The Devil Dog Trilogy: Out Of The Dark Page 18

  “Did you see the light?” Courtney asked me.

  “What?” I asked her, my voice cracking and I turned my head to look at her.

  “What is she talking about?” I asked Salina.

  “I… Jerome, would you go check on the kids for me? I’ll be fine in here.”

  “Yes, Momma,” he said and pulled the door closed behind him, leaving me alone with both ladies.

  “What’s going on?” I asked Salina. “What are you talking about?” to Courtney.

  My neck was tiring out from looking from one to the other, so I laid my head back and closed my eyes.

  “You had lost so much blood. Your heart stopped and we were able to get it started again. We were lucky that I already had your blood type. You’re the same blood type as Jerome and Courtney here. We had to rig a way to do a transfusion, but you’d lost so much blood that it took both of them…”

  In another time, another world… the junkie part of me, the self-loathing part of me wouldn’t care. The rational side of me immediately made me think of STDs and blood-borne pathogens. And in the end, I didn’t care.

  “Thanks for saving me,” I said to both of them. “Is that why my whole chest hurts?” I asked her.

  “You mean from the CPR?” she asked me.

  “Well, yeah,” I told her. “I feel like one big bruise.”

  “You were shot,” Courtney said pointedly, “and you’re welcome. I’m glad the gun wasn’t loaded the first time.”

  Salina shot her a puzzled look, but Courtney shrugged and went back to her corner and leaned against the wall again. I took another long gulp of the water. My eyes widened a little bit when I realized it was a Slurpee cup, a remnant of my old life. I could almost remember the mind numbingly sweet flavor of a Slurpee… and then there was nothing else left in the glass.

  “You know,” I said holding it out to Salina. “There're two things… what do you mean all debts are paid off after tonight… I mean, my whole family is topside. What’s up with that? And two, did anybody see you giving me CPR?”

  Salina gave me a puzzled look and then told me.

  “We brought you here first because it was closest. Jamie had to drive you and Mouse wouldn’t leave your side the moment she heard you’d been hurt badly. Then, after the community attacked the warehouse and pushed the guys to the wharf— “

  “What are you talking about?” I asked her, coughing.

  “I forgot, you were still pretty out of it,” she said. “Luis, Jeremy, and a dozen men you know from the market attacked the mafia guys, or gang or whatever they wanted to call themselves. The Russian mob?”

  “Sounds about right,” Courtney said.

  “So, your plan to pit one against the other sort of worked. About two dozen came back, only to walk into an ambush. The guys that weren’t cut down, fled to the wharf. There’s a big ship out there, a container ship.”

  “I don’t understand,” I told her.

  “Jeremy was half insane,” the doc told me, “and when Luis and a bunch of other guys heard… well… Your words really hit home. They decided to do something about it.”

  “What words?” I asked her, still confused.

  I mean, I apparently had died and been revived. I was on some sort of pain killers I was sure and definitely dehydrated. Still, what words?

  “Apparently your boy was in some sort of fight,” Courtney said answering, “and instead of killing the men involved, you berated them, beat one pretty bad, and busted another. Then, you paid for his treatment. You shamed them. You showed them what it meant to be a better human being.”

  “You don’t even know me!” I said, suddenly angry, but not knowing why.

  “I don’t need to,” she said. “I almost killed the most decent man alive, well, except for Jerome. He’s pretty awesome,” she gave Salina a grin. “You’re all anybody’s talking about right now.”

  I closed my eyes. I was used to being a loud, abrasive, ass. Especially in public and at the market. People wouldn’t mess with me when they knew the junkyard dog was on the prowl and I had a family to keep after.

  “So, they killed them and pushed the rest back into some sort of ship?” I asked the doc.

  “Yes. We had a couple of small injuries on our side. We recovered a lot of gear from that warehouse, by the way. That’s what I’d meant when I said after tonight, all debts are paid.”

  “Why tonight?” I asked her.

  “That’s when we finish cleaning it out. As it is, we have men with scoped rifles taking shots at anybody who comes out on the deck of that ship. They probably have enough food cached for a long time, but so do we, now. At least for until the world seems less crazy.”

  The gangs had been killed or pushed out of the territory. The women, as far as we knew had been freed, and there were supplies for everybody for a time. That was what I’d set out to do. It didn’t explain why everyone was topside, but it made some sort of sense. I mean, they would definitely feel safer, now that they didn’t have to worry about getting snatched, and if the community had come out in force and worked together, something they hadn’t done until now… They’d put the fear of God into any and all. I just wished they would have come together sooner and not been as cowardly before…

  “Your face just scrunched up,” Courtney said. “What was it? The thought.”

  “Why do you care?” I asked her, feeling stronger with the fluids working in me.

  “Maybe because I feel horrible about what I did!” she said, almost screaming.

  “What did you do?” I asked her, feeling slow because I understood it right after saying it.

  “I had your gun to your head and I pulled the trigger!”

  “I knew it was empty,” I told her. “You were scared.” I was feeling weak and nauseated again, and very, very tired.

  “Then why did you hand me a gun?”

  “It was the only way to get you ladies to trust that I was there to help. You’d been through so much… If I gave you a gun, you’d feel like you were in control. As it was, the gun was what saved me when I was shot.”

  “You deliberately did that?” she asked. Her volume was down, but I could tell she was as pissed as I was.

  “It sounds like he played a little psychology on you, girl,” Salina said walking over and putting a calming hand on her arm. “And it worked.”

  “Yeah, well… shit… thank you,” Courtney said and started for the door.

  I laid there, my eyes tracking her. She paused at the door before turning, “I mean that, and I’m sorry… I’m sorry for pulling the trigger. At that moment, you were every man who’d…”

  “Courtney,” I rasped. “I don’t blame you, but if it’s forgiveness you need, you have it. I just wish I could have helped you sooner. I’m sorry it took me so long.”

  She made an exasperated sound and pushed open the door so hard it stuck open.

  “What was that about?” I asked Salina, who’d walked over to the bed and taken my empty cup.

  “She’s waited a week to tell you that. I didn’t know it went down quite like that, but…”

  “It was bad. I feel horrible that it took me wanting to get back to my daughter to finally work to kill off those fuckwads. They were in bad shape, the abuse and the…”

  “I know, Dick,” she said, using her calming touch on me now. “I treated them, all of them. You did the best you could, but let me ask you something…”

  “Go ahead.”

  “Do you think you’re better than all of us?”

  Her question caught me off guard. “No?!”

  She looked at me then shook her head, “Why do you think you needed to do it? Why did it have to be you? Because you’re better than us? Had more training? Why?”

  The accusation in her words stung.

  “Because I should have already. I was too scared to do it when I should have,” I admitted.

  “So were we.”

  Those words sort of clicked inside of me. Like a lightbulb moment you
’d see in the old black and white cartoons when they had a good idea or enlightenment. Well, that was my enlightened moment, too.

  “We should have all worked together before,” Salina said. “But we weren’t trusting. It took a beat up, shot up, grouchy old veteran to show us what we were like before. As little as we help each other out now, you showed us that even a junkyard dog like you had more compassion that we did. Don’t be sorry for waiting so long. We’re all guilty of that. We need to move forward.”

  “Ok,” I said, putting a hand up as if to stop her.

  God, I was so tired, my eyes wanted to close, but I was so damned thirsty, and my stomach was now rumbling so bad it was cramping. As much as I wanted to sleep, I knew that the hunger would keep me awake.

  “You know,” I said, looking her in the eyes by moving my head. “You never answered my second question.”

  “What was it again?” she asked.

  “Did people see you giving me CPR?”

  “Yes, half the community.”

  “So all the guys out there saw your lips on mine? They’ll be so jealous of me!”

  Her cheeks turned red and she sputtered for a second, “I think your chest is going to be fine, but I don’t know how your neck supports that big fat head of yours.”

  “Oh my God,” Mel said from the doorway. “Did he just crack a joke?”

  “If you want to call that humor,” Salina said, motioning for the girl to come in.

  She held a steaming coffee mug and I could smell it. Broth? Bullion? Whatever it was, my stomach rumbled.

  “It’s too hot right now,” Mel said. “You scared us, Dick.”

  “Sorry, kid,” I told her, watching as she pulled out a straw from her pocket and set both the mug and straw on a rolling cart near the bed.

  “When I get all patched up, we’ll make plans for heading west,” I told her.

  “Good. Mom and I… we talked about going anyways…”

  “Don’t,” I told her. “It’s not safe.”

  “We’re not going to,” she said. “We’re going to wait a bit. Some of what we found in the mob guy’s supplies were radios. Working radios. We’re picking up transmissions from Kentucky. Some dude named Blake. We’re going to wait for you to heal up because it sounds like it isn’t safe anywhere right now.”

  “The devil you know,” I said, feeling so tired I could barely keep my eyes open.

  The smell of the broth was the only thing keeping me up.

  “Yeah, Mom said something like that… and I was— “

  17

  There were a lot of days where I would just fall asleep due to exhaustion, and I did end up with an infection for a while. I was lucky they’d driven the gang out of the warehouse, though, because there’d been enough medicine there to keep Salina stocked up. Surprisingly, she hadn’t had to use any narcotics on me except when she’d been performing the meatball surgery to save my life. I hadn’t even known or felt it. The rest was good old ibuprofen. The pain made it hard to get about, and I was sore and stiff.

  “How much longer can you two wait?” I asked Mel, who was sitting on the hood of a dead car.

  It had been three weeks since I’d woken up. My wound had mostly closed up, mostly. It still hurt every day, and I had a feeling that it’d hurt on cold days, the same way my shrapnel scars always did.

  “We’re waiting for you to heal up,” she told me, for probably the thousandth time.

  “I’m getting antsy to go. I don’t know how long I can wait,” I told her.

  “You know, Mouse is going to miss you.”

  “I’m going to miss all of them,” I told her.

  “I know, but most of the little ones found families. The rest are going to stay with Danielle and Jeremy topside. You were like Mouse’s boogeyman catcher or something.”

  “Or something, Maggie,” I told her smiling.

  She gave me a look, not on purpose, but I realized I’d done it again.

  “Was kidding,” I lied.

  “No, you weren’t,” Mel said. “Part of you is broken, just like a lot of us are. We’re healing, Dick. You will, too.”

  I knew she was talking about more than the hole in my side and for what it’s worth, I agreed. I was broken, but I felt good for once. I felt antsy and ready to tackle my demons if it meant I’d be one step closer to my daughter.

  “I know, I just… It’s embarrassing… and hard to talk about,” I admitted.

  “You’ve done more and been hurt more than most,” Mel told me. “So maybe, it’ll take you a little longer to heal.”

  “I think so,” I admitted, feeling like I was sitting next to the world’s most mature teenager.

  She had that effect on me and maybe that was the reason why I’d gotten her confused with Maggie more than anyone else. She was how I pictured my daughter being in my mind. I’d been thinking about Maggie a lot lately. My memory was faulty to some extent, probably from the drugs and abuse I’d put my body through, but I remembered her in small patches, like a short video clip, or from pictures I’d seen. Still images. I could almost hear her voice, remember what she sounded like, but when I got close to the memory, it’d leave me.

  “I wanted to talk to you about something else,” Mel said.

  “What’s that?” I asked her.

  “Well, Courtney and Luis are a thing now. You knew that, right?” she asked with a look about her that made me think she was expecting me to be angry.

  “Yeah, for about two weeks now,” I told her, watching the surprise light up her face and making its way to tug her lips up and into a smile.

  “Oh, phew,” she said, wiping at her forehead in an exaggerated motion. “Well, Courtney’s got family down in Texas. She wants to come with us when we all go.”

  I thought about it and shrugged. I could use the help. Luis had become more than just security for the market, though losing him would hurt the community.

  “Can the community afford for him to leave?” I asked, knowing that asking a fifteen-year-old such a deep question might give me an unexpected answer.

  “I think with everyone starting to work together, they’ll be fine. Danielle said that she and Jeremy are going to keep an eye on the spot in the tunnels, but most of them feel safe enough to come topside for now. It’s still their secret go-to spot.”

  “Kind of like ninja turtles?” I asked her.

  “Something like that,” she grinned.

  I’d missed out on so many sunrises and sunsets living underground that every day that I could, I tried to watch the day start or end. I was doing it now, and I smiled when I saw four figures making their way towards us. Salina was holding hands with Pauly and Mouse, with Jerome bringing up the rear. I smiled at them. Mouse looked happy, and part of me deep inside wanted to lose my man card, and for a second, a tear almost ran down the side of my cheek. For like a microsecond. Maybe it was just my imagination.

  “Uncle Dick,” Mouse said as she got closer. “Would you like to brush my hair?” she asked, holding out the silver brush.

  I tried to talk, but the words wouldn’t come. A frog had apparently jumped into my throat and I made a weird sound. I swallowed and took the brush, meeting Salina’s gaze.

  “You’ll be leaving us soon. Mouse wanted to say her goodbyes.”

  “Come here,” I told her, and she scurried up the bumper and plopped down into my lap.

  I took the brush and began pulling it through her hair. Pauly grinned at me and tugged at Salina’s arm. She kneeled down to listen as he whispered something to her.

  “I’m going to miss you, Uncle Dick,” Mouse said.

  “I’m going to miss you too, kiddo,” I told her, choking up.

  “I want you to find the real Maggie. She deserves to have a daddy.”

  “You tell him,” Salina told Pauly.

  “I’m going to miss you too, but we all know you need Maggie in your life,” he said after a second.

  “Did she make you say that?” I asked him, realizing how a
dult his statement was.

  “We talked yesterday. I didn’t have all the right words. Even though she helped me, it’s what I think. You going to be going soon, aren’t you?”

  “Yeah, buddy,” I said. “I’m leaving pretty soon. I’m going to miss the both of you, too.”

  Mouse turned and pulled the brush out of my hand and slid down, a smile lighting up her features.

  “When you find her, give her a big hug from me.”

  “I promise.”

  I pulled out a picture I’d carried with me halfway across the world. I’d never had the chance to give it back to Mike’s family, but if I was going to be going back to Mary’s parent’s farm, I’d drop off the picture for Mike as well. Mouse walked back to Salina, who took her hand. I gave the picture one last glance and stowed it away again.

  “I’ll be here if you want to talk,” she told me. “But I would wait another week, even though I know you won’t.”

  “I’ll be in touch, Doc,” I told her.

  I watched them leave and I felt the car shift as Mel inched closer and leaned in, resting her head on my shoulder.

  “Are you ok, Dick?”

  “I think I will be. Someday,” I told her, and with a start, I realized I actually believed it.

  “I do, too. I miss my dad,” she told me.

  “I’ll get you to him. I promise, Mel.”

  She smiled at me. “You got it right this time.”

  Someday soon, I would walk down the dirt driveway in Arkansas and open the door to find my daughter inside. I’d find that missing part of my soul and if she’d let me, I’d be the father I should have been the first time. I would get it right.

  --The End--

  Volume Two

  Book 2 - The Devil’s Road

  18

  I had waited another week, but every day I waited was agony. I had the itch to move on, something I hadn’t had in years and years. The last time I’d felt this antsy was when I was fixing to go on another deployment in some godforsaken place in the world. Now, I was merely trying to go from Chicago to Lincoln, Nebraska or thereabouts, according to Jamie and Mel. Still feeling conflicted about taking on Luis and Courtney, the complaints were starting to get to me. RUSH! RUSH! RUSH!