“Just checking,” replied Sean. “I’m with you on both counts. Now, we should figure out a plan.”
*****
Two hours later, Nick and Jason entered the town of Paradise on horseback by way of the main road. Construction had started on what looked suspiciously like a checkpoint or guardhouse, and they were greeted by a man in uniform carrying a rifle.
“Welcome to Paradise,” he said seriously. “Everyone is welcome. You passing through or thinking of staying?”
“Wow,” said Nick, looking around. “The stories are true. You really do have power. That’s awesome. But to answer your question, it depends. Just came from Ohio. We think a friend of ours might be living here. If so, chances are we’ll stay … if you’ll have us.”
“Like I said, everyone’s welcome. Who’s your friend?”
“Her name’s Emily. Tall black woman. Good looking. Know her?”
It was decided that Nick and Jason wouldn’t bring up Aaron’s name. As the popular school teacher, Emily was the safer bet.
“I do. Do you know the guy she’s with?” Nick knew he was fishing. Was Aaron causing trouble? He had never met Aaron, but being Ben’s brother, he wouldn’t be surprised.
“She’s with a guy? Good for her. Knew she’d hook up with someone eventually.”
Satisfied with the answer, the guard pointed to a two-story prefab building on the next street. "That’s the school. She’s teaching today.”
“Hey, thanks. This is really exciting.”
“No problem. Wait a sec. You came all the way from Ohio and all you have is a small backpack and your rifle?”
“God, no. We’ve got more stuff than you could ever imagine. I’m surprised our horses haven’t collapsed under the weight. We made camp about five miles up the road. Decided to leave it there, rather than carry it all in here with us. If we decide to stay, we’ll go get it.”
Once again the guard was appeased.
As they rode away and were out of earshot from the guard, Jason said, “You really are quite the liar. Do you lie to me that much?”
“No,” Nick answered with a grin. “But then, I might be lying.”
“Hear that God-awful music?” asked Jason. It was coming from every direction. “I hear rap, I hear folk, rock, you name it. They making up for lost time? It’s like they want to blare it to prove they have the ability to play it. Wow! It would drive me insane.”
They reached the school. It must have been recess, as they heard yelling and laughing behind the building. They walked around to the back. A playground was adjacent to a large field. The younger children were playing on swing sets and bars, while the older children played kickball in the field. Overseeing them was an attractive black woman. She noticed them and walked over.
“Can I help you?”
“Nick! Jason!” Katie and Sophie ran over from the swing set and hugged the two men. Nick and Jason quickly looked around to see if anyone was watching.
Nick whispered to the girls, “Shh, don’t tell anyone we’re here.”
Both girls picked up on it immediately, looked around as Nick and Jason had done, and ran back to the swings.
Emily got it as well. “You’re from Yellowstone.” It was a statement.
“We are. Hi Emily. I’m Nick and this is Jason. We’re with Sean, Aaron’s brother Ben, Brenda’s husband, and ten or twelve others. We came to get Brenda, Katie, and Sophie. Hopefully you and Aaron will come too.”
A tear rolled down Emily’s cheek. She proceeded to tell them of preparing to leave and Aaron being taken away. “They are keeping him in the town hall. They let me visit him yesterday. He’s okay. I think they are just trying to figure out what to do with him. I’m afraid they are going to kill him. What other choice do they have? They could banish him, or both of us, but it might backfire on them. I think they are planning to quietly kill him and dispose of his body. They probably figure people will just forget about him.”
“Which puts your life in danger too,” said Jason.
“Yes.”
“Well, we’re going to get you out,” said Nick.
“They are ready for you. They know Katie is Ben and Lila’s daughter. That scares them. They have men everywhere.”
“Do you know how many?”
“Somewhere around forty.”
“We’re coming in tonight. Hopefully we can sneak you, Brenda, Katie, and Sophie out. I’m sure Sean and Ben will have a plan to break out Aaron. Where will you all be tonight?”
“At my trailer.” She gave the directions.
“Okay. Be ready.”
“It’s going to be a violent night tonight, isn’t it?”
“I see no way around it.”
“We’ll be ready.”
Chapter 30
Nick and Jason spent another hour looking around, observing the people and the activities in Paradise. They were oddly disturbed by what they saw, but couldn’t put their finger on exactly what it was. They left the same way they came in. The guard from earlier was still on duty.
“Find Emily?”
“We did. We’re going to stay. I have to say that we didn’t need much convincing. I think we’d already made up our minds. We’re going to head back and get our stuff and we’ll be back in the morning. I notice a lot of guys in uniform—like you. Is this part army base?”
“Nah. But we have the only electricity in the country, far as we know. We have to protect it.”
“I hear ya. See you tomorrow.”
The rode off, anxious to get back, but trying to look as nonchalant as possible.
“I hear ya?” said Jason, once they were a safe distance away.
“That was my hick voice, just showing that I’m one of the boys.”
“Yeah, well. It doesn’t fit you. Knock it off.”
*****
“Impressions?” asked Ben when Nick and Jason returned.
“Sadness,” said Nick. “People looked unhappy.”
“Not unhappy,” Jason clarified. “Suspicious. Kind of like a kid with a toy who doesn’t want to share. They weren’t very welcoming. Nothing overt. It was just the feeling I got. Kind of unsettling.”
“That’s not how it was in the beginning,” said Sean, “but I don’t doubt that it’s how it is now.”
“Because of the don?” asked Lila.
“Yes and no. It was heading that way before he showed up, but he probably exacerbated the situation.”
“What does the firepower look like?” asked Ben.
“Lots of uniforms. Emily says around forty,” said Nick.
“They won’t be all on duty at night,” said Sean. “Hard to travel at night. They know that, so they won’t go overboard. I’d guess no more than fifteen or so. I say we go in quietly, get Brenda and the kids, and beat it out of there. Once they’re safe we go for Aaron. Any objections?”
“You’re the professional,” said Ben. “Whatever you think.”
“Small group. Me, Ben, and Frank … “
“And me,” put in Lila.
Sean looked at her and nodded. “We leave at midnight. Everyone else is backup. Leave two people here with the horses and Ralph—I think it would be safer if he didn’t come—then everyone else quietly make your way down closer to the town. If all hell breaks loose, shoot anyone in a uniform. If things are going bad for us, get out of here. At that point it will be a losing battle for all of us. Got it?”
They reluctantly agreed, but running wasn’t something they had any intention of doing.
It was already dusk. They took the time to rest. Below them the town had come alive with lights and music. From what Ben could see, there was no conservation of electricity, nor did there need to be. The power plant was humming away. It seemed that they had finally harnessed it to its fullest.
Finally, midnight arrived. Most of the music had died, and many of the house lights were off. It was time to go.
“You going to be able to see okay?” Sean asked Lila.
“I’ll be
fine,” she answered curtly.
“Sorry.”
“No, I’m sorry. I’m just anxious.”
“I understand.”
They started down the hill, having found a grassy slope that made the traveling easier. When they reached the edge of the river, they held their guns above their heads and crossed. During the day from their position on the hill, they had been able to determine the shallowest spot to cross. It was chest deep most of the way, but they made it without incident. They came up behind the power plant and took a moment to prepare for the second phase.
With Sean leading the way, they crept through the town, skirting street lights and staying behind buildings. When they reached Emily’s trailer, Sean quietly knocked on her door. She opened it and the four of them entered. Emily had woken the kids up earlier, knowing what was coming. Katie ran to Ben and Lila, while Frank embraced his family. Not a word was uttered—Emily had prepared them well.
Sean gave Emily a hug. “You ready?”
“What about Aaron?”
“As soon as we get all of you out, we’re going for him.”
Everyone was packed up. Katie had her crossbow loaded, to which Ben and Lila said nothing. What could they say? She may have been seven, but she was mature far beyond her years. When Ben was young, if he held a dangerous weapon like that, his mother would have said, ‘put it down. You’ll knock someone’s eye out with it.’ Now, that was exactly the purpose.
“Let’s go.”
He opened the door silently and led the procession down the three steps to the road. They didn’t get ten feet when a half a dozen flashlights suddenly turned on, illuminating them.
A voice called out, “We figured someone would. …” A blast from Sean’s M-16 cut him down in mid-sentence. Frank and Ben opened fire. Lila pushed Brenda and the girls down into a storm drain next to the house and took some shots.
In less than ten seconds, their attackers were down, either dead or wounded. Sean’s decision to shoot first had caught them totally off-guard.
Lights were coming on all over town. Getting back to the river wasn’t going to be easy. They ran across half-dressed guards and didn’t hesitate to take them out. Men came out of houses with rifles. Sean yelled at one to get back in his house. “Bullets are flying!”
“Yeah, and I hope they all hit you, you son of a bitch.” He fired at Sean, missing.
“What are you doing?” screamed Sean.
“Preserving my way of life, you asshole. What do you think?” He fired again, and this time Sean went down.
“Sean!” screamed Emily.
“I’m fine. Just a scratch.” He got up.
“Not this time,” yelled the man.
Ben shot him in the chest and the man went flying backwards. Ben looked at Sean and raised his arms, as if to say, “I had no choice.”
It wasn’t going well. They were ready for the don’s army. What they weren’t prepared for was the resistance by the residents. Sean had touched on it, but no one had really believed him. It was real.
Another resident came out of the darkness and aimed at Frank. Two rounds from Sean’s M-16 took him down. They were getting close to the river.
Two blocks up along the river, they heard more shots. The reinforcements from the hill were engaged in their own battle.
“Frank, you and Lila get everyone across. We’ll hold the fort until you’re gone, then we’re going for Aaron.
“Ben?” Lila looked at him.
“Go. I love you. Go!”
*****
They went. With Frank leading the way, they maneuvered behind old equipment and junk long since forgotten. They almost reached the crossing point and were next to an upside-down boat when they heard a voice yell, “Don’t go any further. Put your weapons down. I really don’t want to kill women and kids, but by God I will if you don’t surrender.”
Lila looked in his direction. It was one man in a uniform, pointing an M-16 at them.
She looked at Frank, who nodded. They both set down their rifles. Lila heard more gunshots from further down the river. Reinforcements were too far away to help.
“Did you really think you were going to get away?” He seemed to be a high-ranking officer. “We have too much at stake here. This town is the future of this country and you people are way too dangerous. As soon as my men get here we’ll take you to the don and see what he wants to do with you.”
Frank moved to be closer to his family, and the man shot. Frank fell to the ground. Brenda and Sophie screamed and ran to him.
“If anyone else wants to move you can get the. …” He let out an “umph” and fell to the ground, a crossbow bolt sticking out of his chest.
Lila turned around to see Katie with her crossbow propped on the top of the boat. She looked up at Lila, not with fear or tears, but with a look of determination.
“He hurt Sophie’s dad.”
Lila ran to Frank. He was trying to stand up.
“Not hurt bad,” he said, and looked down at his side.
The man was obviously inexperienced with an M-16, and had actually missed with his shot and hit the ground at Frank’s feet. But the bullet splintered a piece of sharp rock that embedded itself in Frank’s side.
Lila looked back at Katie. The determined look was still on her face. She had no regrets. Would she later?
*****
Once Frank and Lila and the others were around the corner of the power plant, Ben and Sean took off in the direction of the town hall. They made it a block without having to fire their weapons. Then they rounded a corner and were met by three townspeople, all holding weapons.
“Stop right there,” commanded one of them.
Ben and Sean each raised their rifles, pointing at the men. It was a standoff.
“Look,” said Sean calmly. He could see the others were nervous. “We’re not here to hurt you. We were just rescuing some people from the don. That’s all.”
“That you, Sean? Haven’t seen you in years.”
“Hey, Mike. We’re just going in to get Aaron, then we’re gone. Please. Put down your weapons. We really don’t want to hurt you.”
The men hesitated, looked at each other, then complied.
“Thanks,” said Sean. They continued on their way.
They hadn’t gone more than a hundred feet further when they were confronted by four heavily-armed men in uniform. They were on three sides of them.
“Drop your weapons or you’re dead,” said one.
They set their weapons on the ground and lifted their arms in the air. The man closest to Sean raised his pistol, as if to shoot, when his head exploded. A second later, another man’s head erupted into a red spray. Two seconds later, all four of them were lying in a massive pool of blood.
A voice called out, “You wuss, Bullock. You were going to surrender?”
It was Aaron!
Chapter 31
Aaron heard the shots. It was time to leave. He didn’t know who was shooting, or why, but he figured the don had finally pissed off the wrong people. He wanted to smile in satisfaction, but that would have to wait. Emily was out there and might get caught in the crossfire.
Definitely time to leave.
The funny thing was, he could have left whenever he wanted. He would have told Emily that the day they let her come to visit, but they were right there, listening to every word. So she had to leave upset and scared. Well, they’d pay for that. In particular, the don would pay for that. He didn’t leave because he wanted to know what the don had in store for him. Besides, getting out of his “jail cell”—actually a windowless store room in the town hall—would be one thing. Getting out of town with Emily would be another. But the shooting was the sign.
When he'd been brought to the town hall a week earlier, he was taken directly to the don’s office. The walls of the office were covered with photos of Chicago from back in the 1930s. Chicago souvenirs covered his desk and bookcases. Aaron thought it was a little over-the-top.
He h
ad never actually had a conversation with Bolli—who always seemed to go out of his way to avoid Aaron—so any opinion he had formed was strictly from his observations of how the town was run. Based on that, his opinions weren’t positive.
Bolli stood behind his desk. An unimpressive-looking man, Bolli reminded Aaron of a rodent—small and thin-featured—and he didn’t look one bit Italian.
“We finally meet,” announced Bolli in a too-loud voice.
“We’ve met a few times,” reminded Aaron. “Just never really talked.”
“That’s what I meant.” He seemed unsettled by Aaron’s presence—almost nervous. This was some big-time Chicago mobster?
Bolli continued. “Word is that you don’t like it here. That you’re planning to leave.”
“So?”
“Just curious why.”
“Never heard of a town where you got called into the mayor’s office if you intended to leave. Seems just a little weird.”
“The times are a little weird. The world isn’t what it once was.”
“No shit.”
“The fact is, I need you here. The town needs you here. We need people who can help protect the town.”
“From what?”
“Not from what, from who.”
“From whom, not from who.”
Bolli gave him a look.
“Hey, I live with a teacher. I can’t get away with that kind of stuff.”
Bolli was pissed. Aaron obviously wasn’t afraid of him.
He tried again. “Do you have any idea about the importance of this town?”
“Because we have power?”
“Of course because we have power!”
“So what?” Aaron was enjoying this.
Bolli took a deep breath. “To my knowledge, we are the only town in the whole country with power. That’s an amazing accomplishment.”
“You say that like you had something to do with it. You showed up when it was already on. The person responsible was a good man named Baxter.”
Eden Lost (Eden Rising Trilogy Book 2) Page 20
