Chapter 9
The stolen military horse took to Vin well. He knew how to handle horses of all breeds and temperaments, and his skills were put to good use with this animal. The horse had bonded with him quickly, accepting his authority and dominance without much of a hassle.
There were a few moments where the horse fought against his control, but Vin knew how to handle such instances.
He had taken to calling the horse Bolt because it was a fast stallion that sped quickly through the streets of Phoenix.
The horse’s fur was blacker than midnight, and it had a long and lustrous mane that flowed in the breeze as they galloped along.
“Attaboy,” he said, patting Bolt on the side of the neck and giving him a little scratch.
Since they had barely escaped from that platoon of soldiers, Vin had done a good job of keeping them out of the cross hairs of more government remnant forces.
He heard them on various streets calling out about curfew hours, and it was because of this that the streets were now mostly deserted.
At least on the route Vin was talking to reach Sean’s safehouse.
The sound of far-off explosions told Vin there was action and armed rebellion taking place elsewhere.
The route he was forced to take to remain off the beaten path and avoid the oversight of the government remnant was forcing him to take far longer than he had intended.
It was nearing the early evening hours when he finally saw the old, dilapidated Miller Automotive sign hanging above Sean’s safehouse.
However, just below the sign was a sight that made Vin gasp in horror.
The bay door was hanging wide open, and Vin knew Sean would never leave his base exposed in such a way. He hopped off of Bolt, hitching him to a nearby lamp post. He’d have to go the rest of the way on foot.
Vin pulled out one of his pistols as he crouched and silently crept toward the open bay. He pressed up against the side building on the right side of the door and slowly leaned in to peer inside.
What he saw there nearly brought a curse to his lips. The safehouse was anything but safe. The table in the center was overturned, with maps and charts strewn about the floor. A large brown horse was lying on its side in a vast pool of blood.
Many of the weapons that once sat on the shelves had fallen to the floor, and it looked as though someone had started to ransack the place.
There was a lone figure in the building, stalking through the wreckage, pouring through the shelves.
Whoever this person was, they likely knew what had happened here.
While it was possible that someone had uncovered this place before Sean and Deb had managed to make it here, the presence of the horse made that seem unlikely.
He needed to disable this person and get them to talk. Vin pulled out his second revolver and jumped up into the room.
“Freeze!” he called out.
The figure spun around, leveling a rifle at Vin. He was wearing a white cowboy hat, but he’d know that face anywhere.
“Sean?” he called out, his heart thumping in his chest.
“Shit,” Sean said in surprise. “Vin, is that you?”
“Yeah,” Vin replied, still not lowering his guns. It hadn’t gone unnoticed by him that Sean still had him right in his crosshairs.
“Wanna stop pointing those guns at me, partner?” Sean said, motioning toward Vin with his chin.
“You first,” Vin said, his voice dripping with distrust. Why was Sean here without Deb and Jimmy? What could have happened?
“On three then,” Sean said, a clear hard edge to his voice. “One…Two…Three!”
The two of them instantly lowered their weapons, but Vin made no move to holster his yet.
“Sean, what the fuck happened here?” Vin asked, looking around at the ruined space. He gazed down at the horse, instantly recognizing it. “Is that Clomper?”
“Yeah,” Sean said, nodding. “And I have no idea what happened. I took Buttercup out…to scout a route out of here. I came back and found this. It looks like someone started rifling through all my shit. Clomper was dead, and Deb and Jimmy were gone.”
“What the fuck?” Vin exclaimed, holstering his weapons finally and walking over to examine Clomper. “Well, he was shot in the head, poor thing.”
“Yeah,” Sean said, walking around the table and slinging his rifle around his shoulder as he stood beside Vin. “High-caliber military round by the looks of it.”
“Government remnant,” Vin said in agreement, nodding his head. “Where’s Buttercup?”
“When we pulled up and I saw the door open, I hitched him a block away in an alley. Figured it was better to come in on foot.”
“Smart man,” Vin said. “You always were, though.”
“Only getting smarter with age,” Sean said back to him.
“She could be anywhere right now,” Vin lamented. “We sure it’s not the Chain Gang?”
“I doubt it,” Sean replied.
“Why?” Vin asked. “They could get their hands on military weapons.”
“Doesn’t seem like Chainz's style,” Sean replied.
“Hurting women and children, killing animals, and robbing folks? Sounds like Chainz to me,” Vin replied.
Before Sean could respond, their attention was drawn by the sound of boots moving outside the building. “Hide,” Sean said insistently, and the two of them rushed to crouch together behind the overturned table.
The approaching figures could be heard entering the space.
“All right, let’s finish packing this shit up,” one of them said. “Wait a minute…we closed this door when we left….”
Vin glanced over at Sean as his old friend and partner gripped his rifle. Vin slid his hands down to brush against the handles of his guns.
“Make sure you leave at least one of them breathing,” Vin said, and Sean nodded his agreement. Vin listened intently for the sound of individual footsteps.
“I hear at least eight, maybe ten of them,” Sean said, echoing Vin’s thoughts.
He nodded in agreement.
Sean looked over to Vin, who gave a hand signal from their days in the service. It meant “engage immediately.”
The two of them exploded out from behind the table, opening fire and dropping four of the soldiers before they had a chance to open fire.
Eventually, the enemies realized they were under attack and started to return fire. Vin ran off to the side, trusting that Sean knew what he was doing. He let off another volley of shots that dropped another soldier before sliding behind the first bit of cover he saw; Clomper’s body.
Vin slid on his side through the pool of horse blood, coming to a stop on the other side of the animal’s carcass. He could hear the sound of bullets smacking into the horse’s lifeless body, but he was confident that it was thick enough to provide adequate protection.
He heard the sound of Sean’s rifle opening fire, which was followed by the sound of armored bodies hitting the floor.
Vin peeked out and saw that one soldier was still firing toward him while the other two remaining were focused on Sean.
Vin crawled on his hands and knees through the blood pool and jumped out, lying on his side near Clomper’s tail.
He fired off two shots that hit their mark in the soldier's shoulder socket.
He screamed in pain and dropped his weapon as his arm fell lifeless at his side.
The other two soldiers looked over, drawn by the sound, and Sean dropped both of them effortlessly with two shots each.
Vin scrambled to his feet and rushed the soldier, slamming the sole of his boot into the man’s face.
The soldier dropped like a stone, unconscious but still alive.
“Well, mission accomplished there,” Sean said, looking around at the gruesome scene.
“How much did they get before?” Vin asked, pointing at the shelves of weapons.
“Almost half of everything I had,” Sean replied bitterly, looking down at the dead soldiers. “Mother fuckers.”
“They’re moving a lot faster than I assumed they would,” Vin said, shaking his head at this predicament.
“Yeah,” Sean replied with a nod of agreement. “I was shocked as well. I think it took everyone by surprise.”
“You gotta think they’re gonna clash with the Chain Gang,” Vin surmised, rubbing at his bearded chin.
“Oh, totally,” Sean said. “Based on what I’ve seen, that’s already started.”
“That can work to our advantage,” Vin said, now deep in thought. The two biggest threats he could imagine were the Chain Gang and the government remnant, and if the two of them were focused on one another, it might help them slip out of the city unnoticed.
An all-out war between the city’s criminal underworld and the military would leave little in terms of the resources and manpower needed to weed out individual actors like them. However, Deb and Jimmy’s disappearance complicated matters.
They could have been taken as prisoners, which would mean they’d have to embark on a mission to bust them out. This would likely take them right into the midst of remnant territory. Of course, they could also be dead.
The practical part of Vin considered this as a potential reality, but his heart recoiled from that horror. He wouldn’t even bring himself to think about it. It wasn’t possible. It couldn’t be, not after all of this.
“We need to situate our friend here,” Vin said as Sean crossed the room to close and lock the bay door, sealing the three of them into the space together.
“Yes, we do,” Sean replied, moving to one of the room’s many shelves to retrieve a length of black rope. “You remember how to tie, or should I do the honors?”
Vin grabbed a nearby chair and set it down hard in the center of the floor. “Oh, I remember,” he said. “I’m the one who’s been out there hunting all this time. Hope ranch life hasn’t made you soft and squeamish old friend.”
Sean laughed at the statement. “I think we both know that what you and I are isn’t something that ever goes away,” he said with a humorless smile.
Vin nodded in agreement. He looked down at the remnant soldier. He was lying there peacefully, though he was also losing blood from his shoulder. They would have to bandage that up to keep him from expiring on them. At least until they had learned enough to know where they had to go.
A groan sounded from the other side of the room. One of the soldiers was stirring on the ground, still alive after being shot several times.
“Looks like we’ve got a fighter,” Sean said, gripping his rifle and walking over.
“Wait,” Vin said, stopping him from performing an execution. “Let’s keep them both alive for now. I’m gonna need one to verify what the other tells us. Make sure we don’t have a couple of liars on our hands here.”
Sean stopped and looked back over at him. “Good thinking,” he said, moving back to the shelves to get another length of rope.
They hadn’t seen one another in a few years, certainly not since Sean had married Deb and essentially taken Vin’s place on the ranch. However, the two of them fell back into their old rhythm almost seamlessly.
Vin wondered how long this emotional truce between them was going to last. He held no ill feelings toward Sean.
He knew he was a good man and that he would keep Deb and Jimmy protected.
But he also knew Sean was a hot head with a jealous streak.
He had no idea what his former squad mate and friend was feeling toward him, and he’d be sure to keep an eye on him until Deb and Jimmy were safe.
Vin picked up another chair and dragged it across the floor. “All right,” he said, looking down at their two hostages. “Let’s get to work.”