February 23, 2015
“Life is about timing.” – Carl Lewis
Crescent, Oregon
Lexi grunted when she rose. Her head was pounding and her body ached. She didn’t remember going to bed; in fact, she didn’t remember much of the evening. She sat up, stretched and crawled to the door. Using the doorknob as support, she pulled herself up. She steadied her wobbly legs and took in a huge breath.
“Pull yourself together,” she said out loud.
She opened the door and exited the storeroom. The light from the morning sun hurt her eyes. She squinted and stumbled towards the bathroom.
“You’re awake!” John hollered from the bar.
Lexi grumbled an unintelligible response. She went directly to the sink and turned on the cold water. She splashed the water on her face and exhaled heavily. “God, I feel like shit.”
She lifted her heavy head and looked into the bloodshot eyes that reflected back at her. She knew she couldn’t keep doing this. By getting drunk she let her guard down and put herself at risk, but the pain, the internal pain was something she didn’t want to deal with.
The aroma of food hit her nostrils. Normally it would have made her hungry; this morning it made her want to throw up.
She finished up and headed for the bar. She had one objective and that was to find water and some pain medication. She found John behind the bar, happily whistling a show tune. He turned, smiled and said, “Mornin’.”
“Don’t talk to me,” she said, holding up her hand.
“I had a feeling you’d be like this,” he said, pointing towards a plate of feed, a bottle of water and three small tablets of Advil.
Seeing the place setting made her happy. She didn’t hesitate; she quickly opened the water and tossed back the Advil. The food, though, was something she couldn’t deal with just yet as she pushed the eggs and sausages away from her.
He looked at her and said, “I know eating doesn’t sound appealing, but you need to.”
“Not happening.”
“Well, when you’re ready, it’ll be waiting for you,” he said and picked up the plate.
“What time did I go to bed?”
“You mean what time did you pass out?”
“How is it you’re not hungover?” she asked, looking at him happily bouncing around behind the bar.
“It’s all about pacing, a trick I learned years ago. I drink a few then make sure I eat and drink lots of water, plus I wasn’t going one for one with you.”
Lexi leaned her head on the bar and sighed. “Argh, my head fucking hurts.”
“I’d offer you some hair of the dog, but let’s get you hydrated first.”
“I don’t remember anything from last night. I hope I behaved myself,” Lexi mumbled, her head resting on her forearms.
“You definitely are a talker when you drink.”
“Oh no, what did I say?”
“Nothing bad, you just talked a lot.”
“It’s hot in here,” Lexi said, lifting her head; a pasty sweat clung to her forehead and cheeks.
“You don’t look good,” John commented. He briskly walked to the front door and opened it.
A cool breeze immediately swept in.
“Ahh, that feels good.” Lexi smiled.
“It’s all my fault,” John admitted.
“What do you mean?”
“I kept feeding you drinks and I asked you to tell me your story.”
Lexi furrowed her brow and asked, “Did I tell you everything?”
“Yeah, you pretty much covered it all,” John said, hoping his reply would suffice. He didn’t need to hear anymore.
“Good, glad I could do that for you,” Lexi said in a mocking tone.
There was a part of her tale he was curious about, so he asked, “That family south of here, the ones who took you in, you never mentioned why you left, though.”
“I didn’t?”
“No.”
“Where did I finish?”
“Listen, don’t worry about it. How about we talk about…nothing today?”
“No, tell me, I seriously don’t remember how the evening ended.”
Wishing he hadn’t mentioned it, John looked for a reason to head towards the back and forget the conversation. “I’ll be right back.”
“You seem squirrely, what did I say?”
“You got a bit drunk and, well, emotional.”
“I tend to do that when I’m drunk. My sister used to say I was passionate,” Lexi said then took a long drink of water.
“Let’s just have a good day.”
“Please, what did I say?”
“Does it matter?”
“Yes, you’re acting weird and I want to know.”
“Let’s see, you fell down right there,” John said, pointing towards the spot on the floor where she had tripped the night before and continued, “You finished talking about getting captured by Rahab’s men, nothing more.”
“Nothing after that?”
“No, just that, you were really emotional.”
“Oh, okay.”
“So, I’ll be right back.”
Lexi wasn’t going to let him go without making a declaration. “I’m glad I didn’t tell you about Rahab’s camp. All you need to know is they took us and we spent the next few weeks living in hell on Earth.”
John raised his hands and said, “I don’t need to know, you shared enough. I feel bad that I made you.”
“You didn’t make me, it was fair, but I agree with you, let’s not talk today.”
“Perfect,” John said and headed towards the back.
Lexi quickly reneged and offered an answer to his question, “They were good people, the ones who took me in, but like every good person I meet, they soon died.”
“This isn’t necessary,” John said.
“I woke up one morning to a loud crash followed by gunfire. A group of marauders had found us. The rest is history. I barely made it out of there alive.”
“No one else survived?”
“Nope, just me.”
“The guy, the father of that family, he’s the one who gave you some training, right?”
“Yeah, he was a good guy.”
“I’d offer you a drink to toast to him, but we have two problems.”
“What’s that?”
“One, your condition, and two, we’re out of vodka.”
“A whiskey is always a good substitute,” Lexi joked.
“How about we get some food in you first.”
“Fine, fine, I’ll take the food,” she said.
John went back into the kitchen to get her plate.
Lexi’s mind drifted to the family who had helped her. The time with them had been pivotal. There she’d learned some vital skills for which she was grateful. She would’ve stayed longer, but that choice was taken from her. What she had told John earlier was correct, those she got close to usually ended up dead. So often that she began to wonder if she was cursed.
John re-emerged with a full plate and placed it in front of her.
The smell still made her nauseous, but she needed the food. With gusto she grabbed the fork and dug in. In no time she finished the plate and shoved it away from her. “I’m stuffed.”
“Good,” John said, taking the plate away.
A dull throbbing pain still pounded in her head. She leaned forward and groaned. “Ah, why do I do this to myself?”
“You want some hair of the dog?”
“Um, sure, but do you have anything to mix it with, like a Coke?”
“I don’t have ice, though.”
“I don’t care, the Coke will give me some caffeine.”
John grabbed a can, popped it and poured it into a tall glass. Grabbing the whiskey, he said, “Sorry, it’s not the best stuff.”
“I don’t care,” Lexi replied.
He dumped in a shot’s worth of whiskey, stirred and pushed the drink in front of her.
“Promise me you won’t get me drunk,” Lexi said, taking the glass.
“I don’t make promises, I’m a bartender, remember?” John joked.
They spent the next few hours drinking and casually conversing about meaningless things. For Lexi these silly topics made living manageable and allowed her to temporarily disengage.
As the morning turned into the afternoon, the whiskey and Coke became just whiskey.
John reminded her of the promise, but she brushed it off by telling him to keep pouring.
“Give me a few, I’m going to find us some snacks,” John said and stepped away.
With the aid of Advil and whiskey, her headache was gone. She rested her elbows on the sticky bar and thought.
Her journey from the first day the lights went out was one traumatic event after another, culminating in her ending up in The Mohawk Bar & Grill. She had lost a lot but vowed to not let her losses infringe on her one singular purpose. She didn’t know what lay ahead, but the unknown wasn’t going to stop her. Even with all the tragedy, she didn’t lose sight of those who helped her along the way. The world was completely full of evil, but mixed in she had found good people. So as to not forget, she recited their names and saw their faces in her mind. She knew none of them that well, and for those who had been spared, she wondered where they were. Thoughts came of a woman named Samantha; she and her friend Nelson had saved her when she escaped Rahab’s capture. When she encountered them outside Rahab’s camp, she skeptically and briefly joined their group. Shortly after joining them, she discovered that the man Samantha had inquired about was also a captive of Rahab’s; all she remembered was his name, Gordon. They promised sanctuary in Idaho, but she stayed long enough to gather items she needed before taking off in the middle of the night.
John walked back into the bar quickly and said, “Someone pulled up outside. I think it’s the Marines again.”
“Oh yeah,” Lexi said and looked in the mirror behind the bar. There she had a clear view of the front door.
The door creaked open, allowing the bright light of the day to pour in. Three men stepped through and closed the door. Two were wearing uniforms and the third was in civilian clothes but had the stature and bearing of the two Marines only with a little seasoning of age.
“Right there, sir,” a Marine lance corporal said to the man in the civilian clothes.
The man swept through the place, weaving around the tables and chairs and sat next to Lexi.
She watched him carefully, as did John.
The man went to speak, but she beat him by asking, “What do you fucking want?”
“Ha, that’s a nice greeting,” the man said. He looked at her through his piercing blue eyes. His face was ruggedly handsome but also showed the visible scars of war, with one deep thick scar that stretched from his nose across down at an angle on his right cheek.
She saw the shot glass in front of her, picked it up and downed it. Plunking it back on the bar, she asked, “Are you here to hit on me, or do you want something? I see you brought friends.” She swiveled in the chair and acknowledged the Marines.
The man said, “My name is Gordon and—”
“I know you!” she shouted at the lance corporal. “You’re that jarhead that helped me out. Get over here; I’ll buy you a drink.” Lexi was feeling the effects of a second solid day of drinking and allowing the alcohol to bring out the jovial side in her.
The lance corporal nodded but kept silent.
She turned and faced the man who called himself Gordon and asked, “What did you say your name was again?”
“My name is Gordon Van Zandt. I hear you have—”
She again interrupted him. “Wait a minute, I’ve heard of you,” she said while motioning for John to give her another drink.
Gordon leaned forward and put his hand over her shot glass and said, “Before you get too drunk and useless to me, I have a few questions for you. When I’m done, you can get trashed.”
She looked at Gordon defiantly then looked at the two Marines. She was assessing the situation and decided it wasn’t going to work out for her if she struck out at Gordon. “What do you want to know there, stud?”
“How do you know me?”
“My mother told me to be polite. Isn’t that funny coming from a woman who was the rudest bitch you’d ever meet.” She laughed. “You know, it would be rude if I didn’t introduce myself. Gordon Van Zandt, I’m Lexi Tolanus. Nice to meet you.”
Lexi and Gordon spent the evening swapping stories about their captivity with Rahab over a bottle of whiskey.
When Lexi got to the point in her story about Carey’s murder, Gordon told her he had been there too and had witnessed her death.
“I remember that. I can still see her. She stepped out to her death with courage and dignity. It was the first time I witnessed a cleansing, I think that’s what they called them,” Gordon sneered.
“My sister deserved better than that,” Lexi grunted in anger.
“She did.”
Lexi took the whiskey, and instead of slamming it back, she sipped it. “Well, my sister got stronger with each passing day.”
“How long were you there?” Gordon asked.
Lexi hadn’t talked about her time with Rahab because doing so was painful but also because no one could understand. What she and Carey endured was unlike anything, and even though she had an instant rapport with Gordon because of his time there, even he couldn’t fully grasp what life in that place was like for a woman. However, meeting someone who was there allowed her to open up. “Weeks, I lost count, but probably four weeks, I’m guessing.”
“Good God.”
“After the first week I just became numb.”
“I heard the cries and pleas daily,” Gordon said; it was more of a thought spoken aloud than a comment.
“That was us, or I should say the other women chosen to be sex slaves.”
Gordon picked up a glass and drank; he grimaced and said, “I’m going to kill that motherfucker.”
“Not if I kill him first.”
Gordon tipped his half-full glass and nodded.
“And you, what happened?” Lexi asked.
“Rahab killed my son, Hunter, the same way he killed your sister,” Gordon confessed.
“They’re vicious bastards, they really are,” Lexi snarled.
“Sorry about your sister,” Gordon replied.
Lexi didn’t reply to his last comment. She just stared ahead, deep in thought.
The conversation about Rahab had reached a point that neither wished to talk about it anymore.
“So these jarheads told you about me?” Lexi asked.
“Yeah, I ran into them further south. They helped me out too.”
Lexi looked at the two Marines, who were now parked up at the bar, enjoying a drink with John and two townspeople who had come in. “Same here, those guys are still out there protecting and serving even though all this shit is happening. You gotta respect that.”
“Government money spent wisely, I guess,” Gordon joked.
Lexi fiddled with her glass by swirling the whiskey around.
“How did you know me?” Gordon asked.
“I met your wife and friends.”
Gordon almost choked hearing this. “When, where?”
“Outside Rahab’s camp. I escaped and they helped me. Apparently they went looking for you and found me instead.”
Hearing about his wife, Samantha, brought pain to Gordon. He blamed his actions for the reason his son was murdered at the hands of Rahab but couldn’t find the strength to go back after being freed. Instead he followed in Lexi’s footsteps and went looking for Rahab.
Lexi explained her brief time with Gordon’s group while he listened intently. The more she talked, the more he regretted his decision. When she mentioned his wife, Samantha, seeing his son’s body, it tore him up. Like each day before, he again questioned what he was doing, but now he was closer to finding Rahab than ever before, he couldn’t turn back; he had to complete the task.
“What do you know about Rahab’s whereabouts?” he asked, needing to shift topics and get back on point.
“I heard them mention a place in Oregon, I’m not sure where, but that was my only clue.”
“Rajneeshpuram was a name I found on a map of Oregon,” Gordon said, pulling it out of his flannel shirt pocket. He unfolded the map and pointed to the edge of the paper where the name was written. He had found the map after Rahab had left him for dead.
“I’m not sure what that means,” Lexi confessed and continued, “Where did you get that?”
“I found it in a building back at Rahab’s house of horrors in California. I managed to get out of there with this map and this,” Gordon said, pointing at the thick scar on his face.
“What happened?” Lexi asked, curious.
“That’s another story entirely,” Gordon replied, not wanting to discuss where the scar came from.
Seeing his reluctance to talk, she moved on. “We have a map with a name, but there’s no specific location circled or marked telling us where it is,” Lexi said.
“I’ve asked every person I’ve encountered, but nobody knows. It seems like no one in Oregon knows anything about Oregon,” Gordon lamented.
Lexi’s eyes grew wide. “Apparently you haven’t met John before,” she joked. She turned and hollered, “John.”
John immediately turned and replied, “Yes, dear.”
“Ever heard of a place called—” Lexi paused for a brief moment to look at the map “—Raj-nessh-puram.”
“Yeah, it’s an old hippie cult compound not too far from here, say about one hundred and forty miles.”
Lexi and Gordon looked at each other and smiled.
Gordon jumped to his feet and raced towards the bar with the map in his hand. “Show me where it is.”
John took a lantern and moved it closer. He stared at the map, and with a sharpie he had behind the bar, he circled the exact spot. “Right there, you’ll take the old highway here and look for signs, I believe it’s still marked.”
Lexi walked up and gave Gordon a nudge.
He turned and asked, “You want to go hunting with me?”
Putting her arms on her hips, Lexi cocked her head and asked, “Does the pope wear a pointy hat?”
February 24, 2015
“Justice is revenge.” – Saad Hariri
Crescent, Oregon
Lexi’s departure from the Mohawk was bittersweet. She’d miss John and prayed for his safety, but something told her she’d never see him again. They embraced and John again offered her a place to come back to once she was done. Lexi knew that would never happen, but gave John some hope. Again the thought of this being the last time she’d gaze upon him came.
“You be a good girl,” John said and patted her shoulder.
“Take care of yourself and thanks for everything,” Lexi replied. She briskly walked away and jumped into the Humvee. She wasn’t one for farewells, plus she couldn’t wait to get going.
Her partners on this adventure were Gordon and the three Marines: Corporal Rubio, Lance Corporal Jones and Private First Class McCamey.
She was as happy as a child going to Disneyland for the first time. All those weeks of traveling and searching were coming to an end, and soon she’d be face to face with her sister’s murderer.
Rubio turned around and joked, “Everyone take a piss?”
“Let’s get going,” Gordon said.
“Roger that, you heard the man, McCamey, let’s go,” Rubio said and faced the front.
Lexi looked at each man in the vehicle with her and up through the hatch to Jones, who manned the M-240 machine gun. She never imagined she’d have this type of firepower going to get Rahab. She was thrilled and couldn’t wait for the fun to begin.
Central, Oregon
The drive along the state highway was going without incident.
Not driving allowed Lexi to get some much-needed rest. Within ten minutes of leaving Crescent, she was fast asleep, her head buried in a crumpled jacket.
Lance Corporal Jones was riding in the hatch, manning the M-240 machine gun, when up ahead he spotted something suspicious. He bent down and hollered, “Corporal Rubio, up ahead. We have a victor in the middle of the road and two people.”
“Roger that, I see ’em,” Rubio responded. “Go ahead and stop, McCamey. Let’s get some eyes on this before we proceed.”
McCamey brought the Hummer to a stop at an angle just in case they needed to pull off road to flee.
Rubio pulled out a pair of binoculars and began to look at the scene ahead.
Jones too was assessing the situation with his own set of binoculars.
Gordon was interested in what was happening, so he was peeking over Rubio’s shoulder.
“Looks like a man and a woman, a couple maybe?” Rubio said and handed the binoculars to Gordon to take a look.
Gordon peered through and saw exactly what Rubio had seen. It looked like the couple were having car trouble, and it was expected of them to wave and signal a military vehicle if they saw one.
“Jonesy, you see anything different up there?” Rubio called out.
“No, Corporal, I just see two people. A young woman, she can’t be older than thirty, and a man, who looks about the same age. The hood of the car is up. Wait a minute, there might be a third person. I see a car seat through the back window.”
“Corporal Rubio, where are we, you think?” Gordon asked.
“We’re about here,” he answered, holding up a map and pointing at a county road just south of the state highway.
“That makes us how far from Rahab’s possible location?”
“Miles, I’d have to calculate, but my guess, about twenty miles along this road right here,” Rubio said, running his finger along a yellow highlighted line that led to a red circle.
“You know what I’m asking, right?” Gordon commented.
“Yeah, if this is an ambush? I feel you. I tell you what. I’ll just walk up to them. You and Jones cover me.”
Gordon thought for a second and said, “Roger that.”
Rubio exited the Hummer and began to walk down the muddy gravel road.
Gordon took up a position behind the open door with an M-4, watching Rubio walk up to the two people. They were too far away for him to hear, but after a few arm gestures, followed by a wave, Rubio was heading back without incident.
“They’re cool. They ran out of fuel,” Rubio said, walking back.
“Really? What’s up with the hood?” McCamey questioned.
“Don’t you know it’s an international distress signal?” Rubio shot back. “Boot.”
The last comment was directed at McCamey because he hadn’t seen combat before. He was on his first deployment when the lights went out. Rubio and Jones were combat veterans of Afghanistan.
“Everything looked okay?” Gordon queried.
“Yes, yes. Listen, not my first rodeo here, Mr. Van Zandt. These folks just need some fuel. We can spare enough for them to get where they’re going,” Rubio answered Gordon. “McCamey, take us down there,” he then ordered.
Gordon felt uneasy about the situation.
The Hummer rumbled its way slowly down the road and parked just behind the old 1959 Ford Crown Victoria. The car’s blue paint along the rear quarter panel had given way to rust years ago. From the condition of the vehicle, Gordon was surprised to even see it in drivable condition, but the times had made people very resourceful.
Rubio slamming the rear hatch woke Lexi up. She sat up, yawned and looked around. “We there yet?”
“No, we got a couple people that need help,” Gordon said, stepping out of the vehicle.
Lexi rubbed her eyes and looked through the windshield at the people. Her expression changed instantly when she saw the man.
Gordon walked up and started chatting. “So why are you folks out here?”
The young woman answered quickly, “Oh, we have a ranch down the road.”
“Nice,” Rubio said.
Gordon was looking closer at the vehicle. He took note of the car seat and asked, “You have children?”
“Yeah, she’s back with her uncle,” the woman answered.
The man walked back and got back inside the car.
Gordon was watching everyone’s moves. These people looked innocent, but he was very skeptical. He began to look around. They were sandwiched to the right against a hillside and to the left was a large grove of mature pine trees.
The woman began to flirt with Rubio, who was being receptive to her actions.
The man just sat behind the wheel of the car and didn’t move.
Gordon kept scanning the area. His instincts kept taking him back to the large grove of trees. He looked for anything out of place.
Lexi jumped out of the Hummer without closing the door. Her gaze was fixed upon the man’s reflection in the side mirror of the car. She marched towards him, her body tense, veins pulsating in her neck. As she passed Gordon, she brushed him.
Gordon looked at her but didn’t see the pistol in her hand.
She walked up to the man, who was still sitting behind the wheel. She pressed the pistol to his temple and asked, “Remember me?”
The man looked startled to see her. Fear instantly overcame him as he did remember her face from before.
Not saying another word, she pulled the trigger.
Lexi’s gunshot blew the side of the man’s head off. Brain, skull, hair and blood splattered the interior of the car. Not hesitating a moment she trained the pistol on the woman and shouted, “Don’t fucking move, or I’ll plant one in between your eyes.” She stepped up to her and placed the pistol in her face.
Gordon unslung his rifle and turned it on Lexi but paused before pulling the trigger. “What the fuck!”
“These are Rahab’s people! I recognized that piece of shit behind the wheel.”
“Holy shit!” Rubio shouted. “Are you sure?”
“When you’ve been raped repeatedly by someone, you never forget their face.”
Gordon still had his rifle aimed at her. He thought it made sense that the man got behind the wheel so as not to be recognized.
“Gordon, I’m on your side, put down your rifle. These assholes were going to ambush us further down the road. If you don’t believe me, ask her,” Lexi said as she pressed the pistol firmly against the woman’s head.
“She’s right, there are more of us down the road,” the woman cried out.
Gordon lowered his rifle and said, “Thanks for letting them know with that gunshot.”
“Get on the radio and tell them you need their help with someone you just killed,” Lexi ordered the woman.
The woman just nodded and slowly walked past Lexi to the front of the car. Lexi kept the pistol pressed against her head as she leaned in and grabbed the blood-covered radio. She keyed the button and said, “Hi, Malcolm. We need some help up here.”
The radio crackled and a voice came over. “What happened?”
“It’s okay, we had to shoot someone. We need…” She paused out of fear.
Lexi pressed the barrel harder against her head.
“We need your help with the others; Brother Clarence has them at gunpoint.”
There was an uncomfortable pause before the radio crackled again. “Okay, we’ll be right there.”
“They’ll come up the road,” the woman said, pointing to the road ahead, which rose then disappeared several hundred feet away.
“How many are there?” Lexi asked.
“Three, there’s three. Please don’t hurt me,” she begged.
“We won’t,” Gordon assured her.
Ignoring Gordon, Lexi hit the woman over the head with the pistol, knocking her out.
“Why did you do that?” Gordon asked.
“We can’t trust that she won’t signal them,” Lexi shot back as she holstered her pistol. She grabbed the keys from the steering column and unlocked the trunk. She then grabbed the woman and began to drag her back towards the rear of the car. “Well, are you going to help me?”
Rubio, Jones and Gordon all exchanged looks.
“I told you she was a piece of work,” Jones quipped from behind the machine gun.
Rubio jumped up and helped her toss the woman in the back. They quickly came up with a plan and took positions in anticipation of the men coming.
Jones hid inside the Humvee. He would man the machine gun when the timing was right.
Gordon, Rubio, Lexi and McCamey all went and hid in the grove of trees.
The plan was to use an L-shaped ambush. They assumed the men would approach from the road ahead. When they stepped into the kill zone, Gordon and the others with him would open fire. The men would most likely turn towards them. Jones would then get behind the machine gun and hit them. This was a textbook tactic and, if all went accordingly, would work.
Lexi kept her eyes glued on the road. She knew the others would appear very soon.
The minutes crawled and felt like hours.
She heard Gordon grumble under his breath. His patience was running thin.
Everything was quiet except for the occasional rustle of the trees when the cold wind blew.
Lexi’s patience soon waned too. She now began to worry that the men would outflank them. Her fears were dashed when she spotted movement on the hill.
A head popped up, then another. They moved up and cleared the hill but stopped to talk. The third man was missing.
Lexi couldn’t hear what they were saying, but it was obvious they were being cautious.
“Fuck,” Gordon said under his breath.
Lexi, only a couple feet away, asked, “Any thoughts?”
The radio in the car came to life with a voice. “Brother Clarence, where are you?”
“I’ve got the guy on the left,” Lexi whispered to Gordon.
“Where’s the third guy?” Gordon asked out loud.
“Brother Clarence, Sister Tabitha, where are you?” the voice asked from the radio.
Lexi placed her index finger on the trigger and applied pressure like she had been trained. Her natural arch of movement caused her sights to float around the target as she steadied her breathing.
Gordon settled in for his shot and said, “I’ve got the guy on the right, take the shot.” He squeezed the trigger and the shot went off.
Lexi’s rifle followed right behind his with several shots hitting the man on the left.
The third man finally appeared. He took a couple of shots before disappearing as quickly as he had appeared.
Lexi stood up and began to run for the Humvee.
Gordon took her cue and followed.
“Jones, we gotta go!” she said, jumping behind the wheel and starting up the Humvee.
“Whoa, wait a minute!” Jones exclaimed.
“We don’t have time. We gotta catch that other fucker!”
Lexi put the Humvee in gear and hit the accelerator.
Gordon was running as hard as he could, but he was too slow. She drove past him without stopping.
“Stop!” Gordon screamed.
The red rear lights came on as she slammed on the brakes. “Get in!”
Gordon ran over and jumped in the passenger seat. She hit the accelerator again and took off.
“Hey, wait for them!” Gordon yelled, referring to Rubio and McCamey.
“No time!” she said as she tore down the road.
They approached the top of the hill just as the man she had shot started to rise slowly.
She put the accelerator on the floor and aimed the Humvee at the man. He raised his arms as if that would protect him from a two-ton vehicle traveling at forty-five miles per hour and accelerating.
She hit him and didn’t stop.
Once over the hill, she looked for the third man.
“There, straight ahead!” Jones hollered.
Forty feet directly in front of them, the man was running. Hearing the Humvee gaining, he turned and fired several shots but missed the vehicle.
“Doesn’t this thing go faster?” Lexi yelled in frustration.
The man fired another volley of shots. This time the bullets hit the Humvee.
“Open up on him!” Gordon commanded Jones.
No response from Jones.
Gordon looked up in the hatch and found Jones’ body bouncing around. It appeared he had been shot.
The man stood defiantly in the center of the road and emptied his magazine into the Humvee, hitting it but causing no major damage.
Lexi was closing fast and was within feet of hitting him, but he dove out of the way and rolled down an embankment.
Lexi slammed on the brakes. Her sudden stop caused Jones to fall into the vehicle.
He was still alive but had been badly wounded.
Gordon jumped out of the vehicle and took off in pursuit of the man.
Lexi turned the wheel hard to the left and went off road.
The man was fifty plus feet away, but Lexi knew she could catch him.
Gordon had other ideas. He found a boulder, rested his rifle on top and got behind it. He settled in, took aim on the man’s back and squeezed off a single round, which struck the man in the middle of his back.
The man arched his back when the round hit him, and he disappeared into the tall grasses.
Lexi drove up to the spot where she’d last seen the man, stopped, jumped out and briskly walked over to him.
The man was still alive and struggling to crawl away.
Lexi was happy to find him alive. She kicked him until he rolled onto his back.
On his back he looked up at her, squirming and grimacing in pain.
Lexi knew him. She pulled out her pistol and yelled, “You recognize me? Huh?” Once it was confirmed she knew him, she began to kick him.
The man coughed and grunted each time she kicked his side. “Please don’t, please,” he begged her.
“Those words sound familiar. That’s what my sister would say to you before you’d rape her each time,” she yelled and kicked him more.
The man screamed, “Fuck you, bitch! You fucking whore!”
“That’s it! That sounds more like you!” she screamed and kicked him several more times.
Gordon had finally showed up but immediately attended to Jones.
With each kick, Lexi could see her sister pleading. This image only enraged her more.
Resigned to his fate, he blurted out one expletive after another at her.
“Yeah, you got a dirty mouth, don’t you? You’re a dirty, nasty motherfucker!” she snarled. Her leg ached and sweat poured off her from the dozens of kicks. Not wishing to stop punishing him, she aimed the pistol and shot him in the crotch.
The man squealed in pain. He attempted to inch away, but she stopped him.
“You’re not going anywhere. Come here,” she said as she straddled him. She grasped her pistol by the frame and began to use it as a hammer against his face.
Gordon was focused on Jones, only to stop when the sound of bones crunching hit his ears. He looked over and saw Lexi pounding away on the man’s face.
Unsure of how many times she hit him, she stopped only because her arms hurt. She looked at the man, but there was nothing left of his face to know what he looked like. She holstered the pistol, stood and hollered in anger, “Arghh!”
Gordon knew the feeling, so he had to ask, “How did that feel?”
“Good…no, not good, that was fucking great!” she replied. She glanced over to Gordon, sweat streaming down her face, and howled, “Now let’s go kill the rest of them.”
February 25, 2015
“You were born to win, but to be a winner; you must plan to win, prepare to win and expect to win.” – Zig Ziglar
One mile north of Rajneeshpuram
Gordon and Lexi immediately went to scout the compound upon first light and found the place was extensive with eight large permanent structures and one massive barn that were estimated to be over twenty-five thousand square feet.
Lexi and the others had arrived too late the day before, so instead they established a campsite to the northwest of the compound. The compound was nestled in a small valley that ran east to west with six different access points.
“How many people did you count?” Gordon asked Lexi after she returned from her recon to the north end of the valley.
“He’s got two men on each road coming in. I counted six main roads leading into the valley, so that’s twelve there. I only noticed people coming and going from the main hall next to the pool and the gigantic barn.”
“I have an idea what he’s doing in there,” Gordon mused out loud.
“On the grounds themselves I counted eight men walking the perimeter and only a handful milling about,” she said.
“Where do you think he’s keeping his prisoners out of all those buildings?” Gordon asked.
“It’s a guess, but he only seems to be using that main building and the barn. He might be keeping everyone close,” Lexi guessed.
“Here’s a sketch of the area. From here to here, it looks to be about a thousand feet,” Gordon said, pointing to the square that represented the main building and the barn.
“So a rough count is what?” Rubio asked.
Gordon and Lexi looked at each other.
“Go ahead, smarty pants, what do you think?” Lexi joked with Gordon.
“I’d say we’re looking at about forty to fifty people down there. This is based on what we’ve seen and what I remember he had before.”
“Has your girlfriend started talking yet?” Rubio asked Lexi, referring to the woman they had captured.
Lexi pointed her middle finger at Rubio and then blew a kiss.
“She hasn’t said a damn thing; so far she’s been useless,” Gordon replied.
“So based on your estimates, we’re looking at upwards of fifty armed people, and we have three men, one pissed-off lesbo, and Jonesy, who’s now a gimp.”
“You know I probably would turn gay if I had to look at your little dick all the time,” Lexi joked.
Jones chuckled loudly.
“Guys, enough bullshit, we have a job to do here. Now let’s focus,” Gordon said firmly. “We have five of us, we’re all well armed, well trained and can do some serious damage if we plan this right.”
“It’s not going to be a cakewalk, but Van Zandt is right, we can put the hurt on them,” Rubio said.
Gordon led the conversation and presented his ideas. His plan called for a night raid. He, Lexi and Rubio would enter the valley from the south. Their assumption put Rahab within the main building, and accessing the valley from the south made it a more direct route. To the south a hill sloped very close to the front entrance of that building. McCamey and Jones would position the Humvee in a hide position on the hillside. There they’d have an unencumbered vantage point from which to provide cover.
As they discussed scenarios, the radio in the Humvee came to life.
“Romeo Sierra One Three, this is Papa. Come in. Over.”
“The radio is working out here?” Gordon asked.
“I guess we’re close enough to a repeater,” Rubio commented and stood up.
“You guys set up repeaters?” Gordon asked.
“Yeah, part of our overall mission on these long-range patrols is to reestablish communications, and the only way to do that is with repeaters. Apparently we’re picking up a signal.”
Jones leaned over and keyed the handset. “Papa, this is Romeo Sierra One Three. We read you lima charlie.”
“Roger that, Romeo Sierra One Three. Be advised. Terminate current mission and link up with Romeo Sierra Actual. Over.”
Not knowing how to respond, he handed the handset to Rubio.
Rubio grabbed it and paused.
“Romeo Sierra One Three, did you copy? Over,” the voice over the radio asked.
“Roger that, we copy. Terminate mission and link up with Romeo Sierra Actual,” Rubio answered. He didn’t know what else to say. He dropped the handset and looked at Gordon.
“Who’s Papa?” Gordon asked.
“That’s the command element back in Coos Bay; Actual is Gunny back in Klamath Falls,” Jones explained. Their parent unit was stationed in Coos Bay, Oregon, with their detachment headquartered in Klamath Falls, Oregon.
“So that’s it. You guys are bailing on us?” Gordon asked, concerned.
“Corporal, we could head back tomorrow morning. Let’s at least try to get this guy,” Jones said.
Rubio gave Jones a nod but didn’t reply to Gordon.
“So, are you staying for the grand finale?” Gordon asked.
“Yeah, we’re in. Let’s see this through,” Rubio answered
“Now that we have that settled, what do we do with the girl?” Lexi asked, leering at the woman.
Everyone looked at each other, unsure of how to answer her question.
“We can’t just let her go, she might head back and warn Rahab,” Rubio said, stating the obvious.
“You know there’s a good chance they’re on a heightened alert now anyway. With their people not coming back, they must be concerned,” Gordon added.
“Yeah, I’m sure they’re watching out, but I just don’t know if he suspects he’s about to get attacked,” Lexi said.
“We don’t have anything to worry about if we kill her,” Jones boldly said.
Cross talk took over the conversation after Jones gave his suggestion.
“Stop! We’re not going to murder her!” Gordon declared.
“Wait a minute, Van Zandt; you’re not in charge here!” Rubio countered Gordon.
“Think about it, Rubio. We don’t have to do that,” Gordon said.
The woman was tied and gagged to a tree. Hearing them discuss her demise made her frightful, she began to wiggle and groan.
“Here’s the grand compromise. Let’s keep her tied up. If we survive, we’ll come back and untie her, if we don’t…well, for her sake, let’s hope we can come back,” Gordon recommended.
The group reflected on his recommendation. After a few moments they all finally agreed with Gordon.
“Then it’s settled,” Gordon said and walked over to the woman.
As he knelt down next to her, her eyes opened wide with fear.
“You hear that, we’ll come back for you. In some ways I don’t know if you deserve it, but that’s how it is,” Gordon said and walked away.