Around him, chaos ensued. Billy caught up to him easily, a pump action shotgun in his hand.
The rounds were falling faster, the whistling sound preceding them giving too little warning. Explosions caused the very ground to shake as people bolted for shelters, often running the opposite direction from the closest one.
A mortar round screamed through the air, the noise getting louder as it approached. Jason screeched to a halt, grabbing Billy in the process as the big man tried to continue on.
Just a moment later, one of the houses erupted as a round landed on it. Debris flew in all directions as the shockwave pushed it forward. As the wave slammed into the two men, it lifted them off the ground, throwing them several yards away.
Fighting to remain conscious, Jason looked over at Billy. The big man was already out, but he noticed his chest rising and falling. He's alive, Jason thought as darkness clouded his vision.
** ** **
"Jason?"
He heard Hector's voice, calling to him through the darkness.
"If this is heaven, I expected Rita Heyworth or Kate Beckinsale to be the one to meet me," Jason said, his voice sounding groggy to his own ears.
Hector laughed.
Jason forced his eyes open. His head throbbed as the world came into focus. "And if this is heaven, I want my money back."
Slowly, he pushed himself up. "Billy?"
Hector nodded. "He's alright. Tameka took him home a little while ago."
"She probably blames me for this. She's always saying I'm a bad influence." Jason shook his head, trying to shake the cobwebs free. He was rewarded with an increase in the headache's intensity.
"How bad?"
"Mostly structural, as best we can tell. Most folks are still in the shelters."
Jason nodded, instantly regretting it. "Jess?"
"Haven't seen her."
That surprised him. Oh, he figured she wouldn't worry about him, necessarily, but Allison was at the school and who knew where Rick was. And there were a lot of other people. Jess fussed over people.
"Help me up," he said.
The big man reached down, taking an arm and pulling his boss up. Jason's head pounded at the movement, but he wasn't really interested in caring about that right now.
His first steps were tentative, like a new foal fresh into the world. With each successive step, he felt steadier and steadier. Soon, he found himself running, his head making its displeasure known.
Behind him, he could hear Hector following. The big man wasn't nearly as fast as Billy, which made him only as fast as Jason. Right now though, one of them was a bit more motivated than the other.
Jason ran down the deserted roads until he rounded the bend closest to his house.
He stopped, shocked.
The house, or what was left of it, was spread out all over the place. The blasted remains of trees littered the ground. All around the remains, that ground looked more like the lunar surface than the Tennessee Valley.
"Jess?" he yelled.
Nothing.
Hector caught up to him, panting like a south Georgia dog in August.
Jason paid little attention to his friend as he bolted toward what was left of the house. Hector, despite his obvious fatigue, followed.
"Jess?" He screamed, hoping she would answer, praying that she couldn't because she was in one of the shelters.
Shards of dried mud and straw covered the floor of his home, little of it could be seen. Jason grabbed the closest piece and threw it outside of what little wall still stood.
To his right, Hector mimicked the action.
Jason's head throbbed worse and worse with each movement. He didn't care. It didn't matter. Nothing mattered except finding Jess.
His armed burned. Each piece was heavier than the last. Small pieces weighed a ton. Each lift powered more and more by will than muscle.
A flash of white caught Jason's eye as he lifted another piece. He remembered Jess wearing her white blouse that morning.
"Hector!" he called.
The deputy rushed over, the two lifting pieces, trying to pull her out.
A flutter caught his eye. Was she alive?
He attacked the pile with renewed strength. "ARGH!" he grunted as he and Hector lifted the last piece, a massive hunk, and tossed it to the side.
Chapter 10
Rick pushed his way through the crowd. The tightly packed shelter was stifling. He was desperate to get out and taste fresh air again. Running and hiding wasn't something he particularly relished.
Katie Miller stood beside him, her body still pressed close, despite the newfound freedom. Not that he minded. Not really.
He looked around for any of his family. He knew Allison was in school, and would stay there for a while even after they got out of the shelters. His father, on the other hand, had to be there somewhere.
All around, people were asking questions. How many are dead? Anyone hurt? Was their house okay? What about the school? Ricky listened, but he didn't have any answers either.
He heard a gasp above the din of the crowd. Heads all around shifted to the northwest. Ricky couldn't quite see what the commotion was.
Katie apparently could.
"Oh God!" she gasped as she began to cry.
Rick looked down at her, ready to comfort the girl. She was looking up at him.
He swung his head back toward the commotion. He still couldn't see. He took a step. Not much, just enough to get Hoss Tompkins from between him and whatever it was that everyone was staring at.
Walking down the road was his father, Hector a few feet behind him. In his arms was the limp form of the woman who'd given Rick and his sister life.
"No. No, can't be," he muttered.
"I'm so sorry," Katie said through her tears. The girl was tough. She had to be after what she went through. He knew that, yet tears streamed down her face. The truth was, he wasn't sure he didn't need it.
He forced his feet to move toward his father. Katie walked with him, but his notice of her began to fade.
With each step, his hopes began to dwindle. The closer he got, the easier it was to see his father's face. Sorrow and rage battled across the man's face, neither giving up ground.
Rick knew his own face was a similar battlefield. The difference was, right now, rage was winning and he was fine with that.
Standing just a couple feet from his father, Rick watched the man drop to his knees, his mother's limp form dangling.
The boulder in his gut seemed to grow. A prickling sensation tickled his face. Rage ripped through him, fueled by the pain of seeing his mother lying before him. A quick look at his father told him the feeling was mutual.
Jess Calvin was going to heaven. Rick and Jason were going to make sure the train to hell was packed.
** ** **
Days passed in a fog. Jason barely remembered anything. Much of the town had come to see him. Any lingering resentment over his survival of the ambush seemed gone.
Jason and Rick nodded politely, smiled painfully, thanked them for their kind words, and promptly forgot who said what. He only barely remembered Simon telling him about a note beneath the heads stating that the girls currently being held would be killed if New Eden launched any further attacks.
The two of them sat around the table in the parsonage. Reverend Hardesty offered it until their home could be rebuilt. What was left of their furniture was stored in various barns around the community. Allison was in school. It was her first day back after the loss of her mother.
Jason remembered how he had to break the news to his daughter. So young, but she'd taken it better than he had. The young were resilient, and the young in this world even more so. That's not to say she wasn't upset. What kid wouldn't be. She was just handling it as well as anyone else could in this day and age.
A knock on the door drew his attention. It opened, a creaking noise filling the air. "Can I come in?" asked Reverend Hardesty, peeking in through the opening.
Jas
on smiled as best he could and nodded.
Hardesty entered the room. His overall were coated in dirt. He'd been an avid gardener before the war, a pastime that continued for very different reasons after it.
The old man pulled a chair and helped himself. "How you boys holding up?"
Jason shrugged. "How well can we?"
Hardesty nodded.
Rick's eyes remained focused on the table by his clenched hands. His knuckles had turned white.
"I know you're talking about going back to Somerton," Hardest said. Jason liked the old man's bluntness.
Jason nodded. It's not like it was particularly secret, especially right now. Everyone expected it.
"You doing this for the right reasons?"
Jason shrugged. "Maybe. I don't know. Right now, I don't care."
"You remember what the Good Book says? 'Vengeance is mine, sayeth the Lord' and all that?"
He nodded. "I remember it."
Hardesty breathed deeply, the corners of his mouth threatening to turn up in a smile.
"I also remember what Genghis Khan said."
The old man looked at Jason, a questioning eyebrow raised.
"I am the punishment of God…If you had not committed great sins, God would not have sent a punishment like me upon you," he said, his voice deepening.
"That's not your place to decide. You know me well enough by not to know I'm not one of those 'love everyone and let them kill ya' type preachers, but I'm worried about this path you're looking going down."
"They've still got fifteen of our people. Plus, I told the Hernandez family that I'd do everything I could to protect them. I said that in this very room."
Hardesty nodded. "You think I don't know that, boy? And it's not that you want to free our people that bothers me."
"Then what is bothering you?" Rick asked, anger filling his voice.
Jason fought back the urge to tell his son to show some respect. He knew who the anger was for, and it wasn't for the preacher.
Hardesty swallowed hard before he spoke. "I'm worried that you're going to be so focused on revenge that you'll forget what's important."
Rick looked up. Calm. The icy calm that seemed to have washed over his oldest chilled Jason to the bone.
"Vengeance belongs to God. So be it. I'm volunteering to be the instrument of that vengeance. In the process, I don't just want Conklin dead. I want everything he stood for, every evil he built, every wrong he committed to be crushed beneath my boot. I want him and those like him to tremble at the thought of what awaits them should they ever try to hurt us again."
Slowly, the younger man stood up.
"Reverend. You're a good man. You were built for the old world, and managed to survive in this one without losing your soul. Good for you. Me? I'm not. Dad? Well, you'll have to ask him, but I know I'm not. I'm the Angel of Death, and Terry Conklin is about to find me on his doorstep."
The young man stood up and walked out.
Jason cleared his throat a few seconds after the door closed behind his son. "Sorry about that. The boy can be a bit dramatic." He smiled, a smile as genuine as he can manage.
Hardesty nodded. "He is at that," he said with a smile.
"Doesn't make him necessarily wrong, either."
The old man shook his head. Jason held up a hand, stopping him before he could respond. "I'm just saying that I agree with him about beating Conklin. Live. Die. That's irrelevant. Beating him? Making it so he knows that he failed? From what I can tell, that is how you get revenge on someone like Conklin."
"So you're not just planning on taking the man's life?"
"Of course not. Rick'll see that as well. He just needs time to calm down. That's all."
Hardesty nodded. "Okay, if you say so." He pushed himself up from the table. "Well, I need to see some other folks today. You know where to find me if you need me," he said with a smile.
Jason stood up and smiled. "Of course. And I appreciate you stopping by. I really do."
Hardesty walked toward the door, Jason right beside him.
The two men stepped through the door and out into a beautiful Tennessee afternoon. Rick leaned against a tree, defiant.
Jason bid his farewells to the pastor, then walked up to his son.
"Did I miss much?" Rick asked, sounding more like a seventeen year old with attitude than he ever had before.
"Yep. Missed me telling him that we're not going there with any intention to kill Conklin."
Rick laughed, his anger tainting any mirth in it. "Speak for yourself."
Jason's eyes were still on the pastor. "You need to learn a little tact. It can come in handy from time to time."
"Not my strong suit. Besides, didn't you manage to piss off the entire council a time or two?"
He nodded. Rick was more of a direct and blunt sort. "Well, I said you need to learn it. Not that I could teach it." He continued, "besides, it's not like it was true."
Rick's gaze flew toward his father. "What?"
"Oh, we're going there and we will get our people, but we're going to kill the shit out of Terry Conklin, and for once, I'm actually going to enjoy it."
** ** **
Jason was in the office early. He had a lot to think about, and he'd done plenty of thinking here. In his hands were a stack of papers. Old, but still in good shape, they crinkled when he moved.
"Whatcha got there?" Hector asked.
Jason jumped, completely unaware Billy and come in.
"Nothing really. Just something I wrote up a few years back."
Hector raised his eyebrow, questioningly. "You're a writer?"
Jason smiled. "Used to be. Folks wanted me to write up what happened to me right after the war."
"Springing Jess?" Hector knew it had to be a sore subject, but he wanted to make sure.
"That, and getting there in the first place."
Hector knew the story. Most folks did.
"Never knew you wrote down what really happened."
Jason nodded.
"Mind if I read it sometime?"
"I thought everyone already knew what happened."
Hector shook his head. "Nope. We know the stories, but that's different. Things tend to get bigger in the telling. You know how they go."
Jason nodded. "Yeah, folks do tend to exaggerate, don't they?"
"What else are they supposed to do since they can't get into arguments on Twitter anymore?"
He smiled. "Fair enough." He considered for a second. "And yeah, feel free to read it any time you want. I'd rather you knew the truth as I saw it than whatever else is getting spread around."
"Cool. So…why are you reading it now?"
Jason shrugged. "Damned if I know. I just…I don't know. I guess it's just something about a time when I actually could do something to save her."
"You can't beat yourself up over this, man. You just can't."
He nodded. "Yeah, I know, but you've got to know that's easier said than done. After so much, and she died like that?" He shook his head slowly. "I'm always going to feel like it's partially my fault."
"Stop being a pussy," another voice said from the door.
Jason looked up to see Billy's hulking form darkening the doorway. "Who are you calling a pussy? And shouldn't your ass be in bed?"
"I'm calling you a pussy, and I'm not in bed because I'm not a pussy and didn't see a reason to stay home."
"Fair enough."
Billy hobbled in. He'd injured his leg in the mortar blast in addition to the concussion that knocked him out. The doc told him to stay in bed for another week. Of course, Jason couldn't criticize him too much. It's not like he'd have stayed in bed either.
"When are you going?" Billy asked.
Jason shrugged. "Trying to work it out. Been talking to Holliman, getting the layout of the town, the inhabitants, stuff like that."
Billy nodded. "Then focus on that. Stop with this blaming yourself shit. You and I both know it's bullshit."
Jason shrugged
. Like I said, it's easier said than done."
"Do or do not. There is no try," the big man said with a grin. "Just make sure before you leave, you stop by here."
"Did you just go there? And why do I need to come here?" Jason asked.
"Yes, I did, and Hector and I'll have some surprises ready for you."
"It's good to be loved, you know that?"
"Yeah, but in a strictly non-prison movie sense," the big man said, holding his hands up as if to keep Jason away.
"Whatever helps you sleep at night," Jason said, feeling a bit better than he had in some time.
Chapter 11
Jason, Rick, Hector and Holliman snuck out in the middle of the night. So far as most anyone knew, they'd headed south to visit Jess's mother outside of Rome, leaving Allison with Simon's family while he was gone. In the context, it made perfect sense. Hector and Billy knew, of course. So did the council. The rest of town knew nothing. It was better that way.
Three of the men had worn backpacks put together by Hector and Billy. Hector had a bag with some essentials, but he wasn't going the whole way. After all, he was just going to relay some basic info back to New Eden. From the outside, there was nothing extraordinary about them, just regular old pre-war backpacking packs.
Rick and Jason both carried AR-15's, and carried about twelve hundred rounds each in the packs, along with food, some spare clothes, and what Billy simply called "surprises". Holliman opted to go unarmed, stating that if they happened to be captured, he could always claim to be a prisoner and get them out. If he happened to be armed, he didn't figure anyone was stupid enough to buy that.
Well, Jason was pretty sure Cory Masters would, but since he wasn't here, it wasn't worth worrying about.
Jason questioned that amount of ammo, however, since Sully told him there was a lot less. Hector admitted to having hit up some of the residents for extra. He didn't tell them why, just that he needed it.
The ammo made the packs heavy as hell, and then there was the food. They weren't taking a direct route to Somerton. That way was suicide. Instead, they had to come at Conklin from an angle. To do that, they needed to arrange a meeting.
Bloody Eden (Soldiers of New Eden Book 2) Page 10
