A warm glow traveled up my arm as I held her hand. I couldn’t believe we’d gotten away with it. I wondered what those men were thinking now, would Big Jake give up quickly, or would he harass our every move. From what I’d seen, he didn’t seem to be the kind of person to give up easily.
Everyone was quiet. The only sound was the gentle splashing through the small stream flowing along the bottom of the giant pipe. We’d gone about two hundred yards into the tunnel when I heard a man’s yell behind us. The sound funneled through the sewer like a megaphone. Everyone froze in place then looked at me, waiting for directions. “Go,” I hissed. Claire dropped my hand and started shepherding the others into a jog. I held back and unslung my bow. They weren’t supposed to have found us this fast. I didn’t have a contingency plan for this and hesitated while I tried to figure out what to do.
A yellow flash exploded through the dark just before a deafening boom rocketed down the tunnel. I flinched and realized he was firing a gun at us. Our green glow sticks and white flashlights were beacons announcing our whereabouts to the world as they bounced up and down while the kids jogged away into the darkness. I knew he was too far away for an arrow. Taking a deep breath I remained in place until they turned a corner and I was able to breathe again. I couldn’t see anything from behind us. I knew the men were there and decided there was nothing to be gained by sticking around so I took off after the kids. Turning the corner white lights danced ahead. Again they waited for me to catch up
“Is everyone OK?” I asked
Claire was kneeling by Jenny and looked at me like her world had just ended. “She’s been shot,” Claire said, pulling her hand away to show me the blood.
My god, she’s only nine years old I thought. It wasn’t right. I joined Claire down next to the little girl. Her face was chalky white and eyes kept rolling back into her head. The eerie green glow from the sticks made everything look fake, and unreal. The blood didn’t look like it came from a person.
“What do we do,” I asked, confused and hesitant.
Claire looked at me, just as lost. It made me feel week and angry. I could feel myself getting royally pissed off. What right did they have coming here and chasing us down into holes like rats? Shooting little girls, taking away everything we’d built. I hated them to the bottom of my soul and swore I would get them back for this.
“Come on Hector, you lead the way and take as many turns as possible, you got the map right?” I said as I reached down and lifted Jenny into my arms. “Hold on little one,” I whispered into her ear. Claire pulled out some bandages and quickly wrapped them around her stomach.
“Yeah, I know what to do compadre,” he said, trying to reassure everyone that things were going to be fine.
We started jogging. No one said a word but we were making a lot of noise. It couldn’t be avoided.
We must have ran a couple of miles, Ellen was starting to falter so Claire scoped her up and continued to jog. The sewer began to get smaller and I had to start ducking my head to avoid the ceiling. The sewer became tighter and closed in on us like a squeezed tube of toothpaste. We had to be far enough away so that when we popped out that there wasn’t any chance of being detected.
When I thought we’d lost our pursuers, I called a halt and let everyone catch their breath. Susan relieved Claire of Ellen and sat on the edge of the curved concrete. Those that weren’t sitting down were bent over with their hands on their knees. An active life of scrounging and hunting made for a pretty fit body but three miles running through dank, dungy sewers while being chased by enraged gunmen would test anyone.
Milky pale green face stared at me, waiting. “I think it’s time we headed up. I don’t know about you guys, I feel like I’m slowly being crushed in here,” I said.
They smiled and nodded their heads in agreement. Suddenly, without warning a huge rat scurried between Margaret’s feet, its naked tail sliding across her ankle as he ran down into the dark tunnel. She screamed and tried to crawl up the side of the pipe then screamed again in frustration when she couldn’t get away fast enough. The sound wave echoed off the walls and back towards our chasers.
Claire pulled her into a hug and tried to quiet her down. Hector jumped up the ladder and looped a leg around the rail so he could use both hands to push the cover out of the way. It made a scrapping metallic sound as I slid it back. Sticking his head gingerly through the hole he looked around.
My eyes had to adjust to the blinding light coming down through the round hole. Hector stuck his head back down and said “We’re close, the Mountain lions warehouse is a couple of blocks to the east. He scooted out the hole and I followed him, gripping the ladder with one hand while I held onto Jenny.
The area appeared deserted with no signs of life anywhere. I looked down; everyone was waiting anxiously for my all clear. Ellen especially looked harried and obviously couldn’t wait to get out there.
Without thinking my hand gestured for her to come up. She didn’t need my help as she flew up the ladder and out of the tunnel. Hector kept the ladder lit with his flashlight, then stuck his head back in and scanned the bottom of the sewer to make sure we hadn’t left anything behind.
The boys muscled the lid back into place and stood to face the others. I gestured to an apartment building across the street.
It was one of the newer brick buildings with a front door that wasn’t controlled by an electric lock and a buzzer system. No electricity meant no lock. The lobby was as dark as a mausoleum. Dark and quiet. Susan walked to the first door and twisted the knob to see if it was locked or not. She shot me a surprised look when it twisted in her hand. Holding a hand up she gestured for everyone to back off and slowly stepped inside.
We could see her tip toeing into the center of what looked like the living room, looking around. Holding up her hand again, she moved into one of the other rooms and came out smiling. “All clear, no one’s here,” She said waving for us to come in then looked at me and gently shook her head letting me know the place was clear of dead bodies.
I think each of us, except for maybe Ellen and Jenny could tell when a body had been laying around in a closed apartment or house for a while. The smell might be significantly less after five years, but it seeped into the walls and never went away. We hadn’t smelt it here, it’d been the first thing I checked, but still, it was nice to know for sure.
I gently laid Jenny on the big double bed in the master bedroom and Claire started her healing miracle stuff. The little girl was awake now and didn’t look in as much shock as she should have. I on the other hand was covered in her blood and felt queasy thinking about it. Excusing myself and letting her know I’d be right back, I stepped into the bathroom to wash myself using bottled water and changed into new cloths from the skin out.
When I came back in, Jenny had passed out and Claire was cleaning the wound in her side with peroxide before she applied some bandages. She turned to me and weekly smiled. “I think she’s going to be all right. She lost a lot of blood, I don’t think it hit anything important. I just don’t know,” she said, shaking her head.
Everyone in the other room relaxed when I passed along Claire’s news. They plopped down on the couch and big lazy-boy or pulled out dining room chairs to rest on. It seemed like everyone wanted to talk at the same time. The energy and excitement poured out of them as if released from a fire hose.
Schick/Shuck told Hector about their bricks while he was trying to describe the effects of his electrical wire in the water. Susan and Margaret were giggling and fake arguing over what sound a bowling ball made when it tumbled down a flight of stairs and whose trash can had done the most damage.
I caught Claire’s eye and motioned for her join me outside in the hallway. She gently placed Ellen next to Susan who looked up questioningly until she saw me getting ready to step outside she smiled at Claire “I got her,” she said as she put her arm around the little girl and brought her into a sisterly hug. Claire sighed and joined me in the hall.
I think she could tell what I was feeling because her arms squeezed me tight. Leaning back a little she looked into my eyes as if she could read my mind, a secret smile crossed her face as she waited for me to make the next move.
“I don’t know what to do next,” I said.
Her forehead crinkled in a confused frown as she shook her head. “Do next?”
I realized she didn’t know if I was talking about Big Jake or about her and me. I’d thought I was talking about Big Jake, now I wasn’t so sure. “I didn’t… I mean we can’t stay here forever, we aren’t set up for it,” I said. “We’ve abandoned our home and all our supplies to them.”
Her frown changed from confused to a disappointment. Gathering herself she said, “Kris, you were amazing, it was like you knew exactly how they’d react at every step of the way. If it hadn’t been for you, we’d be their prisoners and no telling what would be happening to us,” she said as she shuddered thinking about it.
“Yea, tell that to Jenny,” I said. “But what next?” I added.
“We wait until they leave then move back into our place,” she said, her eyes searching mine.
“Claire, I don’t think you understand, we haven’t resolved anything, they’ll just come back and next time they won’t be surprised. We got lucky this time, next time, they’ll pick us off one by one.”
“Kris, can’t you relax even for a moment, enjoy your success, I am so proud of you. Don’t you see it?” She said with a little scared look on her face. I think she knew what was coming and didn’t want me to say it.
“Claire, we can’t ignore it. I have to go back and see if I can end this.”
"No Way,” she cried, emphatically shaking her head.
“You guys stay here, it should be a good place to hole up. Don’t let anyone outside, there should be enough food in the building to keep you going for a while.”
She stepped back away from me and said, “Didn’t you hear me, I said No Way! You can’t go back there, what, are you going to attack twenty gunmen armed with nothing but a bow and arrow and an old machete. Come on Kris, you’re not crazy like that, I couldn’t feel this way about you if you were crazy like that.” She stood there glaring at me, daring me to contradict her.
My insides jumped around like a drop of water on a hot griddle. It made me feel good to hear her mention caring about me. I knew that facing what I was going to have to face would be easier because I knew this now.
We’d eliminated about six or seven men from the group, either killed or severely wounded. I remembered the man clutching the arrow in his gut and remembered the man falling off the zip line and the sound he made hitting the street. There was the one I shot in the leg at the beginning, and the one that fell with the fire escape and the man electrocuted by Hector’s set up, I had to assume they were injured and out of action, plus the man bleeding in the street from Schick/Shuck’s bricks. I counted five for sure and maybe as many as seven. And who knew, maybe the bowling balls got some more.
“I have to leave now, and I want to do it without a bunch of mushy goodbyes. So if you….” Before I could finish Claire turned back into the apartment and slammed the door in my face. The anger and sense of betrayal I saw in her eyes made me sick.
I wanted to follow her, to forget, to say I’m sorry. I knew if I did then it’d truly be a betrayal. Big Jake would get her and the others. I couldn’t let that happen even if it meant she hated me.
It physically hurt to leave them. My muscles were tight and unwilling to move and my guts clenched in spasms whenever I thought about what they’d done to Jenny. I prayed to my parent’s god that Claire could make her all better. No little girl should have to go through what she was experiencing. The look of pain and lost innocence on her face was too hurtful and so wrong.
I didn’t have any idea what I was going to do next but I knew it had to stop now. I started making my way towards our home.
Chapter Eighteen
Our home, the library was on fire and it’d spread to the warehouse and apartment neighbors. Flames flickered behind windows and leaked through open doors. Black smoke rose from the buildings in huge columns, mixing and twirling, pushed by the yellow flames consuming the buildings.
Everything we’d built, all those beautiful books, our homes, gone, destroyed by these men. Why? Was it some kind of hopeless lashing out after we’d gotten away, or some lame attempt to draw us back? Once again I’d failed. This was another instance of me being unable to protect the ones I loved, First dad, then Mrs. Johnson, all our fancy plans hadn’t stopped Jenny from being shot and Now our home were going up in flames.
I stood in a bell tower and watched. Big wet tears streamed down my face. The sense of loss overwhelmed me and I remembered the pain when I'd lost my father. Would things ever be right again?
There was no sign of the men. My burning hate had been ratcheted up another notch. They were probably out looking for us. I was pretty sure they wouldn’t find the kids, but how was I going to find them? I wondered.
I reluctantly turned away and scanned the city for any signs of the men. I glanced back towards the area of town where I’d left everybody. Things looked quiet. Closer in I caught occasional movements and flickering glimpses of men going in and out of buildings looking for us. Every time I saw one I had to force the bile back down my throat. It took everything I had not run out of the building and chase them down. Anger bubbled up inside of me threatening to erupt like some volcano. It’d been growing since Jenny had been shot. I no longer cared what happened as long as I hurt them as much as they’d hurt us.
I had to kill Big Jake, it was the only way. Without a leader, without a driving force, the men might give up and go away. I think I’d known this since I helped Claire and Ellen escape. Every event from that moment to this had been pushing us towards each other. I thought I knew where he was.
I walked down the six flights of stairs in the bell tower and exited out the park side entrance. Their wagon and horses were in the center of the park. That was where I’d find them. If not now, eventually.
I made my way into the park. I used every piece of cover and structure to hide and disguise my movements. I’d gotten a few hundred yards into the park when I heard a dog bark behind me. Turning I saw the dog pack running towards me at full speed, the big German shepherd at the lead. They’d waited until I was relatively exposed, away from any building.
I flashed back to the killing of his mate, the beautiful red Irish setter. I wondered if he’d been waiting for the perfect time to get me. These thoughts all flashed through my mind in an instance as I turned and began running. It was as if my legs were stuck in quicksand, wet sucking ground holding me back. All the energy had been sapped out of my legs. It felt that way but obviously I was actually running, if not very fast. I desperately searched the area for some kind of escape, any means, a door, window, a fence I could get over; anything that’d allow me put something between me and these evil carnivorous hounds.
The trees were all pine and the branches to far off the ground for me to get at. I twisted and let loose and arrow, hoping to slow them down. A dog yelped but I didn’t look. I was sure the shepherd had not been hit, maybe one of the others. I readied another arrow and twisted again, the dogs were about forty yards away and closing fast.
I reached the street and immediately saw a big fancy house on the other side. It was surrounded by a wrought iron fence that enclosed a very small yard with stone steps leading up to a large brown door. I flung the gate open and slammed it shut as the dogs lunged at me. They started barking and snarling at me through the fence. Their fangs dripped saliva and their eyes were on fire with denied need as they stuck their snouts through the iron fence
rails trying to get at me.
I backed up the steps to the big brown wooden doorway. A yellow bras knocker hung from the middle making me feel like I should use it to knock first. Instead I reached out and twisted the knob only to find it locked. Turning around, the dogs were still yammering. The sound was loud enough to draw the attention of anyone within miles. The shepherd stood back looking at me as his pack mates paced back and forth trying to find some way in.
The windows were too far off the ground for me to get to them. There’d be no entry that way. I foolishly tried the door again, but it was still locked. I had to get away now. The men and their guns would show up any minute. I was sort of surprised they hadn’t arrived already.
I tried to think of any other way into the building and out the back or I had to shut up that incessant barking. My gut clenched as if I were a treed raccoon waiting for the hunters to show up and pick me off. I was getting frantic and ran down the stairs at the dogs and yelled “SHUTUP.” The dogs ignored me of course and kept barking even louder.
This is ridiculous I thought climbing back up the steps; I am supposed to be hunting men. Men who were hunting me and here I was caught in this farce. Reaching behind me to my quiver I counted only three more arrows. I hadn’t been keeping track and let them get too low. My stomach twisted as I realized how trapped I was. Nothing was going to work. Suddenly a shot exploded from down the street and the dogs flinched, all seven of them looked towards the shooter then fled like a bunch of scared cockroaches scampering under the baseboards.
I looked towards the sound of the shot and saw a man dressed in jeans and a denim jacket walking towards me down the center of the road. The bottom of his pants legs were covered in brown goop, an obvious victim of the barrels of sewage. He held a big black square looking semi-automatic gun in his hands and watched the dogs run away. He glanced my way and smiled, it wasn’t in greeting. More like the kind of smile a cat might have had when he found a mouse nicely trapped in a glass jar.
Worth Saving Page 14
