Salvation | Book 1 | Salvation Read online

  Amelia nodded. “But it is the only one we really have.”

  Seattle, Washington

  9:45 a.m.

  Dinesh and Levi stood on each side of Amar, giving him support so he could walk. Each of the boys had one of Amar’s arms around them. They also gave him support at the waist, lifting him enough so he barely had to walk. Amelia walked in front of the men, AR-15 in her hands.

  Enough cars were abandoned to where the city streets would never become uncongested. Businesses with front windows were broken into and looted. The air was filthy from the unattended building fires. People ran around the city like cockroaches being bombed out of their home.

  “Amelia, not to criticize, but have you noticed that you’re the only one here with a weapon?” Dinesh’s breaths were heavy—exhausted from assisting his father.

  “I highly doubt that.” Amelia surveyed the streets, looking side to side and even behind them as they made their way to Seattle Medical Center.

  Dinesh took a deep breath. “I mean you’re the only one not concealing your weapon.”

  “Good, then maybe no one will fuck with us.” Amelia kicked an empty can across the street.

  Verbal disagreements, yelling, and overall shouting blended together to make one noise. The occasional fistfight broke out, but less fighting than Levi and the others anticipated. The city was littered with people; no one could tell distinctly where anything was coming from. No organization existed, yet there was no noticeable hostility either.

  “Why is that spray-painted all over the walls? It feels like every other building has it written on it,” Levi inquired. “Even on the sides of cars and the few windows that haven’t been smashed yet.” Two things were tagged all over the city: welcome to the new world and people of nothings.

  “It probably has something to do with the broadcast.” Dinesh’s voice cracked. “We even said things could be worse here. More people most likely saw the broadcast.”

  “Comparing this place to back home, I would agree with that.” Amelia froze and took aim down an alley they were passing by. A man was screaming as another, larger man rammed him into a brick wall. He took the man’s duffel bag and threw it over his shoulder. The robber picked up his victim and smashed his head into a nearby dumpster. “Let’s keep moving.”

  “We aren’t going to do anything?” Dinesh questioned. His tone was mild. “Not that jumping into a mugging is at the top of our list of priorities.”

  “Not anymore, Dinesh.” Amelia marched forward. “If we intervene, then we potentially have to gun someone down. That is a waste of ammunition that we don’t have. And for what? To help someone we don’t know regain their supplies? Who is to say that man didn’t initially rob him first?”

  “I suppose.” Dinesh didn’t have the energy to debate.

  “All I am worried about is keeping me and my big brother alive,” Amelia harshly stated. “Literally no one else really matters much to me. To be frank—” Amelia turned to walk backwards so she could look Dinesh and Amar in the eyes “—I don’t even care much if you two make it. I am just here because I knew Levi couldn’t be talked out of it. He can never be talked out of something once he makes his mind up. That’s why I don’t even bother debating him.”

  “It’s a right turn up here and then just a couple of blocks down the road,” Levi mentioned. His posture looked the same as when they’d left, his breathing was steady, and not a drop of sweat formed on him. The only thing out of place were the glasses slipping down his nose.

  “We’re almost there, Dad.” Amar’s jaw hung, his toes dragged across the ground, and his eyes faded between being opened and closed.

  Amelia, Levi, Dinesh, and Amar rounded the corner of an apartment complex. Just around the block they found themselves stumbling quickly into a man and woman being beaten and stomped on by a group of men. The woman was being held back by two men, screaming for her life. Two men took turns kicking him in the ribs, knocking him back to the ground every time he tried to come to his feet. A man with a thick black beard watched with his arms crossed. He speedily noticed Levi and his companions. The man clapped his hands—his lackeys dropped their attention from the couple and approached Levi and company.

  “Now, little girl, what do you need a pretty thing like that for?” The gang leader came within a few feet of Amelia, eyeing her AR-15. He moved his head around. “Ah, looks like you have some nice packs as well, minus the dead weight.” He signaled to Amar. “This looks like quite the haul, gentlemen.”

  “I’m not sure where your confidence is coming from.” Amelia placed her finger on the trigger. “It looks like you all brought fists to a gunfight.”

  The gang leader looked back at his men. They reached for their sides and back waistbands. They moved as though they were going to flash something, more than draw something quickly, but that didn’t stop Amelia. She pulled the trigger twice, with the gun at her waist, placing both shots into the gang leader’s stomach. She continued to pull the trigger at rapid speed as she brought her sight up to eye level. One man fell to the ground, grabbing his knee, while the other fell straight back with a bullet in his neck as well as his chest.

  “Do you really want to see who can pull first?” Amelia asked the final robber, his pistol in hand. His friends cried in agony as pools of blood were forming around those Amelia had killed.

  “You bitch.” Spit flew from the robber’s mouth. “Why couldn’t you just cooperate? No one had to die.”

  “You brought this upon yourself, sweetheart.” Amelia winked. A gunshot echoed between the buildings, and the robber’s knees buckled. Amelia looked back; Levi’s gun was drawn. “Good shot, big brother.”

  “Let’s just get to the medical center.” Levi holstered his Beretta in his back waistband. Levi proceeded forward but stumbled when Amar didn’t move with him. He peered at Dinesh. “What’s going on?”

  Tears ran down Dinesh’s face.

  “Come on, Dinesh. We really can’t right now.”

  “You can’t normalize this.” Levi’s best friend sobbed.

  Amelia rolled her eyes.

  Levi leaned in close and whispered to Dinesh, “I’ve killed three people today. You need to suck it the fuck up.” Levi’s eyes widened. “Trust me, Dinesh, I’m repressing a lot of shit right now, and I’m really going to need you to do the same.” Levi pointed ahead, “Look, you can see the med center.”

  Dinesh nodded and sauntered forward.

  People in slings and bandages slouched against the outside of Seattle Medical Center. While it reeked of gloom and tragedy, it appeared to be the only place in Seattle that hadn’t turned into a crime free-for-all. Amelia reloaded her magazine as the group approached the hospital entryway. Just before stepping in, they noticed an army tank making its way down the street. The vehicle was surrounded by foot soldiers. Amelia fired her rifle three times in the air and barged in.

  “Get the hell out of the way.” The waiting room parted like the red sea, and Amelia led Dinesh, Levi, and Amar to the front desk of the waiting room.

  Just before they reached the front desk, a man stepped in front of them. He looked over at his wife and child, who were both on the ground, waiting for their numbers to be called. His wife’s arm was clearly broken, and his son was holding his side. Blood dripped between the child’s fingers. “You can’t just strut through here,” the husband/father pleaded. “Some of us have been waiting since last night. Some people’s lives are fading. They could die in the next hour.”

  Amelia continued walking and skull bashed the father with the butt of her gun, fracturing his cheek and orbit bone. The man fell to the ground, gripping his eye. Amelia lifted her AR-15 above her head and, in a twelve to six motion, thrashed the stock of her gun against the man’s jaw, breaking it against the tile floor. She stepped over his body. Unknowingly, she approached the same nurse who’d helped Abraham earlier that morning. “I think we were next.”

  The nurse tripped over her own two feet reaching for the gur
ney next to her. Levi and Dinesh placed Mr. Patel on the medical stretcher. The nurse briskly pushed Amar down the hallway.

  “We need to get out of here,” Amelia said.

  “What the hell are you talking about?” Dinesh pressed his lips together.

  “I may have gone a little too big.” Amelia proceeded to strut toward the front door. Levi drew his gun discreetly and walked next to his sister.

  “Where are you going?” Dinesh planted his hands on the back of his head. “You can’t seriously leave,” he pleaded. “Amelia, we have to wait for him to get out. How will he get back to us? This is ridiculous.”

  “Shut it.” Amelia communicated to Dinesh to close his mouth with her hands.

  “Amelia.” Dinesh grabbed her arm. Levi immediately smacked Dinesh’s arm off his sister and stepped in between them.

  Amelia addressed Dinesh and observed outside. “When I went all Duke Nukem back there, an army patrol may or may not have seen me.” She turned to Levi and his friend. “If they check in here, I can guarantee one of these little snitches will rat on us. The last thing any of us want is to be taken into custody right now.”

  Dinesh tapped his foot. “So what are you proposing?”

  “We need to get out of here and then come back later for your father.” Amelia reached into her backpack, unboxed some rounds, and reloaded the mag for her AR-15. “It’ll take a few minutes for them to operate on him anyways.” Just as Amelia finished her sentence, the power went out.

  Levi looked toward the unlit lights in the ceiling. “Shit.”

  “Well, the army is 100% going to check in now, which means it’s time for us to go.” Amelia stepped through the opening of a mostly broken window and sprinted down the street. Levi followed her like a shadow.

  “Halt, citizen,” a voice through a megaphone exclaimed. “Guns down, and not another step.”

  Levi’s heart pounded through his chest. He stopped running, just realizing he’d never checked to see if Dinesh had followed. Amelia slowed down and dropped her head. The twins, in defeat, turned toward the army patrol calling out to them. When they turned around, the army was in a standoff with a group of protestors.

  Dinesh, several paces behind them, waved his arm for Levi and Amelia to keep running. “It’s not for us. Go, go!” He panted.

  The three of them burst into a sprint down the street, making the first turn down an alleyway that didn’t have a dead end. Once they were safely in the alleyway, they put their backs against the wall and took a moment to recuperate.

  “Not another step,” a voice from above called out.

  Levi, Amelia, and Dinesh looked up to see half a dozen thugs armed with semiautomatic rifles dispersed across the rooftop.

  As soon as they laid eyes on them, the men took aim directly at the trio.

  Seattle, Washington

  10:15 a.m.

  Abraham noticed the grip of a pistol poking its way out of a jacket on a nearby corpse. He didn’t make much ground, mostly using his time to search bodies for weapons and other necessities. He bent over and inspected the body while also retrieving the Sig Sauer P239 the person had holstered. He dropped the magazine to see how many rounds were left, and found it had five. He continued his search and came up with two additional fully loaded magazines. “Jackpot,” he said. Abe stood, his forehead pinched together with a single skin staple down the middle. It wasn’t enough to close the entire wound, making his gash split open wider at the ends. The gaps of his cut were mostly filled in or closed together with the little medical glue he had obtained. Three gunshots sounded off in the background. They came from the same direction as the medical center.

  “This is what you get for never visiting, Abe,” Mr. Jones whispered to himself. “Now you have no idea how to get around this stupid city.” Abe observed the gridlocked streets and the looters at every corner. He noticed a drop-down ladder from a fire escape across the street. His mouth was dry; his next sip of water would most likely absorb into his gums before ever making its way down his throat. Abraham hoisted himself up the escape ladder and made his way to the top of the apartment building. “Now, where is the eastern freeway exit, so I can get home?” Abraham assessed the city. “Ah, there’s the eastern city exit.” Abe adjusted his attention to the army tank not far from the direction he wanted to go. “Now that I haven’t seen all day.” He squinted his eyes and focused on the army tank, surrounded by foot soldiers, rolling past the Seattle Medical Center.

  “Here, borrow mine. You’ll be able to see better,” a voice chimed in.

  Abe jumped and looked around the rooftop. On the ground was a man bleeding out with a fishing hat on and binoculars in his hand.

  “Didn’t mean to interrupt your conversation.” The man’s laugh turned to coughing. “But I don’t think I’ll be needing these anymore.”

  “What happened?” Abe kneeled beside the man. “Are the people who did this still around?” Abraham accepted the binoculars.

  “No.” The fisherman coughed. “I was mostly just taking in the action. Then some bandits opened fire on me from another rooftop. They made their way right past me and headed in that direction.” He pointed in the area of the hospital. “They didn’t even take anything.”

  Abraham acknowledged that he’d heard the man and looked again over the city. He held up the binoculars and focused once more on the army tank rolling down the street. A group of protestors approached the tank. “This isn’t going to go very well,” he cracked. “I’m not sure if this is when I would be expressing my right to freedom of speech.” In the corner of his eye he noticed two young adults, one female and the other male, slide out of the hospital and book it down the street. “There’s no way.” He focused his binoculars on the young adults and noticed another running behind them.

  “What am I missing out on?” The fisherman barely squeezed out the words.

  “Those are my kids.” He watched as Levi, Amelia, and Dinesh turned down an alleyway. By tracking them, he naturally saw the rooftop shooters the fisherman had mentioned. His children were running straight into danger. Abraham tossed the binoculars at the fisherman without looking, hitting him in the chin and chest. Abe slid down the fire escape, eating it on the final set of steps. He stumbled getting to his feet. He still needed water, and at this point, he wouldn’t mind a bite to eat either. Abe regained his footing and looked up—a man with a knife was waiting for him. “You’ve got to be kidding me.” Abe groaned.

  “Don’t make this hard on yourself.” The robber stuck his knife out further in Abe’s direction.

  “What do you want?” Abe hissed.

  “Whatever you have.” The mugger’s voice grew impatient. His eyes were bloodshot red, and small scabs were plotted all over his face.

  Mr. Jones put his hands in the air and then reached back slowly with his right arm. “I’m giving you what you want.” He grasped the grip of his handgun, discreetly flicked the safety, and placed his finger on the trigger. “Here, take it.” Abraham opened fire before the robber could identify what was in his hand. The first shot was to the kneecap, causing the man’s legs to buckle. The second cartridge was discharged so fast it almost made the two gunshots sound like one, and it went directly between the robber’s eyes. “A waste of two bullets.” Abraham spit on the man’s lifeless body, looted his knife, and jogged the quickest his limbs would move.

  Abe looked up at the street sign. “Only a few blocks away.” His body forgot about its wounds as he navigated the city streets. He saw the protestors smacking their signs against the army tank. Soldiers with riot shields were doing their best to keep the crowd under control. Abe assessed his surroundings. “Thank the maker.” Another fire escape led straight to the top of an apartment building just behind where he’d seen the thugs.

  Only five bullets, Abe thought to himself. He crouched low to the ground, allowing the ledge of the building to cover his body. He poked his eyes over the ledge just enough to see the robbers. The building Abe was on was a few fee
t higher than the one across from him. He counted three shooters. He tilted his head and looked up with only his eyes. I could have sworn I saw five of them before, he pondered. Regardless, I only have view of three of them.

  Abe poked his head above the ledge once more. One of the armed robbers repetitively paced back and forth behind his two fellow gang members. Abe drew his gun and took a deep breath. He waited for the man to walk past one of his buddies. The moment the robber stepped in front of his partner, Abe fired two rounds, one through the man’s chest, and the other through his neck. The bullet that pierced the man’s neck penetrated straight through and perforated his partner’s skull. As the third robber turned, Abe took two more shots. He was confident he’d hit his target, but not confident he’d eliminated him. For good measure he fired all three rounds at once.

  He stood on the ledge and looked down. The gap between the buildings was no more than a few feet. Abraham leaned back and swayed his body forward, the distance was no challenge; however, he did not stick the landing. His ankles buckled, slamming his shoulder and face into the ground. His poorly stapled and glued forehead split open. His feet slipped from under him as he tried to get up faster than his body would allow. His throat felt closed due to such severe dehydration. He reached the edge of the building, picked up one of the dropped rifles, and looked down at the alleyway. He saw his children and Dinesh and scurried down.

  Two men with semiautomatic rifles took ahold of the trio. One had Amelia by the arm, the barrel of his gun pressing into her neck. The other focused his aim on Dinesh and Levi. The robber who held Amelia hostage was already looking up in anticipation of someone peeking over the roof of the building.

  “Dad?” Levi shouted with a smile. Color briefly returned back to his face, and his racing heart slowed down.

  Amelia frowned and stopped resisting the thug’s restraint. “Dad?”

  West Pines, Washington

  10:20 a.m.