New Frontier 2: Wild Lands, page 21
part #2 of New Frontier Series
She curled back behind the boulder when his gaze started to turn toward her. Then she crawled over to a new spot in the weeds. Her heart hammered in her chest. She didn’t think the man had seen her, but she didn’t want to take any chances.
A sudden shrill scream erupted from below.
Lindsey got up and turned her binos to locate the source.
Two Skulls dragged a young woman in her twenties from a copse of Aspens. Another seven prisoners, all women, were tied up to those trees. The women were covered in dirt, their clothes torn and ragged. A couple cried as others appeared to hurl curses at the Skulls.
These women weren’t from the checkpoint. They looked as if the Skulls had been hauling them around as prisoners for a while.
The men laughed as the twenty-something-year-old woman tried to claw her way back toward the trees.
Then one took out a knife from his belt. He slashed off the woman’s shirt, laughing as she tried to cover herself.
There was no mistaking what these men planned to do.
To think that these disgusting humans had snuck beyond the borders, traipsed through her lands, attacked her people, and now… Lindsey could not bear the thought of letting them go.
She had to destroy these monsters.
Especially if they worked for Eddy.
Their sins were too numerous to count.
She met with the rest of her team, and Palmer’s team soon joined them.
The expressions on their faces told her they were equally horrified. Not one man suggested they return to the safety of the border.
“I counted at least twenty hostiles,” Lindsey said.
“Are we planning on taking them all prisoners?” Palmer asked.
“Get them to surrender, maybe?” Nuke suggested.
Lindsey shook her head, feeling the heat of anger rise in her chest again. “Our prison at Fort Golden is already full. We only need a few men for intel. The rest, we can take out, so we can free their hostages. We just got to make it into their camp without them seeing us.”
Palmer tentatively raised a hand. “I’ve got an idea. Calvin might not be here, but if we take a page out of the SEALs’ book, we can take those assholes down.”
“Good,” Lindsey said. “Let’s hear it.”
-15-
“You almost got me killed, you asshole,” Lily said.
“Quiet,” Raven whispered.
He crouched in the darkness-soaked woods with Creek, listening to the sound of people below. He had been observing the remaining guard patrols, looking for the best way out of town.
From on the mountain slope, he watched Ouray with Lily. Already two convoys had left. Fewer guards seemed to be around the town and the mayor’s compound.
Those left behind were mostly in the hunting parties Raven had avoided throughout the day.
Using the cover of the streams and mud, he’d even masked his and Lily’s scent enough to avoid the hunting dogs.
From the sounds of crunching leaves and sticks, a hunting team was finally drawing close to Raven’s position.
“Okay,” he whispered. “I need you to be quiet now. If you listen to me, we can do this. We’ll be able to get your son back, and I’ll get a shot at what I came here for.”
He still wondered how wise it was to try infiltrating the mayor’s compound. But his conscience wouldn’t let him just run away.
She nodded, her lips pressed closed tightly.
Now might be the best opportunity Raven had to fight back. He signaled for Lily to wait behind the bushes and trees.
Then he walked at a hunch through the trees toward the compound with Creek behind him. His hatchet was secured to his belt.
The bark of a hunting dog erupted from the woods.
Raven directed Creek to hide in a clump of sagebrush.
At the same time, Raven climbed a pine tree. Just twelve feet off the ground, he could see clearly enough through the needles to watch the hunting dog bounding toward his position.
Two men followed carrying rifles.
The dog sniffed around the tree. Its tail wagged as it caught Raven’s scent.
One of the men slowly approached the tree while the other roved his rifle around the terrain. Definitely one of Clayton’s cowboys.
Just come a couple feet closer.
“Where is he, boy?” The man with the birthmark paused.
The second man walked around the circumference of the tree’s branches, his rifle trained on the woods to their east. This man walked with a limp, his gait easily recognizable.
These two had been on the hunt for David Singer and then Raven.
“Another false alarm?” the limping man suggested.
“Shit,” the man with the birthmark said.
He started to lower his weapon.
Raven leapt from the tree with the hatchet.
In one fell swoop, he knocked the man to the ground and slammed the hatchet into his skull. Bone broke with a sickening crack. Blood rushed out.
Raven yanked the hatchet out, then slung it at the other man. It hit the guy square in his shoulder. Bone and tendons snapped. The man cried out as he raised his rifle with one hand.
But Raven was quicker. He snatched the rifle from the first man and swung it like a bat. The heavy wooden stock hit the other guard in the side of the face with a loud crunch.
The man’s head twisted violently. Blood flew from his mouth. He lost his grip on his own weapon.
Growling, the hunting dog sprinted at Raven.
“Creek!” Raven called.
The hunting dog latched onto Raven’s leg, saliva frothing from its mouth. Pain shocked up from the bite, and Raven kicked the dog off. It went tumbling into the dirt.
As the hunting dog prowled toward Raven again, Creek pounced from the brush. The Akita stood between Raven and the other canine. He let out a vicious growl, the fur raising across his back.
The hunting dog’s ears pressed flat against its skull, its tail lowering. For a moment, it looked like it might lunge.
Another growl from Creek sent the hunting dog sprinting off with a whimper.
“Good job, boy.”
Raven took one of the hunting rifles, as much ammo as he could find, backpacks, and a pair of knives, then ran low through the woods. With one team down, there was no telling how long before the others noticed.
After running back to where Lily was, he signaled for her to follow him. They snuck through the woods until the compound was in sight.
“I need you to wait here,” he whispered. “Don’t move. Just hide. As soon as I’m out, I’ll come get you. Understood?”
Lily nodded. “Just don’t fuck this up, honey.”
“I don’t plan to.”
In minutes, he and Creek reached the six-foot concrete wall around the compound.
He rushed up to the side of the northern wall, pressing himself against it. After strapping the hunting rifle over his back, he pulled himself to the top of the wall. It was only a foot wide. Just enough for him to perch on.
The men in the guard towers were all looking outward into the valley. They weren’t watching the manor grounds.
Perfect.
Raven reached back down, lying flat on the wall.
“Jump, boy,” Raven whispered.
Creek launched himself up toward Raven’s outstretched arms. Raven caught his front paws and folded him up toward his chest. Together they jumped over the other side.
Raven hid in the lush garden leading to the manor, watching the windows. Candlelight flickered from a single room on the second floor. He could see the mayor surrounded by bookshelves.
The distant barks of the other hunting dogs echoed in the valley. Had they discovered the other runaway dog? Or had they happened on the dead hunters?
Either way, no time to waste.
Raven sprinted through the bushes, flowers, and trees to the mansion, then used a knife to pry open a window, cracking the frame away. He pushed the window up, lifted Creek inside, then snuck in after.
They stalked through a darkened hallway filled with statues and paintings. Panes of moonlight shifted in, slightly illuminating his path to an expansive stairway circling around a taxidermized lion.
He took each step up carefully and quietly.
Based off what he’d seen outside, the mayor’s office should be down the corridor to his left.
Raven curled slightly around the corner.
About thirty feet away, two men stood guard in front of a door. Each had a rifle propped against the wall beside them. Hanging lanterns flickered above. They stood with their arms folded, talking quietly.
Raven slipped out the knives he’d stolen from the hunters. He held each in his hand for a second, testing their balance.
He bent around the corner and threw the first knife. The blade cut through the air in a perfect arc. It buried itself into the neck of one guard.
As the guard grasped at the knife, falling to the floor, Raven pitched the second blade. The other guard had more time to react, instinct overriding logic. He held a hand up to block the knife.
It speared through his hand.
While his comrade remained still on the floor, blood pooling out of his fatal wound, the second guard pulled his knifed hand away from his neck. Crimson liquid pumped out of his hand as he fumbled to grab his rifle.
Raven was already sprinting down the hallway with Creek.
The dog reached the guard first. He tore at the man’s leg while Raven wrapped his arm around the man’s neck. Together they took the guard to the ground.
As the man flailed, desperately trying to throw them off, Raven tightened his grip, holding with all his strength, until the man went still.
Raven let the body fall, then kicked open the door to the mayor’s office.
Instead of charging in, he ducked to the side, staying low. He gestured for Creek to stay back.
Just as he’d feared, a shotgun blast roared from inside. Buckshot tore above Raven’s head and into the wall and ceiling. Another pump and click followed before a second deafening blast.
“You bastard!” Clayton’s voice rose from inside.
Raven shouldered his hunting rifle as a third shot ripped into the doorframe, splinters flying. He curled around the door, coming in low. The mayor was barely peeking over his big oak desk.
Squeezing the trigger, Raven fired a few wild shots into the desk, hoping one would hit the mayor.
Sure enough, Clayton fell backward with a groan.
Raven sprinted across the room, Creek following, right around the desk under all the taxidermized human and animal heads. He found Clayton sprawled on the floor. The mayor had one hand over his gut as blood stained his shirt and jacket.
“Help… me,” Clayton said.
Raven aimed his rifle at Clayton’s chest. “Where’s the boy?”
“Who…?”
“Lily’s boy. Mark. Where is he?”
Pallor washed through Clayton’s face. He didn’t have much more time in this world. Creek let out a growl.
“Down the hall.” His voice grew quieter, and Raven had to lean in close. “The guestroom…. Locked… you…”
Suddenly, Clayton lunged up at Raven. In the hand he had been using to staunch his bleeding, the mayor held a knife. He must’ve had it hidden inside his jacket.
Raven barely drew back in time. The knife cut across the side of his ribs, ripping fabric. A searing pain cut through Raven’s skin. He’d just narrowly avoided a fatal attack.
With Clayton lashing out with the knife again, Raven was forced to leap away. The mayor’s injury must’ve been only a glancing wound. He’d been playing it up to draw Raven close.
“I’ll mount you on that wall, boy!” Clayton roared.
He charged. Raven didn’t have time to turn his hunting rifle on the mayor. Instead, he let the rifle drop and grabbed Clayton’s wrists. Clayton sent a knee into Raven’s stomach, then stomped hard on Raven’s foot.
Raven pushed past the pain and squeezed on Clayton’s wrist until the man dropped the knife. But Clayton wasn’t out of the fight yet. He fought with all the desperation of a cornered wolf. He knew the only way out of this was to kill Raven.
With Clayton shoving and kicking, he backed Raven up toward the wall filled with the mounted heads of humans and animals. Creek ran in to help, but the mayor kicked the dog in the ribs, sending him tumbling away with a whine.
Then Clayton stomped hard on Raven’s foot again and reached toward Raven’s throat. “Die, boy!”
This time, Raven kicked Clayton’s kneecap. A splintering crack split the air, and Clayton yowled. With the mayor distracted by fresh agony, Raven picked the man up slightly and swung him hard against the wall.
Right into the antlers of a taxidermied deer.
The antlers pierced the back of the mayor’s neck and skull. The man’s jaw fell slack, blood drooling out. His eyes bulged until finally they turned glassy.
“Look who’s mounted on the wall now, asshole,” Raven hissed. He couldn’t help himself with all the anger flowing through him.
Creek whined as he joined Raven beside Clayton.
“You okay, buddy?” Raven asked the dog, comforting the animal.
The Akita seemed to be recovering his breathing and a cursory examination revealed no broken bones.
Then Raven turned back to Clayton’s hanging body. He patted the corpse down and took out a keyring from a pocket. It had a key marked with the Mercedes Benz logo along with about fifteen others.
He had to save Mark. But that wasn’t his only mission.
He scoured Clayton’s desk, pulling any papers and maps that looked like they might have useful information. He dumped it all into his pack.
“Mayor, we found the missing team,” a man’s voice came from a radio sitting on Clayton’s desk. “Landes and Ford are both dead.”
There was, of course, no answer.
Raven’s heart began to pound. He had to leave. Fast.
He raced out of the office, away from the lifeless gazes of the heads on the wall, and down the hall to his right.
“Mark, you in here?” he called.
There were six different rooms. Which was Mark’s?
“Find it, Creek,” Raven said. “Find the person!”
Creek’s tail wagged as the dog sniffed at the floor, winding back and forth between the doors.
From outside, Raven heard yells. The braying of the dogs was growing closer. He thought he heard the smack of horse hooves on the concrete drive.
Suddenly, Creek froze, staring at one of the doors. Raven got out the key ring, ready to unlatch the lock.
But there too many keys to try.
Instead, he leveled his boot back, then slammed it on the door. The doorknob broke off in a spray of wooden chunks. Swinging open, the door thunked back to reveal a room from some twisted moonlit version of The Great Gatsby. A zoo full of taxidermy animals hung from the walls. Interspersed between them were more human heads.
A giant four poster bed sat on an intricate rug.
Was this really where Clayton kept the boy?
The clamor outside only increased. More yelling. More barking dogs. A spotlight swept over the front of the house, momentarily shining through the window.
That was when Raven noticed a figure curled in the corner. A skinny child hugged his knees to his chest.
“Mark.” Raven lowered his rifle.
“Are you one of the monsters?” the boy asked.
Raven shook his head. “Your mom sent me to help you.”
He held out a hand.
Shaking, the boy stood and took a step forward. Shaggy dark hair hung over his face. His pants and shirt hung off him like a windless sail on a mast.
The boy stumbled toward Raven but shied back from Creek.
“He’s a friend,” Raven said.
Creek wagged his tail playfully.
The boy nodded.
Together they started down the corridor.
Raven figured that he could sneak out over the walls and disappear into the woods again. But this kid looked like he would blow away in a gentle breeze. Even with Lily helping, there was no way Mark could run through the night with Raven. Carrying the boy would only slow them down.
Suddenly, glass exploded from a window down the left corridor. Gunfire lanced through it.
Another window down the opposite hall broke inward. More gunfire forced Raven to duck to the floor with Mark.
Clayton’s men must’ve seen him through a window.
Shit.
Mark cried out and froze, but Raven grabbed him and pulled him away from the broken glass. If they tried running through the gardens, they might get gunned down.
They were out of time.
There was just one more option to escape.
Raven ran through the house and into the garage. A soft beam of moonlight filtered in from a small window. It revealed the old Mercedes he’d seen the other day.
Sure enough, one of the keys he’d stolen from Clayton unlocked it. He got Creek and the boy onto the floor by the back seat. The dog lay protectively over Mark.
“Stay low,” Raven said.
Then Raven slipped into the driver’s seat and started the ignition. A throaty rumble filled the garage when the engine started.
He flicked on the headlights, illuminating the manually operated garage door. No time to open it.
Instead, he revved the engine and threw the vehicle into drive.
Tires squealed as they grabbed hold, the smell of burning rubber filling the car. The vehicle shot forward, right into the flimsy garage door. The door collapsed over the windshield, part of it sliding away.
Raven twisted the wheel violently to shake the remnants of the door off as he barreled blindly down the drive. Gunshots rang out. One of the bullets connected with a headlight, blowing it out.
Mark cried out again.
“Stay down!” Raven yelled.
Only a lone beam speared out onto the driveway as Raven mashed the pedal. Fortunately, the gate at the end was still open.
The headlight illuminated two figures on horses standing at the end of the drive. Two of Clayton’s men aimed weapons at the vehicle.
