R. Ruggiero - Reckoning

A surprise was waiting for them when they arrived back at the vehicles. On the hood of Dranko’s Jeep were an M16 and a bandoleer of magazines for it. When it came into view, Cooper smiled to himself. He saw a white piece of paper flapping in the wind, pinned beneath the hood and the rifle. He picked it up.

Scrawled in black Sharpie: Use this to protect your boy. It was signed, “Another dad.”

Cooper picked up the rifle and bandoleer and held them aloft.

“You see this Dranko? Even now, even among gangsters, there is some goodness left in this world!” Cooper was beaming and laughing. Then, when he realized his friend wasn’t in the group, his face fell. He was so used to him being there. Always there. He shook his head in disbelief and embarrassment. Calvin came by and put his hand on his shoulder.

“It is alright. I miss him, too.”

Cooper nodded and slowly his puzzled look turned back to normal. Calvin took the rifle and the bandoleer from him. He let them go, in a daze. He shook his head in exaggerated fashion to clear it and focus back to the task at hand. The others clustered around him. He turned towards Miles.

“So, what is the best way to get to Hodges?”

“I can get us there easily enough. The trick is how to get close enough to him to get him.”

“Can you act?” Cooper answered.

Miles’ eyebrows furrowed, “What do you mean?”

“Could you convince him that you have me? That you are tired of me tearing up your community and you want it to be over?”

A wry grin spread across his face. “You thinking about that scene from Star Wars? The pretend prisoners?”

Cooper shook his head, “I don’t remember that, but it is one of the oldest tricks in the book. Use your opponents’ desires against them. They want to believe that what they want is coming to them, all nice and tied up in a bow.”

Miles mused for a moment, “I can make that work. Hell, I am tired of you messing up our nice little town. I’m just going to solve it a bit differently than I’ll be saying.” Cooper smiled at him.

“We take two vehicles. You go up with your man. You tell Hodges you have me. Make sure you ask for something for giving me to him. That will help sell it. Then, radio us, and we’ll come up. Their guard should be down a bit. Once we roll up, guns out and blazing. Everyone got it?”

The determined faces and nodding heads surrounding him told him the answer was affirmative.

“I’ll say ‘bring him up’ if everything is going to plan. If not, I’ll say, ‘Get Cooper here’. Make sense?” Miles offered.

“Great idea,” Cooper said, nodding and smiling.

It was odd for Cooper to see Angela behind the wheel of Dranko’s Jeep. It made the world off-kilter, like the way he felt when he temporarily misplaced his car keys because he never lost his car keys. The ground underneath him shifted and he felt unsure of his footing. He hoped to God that Dranko would make it. It was incomprehensible to think of him being gone. Since the outbreak of the Brushfire Plague, Dranko had been such a key to their survival that he could not imagine trying to move forward without him.

Focus. A word his father had drilled into him a thousand times. Only a focused man accomplishes anything. His father had abhorred men who flitted from one pastime to another or who could not accomplish one task before moving on to another one. He had talked ad nauseam to Cooper about the need for focus. His father’s words came now in full force. I’m about to go into combat. I can’t be thinking about Jake or Dranko. He pushed those thoughts aside and set his mind to getting ready for the task at hand as Angela started the Jeep and fell in behind Miles’ truck.

He inserted a fresh magazine into his rifle. Then, he made sure the other full magazines were in the pouches closest to his hands. This way, his reloads would be faster and he wouldn’t mistakenly push in a magazine that was only half-full. He pulled his pistol out and checked it. Then, he checked it again. He continued with his anxious ritual of his equipment review. He ended by racking the slide on his pistol and working the bolt on the rifle. Both unnecessary actions, except they helped calm his nerves.

Outside, the world raced by as Angela sped to keep up with Miles who knew the roads and drove them expertly. Angela struggled to keep up with him, but managed. The sky was gray, oppressively so. He watched her face intently. It was screwed up in a look of focused determination. Eyes locked on the road. Her hands gripped the wheel tightly. The muscles on her forearms stood out in stark relief as she worked the wheel and her sleeves would pull up from time to time. He found himself smiling as he looked at her. He realized how close he felt to her. She was always there for him. She stirred a decidedly different set of passions within him than Julianne did, but stir them she did. She caught his gaze and an awkward smile lit across her face.

“What?” She demanded.

Cooper looked away sheepishly, “Nothing.”

She smiled. He could tell she knew what was on his mind. He was surprised when he realized he was actually all right with that. Unlike Julianne, he felt no need to pull away from her. His mind drifted as he thought about…

Focus. He punched himself in the chest to break the chain of thoughts that were beginning to form in his mind. The rifle was glued to his white knuckles.

They rounded another bend in the road and Miles flashed his hazard lights several times as he slowed.

“Pull over,” the radio lying on the seat between them buzzed. Miles’ voice was tight, anxious.

Angela pulled the Jeep over to the side of the road. Her hand went to turn the ignition off.

“Don’t,” Cooper said, reaching to stay her hand.

“We need to save the gas,” Angela countered.

“Not right now,” Cooper responded. Angela answered by withdrawing her hand.

They watched Miles’ truck travel another quarter mile and then turn sharply into a driveway. It disappeared among the trees.

“Now we wait,” Cooper said evenly. He fixed his gaze straight ahead, trying to will time to speed up. His body was rigid, muscles tensed. His breath was shallow.

He was surprised when he felt Angela’s hand clasp his. Her hand was warm against his hand, which was chilled by nerves.

“Breathe,” she whispered. He looked at her, deep concern in her eyes. “It’s going to be okay.”

“Yes, it is,” Calvin’s deep voice resonated from the backseat.

He inhaled deeply and offered her a meek smile. He did not want to wander into her eyes, so he returned a steely gaze forward. He left his hand in hers; welcoming the comfort it brought him. They sat in silence as the moments passed.

Seconds turned to minutes as they waited. His blood pressure rose and sweat beaded across his brow. He willed the fear to stay in his belly to keep it at bay. What’s going on? Did Hodges not buy it? Is he not here? The tumult of unanswered questions plagued him. He hated not knowing . He wanted to move. To act. To settle things once and for all. He could smell the fumes from the idling engine. His stomach turned.

“What is…” he started, but the radio interrupted him.

“Bring him up,” Miles’ voice rasped. Everything to plan so far. Angela put the Jeep into drive and rolled forward. She withdrew her hand. Cooper’s body underwent a transformation as it always did once the action started. He breathed deeply and the anxiety dropped away like a snake shedding its skin.

“It’s go time,” he said. His voice was steady and sure. His eyes narrowed. His hearing sharpened. He wiped the sweat from his palms and forehead.