Retribution Road by Jon Coon (e reader comics .TXT) 📕

“Where is Emily?” Carol shouted. She had hands on her hips and a no-nonsense glare. Everything stopped. “Where is Emily?”

Paul and Angelica were silent. Then Jimmy the Geek said, “I saw her on the monitor. She was on a four-wheeler headed to the back paddocks. But the cameras are down. I can’t—”

Carol was out the door and nearly knocked Gabe down as he was coming in.

“It’s Em. She’s not in the bunker.”

Gabe did an about-face, and they ran to the truck.

“I’ll drive,” she said and jumped into the driver’s seat. When they topped the hill, horses were everywhere. Still panicked and wild-eyed, they scattered in front of the truck and ran toward the lake. Carol drove to Diamond Jack’s paddock. Jack was not in sight. Gabe jumped out and opened the gate. Carol drove through, and Gabe caught his door when she failed to stop for him.

Diamond Jack’s private barn was riddled with gunfire. Carol slammed the brakes and ran in. Her beautiful horse stood in the door, blood running from his wounds. Beneath him, Emily lay in the straw crying. Jack held his ground when they approached.

“He’s nervous and he’s protecting her,” Carol said. “Just go slow.”

She held out her hand, and when Jack nuzzled it, she put her arm around his neck and cried. Gabe came slowly in and lifted Emily from the straw. Her eyes opened, and realizing she was in Gabe’s arms, she held on tight.

“He saved me, Mom. Just like he did for you. All the other horses were running, and the plane came, and it was shooting at us, but he just stood there. Bullets came all around and he just stood there. Even when he got hit, he didn’t move. He just stood there protecting me.”

Gabe put her down, and she went to Diamond Jack’s side and cried her thanks.

Carol was on her phone to the vet, who said he would drop everything and come immediately.

Diamond Jack shook his head and dropped on his front knees and then dropped again, still sitting up, into the straw. Carol took off her blouse and packed it against the worst wound.

“See if there’s a first aid kit in the truck,” she said to Gabe. He went immediately to find it. He returned with a small kit, opened it, and found gauze 4x4s and ripped open the packages. Carol packed the other wounds and then held Jack’s head in her arms.

“How could anyone do this?” she cried. “How . . .”

Emily comforted her mother. “It will be all right, Mom.”

“Dad was right all along,” Carol said between sobs. “They are monsters.”

Hours later, Gabe, Carol, and the kids had retreated to the lake. Carol brought food from the command center galley, and they were making sandwiches and trying to process what had just happened.

“Is Diamond Jack going to be okay?” Paul asked.

“I think so, honey. The vet got the wounds cleaned and stitched. Only one was a bullet, and the vet removed it. The rest were shrapnel from the metal building. He said Jack will be fine in a month or so. Emily won’t leave his side. We’ll take her some lunch and check on them both after we eat.”

“We need to get those guys,” Paul said. “They can’t get away with this. What are we going to do next, Gabe?”

“I don’t know. I was just thinking about that, and I really don’t know.”

“We need to go down there and kick butt, that’s what!”

“They have armies,” Angelica said. “Hundreds of soldiers. All the money in the world. If you go back, the only thing that will happen is they will laugh and then kill you. You will never beat them.”

“But we have to do something. We can’t just sit here and do nothing.”

“Maybe nothing is exactly what we need to do. At least for now,” Gabe said.

“What do you mean?” Carol asked. “That’s not like you, what are you thinking?”

“I was just remembering the story of Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, when he was attacked by a huge army several times the size of his own forces. Pretty much like what Angelica said about us going after the cartels. Your dad said they have 450,000 people on their side. What can we possibly do against an army that size?”

“So what did that king do?” Paul asked.

“He went to God and said, ‘We’re helpless and hopeless and clueless, but you promised this land to us, and it’s your land and it’s your fight, so what are you going to do?’”

“And what happened?” Paul asked again.

“Well, just like he’d promised, God kicked butt. He brought in another army and wiped out the attackers. And all the Judeans had to do was stand, watch, and load up the treasures they found when the battle was over.”

“Well, that’s a nice story, but what has it got to do with us?”

“Sometimes it’s better to sit, wait, and have faith than to rush into things on our own. Especially when the odds are not in our favor. There’s that old adage, ‘God helps those who help themselves.’ All my life I heard that was from the Bible. But you know what? It’s not, and it’s not true. The truth is, God helps those who can’t help themselves. The ones who admit they are weak and lean on him for his strength.”

“So what are we going to do now?” Paul asked, perplexed.

“I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.” Gabe smiled, then laughed. “Because the way I see it, we’re as helpless and hopeless and clueless as anyone I know.”

“Well, we could go round up the horses,” Carol said.

“That’s a great idea,” Gabe agreed. “Let’s do it.”

“Just one more thing before we go,” Carol said. “We owe Gabe a big thank you. He saved us today. All of us. Coming after those men by himself was the bravest thing I’ve ever seen. And we all need to thank him.”

“Shucks, ma’am. That’s just what us