Chapter 65: Deadly Bend

Chapter 65: Chapter 65: Deadly Bend

Chapter 65: Deadly Bend

The shop owner studied Seth’s credentials for another moment before finally motioning for the three men to follow him into the back. Behind a reinforced door was a second room where heavier law-enforcement and federal-contract inventory had been stored away from ordinary customers. At first glance, the rifles lining the wall did not look dramatically different from what was displayed outside, but the owner’s proud expression made it obvious these were the items he considered worth showing serious buyers.

"These are the heavier-duty models I keep for contract work and authorized agencies," the owner explained while unlocking several racks. "Most civilians who walk through my front door have no reason to even look at this stuff." He then pulled several old ammunition cases from beneath a workbench and added that the equipment had been maintained carefully despite sitting in storage.

Seth Brundle’s eyes immediately brightened. He picked up one of the rifles, checked its condition with practiced familiarity, and nodded in approval. "Not bad. Whoever maintains your inventory actually knows what they’re doing."

The owner’s smile widened. "You wanted more firepower, right?" He walked toward an inconspicuous steel cabinet in the corner, unlocked it, and pulled the doors open. Even Lionel Cosgrove gave a low whistle when he saw the heavier weapons stored inside.

Among the inventory were several rugged military-pattern rifles and a large belt-fed machine gun resting on a bipod. The owner proudly explained that most of them had originally been intended for law-enforcement or government contract sales and were built to survive hard use. "They aren’t pretty, but they’re dependable, and dependable is what matters when things get ugly."

Axel Vance lifted one of the rifles and immediately liked the solid weight in his hands. He worked the action once, listened to the clean mechanical movement, and decided it would suit the kind of mission waiting for them far better than something delicate. "We’ll take several of these."

Seth, however, was staring at the machine gun.

"What about that one?"

The owner followed his gaze and grinned. "That’s the piece everyone notices eventually." He admitted that it was heavy enough to discourage most buyers and expensive enough to make them think twice, but it remained fully functional.

Axel stepped over and lifted it from the rack. With Physique 3.1, the weight that would have made an ordinary man struggle barely bothered him, and he casually settled it against himself. Then he deliberately copied the kind of exaggerated stance he remembered from First Blood, earning a confused look from Lionel.

Axel gave the weapon an approving nod. "Not bad." He shifted it once more and added, "Feels like carrying around a very angry piece of industrial equipment."

Seth immediately pointed at it. "We’re taking that too."

The shop owner’s smile became noticeably warmer.

From there, the discussion turned toward ammunition and the rest of the field equipment they might need for an isolated federal site. Seth wanted enough supplies that they would not have to worry about running out if the mission became prolonged, while Axel insisted on keeping the load practical enough to transport. Lionel mostly stood nearby wondering whether any of the crates contained food.

The shop owner eventually brought out several additional cases of defensive equipment and emergency supplies. Seth accepted nearly everything Axel considered useful and rejected anything that seemed unnecessary for the actual mission. By the time they finished, the back room looked noticeably emptier.

The owner disappeared behind the counter with a calculator and spent several minutes adding everything together. When he finally named the total, even Lionel raised his eyebrows. Seth barely reacted.

"That’s fine."

The owner stared at him. "You’re not even going to argue?"

Seth reached into his jacket and pulled out the federal payment authorization connected to his assignment. "It isn’t my personal money."

That explained everything.

The owner took the payment information cautiously, still looking as though he expected somebody to jump out and announce that the entire situation was a joke. Seth watched the transaction with complete seriousness before suddenly remembering the issue most important to him. "You can give me a detailed receipt for all of this, right?"

The owner slowly looked up.

Seth pointed toward the equipment. "Proper paperwork. Itemized expenses, company information, the whole thing." He tapped the folder under his arm and added, "If accounting rejects this, I’m coming back here personally."

Axel looked away to hide a smile.

The owner eventually printed the longest receipt he had probably produced in years. Seth inspected every line before placing it carefully into a file envelope as though the document were more valuable than the weapons themselves. Once he was satisfied, the three men began carrying crates out to the white cleaning-company box truck.

The owner stood in the doorway and watched them load everything. Between Axel carrying the heavy equipment with suspicious ease, Lionel walking around with a half-healed hole in his torso hidden beneath his clothes, and Seth treating federal reimbursement like a sacred duty, the group looked nothing like normal customers. The man finally wiped his forehead and muttered, "Whatever you boys are driving toward, I’m glad it isn’t coming here."

Inside the truck, Seth placed the receipt safely with his research documents. Axel climbed behind the wheel while Lionel settled among the equipment in the back. Once everything was secured, the old truck rumbled away from the shop and returned toward the highway.

"Okay," Axel said. "Logistics handled. Now which way?"

Seth unfolded the road map across his lap. Their supply run had pulled them away from the most direct route, so he traced a line back toward the westbound highways leading across Texas and eventually into New Mexico. "We lost some time, but if traffic behaves, we should still make decent progress today."

They reached the highway close to late morning.

At first, nothing seemed unusual.

Then the traffic thickened.

Within another half hour, the truck had slowed to a crawl among a seemingly endless line of family cars, station wagons, pickups, and travel trailers. Axel stared through the windshield at the brake lights stretching ahead and slapped one hand against the steering wheel.

"You have got to be kidding me."

Lionel leaned forward from the back. "Traffic like this out here?"

"I thought that was supposed to be one of the benefits of leaving Miami."

Lionel slid open the side window and spent a few minutes talking with people in nearby vehicles whenever the line stopped completely. When he returned, he explained that a newly opened family attraction farther along the regional route had drawn vacation traffic from all over the area. "Apparently half the state decided today was the perfect day for a road trip."

Seth collapsed against the passenger seat. "If this keeps up, we’re not getting anywhere near the test site today." He looked toward the cramped back of the truck and groaned. "And I am not sleeping folded around ammunition crates again."

Axel could not disagree.

They crawled forward another few hundred yards.

Then Axel noticed movement in the lane beside them.

An older family vehicle towing travel gear suddenly turned sharply away from the highway and rolled down onto a rough side road cutting through the open country. The driver did not hesitate at all, disappearing toward the distant hills as though he knew exactly where he was going.

Seth immediately sat upright. "Follow him."

Axel looked over. "Why?"

"If he’s willing to leave the highway in the middle of this mess, he probably knows a local shortcut." Seth pointed after the disappearing vehicle and added, "Anything is better than sitting here until dark."

Axel considered the argument.

It was not completely unreasonable.

Even if the road failed to save much time, moving through open country sounded better than staring at the same bumper for another six hours. Axel turned the steering wheel and guided the box truck off the highway after the other vehicle.

The traffic quickly disappeared behind them.

For the first hour, the rough road still passed scattered ranch land and patches of scrub. As the afternoon wore on, however, signs of civilization became increasingly rare and the landscape changed into dry earth, rocky hills, and wide stretches of barren desert.

By late afternoon, Axel was starting to question the decision.

"There’s nothing out here."

Seth studied the map again. "That doesn’t necessarily mean we’re lost. The old federal test ranges were deliberately put in places where almost nobody lived."

Axel glanced through the windshield. "There’s ’remote,’ and then there’s ’we could disappear here and nobody would notice for ten years.’"

Seth folded the map and smiled uneasily. "That second description actually sounds pretty accurate for a nuclear-testing site."

The answer did not reassure Axel.

Still, the vehicle ahead continued along the same route, occasionally appearing as a distant shape between the low hills. Whoever the driver was, he seemed just as committed to the road as they were.

Eventually, the setting sun began painting the desert orange.

Then something appeared on the horizon.

A solitary gas station stood beside the road.

The structure looked ancient and badly weathered, with faded signs, rust around the pumps, and barely enough surrounding buildings to qualify as a settlement. After hours of empty desert, however, even a run-down gas station felt like proof that human civilization had not completely ended.

The family vehicle they had been following was already parked beside one of the pumps.

Axel checked the fuel gauge.

"We need gas anyway."

He turned toward the station.

Once the truck stopped, Axel climbed out and stretched his legs. At the neighboring pump stood a broad-shouldered middle-aged man in casual vacation clothes, filling his family vehicle while occasionally glancing toward the road behind them.

The man looked like someone accustomed to being in charge.

Axel and the stranger made eye contact.

Both men gave the other a polite nod.

Nothing about the driver suggested panic or confusion.

Axel finished checking their pump and eventually returned to the truck. "You might actually have been right."

Seth looked pleased. "About what?"

"That guy doesn’t look lost." Axel gestured toward the neighboring vehicle. "He seems completely confident he’s going somewhere."

Seth immediately smiled. "Exactly. Following someone who knows the region beats sitting in traffic with tourists."

Axel settled back into the driver’s seat.

Neither of them knew that the man at the next pump had reached almost the exact same conclusion about them.

Inside the other family vehicle, "Big Bob" Carter climbed back behind the wheel with a satisfied expression. His wife Ethel and the rest of the Carter family were waiting inside, tired from the long drive through the New Mexico desert. Bob glanced through the rear window toward Axel’s white truck and grinned.

"See?" Bob said to his family. "There’s another vehicle coming the same way we did."

He pointed toward Axel’s truck as though it settled the argument.

"I told you this shortcut was right."

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