All Is Silence - Deserted Lands #1

Chapter 26 - Part III

Zach stood up and pulled Nev into a hug. “I want to stay with you, right here, right now.” He let his breath out. “But I will come back.” He kissed her and ran outside. “Stupid, stupid, stupid. Shoulda known she’d pull this shit.” He jumped into the Tank and headed for the school.

He spun the GPS out of street view and studied it. There was a winding dirt road running near the school’s playing field. Maybe he could get close without getting noticed. Nadine’s last words came back to him. “If you attempt to steal him, we’ll shoot you on sight.” This was not the time for Crazy Lizzie to pull a stupid stunt.

An alarm blasted in the distance. Zach heard gunshots.

“Shit!” He stepped on the gas. The Tank groaned as the tires gripped the street. He swung left around the corner. The scene at the gate was chaos. Men with guns were running everywhere. No vehicles could get out. A large cement mixer blocked the gate.

The man on the motorcycle, their escort from the day before, revved his engine and took a run at the truck. Zach held his breath, expecting the motorcycle to somehow leap over the truck like a movie stunt. Instead at the last minute the rider slid the bike horizontally, clean under the truck and then spun back to vertical and raced off down the street. Probably chasing Lizzie. He pulled out from the curb to follow the motorcycle.

Zach drove halfway down the block. The cement mixer backed into the road. Zach swerved in behind a parked van and ducked. Vehicles filled with men and guns poured out of the compound.

The last vehicle out of the gate was a Jeep with Bill Johnston at the wheel. Zach let them have a good head start, and then followed the Jeep. They wound through city streets. He heard more shots in the distance. “Come on, Lizzie. Don’t be stupid. Please.”

The Jeep crossed an irrigation ditch and then pulled a hard right. The city had turned into countryside, tree-lined with small rural farms. Ahead all the vehicles and men lined up across the road. The Jeep pulled in and the men allowed it through.

Zach passed over the ditch and slowed down. He rolled the Tank to a stop at the row of men with guns, swung open the door, and stepped down. He walked toward the group, his hands upraised. “Take me to Bill Johnson, please.”

One of the men stuck the barrel of a gun in Zach’s gut. “Keep your hands over your head.” He had a few missing teeth on one side of his mouth and a livid scar that seemed to match. His smile said he enjoyed the violence of playing army man.

The rest of the men split to let Zach through.

Bill turned away at Zach’s approach, shaking his head.

Zach tried to sound annoyed. “I told her not to go. She was asleep, I assumed... She’s a dumb, crazy girl. Please, let her go and I’ll make sure she doesn’t come back.”

Bill gave Zach a sad look. “Go look. See what’s left. Stupid girl. Four casualties today, such a waste of human lives.”

The wall of men and guns stepped aside. A man’s body lay next to a motorcycle face down, blood still red and liquid in the dust of the road.

Smoke rose from below a rusty metal bridge. Zach’s gut sank. He didn’t want to move forward. But he had to know. There was a car at the bottom of the hill, its front end sunk in the water. Flames engulfed the interior and the back window. Bullet holes riddled the trunk. He could make out a body in the front seat, but the heat of the flames held everyone back. Bile rose to his throat. Zach’s stomach contorted and yesterday’s meal came up.

“Can’t hack it, huh?” The guy with the missing teeth chuckled.

Zach spun on the asshole. The gun came up in his face, but Zach stood toe to toe with him, his glare locked onto the mock-soldier’s eyes. But it wasn’t worth it. Nev and Spike and Charley still needed him. Lizzie didn’t. Lizzie never needed anyone. Zach turned back toward the Tank.

The gunman returned the barrel to Zach’s back. Several guns cocked and leveled at him. He ignored them and kept walking. He half expected bullets to rip into him.

“No.” Bill’s voice was icy calm. “There has been enough death today. Enough lights have gone out.”

Zach released the breath he had been holding and climbed into the cab. He eased the Tank onto the shoulder. When he was turned around he gunned it, tossing gravel back the way he’d come. “Shit! Shit! Shit!”

Tears streamed down his face. He wiped them away and tried to see the road ahead.