“I didn’t know you were married.”
“We chickened out.”
Lexi laughed with a toss of her head and then she saw what looked like a light. Actually, the hotel name seemed to be illuminated.
“Do they have power there?” she asked.
“Has to be an optical illusion,” Bill suggested. “It has to be. Or a mirage?”
“Ha, ha, ha, the irony,” Lexi said as they pulled slowly down the strip. “Wait, ” she instructed.
Bill did. “What’s up?”
“Pull over.”
He turned the wheel, pulling the car under the protective covering of the hotel’s ‘drop off’ area. “What’s going on?”
“I saw something.” Lexi opened the car door and gasped as the heat once again pelted her. She waved her hand and focused, then crossed the street. “There. Look.” She pointed.
Footprints danced about the sand. It looked like more than one person; in fact, there were several sets.
“You gotta be kidding me,” Bill said. “Vegas is still running.”
“They have to be fresh or they wouldn’t still be here, not with the way the sand is blowing. They lead that way.”
Her indication was once again to the hotel in the distance that appeared to have power. They followed the footprints to the huge casino. They knew right away, the establishment did indeed have power.
The opening of the doors brought the cool, crisp, welcoming wave of air conditioning.
There wasn’t a soul about, yet there were numerous electronic machines beeping and music was playing. That and another sound… coughing.
Bill looked left to right, and walked by the rows of brightly lit video slot machines. He motioned his head toward the source of the sound.
Beeping, music, coughing.
“Hello?” Lexi called.
No reply.
“Over there,” Bill whispered, placing a guiding hand on Lexi’s arm.
A few more steps and a turn of the bend brought them to the source. A man in his fifties, sat before the video slot machine. He sipped from a bottle of whiskey as he tapped the slot machine buttons.
The machine went wild with noise. He coughed uncontrollably.
“Hello?” Lexi tried again.
“I thought I heard someone,” he said, not turning from the slot machine. “Welcome to Vegas.”
“Are you the only one here?” Bill asked.
He shook his head. “Nah, there’s others. They’re around. We got the power back on. Machines work. Bar’s open.”
Lexi looked at Bill then to the man. “Are you alright?”
“Yep.” He slammed his hand on the machine and coughed. “Damn it, all these years I come here. Now that it doesn’t matter… how about this…” He looked at Lexi and Bill. “I got the progressive jackpot.”
Lexi finally got a look at his face. She saw the gray pallor, dark circles under his eyes, cracked and bleeding lips, and mucus dripping down his chin. He returned to his game. Lexi lifted her eyes to Bill. “The progressive…” she whispered. “That’s not all he’s got.”
6. Gone
The second they turned on to the roadway leading to the camp, Mick knew. His gut screamed to him that they were too late, that something had happened within the camp.
The two trucks that had served as a blockade were moved completely off the road and as they approached the fence, they saw that not only was it down, but small fires sent warning smoke signals in the air.
“No!” Ethan cried. He sped up, drove quickly through the gate and stopped suddenly in the middle of the camp. He flung open the truck door and raced out.
Mick didn’t hesitate either, but he was hindered by the baby in his arms.
Ethan’s hands went to his head in disbelief and he spun in circles. Three of the campers were burned, two of the wheels on Mick’s SUV had been removed, and his camper door was wide open.
There was a silence to the camp. No sounds at all. And no children laughing.
Heart thumping in his chest and gut wrenching with fear, Mick opened the back of his SUV and placed Baby Doe in the blanket on the floor. The child didn’t move much and slept as he sipped occasionally on the bottle. The victory Mick felt in his progress with the child was overshadowed by the dismal situation at the camp.
“Where are they?” Mick groaned and pulled his revolver. He charged into the camper. “Chris! Tigger!”
The camper wasn’t big and it was evident they weren’t there. “Chris! Tigger!” Mick yelled louder when he stepped out of the camper.
He looked over to the area where the children had been playing. That was when he spotted a pair of legs. With a painful groan, Mick raced over, afraid to see the rest of the body.
It was a young man; his throat had been sliced. Mick saw this as he turned him over. He wasn’t much older than Chris, and a heartbreaking pain shot through Mick. He lowered his head for a second then stood.
His body was huge and so was his voice, and with every ounce of strength and every bit of his lung capacity, Mick blasted out his loudest for his sons.
“CHRIS! TIGGER!”
His voice echoed in the woods around them.
There was no response
“Mick.”
He jumped, startled when Ethan called. He didn’t like the tone of Ethan’s voice, and his heart dropped to his stomach. He pleaded in his mind Please don’t let it be about my sons.
If anything had happened to them, Mick would never forgive himself. He was beating himself up over what had happened and he didn’t even know what that was.
Why had he left? It was evident that the small camp had been raided. All of Mick’s things that had sat outside his camper were gone. The bug out bag and sleeping roll were missing from the back seat of the SUV. There wasn’t a single camper with a closed door and the supply shed was smoldering.
“Mick,” Ethan called again.
Mick looked, and from around the corner, Ethan came walking with Madge. He seemed to be carrying her with her feet dragging as she held on to her stomach.
He rushed to them.
“She’s been shot,” Ethan said. “She’s bleeding bad.”
“Let me take a look.” Mick pulled her hand and looked at the wound. “It’s to the side and it went straight through, not a straight belly shot.”
“I’m sorry,” Madge whimpered. “I’m sorry. We tried. We tried to stop them. Liam got it first and then when me and Sara pulled weapons to get them to go, they just went haywire.” Madge lowered her head and cried.
Mick swiped his hand down his face and tried to gain control. “Where are all the kids?”
Madge shook her head. “They got Bobby Miller. I think they thought he was older. He was the only one I saw them kill. I… I got shot right after.”
“How many were there?” Mick asked.
Madge shook her head. “Six I think. Not sure.” She winced. “But they took everything and I think they took the kids.”
“Do you know what they look like? What they drove? How long ago they left? I know this is a lot of questions.”
“It was about an hour ago, maybe less. And I can’t tell you what they looked like, but I do know they were military.”
Ethan locked eyes with Mick. “Military? Does that sound right?”
“Not at all,” Mick responded.
“They were wearing military uniforms,” Madge said.
“Okay, listen, Ethan,” said Mick. “You got enough reserve gas in the truck. Take your mom and Baby Doe, get out of here and head to Lodi. Keep pressure on her wound and keep her lying down. Maybe have her hold Doe in the back.”
“But Mick—”
Mick held up his hand. “Do not stop. Do not hesitate, hightail it. Take the highway south then head west. You can’t miss the signs. Top speed will get you there in a couple of hours and your mom should be fine. Look for Lars Rayburn — he’s a doctor — then tell him what happened.” He walked toward the SUV, reached in the back, and picked up Baby Doe.