by Nees, David
The two men trotted down the slope from their hiding place and started across the parking lot. Jason stopped Luke thirty feet from the cars. He was near a light pole with a wide, concrete base which would provide a good hiding spot after he threw the fire bombs.
Jason ran to the side of the building and found a place with some scrappy volunteer trees growing out of missing chunks of pavement. It wasn’t good protection, but it offered concealment. He signaled Luke to light the bombs and throw them.
Luke hurled the flaming bottles, one after another. The flames splashed out when the glass broke as they hit both cars and pavement.
Jason ran to the door, opened it, and shouted “Fire!” inside. He closed the door and ran back to his position. Within seconds the door burst open and three men ran out.
“What the hell?” one of them shouted.
Another ducked back into the building. Jason could hear him calling for help. Soon more men came out, some with blankets. They began to beat at the fires, trying to smother them. Two emerged with some fire extinguishers. They began to spray the fires.
Jason put his M4 on automatic and opened up on the men. One burst took out the three near the door. Another burst and two men went down. Two more pulled their sidearms and started shooting in Jason’s general direction, but they weren’t sure of where he was. Jason dispatched them with another burst.
Then it was over. Jason got up and motioned for Luke. He counted the bodies. There were seven. With the two on the roof, that left three men inside, if Vincent was correct.
“Only three inside. That’s much better odds. Let the fires burn. If I don’t come out, you head back to the car and get your ass out to the airport. See if you can rouse those spineless bastards to come and try to save their families. Got it?”
Luke nodded. He seemed afraid to speak.
“Get back up to our hiding position and watch from there.”
Jason flicked his fire selector switch to single shot and turned to the door.
“I’m going in now.”
“Be careful,” Luke said.
Chapter 59
___________________________________
J ason opened the door and ran in shouting, “It’s an ambush! Help!”
The interior was lit with a number of kerosene lamps. There was a row of shelving and two abandoned forklifts ahead of him. The hostages were huddled on the far side of the space, all sitting down probably with their hands tied.
Where are the guards? He needed to locate them quickly and take them out before he got shot or they threatened the hostages. Two of the guards started towards him with their rifles at the ready. Jason raised his M4 and shot the nearest man in the chest. He went down, crashing to the concrete floor, his rifle clattering across the surface.
The other man opened fire on automatic as Jason dove for the ground. He scrambled for the cover of the forklift. Shots flew over his head with their deadly whistle, others pinged against the warehouse racking. One bullet grazed across his thigh almost flipping him over. The pain was like a hot iron pressed to his flesh.
Jason rolled over behind the fork lift as shots clanged against the solid metal sides. He swung his rifle around the edge. It took a moment to locate the shooter, the other man who had run across the room. He was angling towards the end of the row of shelving, looking to get to the side of Jason and take away his cover.
Jason fired three shots in his direction causing him to drop to the floor. The metal shelving provided little cover but interfered with Jason’s aim. He peppered the area with more shots to keep the man pinned down. If he flanked Jason, he’d be trapped. Where’s the third one? That man could be coming forward from the other side and he’d be pinched between the two shooters.
The second man now tried to move forward and Jason hit him with a shot. He dropped with a shout of pain, not dead, but taken out of the fight momentarily.
Jason turned to find the third man. He heard some screaming from the hostages. A figure, or maybe two figures lurched towards some cover, a tipped over material cart. It had a thick, metal base which would probably stop a .223 round.
“Jason, that you?” the man called out.
“Ears?” Jason replied.
“Thought this might be your work. You kill Vincent too?”
“No. he’s alive.”
“How’d you find us?”
“I persuaded Vincent to tell me.”
“Won’t do you no good. You kill all the rest, you still got me to deal with.”
“That’s just it. I don’t want to kill you.”
“So you say. You shot me, you bastard.”
“You didn’t give me much choice.”
“Fuck you. I’ll give you a chance to leave. Otherwise I’m going to start shooting the hostages, starting with this woman I’ve got with me.”
“Ears. You don’t have to do this. The game’s over. Roper left town. The militia officers are on the side of the mayor. They’re going to arrest the other capos. The mob’s broken. Done. It’s time for you to get on the right side of things.”
“Become a rat? Like you? A turncoat, snitch?”
“The game’s over.”
Jason stood up from behind the forklift. He raised his carbine and aimed it at the cart laying on its side.
“Not for me. And not for you. I owe you one,” Ears said.
“I’m trying to help you. You were a good guy once. A boxer. You helped me. I want to help you.”
Jason stepped along the isle, keeping the cart in his sights. The metal uprights interfered with his view as he passed by them. He tried not to let them distract his aim.
“You don’t get it. It’s about family, loyalty. You take an oath. That’s something you don’t understand.”
“I think I do. It’s just misplaced.”
“You think you’ve fixed things here?” Ears’ voice rose in anger. “Like you’re some kind of savior? We’ll be back. People want their vice. They want to take a walk on the dark side once in a while. They just don’t want to admit it. Why do you think we thrive? People want to gamble. They want sex, sleaze. That’s what we provide. We give them what they want.”
“Not everyone wants that.”
“Enough do. You can’t fix that. Come back in a year. We’ll be around. We don’t go away because there’s always people wanting what we offer and willing to pay for it.”
“I’m sorry you feel that way,” Jason said.
“You don’t know shit.” Ears poked out from the side of the cart and fired at Jason. He didn’t have a good read on his position and his first shots went wide.
He ducked back behind the cart.
“You’ve got ten seconds to leave, or I start killing the hostages. No more talking.”
“Can’t do that Ears. I’ll let you leave. Just don’t shoot any hostages. You can fend for yourself, but the mob’s busted.”
Ears reached around the cart and opened fire. Jason resisted the impulse to duck and ignored the deadly stream of bullets. There was to be no more talking. He steadied his aim, and pulled the trigger. The bullet slammed into Ears’ head, snapping it back.
His .45 clattered to the concrete floor and the man followed, dropping with a dull thud.
Jason walked up to the cart and helped the woman to her feet.
“It’s all over,” he shouted to the others.
Cries of relief filled the warehouse. Jason went over to one of the lanterns and picked it up.
“Where’s Mayor Chambers?” he shouted out.
“Here,” came a voice from the group. A man stood up and walked forward. Jason cut him free.
“Daniels, where are you?” Jason called out.
Michael stood up unsteadily. I’m wounded, but alive.”
“You take Daniels with you,” Jason said to the mayor. “Luke is outside. He’ll take you both back to the airport. Get the officers to send men here to bring these people back. They should round up anyone else who’s threatened and then go find the capos
and arrest them.”
He pushed him forward. “I’ll wait here with these people until you get back.
They walked outside. Jason checked the dead and wounded to make sure no one would try to take a shot at them.
The mayor and Michael walked across the parking lot. Jason went back inside the warehouse.
Chapter 60
___________________________________
T wo days later, Jason was packing to go. His grazed thigh had been attended to and bandaged.
“You sure you don’t want a car? We can afford to give you one after what you’ve done for the city,” Daniels said.
“Thanks, but no. I want to walk. Need to clear my head. I’ve got lots to think about.”
“Having remorse over shooting Al and Joe?”
“Not really. Oddly enough, I’m more remorseful over shooting Ears. He was nice to me. He seemed like he was a good guy once. I tried to give him a chance, but he forced my hand.”
“From what you told me it sounds like he didn’t want to be taken alive.”
“He said some things that disturbed me.” Jason paused to gather his thoughts. “He said they’d be back. The mob, or some version of them. People want their vice and so the mob exists to deliver it.”
“I can’t predict what will happen. I’m only a bureaucrat. But whether or not he’s right, they can’t be given the opportunity to run a city like they did.”
“Just make sure you’re ready for some pushback. The other mafia families will hear about this and may come down to take the city back.”
“We’ll be ready for them.”
“So, how’s Luke doing?”
“He’s a natural, even if there’s a lot of bull shit about him. That actually works for the mayor’s needs. He’s going out with my secretary, Suzy. She thinks he’s a hero. Of course he doesn’t dissuade her of that impression.”
“Changed life. Just like yours.”
“Thanks to you.”
“Time for me to go,” Jason said. He shouldered his pack with the M110 broken down and strapped to it. He grabbed his M4 and started for the door.
“Let me drive you to the edge of town at least. I insist.”
They got into the car and drove off.
“Stop at the sausage guy, Russo. I want to say goodbye. He’s a good man. You should consider a position for him. He’s smart and entrepreneurial. And his daughter is quite the looker.”
Jason winked at Michael.
When they finally reached the edge of the city Michael stopped and let Jason out.
“I’d tell you to be careful, but I don’t think you need that advice.”
“You keep that for yourself. And don’t let that mayor go all weak-kneed on you.”
He waved and turned to the road.
He walked north, but on the west side of Lake Norman, following the same path he used when he first fled Charlotte. He knew where he was headed. A day later he came to the monastery and walked up to the gate.
One of the monks let him in and, after putting his weapons down, he was led to the Abbot’s office.
“Jason,” Father Gregory called out. “It’s good to see you again. I wasn’t sure if our paths would ever cross when you left that night.”
“Things got pretty hectic after that, but I survived, as you can see. The mob’s been broken and Charlotte has civilian rule back. For now, things are good.”
“You can tell me after you’ve eaten. Let’s go over to the kitchen and see what I can round up for you.”
After eating what was the most satisfying meal Jason had enjoyed in a long time, they went back to the Abbot’s office. He poured some brandy into two glasses and sat back.
“Brandy?”
“We fortify some of the wine we press. It’s a secret recipe.”
“Add moonshine?”
The Abbot smiled but said nothing.
“I appreciate you stopping. But you’re headed somewhere. Going back to Hillsboro?”
Jason nodded.
“Back to your family?”
Jason nodded again.
“But something’s still bothering you. I sense it.”
Jason gave out a long sigh. He began to relax in this sanctuary. More than he had even after the events in Charlotte had concluded.
“Yeah. Something’s bothering me.”
The Abbot waited.
“I had to shoot one of the mob members. It’s not like I hadn’t killed some of the others earlier. But this one was someone I liked. I tried to give him a chance to change sides, step out of the battle. He rejected it. Said I would lose in the end. Said there’d always be vice. People would clamber for it and the mob would wind up providing it. He said they’d be back.”
He took a sip of the brandy.
“I’m wondering if all I did was for nothing.”
The Abbot paused for a moment before speaking.
“We live in a fallen world. That’s a core part of Christian doctrine. And we’re fallen creatures. I told you there are no utopias, no perfection this side of heaven. Not until all of creation is healed.”
“Then what’s the use?”
“We’re called to stand against evil, to do what we can each day in some small way to move ourselves, our families, our communities towards the higher good. If we do that, in some small way, we move all of creation towards the higher good. For me that would be towards God.”
“What you describe is like a drop in the ocean.”
“Maybe. But consider, if everyone acted that way. Everyone on the planet striving to be the best they could, aiming at their highest good, what could be achieved? The mind can’t imagine it.”
They kept talking late into the night.
“Jason, remember I told you how you are a man drawn to the fight, to slay the dragons? I said you stalk the no-man’s land between order and chaos.”
Jason nodded.
“I want you to know that you are in danger. An existential danger. A danger to the soul. If you continue to be the warrior, the dragon slayer, you risk losing yourself. You risk turning into a full-blooded killer. There is a price to pay for all the killing and it’s a deadening of one’s soul or spirit. You risk quenching that voice within that helps give you course corrections. Do it often enough and you won’t be able to hear it.”
Jason looked at the Abbot. “What I do is for a righteous purpose.”
The Abbot continued. “If a man sticks his hand in a flame, what happens?”
“He gets burned.”
“It hurts, doesn’t it?”
Jason nodded.
“What happens if he does it over and over?”
Jason looked at the Abbot with some confusion. “I don’t know what you’re driving at.”
“If he does it repeatedly, at some point he won’t feel it any more. The nerve endings die. He’ll be dead to the pain. Kill enough and it will deaden you to God’s plan. To see the higher good and aim at it. You will lose that voice and your way.”
“I kinda thought I was aiming at a higher good.”
The Abbot stood up. “Sleep on it. And give it some thought on your journey.”
The next morning after a large breakfast of porridge and eggs washed down with cider, Jason walked to the gate with the Abbot.
“You’re a good man, Jason. Think about the finger and the candle. Spend too much time in the world of chaos, slaying dragons, and you may get lost. Go back to your wife and family. Nudge creation, reality, a bit towards the higher good, starting with your family. Focus on the smaller things and don’t aim at always playing a part in the large events. You have something of worth. Don’t lose it. Nurture it.”
He gave Jason a hug and sent him out of the gate with a wave.
Jason walked down to the road. The pale winter sun was up. The sky was clear. It was cold and the frost sparkled in the early sun. It would soon melt, but now everything had a sliver shine to it.
In spite of his leg, he walked with renewed vigor. He was going home. Hom
e to his wife. The woman who gave him companionship and purpose. Home to his family; the girls he had helped to survive and grow through this apocalypse. Home to his son, part of a new generation born in the post-apocalyptic world.
Maybe the Abbot was right. Maybe he needed to take his family and go back to the valley. The girls could come if they wanted. Sarah was now married to Tommy. They had futures in Hillsboro, but maybe they’d come back with him and Anne. There were abandoned farms and fields to work. Good houses, un-looted, stood ready for someone to inhabit them. The few inhabitants that remained there were all close with a friendship forged through the heat of battle. They would welcome him and his family back. They would relish the company and help.
He interrupted his flight of fancy. It’s not about them, it’s about you and Anne and Adam. You don’t want to lose them. His daughters and their husbands now had their own lives to lead, their own futures to decide.
The weight of his mission began to dissolve as he walked along. Charlotte’s future was up to the people of Charlotte, not him. Hillsboro’s future was up to its citizens, not him. There would always be challenges. The world was an unstable place since the EMP attack. But the Abbot might be right. Maybe what he needed to do was just concentrate on his small family. Make that right. Make that better in some way.
His mind began to clear. He smiled as he marched through the morning towards home, towards family, towards a new future to build.
The End
Afterword
Undercover is the fourth book in the After the Fall series.
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