Broken Horizon 5

Running on Empty

The first thing I realized when the world in my head stopped spinning was there was gas everywhere.

The gas was leaking all over the ground. Our hard-won petrol, returning to the source from whence it came, probably from a big ‘ole gash in the tank.

The hole in Severs’ shoulder had stopped leaking all over the ground. But he couldn’t raise his weapon arm at all. Which meant we were a man down on the defense.

“Just because I let you put your churro in my flan doesn’t mean I want to marry you, Pendejo!” Maria's voice made me cringe. Severs just chuckled at it.

We were huddled behind the Humvee, which had smashed into a small rock formation that barely reached it’s hood. Some cover, but not much wiggle room. Severs was propped up against the front tire, holding his shoulder wound. He wasn’t bleeding out, thank Christ, which meant the bullet didn’t hit any major organs, but his right arm was out of commission.

Motherfucking Dillon from fucking Brookhaven had ambushed us. And now he was trying to take Maria back with him.

Apparently, he had been without sex for longer than we thought, because he followed us out to this spot, set up an ambush as quickly as he could, and now had us pinned down after wrecking our vehicle. Only Maria’s quick thinking had saved us. She had pulled Severs clear while returning fire from inside the Hummer, which had probably saved my life as well. I had fallen out of the front seat after the crash, and laid on the ground for several minutes, too stunned to move.

Dillon had chosen a good spot for his little reunion, which made me think this wasn’t the first time he played monkey fuck-fuck with his customers. He was perched behind a table-top outcropping on a nearby foothill, giving him a good line on our position. Looked like he made the snipe with an M4, but I was too woozy to figure it all out at once.

We, on the other hand, were pinned down behind our wrecked Humvee, covering either end and returning fire in single shots. Ever heard that term, “Like shooting fish in a barrel”? Well, now I know how the fish feel. Also, my head was gonna have a knot.

“Please, don’t make this hard. You are outnumbered and out gunned. I have you surrounded, and there is no escape. You have one chance only: Leave Maria, unarmed, and I’ll let you live.”

“Have you lost your goddam mind?” Severs yelled.

“Leave you unharmed? What the fuck is that about Chica? Did you tell him we beat you or something?” I said.

“Don’t ask me, it’s not like I was begging to stay back at Brookhaven, or wherever.” She replied.

“Two ‘a you must have had a real love connection Maria. That boy has come a long way for a round two.” Severs chimed in.

Maria heard this last bit and smirked. “He wasn’t that good the first time around. Damn, I hate clingy boyfriends.”

Maria was starting to worry me. She sounded like someone I knew.

“I want Maria. Just Maria! The rest of you can go. Comply, or I’ll rain bullets on your asses!”

I called back from behind the rear wheel well; “Dillon…Listen to me. You aren’t thinking straight. Maria doesn’t want to go with you. She’s with us. We aren’t letting her go. You need to- “ Bullets plincked into the rear of the Hummer, seeking my voice. Shit, so much for reasoning with the fucktard.

“You’ll have everything you want! You won’t have to run, or fight people anymore! We could have a life, a real life together! Think about that!”

“And what?” Maria answered, “You’ll give me as much dick as I want, until you beat me to death? You don’t think I know what you are, asshole? If we didn’t need to gas so bad, I would have cut your throat back in the pumphouse!”

Dillon gave up trying to convince Maria, and went back to bargaining with us. “Just…Just leave Maria there. I’ll let you go.”

Another shot pinged off a nearby rock.

“Do you hear me? I mean it!”

Bargaining. Suddenly, my head cleared and I had him pegged: “He’s alone.”

Maria, who had been scanning the prevailing ridges around us, ducked down and shot me a questioning look. “How do you know?”

“I’ve seen it before. Look around. He’s got a great spot for an ambush, but absolute dick for backup cover. He can’t move without being seen, and the only other safe area is right above us. If he had people with him, then they should be peppering us right now, if they really wanted to take you. Or trying for a flank. But he’s bargaining.” I looked Maria in the eye “You don’t have to bargain with someone who has no choice. That fucker’s played his best hand, and it was a bluff”.

Severs cracked a grin and leaned back against the wheel. “Stupid fuck ran out ahead of us without thinking this thing through. Bet the others don’t even know he’s here.” He looked up at me “You know what to do, sissy?”

“Yeppers. We wait until it gets dark, and then smoke his ass like a pack of Camels.”

Evie was crying, and Maria secured her into the hide-away we built for her in case of emergencies. Such as this one.

“How do you know he won’t try to move on us?” Maria asked over her shoulder.

I smiled at this. “It’s my sincere hope that he does, Chica. Because he’ll be anxious to get this over with. You pay to play in the waiting game, and he didn’t plan on doing that. The longer this thing drags out, the worse the odds are of him getting away with it scott-free. He’s got a clock in his head, and it’s clicking off the minutes faster and faster. His mind will start to work against him, he’ll second-guess himself. He’ll get antsy, try to hurry things along and make a mistake.”

“In other words, he’ll be looking so hard for holes in the ground, he won’t see the tree branch that knocks him out.” Severs chimed in. “Goddam boy, you ever speak normal human? Just for a few seconds?”

I flipped my middle finger at him.

“I’ll take good care of her!” Dillon was starting to sound like a man trapped on a sinking ship.

I scanned the area for some cover…There, a small slope about 30 yards away to the left. Dillon wouldn’t be able to get a bead on me behind it. If I could take that, we’d have the makings of a good flank, and Dillon would have to split his attention between the Hummer and me. That should give him a thrill.

I pulled Maria to me. “We need to distract his ass for a few seconds” I pointed to the slope “I’m gonna make a run for the border. You send Dillon some love and kisses.”

Maria smiled and nodded. She checked her clip, reloaded with a fresh mag and ratcheted one home. I could see her bracing up for it, and I crouched into a sprinter’s posture. “You’re my start gun, Chica” I said “Burn one off and let’s do this.”

“I’m gettin’ tired of waitin’” Dillon hollered. “You don’t want me to- SHIT!”

Maria popped from behind Severs’ tire and proceeded to rock the ridgeline with short, controlled bursts from her LUSA 94 AWB. In the past few weeks she had become quite proficient in target grouping, the 16 inch barrel lending itself to greater accuracy in her hands than a heavier weapon, like the HK UMP slung over my back. It was also a hell of a lot more accurate than that pussy M4 Dillon was sporting.

Dillon saw me bolt from cover towards the slope, but was powerless to intercede until Maria stopped shooting. I dove for the ditch, and slid a few feet face-first into it. A few seconds later several impotent shots twanged off the rocks around me. I smiled through the small cuts and abrasions I had sustained. Tough luck, Dillon my boy. You won’t know what I’m doing unless you abandon Maria and Severs. And you can’t stay on them with me on the loose somewhere. But if you look for me, what will Maria do?

Time to rattle his cage a bit.

“Hey Dillon!” I yelled “You hear that?”

He didn’t answer, but I knew he was listening.

“That ticking sound?”

“Fuck you! You’re fucking shit to me! You’re fucking shit!” Dillon was screaming now.

“That’s your time left on this Earth, motherfucker. The end is very fucking nigh!” I kept my voice on an even tone, not too high, not too low.

No answer…And no shots either. It occurred to me that Dillon had spent over two clips, maybe more, since his first shot. And if he tore out of Brookhaven as fast as I think he did, stupid fuck probably didn’t pack for a real siege. Thinking this would be a simple snatch-and run, not a prolonged standoff. An M4…Maybe a sidearm? Few clips per? And since he’s been cooking off ammunition without thinking, firing at me, the Hummer, exchanging lead with Maria…I bet he just realized how little ammo he has left.

Maybe a couple of clips?

Maybe even less?

*****************************************************

“That was real stupid, dumbass. Really, really stupid.”

Maria and I were standing over the inert body of Dillon the lovesick idiot. He had a single round through his forehead: Maria had put it there.

When I took the ridge, Dillon had tried to run for it instead of fighting for his one true love. The dipshit had slid down the wrong way of the gravelly hillside & lost his M4 on the way down. Maria and I had given chase from both sides, until she decided to track him and fire in place. It wasn’t a very far distance, less than 50 yards, but I had to admit; Maria had the eye for it. She popped his ass without a seconds hesitation, and down he went.

Severs shuffled over to us, holding his shoulder.

“Maria, field-strip that fucker and then you and Robbie scout the surrounding area. He got here in something awful fast, it has to be nearby. I’ll see if we can do anything with the Hummer.” Sev paused at this, and looked at the gas that had leaked out, covering a wide radius around the truck. “Shooting it comes to mind.” He added.

“Lemme grab some water. Chica, how you holding up?”

“Grab my canteen from the back, would you?” Maria started rifling through the rucksack Dillon the asshole had left behind. The legacy of a dipshit.

I looked Severs’ wound over clearly for the first time. “You’re probably gonna live, but you know what comes next: We need to clean that wound and dig out the lead.”

“I know, I know. We have some time…Let’s see what we get off Dillon’s ride first.”

I began rummaging around the tail of the Hummer looking for spare water while Sev did a recon around the front end.

“Robbie…Get over here.” Severs had pitched his voice into a low, modulated tone. Which was his way of saying “Don’t attract Maria’s attention”. I casually shuffled over to him, and he took the HK out of my hands. “What? What’s up, man?”

Severs leaned in close to me; “Keep your head down when you see it, and think it through.” I looked at him quizzically, and he pushed my head down into the back seat of the Hummer. It took me a second to see what he meant, I thought there was a snake or something. Hell, I don’t know what I thought. But I knew when I saw it.

Evie was dead, blood pooling around her small body. Her eyes were wide open. Looking at me.

Evie’s hidey-hole was too out of the way to draw a bead on, I guess she got hit with a ricochet when Dillon the asshole popped his threatening shots at us. Who knows. But I understood what Sev meant when he told me to “think it through”. How do we tell Maria this?

I closed Evie’s eyes and stayed with her for a few minutes. Maria finished stripping Dillon of his weapons and ammo, and began searching the surrounding area for another vehicle. Severs shuffled off to the rear of the Hummer and sank onto the spare tire rack. I saw the wisp from a freshly-lit smoke wafting around his head & knew it was up to me to clean things up here and prepare to break the bad news when Maria returned.

Short and direct is the only way I know how to do anything. No sense in putting it off or sugarcoating it. We may as well just get this over with, so we could move on with things.

I opened my mouth to call Maria over, but my voice cracked. I couldn’t do it. I closed my eyes and took a few deep breaths before trying again. That kid never hurt anyone. She deserved some good times after the bullshit she had been through in her life. She shouldn’t have to-

“Hey, what’s taking you so long, gringo? You two finally decide to make out?” Maria had gotten impatient waiting, and was standing behind me.

I turned and looked at her, unable to speak. She saw my face. “What? What is it?”

I shook my head and pointed at the side door. As Maria went to look I headed for the ridge, unable to be in her presence.

A low wail rose in the air as I stalked away.