“I say we leave now,” Maddox croaked in a hoarse voice. He slowly sat up and started to pull off his sleeping bag. “If they get caught they’ll lead them here. It’s not safe here anymore.”
Lenny eyed him angrily. He clicked his teeth and spit into the dirt.
“You know I’m right. I know you like the kid, hell we all do, but we can’t stay here Lenny, not anymore.”
Benjamin stared back and forth between them. It was harsh, but he knew there was truth to Maddox’s words. He also knew Lenny wasn’t the type to leave anyone.
Lenny glared at Benjamin, his eyes compelling him to weigh in. Benjamin huffed and looked away. This was something he wanted no part of.
Lenny turned to Rebecca, but he already knew what she would say. Maddox was right and if there was anyone that would point that out, it would be her. Over the past few weeks she’d become as cold and calculating as any mercenary Lenny had ever met.
Rebecca sighed and cocked her head to the side. She studied Lenny for a moment and bit her lip. Lenny shook his head and moved to gather his things.
“Wait,” Rebecca suddenly said. “We can’t leave them Lenny. They’re our only family. We’re not leaving our family.”
Lenny stared at her in awe. She winked at him and offered a bashful smile. Lenny smiled back and then turned towards the opening as speckles of light started to drift in. The sun was finally coming up and with it Lenny felt a renewed sense of vigor.
“So we go find them then,” Lenny said.
“No…no we leave!” Maddox yelled back. He scrambled to his feet and looked at them in astonishment. “We pack up and we leave. If we stay here we all die.”
Benjamin ran a hand over his head and took a deep breath. “Lenny…Lenny I’m afraid Maddox is—”
“Benjamin,” a voice called from the Escalade.
Everyone turned around in unison. Robert was leaning against the back of the SUV. He had a pistol in one hand and a beige rucksack in the other. His eye still had the bloody white patch taped over it, but his good eye gleamed at them with a fierceness they’d never seen before.
“Sir,” Benjamin said and quickly ran to him.
“Benjamin, we can’t leave them,” he continued. “I won’t leave them.”
“No one is leaving!” a trembling voice echoed into the tunnel.
Lenny looked back to the entrance. Gloria was standing at the opening with Javier a half step in front of her. They were both covered in dirt and looked exhausted, but there was something else. Gloria was holding a gun in her hand and it was pointing at Javier.
“Gloria…Gloria what are you doing?” Lenny asked in a stunned voice.
“Oh shut the hell up you self-righteous bastard,” Gloria stammered. “It’s too late to give a fuck now.”
“Gloria, I don’t know what’s going on, but please, please just let the boy go. Let’s talk about this,” Benjamin slowly moved forward with his hands raised.
“Ben,” Gloria muttered in a dark voice. “I’ve never had any issues with you, and they think you’ll make a good addition. But if you take another step forward I will put a bullet in your head.”
Robert’s mouth fell to the floor. He watched the back and forth in shock and swallowed hard. Something in him finally stirred and he staggered forward. “Gloria what the hell are you doing? This isn’t y…” His final words fell off as reality dawned on him. “You’re one of them, one of their pets aren’t you?”
Gloria grinned at him. “Sorry sweetie, guess you won’t be making house with this sweet ass after all.”
“How long, how long have you been playing us?” Robert asked and took another step forward.
“Long enough. And now we’re all gonna wait here until the others show up. I think they’ll probably finish what they started with your other eye. And you,” she turned to Lenny. “You they want most of all.”
“I’m not going back,” Robert suddenly yelled and raised his gun.
“Robert calm down,” Lenny screamed.
“What are you going to do? Shoot me, shoot the kid? You don’t have the balls,” Gloria said in an antagonizing voice.
“Fuck you! I loved you,” Robert declared.
This caught everyone by surprise and they stole a glance back at Robert. His face was contorted in a mixture of rage and pain. His hands trembled, but he held the gun firmly, taking aim at Gloria.
“Take me,” Benjamin suddenly said. “You don’t need the boy as a hostage, just take me.” He raised his hands and slowly inched closer and closer.
“What does it matter? You’re all going to die,” Gloria said dismissively.
“Just…just point the gun at me. He doesn’t need to be in the middle of all of this.”
Gloria looked at Benjamin then back at Robert. She considered him briefly then shook her head from side to side, but it was too late. Benjamin had gotten what he wanted.
Lunging forward he grabbed for the gun, simultaneously knocking Javier out of the way. Gloria reacted faster than he expected and stepped backwards creating just enough space. Two gunshots crackled in the air, echoing through the tunnel like a church bell.
Gloria crumpled to the ground and Benjamin landed on top of her. Her body went limp and the gun fell from her hand. Her face still bore the shock of what had just occurred. A single bullet hole centered on her forehead oozed plasma onto the floor.
Robert gasped for air, his finger still squeezing the trigger on his pistol. His heart pounded like a stampede in his chest. Smoke swirled from the barrel of his gun like a cigarette.
Maddox and Lenny ran to Benjamin as Rebecca grabbed Javier. They rolled him over and he coughed, sending blood into the air like a volcano. There was a ragged hole in his neck, pulsing with a river of crimson life
Lenny plunged his hand over the wound, but the blood kept gushing out. “Get me something!” he yelled.
Benjamin reached up and grabbed Lenny’s arm. “Is…is Javier okay?” Benjamin struggled to ask with a gargled voice.
“You saved him,” Lenny smiled back.
“Benjamin,” Robert called. He stumbled towards him with a bandage in his hand. “Benjamin no.”
Robert knelt down and placed the bandages where Lenny’s hand had been. He leaned his face close to Ben’s, tears pouring from his eye.
“You…you shouldn’t have,” Robert whispered.
Benjamin stared at Robert and forced a smile on his face. Then with a long, raspy breath, his eyes glazed over and he was gone.
Robert slid his hand across Ben’s face, forcing his eyes shut. He swallowed back tears and stood up. Sniffling, he rubbed his chin and took a deep breath. “We…we need to get going,” he stuttered.
Lenny gazed at him with an endearing look. “Robert, you…you should take your time.”
“We need to go Lenny. They could be here any minute,” Robert replied and started heading toward the truck.
Lenny and Maddox stared at one another and then back to Gloria and Ben. Less than five hours ago they’d both been alive. Less than five hours ago they had a plan and they were all going to survive. Now everything had unraveled before their eyes.
“My mom! My mom!” Javier’s voice called like a shot to the heart.
He ripped his arm away from Rebecca and ran to Gloria’s side. Crying and screaming he laid his head on his mother’s chest. “Get up mom. Get up please,” Javier cried.
Lenny didn’t know what to do and from the looks of it neither did Rebecca. She stood off to the side her arms crossed, a confused guise on her face. Robert however, quickly came to Javier’s side.
Pulling Javier into his arms, he started to whisper. “It’ll be okay…I promise it’ll be okay.” He picked him up and carried him back to the truck. Softly, he sat him beside Drew, who had been asleep the entire time.
The others watched in silence until the sound of a grumbling engine stirred them into action. Maddox jumped in surprise then turned to Lenny. Rebecca was already running to the Escalade before either
of them moved. Lenny scrambled, quickly grabbing their things from the ground and following after Rebecca.
“Maddox, time to go,” Lenny screamed.
Maddox didn’t need to be told twice. He rushed into the SUV and slammed the door. Lenny swiftly shoved everything into the truck and took one last look at Ben. “Sorry friend,” he muttered.
Firing up the engine, Lenny slung the shifter into gear. He quickly floored the gas pedal and they roared out of the tunnel.
The Escalade burst into the sunlight as they zoomed out of the brick structure. Lenny suddenly slammed on the brakes and the SUV started to fishtail.
Four cars were stopped in front of them forming a barrier, blocking their way out. A lean man in a black suit with peppered white hair was standing outside of the cars. He smiled and opened his arms like he’d been waiting for them.
“Come now,” the man called loudly. “Stop the nonsense and come quietly. They are eager to talk to you.”
Lenny smirked and revved the engine. “Hold on,” he said then smashed his foot into the floorboard.
The Escalade screamed and charged forward. The man in the suit barely dove out of the way before they rumbled through the road block and tore down the tracks. Bullets followed after them, blasting into the metal and cracking the rear glass as they sped away.
Lenny swerved up the hill and back onto the paved streets. He frantically turned and whipped the car about trying to ensure they weren’t followed. As he made it onto a highway he slowed down and tried to blend in with the traffic.
“We need a new car,” Maddox declared. “These things are gonna be looking for this, besides all the bullet holes are a dead giveaway.”
“I’m sure we can just stop and trade this in at the first car lot,” Rebecca snapped back.
“Well fuck, don’t bite my head off. It was just a suggestion.”
“Everybody, just calm down,” Lenny said in an agitated voice. “I need to think.” He wrapped his fingers against the steering wheel, his eyes jumping about madly soaking in the environment.
“There’s a storage facility not far from here. If we can get there I can get us a car,” Robert mumbled from the backseat.
Before Lenny could even consider what Robert was saying, a black sedan screeched onto the road behind them. Bullets snapped overhead as the car surged forward and bashed into the back of the Escalade with bone-splitting force.
Robert was slung forward. The seat in front of him absorbed his momentum, snapping several of his ribs in the process. Drew and Javier tumbled onto the floor as glass shattered into the cabin.
The SUV fishtailed wildly and Lenny tried desperately to regain control. They rolled up onto a curb and smashed through several parking meters. Smoke hissed from the front of the truck as Lenny pushed the accelerator harder, begging for every ounce of power.
Lurching back onto the street, Lenny whipped the wheel hard to the right and they whooshed down a narrow alley. Buildings and piles of trash zipped by in a blur. With a resounding snap, one of the side view mirrors ripped off as the truck roared down the cramped street.
Smoke swirled into the cabin through the ac vents. The thick cloud quickly filled the cramped area.
Coughing and gasping for air, Rebecca used her gun and broke out the shattered window. A rush of air swooped in and the growl of the belching engine grew louder.
Drew suddenly let out a high-pitched wail. His arm had been sliced open in the crash and blood was pouring down his hand.
“Drew!” Robert yelled. He placed his hand over the gash and did his best to stop the bleeding as they were slung back and forth.
With a quick left turn the SUV careened back into traffic. Lenny blew through several red lights narrowly escaping a collision with a tractor trailer.
After two more sharp turns Lenny slowed the truck to a more moderate pace. He continued to look over his shoulder, but couldn’t see anyone following them. As far as he could tell there was no one following them.
Frantically, Lenny turned and yelled to Robert. “You’ve gotta get us to that storage facility now!”
Robert leaned forward and started calling out turns, directing Lenny down a series of twisted streets. Twenty minutes later they approached a three story parking garage and cautiously pulled inside.
“Service cars are located on the bottom level. It’s secured though. Once we get in they’ll be notified in minutes,” Robert told them.
“We don’t have a choice,” Lenny said.
They drove down the winding pathway to the bottom level of the garage. The lower floor was sectioned off by a sliding, black iron gate. Next to the gate was a keypad affixed to a metal pole.
“Listen Lenny, once you put that code in it’s going to alert them so everyone has to be ready to move,” Robert said sternly.
Lenny sighed. “Everybody ready?” he asked as he rolled the window down. “Get everything into the bags. The first car we find we’re getting in it and we’re leaving.”
Everyone nodded in agreement and Lenny rolled the window down. With shaking hands, he dialed the seven digit code that Robert had given him and the gate started to roll open.
“Here we go,” he said and slowly drove forward. He half-expected alarms and sirens to go off immediately.
The garage was dim and there were several empty spots before they even saw another vehicle. Lenny stopped at the first one, a black Suburban, and they quickly got out and started loading their things into it.
Maddox grabbed a duffle bag from the back and walk passed the SUV. “Robert, you sure they’ll be on the way?” he yelled back.
“Yes, certainly. I doubt we have more than two minutes.”
Maddox smiled and went further into the garage. Lenny stared after him, contorting his face in confusion.
“Maddox what the hell are you doing? We have to move,” Lenny said as he cranked up the Chevy.
“One second,” Maddox hollered.
He had a handful of frag grenades in his arms and was propping them against the gas tanks of the other cars. He then left a small pile of them on the ground then jumped into the back of the Suburban.
Lenny shook his head and sped off towards the gate. He fiddled nervously as it slowly rolled open. “What the hell was that about?” Lenny asked.
“Just an idea, probably won’t work,” Maddox replied.
Lenny pressed the gas and the Suburban slowly rolled forward.
“Stop!” Maddox suddenly shouted.
Lenny slammed on the brakes and the SUV shrieked.
“We don’t have time for this shit Maddox. What now?” Lenny said angrily.
Maddox leaned out of the window and pulled the pin on the last grenade he gripped in his hand.
“What the fuck are you doing?” Rebecca stammered.
“Less than two minutes?” Maddox asked and looked to Robert.
Robert nodded and Maddox slung the grenade back towards the other cars and ducked into the window. “Go, go, go!” he yelled.
Lenny slammed on the gas and peeled off. They flew through the garage, squealing around the winding path.
“That was stupid Maddox. Real fucking stupid,” Lenny yelled.
Suddenly there was a muffled boom and the garage shook. The ground trembled and the Suburban shook from side to side. Lenny sped up as they neared the exit.
“That was it?” Maddox said with disappointment. “Guess it didn’t work.”
“Up ahead!” Rebecca screamed.
The liberating glow of sunlight blazed in front of them, but just as the exit came into view so did several black sedans. They sped into the garage, charging right for SUV. The crackle of gunfire sang like a military funeral procession as the cars swerved to a stop.
Rebecca leaned out of the window and fired back angrily. “Fuck you! Fuck all of you!”
Lenny grabbed her by the shirt and pulled her into the truck. “Are you fucking crazy? Everybody down!” he screamed then gave the SUV more gas.
Like a batterin
g ram they speared through the cluster of sedans and roared towards the exit. Pieces of metal and plastic splintered into the air. The agents unleashed a shower of bullets, but the Suburban sped off.
Suddenly a thunderous sound erupted from below as a raging ball of fire roared through the lower level of the garage. The string of flames slithered and rolled like a dragon’s tail. It quickly grew as it consumed everything in its path.
The agents tried to jump into their cars, but they were too late. The fire engulfed them like a tidal wave. Flames ripped through the garage as the vehicles exploded, sending pieces of burning metal into the air.
Lenny stomped his foot into the floorboard as his heart quaked with fear. Screaming, the black Suburban shot out of the garage and skidded into the street just as the building began to crumple in a fiery inferno.
“Holy shit, it worked!” Maddox exclaimed.
Lenny sped up and headed for the highway suppressing a smile as they left the burning agents behind.
CHAPTER 23
CHECKMATE
“Lenny?” Robert said softly.
“I thought you were asleep,” Lenny replied.
They were cruising through the back roads of South Carolina, the sun slowly dipping into the horizon. They’d left the plagued streets of D.C. more than six hours ago and aside from road noise, the cabin was a symphony of snores.
“Florida?” Robert said.
“I know…I know. We can go around Atlanta though. It’ll take longer and we’ll need to find more gas, but it’ll be safer in the end.”
“That’s not it,” Robert responded. He’d been thinking this through for several hours and just wasn’t sure how to tell Lenny. But his decision was certain. When he told them all what he’d learned from the president, he wasn’t sure at that point what it meant for him. Everything had changed and now he had to come to terms with his new reality.
“What is it then?” Lenny asked.
“I want to stay here,” Robert said blankly.
“Here, where is here?”
Escape: The Wasteland Chronicles Book Two Page 19
