The Razor's Edge: A Postapocalytic Novel (The New World Book 6) (24 page)

“Thank you,” Baxter mumbled.

Tired and with the successful rescue of Cruz over, Baxter needed some rest. He still had some major obstacles but would need to handle those when he woke from a short nap.

“If you’ll excuse me, I need a few hours of shut-eye, as I can imagine you all do too. Today was a remarkable day. Once again we have come together and been victorious. If anyone has any questions, please hold them until our staff meeting later.”

“Aren’t you going to the airport to greet the president?” Franklin asked.

Baxter sighed. He hadn’t thought about that but he was weary. “You go. Tell the president I’m in my office and that I’ll see him later.”

“You want me to go?” Franklin asked, surprised to be given the honor.

“Yeah, you go,” Baxter replied and placed his hand on Franklin’s shoulder. “It will give you some time to brownnose.”

Franklin sneered at Baxter.

“Now, I have an appointment with a pillow and a couch,” Baxter said and left.

Megyn followed Baxter out of the room. “Is there a place I can go get some rest too?”

“Yes, get with my staff and have them arrange you something. Make sure you’re back here later for the meeting. I’m hoping the president will be present and I want him to meet you.”

“Thank you, I’ll see you later.”

Baxter slowly walked the halls and stairwells until he reached his office. He entered, locked the door, and fell onto the couch. Thoughts of Eli and how he’d handle that came to mind, but sleep won out and he quickly dozed off.

West of Joseph, Oregon, Republic of Cascadia

Lexi enjoyed surprising people and especially enjoyed the look of shock on the faces of people she would fool. Like the time at Rahab’s camp, when presented with an opportunity to use a man’s sexual desire as her weapon of deception, she went for it.

Nicholas had already figured out she liked to take risks, but he now could see she did so because it brought her great joy. He watched as she exited the woods and walked briskly towards the market, which was only two-tenths of a mile away.

She left behind all of her weapons, minus her trusted long knives, and her coat and had removed the tie from her hair so it would cascade down along her face.

“Your girlfriend is stupid. That’s Big Mike up there; she’s no match for him,” the man said.

“So he’ll come down to get her too, like you did?” Nicholas asked.

“We’re not supposed to, but we do when we spot a single woman.”

“Let me guess, you and Big Mike there don’t listen to orders well,” Nicholas said.

“Yeah, but it’s mainly because we don’t like sloppy seconds.”

Nicholas gave him a hard look and chose not to reply.

Lexi kept her eyes glued to the building and could see movement; she watched the blurry figure rise from his position and climb down.

He had taken the bait. Now she just had to pray everything else worked out.

Lexi cleared the distance to the market and went inside. She remembered seeing a back room and thought she’d take cover there. From there all she had to do was wait for Big Mike to come and get his prize.

Minutes passed but nothing.

She now wished she had taken a radio with her, but she had a love-hate relationship with communications. They were convenient, but if one was trying to hide, they had a way of giving away one’s position.

From his position, Nicholas watched Big Mike approach the market, a small and isolated building along the highway.

Beau was not happy about his role in this plan. He whined and paced back and forth. A leash tied to a tree held him back from being a part of what was happening.

Nicholas panicked when Big Mike disappeared behind an abandoned car and sat. “What’s he doing?”

“Your girl is literally going to get fucked.” The man laughed.

Unable to control his anger, Nicholas punched him.

The man took the punch and received it loud and clear as Nicholas’ way of saying to shut up.

In the back room, Lexi grew impatient. “Where are you?” she muttered under her breath.

Big Mike sat and removed a folding knife; he opened it up and admired the blade.

“What the hell are you doing?” Nicholas said.

Lexi was done waiting. The back room didn’t have a window, so she had no idea what was going on, and she needed to find out. But just as she thought about leaving, she stopped herself. “He’s coming, I know it, just be a bit more patient.”

Big Mike stood and began the final march towards the market. The folding knife was clenched in his right hand.

“Since you’re going to let me go, how about I give you a bit of advice,” the man said, a look of amusement on his face.

“Keep your mouth closed,” Nicholas said, his eyes fixed on the lens.

“You should put those down and pick up that rifle and stop screwing around. Put a bullet in Big Mike while you can,” the man said.

The temptation to do exactly that came to Nicholas’ mind. His window of opportunity was shrinking fast. And any rational person knew she wouldn’t be able to go toe to toe with Big Mike. From his guess, he had to be six foot six and weighing in around three hundred pounds.

“Do it, man,” the man urged.

Lexi gave him specific instructions only to shoot in the event Big Mike called a team. Otherwise taking a shot with the rifle would alert everyone for miles they were there.

Nicholas dropped the binoculars and grabbed the rifle. He put it to his shoulder and looked through the optics only to see Big Mike disappear inside. He was too late; it was all up to Lexi now.

Big Mike stopped just a few feet inside and listened.

“Where are you?” Lexi grumbled.
Why is it taking so long for him to arrive?
she thought. Had he called others to come? If so, Nicholas knew to engage them.

Big Mike knew she was still in there, but where? He slowly and silently began searching.

Lexi herself was listening at the door. Maybe the person was in there or maybe he wasn’t. She took a deep breath to calm herself down and leaned even closer to the door.

With each space searched, Big Mike now stood outside the door to the back room. This was the last place she could be. He clenched his fingers around the knife and kicked in the door.

The door exploded inward, hitting Lexi in the face and sending her flying back. She tripped over a chair and spilled onto the floor.

Big Mike barged in, a broad smile on his face. “Come here.”

Lexi looked up, her head spinning. “Holy shit, you’re big.”

With his left hand, Big Mike grabbed Lexi by her throat and pulled her off the floor and held her up.

She grabbed at his hand, but his grip was tight around her small throat.

He gripped tighter.

The choke hold was becoming unbearable for her. Her feet dangled just above the floor. The only thing she could do was grab one of her knives. She reached back, ripped one from the sheath and swung around.

Big Mike blocked her swing and with his right arm and with one single blow knocked the knife from her hand.

The blade fell to the floor with a clang.

Lexi could feel the dizziness coming. His grip was tighter and cutting off the blood flow to her head. Soon she’d pass out and then…well, she knew what was next.

A single blast from behind Big Mike rang out.

Lexi fell to the floor as Big Mike loosened his grip.

Big Mike followed Lexi and fell on top of her. His hulking weight smothered her.

Nicholas raced into the room. He strained to pull Big Mike’s body off of Lexi. “Christ, you’re a big fucker.”

Lexi was unconscious.

Nicholas heaved and rolled Big Mike off. He dropped to his knees and checked Lexi’s vitals, fearing the worst. He found a pulse and breathed a sigh of relief.

Lexi fluttered her eyes open and said, “What are you doing? I had him.”

“You are a pain in the ass, you know that?” Nicholas said.

Rising slowly, Lexi looked at Big Mike then around the room. Not seeing the other man, she asked, “Where’s the other guy? Did you tie him up?”

“No, he had a date with a 9 mm.”

“You killed him?” Lexi asked, surprised.

Nicholas helped her to her feet and replied, “Yes. When I saw that big asshole coming in here, I realized you might need some help.”

“Good, you set him free,” Lexi quipped.

“No, I said I killed him.”

“Exactly, you set him free. Now his rotten soul can go to hell.”

“Were you screwing with me before?” Nicholas asked.

“Just a play on words, but when I saw the doubt I figured I’d test you.”

He put her arm around his shoulder and asked, “Did I pass?”

“With flying colors.”

Sandy, Utah

Pablo sat and waited patiently as General Luis gathered the entire army in a large field miles away from the compound. He looked at the fluffy white clouds moving across the majestic blue sky. As Annaliese would say, it was a bluebird day. The air was cold and crisp, and with each deep breath he took in the cool air soothed his burning throat.

Each company formed up and stood at attention.

When all were accounted for, Luis turned to Pablo and said, “All units present, sir.”

“Good,” Pablo said and sat drumming his fingers on his thigh.

Luis waited but Pablo said nothing else.

A minute passed, then two and three, but Pablo just sat silent.

“Sir, all men present and accounted for,” Luis said, not sure if Pablo was being absentminded. Luis had picked up on his senility a few times and knew it had to do with his head injuries.

“Thank you, General,” Pablo said and sat, his gaze now fixed on the distant horizon.

Another minute passed, then another and another.

Pablo looked at his watch then at the men assembled then put his gaze on Luis, who was swaying.

“The men—” Luis said.

Pablo raised his hand, gesturing for him to be silent.

Five minutes passed.

Pablo looked at his watch, smiled and stood. He walked over to Luis and stopped just inches from him. “Call up your son and the men who buried those soldiers.”

“Sir, yes, sir,” Luis said and did an about-face. “Captain Luis, Private Gonzalez, Private Rolando and Corporal Nunes front and center.”

One by one the men called peeled away from the ranks. They individually marched until they were in front of Luis.

Luis spun around and said, “The men are here, sir.”

“I see that, out of my way,” Pablo said.

“Sir, you wanted this,” Luis said, handing Pablo a bullhorn.

Pablo took it, turned it on and spoke. “Men of the Pan American Empire, do you know how to follow orders?”

Silence from the ranks.

“Answer me!”

In unison the entire army shouted, “Yes, sir!”

“Are orders from your commanding officers suggestions?”

“No, sir!” they roared.

“When you follow an order, do you do it to the best of your ability?”

“Yes, sir!”

“Several nights ago I gave a specific order to General Luis, who delegated that order to Captain Luis, who passed that down to these three soldiers. However, they chose not to follow that order to the letter. I’m not sure if they’re lazy, insubordinate or just stupid.” He coughed, swallowed hard and continued. “These three men have now put us in jeopardy, all of us; each and every one of you could suffer because of what they did.”

The three enlisted men shook with fear; they had heard the rumors and knew what their outcome would be.

“Brave men of the Pan American Empire, what should we do with them? Should they pay for their crimes?”

“Yes, sir!” they roared but with less enthusiasm. No doubt some feared that whatever happened to those men could also be a future punishment for them.

“These men need to be made an example of,” Pablo said. He turned to Luis and ordered, “Give me your pistol.”

Luis removed the semi-auto pistol from his hip holster and handed it butt first to Pablo.

“These men were ordered to dispose of the prisoners we had taken. They were told to ensure they were dead then bury them in a place they could never be found. These men failed. Those soldiers were found in a shallow grave and only one was dead. Apparently, these men do not know what dead is.”

“Please, sir, please forgive us,” Corporal Nunes pleaded.

Pablo ignored Nunes; instead he ordered, “Private Gonzalez, come here.”

The young private stepped forward. He was quivering in fear.

“Do you know what dead means?” Pablo asked.

Gonzalez nodded and said, “Yes, sir.”

“Private Rolando, step forward,” Pablo ordered.

Rolando did as he asked.

“Do you know what dead means?” Pablo asked.