There was no question, no debate. Danni didn't even try. She just helped me pack a few things, and clutched Bailey to her as I spoke to him.
"Okay Bay, I don't have long. I have to get moving. You gotta help Danni out, listen to her, help Wendy and Luis. I gotta go. I'm gonna get Allie and Katy back."
"Right away," he sobbed. It was easy to forget he was only eight, almost nine, that he'd woken up to gunshots and his friend being kidnapped in the middle of the night. "You're gonna get them right now and come back right away, tonight, right Uncle Cal?"
I looked up at Danni. They were already ahead of me, they were already moving. We'd seen them go to the old boathouse on the mainland, and then lights speeding north. Her eyes cautioned me.
"As fast as I can, but I dunno how far ahead they are. It'll be a few days, Bay."
He cried, but I couldn't wait, so Danni held him, crushing him to her breast, and kissed me, "you get them back, Cal, do everything you showed me at the gas station and worse." she grabbed my chin, kissing me again, "you show them that my man is the pale horse on his chest," and she clutched through my shirt at the tattoo on my left pec.
=====================================
I'd lit out to the boathouse as quickly as I could, all I needed in a bag or slung over my shoulder, wondering where in the fuck I'd get a car to chase them.
They'd clearly come prepared, and that meant they'd been watching us. For a couple of days at least. I ran several houses down, quickly killing a couple of Redeyes that were creeping, and found Wendy's car. A sensible German thing. We'd found it off, keys hanging from the ignition when we raided the house days ago. I'd closed it up and let the keys in the bumper.
I cranked it up and hit the gas, thanking the Germans for a car that would still go.
Around this part of the lake, there was only one road that wound north, and it was dirt, so if I paid attention, I could see what turns they took to flee. It wasn't hard to follow, they were trying to drive too fast without four-wheel drive on a well-maintained side road. There were skid marks that I could pick up even in the gloom of night.
Then there were the dead Redeyes. I'd been on the road a good half hour, pulling out onto Highway 14. Looking back and forth for some sighn, I spotted a group of them, scattered like tenpins on the road. They must've slammed through a group of them. This far into the end of the world, Redeyes seemed to be mostly naked, wearing scavenged wraps and light, easily accessible clothing, their sunburnt skin often scratched badly. This group looked to have been on the move, mostly females that had fled my attack on their males. Several were dead, a rabbit they'd caught lay bloody at the side of the road.
By the look of the scene, the kidnappers weren't too far ahead of me. Had I made good time? No, not that good. I'd seen them racing down this road before I'd even gotten in a boat. What the hell were these people up to? I rolled on for a few more minutes, coming toward the bridge for Lake Ferry.
Asked and answered, a minivan exploded out of a driveway nearby, smashing into Wendy's sweet little German ride, slamming the passenger door, and sending me careening off into the ditch. The car rolled, and I lurched, holding myself against the roof to lessen the impact, crashing into the edge of the water on the roof. I'd been lucky and seen them coming, I'd been ready.
I crawled into the backseat, digging in my bag. The old.38 had been in my waistband, but Grandad's Colt would do the job better, and they'd be looking for a driver.
A male voice argued with a pair of female voices. "Fuck that, I'm checking. This is probably the one that killed Sossy and Felix."
Another voice, a woman, "that means he killed the lot of them, you dumb shit, get back in the car!"
I kicked the rear drivers side open, slipping out into the shallow water. There wasn't much light tonight, but the minivan's lights were on, and I could see his silhouette. Tall, thin, the gangly build of a young man in his early twenty's. "Fuuuck that, I got him," he showed off the gun in his belt, looking back to the minivan as he walked. "Keep that bitch warm for me, I'm gonna get some when this fucker is dead."
Cackling from the car, "you know that Klossinger'll have your nuts cut off if you do that again. Just get back in the car, Henry." I slid through the shadows of the bridge, there was no way I'd make the minivan, but I could get to Henry.
"Fuckin' tell me not to fuck the bitch, I'll fuck that bitch, gonna fuckin' kill this motherfuh-"
I pulled the gun from Henry's hand before he'd finished his little rant, dragging him to my front, "maybe think twice about that, Henry."
We approached the minivan, Henry in front of me, my gun to his head. I held him at arms length, crouching behind him as best I could. "Send them out," I shouted. "Little girl first, then the woman. Unharmed."
Murmuring in the van, I pushed him a little closer, hoping to see Allie. "Calvin, duck!"
I hit the ground as three bullets slammed into Henry, turning his guts to paste as the minivan burst into gear, blasting forward across the bridge. Henry fell into a gasping heap, and I stood helplessly watching Allie and Katy carted off. Looking down at the young man, I could see he wasn't long for the world.
"Tell me where they're headed, and I can help you." He looked up at me with questioning eyes. He had at least two right through his stomach. "You need help right now or you'll die slowly, drowning in your own shit and piss. Your torso will fill up with blood and your waste, and it'll hurt. A lot. Tell me where they're going, Henry."