Roads Less Traveled (34 page)

Unfortunately, they didn’t have to wait long.

* * *

“Hey man, you alright?” I asked Jake. We were half a day from the house, riding in the near-pitch dark of night. I was relying heavily on the horses’ sense of direction; I couldn’t even see the stars through all the clouds to determine it myself. Jake was still suffering from his fall earlier, though it had been quite amusing.

“Yeah, I’m okay. Guts feel like they’re on fire, but I’ll make it. How close do you think we are now?” he asked.

“I’d say about half a day. I’ll know more once it comes daylight.” I was worried about him now. What if he had internal injuries? It wasn’t like we could go to the hospital. I was already sure he had a broken rib; he had screamed and grabbed his side earlier when getting into the saddle. But Jake was stubborn and wouldn’t admit he was hurting, or rather, wouldn’t admit to the extent of his pain.

“You think we’re close enough to call them on the radio?” he asked. He was grunting every time the horse had to step over a rock or dodge around a hole, and it sounded like he was trying to hold his breath when he spoke.

“Yeah, we’re probably close enough. I’ll give it a try.” I pulled the walkie out of my jacket pocket and called for Nancy. No answer. I waited a moment before trying again, growing more nervous and certain by the second that Teresa had led trouble straight back to the house.

“This is Nancy, it’s so good to hear your voice, Kasey,” she finally replied. Nancy didn’t sound good, and it scared me.

“We’re about half a day’s ride from the house, we’re basically okay and we have the medicine. Is everything okay there?” I slowed Daisy to a stop and heard Jake doing the same beside me.

“That woman is here, the one you sent.
Did
you send her, Kasey?”

“Yes, we sent her back a day or so ago. She made it?” I asked. I was dreading whatever Nancy had to say next. Waiting for the shoe to drop, so to speak.

“Yes she made it. Zack and Ben are keeping watch down the mountain, to make sure she didn’t bring company. So far, I haven’t heard from them, so I’m assuming we’re in the clear.” Nancy was slowly sounding more relaxed as she talked to me.

“We’ll be there soon, be careful and keep an eye out. And on Teresa, just in case. How’s Mia?” I finally asked. I was afraid she was already dead, and that all this had been for nothing.

“She’s actually doing better than expected. She was lucid and talking to me earlier. As a matter of fact, she was pretty pissed off at you for going to Gibson,” Nancy said, a slight laugh tinting her voice. I smiled at this; if Mia was pissed, there was still hope.

“Sounds good. We’ll radio when we’re closer. Kasey out.” I signed off, tucked the walkie back in my jacket, and looked over at Jake. He was grimacing, but smiling just the same.

“Let’s go home,” he said. I agreed and got Daisy moving again. The closer we got to home, the better I would feel. Not just for Jake’s sake, but for some reason I couldn’t determine, for all our sake’s.

* * *

The crunching of leaves, snapping of twigs, and Gus jumping to his feet caused Zack to sit upright, rigid and breathless. Ben had fallen asleep some time ago, so Zack kicked his boot a few times to wake him up. He quietly told Gus to be still and slid closer to Ben, putting his hand over his mouth before the boy could voice his protests over being woken up. The noise Zack had heard was getting louder, not closer really, just louder. That told him there were several something’s headed their way. He leaned closer to Ben so he could whisper in his ear.

“We’ve got trouble. I don’t smell anything, so I’m guessing its people. Live people. And a lot of them. Let’s sneak out of here and get back to the house. Try not to make any noise, and keep your head down. Follow me,” Zack said and started moving, Gus staying right at his feet, before Ben could ask any foolish questions. He liked Ben, but sometimes the kid could be so dense.

Instead of dropping back into the driveway, Zack kept them in the woods, slowly creeping parallel to the road and staying in the trees. He doubted whoever it was would hear them over all the noise they were making, which was substantial now, but nevertheless he tried to walk quietly. Quietly, but quickly. Whoever was behind them was moving faster than they were, which told him they had to be on horseback. He and Ben hadn’t been able to get far enough away yet to use the walkie, to warn Nancy, but if they could just make it to the house ahead of the danger, they could get the women out and to the place Kasey had told them to go in case of trouble.

The house was just coming into view when the shouting began behind them. Men were giving orders, and Zack could hear horses coming, and fast. He grabbed Ben’s arm and started running. Gunshots rang out, but Zack didn’t falter. He knew whoever was shooting would have a hell of a time hitting either one of them in the dark, especially when they were running in a zigzag fashion through the woods. As he ran, he jerked the walkie out of his coat pocket and yelled for Nancy. She answered immediately.

“What’s going on, did I hear gunfire?” she shouted.

“Get the girls out of the house! Fall back to the cellar, we’re almost there!” Zack shouted back. He wasn’t sure, but he had a sickening feeling the people behind them were the escaped cons from Cedartown. They finally broke through the tree line as Zack was stuffing the walkie back in his pocket and making a mad dash for the front door. Gus was hot on their heels, not barking or growling, just hauling ass.

Shots were still ringing out as they hit the porch, and Zack thought he had seen movement in the tree line, but in the darkness he couldn’t be sure. What he didn’t know was that these particular prisoners on horseback were just a small raiding party. The main body of the group was standing by some seven miles to the west, waiting for a predetermined amount of time before heading out and moving to the next location. The objective of this raid: get in, get what supplies and women they could based off of the small amount of information gathered from Teresa, and get out, then meet up with the main group and move on, as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Ben ripped the front door open and screamed out a curse when he saw the bars were all latched. “Open the goddamn bars!! Hey!” He was kicking against them, Gus was starting to whine, and Zack was watching behind them. They both shrank back and almost fell over the banister when several shots hit the side of the house, sending vinyl and wood shards flying.

“Where are they? I can’t see them!” Ben shouted. Zack had opened fire, shooting in the general direction of the attackers. In the background he could hear footsteps tromping down the stairs and someone yelling at Ben. That’s when he was jerked inside by his coat sleeve and the door slammed behind him.

“They’re trying to surround us. We need to get out the back and into the cellar, now!” he ordered. Nancy had her arms around Mia and was helping her walk. He was impressed Mia could even get to her feet, but apparently the lady had a lot of fight left in her. Kyra was leading Shannon, who had started screaming and struggling to get back upstairs. Ben had grabbed Teresa by the arm and was dragging her off the couch, swearing at her the whole time. The noise outside now was deafening; gunshots and shouts filling the air.

“You did this! How? How did they follow you?” Ben was screaming into Teresa’s face. She simply smirked at him and didn’t answer. Zack had the others gathered at the back door and was ready to open it, make a run for it. Gus was ready too, prancing around and whining.

“Ben, leave her! Let’s go!” Nancy shouted. Ben threw Teresa to the floor and jerked his gun from its holster. Her eyes grew wide with shock and she opened her mouth to protest, but was cut short by a bullet between the eyes. Her head snapped back but she remained poised on her knees for a moment, Ben still holding his pistol on her with a disturbingly steady hand. Then Teresa slowly crumpled to the floor. Blood pooled on the floor beneath her head and soaked her once beautiful red hair, turning it a muddy brown color. Ben continued to stare at her until Zack finally spoke, breaking the shocked silence.

“Ben, let’s move,” he said calmly. Ben holstered his pistol and grabbed his rifle as he back-peddled away from Teresa, then spun on his heels just as Zack was throwing the back door open. They opened fire at nothing in particular as they made their run for the barn. Shannon ripped free from Kyra while she was occupied with shooting and took off towards the woods. Nancy screamed for her to come back, but the girl had finally lost her mind. Mia was pushing hard with her good leg, forcing Nancy ahead, but not before she saw a huge man in an orange jumpsuit dart out of the trees and grab Shannon.

“It’s the prisoners,” Nancy whined, then ran as hard as she could, lifting up and dragging Mia with her. Zack, Ben, and Kyra had fanned out, shooting back towards the trees and the front yard. When they ran out of ammo, they pulled their sidearms and kept firing, running backwards towards the barn. Nancy never looked back, just kept moving. She didn’t see Kyra trip and fall, or the prisoners when they descended upon her. She didn’t see Ben as he tried to fight them off, or the six prisoners in the front yard open fire on him. The only thing she did see was sweet Gus waiting patiently, albeit nervously, at the barn door. Fortunately for Nancy and Mia, Ben was able to distract the attackers just long enough for her to duck inside. She also didn’t see Zack follow her into the barn until she had sat Mia on the floor and was turning to shut the door.

“Hurry, go, I’ll get this,” he said in a desperate whisper. Nancy grabbed Mia, who was starting to slip in and out of consciousness, and helped her to the back of the barn. She could barely hear Zack over the gunshots and shouting as he slid the big wooden board into place, barring the door from being opened from the outside.

She leaned Mia against the wall and scrambled for the hidden door in the floor. It was surrounded by hay bales, and covered with loose hay. Gus was already digging at the floor with his little paws, urgently trying to help. She swiped the hay aside until she found the handle, and gave it a sharp yank. The door opened easily, the dank smell of earth rising up to meet her. Zack rushed to her and held her hand as she stepped onto the ladder leading down into the storm cellar. He picked up Gus and handed him to her, and once she was halfway down, he pulled Mia over and carried her down with him.

He handed Mia off to the older woman and hurried back up the ladder, which was at least ten feet tall, and ran back to the large front door. He climbed the ladder to the hayloft above and took up a position by the large open window. He had a clear view of the scene below; eight prisoners were scrambling to and from the house, looting every bit of supplies they could manage and securing it all on their horses. He could hear Kyra screaming from somewhere in the woods, so he assumed her captor was already galloping down the road. It was evident to him this was a rushed and sloppy raid, which would work well in his favor if he moved quickly.

He ejected his empty clip and pulled his last full from his back pocket, ramming it home and opening fire on the cons below. He picked his shots carefully and took down four before the remaining prisoners mounted up and scurried to escape their unseen attacker. They were rallying in the driveway just before the treeline when Zack noticed something out of the corner of his eye: the orange glow of flames lighting up the inside of the house. He held his fire and leaned back from the window, safe from any retaliatory shots but still able to see the house and the cons, who had begun to laugh and taunt the gunman in the barn.

“Let’s see how you like living in a barn, you fucking pussy!” the con closest to the trees screamed just as they turned their horses and galloped off down the driveway. Zack slumped against the wooden wall and listened to their laughter as it faded in the distance, flames now bursting through the open front door and licking the siding around the frame. Two of the upstairs windows exploded, raining glass onto the porch roof, as fire leapt out and climbed upwards, reaching the roof.

He waited until he was sure the fire wouldn’t spread and endanger the barn, then he holstered his gun and quickly went downstairs. After double checking the front door, he headed back to the cellar, making sure each stall door was secured as he passed. The two horses remaining in the barn were understandably upset and agitated, but they were safe inside their stalls for now. He climbed down the cellar ladder and pulled the door shut behind him. He slid the three bolts that were fixed on the underside into place, then carefully made his way down and over to the women.

“No lights, not yet. Move into the far corner, and be as quiet as you can,” Zack said. The commotion outside had died, the only sound being the roaring of the fire as it consumed the house, but he wasn’t yet satisfied they were safe. Not yet. He felt around and bumped into several shelves before finally finding the corner. He spoke softly to Nancy, guiding her with his voice, until they were both huddled next to him. He helped get Mia into a sitting position between them, then sat with his arm around her shoulder and his hand gripping Nancy’s. Gus also tucked himself close, curling up between Zack’s legs.

He fumbled for the walkie in his pocket: he had to warn Kasey, tell her to stay away. He put the radio to his mouth and turned the power knob with his teeth. Nothing.

“Oh God,” he whispered. Nancy was breathing rapidly but sucked in her breath when she heard the despair in Zack’s voice.