Adrian’s muscles spasamed as he fired, his aim thrown off enough that he barely hit Rex’s shoulder, not a disabling wound. Rex’s snap shot with the crossbow was on target, hitting Adrian to the left of the center of his chest, the missile burying into Adrian.
Rex immediately disappeared back into the brush before Adrian could shoot again. Adrian looked down at his chest, expecting to see an arrow sticking out of it. He stared in disbelief for a full two seconds before it registered that he was looking at a serum dart—the type used to tranquilize large animals. He had no idea what had just been injected into him, whether it was poison or a tranquilizer. He realized he might only have seconds left to live and jerked out the dart, jumping to his feet and running as fast as he could toward the shotgun booby trap he had set earlier. His muscles were cramping and screaming after so long without motion. As he ran, he felt his legs shutting down. He could no longer feel his feet, and his legs were wildly out of control. Adrian staggered and fell next to the trip line, falling on his back. His last hope was that Rex would trip the line and get hit by the buckshot when he came to investigate Adrian’s condition. Rex had the upper hand now; he could shoot him from a distance or walk up close and shoot him from close range. Adrian’s hoped the paralysis would be temporary, and that Rex would come closer to gloat and in the process trip the wire. It wasn’t much of a hope. Even if Rex tripped the wire, the odds of him being in line with the shotgun and getting hit were at best 50/50.
He was completely paralyzed now; he couldn’t even blink. He lay staring up at the sky, conscious and aware of his surroundings. He lay there for what seemed like hours but was, in fact, only minutes. He was still breathing, but shallowly. He heard Rex walking toward him, not trying to conceal the sound of his footsteps in the dry leaves. Then Rex’s face loomed over him, looking down at him with the cruelest rictus of a smile that Adrian had ever seen. Rex was jubilant in his victory. He looked as if he had just received the absolute greatest gift that could ever have come his way. His eyes were malignant, evil.
Rex said, “You can’t possibly imagine how much I have dreamed of this moment. How often I have pictured it. How absolutely driven I have been to have you like this. I have plans for you, Adrian, really big plans. Guess what? I’m not going to kill you…but when I’m finished with you, you’ll pray for death every second of every day that you live, and I think you’re going to live for a long, long time, thanks to your hospital. How’s that for irony? And guess what else? You won’t be able to kill yourself, no matter how badly you’re going to want to. Oh, this is perfect, just fucking wonderfully perfect!”
“I’ve dreamed of this, planned for this, and the plan is brilliant—absolutely brilliant. At first, I intended to amputate your arms and legs and then sew them up. But I was afraid that that amount of trauma would kill you, or that you would get an infection and die. So I worked it out to do the same thing in another way. I brought these plumber’s hose clamps, see?” Rex held a clamp over Adrian’s face. Adrian saw a metal strap with little slots cut in it and a screw mechanism to tighten it, like on a car’s radiator hose, only larger. “I’m going to put these on your arms and legs, way up high on each one, then tighten the hell out of them. It will cut off the blood to your limbs, and by the time you’re found, they’ll have to be amputated. The amputation will be done by your doctor at your hospital to save your life. Oh, he’ll hate to do it, but he will do it. You know how doctors are—got to save that life, right?
“The rest is quick and simple: I’ll cut out your tongue and cauterize it with a hot knife to stop the bleeding. You’ll enjoy that, won’t you? Then a screwdriver, driven into each ear to burst the eardrums so you won’t be able to hear. Oh, I’ll heat it up until it’s red-hot first so there won’t be any bacteria to infect you—beautiful, eh? The screwdriver that tightens the clamp serves three purposes. Last but most certainly not least, I push the red-hot screwdriver slowly into your eyes, blinding you in a most exquisite way.
“You see what will be left? No arms, no legs, can’t talk, can’t hear, and can’t see—oh, and bonus! You won’t be able to taste the baby food they feed you. You’ll be able to feel sensations in your body, and think, oh you’ll think a lot. You’ll have Itches you can’t scratch, and pains that you can’t do anything about except endure. Your mind will be locked into a dark place with no input except pain. You’ll go insane, and best of all, you’ll stay insane and won’t be able to do a damn thing about it except hate me, hate knowing that I am still alive and whole. You’ll spend the rest of your life in impotent rage and hate. I’ll enjoy that; I’ll think about it all the time. For as long as you live, I will be laughing my ass off at you. But wait, there’s more! As they said on TV. When I know you’re dead, I’m going to come back and kill your family, one at a vicious time.
“You can ponder on that and try to stay alive as long as possible, hoping I die before you do.” Rex started laughing, a wild, cacophonous laughter. Then suddenly, he stopped laughing and just leered at Adrian.
Adrian watched Rex’s insane face, listened to his insane plan, and knew Rex would do exactly what he said. He knew Rex was right: trapped inside his brain like that, he would go insane and suffer agonies he could never imagine in his worst nightmares. Adrian couldn’t close his eyes to stop looking up into that leering face above him. He realized that once Rex began putting the clamp on his right arm, he was done for, there would be nothing left he could do. There was only one thing he could try to do, a once normally inconsequential movement, and the odds were so stacked against him that it was a forlorn hope at best. But since it was the one and only thing that he could try to do, he would put everything he had into doing it.
Rex hadn’t tripped the tripwire. He apparently hadn’t seen it, either. Rex was squatted down more or less in line with the shotgun. If he would only move his arm two inches, he’d release the trip wire. Two tiny inches. If Rex picked that arm up to put on the clamp, it would be impossible to do it. It had to be now, while he was in full gloating mode, before he began to actually put the clamp on. Rex sounded like he would go on talking for a long time, but then again, Rex was aware of how long the paralysis would last, and Adrian wasn’t. Adrian began by mentally closing his eyes. He couldn’t physically close his eyes, but he could pretend they were closed and try to quit seeing that hate filled face. He didn’t need that distraction. He also turned Rex’s words into a buzzing noise—much less irritating. Then he began focusing his full consciousness on one thing and one thing only: moving that right arm onto the trip wire. A small movement under normal circumstances. A herculean task now.
Adrian couldn’t feel his body. If he moved his arm, he wouldn’t know it. He couldn’t turn his head to see it. If his arm started to move, he wouldn’t be aware of it. He knew that any doctor would have told him it was physically impossible. As Adrian considered all this in the span of a few seconds, he considered that the serum must be at least three years old and might have weakened over time. Although Rex couldn’t tell it, Adrian was no longer paying him any attention. Rex might as well not have been there.
Adrian began concentrating on his right elbow. He intensely imagined bending that elbow up and to his right, and then letting the arm fall. Such a small thing. He focused, really focused every bit of his mind on that small action. He visualized it, saw it in his mind’s eye as happening, put every fiber of his being into making it happen. He made himself believe, really truly believe that his arm was up and over the tripwire, made himself believe it with every shred of his being, and then he visualized letting go, letting the arm drop.
As he did, he heard a rustle of leaves immediately to his right, then a huge booming sound. Rex made a startled noise. Then there was silence for a second, and Rex said, “Damn you to hell! Damn—” followed by gurgling sounds. Adrian couldn’t see Rex; he was out of his cone of vision. He heard what sounded like a body falling, then a short period of thrashing. Then silence. Complete, blessed silence.
Adrian
lay immobile, paralyzed and numb. He watched leaves fall, clouds move across the sky, the light disappear as the sun set. After a while, he could see stars moving across the sky through the tree limbs. He didn’t know if he would ever move again, but he was content with whatever fate brought him now. Even if a wild hog found him and ate him alive, it would be better than what Rex had planned and almost succeeded at.
CHAPTER 24
APRIL 3, MID MORNING
DURING THE NIGHT, THE EFFECTS of the chemical had slowly begun to wear off. Adrian hadn’t realized it was diminishing. He slept, unaware that his eyes had closed. He had vivid dreams of a strange future. It was the last time he would dream of it. In the morning, he was awakened by a fierce itching on his face. His hand came up and began scratching before he was even awake enough to realize he was able to move. When he did, he smiled, and slowly and painfully rolled over. He looked right into Rex’s face. The body was stiff now with rigor mortis. It lay on its side, facing Adrian, a look of total rage frozen on its dead face. Rex’s eyes were open, but glazed over and murky. It was an ugly sight, but Adrian was delighted to see it. Rex’s chest was a bloody mess from the buckshot. Adrian said a silent and fervent prayer of thanks.
He was dehydrated and weak with hunger. The drug that Rex had shot into his body had largely dissipated, but was still lingering. He had a raging headache. He tried to stand, but was too wobbly to walk. He crawled slowly on his hands and knees to where he had stashed his pack, which contained food and water. When he finally reached it, he was too weak and exhausted to do more than gulp several large swallows of water. He rested for nearly an hour, and then dug into the pack and pulled out one of the ration bars. He chewed slowly, taking frequent sips of water. He lay there for most of the day, slowly eating and drinking. When darkness came, he worked his way back into his trench and covered himself with leaves, and then he fell into a deep sleep.
Birds singing woke him late the next morning. He slowly stood and found he could walk a little. He removed everything from his pack but two ration bars and the water, and began carefully walking home. Adrian found a piece of limb strong enough to be used as a walking stick, and he used it as he went. He stopped to rest frequently, eating and drinking when he did. His strength was coming back, the headache was almost gone, and he was feeling better by the hour. He didn’t make it home, however, before darkness overtook him. Adrian spent another night sleeping under the stars.
APRIL 5, MID MORNING
As Adrian approached the outskirts of Fort Brazos, Linda spotted him from her guard position. She exclaimed “Adrian! Thank God you’re alive!” She rushed to him and gave him a terrific hug. She wrinkled her nose at the smell of stale urine and sour body odor, but didn’t let go.
Adrian replied, “I am, but it was a close thing for a while.”
Linda noticed his weakened state and mosquito bite-swollen face and quickly put his arm over her shoulders to help support him. She asked, “Did you get Rex?”
Adrian said, “More or less. He’s dead, anyway. No more problems from him. Everything all right back home?”
“Yes, everything is fine. Now that you’re back, everything is fine. I was…we were all scared you wouldn’t come back.” Linda looked into Adrian’s eyes. Something in them gave her the courage to say, “I…I don’t know what I would have done…I…I don’t think I could have…” She buried her face in his chest for a moment, regaining control. “I know you probably think I’m silly, but…I think I have fallen in love with you.” She kept her face against his chest, waiting for his reply.
In a soft voice that filled her with a trembling hope, a voice she felt rumbling in his chest as much as she heard it said, “I think I’m falling in love with you, too, Linda. It’s just…it seems too soon to be decent. Alice has only been gone a little over a year. But the world is different now. We have to lead with our hearts in this world. We don’t have the time we used to have. Either of us could be gone tomorrow. There’re so many dangers now. But part of me can’t let go of Alice, not yet.”
Linda replied, “I feel the same way. My husband hasn’t been gone that long, either. My feelings for you are not a betrayal of him, and your feelings for me aren’t a betrayal of Alice, either. In a way, there are four of us to consider: ourselves and our ghosts. I believe that they loved us and would approve of us finding happiness again. Wouldn’t they?” she asked.
“I think they would. If the shoe were on the other foot, I would want Alice to be happy. She was too young and full of life to grieve forever. I think I love you, Linda. But I’m not ready yet, and I can’t take you with me where I’m going. You have a son to protect, and taking him with us wouldn’t be protecting him. It’s dangerous out there—hell, it’s dangerous at Fort Brazos—but it’s far too dangerous out there. Can you understand that?”
Linda replied, “No, I can’t. Where are you going? Why can’t you stay here?”
“Corpus Christi. I’m not ready to stay here. I have things I still have to do. If I don’t do them, I’ll…I’ll be restless, unhappy. I’ll regret not doing them every single day; every morning will have a bitter taste to it. It would come between us, and I don’t want that. I will come back if you think you want me to, and can wait. You don’t want me the way I would be if I didn’t go. I need more time to say goodbye to Alice, too.”
“I’ll hate every day I have to wait. I’ll wonder every day if you’ll come back, and when. I can’t imagine ever loving anyone else, Adrian, but I never thought I would love again before I met you. I’ll try to wait, but I can’t promise that I’ll be here when you come back. If I fall in love with someone else—and I’m not saying I hope to, just that it apparently it could happen—then I’ll have to move on with my life, Adrian.”
Adrian replied, “One of the things I like best about you is that you’re honest. You are brave and you are honest. I’d take you with me, but not your son—I couldn’t risk his life. If something happened to him, you’d hate me for it. If you went, it would have to be because you made the decision. He wouldn’t have that choice.
“I’m going to check out the rumors we’ve been hearing about the Navy using nuclear powered ships to set up a viable city in Corpus Christi. I have to see this with my own eyes, see if there is any way they can help the rest of us. Then I want to go down to the valley and come back up by way of San Antonio. Get a feel for how many villages and tribes there are, how they’re surviving. See what I can learn that will be useful for us. See how Texas is doing. Then I’ll come back home. I’m guessing a year, year and a half. It’s a long time to wait, I know, and I have no right to ask it of you, so I won’t ask it. If you’re still here when I get back, we’ll see how we feel then.”
They arrived at the outskirts of Fort Brazos and were spotted by villagers. A cheer went up when they saw that Adrian was back. A small crowd quickly gathered. Adrian stopped. Still partially supported by Linda, he announced, “Rex is dead. The threat is over. There will be others, I imagine, but this one is gone.” The cheering drew more people, and soon it seemed that the entire village was crowded around the couple.
Linda said, “Adrian is hurt and needs medical attention. Please, let’s get him to the hospital.” Within seconds, two of the larger men had picked Adrian up carefully and were carrying him to the hospital over his loud protests. When they arrived, Jennifer was waiting, having been forewarned. Adrian explained about the paralysis drug and the dehydration. The doctor quickly checked him over, put a salve on his face, and pronounced him fit enough for home bedrest for a few days until his strength returned. She said, “Sarah can give you the kind of treatment you need better than I can. The paralysis drug will have some lingering effects, but those will dissipate with time.”
Despite his continuing protests, the two men carried Adrian to Roman’s house with Linda walking beside them. The village had formed a line on either side of him, as though he were the center of a parade, cheering as he was carried by. Roman and Sarah were waiting at the house
with big grins. The men deposited Adrian on the sofa and made mock bowing motions as they backed their way out of the room, smiling as they went. Linda, Bollinger, John, Isaac, Perry, Matt, and Tim all crowded around him, smiling and giving one another high fives as Adrian sat on the couch in embarrassment.
After a few minutes of this, Roman took control and said, “Look, folks, we all want to hear the story, but right now it looks like he needs rest more than anything. Let’s all meet here again tomorrow at lunchtime, and if he is feeling up to it, he can tell the story then. Okay?”
They all took the hint and left, except for Linda. She sat next to Adrian, holding his hand. Sarah gave Linda a knowing look and said, “Linda, why don’t you bring your son and that wolf pup over and spend the night? I could use some help, especially with all those men coming back for lunch tomorrow. My guess is they’ll be here at breakfast instead of lunch.”
Linda replied, “Be right back, Sarah.” She took off almost running and was back quickly, Scott and Bear in tow. Bear sniffed Adrian over carefully and then curled up on his lap.
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