Crossing Bedlam (7 page)

“How do I know you’re not lying?” Firestone asks, the noxious smell making him feel queasy. “I should shoot you now and end this. Who wants a soldier that can give away their position like this?”

“Don’t do anything drastic,” Noah says as he comes around the car. He points at one man from each squad and snaps his fingers. “We’ll each send a soldier to escort him to wherever he needs to go. Two armed men should be more than enough to handle the situation. The alternative is to waste time arguing, which would end with us being more tired or him making a mess in his pants. They only have two rolls of toilet paper in their supplies, so I’d rather not waste them on whatever this is. Do you agree?”

Too tired and nauseous to argue, Firestone nods and signals for a different man than the one Noah chose to escort Lloyd into the forest. The trio disappears into the trees as their companions search the bags for something to clear the smell from the jeep. One of the female soldiers from Philadelphia offers a bottle of perfume that does the job, but leaves a white stain on the black cushion. Cassidy curses as she is put back in the jeep and cuffed to the headrest again. Soon after she is secured, a gunshot rings out from the direction Lloyd and the two men went. Both squads raise their weapons without knowing what to aim for until they hear someone stumbling through the bushes.

His black and gold uniform smeared with blood, the Pittsburgh soldier walks into the light and raises his hands. The broken handcuffs are dangling from his thumb and he is gasping for air. A shiv is jammed into his ribs, but the simple weapon is not touching anything vital. The pain is still enough to drive him to his knees where Noah catches him. Unable to speak loudly, the soldier whispers in his squad leader’s ear before struggling to stand under his own fading strength. Another shot echoes throughout the forest and the man topples over with the last thing he sees is Firestone’s smoking handgun. The two squads immediately aim their weapons at each other while Sergeant Noah remains in a crouch.

“He would have slowed us down. Besides, he failed and now we have to recapture the prisoner,” Firestone casually states, waving for his men to lower their guns. Ignoring the presence of the other commander, the muscular leader hunkers down to take the extra ammunition from the fallen soldier. “As per the rules of war, I earned these. Now let’s start making groups to begin the search.”

“You fucking idiot!” Noah shouts, getting to his feet and shoving the bigger man against the jeep. Drawing his rifle, he puts the weapon in his rival’s mouth and clicks off the safety. “The prisoner broke out of the cuffs and attacked. He jumped your man first, but couldn’t finish this young man off before taking a bullet to the head.” The muffled response from Firestone causes the angry Sergeant to push the barrel further into the petty officer’s throat. “I trust my soldiers! We won’t waste our time hunting for a body in the darkness. If you hadn’t acted without thinking, I’d agree to us following my soldier to the scene. Instead, you killed an innocent and lost the chance to get proof of what he says. One more act of aggression and I’ll kill you, Petty Officer Firestone, without hesitation.”

Another jab with the rifle is enough to make the taller man gag and vomit, his own soldiers showing very little concern for his wellbeing. One of them even laughs, making sure not to be seen or easily identified by the glaring squad leader. Wanting to move faster, Noah draws a knife to cut the heavy deer loose and shoves it to the ground. He takes his seat in front of Cassidy, the young woman staring at her knees. Several minutes pass before Firestone gets back behind the wheel and they continue on their way.

Nobody talks for the next hour, the only sounds being those of the dark forest that surrounds the nervous group. Tensions run high as they hear growls in the distance and something occasionally crashes through the bushes. All of the soldiers know that bears live in the area, but they hope the floodlights keep the predators away. Stumbling onto random scraps of deer that have been left from recent kills, they worry more and more that they are walking into danger. As the soldiers fall a few steps behind, the jeep rolls on and Firestone intentionally runs over a pair of antlers he sees in the road. Coming to a creek, the petty officer stops to let the other men and women go ahead, the beams of light helping them avoid slick rocks. Before the jeep can continue, Noah honks the horn and forces the vehicle into park, the screeching gears making Cassidy cringe beneath her curtain of blonde hair.

“The hell is your problem?” Firestone snaps, shoving the other man away. When he attempts to put the jeep back into drive, a fist clocks him upside the head. “Don’t think I won’t shoot you and tell my men to attack. This is a tentative alliance until we divide the spoils. If you keep this up then everything will be mine, including your head.”

“Shut up and look ahead,” Noah demands, jabbing his finger toward the soldiers. The four fatigue-clad men and women stand in a line on the other side of the creek, three of them standing directly in the light. “Not counting the two of us and the ones killed at the last stop, we had eight soldiers. Where did the others go?”

“Deserters probably,” the large man answers, his voice proving that he does not believe the excuse. Examining the shadowy woods, Firestone’s finds that his night vision is terrible after staring into the floodlight beams for so long. “A bear isn’t stealthy and wouldn’t kill four armed people. Maybe some wolves got into the area or a bunch of Wilders turned cannibal. It wouldn’t be the first time for either situation. Did we just lose another one?”

“No, he’s standing in the shadows, but your man is still there,” Noah replies as he unlocks his door and draws his handgun. As an afterthought, the veteran checks Cassidy’s handcuffs to make sure she is secured. “Both of us should go outside and calm our remaining soldiers. They might not have noticed the disappearances until now since we had them focusing on watching the forest and road instead of each other. We’ll tell them the cannibal theory because that is easier to believe. Leave the floodlights on so we don’t fall in the creek.”

The squad leaders check their weapons and get out of the jeep, the key tucked neatly into Firestone’s pocket. Waving for the soldiers to ready their weapons, the pair carefully walk across the creek. Frogs leaping away from the incoming boots make everyone pause, the ribbit and splash barely recognizable due to their heart-pounding fear. Without warning, the man standing in the shadows yells and is yanked into the bushes. The sounds of a struggle and screaming paralyzes the other soldiers until Noah shouts for them to pursue as a group. He remains on the road with Firestone, both men readying their rifles and trying to follow the faint shadows in the trees. Neither squad leader wants to take a shot out of fear of hitting one of their own, but the sudden bursts of noise makes their trigger fingers twitch. Minutes pass before the forest goes silent, except for a low rumble that moves in the darkness. The snap of a twig behind them comes too late as two combat knives press against the men’s throats and wiggles into the top layer of skin.

“I’ve been thinking of something catchy to say at this point, but I was having far too much fun killing your people. Their screams and gurgling kept distracting me,” Lloyd says, his face covered in black paint he took off one of the dead soldiers. Smiley faces of gold, silver, and green are along his bare arms, each one having a slightly different expression. “Honestly, these aren’t my colors. More of a blue and white guy with the occasional red thrown in. Not that I’m patriotic, but I like the combination. Real shame you killed my messenger. The guy threw up when I gutted the other one, so I had to fire the gun myself. Still, he was really excited about being allowed to live once I was done. Not sure where he got that idea. I merely said I’d consider the possibility.”

“Why are you talking instead of slitting our throats?” Noah asks, cringing when the knife digs a little deeper. He reaches for his grenade, but finds that it is no longer clipped to his waistband. “Our men were only following orders. You didn’t have to kill them.”

The excited murderer leans forward to blow in each man’s ear, his eyes watching the lowered rifles for signs of courage. “Of course I didn’t have to kill them. It was done out of pleasure. More in a chocolate ice cream indulgence kind of way than sex. Let’s not get any creepy thoughts here. Now I do agree that they were following orders, which makes you two my real prey. How are we going to finish this while having some fun? Any suggestions?”

“Only a coward attacks from behind,” Firestone growls while itching one of his old steroid patches.

“This coming from a man carrying a gun that screams overcompensation.”

“You’d be dead if you attacked us head on.”

“Which is why I didn’t do it.”

“I could tear you apart with my bare hands.”

“Bear hands? Never mind. Did that joke with your men and it died on delivery.”

Noah clears his throat and drops his rifle to the ground, the act causing Lloyd to remove the knife. “How about a fair fight? You take on Firestone without weapons. If you win then we let you and your friend go with your supplies. If you lose then you’ll be dead and no longer concerned with what happens here. After sneaking around for so long, it’ll be fun to take on an opponent in an old-fashioned brawl.”

“And then we can mosey on down to the saloon and eat mammoth burgers,” Lloyd mockingly replies, running the knife along Noah’s cheek. Stepping back from the squad leaders, he nods when Firestone drops his assault rifle and handgun. “Would be a nice change of pace and I would enjoy the risk. Sure, I’ll fight the bulging, veiny landmass who looks like a barely decorated Christmas tree. Just to keep the insults even, you and your men look like wingless bumblebees, Sergeant. You’ve seemed honorable so far, which means I’ll trust you not to shoot me with that gun or pick up the Piranha to do the deed.”

“How did you know I called my handgun that?” Firestone asks, the petty officer obviously shaken by the knowledge.

“Because I read the notes for this story,” the lanky man replies, grinning at the blank expressions he receives. Throwing his knives into the ground, he points at the high caliber pistol and sighs. “Never mind. You have the word written on the side. Now let’s finish this because I really need to take a piss.”

Cracking his knuckles and rolling his shoulders, the towering squad leader from Philadelphia throws a punch that Lloyd leaps away from. With a pompous smirk, Firestone charges and prepares to tackle the other man to the ground. His mind never registers the flash of metal as the serial killer pulls a third knife from behind his back. The blade drives into the blonde-haired soldier’s eye socket and his own momentum helps it find his brain. Lloyd yanks the weapon free as he steps to the side and ducks under the flailing arm that is disturbingly thick and turning purple. Both hands on the hilt, he repeatedly plunges the knife into Firestone’s back until the man is lifeless at this feet.

“As if I’m stupid enough to fight this monster without a weapon. Honor be damned. Lloyd Tenay isn’t done living,” the black-haired killer declares, pausing when a gun presses against his head. The hammer pulls back and he can see Noah out of the corner of his eye. “Probably should have expected this and gone after you before gloating. Then again, I’m too important to get killed this way. I think. This would really suck if my story ends here. For no other reason than I’m oddly charming and humorous. Kind of like that supporting cast evil guy from the old monster hunting show, but I don’t have the accent.”

“Shut the fuck up,” Noah growls, his hands quivering with rage. The mere existence of the man before him makes him sick and the feeling gets worse when he realizes the savagery that ended the lives of his men. “This is to avenge my soldiers. I would have let you go if you hadn’t cheated, Mr. Tenay. At least then I would have known you to be an honorable person who might do some good with his life.”

“I’ve never done anything that would give that impression.”

“Those are your final words.”

Lloyd keeps his eyes open even when the gunshot rings out, the weapon against his temple jolting upright and firing a few inches above his head. He stands up and stares into Noah’s eyes, which are gradually glazing over. With a gaping hole in his forehead, the squad leader from Pittsburgh collapses on top of his rival’s corpse.

“Nobody tells Lloyd to shut the fuck up except me,” Cassidy states as she joins her companion. Her favorite handgun is in her hands, which are still handcuffed to the headrest that she pulled out of the seat. “I never enjoy killing a nice and honorable person, but that’s the way the world works now. Let’s gather their weapons and usable gear then get the fuck out of this crazy place. Oh, any part of you injured?”

“Not even my pride.”

“Good, but why are you grinning?”

“I’m just so touched that you care about me.”

Cassidy holsters her handgun and shakes her head, the words she wants to say not needing to be uttered out loud. Stopping at the jeep, she runs her fingers along all of the scratches on the hood. After having the car for less than a week, it is starting to look like it’s been abused for its entire life. There is the damage that Penny caused to the rear windshield, floodlights, and CD player. Now the paint is scratched everywhere, a seat is stained, and there is no telling if something happened to the engine when Noah forced the jeep into park. Angry about the damage to what is actually her first car, Cassidy draws her handgun and storms back to put another bullet in Noah and two more into Firestone.

“Feeling better?” Lloyd asks, amused by the explosion of rage. “Not that I’m scared or against stuff like that. Honestly, it’s rather hot.”