Aftermath (Book 2): Aftermath

by Donovan, J. S.

  As the firefight moved into the hall, Logan turned his soft eyes down to Naomi. “How many friends did you bring?”

  Naomi glared at him.

  He loosened his weight a little more.

  “More… Than… You,” Naomi said with a bloody grin.

  Logan pressed down hard on her neck, this time with no reprieve. “I’ll just talk to your husband then,” Logan said, one second away from crushing her windpipe.

  “I’m right here!” Calvin shouted as he burst forth from the crowd with his knife’s point lunging at Logan’s throat.

  The edge of the blade sliced against the side of Logan’s neck as Calvin’s body slammed into him. Both of them hit the wall, but Calvin was quick enough to get behind Logan and use his body as a shield. A few tears of blood slipped down Logan’s neck, but the cut wasn’t deep enough to fatally wound him. Conner and three of the men aimed their weapons at Calvin while one of the guards trained his rifle on Naomi. Curled on the floor, she gulped air and squeezed the boot-shaped print on her swelling neck.

  The firefight ceased in the other room and Guy, Ruth, and Richard flooded into the room. Conner kept his aim on Calvin while the other three turned to Guy, Ruth, and Richard.

  “Well, then…” Logan said as the fight turned to Naomi’s favor.

  He dropped his weapon.

  12

  Blackout

  Thirty living beings separated Naomi’s posse and Logan’s men.

  Meanwhile, Calvin pressed his knife tightly against Logan’s neck. “Tell your people to stand down.”

  Conner kept his gun trained on Calvin’s head. Sweat trickled down his cinder block jaw as he looked at Logan for guidance.

  Logan forced a smile. “Men, shoot our guests if they make any sudden movements.”

  Conner looked at the enslaved women between them. “But the girls are in the way, Logan.”

  “We’ll find more,” replied Logan, feigning confidence.

  Ruth spoke up. “Let the women go and we’ll surrender.”

  Guy glared. “No, we won’t.”

  Ruth put aside her weapon.

  Calvin pressed the knife closer to Logan’s neck. “Let them walk, Logan.”

  “You think you’ve won, but I’m the one holding all the cards.”

  As he spoke, Ruth fearlessly stepped closer to the crowd of women.

  None of Logan’s men opened fire.

  Ruth took one of the girls by her hand. She was below the age of twenty, gaunt and bruised.

  “It’s going to be okay.” Ruth reassured her. She started to draw the woman back to the door.

  Guy positioned his repeater rifle stock against his shoulder. He aimed his sight at the man standing over Naomi, then waited for a clear shot

  Richard took a few subtle steps, trying to sneak around the left flank.

  The Scrapers kept their aim at them, but the women obstructed their view.

  Naomi’s eyes found the pistol Logan had dropped a yard and a half away.

  The man aiming his gun at her prevented her from crawling to it.

  Suddenly, the butt of a pistol came down on Guy’s head. He collapsed to the floor. In the doorway, Selena loomed over him. Cinder-sized scabs painted her right cheek. Her eyes were bloodshot from the tear gas. She aimed her pistol down at Guy’s head. A wry smile crept up her face.

  Richard gawked at her.

  “Hello, handsome,” Selena said. “I knew you’d come back for me.”

  “Yes,” Richard said. “To rescue you, not so you could smack the life out of my friend.”

  “This one?” Selena asked innocently and pulled the trigger.

  Boom!

  Richard cursed.

  The bullet blew through the wood floor mere inches from Guy’s head. Guy trembled, covering his head with his hands.

  “Oops,” Selena replied plainly. “That was close, wasn’t it?”

  Richard’s face went pale.

  Ruth stood still. Her eyes were wide. She kept one hand on the girl she was ushering.

  Calvin locked eyes with Conner. “You have the power to turn this situation around.”

  Conner stayed silent as stone.

  The guard aiming at Naomi’s head was engaged with what was happening with Selena. Using the small opening, Naomi scooted closer to Logan’s pistol, but it was still out of reach.

  “Baby,” Richard said. “Put down the gun.”

  “Why?” Selena asked.

  “Because…” Richard paused to think of an excuse. “We are not your enemy.”

  “You’d have me turn over my only means of defense so your junkie friend can live? Do you even know this guy? He runs with Logan, just like me,” Selena said.

  Guy trembled.

  “If anything,” Selena continued, “you should be like him and start helping us.”

  Richard replied hesitantly. “I don’t think that's a good idea.”

  “Logan needs a new general,” Selena said, glancing at her leader. “He’ll reward you.” Selena winked at Richard. “I’ll reward you too, Richie.” She gestured to the women. “All of them can be yours.”

  Richard trembled slightly. His black eyes scanned the slaves. “That’s not right.”

  “And when did you become the righteous one?” Selena said. “This world is ours for the taking. Just reach out and grasp it.”

  “I only want you,” Richard said, his eyes downcast.

  Selena gave him a pity-filled grin. “Then prove it.” She cocked her head Ruth’s way. “Start with her.”

  “She’s a good woman,” Richard replied. “How about we let her walk.”

  Selena squinted her serpentine eyes. “It’s either her or me.”

  Darkness fell on Richard’s face. “Don’t make me do this.”

  Meanwhile, Naomi reached for Logan’s gun.

  Keeping her gaze on Richard, Selena shot another bullet down at Guy.

  He squirmed, having avoided death by an inch.

  Richard’s tiny pistol quaked in his hands as he slowly turned to Ruth. “I’m sorry.”

  Ruth looked at him sadly. “I understand. Love is a powerful emotion.”

  Logan chuckled at Calvin. “Even your allies are turning against you.”

  “Shut up,” Calvin barked. He glared at Logan’s men. “Drop the weapons or I’ll kill him!”

  The men glanced to Logan.

  “Don’t listen to him,” Logan said. “The moment he opens my throat, you’ll kill his daughter. Make sure he understands that.”

  Without hesitation, one of the guards shot a nearby girl. Her body crumbled to the ground, taking down a few of those chained with her to the floor. As the small pack of people fell, it cleared a path for Becca and Trinity to be revealed. They stared with glassy, horror-filled eyes, too terrified to move.

  “The choice is simple,” Logan said. “Kill me or save your family.”

  The man looking away from Naomi turned his attention back to her. She still wasn’t close enough to get the gun. Her heart twisted as she looked at her drugged daughter, injured Guy, traitorous Richard, unarmed Ruth, stone-faced Conner, and her heavily-conflicted husband. It was over. Everything they’d worked for. All the lives they’d taken. All the sacrifices they had made ended in this room.

  Gnashing his teeth, Calvin pulled the knife away from Logan’s neck. “There, you wi--”

  Before he could finish, Logan grabbed his wrist and twisted it. Calvin gasped in pain as Logan broke Calvin’s grip on the knife and jammed the point into his gut. Calvin hunched as the blade tore an inch through his bulletproof vest. His back hit the wall. The wound wasn’t deep enough to kill him. Logan pulled out the weapon and went to stab him again when Conner yelled, “Enough!”

  Logan turned back as Conner aimed his shotgun.

  Logan swiftly dropped low. The blast went over his head as he swooped under the barrel and drove the knife up the bottom of Conner’s jaw. At the same time, the stray shotgun blast hit one of Logan’s men, blowing open the
face of his riot helmet and killing him outright.

  As Conner sank to his knees, one of the other guards slammed his shotgun stock into the back of his head, killing him.

  On the other side of the crowd, Selena screamed at Richard. “Shoot her now!”

  Ruth closed her eyes and said a silent prayer.

  Richard released an agonizing roar, turned, trained his weapon on Selena, and fired.

  Two small bullets punched her slender torso. She staggered back, looking at the wounds disbelievingly. “Richie…”

  Tears streamed down Richard’s cheeks. “I love you, babe. You know that.”

  Selena collapsed.

  Finding her opening, Naomi grabbed Logan’s pistol and fired off three rounds into the distracted guard standing over her. She twisted up to face Logan, who locked eyes with her while his hand was still on the knife’s hilt. He opened his mouth to speak when Naomi pulled the trigger.

  Logan’s head snapped back as the bullet hit his cheek.

  As his body sank, Calvin swiftly swept up Conner’s shotgun and blew open one of the guards’ thigh, obliterating the femoral artery.

  Unsure what to think, the final guard backed off and tossed aside his weapon. “I surrender.”

  Leaving the pistol on the floor, Naomi scrambled to her feet and dashed to her daughter.

  She enveloped Trinity in her arms and squeezed her so tight neither of them could breathe. Suddenly, the violence, the gore, and all of the hardship Naomi had endured were swept away. She had her daughter back. That was all that mattered.

  Calvin glared at the surviving guard. “Run.”

  Wasting no time, the man sprinted around the side of the room and vanished out the doorway.

  Calvin joined in hugging his daughter. Their family was one again.

  “I missed you so much,” Naomi said, knowing that her daughter was probably too out of it to hear her.

  “We love you,” Calvin said. He grimaced from the small wound on his belly.

  Naomi glanced over to Becca. The lonely sixteen-year-old girl looked down at her feet. Naomi reached out and pulled her into the hug. She shut her eyes.

  Richard lowered his pistol and walked toward Selena. He squatted next to her body.

  Ruth hovered over his shoulder. “I’m sorry.”

  “Why?” Richard asked. “She wanted me to kill you.”

  “No one’s too far gone for redemption,” Ruth said.

  “She was,” Richard replied sickly.

  “And I’m sorry for that,” Ruth replied.

  Guy found his feet again. He walked around the room and frisked Logan. Pulling out the key, he began to unlock the girls’ chains. After a long night, they had freed the rest of them. Ruth and Richard set them up in beds while Guy secured the house. He found the large woman who had guarded their cells and showed her no mercy.

  Naomi and Calvin fed their daughter. After she and Becca had gone to bed, the two of them sat in front of the gaping hole at the front of the mansion. Beyond the jagged wood and devastated Land Rover, they held hands and watched the sunrise.

  Naomi rested her head against Calvin’s shoulder as he held the small wound on his gut.

  Crimson and gold sun rays rippled across the cloudy sky. Inches of snow filled the valley. The air was brisk but refreshing. The wind whistled quietly.

  Naomi closed her eyes and let sleep flood over her.

  For the first time since the blackout, she felt rested.

  A week later, they delivered most of Logan’s supplies to Eagleton. Mayor Brian Johnston welcome them with open arms and offered them shelter. Ruth took it upon herself to tend to the captives. They were given the motel to live in.

  Richard spent his time in the bar. The loss hit him hard, but in between drinks, he swore that he would recover. Guy slipped out of town one night. He left no note or any indication as to where he had gone. He just vanished. Naomi wasn’t sure why. Nevertheless, she would never see him again. At least until power was restored.

  As for Naomi, she moved back with her parents. It took her a full day to hike there, but when she arrived, her mother had prepared them a nice meal. Mary, George, and Juan welcomed Naomi warmly. They made a place for Calvin, Trinity, and Becca at their table. As a family, they ate while their wounds recovered. Naomi made sure to remind Becca that her uncle Conner launched the chain of events that allowed for her rescue. The stricken sixteen-year-old kept her emotions locked away inside, but Naomi promised herself not to let her go.

  When the final frost had lifted, Naomi and the rest tilled the land and started planting crops. As she took her daily horse ride alongside Trinity, Naomi prepared for the long haul. She didn’t know what the future held, but as long as she had her family, it looked bright.

  The End.

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