Fractured State: Rogue State Part 19

"Really?"

"Not really," said David. "I didn't feel like talking."

"Neither did I," added Nathan.

She grunted, lifting her night-vision goggles to take a short break from the bright image.

"How about our guy?" said Nathan. "He faking it, too?"

"I don't think so. He's been breathing heavy for the past hour."

"You should wake him up before we reach Sonoyta," said David. "Just in case we run into a problem driving through town."

"We're driving straight through it?" said Keira.

Nathan slid the map through the front seats. He'd folded it to show the area around Sonoyta. "It doesn't look like we have any alternative. Route 2 cuts right through Sonoyta, north to south."

"Maybe there's some side road?" Keira asked.

"If it's not on the map, we're not taking it," said David. "I don't want to get lost on a side road in the middle of cartel land."

She studied the map, coming to the same conclusion. "I agree. Without a detailed map of the town, we're better off staying on Route 2. I'll start waking Owen."

Keira nudged him with her elbow, watching him stir for a moment before he sank back into a deep sleep. She wondered if this was necessary. If they were attacked in Sonoyta by banditos, or whatever cartel dirt bags lingered in these parts, she wasn't sure it would matter if he were awake or asleep. If they were forced out of the car, they were probably as good as dead. Then again, he could become a serious distraction inside the car if he woke up disoriented in the middle of a firefight. She raised his night-vision visor and nudged him a little harder. His eyes fluttered open, slowly drifting shut again.

"Owen," she said, loudly.

His eyes flung open, hands reaching for the missing visor.

"It's OK, sweetie. You're OK," she said, gently grabbing his hands.

He calmed immediately, speaking in a sleep-induced slur. "What's going on?"

"We're coming up on Sonoyta, and we need an extra pair of eyes watching the street," she said.

Owen rubbed his eyes. "All right. How long until we get there? I'm thirsty."

"A few minutes, I think," said Nathan. "You have time, buddy."

She loosened the drinking hose attached to the shoulder of his vest and pressed it into one of his hands. He drank deeply while she scanned the empty landscape behind and to the side of the SUV. Low hills rose to the north, the border lying somewhere in between. So close, yet so far. Sonoyta was the only road crossing the border between Yuma and Nogales-and it was denied to them by a.s.sholes sitting in air-conditioned trailers a hundred miles away.

When Owen was finished, she slipped the CamelBak hose into the clip sewn into the vest and lowered his visor.

"Looks like we're getting close," he said, pointing toward the windshield.

Scattered roadside structures started to take form in the distance. She guessed the approach to Sonoyta would resemble the road out of Mexicali, only on a smaller scale. Gutted businesses, torn fences, and stripped vehicles. Abandoned, for all practical purposes. As they pa.s.sed the first building, she knew it would be much worse. The top right corner of the narrow, two-level structure had been destroyed, replaced with a jagged, fire-scored hole extending several feet down each side. She caught a glimpse of additional damage to the back of the building before the SUV cruised past. She'd never seen anything like it.

"Missile strike," stated David solemnly. "Blew out the back wall and left debris in the parking lot."

"Drones?" said Nathan.

"Has to be. There's no compet.i.tive cartel activity between Tijuana and Laredo."

"Alpha said the drones killed anything crossing the border," she said. "Maybe they ran out of legitimate targets."

"I don't think so. That's a precision hit. Probably took out an observation post watching the western approach into town. I expect to see more of this as we get deeper into town. This is a good thing."

"A good thing?" she said.

"Yeah. Sonoyta will be clear, as in n.o.body around."

"Because of the same missiles that could turn us into a-" Keira stopped herself. Without realizing it, she'd violated one of their rules. She'd unnecessarily heaped another layer of fear on Owen. f.u.c.k. A hand patted her knee.

"It's OK, Mom," he said. "We'll be fine."

She shook her head, suppressing a smile. "For the record, 'We'll be fine' does not create a magic force field around us."

"Hey, it's worked for us so far," said Nathan, raising his hand for a high five.

David shook his head, rejecting the high five.

"See? He's afraid of you, too," said Nathan, turning his head toward Keira.

"He should be," she said. "Both of you should be."

"Jesus," hissed David, bringing their banter to a halt. "Look at this."

Scorched vehicles littered the road ahead, some upside down, all of them at odd angles. Gutted one-story buildings lined each side of the street. Beach b.a.l.l.size holes had been punched clean through their stucco, the patterns framing larger areas of demolition that reminded her of the missile hit they had just pa.s.sed. Sonoyta was a war zone, and this was just the outskirts.

"Looks like our drone pilots went a little trigger-happy here," said Nathan.

David didn't respond right away. He slowed the SUV, swiveling his head to take in the unfolding scene. "This wasn't drones. The smaller holes look like 25-millimeter cannon fire. Drones don't carry gun pods," he said. "I'd say a helicopter did this. How far away is the border?"

"About a mile and a half," said Nathan.

"Well within Strikefire missile range, but a stretch for helicopter-mounted guns," he said, adding a whispered, "You sneaky f.u.c.kers."

"What?" said Keira.

"They crossed the border. Our helicopters were here," said David, easing the SUV past the first charred vehicle. "This truck was taken out by gunfire. Look at the hole in the door."

Owen leaned over her to see.

"You don't want to see this, sweetie," she said, gently pushing him back.

Instead of protesting, her son climbed halfway over the backpacks on the other side of him. She'd grabbed his vest to pull him back when he slid back into his seat on his own.

"I saw a few bodies," he said, his head pointed straight at the windshield.

Keira looked past him out the window and saw more than just a few bodies. She spotted a dozen twisted shapes strewn on the ground between the blasted vehicles, bones clearly protruding through shredded clothing. Scorched faces stared back at her from inside the cars and trucks, her night vision allowing her to see more detail than she wanted. Whatever had happened here had been a complete ma.s.sacre.

"The bodies look like they've been picked clean," said Nathan.

Keira looked away from the scene, squeezing Owen's hand.

"This happened a few weeks ago. Desert animals did their work already," said David. "Alpha wasn't kidding when he said this place was dead."

She wanted to scream. They were driving an SUV with Mexican plates, in the dead of the night, through a military free-fire zone on the United StatesMexico border, and to top it off, David and her husband were narrating the entire f.u.c.king experience.

"Can we just get through this without the commentary?" she said.

"Sorry," said Nathan.

David navigated through the kill zone, coming to a complete stop twice to open his door and verify that they could squeeze through an opening in the packed debris field. Once through, the SUV accelerated toward the center of town.

The rest of the road approaching Sonoyta's business district was free of destruction, the United States military's sledgehammer tactics seemingly confined to the outskirts. After they turned due south into the densest part of town, Keira started to miss the carnage. The emptiness left her unsettled. Her night-vision goggles didn't register a single artificial light source, and the street was completely devoid of parked cars. Sonoyta was a ghost town.

The SUV lurched forward, picking up speed moments after they entered the busiest stretch of downtown road. The windshield HUD read seventy miles per hour, which was excessive for an urban street-even a deserted one.

"You might want to take it easy here," said Nathan, echoing her thoughts.

"Take a look at your ten o'clock," said David.

They looked to their left.

A dark gore stain smeared against the tan stucco wall of an OXXO convenience store marked the location of a slumped body on the sidewalk.

"Drive-by shooting?" said Nathan.

"I don't think so," replied David. "Looked like a single shot."

"Snipers?" she said.

"That's why I'm driving like a maniac."

"There's another one. Right side," said Nathan.

Keira looked too late, barely glimpsing the repeated scene. Snipers on both sides?

"That one had a rifle," added her husband.

"They have this place locked down tight," said David, pushing the SUV up to eighty-five miles per hour.

An earsplitting bang filled the car, creating a moment of pandemonium. Keira instinctively pulled Owen over her lap before David slammed on the brakes, forcing her against her seat belt, then floored the SUV, rocketing them back against the seat. When she looked up, she couldn't see through her window. She started to form words, but a hollow thump vibrated the car, a brief shower of sparks bouncing off the windshield and disappearing.

"Stay down!" yelled David, the SUV veering into the oncoming traffic lane.

Owen tried to raise his head, but she kept him buried under her arms, leaning over his torso. A sharp crack, immediately followed by a shower of gla.s.s, kept her locked into position over her son. The SUV accelerated faster than she thought possible, the rough street rumbling furiously underneath them.

"Are you OK?" yelled Nathan.

She lifted her head far enough to see Nathan turned in his seat, partially leaning over the center console. He extended a hand, which she grasped and squeezed.

The SUV shuddered, traveling at breakneck speed for another minute or so before slowing.

"We're out of the town," said David. "Whose window got hit?"

"Mine," said Keira.

"Mom, you're crushing me," protested Owen.

"I don't really care. You're not sitting up until the town is out of sight."

"Describe the window for me," David said.

"Shattered in place," said Nathan.

"Probably took a hit from a military-grade armor-piercing bullet," said David. "You're lucky to be alive."

"I feel like the luckiest girl in the world," she said bitterly. "Is my window useless now?"

"Another bullet like that will go right through, but it should stand up to more conventional rounds for now."

"Should?" she said.

David shrugged. "I've seen this type of gla.s.s take a beating long after I would have guessed it was useless, and I've seen it fail miserably under the same circ.u.mstances."

"Which situation happened most often?"

"The first."

"Finally some good news," said Keira.

"Want to hear something even better?" said David.

"I can't wait."

"We're still alive," said David.

"Hard to beat that."

"Seriously. One of their bullets grazed the middle of hood. If it had struck the side of the vehicle, we'd still be in town-most likely dead or bleeding out."

"The good news express keeps delivering."

Owen and Nathan laughed.

"What are you laughing at?" she said to her son, at last letting him sit up.