Holding Their Own: The Salt War (19 page)

“Highwaymen,” Dr. Hanes announced unnecessarily.

“Now looky here,” one of them drawled. “We have gone and stumbled upon three unarmed travelers.”

“No shit,” replied his co-robber, spitting for emphisis. “And while they don’t appear to be carrying much, their clothes sure do look to be in better shape than ours.”

Cory took a few steps forward, moving in front of his guests from Cartersville. “Move on,” he said in a strong, clear voice. “You’re signing up for more trouble than you can even imagine… so move on and live another day.”

The man with the shotgun laughed, his head scanning the immediate vicinity. “I don’t see any trouble. I think you’re just blowing hot air.”

“Just shoot him,” added his partner in crime. “There’s a town up ahead, and this might be a busy road.”

“Why waste the shells,” came the response. “I’m sure these fellas won’t mind shucking off those fancy duds and taking out whatever they got in the pockets.”

“I’m not going to warn you again,” Cory stated. “You have no clue what you’re dealing with. Move on.”

The two bushwhackers threw a glance at each other, the man with the shotgun shrugging his shoulders. “Maybe you’re right,” he said, lifting the 12-gauge to take aim. “I should just kill ’em and be done with it. Shame to put double-aught holes in them nice duds.”

Cory saw Grim rise up from behind the two nomads, his outline magically appearing less than 50 feet away from the highwaymen. “He’s not going to like that,” Cory asked, pointing over the shoulder of the 12-gauge’s owner.

The robber grunted, a smirk cracking the lines of his dirty face. “You expect me to fall for that old trick?”

“I got no problem shooting you in the back, friend,” Grim snarled.

The sound of a voice so close and so unexpected panicked the scattergun’s owner. Reacting on pure instinct, he tried to swing the weapon around to cover Grim, but instead smacked his partner in the head with the barrel. Cory charged.

It was only three steps to the thieves. They were bone-thin, under-nourished, and in shock over Grim’s sudden appearance. All of this flashed through Cory’s mind as his shoulder slammed into his target’s sternum. But what overrode all other thoughts was the man’s body odor.

Spearing his opponent to the pavement, Cory heard the sickening snap of bones, followed instantly by a howling of pain. He saw the shotgun rattle across the blacktop.

His next thought was of the pistol in the other bandit’s belt.

Rolling free of his initial target, Cory tried to orientate himself on the new foe, but he wasn’t there. The sound of footfalls explained the absence, the crook evidently deciding he didn’t need a new wardrobe after all, and choosing to run like hell instead.

The three men from Cartersville watched the escaping outlaw as he made his way across a section of thigh-high grass and weeds that had once been a roadside pasture. It occurred to Cory that the guy was showing an exceptional amount of spunk for such a low looking and horrible smelling creature.

Bounding, hopping, and scurrying across the field, it looked like a clean getaway, until another coyote brown figure rose up from the undergrowth directly in the escaping man’s path.

Kevin’s rifle stock struck the man’s head with a vicious butt-stroke, the impact so brutal the renegade practically did a back flip.

After verifying his opponent was out of the fight, Kevin looked back at Cory and shrugged his shoulders. “Ooops.”

“Pick him up and bring him back over here,” Grim ordered, strolling up to join the trio from Cartersville.

Nodding, Kevin bent over the unresponsive man at his feet, and then recoiled. “I ain’t picking him up, sir. No way.”

Grim, thinking the pistolero was putting up some sort of resistance, began jogging toward his youngest team member, M4 carbine snapping shoulder high.

Kevin clarified his disobedience quickly. Backing away in horror while aiming his rifle at the threat, he wrinkled his nose and said, “Ewwww… this guy’s got head lice crawling all over his scalp. I ain’t picking him up… no way… sir.”

Pulling up short from his rescue-assault, Grim started laughing at Kevin’s reaction. The humor was contagious, every man on the road joining in with a hearty chuckle.

“What?” Kevin questioned. “What’s so funny?”

Shaking his head, Grim replied, “Nothing, son. Nothing at all. Just tie a piece of paracord around the vermin’s foot and drag him over here.”

“But he smells really bad,” came the response.

Much to Kevin’s puzzlement, another round of chuckles rose from the onlookers, Cory regaining his composure first. “Is he still breathing?”

“I don’t think so. I… I crushed his skull,” Kevin replied, scowling down in disgust at the body.

“Well, just take his weapon and come on back here,” Grim ordered, shaking his head at the kid’s bug-revulsion.

With two fingers extended gingerly, Kevin bent over. He reemerged holding the old revolver at arm’s length, examining it for lice eggs or creepy crawlers.

“Good move on the take down,” Grim said to Cory. “I’d been watching those two scumbags for the last 15 minutes and could have shot them any time, but the gunfire might have drawn unwanted attention.”

Nodding his understanding, Cory turned to his two guests from Cartersville. “Gentlemen, I’d like to introduce you to Grim and Kevin. They’re part of my SAINT team. We’re all from the Alliance of West Texas.”

It took less than ten minutes of conversation before Victor and the doctor got the picture. After deciding both of them were trustworthy, Grim even went so far as to fill them in on Nick’s diversion plan.

While Cory and Kevin tied up the surviving bandit, Grim explained their association with the big man who was causing such a ruckus with Mr. Gospel’s security forces.

The doc got it first. “So all of this has been staged intentionally to undermine Stan’s control of the town. You’re trying to sow the seeds of an uprising.”

“Yes, yes we are, and we need your help,” responded Grim. “We don’t give a rat’s ass if the town overthrows the local dictator or not. What we do care about is the citizens being able to travel and trade freely. Our experience has been that if people see things are better elsewhere, they’ll take the steps to improve things at home.”

Victor chimed in, “If this Alliance is all you say it is, why you didn’t just show up at the south gate with hundreds of armed men?”

“We’ve done that before,” Grim explained, “and it didn’t work out so well. The ruling council is trying to walk a fine line between ensuring everyone’s basic freedoms and being a conquering force. We are authorized to induce and promote internal changes, but invasion isn’t an option.”

Both of the men from Cartersville seemed to accept that logic. “So Mr. Gospel has hundreds of semis full of goods… medicine and supplies that might have saved my family’s lives.”

“If there are more of the antibiotics Cory showed me, he could’ve saved thousands of lives,” the doctor added.

“But that would have caused a problem with the hordes of truckers showing up,” Cory said. “I bet if you go back and looked at the mortality rates of Cartersville’s citizens versus the new arrivals, the survival rate was much higher for those men who were loyal to Gospel.”

Grim waved the group toward the discovered treasure, clearly worried about the time. “Come on, I’ll let you see with your own eyes.”

As the group began walking north, Grim turned to Kevin and instructed, “Move on ahead. Give me 30 meters off-center to the right; I’ll take a 40-meter flanking position to the left.”

Kevin nodded, jogging off to get ahead of everyone else and make sure there weren’t any surprises along the road.

Grim spun and informed the men from Cartersville what was going on. “I’ll meet you all a half-mile up the road.”

No one seemed to mind having the two armed men for protection.

Dr. Hanes climbed down from the semi-trailer, a look of pure disgust all over his face. “This is a crime… nothing less than a crime against humanity. I’ve known Stan since he moved to Cartersville, and I would have never thought the man capable of such an atrocious act.”

“With these supplies, we could have saved thousands and thousands of people,” Victor added. “I’ve always heard power was corruptive, but this is just insane.”

“We’ve seen it over and over again,” Grim responded. “I hope you both understand why our team has been so deceptive and has had to resort to violence.”

Victor looked at his friend. “So, Doctor, how do we go about sparking a revolution in Cartersville?”

The physician rubbed his chin, deep in thought. “We can’t be overt with this information. Stan and the chief still command the loyalty of hundreds of armed men known for their trigger fingers. There has been enough death and destruction already. We need subterfuge and sedation.”

“We are willing to help,” Cory added. “But as Grim said, we’re limited in our scope.”

Kevin’s voice sounded from atop a nearby trailer, “I’ve got another security patrol coming down the east fence. You guys should take cover.”

After helping the two older men climb into the empty hold of an adjoining semi, Grim said, “Whatever you decide to do, it has to happen quickly. Our man Nick can’t stay out in the woods forever, and as soon as Gospel gives up hunting for his head, he’ll put all those guards back here to protect this stash. I don’t think there’s much doubt that will make your job all the more difficult.”

“You’re right,” whispered Victor. “Our community has suffered enough already. We need to take advantage of this window of opportunity to improve our situation.”

“If I know Stan’s heart, the word of your Alliance is going to make him tighten down on the town even more. Now’s definitely the time to act,” the doctor added.

A few minutes passed before a soft thud sounded on the semi’s wall, the result of Kevin tossing a small stone to indicate the “all clear.”

All four of the occupants squinted when Grim pushed open the rear doors, bright sunlight flooding their hide. “We need to get you men back to town,” the ex-contractor stated. “That way you can plot your treason in the comfort of familiar, secure surroundings.”

The return trip back to Cartersville passed without incident, Cory and the two locals strolling the distance in silence. Everyone was deep in thought.

They cleared the north gate without much harassment from the guards, then entering the Exchange and returning to Victor’s place of business.

Dr. Hanes turned to Cory with an inquisitive expression. “I’ve got an idea, but it is going to require some research. Can you and your team give me another day or two?”

“We’ll try. I don’t know Nick’s status. Like Grim said, he can’t be the rabbit indefinitely, and if Gospel does manage to corner him, a lot of people are going to die before my boss goes down.”

Victor’s grunt signaled his agreement. “I saw him take on four of the chief’s deputies. Clearly, he’s not a man to be trifled with.”

“Then I’m off to my reference books,” announced the sawbones, turning to exit. “I’ll be in touch through Victor as soon as possible.”

Nick was bored.

While the loft provided the most comfortable sleeping accommodations he’d experienced in days, by late afternoon he was experiencing cabin fever.

It was a common problem in his line of work. Over the years, he’d been deployed on countless hide and observe, scouting, stakeout, and intelligence gathering missions. Hours upon days, days upon weeks, and finally months of doing nothing more than hiding, watching and waiting.