by Dennis Elder
“So,” said Claudio, with renewed exasperation. “We’ll go after them.”
“Now,” countered Ivan. “We’ll go now, while they’re close.”
Claudio rubbed his hands over his sleepy face.
“We need to rest and equip the men before we leave,” objected Claudio.
“Now,” countered Ivan with even more resolve. “I’ve already given the order to assemble the men.
Suddenly rain began to patter across the room’s window. He turned around to see what the noise was and then turned back to Ivan.
“Ivan,” began Claudio. “We need to repair all the bikes flat tires…”
But Ivan cut him off.
“I know, I’ve given order to fix bikes,” said Ivan. “We will leave as soon as bikes are repaired.”
Claudio let out an exasperated breath. But Ivan didn’t move an inch. And continued to hold Thin man around the neck with his left hand.
“We need to gather equipment, food, and water before we head out,” counseled Claudio. Then he turned his head back toward the sound of the rain falling steadily now on his room’s window. “And we’ll need cold weather gear and rain protection.”
“We get gear and then we go,” continued Ivan, some frustration now showing in his own voice. “You will gather gear and lead men after women. They are very close.”
Claudio was really tired. He didn’t perform well when he didn’t get his sleep. His frustration with Ivan had been building lately. Killing Ralphy was un-necessary. They could certainly use Ralphy’s bike travel experience now. Ivan had also been getting overly paranoid. People were talking about him. Rumors were flying.
“Look, Ivan,” offered Claudio. “Give me another four hours of sleep and then we’ll gather the equipment we need and get after those guys.”
But Ivan wouldn’t budge.
“We go now,” said Ivan though gritted teeth. “You will organize all men and chase down and bring back women.”
Now Claudio was beginning to lose some of his own patience. Finally, his frustration and lack of sleep erupted in his response. He let a few seconds go buy before he suddenly shouted at Ivan.
“If you’re so hot shit eager to go after them then do it yourself you dumb assh…”
Claudio never finished his sentence. He just reached up suddenly with his left hand to clutch his throat.
Ivan’s knife was clutched firmly in his right hand and hung loosely by his side. Neither Claudio nor Thin man ever saw the blade coming or going. Thin man only felt a fine spray of warm blood cross his face, his eyes reactively blinking shut a little too late.
Claudio fell to his knees in a feebly attempted to breath and speak, neither of which he was able to do. He reached out with his other hand to clutch for Ivan’s pant leg. But the Russian had already moved back out of the way, not wanting to get any blood on his new Gucci shoes. He really liked those shoes.
As Ivan slit the throat of his first lieutenant and returned the blade back to his side, he never once let go of Thin man’s neck. Ivan breathed deeply twice, and then, after a few more seconds he calmly turned around and guided the little man back down the hall. In the dim light of Claudio’s five-star hotel room, a black pool of blood spread out on the carpet. Ivan’s most valuable lieutenant could now get those hours of sleep he was complaining about.
“Sometimes if you want something done right, you must do yourself,” said Ivan to Thin man, as he escorted him toward the main lobby.
Thin man felt trapped, betrayed and now feared for his life. He had come to Ivan initially in a state of joy, but now he’d come to realize that the Ivan the terrible rumors were all too true.
Ivan strengthened his grip around Thin man’s neck. Then the Russian turned to Thin man and gave him a Fatherly smile.
“The rumors are true,” thought Thin man as he walked along next to Ivan. “No doubt about it.”
Chapter 140: Moapa
“Right on schedule,” thought Mark to himself, as he passed another memorized landmark and checked his watch.
He’d been worried that the long hill out of Vegas would have burned out some of the team.
But everyone was gritting it out. They had traveled a good 50 miles so far and had 30 miles left before they got to Mesquite.
Up ahead was an off ramp to road 168. The road only ran to the West, up and into the small town of Moapa. There were only a few homes on the Western horizon, but the little town did rate a post office. Mark got a grin out of that as he’d studied the map earlier. Out in the middle of absolutely nowhere there was a US post office. He also remembered there weren’t any buildings or gas stations at the turnoff, but with luck, the off ramp would lead under the freeway. If so, it would at least provide cover from the rain. And they needed to stop for lunch too.
Mark leaned to the right and shouted as loud as he could.
“Up ahead. Another mile or two and we’ll break for lunch.”
He couldn’t hear their reactions, but he knew they were all ready for a break. Energy bars can only do so much. Sooner or later a hot meal and a break woud be needed.
Mark pushed on at the same aggressive pace and the team continued to keep up.
As he got closer to the off ramp, he was suddenly relieved to see that there was indeed an overpass.
Chapter 141: Boy Scouts
By 1 pm the remaining 48 men had been ordered to return to the Bellagio with their bikes ready and equipment packed. When Ivan came down from his room he noticed that not all the men had returned yet.
“Where is everyone?” shouted Ivan.
The men who did come back were too afraid to disobey the man Russian’s orders. After a quick count, the Russian realized they were six men short.
“We only have 42 here now,” continued Ivan. “Anybody see other men?”
Nobody looked up. Even if they knew something, nobody was willing to tell Ivan any bad news for fear that he’d kill them.
“Maybe a few are American chickens, eh,” said Ivan, while looking around for reactions. Still no one offered any information.
The truth was, six guys had indeed decided to be American chickens. They’d heard what Ivan had done to Claudio and for them it was the straw that broke the camel’s back. One of the six men used to live in Henderson, a distant suburb of Las Vegas and convinced the other five that they should make a run for it before Ivan got the rest of them killed. He knew a good place where they could hide out. The five men agreed wholeheartedly. Once they got their flat tires repaired, they took off South pedaling as fast as they could go.
“So now we are down to 42 in our dwindling army of Vegas,” said Ivan, reminiscently.
Still none of the men offered any response. Ivan looked at a man closest to him and called him out.
“What is your name, soldier?” asked Ivan.
The man was hesitant. He didn’t want anything to do with Ivan.
“I’m Levi,” said the man. “Levi McLain.”
“Levi,” responded Ivan and then paused. “You know we are traveling North to find women.”
Levi didn’t want to respond. But Ivan was very close to him and he knew he couldn’t ignore the Russian.
“Yea,” replied Levi.
“And you know we could be gone for many days, no?” asked Ivan.
Levi shook his and said, “Yea.”
“Would you bring pack to me, please,” said Ivan. It wasn’t a question.
“My pack?” asked Levi, pointing to himself.
“Yes, please,” said Ivan. “Bring pack here.”
Levi took a deep breath, picked up a heavy pack at his feet, walked it forward two steps and set it down at Ivan feet.
“Thank you,” added Ivan.
Levi took a couple steps back.
Ivan knelt on the ground next to the pack. Then he opened the top, reached in and pulled out a can of beans. Ivan looked up at Levi and offered a controlled smile.
“Now I am not bike expert,” began Ivan. “But I am thinking that c
arrying heavy cans of food is not best way to travel on bike, no?” Then Ivan dropped the can to the ground.
Levi swallowed hard. He worried that Ivan might try and make an example out of him.
Ivan reached into Levi’s pack for a second time and slowly pulled out an umbrella. The Russian stood up and held the umbrella up for everyone one to see.
“An umbrella?” questioned Ivan, looking directly at Levi.
Levi didn’t respond right away. He was scared that whatever he said would set off Ivan’s crazy switch.
“Yes,” offered Levi. “Cause it’s raining,” added Levi, semi gesturing to the window. The rain was still coming down pretty hard.
Ivan didn’t overly react to Levi’s stupidity. But he wanted to. If Levi’s preparation was typical, then this group of 42 men wouldn’t last more than a couple nights on the open road, much less catch up with the women. But the Russian ex-convict also realized that the men before him were all he had left. He needed them all to catch and destroy the men who had defeated half his force the night before. So, he decided he’d have to compromise.
Now it was Ivan’s turn to take a long breath.
“Any men here have boy scout experience?” asked Ivan.
Nobody moved. But then after a few seconds one hand went up tentatively. Then another hand rose even more slowly.
Ivan noted the men’s hands.
“Good, good,” said Ivan. “Please, boy scouts,” added Ivan. “Please to come here,” gesturing to his side.
The men shuffled forward and stood a few feet from Ivan. Both were nervous. As the Scouts moved forward, Levi moved backward a bit, relieved to be moving away from Ivan.
“What food you pack?” asked Ivan, pointing at the tallest of the two boy scouts.
The tall man nervously licked his lips before saying, “Freeze dried meals and beef jerky.”
Ivan shook his head up and down a bit.
“And you,” said Ivan, pointing to the other Boy Scout.
“Same thing basically, said the shorter scout. “And some cashews.”
Again, Ivan shook his head up and down. He was beginning to realize his men were not as prepared as he’d hoped to go after the women. “Maybe Claudio was right after all,” he thought to himself. Suddenly he knew he’d have to adjust his plan.
“OK, Boy Scouts,” said Ivan. “Both of you will now, for all other men, write up packing lists, food, clothing, sleeping, whatever they need for long ride ahead.”
Then Ivan turned up the volume of his booming voice and spoke to the other 42 men.
“The rest of you will stay here and wait for written lists,” said Ivan. “Then you will spend rest of day, and night if necessary, to repack your supplies according to list. Bring nothing else, but what is on list.”
Ivan looked around to see if everyone was paying attention.
“You understand?” shouted Ivan.
The men all shook their heads that they understood. After a few seconds Ivan turned to the two adult Scouts.
“OK,” began Ivan. “Now we make Boy Scout lists. And no umbrellas,” added the Russian with a sudden booming laugh.
Twenty minutes later the lists were finished. Then Ivan instructed the men to split into two teams and to go with the Boy Scouts and follow their preparation instructions. The two Scouts were named Harold and Beaver. Ivan also decided to create two groups with Harold and Beaver as their lieutenants. Ivan would be the group’s General. He thought about calling himself a Captain, but he like the sound of General better. Ivan also decided to let the men get a good night’s sleep in the Bellagio. They would start fresh in the morning.
Chapter 142: Oooo… Afternoon Delight
About the same time Ivan’s two Boy Scouts were leading the men to the closest sporting goods store, Mark’s Marauders had traveled close to sixty miles. After a thirty minute lunch break, under the Moapa underpass, the group of twenty three hardened bikers pushed off again. Now it was 3:30 in the afternoon. The road that ran parallel to the I-15 Freeway for so long, suddenly turned Northwest and disappeared into the desert. The loss of the familiar road suddenly made their surroundings all the more bleak. The wind had died down a little but the volume of rain continued.
Mark made a mental note as the road disappeared. He knew exactly where they were and how far they had to go.
From this point until they reached Mesquite, every mile they traveled was a mile further than they had ever traveled in one day. He knew everyone was beginning to wear thin. He was wearing thin.
“Must be especially hard on the kids,” he thought to himself. But the Major would not let the group stop. He knew the value of putting as much distance between their group and the bad guys behind them.
Two miles later Pam LaValley cleared her throat and shouted, “How much further Major?”
Mark looked up and quickly surveyed the surroundings. There weren’t any land marks to give him a precise clue, but he’d been watching the signs.
“Seventeen more,” shouted Mark over his shoulder.
After his response, he suddenly felt very tired. “Probably because I didn’t sleep last night,” he thought.
“About two more hours,” added Mark. “Remember stay hydrated!”
The quick reminder prompted several of the riders to reach for their water bottles. With the ease that came from pure repetition, each squeezed a few more ounces of liquid from their bottles into their open mouths.
When they first started riding, they would often accidently drop a water bottle when taking a drink. When that happened, everyone in the group had to stop while the butterfingered offender rode back, picked up their bottle and returned to the team. They learned quickly to be more careful. Nobody had dropped a bottle today. Everyone just wanted to get to Mesquite before it got too dark. There were just grinding it out now. Mile after mile. Just grinding it out.
Then from the trailer behind Tyrone Little Sally began to sing a song.
“Gonna find my baby gonna hold her tight, gonna grab a hot bath tonight,”
Everyone clearly heard her little voice and smiled
The melody was a familiar one. Those closest to little Sally’s trailer picked up on the tune immediately. Gracie and Connie recognized it first. The real words were, “Gonna find my baby gonna hold her tight, gonna grab some afternoon delight.” When the two girls realized that little Sally had substituted afternoon delight with hot bath tonight they both smiled again.
Little Sally repeated the musical jingle again. And to the end of it she added “Ohhh.. hot bath tonight.” Then she just kept singing the little tune over and over. Soon Gracie and Connie were humming and singing along - as much as their taxed breathing would allow. After the two girls added their voices, some of the others began to join in too. For the next five miles the volume of the song would grow and then dwindle with each climb and descent. But little Sally just kept on singing.
Chapter 143: Pumps too
It was almost dark when both teams came back to the Bellagio. They looked different when they arrived. Ivan had been waiting for them in the lobby area. After the last of the men came in he turned to the two Boy Scouts, Harold and Beaver.
“So,” began the big Russian. “You found what was needed?”
Both of the scouts shook their heads.
“Yep,” said Beaver. “All the men have enough food and water for five days.”
“And they all have good clothin and sleepin equipment to keep um warm and dry,” added Harold.
“What about bikes?” asked Ivan. “Can they repair bikes on road?”
“Yep,” said Beaver again. “Every man has a repair kit and a couple extra tire tubes. We picked up a few tire pumps too.
Ivan looked over the men. Slowly he walked down in front of all forty two of them, double checking their preparations. Finally, Ivan nodded his approval before he turned back to Beaver and Harold.
“Good work, my Boy Scouts,” said Ivan. Then he turned to the whole group. “Now everyone eat,” h
e continued, as he motioned to one of the dining rooms. “Cooks are ready for you. And make sure you get extra ration tonight. We will need for ride. We leave early in morning.”
The Vegas Army had three regular cooks who were responsible for providing three meals a day. Two were older men and one was an even older female.
The men dropped their big packs at their feet and shuffled slowly past Ivan and toward the dining room. They hadn’t had much sleep lately, and it showed. The men all gave Ivan a wide berth as he passed. Historically the Russian thought that might have been out of respect. But now he wasn’t so sure. Something new was hidden in the eyes and body language of the men.
