Highway To Armageddon (44 page)

           
By now Machete has joined us. We all scramble into the car and float into the
sky.

           
“That was fast, Krystal,” I say. “Usually you take your sweet time when we call
for help.”

           
“Actually I was already on my way when Boom Boom called. We heard gunfire and
figured you all were in some serious doo-doo.”

           
Bullets nick the back of our car as three bloodied gangbangers stagger out of
the burning cabin. Boom Boom, Arrow and I fire at the goons, sending them
scattering.

           
Krystal’s about to take off when Machete shouts, “Give me the bazooka!”

           
“Uh, okay,” Dorothy says, hesitantly handing it over.

           
“Mom, what are you doing?” Arrow asks nervously.

           
Machete doesn’t tell Arrow what she’s doing, she
shows
him. She aims the
bazooka at the cars in the driveway and pulls the trigger. A missile whizzes
out of the cannon and detonates all the cars in a massive explosion. A red-hot
ball of flame shoots up into the sky, right in front of our faces. The heat
scorches my face, and the fire is so intense I have to close my eyes and look
away.

           
I involuntarily jerk backwards and bang my head against my seat. I crack open
my eyes to find the trees whizzing past us. I glance behind me and the fireball
is rapidly retreating into the horizon.

           
“I sure as hell wasn’t waiting for that fireball to melt my mascara,” Krystal
grunts as she slams on the accelerator. The forest speeds by even faster than
before.

           
“We wasted too much time!” Boom Boom says. “We don’t have any trackers on
Caesar. He could be anywhere by now.”      
   

            “Or he could
be right in front of us.” Krystal points to a small object off in the distance.
I zoom in with my goggles and sure enough, Caesar pops into view.

           
Machete shakes her head. “The idiots would fly in a straight line. Don’t they
know anything about losing a trail? You make a bunch of sharp turns!”

           
“Not everyone is as smart as you, Mom,” Arrow says.

           
Krystal zooms right up to Vinnie and bangs against his back bumper. Maxwell
spins around and shouts, “Not you damn kids again!”

           
Caesar whips out a machine gun. “Eat lead, maggots! I’ll cash in on my own
bounty!”

           
Caesar unleashes a hail of bullets. We all crouch to the floor as Krystal takes
us into a nosedive. Caesar’s assault gives them some space, but they’re still
well within our line of sight.

           
“Everyone okay?” I ask, peeking over the top of the front seat.

           
Boom Boom raises her head and says, “He nicked my armor, but other than that
I’m fine.”

           
Machete pops up with her still smoking bazooka.

           
“That’s it, I’ve had enough of that fat tub of lard. Let’s end this.”

           
Machete hoists her bazooka over her right shoulder and takes aim at Caesar’s
car. Another grenade shoots out of the barrel and spirals straight toward
Caesar’s car. It clips the back and detonates, engulfing the car in flames. The
car drops like a comet and crashes into a meadow, exploding on impact.

           
“Bulls-eye,” Machete cackles.

           
Krystal lands about 100 feet from the flaming wreckage.

           
We climb out of the car and rush over to the crash site. I hop over a flaming
tire and skid to a halt. The flames are so intense I have to step back. Vinnie
is still slumped over in the front seat, his lifeless body already blackened
from the flames. Caesar and Maxwell, however, are nowhere to be found. They
must not have been wearing seatbelts.

           
I trudge further into the meadow.  A body is lying next to some bushes.
It’s too little to be Caesar. It must be Maxwell. I don’t bother checking on
him. The massive puddle of blood leaking out beneath him is enough to tell me
he’s not alive.

           
Dorothy runs over and gasps. I wrap my arms around her slender waist and gently
press her face into my chest. She doesn’t need to see this.

           
Machete barges over and laughs. “Hoo-boy, what a mess! So where’s fat-ass?”

           
Boom Boom points to a cluster of trees at the edge of the meadow. “He’s over
there!”

           
We all run to where she’s pointing. It doesn’t take us long to find the man
who’s caused us so much hardship and heartache.

           
Caesar is slumped against a tree stump. There’s a trail of blood leading up to
him, which means he dragged himself over. Blood gushes from a cut on his temple
and trickles out of his nose and mouth. His right ankle is sideways, like it’s
broken. He appears to be in horrendous pain. He’s probably got some internal
bleeding going on.

           
I’m surprised when I realize I no longer feel intense hatred for Caesar. I hate
all the horrible things he’s done over the years. I hate that he killed my
uncle. I hate that he put a bounty on our heads, making our journey to Alaska
far more difficult than it ever had to be. But no matter how hard I try (and
trust me, I’m trying pretty hard), I can no longer muster hatred for the man.
Not in his current state, anyway. I feel nothing but pity, like I would for a
wounded animal. He’s not long for this world, anyway. Why waste time allowing a
cancer like hatred to eat away at my soul more than it already has?

           
Caesar shakily swings a machine gun at all of us. None of us budge. Caesar’s so
banged up he probably couldn’t hit a bulls-eye five feet in front of his face.

           
“S… stand back!” he says in a half-sob. “I’ll shoot you all! STAY BACK!”

           
Dorothy looks away. “I can’t stand to see anyone like this. Make it quick.”

           
I cock my gun and point it at Caesar’s chest. “I intend to.”

           
Caesar closes his eyes and takes deep, labored breaths. It’s taking everything
he has to stay conscious.

           
He slowly reopens his eyes and garbles, “What are you going to do with me? Take
me to D.C.?  Back to Cincinnati?

           
“Nope,” Machete says, polishing her blade with a rag. “We’re taking you to your
old pal Igor Bolshevik.”

           
Caesar’s eyes widens in horror. He tries to scoot back even further, but he has
nowhere to go.

           
“No, don’t take me to him! Igor is a sadistic monster! You have no idea what
he’ll do to me!”

           
Arrow notches an arrow on his bow. “Don’t worry, we’re not taking you in
alive.”

           
Caesar fires off several shots. A few of the bullets hit Boom Boom in her
chest. I respond in kind, blasting Caesar in the heart. Arrow sends an arrow
hurtling into his neck. Caesar gags and drops his gun, clutching at the arrow.
He finally stops twitching and his eye glazes over. His hands fall to his sides
and he slides off the trunk until all that remains propped up is his ghastly,
lifeless head.

           
I feel no satisfaction in Caesar’s death. At this point it’s just a job, a
means to an end.

           
I turn to check on Boom Boom. Arrow is already by her side, helping her up.

           
“I’m fine,” she grunts, clutching her stomach. “My armor deflected the bullet
fragments. Did we…?”

           
Boom Boom trails off when she sees Caesar staring up at the sky.

           
Boom Boom sighs. “It’s finally over.”

           
“No,” Machete says, whipping out her electric blade. “It’s only just begun. Now
we go after the top dog. First, though, we need to send our friend Igor a
little present.”

           
Machete presses a button on the blade handle. A two-foot long blade pops out.
She then presses another button. Within seconds the blade turns bright red.

           
“Wait, are you going to decapitate him?” Dorothy cries.

           
Machete kneels beside Caesar and yanks back his head, exposing his neck.

           
“Uh, yeah. Igor wants Caesar’s head in a box, remember? Besides, I sure as hell
ain’t dragging his fat carcass all the way back to Vegas.”

           
“Oh God,” Boom Boom moans, walking away. Arrow follows her.

           
“I may be one touch chick, but decapitation is too much for even my hardcore
ass,” Krystal says, running back to the car.

           
I wrap Dorothy in my arms and lead her away as well. Unfortunately we don’t
move quite fast enough. I’ll never forget the sound of that heated blade
slicing through human flesh.

           
Our exhausting, heart-breaking journey is almost over. The question is, will I
have to compromise my soul in order to get over the finish line?

           
Or have I compromised it
already
?

Chapter Sixteen:
Boom Boom

           
It’s a little after 1:00am and Arrow, Lance and I are back in Igor’s casino,
riding the elevator up to his club. After Machete decapitated Caesar, she
tossed his head in the trunk and we flew back home to change into our leather
outfits. The boys and I couldn’t very well show up in our armor. We then
stopped at a store to buy a box for the head before heading back over here. I
can’t help but occasionally glance at the box in Lance’s hands. The bottom of
it is leaking blood. I have to swallow to keep my bile down.

           
The elevator door finally opens and we step out into the club. It’s even more
packed than it was the night before. On our way to the back some girl bumps
into Lance, nearly knocking the box out of his hands. The last thing we need is
for a head to roll onto the dance floor.

           
We make it to the back stairwell, where Winston and Bob are chatting about how
much they hate their wives. They seem like such great catches.

           
Lance saunters up to the guards and says, “How’s it hanging, fellas?”

           
Winston grins. “Hey, it’s my favorite teenage gangbangers! I was afraid I’d never
see you guys again. Did you find Caesar?”

           
Lance holds up the bloody box. “Yep.”

           
Bob gasps and nearly drops his gun. “Is that… did you really….?”

           
“Don’t embarrass yourself, Bob,” I say. “We’d like to see Igor before our
‘gift’ starts to attract flies.”

           
“Of… of course!” Winston stammers. “Follow me!”

           
Winston leads us up the spiraling staircase and out onto the roof. Igor, Norma,
and the rest of the gang are swilling vodka and watching security footage. They
don’t immediately notice us.

           
Winston hurries over to his fellow gangbangers and bellows, “Boss, you have
visitors! Ruby, Arkady, and Vladimir have brought a gift!”

           
Igor and his cronies look over at us in a combination of shock and delight. I
take it they, like Winston, weren’t expecting us to survive our encounter with
Caesar.

           
“We weren’t expecting you guys back so soon!” Igor exclaims.

           
Lance hands Igor the box. “What can I say, we’re eager to meet the ‘Great
Leader’.”

           
Igor tears open the box and gasps. “By the White Wolf, you kids did it!”

           
Igor grabs Caesar’s severed head and holds it up for all to see. “They got him!
They got Caesar!”

           
Norma, Fred, Frank, and the rest of the gang give us a rousing standing
ovation. I’d never seen so many people so excited about a murder. It makes me
feel a little sick to my stomach.

           
Norma smacks me on the back. “I bet you’re the one who hacked his head off,
aren’t you, Ruby?”

           
I force a weak smile. “You got me.”

           
Arrow crosses his arms. “So when do we get to meet Rasputin?”

           
Igor juggles Caesar’s head. “Actually, I just talked to Rasputin this morning.
I told him all about you kids, how you had the potential to be our most
successful recruits yet. He had a good laugh when I told him you decided to go
after Caesar. But I don’t think he seriously believed you’d do the deed. When I
show him this, however…”

           
Igor spins Caesar’s head like it’s a basketball.

           
“… he will be a believer. We’re having a big meeting tomorrow night with
Rasputin and some other high-profile Purple Dragon executives.”

           
I try not to smirk. It’s hilarious how Igor and his cronies are treating their
criminal enterprise like it’s a legitimate business, with ‘executives’.

           
“I’m sure Mikhail won’t mind if you all tagged along,” Igor rattles on as he
goes back to juggling Caesar’s head. “He definitely won’t mind when he finds
out you removed one of the biggest thorns in his backside. Caesar here has been
stealing a lot of our business over the last few years. With him gone the rest
of his black-market operation should crumble, leaving us to fill the void. Our
profits will skyrocket!”