The Road to Round Mountain II - The Alliance: By C.G Roberts

by C. G. Roberts

from the darts. “Yeah, but the choices in here are pretty much nonexistent”. I agreed as I sat on Vargas’s bed and fu mbled my way around the table for the ashtray.

  I was scared along with getting angry at having a big bull’s eye on me everywhere we went. Without realizing it my fists started squeezing the edge of the mattress and then it hit me. The mattresses could be our ticket out of here.

  I was reminded of a scene in Indiana Jones- the Last Crusade when Indiana

  and his dad were trying to escape when his dad sat down in a rocking chair and the floor gave way to stairs, “I find that if I just sit down and think, The solution presents itself”. The mattress was my solution and I quickly shared it with Vargas. “Where’s the Jeep parked”, I hurriedly asked? Vargas found his bearings and pointed towards the back wall and a bit to the left, “About twenty feet to our left”, he replied. “Let’s grab our crap and a mattress and let’s get the hell out of

  here”. Vargas grabbed his backpack as did I. I grabbed the mattress off my bed and brought it into Vargas’s room. Vargas was ready and asked, “Can you do that thing of looking through the wall to get a better idea how close we are to the Jeep”?

  I nodded and focused on the back wall of the motel when we heard the front

  window break. We needed to hurry but I also needed to focus. We could hear a

  hiss and figured that we were about to be gassed out in their direction as I got the first whiff of the gas. “I got it, the Jeeps maybe ten feet to the left”, I declared. Vargas hollered, “Grab the mattress and hold it in front of you”, and Vargas

  concentrated for a quick second before blowing the back wall out with chunks of wood and other debris flying in every direction. Before the dust had a chance to

  settle we made a run for it. We didn’t hear gun fire but we did hear the whisper

  of what had to be the dart guns.

  Running for your life is one thing, doing it while clutching on to a mattress in the dark of night is something I don’t recommend. I heard a thud as Vargas seemed to have found the Jeep. I tossed the mattress I was holding into the backseat to use as a shield against the onslaught of darts; or so I hoped. Vargas was backing the Jeep out just as I hopped in and floored it, churning up larges clouds of dirt and gravel on the way.

  I glanced to my right and saw a dark colored vehicle of some kind with someone propped on the hood for leverage. I made a motion with my arm aimed at the pine tree just past the car and the tree came flying down on the vehicle. It was a loud crunching sound of too much tree and not enough car as we had one less vehicle to worry about. I couldn’t tell if the shooter got out of the way as we were spinning around towards the front of the Hotel.

  People were starting to come out of their rooms to see what the commotion

  was. I didn’t want to do it, but I had no idea whose vehicle belonged to weary travelers or hired gunman’s, so I brought my arms together like I was going to clap real loud, and all of the cars in the parking lot either rammed or crashed into the

  other cars. An impromptu demolition derby was all I could come up with on the

  fly.

  It was loud and you could hear tires pop and people scream as the crashing sound of driverless cars ramming each other. I put down my arms as we made a hard right turn heading south again on highway 139. I was hoping that I caused enough damage in the parking lot to keep anyone from following, but I wasn’t going to hold my breath on that one.

  I felt one of those darts hum past my ear as Vargas was getting us up to warp speed. It sounded li ke an angry bee, but after being on the receiving end of one of those darts last night; I think I would rather deal with a pissed off bee.

  Vargas had me adjust the rearview mirror so I can keep an eye out for anyone following. My view was obstructed by a full size mattress behind me. I turned to grab ahold of it and toss it off to the side when I noticed nine darts sticking out of

  the mattress on the back side. Being careful not to touch one of the darts I

  managed to chuck the mattress off to the side of the road.

  So far so good, it’s been a few minutes since our impromptu departure and I

  was ready for a smoke since our last one was so rudely interrupted.

  I handed one to Vargas and we tried to calm down and get a clear head while we puffed away. Vargas turned his head in my direction, “You know we’re going

  to have to ditch the car”? I had no such knowledge but my reasoning soon kicked in as our attempted captures now know what we drive now; all I wanted was a little sleep, or course if I would have got hit by one of those darts, my wish would already be in progress.

  We were cruising at a good rate of speed a nd no one has been following us, a good sign so far until the Jeep started sputtering. Vargas shouted, “Rotten bastards, they cut our gas line”, as he pointed to the gas gauge which was indeed showing empty. We had just crested a hill so we had a bit of a downhill run as Vargas was frantically looking for a place to ditch the car so it wouldn’t be seen from the highway.

  I didn’t see it, but Vargas did as he made a quick right turn on not exactly a road but more of path which ended quickly when we ran i nto a group of bushes. We climbed out of the jeep and we had maybe a fifty foot climb uphill, so at least the Jeep is hidden from view.

  The prospect of hiking all night in the dark was not sounding appealing but we made our way to the highway so at least we could see where we were going and could hop off to the side of the road if any traffic came along. It was almost chilly outside as the sky was clear and more stars than one could count. I pulled out a smoke and lit up as I gave one to Vargas. If nothing else we were bound and

  determined to finish a smoke.

  We walked in silence and could hear any and every noise since there was no wind tonight. If someone was driving along the highway, we would hear them in plenty of time to hop off to the side. Half way through our cigarette we heard traffic coming.

  Survival is one thing, but not letting someone finish a smoke in peace is really starting to piss me off. Vargas and I ducked off to the side of the highway waiting

  for the onco ming traffic. “Do you think it’s one of those that were after us”, I

  inquired? “Depends, whoever cut the gas line knew how far we would get and would slow down to check for our disabled Jeep. If they’re hauling ass down the road, then I doubt that they would be after us”, He concluded.

  Sure enough the vehicle was slowing down. It seemed like it wasn’t moving at all since it was going so slow. Once it got close enough, I could tell that it was a dark colored Dodge Charger with two occupants. “What now”, I asked in hopes of

  an answer? A shrug of the shoulders was all the answer that Vargas would offer.

  The Charger pulled off to the side of highway 139 just enough to stay out of the way in case another car came by. They put their blinkers on. My, aren’t they considerate. All I could see was two guys piling out of the car and it appeared

  that they were both carrying rifles. They were maybe fifty feet to our north still

  on the edge of the highway looking carefully as they scanned their flashlights in all

  directions.

  Vargas whispered in my ear and pointed to the light pole that was between us and the gunmen. We stood slowly as not to make any noise and Vargas just looked at the gunman nearest to the pole. As if he were shot out of a cannon, the first gunman went flying face first into the light pole dropping his weapon as his unconscious body slithered to the ground. As the second gunman drew his rifle shoulder high but seeing nothing was thrust into the pole as well only his rifle went off as he hit the pole. He landed just to the right of the first one.

  We carefully made our way to them. We were pretty sure they were out of it

  to say the least but we weren’t taking any chances. As we closed in on the two

  gunmen, they were indeed out cold.

  Vargas grabbed one of the rifles and motioned for me to do the same as he
opened the driver’s side door and told me to get in. As I was getting in the Charger and tossing the rifle in the backseat I offered, “Are you sure this is a good

  idea. You know that they’ve been tracking us, and I’m sure that they have the same crap on these cars as well. All they have to do is not get any word from those two and they start following us again”.

  “Well said grasshopper, but so you see the screen in front of us by the radio

  controls”, Vargas asked with a sly smile? I nodded as he continued, “This is a touch screen and I’m betting that all that info is already in front of us”. Vargas started to touch the screen but started the car instead and pulled out slowly while looking for the flasher button .

  Once on the road Vargas started to touch the screen repeatedly. He looked like an artist with a brush, moving his hand back and forth as if he were creating a technical masterpiece. “There we go Billy boy”, as I looked over at the screen and

  could see our blip on the highway heading south. “That’s not a good thing as they know where we are”, I implied . “Fear not, they have no idea yet that their folks are out of commission, but to put your mind at ease”, as he lifted a finger at the

  touch screen and poof, the screen went dark, accompanied by a bit of smoke.

  That did make me feel better, until Vargas added, “You know we’re going to have to ditch this car as well, right”. I did realize that fact but I just wanted to get as far away as possible from our predators. In the meantime I was going to make it through an enti re smoke or at least attempt it, while I pondered how many more cars we were going to have to ditch along the way.

  Vargas joined me in a smoke and indeed we managed to have a semi relaxing smoke without interruptions. My focus was watching my side view mirror for those who wished to crash our party. A destination seemed like a good idea, as I was having a hard time staying awake even with the windows down and the cool

  air losing its battle in an effort to keep me awake.

  “Any place in mind or are we just going to continue cruising until we find a

  replacement car”? Vargas slightly turned his head in my direction and replied,

  “Reno”. Okay that didn’t explain a lot except that it sounds as though he has

  been there before. “Reno is our next stopping point. I know of a small town about an hour away called Susanville and they have an all-night diner and we can grab some food and then we have maybe ninety miles to R eno and get a room”.

  Food and a room sounded like the perfect combination right now. I reached in the back seat and grabbed my backpack which was getting mighty filthy these days to check inventory so to speak. I still had four packs of smokes a nd enough clean clothes for a couple of days at least. I but the backpack aside and pulled out my new phone. With the towers down all over since the earthquake I doubted that I would be able to send a text to Jenny, but I gave it a shot anyway. (Going to Reno, Love you and miss you, Billy) was my text and I hit send. To my surprise it went through. There must be enough towers this far south to pick that up. I was happy. I knew that she would be asleep, but it would be waiting for her the first thing i n the morning.

  37

  I must have dozed off as Vargas pulled into the parking lot of Jack in the Box on highway 36. I rubbed my eyes and turned to Vargas, “This is your all-night diner”. “This will have to do; the other place i s all boarded up. It must have

  closed awhile back”. I woke up to the smell of a Jumbo Jack combo with of

  course, Dr. Pepper for the drink. Vargas had some spicy cheeseburger

  combination that smelled a lot better than it looked. We had just finished up when Vargas said, “Your turn to drive, we have maybe an hour or so to get to Reno so just stay on this road and it will merge with highway 395 which will go right into Reno. I need a nap”.

  That was something that no one had ever suggested before, th at I get behind

  the wheel and drive. “I don’t have a driver’s license and”……………………… He cut

  me off in mid stride, “First off, I don’t really care since I don’t have one either. Two we stole a car and not only that it belongs to people that want to shoot us so they can capture us, and three, shut the fuck up and get behind the wheel”.

  This should prove to be entertaining to say the least as Vargas got out of the driver’s side as I made my way around to the driver’s side. Well, its four thirty in the morning on what appears a lightly traveled highway, so it’s as good a time as any to see if I have any driving skills.

  The coordination factor between my brain and how hard to step on the gas was missing some important information but I managed after a while. I was sure that I gave Vargas whiplash as I took off from the Jack in the Box parking lot. His head stopped bobbling after a bit so I’m assuming that he’s okay. My tenacity picked up some after it was suggested that we might hit retirement age before we hit Reno if someone doesn’t get this car up to speed.

  I was able to relax somewhat now that Vargas dozed off. I even got the courage to light up a smoke while I’m driving. After listening to his nagging I

  needed one. I hadn’t seen a car in either direction since we left Jack in the Box. If

  one came up behind us I’m sure that they would go around and pass me. I was fine with that. The sign off the road up ahead read, Fun, all day and all night in Reno, 38 miles.

  The first light of day was making its way on the eastern horizon. We were getting close to downtown Reno when I made a right turn into a large grocery store parking lot. It wasn’t the turn that woke Vargas, but the fact that I ran over a curb in the process. “What the fuck”, Vargas exclaimed! “Sorry about that, but I think you should drive from here, traffic is picking up and my nerves are shot”.

  Vargas smiled, “Hey you did pretty well but I’ll take it from here”. Thank god,

  my first time driving and it’s after I’ve had little sleep and that natural disaster

  thing from yesterday. Vargas took us out of the parking lot and back on highway

  395 south. We traveled for about fifteen minutes when he took the Mill street

  exit and passed a perfectly good hotel for a Honda dealership behind it. There were dozens of cars everywhere as I finally figured out what he was doing. Towards the back where the used cars are parked Vargas found a spot in between a couple of cars similar in style to what we were in. “Grab the rifles and toss them in the trunk, I’ll pop the latch”.

  I did as instructed except when I saw the bag in the trunk that had the darts in

  it, I took the bag and tossed it over the fence into a junky empty lot. Vargas smiled at my efforts. Rifles hidden, stolen car stashed in the middle of other cars, backpack around my shoulder and off we went. Not much of a walk though, the perfectly good Hotel that we passed, we walked right up to it in a few minutes.

  The Baymont Inn and suites looked much nicer than then one in Tule Lake. It’s

  not their fault, we weren’t there lo ng enough to give a proper review.

  I waited outside as Vargas got us a room. Being underage has its drawbacks when you’re on the lamb. I never thought I would ever say that I’m on the lamb, but that’s another phrase I picked up from Criminal Minds. Vargas returned and pointed up. I followed up the stairs as our room was on the third floor. “This is it, they only had the one room, but it’s got two beds so who’s first for the shower”?

  It was pretty nice, and it had a nice view of bunch of old junk cars in a lot right

  down below us. The room was okay I guess, not that I would be here all that long.

  A shower and some sleep and then get another car and head for Round

  Mountain.

  While I waited for Vargas to get done with his shower, I texted Jenny to have

  her tell the Sheriff where we were at. I texted the Sheriff as well and it said that it

  sent but all I could think about was sleep. I laid down on one of the beds to wait on Vargas who was taking fo
rever and before I knew it sleep found me before the

  shower did.

  38

  Walt was attempting to figure out the one cup coffee maker in their room. Still groggy from the previous day’s events and that Bill was snorting and snoring away Walt decided that awake was better than not being able to sleep listening to Bill and his band of snorts. He heard his phone buzz on the end table. Stubbing his toe on the edge of the bed and cursing up a storm as he retrieved it, Walt noticed that he had two messages, one from Jenny and one from Billy.

  “Thank god”, he exclaimed with joy as finally hearing from Billy. “What now”, Bill asked as he slowly stirred about in bed? “Heard from Billy, they’re in Reno”, as the Sheriff paused for a moment. Why was Billy still with Vargas, and what happened to the message that he told Jenny to give to him. The Sheriff checked his other message. Jenny said that before she could tell Billy about Vargas, that the phone went dead and she couldn’t call back.

  The Sheriff’s phone buzzed again. It was Jenny again saying that Billy is in Reno with Vargas, so he still has no idea what Vargas has planned. The Sheriff sent a quick thank you text and to keep trying to get in touch with Billy.

  A window rattling fart blasted from the Captain as he passed Walt on his way to the bathroom. “Thanks for sharing, and you might want to check your shorts on that one Bill”, as the Sheriff went to the door to garner some fresh air. “Just giving everyone my wakeup call”, Bill replied.

  “Billy’s in Reno and he doesn’t have a clue about Vargas yet”, The Sheriff

  bellowed from the door. A loud flush followed by Bill’s reappearance into the room offered, “I thought Jenny was going to tell him, couldn’t she get through”? “She said that when he called her from the hotel room phone, the li ne went dead before she could tell him”, The Sheriff added. “So what now”, Bill inquired?

  “Grab your shit Bill, we’re flying to Reno”, and waved a hand in front of his face as