Ralphy’s worn map. He gave the runner his best binoculars and told him to look for any moving lights anywhere around the valley.
“Lights?” the man questioned.
“You know like flashlights,” Claudio added for clarity’s sake.
“Look along major roads like 215 loop, East or West,” shouted Ivan to the man as he sent him running out of his office, at the same time
promising great rewards if the man spotted anything. Ivan gave the man a clipboard with paper on it, a flashlight and a marking pen. If the guy spotted anything he was to write down what he saw, where he saw it, wave the flashlight down toward Las Vegas Boulevard and shout out loud just before throwing the clipboard down into the street. Ivan and Claudio would be watching from below.
The Thin man got to the top of the Casino in less than 15 minutes - a remarkable feat in itself. His lungs and thighs burned with exhaustion. It reminded him of the time when he was a high school track athlete. But that was before cooking Meth Amphetamine got him sent to prison. The roof top door was closest to the West side of the building and so he began his search there. He wasn’t so good with heights, but for six minutes he moved along the West wall barrier and looked out into the dark searching for any signs of lights.
“Nothing on this side, he said to himself.
Even with the flashlight it was pitch black all around him, which made him feel a little disoriented. He began to wonder if he’d be able to see anything. He worked his way slowly to the South end edge of the building and focused on I-15 for a few seconds, but he didn’t see anything that way. Then he moved again to the East side of the building.
There, far in the distance he thought he saw a single stationary reflection. He pulled up his binoculars and tried to find the light again, this time through the lenses. It took him a minute but there it was, brighter through the binoculars. Definitely some kind of light. Then he saw five, six and even more lights, and they all looked like they might be moving. He kept an eye on them for two minutes to verify numbers and direction. Then just as suddenly the lights stopped moving.
“Definitely moving East,” the Thin man thought to himself.
Ivan and Claudio were standing on the West side of Las Vegas Boulevard looking straight up toward the top of the Planet Hollywood Hotel. Their necks were getting stiff and Claudio was stretching his neck around trying to work out the kinks.
“Come on,” said Ivan. “They have to be out there somewhere.”
Suddenly the two men heard a feint shout from above. Then they saw a flashlight. Ten seconds later they heard the sound of the clip board hitting the center of the street at over sixty miles an hour. The wood backing of the clipboard shattered into a hundred pieces and the attached paper floated harmlessly to the side, lying flat on the pavement.
Ivan and Claudio found the paper thirty seconds later and with the help of a flashlight read the Thin man’s message. Ivan read it out loud.
“Fifteen to twenty lights South of here and moving East. Maybe on I-215, but can’t tell for sure,” said Ivan.
“That’s got to be them,” exclaimed Claudio.
Ivan thought quickly. He needed a plan to capture the girls before they got away.
“Wake the men,” said Ivan, as he and Claudio began taking fast steps back to the Bellagio.
“How many?” asked Claudio.
“How many do we have left?” asked Ivan.
“About ninety men,” said Claudio.
“Then wake them all,” said Ivan.
Suddenly Ivan and then Claudio broke into run.
Chapter 115: Gamble
Mark’s marauders had been lucky for the last two miles. No flats. Sylvia thought that maybe God had finally heard her prayers.
About a hundred yards before Route 95 crossed I-215, they had to stop again and attend to another puncture. There weren’t that many cars on the road, but they just couldn’t dodge the glass riding at night.
Mark got off his bike and looked ahead into the darkness. He was thinking about alternatives.
“Frank,” shouted Mark. “Bring the map.”
Frank appeared a second later and pulled his road map from one of his vest pockets and unfolded it. Mark and Frank knelt down and smoothing out the map on the pavement.
Susie was working frantically just two bikes in front of them, fixing a flat. Sam was holding the light. Jake was keeping guard at the front of the column while Tyrone keep a look out to their rear.
“Our original plan was to loop way out around the city here on Highway 564,” said Mark.
“Right,” added Frank. “It puts us the very farthest away from downtown.
“Yea,” agreed Mark. “But they probably know by now that we’re here, in the valley somewhere. And if they do then they’ll send everything they have out to look for us.”
“Agreed,” said Frank. “That’s what I’d do.”
Mark looked at the map, comparing alternative routes, distances and time.
“I want to take a gamble and try and rush past them before they can react,” said Mark.
Mark put his finger on the map, at the intersection of I-215 and route 95.
“You thinking about 95 as a shortcut?” asked Frank.
“Yea, as far North as it will take us and then make our way through these side streets here and up to the 604,” said Mark as he traced the potential route with his finger.
“That brings us pretty close to Vegas central,” observed Frank.
“I know, replied Mark. “It’s a risk. But if we can get North of the center of town before they have a chance to react, we’ll cut 25 miles off this leg of the trip.”
Both men’s lights clearly illuminated the map as they weighed their chances.
“Your call Major,” said Frank. “We’ll follow you either way.”
The Major and Frank stood up. They heard Susie pumping air back into her repaired tire. They would be on their way in another minute.
“Let’s take a chance and sprint up 95,” said Mark. “Least ways there can’t be any more glass on that road than there seems to be on this one.”
“Roger that,” said Frank as he folded up his map and headed toward his own bike.
Chapter 116: Manna from heaven
Ivan, Claudio and every man they could find stood under the large covered entrance to the Bellagio Hotel. Most of the men had flashlights. Ivan had split up eighty two remaining ex-convicts into two teams. Claudio would lead team one. A lesser lieutenant, named Julio Farmer, would lead team two. Each team had 11 bikes. The rest of the men would have to travel on foot. Ivan had his map spread out on the hood of a taxicab parked near the Bellagio’s main entrance stairs. Flashlights illuminated the map.
“Both team one and two will ride bikes East on East Flamingo road,” began Ivan. Both bike teams must ride very fast before girls get North of Flamingo road here,” pointed Ivan. “Back up soldiers will follow on foot. Team one, led by Claudio, will turn South on 582 and watch for lights on that road. Team two will turn South on 95 and do same. I am betting that team one or two will see lights coming North soon. When you see lights approach, hold your position until walking back up solders catch up with you. Set up ambush, kill men, capture women and bring back women here. Simple Simon.”
“But if they come in on 95,” said Julio, as he pointed his finger at the map. “We won’t know what’s happening.”
“Maybe. But most likely you hear gunshots,” said Ivan. “If so, make way across on side streets and if needed, support team one. Same thing goes for Claudio’s team. But if you take team two down 95 road and team one goes down 582, they won’t get past. And you do same thing Julio, if you see group with lights, fall back until your walking support team catches up with you, and then set up ambush. Either way can’t miss. One team is sure to find group.”
Ivan looked around. Twenty or so men had crowded close around the hood of the taxi to hear Ivan’s instruction. He sensed their eagerness. There weren’t any women left in their camp. The other sixty or so men also stood close buy straining to hear the conversation. Everyone one was armed.
“Everyone understand?” asked Ivan.
A man with a long beard raised his hand.
Ivan impatiently pointed to the man.
“Excuse me,” began the bearded man. “But what if they go some other way.”
“Maybe they do,” replied Ivan. “But we know they are in this ar
ea here,” pointing to the intersection of Saint Rose Parkway and Route 95. “If I was leader I pick go North on these two roads. It is fastest way.”
Ivan looked around again to see if anyone else had a question. But there were no more raised hands.
“Then move out,” shouted Ivan.
The eighty men scrambled. They all understood the sense of urgency. The riders made for their bikes. Both teams of foot soldiers marched quickly away from the Bellagio and toward Flamingo Road.
