by Payne, T. L.
Mrs. B set the coffeepot and mugs on the wrought-iron table between Savanah and Blake. Jason lifted it and filled a mug. The officer eyed it like a kid would stare at a candy bar.
“You still have coffee?” he asked as Jason handed him the mug.
“It’s cut with a little chicory to make it last longer. Not sure how far it’ll stretch with this many folks,” Mrs. B said, turning to head back toward the house.
“How many people are staying here?” Blake asked.
Savanah started to answer, but Jason beat her to it. “A few,” he said. Jason cocked his head and eyed the man. “How many are at your place?”
The officer stared back at him. “My in-laws and my wife. Our daughter is back in Ohio at college.”
“That sucks,” Savanah said under her breath. It was all she could do not to worry herself sick about her brother and nephew. She’d go crazy if she didn’t have all her children with her.
“Have you spoken to any of the neighbors on your road?” Jason asked.
“A few. Most are elderly, or at least older, and unwilling to take on a gang of thugs. They’re just waiting for them to come at them. A few are just too cocky to think they need help.”
“Cocky?” Savanah asked.
“Yeah. You know—all bravado. They have guns and dare anyone to trespass on their property. They don’t realize these people will come while they’re sleeping and burn their houses down around their families if they defy them.”
He knew what kind of people they were dealing with. He’d probably dealt with the likes many times as an officer of the law. But they didn’t have a police force behind them. Their tactics had to be different. Even Savanah knew that.
“You know you can’t just go try to arrest them, right?” she asked.
Blake kept his dark brown eyes steady on hers. “No, ma’am, we can’t.”
“Well then, what do you propose we do to stop them from raiding and killing folks?” Jason asked.
“Band together. There’s strength in numbers. We need to circle the wagons like in the old wild west days.”
“We tried to get folks to help us set up barriers and guard them, but they’re too scared.”
“You have to make your perimeter as small as you can. Instead of blocking off the intersections, cordon off a few farms. Once you have your families and friends within a secure area, I’d start picking off those thugs one by one. When you’ve reduced their ranks, you go for the leader.”
“Just ride up in there and shoot it out with him?” Savanah asked, shock evident in her tone.
He shook his head and leaned back in his chair. He stared out over the herb garden as he answered her. “No. You send in a sniper to take him out.”
“Sniper?” Jason asked. “Yeah, we’ll get right on the phone and get one out here.”
Jason was being sarcastic, but Savanah doubted the man would suggest such a thing if it weren’t a viable option.
“Are you a sniper?” Savanah asked.
The corners of the man’s mouth tugged up. “I just need ammunition,” he said, nodding his head to his rifle still on the ground in her field.
Savanah’s gaze shifted to Jason. Until that moment, killing his brother had seemed theoretical. Blake had no way of knowing the people he was talking so casually about taking out were Jason’s family members. Her heart broke for him. No matter how evil they were, they were still blood. And in southwest Louisiana, blood was everything. It must go against his DNA to turn on them. She searched his face, but he avoided her gaze. What an awful position he was in. She wondered if she should tell Blake or let Jason do it. Would it matter? For all their sakes, she hoped not.
Five
Will
Day Seven
“There’s Gus and Jaz,” Cayden yelled above the shouting.
“We need to get the hell out of here,” Tanner said.
Will’s eyes never left the group of young men approaching them as he slid into the driver’s seat. “Get in,” Will said.
Isabella was still hanging out of her door.
Will turned the key and put the truck into gear. As he did, he prayed the wheels caught traction, and they didn’t get stuck in the muck. The wheels spun, struggling to grip the wet, muddy pavement. Will heard shouting between the two groups but tried to remain focused on getting the pickup across the parking lot to get Gus and Jaz.
Will’s gaze bounced between the teen girls and the approaching men. They’d both turned their attention to the running vehicle. Two of the young girls jumped in front of the vehicle, waving their bats and yelling for Will to stop. He stomped on the brake to avoid hitting them, unable to believe what was happening. They hadn’t made it but a couple of miles.
Isabella screamed Will’s name, and he turned to find a disfigured young man’s face peering back at him through the open window. Scarface twitched the barrel of a small handgun.
“Out of the truck,” Scarface said.
Will wanted to look to see where Tanner and Monte were. They had the pistols and were the only ones that could prevent the pickup from being taken.
“I said get out,” Scarface repeated.
“Cayden, stay put until I’m out,” Will said, without taking his eyes off the man beside him.
The back passenger side door opened, and Isabella screamed. Cayden shouted for someone to let her go. Scarface’s attention turned to them. Will grabbed the handle and shoved with all his might, slamming the door into the distracted man, and knocking him off balance. He pulled it back and shoved it into the man a second time, knocking him to the ground. Will was out of the truck in seconds, lunging for the guy. He needed that pistol. He had to get control of the situation before someone got hurt.
The two young women raced over and jumped on Will’s back as he and Scarface struggled for control of the weapon. Scarface somehow got his finger inside the trigger guard. Will forced his arm to the left with the barrel pointing over Will’s shoulder. The gun went off. The weight of one of the girls lifted off his back as the other young woman began screaming. Gunshots rang out somewhere nearby. Will’s heart raced. He was desperate to see where Cayden and Isabella were. Who was doing the shooting? The man yanked hard, nearly tossing Will over his head. Will had to keep his focus on the gun. Scarface rolled left, trying to throw Will off balance. As he did, the man spread his legs, leaving himself wide open for Will’s knee to his groin.
Scarface doubled over in pain, and Will seized the opportunity to wrench the pistol from his hand. Will rolled to the right, landing face up, and grabbed the pistol in both hands. The man was still writhing on the ground, no longer an immediate threat. Will pushed himself backward with the heels of his boots and jumped to his feet. On the ground, inches from Scarface was one of the teen girls. Her lifeless eyes stared up at the sky. Only a trace of blood oozed from the bullet wound in her forehead. The second girl looked up, tears streaking her cheeks. She screeched as she lunged for him. Will stumbled back, trying to put distance between them. He did not want to shoot a kid. Tanner appeared out of nowhere and clothes-lined the girl. She bounced off his muscular arm and fell back on her butt, grabbing her throat.
Gus ran up behind them and pounced on the girl. He yelled something in Spanish and rolled her over onto her side. Will’s attention turned to searching for Cayden and Isabella and his eyes scanned the area behind the truck. There were people on the ground.
Panic seized Will, and he ran around the vehicle, calling Cayden’s name.
“Over here, Dad.”
A sigh of relief escaped his lips as his eyes focused on his son standing beside Jaz and Isabella near a short row of hedges that lined the street.
Looking through the front sights of his newly found pistol, Will turned and took in the parking lot, making sure they’d taken care of all the threats. On the passenger side of the truck, Monte stood over two men who were face down on the pavement. Four men were lifeless behind the vehicle. All others had fled.
“We need to go be
fore they come back with friends,” Will yelled, gesturing with his hand for Cayden and Isabella to get to the truck.
"What about these four?” Gus asked as he rounded the back of the pickup. The teen girl was thrashing about, trying to dislodge his grip on her arm.
“I’ll take care of them,” a male voice called out.
Will pivoted, searching for its source.
Gus turned. “Are you sure, Father?”
Will spotted the priest dressed in the traditional black cassock and white collar and lowered his pistol.
The priest said something to the girl and she hung her head. “I’ll take responsibility for them. They’re not bad kids, really. They just lack proper guidance.”
“If you say so,” Gus said, releasing his grip on the girl.
She twisted and backed away, throwing her head back. “I told you, I ain’t staying at the church, Father.”
“Two Hispanic men dressed in blue dickies and white T-shirts stepped out from behind the priest. Gang tattoos covered their arms, faces, and necks. One was tall and broad-shouldered. He carried himself with authority. The second was shorter and thinner. He scanned the street, leery of being out in the open. They walked toward Gus with their chests out and heads cocked slightly to one side, stopping next to the two kids on the ground. Monte stepped backward several feet and lowered the pistol halfway.
“Get up,” the broad-chested man barked. The men surprised Will by complying without complaint. The shorter man grabbed the girl’s arm and shoved her toward the priest. She looked back as if to say something but turned and casually began making her way across the parking lot. Gus gave the two men a slight nod as he eased around to the driver’s side of the truck.
“I’d walk if I were you. That truck is gonna do nothing but get ya’ll killed,” the larger man said.
Will was beginning to think he was right. All it would do was attract unwanted attention. He’d been stupid to expect otherwise, but they were kind of stuck now. Isabella couldn’t walk and what were their chances of finding bikes close by?
“I got you. We’re going to stick to the freeways. Thinking there’ll be fewer people,” Gus said.
Will doubted it. Evacuees stranded while trying to get away from the storm wouldn’t have traveled far from their vehicles. It was just too dangerous. But now, with the water receded, they’d likely be traveling south using the freeways.
“We going?” Monte asked. He lowered his pistol and moved toward Gus. The larger man’s right hand whipped around to the back of his waistband.
“Let’s get these kids back to the church. I’m sweating my balls off out here,” the broad-shouldered man said.
“Let’s go, Cayden,” Will said, placing a hand on his shoulder.
More people appeared as everyone loaded back into the pickup. They gathered up the bodies and disappeared back the way they’d come.
“Well, that was scary as hell,” Jaz said as she climbed back into the front passenger seat and closed her door.
“I sure hope that dude isn’t right about this truck causing us problems,” Isabella said. She held her injured left hand across her chest. The pain medication that the medics had given her had long since worn off and Will was impressed at how tough she was being. She had to be suffering.
Gus took the turn out of the parking lot a little too sharp, causing Tanner to fall off the wheel well. Will could hear him cursing Gus through the open back glass.
“What the hell happened back there?” Gus asked.
“I’m not sure. We split up to check the area for threats, and that group of girls came running after Monte.”
“The church is full of people. They said there are groups of individuals camping out nearby. They’re doing their best to feed everyone, but they’re just about out of food,” Jaz said.
“Monte said those girls had canned goods stacked up back there in the quad. I bet they took it from the school cafeteria,” Will said.
“I’m glad they didn’t get the truck,” Cayden said.
“Me too,” Jaz said. “Hopefully, we can avoid any more of that mess getting to my mom’s.”
They hadn’t traveled two blocks before that notion had been put to rest. A middle-aged man and his small son stepped out into the street and stared at the vehicle as it passed by them. The truck was attracting way too much attention. The noise of the engine seemed to carry through the neighborhoods. Will hoped it would be better on the freeways.
Gus gripped the steering wheel tightly as they passed an apartment building where a few men and a woman were sitting on the hoods of cars. Each of them turned to face the street. One man slid down off the hood and took a step forward. Will glanced back. Tanner had his pistol pointed in the man’s direction.
“This isn’t good,” Will said, tightening his grip on the pistol he held pointed between his feet.
“I see them,” Gus said as he sped up before the man could have a chance to pull his own weapon.
A small group of people stepped between two cars in front of the truck, and Gus swerved to avoid hitting them. He hit the gas, slinging mud into the air, and sped past them. The interstate was up ahead, and Gus focused on reaching the on-ramp without crashing into abandoned cars or getting the truck’s tires slashed by metal debris.
“I hope it isn’t like this the whole way,” Jaz said, pointing to the piles of twisted electric lines, pieces of wood, and chunks of what had once been someone’s roof.
“It will get better the farther north we go,” Will said. The further they traveled north, the less hurricane damage they’d encounter. At least that had been Will’s experience. Without news reports, it was hard to tell what area had been hit the hardest.
Will was concerned about all the dead cars on the freeways. Making their way through them might prove impossible. From what he’d seen, the roads had been packed with residents evacuating when the EMP struck. Many had simply run out of gas and abandoned their vehicles on the sides of the road before that. There might not even be passable shoulders on the interstate. They’d likely spend all their time pushing vehicles out of the way.
“The debris will probably lessen, but there could be more people. All the evacuees stranded by the EMP could still be hanging out by the freeways. They likely didn’t travel far from the vehicles,” Will said.
Before they’d started their journey, Will had known it wouldn’t be easy but seeing first-hand how rough it would be had every muscle in his body on high alert. He rolled his shoulders, trying to ease the tension building in them.
When they finally reached the on-ramp, Will was pleasantly surprised. Someone had already come along and pushed vehicles aside enough to clear the shoulder and right lane. Possibly the military had been through this way. It was likely too much to hope that they would have cleared the other freeways as well. If it was unobstructed all the way to the Crosby Freeway, they could make it to Liberty much faster. But if not, once they turned off of Interstate 610, at least there would be fewer cars to have to get past.
Despite being anxious to get to their destination, Gus kept his speed low in order to rapidly respond should anything unexpected pop up in front of them. Jaz leaned over and placed her hand on his shoulder. “If things stay like this, we could be there in an hour.”
“I hope your crazy uncle doesn’t shoot us when we pull in,” Gus said.
“If he’s still there. Mom said he was being moved, but with the storm, they may have waited.”
“If they didn’t move him, then he’s screwed,” Gus said.
Jaz leaned back and grew quiet.
“Why would your uncle shoot at us?” Isabella asked.
Jaz hesitated before answering, causing a knot to twist in Will’s stomach. He needed to know how much trouble this uncle of hers was and if it was safe for him and his son to stop there.
“My uncle was supposed to testify against this dude, so he’s supposed to be moving into witness protection soon,” Jaz said.
“That sounds serio
us,” Isabella said.
“My mom was scared. She told him if they didn’t come for him that day, he’d have to go, so either way, he shouldn’t be there now.”
Will hoped that was the case. Regardless, he would plan on leaving as soon as they dropped Gus and Jaz off. He had no intentions of getting caught up in their family drama.
Six
Will
Day Seven
Almost immediately, Will spotted the Houston skyline from a gap between cars along Interstate 610. From that distance, it looked like downtown had been the center of a war zone. Instead of the shiny glass and metal, all he saw was black and charred buildings. Somehow it appeared worse than it did close up, seeing the scale of the destruction.
Isabella and Cayden leaned forward to get a look.
“It’s bad, isn’t it?’ Jaz said, following their gaze.
“Yeah. We were down there when it happened. It was terrifying. Glass just rained down on us. The smoke was so thick. My lungs hurt just thinking about it,” Isabella said.
“Wow. That sounds terrifying.”
“It’s a good thing the military picked you up and brought you home. I can’t imagine walking all that way with all that destruction,” Gus said.
“I guess so,” Isabella said, lowering her voice. Her eyes dropped to her lap. She was likely remembering Betley. They hadn’t had time to discuss his death. Maybe they didn’t need to.
Will stared off to his right at the long rows of rail cars filled with petroleum products that now would likely never reach their destination. There were enough toxic chemicals on those tracks to take out a good-sized city if they fell into the hands of the terrorist insurgents. He couldn’t seem to stop thinking about their battle with them. There were just so damn many. How had they gone undetected by the government? They’d known that something was going on. If only they’d moved sooner. Will sighed. It wouldn’t have stopped the EMP strike, but it would have given them a better shot at fending off an invasion.
