EMP Catastrophe , Hamilton, Grace [phonics readers txt] 📗

arms over their shoulders, and walked around the line of bullet-marked cars. Blood stained her shoulder in a wide patch of red. Her face looked wan, and she swayed but managed to keep her feet steady on the ground. “Is everyone okay?” she called out to Matthew.

“You tell me,” Matthew said back.

Her mouth bared in a grin. “Never been better,” she said. “Although I think my jacket might be ruined.”

“We’ll do everything we can to save it,” Matthew said.

Wyatt snorted and shook his head. “At least the jacket doesn’t need any first aid. We need to head back to bandage her up without delay. You sure everyone’s okay?”

“I’m fine,” Patton said, “but I think Uncle Max might need some help.”

Wyatt grunted in agreement, and both he and David started to walk slowly toward them. Matthew stood up and saw that Patton was right. Max looked like he was in a bad way, his skin clammy with a pale sick tinge to it and his re-opened head wound bleeding down his forehead. He had moved from his spot against the gas station pillar and now stood over Colin. Matthew approached them cautiously, shuffling Patton behind him. “Go help Jade,” he said to Patton. His son didn’t need to see what a gunshot to the gut looked like. Patton looked at him for a moment as if considering defying the order, but then turned and went to help Jade, taking David’s place in supporting her.

Max glanced quickly at Matthew, but then focused back on Colin. Matthew stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Max and followed his line of sight. Colin had collapsed on the ground, his hands clutching at his stomach, and a low groaning gurgle came from him. He sneered at them and tried to sit up, but it seemed as though his body wouldn’t obey. Even though this man had kidnapped Patton, Matthew felt an unwanted stab of compassion go through him. To him, death would never be a laughing matter.

“We’re gonna get you, Max,” Colin said, his voice low and venomous. “The cartel won’t stop. Especially now. Especially after everything you’ve done. You’ve spilled blood.”

“Is that what you want your last words to be?” Max asked. “More threats?”

“It doesn’t matter if I die, you know,” Colin gasped. “The others got away. They’ll tell everyone what you did to me. Not only did you betray them, now you’ve killed one…one of their best and brightest. One of their most…most loyal.” His words started to become breathy. “You’ll…you’ll regret the day you crossed them.”

“No one is coming, Colin,” Max said. “The cartel don’t care about you. They don’t care about me. You’re the one who had it in for me on their behalf.”

“You’re wrong,” Colin insisted. Blood coated his teeth. “There’s a huge compound just for loyal cartel members. When they come for you, they’ll take you there and you’ll see. You’ll be sorry for doubting them and betraying them like this. You’ve made the biggest mistake of your life.”

Max shook his head again, and Matthew decided to hold his tongue. Whatever argument or betrayal existed between them needed to stay between them and not infect anyone else. He hoped Max was right and that no one else would be coming for him. It was a matter they would need to seriously talk about later.

“There is no place waiting for you, no one coming for me,” Max said and even Matthew could hear the pity in his tone. “You put too much trust in an organization that only used you for what you could do for them. It’s exactly what they did to me. Don’t you see? They promised me the moon and the stars, but at the first sign that something was wrong, they turned away from me. I meant nothing to them. I was just a means to an end. Just like you. Can’t you see that they’re using you?”

Colin spat at them even as his face transformed into a snarl of hatred. “You’re wrong. They’ll defend me. They’ll avenge me! The cartel takes care of their own. You’ll see. When they come for you, you’ll realize just what you’ve done.” Colin coughed as a shudder went through him. He closed his eyes in pain and whispered something under his breath that Matthew couldn’t make out.

Matthew wondered if Max would try to convince the dying man to see the truth, but Max only went unnaturally still and quiet as Colin’s breathing became ragged and his eyes glazed over. Colin collapsed fully against the concrete as his breathing stilled and he stopped moving.

Matthew glanced at Max, who was studying the fallen man. “Should I be relieved?” he whispered to Matthew. “I should feel sad, shouldn’t I? Life is sacred and all that. Why do I feel this way?”

“Don’t think about it too hard,” Matthew said. “He was going to kill you. He kidnapped Patton. I don’t think it’s unnatural to feel somewhat relieved that the threat to your life has come to an end.”

Max looked up at Matthew with tears in his eyes. “What do we do now? Are we supposed to bury him? I don’t know what to do.”

“Not unless we want to bury the rest of them, too,” he said, and indicated the other fallen cartel members around the gas station. “We don’t have the resources or time to do such a thing. We can move them into the woods, if you’d like.”

“I don’t know,” Max said, sounding lost. “I don’t know what to do. I was fully prepared to die, Matt. Now that I have another chance, I’m not sure what I’m supposed to do.”

“Take it easy, then,” Matthew said, and clapped Max on the back. “One step at a time. Step one is to get Jade back to the hotel. She was shot helping us get Patton back.”

Max paled even more. “Oh my god,” he whispered.

Matthew turned Max away from Colin’s body so that they faced Jade, David, and Wyatt. Even though they would be having a serious discussion