Foolishly, she checked the lock. Then lightly pulled and pushed on the door to make sure it was still secure. It was. She checked her pack for rations and found something what could keep them busy. She needed a few more hours of sleep and knew if that brownish-black nose stayed out there it would make a good sentry. If anyone came into the garage they’d have to fire on the coyotes first.
Jasmine got to her knees and counted paws and noses and thought she counted four of the hungry beasts.
She had power bars made of peanut butter, syrup, and shredded wheat and barley. Not an exceptionally healthy snack, but not bad either. She pinched five bars. Then slid them beneath the door. She waited until the sniffing, growling, and grumbling settled down and then went back to her sleeping bag, and returned to her corner.
With a Glock in her lap and the Mossberg by her side she closed her eyes and within a few minutes she fell asleep.
She didn’t hear the padding of paws across the garage floor. Nor did she hear the clumping of boots.
Jasmine held her father’s hand and smiled when she felt both the roughness of his fingers but the softness of his palms. She loved it when he ran his fingers gently across her cheeks, then tweaking her nose in the morning when he’d awaken her for school.
Just like now.
She felt the fingers caress her cheek, then her neck, and it wasn’t until she felt the fingers push against her right breast did she know she was no longer dreaming and was in danger.
“You make a quick move, little girl, and it’ll be harsh. I might let you live but you’ll wish you were dead,” The voice said to her. Certainly not a voice she recognized and it was so close to her she felt his breath on her neck. “I haven’t seen someone sleep so hard in a long, long time,” The voice continued. “You slept through me chasing off the coyotes, jimmying the door open, taking all your weapons, then copping a feel.” He sniggered as his hand cupped her right breast. “Firm. I like that in a woman.”
Jasmine kept her eyes closed. Using her mind’s eyes she looked for his weakness.
“I know you’re awake, so you can open your eyes anytime now… I suspect they’re big—”
“Better to see you with,” Jasmine answered. Faster than she had ever moved she hit the man in the throat. Then bounded to her feet as he fell back, gagging. In the fluid movements that she had trained so hard to perfect, she grabbed his pistol stuck it against his shoulder and pulled the trigger.
The bang was loud but his scream was louder.
Standing over him, she pointed the pistol at his forehead. “Never! Ever! Wake me up like that again!”
The man laid clutching his throat and gagging, and trying to scoot to the door. All the while amazed at how fast she was able to hit, disarm, and shoot him.
“If you move again I’m going to have to shoot you, so do us a favor and lay still,” Jasmine said. He froze with one knee pointing upward as if he ready to push himself again. She then picked up her weapons and holstered them. “Where’re my knives?”
The man motioned behind her and she picked them up and returned them to their sheathes.
“Are you out of your fucking mind? Did my weapons not give you a clue? Not only am I fully armed but I’m damned dangerous, you stupid shit.” She looked out the door. “If you killed just one of those coyotes, I’m going to kill you. Now lay still.”
He couldn’t move if he wanted to. He was still gasping and gagging for breath, his shoulder burned, and he was scared out of his mind. In all of his conflicts of trying to stay alive he had never run into anyone like her.
She rolled him over on his stomach and zip-tied his hands behind his back. Then rolled him back onto his back and then dragged him over to the wall and pulled him into a sitting position.
“You sit there until my head clears—wouldn’t happen to have any coffee would you?”
The stranger didn’t reply but his eyes said it all, he had stumbled onto one insane woman.
“Damn it! I hate being woken up like that. And don’t say another fucking word until my head clears. You son of a bitch.”
She rolled and packed her sleeping bag and shrugged her arms into the straps of her pack and tugged until she had it up and buckled. She stepped out the door and looked over to her bikes. They were where she left them, apparently untouched.
She went back into the closet. Grabbed one of the power bars that had fallen out when she fed the coyotes and began eating it.
“You alone?” She asked between bites. The man nodded. “What’s your name?”
“Winston.”
“Well, Winston, what makes you roam the streets of Dallas alone. Keep in mind that if you lie to me, I will go ahead and kill you. So I’m going to ask again. Are you alone?”
“No. My family is out back.”
“Family?”
“Wife and kid.”
“Wife and kid. You have a wife and you’re fondling my tits.” He nodded. “You’re an asshole, Winston.” She balled up the wrapper from the power bar, tossed it at him and it ricocheted off of his forehead. “Ok, this is the way it’s going to be, Winston. I’m going to drag you up to your feet and then we’re going out back. If you really have a wife and kid, other than me telling your wife that you’re a sleaze, I’ll let you live. But let me tell you, Winston, if there is someone out there that isn’t a wife or a kid, I’ll shoot them through the back of your head. Tell me, Winston, who’s out there?”
Winston gulped.
“Just what I thought. To conserve my bullets, I’m going to kill you with your own gun.” She clicked the hammer back. “Last chance Winston…”
“It is his wife and kid,” a woman said. “And he is a sleaze… but he’s my sleaze, so please let him live.”
Jasmine turned to the voice and it was a young woman not much older than Jasmine, and she was carrying a baby strapped to her chest. Jasmine lowered the pistol and looked at her for a moment. She then looked at the baby, who looked as hungry as anyone she had ever seen.
“What in God’s name are you doing out here?” Jasmine asked. She then approached the woman. “I know you, you’re… you’re Shelly… You worked in the commissary.”
Cracking a slight but crooked smile, Shelly said, “Jasmine?”
Jasmine gave Shelly a brief hug. Then kissed the baby on the cheek. “Sammy, right? Hi, baby boy.” She then kissed him again. “What in the hell is going on, Shelly?”
“Like you, we’re looking for the Pharmacist,” Winston said from behind her. “You don’t think you’re the only person capable do you?”
“And you think you are,” Jasmine said, rolling her eyes. “I’m stunned you made it this far, and if you let a woman who is half your size take you down, what do you think a bunch of dopers will do to you—and how in the hell did you get this far?”
“We’ve been following you,” Shelly answered. “I knew you’d clear a path for us.”
Jasmine dropped her pack and took out another power bar and gave it to Sammy. She then took what looked to be an old soup or soda can and put a little water in it, shook it clean. She threw the water on Winston, and put a little more water in it and gave it to Shelly. “Sammy will need it when he’s done with the bar.”
Jasmine then went back to Winston and kicked him in the leg. “You stupid son of a bitch, that’s for bringing a child with you!” He yelled out and she kicked him a second time. “And that’s for groping me, you bastard.”
She then turned to Shelly, who looked incredibly frightened, and said, “You can’t come with me, Shelly, you can’t. The chances of me surviving are slim, and to make it worst, I don’t care if I live or not. You, on the other hand, have a baby.”