The Emerald Virus (14 page)

    
George looked up and said, “You’re right. Two of them are leaning on the side
rail of the bridge and it looks like one of them has pistol in his hand. Andy,
we can’t get off here and it’s too late to do anything but drive fast.
Accelerate and if they shoot at us I’ll use James’ shotgun. Maiya get down on
the floor, fast now.”

    
As George was talking he pressed the button to put the passenger side window
down and grabbed the shotgun from Maiya who was passing it to him.

    
As George racked a shell into the firing chamber one of the men on the bridge
pointed a revolver with a long barrel at them and fired. Nothing hit the truck,
either due to Andy’s quick acceleration or because the guy was a bad shot. 

    
The gunshot sounded like a small cannon but George did not hesitate. He leaned
out the window with the shotgun, aimed quickly, and fired the 12 Gauge at the
car and the two men. It happened so fast that neither of the men had time to
take cover until after George fired, and then both of them dropped below the
railing.

    
Andy yelled excitedly, “Great shot George; I don’t know if you hit either of
them but they’ll stay down for a couple of seconds anyway and we’ll be past
them.”

    
George responded, “Just keep accelerating”. They were quickly approaching a
small car that had been ahead of them but in the other lane. As they went under
the overpass they also passed the small car whose driver was looking around
wondering what was going on.

    
As they passed the car George twisted in the seat and put his lower back on the
window sill so he could aim the shotgun to the rear. He yelled to Andy to grab
his belt so he could keep his balance if he fired again. Instead Maiya leaned
over the front seat and grabbed George’s belt with both hands. George racked
the gun again and fired at the men on the bridge.

    
He yelled to Maiya to help pull him in and said, “One of them was on this side
of the bridge. I don’t know if he was armed because I started shooting as soon
as I saw him. He was a little slow getting down so I fired again. I don’t know
if I hit anyone or not. By this time George was starting to shake and Maiya
asked him if he was okay.

    
“Yeah, I am. I don’t know why I’m shaking; I’m just glad it’s over.

    
Maiya said, “George, you were amazing. You didn’t hesitate for a second. You
knew what to do and you did it. I couldn’t have done that; at least I couldn’t
have reacted so quickly.

    
“Thanks, I’m glad I did okay. I spent some time this morning thinking about
what I would do if anyone tried to bother us on the trip. I don’t think I could
have done the same thing yesterday; I just wouldn’t have been ready. This
morning it was different. I was ready and I knew if we did run into trouble
that there wouldn’t be any police or anyone else to help us.”

    
Andy said, “Hey guys, I think the car just come down the entrance ramp. I don’t
know if it was the same one but in the mirror it looked like a black sedan and
it might be them. George, what do you want me to do?”

    
There isn’t much we can do except defend ourselves. I think trying to outrace
that big car would be asking for disaster.

    
Maiya slide over so I can shoot out of the driver’s side rear window. I can
only shoot right-handed.”

    
Maiya said, I’m left handed but I afraid I’m not very good with a shotgun.”

    
Andy said, “How are you with a handgun?”

    
“I’m decent. My dad is a retired policeman and he taught us how to shoot.”

    
Andy said, “Great” and leaned over and opened the glove box to remove a hard
plastic case that was so large it almost didn’t fit. He handed the case over
his shoulder to Maiya and said, “This is a 1911 model 45 caliber
semi-automatic. There are two ten round clips in the box and one in the gun.
Can you use it?”

    
As Maiya jacked the slide back and chambered a round she said, “I sure can,
this is a lot like the 9mm my Dad taught us to use. George, what do you want me
to do?”

    
“Shooting out the window is tough because of the wind that will be pushing on
your shoulder and arm. Do you think you are strong enough to hold the gun
steady and shoot? If not you can shoot through the back window.”

    
“I think I should be able to handle it. If I feel it’s too much I’ll pull the
gun in and shoot through the window.”

    
“Good. I want you to aim at the center of the windshield; low on the
windshield. Andy, where did that .45 come from?”

    
“Dad handed it to me when Maiya was saying goodbye to Mom. He told me he was
sure we wouldn’t need it but gave it to us just in case. I took it out to the
truck and put it in the glove box and forgot about it until now.”

    
George said, “Thank goodness for Dad being careful. He must have forgotten
about the shotgun, or maybe he thought two guns were better than one.”

    
Maiya said, “I don’t know if it’s them but a black car is driving crazy back
there and coming very fast.”

    
George said, “Andy, see if you can speed up enough to pass those next four or
five cars. There looks like an open space ahead of them. If we’re going to
shoot I don’t want to hurt any other people.”

    
Andy did as George asked and was about fifty yards ahead of the last car when
the black sedan came roaring around the last car behind them. Andy said, “It’s
them. The two guys in the back are already holding guns out of their windows.”

    
George said, “Okay Maiya, when they get about thirty yards from us start
shooting. Shoot slowly but steadily, but be careful of the recoil, the 1911
model kicks like the dickens. I’ll start shooting after you do. They’re in the left
lane so I’m going to aim at the front left tire. If either of us hit our
targets they should stop. If they don’t we’re going to have to shoot at the
driver. If you can’t do that don’t worry, Andy and I will understand.”

    
Andy spoke up to agree with George and said “I’m going to hold the wheel steady
while you shoot. But if they hit our truck I’ll start moving back and forth so
don’t let that surprise you.”

    
At that point Maiya leaned out of the window, aimed and fired. Her first shot
missed everything and she fired her second shot as George leaned out quickly and
fired the shotgun. Both shooters in the black car opened fire with western
style handguns. Both seemed to be shooting as fast as they could and neither
hit anything.

    
Maiya’s third shot hit the windshield of the black car, but high on the passenger
side. The front seat passenger apparently didn’t have a gun, but he did seem to
have enough of this gun battle. He grabbed the steering wheel, and jerked it
down, the car immediately jumped to the right and then swerved sharply back to
the left as the driver tried to control the car with one hand and beat the
passenger with the other hand. As he fought with the passenger the black car
started a slide that continued until the passenger side of the car was facing
the back of the pickup truck.

    
While this was occurring both George and Maiya had continued to fire. George was
already reloading. He knew he had hit the front of the car at least twice but
didn’t know if any of the pellets had hit the tire. It didn’t look like it. He
was on his knees on the seat and kept looking down to the box of shells and
then up to the rear window to watch the action as he loaded the gun. He saw the
star on the front passenger window as Maiya’s next shot (the seventh?), hit the
window. George thought it might have hit the driver as well. But the black car
was sliding broadside to them and he couldn’t tell for sure.

    
Now Maiya was coming back in to reload and George again leaned out the window
and aimed. The black car was out of control and George realized that’s coming
so quickly that it was going to slam into the back of the truck.

    
He fired the shotgun directly into the rear passenger window of the car. The
near side passenger was still trying to reload his revolver and had a panicked
look on his face. As he looked up George realized that he wasn’t a kid as he
had originally thought. He looked like he was in his mid or maybe late thirties;
he had a couple of day’s growth on a face that was also covered with red
splotches. George’s shot blew in the window and caught the near passenger in
the head and shoulders. At the same time the passenger on the far side of the
car fired his revolver. George’s shot had pushed the nearside passenger towards
the other side of the car and slightly forward. The shot from the other rear
seat passenger hit him in the head and George heard the loud thunk! as the
round then hit the tailgate of the pickup. He didn’t know if his shot had
killed the first man, but he knew he was now dead.  

    
While this was happening Maiya had dropped the empty clip and slammed a new one
home. She now fired again and George saw this shot hit the driver in the side
of the chest. George didn’t think the driver could have survived this hit.  

    
George quickly dropped the barrel and fired at the back tire of the car. That
tire was about five yards from the back of their pickup and like the other
tires, was smoking badly. George’s last shot decimated the tire and the wheel
dug into pavement slowing the back of the car down and allowing the front of
the car to swing towards the pickup. The front bumper of the car brushed the
back bumper of the pickup as it whipped to the right and spun out of control,
off the road and into the ditch, where it landed hard, front first against the far
side of the ditch.

    
And as fast as it started it was over. Andy was hopping up and down in his seat
and banging his fist on the steering wheel; Maiya started crying and threw
herself at George who held her tightly as he fought to get his own shaking
under control. As he held her he took the hand gun from her and made sure the
safety was on.

    
Finally Maiya reached out with her left hand and grabbed Andy’s shoulder from
behind and started saying, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry” over and over
again.

    
George rocked her back and forth and said, “Maiya, Maiya, slow down, what in
the world are you sorry for, you didn’t do anything wrong. In fact you were
perfect through this whole thing. We couldn’t have survived without you working
with us.”

    
“No! If it wasn’t for me you wouldn’t have been attacked. I almost got you
killed.”

    
George had to interrupt Andy to say, “No, you’re wrong. This wasn’t your fault;
you had nothing to do with this. What we said earlier just wasn’t true. These
weren’t kids looking for trouble, the two I saw clearly were in the mid or late
thirties, and they had the virus. Their faces were splotchy. They were mad at
the world and wanted to hurt someone, anyone. I’d bet money we weren’t the
first ones they fired on today, and all we did was defend ourselves. You didn’t
do anything wrong. We didn’t do anything wrong. The world just went crazy on
us.”

    
Andy said, “Maiya, you were great. I’m glad I was driving because I couldn’t do
as well as you did. You shouldn’t feel guilty, what George said was right, you
should feel proud of yourself.”

    
Maiya leaned back a little and said, “You guys are great. All I could think of
was that it was my fault and you would hate me. I can’t believe it’s over. I
was so scared and so excited and now I can’t stop crying, or talking. I’m so
glad I’m with the two of you. If I was by myself I would be dead by now.”

  
They drove quietly for a few minutes and George told Maiya to crawl over the
front seat and he then followed her. He told her that after what the three of
them had just been through he didn’t want any of them sitting alone. George sat
on the passenger side with his arm around Maiya and she held Andy’s right hand
as tight as she could. After they had calmed down they came to an exit with a
truck stop and Andy said, “I don’t know about you two but I need to stretch my
legs and go to the bathroom, and we should get gas if this place is open.”

    
George replied, “I agree, but let’s get in and out as fast as we can, were
still too close to that car back there.”

    
As they pulled into the truck stop Maiya said, “There’s a police car over there
with people around it. Should we report what happened?”

    
George said, “No, let’s not do that. We could end up being here for a long time
if we file a report, and I don’t see anything to be gained by talking to the
police. In a couple of weeks this will all be meaningless anyway. Andy, how do
you feel?”

    
“I agree. Let’s not ask for trouble, all we did was defend ourselves.”      

    
Maiya said, “Okay, we all agree on that. George, it’s your turn to pump the
gas. If I can stop shaking and if I can walk I’m going to the bathroom.”

    
The pump was still taking credit cards, which George thought was strange, but
he started the nozzle and joined the crowd by the police cruiser. George whispered
to one of the crowd and asked what was going on. The man told him that a couple
of cars had been fired on by a black car on an overpass and they wanted the
police to go and arrest whoever was doing the shooting. George thanked the man
and quietly walked back towards his car.