Thiago says something to his men in his native tongue. Several of those tribesmen make their way toward us, clutching daggers. At first I fear the worst. Did Thiago just abruptly change his mind? Are we about to be gutted? But my fear turns out to be irrational. The natives merely bend over and slice the ropes binding our hands. I moan in relief as the ropes fall away and I massage my throbbing, swollen wrists. There are deep red lines all over my skin, but no lasting damage. In fact, now that the ropes are no longer digging into my skin, I feel fantastic. Well, save for the fact my brain, eyeballs, and body feel like they’re on fire from a lack of drugs. So I still feel like complete shit, but not quite as bad as moments before.
Boom Boom and I clamber to our feet and shake Thiago’s rugged hand in appreciation. By now Krystal and Alex have started to stir. Krystal’s eyelids flutter open as she, too, massages her untied wrists. Unfortunately, though, Grenade is still knocked out cold. I’d feel a lot more comfortable if he was awake. Something about him makes me feel safe. Probably the fact he’s a psychotic lunatic who strikes fear into the hearts of those who would dare harm us.
Krystal sits up and says, “Where the fuck are we?” She then pats her head and cries, “Where the fuck’s my wig?!”
“Relax, no one cares how you look,” I say. “We’re surrounded by people in loincloths, for fuck’s sake.”
Krystal looks around at all the half-naked men and grins. “Well hello there. You boys are sexy as fuck. I’d ride you all in a heartbeat.”
One of the male natives slowly repeats, “Sexy… as… fuck? Ride… me??” He sounds quite perplexed.
To my surprise, Thiago starts chuckling. He says something to the young native in their language. The native looks over at Thiago, then looks back at Krystal and grins. “Thank you.”
“You are quite welcome, cutie,” Krystal says, blowing him a kiss. “You can do me from behind anytime you’d like.”
The native looks back at Thiago. Thiago opens his mouth to say something, then thinks better of it and simply shakes his head. Some things are better left unsaid.
Several of the native women bring us clay cups filled with murky looking water. It’s a bit dirtier than I’m used to (okay, a lot dirtier), but I’m extremely thirsty, so I manage to gulp down some of it. I turn my head to gag so the women don’t see me. (A few of them are quite beautiful, and I’d hate to make a bad first impression.)
Alex makes his way over to Boom Boom and they share a warm embrace. I grit my teeth and do my best to ignore them. Boom Boom should be hugging me, not that creep.
To get my mind off of them, I try to strike up a conversation with Thiago. I point at Grenade, who is still sprawled out on the ground, unconscious and covered in ropes, and say, “Would you mind cutting him free, please? He’s a friend.”
Thiago furiously shakes his head. “No. He beat my men very badly. He would not come without fight. Thankfully he not kill any of my men. If he had…”
Thiago runs his index finger across his throat. I definitely get the message.
The Chiqutio women bring out some weird fruit I’ve never seen before and pass them out to us. Boom Boom informs me it’s a Caimito Amarillo, a popular fruit in South America. After I bite into it, I discover why. It’s insanely delicious. The inside of it has a creamy, caramel-like pulp that I practically inhale.
“Is Angela Klaxton here,” Boom Boom asks Thiago. She does it so casually that you’d think she was asking about the weather.
Thiago spits out his fruit and flashes Boom Boom a guarded, suspicious look. “Why you ask that? Why you think she here?”
Boom Boom shrugs. “River told us. I didn’t think it was a big secret.”
Boom Boom is absolutely brilliant. Making it sound as if Klaxton’s presence is common knowledge is a surefire way to convince Thiago to let his guard down. And it apparently works, because Thiago loosens up a bit and replies, “Oh. Okay. Yes, she stay with us. She out picking fruit.”
Boom Boom and I trade discreet, albeit excited, glances.
Throwing caution to the wind, Boom Boom asks, “Does she… er… know that we’re here?”
Thiago’s shoulders stiffen. “Why you ask that? Does she know you?”
“Just did she see us?” Boom Boom asks bluntly.
Thiago cocks an eyebrow and hesitantly replies, “No… she went out before we return. She be back soon.”
Boom Boom and I exchange knowing looks. We need to find our weapons, fast, in case we need to fight our way out.
“Do you mind if I see your daughter?” I ask Thiago.
Thiago nods and leads me to a massive hut near the rear of the village. Boom Boom follows me. When we step inside, I cringe at the sound of women and children moaning in agony. The maimed victims we helped rescue from Ramirez’s sadistic clutches are sprawled out on beds made of straw and grass, their bloodied bodies wrapped in bandages. One of the women is missing her left leg, and a young girl, no older than 10, has a patch over her left eye. It’s enough to make me sick.
Thiago gestures to a bed in the back of the hut. There we find River sound asleep, naked except for a small skirt made of grass. Her face is covered in cuts and bruises, as is the rest of her body. Despite all that, she’s still extraordinarily beautiful. Perhaps the most beautiful woman I’ve ever laid eyes on. (Although Boom Boom is definitely up there… when she’s not pissed off and scowling at me, that is.) Seeing River like this, it makes me want to wrap my arms around her, tell her everything will be alright. But things will never work out between us. When she finds out what we’re really up to… who we’re really after… she will hate me for the rest of her days. That’s why I’m hoping we can find Klaxton and get out of here before she awakens.
Boom Boom nudges me in the side and points to a pile of weapons and body armor, less than ten feet away. Our weapons and body armor. One of the male natives is holding my robotic glove, marveling at it. Seriously, why does everyone feel the need to grab my damn glove?
I make my way over to the native and say, “Hey buddy! That’s mine! Give it back!”
I reach for the glove, but a rugged hand grips my wrist and yanks it back. I turn to find Thiago glaring at me, his intense eyes shimmering with anger and annoyance.
“You have weapon after River awaken,” he says sternly, tightening his grip. “Not before. After!!”
“Alright, geez,” I mumble, prying my hand out of Thiago’s vise-like grip. The old man’s strong, I’ll give him that.
Thiago leads us back outside. My heart skips a beat when I catch sight of the woman we’ve spent the past several months hunting down… the former president of the United States and the world’s number one fugitive, Angela Klaxton. She just emerged from the jungle carrying a basket full of Caimito Amarillos.
“Dear God,” Boom Boom whispers, stopping dead in her tracks.
Dear God indeed.
Klaxton doesn’t immediately notice us. She’s deep in conversation with a couple of the women natives accompanying her, talking to them in their native tongue. It’s only been a few months since we last saw her, but she looks radically different. So much so that I wouldn’t have recognized her if she wasn’t the only other Caucasian person in the village.
The last time we saw Klaxton she was quite portly, but now she almost appears emaciated. And her long, blonde hair looks filthy and untidy. She’s wearing mud-splattered body armor that seems to be several sizes too large. The armor probably fit her like a glove when she first arrived, but after losing so much weight, it’s practically hanging off of her. I’m assuming she hasn’t eaten much due to all the stress from being on the run. And she seems to have aged dramatically in just a few short months. Klaxton is in her early 60s, but she looks about ten years older. Dozens of deep wrinkles plague her worn and weathered face. She never looked this old on television, or even when we saw her in person. She must have used a ton of makeup while in office. That, or the stress of being a fugitive has drastically aged her in a ridiculously short amount
of time.
I’m so petrified by the mere sight of the woman who has terrorized my dreams that I can’t even force myself to move. My mind keeps shouting, “Go back into the hut! Grab your glove! Grab your guns!” But my feet are stuck in place, like I’m standing in quicksand.
Klaxton, unfortunately, reacts much quicker. The moment she sees us, her eyes narrow into murderous slits of pure, unadulterated rage.
“You,” she hisses, pulling out a gun and pointing it at me. “You dare to come for me?!! After all you’ve done?!!! I’M GOING TO KILL YOU GODDAMN SONS OF BITCHES!!!! YOU ALL ARE FUCKING DEAD!!!!!!”
Everyone in the village stops what they’re doing and watches in shock as Klaxton staggers toward me, firing her gun. The thunderous gunfire is what jolts me into action. I shove Boom Boom to the ground and dash back into the hut where our weapons are. Before I can grab my glove, however, Thiago tackles me and slams me onto the ground.
“Are you out of your mind?!” I shout, punching Thiago in the mouth. “Klaxton is trying to kill me!”
Two other natives try to grab me. I lunge backwards, stumbling out of the hut. I fall flat on my back and turn around. Klaxton is now trying to blast Boom Boom, who is rolling around on the ground, desperately attempting to avoid the onslaught of gunfire. Krystal runs over and tackles Klaxton from behind, knocking her gun away. She then rolls Klaxton over and punches her in the mouth. Klaxton responds by digging her nails into Krystal’s chubby cheeks and gouging at her eyes.
Krystal cries out and rolls off of Klaxton.
Alex runs over to check on Boom Boom, but he is quickly restrained by two natives. I try to grab Klaxton’s gun, but Thiago sneaks up behind me and clamps on a chokehold.
“Let… me… go… old… man…,” I gasp, clawing at his rugged, calloused hands.
“Yes Thiago, choke him out,” Klaxton snarls. Out of my watery peripheral vision I see her pick up her gun and point it at Krystal, who is still on the ground, clutching her bleeding face. “I’ll see you in Hell, you black bitch.”
Thiago suddenly releases his chokehold. I collapse to my knees and gasp for air, watching as Thiago dashes over to Klaxton and smacks her gun from her outstretched hand.
Klaxton growls and shoves Thiago in the chest. “What are you doing?! These people are dangerous! They need to be executed, now!!”
Thiago gets into Klaxton’s face and growls, “They save my daughter. You not hurt them, understand?”
“You don’t understand, Thiago!” Klaxton screams in his face. She has become unhinged due to her hatred of us. “These pieces of shit ruined my life! They are the ones who screwed everything up! I had a plan… a grand, magnificent plan to bring peace and economic prosperity back to America! But they ruined everything!!! They forced me to go on the run… go into hiding! And now the world is on the verge of nuclear annihilation!! All because of them!!! And they need to die for their transgressions!”
Klaxton whips out a dagger and lunges toward me. I leap into the air and savagely kick Klaxton in the face. Klaxton staggers back, blood pouring from her mouth.
She throws down her knife and snarls, “I don’t need a weapon to finish you off. I’ll beat you to death with my bare hands.”
Thiago and the rest of the natives watch in flabbergasted astonishment as Klaxton pulls back her right first and slugs me in the gut. I gag and keel over, allowing Klaxton to deliver a vicious uppercut to my chin. I fall flat on my back as stars flitter in and out of existence. I don’t know what hurts worse, my face or my pride. After all, I am getting my ass kicked by a 60-year old woman.
Klaxton straddles me and starts viciously pummeling me with her fists. I try to cover my face with my hands, but that just allows her to punch my throat and chest. I manage to throw in a few punches of my own, I even sock her in the mouth a few times, but somehow, someway she’s throttling my ass. I hear Boom Boom and Krystal shouting for Thiago to help me, but he just stands there and watches. I think he’s too stunned to act. It isn’t every day you see an old lady kicking an 18-year old man’s ass.
“Angela… stop… please…” I gasp as Klaxton wraps her cold hands around my neck and starts to squeeze.
“Yes… beg…,” Klaxton says with relish, her eyes almost glowing like she’s some sort of demon from Hell. “I want the last words out of your mouth to be pitiful appeals for mercy… appeals that will not be granted!”
I gag as I attempt to pry Klaxton’s hands off of my neck. But it’s no use. She’s too strong… too consumed by hate. My vision dims as the ring of fire around my neck grows more agonizing by the second. My lungs feel like they’re about to burst. To go out like this… strangled by an old lady … are you fucking kidding me?
I see a flurry of motion through my blurred vision, and Klaxton falls off of me. I roll onto my side and gasp for air, rubbing my aching neck. That was way too close.
River’s face suddenly comes into view as she kneels down over me. Cupping my chin in her hands, she says, “Lance! Are you okay?”
“Never better,” I say in a hoarse voice.
Thiago clasps his hand on River’s shoulder and says, “You need rest. You hurt.”
River shrugs away from her father. “I was trying to rest, but you all woke me up. Why the hell is Angela attacking her friends?”
Klaxton’s eyes nearly bulge out of her sockets. “My what?! You are sadly mistaken, child. That boy is no friend of mine!”
River gives Klaxton a peculiar look. “Yes he is. He and his friends have come to help you reclaim power.”
River glances at me and adds, “At least, that’s what they told me.”
Klaxton snorts and says, “Sorry to burst your bubble, my dear, but you were hoodwinked. These assholes are the very people who attacked me in D.C. They’re the ones who forced me to go into hiding. They ruined my plan to restore peace to the world. They destroyed my presidency! And now they’ve come to kill me. You unwittingly brought them here, and they’re trying to assassinate me! But I’m not going to let them! I’ll kill them first! I’ll kill them all!!”
Klaxton lunges toward me again, but this time Thiago grabs her arm and pulls her back. While Klaxton struggles to break free from Thiago’s clutches, River turns to me and quietly asks, “Lance, is this all true? Did you come to… to kill the president??”
I rub the back of my head and stammer, “You see, River, it’s… I mean… things are… complicated….”
River’s eyes well up with tears, but she doesn’t turn away. She continues to stare at me, hoping that I’ll contradict what Klaxton is saying… hoping that I’ll say she’s lying, that I was truthful with her the entire time… hoping for a fantasy that she must know deep in her heart isn’t true.
I never get a chance to tell her this, though, because Boom Boom blurts out, “Yes it’s true, River. There’s no sense in lying to you. You deserve better. We’ve come to bring Angela Klaxton back to the U.S. to face justice… dead or alive.”
River gasps and steps away from me. “Lance… how could you?”
Klaxton suddenly knees Thiago in the groin and rips her arm out of his grasp. She whips out another gun hidden inside her boot and points it at my bare chest. Before she can pull the trigger, though, River steps in front of me.
“Move aside, girl,” Klaxton says, her finger firmly wrapped around the trigger. “Don’t think I won’t hesitate to shoot you. That boy needs to die. If I need to kill you to get to him, so be it.”
A bunch of natives aim their guns, arrows, and spears at Klaxton. Thiago stands up and points a dagger at her throat.
“Drop the gun, Angela,” Thiago says sternly. “Now.”
“You don’t know what you’re doing, Thiago,” Klaxton says in a trembling voice. “These wretched teens are nothing but trouble. You have no idea what they’re capable of. They need to be disposed of immediately.”
Thiago presses his blade against Klaxton’s throat. “We friends, Angela. But you shoot, you enemy. And you know what we do to enemy.”
Thiago’s chilling words don’t convince Klaxton to back down. If anything, the resolve in her eyes deepen. “Do what you must, Thiago. But I’m shooting this boy.”
Thiago growls and prepares to plunge his knife into Klaxton’s throat when a gravelly voice croaks out, “Stop! All of you, stop this madness now! I… I have something to show you.”
We all turn to find Grenade lifting his head off the ground, struggling to sit up. He thrashes around in an attempt to break free from his bounds, but it’s an impossible task. Grenade isn’t getting out of all those ropes unless someone cuts them.
Thiago takes this opportunity to yank Klaxton’s gun out of her hands. Klaxton tries to grab it back, but two natives grab her by the arms and force her into a kneeling position. Now that her life is no longer in danger, River glares down at me.
World War Forever (Highway To Armageddon Book 2) Page 37
