Part 20 (1/2)
So far, the Rebels had suffered no deaths among their ranks; but several had been wounded, one seriously. About thirty-fives miles inside Louisiana, scouts reported a pocket of resistance; a group of people just trying to survive and get on with the business of living. The wounded Rebel was left at the small clinic there and Colonel Gray and his company moved on westward.
Captain Nolan and his platoon were dug in, fighting what appeared to be several hundred outlaws. Nolan was not worried about being overrun by the outlaws, for they appeared to be disorganized and very undisciplined. The Rebels were occupying a half block of brick buildings in a small Central Texas town. They had plenty of food and water and ammo. But they were stuck.
”Nothing?” Cecil asked the radio operator.
”Not a thing except heavy static, sir. Nothing from General Raines, Colonel Gray, or Captain Nolan.”
”Does the wall of static appear to be worsening?” Ike asked.
”Yes, sir. I can't even reach our guard towers.”
”s.h.i.+t!” Ike said.
”My sentiments exactly,” Cecil said.
Ben repositioned the trucks Rani had hidden, this time putting all of them into the building to the side of the house.
”We may have to make a break for it,” Ben explained. ”We'll want the vehicles as close as possible.” Ben studied the town and the surrounding terrain.
”We're in a good defensive position,” he finally said.
All the supplies except for a three-day supply of food, water, and gasoline were removed from the trucks. Ben and Rani, with the bigger kids helping, began stockpiling wood, finally filling up one room of the house with fuel.
Ben left four M-16's and plenty of ammo for each upstairs, one rifle at each end of the house, another at the front and one at the back.
”I don't know why,” Ben said to Rani, ”but I have yet to see a warlord who had any artillery of any sort.”
”It could be,” Rani said with a wry grin, ”that they can't find any. Probably due to the fact your Rebels took it all.”
Ben returned her grin. ”Now you just may have a point there, lady. We have been known to commandeer certain items necessary for survival and self-defense.”
”Uh-huh.”
Both felt that tiny elusive spark begin bouncing around between them. And with personalities as volatile as those of Ben and Rani, that spark was sure to ignite something. Very soon.
While Ben and Rani were cooking supper, Jordy sat with the other young people. Jordy was held in young awe by the others for being the traveling companion of Ben Raines.
Ben and Rani both noticed the kids were conversing in very low tones.
”Talking about you, Ben,” she said.
”Yes. And I can just imagine what they're saying.”
”They think you're a G.o.d, you know?”
”I know. I have some among my own people- adults-who believe that. I've done everything I know to do to dispel that c.r.a.p.”
”You haven't seen the shrines that were built in your name?”
”No. And if I ever do, I'll tear the G.o.dd.a.m.ned things down.”
”The people might shoot you if you try that.”
”Not me,” Ben said with a laugh. ”I'm a G.o.d, haven't you heard?”
”Get serious!”
Ben did not tell her about the old man he-and many others-had seen. The man who called himself The Prophet. Rani, Ben felt, had enough to occupy her mind without that added mystery.
Unless she had already encountered the old man. If she had, though, she wasn't mentioning it.
Ben pitched his tent in a clear spot between the house and the storage shed. He left Jordy to spend the night inside the house, with the other kids.
In his blankets, before sleep touched him with a softvelvet hand, Ben reviewed the situation. There was always a chance they would not be found hiding out in the old ghost town, but those chances were slim. He guessed correctly that Jake Campo and West had teamed up with other smaller bands of outlaws and warlords and had spread out, searching for them. It might take them several weeks, but they would eventually reach the ghost town.
He turned in his blankets, listening to the wind sing around the canvas.
There wasn't a town within a hundred miles of Terlingua where he could go to find materials to make more bombs. So that was out.
Ben smiled in the darkness. It was a warrior's grim upturning of the corners of his mouth as a plan came into his mind.
Maybe he could even the odds a bit more. Yes.
He'd get on that first thing in the morning.
He closed his eyes and let sleep gently take him into that long dark slide. The face of Rani stayed with him in sleep.
Lovely.
”Both of us will have to stress the importance of staying within the area outlined,” he told Rani.
They sat on the edge of the porch; there were no chairs in the ghost town. They ate cold beans and crackers and sipped hot tea.
”You have a strange mind, Ben,” Rani said.
”And I suppose mine is, too. Here we sit, sipping tea and discussing how best to kill-hideously-several dozen men.”
”Get used to it, Rani. Civilization as we both knew it is gone. Probably forever. From now on, for as long as we live, for as long as those kids in the house live, it will be pure survival of the strongest. Those who are best prepared-mentally and physically-will have the better chances for a long life.
The others will die. It's just that simple.”
She shuddered beside him.
”Cold?”'
”No,” she said. She cut her green eyes and stared at Ben. ”You enjoy it, don't you, Ben?”