His Name Was Zach | Book 3 | Their Names Were Many

by Martuneac, Peter

  “Ha!” the man shouted back, interrupting Jax. “So nearly a goddamn decade later, the government finally sends out some jackbooted thugs to check on folks? How quaint.”

  “Are you in need of any immediate assistance?” Jax continued, not wanting to bandy words with the old man for longer than he had to.

  “I have never needed any assistance from your precious government!” the man replied. “So fuck you, and the actual horse you rode in on! Ha!”

  “What about anyone else in your home?” called Abby.

  “Ain’t no one else here,” the man replied.

  “Then you wouldn’t mind if we came in and checked around?”

  “Fat chance of that! Any of you take a single step closer and I’ll kill you all before you can blink!”

  The barrels of his minigun began to spin around with a menacing, mechanical whir, though no bullets were yet fired. “Go on, get!” the man yelled.

  “I’d put that down if I were you!” Jax yelled.

  “Yeah? And how do you intend to make me?”

  Jax slowly reached his hand up to his shoulder to key in his short-range radio. “Yuri, why don’t you go ahead and turn on your laser?”

  An instant later a bright, red dot appeared on the old man’s chest, just below his collarbone. The man noticed this and gazed off into the mountains, as if expecting to see whomever was shining the laser on him. Slowly, reluctantly, he set down the minigun and took off the backpack, raising both his hands in the air.

  “Fine. Fuckin’ fine,” he said. “Go ahead and violate my rights, you fuckin’ pricks.”

  “Thank you,” said Abby. She and the others all dismounted from their horses, then tied them to a nearby tree while Jax ordered Chris and Miguel to stay outside with their animals.

  “You can’t do this you know, this is illegal,” insisted Adam (for Adam it was) as everyone filed past him and into his house.

  “We have our orders,” Hiamovi said, speaking up for the first time as he paused just outside the door. “We’re supposed to ensure the safety of any survivors out here, which would include anyone you may or may not be holding here.”

  Hiamovi motioned with his hand for Adam to enter the house in front of him, which he did.

  “And I told you that there’s no one here!”

  “See, unfortunately that conflicts with other reports we’ve received.”

  “Other reports? What the hell are you… don’t fucking touch that!”

  Adam screeched and rushed towards Chad, who was running his hand along the edge of a large, framed painting. Chad shoved Adam in his chest as he charged him and said, “I wouldn’t do that again if I were you.”

  “This painting is worth more than your life! Keep your grubby paws to your fucking self!”

  “I was just looking for a secret switch or something. You rich assholes always have secret switches and shit behind paintings.”

  “You gotta be fuckin’ kidding me,” Adam insisted, looking to Jax. “You, you’re in charge here, I presume? Get your men under control!”

  “We’re just having a look around, sir,” Jax replied.

  Adam threw his hands up in the air. “And on what grounds? I told you there’s no one here! What the hell makes you think otherwise?”

  “Because I know you’ve had women here before,” said Abby as she walked up to Adam. Alone among the Marines, she had left all her weapons with her horse. “You told me yourself that you allowed women to stay with you, but only if they’d sleep with you.”

  A cloud of confusion descended over Adam’s eyes. “And just who in the hell are you, missy?”

  “I’m Abby, and I had the displeasure of meeting you a few years ago.”

  “Wait,” said Adam. He narrowed his eyes, slowly raised his hand, and pointed a finger at Abby. “Wait, we have met before, haven’t we? You’re that girl who turned down my offer. The only one to ever turn me down, I might add.”

  “Yeah. That one,” Abby replied in an icy tone.

  “Well, you got me!” Adam laughed. “Yes. Yes, I used to have a few girls here with me, but they’re long gone. They wanted to end our arrangement, against my advice. But I allowed them to do so anyway.”

  “Oh, screw you!” Abby said, unable to contain her contempt for Adam any longer. “Your ‘arrangement’ was rape. They finally told you ‘no’, and you kicked them out, probably got them killed!”

  “Yes, per the arrangement they agreed to,” Adam said, shrugging his shoulders. “I don’t see what’s got you so upset. They could have stayed up to this very day if they wanted! I never forced anyone to do anything they didn’t want to. Hell, you’re living proof of that! I made you a reasonable offer, you refused, and so you left.”

  Abby shook her head. “You’re a pig.”

  “Call me whatever you want, sweetheart, but I’m no rapist,” Adam insisted. “So there, you all can leave now. You relayed your message, you’ve seen that no one else is here, mission accomplished. Now get the fuck out of my house.”

  “I’d still like to take a look around,” Jax said, fixing a dominating stare on Adam.

  “That’s not necessary, I’ve told you the truth.”

  “Trust, but verify. That’s my motto.”

  Jax gave orders to the team to search the expansive house in pairs, while Abby and Hiamovi stayed put to guard Adam, who had lost the courage to protest further.

  Abby and Hiamovi stood close together in the front hallway of Adam’s house, watching him as he lounged on an expensive looking couch with a grumpy look on his face.

  “So,” Hiamovi whispered to Abby, “how are you feeling? You know, being back here?”

  Adam perked up on his couch, obviously trying to listen in to the hushed conversation. Abby noticed this and glowered at him, her steel grey eyes withering his stubbornness until he settled back down on the couch.

  “Okay, I guess,” Abby whispered back. “It’s…weird, yeah. But I’m fine. I’m not the girl who was here once before, that’s for sure.”

  Hiamovi smiled and said, “Good. It’s really brave of you to come back to these places like this.”

  “Is this about me? What are you whispering about?” Adam interrupted, his suspicions finally rising to an unbearable level.

  “Shut up!” Abby and Hiamovi said in unison.

  “Ohhh, I see,” Adam said, a wicked smile creeping over his face. “You two are doin’ the dirty, aren’t you? You defendin’ your girlfriend’s honor?”

  “You listen here,” Hiamovi said, taking a step towards Adam, “if you don’t shut your goddamn mouth I’ll tear your arms off and beat you to death with them.”

  “That’s enough, Hiamovi,” said Jax, who had just returned with Kurtis. “Looks like this asshole was telling the truth, so we’ll be moving out in a few minutes, as soon as the horses finish eating.”

  “I told you I was alone!” Adam shouted, leaping up from the couch and jabbing an accusatory finger at Jax. “I told you! You all need to get off my property now! Who’s your commanding officer? Give me his name, I want to report all of you for violating my rights!”

  “Can’t I just hit him once, Gunny?” asked Hiamovi.

  Jax paused, then said, “Negative. Just ignore him.”

  “Fuck you! You can’t ignore me! I know my rights!”

  No one responded. They all seemed to take Jax’s advice and were content to ignore Adam’s whining. But he was not satisfied with being ignored.

  “Fuck you all! Bunch of jackbooted thugs and criminals! What you’ve done is wrong, immoral, and unethical!”

  “Didn’t you turn a fifteen year old out into the cold because she wouldn’t sleep with you?” Todd asked in an accusatory tone.

  “Hey, I made her a fair offer which she refused!” Adam said. He turned to Abby, looked her up and down once, and said, “Offer still stands, by the way.”

  Abby turned towards Adam and stepped forward, intending to throw some harsh words his way, but Hiamovi moved first. He stepp
ed between Abby and Adam, nudged her aside with his left hand, then threw a haymaker with his right.

  Adam was an older man and had never been in a single fight. He reacted far too slow to Hiamovi’s punch and he caught it full in the face. Blood and a tooth or two leapt from his mouth as he dropped like a felled tree, though to his credit he retained consciousness.

  Some of the Raiders snickered, others slapped Hiamovi approvingly on his back and shoulder as Adam lay on the tiled floor, groaning and holding his jaw in both hands. Abby, the target of Adam’s vitriol, couldn’t help but give a small grin. She didn’t wholly approve of Hiamovi’s jump to violence, but she wasn’t sad to see Adam take a well-deserved punch.

  “As-assault!” Adamn stammered. He slowly rocked himself up to a sitting position, still clutching his jaw. “Assault! You all saw it! I want that man reprimanded and jailed!”

  Jax looked suddenly at Adam, acting as if he had not been paying attention. “Hm, what was that? Sorry, I was mesmerized by your artwork here. Did you take a nasty fall, sir? You’re bleeding.”

  “Fuck you! You saw him assault me, I know you did! He broke my goddamn jaw!”

  “Then maybe next time you won’t run it so much,” Hiamovi said.

  “Aha, a confession! Tell me your commanding officer’s name, you’re all going to be reported for trespassing, terroristic threats, breaking and entering, loitering, assault, gross neg— ”

  “Yeah, you do that,” Jax said, interrupting the stream of legal terms. “Let’s go, boys. And girl.”

  The Raiders and Abby filed out the door as Adam continued to hurl abuse at them and threats of legal action, though he did not dare follow them outside; the moment he stepped into the doorway, that red laser appeared on Adam’s chest again, and it was working its way down toward his crotch. Defiant, he thrust two middle fingers up in the general direction of Nate and Yuri and retreated inside, kicking the door closed behind him.

  “Hearts and minds, boys. Hearts and minds,” said Miguel, eliciting laughter from the group. They mounted up on their horses, then left.

  Chapter Eight

  Immediately after leaving Adam’s house, the group went to pick up Nate and Yuri from their overwatch point and then returned to their eastern course, guided by Abby. She first took them on a long route around Adam’s house, not wanting to be seen by him again, then followed a road that would take them through the mountains with relative ease.

  “Looks like we’ll hit our first resupply point soon after leaving the mountains,” she said as she studied a map with black dots on it.

  “Good, right on schedule,” said Jax.

  “Any other freaks we should be looking for?” asked Hiamovi.

  “Not for a little while. But once we’re over the Rockies, we need to expect zombies. Up until now they haven’t been a threat, so be on your toes.”

  They continued their way until nightfall, getting through the mountains and reaching lower lands again. But they did not put much distance between themselves and the feet of the mountains before the sun sank from view. They took refuge in an old, two-story motel, splitting the group of fourteen up into two adjacent rooms on the second floor: Abby, Jax, Chad, Mike, Kurtis, Todd, and Miguel in one room, and Hiamovi, Alex, Max, Nate, Yuri, Vic, and Chris in the other. One person from each room would be standing watch together for an hour before they woke up the next pair.

  “Hey Gunny, I’d like to file a complaint,” said Chad as they settled into their room. “The amenities here are quite lacking: no TV, no minibar, and I hate to be ‘that guy’, but there doesn’t seem to be much to do around here. Can we please tell the Marine Corps that we were dissatisfied with our night’s lodging?”

  Jax chuckled and said, “Oh yeah, I’ll be sure to mention that.”

  “Goin’ to see ‘Movi?” Chad said, turning his attention to Abby. Hiamovi and Mike had drawn the first watch, so they were both outside with their rifles, patrolling the property.

  “Yeah, just for a second,” Abby replied as she laced up her boots.

  “Now look here, just because we’re at a motel doesn’t mean you two can go off and— ”

  “Goodbye, Chad,” Abby laughed as she stood up and opened the door. The crisp night air bit into her skin as soon as she closed the door behind her, and she pulled the sleeves of her olive green sweatshirt up over her hands. She couldn’t see Hiamovi from where she stood, but heard a muttered curse coming from downstairs. She followed the sound and soon found Hiamovi down by a pair of vending machines, both clearly having been broken into and robbed years ago.

  “Not gonna lie, I was kinda hoping to find a snack or something still here,” Hiamovi said without looking up.

  “What a fool’s hope,” Abby replied. She folded her arms across her chest and said, “Hey, I just wanted to say thanks for standing up for me back there today. You know, with Adam.”

  Hiamovi waved his hand dismissively. “Don’t mention it. I mean, what was I supposed to do when that creepy old fu—, I mean creepy old dude harassed you like that?”

  “Yeah. Part of me hoped he wasn’t even there anymore, or that we could actually bust him for something, you know? But I guess I should have expected him to be alone and full of spite.”

  “I still can’t believe he actually tried to get you to sleep with him when you were barely fifteen. I mean, dangling food and shelter in front of a starving kid is bad enough, but did he really think you’d agree to be a sex slave?”

  Abby shook her head and stared off into the dark expanse of the Colorado plains surrounding the motel. Westward rose the Rocky Mountains they’d left behind just an hour ago, the same mountains that impeded her journey years ago. She closed her eyes and took herself back to that time, back into the body of her fifteen year old self. She remembered all too well how reasonable Adam's truly unreasonable offer sounded, back when nothing could have been worse than spending another minute in such a miserable state.

  “I almost did,” she finally whispered, turning to look into Hiamovi’s sable eyes.

  “You’re serious?” he asked.

  Abby nodded her head and brushed her forearm across her eyes, drying the tears beginning to form there. “I was so cold, Hiamovi. So hungry, so alone, so tired of existing. Then I went into his home, felt the warmth, saw the food. It looked like a place where I could finally stop running.”

  She paused again, then looked away and said, “Honestly, if I hadn’t still been a virgin at the time…I don’t know. I probably would have stayed with him and been another one of his playthings, I guess.”

  Abby turned back to Hiamovi. She’d never told him or anyone else any of this before, and she feared that she’d now face an expression of shock and judgment. There was shock in those eyes of Hiamovi’s, of course, but of judgment Abby could see nothing. There was something else there.

  Concern.

  “God,” he finally said, shaking his head. “I’m so sorry you ever felt that way.”

  He wrapped his arms around Abby and squeezed her.

  “It’s part of my story,” she replied as they separated. “I’m certainly not proud of it, but in the end it’s made me the woman I am now.”

  Hiamovi nodded and said, “With that in mind, I’m glad it happened. Because the woman you are now is pretty damn amazing.”

  Abby couldn’t hold back a sheepish grin upon hearing that. She rubbed the back of her neck with her hand and replied, “I’m glad you think that.”

  “I know that.”

  Silence stretched between them now as Abby found herself at a loss for words.

  “I should probably get back upstairs,” she finally said. “And you should get back to looking out.”

  “Yeah, I suppose. Goodnight, Abby.”

  “Goodnight, Hiamovi.”

  Abby returned to the room she was sharing with the other Raiders and shut the door again. It looked like everyone had already gone to sleep. Then the soft, green glow of a digital watch being lit up appeared in the corner, ove
r by Chad.

  “Five minutes,” he said. “Tell ‘Movi that’s no way to treat a lady. It should never last less than ten minutes.”

  Abby shook her head and laughed quietly. “Oh, trust me. He knows how to treat a lady right.”

  “Bah, you weren’t supposed to respond like that. Ruined all my fun.”

  “So sorry to spoil your game. Bet you stayed up all night thinking of some good zingers.”

  “Half the night actually.”

  “And if your talking keeps me up half the night,” Jax interrupted, “you’re both getting doubled-up on firewatch.”

  “Aye, Gunny,” Chad said.

  “Sorry,” Abby replied. She slipped off her boots and long-sleeved shirt, leaving her cargo pants, tanktop, and socks on, then climbed into the old twin-sized bed, which the men had thoughtfully allowed her to claim for herself, though she did have to share the blankets.

  ***

  After a couple more days of riding, the group reached their first resupply point. Luckily for them, the pallet of food and water landed almost right on top of the prearranged location, in the middle of an open field. They were not yet low on food, but Abby knew too well how quickly food could run out in the Wild.

  Everyone busied themselves first with cutting open the MRE boxes and then ‘field-stripping’ the rations: each brown package was opened, and every superfluous component of the package, such as the little bottle of hot sauce and the cardboard box containing the main course, was discarded. By the time the rest of the MRE was returned to the package, it was about half its original weight and size, allowing them to more efficiently carry food. This practice was in keeping with a popular quip in the Marine Corps: ounces equal pounds, pounds equal pain.

  It was this very concept of traveling light that Jax was explaining to Abby when she started stuffing the extra ammo from the airdrop into her ruck.

  “You got plenty of ammo already,” he said.

  “We barely brought two-hundred rounds for each of us,” Abby insisted.

  “And how many of those two-hundred have you expended so far?”

  “We just crossed the Rockies, Jax. We haven’t even really been in danger until recently. If we run into a horde, we’re gonna want as many rounds as we can handle.”