Worth Saving (14 page)

I glanced around at the gardens and felt a quick pang of regret. Would we be able to come back? And if we did, what would it be like. Would they destroy everything we’d accomplished? I couldn’t know the answer and it didn’t make things better by worrying about it. The pang however was still there.

Every exit was gone, the only thing left was a zip line Hector and I’d rigged to the far corner. We’d pulled some telephone cable off of some poles and connected it from a stanchion in the corner of our building down to the pavement across the street and down the block a little ways. It’d taken us days to work out the angles and slack in the line to allow us to hit the street at just the right angle.

I picked up a leather strap with two handles we’d made for the trip. Standing on the ledge of the building I threw the strap over the cable, grabbed it with both hands and looked at the roof door then waited.

It wasn’t long before a man started to poke his head out of the doorway; he was covered in brown fluid excrement. I smiled thinking about it. He stayed inside the door well and scanned the area immediately outside, obviously looking for triggers and traps.

I waited until he saw me standing there on the ledge. He started to bring his gun up as I stepped off the ledge into empty space. The ride was faster than I remembered, the wind blowing my hair back and whipping at my cloths. The leather strap made a zinging sound as it slid down the greased wire. Needless to say I was holding on for dear life as I watched the ground rush towards me. Within a few heartbeats I was down and running as my feet hit the concrete sidewalk.

I turned to see several men on the roof including Big Jake. He was the only one not covered in grime and goop. They were looking at me in shock and I could have sworn Jake looked a little impressed when he smiled. This time the smile was genuine and not as creepy.  Suddenly he started yelling at his men and pointing towards me. I ducked behind a brick storefront column and used a store window reflection to watch the men.

As I watched, the little guy who’d shot the barrels earlier retrieved a leather strap and threw it over the cable like I’d done a few seconds ago. He holstered his gun and grabbed the other end of the strap and stepped on the ledge. He looked at Big Jake for permission and when he received an affirmative nod the mad stepped off the roof.

I’d waited for this moment, picking up the huge metal cutters we’d left in place. Reaching up I cut the zip line. The slick black line immediately went slack and I watched the man try to run in mid-air. He yelled all the way down. Wind milling his arms at the end trying fruitlessly to stop the fall. He hit the ground feet first and crumbled into a small pile of bone and blood. I think what might have been an arm moved for a second but stopped and everything was still.

The men on the roof stood there in shock, looking back and forth between me and the new lump in the road. These were tough men and used to death, each of them started shooting as I dropped behind the pillar and crawled into the store, making sure not to expose any body parts.

Chapter Seventeen

Claire and the others waited for me at the back of the store. She threw herself into my arms and covered my face in warm kisses. Everyone was high fiving and hugging each other but I knew we weren’t done yet. “OK guys, you did great, now comes the hard part. Let’s go” I said.

Schick/Shuck helped Hector pull the manhole cover away from the opening and started down the metal ladder to the sewer below. Claire held my hand as we watched each person climb down. She reluctantly let go and followed them. I looked around the street to make sure no one was watching then joined them in the dark damp hole.

They were all clustered around the bottom of the ladder. The tunnel didn’t smell that bad, dank and moldy, but not too bad. At six feet in diameter, I could almost stand straight. It was built as a storm drain to collect and feed the rain runoff into the river. Susan had been the one to come up with it. She said she’d read all about the sewage system for a class project in high school.

We’d stashed glow sticks and charged flashlights in readiness. I handed out a couple of the luminescent bars to each person and we started down the tunnel away from the river. Hector led the way and I brought up the rear. Claire kept looking back to make sure I was close and reached out a hand for me to hold as we followed everyone else.

A warm glow traveled up my arm as I held her hand. I couldn’t believe we’d gotten away with it. I wondered what those men were thinking now, would Big Jake give up quickly, or would he harass our every move. From what I’d seen, he didn’t seem to be the kind of person to give up easily.

Everyone was quiet. The only sound was the gentle splashing through the small stream flowing along the bottom of the giant pipe. We’d gone about two hundred yards into the tunnel when I heard a man’s yell behind us. The sound funneled through the sewer like a megaphone. Everyone froze in place then looked at me, waiting for directions. “Go,” I hissed. Claire dropped my hand and started shepherding the others into a jog. I held back and unslung my bow.
They weren’t supposed to have found us this fast. I didn’t have a contingency plan for this and hesitated while I tried to figure out what to do.

A yellow flash exploded through the dark just before a deafening boom rocketed down the tunnel. I flinched and realized he was firing a gun at us. Our green glow sticks and white flashlights were beacons announcing our whereabouts to the world as they bounced up and down while the kids jogged away into the darkness. I knew he was too far away for an arrow. Taking a deep breath I remained in place until they turned a corner and I was able to breathe again. I couldn’t see anything from behind us. I knew the men were there and decided there was nothing to be gained by sticking around so I took off after the kids. Turning the corner white lights danced ahead. Again they waited for me to catch up

“Is everyone OK?” I asked

Claire was kneeling by Jenny and looked at me like her world had just ended. “She’s been shot,” Claire said, pulling her hand away to show me the blood.

My god, she’s only nine years old I thought. It wasn’t right. I joined Claire down next to the little girl. Her face was chalky white and eyes kept rolling back into her head. The eerie green glow from the sticks made everything look fake, and unreal. The blood didn’t look like it came from a person.

“What do we do,” I asked, confused and hesitant.

Claire looked at me, just as lost. It made me feel week and angry. I could feel myself getting royally pissed off. What right did they have coming here and chasing us down into holes like rats? Shooting little girls, taking away everything we’d built. I hated them to the bottom of my soul and swore I would get them back for this.

“Come on Hector, you lead the way and take as many turns as possible, you got the map right?” I said as I reached down and lifted Jenny into my arms. “Hold on little one,” I whispered into her
ear. Claire pulled out some bandages and quickly wrapped them around her stomach.

“Yeah, I know what to do compadre,” he said, trying to reassure everyone that things were going to be fine.

We started jogging. No one said a word but we were making a lot of noise. It couldn’t be avoided.

We must have ran a couple of miles, Ellen was starting to falter so Claire scoped her up and continued to jog. The sewer began to get smaller and I had to start ducking my head to avoid the ceiling. The sewer became tighter and closed in on us like a squeezed tube of toothpaste. We had to be far enough away so that when we popped out that there wasn’t any chance of being detected.

When I thought we’d lost our pursuers, I called a halt and let everyone catch their breath. Susan relieved Claire of Ellen and sat on the edge of the curved concrete. Those that weren’t sitting down were bent over with their hands on their knees. An active life of scrounging and hunting made for a pretty fit body but three miles running through dank, dungy sewers while being chased by enraged gunmen would test anyone.

Milky pale green face stared at me, waiting.  “I think it’s time we headed up. I don’t know about you guys, I feel like I’m slowly being crushed in here,” I said.

They smiled and nodded their heads in agreement. Suddenly, without warning a huge rat scurried between Margaret’s feet, its naked tail sliding across her ankle as he ran down into the dark tunnel. She screamed and tried to crawl up the side of the pipe then screamed again in frustration when she couldn’t get away fast enough. The sound wave echoed off the walls and back towards our chasers.

Claire pulled her into a hug and tried to quiet her down. Hector jumped up the ladder and looped a leg around the rail so he could use both hands to push the cover out of the way. It made a
scrapping metallic sound as I slid it back. Sticking his head gingerly through the hole he looked around.

My eyes had to adjust to the blinding light coming down through the round hole. Hector stuck his head back down and said “We’re close, the Mountain lions warehouse is a couple of blocks to the east.  He scooted out the hole and I followed him, gripping the ladder with one hand while I held onto Jenny. 

The area appeared deserted with no signs of life anywhere. I looked down; everyone was waiting anxiously for my all clear. Ellen especially looked harried and obviously couldn’t wait to get out there.

Without thinking my hand gestured for her to come up. She didn’t need my help as she flew up the ladder and out of the tunnel. Hector kept the ladder lit with his flashlight, then stuck his head back in and scanned the bottom of the sewer to make sure we hadn’t left anything behind.

The boys muscled the lid back into place and stood to face the others. I gestured to an apartment building across the street.

It was one of the newer brick buildings with a front door that wasn’t controlled by an electric lock and a buzzer system. No electricity meant no lock. The lobby was as dark as a mausoleum. Dark and quiet. Susan walked to the first door and twisted the knob to see if it was locked or not. She shot me a surprised look when it twisted in her hand. Holding a hand up she gestured for everyone to back off and slowly stepped inside.

We could see her tip toeing into the center of what looked like the living room, looking around. Holding up her hand again, she moved into one of the other rooms and came out smiling. “All clear, no one’s here,” She said waving for us to come in then looked at me and gently shook her head letting me know the place was clear of dead bodies.

I think each of us, except for maybe Ellen and Jenny could tell when a body had been laying around in a closed apartment or house
for a while. The smell might be significantly less after five years, but it seeped into the walls and never went away. We hadn’t smelt it here, it’d been the first thing I checked, but still, it was nice to know for sure.

I gently laid Jenny on the big double bed in the master bedroom and Claire started her healing miracle stuff. The little girl was awake now and didn’t look in as much shock as she should have. I on the other hand was covered in her blood and felt queasy thinking about it. Excusing myself and letting her know I’d be right back, I stepped into the bathroom to wash myself using bottled water and changed into new cloths from the skin out.

When I came back in, Jenny had passed out and Claire was cleaning the wound in her side with peroxide before she applied some bandages. She turned to me and weekly smiled. “I think she’s going to be all right. She lost a lot of blood, I don’t think it hit anything important. I just don’t know,” she said, shaking her head.

Everyone in the other room relaxed when I passed along Claire’s news. They plopped down on the couch and big lazy-boy or pulled out dining room chairs to rest on. It seemed like everyone wanted to talk at the same time. The energy and excitement poured out of them as if released from a fire hose.

Schick/Shuck told Hector about their bricks while he was trying to describe the effects of his electrical wire in the water. Susan and Margaret were giggling and fake arguing over what sound a bowling ball made when it tumbled down a flight of stairs and whose trash can had done the most damage.

I caught Claire’s eye and motioned for her join me outside in the hallway. She gently placed Ellen next to Susan who looked up questioningly until she saw me getting ready to step outside she smiled at Claire “I got her,” she said as she put her arm around the little girl and brought her into a sisterly hug. Claire sighed and joined me in the hall.

We immediately came together and held each other. My heart was being squeezed as I soaked up her warmth and comfort while I gently kissed the top of her head. I fought an overwhelming urge to pull her into another apartment and make love until all this mess was gone. I wanted it so bad it hurt.

I think she could tell what I was feeling because her arms squeezed me tight. Leaning back a little she looked into my eyes as if she could read my mind, a secret smile crossed her face as she waited for me to make the next move.

“I don’t know what to do next,” I said.

Her forehead crinkled in a confused frown as she shook her head. “Do next?”

I realized she didn’t know if I was talking about Big Jake or about her and me. I’d thought I was talking about Big Jake, now I wasn’t so sure. “I didn’t… I mean we can’t stay here forever, we aren’t set up for it,” I said. “We’ve abandoned our home and all our supplies to them.”

Her frown changed from confused to a disappointment. Gathering herself she said, “Kris, you were amazing, it was like you knew exactly how they’d react at every step of the way. If it hadn’t been for you, we’d be their prisoners and no telling what would be happening to us,” she said as she shuddered thinking about it.

“Yea, tell that to Jenny,” I said. “But what next?” I added.

“We wait until they leave then move back into our place,” she said, her eyes searching mine.

“Claire, I don’t think you understand, we haven’t resolved anything, they’ll just come back and next time they won’t be surprised. We got lucky this time, next time, they’ll pick us off one by one.”

“Kris, can’t you relax even for a moment, enjoy your success, I am so proud of you. Don’t you see it?” She said with a little scared look on her face. I think she knew what was coming and didn’t want me to say it.

“Claire, we can’t ignore it. I have to go back and see if I can end this.”

"No Way,” she cried, emphatically shaking her head.

“You guys stay here, it should be a good place to hole up. Don’t let anyone outside, there should be enough food in the building to keep you going for a while.”

She stepped back away from me and said, “Didn’t you hear me, I said No Way! You can’t go back there, what, are you going to attack twenty gunmen armed with nothing but a bow and arrow and an old machete. Come on Kris, you’re not crazy like that, I couldn’t feel this way about you if you were crazy like that.” She stood there glaring at me, daring me to contradict her.

My insides jumped around like a drop of water on a hot griddle.  It made me feel good to hear her mention caring about me. I knew that facing what I was going to have to face would be easier because I knew this now.

We’d eliminated about six or seven men from the group, either killed or severely wounded. I remembered the man clutching the arrow in his gut and remembered the man falling off the zip line and the sound he made hitting the street. There was the one I shot in the leg at the beginning, and the one that fell with the fire escape and the man electrocuted by Hector’s set up, I had to assume they were injured and out of action, plus the man bleeding in the street from Schick/Shuck’s bricks. I counted five for sure and maybe as many as seven. And who knew, maybe the bowling balls got some more.

“I have to leave now, and I want to do it without a bunch of mushy goodbyes. So if you….” Before I could finish Claire turned back into the apartment and slammed the door in my face. The anger and sense of betrayal I saw in her eyes made me sick.

I wanted to follow her, to forget, to say I’m sorry. I knew if I did then it’d truly be a betrayal. Big Jake would get her and the others. I couldn’t let that happen even if it meant she hated me.

It physically hurt to leave them. My muscles were tight and unwilling to move and my guts clenched in spasms whenever I thought about what they’d done to Jenny. I prayed to my parent’s god that Claire could make her all better. No little girl should have to go through what she was experiencing. The look of pain and lost innocence on her face was too hurtful and so wrong.