by A J Newman
Jane dropped the gown to the floor and was now standing before him in a bra and panties as she said, “Pour me a glass of that wine and let’s get to know each other.”
He tried getting his hands on her, and she stroked his ego by asking him to tell her about himself. That was probably the only thing that could get his mind off having sex with Jane. Their plan was that Jane would keep him occupied while Maddie knocked out a guard and took his weapons.
Maddie snuck out of her room wearing her shorts and blouse as she avoided being seen by the staff. There were three guards roving around the outside and only one on the inside. Finally one of the outside guards came into use the bathroom and Maddie walked into the bathroom behind him. When he finished and came out of the stall Maddie, hit him on the back of the head with a heavy vase and killed the poor lad. She took his clothes, battle gear, and weapons and dressed quickly in his clothes. She stuck his body in the stall and locked the door.
Maddie was sneaking back toward Jane’s room when Jose came out of a room and walked into her. He was confused at first and then knew something was wrong. Maddie grabbed him with one hand on his side and shoved a knife deep into his chest. He muttered a few words as he died in her arms.
Maddie slowly opened the door to Jane’s room and saw the Senator sitting in a chair with Jane on the bed. Maddie waved the knife and Jane reached up and dropped her bra to the floor. The Senator stood up and buried his face in Jane’s chest as Maddie drove the knife into his back where she thought his heart was located.
He turned and said, “Maddie why?”
“Because you are a piece of shit and left me like an unwanted puppy. Die bastard,” Maddie said as she stabbed him a dozen more times.”
“That’s enough girl. It looks like a slaughterhouse in here. We have to get the fuck out of here before anyone comes looking for the Senator.”
Jane put her shorts and blouse on, and then took the rifle leaving Maddie a 9mm pistol and the knife. They peeked out the door, and no one was up in the house, so they calmly walked down the stairs and slipped out the back door. They were half way across the back yard when all hell broke loose as lights came on and someone shot at them.
“Maddie, it’s Walt long and his deputies. Kill all of the bastards.”
They dropped behind a stone wall but were outnumbered and had to make a run for it before they were flanked. Jane told Maddie to run, and she would cover her retreat. Jane shot as fast as she could and knocked two of the men down. Maddie was now in place, so she gave covering fire for Jane as she ran across the lawn. She joined Maddie, and they ran as fast as possible when a bullet struck Jane in the back and knocked her down. Maddie fired back at the shooter, got Jane to her feet and quickly got into the shadows and then helped Jane away from the house and down a back alley. She talked to Jane and kept her moving until she pushed her into a yard barn at the back of a house a few blocks from the Senator’s home.
Jane had lost a lot of blood and was barely breathing when Maddie tore off part of her blouse and used it to apply pressure to her wound. Then Maddie realized that there was a larger exit wound under Jane’s right breast. She was bleeding to death, and Maddie was powerless to stop her death.
Maddie held Jane as she died and knew that she had lost her mother again. God had given Jane to her to replace her mother, and now some asshole had taken her away. Maddie laid Jane down on the floor, kissed her, and went back to the Senator’s home to complete some unfinished business.
Maddie worked her way back to the house in the shadows and arrived as Walt Long, and a deputy were getting in their truck and leaving. Maddie ran through several houses and beat them to the corner. Maddie saw Walt in the passenger side take a drink from a steel flask and pass it to the driver. She took aim at the driver’s head, pulled the trigger, and the bullet struck the driver above the left ear causing his head to explode. The inside of the truck was covered in the driver’s blood and bits of skull and brain.
Maddie saw Walt reach for his gun but was faster as she again aimed, pulled the trigger, and shot Walt Long in the chest.
She ran to the vehicle, knocked the pistol from Walt’s hand, and said, “Jo Karr told me to send you to hell if I ever met you. Well GO TO HELL,” she said as she shot him in the heart and the head.
Maddie took all of their weapons, threw the bodies out on the curb, and drove away in the Sheriff’s truck. She stopped by an abandoned clothing store, found some black clothes that fit her and became the Wraith that night. She went on to the town hall, captured the guard, and forced him to tell her which of the town’s leaders and politicians threw in with her father. After she had found what she wanted, she killed the guard and went house to house killing eight more of the people who had made Lebanon a dictatorship.
Maddie killed the last one and then painted a note on the front door of City Hall stating, “I killed the Senator, Walt Long, six of his deputies and the eight assholes who betrayed you and helped Senator O’Berg screw this city. - The Wraith.
Maddie stayed in the shadows as she watched the police search for the people who killed the senator. Suddenly the cops were called to another situation. Maddie guessed that Bob had created that situation. She walked up behind the guard at the back of the house, slit his throat, took his rifle and pistol, and moved to the front of the house. She dispatched this guard with the same efficiency, and then walked into the house, killed the butler who tried to shoot her, and then sent all of the staff away.
She climbed the stairs, found her stepmother’s room, and found her dead on the floor with an empty bottle of sleeping pills on her nightstand.
Maddie said to herself, “Well, my job is done here. I’m going back to keep Jane company until Bob and Will finish off all of the assholes, bastards, and perverts.”
Maddie quickly fell asleep beside Jane and didn’t wake up until Will woke her after the sun came up.
***
Bill stayed back with Jo as they began the grieving process for their son Jake who had been struck down so young. Will drove over to the staging area below Lebanon with his Papaw and six other of the team. Thirty-three men and women from the Horseshoe and 55 from Jim Dickerson’s group gathered in three different locations around the town. Bob and half of his team were in a woods just west of the Senator’s home, while Jack had the other half headed toward the key members of the Senator’s loyal staff.
Jim’s two teams were tasked with killing all of the police force and anyone else who showed up at the grocery store where they expected to trap Jim’s team. Jim saw the deputies and several of the town’s near do wells surrounding the grocery store. He held his men back until they were all in place.
Bob’s teams were infiltrating the exclusive gated community that the Senator resided in when they heard gunfire from the Senator’s home. They continued to the house carefully and got into a gunfight with several of the Senator’s bodyguards. They quickly dispatched the bodyguards and entered the Senator’s home to find someone had stabbed the Senator multiple times and he was lying in a pool of his own blood. They searched the area around the house and found several more bodyguards that had been stabbed or shot. None was alive.
“Damn, someone got to the bastard first. Who the hell could have done this without us knowing? Let’s move out and hook up with Jack’s team.”
They walked down the long drive and found the bodies of Walt Long and a deputy dead on the sidewalk.
“Holy shit! Someone beat us to Walt. These guys made some serious enemies.”
Will replied, “Looks like the Wraiths have been busy tonight.”
“Son, you don’t think that Jane and Maddie killed all of these men. Do you?”
“I do. The Senator was stabbed a dozen times, and usually, that means someone hated the scumbag. Maddie really hated him. Besides the killing looks like what Grandma was doing to the gangs east of the horseshoe.”
“Well, whoever did the dirty deeds saved us a lot of work? Let’s go help, Jack. I’ll get him on the radio.”
“Come on over to City Hall. Someone killed every son of a bitch that threw in with Long and the Senator.”
Bob replied, “Damn, that’s what we found at the Senator’s place.”
“Did the Wraiths leave a message?”
“No, we’ll be there in five minutes.
Bob surveyed the damage at City Hall, and Jack filled him in on the dead supporters of the Senator to his amazement.
Jack said, “I believe the Wraith took out all of my targets and killed the last one a few minutes before we arrived at the first house. None of the spouses or children were killed. Several wives watched their husbands get shot by a person dressed in black with black women’s hose stretched over their face. I asked if the attacker was a man or women and they didn’t know. The best they could do is to tell me the person was about 5 foot seven and had athletic builds.”
“Fuck it, Jack! I don’t care who they were. I’m just glad they are on our side,” Bob added
Jim’s teams had the police station and the grocery store covered and attacked as soon as the police charged into the grocery store.
There were 15 deputies and 12 men who were deputized for the attack on the store. They threw flash bangs and hand grenades into the store before breaking down the doors and entering the building. It was apparent to Jim the police did not intend to take anyone alive.
Jim’s first team shot all of the men and women left outside and then stood guard while team two enter the building from the front door and the loading dock at the rear of the building. The police were outnumbered and outgunned but refused to surrender.
Jim yelled, “Throw your guns down, raise your hands and slowly exit the building, and you will live. You have 10 seconds to surrender before we kill every one of you.”
A fusillade of gunshots toward Jim’s position was their answer. Jim and his men returned fire while making sure they kept behind cover. Jim didn’t want to lose any men to get rid of these criminals, so he asked two of his team to make some Molotov cocktails. This took about five minutes, and he told them to chuck several into both entrances to the store. The store was engulfed in flames when the so-called police tried to escape. Jim and his men picked them off as they tried to escape.
One of the women on the team was upset that they killed the men as they tried to save themselves from the flames.
“Brenda, those men were offered safety and turned it down. They would have killed all of us and never given us a chance to surrender. Suck it up buttercup.”
The attack on the police station was over as soon as it started. There were only two men and a woman on duty, and all three were taken out by snipers. They never knew what hit them. Jim walked over to the police station and thanked the men and women who captured the police station.
“I can’t thank you enough for helping us free this town from the scum. You put your lives on the line to stop the assholes from killing us, and you liberated the town. Now we need to manage the city until elections can be held to install honest God fearing people into the key positions.”
Jim caught several of the citizens that were good friends and asked them to spread the word in the morning that he would address the town at the high school gym and fill them in on the events that night. His friends couldn’t believe the Senator and the Sheriff had been killed and were ready to celebrate.
He told them, “We still have some work to do to prevent some other asshole from trying to take over the town. Be ready for a few more small fights. Tell everyone to meet at the high school at 7:00 pm. We need some breakfast and a good day’s sleep.”
***
Papaw, I radioed dad, and he told me that Grandma and Maddie haven’t been seen since yesterday evening.”
“Son we need to search for them now. One might have been wounded.”
Bob thought might have been injured or worse but didn’t say it aloud.
“Jack, I’m taking Will and a couple of men to search the area around the Senator’s mansion for Maddie and Jane. Could you search the homes of the Senator’s people and also send a vehicle to check the road back to the Horseshoe.”
“Oh shit. I never put two and two together. We’ll get right on it boss.”
Will and Bob drove back to the Senator’s home, parked on the street where the bodies had been found and started to walk towards the mansion when Will exclaimed, “See that VW. Let’s check it out.”
They walked over to a car that someone pulled off the street behind some bushes and Will opened the doors.
“Papaw, that’s Maddie’s backpack. Is the other one Grandma’s?”
“Damn, it is hers. Well we know they were here, and my guess is that they are still here or they would have driven the Bug back home. Will, let’s do a room-by-room search of the house. You two search the grounds. If we don’t find them, we’ll start searching the neighborhood.”
Will and Bob went room to room being careful that there might still be hostiles in the area. They searched the basement, then the bottom floor and finally the top floor to no avail. They were amazed that the two women had killed all of the guards, the Senator and probably the Sheriff, Walt Long. One surprise was the stepmother’s body. She had taken an overdose of sleeping pills.
They left the house, found the rest of their search team, and discovered they had come up empty also.
Bob told them, “You two take the houses on the east side of the community, and we’ll take the west side. Be careful. We killed the worst of the scum, but who knows how much more there are that will want to take up where the Senator left off.”
They had searched all but a couple of houses when Jack solemnly walked up to Bob and Will and said, “There’s no good way to say this, but Jane was shot in the back and didn’t survive….”
“No! Fuck no!” Bob said as he fell to his knees.
“Maddie is okay and is with Jane. I’ll take you to them.”
Bob was still on his knees with Will crying as he tried to console his Papaw.
Suddenly Bob stood up and said, “We can’t be crying and moping around Will. We have to set an example for the others. Let’s go get our women and take them home.”
Jack led them to the other side of the community to a yard barn in the backyard of the last house before the gate. Several of Jack’s team were guarding the area. Bob and Will walked into the structure and saw Jane lying on the floor with Maddie asleep by her side. Will shook Maddie’s arm, and she woke with a start and reached for her pistol.
“Maddie, it’s me, Will. We’re here to take you home.”
“Will, hold me. Jane was shot while we were leaving dad’s house. We killed the man who shot her. Take me home. I’m tired.”
They carefully placed Jane in the back of the pickup with her head on Bob’s lap. Will and Maddie sat in the cab with Maddie crying on Will’s shoulder.
Will picked up his walkie-talkie and called for his dad, “Dad, this is Will. I’ve got more bad news. Grandma was shot last night and didn’t make it. Bob is with her, and we’re bringing her home now. Can you break the news to mom? I don’t want her to see Grandma dead before she is told. Grandma died killing the Senator and his thugs.”
“Oh shit. Is Maddie okay?”
“Yes. She is with me now, and we will be there in about half an hour.”
“This will hit your Mom very hard after just losing Jake. I’ll tell her and help her get through this.”
“Dad, Lebanon is free of all of the tyrants. It was a large price to pay, but at least we can soon live in peace.”
“Son, the loss will hit you sometime soon. You are pumped full of adrenaline and in a fight or flight mode. Be careful. I love you son.”
“I love you too.”
Will had time to reflect on the rest of the trip and made his mind up that from now on he would dedicate his life to eradicating the human vermin before they could harm Maddie or his family. Kill them all and let God
sort them out was his new motto. He held Maddie, caressed her hair, and tried to convince himself that he could stop his mom and Maddie from taking up where his Grandma left off.
✼
Chapter 12
Day 23 – 59 - Aftermath
Will took Maddie to their camper a few hours after they brought Jane’s body back home. Maddie lay in Will’s arms without talking for a long time before she said, “I’ve lost two moms in the last month and can’t get my head wrapped around the losses. I think I might be in denial because I expect Mom and Jane to walk into the room at any minute.”
“Baby, I know what you mean since I can’t believe that Jake won’t ever be at our table pestering Missy and me, and I miss Grandma so much. I’m afraid I’ll break down any minute. I’ve made a vow to myself that keeps me going….”
Maddie interrupted and said, “I wonder if it’s the same as mine. I vowed to become the Wraith and kill every son of a bitch that tries to hurt any of our family before they strike.”
Will replied, “Let God sort them out.”
They buried Jane next to Jake behind Bob’s house under the big oak tree. Later that year Bob built a white picket fence around the graves.
Bob and Jo were still devastated, but Missy was still in shock since she was very close to her Grandma and had spent a great deal of time with her over the years. Losing her brother and Grandma was a one-two punch to the gut that rocked her back on her heels. She would take months to recover.
The family left the community funeral service for Jane and congregated on Bob’s deck to remember their Grandmother, Mother, and Wife. Bob brought a tray out of the house with two bottles of Bourbon and a case of almost cold beer and said, “I’ll be damned if we’re going to cry and sulk; we need to celebrate Jake and Jane’s life and remember them and always keep them in our hearts.”
