Ranger Martin and the Search for Paradise

by Jack Flacco

  “Your sister needs to get over Randy. She might get us all killed.” Silver said.

  “I can’t help you. She’s her own boss.” Jon covered his mouth while he whispered the words.

  “If she doesn’t help Ranger and Randy, who’s to say she will help one of us when we’re in trouble. She’s got to snap out of it.”

  “She’ll be fine. Give her some time. She’ll be good in a few days.”

  “A few days?” Sunglow stomped her foot. “By that time they’ll be dead.”

  “I was being sarcastic.”

  Another gunshot from across the street sliced through their conversation. This time it jostled the kids to jump in one spot. Matty, though, showed no reaction. She spent her time tracing patterns on the Blackjack table.

  * * *

  With Randy and Ranger on one side of the sliding door and the undead on the other, it was a wonder the door hadn’t collapsed under the weight of the zombies. While the boys looked over the balcony for an escape, the undead had tossed the chair that had held the door shut. Ranger dashed to the opening and once again released a massive volley into the crowd. This gave Randy enough time to wedge the chair back in place.

  While Randy held the chair against the door, Ranger scampered around the balcony in search of an alternate way of escape. The screams from the horde trapped behind the glass door inside the presidential suite raised bristles along the back of his neck. It didn’t slow the zombie slayer down though. His first idea consisted of him attempting to reach one of the balconies, right or left, and take flight to safety that way. Seeing how the balconies were ten feet from each other, Ranger wasn’t willing to take a chance to jump to their freedom. He had a long way to drop if he missed the ledge.

  Next, Ranger thought he could climb to the balcony above. Even that proved a challenge. The ledge ran flush with the railing and the length of his reach was short by a hand. He would have to stand on the railing on the bottom, balance his weight and try to hop to the top. If he missed, there wouldn’t be a guarantee he’d land on the railing again. If anything, the chances of falling were greater than the chances of landing safely.

  The horde had grown to over fifty. It began to smack the sliding door as Randy held his back against the glass. He knew he couldn’t hold it much longer and needed Ranger to find a way out of this mess without losing their lives. If anything, he wanted Ranger to find an answer sooner rather than later. His palms began to sweat with fear thinking about an alternative to a happy ending.

  Ranger’s last idea had to do with climbing over the railing and down to the next balcony on the floor below. If he could do that himself, he could then help Randy do the same when he reached the bottom.

  “Ranger, I can’t hold it much longer!” Randy said, as the thumps of the undead hit his back. He thought once the first crack appeared in the glass it would only be a matter of time before they breached the balcony.

  “I’m going over the railing,” Ranger said, as he piled more chairs in front of the sliding door. “I’ll go first then you can follow me.”

  “You’re out of your mind if you think I’m going over the railing. We must be at least six floors up. If I lose my grip, I’ll be nothing more than a grease spot on the pavement below. No way, Ranger.”

  “Listen to me. You’re gonna have to trust me on this. I’ll go first, land on the balcony below and once you’re hanging from the ledge, I’ll catch you.”

  “No.”

  Ranger rushed Randy and grabbed him by the shirt, “Do you trust me?”

  Randy didn’t answer.

  “Do you trust me?” The undead killer shook the kid. “Answer me!”

  “Okay. Fine. I’ll do what you say.” Randy said, but didn’t answer what Ranger had asked.

  To the undead killer, the answer Randy gave was good enough. He nodded and tore to the railing, as was his plan. He glanced at the bottom, and while Randy had said it was a long way to the pavement below, he had no other choice. Ranger swung his legs over the railing and planted his feet on the other side of the ledge as he held on with the hope that he wouldn’t lose his grip.

  The banging continued behind Randy until the first crack in the glass appeared. It sounded like ice breaking on a frozen lake. At first, it began small, but as the crowd pressed their weight on the glass, the crack expanded with a nasty, sizzle from behind Randy’s shoulder to his waist. From there, the crack split into two branches that traveled the length of his body to the back of his knees.

  Seeing he had no time to waste, Ranger followed through with his plan. He held on to the top of the railing, balancing his weight on his arms until he dropped his legs to dangle on the ledge by his hands. He could see where he could land, but he knew it was going to hurt. He swung twice—the first to gain enough inertia to allow his body to veer under the balcony, and the second to allow enough swing to carry him through to the floor.

  It was that second swing when he let go and held his breath hoping it wouldn’t hurt. He landed on his back and smacked his head on the railing. The impact blew his cap off his head to land next to him. He groaned thinking of all the bad ideas he had had in his lifetime, this was one of the worst. At least he knew one floor below he was safe. That was his goal and he achieved it.

  Massaging this lower back, Ranger rose to a limp. He settled his cap back on his head but frowned at the idea that he couldn’t walk. He shook his leg and stomped it a few times to get used to the pain. He soon had forgotten about it and ambled to the railing.

  “Randy!” He had cupped both hands around his mouth and called. “Randy, come down.”

  As the banging continued behind him, Randy trembled at the thought the eaters might finally have a chance to gorge on his flesh. When another crack formed on the glass behind his back though, he remained frozen in place not knowing if he’d have enough time to run, climb the rail and drop to Ranger’s floor.

  In spite of his worry, Randy heard Ranger call for him. Ranger’s voice lit Randy’s face with hope. He knew then what he had to do.

  Without a moment to waste, he sprinted to the railing as a great explosion of glass behind him followed. When he had hopped the railing to the other side, chewers stormed the balcony screeching in hunger. As one of the undead reached for him, Randy punched it in the face and dropped to the ledge. The chewers reached through the railing, poking their arms for the teen’s head. He dodged them, but couldn’t prevent any of them from grabbing his hands as he hung from the edge. The groans and wails pressed Randy to let go of one hand while hanging on for his life with the other. He alternated back and forth, waiting, not sure what to do next.

  While the zombies clawed at Randy’s hair, he quivered. His hand loosened and he couldn’t hold on much longer. He gazed at the pavement below thinking what would life be like without hope. He needed closure before falling to his death.

  As soon as another eater reached for his arm, he nodded his head, closed his eyes and decided he’d rather die as a splatter mark on the ground below than to become a meal to a chewer.

  He let go.

  Expecting an end to his life, Randy held his breath. It would have worked out hadn’t Ranger extended his arms over the rail below. Randy landed in Ranger’s arms.

  “Damn it, you’re heavy.” Ranger said.

  Randy took a deep breath then said, “I don’t know how you can say that. I starve myself and I weigh as light as a sheet of paper. Now, put me down.”

  No sooner had Ranger set him on his feet, Randy turned to the sliding glass door. Facing him from the other side, one of the chewers burned with anger smacking its head on the glass. Its groans alerted the others from the top floor.

  “From the frying pan—” Randy said.

  “Don’t say it.”

  “We’re no better off than where we were to begin with. What are we supposed to do now?”

  “How much ammo did you carry with you?”

  “A handful. What about you?”

  “Same.”

&nbs
p; “We can only kill so many before the crowd gets as big as the one upstairs.”

  It was then bullets tore through the crowd on the other side of the sliding door to splash the undead’s rotten brains all over the glass. Ranger and Randy exchanged surprised looks wondering what happened. They certainly didn’t release a volley of bullets on the unsuspecting horde. Yet, they had a good idea who did.

  And they were right.

  Beyond the threshold, into the suite and passed the room’s doors stood their answer. Matty and Sunglow’s guns smoldered where they stood silent, waiting for an acknowledgment that they had done well.

  Ranger slid the door from the balcony open, pushed through the bodies on the other side, stepped and crushed heads, then drifted to the girls as Randy followed with his gun in his hand.

  Jon ran in then said, “I saw the whole thing. Sis and Sunglow blew them all away. They didn’t even wait to see if you were fine. They started firing and made a mess out of anything that moved.”

  “Right now, I don’t think it’s a good idea to stand around and talk about how great everythin’ worked out. We’re not done yet.” Ranger said.

  When Randy saw Matty, for a moment he had let go of what she had done to him. He gave her a slight smile but then all the feelings he had of the anger, the humiliation and the rejection cramped his stomach again. He wiped his face with his hand and walked past her, keeping his gaze fixed on the floor ahead.

  “Aw c’mon, Randy. Are you kidding me?” Matty said, throwing her hands in the air.

  The undead horde rumbled in the stairwell as their steps drew closer to Ranger and the kids. During the time Randy and Silver made eye contact, they nodded to one another. The gesture had more to do with their willingness to respect one another than any animosity between them, had Matty and Silver gotten together. Randy wasn’t about to hold a grudge against his competition because he knew it wasn’t Silver who was the problem. It was Matty.

  Instead of getting involved as he had always done, Ranger had decided he would deal with it some other time. For now, they had to get out of there, get to the vehicles and continue on their journey. Taking the lead, Ranger went left of the door toward the stairwell where the sound of the herd slammed against the walls while the others followed him.

  Randy, however, went right and headed toward the stairwell designated as the fire escape route. When Ranger cocked his shotgun and took a survey of the kids behind him, he noticed Randy going the other way. The first thing that went through his mind was not if Randy was showing another way out, but what if Randy was leaving them again.

  “Hey,” Randy waved, “over here.”

  Had Ranger known, he would have rested without worrying. He realized Randy had made the decision to stay. He pointed backward and told the kids, “Follow Randy.”

  Just as the kids had twirled in an about-face, the gang of zombies that had stormed the stairs from the top floor made their appearance behind them where Ranger protected the rear. One shotgun blast after another, Ranger put distance between the horde and the kids who scampered along the corridor to the fire escape exit.

  As Ranger held his place, blowing holes through the crowd, Silver couldn’t help but say what ran through his mind, “The next time anyone tries to convince me to tag along on their adventure of a lifetime, remind me to slap them in the face. This is not what I had in mind when I agreed to this.”

  “Shut up and keep running.” Sunglow snapped.

  When Ranger saw the gap between him and the kids had widened, a big smirk ran along the edge of his lips as he drew his knife. He didn’t need an excuse to have fun.

  Yet Matty, having known Ranger for a while, glanced over her shoulder, and said. “Ranger, this is no time to play with zombies. Get over here!”

  He slashed the neck of one of his victims and cracked the head of another under his heel. He pounded the face of a chewer with the butt of his shotgun and stabbed another eater with his cold blade. Green splattered on the walls and streamed along the floor under his feet. Once he had poked the eye from the last of his quarry, Ranger sprinted along the hallway leaving behind a mound of dead bodies in his wake.

  Randy led the others down the stairs of the fire escape, through the kitchen and into the rear parking lot of the casino. The sun hit their faces from which they shielded their eyes with their hands and arms to prevent the rays from blinding them.

  “Is everyone here?” Sunglow asked.

  Randy counted heads, “Yeah, everyone except Ranger.”

  Another shotgun blast tore through the casino and Ranger appeared at the doorway. He said, “That had to be one of the cleanest escapes we’ve had.”

  “Why do you have to jinx it?” Matty asked. She seemed as if she was back to her old self.

  “Who’s jinxin’ what?”

  “You. We were about to get our asses handed to us and you were hanging back having a gran ol’ time shooting it up and being a jerk.”

  “Matty, are you being serious?” Jon asked.

  “Totally.” Matty stomped her way toward the zombie slayer who stood with his back to the door. “Every time. Every single time—”

  No sooner had she said the words, three chewers appeared from the kitchen adjacent to the doorway headed to Ranger. With outstretched arms and fierce teeth, they dashed toward their meal.

  “Ranger!” Matty pointed behind him.

  Seeing them heading his way, Ranger’s mind quickly pieced together a plan only a seasoned undead killer would have thought. He was thinking so fast, everything around him slowed down. He saw the propane tank under one of the kitchen stoves in the far corner of the room. He glanced at the door to the back entryway. He then spotted the demons pressing toward him without easing their pace.

  Time caught up with Ranger. He shot the propane tank. Before the impact hit him, he slammed the door shut and dove on Matty. The door blew past them as the rest of the kids ducked. Flames seared Ranger’s back but his jacket protected him from any real damage. The undead were once again dead.

  Ranger rolled off Matty, bellowing with laughter having cheated death once more. Matty rose and brushed the dust from her jeans. She said, “I don’t know why I even bother sometimes.”

  Chapter 13

  Before leaving the Costavano Hotel in Las Vegas, Ranger and the kids packed the back of his truck with food. Items such as crackers, canned corn, packaged rice and peanut butter were to become staple meals for their trip out of the city. Ranger had also found an abandoned pickup truck in the back parking lot of their hotel for the others to drive instead of the useless car that was nothing but an eyesore for him.

  After having left early that afternoon, Ranger drove the truck west on Route 95 past Indian Springs and had with him Randy in the front seat, Sunglow and Jon sitting in the back. Jon loved sitting behind Ranger because it made him feel as if he were driving the truck, much like the hero Ranger was to him.

  In the pickup following Ranger’s SUV, Silver drove while Matty sat in the passenger seat. Since she enjoyed watching the landmarks pass by, Matty wouldn’t think of any other place than to sit in the front.

  Silver glanced at her as she sat quietly. “Are you okay? Ranger dove on you pretty hard behind that hotel. I’m surprised he didn’t break anything.”

  Matty shook her head. “I’m fine.”

  “I thought I’d ask.” Silver kept pace with Ranger’s truck but his mind drifted on Matty. He had never met anyone like her. Aside from Sunglow, Matty was the only girl he knew. He couldn’t help but glance at her occasionally, wondering what went through her mind as they drove to Yosemite.

  “I’m normal like everyone else.” She said.

  “What?”

  “You. Staring at me. I’m no different than Sunglow.”

  “I wasn’t thinking of you.” He lied.

  “I totally know when someone’s checking me out.”

  “You don’t have a clue.”

  “Okay. Whatever.” Matty turned her head to look out h
er passenger window, and smiled.

  “Fine. Maybe I was. I’m a guy. What am I supposed to do? Ignore you?”

  “Told you, you were.”

  Matching turn for turn and keeping a safe distance from Ranger’s truck, Silver pinched his chin in thought. He debated whether he should pursue a conversation with her. He decided to take a chance and asked, “You said you were from Boston. What was it like growing up in a big city?”

  “You can ask me any question you like and you’ve decided to ask me about Boston?”

  “I thought we’d start there.”

  “What was it like growing up in a small town?”

  Silver squirmed, pressing his butt against the back of his seat and readjusting his hands on the steering wheel. Once comfortable, he said, “It was quiet. Torneo’s a baseball town. Every summer our businesses sponsored a regional league, inviting nearby towns to play. Those summer nights were great. Me and my parents sat in the stands watching my kid brother play ball. Most Friday nights were like that. It was really an excuse to get out of the house to be with friends. My dad loved it because he enjoyed the nacho chips he had bought from the kids in the stand who were trying to make extra money for the weekend.”

  “Sounds like you had a good time.”

  “I did. I once met a girl there. She was my age and came from Jessum, where Mark and—” He caught himself before he said another word.

  “You can say Randy’s name. I’m won’t get upset.”

  He studied her face and saw her sincerity. He continued, “Where Mark and Randy were from. We went out for a while, but it never worked out. I ended up seeing her eaten alive by those gut churners.”

  “How did it happen?”

  “I don’t know. My friends and I were running away from a horde in the street and we passed by her house. By the time we saw her, it was too late. The eaters had already taken her down on her lawn and were tearing her apart. We couldn’t help her.”