The Nothing (30 page)

I did it!
Holy fucking shit I did it!!

“Yes James, I would love to go out with you.
I would love to get to know you.”

“Great!
Wow, so when are you free?” Both James and Martha laughed. “Come on James, give me a hug!” James grabbed her and put his arms around her. Martha loved how he engulfed her with his body making her feel safe. James then decided to take a chance and kiss her on her cheek. Martha was surprised, but enjoyed the kiss. She felt this is a man who will respect her. At that moment, Martha felt an overwhelming need to simply take care of James. Then suddenly the mood was killed.

“Motherfuckers!”

Bentley came from the front of the apartment walking briskly. As he walked through the living room, he pointed at James and Martha. “Martha, I need you to get in the back bedroom with Jenna. James come with me to Scarlett’s room, now!”

“Bentley what the hell is going on?”

“There is a group of maybe twenty or more men; looks like gang members busting in the front doors of apartments near the front parking lot. I think they are working their way through the complex looking for stuff to take. They have assault rifles, shotguns and pistols. Now follow me!”

James
followed Bentley to the bedroom where Roy, Tom and Scarlett were. Before James entered the hallway behind Bentley, he turned toward Martha and winked, then gestured with his head to follow Jenna who had stepped into the living room. James wanted Martha to feel safe even though a confident wink was all he could do at the moment. As Bentley and James walked into the room, Roy and Tom stood up. Roy walked to Bentley and put his hand on his shoulder. “Tom and I heard you. Twenty men you said?”

“Yes
I think ‘round about. I saw assault rifles. Several had shotguns holstered on their shoulders with a pistol in their waists. Each man was armed.” Tom stood up, “Scarlett can walk. Lets put her with the other women. Roy, I say we outfit these men with weapons.” Roy nodded. “I agree.”

James saw
the two gun and ammo cases Bentley had talked about earlier. Roy moved to James. “Ok James, I need you to listen and listen good. You will do as I say and when I say. No questions or hesitation. I give an order and you follow it. Am I clear?”

“Yes Roy”

“Are you ready to handle a weapon? Well nevermind, you better be because you are getting two pistols and an AR-15. You will receive three hundred rifle rounds and one hundred and fifty pistol rounds.”

“Mr. Roy, I have no choice but to be ready.
Just tell me what to do.” Every moment was fast paced. Too fast for James to think about fear or the danger of what might happen. When he did think, he thought about making sure nothing happens to Martha. Roy took an AR-15 from one of the cases and a shoulder belt with ten ammo magazines attached. Roy took them and put the belt on James’ shoulder. “These are your bullets. Your trigger hand stays on the gun. Your barrel hand removes a full magazine to place in the gun. Your trigger hand pushes the magazine release button for the empty magazine to fall to the ground. Your trigger hand never moves. Do you understand?”

“Yes sir.”

Tom came over and strapped a pistol to each of James’ thighs. The straps went all the way around his legs and hooked into an ammo belt with ten clips that was wrapped around James’ waist. Surprising to all, the belt went all the away around his forty inch waist. The ammo belt also had two suspenders, which Tom fastened to each of James’ shoulders. James looked at Bentley who was strapping on the guns himself. Bentley looked back at James. These were looks of impending doom. Both brothers felt a great sense of gratitude that they could be together right now.

Tom gave a thumbs up to Roy
, who came over and stood in front of James. He looked to Tom and Bentley. “Tom, if they haven’t made it to our area yet, you are to go out the front door and find a sniper position covering the courtyard to our front. Bentley, you are to take position here in the bedroom window.” Roy took James’ arm and walked him into the hallway.

“I’m sorry James that you have to deal with this.
But you are to step out of your comfort zone and totally submit yourself to my authority. If I die, you are to follow Tom. Then Bentley. You are with me at the front window. You following me so far.”

“Umm, yeah I think so.
I mean yes I am. I don’t really want to die.”

“James I am going to be honest with you.
If you walk into a combat zone not wanting to die, then you will probably be one of the first taken down. You have to allow yourself access to the danger in order to take out an enemy. If you are thinking about your mortality or allow yourself to feel that fear, then you jeopardize everyone around you. You are not to think, only follow orders and move where told. I will make the decisions since I have been in this spot many times before. This is war, you are to point and shoot at the enemy. Plus remember, these are street thugs with no more combat training than you. Let them be the ones fearing you. Do you understand?”

“Yes”

Roy yelled
over to Bentley, “How are we doing on time?” Bentley yelled back, “I think we have five minutes. They are working their way towards us but taking their time.”

Roy
ordered Tom, “Go, find a position. I will yell a call sign if we exit. Field of fire is open.” Tom nodded, walked out the front door and quietly disappeared. To James, Tom looked like Rambo with his rifle and the straps of ammo.

James turned back towards the kitchen and saw Martha step out from the back room wher
e the ladies were hiding. When she saw James strapped up with guns and ammo, she thought he looked like a soldier. Seeing this made her think of Raymond and the dangers he has faced.
Did Raymond look like this? Is this what a soldier looks like marching of to war? Are they all scared?
She came out from the bedroom because she was thinking of James, who a moment earlier began to fill the empty spot that has been in her heart for such a long time.
My dumb luck that I open myself up to someone then one minute later, he is off to war. Just like my son and his father before him. I wish all this wasn’t happening. James was right that it might be too late for happiness. I want it to stop.

Both
Martha and James stood looking at each other. When James took a step towards her, she immediately rushed to him, put her arms around his neck and kissed him. James immediately filled with a surging sensation which gave him a feeling of strength. All fear disappeared. She then let go and touched his cheek. “James, don’t forget, you are to take me out for dinner. Don’t be late!” James smiled and felt confident that later on, they both would be sitting at a table somewhere with a waiter taking their orders while sipping on wine.

From behind came a shout.
“James I need you here!” He turned around a saw Roy gesturing for him to take a place next to him by the front window. James looked back at Martha, who gave a nod then walked away. James immediately went to where Roy was kneeling by the front window. Roy slowly opened the drapes and the blinds. Bushes rose a foot up the bottom view of the window obstructing any view the gang members might have through the window. James spread the front of his body on the couch cushion that Roy had placed next to him. “Ok James, here is the deal. We can’t let these guys get in here. Also, the only exit is the small window in the kitchen, through which half of us won’t fit. If you look there…” Roy pointed across the courtyard in front of Martha’s apartment to an open apartment door. “There are a few bad guys in that apartment looking around right now. If you look on the other side of the courtyard, there are a few in another apartment.” James saw one more AR-15 on the floor next to Roy.

“
Man, shit. Listen James, I’ve decided to make a change to our positions. I want you to position yourself in the living room with a view of the front door. The rest of us will try to repel them, but if they make it to the door, then you are to shoot them on site. Kill the shit out of them.”

Outside,
in an area near the complex, gunshots started ringing out. There have been a few shots ringing out throughout the afternoon, but these were louder. The first dimming of daytime light began. “We don’t have much daylight left. I hope we can get this done with before dark. If not, we’re at a disadvantage.” James was settled on the floor. His rifle steadied on the couch pillow and pointed at the front door. A huge knife was strapped to Roy’s hip and it made James think that if he ran out of bullets, he would need a knife. “Hey Roy, I need a knife.” Roy turned around and looked at James perplexed for one second. Then looked around on the floor. Roy called out to Bentley, “Yo, Bentley.” Bentley yelled back from the bedroom, “What?”

”
Pull out one of the combat knives from the case with ACC labeled on it and toss it in here to James.” With a few rummaging sounds and the sound of the ammo case clicking, a huge plastic sheath with a knife handle sticking out, came flying through the hallway landing a few feet from James. Roy looked back to James. “Take it.” The sheath had small compartments on it, which made it seem bulky. As James slipped the knife out and was surprised to see the blade completely black. James expected something shiny and beautiful like in the movies. But then it hit him; if it’s a shiny blade, then it is easier for the enemy to see.

Seconds seemed like minutes.
Minutes seemed like hours. The waiting was torturous. Waiting allowed the anxiety to grow more powerful in each man. Roy and Tom had been through situations like this more times than they could count. They were expert soldiers. The extent of their training and missions they had been on around the world were top secret. Martha had no idea that Raymond had joined a top-secret unit. She new he had become a Ranger and that he had mentioned the Special Forces. But in actuality, he had become much more than that. Roy hadn’t told Martha much. Only that Raymond had become a legend in their little community and had done things that would never be written or talked about. Even the President doesn’t know of their unit. They worked through secret CIA channels and there isn’t any paperwork or record anywhere of their activities; or the men themselves. Roy and Tom have been stationed as liaisons at the CIA field office in Houston for around six months. Martha was grateful that these two men would give of themselves for her protection. That Raymond had made such an impression on these men that they would sacrifice their lives for his mother.

Bentley stayed crouched by the bedroom window looking through
a crack in the drapes for any sign of the bad guys approaching. The window faced in the same direction as the window in the living room where Roy was positioned. His heart was beating faster than it had during the shootout at Almeda’s Burger Shack. The sun was beginning to go down outside, which made Bentley more nervous. Nightshift patrol brought many tight situations that were made more dangerous by the darkness. Bad guys love to use the dark to make their getaway. So as the sky outside began to dim, the knot in Bentley’s stomach became tighter. He though of Mary.

Oh my sweet Mary.
I have to believe that she is at the house and situated like I taught her. Wish I were there. I have hardly thought of her today. My head has been focused on surviving and making the best decisions for myself, James and everyone else. Can’t believe that after not seeing James for a year, this is how we end up hanging out! All I can do is hope that he can handle himself with that gun. I have been in shootouts before, but with one or two guys shooting back. There are twenty or more bad guys out there shopping from one apartment to another. And they are for sure going to make it to this one. No avoiding it. We are in for a fight. I thank God that those two super soldiers are here. Martha’s son must be a real badass. Those two guys worship him. There I go again, not thinking about Mary! She better be at home waiting for me. She knows where to put the guns and how to secure the house. She knows how to shoot. God I hope she is ok. It is killing me that I can’t call her, or hear her voice. Not knowing right now, what she is doing or how she is doing, is torture. Why did everyone have to dig up all the landlines? Did they ever consider what would happen if the wireless this or the wireless that stopped working? Did they know something like this could happen? None of us were prepared for it. From what I saw today on the roads, most people weren’t even prepared mentally or emotionally for it. That is why people everywhere were so agitated. If my house had a landline, I could call her right now. I should have never accepted the fifty dollars for the phone company to dig up the cables. How Martha still has a landline is amazing.

The pillow smelled like fresh linen.
Though James could also smell the stench from his armpits, the pillow was very comfortable. It was surprising how Martha hugged him and didn’t flinch at his smell. James was wishing they could be kissing right now. She smelled wonderful to him. He didn’t care about Martha being ten years older or that she has a grown son. Even though James was thinking about sex with Martha and kissing her, what made him happy was that she really likes him. James felt a confidence he has never felt before. That the woman he wants, actually wants him too. The fantasies James is having of Martha feel so much more special and were much more emotionally satisfying. The new connection with Martha gave him power.

Laughter and the sound of
glass breaking startled James out of his daydream. It was next door on the other side of the living room wall. Roy looked back at James and whispered loudly, “We’re next, be ready.” James moved his now shaking hand to the bolt handle and pulled back to chamber the first bullet just like Roy had told him. Roy whispered to him again, “When they pass my window and move towards the door, I am going to yell for them to leave. If they don’t, I am going to open fire. I told your brother to open fire when I do. But I want you to wait for if they come through the door. Don’t move from your spot unless I tell you. Don’t fire in any other direction, no matter what I do.” Now James was really scared. His hands were shaking so much that he was having trouble keeping the rifle steady. “Oh and one more thing James.…” Roy threw the strap with the grenades on it to James. “If I go down, throw one grenade out of the window each time you see one of these assholes. All you have to do is pull the pin like in the movies, and then you have five seconds. Use your pillow to block debris. Remember, five seconds.”