The Ranch by Sean Liscom

Author:Sean Liscom
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Publisher: Creative Texts Publishers, LLC
Published: 2019-12-25T05:00:00+00:00

Monday, September 4th, 2017

Devil’s Punchbowl, California.

It was just north of Lancaster, California, when the radio began squawking from the dashboard of the Jeep. Jack never bothered to pick it up, but a sinister grin worked its way across his face. After allowing it to make its digital call every 45 seconds for 15 minutes, he reached up and turned the volume down.

Since getting the call about the destruction of the Fortuna ranch, he seemed edgy, tense. When the radio began to make its little noise, his tension level seemed to rise even more. Melissa had no idea what the noise was or what it meant, but if Jack saw it as bad news, so did she.

The drive through Lancaster itself was eerie at best, downright terrifying at worst. It was as if the entire population had vanished. She had not spotted another living soul and there was no sign of recent human activity. From the looks of things, no one had lived in Lancaster for quite a while.

Evidence suggested that parts of the city had burned, leaving only the jagged remains of brick walls and charred timbers that once made up buildings. There were cars and trucks to be seen everywhere except on the road they were travelling. Those had been conspicuously pushed to the side.

Upon reaching the southern end of the creepy city, Jack took the turn onto highway 138. When they reached Pearblossom, he made a right onto county road designated N6. He followed that until he saw the road sign that read “Devil’s Punchbowl Natural Area”. There, he stopped the Jeep in the middle of the road and switched off the ignition.

“Why are we stopping?” Melissa asked from the passenger seat. Jack didn’t bother with an answer. Instead, he pulled the radio from the dash and turned the volume up as the speaker crackled to life.

“What’s the matter, Jack? Having second thoughts?” Blair asked.

“No, Blair. I’m all in on this. I just didn’t think barging in would be a prudent approach. Especially since I’m probably staring down the barrel of Nicole Moore’s fifty caliber sniper rifle,” he waved his hand out the open window of the driver’s door as if he were waving at someone.

“That would be a good assumption on your part, Jack. I must say; I’m a little disappointed in you though. I had hoped you would come in here like some wild-west cowboy, guns a blazing. This ending is rather anticlimactic, don’t you think?”

“It’s the only way this can end. You could order Nicole to pull the trigger and hope she doesn’t miss or, you could have the men that are hiding along the side of the road take us into custody. As the old saying goes; the ball’s in your court now.”

“You realize what the odds are of Nicole missing a shot like this are? I believe they are exactly between slim and none,” Blair retorted.

“Then give the order.”

“Come now, Jack. Do you really have such a death wish?”

“Blair, give the order or don’t.

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