Erik Handy by Hell of the Dead Read Free Book Online

Anna, looked up and recognized Marie. "Marie!"
    They hugged and began to cry.
    "My baby," Marie lamented, burrowing her face into the other woman's shoulder. "Anna, my baby!"
    "It's all right," Anna replied. "Shh. We're going to make them pay." Anna looked over at Angelina who then left the two to their tender moment. "We're going to make them pay."

Chapter 24
    The ten jeeps slowly made their bumpy way up the incline. The only light came from their headlights. This light did nothing to ease the men's tension. They heard what happened to their fellow officers earlier. Even though they were secure in their notion of safety in great numbers, they remained nervous. What waited for them out here and when would the savages strike?
    In the lead jeep was Raymond, a slowly sobering Jacoby, Nolan, and five other soldiers. Raymond sat in the front, Jacoby and Nolan in the middle row. Even with a soldier between them this was too close for both men's comfort.
    Nolan looked over at Jacoby. The constable was looking out into the dark jungle. Nolan thought the man was perhaps flashing back to the earlier massacre and his cowardly actions. If Jacoby was any other man, Nolan would have cut him some slack for running. However, Nolan knew what kind of man he was, what kind of coward.
    The constable caught Nolan's gaze. He couldn't hold his end of it and looked away.
    Jacoby began to scan his side of the jungle for anyone tracking them. This helped him not to think about the priest. He couldn't believe that bastard would come along!
    Jacoby chuckled.
    The priest had come to die.
    "Look!" Raymond said.
    All eyes were now on the road just ahead. It was the site of the day's skirmish between the police and rock-wielding men, or savages as some of the soldiers thought. Dead bodies, police and attackers alike, were splayed around the area along with guns, sticks, and stones. The remaining jeep sat on the side of the road, a dead cop slumped in the passenger's seat.
    The caravan stopped to allow several soldiers to move the bodies out of the road. One drove the sitting jeep into the bush to be retrieved later. He tried to not let his stare linger too long on the throatless corpse on his right.
    A grisly scene even in the shine of headlights. The day's heat caused some of the corpses to fester and stink. Several of the policemen could smell the dead from their jeeps a few feet away. They had a hard time keeping their bile in its place.
    Jacoby tried not to stare at the scene, but found it difficult to turn away. He didn't consider that he could have perished here. He didn't mourn the dead he left behind. He just couldn't turn away from the grotesque images of lifeless eyes staring out and away or of the slick blood that didn't seem to be drying even in this heat. This was like a horror movie he would go watch in the city.
    Nolan's expression was more of puzzlement than disgust or morbid curiosity. What exactly happened here? He couldn't picture the particulars of the battle. He didn't really want to.
    He cinched up on his rifle, cradling it like a security blanket. Not for the first time since coming to this remote part of the world did he feel out of his element.
    "We must be close!" Raymond shouted back as the caravan started up again.
    Nolan leaned forward, his eyes on the dead ahead and around them. "Who attacked the constable and these men?" he asked Raymond.
    "A tribe?" Raymond replied. "Maybe a religious sect?"
    Jacoby nodded in agreement as if he knew in the first place. "Death cult."
    Raymond shrugged. To Nolan, "Why are you here, Father?"
    While Nolan searched for an answer, Raymond kept his eyes on him, patient. Jacoby also awaited the answer, but he faced forward, keeping the conversation in his periphery.
    "To save the woman and her child," Nolan finally answered. It was as good an answer as any.
    Raymond shook his head, smiling. "We are here for that anyway. Why are you in this god forsaken country? To bring the word of God to these