Generations of Strangers

[csyphrett]

59

1958-Bubba looked at the carnage on the swamp road. He shook his head. He couldn't believe it.

The Bunny had lured a convoy of cops down into the swamp and wiped them out. Every cop and Fed in Florida would be looking for them now. Other bandits and villains would be given a pass until the Keys Gang was wiped out.

This was a disaster as far he was concerned.

And there the Bunny stood laughing at his victory.

Smith didn't see anything funny about the spot they were in.

"We won't have time to ferry the others back here so they can get away." Bubba still held his pistol in his hand. "The cops will comb the swamp to find us thanks to this."

"What does that matter?" Keys turned sharp eyes on his lieutenant. Flames reflected in them. "We'll still be free and they won't know where we went."

"You're going to leave the others behind?" Smith felt the anger boiling under his skin. It was quickly outstripping the fear he felt of his boss.

Normally he would have exercised caution knowing the Bunny's temper. His anger burned most of that away, and it lapped at the remainder while he waited for the answer to his question.

"We can't take them with us." The gang boss shook his head. "We don't have the time to ferry back and forth. The cops will be here too soon."

"We can take them the boat and let them head out the other side of the swamp." Smith pointed at the horizon. "It will get them some time. Everyone was waiting on you to get back so we could divide the loot. No one thought you would bring half the police force to our steps."

"What are you saying exactly?" Keys crossed his arms. One bunny ear flapped over the back of his mask.

"I'm saying you screwed up." Bubba glared at the other man. "You wrecked the gang with your stupidity. You killed the rest of the guys waiting on you to get back. The police will wipe them out if we don't warn them."

"I don't see how that's my problem." Keys made a finger flip. "They're expendable."

"I don't think so." Bubba raised his pistol. He was done taking orders from this nut. It was time he went his own way.

Pain erupted the bandit's back. He fell, still trying to shoot his boss. His finger wouldn't close on the trigger as he wondered what had happened to him. One more stabbing pain erupted in his chest.

Keys stepped into view while Smith struggled to breathe. He took his former henchman's pistol and tucked it into his belt. The bunny mask looked like it was smiling.

"I'm the boss." Keys kicked his fallen friend. "You don't tell me nothing. I tell you."

He kicked Smith again to emphasize his point.

"Load this dummy into that shot up car." He pointed at the getaway car Mike's men had driven into the swamp. "It'll look like we lost some of our men here. Turn the airboat on and point it into the swamp. That'll get rid of it."

Keys nodded as his instructions were carried out. It was too bad about everyone else and the loot they had stockpiled at the cabin, but those were the breaks. He glanced back at the city. No one seemed to be on the road into the swamp as far as he could see.

He planned to be in the next state while his men took all the heat at the cabin if they were found out. The island would keep them in until they got desperate enough to do something. By then, the authorities would have rounded them up.

"Everybody, mount up." Keys went to the lead car. "We're heading out before the cops get here."

The Bunny drove down the swamp road away from the carnage. His men followed in two other cars, one of which was from the hidden garage.

The police cars burned behind them to mark the way for any other pursuers.

Smith sat behind the wheel of Mike's riddled car. He stared out at the swamp. The police arrived and found him an hour later. They swarmed around the burned out wrecks that remained of their comrades. He didn't hear what they said as they surveyed the scene.

They took a picture of him behind the wheel. And then they left one guard to hold the scene while they followed the road.

The guard watched the swamp as he smoked a cigarette. He doubted the convoy would catch up with Keys, but they wanted to deal with him for good.

Smith straightened behind the wheel of Mike's car. He looked around. He remembered he had been shot. He looked down. The bullet hole in his chest was a closed pucker from where the slug had entered his body.

He listened. He couldn't hear his heartbeat. He felt his neck around his jaw bone. He didn't feel anything.

He couldn't be dead and still moving. He didn't care if he was sitting in a pool of his own blood.

Where had Keys gone?

Smith looked around. He needed a car if he wanted to catch up to his enemy. He doubted Mike's would do. It had been pure luck that it had lasted as long as it had to make the garage.

He needed a new car if he wanted to catch up with his killer. He decided that he could take the lone police car he saw parked on the side of the dirt road.

He doubted the policeman on guard would mind.

Bubba got out of the wrecked car. He felt cold, but put it out of his mind. He had a mission to carry out.

The policeman turned at the sound of the door opening. He reached for his pistol when he saw the dead man walking toward him.

"Pull that gun and you're going to get hurt." Smith glared at the man with empty eyes. A film already covered them from the time he had spent waiting to come back to life. "All I want is the car."

"Why?" The policeman halted drawing his weapon. He wasn't sure that it would work, and he didn't want to chance that it wouldn't.

"Because I have unfinished business, boy." Bubba took off his jacket and threw it in the grass. "Let me have the car."

"The key is in it." The policeman stepped back from the specter.

Bubba went to the police car. He nodded at the key inside the ignition. He got in.

"You might want to not come back in here after this." Bubba turned the engine over. He smiled at the roar of it.

Bubba drove out on the water. The grass supported the weight of the car as he headed for the hideout. He made sure to cut the bubble lights on top of the car off. He didn't want the men to panic before they saw him.

The way he looked would be bad enough.

He drove across the swamp at high speed. The grass and water solidified under the weight of the car for as long as it touched a particular piece of area. It was faster than the airboat as far as his speedometer could tell.

He spotted the island up ahead. He felt the men wandering around on it. He knew they wouldn't like what he had become. He didn't like what he had become.

He drove up to the front of the cabin. Men poked weapons out of the windows at his car. He got out of the car and started walking toward the cabin.

Jimmy Lee opened the door. He pointed a surplus automatic rifle stolen from the National Guard. He squinted at the bloody man walking toward him.

"Bubba?" He didn't drop the end of the rifle off target.

"Get everybody together." Bubba waved his hand. "Keys sold everyone out."

Jimmy Lee retreated from the dead man, but didn't quit pointing his gun at his former friend.

"What happened to you?" One of the men winced at the blood covering Smith as he went to his bag.

"Got shot, dummy." Bubba threw his riddled shirt to the floor and pulled on a new one. "Keys left you here for the police to find. He had a shootout with them at the garage. Killed a bunch of cops. He isn't coming back for you."

"How do you know this, Bub?" Mike had his pistol in hand, but he wasn't pointing it at his comrade.

"Who do you think shot me?" Smith pulled on a jacket and a battered fedora stolen from a couple of the men who weren't coming back. "Get your belongings and the loot. I am going to do this one last favor for you boys. After that, you're on your own."

"What about Keys?" Jimmy Lee dropped the end of the rifle down. "How do we get even with him?"

"I'm going to do that next after I help you guys." Bubba brushed the blood off his pants. "Let's go."

The men hastily gathered up everything they could carry. Jimmy Lee and Mike grabbed the sacks of loot and shouldered them out of the cabin. Bubba went to the police car and got behind the wheel.

"Keep hold of the car and I will carry you across to the other side of the swamp away from Miami." He shouted to be heard. "After that, you are on your own. Don't look back."

Bubba started the car. He drove out on the water. Part of the island followed like a raft. He aimed for the side of the swamp away from the city and gunned it. He smiled as the auto roared through the wildlands.

He should be done in an hour at the most.

Bubba didn't know why he was still moving around. He didn't care. He had one thing to do after making sure his former comrades were moving away from the dragnet.

He was going to find Bunny Keys and kill him.

Smith made no apology for being a thief. He had killed people on top of that. He had never left anyone he worked with in the lurch. And to have his boss shoot him on top of that. His anger was ice in his veins.

Keys would never make it out of the swamp.

[kahuna's bro]

he's all yours bubba

[DusterBoy]

Plot point, csyphrett. How exactly did Bubba Smith wind up undead and not just dead? Was it because he was shot in the swamp?

[csyphrett]

Plot point, csyphrett. How exactly did Bubba Smith wind up undead and not just dead? Was it because he was shot in the swamp?

Do you remember the jewelry he kept way back on his first planned solo job? They were cursed.
CES

[DusterBoy]

Thanks

[csyphrett]

60

1958-Smith watched as Jimmy Lee and the rest of the gang disappeared down the road. They would procure cars and move out of the state. Every lawman in the country would be looking for them after what the Evil Bunny had done.

You didn't kill cops unless you were ready to go to war for the rest of your short life.

Smith turned his car around and headed back into the swamp. He had a chore to take care of before the sun came up.

Bunny Keys had to die before the sun peeked on the wet lands. His continued living had become a thorn in the side of the dead man.

Smith felt the living things moving away from his car as he drove. He didn't blame the animals for that. A fast rolling car could injure and kill all but the biggest of them. They didn't know that he was one of them now.

He could never go back into the city after coming back from the dead. People would do whatever they could to get rid of him. He had no illusions that he would be able to fit in and hide his condition. And he doubted a cure existed for him.

He wondered if that was how Lazarus had felt when he had been summoned back from the hereafter.

Bubba listened to the swamp as he drove over the water. Cars were moving fast to the north of where he was. He turned and drove in a straight line. He didn't know if that was the rest of the gang fleeing from Dade County, but he had to cross them off.

The swamp had its share of humans roaming it. He had to make sure that the man he was looking for wasn't roaming the dirt roads in and out of the wilderness. Once he had done that, he could narrow down his search area.

He wanted to catch his enemy before he had to patrol the borders of the preserve. If that happened, he had lost his chance to catch the man. He didn't want to lose his revenge.

He didn't know how long he could exist as a walking corpse. He didn't want to start breaking down before he saw Keys again. He definitely didn't want the man escaping his betrayal of his men.

Keys would live it up and believe that he was invincible if he got away.

Bubba crossed one of the roads and turned on it. He followed it along at high speed. The night was as clear as day to his altered eyes. He didn't worry about the change as he looked for a way to cut through to the other road to get at the convoy fleeing along it.

He smiled when he saw lights dancing among the tall grass.

He yanked the wheel hard. The car missed a spindly bush, and a tree, as it bumped off the dirt and headed across grass and water. He aimed for the lights as they sped west on the curvy road.

He jumped an embankment and landed behind the last car. He sped up to catch up with it. He smiled as he turned on the siren.

Bullets zipped by him through the smashed windows from the earlier gunfight. Some dug into the seats as he put his foot down on the gas. He didn't care about bullets anymore.

The rear car grew as he caught up with it. He slammed into it at full speed. The getaway car swerved on the impact. He drove it off the road, pushing it across the outer edge of a curve.

Smith frowned at the smoke coming from the front of his car. He must have broken something in the ram. He needed to hurry before his car quit for good.

He poured on the gas but the car was slowing down. The other two cars pulled away from him as he struggled along. He needed another car if he wanted to catch them again.

Smith pulled the police car over and jumped out. He ran back to where he had pushed the third car off the road. The men were fighting their way to shore. He sent out a call. He didn't have time to deal with them himself.

Alligators floated in silently. They knew a free dinner when they saw it. And the humans were in their waters and didn't know they were swooping in like land sharks.

Men disappeared in the dark waters as the reptiles went about their work. Some of them got wise that something was in the water with them. They began shooting wildly to discourage any attack. One reptile floated belly up from a lucky shot to the skull. The rest tore their enemies' legs until they couldn't walk clear. Then they finished the job with triangular teeth.

Smith walked to the half-buried car. He willed the swamp to lift it up so the water could run out of it. The gators dispersed with any food they could carry with them as he turned his mind to finishing the rest of the job.

He passed the dead gator. He looked at it. He couldn't bring it back to life. He didn't have the power.

Fire touched his leg. He reached into his pocket. One of the gems from the museum gleamed in the starlight. He shook his head.

What did he know about magic rocks?

He placed the jewel in the empty socket and stepped back. If it worked, it worked. He had a car to get on the road before he could worry about a dead gator.

The reptile twitched, then righted itself. Its long nose pointed at the dead man as he walked around to the open front door of the vehicle. The back of the car was smashed in but the back wheels looked free to move.

He got behind the wheel. He nodded when the engine turned over as soon as he turned the key. He heard a snuffling at his side. The alligator looked up at him.

"Get in." He reached around and opened the back door for it. "I don't have all night."

The gator climbed into the back seat with a speed that belied its short legs. It huffed as it looked over the front seat.

"Settle down." Bubba turned the car to get back on the road. He roared up on the dirt, and relaxed his control of the swamp to concentrate on his driving. "You're dead now."

The alligator snuffled again as if it didn't believe him.

Bubba shook his head as he pushed the gas pedal all the way down. He had two more cars to catch if he wanted to get revenge on Keys for what he had done.

He spotted the taillights ahead and smiled. He could still catch them before they left the swamp. He just had to get ahead of them somehow.

He looked around for something he could use to get that advantage. He realized the road formed an S in front of him. He didn't have to stay on it. He could cut across and reach the other side before they did.

He smiled as he drove off the road again. He swerved on the water as he roared fullbore down his shortcut. He saw lights coming up on his right. He pressed the gas down harder as he tried to intercept the other cars.

He frowned as the first car jetted by as he reached the embankment. He glared at the bunny ears flying out the window as Bunny Keys looked at his new car. He crashed into the second car before he could focus his attention back on his driving. He slammed the car in the door, driving it off the road. It flipped over on its side as it slid down the embankment. The men scrambled from the nearest windows as the wreck settled in the mud.

Bubba turned to chase after the lead car as the gator expressed its discontent at the second collision. He slapped its head out of the way.

"Nobody asked you to come along." He turned his attention on the fleeing taillights. He had to catch up. His enemy was within reach.

Bubba pushed the gas pedal all the way to the floor as he focused on catching his enemy. His sense of the land told him the road was straight for the next little bit before it started curving back and forth again. If he could just keep up until he found another hairpin, he could cut across like he did to smash into the other car.

He knew that Keys would be looking for the same thing so he could arrange an ambush. He wouldn't run forever from a lone car on his trail. He would turn to fight eventually.

That would be Bubba's chance to catch up. Bullets meant little to the dead, and he felt he could put out any fire that might come along.

He watched the other car for anything that looked like it was about to stop to let its passengers out. That would be a sign for him to let the gators know they could eat some more.

He found he had little regrets about feeding his former comrades to the animals. They shouldn't have allowed Keys to shoot him.

The car took a curve. He lost sight of the lights for a moment. He smiled. This was it.

"Better get down if you don't want any bullet holes." He pushed the gator down in the floorboard in the back as he kept going. He concentrated on the grass in front of him as he drove.

He noted the men waiting for him to drive into the trap. He told the long grass to wrap around them as he looked for Keys. The stems bunched together like rope and dragged the waiting men down. They vanished into the water without firing a shot.

Smith smiled.

He pulled to a stop and got out of the car. He jogged over to where one of the men had went to a watery grave. He found a repeating rifle. He fired it in the air until it was empty and then he threw it out in the water.

He hoped that was enough to fool the Bunny.

He was done chasing. He wanted to wait for his enemy to walk into a trap he had prepared. Then he could think about what he was going to do about being dead.

What kind of doctor was expert on his condition?

Bubba waited by his wrecked car. He doubted anyone could see him in the dark, but he made sure to use the shadows as cover. He didn't want Keys to spook and run. He could chase the man for eternity, but not having a car would make it hard to overcome the headstart the other man would have on him.

Lights came back down the road. Smith moved to the back of his car to keep out of their reach. He moved carefully so he didn't attract attention. The car pulled to a stop a fair distance away from the other car. The driver sat there.

Where were the men he had left behind?

Smith concentrated. The road softened under the weight of the car. It slowly sank up to its doors into the ground. He nodded. The driver wasn't going anywhere now.

Bubba walked into the darkness and circled around to the side of the trapped car. He saw the Bunny trying the doors and realizing they wouldn't open. He walked to the driver's side and smashed open the window with his fist. Bullets passed through his body in reply.

"You're dead." Bunny pushed back from the door. "I killed you."

"Meet my new friend, Keys." Bubba gestured with a hand. "I'm sure you have a lot to talk about."

The one-eyed alligator climbed through the window with a swish of its tail.

[DusterBoy]

And Bunny Keys gets his desserts - as gater chow. Nice writing, csyphrett.

[csyphrett]

Thanks. I have one more piece to write before I move to the next section
CES

[teh bunneh]

"Meet my new friend, Keys." Bubba gestured with a hand. "I'm sure you have a lot to talk about."

The one-eyed alligator climbed through the window with a swish of its tail.

It's always sad when the brave and noble hero dies.

[Yansuf]

It's always sad when the brave and noble hero dies.

The alligator is going to die???? Say it isn't so!

[csyphrett]

61

1959-Susan Dabney Keys waddled down the hot sidewalk. Pain wrapped around her midsection, but she kept going. She wanted to get home for a warm bath after the day she had just gone through.

Who knew cleaning people's houses would be so much of a bother?

A sharp stab made her stagger. She held out a hand to keep her balance.

A hand wrapped around her arm. She looked up at a lean face and long nose half buried behind a beige scarf. The pale eyes glittered as they looked down on her shorter stature.

"Thank you." Sue frowned at the stranger. She pulled her arm out of his grip. "I can manage."

"I think perhaps that you should think about going to a hospital." The voice was gentle, but somber. "Your son will be here soon."

"I don't need any advice from the likes of you." She took a closer look at the man. She didn't like what she saw.

He stood tall and lean in a beige suit to go with the scarf around his chin. A short cape draped over his shoulders, pinned closed by some kind of medallion. His hat and scarf obscured his face unless you stood close enough to look him in the eye.

He looked like road dust come to life.

"I'm sure you don't." He echoed her waddle with silent steps. "I simply state the facts. You need someone to walk with you until you are ready to accept help."

"What's your interest?" Sue brushed her hand across her face.

"In what?" He kept pace like a pale shadow.

"In me exactly." Sue felt anger bring a flush to her face. Stabbing pain told her that she should try to calm down.

"I have no interest in you at all except that you seem to need aid, or at least someone to keep you company for the next few minutes." He smiled at her.

"You got a name?" She resigned herself to his company since he didn't seem to take the hint. And the pain was getting worse, instead of better.

"I am simply a wayfarer walking from one place to another." He made a gesture to indicate his name wasn't important at all. "Do you need to sit down?"

"I want to keep moving." Sue waddled on. "I want to get home so I can get off my feet."

"You won't make it." The wayfarer shook his head. A tiny breeze played with the brim of his beige hat. "I judge you won't walk twenty more steps before your son has his way."

"Are you a doctor?" She shook her head. "How do you know it's a boy?"

"I know things." He held out a hand as she bent double. "I hear things in my travels. It's how I know you are going to die in a few years."

"What?" Sue looked at him through the pain. He looked more like a ghost in the Miami daylight. "Who are you?"

"I already told you that." The pale man shook his head. "I can only offer you some advice if you would take it."

"What kind of advice?" She spotted a bench and staggered to it. She settled on the wooden slats.

He remained standing.

"Have your son, and leave the city as soon as you can." He raised his hand to hold his hat down against a sudden wind. "Arm yourself with salt and holy water when you arrive wherever you decide to settle. Keep an eye on your son, and be ready."

"Be ready for what?" Sue glared at the enigmatic stranger.

"You'll know it when you see it, Susan Keys." He pointed behind her. "Just as I am sure you will know a hospital when you see it."

She looked over her shoulder. She squinted at the white building standing across a short lawn. She turned to look at her companion. She growled as soon as she saw that he had vanished in the daylight as soon as she took her eyes off him.

How the heck had they reached any hospital? It was miles out of the way from her route home to her tiny house. She rubbed her face as she thought.

The pain decided for her. She had to get help. She could worry about the rest of her encounter after she made sure her son was here.

She decided to keep some table salt near until she was ready to leave the hospital. Forewarned was forearmed.

She missed Bunny. He would know what to do.

She levered herself to her feet. She had sat out that last raid the gang had pulled. The news had plastered pictures of her Bunny's death car, and recounted most of the jobs he had pulled in the city. Speculation had run rampant about how an alligator had come across him while his car was stuck and chewed him up.

None of the gang had come around. She had watched the news avidly. Most of the gang was unaccounted for after the police found the smashed cars in the swamp. No one knew what had happened.

She had hoped Bubba Smith would at least have sent some kind of message to let her know what had happened.

She waddled to the door of the hospital and pushed inside. She looked around for someone to help her. Maybe she had put things off too long.

"Excuse me." She grabbed a nurse by the arm. "I'm having a baby."

"Of course you are." The nurse smiled at her.

"I'm having the baby now." Sue wanted to punch the smile off her face.

"Let me get you to a room." The nurse hurried to get a wheelchair. "Do you have a doctor?"

"No." Sue grabbed the arms of the chair as she wheeled into an elevator.

"Husband?" The nurse pushed the button to take them up to the maternity floor.

"Dead." Sue winced as the elevator shook to a stop.

The nurse rolled Sue to her room and helped her out of her coat. She helped Sue change into a backless gown and put the discarded clothes in a pile in a closet. She hurried out to get a doctor.

Sue lay on the bed and wondered what her son would look like. Would he be handsome like his father? Would he be charming and daring? Would he understand about his father not being there for him as he grew up?

How do you explain to your child that his father was eaten by an alligator after being one of the most successful criminals in Florida?

She couldn't quite believe it herself. She admitted she kept hoping it was some kind of trick to throw off the cops.

She knew better. He would never go anywhere without his mask, and that had been found covered in blood in the car with the rest of him.

The doctor came in and told her to spread her legs. The rest of the day and night were a blur of pain and people bustling around her. She was too busy to worry about mysterious strangers and dead lovers.

The cry of her son cut through her. It was a relief, and joy that he was here. She smiled as the swaddled bundle was handed to her.

"It's a boy." The nurse smiled down at her. She was a different woman from the one that had rushed Sue up to the floor.

"Of course." Sue laughed as she hugged the baby close. She didn't care that the boy cried as she looked down at him.

"We're going to need you to fill out the paperwork for your baby." The doctor appeared to her right. "You both should be able to leave the hospital in a couple of days."

"Thank you." Sue ran her finger across her baby's face. "I love you, baby boy."

"We're going to take him over to the nursery." The doctor smiled. "Get some sleep. I'll be back to check on you tomorrow."

"I'll be here." Sue closed her eyes. "I won't go anywhere without my son."

The room slowly emptied. She watched her son be carried away in the arms of the nurse. She hated that, but she was too weak to do anything at the moment. She needed to recoup her strength and consider the warning she had been given.

Whomever that pale man was, he represented danger to her and her son. She took his warning for being true. She just wanted to know who would want to hurt her child. Then she would exact some preventive medicine on them.

The Bunny had taught her that much in their short time together.

She closed her eyes and tried to get some sleep. The next few days would be busy if she did follow the advice she had been given. She had to get out of Miami as soon as possible.

That would have to wait until she woke up. She had to rest first, then arm herself. Salt and holy water should be easy enough to get as she packed up and moved.

Where could she go and start a new life? That was another thing to think about in the morning.

She closed her mind to the worry and fear. There was nothing she could do about that. She had to take care of herself first, then her son. If that meant moving, so be it. She drifted off to sleep.

The nurses checked on her during the night but she brushed off their visits and went back to sleep. By the time the day had arrived, she was ready to get to work.

Sue got her clothes and went into the bathroom. She cleaned up and dressed in private. She was sore and bleeding a little, but that couldn't be helped. She felt the walls closing in and had to get out of the hospital as soon as possible.

She asked for the paperwork and birth certificate so she could fill it out. She rode down to the nursery in a wheelchair, and then she and her son headed for the front door to start their new lives together.

[csyphrett]

It's always sad when the brave and noble hero dies.

I know. Still Bubba had to die to hook up with the other stories out there. That's the way it is as Walter Cronkite used to say.
CES

[teh bunneh]

I know. Still Bubba had to die to hook up with the other stories out there. That's the way it is as Walter Cronkite used to say.
CES

Bubba? That murderin' rat? Not him! The hero of the story -- Bunny Keys!

[csyphrett]

Bubba? That murderin' rat? Not him! The hero of the story -- Bunny Keys!

Oh. Yeah. That was for the drama.
CES

[Yansuf]

Bubba? That murderin' rat? Not him! The hero of the story -- Bunny Keys!

Come on now, surely you saw that coming.