Saint Death (11 page)

“Untie my friend and let him up,” Dave demanded. “Do it or I'll cut his fucking head off. Now!”

Officer Reyes lifted Zack to his feet and gruffly unwound the leather strap binding his hands together. Zack winced as the blood rushed back into his hands again, wriggling his fingers.

“Now hand him the gun,” Dave ordered, forcing the blade against Angel's skin and drawing a trickle of blood to show he was serious.

Officer Reyes handed the weapon over to Zack. The barrel was still warm from shooting Jamie. He looked down at her lifeless corpse. He felt an overwhelming urge to use the gun on the dirty cop for what he'd done, but held back, knowing this would be their only chance to escape.

“I hope you got a good plan to get us out of here Dave,” Zack said.

“I'm working on it,” Dave said. “Just stay with me.”

“What are you doing?” Ramon asked, the note of sheer incredulity in his voice clear as a ringing church bell on a quiet Sunday morning. “You're acting like cowards! Kill them all!”

He turned and threw his curved blade at Angel's head, but he missed. The weapon found another target, sinking up to the hilt in the throat of a nearby cult member. She fell over without a sound and died. Several other female devotees screamed at the top of their lungs. Soon all of them were running back towards the barn, stampeding and trampling one another like panicked animals in a forest fire.

“Nobody threatens my son!” screamed Officer Reyes as he grabbed Ramon by the throat and lifted him off the ground. Ramon looked up at the tall man with a mixture of fear and surprise. Before he could speak Reyes twisted his head with both hands, snapping his neck with a sickening crunch. The feared cartel hitman who had tortured and killed hundreds of innocent and not so innocent people to death for fun and profit was dead before he hit the dirt.

Maria let out a wild cry and rushed at Dave like a feral animal, clawing and scratching him. Dave kicked Angel's legs from underneath him, trying to use him as a shield against the old witch but instead they all toppled to the ground in a pile. Angel wrestled the knife free from Dave and stabbed him in the side, sinking the shining metal all the way in. Dave let out an animal roar as the blade sunk in. Holding the gun with both hands Zack leveled it at Angel and pulled the trigger. The resulting kick caused a jolt of raw pain to shoot up his arms. The gun nearly flew out of his hands but Zack fought through the pain and held on. The hot slug caught Angel in his right shoulder, causing him to let go of the handle of the buck knife, still neatly lodged firmly into Dave's lower abdomen. Angel scrambled back holding the tender flesh where the bullet had ripped through muscle and lodged in the bone. Officer Reyes advanced on him with a murderous rage in his eyes but Zack stopped him dead in his tracks by pointing the smoking gun directly in Maria's face.

“One more step and I blow her fucking brains out,” Zack assured him, the crazed look in his eyes making it crystal clear he meant exactly what he'd said.

“If you harm one hair on her head,” Reyes began but Zack cut him off.

“You'll do what?” His eyes were wild with anger as he spoke. “Torture us to death? Maybe sell us to the highest bidding cartel to be cut into little pieces for your sick devil worship cult? There is nothing left for you to threaten me with so shut the fuck up asshole.”

“Hey buddy,” Dave said in a strained voice. “I hate to cut you short but I'm losing a lot of blood over here. We need to take this show on the road and fast.”

“Stand up,” Zack ordered. Maria complied without comment, giving him a dirty look. Zack kept the gun trained on her as he helped his friend to his feet. “Can you make it to the car?”

“I might need a little help,” Dave said, looping his arm over his old friend’s shoulder.

“You too sweetheart,” Zack said, motioning to Maria with the gun. “Let's go.”

“You're making a very big mistake,” Maria hissed. “The Holy Mother protects and watches over me. She will make you pay for what you've done here.”

“Maybe she will and maybe she won't,” Zack said, pushing her towards the police cruiser with the barrel of the gun. “Either way you're coming with us. And if any of you try to stop us or slow us down she dies. Got it?”

Officer Reyes just glared in reply. Zack marched her to the cruiser, helping Dave as they went. To his relief the keys were still in the ignition. He'd put on a good show, buoyed up by fear and adrenaline, but he doubted he'd be able to get the keys from Reyes without a fight, one he probably wouldn't survive. He opened the back of the cruiser and motioned for Maria to get inside. She complied with a sneer, a deadly rage covering her features like a widow's veil. Dave slid in next to her, wincing from the pain of the blade still stuck in his side. Zack handed him the gun.

“Keep it on her at all times and don't take your eyes off of her,” Zack warned as he climbed into the driver's side. “Any sudden movements on your part and she dies. Understood?”

Reyes nodded, his dark eyes moving back and forth rapidly like a snake.

Zack turned over the ignition and the car roared to life. The sound of the engines smooth purring caused a flood of hope to shoot through him.
We can make it
, he thought in relief.
A few minutes ago it looked like we were both going to die horrible deaths but now there is a chance we might just survive this nightmare.

He put the car in gear and backed up slowly, pulling away from the site of the ritual killings. Saint Death leered at him with her bony face as he turned the car, yanking the lever down and putting it into drive. He sped off like a shot being fired out of a cannon, kicking up plumes of dirt and sand as they tore down the unpaved roads before shooting out onto the highway like a bat out of hell.

It was only a matter of minutes before he saw Reyes behind him, racing after them in Angel's black Nissan with the cracked windshield. Zack jammed the gas pedal down as hard as he could, opening up a gap between them as they pulled away. He knew it wouldn't last long, that they needed a real plan, but his mind was racing so fast he couldn't think straight.

“What are we going to do?” Dave asked.

“We're going to get you to the hospital,” Zack said. “Just hang on.”

“We can't go to the hospital,” Dave roared. “In a stolen police cruiser? Come on man. Think!”

“We don't have any other options so unless you want to bleed out and die that's my plan,” Zack yelled. “We'll just have to pray the rest of the cops aren't in on it. Just sit tight and I'll get you there in one piece buddy.”

They raced down highway 19 back towards Cabo San Lucas, not slowing for cross traffic or stalled vehicles. By the time they had passed the Super Pollo and turned left onto Padre Nicolas Tamaral the Nissan was right on their tail. Angel was in the passenger seat, his right hand cupping his bullet-damaged left shoulder, his eyes locked intently on the cruiser. Reyes sped up and rammed the back of his stolen cruiser with the Nissan, sending a loud vibrating hum through the car’s interior.

Dave turned to look back as Reyes punched it again, slamming into them once more. Maria, who had ridden in calculating silence, saw her moment to strike. She grabbed the handle of the buck knife sunk into the soft flesh of Dave's side and twisted it free, causing Dave to let out a blood curdling scream of pain and discharge the gun. Maria blocked his arm as it came up with the gun, forcing it towards Zack's head. The bullet shot through the front windshield narrowly missing Zack's left temple and creating a dazzling spider web of cracked glass as it exited.

“What the fuck?” Zack shouted, his ear ringing so loudly he thought for sure the drum was busted. He turned to see Maria plunging the blade into Dave's stomach several furious times. His friends face turned pale as milk, his expression turning slack. Dave's hand went limp and the gun dropped to the floorboards with a rattle. Holding the wheel with his left hand Zack swung at Maria in the backseat with his right hand, striking the high priestess in the face. She lashed out at him, thrusting the blade wildly at his neck and slicing into his right ear before burying the blade into Zack's balled up fist. Zack let out a wounded cry, his left hand instinctively jerking the wheel and running them off the road at full speed into the back of a parked car. An explosion of sound erupted as Zack lurched forward against the safety restraint, feeling the belt painfully cut into his chest and stomach. His head whipped around and something heavy and unyielding smacked him in the face, causing him to bite down on his tongue so hard he tasted blood. There was a spray of glass as the windshield exploded and Maria and Dave were ejected. A loud popping sound went off and Zack was thrown back against the seat as the airbag deployed in his face, coating him with white powder and nearly breaking his nose. Somewhere in the distance he heard tires screeching then a loud crash of metal on metal, followed by the near musical tinkle of broken glass raining down on hot asphalt.

Zack sat in shock behind the wheel of the demolished police cruiser, blood drooling from his swollen nose. A warm trickle ran down his neck. He sat up feeling like he'd just survived a kegger at the Frat house, his head ringing, and tried to remember who he was and how he'd gotten there. He reached back and rubbed the blood from his neck, working his way up. A sharp pain rang out as he touched his wounded ear, followed by one in his cut hand. He undid the safety belt and pushed himself out of the cop car.

A small group of people had gathered on the side of the road to point and stare. Zack made his way around the car, limping like a zombie extra on the set of The Walking Dead. Maria and Dave laid about six feet apart, both twisted and motionless, like a child's dolls left out after a particularly rough play session. Zack stumbled quickly towards his friend, doing his best to ignore the blinding pain in his side from where the seat belt had saved his life. His legs felt stiff and his lungs burned. Passing Maria he saw that her journey through the windshield had nearly decapitated her. A dark pool of crimson oozed around her blood matted hair and face. Her eyes and mouth were open in a state of perpetual surprise. A dark thought occurred to Zack.

Looks like your Saint Death couldn't save you after all
, Zack mused, unable to tear his eyes away from the grisly scene of her death.
Hope you enjoy your trip to hell.

Dave's body looked serene by comparison. His eyes were half closed and there was the slightest hint of a bemused smirk on his lifeless, waxy face.

He was probably already gone by the time he was thrown from the car
, Zack realized.
He looks more at peace than I've ever seen him.

“Well Dave,” Zack said, tears welling up in his eyes, “looks like you saved my life buddy. I feel bad that I never got the chance to thank you. I hope you're someplace happy, with your father.”

A primal scream brought him out of his dazed reverie. Zack looked up to see Officer Reyes stumbling away from the Nissan, which was now wrapped around a telephone pole on the opposite side of the street.

He lost control right after we did
, Zack realized.
Looks like he tried to over correct the wheel and slid into the pole – Angel first.

He strained but didn't see any movement coming from the passenger side of the car. It certainly didn't look like anyone could possibly have lived through it.

Good
, Zack thought defiantly.
Death is what they worshipped and death is what they deserve.

Reyes put his head down and charged at him. Zack tried to turn and run but only got a few steps before the enraged officer overtook him with a fierce tackle. The force of the impact took him clean off his feet and the two toppled to the asphalt, rolling over several times before coming to a halt with Reyes on top of the stunned young man. Zack covered his bruised face with his sore hands as a rain of angry blows poured down on him from above. He gasped as Reyes turned his attention to his bruised ribs and tender gut, doubling over onto his side.

“You took everything from me,” Reyes raved, sounding like a demon dredged up from the bowels of hell. “Now I'm going to return the favor. After I kill you I'm going to track down the people you love, your parents, your brothers and sisters, and I'm going to make them pay for your crimes against me and my family. Their deaths will be slow and painful, I can promise you that. I will see to it that the women in your family are brutally raped and tortured until they beg for mercy, but I will show them none.”

Reyes leaned over and picked his gun up off the asphalt, chambering a fresh round. He cast a long, dark shadow over Zack as he pointed the weapon at his head.

“I will not rest until you and your family are wiped off the face of the Earth and forgotten,” Reyes continued to rant as he stood over Zack, his eyes filled with a delirious fire of righteousness. “There is nowhere the cartel cannot go, no one they cannot get to, even in America. They are in the streets and the prisons. They buy or kill judges, police, even politicians. If your loved ones try to run I will chase them down like animals. You have my word that I will not sleep until they have paid for your sins boy. Think about that as the light fades and
Santa Muerte
eats your eternal soul
cabrón
!”

Zack raised his hands again to his face as Reyes leaned closed with the gun, ready to end his life. A loud crack rang out and Zack let out an involuntary scream as a fine spray of blood covered him. Reyes teetered back and forth in his cowboy boots for a moment before tumbling down on top of Zack. Zack scrambled like a panicked animal to get the dead cop off of him, pitching him to the side in his struggle and scurrying to his feet. He stared in confusion at the gaping hole of ragged meat in the middle of Reyes forehead leaking a steady stream of blood, unable to process what had just happened.