The Survivor Chronicles: The Risen (32 page)

The other guy had his rifle aimed at Carl.
He was taller than Yosemite and had graying brown hair. His face
had more lines etched into it and was deeply tanned from his time
spent outdoors. He was a lot thinner than Yosemite too and had the
bulbous, slightly purple nose of someone who had spent too much of
their time in a bottle over the years. A toothpick hung out of the
corner of his mouth, he spun it around with his tongue to reveal
the chewed side of the pick. A leering smile curved the corner of
his mouth as his gaze ran over all of them.

"Well look at what we have here," Toothpick
said. He kept his rifle trained on them as he leaned around to peer
into the back of the truck. "Seems like you've got a fair amount of
supplies for just the four of you."

Xander forced himself not to look toward the
woods where Riley had gone. He would do everything in his power to
make sure they never knew she was out there. "You're not from
around here," Yosemite said, his eyes on Carl's battered Red Sox
hat.

"No," Carl answered.

"Where ya from?" Yosemite inquired.

Xander had to fight the urge to tell him
they were from Mars, but he bit his tongue as Carl continued to
speak with the man. "Massachusetts."

"You know what they call people from Mass
right?" Toothpick asked.

"No, what do they call them?" Carl
inquired.

"Massholes. You don't act like Massholes do
you?"

Xander shifted nervously. The men were
talking with them but there was a malicious gleam in their eyes.
One that reminded him of a cat with its paw on the mouse's tail as
it joyfully watched the mouse continue to try and run away. He
didn't like the idea of being that mouse but he had a feeling they
all were.

"We don't," Carl answered.

Toothpick's mouth curved into a smile, he
kept the rifle leveled on Carl with one hand as he pulled the
toothpick from his mouth and tossed it aside. He lifted out a pack
of cigarettes from the front pocket of his shirt and shook a
cigarette free. He lit it before putting both hands on the gun
again and taking a step closer.

"So you won't mind if we take some of your
supplies then," Toothpick said.

Xander's teeth clenched, his hand twitched
toward the gun that he'd tucked into his waistband. He didn't dare
make a move toward it as Yosemite looked like he might be as
trigger happy as his cartoon counterpart. The corners of Yosemite's
mouth turned up in a smug smile, he wrapped his finger around the
trigger. Xander wanted to look toward the woods, to make sure that
Riley wasn't going to stumble across them, but he didn't dare risk
tipping them off to her.

"Take what you need," Carl grated from
between his clenched teeth.

Fury slid through Xander, beside him John's
arm jerked toward his gun but he went still again. Toothpick leaned
over and peered into the back of the truck once more. "Lot of stuff
in there," he murmured. "We wouldn't be able to carry much with
us."

The cat had moved from keeping its paw on
their tails to smacking them around in order to tenderize them in
preparation of turning them into lunch. He could almost feel the
cat's jaws leaning over him; see the gleaming points of its lethal
canines. He glanced at Carl, his jaw was locked, and there was fire
in his eyes as his nostrils flared.

"The car runs well," Carl grated out.

Xander thought Carl's teeth might actually
break as he fought to keep hold of his temper. John's face was
turning red but Josh remained oddly pale on Xander's other side.
Josh's eyes were beginning to droop and it looked like it was
taking everything he had to stay on his feet as he swayed back and
forth.

"That little thing, come on, what could we
fit in there?" Toothpick pulled his cigarette from his mouth and
dropped it on the ground. "That's not very hospitable of you. I
mean you are in
our
town. We're
allowing you to stay here after all."

"Kind of a Masshole move in all honesty,"
Yosemite goaded.

Xander's hand fisted, he was trying to
figure out if he could get to his gun before receiving a bullet in
the chest, but he doubted it. He had a feeling these guys were a
lot more capable of using those weapons than he was.

"I suppose you want the truck," Carl
said.

"It looks like a much more stable vehicle
than the car," Toothpick said.

"You have no idea what we went through to
get those supplies, or to keep this truck through all of this,"
John said.

"John," Carl said in a cautioning tone.

Xander grabbed hold of Josh's arm as he took
an unsteady step forward and almost fell on the ground. "Watch it,"
Yosemite snarled and swung the rifle toward Josh.

"He's injured," Xander spat back. "He's not
a threat to you."

Yosemite's eyes narrowed on him but Xander
relentlessly held his gaze. They were most likely going to have to
give up everything they'd just fought so hard for, and could end up
still losing Josh and John over, but he wasn't going to cower in
front of these men. He refused to beg them for anything.

"I'm not sure I like their attitudes,"
Toothpick said.

"I definitely don't," Yosemite agreed.

"Well you wouldn't be overly friendly either
if someone had a gun on you. That's not very hospitable of you,"
Josh muttered.

Xander squeezed his arm in warning as Josh
swayed on his feet again. Yosemite and Toothpick both stared at
Josh before Toothpick turned back to Carl. "I think we'll be taking
the car
and
the truck."

Xander's head shot up, John took an abrupt
step forward but Carl's arm shot out to slap him across the middle
of his chest and hold him back. "We're not looking for any
trouble," Carl said. "You can take the truck and the supplies but
you can't leave us out here with nothing. You'll be signing our
death certificates."

"Not my problem, Boston," Toothpick replied.
"Now give us the keys."

"Fuc…" John started.

"Shut up," Carl said in a low hiss.

"I'd listen to your dad, kid," Toothpick
said.

Xander glanced toward the car but there was
nothing in there that could help them get out of this situation.
"Keys!" Yosemite barked.

"Just leave us the car and you can…"

Before Carl could finish his sentence
Yosemite pulled the trigger. Xander jumped and took a couple of
awkward steps back as the sound of gunfire echoed over the open
land. His hands flew up to his chest to search for the bullet that
had just been discharged, but even as he was expecting to find
himself bloody and torn apart, he recalled the fact that the rifle
hadn't been aimed at him anymore. His mind dully registered the
fact that blood now covered his left side and Josh no longer stood
beside him.

The ringing in his ears seemed abnormally
loud considering he hadn't been that close to the gun. He felt as
if he was trapped in a swamp and a thousand flies were buzzing
around his head as he stood there. Everything seemed to be going in
slow motion as he finally turned toward where the teen had been
just seconds before.

Bile surged up his throat at the scene that
greeted him. Josh was sprawled on his back on the ground, the right
side of his head gone from the bullet that had obliterated his
skull. The brains and blood splattered across the lush green grass
was surreal on a day where the sun was shining and the sky was once
again blue. Josh's one remaining eye was focused upon the sky, his
hand continued to twitch but Xander knew he didn't see the world
around them anymore.

Anger and grief slid through him as he
stared at the broken body before him. He'd found Josh, trapped in
that school, and they had gotten him this far only to have him
gunned down for absolutely no reason. In that moment he'd never
wanted to kill anyone more than he wanted to kill the man across
from him as he spun back toward Yosemite.

"Why did you do that!" he snarled.

"I did you a favor, he was half dead
anyway," Yosemite replied with a shrug.

He'd heard the saying seeing red before but
he'd never actually experienced the phenomena until his vision
became blurred by a reddish haze. "He was just a kid!"

"And now he's not."

The flippant disregard for Josh's life
pushed him even closer to an edge he hadn't even realized he'd been
walking. "Grab him John!" Carl commanded gruffly.

John grabbed hold of Xander's arm and tried
to tug him back. Xander went to shrug him off but another gunshot
rang out, making all of them recoil, but this time it was Yosemite
that howled in pain. Yosemite tried to jump forward but he only
fell backward. He grabbed at his thigh and continued to scream as
blood poured out from between his fingers.

Toothpick still had his gun focused on them
but he was staring down at his friend with his mouth hanging open.
When his eyes came back toward them, confusion rolled through his
gaze as he took in their still unarmed status. A determined look
came over his face; he placed his eye against the scope of the
rifle.

Before he could pull the trigger, another
shot rang out. Toothpick's head snapped forward, blood exploded out
of his forehead. His finger convulsed on the trigger as he fell
toward them. The shot he fired slammed into the passenger side door
of the truck just inches away from Carl. It left a large dent
around the bullet that had probably pierced through to the other
side. Carl threw his hands instinctively over his head and jumped
away from the truck.

Yosemite started screaming in rage, he had
gathered his wits enough to lift his rifle again. Xander dove to
the side as Yosemite released a shot that slammed into the ground a
foot in front of him. Grass and dirt sprayed up and plastered him
in the face before he was able to tumble in front of the car.

Another shot sounded from the woods and hit
the ground a few feet away from Yosemite. Trapped, Yosemite turned
toward the woods and fired back at the trees. Xander tugged his gun
free as Riley's next shot hit the back of the car with a rattling
ting.

"Xander, don't shoot!" Carl shouted at him
from where he and John had managed to find cover in front of the
truck.

"Riley…"

"You could end up hitting her! Until we know
where she is, don't shoot!"

Frustration filled him, his finger tightened
on the trigger. Carl moved around John to take a better position at
the front of the truck. Riley's next shot hit Yosemite in the
shoulder; he lost his grasp on his rifle as he was knocked onto the
ground. Xander finally spotted Riley as she rose up from where
she'd taken shelter behind a fallen tree.

Xander stepped away from the front of the
car at the same time that Carl stood. Riley emerged from the woods
as he, John, and Carl reached where Yosemite was lying on the
ground. Yosemite's good hand clutched his shoulder as he rolled on
the ground. There were tears in his eyes but Xander felt no
sympathy for him as he stared pleadingly up at them.

"How's that for hospitality?" John inquired.
Yosemite remained silent as he glowered up at them. "What do we do
with him?"

"I don't know," Xander admitted.

"We're not bringing him with us," Riley
said.

"Oh hell no," John said. "But to just leave
him here… Isn't that even crueler?"

"We should just kill him," Riley said.
Yosemite's eyes widened at her words and a blubbering sound began
to escape him. "He was going to kill all of you."

"But who…"

Xander lifted his gun and fired one more
shot into the center of Yosemite's forehead, effectively cutting
off John's question. Yosemite fell lifelessly back on the ground.
"We show him the same mercy he showed Josh," Xander said.

They all stood and stared at him until Riley
bent to grab Yosemite's rifle off the ground; she tossed it to
Carl. "Killing him now was probably far more mercy than he
deserved," she said.

John's mouth was about as unhinged as an
anaconda's as he gawked at Yosemite's unmoving body. Carl simply
pulled out his pack of cigarettes and lit one. Xander stood and
stared at the body, surprised to realize he felt nothing. He hadn't
killed the man for revenge, he hadn't kill him for mercy, he had
simply done it because it had to be done. He didn't feel hollow,
didn't feel guilty, he just knew that he was a part of this world
now. And there were things in this world he never would have done
three months ago but would do again tomorrow if he had to.

"We should get out of here. I'm sure some of
those things have heard the gunfire," Carl said as he bent and
grabbed Toothpick's rifle.

"Not without Josh's body," Riley said. "He
deserves to be buried. He deserves better than this place, with
them
."

"Not without Josh," Carl agreed.

Riley stepped over Yosemite's body and
walked over to where Josh lay. Carl placed the rifles in the back
of the truck and walked over to Riley with Xander and John. Tears
formed in her eyes as she stared down at Josh's body. Xander rested
a hand on her shoulder to comfort her. They'd lost their friend and
they'd both just killed a man. All he craved right now was to touch
her and know that even with all the awfulness surrounding them
there was still so much love.

Riley was tough, he knew that, but there was
a difference between being tough and being cold. This was the kind
of world that could make a person incredibly cold. As long as they
all still cared for one another they would be able to fight off
that coldness. Her hand shook as she brushed back a strand of
Josh's black hair from the undamaged side of his face.

"I'll take him," Xander offered.

Riley bowed her head and stepped aside to
let him lift Josh off the ground. He and Carl loaded the body into
the back of the truck and closed the doors. "We're not going to
make it back to the camp tonight," Carl said. He rested his arm
against the closed doors and glanced up at where the sun hung low
in the sky.