Page 97 of Shadows Reel

He attempted to flex his right hand, but it was unresponsive.

Geronimo was driving, but there was someone else in the passenger seat. A twenty-something male with spiked hair and pale white skin.

“Who’s this guy?” Nate asked. His voice was a croak.

“Well, hello,” Geronimo said cheerfully. “I’m glad you’re back with us.”

“Where are we?”

“Forty minutes out of Portland on I-5.”

“I can’t feel my arm or shoulder.”

“They pumped you up with painkillers pretty good,”Geronimo said. “You’ll definitely start feeling it when the drugs wear off.”

Nate asked, “How were you able to get me medical attention? Aren’t gunshot wounds supposed to be reported to the police?”

“In normal circumstances, yes,” Geronimo said. “But these aren’t normal circumstances, I guess. The EMTs just wanted to get you patched up and out of there. They said the rifle rounds didn’t hit anything vital, although you probably would have bled out if we hadn’t gotten you there within minutes, which we did. It was like they were working in a war zone. They even gave me morphine for when the drugs wear off.”

The man in the passenger seat said, “I could use some of those.”

“No, Randy,” Geronimo said with a dismissive laugh.

Nate turned his head toward the windshield. It had stopped raining, but fine mist hung in the air. Rivulets of water snaked up the glass. The odd high-pitched sound he heard inside the van was from wind whistling through open bullet holes in the skin of the vehicle and from the back doors.

Thewindshield, Nate thought.

“When did you get new glass? I thought it got blown to bits.”

“While they were patching you up, I called one of those outfits that will show up on the spot and put in a new windshield. Ain’t America great?”

Nate grunted.

“Ain’t it great, Randy?” Geronimo said to the passenger.

The man called Randy looked away.

—

Geronimo said,“Randy and I have had quite an interesting conversation while you were back there dozing. Haven’t we, Randy?”

“Yeah.”

To Nate, Randy sounded dejected.

“Nate, meet Randy Daniels from Denver. He’s been assisting Axel all the way to the shootout in Seattle. He was with Axel in Wingville just before us and he helped him load up the arsenal.

“But Randy witnessed Axel’s true colors last night and now he’s quite disillusioned with the man. Right, Randy?”

“Fuck, yeah,” Randy spat.

“He’s on our side now,” Geronimo said. “Not all antifas are incorrigible. Right, Randy?”

“I guess.”

“Go ahead,” Geronimo said to Randy. “Tell him what you told me.”

Randy sighed. He said, “I’m just rethinking everything right now. My mind is fucked up.