Reckoning ~ Indian Hill 2 ~ A Michael Talbot Adventure (24 page)

***

Major Salazar rallied his troops to the last known point of contact with the fugitives. “Alright, men! We are looking for two men, a woman and a child. They are to be considered dangerous; but at this time, remain unarmed. I do not want them fired upon unless you are personally threatened. If anybody should spot them, I want to be notified immediately. I want to make first contact. If you fear their imminent escape, I want you to shoot to incapacitate. If that is not possible, I want you to shoot to kill.”

That garnered more than a few shocked looks throughout the ranks. “Men, I want you to understand the severity of this mission. These people know about our existence. They threaten everything that we have worked so hard for. Your friends’ lives, your sweethearts’ lives, even your children’s lives are in grave danger.

“If they resist, we have no choice but to extinguish the threat. Believe me, I do not wish for it to come to that, but I will not sacrifice the very essence of mankind for them. If there are any of you who are not up for this mission, I completely understand. No discipline will befall you. If this is something that you cannot stomach, I want you to return to the fort.”

As expected, none of the major's men made a move to leave. He knew they wouldn’t. Major Salazar had purposely chosen men who had strong ties back at the fort. Any of the men would die a thousand deaths to ensure the safety of the last bastion.

“Alright, since everyone is in, I want you to break down into groups of three and I want patrols at roughly hundred-yard intervals. Corporal Dewey, make it so.”

“Sir, yes, sir! You heard the man; line up and count off in threes.”

Major Salazar was impressed with the promptness with which his men performed their duties, but he feared that the head start for the Guardsman and the sergeant major’s knowledge of military strategy would impede his efforts. What got into Sergeant Bolito’s head? If he didn’t want to kill them, he should have just dragged them back, kicking and screaming, he thought.

***

The sergeant major tried his best to get his ragtag group hustling. He knew that Sergeant Bolito had only granted the troop a small reprieve. Colonel Ginson was entirely too smart to just let them walk. He had way too much invested to take a chance on his group’s ability to stay quiet.

The sergeant major carried the baby in his arms. Karen, who had just witnessed the death of her best friend, was carrying herself as best she could. She was a trooper, he thought to himself. But Bennett, the miserable shit, was the one slowing them down. Bennett wouldn’t even carry more of their food, complaining about a sore back. 'Of the three men I lost today, why wasn’t one of them Bennett?' The sergeant major thought sourly.

“Bennett! Come on! Pick it up! We have to put as much distance between us and Walpole as possible,” the top shouted over his shoulder. A miserable and testy Bennett was swatting away bugs and had completely stopped his forward momentum right when the top began to speak.

“What’s the rush, Top?” Bennett asked with sarcasm in his voice. “The pansy-ass Vato let us go, we’re free as birds.” The top would have just left Bennett to rot on his own, but he had foolishly confided his plan to go to a food cannery on the outskirts of the Norwood/Dedham line. And the top knew that Bennett, on his own, would be scooped up in minutes. Bennett was ready to call it a day less than a half mile from the conflict.

“Listen, you dumb ass,” the sergeant major started. He hated slipping out of military protocol, but this ass was pushing him to the limit. “Do you really think that the colonel back at that Stop and Shop is just going to let us go? He’s probably already put a bullet in that sergeant. Now move!” the sergeant major yelled.

That got Bennett moving again, it was at a grudgingly slow pace. It was just enough that the sergeant major couldn’t say anything but not nearly the speed they needed to escape. The top’s mind was racing with alternative ideas so that he could just leave the lollygagger behind. He realized that he couldn’t go much further with the baby; and they were going to need food. They lost more than seventy percent of the food they took from the grocery store. Every time the top turned around, Bennett was slyly sticking something more in his mouth, despite their agreement to eat nothing until they could ration it out when they stopped for the night.

The cannery was a perfect refuge. Not many people knew about it and it would provide plenty of nutrition for the time being until they could try to find a way to hook up with another National Guard unit. And then who knew? Maybe they’d go back with a tank and retake the store.

The sergeant major was about to reprimand Bennett again, but when he turned around, he noticed a ridge, maybe a quarter of a mile away, and two or three Marines on it. He didn’t think they had been spotted yet, at least, judging by the Marines movements. The sergeant major put his fist up into the air to halt his small troop. Karen immediately froze as fear spread across her face. Bennett walked right into her, still smelling of the Kit Kat bar he had just stuffed into his mouth.

“Hey what the…” he said as he oomphed into her back. He finally looked up to see the top’s “no movement” signal and nearly choked on his candy bar, much to the top’s delight. The top studied the patrol a little longer, satisfied that they had not seen them yet. They were still coming in their general direction but they were looking in every other direction as well. If they had been spotted, the scouts would be double timing to their location.

“All right, we’re going to have to split up,” the sergeant major began and Karen began to protest.

“We can’t split up; they haven’t even seen us. Let’s just hide in this underbrush until they pass,” she argued.

“Karen, we can’t be sure the baby will stay quiet. And I’m positive they have more than one patrol out there. No, our odds are horrible if we stay together. I will get as far away from you, Bennett, and the baby as possible; and I will draw them away from your location.” Karen was about to double her protests. No way did she trust Bennett with her life. The top looked at her harshly as if to say he didn’t want any of his orders questioned.

“I will meet up with you and Bennett when I am sure that I have lost them. Keep on this path and don’t stop for anything, no matter what! You hear me!” he stressed. The top pulled Bennett to the side while Karen did her best to comfort the infant who was beginning to realize that not all was right in its tiny, little world.

“Bennett! You fuck this up and I’ll fillet you! Do you understand? For once in your life, I want you to think about somebody besides yourself, understand soldier?” Bennett nodded in agreement, internally, he was already trying to figure out how he could save his own skin.

“Karen, Bennett, good luck. I will meet up with you two later tonight at the rendezvous point. Wait until I am spotted before you begin to move. That will focus all their attention on me and you should have pretty fair sailing from that point on.”

“What about you, Red? You’re really not intending on meeting us tonight,” Karen said solemnly. The top never answered. He started to move away from them at a fairly good clip, he wanted to be at least a few hundred or so yards away before he began the ruse. Karen turned to Bennett.

“You’re going to have to carry the baby or the food, Bennett. I can’t do it on my own. And don’t pull that injured back crap with me. Remember! I was a nurse on the base; I saw your chart. You had more than twice the sick calls logged than your nearest competitor. Why they didn’t just kick you out, I’ll never know.”

Bennett wanted to tell her to fuck off, but he figured that the top was still too close and, although he might not be afraid of Karen, the top scared him. “Oh, and don’t think I don’t know what’s going on in that shifty little head of yours. If you try to leave me here, I’ll scream my bloody head off until those Marines find us.” She watched as the sneer on Bennett’s face disappeared. She nailed that one. “Spineless little bitch,” she mumbled under her breath.

Bennett’s options began to run out on him. Damn top, he thought to himself. If I hadn’t been so scared of him, I would have just stayed there at the Stop and Shop. At least, then I’d be safe. What do I give a care who’s in charge? They’re all assholes to me. “Go ahead, scream. I’d rather give up anyway. I’ll go back to the Stop and Shop and let them guard me and I won’t have to listen to the top anymore.”

“What makes you think they are looking for prisoners, dumbass? They’re here to finish off what that Sergeant Bolito couldn’t.”

“Do you think so?” Bennett was scrambling; he hadn’t thought about that. There was no way they’d be able to get away with the baby. “Damn top.”

“What? That man’s out there risking his life for us.”

“Well, if he hadn’t cornered us into leaving in the first place, he wouldn’t have to try to save us now, would he?”

“I don’t know about you, Bennett, but nobody cajoled me into leaving. I have principles, I wasn’t going to let some gang leader make us call him ‘boss.’ He’s just a thug with a uniform.”

“Yeah? Well, I’d rather be alive and well, calling him whatever he wanted to be called, then dead and full of principles.”

“Well, I guess that’s the difference between you and me then, isn’t it?”

“What about the baby, Karen? What does he have to say about your principles?” Bennett spat. Karen looked away, tears welling up in her eyes. Her upright principles had gotten her into jams before but never had the lives of those around her been jeopardized because of it.

“We’ll be fine. The top won’t let anything happen to us.”

“Yep, I’m sure that’s exactly what Garrity, Dobbs, McHenry and his wife were thinking too.”

“You bastard, Bennett! Why are you doing this?”

Bennett knew a better man would not torment a woman like this, in their darkest hour, but he wasn’t that man. He wholly believed in the old axiom “misery loves company” and he was taking her with him. Bennett was about to reply when they heard the alarm being sounded. They could see the patrol looking in the direction the top had gone.

One of the Marines was on the radio, more than likely identifying their position; the other two were yelling. It appeared like they were ordering the top to halt, from their viewpoint, it was impossible to tell. The warning shots, however, sent shudders down Bennett’s spine.

He could tell from the way the Marines were aiming that these were only warning shots, he didn’t figure that it would be too long before they lowered their muzzles. And, even from this distance, he could tell that they meant business. Bennett and Karen both squatted down, adrenaline racing through their veins. The movement made Bennett acutely aware of a lump in his pocket that made it extremely uncomfortable to remain in that position. Bennett reached into his pocket and pulled out the annoying culprit, a sixteen ounce can of creamed corn.

What made me grab this? Bennett wondered, I hate corn. Bennett hefted it in his hand. This sucker’s pretty heavy; maybe I should just get rid of the damn thing. And then, there it was--the back of Karen’s head. Maybe some options were still open, Bennett thought.

The top’s plan was nearly working to perfection. The three Marines on the ridge were quickly advancing to his position. They weren’t looking left or right, just straight ahead. They’d catch that bastard in the next twenty minutes or so. How far could the three of us really get? They’d have us half an hour after that.

“Fuck that!” Bennett said out loud, though he hadn’t meant to. Karen started to turn around to see what Bennett was bitching about now, when her world suddenly went black. Bennett had slammed the can so hard into the back of Karen’s head, that the can split in two.

Blood poured from her skull, bone shards mingled with the creamed corn. Bennett stared in fascination as the dark red mixed with the yellow which ran down her neck in a pinkish mixture. It seemed much more Hollywood-driven than real life. Bennett still held onto the can as Karen’s body fell away into the scrub brush. He was frozen for only a moment as the baby shrieked out in protest.

“Brat!” Bennett was going to brain the kid also when he realized that his weapon of choice had been reduced to a useless, bent piece of tin. Bennett turned and ran, not really sure in which direction he was heading, nor caring. He made sure he wasn’t headed back to the Stop and Shop, nor forward to the cannery. It would be just his luck if the top made it through and found him there alone. No sir, he’d have none of that. He’d do just fine though, he figured. Rats always found a way to survive.

Bennett heard a three round burst. He thought they were shooting his way, but when he didn’t fall over bleeding, he deduced the top must’ve been found. He finally crossed through the scrub brush and into some thicker woods and felt it was safe enough to stop and take a look. He peered out from the trees and saw five or six Marines standing over something. He wasn’t a hundred percent sure what it was, but it didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that the top was in that general area.

“About time somebody put that bastard out of my misery,” Bennett half smiled. He wanted to do a dance, he was so excited. He probably would have if he hadn’t noticed a dozen or so more Marines rising over the crest. Apparently, the ruse hadn’t worked as well as the top expected. It had delayed the Marines, but definitely not stopped them. They were still fanned out and the ones that weren’t looking down at the top were most assuredly looking for the rest of the party.

Bennett quickly glanced over to where Karen was. If the bitch got up now, he was as good as dead. Sure, he was in the National Guard, but every time it was physical fitness time, Bennett had his ass parked down at the hospital. He had about spent all of his energy running into the woods. He could see that someone was stirring where he had left Karen. His heart started hammering in his chest. He didn’t want to go out like this, especially not running.