Veil of Destruction (Kessler Effect Book 3), page 9
“He’s betting we won’t.” Dylan scowled at the wall, at the man on the other side of the wall. “I really don’t like that guy.”
“I never thought we could take the horses all the way into Dallas anyway,” Keme said. “I was worried about where to leave them. Worried that even if we had a place, they’d be stolen. Here, they’ll be safe. No one’s getting past the choke point.”
Akule rolled her eyes. Stupid paramilitary prick. Who was he to decide who would live and who would die? Who was he to play God?
And then Stella’s words came back to her.
Life is hard, but God is good.
She still didn’t know if she believed that. But here was an opportunity to get to Paco quickly. An opportunity she never would have guessed they’d be presented with.
“It won’t be easy,” she said. “But we still have other things to trade. Maybe we could find transportation back. Thirty days is a long time.”
If they found Paco quickly.
If they could find anyone to trade with.
If, for once, things turned in their direction.
Keme lowered his voice even more, so that Akule had to step closer, as did Dylan. I felt like they were standing in a kind of huddle, heads bent, bodies close, hearts striving and reaching and set on the same goal.
“His weakness is his arrogance,” Keme said. “And what does he have to lose? A month’s worth of feed, of which I’m betting he has plenty.”
“Do you think we can trust him to keep his word?” Dylan sounded doubtful.
“Yeah. People like Douglas Perkins, they’re big on keeping their word. Even when it means turning away sick children.”
Akule thought her father was right about that. Douglas Perkins considered himself to be a good man. A righteous man. A guy who was nearly always the smartest person in the room. “He’ll want a backup plan. He won’t just hand the horses and saddles over even if we do get back within the thirty days. He’ll find some way to make it hard on us. Some obscure clause in the agreement.”
“You’re probably right. We’ll allow him to think he’s holding all the cards, but we’ll prepare for what you’re describing. We’ll bring back something else that he needs. For now, we’ll lie if we have to. We’ll promise whatever he wants, and we’ll get Paco and Claire and the kids here. From here, it’s only two weeks to Alpine. We could be home by February.”
Home by February.
Those words were too optimistic to even entertain, but what if her father was right? Akule could imagine the joy on Tanda’s face, the tears in her grandparents’ eyes. She could clearly see her brother and his family living in one of Alpine’s vacated homes. Then she thought of Tanda and Logan and Stan Makowski who was in charge of patrols.
“We need to remember that Alpine needs all three horses, and Fiona belongs to the Scotts. We’re gambling with our town’s resources here.”
“That’s true.” Her dad crossed his arms and stared out the window, then returned his gaze to her and Dylan. “We were entrusted with all three horses and the mule in order to bring back Paco and his family.”
“The saddles themselves are a precious commodity,” Dylan added.
“You’re right. You’re both right. We’ll do everything in our power to return Fiona and to arrive back in Alpine with Texas Lady, Amber, and Daisy. But the Scotts and Stan knew the risks when they gave us the animals to use. They understood how bad it could get out here.”
They must have looked like three people worrying over the most critical of decisions. And they were. But something had changed since they’d walked out into the sunroom. The possibility of what could happen had broken over the horizon. The possibility of seeing her brother in twenty-four hours had infused Akule with a crazy kind of energy. She knew it wouldn’t be that easy. Knew it could take days or even weeks to locate him. But they’d be closer if they accepted Perkins’ challenge. They’d be much closer.
“I’m in,” Dylan said.
She suspected he wanted revenge for the wound on the back of his head. And Akule wanted revenge too. She wanted the good guys to win for once. And there was no doubt in her mind that they were the good guys. They were on the right side of things.
So she said the only thing she could say. “I’m in.”
Her father slapped Dylan on the back and pulled her into a hug and then pulled Dylan into the same hug. And Akule felt safe. She felt connected. She felt like they could do this. Together, they could do this.
As one, they turned and walked back toward Douglas.
It was time to make a trade.
Chapter 10
Franklin was there to see them off. “I’m sorry about how this all played out.”
“None of what happened was your fault,” Keme said.
And it wasn’t. Franklin hadn’t instructed someone to clock Dylan. He certainly hadn’t told his father-in-law to be a ruthless negotiator. Nope Franklin was simply caught up in something that he didn’t know how to extricate himself from.
“You know you can always come back to Alpine. You’d be welcome there. We need good people like you.”
The last sentence landed on Franklin like a punch. Keme and Franklin had never been terribly close. They’d been neighbors that waved at one another occasionally, once in a great while they’d sat outside together, complaining about slow internet and the price of groceries. But when Keme said that Franklin could come back to Alpine, would be welcome there, would be needed there. . . when he said those words Franklin had wrapped him in a bear hug, whispered, “Be careful,” then walked off toward his small home.
The horse trailer left at eleven p.m. that night.
Douglas Perkins was not transporting horses.
Instead, the trailer was packed with square bales of hay. A small space in the middle had been left open for Keme, Akule, and Dylan. There was barely enough room for their bodies and their packs. Once they had climbed into the trailer, more bales of hay had been packed between them and the back door.
The truck was moving.
They’d be in Dallas in less than five hours.
Two men and a woman were riding in the cab of the truck. They all wore military fatigues—digital camo pattern, which was reputed to work well in any environment—desert, woodland. . . urban. Keme wondered if that was intentional. If someone higher up had decided that was the perfect camouflage for the challenges they faced. Or maybe it was simply what had been available in the barracks.
“Feels strange to be riding in a vehicle.” Akule was perched on a half stack of hay bales. “Feels wicked.”
She wiggled her eyebrows and Dylan laughed.
These two.
They bounced back from life’s challenges. Akule and Dylan reminded Keme of giant beach balls that were occasionally pushed underwater. Nearly impossible to keep down. Full of life. Full of fight. Keme envied them their tenacity. He did not envy their inexperience, and make no mistake—both were naïve. In spite of what they’d already been through. In spite of the lifeless bodies in the abandoned vehicles, the need to make a wide arc around Sanderson, Dylan’s concussion, the coldness of Douglas Perkins.
In spite of all of those things, they could smile.
That, in turn, made him smile.
“What are you grinning at?” Dylan laughed when Keme made a who-me gesture. “Yeah, you. You’re grinning. I saw it.”
“It’s nice to be making good time for once.”
The game clock had started. They had thirty days to find Paco and his family and make their way back to Camp Perkins. After thirty days, the animals became the property of Douglas Perkins, and they were all determined that would not happen.
“I’m surprised he went for it,” Akule said. “Guess you were right, Dad. The guy’s arrogant.”
“Yeah, but what’s up with the bring him something command? Bring him something. Like what? What exactly are we supposed to bring him? I know what I’d like to bring him.” Dylan closed his hand in a fist.
Akule laughed.
Yeah, their adrenaline was pumping.
They needed to slow it down. Save the surge of energy for when they needed it, and Keme suspected they would need it.
“We’ll find something,” Keme said, sounding more certain than he felt. “I have no idea what, but we’ll find something. He’ll return our animals and our saddles. And we’ll ride home to Alpine.”
If only.
What was the expression his abuela used to say? From your lips to God’s ears.
“Think our drivers are actually with the military?” Akule asked.
“Could be.” Keme shrugged. “I guess it doesn’t really matter. Maybe not what you and I think of Uncle Sam’s military, but they’re at least a part of some military. Or paramilitary.”
“What does that word even mean?”
“Civilians organized in a military fashion.” When Akule stared at Dylan in surprise he added, “Video games. You know. Old world.”
“Yeah.”
Which seemed to sober them up.
“We should try to get some sleep.” Keme repositioned his backpack, which was digging into his sciatica causing a pain to creep down his leg. He turned his mind away from it. Closed his eyes. He could still hear Akule and Dylan talking in soft voices. Remembering times they’d been to Dallas. Wondering what it looked like now. Speculating on whether the city itself was still intact. Considering and dismissing ideas for how they were going to find Paco.
The rock of the trailer and the rhythm of tires against pavement and the events of the last two weeks pushed Keme from energetic anticipation into a deep sleep. He woke when the trailer jerked to a sudden stop. Scrubbing a hand over his face, he peered through the darkness at Akule and Dylan. They looked as confused as he felt.
Dylan was peering over one set of hay bales, out the small window, into the darkness.
Akule was doing the same on the opposite side of the trailer.
Keme moved to join them. Then, at the sound of voices, they all froze.
“Armstrong isn’t letting anyone through.”
“Since when?”
“Last night. He made a big show of force.”
“We need to deliver this hay. We have paperwork.”
“Give it to me. And I’ll need to look in the back.”
Akule and Dylan silently dropped to the floor, as did Keme.
They didn’t dare to speak. Tried to quiet their breathing.
The back doors of the trailer made a squeal as they were opened. Keme held his breath, looked down at his hands, and was surprised to find he was gripping the Colt. He didn’t remember pulling it from his holster.
“Looks good.” He slammed the doors shut. “Stay here. I’ll go and radio in for an alternate route.”
It had been the driver of the truck speaking to the new person. Now he said in a low voice to one of the other two, “Better check on our passengers.”
The doors were opened again, this time slowly, gently, quietly.
It was the younger man who spoke over the bales of hay. He was redheaded, freckled, and looked impossibly young to Keme.
“Everyone okay back there?”
“We’re fine.” Keme holstered his weapon.
“Might as well come out and stretch.”
Keme motioned for the others to wait and wiggled his way through. “You’re sure it’s safe?”
“Yeah. Fowler’s headed to get an approved alternate route for us. You have a good twenty minutes before he’ll be back.”
Keme turned to tell Akule and Dylan what the kid had said, but they were already up and moving toward him.
They tumbled out of the back of the trailer like pups out of a basket and as one, they turned to stare at the red, angry glow to the north and a little east. Even from this distance, he thought he could smell the smoke.
“What is that?”
“That?” The kid pulled off his cap, crushed the bill into a more pleasing shape, and stuck it back on his head. “That’s Dallas.”
“It’s burning?” Akule pushed her way to the front of the little group.
“Yeah. It’s been burning for a long time. Weeks, I guess.”
“Why?” Dylan asked.
“How?” Keme realized they were closer to their destination than he’d thought. In fact, they were nearly to Cedar Hill. They could walk from here. Except there was the guy Armstrong, who was insisting they take another route.
“Depends on who you talk to as to who started it. There are different groups vying for control. Gangs, I guess. There’s not really any fire department anymore. No water to fight fires with. Once something goes up in flames it tends to spread.”
“So downtown is...” Akule turned to stare at him. “What is it?”
“Uninhabitable, if that’s what you’re asking.”
Keme pivoted to the northwest. “And Fort Worth?”
“Apparently it’s doing better than Dallas. Bunch of cowboys there who didn’t mind enacting marshal law quickly and completely.”
“But Dallas is burning.” Dylan looked as if he couldn’t quite wrap his mind around the idea.
“As far as we’ve heard, nearly every large city is. Course that’s mostly rumor and conjecture. I don’t know anyone who’s actually been out of Texas since June 6th.”
Keme didn’t know what to say to that. He felt as if he were going to be sick. He’d never been able to handle destruction. He hadn’t even watched violent movies. It had all seemed so pointless to him. And yeah, he thought he’d toughened up over the last six months.
Maybe not.
“If you ask me, which you didn’t, you folks would have been better off staying back where you came from.”
“We’re looking for my brother.” Akule’s voice was soft but resolute. Akule wouldn’t let a burning city stand between her and Paco.
And Keme was proud of that. He was proud that his children cared for one another. He realized that wasn’t always the case in every family. “Have you heard anything about Cedar Hill? That’s where my son used to live.”
“Heard there’s an encampment out by the lake there.” He shook his head. “My boss would like to clear those pockets out, but there’s only so much one regiment can do, and we’re working from north of the Dallas metroplex. Not from the south.”
“Why do you need the hay?” Dylan asked.
“Well, the vehicles work, but fuel is scarce. Horses have been a good supplement to our transportation problems. Not that I know how to ride one.” He laughed, then appraised Dylan. “You look like you do.”
“Yeah. I can ride a horse.”
The guy who had been driving whistled once, and the young man in front of them held up a finger. “Wait here.”
They couldn’t make out what was said.
So, they waited. It was that or run, and Keme didn’t relish the idea of running off into the darkness with Fowler running patrols and blocking roads.
It seemed to take forever, but it didn’t. Probably two to three minutes, and then they heard the distinctive sound of footsteps walking toward them again. Then redheaded kid was back. “We have a new route. If you still want to go to Cedar Hill, we can get you pretty close.”
“Thank you.” They piled back into the trailer, but this time no one slept. The driver picked up speed, now certain of his route.
Twenty minutes later they were dropped off on the west side of town.
The kid held the doors open as they made their way out of the trailer, brushing off hay and stretching out the kinks in their backs.
“We’re headed north from here,” the kid said.
“Thank you.” Keme shook his hand. “Didn’t get your name.”
“Archie. Archie Gifford, and yeah—my mom was a fan of the cartoon.”
“Thank you, Archie.” Dylan also shook his hand.
Akule did the same. “I hope you get the hay to your horses.”
“I hope you find your brother.”
“So do we, Archie. So do we.”
The trailer pulled away. The three from Alpine stood there for a moment, transfixed by the red glow on the horizon. Dallas burning. They were closer to it now. The acrid smell of uncontrolled flames filled the air. A veil of destruction draped the metroplex.
Keme had initially doubted the wisdom of their journey. He now accepted that Akule’s instincts had been correct. They needed to find Paco, Claire and the boys. They needed to take them home to Alpine.
Keme had been to visit Paco at his Cedar Hill home twice. He’d planned to go more often. He’d told himself there would be a lot of chances. Keme had told the others that Douglas Perkins was arrogant, but hadn’t they all been?
He had.
He’d thought he had all the time in the world.
It wasn’t yet dawn, but the sky was lightening.
“We could find a place to hunker down.” Keme turned in a slow circle.
They were standing at the intersection of Highway 67 and Lake Ridge Parkway. Continuing along the highway did not look like a viable route. Abandoned cars stretched as far as he could see. As for the nearby neighborhood, a few houses were close enough to see the rooftops and windows. Glass was broken out of some. Windows had been left open and drapes fluttered in the cold winter wind. In places, front doors had been left open and snow had piled up in the entryway
It seemed that nothing here was inhabited. The people who had lived here had fled. “We could go into one of those houses and rest, or we could push on. How do you two feel?”
“I’m good,” Dylan said, wincing as he pushed his cowboy hat onto his head.
“Akule?”
“Good. What about you? Did you get enough sleep?”
“I got a few winks.”
Which caused Akule and Dylan to laugh.
“You were so out before that first stop. If we’d had anything to make spit wads out of...” Dylan raised his hand, and Akule softly high-fived him, pressing the palm of her hand against his.
“But we didn’t. So you didn’t swallow any paper.”
“I’m not sure I believe you.”
“Not the question.” Akule’s tone turned serious and she gave him a severe no-nonsense look. “The question is do you feel rested?”
