Linda Andrews - Extinction Level Event

“Will do.” Henry rolled back toward the waiting people and line of cars.

As Cowboy reached the entrance into his neighborhood more people with guns and machetes appeared. They gathered around him and his horse as he spoke.

“That went well.” Manny practically skipped at his side. With all those people and their guns joining them, the Aspero wouldn’t dare take them on now.

“It truly is a blessing.” Henry laughed. “They have livestock. I heard chickens and goats. That might mean fresh eggs and milk.”

“I heard the chickens. But milk, that’s like finding the Chupacabra.”

“I wouldn’t eat a Chupacapra.”

Falcon sidled out from between the cars. The revolver glinted above his belt buckle. He tugged down his yellow bandanna, revealing the white scars forming a spider web over his jaw and throat. “Are they going to allow us to pass or are they going to take our stuff, Sir?”

“They’re going to join us.” Henry held out the rifle to Falcon. “And they warned us that there might be trouble ahead. Gunshots last night.”

“Gunshots?” Falcon exchanged the rifle for the revolver. He checked the chamber before raising the weapon and looking down the sight. “Those damn gangbangers. Marines must be really sick if they let any of those bastards escape.”

“I need you and Papa Rose to leap ahead.” Henry nodded to the beefy man with a skull in a bouquet of roses tattooed on his arm. “Find out if any trouble waits for us.” He tucked the revolver between his legs then spun about and rolled forward.

Falcon jerked his head toward Papa Rose.

The bald, tattooed man pulled the walkie-talkie out of his leather vest and handed it to Manny. “How far ahead do you want us to scout, Sir?”

Manny accepted it before tucking it into the pouch on Henry’s wheelchair.

“We’re going to regroup at the park by the river and wait for our newcomers, but I’d appreciate it if you went as far as the Mission.” Henry’s hands hovered near his wheels as his chair picked up speed down the incline. “They have been given lots of food to feed the homeless, so they’ll be the most likely target.”

Latching onto the handles of the wheelchair, Manny slowed Henry’s descent.

Falcon and Papa Rose jogged by. “We’ll report back in thirty minutes. If you don’t hear from us in forty-five, you know we’ve found what we’re looking for.”

Manny huffed up the incline. His thighs burned and trembled. When did the valley get so many hills? With a grunt, he pushed Henry’s chair up the last bit and nearly cried at reaching level ground.

“If there hadn’t been so many cars, I would have been able to pick up some decent speed and that hill wouldn’t have been such a terror.” Henry wiped his arm across his forehead.

Gulping air through his mask, Manny fought the urge to rip off the stupid thing. Talking was beyond him. Doubling over at the waist, he clutched the pain in his side. Far behind him, a small crowd had gathered at the park near the rocky stream bed. More people funneled through the rows of cars and stumbled into the group. Rini waved from the middle of the mass, her white-blond hair snapping in the wind. Four men on horseback broke free of the group and galloped up the banks of the trickling river.

Falcon sprinted over, stopping by Henry’s chair. Sweat beaded the black man’s forehead. “The Mission looks deserted.”

A hundred feet away, Papa Rose lay on his belly. The muzzle of the rifle rested on a pile of discarded garbage and a plastic bag fluttered above his bald head.

Manny swallowed. The men must have had some military training to use rubbish as camouflage. No wonder the old man had given them the rifle.

Still breathing hard, Henry rolled forward until he reached the driveway. “Usually there are a few homeless hanging about.”

Manny groaned at the rock and asphalt parking lot. That was going to be a bitch to get Henry across. Near the long metal warehouse sat a dilapidated car slowly decomposing. The place did look deserted but he knew from first-hand experience that didn’t mean anything. Especially when the Aspero were about. Taking a deep breath, he grabbed the handles and pushed. The chair bumped over the hard packed ground. At least the wheels didn’t dig in and stick.

Just as he cleared the fence, a shot rang out.

“Shit!” Falcon dove for the refuse.

“The shooter is in the third window from the right!” Papa Rose shouted.

Manny skidded on the ash-covered rocks, landing hard on his butt with one foot under Henry’s chair. Crap. They had to get out of here. He yanked on the handles but they slipped out of his grip.

Henry rolled toward the building.

“Stay away from here! Do you hear me?” Another shot pierced the ground about two feet away from Henry. Rock rained against metal.

Manny scrambled to his feet. Hunched over, he darted after Henry. Didn’t the old man know that female gangbangers were just as dangerous as the men?

“Beth?” Still coasting toward the building, Henry shielded his eyes with one hand. “Beth Goodman? Is that you?”

“Mr. Henry?” The woman’s voice trembled.

Manny leapt forward, grabbing the back of the chair. Digging his heels in, he tried to stop Henry.

Hooves pounded behind him. Four horsemen thundered across the parking lot. Clouds of ash exploded in their wake. Riding low in the saddle, the people charged the building.

Manny felt his jaw drop open. Jesus Christ. People still rode like that?

“Yeah, it’s me.” Henry raised his hand. “Stand down everyone. I’m all right. We’ve come to check on you and your dad, Beth.”

The riders reined their animals to a stop in a plume of dust and ash. In one motion, they hit the ground and raised their rifles.

The door to the building slammed open.

In a blur of black fabric and white limbs, a girl raced outside. “Mr. Henry.” Her bare feet flew over the ground. Launching from the gravel parking lot, she threw herself onto the old man’s lap.

Her landing shoved the chair backward and Manny again fell on his behind. Rocks sifted through his fingers. He might as well stay here. The girl looked like she was about to settle in for a good cry. How they found the energy, he’d never know.

She wrapped her pale arms around Henry’s neck and buried her face. “I didn’t know what to do. Daddy’s dead.”

Manny squeezed his eyes tight. Images of his father crowded in, his usually healthy tan skin had a gray cast, illness hollowed out his cheeks and burst blood vessels had changed his eyes to red. Manny sucked in a ragged breath.

“Dead?” Henry stroked her dark hair. Red winked from the roots. “How?”

“The sickness. He died from it.” She raised her head. Snot glistened in silky strands from her nose. “So did practically everyone else. They’d been sick for days.”

Manny hissed. A bruise covered half her face and her lip was swollen.

Henry pinched her chin and angled it so he could see her better. “What happened to your face?”

“Some douche bag thought…” She shook her head. “He stabbed Gabriel. I think… I think he’s dead.”

Manny shivered. Not the Aspero. Somehow knowing that an ordinary person tried to rape her made it all worse. Shouldn’t disaster bring out the best in people? Make them stop killing and raping each other?

“Don’t worry. You’re safe with us.” Henry tucked her back under his chin. “We’re going to see the soldiers.”

“And my dad?” Her fingers clutched Henry’s flannel shirt.

“We’ll tell them where to find him. They’ll bury him with his followers. I think he’d like that.”

Manny climbed to his feet.

One of the horsemen cantered over to them.