The Nothing (32 page)

What James did next was way out of his zone.
James didn’t know why, but he turned, ran towards the shooting, and jumped through the window. The window was mostly broken from the gunfight. But James could feel the remaining pieces of glass slicing his arms and one good slice on the right side of his face. His flight seemed to last forever until he landed outside in front of the bushes square on his feet. James already had the AR-15 on his shoulder and aimed when he landed. He immediately started shooting. James saw the two men who were shooting through the window running away. James got down on one knee and right before those guys were able to disappear behind bushes, he carefully fired one calculated shot after another until both men fell down and were no longer moving.

James realized how exp
osed his was and backed up towards the window. He looked frantically around the area, saw a number of dead bodies but didn’t see any more live gunmen. Then he saw that the building to his left was fully engulfed in flames. James looked up and saw Tom standing on the roof looking for a way to get down. James wasn’t sure if he should get back into Martha’s apartment, or yell to Tom. How Tom was going to get off the roof and onto the ground was a mystery. The whole structure was on fire, which was quickly engulfing the roof, but Tom stood there as if he was stuck. Their eyes met.

“Hey James!”

“Yeah Tom.”

“Today was a good fight.
Today we were victorious!” James wanted Tom to stop yakking and get down.

“Hey Man, you need to get down.
The whole building is on fire. How did you get up there?”

“It doesn’t matter James, you guys are in the clear.
The last few guys jumped in a truck and took off. I think they turned on all the gas on the stoves and lit them up. It was like fireballs blowing out. But the real danger has passed.”

The building shifted
causing Tom to stumble. James yelled, “Man why don’t you jump and just land on the grass? A broken leg is better than getting burnt to a crisp.”

“
You’re right dude. This should be fun. Hooah!!”

Tom leaped off the top of the
third story roof with no hesitation and even had a grin on his face. When he landed on the grass, James heard two loud snaps as Tom’s legs crumbled beneath him. Tom laughed in pain, which was something James had never seen before. By that time, Martha had run outside and grabbed James’ arm. They both ran to Tom and knelt beside him trying to figure out how to move him. “Damn good shooting son. I have seen many brave men in my day. Some were trained to be brave. But you James; you were born brave…”

James interrupted him, “
Tom your right leg is all mangled…. Shit man you are squirting blood!” Tom reached up, grabbed James’ arm and squeezed. “Dude I wanted to feel what it was like to burn to death but you had to open your fucking mouth!” Tom laughed again, though painfully. “Listen to me James. I am going to be dead in a few minutes. It’s ok, that’s what people like me do for a living. You need to take care of Martha for us. For Raymond, until he can get here. Like I said...” Tom was started to fade out but fought it as hard as he could. He wanted to let James know what he thought of him. That he had never been more impressed with any man like he had with James.

“Like I said James, you were born brave.
You have always been a warrior inside, you just needed to find it. It is up to you now. Roy has a Hummer hidden in the back of the Sunset Gardens strip center behind the complex. Keys are under the rear left tire. Raymond will call on channel 6.1.3 when he gets here, if there is a signal. Load up all the gear and get Martha to safety… It was an…Honor…To…Meet………..” Tom passed out. Three minutes later he completely bled dry.

Coughing
from behind caused Martha and James to turn around. Scarlett and Jenna had come out of the front door and fell to the grass after breathing black putrid smoke as long as they could. Black smoke was now pouring out of all the apartments in Martha’s building. Both James and Martha rushed to get them away from the smoke and into the middle of the courtyard. James then ran to the window of the bedroom where Bentley and Roy were. He could only get within five feet before the heat began stinging his skin. James tried to get a glimpse of Bentley. He couldn’t help to think that maybe Bentley was alive. But if he was alive he was suffering and burning. That thought hurt James deeply.

He burst into sobs and began to
scream, “Bentley yell if you can hear me! Please I need you. I don’t know what to do without you. How am I going to make it with out you? What about Mary?” James was crying so hard that when he inhaled a plum of smoke, he started to gag. He backed away when he started to get dizzy. Martha jumped and went back to James and led him by the arm back to the spot where Jenna and Scarlett were. His eyes were burning and the cuts from the window were beginning to sting.

The four of them sat in the middle of that courtyard in silence for several minutes before
too much smoke filled the area. Martha spoke first, “Lets get to that Hummer Tom was talking about.” James’ eyes were better, yet still burning. “Yeah we should. But all the ammo and guns in the apartment are toast.” Jenna then said, “Hey I heard that guy say once that the cases were fire proof.” But Martha saw that her whole building was one solid statue of fire. “No Jenna, who knows how long it would be before it would be safe enough to get in there. We have to go now.” James stood and offered his hand to each of the ladies to help them up and said, “Maybe the Hummer might have weapons. I have this AR-15 and these two pistols on my thighs. I didn’t use either pistol and I have eight rifle magazines left. Hopefully we won’t need them again.”

Sunset Gardens was a nice strip center with a Chinese restaurant, Hallmark shop
, and a convenience store. When the group got there, they saw that the place was deserted. The convenience store had been looted. Yet the parking lot lights were on and very bright. It was late and the Sun had settled for the day. Everyone wanted to get to the Humvee and just get out of there.

As they were walki
ng towards the back to find the Hummer, a car approached from the distance honking its horn and flashing its headlights. Everyone turned around to see a white and fancy BMW racing towards them. As it got closer, James raised his rifle and aimed. The car stopped twenty feet away. Slowly, two hands came out of the window. “Don’t shoot! Scarlett, its me Bill.” Scarlett immediately hobbled as fast as she could to the car. Her gunshot wound was feeling a lot better and had stopped bleeding hours ago. A man who weighed around four hundred pounds inched his way out of the car in time for Scarlett to fall into his arms. Martha tapped Jenna’s shoulder, “Who is that?”

“That’s
Scarlett’s boyfriend, Bill. Fat motherfucker ain’t he? But boy can he party!”

Scarle
tt and Bill stood by his car for a minute hugging before James stepped in. “Hi there, my name is James. Listen, we have to get going. Scarlett, you coming or going?”

Scarlet
t looked at Bill, “Bill where are you thinking of going?”

“Babe I was thinking of the cabin in Wimberley.
I have plenty of supplies too. It is a big cabin, big enough for all of us. If you bring the guns, I will supply the food.” Jenna agreed. “That sounds great to me!” Bill grinned and stared at Jenna’s ass. Scarlett noticed, turned around, and slapped him. “Don’t you think of fucking that bitch! I will skin that little pecker of yours!” Bill raised his hands in surrender laughing, “Ok, Ok babe no problem, no worries there. Quit freaking out, you the only ass I want, promise!” Scarlett smiled and kissed him. Jenna snapped her fingers. “So are we going or are we going to stand around like lost sheep.”

But Martha didn’t want to be so hasty.
“Hold on one second.” She took James’ arm and led him away from the others. “James I don’t want to go with them. I think the ladies should stay with us. That guy seems like scum.” James nodded in agreement and walked over to Bill. “I think the ladies should stay with me. We have had a rough day.” Scarlett quickly shook her head no. “Hun this is my boyfriend! I am not going to go anywhere without him. And he has that cabin in the country. We would all be safe there. He is fucking inviting you! Show some gratitude.” Jenna stepped in between and looked at James. “I think all of us should go out to the country. That would be best.” James saw Bill grinning the grin of a used car salesman. With a hard tap on the top of his car Bill proclaimed, “That settles it, ladies come on inside.” James was getting agitated and felt that Jenna and Scarlett were being impatient.
Here we have been fighting for our lives the last couple of hours. Men died protecting these women, and this asshole shows up and wants to act the great protector?

“Wait, we have another vehicle, can’t we think for a minute?”
Bill’s smile disappeared; he was beginning to dislike James. “I tell you what pal, you guys can think all that you want. This area is swarming with rifle slinging hippies and I don’t care who you are, I ain’t taking any chances. I am getting in my car and leaving in ten seconds. You bitches are either with me or left behind. Your choice.” James looked back at Martha who shook her head. They both looked at Scarlett and Jenna. Jenna was looking back and forth. She wasn’t sure what to do. Scarlett walked up to Jenna and took her hand. “Honey, please come with us. It would be better. We haven’t even seen the Humvee. And that is if there is one. Lets just get in the car.” Jenna nodded ok. She then ran to James and gave him a kiss on the cheek. And while looking into his eyes, she said, “Thank you for saving us.” After a few seconds of looking at one of the men who was responsible for her being alive, Jenna went and gave Martha a long hug, then walked briskly to the car and got in the back seat. Scarlett felt a large sense of gratitude for the whole day’s events as well. And she couldn’t help to think of how safe she felt with them around. She went and took both of their hands. “Please, you can come with us. It will be ok. If not, at least get Bill’s cabin address and get to us when you can, at least to see how it is.” James and Martha looked at each other juggling the large decision. She was waiting to see if James would decide and take the lead, but Martha figured they were thinking the same thing and told Scarlett, “Give us the address and we will get there if we can. Oh and Scarlett?” Martha hugged and kissed her on the cheek. “Thank you for getting me home. I owe you so much.” Both women hugged. Scarlett backed away and walked to the passenger side door of the car. Bill was still grinning. Scarlett blew a kiss. “I love you guys.” Then she got in the car. Bill then waved James over to the car. “Listen here kid, take this card. I wrote the address to the cabin on the back. But if you come by, you have to buy your keep. I am going to need guns, ammo and supplies. Remember that when you decide to drop by. Otherwise I won’t hesitate in locking you the fuck out. We got an understanding here?”

“Yeah no problem.”
Bill nodded and said, “Ok then, see ya'll on the other side.” Martha held James’ hand as they watched the shiny white BMW drive off into the night. At the same time, several gunshots rang out in the distance. Both James and Martha realized that there were still pockets of activity around the area and felt the urge to go find the Humvee.

The back of the
shopping center was lined with large trash bins. At the end was a large stack of wooden crates and flattened cardboard for recycling. Neither Martha, nor James saw the Humvee. After looking around for a minute, Martha noticed the outline of a tire on the ground behind the crates. “Come on James, it’s over there!” The Humvee was covered in a large brown tarp which mixed in well with the stacks of wooden crates and junk. It was the biggest vehicle either of them had ever seen. The heavily outfitted war machine was dark green with four doors. The tires were as tall as James’ hip. Antennas dotted the roof. Martha put her hand on the front hood. “James this is an armored truck, bullets won’t be able to hit us inside.” Martha walked around to the rear tires. She leaned close to the ground behind one of tires and found a key ring with several keys. “Bingo!” James was standing at the front of the Humvee looking like he was deep in thought. He looked upset. Martha took his hand and put the keys in it. He held up the keys and said, “I want to see my mother and tell her about Bentley. I have to see his wife Mary too.”

“
Absolutely James, will make those our first stops. And hey, we have each other now.” James smiled, “Yeah, now we can get to know each other.” Martha took his face in her hands and lifted up to kiss him.

The Humvee had two more AR-15s and several more boxes of ammunition.
There was freeze-dried food and medical supplies. Roy and Tom had been prepared. Martha reached to the radio and switched it on. Not even static was coming through. She started pressing a few buttons and found the ones that adjust frequency. Martha put it on 6.1.3. “That’s the frequency Tom mentioned that Raymond would try to contact us on, if he is able to.” Then Martha sat back and removed the cotton vest that she had been wearing since work. James saw the blood stain on the left side of her shirt. “Martha what happened? Where you injured?” She suddenly froze very still with her face turned away from James. She couldn’t and didn’t want to move. “Seriously Martha, are you ok?” She didn’t respond. Her unusual stoicism was alarming. “Please say something.” Martha wiped the tears from her eyes that had formed. “It’s ok James. I’m ok.”

“
Well what happened? Where you injured during the fighting or on the scooter when we first saw you?” Martha shook her head no. The issue of her harming herself was something Martha had hoped would never come up with anyone. It was supposed to be something to get her through the long days and help her deal with her loneliness and depression. She always figured that she would stop when she had Raymond back home or when she found happiness somehow. And then, there would never be any need to bring it up. It would all be forgotten. But that is never the way it works for any self-abuser or addict of any kind. The conversation she had hoped to avoid for the rest of her life is now going to happen right there in the Humvee with James.