Joshua (Book 2): Traveler (8 page)

They all stood there nervously waiting for something to happen, but then Alton broke the tense silence, “Why don’t we question them, Rob? There’s some answers we need.”

Rob didn’t say a word but took aim at the man’s head.

“Rob?”

He still stood there, his finger on the trigger, looking the man right in the eye.

“Rob?”

Finally Robert lowered the gun, “All right, why not.” But he kept his eyes right on the man, “Alton, did you search your prisoner? How about you, McCain?”

Alton spoke, “Just a brief weapons search.”

And then McCain, “Yeah, same here.”

Now Robert had a thought, “I didn’t search the woman yet. We might as well do it right now, and let’s be thorough about it.” Rob stepped back and pointed the Glock at the ground. “All three of you, stand right here.”

The two men and the woman formed a line, shoulder to shoulder, right where Rob told them, “Take off your clothes.”

The three of them awkwardly looked at one another.

Rob started waving the gun around, “All of you, take off your clothes!”

The three started slowly undressing with everyone watching them, each filthy piece of clothing landing at their feet. In a minute they stood there shivering, naked in the cold.

Rudd never once stopped staring at the woman, a disturbing glint in his eye.

Robert seemed quite pleased with himself as he addressed the man he met before. “Like I was saying, you’ve got a lot of guts. Did you really think this was going to work? Did you even consider what was going to happen to you if it didn’t?” He waited a moment for an answer, none came, and the anger only grew, “Hey! I’m talking to you!”

The man stood there trembling both from the cold and the fear that was quite apparent to everyone there. “Mister, please don’t kill us.”

“Why shouldn’t I kill you? You knew what would happen if you screwed with us. While I’m trying to make up my mind whether you’re going to live or not, why don’t you tell us all about it, tell us about your big plan.”

The man still stood there silent and shaking.

And Rob’s anger was only growing, “Start talking!”

Finally the man found enough courage to speak. “It’s nothing against you, mister, or your guys here. We were hungry, we had to have food.”

“We just gave you some food, what happened to it?”

“We ate it.”

“You ate it all, already?”

“Yes, we were hungry.”

“You were following us, weren’t you?”

“Yes ...”

“You were planning this the whole time?”

“Yes ...”

“Okay, so tell us all about this ‘Big Plan’ of yours.”

The man stood there shaking, almost crying. “We didn’t want to hurt anyone. We wanted some more of your food. We thought we would fire off some shots, make you chase after us. Then she could sneak up while you were gone and steal us some more, that’s all.”

Rob scoffed, “Oh yeah, brilliant plan, Einstein. Didn’t you even consider that some of us would stay behind to protect the food? What were you going to do then? Your wife is not even armed. She could’ve been killed.”

The man had very little left to say, “We weren’t thinking that far ahead ... we were hungry.”

“Who is this guy?” Rob motioned to the other man with his gun.

“Just a guy we met on the road.”

“You just met him?”

“Yes ...” He still stood there shaking, cold and exposed.

“And you decided you knew him so well the two of you could pull off this robbery together.”

“I figured there would be a better chance of success if you had two people to chase.”

Rob turned to the other man who was also trembling. “What about you, anything you would like to add to the conversation?”

He covered himself with his hand as he spoke, “We’re sorry, mister. It was a bad idea. We know that now. We weren’t looking to hurt anybody, especially no kids, but we were desperate, we had to have food. You have so much.”

Robert turned to the first man once more, “Who else have you told about us?”

“No one, I give you my word ...”

“YOUR WORD?!” Rob stretched out his arm, putting the Glock right to the man’s forehead. “Your word?! I should kill you right now just for saying that!”

The man was petrified. He urinated on himself and on the toe of Rob’s boot.

McCain and Rudd started laughing and couldn’t stop.

Rob stepped back and looked down at his wet boot, their laughing still in his ears, brought the pistol up again, aiming it right between the man’s eyes.

Alton tried to intervene for the three, “Rob, we don’t have to do this. We’ve got their guns. We can let them go, I’m sure they won’t bother us again. I’m sure they’ve learned their lesson.”

Rob took the pistol in both hands, taking precise aim, their laughter still in his ears.

Unexpectedly, James came between Rob and the man. “Please, Rob, please don’t kill him. Let them go, please ... for me.”

Instantly Nicky was there too, right next to James. “Please, Rob, please don’t do it.”

Rob stood there a few seconds more, ready to take the shot. Everyone stood there completely quiet now, unsure what was about to happen.

Without warning, he dropped the pistol to his side and addressed the man again. “I should kill you ... but I’m not. You should thank these boys.” He tousled Nicky’s mop of hair. “They’re the only reason you get to walk away from this with your life. Thank them.”

The three of them wholeheartedly thanked both boys.

Very shortly Rob tired of their groveling. “Now get out of here. If I ever see you again, I won’t be so nice.”

The three scooped up their clothes and started running down the road. In a moment they were gone.

As Rob was watching them scurry out of sight, he felt a tap on his back. It was James behind him. “Thank you, Rob. I know you was mad, but thank you for not hurting them.”

“You’re welcome, James ... and thank you for stopping me. I was so angry I couldn’t think straight. You should never do anything out of anger. Never try to do anything out of emotion. Always try to think things through. You’ll live a lot longer.”

Their laborious journey continued and by mid-afternoon the entire group was ready for a break, one Robert wouldn’t give them just yet.

Suddenly they all heard a loud thud and the sound of a gunshot a fair distance away. They turned to see water pouring from a hole in the side of their drum.

Before anyone could even move, several more shots rang out, the bullets coming down all around them.

Robert shouted out, “We’re under fire!” He looked around for a split second, “Everybody down in the ditch!”

The group ran for a shallow trench there by the highway twenty feet away.

Nicky slipped and fell to the ground. Without slowing, Rob picked him up and covered the boy’s body as they both slid headfirst into ditch, the sound of gunfire still in the air.

Alton checked his rifle, “This is a bad spot to be ambushed!” He lifted his head out just enough to see all around. Then he dropped down again, “I heard at least three different rifles, and one of them is firing from that hill southeast.”

Rob checked around himself, “Yeah, another one is coming directly east of us. I don’t know about the third ...”

McCain interrupted, “The third is southeast too, about a hundred yards further back than the other.”

After a few seconds more frantically glancing around, Rob now had a plan. “Okay, Alton pick somebody to go with you. The two of you head north for those trees while the rest of us cover. See if you can’t come around behind them.”

John Alton looked around as the gunfire continued, “Okay, McCain, I guess it’s you and me. You’re the best shot here, besides me.” Alton laughed.

But McCain wasn’t so amused, “Yeah, that’s what I let you think.”

They both got ready to go and Rob addressed the rest of his men. “Listen up! When I say, Rudd, you, Martinelli, Cornwell, and D’Cruz start firing on those two southeast. Peavey, you and me will fire on the one directly east.” He turned to James and Nicky who were crouching low to the ground. “You boys just stay down.”

The sound of guns at a distance remained, but slowed some.

Alton turned to Rob a last time. “We’ll either get them, or get them running this way; be ready.”

Rob checked to see if he had a chambered round. “All right,” turned again to the men. “Everybody ready?! GO!”

All of the men popped up and began firing on the enemy, Alton and McCain waited a half second and took off. As they ran, bullets started hitting the ground at their feet, both men began twisting and turning, running faster, heading for the tree line.

Rob and his men continued firing from cover and with Alton and McCain gone in the trees, all three rifles concentrated on them.

Suddenly Rob shouted, “Stop! Everybody back down, hold your fire!” The whole group dropped back down in the ditch. “They made it. Everyone conserve your ammo, I think we’re going to need it in a minute.”

The enemy continued to fire on them for a few seconds more and then the shooting came to an abrupt stop.

After four minutes of uneasy silence, more rifle fire could be heard, this time they all recognized the sound; it was Alton’s and McCain’s rifles this time.

They could hear two distinctive groups of rifles, battling each other; Rob’s men with their M4s against an odd assortment of guns.

Rob kept watch, his eyes just above the edge of the road, “Okay guys, get ready, if I say, everybody get up and start shooting.”

The gun battle continued and then at a distance Rob saw something; it was a man running and firing his rifle right at them.

Rob popped up and shouldered his M4, “Fire!”

The man was cut to pieces as Rob and all his men unloaded their guns into the attacker. He slowed and then dropped dead, not fifty feet away.

Rob shouted out another order to his men as he motioned with his hands, “Cease fire, down!”

All of the other gunfire had stopped and now Rob and the group waited, keeping low. After a few more minutes, a voice came over his radio.

It was Alton, “Rob, come in.”

“Go ahead, Alton.”

“It’s all clear. We got them all.”

“You’re sure?”

“Yeah, send the men out east of your position. You’re not going to believe what we’ve got.”

Rob stood up, “Everybody, you heard him, go out there and meet him. Boys, you come with me.”

All of the men did as they were told. Rob and the boys went to the cart. “Nicky, James, you stay here, I’ll be right back.” Rob started walking but then stopped and turned back to them. “Check and see if you can’t stop the barrel from leaking ... and how much water we have left.”

Rob took off running right for the dead man. He looked the man over a few seconds, picked up the corpse and threw it over his shoulder. Rob stretched out his arm, picking the rifle up off the ground and started back.

When he arrived, the boys were standing there next to the cart waiting for him. “What about the barrel?”

James was quick with an answer, “It’s got two holes. I think it can be fixed, if we have some tape or something. We lost about two thirds of the water though. I guess we’ve got about fifteen gallons left.”

“Okay,” Rob dropped the dead body on the ground right at James’s feet. “Go through this guy’s pockets, see what he’s got on him.

Both boys got on their knees and went right to work, trying hard not to touch the bloody parts.

Then Rob could hear several of his men yelling. He turned to see them returning with the prisoners leading far out in front. From another direction Alton was returning too, carrying a body over his shoulder. Cornwell and Martinelli were following behind. Rob watched both groups for a few moments.

By now Nicky and James were ready to report, this time Nicky doing the talking, “Rob, look.”

Rob turned around again.

“This is all he had in his pockets,” Nicky held a fistful of twenty-two rounds and some waterproof matches. James was holding a pocketknife, a cheap compass, a metal fork, and another loaded ten round mag for the rifle Rob was still holding in his hand, a Ruger 10/22 carbine with scope attached.

Alton yelled out as he came closer, “Look at this,” and dropped a dead body right next to the other one laying there. It was the man Rob wanted to kill this morning.

Rob was not surprised, “Damn! I knew I should have killed him, that was the smart thing to do.” He cleared the rifle and threw it in the cart. What about his wife ... or whoever she was, any sign of her, or the other guy?”

“Nope ... no sign of either,” Alton reached out and took the Ruger in his hand. “But maybe those other two can tell us about it.” He looked the rifle over briefly and placed it back where it came from.

The rest of the men crossed the field; from a distance Rudd and Peavey held two men at gunpoint. McCain was out ahead now and had his own rifle slung on his shoulder, and one in each hand.

McCain approached and dropped two more rifles in the back of the cart, a beat up World War I era British Enfield and a cheap semi-auto AK-47 clone that didn’t have a mag.

Alton stopped McCain right there, “You did unload them first, right?”

“Yes, do I look stupid to you?”

“Should I answer that?”

Rob stopped them both before it got beyond the half-joking stage; he didn’t have the time. “Okay guys, stop it. Don’t I have enough to worry about from these clowns?” Besides, Rob had more immediate concerns. “McCain, is something wrong with these prisoners? Why are all of you keeping your distance?”

But before McCain could even speak, Rob heard the answer. The younger prisoner now had his attention. The man was in his mid-thirties and painfully thin. His skin was ashen and he barely had the strength to walk. He had a disgusting wet cough; it was a disturbing sound that couldn’t be faked no matter how hard you tried. It was a sound they all recognized, that sound of someone dying.

At last McCain answered him, “That guy has got something, something bad. Just keep away from him.”

Rob stopped the man before he got any closer, “Rudd, hold him out there, don’t come any further.”

Rudd stopped his man while Peavey, D’Cruz, and the other prisoner continued to approach. At last they came to a halt right in front of Rob.