The Last Gallon (4 page)

Boston was walled off much like New York City and most other major cities in the world now.
The entire facade was graffiti from various gangs around the city. Prominent in the suburbs inside the first wall of defense was an upside down shamrock. That symbol belonged to an Irish gang that liked to terrorize visitors to the once great city.

With the sun quickly rising the family passed through the first set of gates. Most companies did not protect the city from these fortifications; they were more used to trap the brutal gangs in a central area and make it that much harder for a would-be occupying army to advance into the city. Consider it a human moat and it was very effective.

The Shamrocks were a major part of that human moat. They controlled the south side of the city while the Raptors staked claim to the west side points of entry. Up north the Strikers ruled with an iron fist. Out in the water were various pirate gangs using anything from fishing trawlers to captured Navy destroyers.

Mark had heard about the Shamrocks from other couriers who had returned from Boston. They weren’t a well organized gang but they were
numerous. They didn’t set up big roadblocks like some of the other groups but they would ambush you in small groups and shake you down. The bad part was another group could be just around the corner waiting to do the same. In some ways it was worse because you could get mugged 5 times in 5 miles vice one big mugging like an organized gang would have.

The family
creeped through the ruins of what used to be the St. Marks area just waiting for the first strike. You couldn’t move at any reasonable speed as the burned out cars and pot holes kept you slow enough to intercept. As they passed the overgrown fields that used to be baseball fields they saw a fire burning on Park Street off to their left. “Get ready guys” Mark said. Kara checked her M4 by pushing on the safety. It didn’t budge so she charged a round and was ready to go.

Four guys had a naked woman pinned down on the hood of a
Buick right there on Park Street. The fire came from a barrel they had lit nearby. Two were holding her down while the other two had their way with her. Kara was pissed but she was on the wrong side to get a shot. The Armadillo was cruising on batteries and was pretty silent so the guys didn’t see them approaching. They were pretty well distracted anyways.

“Joey, light these bastards up” Kara
snarled. Mark smiled and nodded but provided some further direction as he readied his M4. “Put a couple rounds into the door by the guy on the end, when they move we can light them up good without chancing hitting the girl.” Joey confirmed and squeezed off a quick burst.

Patrick St. Patrick was waiting his turn. He was on left arm and leg duty holding down the squirming girl they had just acquired from a passer-by. He traded her for his life and hauled out of there in a cloud of dust leaving her screaming and cursing him and her new owners. They didn’t have plans for her beyond raping her brains out, maybe quite literally. If she lived they would probably dump her somewhere or just leave her there.

She was a fine lass, maybe even had some Irish in her. This made Patrick laugh and he blurted out “She certainly has some Irish in her now eh boys?” They all laughed and she spit in Patrick’s direction. He just laughed at her and broke one of her fingers to teach her a lesson.

Right after the snap of the
pinky came two much louder snaps. Gunfire! Two rounds slammed into the door right next to his hip and he let go of the girl and hit the deck. His cohorts tried to scramble mid-rape and ended up catching a bullet each. Stan took one in the shoulder blade while Shamus caught one right in his ass.

The girl rolled off the car onto the pavement on the other side wisely. Patrick’s partner
who was holding down her other side took a bullet in the face. Patrick screamed out and begged for his life to the unseen killers.

Joey targeted the idiot lying on the wrong side of the car with his hands over his face and popped
off two quick rounds. The man sank even further to the ground. The two rapists were slowly dragging themselves across the road yelling as loud as they could. Mark put the car in gear and sped off towards them and screeched to a halt at the corner of Dorchester and Park.

Shamus dragged himself into the little wooded triangle that separated Park and Christopher
Streets and tried to hide. Mark saw him with his ass pressed against a tree trying to slow down the bleeding. Kara got out of the Armadillo and put three rounds in him while steadily advancing. She found Saul another 50 feet up the street leaning on a street sign. She pulled out her TCM and fired 3 quick shots center mass and put him down like a dying dog.

She rushed over to the girl who was
just being savaged. She was in a ball crying but relatively unharmed. Kara tried to reach out to her but she recoiled in terror and screamed. Kara put her hand on the girl’s shoulder and softly said “It’s ok, I am here to save you.” The girl looked up but continued yelling. Kara lightly smacked her face and it snapped her out of it. She held out her hand and the girl took it so Kara helped her to her feet. “I’m Kara” she said and the girl smiled and said “Simone”. “Let’s get the hell out of here Simone” Kara said as she pulled her towards the car. Simone complied and they were quickly back at the Armadillo.

Joey had a hard time not staring at the girl as she got in the back
seat with him. He felt bad because she was being assaulted but she was a naked woman and he was 16. The moral dilemma was painful. Finally his mom saved him by telling Simone that there were some clothes in the back that should be close to her size. Kara looked back and gave Joey a wink and he could feel the blood in his cheeks as he blushed.

The
tink of a round bouncing off their roof brought them back to reality. Someone was firing from up high but they had no idea where. “Joey, no turret” Mark said. Joey said “No kidding Dad” and lightly hit Mark’s shoulder. They all scanned around trying to find the sniper but had no luck. Without the SAW stopping an ambush would be a task. A task they would shortly be facing.

T
hunk, thunk, thunk. Three rounds bounced off the car in rapid succession from three different directions. “I think it’s time to get the high hell out of here” Kara exclaimed and Mark agreed by laying his foot into the gas pedal. The car roared to life as the race engine and two motors worked at full power to get them to safety. They were quickly away from the random fire but rapidly approaching something much worse.

At the cross-section of Dorchester and Adams lay an overturned bus with gunmen positioned on the inside. They would pop up, take a pot shot and go back inside. A quick
tink off the roof indicated that the turret was still out of commission for fear of Joey taking a round.

Kara scanned ahead and tried to get Mark to take a left onto Charles but he was going too fast. She saw what looked like an alley-way or driveway not too much further and told him “LEFT AFTER THE BUILDING. NOW!” Mark cut the wheel and the side of the car sounded like a tin roof during a hail storm for a second as the gunmen unloaded on their exposed side.

Mark was now in a parking lot flanked by a small park and buildings. Kara spotted another driveway that looked like it lead back out to Charles Street so he took it. “Just go right and eventually right again and we will be back on Dorchester” Kara said. It stood to reason she would be right, cities were usually laid out in a grid like fashion. They would need to be far enough away from that damn bus to not draw fire though.

The family and their new passenger stalked around the outskirts of town until they finally made it clear of the gang’s obstacles. It was only 25 minutes before the delivery was due and Mark was starting to sweat. They still needed to reach the inner wall and then it should be a safe rush to company headquarters to deliver the package.

The main wall was around the big loop where Interstate 90 and 93 intersected. It followed the turnpike over to Arlington Street and the wall continued to the river and used water as the barrier for the rest of the city. The headquarters building in question was just outside the commons in a building that used to belong to Suffolk University.

The family reached the wall, quickly handed over the documents and were let in. They raced to the commons and Mark pulled the car up to the building with 5 minutes to spare. Kara handed him the envelope and he dashed out of the car and up the stairs of the facility.

An out of breath Mark was met at the top of the stairs by a man in a suit who was nervously checking his watch. “Mark?” he asked and Mark nodded while gasping for air. “Just in time” he said and took the envelope from Mark’s hand. He handed Mark another envelope and said “Here are your return papers and coupons for a tank of gas and whatever ammo you need at the depot. Get lost.” With that the man turned on his heel and left. Mark resisted the urge of flipping him off and merely stuck out his tongue instead while muttering “asshole” under his breath.

Mark returned to the car and gave Kara the new envelope.
She removed three vials containing their drug ration and put them carefully in the glove box. Mark got the urge for a line but instead turned to Simone and asked her what she was planning. She pouted a bit and said “Well, I got nothing, can I come with you?” Mark thought for a second and said “If you come back to New York you might end up as a slave, I can’t bring you into that.” He thought for a second and had an idea. He turned to Kara and whispered to her for a second. She nodded approval. “Ok, we are going to take you to New London” he started to explain but Simone shrieked “NO that gang there is awful, worse than these guys!” Mark explained to her about Timothy and his operation and he was certain that Timothy could use a hand and would treat her well. She agreed as long as she was not being sold or traded. Mark said he couldn’t do that because she didn’t belong to him to begin with.

They headed to the depot which was the former South Bus Depot. The attendant filled their tank and Mark went in to get the supplies they needed. He talked the desk
jockey out of a 357 lever gun for Simone along with 75 rounds of ammo. He also topped up their M4 mags and got a belt of ammo for the SAW.

The family was about to take off for the trip back to New York when Mark noticed another coupon in the packet. It was for a hotel room. He showed Kara and her eyes nearly bugged out of her head. “Smile anymore and you might break your face baby” he joked. They quickly drove to the hotel, secured the
Armadillo, gave it a loving pat and went up to their room.

The room had two queen beds so Joey resigned himself to a chair. Simone smiled and told him to get his ass in bed.
He saluted her and said “Yes ma’am” and jumped in. She told him she couldn’t let someone who saved her life sleep in a lousy chair. Mark and Kara giggled and rolled over for a well earned nap.

On the way out of Boston Simone requested that she be able to take out a little aggression on any Shamrock they ran into. Mark couldn’t say no to such request and might have steered them into a little trouble on purpose for that very reason. He had already told Kara he was going to do it so she could have a little closure on her incident. She wasn’t the biggest fan of the plan but at the same time understood its need.

Not too far from the main wall they stumbled into a band of the varmints. They were walking up the
center of the street with various weapons slung. There were 5 of them and they all had the trademark green bandana around their necks or on their heads.

Mark slowed down with them about 50 yards away. Simone opened her door and used it as cover. She stuck her Marlin through the gunport and used the window slit to take aim. She focused in on the lead man and took a shot. She hit him dead
center with a 180 grain cast lead bullet and he dropped like a sack of flour. She quickly levered the gun and loaded another round in the chamber. Bang, another one down.

By this time the doped up Shamrocks were under the impression that they were getting shot
at and pulled their own weapons. One of them produced a MAC-10 and started spraying the car. Of course the ammo had little to no effect on the armor and the magazine was soon empty. Simone dispatched this guy next while he fumbled to reload. The other two clowns had shotguns and the buckshot was absolutely no match for the Armadillo. Simone carefully took aim and dropped the forth guy.

Peter stood alone now, he had 3 more rounds in his Mossberg 500 and when they were gone he planned on running. The last 3 rounds were steel slugs and he hoped they would punch through the door and put the bitch on the other side down properly. He racked a round into the chamber and took aim. He aimed low because he knew she was hunched over. The heavy blast dug into his shoulder and hurt like hell but when he saw the round punch through the door and saw daylight on the other side he felt no other pain.

Simone went down hard. The slug ripped through the armored panel and came out tumbling. It didn’t have much power left but it smacked her in the knee hard enough to shatter it. She was down on the concrete screaming bloody murder when Joey popped the turret hatch and unloaded a very inappropriate amount of ammo into the assailant. He then rushed out of the Armadillo to gather Simone up. Kara was out of the car as well and helped bring her to her feet. Joey grabbed her gun and put it inside then helped his mother get Simone situated. Mark was cursing but Kara told him to shut up and drive so he listened. He quickly got them out of town and on the road where he could pay a little more attention to his occupants.

Kara had given Simone a morphine tablet and she seemed to be stable. Joey was cleaning her with a wet rag and tending to her like a mother tends to her wounded child. It was adorable but appropriate for the situation. Mark turned around and asked Simone if she was going to be ok and she just smiled a big goofy grin and gave him thumbs up.
“I really feel like shit that this happened” he told her and she just shook her head and waved him off “Noooooo” she said “That was on me maaan and damn your pretty car has a big ole hole in it” as she fingered the slug-hole.

Simone eventually crashed out in a drugged up stupor so Mark and Kara discussed her situation. She should really get some medical attention but that would require turning her over to the corporation. Knowing them they would cut her leg off and make her a prostitute for the
company. The best case is they would replace her knee and make her a prostitute. With her looks there was little chance that sex work was not in her future. Neither of them wanted that but they also did not want her to be crippled the rest of her life. There was also a very good chance that Timothy would tell them to go to hell now, what would he do with a busted up girl?

They debated it all the way to New London. Simone would occasionally wake up and tell them that she was fine and was ready to go to work. Joey was broken up hearing his parents talk about her but he knew they were right. He wanted to keep her forever but he knew it wasn’t possible. The first time they had to carry human cargo she would have nowhere to sit and they would be forced to leave her in company hands.

They pulled into the garage that Timothy had told them about on their previous trip. It was empty but they knew he would eventually come around. They made themselves at home and waited.

About an hour later Timothy slipped in undetected. Mark almost pissed himself when he spoke out of nowhere. “What do we have here?” he asked while tilting his head in Simone’s direction. After Mark gathered himself from being startled he answered. “That’s Simone” he said. “We brought her here hoping you could take care of her but we got her broken on the way.” Timothy looked at her busted up knee and shook his head in sympathy. “Damn girl, what the hell got a hold of you?” he asked. She smiled a weak smile and held out her hands about a foot wide. “It was a big ole shotgun
slug sir, ‘bout this big.” Timothy laughed. “That is a big ole shotgun slug” he confirmed.

Mark and Timothy walked off to talk alone while Kara and Joey doted over Simone. “Man you put me in a bad spot here” Timothy said. Mark nodded “I know man, that wasn’t the idea though.” Timothy waved him off. “Idea or not, you brought me a busted up chick and you’re going to expect me to do something nice here.” Mark
turned slightly and said “She can come with us but we will have to turn her over to the company.” Timothy yanked him around by his shoulder and got right in Mark’s face. “Do you know what they will do to her man? Do you? Do you want that?” Mark pushed Timothy away “NO and you know that” he sneered. “What the hell do you want me to do here?” he asked. Timothy laughed and shook his head. “Damn look at us, two softies fighting over the same thing.” Mark laughed too and felt a wave of relief wash over him. He really didn’t want Timothy to be an enemy; he was the only friend he had.

“You’re
gonna owe me big but I know a guy” Timothy told Mark. “He can fix her up and then she can work for me if she so desires.” Timothy looked at Mark straight in the eyes. “You won’t forget me right?” Mark shook his head and put his hand on Timothy’s shoulder. “I got you man, I don’t know what and I don’t know how but we will pay you back.” Timothy pulled him in for a hug and whispered “You better man, you better.”

About an hour later Simone was in the hands of a doctor and the family was preparing to cross the river again. Joey kissed Simone goodbye and tried to fight the tears unsuccessfully. She told him she would see him again and he agreed knowing full well he probably wouldn’t. Timothy interjected and let Joey know that his dad owed him big and they would definitely see each other again. Joey smiled even though that could be a very bad thing if his dad couldn’t make good on whatever promise he made.

The family departed the garage with Timothy and loaded up on the barge. They made another successful and stress free crossing and were quickly on their way back to New York with Joey lamenting the loss of his crush.

By nightfall the family had entered the inner sanctum of New York. There was a message on their door to report to the hangar in the morning so Mark crashed out after having a shower and a quick bite to eat. Being a courier was exciting work but quite exhausting and nerve wracking. Of course almost every bit of drama from the trip was their own doing and had nothing to do with the mission at hand.