Torn Apart (Book 1): Terror In Texas (31 page)

Larry found a stump and settled down for a cigarette as he watched the freckle-faced red head, Mark, pinch a worm in half and expertly feed the squirming body on the hook. He made a tentative cast and dropped the line across the water.

Carl brushed his hair aside and adjusted his glasses before he settled down on the grassy bank to bait his hook. Still seated and with a jerk of his wrist his line dropped a dozen feet from the shore with the bobber resting on the top of the water.

It wasn’t long before Carl yelped in delight. His pole bent over and he jerked the pole upward. The fish landed on the dirt at his feet.

“I got one!”

One of the other boys walked over to Carl and congratulated him and helped him take the fish off the hook and fill a bucket with water. With a plop, the three-pound catfish was dropped in the bucket.

Carl waved at Larry with his face glowing with his accomplishment. “I fish good, Mr. Larry.” He grinned then turned back to the stare at the bobber dancing on the crystal clear water.

Larry watched the boys as they each pulled in catfish and re-baited hooks then tossed the lines back into the pristine water. When he was satisfied the older boys were helping Carl and the two younger two boys that Wandered over, he put out his cigarette and walked back to the barn.

He harnessed one of the horses and walked it to the wagon. He backed the mare he’d taken to calling Bessie, between the shaves and buckled the harness to the wagon.

He led the animal forward until he’d cleared the edge of the barn and made his way to the garden. The girls had both completed the harvesting and headed back to the food truck with the bounty. He guided the wagon to the edge of the garden where a compost pile had been started by the previous owner. He pulled his shirt off and pulled the contents of the wagon to the pile. If they stayed, the compost would be mixed into the garden before the fall planting.

When Larry finished with the wagon, he cleaned it out and returned it to the barn and let the pregnant mare out into the pasture. He walked back to the pond with a second bucket. He found the boys still fishing. He looked into their buckets and found three in one bucket and four in the other. All in all, Larry figured the boys had caught at least twenty-five pounds of fish.

“Not bad, fellas,” Larry commented. “It’s about time to head back for lunch.”

Carl puffed up his chest. “I’ll catch more.” He cast the bait and it landed in the water with a splat.

Mark nodded. “We’re on a roll, aren’t we, Carl? Can’t we stay for a while?”

“I guess another thirty minutes won’t hurt anything. Just don’t miss lunch or you’ll be waiting until the evening meal. Defense lesson is at one.” Larry sighed. “I’ll clean what you have and take them back to Joan.”

“Sure.” Mark laughed. “Maybe you can teach us to shoot a gun and we can kill some deer tomorrow.”

Larry laughed as he dumped the water from one of the buckets and spilled the fish into the second. “Don’t think that’s gonna happen. We won’t be any shooting around camp if we can help it. We don’t want to draw any unwanted attention.” He picked up the bucket. “You boys clean what you catch before you take it to Joan. Bury the trash in the back corner of the garden and make sure you clean up when you’re done.”

Larry stopped by the food truck just as lunch was in full swing. He called out to Joan. “Can you fix a meal with fish?”

Joan stopped dishing macaroni and cheese long enough to give him a quick wave. “Sure. I have all the makings for a gumbo. We can use the fish and deer sausage the fella’s found yesterday.”

Larry opened the door at the end of the truck to pick up a metal pan, fillet knife, and a butcher knife.

Joan grinned. “Bring back my knives in the same condition you found ‘em.” She ordered.

“Yes, mam.”

Larry carried the fish to a trailer pad at the back of the yard. He pulled a short hose and tested the water pressure then put on a nozzle to control the water. He dropped a short cutting board on the concrete and went to work. He spent the next hour cleaning the catfish. Life at the camp was becoming one of quiet routine. He looked up and smiled at the sound of children laughing.

Liz dressed quickly, descended the stairs carrying her shoes and the drawn handgun. She saw Harry and John standing at the window looking through the narrow openings between the wood slats on the outside of the glass. She made her way to the parlor and to a worn armchair. There, she sat down and stepped into her shoes.

“What’s going on?” Liz asked as she tied her laces.

Another two shots echoed in the distance. They seemed farther away than the first. John continued to watch the front gate while Harry turned to look in her direction.

“You look better than you did yesterday?” Harry commented then asked. “Are you feeling better?

“Yeah. I felt as bad as I looked.” Liz smoothed her fingers across her shortened hair at the side of her face. “Do you know who’s shooting?”

“Shots came from the other side of that stand of trees across the road.”

“Do we need to go see what it is?” Liz answered.

Harry shrugged. “I don’t know.” He turned back for another look. “I don’t see anything.”

Hazel and Benny came into the room with cups of coffee for each of them. Hazel handed Liz a cup. “You don’t need to worry ‘bout that shootin’. That’s just ol’ Clyde down the road.”

Benny spoke up. “He’s giving peace to those soulless folks coming from the highway down south. That’s why we don’t get many coming up this way. They have to go past Clyde’s and he sits at the window shootin’ anything that walks past his place.” Benny chuckled. “Long as you drive you’re fine. I wouldn’t want to be on foot and walking too slow, though.”

Hazel slapped Benny’s arm. “Now, don’t be scarin’ folks. You know Clyde don’t shoot no one running.”

John chuckled. “In other words, run don’t walk.” He and Harry accepted cups of coffee and settled on two straight-backed chairs.

Benny swigged a mouthful of coffee then settled into his recliner. “You got time for breakfast?”

John answered. “Sure. We don’t have many supplies. Breakfast would be appreciated.”

An hour later, Hazel and Benny stood on the porch waving as the trio pulled away and headed down the driveway.

Liz asked. “Why did you accept all that food? They’ll need it soon enough.”

Harry answered. “No. I doubt it. Benny’s pacemaker battery was scheduled to be changed last week and Hazel is almost out of insulin. It’ll be a toss-up who checks out first.”

“Maybe....” Liz began,

Harry interrupted. “Maybe what? We can’t do anything for either of them. Even if we found insulin, electricity has been off for a long time. It would be bad. As for Benny, nothing can be done.”

“Liz, we’ll help people that we can, but in this case, we can’t. We leave them in peace. All we can do is hope they’ll die quietly without any help from the rest of the world.” John commented.

Liz sighed as she blinked away tears. They closed the gate and headed down the road toward Clyde’s place.

They rode a mile then saw a well-kept ranch with the house situated a hundred feet from the road. The property was surrounded by a white board fence. A wrought iron gate stood open allowing an old man to drag a body from under a natural rock arched entrance. The man looked up and waved.

“Hello, young fellas.” Clyde dropped the legs in his hands. “Nice day for a ride, young fella.”

Harry pulled off his helmet. His gray hair was pulled back from his face with a red bandana around his forehead. He smiled around his grizzled beard. “Not as young as my boyish good looks imply.” He chuckled.

“Well, guess you’re not.” The old man commented. “Excuse me for not shaking hands but got my hands full. World has gone to shit with these dead fucks wandering around.”

John stepped off his bike and kicked the stand in place. He reached down with a gloved hand to grab a handful of pant leg. “I got this ol’ timer.”

He pulled the body off the road and across the asphalt to lie next to two more bodies in the middle of a charred circle. One body was dressed in khakis and a Best Buy shirt and the other in a tattered housedress. All three had grievous wounds beside the holes in their heads.

“Thanks, young fella. Where you boys headed?” Clyde asked.

Liz pulled off her helmet and answered. “We’re looking for my children. They’re with three soldiers in an Army Humvee. Have you seen a military vehicle?”

Clyde looked at Liz. “Guess you ain’t a boy.” He chuckled. “As for your question, only soldiers I seen, blew through here in half a dozen vehicles. Was about three days ago. Had Humvees but they didn’t stop so I couldn’t say nothing ‘bout no kids. Course, I didn’t flag ‘em down, but from what I saw they didn’t look to be the babysittin’ type.”

Harry turned to Liz. “I doubt they would be racing around like that with the kids. I’m sure there’re more military vehicles in this neck of the woods than the Rangers. We’re less than a hundred miles from Sa Antonio.”

Clyde interrupted. “Maybe the military is setting up refugee camps for the people they evacuated from the city.”

“Would they go there? I mean to someplace like that.” Liz asked to no one in particular in a near panic. Her stomach felt queasy at just the thought of her children wandering around an overcrowded camp without someone to care for them.

Harry answered. “Who knows? But it wouldn’t be my first choice.”

“With communications down now, how would anyone even know where to go?” John answered. “I think our best chance is still our original plan.”

“Those boys are Rangers. They would take it personal and make it their mission to get those kids to family not drop them off in an overcrowded camp. Your older girl knew where you were headed and why, right?” Harry responded.

“Yes,” Liz answered. “She loved visiting my father.”

“They would know as well as we do those camps are a bad idea for a lot of reasons. I still think they’ll head to the Guadalupe Mountains. It makes sense. There’s a place to set up defenses and with the wildlife it includes a way to stay alive.”

Liz nodded. “You may be right, but we still have to keep looking.”

“Well, ol’timer. I guess that means we’re on our way. You take care.” Harry advised.

Clyde laughed. “Hell, you folks are the ones that need to take care. This shit beats all.”

John laughed without much humor. “You’re right about that.” He stepped onto his bike. “You take care.”

Clyde pulled a single shot twenty-two from his belt. “Savin’ one to make sure I don’t end up like these poor bastards.”

Liz frowned. “I hope it never comes to that.”

Clyde shrugged. “I landed on Normandy and survived when a lot better men than me didn’t make it. I spent two years in Korea and a year in Viet Nam with the French. Hell, I’ve been skating on thin ice since I was seventeen. Most likely, I’ll be here when all those poor bastards have rotted to dust.”

Harry laughed. “I wouldn’t be surprised.” He stepped over the seat of the bike and nodded at Liz.

“Goodbye, Clyde. God speed.” Liz called out as she crawled on the seat behind Harry.

“You too, young lady…you too.” Clyde answered.

He picked up a red gas can and walked across the road to the bodies in the blackened circle. He began splashing liquid on the dead as they rode away.

Harry called over his shoulder. “Let’s get back to looking for those girls.”

Della slid over and pulled Jimmy from where he rested on an unconscious Sandy. Sandy’s clothes were covered in blood but it didn’t take long to realize it was from a wounded Jimmy. Blood ran in rivulets from his neck. Della ignored Sandy and pressed a rag to Jimmy’s neck.  He moaned softly.

Still pressing her right hand against the wound, she jerked the door open with her left. She slid out, pulling Jimmy after her as she stepped from the vehicle.

“I got this.” Zack slid out the open driver’s door and reached for Jimmy.

Della stepped aside as Zack grabbed Jimmy under his arms. He gently eased him from the truck seat. Della stumbled along still pressing the rag against his neck as Zack made his way across the road. They stumbled to a huge oak tree and laid him against the trunk.

Steve climbed from the front passenger seat and jerked the second door open. With Della and Zack focused on Jimmy, he concentrated at Sandy. She lay slumped across the back seat unmoving. Blood covered her left shoulder, neck, and the back of her head.

After a quick examination, he realized she had no wound to account for all the blood. He laid two fingers on her neck. The beating beneath the fingertips was strong and steady. He leaned her back against the seat and saw the gentle rise and fall of her chest. The middle of her forehead had a golf ball size knot that was growing darker as he watched.

Steve left Sandy stretched out on the seat and hurried around the truck as quickly as the blades allowed him after grabbing the backpack with first aid supplies.

When he got to the trio under the tree he stumbled to a halt. It was bad. Della’s hand was pressed to Jimmy’s neck while the blood oozed through the rag and spilled between her fingers.

Steve fell to his knees and pulled at the zipper of the bag. He pulled a package from the bag and tore it open. He pulled Della’s hand away and quickly pressed the compression dressing to the wound then pressed her hand back in place. When she looked back at him tears streamed down her cheeks.

Jimmy moaned and his eyes fluttered open. “Hurts....” He whimpered.

Steve forced a smile. “Easy kid.”

Steve turned to Zack. “Get a couple bottles of water, man.”

Zack lumbered toward the truck, his shoulders slumped in defeat.

“Is it as bad as I think?” Della whispered.

Steve nodded. “It nicked the carotid. There’s nothing we can do.”

Zack reappeared with bottles of water in hand. “Sandy’s waking up.”

Steve took the bottles. “Keep an eye on her. We got this.”

Bandages soaked through nearly as fast as they changed them at the side of Jimmy’s neck. Steve pulled two more compression bandages from the bag, opened the packaging and exchanged the soaked one for two clean ones.

Jimmy sighed. “Am I dying?”

Steve nodded then whispered. “I’m sorry.”

“Well, fuck.” Jimmy whispered as his eyes closed. A moment later, his eyes opened with a look of terror. He grabbed at Steve’s hand. “I don’t want to turn into a monster.”

“You won’t,” Steve answered.

Zack walked back to the old oak tree. Along with Della and Steve, he watched Jimmy’s eyes lose focus and his face relaxed. Zack cleared his throat twice then gave up as tears spilled from his eyes. He cried quietly. Della sobbed as she brushed hair from Jimmy’s face.

“I’m sorry, sweetie.” She whispered. “I wish I could do more.”

Jimmy’s chest rose and fell more slowly as the color faded from his face. It rose one last time then his whole body relaxed and the tension in his face disappeared.

Steve reached to Della’s hands and pulled them from the blood-soaked bandages. She leaned back and watched as he used the bottles of water to wash the blood from her hands. When he was done, she took the dampened towel and wiped blood from Jimmy’s face, her dark skin accentuating the paleness of his skin.

Della whispered. “I feel like I’ve lost a child.”

Steve swallowed hard. “So do I.”

Zack stood behind them with tears glistening on his round cheeks. “We’ve been friends since sixth grade. When we were kids, his mom told me she knew he’d be safe with me.” Zack snuffled. “I let her down.”

“No, you didn’t, Zack. You did everything you could to keep him safe. We all would have died at the center if it hadn’t been for you.” Della said.

Steve nodded. “There will be paybacks…I promise, if we come across the rest of that bunch, they’re dead.”

A distant moan interrupted and Della jumped to her feet. “Oh God, I forgot about Sandy.”

Steve looked up and Zack pulled him to standing and let him get balanced on the blades.

“Is she going to be alright? She has a really big goose egg on her forehead.” Zack picked up the backpack and pulled the zipper closed.

Steve added. “She was unconscious so she could have a concussion. It’s hard to tell. We need to keep her awake for a while when she comes around.”

By the time Steve got to the truck, Della had Sandy sitting up. Digging around behind the back seat, she found a roll of paper towels. She poured water on the paper and began wiping at the blood covering Sandy’s neck and side of her face. Steve reached behind the back seat and retrieved a faded t-shirt that had seen better days, but looked clean. Della pulled Sandy’s blood soaked shirt off, finished cleaning her as much as she could then pulled the clean shirt over her head.

“My head.” Sandy whimpered. She reached up to feel the knot above her left eye. “I feel sick.”

Della leaned her out of the truck and the remnants of a meal of energy bar and water spilled into the grass.

“Look y’all!” Zack called out suddenly.

Steve looked back down the road to where Zack pointed at a distant plume of dust.

Steve called out. “Come on Zack. We have to go!”

“We can’t leave Jimmy!” Zack protested. “I can’t leave him.”

Steve grabbed a blanket from behind the seat and hurried to Zack. Together, they wrapped Jimmy into a cocoon of army green wool. Zack leaned down and pulled his friend into his arms and hurried to the back of the truck. He laid the body gently in the bed of the truck and raced around the back of the truck to the driver’s side. He got behind the wheel while Steve climbed in the passenger door. Della buckled Sandy and herself into the back seat.

“Go! I see them coming!” Della called out.

Zack turned the key and the motor roared to life. He slammed his foot on the accelerator and they sped down the road with no real destination in mind. Zack made random turns until Steve finally pointed to a cross road at the base of the steep hill they had just crested.

“Slow down,” Steve ordered. “It will take them a few minutes to get here and I got an idea.”

They could see multiple vehicles ahead had been abandoned on either side of the road. One of the vehicles was Department of Public Safety white and black.

“What are we doing?” Zack asked.

Steve’s mouth turned up in a lopsided smile. “Paybacks. Stop by the DPS unit.”

“Okay. Then what?”

Steve used the drive time it took to get to the DPS vehicle to outline his plan. With tire iron in hand, he climbed out of the truck and walked to the black and white vehicle. He quickly realized the officer sat slumped into the steering wheel. A head shot had taken the officer out shattering both driver and passenger windows. It looked like a vehicle had pulled up and either the driver or passenger pointed a gun and fired.

Steve looked into the front seat and saw the officer’s service belt and revolver were gone. The service shotgun was no longer in the rack under the dash. At seeing that, Steve still couldn’t imagine anyone taking the time to remove the spike strip from the trunk so he reached inside the door and popped the trunk. He strode back of the unit and smiled when he saw the trunk had not been disturbed.

The officer’s trunk was a study in organization. It included two plastic totes with file folders for forms and papers, a tool box, several items to use for road side assistance in a canvas bag. In addition to the two spike strips and a large plastic gun case.

Steve leaned over and flipped the clasps and grinned. Inside was nestled a scoped rifle and several boxes of ammunition for the rifle. He left the rifle and other supplies for the time being and pulled both spike strips from the trunk. Tucking the tire iron in his waistband, he tossed several items from the trunk into the canvas bag and picked up both spike strips and headed up the hill where Della and Zack were finishing moving cars as he had directed.

Two vehicles were pulled to the center of the road with their front bumpers meeting in the middle of the road. Zack grabbed one of the spike strips from Steve then lumbered after him as he made his way around the blockade.

As Steve lurched past Della, he called out. “Head down the hill and open some of the car doors. Make sure it’s safe first. If no one’s inside, then toss the contents around. Make a big show. We want the guys in the truck as distracted as possible so they don’t see the spike strips.”

Della took off toward the cluster of vehicles after checking on Sandy.

Steve rolled the first spike strip across the road and could clearly see the zigzag pattern of spikes. He motioned for Zack to roll out the second strip. He looked across the road and realized the truck driver would have to be blind or extremely distracted to not notice the dark strip of spikes lying across the asphalt.

“Will they see the strips?” Zack asked.

“That’s the reason for tossing things around.” Steve answered. He pointed at one of the vehicles and continued. “There’s a propane tank in that blue pickup. Get it would you? I’ve got bungees from the unit. We’re anchoring it between the bumpers and if they hit the strip full speed, there’s a good chance they’ll slam into the cars and hopefully the tank will go boom.” Steve grinned.

Zack brought back the tank and helped mount it between the two vehicles. When they were done, they got back in the truck and headed down the hill.

They studied Della’s handiwork. They saw what looked like a woman standing at an open car door. As they got closer, Zack’s eyes got big and Steve snorted.

“I’ll be damned.” Steve snorted.

A life-sized plastic doll had been taped to a car door with duct tape. The plastic arm extended up as if waving. Della had pulled a glittering sequined shirt over the doll’s upper body and now the dime-sized sequins on the shirt sparkled in the sun and light breeze.

“Now that’s something you don’t see every day,” Zack noted.

He slowed the truck and Della climbed in next to Sandy. She glanced over her shoulder and commented. “I’ll never stop being amazed at the stupidity of people. What kind of person takes a blow up sex doll with them when they’re running for their lives?”

Steve smirked. “It works for us.”

Della leaned over Sandy to check on her. She was slumped against the window and dozing.

“She shouldn’t be sleeping.” Della commented as she attempted to rouse Sandy. Della dampened a rag and wiped at Sandy’s face.

Zack stopped the truck at the side of police car and Steve stepped out to retrieve the rifle and filled the canvas bag with additional salvageable goods from the trunk. When he was back in the truck, he pointed to a side road at the base of the hill.

Zack drove down the hill and made the turn. When he had gotten far enough from the intersection to be hidden from the highway by a stand of trees, Steve told him to stop, again.

“Stay here and keep an eye out. If you hear that truck make it around the road block or you see anyone else besides me heading through those trees, take off and don’t come back.”

He scratched around and retrieved a plastic bag from the floor then dropped two bottles of water and a couple energy bars inside. He picked up the plastic gun case and opened the door.

“Where are you going?”

“I’m making sure these assholes don’t go after anyone else.”

Steve grabbed the strap of the rifle and slid from the passenger seat of the pickup. He pulled the rifle strap over his shoulder. “Don’t stick around if you see anyone else besides me heading this way.”

Zack nodded. “Got it, man.”

Della reached out. “You should let me go with you.”

“No.” Steve stepped away. “I have to do this. You have to take care of the kids.”

Steve looked back without smiling. Attempting a terminator impersonation, he answered. “I’ll be back.”

Della forced a smile while Zack shook his head and laughed.

“That was really bad, man,” Zack commented.

Steve gave them a careless wave then turned and walked toward the wooded grove overlooking the trap. He maneuvered carefully through the brush and briars until he found a spot he had noted earlier. It was a gentle rise crested with a cluster of boulders. He laid the rifle on the biggest rock and eased onto a smaller rock behind it. He dropped the plastic bag next to his leg. He opened a bottle of water and drank most of the bottle.

He was tired. The stump of his right leg hurt like hell. He wanted to pull the thermoplastic cup and silicone sleeve from the tender flesh, but he didn’t dare. If his little trap failed to stop the men chasing them, he had to be able to move quickly.