Broken Ties: A Tale of Survival in a Powerless World (Broken Lines Book 3) (17 page)

              He marched them off to the woods. There was a place he would take them, his hunting spot deep within the forest. It was far enough away from the farm and town that Mike would never find their bodies. It was a spot that you couldn’t get to unless you knew where it was.

              Ken found his eyes falling onto Freddy and Sean. His mind went back to the fawn he killed as a boy, and the scolding his father gave him.

              It wouldn’t be any different than anyone else he’d killed. All he had to do was pull the trigger.

              None of them cried or begged on their march. He was impressed by it actually. He could never understand the sniveling characteristics of a beggar. All anyone had to do in life was figure out what they wanted and then take it. It was that simple. It was exactly what he was doing now.

              He had enough bullets for all of them, but for some reason, he felt exposed. It was a feeling he couldn’t shake. Something was off, but he couldn’t put his finger on it.

              Then when the first shot rang out, he realized that it wasn’t the dread of killing these people that he was feeling, but that he was being followed.

***

              When Mike heard the shots, Billy and Nelson had a hard time keeping up with him. It was a burst of energy that came out of nowhere, a primal surge that coursed through his veins.

              The firing was going back and forth. It grew louder the closer he moved. Screams echoed in between the shots. He just couldn’t tell whose screams it was.

              Mike finally saw Sam up ahead, firing and ducking behind a tree. Bullets whizzed past. Mike dropped behind a log next to Sam.

              “I thought I had a clear shot. I tripped on a goddamn rock,” Sam said, reloading a magazine into his rifle.

              “Who were you shooting at?” Mike asked.

              “The guy who had the rifle pointing at your family.”

              Mike glanced over the log, and he could see people running toward him. Katie had Sean with her, but he couldn’t see Fay, Anne, or Freddy.

              “Where’d they go?” Mike asked.

              “He ran north,” Sam said.

              “He’s heading to his hunting spot,” Billy said. “It’s where he takes his game to gut and clean before he brings it home.”

              “Show me,” Mike said.

              They were on foot for a few more minutes before they came across Fay, scanning the woods.

              “Mike?” Fay asked.

              “You all right?”

              “I’m sorry, Mike. I’m so sorry.”

              “Where’s Ann? Where’s Freddy?”

              “Ken grabbed Freddy, and Anne and I started chasing after him, but I got turned around. I don’t know where they went.”

              “It’s not much farther,” Billy said. “C’mon.”

              As Billy brought them closer to Ken’s spot they came across Anne’s body. She was unconscious on the ground, but still alive.

              “Fay, Nelson, you two make sure she’s okay. Billy, Sam, you two with me,” Mike said.

              Billy slowed down once they were close. He gathered Mike and Sam around him.

              “It’s just beyond those trees. My dad can smell an ambush coming, and right now we’re downwind. He’ll know we’re coming, so we have to be careful,” Billy said.

              Mike shoved Billy out of the way, marching forward in stubborn persistence.

              “Mike!” Billy said.

              “Ken!” Mike shouted. “Let my boy go! If you want to hurt someone, hurt me.”

              Ken’s face appeared from behind a tree. He kept his hand over Freddy’s mouth, keeping him quiet. Ken had a gun to his head with his finger on the trigger.

              “Funny, ain’t it, Mike? You had my son as a hostage, and now I’ve got yours. I just don’t know if I’m going to be as willing to let him go as you were for mine.”

              “Ken, you don’t have to do this. Please, let him go.”

              “Tell whoever you’ve got back there with you to come out, or I kill your boy right now.”

              Mike didn’t have to ask Sam or Billy to come out; they did it on their own. When Mike saw Ken’s reaction to Billy being there, he was surprised.

              There was no look of shock on Ken’s face. He just started to laugh.

              “Just couldn’t let it go, could you, boy?” Ken asked.

              “Dad, let him go. This isn’t right,” Billy said.

              “Right?” Ken shouted. “What’s right isn’t for my own son to betray me! It isn’t right for my own blood to turn against me!”

              “I’m not turning against you, Dad, but I can’t let you do this.”

              Freddy squirmed against Ken, trying to free himself, but Ken’s grip was too strong. He couldn’t get loose. Then Ken felt the tip of Kalen’s pistol on the back of his head.

              “Put the gun down,” Kalen said. “And let my brother go.”

              “Kalen?” Mike asked.

              Ken slowly raised his hands in the air, letting Freddy go and setting the pistol on the ground. Kalen walked around to face him, the gun aimed at his face. Freddy ran to his father, and Mike scooped him up.

              “Well done, girl,” Ken said.

              “Kalen, it’s okay. It’s over,” Mike said.

              Kalen only took her eyes off Ken for a second, but it was enough for him to get the drop on her. He knocked the gun from her hands and went for his pistol on the ground.

              The moment Ken had his hand on the gun and jumped up to aim at Kalen a shot rang out and Ken flew backward, a bullet tearing through his chest.

              The smoke from Billy’s rifle rose into the morning air. As quickly as he fired the shot he ran to his father.

              “Dad!”

              Ken coughed up blood. He grabbed Billy’s collar and pulled him toward him.

              “Dad, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry,” Billy said, tears streaming down his face. “Somebody help him!”

              Sam rushed over, putting pressure on the wound, but there was too much blood.

              Ken’s fingers slowly lost their grip on Billy’s shirt, and his hand went limp. Sam checked his pulse, listened for his breathing, but there was nothing. Ken was gone.

              Billy screamed. He shook his father, but nothing brought back the life in Ken’s eyes. Billy just sat there, hunched over his dad, crying.

              Mike wasn’t sure what would happen next. Billy was emotional. He could turn on the rest of the group. He walked up and picked up the rifle, so Billy couldn’t do anything rash.

              “Billy, he’s gone,” Mike said.

              Mike placed his hand on the boy’s back, and Billy shoved him off him. He kept shoving Mike’s chest, pushing him back.

              “You made me do this! This is your fault!” Billy said.

              “Billy, I know what you’re going through. I do.”

              “No, you don’t!”

              The adrenaline finally left him, and Billy fell to the ground. Mike and Sam picked him up and carried him back to the farm.

              The reports coming in from Cincinnati had been constant for the past forty-eight hours. It was something Mike couldn’t ignore anymore.

              He decided to give himself and the rest of his family a few more days before they would head out. He and Kalen had been sleeping during most of the days and nights. He’d never been so exhausted in his life. The days were more for him than anyone else.

              The breathing was getting a little easier, but he still couldn’t move around a lot. His body felt like concrete, heavy and rigid. He was resting in his room when Anne came and knocked on the door.

              “Honey, Fay’s here,” Anne said.

              “Send her in.”

              Fay had her daily basket of provisions that she came in from town to get.

              “I suppose you still haven’t changed your mind?” Fay asked.

              “No.”

              “There has to be a way to fix this, Mike.”

              “There isn’t.”

              “If you could just talk to him. Hear him out.”

              “It’s good to see you, Fay.”

              Mike didn’t have anything else to add on the subject. He closed his eyes and went back to sleep.

              He knew what she wanted. She wanted him to let Jung back in the cabin, into their circle. But it was something he just couldn’t do. Jung crossed a line that he never should have tried. He put Mike’s family in danger, and it almost got them killed. It wasn’t something that he took lightly.

              Fay had chosen to stay with Jung and his kids at the motel in town. He knew she felt that he was being too hard on him, but Mike didn’t care. He’d given up enough already. He didn’t have any more charity to give.

***

              The cabin was gathered around the dinner table. It was the first time Mike and Kalen decided to join everyone and eat in the kitchen.

              There was a sense of relief when everyone saw Mike and Kalen walk in. For them it was a sign of things getting back to normal. For Mike and Kalen, it was them ready to face the people around them.

              There wasn’t much talk. A few comments here and there, but Mike was thankful he didn’t have to say anything.

              He knew everyone was already aware of the trip to Cincinnati. There wasn’t much objection when it was brought up. Everyone seemed to be glad to go. It gave everyone a sense of hope that once they made it to Cincinnati they’d be safe and that soon they’d be able to go home.

              Mike wasn’t sure what home meant to him anymore. He wanted to believe that it was still a place where his family was, and that was true, but if his family wasn’t safe, then how could they enjoy their time together? How was someone supposed to grow and love and feel joy when the constant threat of violence was hanging over their heads?

              He couldn’t answer that question now. All he was focusing on were the faces around the table. These were the people he could trust. This was his family.

              Ben Sullivan took his glasses off and rubbed his eyes. He’d been staring at data and spreadsheets for the past three hours. His eyes were dry and bloodshot. He needed to take a break.

              He walked over to the snack machine and swiped his card. He pressed A7, and a Snickers dropped to the slot at the bottom.

His partner, Mitch, walked in with another file just as Ben was about to take a bite.

              “C’mon, Mitch. I need a break,” Ben said.

              “Trust me, you’ll want to take a look at this one. It’s Cincinnati.”

              Ben raised his eyebrows. He stuffed the rest of the candy bar in his mouth and snatched the file from Mitch’s hands.

              He flipped through the manila folder, studying the notes, pictures, and interviews that had already taken place.

              “When did he get here?” Ben asked, not looking up from the file.

              “About an hour ago. We have him in a holding cell. Should I bring him in?”

              “I’ll meet you there in five minutes.”

              Ben couldn’t believe it. Since the power came back on he must have questioned more than one hundred people who were indicted with crimes during the power outage.

              He was put in charge with investigating all major crimes in the northeast that were committed during the time the EMP blast took out power for the entire country.

              Most of the stuff he ran across were murder charges, but this guy, he was a big fish. The allegations coming out of Cincinnati were huge. People were still scrambling to figure out what happened, and if this guy was everything the file was telling him, then Ben could have just found the biggest break of his career.

              Ben took a seat behind the two-way glass as Mitch brought in the suspect. His face was bearded, and he looked nothing like the picture in his file.

              The violence on this guy’s record was incredible. Ben was surprised they didn’t bring him in with a straight jacket on.

              Once the prisoner was secure with his hands and feet shackled, Ben walked in and sat down across from him. He slapped the file on the clean steel table between them, folded his hands together, and leaned forward.

              “That file doesn’t paint a very flattering picture,” Ben said.

              The prisoner said nothing.

              “We’re going to be spending quite a lot of time together, and I can tell you that it will make both our lives a lot easier if you cooperate,” Ben said.

              The prisoner wouldn’t look at Ben. He kept his face down, staring at his hands. That’s when Ben noticed the rigidness of the man’s fingers. They were swollen and crooked.

              “If you give me something now I might be able to do something about your hands. Maybe a little extra pain reliever? Hmm? How does that sound?” Ben asked.

              “Pain?”

              “Pain reliever. For your hands. It loos like pretty bad arthritis.”

              The prisoner looked up, his eyes shielded from the ragged strands of hair. He leaned forward.

              “There is nothing on this planet that can numb me after the things I’ve done,” the prisoner said.

              Ben leaned back into his chair. He pulled the Snickers bar from his pocket and took a bite.

              “Well,” Ben said, trying to talk and chew at the same time. “It could be a long night for the both of us, Mike.”