Free White Flag of the Dead by Joseph Talluto Page B

likely forced him to watch his wife being raped. They then killed them both. Since there was no hope of police action, this was done for the pure pleasure of it. My jaw tightened and I breathed out heavily. As I turned back, I saw something that made my blood run cold. In the back of the car was an empty car seat. If there was a child, where was it now? Was it even alive? Anything left with animals that would do this would surely suffer.
    I walked back to my car and checked on Jake. He was still sleeping, but wouldn’t for long. I needed to get what I needed and get out of here. As I stepped back to the lot, I realized I needed to make sure I wasn’t followed. I ran back to the cars and, using my knife, slashed the tires on all three vehicles.
    I went to the side of the building and walked carefully to the front. I began to hear voices from the opening, which I could see had been smashed open. I had no idea why I was going in the building, how many I was facing, or what I planned on doing. But there was a child in danger, and no matter how badly I wanted to cut and run, I could not give up on that child.
    I held my rifle at the ready and walked inside. The aisles had been trashed, and a lot of stuff was all over the floor. I stepped carefully around a waterfall of makeup, and headed towards the back of the store where the voices were. I stayed at the edge of the store, trying to stay out of sight of the big mirrors on the back wall. I could see at least three people near the pharmacy, and could hear more grabbing things off the shelves.
    As I moved closer, I cocked the hammer back on my SIG, loosening it in its holster. The hammer was still back on my Winchester, and I moved closer to the pharmacy.
    The three punks I could see were leaning on the counter, talking to the ones in the back. I figured there were five of them, and I could see they had been busy. Even in the relative darkness of the store I could see them sporting several gold watches and chains, and I could see guns tucked in the waistbands of two of them. They were all about eighteen years old, and were relatively well-dressed. It didn’t make sense what they were doing, and their crime was even more horrific for it. I worried even more about the child. Where was it? I slowly angled out to the left and raised my rifle. I could see out the drive-up window, and thanked God I hadn’t parked further back, or they would have seen me and Jake.
    I didn’t waste time with small talk. “Where’s the child?” I said.
    The reaction was immediate. As one, the three spun around and two hands streaked for their waists. “Don’t!” I yelled, stepping into the dim light of the window and showing them I had the drop on them. “You’ll never make it.” I heard some muttering coming from the pharmacy and called to them. “You two in the back! Come out now and have your hands up!”
    The closest one, an oily bastard if I ever saw one, sneered and said, “You a cop?”
    I shook my head as the other two made their appearance. “You’re not that lucky. I don’t have rules to play by like cops do.” I noted that one of the ones from the back had deep scratches on his face, like someone had been fighting him. I could guess where he had gotten them. “Where’s the child?” I asked again.
    Oily sneered. “Fuck you.”
    I didn’t say a word. I just shot him in the chest. He flew back from the impact and slammed against the counter. He fell onto his face and his companions could see the four inch hole the heavy slug had created as it exited his body. They all stood stock still and raised their hands higher.
    My face was stone cold as I pointed the gun at the next one in line, a slender blonde kid who looked like he had just started shaving a week ago. “Where’s the child?”
    The blonde started to shake, and couldn’t answer. His partner, a heavy kid with greasy hair and a bad complexion, reached for the gun at his waist. I swung the rifle on him and shot him in