Winds of Fate Page 4

  That boy is a creature of habit, babes. What he does once, he will do again and again until he is caught or killed. You can bet there are others, maybe not close to where you found those three, but there are others.

  “Before, I just wanted to get away, get as far away as possible and never look back. I just wanted to get back to where I was before I met up with those freaks.”

  And now?

  “Now I want to get them, all of them, but especially him. Not just for what he did to me, but for those others too. I keep thinking about them. They might have families, mothers, fathers who miss them. People who will live with the pain of wondering what happened to them. He’ll do it again. He’ll find me, and then go someplace else and do it again.”

  I figure that’s about right. So what you plan on doing about it?”

  “What can I do? I’ll be lucky to get out of here alive.”

  “You keep poking along and you won’t be gettin’ out of here at all! What you need to do is get up and start moving. Now listen to me, girl, just walk and listen to me. You ain’t dead yet. After all, you are the one that said until it was time to die; you were going to keep on living. So listen to me!

  She rose to her feet, picked up and adjusted the pack, then looked around to get her bearings, and then began moving again, more quickly than before.

  No such thing as total quiet, baby cakes. Everyone makes noise, even when they don’t think they are. But there are ways to hide the sounds you make. All you got to do is listen to the world around you. Listen to how it moves in the brush, how it slithers through the tall grass. Hear how it moves with the wind, and then step into that sound. Mother earth, she sings, and she has a rhythm all her own. You have to listen to the music and move with the rhythm. Then you become a part of the natural sounds around you. When things go quiet, then you need to be silent. Man is a hunter, and hunts with his eyes, ears, and sense of smell. He uses all of these senses even when he is unaware of it. But you stay still and downwind of both your pursuer and your prey. They can’t see you unless they know where to look. These men know where you are going and so they just have to go in your direction. Sooner or later, they will catch up to you because you’re thinking like an animal that is being chased. So stop thinking like a rabbit and start thinking smart. They think you are going this way, so go a different direction. You’re stronger than you were, but you need to be a lot stronger; that means you will have to push yourself. You know pain well enough it should be almost like a friend by now. You have lived with it all your life, and it has been sucking the life out of you. Now you are going to create some pain that will put the life back into you. You’re gonna have to get tough, more so than you ever thought possible.

  There are plants in the desert that will heal your body and your spirit. Find them and use them. Watch the animals, see what they do, and how they do it, and emulate them. You want to beat them boys? You can do it, but you got to get strong, mean, and smart.”

  “You’re asking an awfully lot from a crack whore aren’t you, my noisy friend?”

  That what you are? A crack whore? Then just turn around and go find them boys, Baby cakes. They know how to treat crack whores. So if you want to be a crack whore, just keep thinking the way you are thinking.

  “Sure! When I was in the fifth grade someone asked me, what do you want to be when you grow up, honey? And I said, I want to be a crack whore. I want to pump my body full of drugs so my skin is crawling over my bones. I want to be so strung out that I’ll screw anyone, or do anything, for my next fix.”

  Damn girl, looks as if you did all right by yourself.

  “Didn’t I though? I became everything I’d hoped to be.”

  Downright successful if you’re asking me! So, I’m guessing you’re not ready for a career change.

  “Maybe I am. My former career don’t have a retirement plan, no Blue Cross, no Blue Shield, nada!”

  So what you gonna do? Seems to me you are running away from more than just them bad bucks back there.

  “Sure wish I could get a preview peek at what I’m running too?”

  That’s up to you girl. There is a whole world out there, and you can do whatever it is you want … if you want it badly enough. How bad do you want to stay alive?

  “When I woke up, not at all. But seeing the girls lying in the bottom of that riverbed did something to me. I don’t want to end up like that.”

  There are worse ways to go.

  “Oh yeah? I suppose being chewed up by a giant cockroach might put me in the same ballpark.”

  Instead of heading out of the desert, she turned north and went deeper into the desert. Ten miles away from the riverbed, a series of low hills that had been formed by some ancient upheaval came into view. Jodie was in awe of the beauty that surrounded her. Everything was breath taking! From the sandstone hills and their varied shapes and sizes, to the plants and the array of colors that lay before her in this out-of-the-way oasis.

  Inside one of the hills was a small, natural cavern that had been reinforced and enclosed with native stone. The interior was roomy with a low laying bench made of sandstone. Jodie took the small flashlight from her backpack, turned it on, and then crept cautiously inside. The cave consisted of two chambers, the entrance chamber and a deeper one in the back. The entrance chamber was the larger of the two with a high ceiling. The second chamber was darker and smaller. That one attracted Jodie’s interest because of the natural hot spring that fed into the basin. She tasted the water then spat it out, the bitter mineral and sulfur taste made it undrinkable. Yet, not more than ten feet away from the cave was another spring with clear, clean drinking water. She wondered what fed the two streams. It was obvious that they fed from completely different sources, but neither was detectable from where she stood.

  Someone had leveled the dirt and then constructed a stone floor in the outer chamber. The stones fit together so perfectly that a knife blade would not fit between them.

  The intricate pattern of colorful rockwork created a strangely, swirling design and dazzled the new occupant of the cave.

  A place like this was exactly what Jodie needed to regain her physical and mental health and she proceeded to make a mental note: “Here, is where this crack whore will be staying for a while.”

  Jodie designed a broom from Spanish grass by tying the long stiff bristles to a straight stick that she had formed with the help of the machete and the Bowie knife. Then she swept both chambers from floor to ceiling, removing pill bugs and spiders.

  “I can’t stay here long,” she said to herself as she scraped at something on the floor that looked suspiciously like animal droppings. “I’m already down to ten food packs.”

  Baby girl, you got a whole world of food around you, and you don’t even know it.”

  “I am not eating bug pills, spiders or grasshoppers!”

  That stream just outside, it has cattails and watercress, and maybe even a fish or two. There are cactus fruit and mesquite beans in bountiful proportions, and other edibles as well. All you have to do is gather them. Just leave the distasteful meal packets alone for now. Try a different treat for a change.

  Jodie’s mornings consisted of a heavy workout, starting with a warm up, then onto greater efforts. One wall had handholds that were not much more than just recesses in the stone. These led up to a ledge high in the ceiling of the cave, a good twenty-five feet from the floor. She started out slow, climbing to the ledge each day. The time came when she could climb up as easily as she walked across the floor.

  After a hard workout of weight lifting and climbing, she started rhythm fighting. Afterward, she would go to the hot spring and soak for an hour. Whatever chemical was in the water began to have an immediate effect on her body. The sores, scars and lesions on her body began to fade, and then finally disappeared altogether. At night, she would run across the desert, starting at the cave and then back to the river. Each time she checked for signs that the men had given up on her, and without fail she wou
ld find another foot print or new motorcycle track. She had seen these tracks so often that she could tell which person was on patrol and looking for her.

  She always ran the ten miles back to the cave. Most of the distance permitted her to run on sandstone or a hard packed surface that left no footprints. She never took the same path twice and always erased any trace of her passing, sometimes jumping from one bolder to another to hide her tracks. Her eyesight became sharp, her hearing acute, and capable of picking up the slightest sound. She could distinguish the difference between a cricket scratching across the floor and a tumblebug.

  Jodie practiced with the pistol every day, aiming and holding it steady on target, but never fired it once. The routine became a discipline with her, drawing, aiming and steadying the pistol. She finally reached the level of accuracy to the point that she could pull out the pistol, aim and place it on target so quickly that her motion was just a blur to the eye, her arm as steady as a rock.

  The bullet will go where you point it; there ain’t no reason to shoot. Just trust your eye.

  Each time she pulled the pistol and aimed it, the voice in her head repeated, it’s going to recoil in your hand, be ready for it. Squeeze the trigger do not pull it. Take the slack out smooth and evenly, let the gun go off on its own. Just be prepared for the recoil and be ready to put it back on target.

  She would squeeze the trigger, and then pull the slack out until the trigger was full back. There was no click because she never pulled the slide to cock it. Then she would replace the pistol and do it all over again. A thousand, ten thousand times, she pulled the weapon from its holster and aimed it. She practiced dropping the magazine and reloading with a new one. Always count your rounds, be ready to switch magazines as quickly as possible.

  Jodie started out doing pushups with two hands, barely managing more than ten at a time, and only days later, she was doing a hundred, one-hand pushups, fifty with each arm. The rhythm fighting started with simply standing in the middle of the floor and doing a straight punch.

  Straight from the shoulder girl! Keep that wrist straight or the first time you hit someone you’re going to break it. Rotate your hip; bring it up your side and through your shoulder. Snap it as if you are snapping a rag. Now the other arm again, again, again, again!

  Then she began to move around. Feeling the way her body moved and stepping according to her inner rhythm. Kick, roll, step back, move, jab, move, roll, step. Hour after hour, day after day this went on. She worked out in the cave, ran the ten miles to the river and back, and then bathed in the hot spring. She found herbs, plants, and roots that were edible, killed rabbits, pheasant, and even a deer. Day after day from sun up to sun down she worked out, practiced with the gun, and ran. Her body filled out, her stomach and arms became like stone, her reflexes as quick as lightening, her senses sharp and her mind clear.

  The nagging need for the drug slowly went away, until it was no longer a pull on her mind. The exercises, herbs and the minerals in the hot springs had replaced the poison and the cravings in her body. She wouldn’t have recognized herself if she had seen her own reflection. Her skin had taken on a golden tan from hours in the sun; her body could have been that of an Olympian Goddess, her face stern and competent instead of compliant and indecisive.

  It was two months after she disappeared into the desert that Carlos discovered the cave. Of all the creeps with Jake’s outfit, Carlos was the most skilled and dangerous. But, like Jodie, he all but missed the cave until he walked right upon it by accident. He had been following a deer and stumbled upon the cave unexpectedly. When he saw all the signs of occupation, his mind went into overdrive. He stepped cautiously into the outer chamber and found it clean, neat and organized. The floor had been polished to a shine by her constant footwork and workouts. It smelled of sage and leather, and the sweat of a woman. At first, he stood in disbelief, even though his senses related an accurate story as to what he had found.

  He went outside and looked around for several minutes. The wind was still, not even a breeze. He could hear birds chirping at a great distance. He knew the place was vacant for the time being. Curiosity pulled him back inside. He saw the web belt hanging on the wall with the pistol still in it. The clothing neatly stacked and folded, the different types of herbs neatly lined up and organized, the tin bowls from her backpack were stacked neatly near the herbs. This person was disciplined and exacting.

  That it was a woman he had no doubt. But was impossible for this to be the same woman that had destroyed the compound? He knew that girl, and her character. He had seen others just like her; she had no fortitude, resilience, nor inner strength; she could not survive in this land for more than a day or two at the most. His continued search for that girl, one that Jake had insisted on, was just a game, a way of stalling before having to tell the big bosses he had fucked up big time.

  No matter, he liked the desert and being out in the open. Jake had brought up a girl for them, and they had been taking turns with her, Jake had also kept the food and the liquor coming in. There was no reason or need to go any nearer to town than they were. He could hunt, and he could search for the girl. It was always his opinion that the girl had fallen off a cliff, or been killed in someway— possibly eaten by a wild animal. But, eventually they would find her rotting corps or dry bones some where in the desert. Each day they searched further out while looking for her body or fresh footprints, but had found no sign of her existence.

  This person, whoever she was, was not the one they had been searching for, but it didn’t mean that he couldn’t have a bit of fun with her. Maybe keep her here as his own bit of fresh meat instead of sharing the puta back at camp.

  Then he turned and saw her standing in the tunnel that led from the outer chamber to the inner one. His senses had completely betrayed him. He had not heard her approach, had not smelled her, or even suspected that she was standing there. More unnerving was the calm way she stood watching him. She was wet, so there must be some kind of water source in another part of the cave, she was naked and totally unarmed, but she didn’t seem a bit concerned or frighten by him, nor did she seem surprised that he was there. He looked her up and down and felt a bit of a chill run up his back. This woman was damn good looking, but she also looked like a wild animal, all muscle and sinew. There wasn’t an ounce of fat on her, only muscle. When she moved it was all smoothness with the grace and ease of an animal.

  She never took her eyes off him as she asked calmly. “A bit off the beaten path aren’t you?”

  He shrugged, “I tracked a deer and saw the opening to the cave.” She nodded, “I figured one of you would find it sooner or later. You have been thrashing around in the desert like a pack of dogs after a rabbit.”

  He studied her for a long time and then said, “It’s a little difficult to believe you’re that skinny whore we killed … or tried to kill. You’ve changed a bit!”

  “That happens when you aren’t constantly pumping drugs into your body.” He started to lift his rifle and she shook her head. “I wouldn’t if I were you.”

  “You know I have to kill you?”

  “You can try. I might even give you a fair chance, but if you try to use the rifle I’ll give you no chance at all.” He smiled and said, “I don’t need the rifle.”

  She nodded and said, “It’s better this way ... the way it’s supposed to be.” He shook his head. “Either way, you’ll die, but this will be more fun. I outweigh you, and I out skill you.

  “She said, “You think!”

  “I know!”

  “We shall see.” She stepped into the main chamber and moved to his left, keeping him slightly off balance. She studied his movement and his breathing and understood there was doubt in his mind. He feared Jodie, but was excited by her at the same time. He never took his eyes off her, not for a moment. There was no feinting or testing, each simply watched the other, learning what they needed to know from the way they moved.

  Finally, she stopped and faced him. Even be
fore the first blow was thrown he knew he could not win, understood that the rifle would have been of no use either, even before he could have raised it she would have been across the chamber and on him. The rifle would have only been an encumbrance in such a close arena. He had one chance, and only one, and that was to strike hard and fast. He waited for his opening and when he believed he had it, he moved.

  He was fast, good, and he was deadly. His timing was perfect and his movement on target. But she was quicker, deadlier and more in tune with his thoughts. Reading his slightest move, understanding what he was going to do even before he did. And she countered. The blow to his chest was like being hit with a sledgehammer, and it sent him stumbling backwards.

  He regained his balance and knew he was dead. The membrane around his heart was destroyed, and he would be dead in a few hours, still he was alive now and he would continue to fight.

  Now he was angry, and his fear was gone, he was acting on instinct when he attacked the second time. She blocked him, and then countered, felt his arm break, his ribs crushed, he fell to the floor in a sitting position looking up at her. He inhaled raggedly and then said, “I would never have thought anyone was that good.” He paused then spoke again, “You’re going to kill them all, aren’t you?”