All Is Silence - Deserted Lands #1

Chapter 32 - Part III

Zach's hands were cold, but he couldn’t wear gloves and pull a trigger. Though he wondered if he would be able to do any better with frozen fingers.

Duke nudged his arm and motioned with his hands. I’ll go left. You go right.

Zach nodded. He hustled around the van as quiet as he could. Two men with guns guarded the third under the hood. There were shadows huddled inside the van: Lizzie, Mannie and Jess. Seemed a little crowded for three people, so there were probably more guards inside.

Zach recognized the clothes of the man under the hood: Carter, the Bossman. He pressed the muzzle of his rifle to the man’s neck. “Turn around really slow. We’ve got you covered.”

The van door opened.

“Call off your dogs, Carter,” Zach ordered, pointing the rifle at Carter’s chest.

“Shit!” Carter turned to face him. “Stupid kid. This is all I need! Stand down, men.”

Two men walked toward them with hands over their heads. Duke followed fanning his gun back and forth.

“Zach!” It was Lizzie’s voice.

“Saving your ass again, sweetheart.”

“Kid,” Carter said, “put down the gun and let me get this van fixed. We’re worried about bigger fish. You should be, too.”

“Independents,” Lizzie said.

Zach nodded, keeping his rifle pointed straight at the older man’s gut. “We don’t need your van. I’ll be taking the Tank back. Besides, you can fix your van once we’re gone.”

“You’d leave me here to die from the cold or the Independents?”

“Not my problem.” Zach shrugged.

Lizzie hopped out of the van. “Zach, he came back for me when he could have left…”

“Fucking enough, Lizzie,” Zach growled. “Listen to me for once. This guy isn’t some dog trapped inside a house. He has been doing his best to put us in cages. We’ll go our way and let him go his.”

A strong-looking, dark-skinned man in a uniform hopped down into the snow, quirking an eyebrow in amusement at Zach. The expression was one Lizzie had shot him any number of times. This could only be Mannie. “Kid knows what he’s talking about, Elizabeth.”

“Dad, this is Zach.”

Zach nodded at Mannie. “Sir.”

“Mannie, please.” He patted down Carter and told him, “Get inside the van.”

Carter glared, but got in.

Jess and a woman Lizzie called BeeGee joined them out in the snow along with two more Collectors from inside the van. Once they were disarmed, Mannie picked out his own gun and helped herd them all back inside the van.

Lizzie jingled keys she had lifted from Carter’s pocket. “The Tank is back in service.” She handed them to Zach.

Zach glanced around; the wind had gotten biting cold. “We have a hybrid parked a ways back. Who’s going to drive what?” Zach glanced around at the new crew.

“You take Jess and BeeGee in the Tank; bet you miss it.” Lizzie smiled. “Dad, Duke, and I will take the Hybrid.”

“Yeah.”

“Okay.” Mannie motioned with the rifle in his hands. “You folks stay in the van. I’m going to walk backwards down the hill. If I see a door open before we’re gone, I shoot.” With that he slammed the van door shut.

Zach climbed into the Tank. Jess and BeeGee climbed in the back. He pulled forward and turned it around. Then he rolled the window down, driving slowly. Lizzie and Duke walked alongside as he rolled, the snow crunching under the tires. Mannie did as he promised, keeping an eye on the van.

It felt good to be behind the wheel of the Tank again. He rapped his fingers on the cracked dashboard. He had Lizzie, Mannie, and Jess. In minutes he’d be back with Nev and everything would be fine. He was riding a high.

Lizzie’s arm shot out, pointing. “What’s that?”

Lights moving further down the highway caught Zach’s eyes.

“Shit,” Duke snarled, “That’s my truck.”

Zach leaned out the window. “God dammit. They’ve got Nev. And Saj and Charley!”

Lizzie spun around. “What do we do?”

Another truck spit snow behind Duke’s truck. Zach sighed. “Surrender. Again. Shit.”

When the trucks got close Zach could see the blond surfer dude, one hand on the steering wheel, one hand aiming a gun at Nev beside him in the passenger seat. Rachael cowered with Saj in the back seat. The trucks pulled to a stop and a window unrolled in the rear truck. Charley’s head poked out, and Zach could see a couple other men bristling with guns behind him.

“I’m sorry, Lizzie,” Charley called. “I was just keeping lookout.”

“It’s all right, Charley,” Lizzie called. “Odds were long anyway. You okay?”

“Yeah. Just scared.”

Blondie rolled down his window. “Everybody back to the van.”

Zach could tell Lizzie was pissed.

“Fuck off, Travis,” Lizzie glared at him. Don’t go ballistic now. Not while he has a gun on Nev. Lizzie took a deep breath and turned to trudge back up the slope.

Zach sighed, releasing the brake and driving backward uphill. They got us all but Spike. He watched the white RAV, half expecting Spike to come out and run after them.