America The Dead Book Two: The Road To Somewhere (15 page)

The man jerked in surprise but
recovered quickly. He fumbled with his own pants zipper trying to
get it back up.
"I'll fucking kill her,
you bitch. I will. Fuck off, I'll do it,"
the man said. His gun hand twitched, pressing the barrel hard
into Kate's neck.

"Don't," Kate cried, "Don't."

"
Get that
gun off my neck you fuckin' bitch, or she's done, I'll do
it!
" His gun hand twitched again and the
barrel left Kate's neck. Arlene pulled the trigger. Both guns went
off.

~

Kate screamed, scrambled backwards and away.
Arlene went with her pulling her along, away from the man whose
blood began to fountain up into the air. "It's okay, it's okay,"
she told her.

Arlene managed to gather Kate into her arms
ignoring the blood that was splattered across both of them. Seconds
later the back area was full of people as everyone came running.
They all came to a fast halt as they came upon the scene. Mike
among them.

It took a few heartbeats for him to take it all
in and then he ran to Kate, pulled her from the ground and gathered
her in his arms. He was still holding her a minute or so later when
Patty came with a blanket and covered her up. Mike gathered her up
in the blanket, and she burrowed her face into his chest as he
walked out and around to the front of the building, away from the
body of the man.

The rain began to pick up in a faster patter
again. As the Moon slid back behind the cloud cover, the rain began
to pour down once again.

"It's okay," Mike whispered to her as he
walked. He had no idea if anything was okay. But it was what you
said, he told himself. Kate sobbed against his chest as he carried
her. There was no protection from the rain as they walked across
the front and they were both soaked by the time he stepped beneath
the metal roofing that covered the gas pump area.

Sandy went ahead of them, opened the back door
of one of the Suburbans, and Mike tried to place Kate on the seat
but she refused to let go of him.

"She just wants to make sure you're okay." His
voice was choked with emotion and tears spilled freely down his
cheeks.

Candice shook her head "I just want you to hold
me, Mike. I'm okay. Just hold me." Mike climbed carefully into the
back seat holding Kate and Sandy shut the door.

~

Arlene stood, grim faced, the rain pouring
down, her pistol back in its holster.

"What happened?" Patty began.

"Exactly what it looks like," Arlene said. Her
voice was high and shaky. The adrenaline was still running through
her body. David slipped an arm around her shoulders, and she let
him hold her.

"Did he,"
Patty couldn't finish and burst into tears. Ronnie grabbed
her as she began to kick the man's body in the pelting rain. He
pulled her away and held her tight, speaking in quiet, soothing
tones.

"He didn't,"
Arlene said loudly. It was nearly a scream. A yell. A
declaration! "I couldn't let him. I had to shoot. He would've... He
would've done that, or killed her. I had to kill him," she
finished. Her resolve fell apart, and she folded into David's
arms.

Tim looked up at Bob and then down at the dead
man. Jeff moved with them, and the three of them wrestled the man's
body out through the fence and splashed across the muddy field for
nearly a quarter mile before they came to the treeline. They were
all out of breath. They all took a few deep breaths, and on three
heaved the man into the tree line.

"I wouldn't bury that bastard if I could," Bob
breathed. He was still trying to catch his breath.

Tim suddenly bent over and threw up on the
ground and then dry heaved several times. He finally caught his
breath, cleared his throat and spat into the mud. Bob and Jeff
stood quietly for a second.

"Come on, Son, let's go back," Jeff said,
laying an arm around his shoulder. The pounding rain followed them,
seeming to make the muddy water at their feet jump straight up into
the air as they splashed their way back across the
field.

When they got back, the back area was empty.
Janet and Lilly, along with an anxious looking Annie, met them
under the steel roof with dry towels, clothing and hot cups of
coffee.

"I made a big pot of it," Janet said. "Looks
like we're in for a long night." She put one hand to her mouth and
choked back a sob, clearing her throat. Bob pulled her to him and
hugged her. He looked around at the blank and worried faces, and
spotted Tom.

"Tom, let's get some bodies on lookout." Bob
said as he held Janet.

Tom nodded

"And, Tom?" He waited until Tom looked back at
him. "Nobody goes anywhere without a guard. Nobody goes anywhere
alone." Tom nodded and walked away.

"Shhhh, Darlin'," Bob told Janet.
"Shhhhh."

Pennies & Armies

~ March 30th~

She awoke with a start and jerked in his arms.
He wrapped his arms around her and drew her close. “It's okay,” he
said.

She raised her head, eyes puffy. “Is she okay?”
She asked.

David held her eyes with his own. “She's better
off than she would've been without you, Arlene,” he told her. “She
finally let Sandy look at her. Some scratches, one cut on her leg,
probably a piece of metal. That's it. Everybody knows, Arlene; she
told them. If it hadn't been for you...” he let his words fade
away.

“
But I
killed
someone, David,”
she said.

“
And you had to. Sandy says she
has a small powder burn on her neck. He fired. It was that close,”
he told her. “And I'll say it, he would have raped her. He
would've. She made that clear as well. He told her. There's no
doubt in anyone's mind what would've happened if you hadn't been
there,” he said.

“
He did rape
her. It's not just the sexual part, I'm glad he didn't get that
far, but it's the whole act. He did. I'm glad he didn't get to
the... the physical act though. I'm trying not to be vulgar. I hate
what I saw. You know, I almost turned away. I thought it was
somebody...
A couple
spending some time alone together. It was that close.” She
held her fingers a quarter inch apart. “I almost turned away,” she
repeated.

“
But, you
didn't. You didn't, and you stopped it. Now it's you I'm worried
about, and Kate, and Patty. She's taking it hard too, but they're
together right now so I think they'll make each other okay,” he
placed his hands on her face and tilted her head up to his own.
“I'm worried about you right now though. I need to know that
you'll
be alright. He
was a piece of shit. Blunt, I know. To use your terminology,
Vulgar.
But he was. He's
dead, and he needed to be.” He kissed her eyes. “No courts. No
cops. It's just us, and somebody like that has to be dealt with.
What else could you have done? What if he had gone further? What if
he'd taken her? None of that happened because of you. You shouldn't
feel guilty about a man like that. You shouldn't.” He kissed her
eyelids again and pulled her close to him once
more.

Mike, Bob and Patty had cleaned out a small
corner of the truck stop diner, hung some quilts and blankets and
made a quiet area for Kate.

She was clean and dry, a small pink band aid on
one side of her neck, another on her knee. The powder burn hurt
more than anything else did. Kate lay back on a pile of blankets,
Patty beside her, arms entwined. They were talking in low
tones.

“
I've been that
scared before,” Kate said. “But not exactly like that. Not in that
way. I ran with a bad crowd for a long time... did some bad things.
A guy raped me once. That was really bad, but I knew he wasn't
going to kill me...
hurt me
past that. I know that doesn't make sense, but
this guy meant to hurt me.” She pulled Patty closer to her and
sobbed, trying hard to get her emotions in check.

“
This girl tried
to kill me once.
She
scared me that bad...
maybe
that bad,” her fingers twisted together in her
lap. Patty placed her own hands over them and brought them to her
chest. “I guess this was worse. What he would've done... And I'm
sure he would've killed me after... after he.... He would've killed
me anyway,” she said. Her voice was hoarse. She had no more tears
to cry.

“
But he didn't, and he can't ever
do anything to you or any one else ever again,” Patty said. “Not to
anyone. And you're going to be okay...?” She said,
asked.

Kate nodded. “I'm going to be
fine. I've got you. I've got Mike. I'm going to work it out in my
head. I... I just wonder how they're gonna look at me...
think
of me,” she
said.

“
The same as we always have. No
pity. No disgust. Don't be afraid of that. Everyone here loves you.
It's going to be the same, Kate, the same,” Patty said. She sat up,
wrapped her arms around Kate, pulling her into her, and held her.
And although Kate was sure she could not cry anymore, she did. She
let Patty hold her as the hot tears coursed down her
cheeks.

~

The rain was still falling. There were some
periods of heavy downpour, some periods where it slacked off to
almost nothing, but it never stopped; it continued to
fall.

Mike stood, his feet in the muddy water of the
field where it met the tree line. His hands were in his pockets.
Ronnie splashed up next to him, but Mike continued to stand,
staring down at the man where he had been dumped at the tree line.
He didn't react at all to Ronnie’s presence.

The man lay face up, one side of his face
missing, the remaining eye clouded over and dully reflecting the
gray of the skies above them. Rain puddled in the cup of one ear.
The water rose, reached some magic level and then it spilled from
the ear and into the man's hair. A second later, it started all
over again. Mike watched.

“
You okay?” Ronnie
asked.

“
Looks like anybody,” Mike said
after a long pause. “Nobody special.”

Ronnie nodded, unsure where Mike was going or
exactly what he meant.

Mike sighed. “I had to look. See if he was some
kind of freak. But I can't tell. He looks like anybody,” Mike said
softly.

Ronnie cast worried eyes over Mike. His body
was hunched against the rain. His face like gray stone. His eyes
bloodshot and bleary. He blinked raindrops away from his
eyelashes.

“
He could be anybody, Mike. You
know that. Just a fucked up guy. But he's dead now, Man. He's dead
now, Mike,” Ronnie told him.

“
Good thing,” Mike said softly,
almost too faint for Ronnie to hear.

“
Hey, Man. Let's go back. This is
no good, Mike. We'll get some coffee, warm up,” Ronnie
said.

“
It's my fault, Ronnie. I let her
leave without her gun. I could've gone with her. I should have gone
with her. Hell! I let things get lax. I did. And I know better.
It's my fault,” Mike finished.

“
Hey.
You can't be serious, Mike. You were gonna go
with her? No way. No, Man. You weren’t. None of us had thought of
that or done that. Why would we? No,” Ronnie told him. He looked
out over the field which was quickly turning into a lake, then down
at the man, then back up where Mike stood looking down. He spoke a
little quieter, yet just as insistently when he began
again.

“
She didn't have her gun? You
didn't remind her to take her gun? She took it off, Man. Most of us
did. It was the end of the day for Christs sake. And everyone was
using that area all day and into the dark. Nothing happened.
Nothing at all. The goddamned dogs were right there, never growled,
barked, nothing. Your fault? Might as well say my fault. All of
us.” He touched Mike's shoulder. Mike turned his eyes up from the
man.

“
If Patty had
gone back there, I wouldn't have thought to go with her at all. I
wouldn't have done anything different than you did, Man. Nothing. I
would've wished I had.
Who in fuck
wouldn't in hindsight?
I would've. But I
wouldn't have. There's just no way you could have known, Man,”
Ronnie said.

“
Still,” Mike said.

“
Fuck
still,
” Ronnie said.
“For real. There isn't a thing you could've done. Not a fuckin'
thing. And this guy?” He looked down where the man lay. The ruined
gray-pink of his face tilted up into the rain. “This guy's nothing
now. Dead meat. The wolves will get him... or the wild dogs, or a
bear, woodchucks, or one of those fuckin' Zombies.
Hey! Could be.
He's
all done. You got to be
concerned with Kate now. Fuck this guy. Fuck him right straight to
hell,” Ronnie spat.

Mike didn't speak, but his eyes came up from
the corpse and fixed on Ronnie's own. He nodded.