Read Online Desperate Times Three - Revolution by Nicholas Antinozzi - Free Book Online

the wall.
    “We don’t have to!” shouted Dundlemore. “The authorities will be here soon. Why don’t you tell them that?”
    “Go lay by your dish, asshole!” replied Ken. He leaned his rifle up against the corner of the wall and climbed down to join Jimmy and Julie at the gate.
    Dundlemore continued to shout threats as a pair of headlights whizzed past on the other side of the wall.
    “How did you know they weren’t armed?” Jimmy asked, trying to fit a chunk of wood into what remained of the lock.
    “I guessed,” said Ken. “Don’t worry about the lock. We won’t be needing it anymore.”
    “I don’t trust them,” said Julie. “We’re going to have to keep a guard posted at the wall.”
    Jimmy could barely make out Ken’s face in the darkness, but he could hear the emotion in his voice as he spoke. He had never heard sound this way—old and defeated, ready to throw in the towel and face whatever awaited on the outside.
    “No,” Ken said, pausing to collect himself as his voice broke. “Let’s get packed up and get the hell out of here. We can’t fight our way out of this one, and to tell you the truth, I don’t ever want to touch another gun as long as I live. I’m done killing. I’m done with all of it. I’ve got to get Patty to a hospital.”
    Jimmy watched as Ken turned away, and Julie rushed to his side and flung her arms around him. Ken didn’t return the gesture, but he bent down and kissed the top of her head before he continued up to the house.
    “What’s going on over there?” shouted Dundlemore. “Don’t you try anything stupid, Dahlgren! We’re unarmed and we have women and children over here… Dahlgren? ”

Chapter 7
    “If you can take the hot lead enema, then you can cast the first stone.” ~ Lenny Bruce
     
    They left him out there without another word. He had beaten them without so much as firing a single shot. Mark Dundlemore had come armed with something that none of their previous attackers possessed: authorities. He had played more or less by the rules, and he would be rewarded for that. Ken realized this and knew it was time to move on.
    “No guns,” Ken said while they tossed together some things. “They stay here.”
    Ken would carry Patty over his shoulder down to the Tahoe where he somehow got her inside and belted into the front passenger seat. Bill, his ruined Honda still pasted to a nearby tree, climbed into the back of the Tahoe next to Cindy. Jimmy and Julie would ride together in the Mack, which they’d loaded with what they wished to take away from the home they had shared for nearly two years. They worked quietly in the dark, being careful not to tip their hand to the new guy on the block. Moving out took less than an hour. Jimmy and Ken pried the gate back open, and they waited a moment to see if Dundlemore would try something foolish. They were only met with silence.
    “Are you ready?” Jimmy asked, staring at Julie as he buckled himself into the driver’s seat.
    “I don’t know,” Julie replied. “I suppose I’m as ready as I’ll ever be.”
    There was a tap on the glass of Jimmy’s window, and he turned to see Ken.
    “Kid, I need you to help me with one last thing up in the house. It won’t take a minute.”
    “I’ll help,” Julie said, reaching for the buckle of her seatbelt.
    “No,” Ken said. “You stay out here and keep an eye on things. This won’t take long.”
    Jimmy reached over and patted Julie’s thigh, reassuringly. “I’ll be right back, sweetie.”
    They said nothing as they walked up the hill to the back of the dark house. Ken led Jimmy to the shed. Jimmy followed in the starlight, wondering what Ken had in mind. He didn’t have to wait long to find out. Ken opened the shed door, and Jimmy waited outside. The bodies of two people he had loved were inside there, and he had no desire to see them. A moment later, Ken reemerged carrying two five-gallon cans of gasoline.
    “I’m not leaving our home for that