The Emerald Virus (58 page)

    
He slung his rifle and took out his handgun and walked brazenly into the saloon.
As he had hoped it was empty. He took a quick look around and went to the
closest stove, opened the door, and using the pellet shovel he took out the hot
coals and threw them along the wall.

    
He went quickly to each of the other stoves and did the same thing. Five
minutes later the place was burning throughout the interior. Noah went out the
front door and was walking through the parking lot looking for a pickup truck
when he heard a man yell, “Hey, you. What’s going on in there, and what are you
doing here?

    
Noah turned around and saw a man struggling in the snow on makeshift crutches
and a large bandage around his head. He was trying to stay on his feet as he
unholstered his gun.

    
Noah raised his 9mm and fired three times. The man went down hard and stayed
there.

    
Noah stayed perfectly still for a good three minutes. His eyes were focused
straight ahead while he listened for any sound. All he heard was the fire
getting louder as it started burning through the walls and into the roof.

    
Noah walked to the RV the man had obviously been using and carefully looked
inside. It appeared empty and Noah walked in, quickly searched the bedroom and
bathroom, saw the keys lying on the console, and decided to take the RV.

    
He pulled the RV out of the parking lot and then walked back to the tanker
truck parked amongst the RVs. He put all three hoses on the ground pointed them
towards the burning building about twenty five yards away. He then opened each
of the valves in turn and watched the hoses gush three grades of gasoline
towards the fire.

    
Noah ran back to the RV and drove away as quickly as he could. He was on the
ramp to I-90 when he heard the explosion and saw the large cloud of greasy
black smoke roiling upwards as part of the fireball. He could see debris flying
towards him and he floored the accelerator. Noah was amazed at the size of the
explosion. Now he wished he hadn’t taken the time to set the building on fire,
the tanker would have sufficed.

    
He smiled as he thought of the carnage that was now Turner’s winter camp. He
wasn’t sure how all of this was going to play out, but Turner would need a new
home after today, one way or the other.

    
He saw the caravan ahead of him and slowed down. He lowered his window and
stuck the rifle barrel out.

    
He called Danny and said, “I’m in an RV and I’m the last vehicle in Turner’s
caravan. As soon as the other vehicles stop I’m going to put this thing across
the cleared lanes to block the exit. I’m then going to move to the north side
of I-90 and walk towards you. I’ll stay in the depression between the frontage
road and the interstate.

    
“I’ll be out of Ben’s sight so I’ll be safe from him. I’ll also be able to fire
on the caravan from point blank range if you need me to.”

    
“The trouble with that point blank range stuff is that the enemy gets the same
advantage. We’ll save that option for emergencies only.

    
“I assume the fireball and explosion were you’re doing, what was it?”

    
“We’ll, it seems Turner was dumb enough to leave a tanker in his parking lot. I
don’t think he’ll need this camp anymore.”

    
“Danny laughed and said, “Good job, let’s hope the rest of the morning works
out the same way.

    
“I just arrived back at my RV. Turner’s RV is parked on the other side of the
hill and as soon as he calls I’ll start the walk to the top of the hill. It’ll
be in three minutes or so and I’ll be off the air until the exchange is over.
Take care Noah, I’m out.”

 
8:55
a.m. At the rear of the Turner Caravan

    
Noah parked his RV across the road. He did so making it look like he was
turning around trying to prepare for a quick getaway. He put the passenger side
towards the front of the column so no one could see him exit the RV from the
driver’s side.

    
Once outside he used his knife to puncture all of the tires on the driver’s
side and then crawled under the RV and did the same on the passenger’s side. By
the time he was done it was a pretty tight fit for him under the vehicle but he
got out okay. He crawled military style over the snow bank caused by the snow
plows and down into the medium. He waited there out of sight of the caravan for
a couple of minutes and then looked out.

    
Danny had just reached the exchange point with Rick. Turner was almost to him
but was alone. Noah shook his head and thought to himself that he was glad he
was on Danny’s side. So far Danny had predicted everything that had happened,
and with just a little more luck the rest of the morning would go just as he
had planned.

    
Noah knew everyone in Turner’s column would be watching the exchange point so
he used this opportunity to hurry across the westbound lanes and down to the
frontage road. He would be out of sight of everyone, but he knew if he made an
appearance Ben would take him for a shooter. Ben was too good with that sniper
gun to take that risk.

    
The other thing that concerned him was that if Turner had put out a sniper or
two, one of them most likely would be north of the interstate which would mean
he had a clear shot at Noah. Maybe not a close shot, but a clear shot.

    
For the first time in his life Noah understood a little about what it must feel
to be an infantryman walking through an open field towards a forest, or a line
of brush or a village. You never knew what to expect, but today you were chosen
to walk point because someone had to. Your only hope was that next time would
be someone else’s turn, assuming of course that you lived through today.

8:58
a.m. The Hill, 500 yards south of the Exchange Point:

    
Ben was looking closely at the column and listening to Heather say, “Ben, I
know I just saw a man run from the back of the caravan across the highway and
over the embankment.”

    
“I believe you, but I can’t do anything about it. I was watching Turner walk
forward alone and was trying to get a bead on him and figure out what was going
on. You’ll have to keep your eyes over there as well.”

    
“You know I will, but something really strange is going on. I think the guy
that ran across the road parked his RV sideways across both lanes and I swear
from here it looks like all of the tires are flat.”

    
“I just put the scope on the tires and you’re right, they are flat. I don’t
know what’s going on but whoever did that has to be trying to help us. Keep
looking for him but I’m not going to pull the trigger on him unless he starts
shooting at one of ours.”

    
Ben and Heather were lying side by side now, still covered with their white
sleeping bags. They had moved cautiously to this position about an hour ago.
Heather had not seen any movement behind her before they moved. Every five
minutes of so she would roll onto her back and lift her head enough to use the
scope to scour likely places behind them.

    
Just as Danny arrived at the exchange point Heather said, “Ben, we have company
behind us. I don’t think he’s spotted us because I can see him moving his scope
all over the place, but he’s in a position to shoot either Danny or us. I think
we have to take him out.

    
“He’s on top of a barn or warehouse at your ten o’clock. It looks like about a
six hundred yard shot to us and maybe nine hundred to Danny. He’d have to be
good but we have to assume he is.”

    
Ben looked at Danny and saw Turner had just reached him. He knew he didn’t have
much time and decided to take out the other sniper now.

    
He moved very carefully to a semi prone position behind a large rock he could
use for his bipod. Heather guided him to the shooter and he saw a man in a dark
green winter coat lying exposed on the crest of the roof. Everything below his
arms and shoulders was on the other side of the roof. Ben realized that this
might be a hunter who could shoot, but at least he didn’t have military
experience. No one with experience would be out here dressed in anything but
white.

    
Ben took thirty seconds to focus the shot, estimate the range and wind, and at
9:01 pulled the trigger. It looked like the round took him through the right
shoulder and then through the chest. He disappeared from the crest of the building
and left behind only a red spray that settled on the snow.

9:01
a.m. The Exchange Point

    
Danny looked at the man who had just arrived. He had dove to the ground when he
heard the shot and now looked up at Danny, who had remained standing.

    
Danny smiled and said, “Dick, what a pleasure to see you again. You should just
ignore that shot. It only means that one of the men you put on the south side
of the interstate was just killed. I warned Turner about that. He probably
didn’t tell the guy though, or maybe he did. What do you think Dick?”

    
Dick looked scared and slowly came to his feet. I don’t know nothing about that
or any shooter south of here. I do know we have ten snipers with guns pointed
at you right now, so it’s time you shut up and listened to me.”

    
“Danny continued to smile, but the smile looked more serious now. He said,
“Dick, this isn’t your circus, you just think it is. If you have ten shooters
out there they’ll all be killed as they raise there heads. If anyone shoots me
you’ll be dead before you can say adios.

    
“Turner got you into this, but I’m the only one who can get you out of it.
Where is Turner anyway? I guess he convinced you that he really did have the
balls to do this, but he had more important things to do so he left you here
almost alone. What a leader huh?”

    
“I asked to do this, and I’m not alone. I’ve got an Army behind me.”

    
“Ah, things have changed in the world haven’t they? You have a bunch of hung
over women in pickup trucks and some rifles sticking out of windows with no one
to shoot them. You know, in the old world we wouldn’t have called that an Army.

    
“Oh, and by the way, before I forget I should tell you that the explosion you
might have heard, and that black smoke you see behind you is all that’s left of
your home base and the RVs. It’s too bad Turner took the group out for a spin
this morning, I would’ve liked for him to see that.

    
Danny looked over Dick’s shoulder and said, “Dick is that part of your Army?
You have a guy in a bright red ski cap helping you” Are you and he both idiots?
That’s like wearing a target. Are all of your people that stupid or is it just
you and him?

    
“Don’t answer that, and excuse me for interrupting you. What did you want to
say to me?”

    
Dick lacked some of the confidence he started with but still tried to brazen
his way ahead. He said, “I don’t care what you did with that camp, it was a
dump anyway. But I want to tell you that I’ve got that witch of yours in the RV
and she’s going to stay there until you’re dead. And then I’m going to have a
final session with her. I want you to be thinking about that as I……”

    
Danny interrupted Dick by taking his handgun out of his pocket and shooting him
twice in the chest and then leaning down and shooting him in the head.

    
Rick, who had stayed quiet through all of this, started whimpering.

    
Danny said, “Rick, shut up or I’ll shoot you, you need to remember that this
has never been about you.”

    
As Dick fell, Ben fired his next shot into the engine compartment of the lead
RV.

9:04
a.m. Turner’s RV

    
Jack Sweeney, red hat and all, ran into the side door of the RV and in a panic
stricken voice yelled “They killed Dick, they killed Dick, let’s get out of
here now, let’s save ourselves.”

    
Turner’s lieutenant looked back from sighting his rifle through the windshield
and yelled, “Shut up Blackie or you’re next, and glanced at the other two men
and said, “Kill Danny now.”

    
As he finished the statement Jack shot him and then calmly and quickly shot the
other two men. He then walked to the front of the RV and shot each one a second
time. He couldn’t afford to risk being shot by a wounded man.

    
He looked at Shelly and said, “Hold on, I think we’re almost through the
worst.”

    
He took the duct tape off Shelly’s mouth as he pulled his knife and cut the
ropes binding her in the chair. Without saying anything she pulled her hands
apart and placed them on the wall of the RV. Jack raised his pistol and shot
the chains from about two inches away.

 
   The cuffs split and Shelly asked, “Time to go?”

    
Jack responded, “I think so, we’ll have to run to the exchange point and hope
for the best.”

    
“I don’t know who’s still shooting out there, but that sounds like one big gun.
The sniper put a round into the engine of this RV when I was only about three
feet away, I don’t know if he’s that good or that lucky, but it worked. That’s
the same gun we hear now, I guess he’s shooting at the trucks behind us.”

    
Shelly, who was looking out the windshield while Jack talked said, “Jack, here
comes Danny’s RV with the snow plow on the front. I don’t know whose driving
but they just stopped for him”

    
Just then two other guns opened up. Shelly said, “Jack, Danny’s down, I think
he’s shot. The shooter is on our left somewhere on the side of that hill.

    
Jack said, “Okay, we’ll have to run. It’s only fifty yards or so but its slippery
so be careful.”

    
“Jack, take off that red hat, it’s like a target.”

    
“Shelly, I told Heather to let everyone know I’d be the only one out here dumb
enough to wear a red hat in a firefight. It’ll be the only thing that keeps us
safe. Turner’s men still think I’m one of them.”

    
As they exited the RV Jack thought there were at least four guns shooting now,
and maybe more. The big gun was still hammering away and someone was shooting
an M-16. No rounds were landing anywhere around him however.

    
He took a quick look behind him and saw that many of the pickups were askew and
some were smoking. He realized the shooter had continued shooting engine blocks
and the gun was powerful enough to have pushed the front ends to the side.

    
The women were almost all out of the trucks lying on the ground.

    
Jack yelled, “Stay down and you’ll be okay. Don’t touch your rifles unless you
want to be shot.”

    
At 9:06 a.m. he grabbed Shelly’s arm and started for Danny. When they reached
the RV Sam was cradling Danny’s head with tears running down her face.

She
looked up and said, “He’s hurt bad, I need help getting him inside.”

    
Jack grabbed his shoulders and the women took each leg and they lifted Danny
inside. Jack laid him on the floor, looked around, saw the M-16 and the extra
clips, and before Sam knew what was happening he was out the door again.

    
Shelly looked at Sam and said, “Find the opening and stop the bleeding. That’s
all you can do. Look for both the entrance and exit wounds and use pressure, a lot
of it if you need to, but stop the bleeding.

    
As Sam leaned over Danny she asked, “What are you doing?”

   
“I’m taking your rifle and I’m going to help kill those snipers. None of us
will be safe until they’re dead.”

    
She grabbed the 30.06 and a box of cartages and followed Jack out the side
door.

9:05
a.m. The Hill, 500 yards south of the Exchange Point:

    
Ben was doing what Danny had asked him to, which was disabling all of the
vehicles, when Heather said, “Ben, Danny’s been shot. There has to be a sniper
on the hillside across the interstate. I saw him go down and he was pushed
towards us by the bullet.”

    
Ben shifted his scope to the hillside and Heather did the same thing. He said,
“Someone on the other side of the interstate is shooting up the hill. That must
be the guy you saw earlier, see if you can locate where he’s aiming, the sniper
will be there.”

    
“Ben, straight across the interstate, forty yards up and behind the large rock
wall, use the front of Danny’s RV as the focal point and go up from there.”

    
“I see him.”

    
Ben shot once and Heather watched the sniper’s head explode. It had been the
only thing visible.

    
Ben said, “There are more, I hear at least three rifles firing. Get your M-16
and fire at anything you think might be a target, and fire and load as fast as
you can. I know you’re out of range but try to at least keep them down.  ”

    
Heather grabbed the 16 and starting burning through banana clips as fast as she
could. Ben was still shooting the fifty at any likely target, and whoever was
on the frontage road was still shooting up hill.

    
A minute later Heather saw Jack and Shelly start their run and told Ben they
were moving. As soon as they got to Turner’s RV Heather dropped the 16 and
grabbed the scope again.

    
She said, “Ben about forty yards to your left of the first guy, and about
twenty yards lower. He’s covered in a white sheet but you can see his glasses
shimmering.”

    
Ben didn’t say anything but twenty seconds later he fired and saw the gun
across the way slide forward and down the hill.

    
Heather said, “I don’t know where the third guy is. He’s shooting but I can’t
pick him up.”

     
While she was talking an M-16 near Danny’s RV opened up and Heather watched the
rounds stitch a pattern upward towards a clutter of brush.

    
Ben said, “I got him, hold on.”

    
He fired three times and as he ejected the clip Heather handed him the next
one, he emptied it and two more into the brush until finally a body burst
upwards and backwards.

    
Heather said, “I haven’t seen anything else move over there but that doesn’t
mean anything.”

    
Ben replied, “I agree, we’ll just sit tight for awhile. Take a look behind us
now. I think the danger from that direction must be over by now but it won’t
hurt to look.

    
From behind Heather and Ben heard a man say, “I don’t think that’s such a good
idea, I think you need to stay right there and don’t move.”

    
The two young people did as he said; neither of them doubted that he was
pointing a weapon at them.

    
Ben heard him say, “That’s quite a gun you have there, I want you to lay it
down very carefully and then raise the barrel and hand it back over your left
shoulder. Be very careful to keep the barrel up but away from me.”

    
As Ben moved to do what he said, Heather started whimpering and said, “Ben,
help me, do something, he’s going to shoot us, Ben help.”

    
As she talked she continued to roll onto her right side, away from Ben, and she
looked up and back at the gunman.

    
He said, “My god it’s a kid and a girl at that. What are you doing here?”

    
Heather fired four shots from her 9mm through the sleeping bag and the gunman
went down and rolled down the hill about ten yards where he was stopped by
another large rock.

    
Ben looked at her and said, “Holy cow that was really good.”

    
Heather grimaced and said, “Yeah, that whimpering act gets them every time.”

    
They looked back at the other hillside and Heather said, “The guy from the
frontage road is climbing onto the interstate, take a look at him in your
scope.”

    
Ben said, “Ah hell, that’s Noah. What’s Noah doing out there? I could have shot
him.”

    
Noah started walking up the interstate towards Danny’s RV and thought again,
this infantryman stuff is for the birds. I really feel like a sitting duck out
here.

    
He could see the other two still had their weapons trained on the hillside, and
he was sure Ben was still looking, but he knew if someone wanted to shoot him,
he was in trouble.

    
He also realized Danny had been shot and he knew they didn’t have any time to
waste. At least he hoped they didn’t, so he’d decided to move now instead of
later.

    
Jack looked at Shelly and said, “Go help Sam, I’ll keep watching but I think
it’s over now. Noah will be with me in a couple of seconds.”

    
Shelly didn’t say anything but went directly to the RV.

    
Noah walked up to Jack and said, “I’m Noah Yellowbird, I’m glad you’re with us
Jack. Do you know how bad Danny is?”

    
“No, but it didn’t look good to me.”
     “Okay, we’ll have to get him to the doc as quickly as we can and hope for
the best.”

    
As Jack looked east on I-90 Noah said, “Don’t worry, that noise is our guys
coming to help. We held them back maybe too far.”

    
“Who is the sniper you have south of us. He did a hell of a job from there.”

    
“That’s Ben, he’s a sixteen year old kid and his life won’t be the same after
today. Your Heather is spotting for him. She’s quite something isn’t she?”

    
“Yeah, she is. I feel guilty about what she’s been through and what I’ve taught
her, I just hope it hasn’t done her harm. Is Ben your protégé?”

    
“No, he’s more of a friend or a nephew. His grandfather taught him everything
he knows. He must have been quite a man himself.”

    
Two trucks joined them and four men walked up to them.

    
Noah said, “Jack, this is our backup team. Their all irritated that they were
chosen to come here with us. Men, this is Jack Sweeney.”

    
The men all grunted a hello and Noah walked to the front of the RV and waved
Ben and Heather in.

    
One of the men looked at Noah and said, “Did Shelly make it?”

    
“Yeah, Shelly made it, but Danny was shot and it looks bad. I’m going to check
on him now. I’d like the four of you to go back to the vehicles and clear a
lane for the RV, we have to get Danny to the doc now.”

    
As the men drove the truck away, Ben and Heather rode up on the snowmobile.
They left it on the side of the freeway, climbed over the barrier with their
weapons, and joined Jack.

    
“With a scared look on his face Ben said, “How’s Danny.”

    
Jack said, “Noah’s checking now, but he was hit pretty bad. Now that you two
are here were going to move out. The doc is still two hours from here.”

    
While he was talking Jack had watched three of the women from the convoy walk
up the slope to them.

   
 The middle blonde said, “What about us? Half of us don’t even have coats, we
warmed up the trucks first and we ran out and drove up here. Bob said we would
just have to sit in the trucks for five or ten minutes and then we’d drive back
to the club. Now somebody’s shot up all of the trucks and it’s too cold to walk
anywhere.”

    
“With a great deal of scorn Jack looked at the three of them and said, “You
made your own decisions about helping Turner kill people this morning. As far
as I’m concerned you have to live with the consequences of those decisions.”

    
The woman on the left said, “Come on Lootie, we ain’t going to get any help
here. We’ve got coats; we’ll walk back and get a couple of RVs for the others.”

    
Noah, who had joined them while Jack was talking, said, “Ladies, to celebrate
the great job Turner has done as a leader, I burned your saloon a little
earlier. If you’ll look behind you can see that a good deal of the town is
burning as well. Oh, by the way, I also blew up all of your RVs. So you can
walk wherever you want, but I don’t know if you’re going to be able to find
something to drive, or even any place to stay warm.”

    
The one they called Lootie said, “Come on girls, Bob will be back later, we’ll
stay in the pickups until he comes for us.”

    
Ben spoke up and said, “Turner and the group that he took to the park were
captured earlier, they won’t be coming to help you. In fact they’ll be lucky to
get through this alive.”

    
Now all three women looked scared and the one who had not yet spoken said,
“That’s kind of like a death sentence for us you know. You think you can really
do that?”

    
Now Heather said, “We didn’t do anything, you made the decision. The only thing
that’s happening now is that you get to live with it. Which gives you a better
chance to live than you gave us when you put the snipers on the hill. It’s time
for all of you to get your buns out of here, and you need to start now.”