Troop of Shadows

by Nicki Huntsman Smith

  He approached the woman, talking as he walked. His thirty-second explanation brought a broad smile to her face.

  “Well, if I know my brother, he has this planned down to the minute. You’re right, we better get moving. Logan, cover this man while he moves the bucket from his car to ours. I’ll get Brains.”

  “Your brother?”

  The woman’s smile faded when she stepped out and saw half a dozen men pointing rifles at them.

  “No time for explanations. Logan, if those men start shooting at us, shoot back.”

  “Can I shoot now, Julia? I think they’re about to start anyway.”

  “No. Wait for them. Thoozy, do you think you can stand on your own? We’ve got a situation here.”

  Pablo had no idea who else was in there, and he didn’t care. He dashed back to the Nissan and slung the Home Depot bucket out of the backseat just as the bullets began to whiz past him.

  “Now, Logan!” the woman yelled as she helped an elderly black man out of the backseat.

  On the other side, her companion rested his rifle on the window casing, using the open door for cover. One shot. Two shots. A third. Measured, smooth.

  “I got three of them, Julia!”

  The remaining men were scrambling now but still returned fire. Pablo ignored the zipping bullets while he transferred the bomb to the Land Rover, then went back for the brick, rope, and bungee cord. The woman had removed a wire cage containing a hissing cat.

  Just then, an explosion thundered from the far end of town. They paused to watch a molten yellow fireball appear in the east followed by a bulbous smoke cloud.

  “We have to do this now!”

  “Wait,” the woman replied, dismay in her voice. “I need to remove my equipment. And my research.”

  “We don’t have time. Please,” Pablo begged.

  The woman frowned, then nodded. “Logan, let the man do his job.”

  The blond, still wearing the crazed grin, continued to take methodical shots even as he moved away from the safety of the car door. The old black man sat on the highway shoulder next to the caged cat. The woman looked like she might cry.

  Pablo slid behind the wheel, steered the Rover around the Nissan, got the speed up to seventeen miles-per-hour, secured the brick, lit the gas-soaked fuse, and rolled out of the car. He landed on the gravel-strewn asphalt of I70 with a painful thud, then watched the SUV continue toward the barricade. The few guards who remained renewed their gunfire for the excruciating seven seconds the car bomb took to reach its destination.

  Finally, it exploded.

  ###

  “Fergus, talk to me.” Dani managed to keep her voice low and even.

  Inside the ice cream parlor, the sound of sporadic gunshots was muted. Fergus remained unconscious. He’d passed out after they’d placed him on the checkered linoleum. His breathing was ragged, and despite the pressure she applied with the palms of her hands, his chest wound continued to bleed heavily.

  Sam searched the pockets of the blood-stained army jacket, looking for anything useful. “Nothing but a lot of weird stuff. I’ll look in his pack.”

  She nodded, remembering the items he’d produced when Sam had been shot. She stared at the wooly face of the odd little man. Thought about his calming presence, his sage advice, his pervy sense of humor...and how insidiously he’d wormed his way into her heart.

  Please don’t let him die.

  The blue eyes fluttered open.

  “Is that an angel floating above me? Or am I in that other place, and my punishment for the debauched life I’ve led is to be saddled with an enchanting demon who will torment me throughout eternity?”

  His speech was labored, but surely it was a good sign he could speak at all.

  “How are you feeling? Do you think we can move you? What should I do?”

  Sam handed her a sanitary napkin from the backpack. She pressed it against the wound with as much force as she dared.

  “I’m going for help,” Sam said. “That nurse lady should be here by now. I’ll go find her.”

  “No,” Fergus said, then coughed. Blood dribbled from the corner of his mouth. “Find Amelia. She’ll know what to do.”

  “Amelia?” Dani asked, puzzled. “The Native American woman? Is she a doctor? I thought Cate was the doctor here.”

  “Just do it, Sam. Be careful. My life isn’t worth yours.”

  He nodded and was gone.

  “What’s going on? What am I missing?”

  “Questions, questions. Always with the questions. I wonder if all honey badgers are so curious.”

  “Stow it. If you weren’t mortally wounded, I’d be grilling you like a T-bone.”

  A weak chuckle. “You are a peach. I’ll miss you.”

  “Don’t talk like that. You’re not going anywhere.”

  The familiar, lecherous grin. “You love me. I realize that now. The first time you saw this hot little package, your honey badger brain said, ‘I must have that fine specimen of a man!’ Don’t deny it.”

  “You’re delusional, Lucky Charms. Now stop talking. You need to conserve energy.”

  An explosion, this time from the west, rattled the store front windows.

  “Sounds like the mission is going as planned.” The gravelly voice was barely a whisper.

  She glanced at the grime-streaked glass panes just as several figures darted past. Good guys or bad guys? There was no way of knowing. Her revolver lay next to Fergus on the ground, just in case.

  “You hate to be missing all the action, don’t you?”

  “I told you to quit talking, crazy man.”

  The maxi pad was now a soggy, red sponge.

  “It’s mystifying, this existence we humans call life. We scuttle about on the surface of a tiny blue marble in the middle of an unremarkable solar system, which is merely a dust mote in an otherwise average galaxy, a galaxy which is one of a hundred billion in the universe.”

  “This isn’t the time to get all philosophical.”

  A faint snort. “I think dying is the perfect time to get philosophical.”

  “You’re such a drama queen.” The words stuck in her throat.

  The beard twitched and the crow’s feet next to the bright blue eyes — azure slits now — deepened. “Anyway, it makes a person feel small, doesn’t it? Then, when you add the concept of time to the mix, it gets truly puzzling. A typical lifespan is, let’s say, eighty years...hardly a blip when you consider the billions of years the universe has existed. Why so little time for such a magnificent species? It doesn’t seem right, does it?”

  “You’re not dying. I won’t allow it.”

  He smiled. “I believe you mean that. You’re quite exceptional, Honey Badger, but despite your remarkable talents, I’m fairly certain you can’t control lofty matters such as this. If I die, I die. Just like every other human being who has drawn a breath, but no longer does so. I would have preferred to see the Atlantic Ocean again, but it seems that wasn’t meant to be. And besides, I have lived a life fuller and richer than most. I’m a lucky man. A Lucky Charms man!”

  “Fergus, shut the hell up. I mean it.”

  The eyelids fluttered and closed.

  “Fergus! Stay with me!”

  A bell above the door of the ice cream parlor tinkled.

  She swiveled and stood, pistol in hand.

  “Young lady, put that weapon down and move out of my way.”

  The tiny woman nudged her aside, none too gently. The little girl with enormous green eyes watched Dani with mild interest.

  “He’s still breathing,” she said. “He was just talking right before you came in. Are you a doctor?”

  Amelia took Dani’s place on the floor and removed the blood-soaked pad, ignoring the question.

  “Oh, what have you done, my darling?” the small woman murmured, studying the wound.

  Dani knew she wasn’t addressing her. Why the familiarity with Fergus, whom she’d just met the day before?

  “You two
, out.” Amelia’s gesture was meant for her and Sam, who lingered in the doorway. The strange child sat cross-legged on the floor now, watching the behavior of the grownups with those unsettling eyes.

  Dani began to object, but Fergus’s weak whisper cut her off. “Do what she says, Honey Badger.” His eyes remained closed.

  “We don’t know these people. You want me to trust this woman with your life?”

  She had to lean in to hear his response.

  “I want you to trust me, Dani. Please, just go.”

  Her eyes locked with those of the small woman. She saw intelligence and determination in their depths. And something else...sorrow?

  “Fine. You better take care of him. You have me to answer to.”

  The next moment, she and Sam stood outside. The gunfire had stopped completely and an eerie silence filled the town. There were bodies everywhere; some were still moving. The pungent aroma of gunpowder and scorched rubber tainted the air, like the noxious atmosphere of an over-industrialized planet. There were also top notes of something that was vaguely pleasant — at least until she realized it reminded her of backyard cookouts.

  It was the smell of burning flesh.

  Good. Those fuckers had it coming.

  With Sam at her back, she picked her way through the carnage, confirming that everyone who appeared to be dead actually was. Those that weren’t became so, courtesy of the Leatherman’s largest blade. Several others from Steven’s group were doing the same grisly work. Sam vomited twice before the job was complete.

  She wiped his face with her shirtsleeve.

  “What now, Dani?”

  “Let’s go to the Best Western. There’s nothing else to do here. And there’s nothing else to do for Fergus.”

  Infuriating tears streamed down her face. Sam knew better than to offer her comfort. He followed her in silence as they walked.

  It seemed everyone had gathered in the hotel lobby while she’d been tending to Fergus. Pandemonium reigned.

  “Quiet down, people!” Steven tried to manage the raucous gathering.

  Three men sat in chairs in the center of the room. Their wrists were handcuffed and they’d been gagged with strips of filthy bed linens. Twenty women, all thin, bruised, and dazed, huddled in a corner. The woman known as Cate tended to them with the help of two volunteers.

  “Why wait? Let’s shoot them!” someone in the agitated crowd hollered.

  Steven yelled, “Everyone, please! Let’s calm down. The worst is over. Let’s take a deep breath and get our emotions under control. Chuck,” he said, once he’d identified the speaker, “Cold-blooded murder is different from what we just did. Remember, we’re setting precedents here.” He locked eyes with the smaller man, who finally nodded and crossed his arms. Anger and frustration were evident on his face, but he kept his mouth shut.

  Dani could see that Steven carried a lot of weight with the townspeople. She found a section of wall to lean against and watched the show.

  Sam gravitated toward the victimized women, anxious to help. She smiled as she followed him with her eyes. She would never possess that instant likeability that he did. She was abrasive, and she knew it. But it gave her joy to see others react to him with shy smiles and double-takes at his handsome face.

  A reasonable female voice cut through the clamor. “These men were hiding under the beds of the women they were brutalizing. Just because they aren’t shooting at us, doesn’t mean we’re not justified in killing them now. The girls have told us they were routinely raped and beaten by the very men sitting in these chairs. Do you think due process is necessary? I think we’ve set a few precedents at this point already. Namely, going against the vote to not intervene here in in the first place.”

  That got everyone’s attention. All eyes turned now to Marilyn and Steven. Dani thought she caught a shadow of a wink from the skinny woman, who could have been Meryl Streep’s malnourished, less attractive sister. Something was going on between these two, but what it was, she had no clue.

  “That’s true. But this isn’t about them. Yes, they’re horrible men and deserve the very worst punishment we can give them. The issue is with us, and our behavior as a society. Do we want to resort to vigilante justice or maintain at least some form of a civilized judicial system?”

  Steven was a charismatic speaker, but she got the impression the dialogue between the two had been rehearsed. She watched Marilyn’s face and realized that the woman didn’t want to kill the men in cold blood. She was merely presenting that side of the argument in a manner he could address more effectively than that of a lynch mob. Pretty clever, actually, but it stunk of manipulation. She would tuck that bit of information away for the future if they decided to stay. She already knew Sam’s thoughts on the subject: he would prefer to be around people. She would need to know a lot more before making the decision.

  “What are you suggesting? A jury trial?”

  “Yes, a scaled down version of that, where the accused has the opportunity to present their own case and the jury can cast a secret ballot for guilty or innocent. Quick, fair, and decisive.”

  Marilyn nodded, appearing to consider the weight of his words, acting her part. The majority of the gathering nodded too.

  “Chuck, let’s get these men back to the jail in Liberty. Cate,” he raised his voice to be heard by the heavyset woman tending to the victims. “Are you ready for transport to the hospital?”

  “Ten minutes,” was the curt reply.

  The crowd started to break up now that the show was over. Dani escaped the oppressive smell of the Best Western for the marginally improved air outside. She’d seen plenty of horrors in the past year, but the gruesome scene in the town square of Hays, Kansas, was the worst to date. Amidst a sea of bodies and blood, the prisoner stocks towered; an ominous symbol of a civilization which had reverted to barbarism and brutality.

  Well, at least life wasn’t boring.

  Someone was behind her, sharing the dreadful panorama in shared silence. When she turned, she saw Steven had been watching her with a small smile.

  “What?”

  “You did a great job. You put your life on the line for strangers, and I want you to know how much we appreciate it. You and Sam have a place in our town if you want it.”

  She shrugged. “Thanks. I’ll let Sam make that decision, but we’ve been doing just fine on our own.”

  “I’m sure that’s true. You both seem quite capable. I won’t push you, just know the offer stands. Where’s Fergus, by the way?”

  Dani felt her stomach knot up. “He’s been shot. Amelia, is with him. It didn’t look good to me.”

  Steven squeezed her shoulder. “I’m sorry. He seemed like a good guy.”

  “Seems.”

  He nodded, then shifted his attention westward, down Main Street. She followed his gaze. Four figures were making their way toward them. When she looked back at Steven, he was wearing a broad smile.

  He vaulted off the sidewalk and jogged toward the small group. She watched as he scooped up a tall female in a sweeping, twirling hug. Their laughter echoed over the blood-stained cobblestones. It felt inappropriate, discordant; obscene even, considering their surroundings.

  She frowned as they ambled in her direction. She knew Pablo, but the other three were strangers.

  “Dani, there’s someone I’d like you to meet. This is my sister, Julia. Jules, this young lady is a local heroine and soon-to-be...hopefully...Liberty’s resident Wonder Woman.”

  The older woman was attractive but haggard. She could see a strong resemblance to Steven in the facial features and the same intelligence gleamed in her eyes. The woman extended a slender hand.

  Dani took it firmly in her own. Something passed between them as their hands touched...a sensation that felt almost electrical. She studied the woman with more interest now as introductions were made. The old black man looked like he was on his last leg, and the blond guy totally creeped her out. In one hand he held a wire cage which contained
a pissed-off orange cat. A scoped sniper rifle was in the other.

  “Your colors are green and purple, like Julia,” the blond man, Logan, said to her.

  Steven’s sister gave her a wink that said, “Please just play along.”

  “If you say so,” Dani replied, unsmiling. There was something profoundly wrong with this guy. His grin evoked images of Rorschach inkblots and strait jackets.

  “Steven, can we get Thoozy inside? You said you had a medical person?”

  “Yes. Her name is Cate. Lots to tell you, Jules, but first things first. Hold your breath!”

  He ushered them into the lobby of the Best Western.

  Dani turned and headed east toward the ice cream parlor. She’d given Amelia enough time.

  The bell above the door tinkled again. The little girl and the small woman sat on either side of a body whose face had been covered by a bloodstained army jacket.

  “I’m sorry,” the woman said. Her dark eyes were full of sorrow. The little girl just stared.

  Dani stumbled back out of the ice cream parlor into Sam’s arms. After more than a year of banishment, the grief and heartache demanded to be acknowledged. Sobs racked her body; not just for Fergus, but for her parents too, those wonderful people who didn’t share her DNA but who had given her an enviable life and unconditional love. She’d never allowed herself the time and emotional energy to mourn them in the aftermath of Chicxulub. She’d been too busy staying alive. Now, the sadness of losing Fergus mingled with that grief, surprising her in its depth and intensity. She realized that in the short time they’d traveled together, he’d become a surrogate father in many ways.

  The thought elicited a fresh round of sobs. Her legs collapsed and she was suddenly sitting on the concrete. The despair expanded in her chest, fanged and molten now. It was as defined, as tangible, as the tears that streamed down her face and the fingernails that clawed against the dirty palms which sought to imprison them.

  She felt Sam’s arms engulf her. Silently he rocked her, comforted her. Thank goodness he didn’t offer any platitudes. Instinctively he knew not to, it seemed. And he would have massacred the typical clichés people always say in situations like these anyway.