Darkness upon the Land
Chapter 39

Time became distorted. Although everything seemed to happen in slow motion, her reaction was in sync with reality.

Despite her wounded leg, the young woman began bounding over the back of the couch in order to get behind it. Father Nick drew the children directly in front of him and spun around, placing his back between them and the invader. The elder man hissed “My gun!” and Natalie started darting over to it.

The gunman’s rifle immediately swept from the couch in front of him and across all the other unarmed occupants to aim at scrambling Natalie to shoot her first.

Alexia threw her hands up in front of her, as though she believed this puny effort would stop any bullets that came flying her way.

There was nothing puny about what happened next. “NO!”

The two dining room chairs directly in front of the ruffian seemed to spring up from the floor while the other nearby seats only rattled. The one on her left flipped over and smashed directly into his arms and the rifle, and the chair on her right twisted sideways so that the backrest smashed into his head.

As the gunman reeled back from the combined forces of flinging furniture and the full brunt of her outburst, multiple shots fired in rapid succession from his weapon. The corner wall where the hallway adjoined the living room spewed dusty drywall and splintered wood. He swore and flailed and swung at the chair now tangled about his foot.

Motion caught the corner of her left eye. Despite his age and wounded arm, the elderly man had sprung to his feet and raised the 30.06 to his shoulder. The gangster started to swing back toward him.

BOOM!

The attacker staggered back a step and looked surprised. A red stain had suddenly appeared on the wall behind him.

BOOM!

A larger stain appeared below it and off to the side. His weapon clattered to the floor and he dropped to his knees.

Alexia also sank to her knees as that well-known tingling rippled throughout her body. Movement and voices surrounded her, but she was barely aware of them. The field of white rapidly filled her vision, and the last thing she saw was the attacker collapsing to the floor.

After the carnage of the ambush, Reuben was supposed to return to the infirmary and help Alexia. But when the salvage crew came in to confiscate any weapons and ammunition that could be found on the hoodlum’s bodies, he felt duty bound to remain with the rest of the guard that covered them. When the crew completed their job and he descended the stairs to creep back out on the street, a fellow combatant who was grinning and carrying two rifles approached him.

“Martin!” He was glad to see the feed store manager was still alive and fighting. “How did you convince them to let you come to this tea party?”

“Just Reuben!” There was a red bandana around his neck, and they ducked back into the doorway to remain concealed. “I thought I recognized you when you blew that place sky high.”

“I never learned to stop playing with matches.”

Martin’s grin broadened. “The only thing more amazing than that explosion is how fast you can run!”

“The thing more amazing than how fast I can run is the fact I didn’t crap my pants.”

He guffawed and slapped Reuben on the back. “So how’s Liana?”

“On the mend and getting back to her feisty self.”

“Good for her!”

“How’s Jackie?”

“Fighting mad and teamed up with the other sharpshooters on the edge of town to take down any numbskulls that try to make a get-away.”

He remembered what Martin’s wife could do with just a PVC pipe. “Well, the numbskulls won’t stand a snowball’s chance.”

“What about you? Haven’t they given you anything bigger than a pea shooter yet?”

“No, I’m supposed to be heading somewhere else.”

“With what?” The man offered him one of the rifles. “We’ve thinned out the herd considerably, but you can’t be too careful. There could still be a few cockroaches on the loose out there who didn’t make it back to their hidey holes.”

“I appreciate it, but maybe –”

An exchange of gunfire cracked about half a block away from them.

“Here.” Martin shoved the rifle into his grasp, and then thrust a fistful of cartridges into his hand. “Do what you want. I’m going to check that out.”

He darted back out the doorway and skulked toward the commotion. Reuben watched his progress for only a couple of seconds. Alexia was supposed to be in a secure location and Martin was headed for trouble. Well, he knew which direction he needed to go.

After catching up to the man, they soon discovered another comrade who was in a standoff with a hood that had been only wounded in the ambush and had taken cover inside a small, emptied sundries store. As the most agile of the trio, Reuben managed to slip behind their quarry while the other two commanded the thug’s attention.

He dispatched that enemy, but then got convinced to accompany them as they caught up with the throng of outraged Cajuns who were intent on routing whatever hoodlums had foolishly tried to hole up. The natives knew where all the hideouts were, and even though darkness had fallen they used their home field advantage. Their mission of search and destroy was based on two objectives: They didn’t want any of the riffraff to return and wreak havoc again; and they weren’t going to allow the villains to become anybody else’s problem. The first house they surrounded contained several thugs who insisted on shooting back. So the residents returned the favor of burning the place and gunning down anybody that tried to escape.

The Neckband Brigades cleared out two other dens of iniquity. Then the force was able to turn their attention to the final fortress under control of the last gang members.

City Hall was last on the list for a reason. The majority of supplies were still stored there, so there was reluctance to burn this building down. But only a handful of hoodlums remained, and with the guidance of a couple of clerks who were well acquainted with the structure, Gerald led one of two squads that infiltrated the hall. Several gunshots erupted from inside, and then the battle ended.

Cheers actually rose from the assembly when Gerald in his green neckband emerged from the building with a few of his men. The spontaneous soldiers were hauling a couple of dead gangsters out with them. The impromptu commander raised his arms as they dumped the bodies on the lawn.

The crowd quieted, and Gerald spoke in a loud, projecting voice.

“Yes, my friends, this fight is over.”

There was another brief uprising of cheers, but Gerald raised his hands again for silence.

“We and our fallen comrades have all accomplished a massive feat tonight. We have succeeded where others have failed. This has been a long and difficult night, and there’s still much work ahead of us, but after tonight you can say with pride that we as a town drew a line in the sand here. Thank you, my friends, my neighbors, my heroes. Thank you all for a job well done.”

He waved and then motioned for his squad to follow. Applause and more cheering drifted up from the crowd as the team accompanied him. Some of the members hauled the bodies into the night where they would be placed with the other fallen.

“That was a right pretty speech,” Martin commented as he began glancing around the crowd. “Now I got to find Jackie.”

“Yeah.” Reuben surveyed the crowd in order to find a path through it. “I’ve got to get back to Alex.”

“It was good to see you again.” He gave the young man a slap on the shoulder. “Take care, and tell Liana to keep up the good work.”

“Same here. Give my regards to Jackie.”

Martin slipped away into a crowd that, even in the dim lighting of lanterns and flashlights, showed more of a mix of emotions than the sound of previous cheering had let on. These people were relieved that the instigators of the nightmare they had been enduring were eradicated, but there was no real joy to be found. They had secured liberation at a price. At least casualties from tonight were light, but add those to the indignities suffered beforehand, and there was still a spirit of unrest lingering upon the populace.

As Reuben started weaving his way through the mass of humanity, the variety in sentiment prevailed. There was also a general reluctance for people to begin returning home, which was understandable that after sharing a life-threatening event together, they were too keyed up to disperse now.

Once most of the throng was behind him, he hesitated while trying to get his bearings. He had a couple of options for heading to the infirmary: trace back his route up here, or find some recognizable landmarks to help guide him back.

A commotion began breaking out toward the head of the crowd behind him. Compelled to investigate, Reuben turned and worked a few yards back into the mass of people.

It appeared there must have been a faction of malcontents that broke off earlier from the rest of the group and were now returning from their patrol. It took him a few seconds to realize that the three men and one woman roughly jostled up the steps of City Hall had to be council members. There were no bands tied around their throats, and he wondered if they didn’t put them on or if they had been removed by their handlers. People gathered into a tighter conglomeration as they pressed closed to the building, and more angry shouting began filling the air.

“Thieves!”

“You’re no better than they are!”

“You might as well have pulled the trigger yourselves!”

Each member, hands tied behind their backs, was flanked by two men who grasped their arms to hold them in place. One of the men appeared resigned while the other two tried to argue back. The woman looked terrified.

Reuben’s conscience tottered uneasily at the display. Yes, technically the council had been victimized as much as their constituents when the gangs rolled into town, but the members had orchestrated this disaster by trying to commandeer the resources for their own use. Besides, for all he knew these individuals had callously agreed to appropriate Liana’s farm. It was because of their conspiracy Alexia’s mother had almost died. It was their fault his trip home to his family was delayed.

He saw no reason to interfere with the righteously angry citizens. As he started to maneuver back out of the huddle, shouts began that the members deserved the same treatment as the hoodlums.

His gut tightened. No, he didn’t want to see them executed, but he had to get back to Alexia. He’d already been gone too long.

But the crowd kept pressing forward and his progress in the other direction was hampered. Reuben glanced back and saw the members were being hauled to the wall beside the steps and individuals in the group began lining up with their weapons. His gut clenched again and that familiar flicker of panic stirred inside him.

Suddenly a middle-aged black woman pushed her way to the front of the mob. She strode determinedly toward the prisoners, then spun around and faced the angry horde.

“You can’t do this!” She cried out to them. “Haven’t you had enough killing already? Are you so eager to turn on our own?”

Shouts bombarded back to her.

“They made us sitting ducks so they could keep themselves full!”

“My daughter died because of them!”

“They don’t consider us to be their own!”

“This isn’t right!” She insisted. “Yes, they did wrong, but they don’t deserve death for it! Can’t you see that you’re behaving no better than the hoodlums we’ve just fought down?”

“They made innocent people die!”

“We need to make the punishment fit the crime!”

The woman boldly fired back, “’You have heard that it was said An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. But what I tell you is this: Do not set yourself against the man who wrongs you.’”

Reuben became fully attentive to the drama unfolding before him. He was well acquainted with the scripture she just quoted, and once again it seemed to him the Torah reference had been misrepresented as revenge instead of the equitable dispensation of justice it was meant to be. But deep down inside he acknowledged she did have a point these people were about to commit murder instead of fair justice.

More arguments rose against her, and a burly man from the throng stepped toward her and grabbed her arm.

He recognized the voice that burst from the edge of the crowd. “Let go of her!”

Father Nick also pushed his way to the front. The would-be bouncer glared at him, but the priest also spun toward the rabble and regarded them calmly although a bit breathlessly. He must have only just arrived.

“We were not given the power over life and death.” His tone was composed but he projected well. “Tonight we did what we had to do to protect ourselves and our children, to keep these marauders from destroying our homes and our families. It’s finished!”

More arguments broke from the crowd.

“They’re no better than those gangsters!”

“All of them claimed power over our lives!”

The woman tugged against her captor to no avail but still called back. “And now you wish to repay by claiming power over them? Can’t you see how that lowers you to the very level of inhumanity you despise so much?”

“Justice will be served.” Father Nick raised his hands slightly. “They do deserve retribution for their crimes, but gunning them down in the heat of anger will only bring you more harm.”

“We are better than this!” The woman challenged. “Show that to them! Show them the mercy you’re so certain they wouldn’t show you. Show them that you are better!”

The priest continued to back her up. “Let’s not win one battle only to lose another. If we turn on each other, it will only continue the degradation that was brought upon us. We have the power to turn that around. End it here and end it now!”

Murmuring began to ripple through the assembly although there were still a few shouts of defiance. Reuben counted himself among those who had been brought back to reason by the statements put before them, but he wasn’t sure the mood of the populace was changing quickly enough. With a twinge at his conscience, he decided to do what he should have done earlier.

“Let justice prevail!” he shouted. He was glad it was darker back here because a few individuals looked his way. “Give them a fair trial!”

Father Nick pounced on that opening. “By all means take them into custody. Put them on trial. Enact a verdict. Extend to them the same human rights we cherish for ourselves. And years from now when you remember this night, you will have no need to burn with shame.”

“We are stronger together than divided.” The woman’s steely gaze swept through the crowd. “Let’s not lose that unity now.”

New shouts began to rise.

“You heard them! Just arrest the bums!”

“Sitting in jail will do them good!”

The tide was finally turning. The crowd started to spread out again and the burly man released his feisty prisoner who shook a finger at him. As the council members were led away, the woman among them seemed to try to say something to the priest. But he only glanced at her with a disapproving frown and turned away. Interesting … what brought that on? They were taken toward the back of city hall.

Reuben pushed his way to the front of the crowd in order to meet up with Father Nick. The brave matron who first stood up also had something to say to him, and their chat seemed involved as both of glanced around. Then she bid a hasty farewell and strode away after the prisoners. The priest’s glance bounced in his direction again, and with a quick nod of recognition began striding toward him.

“Obviously I’m not the only one glad to see you,” Reuben commented as the gap between them closed. “Looks like you got here just in time.”

“My timing may well be fortuitous, because I came here looking for you.” Father Nick was a little too grave. “Alexia collapsed after a gunman invaded the infirmary.”

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