Joshua (Book 2): Traveler (7 page)

“This is Jackal. Why do you have to call me out on the radio? You act like I’m a maniac or something ...”

“McCain, just shut up and tell me what’s going on.”

“There are three of them right in the opening, but they’re not coming out. They’re yelling to that guard. I could kill them all right now. Just give the word.”

“I told you no shooting unless I say. I’m going out to talk to them.”

“Fine, if you want to do it the hard way.”

Alton was at last able to get a word in, “Coyote here, we’re okay and we’ve got the targets under control. Standing by.”

“This is Wolf, good work, Coyote, stand by. Everybody listen up! I’m going out to talk to them and I don’t want any shooting,” Rob paused and thought for a moment, “unless they gun me down, then feel free to kill them.”

He turned to Peavey, “I’m going. You watch the bunker. If they try to come out this side you can shoot, but just to keep their heads down. If they get clear of the bunker, you have my permission to kill them, but only then.” Rob then addressed the boys, “You two keep behind cover. When you hear me calling, you help Peavey bring the cart up.”

Both boys nodded as they lay flat on the ground.

Rob left his guns with Peavey and took off running, keeping his head down. He made a long loop and then approached in the open, right up from the east side of the highway.

At last the old man saw him approaching and trained his rifle on Rob as he casually walked into earshot. “What do you want?! Where’s my son and granddaughter?!”

Rob slowed but still approached with his hands in the air. He spun around holding his coat open, making it quite clear he was unarmed. “What do I want? I want all your food. But I didn’t come empty handed. I’ve got something to trade.”

“What?”

“The lives of your son and granddaughter.”

The old man brought his eye back up to the scope and took steady aim, “I should kill you right now, scum!”

Rob stopped about thirty feet from him and started using his sensible voice, “You could do that. But then you would never see your loved ones alive again. Isn’t your son and grandchild worth some food? You would let them die over some pork and beans, or canned ravioli? We both know you’re not going to do that.”

“There’s no way we can trust you. You’ll kill us all if you get the chance.”

“I’ll tell you what ...”

Suddenly the sharp report of a rifle was heard and everyone instinctively ducked. It was Peavey firing from cover on the south side.

After a nervous moment, the oldest woman appeared from the north side entrance and yelled out to her husband, “Andrea tried to sneak out the other side and they shot at her.”

The old man never took his eyes or gun off Robert, “Is she all right?”

“She isn’t hurt, just shook up. Beth is taking care of her, she’s hysterical right now.”

Rob could tell the old man was angry and decided to get the conversation back on track before it became any more emotional. “We have your place covered from both ends, you’re not going anywhere. We’ve got your son and granddaughter. All we want is your food, we don’t want or need to hurt anyone. Just give us the food and we’ll go.”

“Like I already said, how can I trust you, my son and grandbaby might already be dead.”

He lifted up a finger as if to say give me a minute, then Rob got back on his radio and spoke quiet enough that the old man couldn’t overhear. “Coyote ...”

“Go ahead.”

“Make the girl scream, loud, but just for a second or two.”

“Copy,” Alton turned to D’Cruz who was still holding the child, one hand wrapped around her and the other clamped down on her mouth. “You heard him, D’Cruz, make her scream for a second.”

D’Cruz let go of her mouth and then grabbed her by a pigtail and twisted it with all of his strength. She tried not to but at last started screaming.

Her father was face down in the mud, his arms behind him bound with zip ties, his ankles restrained too. He struggled on the ground as Cornwell held him there with one boot. “You bastards, leave her alone!”

Then there came an unbearable sound that echoed through the quiet forest, a little girl in anguish, screaming at the top of her lungs. In a moment it ended and only the silence remained.

The old man lowered his gun, turned towards the sound and back to Rob, now unable to conceal the loathing inside. “I should kill you.”

Rob didn’t think he could, or at least hoped, “You should, but you won’t. Like I said before, you’re not going to let the people you love die over some food. If I don’t get some cooperation out of you right now, not only is your granddaughter going to be killed, but it will be very unpleasant too. Several of my men would love to make a woman out of her before she dies.”

The old man raised his gun again and right at that moment Robert wasn’t sure if he was going to live or not. Without taking his gaze off him, Rob brought the radio to his mouth, this time making sure he could be heard, “Coyote ...”

“Go ahead.”

“Rape the little girl, all of you. Then kill her. Make the man watch and then kill him too.”

Enraged, the old man closed one eye and took aim as he started to squeeze the trigger, but his wife came running out on the road, blocking her husband’s shot. “Please, please don’t hurt them! We’ll do whatever you say!”

Rob was relieved he could have a rational conversation with someone. “You seem like a reasonable lady. So I’m going to be reasonable with you. I know you’re afraid I am lying and your granddaughter and the rest of you will be killed. That’s not an unfounded fear in this day and age. So here’s what I’m going to do to make it easier for you. I will stand here and let your husband hold his rifle on me. Then I’ll have my men bring up our cart. You’ll let them fill it up with all the food it will hold. Once that is done my men will go on their way. When they’re out of range, your loved ones will be released and I’ll leave, the end, and we all live happily ever after. But there is a caveat. You knew there would be, didn’t you? If I or any of my men are killed, or if you try to come after us, all of you women will die horribly. Your men will be forced to watch it too, before they die.”

She agreed and talked her husband into the deal, although it was obvious he would rather be committing murder. Rob called Peavey and the boys, along with Cornwell and Martinelli to help pack up the food. McCain and Rudd stayed on standby with their rifles just in case. It took them over an hour of careful packing before they were ready to go.

When the group left later that morning, their cart was so full it was overflowing, along with their packs that were nearly bursting. They did leave the family some, but only because it wasn’t enough to warrant returning for. The cart was so laden it took three men and both boys to get it moving, even then traveling was slow.

When they were finally out of view, Rob got on his radio again, “Coyote, release the prisoners. Coyote and Jackal, proceed to point Cherry for rendezvous.”

In just a few seconds the girl and her father came running out of the woods; they were frightened and dirty but didn’t appeared harmed. As they approached, Rob turned to say adieu. The old man still held his rifle on him.

“You would like to kill me, wouldn’t you?”

“I most certainly would.”

“But then you know what would happen.”

“Yes ...” He continued holding the gun on him.

The girl came running, “Grandpa, no!”

The son was right behind, “Dad, put the gun down. We can’t fight their kind. We’re not hurt, we’re alive, just let it go.”

The father at last lowered his gun. “Get out of here, scum. You think you’ve won, but sooner or later God will make you pay for the things you’ve done.”

“You really believe that, don’t you?”

The old man nodded.

Rob scoffed and walked on.

It took Rob a half hour to catch up with the group and everyone was pulling or pushing the cart along.

As soon as he arrived, James came to his side, “Rob, can I ask you something?”

“Sure ...”

“You weren’t really going to hurt them, were you? You weren’t really going to hurt that little girl?”

Rob looked James right in the eye, “Did you think I was going to hurt her?”

“Yes, kind of ...”

“Good.”

“Good?” The boy was confused.

“James, I wasn’t going to hurt anyone. But we have to make people think we would. If we can’t make them afraid of us we would never eat. People won’t give you much unless they fear you. Oh, if they pity you they might give you a little, but not enough to live on, though. But when they fear you ... well, you can get anything you want.”

Rob continued to march out in front. “It’s like with the Whitmans. I wouldn’t have hurt that lady, I certainly wouldn’t have burned her to death. But I had to make the husband believe I would. If I didn’t he would have never gave us a thing. We would have had to use force to get what we wanted. Then one, or both of them would have probably been killed, and some of our guys too. You see, James, you really don’t have to hurt a person to get what you want, that’s not important. What’s important is that they believe you would.”

“Oh, I see ...”

With their work done they were ready to move on to their newest opportunity. All weighed down, they slowly made their way towards their next mission. They had a third of the journey under their belts before Rob decided it was time to stop for the day.

They slept under a highway overpass that night, without a fire, and James bundled himself up in his sleeping bag to cut the cold breeze that blew through.

Just before sunup they were awakened by gunfire.

Rob was on his feet right away, yelling out to D’Cruz who was on guard duty on the overpass above, “What’s going on?! Where? How many?!”

D’Cruz took another shot at something unseen and turned back to Rob, “There’s at least two of them, one just over that hill northeast and another west of us past that car!” He pointed at an old derelict about two hundred yards away. “They both took off running when I returned fire!”

By now everyone was on their feet and armed.

And there was no doubt Rob was in charge, “Alton, you take D’Cruz and Martinelli and go after the one northeast. McCain, you take Rudd and Peavey and go after the one down by that car.”

All of them were quickly off.

Robert yelled out after them, “Bring them back alive if you can! I need to question them!”

In the dim pre-dawn light, Nicky and James were under the cart and out of sight, terrified.

By their arms, Rob quickly pulled the two out and lifted them up. He quietly spoke to them, “James, Nicky, come on, get up.”

James was clearly frightened and you could hear it in his voice. “What’s happening? Where are we going?”

But Rob didn’t have time to talk, “Come on, I’ll explain it to you later. Nicky, you too.”

He led the boys to a ditch nearby and they all got down.

James still needed answers, “Rob, what are we doing?”

“James, be quiet for now, I promise I’ll explain it all later.”

After about three minutes of silently waiting, they could all hear a faint rustling in the grass, then see a shadowy figure stealthily approaching the cart.

Rob whispered, “Stay here, boys,” jumped up and pulled his gun. Instantly he was on top of the figure, aiming his Colt right at them and shouting, “STOP! Show me your hands!”

A woman recoiled in fear and instantly put her hands up. All she had with her was a soiled and empty pillow case.

He gave her a good look in the faint light. Rob at last spoke, “I know you from somewhere.” He only had to think about it a second more. “The other day, we caught you and your boyfriend hiding in that truck. He gave us some information and we paid the two of you. Was he one of them shooting at us?”

The woman wouldn’t say a word.

Rob spoke again and motioned with his Colt, “Just sit down, right there, and keep your hands where I can see them.”

She dropped right to the ground.

He kept his eyes on her while pulling the radio from his belt. Rob asked, “Alton, McCain ... any luck yet?”

A familiar voice came back over the radio, Alton’s, “We caught one guy. We’re heading your way now.”

Then another voice came, McCain’s, “We’ve got ‘em on the run! I’ll call back when we’ve got him!”

Shortly after dawn, Alton and his men returned with a prisoner in tow, a man about twenty years old. He was filthy and in tattered clothes. Alton was holding his gun, a .22 Remington rifle, a ‘Nylon 66.’ Robert had never seen him before.

Alton spoke up as he approached, “Where did the woman come from?”

Robert gave his report, “I had an idea, so me and the boys hid right after you left. A few minutes later this one came crawling up, thought she was going to help herself to our food.”

He made sure the rifle was unloaded and Alton placed it in the cart. “Yeah, these two, and that third one must be working together, two of them try to divert us while the third steals our stuff. Heard back from McCain?”

Rob picked up the little plastic rifle and looked it over while he talked. “Yes, he just called. He said they caught one man and I bet I know who it is.”

“You’ve already met him?”

“Yeah, we picked up this woman and a man the other day on highway patrol. They were the ones that gave us the info on those two women, and that family in the drain pipe. This isn’t the man but I’m betting the one McCain captured is.” Rob tossed the rifle back in the cart.

“Has she said anything?”

“No, but I haven’t tried real hard. I was waiting for everyone to get back.”

Just then McCain and his men were heard yelling out as they came over the top of a hill. They all turned to face them.

As they approached, Rob could see it was the man he was thinking of. Unlike Alton’s prisoner, this one was bruised and shaken. McCain shouted out, “Look what we caught! Had a nice gun on him too,” and waved in the air the captured Glock pistol.

Rob walked up and took it from him, “Any rounds left?”

McCain answered, “Four.”

He checked the chamber and Rob smiled, “Well, that’s one more than we need.” Then he addressed the man he met before, “You’ve got some guts, fella,” Rob casually pointed the gun right at him. “Tell me why I shouldn’t kill you?”