THE COLLAPSE: Seeking Refuge (25 page)

Claudine said to Fish through the barred window, “Because of your loyal service to me and William, we won’t be killing you today.  Try any funny business…and I might change my mind.”

Fish just glared at her, saying nothing.  He was furious, but he also knew that his buddy Stephen would soon be looking for him.  Until then, he’d just comply with Claudine and be a good little boy.

The truth was, however, that the women were too afraid to try to kill him without a gun.  Hand-to-hand combat with Fish, even for an ex-cop, was suicide.  And they certainly couldn’t shoot him…not with all the plans that had already been set in motion.  Gunfire would bring residents, questions, blah, blah, blah.  Claudine didn’t have time for all that.  Even one single gunshot could instantly spur total anarchy within The Park.  Everyone was on edge from all the quakes and evictions.

“Keep an eye on him until it’s time to leave.  Make sure he stays quiet in there,” Claudine said to Alexis while pointing at Fish’s face in the window. 

Once Claudine was gone, Fish watched Alexis study his M-4 with an awestruck expression on her face.  After a few moments, she diabolically grinned at Fish as she slung the weapon onto her back with satisfaction.   She paced about in the driveway with her new toy, getting used to the feel of it.

Fish contemptuously said to her as she walked, “Don’t get too comfortable with that thing.  I’ll be getting it back soon enough.”

*****

Ox provided Stephen with two five-gallon red jerry cans of unleaded.  He had joked with Stephen that he was “pretty sure” that they were both unleaded.  Ox was such a damn joker that Stephen didn’t know if he was serious or not, and a doubt had been planted in Stephen’s head.  He decided to unscrew the spouts and smell them both.  Neither one of the cans had the distinct, oily smell of diesel, so Stephen was satisfied and marched away with his prizes.

Stephen had felt many eyes upon him as he hurriedly power-walked from Ox’s campsite to his own.  An uneasy feeling had come over him.  While holding a heavy jerry can in each hand, he would not be unable to unstrap his M-4 should any of the residents decide that they needed the fuel more than he did.

The agreement with Ox was to leave at eleven AM that morning.  The two caravans would rendezvous at the intersection near wood station #1, then proceed to the main gate.  Ox had warned Stephen that Hal Hollingsworth wasn’t aware of the Probsts’ plan for a “new survivors’ group”, since small children were not desired in their new outfit.  Claudine knew that Hal would never abandon Dakota, so he wasn’t invited.  Ox also said that he wasn’t sure of how Hal would react once he found out the truth, but felt as though he owed him the explanation, at least.

Stephen disagreed, saying that what Hal didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him.  But, Ox had known Hal a lot longer than Stephen, and demanded that they stop at the gate to inform Hal of what was going on (on their way
out
of The Park, of course).

Once Stephen was close enough to see his own site in the distance, he took a deep breath and calmed himself down.  He could see Tarra and Carrie talking with each other near Fish’s truck.  The danger was over. 

Or was it?

Stephen saw his wife suddenly start sprinting toward him.  She put her hands to her mouth and shouted, “Stephen…behind you!”

He turned around in just enough time to see the golf club coming toward his head.  It was Terry the damn golf-club-dude and two of his buddies!  Stephen twisted and ducked at the same time to dodge the blow, and the golfer’s swing went errant.  Stephen had dropped both jerry cans, and in the process of avoiding the golfer’s second swing, he fell over one of the cans and down to the road.  Unfortunately, he had used his left hand to break his fall, and had heard a snapping sound as he crashed down.  A bolt of lightning had lit up his wrist, and the pain even shot up his arm to the elbow.  It was definitely broke!

The two men with Terry quickly went to grab each one of the gas cans, but while still on the ground, Stephen had withdrawn Eddie’s .38 special from his shoulder holster and pointed it at them.

“Touch those cans…and die,” Stephen warned, trying to block out the pain and remain coherent.  “I honestly don’t have time for games.”

Terry and one of the men had put their hands in the air, but the third one was slowly reaching behind himself.  Stephen had seen this action so many times in the cop-drama TV shows that his next move came naturally, without thinking.  He pointed the revolver at the moving man and said, “You…stop reaching for the gun behind your back and get your hands in the air.”

The man stopped moving, but didn’t put his hands up.  Stephen cocked the hammer back on the revolver and shouted, “NOW!”

Stephen had successfully frightened the man enough, because he put his hands up.  Soon, Tarra and Carrie were on the scene.  Stephen, still on the ground, said, “Tarra, I broke my wrist.”

Carrie, without hesitation, snatched the golf club from Terry’s raised hand and violently smashed it against her knee, bending it in half.  As she tossed it to the ground as if it were a piece of trash, Terry’s body slumped with disappointment and his bottom lip quivered.  He appeared as though he was about to cry.

Stephen pointed his gun again at the man that had been reaching behind his back and in a painful voice said to Carrie, “This one has a gun…take it from him.”

Carrie went behind the man, and sure enough, between the man’s jeans and the small of his back was a pistol.  She took the weapon and spun the man around, then pushed him forward in the opposite direction of site 199.

“Walk,” she commanded, spinning the other two men around as well and pushing them in the same fashion.

As the defeated men walked away, Stephen called out as he stood up, “If I see any of you again, in any type of capacity, I
will
kill you.  No second chances, fellas!”

Tarra and Carrie both looked at Stephen’s wrist.  Carrie quickly diagnosed that it was definitely broke, and that Stephen should follow her to site 72 so she could wrap it up as best she could.  He needed a cast, but that was never going to happen.  Not during The Collapse.

Stephen called out to his wife as he walked away with Carrie, “You will need to drive today, babe.”

“That’s fine,” Tarra said, “you know I love driving Fish’s truck, anyway.”

Chapter 14

After Stephen’s wrist was wrapped tightly with Ace bandages, Carrie wanted him to wear a sling to prevent him from using his hand as much as possible.  Stephen had adamantly refused, citing that he’d rather suffer through more pain or even another break if it meant being able to use his arm to protect his family during the journey out to the Rudehouse property. 

Carrie had taken Stephen’s M-4 rifle, since he wouldn’t be able to use it effectively anyway.  Now she was doubly armed.  She had the pistol from the attempted gasoline heist and now, the M-4.  On their way back to site 199, Stephen asked her if she knew how to use the automatic rifle, and she was forced to admit that she only knew of what she saw on television.  So, Stephen gave her a quick crash course on the safety selector switch, charging handle, and magazine release button.  That was all she needed to know…for now.

Once back at site 199, Stephen was upset to learn from Tarra that Fish was still AWOL.  He had yet to return from his supply mission.  What the hell?  Stephen had specifically told him NOT to lollygag, and Fish had acknowledged.  He knew that they were leaving, so something had to be wrong.  Very wrong. 

Stephen gathered Tarra and Carrie and moved away from the Kays, who were playing with Pharaoh.  The dog was still tied to the truck.

Stephen said to the two women, “I think we should go looking for Fish.  My suggestion is that two of us head out, and one of us stays with the Kays.  We’ll split up and meet near wood station #1 to rally and compare notes.”

“
WE
will?” Tarra laughed, “you aren’t going anywhere with that wrist.”

Stephen argued, “Babe, I can use my right hand just fine.”  With that, he withdrew the .38 special from his jacket and held it up, demonstrating that he could operate the gun just fine.

Tarra grimaced and took the revolver from him.  She popped the cylinder open and let all six bullets hit the ground.

“Hey!” Stephen shouted.  “What the hell are you doing?”

Tarra handed the weapon back to Stephen and said, “Okay, tough guy, now reload it.”

Stephen frowned at the bullets on the ground.  His wife was right, he couldn’t do it.  Not with only one hand, anyway.  So he surrendered, saying, “You win, you win.  I’ll stay here with the Kays.  Could you please reload my pistol before you leave?”

Tarra retrieved her shotgun from the picnic table and moved toward the road, ready to depart.

“Wait!” Carrie suddenly shouted.  She had been watching the Kays play with the dog.  She turned to Tarra and continued with, “I don’t think we need to split up, I have an idea.”

Tarra and Stephen watched as Carrie untied Pharaoh from the truck and led him to Fish’s little tent.  She reached inside and pulled out what looked like a dirty shirt.  She put it to Pharaoh’s face and yelled, “Go find Fish, buddy!  Go find your master!”

Pharaoh excitedly barked twice in acknowledgment and pulled Carrie by his long leash toward the road.

“Yeah!  It’s working!” Tarra cheered.

Stephen smacked himself on the forehead with his good hand and said, “Why didn’t I think of that!”

*****

Pharaoh tugged the women directly towards the jail next to the Probsts’ site.  When they were close enough, Tarra caught a glimpse of Alexis pacing near the PODS container in the distance.  The fact that the former cop had taken Fish’s rifle was her folly, because Tarra had spotted it right away.  Alexis should have known better.  Cocky bitch.

Carrie and Tarra tried to stop the dog, but Pharaoh continued to tug and bark.  Carrie had to forcefully pull the dog off the road and behind some small trees in order not to be seen by Alexis, who was nervously scanning the area now that she had heard a dog.

Tarra ordered Pharaoh to sit, but after a few moments he began whining anxiously.

Carrie said quietly to Tarra, “We need to take Alexis out.”

“I know,” Tarra replied, “but I don’t think Pharaoh is going to let us sneak up on her.”

Carrie sighed and said, “I’ll have to do it myself.  Here, take Stephen’s rifle.”

Tarra had a confused look on her face as she took the gun from Carrie.  Then Carrie continued explaining, “Take the dog down the road a bit.  Alexis still thinks that I’m onboard with the Probsts.  I should be able to walk right up to her, but not with the rifle or the dog.”

“Are you sure?” Tarra asked.

“Pretty sure,” Carrie answered, but her voice wasn’t confident. 

“I think we should do it together, we both have guns,” Tarra argued.

Carrie shook her head and said, “No, Alexis knows the relationship you have with Fish.  But…she doesn’t know the relationship that
I
have with him.  Just go, I’ll be alright.”

Pharaoh’s whining turned into barking again.  Carrie motioned with her hand toward the road and whisper-shouted, “Now!  Get out of here!”

Tarra pulled and tugged Pharaoh in the opposite direction.  She happily called his name and began to run.  The dog stopped barking and naturally began to run alongside her.

Once Tarra was clear, Carrie left the bushes and approached Alexis.  Her heart pounded.  She knew that Alexis was a shifty, paranoid type.  What were the chances of Alexis simply blowing her head off?  What if she had orders from the Probsts to not allow
anyone
to pass?  Carrie had to speedily think of a back story as to why she was there.  Maybe to see Claudine about a medical issue?  That might work.  But, she’d have to think of something with a bit more substance to go along with it.

Carrie walked toward Alexis and was happy to observe very little change in Alexis’ demeanor once she had spotted her.  Carrie put her hand up in a friendly wave.  Alexis didn’t wave, but at least she nodded her head backward, as if to say
“What’s up?”

Alexis stopped Carrie once she was close to the jail and asked, “What are you doing here?”

Carrie gulped, but then straightened up and replied, “William asked me for an inventory of all the medical supplies in my trailer before we roll out today.”

“Oh,” Alexis said, “I didn’t know about that.”

“Must have been a last minute thing,” Carrie said.  “Are the Probsts home?”

“Yeah,” Alexis replied.

“Cool,” Carrie stated, then started walking toward the Probsts’ RV.  Her plan had been to pretend as if she was going to the RV, then sneak around the bushes near the PODS container to blindside Alexis, since she had been facing the road most of the time.

Suddenly, Fish yelled to Carrie from the jail window, “Hey!  What are you doing?  I know you aren’t leaving with the damn Claudine crew…are you?”

Carrie’s cover was blown, it wouldn’t take long before Alexis could put two-and-two together!  Damnit, Fish!

Alexis’ body had been faced toward the jail window while Fish screamed, but when she turned around to challenge Carrie, she was looking down the barrel of a gun.

Carrie yelled, “Drop your weapons, now!”

Alexis did not comply.  Instead, she drew her own pistol so fast it was as if she was Roland Deschain himself and pointed it at Carrie.

“Hmmm, no, I don’t think so.  You drop yours,” Alexis ordered.  But in reality, Alexis absolutely did NOT want to fire any gunshots.  That had been an order from the bosses.  Gunfire would cause chaos.  There was no time for chaos. 

“Just shoot her, Carrie!” Fish hollered from inside the jail.

Alexis rolled her eyes at Carrie and said with a disgusting laugh, “No way…
you two
are together?  Is that why you’re here?  Rescue attempt?”

“Maybe,” Carrie replied with a slick grin.

Alexis shrugged her shoulders and said, “Each to their own, I guess.”  Then she changed gun hands, unshouldered Fish’s M-4, and tossed it into the grass next to the gravel driveway.

Carrie cocked her head at the bizarre action curiously as Alexis said, “I think we can settle this like women, don’t you think?  Unless you’re too afraid, of course.”

Carrie watched as Alexis bravely tossed her pistol next to the M-4 in the grass, leaving her unarmed.  Carrie laughed and said, “Wow, you really are a dumb blonde!”

Then she pulled the trigger.

Alexis flinched, but the gun only clicked.  Nothing happened.

Carrie pulled the trigger again and again, still nothing.  Shit!  Neither she nor Stephen had checked it for bullets!

Alexis’ eyes went slant in a scowl and she rushed forward, knocking the pistol out of Carrie’s hand.

Carrie reached out to grab Alexis by the jacket but the ex-cop was too fast.  She ducked Carrie’s arm, spun around to Carrie’s back, and then punched her square in the kidney.

Carrie couldn’t believe the power that Alexis had, the blow had sent her to her knees.  Some of the air had been knocked out of Carrie’s lungs, as well.

“No!” Fish yelled from behind the window as he watched his rescuer drop down.

Wasting no time, Alexis wrapped her left arm under Carrie’s chin and locked in the chokehold with her right arm.  Carrie’s hands instinctively went to pry the left arm from her throat, but it was the wrong move.  Even though Carrie was strong, Alexis had her locked up way too tight.  After all, she was a well-trained combatant.  Carrie was just an over-sized nurse.

Alexis turned Carrie’s body so that her red, oxygen-deprived face was toward Fish.  She wanted him to witness what she was about to do to Carrie next.

“Hey Fishy, watch this,” Alexis said to the horrified Fish behind the window.  But that would have been Alexis’ biggest mistake, because something in her voice had signaled Carrie to tighten up her mighty trapezius and neck muscles in anticipation.  She remembered how Julia’s neck had been broken on that forest trail near the beach.

Alexis tightened her lock on Carrie once again and twisted, thinking it would have easily broken Carrie’s neck, but it didn’t.  The muscles in the nurse’s upper body were too solid.  Carrie now had an opportunity, because Alexis was temporarily dumbfounded.

Carrie mustered all her strength at once and stood up, which lifted Alexis’s feet off the ground.  She still clung to Carrie’s throat as she dangled, which was another one of Alexis’ mistakes, because Carrie started to spin in place.

Alexis’ didn’t know what to do, so she continued to hold onto Carrie as she spun.  Maybe she thought that Carrie would run out of oxygen soon and pass out.  That was what she had hoped for, anyway.

Fish cheered from inside the jail as he watched Carrie spin Alexis around, “Fuck her up, baby!”

Carrie stepped toward the PODS container, and increased the momentum of her spin.  Aiming at the corner of the jail, Carrie used the last shred of power she had left to hurl Alexis one final time. 

The ex-cop’s body, now nearly horizontal from Carrie’s spin, smashed into the corner of the jail near the door.  She had connected with the cold steel between her hip and thigh, and instantly released Carrie so she could break her own fall to the gravel below.

“Yeah!” Fish shouted.

Alexis was battered and in severe pain.  She raised her head just in time to see Carrie’s large fist deliver a right cross to her temple.

Everything went dark for Alexis after that.

Carrie caught her breath as she searched Alexis’ body for the keys to the lock on the PODS container.  After trying a few different keys, she found the right one.  As Carrie released Fish from his bogus incarceration, she told him, “I think I know who killed Julia Hollingsworth.”

“Yeah, me too,” Fish agreed, and retrieved his M-4 from the ground where Alexis had tossed it.  He picked up Alexis’ 9mm and handed it to Carrie, saying, “I think you should have her gun. You’ve earned it.  I’ll take the one with no bullets.  I have some extra rounds back at camp.”

Carrie took the pistol from Fish and asked while pointing at Alexis on the ground, “What should we do about her?”

Fish thought about it for a few seconds and then said, “I really want to kill her, but that would just get Claudine and William pissed off and they’d come at us with everything they got.  Just leave her.  Hopefully we’ll be out of this shithole park by the time she wakes up.”

The two left Alexis alone and ran toward site 199.

The Probsts had heard the commotion from their RV, mainly the loud banging sound as Alexis had met the metal jail, but couldn’t see what was happening at the PODS container because a line of trees and bushes had separated the two sites.  They had waited until the coast was clear before exiting their RV to investigate.

Alexis was still out cold next to the jail.  William went to her unconscious body and checked for signs of life.  He could see that she was breathing and notified Claudine that she was alive.  Then he asked, “Is this going to be a problem?”

Claudine responded, “It might be.  You know that Alexis won’t let this slide.  It looks like they took her gun, too.”

William said, “Then you need to get her to swallow her pride.  If she wants to run off and play revenge games, we leave without her.  She might never come back.  Fish is going to shoot her on sight.”

“I know,” Claudine said, “but we’re not leaving without her.  I’ll get her to drop the issue.”