The Independents (42 page)

When Bishop used the night visi
on to see what was beneath his boot
, he physically jumped backwards. Lying bef
ore him was the
grisly scene of a mass grave. There were hundreds of bod
ies in the park. Some were half-
buried
,
while other
s
appeared to have been simply dumped in the area. Animals had partially exhumed others. For almost a full city block, there were partia
l skeletons throughout the once picturesque gardens
. As Bishop backed away, he had to admit it made sense. Most of the real estate around the campus was paved over. The park was the only grassy area available
to accommodate such a large “cemetery,” a pragmatic choice when there
was
still enough living to bury the dead.

He reached the edge of the park and took a kn
ee in some thick grass before keying his microphone.
“David, how ya doing back there
,
buddy?”

David responded with two clicks as usual.

Bishop stepped
out onto the sidewalk of frat house row again and checked for any light coming from the houses. It was absolutely dead still and completely dark.
Should I risk driving Bones up this street?
Off in the distance, a motorcycle started, but the sound quickly faded away. The
rattling
motor caused several dogs to begin barking all over town.
I wouldn’t bark to
o
much
,
little doggies. You might end up someone’s meal.

Bishop decided to try one more
route
to the stadium, quickly moving
pas
t
the frat houses and the bone yard. He cross
ed another intersection
to a small side street th
at was actu
ally more of a narrow lane
than
a roadway. He scanned the area
carefully before spotting the large, green sign at
the end of the
alley,
“Underground Stadium Parking.”
Bishop didn’t like the route. There was no escape if he got pinned in there, yet he hadn’t found a
better path. In lieu of another option, he headed down the backst
reet. About halfway through the alley
, movement at the ot
her end
caused him
to
take cover in a doorway
. He c
oul
d see a shadow scurrying toward him
. At
first,
he thought it was a large dog, and then it looked like a child. He couldn’t use the night vision because
raising the rifle would give away his position
. The small creature scra
mbled from one side of the lane
to the other, pausing to look back the way it had come. It
, too, was about
halfway
through the narrow passage
,
when it froze again
, a few feet from where Bishop stood
.

Laughter
,
and then voices
,
coming from the end of the street
had
caused the scampering one to
freeze.
The small figure in front of him whimpered
,
and Bishop realized it was a girl
. She started to run past him
, but
froze again when two torches came into view
from the opposite direction.
A distant
voice jeer
ed
,
“Come out
. C
ome out
,
wherever you are,” followed by laughter.
Two
shadowy figures
carrying torches rounded the corner
.

Panting and s
trugg
ling to catch
her breath, the girl slid back the
hood that
covered
her head
, exposing an emaciated,
young woman, perhap
s eighteen years old. Her haggard look, complete with stringy hair and ripped clothing, looked more like a Hallo
ween costume than casual dress for a campus co-ed. Her eyes darted nervously back and forth,
trying to figure a way out, but it was no use. She was trapped, and so was Bishop. He could now see
four shadowy figures advancing
in the flickering
light.
The girl mumbled a frantic
,
“N
oooooo,” as the men approached.
T
heir light
finally
illuminated her frail frame,
as she backed
against the alley w
all
, her head shaking.
“
Oh
, please
,
no. P
lease do
n’t.”

The men now moved quickly t
o surround her. One of
them stretched out his hand to graze her cheek.
“I told you she was a pretty one. Looks healthy
,
too. The boss should give us a lot for her
.”

“Let’s have our fun with her
first,
and then take her over t
o him
,” another man chimed in.

“We can’t hurt her or nothing. Remember
? T
he last one was all bruised up
. W
e hardly got anything for
those damaged goods
at all
.”

A wicked grin spread across
one of the
men’s faces as he
handed his
torch t
o his friend and started unzipping
his pants. The girl’s eyes darted from one of the men to another
,
and her breath was sporadic. When she saw the man’s pants drop, she started to scream, but one of the guys
covered
her mouth and
roughly pulled her down onto the
ground.

Bishop didn’t know what to do.
Just because I have a Bat Cave, doesn’t mean I’m a superhero.
It was
four
to one
,
and the entire thing was none of his affair. He had David to worry about
,
and while a gang rape was something he didn’t wish on anyone, he couldn’t be the police all the time. On the other hand,
wouldn’t he hope for a Good Samaritan if the victim were Terri? H
e was barely concealed in a doorway
less than 20
feet away. There was
no chance of his
backing out
without being seen, and eventually one of the
se
fine young gentlemen
was going to turn around and spot
him.

Deciding she wasn’t going down without a fight, the girl kicked the
“
trouserless
”
attacker with all the strength she could muster. From her position on the ground, her foot landed squarely on his knee, and hit hard.
The man let out a howl and fell, partially landing on the girl. This caused the others to guffaw at his lack of technique
,
and that really made him angry. I
gnor
ing
the warning of his friends
, he rose
and kicked the girl hard in the ribs
, causing her to utter a sound like a baby screaming
.
Th
at
piercing cry was the death warrant for the rape gang.
I might have a daughter like that one day. That could be my baby girl.
He disconnected the sling holding his rifle
,
unleashed
the
violence
that flowed through his limbs
and moved toward the men
in a blur
.

They
were
so focused on the girl they didn’t see him coming until he was right in the middle of them. The first man was easy, a rifle butt to the back of his head. The second fell quickly as well, Bishop’s rifle barrel caving in his left temple. A savage kick to the knee of the third while ducking
a
swinging torch temporarily disabled
another
. Bishop blocked a swinging torch with his rifle and then rammed the barrel into the man’s solar plexus hard. He could feel the man’s ribs give way. Someone tackled Bishop from the side, and the two men hit the ground. Bishop’s
head roared from the pain of the impact
,
and the
rifle was knocked out of his hand. He managed to reach his fighting knife strapped across his chest and cleared the blade. The remaining
foe
lasted
only
a few seconds after that.

Bishop sat on the ground
panting. His head and body ached,
an
d he couldn’t get enough air. His
heart was pounding in his ears
,
and he thought he might black out. He wiped his knife on the body next to him and sheathed the blade. He crawled a few steps to his rifle and t
hen sat back down trying to steady
his breathing and gain some composure. Two of the men were still alive
,
moaning on the ground. The girl
,
recovering from the shock of Bishop’s attack
,
stood up. She walked a few steps and picked up a brick recently dislodged from one of the buildings. With
out
even hesitating, Bishop watched her walk over to one of the injured men and smash the brick down into his head. She struck
again
and again and then moved onto the other
man
. Bishop started to protest, but decided to let her go. He just didn’t have the strength
,
and quite frankly
,
didn’t give a shit right at that moment.

He made it to one knee and was trying to
stand, when she appeared
in front of him. A whispered voice asked, “Are you okay?”

Bishop quietly replied back, “Yes, I just need to catch my breath.”

The girl looked at both ends of the alley and said, “We can’t stay here. I don’t know where you
’re
going, but these guys have lots of friends. We both need to get out of here.”

Bishop nodded and stood weakly. He leaned back against the wall and steadied himself
,
trying to get his legs to mov
e. The girl nervously reminded him again.
“You don’t want to be caught here with those bodies. Come on, let’s go.”

She helped Bishop get moving toward the end of the alley. The blow to his head wa
s causing his vision to blur, and the petite
woman had to brace him several times. She led Bishop around two corners and into the lobby of an office building. After checking tha
t no one was around, she entered
an ice cream parlor and motioned Bishop to join her in the back.
She lit a small candle and then pulled a makeshift curtain a
cross the narrow walkway to obscure the flame
.

There was a giant walk-
in freezer, complete wi
th heavy metal door. The unit
, once used to store
the ice cream
,
was now the girl’s home. Blankets lined one corner
,
and several burned down candles and spent matches littered the floor. There were protein bar wrappers, empty boxes of frozen food and other assorted trash along one
wall
.
There were also small containers of water and an assortment of other scavenged items. The place didn’t smell very good.

“I’m sorry it’s such a pit, but I wasn’t expecting company.”

“You
live
in here?”

“I have since everything went to hell. My name is Sarah Beth.”

Bishop held out his hand,
introducing himself.

The girl ignored his hand and went about gathering up the trash. She pushed it outside the freezer door and into the walkway. Bishop was beginning to get his strength back and was curious about the girl.

“
How did you come to live in an
i
ce
c
ream store?”

The girl shrugged her shoulders.
“I worked here part time
, you know, working my way through school
. I’m a
freshman
at Alpha State. When the power went out the last time, everything in here started melting and I came in to help the owner clean it up.
There was an explosion
,
and
I saw everyone start clutching their throats and falling over on the street. I dove into the freezer and closed the door. It’s airtight and
that
saved my ass.”