The Remnants

by T A Williams

  Before they could continue their discussion Jamie burst through the door. The young girls hair was in disarray and the panic was clear on her face. “They’re back.”

  She didn’t need to say another word they both knew who she meant.

  Alec lowered the living room blinds and Jamie hid the back bedroom, just like all the other times. He was ready for things to change.

  After a few moments three trucks pulled into the middle of the street and once again Revis and around a dozen men casually got out of the trucks.

  The men just stood there and waited for Maclolm to make his way to them, this time Margie accompanied him.

  When Revis noticed this he smiled. “I see you have your protector with you.”

  Malcolm said nothing.

  “We’ve come for some more supplies.”

  “We don’t have much. We gave you nearly everything we had last time.”

  “Exactly, you nearly gave us everything. We’re here for the rest.”

  Malcolm sighed and signaled to the other side of the road. A couple of the residents went inside to gather the supplies.

  They stood there in the middle of the road in silence. Revis’s attention was fixed on Margie.

  “What is your name?”

  Malcolm went rigid. He placed a hand on Margie’s stomach and pushed her behind him.

  “And what’s this?” Revis smiled. “Are you still under the assumption that you own anything? Do you believe that by placing her behind you that is somehow going to stop me from taking her if that is what I want?”

  “She’s my daughter.” Malcolm said softly.

  “I see.” Revis thought to himself for a moment. “The world’s turned into a pretty dark place, and because of that I’ve had to do some pretty dark things. I think I’ll draw the line at ripping a daughter from her father’s hands.”

  Malcolm’s body noticeably relaxed.

  Revis turned to the man closest to him. “Troy, you remember what happened outside that little town just south of here?”

  Troy smiled, “If I remember correctly I saved your ass from getting a knife in the leg.”

  “You did. Did I ever thank you for that?”

  “Can’t say you did Rev.”

  Revis faked looking shocked. “What’s the world coming to when a man forgets to thank another man for saving him from bodily harm? Well I can remedy that.” Revis pointed to Margie. “Have fun.”

  Troy smiled and began to walk towards Margie. The woman turned to run and ran into another of the men who stuck up behind her. Malcolm charged Troy who stepped to the side and pushed the man to the ground. Before Malcolm could get back on his feet the butt of Troy’s rifle came down on the back of his head. Malcolm didn’t try to get back up.

  Troy walked up to Margie and grabbed a fist full of her hair. Margie let out a scream and Troy nonchalantly dragged her towards a nearby house.

  Alec turned to Trevor who was crouched down next to him. “This isn’t happening.”

  Trevor ran into the back bedroom. “Jamie no matter what you hear I don’t want you to move. I’ll come back for you.”

  Alec went to the kitchen and grabbed the biggest knife he could find. He had no idea what he was going to do, but he wasn’t going to allow this to happen.

  Trevor had his pistol clutched tightly in his shaking hand.

  “How many do you have?” Alec asked.

  Trevor checked the magazine. “Five in the magazine and one in the chamber.”

  So, not enough Alec thought.

  It didn’t matter how good of a shot Trevor was because even if the man was perfect they wouldn’t even take out half of the men. After they revealed their position it was only a matter of time before the men spilt up and took them out. Or they could try and take them by surprise he thought glancing at the back door. “We can go out back and sneak our way to that house.”

  Trevor looked like he was on the verge of losing it. His eyes were wide and the shaking, which had started in his hands, had not moved to his entire body. The man had obviously never been in this kind of position before and while Alec had, the situation had not ended well for his family.

  Alec laid his hand over Trevor’s. “We can do this.”

  The man nodded and his shaking lessened slightly. “Let’s do it.”

  They ducked out and made their way through the other back yards doing everything they could to remain hidden. Alec wanted to sprint as fast as he could but he knew that would make too much noise.

  As they made their way through the backyards Alec heard one of the woman pleading to Revis and his men. “Please don’t do this. We’ll give you what you want but you can’t come back from this.”

  “What makes you think we want to come back?” One of Revis’s men answered. They all began laughing.

  Alec stopped once they were a suitable distance away from the trucks. He glanced back at Trevor and the man nodded. He performed a silent prayer and took off across the street.

  Every footstep sounded like a gun going off in his head. Every foot he gained seemed to only give him an inch. As every second passed he was waiting to hear one of the men yell and gunfire to erupt all around them, but it never did.

  He dove behind the nearest house and waited, a few seconds later Trevor landed next to him. The only thing they heard was the beating of their hearts and their lungs desperate attempt to fill back up with oxygen.

  Before he was fully recovered Alec was back on his feet heading to the rear of the house. As he rounded the corner he nearly ran into Beverly. He dove to the right and the women dove to the left. Trevor rounded the corner with his gun raised and for a second Alec was convinced he was going to shoot, killing Beverly and giving away their position but Trevor caught himself.

  Alec started to say something when he noticed the rifle in Beverly’s arms.

  “I’m with you.” Her voice was confident and Alec didn’t have the time to argue with her.

  Without saying another word Alec got to his feet and led the way.

  He climbed over a small picket fence and found himself directly behind the house that Margie was taken into. It would have made more sense for Trevor to take the lead as he had the handgun but Alec didn’t want to wait, too much time had passed since she was taken inside. Alec opened the door and headed towards the noise.

  The door to the bedroom was ajar and from the sounds coming from inside he could tell he hadn’t made it in time. His stomach dropped and for a second he was hit with despair that which quickly replaced by anger. He wasn’t able to stop it from happening but he could stop it from continuing.

  Alec entered the room and Troy’s back was to him. The man was on top of Margie and had no idea what was coming. Without thinking twice Alec plunged his knife into the man’s back. Alec felt the blade pause for a second on the man’s skin and clothing then the resistance disappeared as the blade plunged inside.

  Troy stopped what he was doing and sat there, almost as if his mind was attempting to figure out how he went from pure pleasure to unrelenting pain. As Alec pulled out the knife the man let out a scream that was cut short when the blade reentered through the back of his neck. The scream turned into a gurgle and Troy fell to the floor.

  “Jesus.” Trevor said as he entered the room.

  Beverly let out a yelp as she entered the room but it didn’t have anything to do with the man on the floor drowning in his own blood, she had seen Margie.

  The woman was lying on the bed and was barely moving. Both her eyes were swollen shut and had taken on a bluish tint. Her nose was covered in blood and was bent in such a way that it was clear it was broken. Beverly ran to her to help.

  While everyone else’s focus turned to Margie Alec watched as the life fled Troy’s body. The look of shock was still evident in the man’s face but a portion of it had been replaced with desperation as the man struggled to cling to life.

  In the movies death happened in an instant, while it wasn’t necessarily graceful it was shown
as clean and sudden. As Alec watched Troy slip away he realized real death was not like that. It allowed life to linger just long enough for the victim to recognize what was coming. The room filled with the smell of bowels and blood and the sounds of a scared man facing his inevitable end. The final look on the man’s face was not one of peace but one of terror.

  “I think one of them heard something, he’s coming over.” Trevor yelled from the main room.

  Alec snapped back to reality. “Beverly can you take her to the barn?”

  The woman brought Margie to her feet, covered her up, and she was able to get her to take a couple steps with her assistance. Margie was conscious but seemed to be somewhere else at the same time. Beverly looked to him and nodded.

  “Take her there and get ready. We’re going to have to leave in a hurry.” Alec grabbed Beverly’s rifle from the bed. “We’ll keep their attention.

  Beverly nodded and helped the battered woman through the back door.

  Alec grabbed Troy’s rifle and turned to Trevor. “When he gets close enough take him out. I’m going next door to divide their attention.”

  Trevor’s eyes were the size of saucers but then he seemed to gather himself and nodded. “Be careful kid.”

  Alec ran through the back of the house and made his way to the other house. Just as he entered through the back door he heard Trevor’s gun go off, it sounded like a firecracker, and it was followed by the shouts of Revis’s men. As Alec ran up the stairs it sounded like all hell opened up. Gunfire filled the air and the house Trevor was in sounded like it was being torn apart.

  He made his way to the nearest window on the second floor that had a good view of the road. From his view point he could see Revis and his men in cover behind their trucks. The men appeared surprised as if they weren’t expecting people to fight back when pushed to the edge.

  Just below Alec there was a man hiding behind a nearby car that was firing at Trevor. Alec lifted the gun, aimed and squeezed the trigger. The bullet busted out the window causing glass to fly in all directions and then found its way into the shoulder of the man on the street. He let out a scream and then fell over. Before Alec could fire again the man scooted further behind the car out of view.

  Alec scanned the area and spotted another man firing from inside one of the trucks. He aimed and fired, the shot hit the ground a few feet from the truck. Alec took a breath and fired again, this time the shot hit the man in the chest and he fell backwards into the truck. Before he could take aim again his presence was noticed and the wall behind him exploded with gunfire.

  He dove for the floor and put his hands over his head. The sound of gunfire and missed shots filled all his senses and for a second he shut down. He didn’t know what to do, they were outnumbered and outgunned. A year ago he was with his family hiding away as the world fell apart unseen, a year before that the biggest problem he faced was figuring out how to finish his homework before his favorite show came on TV. A splinter from the nearby wall struck him in the face just below his right eye and then the world came back into focus.

  Things change.

  Alec took a deep breath then grabbed his rifle and scrambled out of the room, the gunfire didn’t follow.

  He made his way to the far side of the house and set up at another window. With a quick glance he could see one of the men partially exposed firing at his previous position. In one swift motion he stepped out and fired two shots. The first hit the man in the neck causing an instant stream of blood to shoot into the air. The second bullet passed through this stream and hit the roadway.

  Once again he saw the result of his actions taking another life. A bullet struck the side of the house near him and he realized he hadn’t stepped back yet. As he dropped to the floor several more shots hit where he had been standing.

  They weren’t going to be able to keep this up. Revis’s men outnumbered them and had more guns and ammo. They were going to have to find a way to get to safety.

  The gunfire died down for a couple of seconds and Alec heard the unmistakable sound of someone running in the house he was in. Just before the gunfire picked back up it sounded as if the footsteps had reached the bottom of the stairs.

  Alec turned towards the stairs and swung around to find one of the men running up the stairs. The sudden appearance of Alec caught the man off guard and he gave an Oh Shit look. Alec aimed and fired.

  click.

  He was out.

  The other man stopped in the middle of the stairs and smirked. As he began to raise his rifle Alec tossed his gun at the man’s head. As the man ducked to avoid the gun Alec charged him. He lowered his head and led with his shoulder. His shoulder impacted the man squarely in the chest and he heard the air leave the man’s lungs at impact and then the world started spinning as they fell down the stairs. The man absorbed the first impact for Alec but when they came around the second time he was all by himself. His knee came down on one of the stairs and pain shot through his entire leg, then his head hit the floor and everything got blurry.

  When the world stopped spinning Alec sat up and saw the man lying at the edge of the stairs not moving. Before he could let out a sigh of relief he saw another man appear in the now open back door just a few yards from him. The man raised his rifle at Alec and there wasn’t anything he could do. Alec raised his hands in surrender and waited for the first bullet to hit. A few seconds passed and the pain didn’t follow. When he finally opened his eyes he saw the man a few feet from him with the gun still pointed in his direction.

  “Just give me a reason.” The man said threateningly.

  The man hoisted him up by the collar and dragged him out of the house. The firing stopped when they came into view.

  “Nicely done Nate,” Alec recognized Revis’s voice. “Whoever the hell you are in the other house you fire another shot and your friend gets a bullet in the head.”

  Nate shoved Alec down on the ground near Revis and the rest of his men who were still standing on the other side of their trucks. His head scraped against the asphalt road but he didn’t move, there wasn’t really anything he could do. His only hope was that Trevor managed to escape and could get Margie and as many of the others to safety.

  He heard movement coming from his right, he glanced over expecting to see Revis or one of his men walking over but instead he saw Malcolm crawling towards him. Nate walked over and put his foot on the man’s back. Malcolm grimaced as Nate pushed down hard.

  “Where in the hell do you think you’re going?”

  “Let the kid go.” Malcolm fought to say each word.

  “You’re not that stupid Malcolm.” Revis reached in and grabbed a bottle from the back of his truck. “I’ve lost men today.” He came around and stood over Alec. “I’m going home without several of my men because of this little piece of shit and whoever his friend is in the other house.”

  Revis crouched down next to him. The aroma from the man’s unwashed body hit him like a wave and he felt like throwing up. Revis lifted up Alec’s head. He refused to meet the man’s gaze and looked away.

  “I don’t know you. How long you been here boy?”

  Alec said nothing. Revis nodded towards Nate who then let out a vicious kick right into the side of Malcolm. The old man let out a yelp and rolled up into the fetal position.

  “Just for a couple of days.” Alec said through gritted teeth. “I was passing through and hid in one of the abandoned houses, no one even knew I was here.”

  Revis chuckled. “You were just passing through and decided to play the hero and fire on my men? Do I really look that fucking stupid to you?” Revis stood back up and Alec got a better look at the bottle in his hand. It was a glass bottle, whatever label it used to have had long since been scrapped off, but it had what looked like a rag hanging out of it. Revis saw him look at the bottle and smirked. “Let’s get your friend out here and see if he’ll be a little more truthful.”

  He stood up and pulled a lighter from his pocket. Within seconds the rag
was on fire and as Alec realized what it was Revis had already thrown it at the house that Trevor was hiding in. The bottle traveled end over end and smashed through one of the front windows, shortly after a fiery glow began to emit from the house.

  “BBQ time boys.” Revis yelled as cheers went up among the last of his men. He walked back over to his truck and grabbed another bottle out of the back. “This town is going to serve as an example of what happens when my trust is betrayed.”

  He lit the rag on fire and reared back to throw it when a shot rang out from the other side of the street. Everything went into slow motion. The Molotov cocktail flew into the air but instead of going towards a house it went straight up into the air. Revis’s face went from shock to pain and then to horror as he looked up and saw the bottle falling back down towards him. It hit his back and liquid flame enveloped him. The man let out a scream of horror and dropped to the ground and began to roll. The flames didn’t subside.

  Another shot rang out, this time it came from the burning house that Trevor was in. Before Alec could ask the question Nate answered it for him as he fell face first onto the paved road. The smack of his face on the roadway included a sickening crunch as the man’s nose broke in a sea of blood, but Nate didn’t react as he was already gone.

  For a second they all stood there. Revis rolling on the ground in a fiery agony and Nate lifeless in an ever-growing sea of blood then all hell broke loose for a second time.

  The bullets began firing from the shooter across the street and from Trevor’s location at the same time. The last half dozen of Revis men went scrambling for their trucks attempting to flee. One man made it into the cabin of the truck only to be struck in the head by a bullet, his head exploding in a red mist. Another man pushed him out and took his place.

  Alec grabbed Malcolm and dragged him into a nearby ditch. The badly beaten man barely reacted but gave him a firm squeeze on the arm when they were safely in the ditch.

  Soon the sounds of the guns going off stopped and were replaced by the sound of the fleeing trucks. Even Revis had stopped screaming but the sound of the flames consuming his body remained. Alec laid his head on the cold ground and breathed a sigh of relief.