Lights Out In Vegas (Book 4): Line of Fire Read online

  “Damn,” said Kelly. “I needed that.”

  “Right there with you,” I said.

  The line continued on, the sun still beating down on us. Thankfully, we hadn’t been in line for more than an hour before we reached the entrance to the processing tent. Once I was close enough to look I glanced in to see a bustling scene of refugees and soldiers, the troops moving here and there purposefully and the refugees seeming happy to just be out of the sun.

  “Justin,” said Kelly. “What do you think they meant by our ‘role’ in the camp?”

  “Probably so desperate for manpower that they’re putting civvies to work,” I said.

  “They’ll probably want you, then,” said Kelly. “With your background. But what about me?”

  It was a good question. Kelly was a middle school teacher, and I seriously doubted they were in need of people to teach seventh-grade English.

  “Maybe you’ll get a chance to cool your heels for a while,” I said. “Relax a little.” I flashed her a smile. “Hell, maybe they’ll even let you take a dip in the lake.”

  She matched my smile with one of her own, although hers was weaker. Kelly was nervous, and I couldn’t blame her one bit.

  Eventually, we were called to one of the stations by a female soldier. Young, like most of the rest, she was seated at a small desk with a large stack of papers.

  “Processing papers,” she said, holding out her hand.

  We dutifully handed them over, the soldier giving them a quick look before producing a new folder and placing them inside.

  I could hardly believe it, but being around the order of the military was going a long way towards putting my mind at ease. But it also reminded me of Steve.

  “We’re looking for civilians to help out around the camp,” said the soldier, folding her hands on the desk and looking up at us. “Either of you have any special skills we could use?”

  “I’m a mechanical engineer,” I said. “Happy to help out.”

  The woman’s eyes lit up at the words and she got the attention of a nearby CO, letting him know what I’d just said. The CO looked impressed as well, and approached the desk.

  “Plenty of work to do around here,” he said. “And not many trained people to do it. You’ll be worth your weight in gold if you decide to pitch in.”

  “Works for me,” I said.

  He turned his attention to Kelly.

  “And what about your wife?” he asked. “Any skills we could put to work?”

  I wanted to correct him, to let him know that that we were estranged. But then I thought better of it—couples were probably less likely to be split up. And it’s not like it was a lie, since the two of us were still married.

  Technically.

  “Not really,” Kelly said. “I’m just a schoolteacher.”

  “Hmm,” he said. “No skills we could use? Nothing that comes to mind?”

  A thought occurred to me.

  “She’s bilingual,” I said. “She speaks Spanish.”

  “Is that true?” asked the soldier.

  “It is,” Kelly said. “Spanish, and a tiny bit of French. Not sure if the latter will come in handy.”

  “Maybe, maybe not,” he said. “But if you can speak Spanish we’ll find some use for you. Plenty of people here who don’t speak a word of English.”

  “Happy to help,” said Kelly.

  The CO nodded, pleased with the response. Then he turned to the soldier at the desk.

  “Get them their lanyards and accommodations,” he told her. “Take a little time to rest, but not too much time. We need you both as soon as you’re ready to work.”

  The woman at the desk reached behind her into a big box of plastic lanyards and began filling out the slips inside before imprinting a rubber stamp on them.

  “Keep these on at all times,” she said, handing them over. “You lose them, you come right back here immediately.”

  “Those are your passes for anywhere in Esperanza,” said the CO. “Can’t access food or water or anything else without them. And if you’re caught out past curfew without them…” He narrowed his eyes, and I got the impression that whatever it was it wouldn’t be good.

  “Name’s Sergeant Riley,” he went on. “When you both are ready, come back and ask for me. I’ll get you placed where you need to go.”

  He turned back to the woman at the desk. “Get them their supplies and their couple’s accommodation. Make sure they’re taken care of.”

  Good words to hear—meant that my skills might make things a little easier for us.

  The man turned to leave, but before he did I spoke.

  “Sergeant!” I said.

  He stopped and met my eyes.

  “I’m looking for someone,” I said. “My brother. He was with us before we came here but we got separated. He’s hurt in the leg. It was pretty bad.”

  Riley cocked his head to the side. “How bad?”

  “Gash right up the thigh. Not bleeding-out bad, but bad.”

  The sergeant appeared to give the matter some thought.

  “You could check the med stations,” he said. “But I’d stay away from those unless you absolutely have to.”

  I wondered briefly what he meant by that, then another thought occurred to me.

  “We were at the Troika,” I said. “Saw all the shit that went down there. And the brass back in Vegas seemed pretty keen on knowing what we knew. I’m thinking that if you can put me with the man in charge then I can tell you all what I know.”

  The mention of the Troika appeared to pique the man’s interest, but seemingly more out of curiosity than anything else.

  “Listen,” he said, his face turning severe once more. “I get that you’re worried. But this place is full of worried people, all looking for their loved ones. And the man in charge…sorry to say he doesn’t have the time for a small matter like this. No offense.”

  I cursed internally, my frustration growing. I hated feeling so helpless.

  “We need to get you processed and out of here,” Riley said. “We’re holding up the show.”

  He nodded to the woman at the desk and she nodded to yet another soldier, who quickly produced a pair of shoe-box-sized containers and handed them over, along with another piece of paper. They were all quickly passed to us, and I looked them over once they were in my and Kelly’s hands.

  “Some supplies to get you started,” said Riley. “Not much, but we’re in a ‘not much’ kind of situation. And the paper has your tent assignment.”

  With that, he turned to leave. But before he did he glanced down for a moment, as if thinking something over. Finally, after a brief moment, he spoke.

  “General Lambert,” he said. “That’s the man in charge. He might be able to tell you what you want to know.”

  Riley was gone before I had a chance to thank him, the din of the crowd and the sea of bodies swallowing him up.

  General Lambert. One way or another, I was going to see him. I wouldn’t rest until I’d found Steve.

  Chapter 3

  Supplies in hand, Kelly and I stepped out of the tent. The air was refreshing for the briefest of moments before the stench returned. And I knew that however bad it was now, it was only going to get worse.

  “What’s the tent number?” Kelly said, tucking her box under her arm and trying to catch a glance at the paper.

  “L-47,” I said.

  I was briefly confused until I saw that, sure enough, the rows and rows of tents were all organized in some kind of grid pattern.

  “Come on.”

  We started off, eventually finding row “L.” Once there, we went down the line, seeing that every tent had a number stenciled into the side.

  And the scene among the tents…it was bad. The smell was worse, and people seemed to be jam-packed into the sweltering shelters, some with as many as a dozen people in them. Everyone seemed to have the same blank expression on their sweat-sheened faces.

  It was hard to believe. Only a f
ew short days ago all of these people were just regular folk, living in suburban homes or popping into Vegas for a brief vacation. Now they all looked as though they’d fled a third-world war zone.

  Kelly and I moved in silence as we counted down the tents. I glanced up overhead, seeing that we were well into the afternoon now. The day so far had been nothing but being processed and standing in line, the time flying by surprisingly quickly.

  Eventually we reached tent 47, and the two of us couldn’t get inside fast enough. As soon as we were in, the cool of the shade hit us both, the sweetest relief imaginable. Acclimatizing quickly, I looked around the place to see what was there.

  Nothing, other than a cheap mattress with even cheaper-looking sheets. But at that moment there wasn’t a thing that I wanted to see more. I sat down on the edge of the mattress, Kelly sitting next to me. Through the thin shelter I could still hear the noises outside.

  “Supplies,” she said, looking down at the box on her lap. “Let’s see what we’ve got.”

  She opened the top, revealing what appeared to be a basic survival kit. There was a small flashlight, a bottle of water, a few packs of the same fruit and nuts we’d had before—though these were a little larger—and even a change of clothes folded up tightly in there. A few other odds and ends completed the contents.

  “Oh my God,” Kelly breathed. “I can’t imagine how good it’s going to feel to wash off and put these on. You think they’ll let us go into the lake?”

  “We’ll have to see,” I said. “But I wouldn’t count on it. Can you imagine playing lifeguard for thousands of people all splashing around in there?”

  The faint smile faded from her face, and I felt a tinge of regret for ruining her brief moment of relief.

  “I bet when they get this place sorted out they’ll ease up on that kind of stuff,” I said. “Once people get settled in and everyone has had a chance to clean up and get some food in them and find who they’re looking for.”

  She nodded, but I could tell she wasn’t entirely convinced.

  “We need to find Steve,” she said. “That’s the important thing. We need to find him and make sure he’s okay.”

  “Right there with you,” I said.

  And I meant it. But as much as I wanted to get moving and start our search, the longer I sat on the mattress, the more I felt the fatigue I’d been ignoring for the last God-knows-how-many hours catch up with me. My eyelids grew heavy, and my arms hung loosely at my sides.

  “Hey,” said Kelly. “You okay?”

  I took in a long, slow breath, barely able to summon up the energy to respond.

  “Yeah,” I said. “Just…just need to rest my eyes.”

  Kelly laughed.

  “What’s so funny?” I asked.

  “Nothing,” she said. “Just that’s always what you’d say when you were about to take a nap and you didn’t want to admit it. You were just ‘resting your eyes.’ And then, sure enough, you’d be snoring a few minutes later.”

  I smiled, opening my eyes. “Just what you have to do when you don’t really need to sleep. Sometimes you just gotta…rest your eyes, you know?”

  Kelly kicked off her shoes and peeled off her socks, setting down her box before laying back onto the bed.

  “I know,” she said. “I think I need a little more than an eye rest, though.”

  Behind me I heard her settle onto the bed, the covers shifting around as she positioned herself for sleep. I glanced back over my shoulder and noticed that she was right about in the middle of the bed. Way too late it hit me what was going on—we were going to be sharing the mattress.

  Fine, I thought. Not a big deal. Two of us and one mattress. She takes one side…or more than one side, and I’ll take the other. Doesn’t mean anything.

  Seconds later she was out, that soft snoring that I’d heard so many nights before drifting through the still air of the tent. I stood up, preparing to kick off my shoes and get into bed with her. But then, through the fog of sleepiness, I remembered something.

  Dad’s medal.

  As it had done so many times before, my hand reached around my waist as if under its own power, that same relief settling over me when I felt the familiar outline of the medal case. I still had it.

  Really, I knew it was more than a little ridiculous that I’d devoted so much effort to keeping it—not like a medal was going to do me any good. It held no practical value. Hell, it probably wasn’t even something I could barter with. But to me, it was the most important thing I had.

  Actually, the second-most.

  I regarded Kelly for a moment, a small smile forming on my face as I watched her sleep soundly. Watching her like that, I allowed the fatigue to catch up with me. I crawled onto the bed, pushing the sheets aside and taking a sliver of the mattress for myself and giving Kelly plenty of room.

  It was weird, sure. There I was in bed with a woman who was kind of my wife, but kind of not. We were still close, no doubt, but nothing else. And that had to be fine with me. Survival was all that mattered now.

  I rolled over onto my side and closed my eyes, trying to plan the day ahead. I’d work, pitch in what I could to the camp, and when I wasn’t helping out I’d be looking for Steve. And the second I’d found him we’d be out of here, back on our original plan to get to my place. And then once we’d arrived, we’d—

  Something cut me off mid-thought. It was the sound of movement on the covers, followed by the shifting of weight.

  And then a body pressing against mine.

  I opened up my eyes to see that Kelly had, in her sleep, cuddled up against me.

  Not a big deal, I told myself. She did it without thinking—more muscle memory than anything else. Don’t worry about it.

  I knew there was nothing deeper to it. But that didn’t mean I didn’t like the way it felt. Part of me knew that I should’ve put a little space between us, maybe even moved to the other side of the bed. But I was too tired, too comfortable.

  So there, with my wife at my side, I slept.

  Chapter 4

  May 11

  I awoke to the roar of an engine, followed by a loud uproar from a crowd. And then the booming voice of someone speaking forcefully in the now-familiar military style. Couldn’t make out what he was saying, though, not between the commotion and the sleepiness.

  “Morning.”

  I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and looked up. There, the edges of her glowing just a bit from the light streaming in through the half-open flap of the tent, was Kelly.

  God, she looked good. Her blond hair was tucked behind her ears, and a small smiled played on her lips. She’d changed into her new clothes, and was now wearing a simple military-style olive-green T-shirt with a pair of what looked to be running pants.

  “Morning,” I said doing my best not to look as dumbstruck as I felt.

  The dreamlike feeling only lasted for a few moments before reality set back in, the reality that I was in some shitty camp in the middle of the desert, and that I still hadn’t found Steve.

  “What time is it?” I asked, sitting up.

  I noticed that Kelly had a canteen and two small packages under her arm, one of which she handed to me.

  “Early-ish,” she said. “A little after seven.”

  I took the package and looked it over, seeing that it was a small rations pack. There was a package of cheese and meats, a little carton of water, and some instant coffee along with a mandarin orange and one of those sticky buns you’d find at conveniences stores for under a buck. Not much in the way of nutrition, but it’d do. Not to mention some of those goods would be rare as hell in a couple of days—the meats and cheeses had to be on their last legs without proper refrigeration.

  “They had hot food,” Kelly said. “But I was up and I figured I’d bring you a little something in bed.”

  She smiled again, letting me know that she was well aware of how non-ideal this particular breakfast-in-bed situation was. But my heart warmed more than a little at
the thought.

  I opened up the package and set into the food, and Kelly took my instant coffee and opened up her canteen. Two plastic cups were built into the side and she removed them, starting to prepare servings for us both.

  “Fancy,” I said. “Where’d you get that?”

  “They were passing them out at the ration line,” she said. “Apparently these cups are the only ones we get, and if we lose them we’re drinking our water out of Lake Mead with our hands. Their words, not mine.”

  She stirred the coffee and handed one of the cups over to me. Sure, it was likely the most bargain-bin instant coffee there was, but damned if it didn’t smell good as hell.

  “How’d you sleep?” Kelly asked.

  Her words made me think back to what had happened last night, with her snuggling up next to me and sleeping with her head tucked into the little space between the bed and my neck, just like she’d always done when we were together. If she felt any weirdness from this she didn’t show it. Either that or she didn’t remember.

  “Good,” I said.

  Actually, better than that. I’d been running on empty these last few days and suddenly feeling well-rested was almost like being on some kind of new drug. I felt alert and clear-headed and ready for the day.

  Ready to work. Ready to find my brother.

  “You?” I asked.

  She nodded, her unfazed expression suggesting further that she’d simply slept close to me without thinking and gotten up without noticing what she’d done.

  “Fine,” she said. “As well as you can sleep in a place like this.”

  I nodded. “Right. I’ve got a bad feeling about this joint.”.

  “I know what you mean,” she said. “When I went out to get the food…I don’t know. It seemed like the place had doubled in size overnight.”

  “More refugees?” I asked.

  She nodded. “A lot more. Some were sleeping on the dirt by the fences, just right where they’d ended up after processing. The soldiers were telling them to get up and move on, but where were they supposed to go? They’re filling these tents faster than they can put them up.”