Coraset circled the bus carefully, looking backwards every so often.
When she got back to the front of the bus, she knelled down to see if the bus driver was okay. He was still buckled in his seat, and he had a bullet wound to the neck. Coraset tapped on the window hoping he’d respond. He didn’t. She looked around before climbing on top of the bus, and she worked the door open. Once she was inside, she positioned herself to check the driver’s pulse. He didn’t have a heartbeat, and he wasn’t breathing. Coraset took his guns and his handcuffs before climbing back out. She stood on the side of the bus and spotted a shack in the distance. She hopped down and went to the back of the bus to get her things. She lowered her body and stepped carefully inside. Coraset shook her belongings free of the dirt and glass and replaced everything back in the blue bag. She left the dirty box behind. She heard the goggle man moving around outside, and she reconsidered putting away both guns. She wasn’t going to face him without protection. Coraset took one gun out of the bag, and when she stepped out, the other fell out to the dirt. Goggle man looked down at the gun and then at her with a smile.
His tanned face was dirty. His brown hair was askew and dusty, and his clothes were ragged and too big. Coraset stared at him, trying to remain calm. She tightened her grip around the gun she had hid behind her right thigh.
Goggle man shifted his spectacles above his brows, revealing paler skinned circles around hazel eyes. He looked young, maybe in his early twenties with sunken cheek bones and a pointed dimpled jaw. He had on blue baggy pants issued by the Mojave Prison, indicating he only committed a small misdemeanor, and a filthy white t- shirt that swallowed him. Goggle man scratched below his bottom lip as he summed up the woman in front of him. He immediately noticed that Coraset was wearing an orange jumpsuit.
“You’re Coraset, right?”
She didn’t answer him. The fact that he knew her name didn’t sit right with her at all.
Their eyes met for only a second, and he set his attention to the gun on the ground. He shifted around, looking back at his friend who still lay unmoved on the ground. Then he walked a few paces from side to side trying to see around the sides of the bus.
Coraset waited him out patiently, never taking her eyesight off of him.
Feeling uneasy, goggle man laughed searching for something to say. He kicked at the rocks and pulled his hands through his head again before finally asking, “What’s going on, girly?”
“Nothing,” Coraset answered in a cool manner.
He hesitantly took a step towards her and demanded, “Give me that gun.”
“No,” she said as she kicked it to the side.
Goggle man didn’t have a clue as to what to do. He was warned about Coraset. She killed two guards at the prison, and she wouldn’t hesitate to defend herself, even to her own death.
He started walking towards her. He was studying her emotionless face, hoping to bring weakness or fear to the surface. He picked up the pace, and by the time he reached her, Coraset had the gun pointed directly to his face. The man threw his hands up and backed away.
“I’m just messing with you.” He stated with a fake laugh.
Coraset grew tired of his games and ordered, “Get on your belly right next to the bus.”
“I don’t think so,” goggle man remarked.
Coraset pulled the hammer back and aimed at his right shin. She shot him, and he fell to the ground screaming and writhing from pain. She tossed her bag to the ground and pulled out the handcuffs in one swift motion. Before the man realized it, Coraset had his wrist cuffed and was dragging him to the bus. She clamped the other cuff around a metal bar that was attached to the emergency exit. The man yanked so hard to the point where he hurt the muscles in his arm.
She grabbed the other gun on the ground, and she started for the man up the road. When she got to him, she moved around the body until she saw his face. He was shot in the temple. His eyes and mouth were wide open. Satisfied that he wasn’t going to be a problem, she went back to the bus where goggle man was screaming and fighting to get out of the cuffs.
Coraset picked up her bag completely ignoring him and began her track for the distant shack. Goggle man began screaming someone’s name, but she didn’t stop or pay any more attention to him.
With a clear mind, Coraset thought about the situation she was in and what just happened. Two guys with no sign of transportation were in the desert, and one of them shot the bus driver. How did they get out there? Better yet, how did goggle man know her name? The situation wasn’t coming together in her mind, and nothing about it was right. But she knew she wasn’t safe. Goggle man was calling for someone right before she walked away, and his friend was dead up the road from the bus wreck. That meant there was someone else out there.
The dirt road ended right in front of a wooden shack in a circular turnaround. Coraset looked back up the road. The third guy could be hiding in the wooden hut. Coraset wasn’t taking any chances. She shifted her shoulder so the bag would slide to the ground. She went around to the back to eyeball the size of the hut. It was perfectly square and flimsy. She was surprised that it was still standing. Coraset pulled open the back door, lowered her body and entered. There was an unlit lamp in the center, and streams of light penetrated the cracks between the panels. It had a wood panel floor, and there were stacks of boxes on each side. In the far right corner a man was on his belly. He had no shoes and no socks and was shirtless. His ankles and wrists were bounded together with zip ties.
Coraset slowly approached the man, pointed the gun at his head and pushed at his leg with her foot. When his head came up, she noticed his dirty face was moist from tears, and his big blue eyes indicated desperation. He had a buzz cut. His skin was pale white like he hadn’t seen sun in years. He was a young man, lean in muscle tone, like a teenager’s body. Even though, he appeared to be in pain from being tied up, Coraset decided to be careful nonetheless.
She set one of the guns on top of a nearby box, and she worked to untie the rag from around his mouth. He coughed and started breathing heavy. Coraset wanted to release him completely, but it all depended on what he had to say.
“Where are they?” The boy asked as he rolled to his side.
“One is dead, and the other is chained to a bus.” Coraset answered.
“Can you release me?” The boy was trying to sit up.
“Are you with them?”
“Uh, no, I’m tied up.” He answered smartly.
Coraset didn’t let his smart remark bother her, and she shot off another question. “How many guys are here with you?”
“Only three,” Rudy answered. “Please, get me out of these things.”
Now, she understood why goggle man was looking around back at the bus. He was searching for the third guy. Coraset didn’t like this at all. One more guy and she had no idea where he was or what he looked like. He couldn’t be that far. There was nothing but desert for miles. There wasn’t water readily available and no food, unless he had those essentials with him.
“Is there cutters in here somewhere?”
“In that bag behind you,” the boy answered.
Coraset went over and pulled the black duffle bag open. She rummaged through it and found wire cutters. She went back to the boy, rolled him back on his stomach, and freed him. He rubbed at his wrists alternatively and then at his ankles. Coraset stepped back as he got to his feet.
“Thank you,” the boy said.
His kindness surprised Coraset. She hadn’t heard a ‘thank you’ in years.
“You’re welcome,” she responded guardedly.
The boy grabbed the bag Coraset got the cutters out of, and he put on his socks and shoes. He snapped out a shirt and put it on quickly.
“I’m so glad you came along. My name is Rudy.” He extended his hand.
“Coraset,” she answered, not reciprocating the gesture.
“Oh, so you’re Coraset,” he remarked as he zipped his bag closed.
“You know my name, too?” Coraset asked as she stood right in front of him. She had both guns in her hands again, but her stance wasn’t guarded.
