He motioned with two fingers and they darted across South Avenue.
“So why not try and reach him yourself? Work together?”
“I have a wife and child to think about. If I was single, you’re damn right I would be over there. That store is jam-packed with enough arsenal to deal with these bozos.”
He pointed up ahead. “5th Avenue. We’re not far now. Keep your head down. Things are about to get hairy.”
Instead of using the road, they climbed over yard fences, working their way from one property to the next. A few homes were occupied. The residents glanced out their windows at them but said nothing. Paul had no idea how many in the town had remained, but from the response at the city hall meeting, few wanted to stay. Most relied on government, trusted the system, and if it meant living like refugees in another city, they were willing to do that — especially with the promise of food. No power meant no internet, no distractions for the mind. Some had no idea how to live without it.
Colby squinted into the distance.
He heard the warfare long before he saw it.
There was one street between them and the back of a hardware store and an auto shop. Colby could see men ducking on the roof. Rounds were exchanged.
“See. That’s why I told you she wouldn’t be there.” They ducked between two homes, watching it all unfold. “5th Street crosses over 5th Avenue. Diagonally across the street is another gun store. Rumor has it that was taken or the owners left. Either way, that’s why they think they can take the other one. All of them are armed and have more than enough ammo to ride this out.”
It was like something out of the Middle East.
The steady staccato of gunshots was deafening.
Colby began to question the guy who’d told him where Alicia was.
“What if they got out?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean the owner of the Outpost. How could you hold up this long without leaving for food, water, medical supplies?”
“Maybe he has it.”
“And maybe he doesn’t,” Colby replied. “That could explain how she ended up there. Maybe she was seen going back with them.”
“She?”
“Sorry. Alicia.” He waved him off. “Is there another way around?”
“If there is, these guys will be there.”
Colby clenched a fist. There was a chance she’d left town. Why wouldn’t she? She probably thought he was dead. For all he knew, she could be in Los Banos or miles away from here, north, on her way to Garberville.
“All right, Paul. I appreciate you getting me here. You can head out.”
He offered a curious expression. “You’re still going in?”
“I have to know. Look, I remember a lot of things and that woman knows me. If by some small chance she’s in that store, I need to reach her.”
Paul nodded. “Shit.” He lowered his head and looked over his shoulder as if contemplating leaving. “Then you’ll need to gain Jackson’s trust. He knows me.” He lifted his rifle and got one of the men on the roof in his scope. Colby thought he was just scouting out potential threats.
He wasn’t.
Pop.
The guy’s head jerked sideways and he dropped straight off the roof.
Another guy looked over and quickly joined his pal with another squeeze of the trigger. “They’ll figure it out fast. Let’s move.” The two headshots cleared the way for them to dart out from their hiding spot, across the street, and hop over a waist-high chain-link fence. They took cover behind a huge industrial dumpster.
With so many rounds being exchanged, no one batted an eye that two of their own had been taken out. They climbed on top of the dumpster and Paul bent over and interlocked his fingers to give him a boost to the roof. “We replace them. Join the fight. Jackson will see. But until he knows, keep your head down,” Paul said.
On the roof of the hardware store, they had a much better lay of the land. It was a damn war zone. Bodies littered the street, gunmen crouched on top of roofs, all focused on the Outpost.
Colby switched out his AR-15 for an M4 that was among a collection of rifles and boxes of ammo left behind by hostiles.
Now it was just a matter of figuring out how to get their attention. That was soon made clear when he turned to find Paul holding a small mirror and tilting it so the glare of the sun would reflect and catch their eye.
It took a few minutes and then…
“He’s seen it,” he said enthusiastically. “Jackson knows we’re here.” They weren’t the only ones who knew.
A shot rang out, striking Paul.
TWENTY-TWO Jessie
Humboldt County
It would destroy the community. They wrestled for hours with the decision, him more than the others. It wasn’t that his brothers agreed, in fact, they were against an act of arson, but they were so used to doing what she asked, that to go against her would be like going against God himself. They followed her with blind loyalty.
Jessie wanted vengeance for Miriam.
But not this way. Not like this.
It was one thing to strike back at the Stricklands, another to cause harm to the people of Humboldt. And this would. It wasn’t just one town that would be affected but all the towns. He had thought he didn’t care about them. What had they ever done to help him? But when faced with this, he realized he did. In some ways, it caught him off guard. Destroying Bayshore Mall would rob them of the very things they needed to survive. Every supply they had left.
She wanted it all gone.
This was just like his mother. Spiteful. Her anger was venom that spread and crippled everything it touched.
But in her usual way, she’d convinced them.
Those supplies won’t last forever. Those people will die anyway. Do you want your uncle to stay in jail? Do you want the Stricklands to get away with what they did to Miriam? She
