Troop of Shadows

by Nicki Huntsman Smith

  The others emerged the next minute. A bearded giant in a KU sweatshirt hollered, “Whatdya got there, Danny?”

  “Something fun for later!”

  “I have him, Dad,” Jeffrey whispered. He crouched behind the dead boxwoods, his scope sighting the girl’s captor.

  After several heartbeats and some intense mental hand-wringing, Steven said, “Take the shot, son.”

  The Springfield discharged, producing a recoil that was deftly managed. Rifle man crumpled to the ground. The female bolted, running full speed toward them, followed by four enraged men the next moment. As they ran, they pulled guns from inside jackets and pants pockets. One withdrew an assault rifle from a shoulder strap in mid stride.

  “The guy in the plaid flannel, Jeff. Second to the right.”

  The 30.06 discharged. A funnel of blood burst from the back of the targeted head.

  The female’s legs pumped furiously, fear and adrenaline giving her a slight advantage in speed over the men who chased her. One of them fired shots as he ran; the other three were not backing off. At this distance, Steven’s accuracy with the Glock was dicey and Ed’s shotgun was sure to injure the girl as well.

  “The guy in the KU shirt.”

  Jeffrey’s bullet struck the big man just below his hairline. All forward motion ceased abruptly, like he’d slammed into an invisible barricade.

  The remaining duo stopped, unsure now.

  Please, let them stay...

  The female had gained ten yards on her pursuers when one of them bellowed suddenly — an animalistic expression of outrage — and began charging after her again. His associate hesitated, then followed. There was no way to use the shotgun or the Glock without possibly harming the girl.

  It would have to be a scope shot.

  “Jeff, take them out.”

  The Springfield recoiled two more times in quick succession.

  Seconds later, the woman careened through the boxwoods and collapsed on the ground next to Ed, sobs punctuating her labored breaths.

  “It’s okay,” Ed said. “You’re safe now.” He patted her shoulder, awkward in his concern.

  Steven studied his son. When the blue eyes watered then spilled over, he felt a weight lift from his chest. There was the remorse that had been absent in the aftermath of their dead intruders. He drew his child to him, engulfing him in a hug.

  “Why wouldn’t they stop, Dad? All they had to do was stop chasing her and we wouldn’t have killed them.”

  “I don’t know. Guys that abuse women aren’t very smart. They usually have hang-ups about their masculinity, or they’re insecure about other stuff. Maybe their egos wouldn’t let them give up. It’s crazy, I know.”

  Jeffrey nodded against his chest, then pulled away, embarrassed suddenly. Steven took the hint, shifting his attention to the woman who was still catching her breath.

  From a distance, the blond ponytail had implied youth, but there were crow’s feet next to the brown eyes. Ed’s gaze never left the attractive face.

  “Are you okay, ma’am?” Steven watched the woman struggle to regain her composure.

  “Yes, I think so. I might have twisted my ankle but I’m fine.”

  Her voice had a melodious, silvery quality. It reminded him of the tinkling sound Laura’s wind chimes made in the backyard on a summer evening.

  “Thank you, gentlemen, for saving my life. I don’t know how I can repay your kindness.”

  “No need. I’m Ed. That’s Steven and his son Jeff.”

  “I’m Lisa.” Her smile was slightly lopsided, but cute and heartfelt.

  “What was going on over there, Lisa? I hope our assessment of the situation was accurate.”

  “I’d been to the warehouse a few times for supplies without any problems. I have a little place up the highway a half mile. I needed some fencing. One of those guys caught me hiding behind the corrugated roofing. The rest you saw. I don’t think there’s any question what you all saved me from.”

  “You live alone?” Ed asked.

  Steven winced. His new friend’s inadequate social skills chose an awkward time to surface. Good grief, the woman had almost been raped. It wasn’t a good time to determine if there was a Mister Lisa.

  The crooked smile flashed again, thankfully.

  “Yes, it’s just me. I knew there was a bad element in Hays, and I guess that’s who those guys were.”

  “Bad element?”

  “Gang type stuff. You know, like a biker gang but with pickups. I mean the hardcore Hell’s Angels kind, not those weekend warriors.”

  “Do you know how many there are?”

  “I haven’t been back in town for months, but a woman and her daughter passed by my place a week ago. Said things had gotten really bad there. That’s why they left, except she said ‘escaped.’ She couldn’t talk too freely in front of her girl, but she said the leader was a misogynist and all the women had been reduced to slave status — her words — doing all the physical labor and such, but the pretty ones were kept separate at the Best Western.”

  “Uh, I think I understand,” Steven said with a quick glance at his son.

  “If you live a half mile from here, you’re too close to Hays,” Ed said. “You could be in danger from those guys if they decide to expand their territory.”

  The ponytail bobbed. “I know. Been thinking about just that, and the incident today confirmed it.”

  “You should come back with us to Liberty. We can protect you there.”

  Arms crossed over the yellow sweater, and the brown eyes narrowed.

  “I’ve been taking care of myself just fine for a long time, before and after the plague. It’s just been me, no menfolk to make sure this helpless little female gets tucked into bed every night.”

  “You didn’t do so well just now.”

  Steven groaned inwardly. The woman stood, brushing the dirt off her jeans.

  “I should be going. I want to thank you again for helping me.”

  Ed looked crestfallen. He had no clue what he’d done wrong.

  “It’s obvious you’re capable of taking care of yourself,” Steven said. “You wouldn’t be here today if that weren’t the case. I think what Ed is suggesting is that relocating to a town means safety in numbers.”

  Ed nodded, still confused by her sudden anger.

  Steven continued, “We’re going to create a community there. Everyone pitching in, nobody more important than anyone else, just a cooperative system where all our individual strengths can be utilized for the collective good. Like my son here. He’s not so great with a hoe, but he handles that Springfield like Doc Holliday.”

  She gave Jeffrey a warm smile, full of gratitude, then glanced at Ed, who was grinning now like a man on death row who had just received a call from the governor.

  “We’re going to build a huge greenhouse!” Ed offered.

  “You don’t say,” she replied. “What kind? Quonset or A-Frame?”

  “Post and rafter.”

  “Sheeting or glass?”

  “Sheeting for now, then glass next year, if everyone wants to upgrade.”

  “What are you going to plant?”

  Steven answered, “We have a lengthy list of veggies. I have a seed bank. Do you enjoy gardening?”

  She regarded him for a moment before replying. “I got my masters in Horticultural Science from A&M.”

  He was suddenly eager to recruit the woman, but for entirely different reasons than Ed’s.

  “If you would consider joining our community, we’d be honored to have you. I bet Ed would be happy to use his truck to help you move your belongings into town.”

  Her gaze shifted from one man to the other as she contemplated her decision.

  “I hate leaving my house. It’s where my parents lived the entire time they were married. I grew up there. But I do realize it’s not safe anymore. Okay, I’m in.”

  ###

  Thirty minutes later, they were inside the warehouse loading building material
s on four-wheeled flatbeds and hauling them to the open bay doors where Ed’s truck was now parked next to the vehicles of the dead men. Lisa’s Toyota Tacoma had been on the other side but was now next to Ed’s Ford. Steven had decided to requisition a Dodge Ram; it was in better shape than his Accord at home, and it had plenty of cargo space.

  “You can have your pick of just about any of the houses in town,” Ed told Lisa. “The one right next to mine is empty.”

  “How big is the yard? I’ll want to have my own garden.”

  “About a half-acre, I’d say. It’s an older neighborhood with big yards. And since I’d be right next door, I could give you a hand. Not that you can’t take care of yourself, but you know, neighbors just need to help each other out.”

  “I’ll give it a look, Ed. Thank you.” She smiled.

  Jeffrey glanced at his dad and rolled his eyes. Steven stifled a laugh, then said, “I think this is the last load, right Ed?”

  “Yes, I think so,” the foreman replied. “Once we drop off the supplies in town, I’ll follow Lisa back to her house. I know you want to get started building right away, but I think it’s more important to get her moved first. We don’t know what’s going to happen when those guys in Hays figure out their buddies aren’t coming back.”

  “Agreed. The greenhouse can wait one more day.”

  As they drove past the bodies in the parking lot, Steven stole a glance at his son. Jeffrey peered at the men lying on the asphalt; heads were framed in oily halos of blood.

  “That was some incredible shooting you did today. I knew you were good, but I didn’t know you were that good. You okay?”

  “Yeah. I wish I hadn’t had to do that.”

  “Me too. I wish I hadn’t had to ask it of you.”

  “It’s okay, Dad. I was the one with the right tool for the job.” It was a phrase that Steven had used many times over the years during projects they’d worked on together. “What did Lisa mean about the pretty women in Hays being kept separate?”

  Oh boy. Steven formulated an age-appropriate response in his head. Just as he was about to deliver it, he thought about what he saw when he looked at Jeffrey. He wasn’t seeing a child, he was seeing at a young man.

  And he’d just been asked to kill five people.

  “I think she meant those bastards keep the pretty ones for sex slaves.”

  “That’s what I thought. I just wanted to make sure. I know she didn’t want to say too much in front of me, but I’m not a kid. I wish people would realize that.”

  “They will. You did a man’s job today, and everyone will know it.”

  Jeffrey nodded. “Good,” he said, then shifted his focus to the forlorn fields as they traveled east on I70 toward home. Ten minutes passed in silence.

  “Dad, we should do something about those women.”

  The thought hadn’t even occurred to him. He’d been focused on getting the supplies so they could get started on the greenhouse right away. The chilly air coming in through the half-open windows of the pickup underscored the impending threat of winter.

  “Don’t you think we have our hands full caring for our own people? Just a day or so ago, all we had to worry about was you and me. Now we’re part of a community of fifty people who need help with water and food. It’s a huge task we’ve set for ourselves. I don’t know that we want to risk our necks going into a dangerous situation to rescue people we don’t even know. Who’s to say Lisa’s information was even accurate? Maybe it’s not that bad there.”

  “I think it is. Lisa was pretty specific about what the woman said, and it sounds like they need our help. I know it won’t be easy, but we can figure out a way to do it. There may be girls there my age or even younger that they’re using for sex slaves too.”

  Steven’s stomach did a queasy flip flop.

  “Let’s talk to the townspeople about it and see what everyone thinks. There’s no way you and I can ride into Hays with guns blazing by ourselves and expect to make it out without a scratch. I’m not willing to put you in that kind of danger for people I don’t even know.”

  Jeffrey raised an eyebrow, studying his father. “Why does it matter that we don’t know them?”

  Steven opened his mouth, but no words came out.

  “I think if there are people being hurt, we have to do something about it, whether we know them or not.” His son turned his head back to the passenger window, finished with the subject.

  They drove the rest of the way in silence, but Steven wrangled with the conundrum. There were many factors in a decision such as this. Many risks that needed to be weighed against the benefits.

  Jeffrey wasn’t bothered by all this minutiae. The what-ifs and unknowns didn’t change the core issue, nor his conclusion that they couldn’t stand by and do nothing while people were brutalized.

  Steven wondered if that kind of clarity would end up costing lives.

  Chapter 31

  Arizona

  Warm sunshine filtered in through the cabin window, rousing Pablo from one of the best night’s sleep he’d ever had. Maddie was awake. Golden red hair fanned out on the white pillow case and blue eyes watched him transition from slumber to full consciousness. He thought of a cat observing a mouse, deciding whether to play with it or eat it.

  He groaned.

  “I just woke up. Give me a minute before you list the reasons why we should bring Amelia with us.”

  “You’re a smart guy, Pablo. I don’t have to do that. You know it’s not only the right thing to do for her, but for us as well. And you know why.”

  “The fact that she’s a midwife did not escape my notice.” Mental cobwebs, a residual effect of the previous evening’s tequila, needed to be brushed away before he could engage in the inevitable debate.

  “May I at least have a drink of water before you verbally pummel me?”

  She sat up in bed and reached for the plastic cup on the bedside table.

  “Here. Now, do we really need to argue about this? I think we both know how this is going to go down, so why waste all that energy? You know you’ll give in because, if for no other reason, we need her to deliver the babies which are required for that family you’re determined to have. Game, set, match.”

  “I don’t even get to present my case? For starters, we don’t have room in the car, and we barely have enough food for ourselves and Bruno, let alone another person and another dog.”

  “We’ll find more food, and we’ll find another car.”

  “But I like my Jeep.”

  “But you like me better.”

  And there was the crux of it. If Maddie asked him to shave his legs and do the Macarena, he would. He hoped she would only use her powers for good.

  “I do like you. Very much. But I get to win the next argument, okay?”

  “We’ll see.” She sprang from the bed. “I’m going to go invite her!”

  When he emerged from the bedroom a few minutes later, the women were nowhere in sight. He could hear low voices on the other side of the front door. When he opened it, four pairs of eyes watched him step out onto the sun-warmed wooden planks of the cabin’s porch.

  “Why do I get the feeling I’ve interrupted something?”

  “Amelia has accepted our invitation. Isn’t that wonderful, Pablo?” Maddie’s pointed look came with a stern warning: Be polite!

  After a second’s hesitation, he replied, “Yes, wonderful. Good thing you and Curly Sue are small, Amelia.”

  Maddie narrowed her eyes. “The first order of business will be to find a bigger vehicle.”

  Pablo sighed. He would miss that Jeep. He’d had it for years, long before the plague. It felt like he was sacrificing a pinky finger or a big toe.

  Amelia studied him with an amused expression. She’d read the subtext and didn’t seem the slightest bit offended by his lack of enthusiasm.

  “Where in Oklahoma do you have in mind, Pablo?” she asked, handing him a steaming mug of black coffee. It was instant, but sweet and deli
cious. His tequila-fuzzy tongue basked in the liquid glory.

  “I’m not sure. I thought we would just stay on I40 through Arizona and New Mexico, then stop somewhere that looks like good farming country and do some reconnoitering. Ideally, we’ll find a place with a well, and fields that don’t require too much tilling. Along the way, we’ll need to find food and water. And gasoline.”

  “With Amelia and Curly Sue, we have enough food and water to last three days,” Maddie said. She’d done the math. “And we can probably make it to Winslow on the gas we have, but that’s using the Jeep in the equation, and a new car may get better mileage.”

  “Or worse,” he said.

  “What type of vehicle are you hoping to find?”

  “I haven’t given it much thought, but I suppose something that has plenty of cargo space for three people and two dogs, gets good mileage...oh, and it must be a four-wheel drive, like the Jeep. Going off-road to maneuver around all the vehicles and debris would have been impossible otherwise. What are the odds we’ll run across something like that along I40?”

  Amelia nodded. “Come with me.”

  They followed the tiny woman down the steps and around the side of the cabin to the back. Parked behind the building in a grove of pine trees was a silvery blue Toyota SUV.

  “It was here when I arrived. Nobody and no bodies were inside...I checked. I don’t drive though. I’ve always preferred to walk wherever I need to go, if I can, but it would take me quite a while to stroll all the way to Oklahoma. Will this do?”

  The Highlander looked brand new. Pablo opened the driver’s side door to peer inside. Other than a light coat of dust, it was pristine, as if a transport helicopter had lifted it off the showroom floor and deposited here.

  Would their luck hold? He slid behind the wheel, stepped on the brake, and pressed the ignition button.

  The engine roared to life. The needle on the gas gauge settled at the halfway mark.

  He glanced back at the two women. A statuesque red-haired enchantress and a dark-skinned braided Lilliputian wore identical smug expressions.