Dead Center, page 20
part #2 of Nemesis Series
“It’s okay, you can do it,” Lexi softly said.
Anxiety began to well up in Ava; she tore her gaze from Lexi and again looked down at the pistol.
“Go ahead. Just let Sasha be. She had nothing to do with it,” Lexi urged.
August heard Lexi, turned and asked, “What did you say?” He saw Ava with her gun in her hand, only a foot away from Lexi. “Ava, what are you doing? I want to take her back, let her feel the pain. Just simply killing her now would be mercy. This woman doesn’t deserve mercy.”
Ava couldn’t hear August; she kept staring at the pistol. Flashes from her childhood came, all of them without her mother or father. In fact, she couldn’t really remember any real memory with them no matter how hard she tried. She could barely recall the evening they died even though she had conjured up images that were really imprinted on her from stories she’d been told. The irony was, the only people alive today who had been there were her and Lexi. Even though her memories were mostly false, her anger and emotions were real.
“I didn’t want to kill your brother or your mother. I didn’t have a choice,” Lexi said.
“Why did you kill them?” Ava asked.
“I was defending myself,” Lexi replied.
“Against my brother?”
“He…he was going to shoot me; it was either him or my baby,” Lexi said.
“Ava, put the gun down. I want to take her back; everyone needs to see what happens when—” August howled.
Finally giving him some attention. Ava snapped, “Everyone already knows what happens when they cross a Clancy.”
“Ava, put the gun down,” August ordered.
Turning to Lexi once again, Ava asked, “Why were at my house that night?”
“I was captured by your father. I’d killed his brother, your uncle,” Lexi answered.
“See, Ava, she needs to come back and face the penalty. She can’t be shown mercy by simply killing her.”
Without taking her eyes off Lexi, Ava said, “You’ve been telling me all my life that I would be able to kill her, that if we found her, I could do it. Now you want to take her back, for what? So you can torture her?”
“She deserves to be,” August barked. “She murdered your family, my brothers.”
“You just killed your own brother,” Ava snapped at him.
“I didn’t pull the trigger. No, you can’t lay that on me. He knew what happens when you double-cross our clan. He made a choice and broke the code. He had it coming to him.”
“You sicken me,” Ava growled. “I need to know. I need to know why she killed my family.”
“I killed your uncle because he was trying to rape a woman, an innocent woman. I intervened, that’s all. Your father and others tortured me, told me that they’d keep me alive long enough to have Sasha; then they’d take her from me. I couldn’t let that happen,” Lexi confessed.
“Uncle Michael was raping a woman?” Ava asked, shocked. “Is this true?” she asked turning to August.
“She’s a liar,” August spat.
“Then why was she there?” Ava asked, not finding truth in August’s words.
“Because she murdered your uncle. Now please, put the pistol down and let us take her back to Truckee along with her daughter when we capture her.”
“It’s true, all true,” Lexi said.
Turing back to Lexi, Ava said, “It’s also true that you are the one responsible for killing my family.”
“I had no choice.”
“Everyone has a choice,” Ava said.
“You’re right, everyone does. And right now you have a choice, you can shoot me down; I’d say I’d accept that for killing a child. I’d never done that before; didn’t’ think I could, but when faced with him shooting me and killing Sasha in my belly, I couldn’t let that happen.”
“You killed my family so that you could get away?” Ava asked.
“You were so little, you don’t remember; but I begged them to just let me leave, but they wouldn’t,” Lexi said.
“She’s lying, Ava,” August barked.
Shifting her gaze back to August, Ava asked, “You want to torture her for what she did, and her daughter too?”
“I don’t know what we’ll do to the daughter,” August answered.
“She’s innocent, you know that,” Ava said.
He shook his head in disbelief. “Ava, no one is innocent in this world.”
“That’s not true,” Lexi said.
“You shut up!” August barked.
“She’s right. Some people are innocent. Sasha didn’t ask to be her daughter. She never wronged me or you for that matter. I also agree that what you did was horrible, you shot down my brother. He never got a chance to grow up, never got a chance to live his life.”
“And for that, I’m sorry, you must believe me. But I’m here, I’m ready to accept my fate. In fact, I’ve been ready for a long time,” Lexi confessed.
“Ava, don’t you dare shoot her,” August ordered.
“No one deserves to be tortured. In fact…” Ava sighed and thought about her next decision, as it would be one of the most powerful and important in her life.
“Ava, don’t you shoot her. Don’t do it!” August threatened.
“For so many years I imagined this day, and imagined how I’d handle this. I thought I’d be okay with putting a gun to your head and just shooting you. That your death would satisfy me. Then I met you; I met Sasha. I hear what you’ve said about why you were there, and I do believe you.”
“Ava!” August screamed, his veins bulging in his neck and forehead.
Ava took a gulp, blinked heavily and said, “I forgive you. I don’t want to kill you. I don’t want this hate anymore. It’s consumed me for my entire life and to what end? My parents are never coming back, and when I learn more about them, I’m not sure I would have liked them. Knowing my dad tortured people or was okay with my uncle raping women. What sort of people do that? Just because some people changed in the world doesn’t mean we all do. Why do we have to lower ourselves to that lesser being? Thing is, we don’t have to.”
August’s face turned red as rage built in him.
“What I’m sorry to say, though, is you’re not going to survive this,” Ava said to Lexi.
“I know that,” Lexi replied, her tone signaling she was content with the outcome.
“Ava, don’t make me stop you, don’t,” August blared as he pulled out a pistol and took aim on Ava. “Just toss the pistol aside.
“You’re willing to shoot me, dear uncle. I thought you considered me your daughter, yet here you are about to end my life because I’m thinking about not letting this poor woman suffer under you?” Ava spat.
“Just drop the pistol,” August barked.
Looking at August, Ava said, “You once asked me if I’d do what was right if I ever met the woman who killed my family. My answer hasn’t changed. I will do the right thing.” Without further hesitation, Ava quickly lifted the pistol, but turned and aimed it at August.
August’s eyes widened with shock.
Ava pulled the trigger. A round exploded from the muzzle and smashed into his chest. He groaned and fell backwards; on his way to the ground, he too pulled the trigger of his pistol. It fired and hit Ava in the stomach.
On the ground, grunting in pain, August squirmed to get up.
Everyone looked on, flabbergasted by what had just occurred.
Lexi slowly made her way to Ava, who was groaning in pain. Using her only good arm, she tried to help, but the wound was bad. The bullet hit her just below the xiphoid process and exited out her back, severing her spine on the way.
“Get away from her, bitch!” August spat and raised his pistol at Lexi.
◆◆◆
Sasha’s hands trembled and her breathing became shallow. She spotted her mom, then saw August raise his pistol. If there was ever a time to engage, it was now. To hell with it, she thought. With a steady squeeze, she let one round go. It quickly traveled to the relatively short distance and ended its journey by punching a hole through August’s head. He toppled over dead.
Branches cracked below her. She glanced and saw three men struggling to climb the steep slope.
She took aim on the first man she saw and squeezed the trigger. She pivoted to the next man and fired. Both men dropped where they stood. She spun to a third she saw scaling the hillside, took a quick aim and squeezed. The 5.56 mm round exploded out of the barrel and struck him in the chest. The man fell backwards, disappearing into brush. One by one, she found her targets and kept dropping them until she couldn’t see any more coming towards her.
Several rounds impacted around her, sending bark and shards of rock in all directions.
She dropped down behind the boulder, sighted in the first person she saw and let the round fly.
The man fell dead.
With laser precision, she adjusted, acquired a new target and fired, again downing another man. She was moving fast and with more efficiency than Lexi ever had. In the span of a minute she had killed six people.
More rounds impacted around her, one grazing the fabric on her shoulder.
She took a few more shots, taking out three more people, but had to stop when a volley of bullets rained down on her location, all nearly missing her. She took cover behind the boulder and thought about her next move. They knew where she was, but more importantly she knew her mother was down there somewhere, and she needed to get to her as fast as possible. She had engaged in the fight and wouldn’t stop until she saved her mother, killed everyone, or died herself.
She replayed all the shots she’d taken and did the quick math. She had a little over a half magazine left in her thirty-round magazine. She recalled that about twenty-some feet downslope was another rock outcropping, all she needed to do was make her way there, but as she went, she’d have to be fighting.
Taking in a deep breath, she hopped to her feet, leapt over the boulder and sprinted for the rocks below.
◆◆◆
With Sasha keeping everyone busy, Lexi tried to provide aid and comfort to Ava as best she could considering her own condition.
“I do forgive you,” Ava said, her voice weak.
“Thank you, but let’s focus on getting you taken care of,” Lexi said as she applied pressure to the wound.
Ava touched Lexi’s arm and squeezed. “Go, just go.”
“No.”
“I deserve this; my family deserves this. We’re corrupt, rotten,” Ava said, her voice fading.
“I’m going to help you. Now just shut up. Save your strength,” Lexi said as a wave of vertigo hit her too.
“I’m cold…I can’t feel my legs,” Ava said. “I can’t feel my legs.”
Gunfire and the yells of August’s men filled their ears. Lexi kept pressing, but she now knew it was fruitless, and the pool of blood widened underneath Ava.
“Go, go find her, please,” Ava said, her eyes starting to shut.
“You stay with me, you hear,” Lexi said.
Ava couldn’t, she was fading and she knew it.
“Don’t die,” Lexi said, her voice now cracking with emotion.
Using her last ounce of strength, Ava reached up and touched Lexi’s face. “I forgive you,” she exhaled. Her arm dropped to the side.
“Ava,” Lexi said and gave her a shake.
It was over. Ava was dead.
“I’m sorry I killed your brother. I’m so sorry,” Lexi said. Overcome by a combination of pain, fatigue and vertigo, Lexi fell over. She stared at Ava’s face, her eyes half open. “I’m sorry.”
◆◆◆
From her new position, Sasha was systemically killing anyone that came into view. She spun to engage movement to her right, only to feel the searing pain of a bullet graze her neck. She recoiled and dropped below the rock for cover.
With her left hand, she touched the wound and pulled her hand back to see it covered in blood. She let out a grunt of anger and pain. Giving herself a count of three, she popped back up, found the target, and squeezed off one more round. Like the others, her aim was true and the man dropped dead.
She turned and looked down towards the cabin. On the ground near the front she spotted August, Ava and her mother all lying close together, none of them moving.
“Mom?” she asked loudly.
A bullet whizzed by her head.
She quickly acquired the target, fired and put him down.
Cries of men in the distance caused her to look to the left, and there she saw the remaining men fleeing. Giving the area below and to her right another look, she found that everyone was gone or dead. With August, their leader, now deceased, what did they have to fight for anymore. With the area now clear, she climbed over the boulder and raced down the slope. She prayed she’d find her mother alive.
It took what felt like forever but in reality just a minute to reach Lexi. She dropped to her knees and turned her mother’s lifeless body over. “Mom.”
No reply.
Shaking Lexi, Sasha emotionally cried out, “Mom!”
Lexi shuddered and opened her eyes. “You don’t listen.”
Tears streamed down Sasha’s face. “I was never good at that.”
“Did we win?”
“Yeah, we beat the bad guys,” Sasha replied.
“Looks like I trained well,” Lexi quipped.
“That you did, that you did.”
AUGUST 3, 2030
“Death comes to all, but great achievements build a monument which shall endure until the sun grows cold.” —Ralph Waldo Emerson
TAHOE NATIONAL FOREST, REPUBLIC OF CALIFORNIA
Blood.
The more Lexi kept coughing, the more blood came up.
Frantic and fearful, Sasha watched her mother’s condition worsen. As the seconds turned to minutes and then to hours, Lexi coughed up greater amounts of blood, and her right side was a deep purple and swollen.
“Underneath my cot, there’s a box,” Lexi said, her voice weak.
Familiar with the box, Sasha pulled it out and set it on the edge of the cot.
“Open it,” Lexi said.
Doing as she was told, Sasha opened the lid and peered inside to find an assortment of items from her childhood. She first removed a small piece of granite. It was not anything special but one that she had played with so often as a child. She couldn’t recall why she had, but she did and for some nostalgic reason, Lexi had kept it. Beneath that were stacks of paper with drawings of her, Lexi, trees, clouds, animals, you name it, all done between the ages of two and eight. “You kept all this stuff?”
“Of course I did,” Lexi smiled.
“Why?”
Taking Sasha’s left hand into her right, Lexi squeezed gently. “Because you’re my baby and anything you do is beautiful.”
“But these are bad drawings.”
“No, they’re not, they’re masterpieces,” Lexi said before coughing up a large amount of blood.
“Mom, I need to take you to Truckee. We can make it,” Sasha said.
“No, I want to stay here,” Lexi insisted.
“But you’re getting worse.”
“Honey, I’ve been through worse. I’ll be fine,” Lexi lied.
“Dig into the bottom of the box,” Lexi ordered.
Rummaging until she reached the bottom, Sasha pulled out what felt like a pamphlet or something. When she saw it, she read what it said, “Map of the Northwestern United States.” She gave Lexi a look and asked, “What’s the map for?”
“After I’m gone—”
“Stop, you’re not going anywhere,” Sasha insisted.
“I’ll put it this way, if something happens to me, go to a town in Idaho named McCall. There you’ll ask for a man, his name is Gordon Van Zandt. He will help you.”
“I don’t need him. I need you.”
“Can you promise me that you’ll go there if something happens to me?”
“Can we stop this talk?”
“Promise me.”
“Fine, I promise.”
“Now where are you to go?”
“McCall, Idaho.”
“And who are you to see?”
“Gordon Van Zandt.”
“Good and don’t forget it. Keep that map. The town is circled. You’ll see it on there.”
“How do you know this Van Zandt person?”
“He and I have had some things in common, as well as our paths crossed for reasons I’ll never understand. He was also a prisoner during the time I was with Rahab. We then crossed paths in Oregon and both went to go kill that madman. There have also been other times, but I’ll just say that he’s a good man, you can trust him. He’ll take care of you.”
“Okay, I got it,” Sasha growled.
“Did I ever tell you about when you were born?”
“Only a thousand times, but please don’t let me stop you from one thousand and one,” Sasha quipped.
“If you were to meet me before I had you, you would have thought I’d be the last person to have a child. I mean I literally didn’t ever want to have children, and I feared that the second you were born, I’d get bored and move on. But the second I held you, I fell in love. I knew I’d do anything for you. I’d even kill for you.”
“Which you did.”
“But you were so beautiful, such a little angel. That’s what Anna would say, she’d say you were a little angel, and the fact is, you were. The way you’d coo or move your mouth when you were a baby was the cutest thing I’d ever seen.”
Unbeknownst to Lexi, blood behind to drool from the side of her mouth.
Grabbing a hand towel, Sasha wiped it up. “Mom, I need to do something about your side. It’s really bad.”
“Oh, it doesn’t hurt that bad.” Lexi chuckled before coughing loudly. Blood oozed from her mouth and onto a towel. “Oops.”
“Let me go get another towel,” Sasha said.
“No, just sit with me. Actually can you lie with me?” Lexi requested.
