New Zion
Chapter 19: Four Steps

Ch. 19

Cole stared out the window as the crowd parted for the vehicle. They stopped in front of a raised platform. Cole and Levi got out of the vehicle and climbed the stairs to the top of the platform. Cole got on his knees in front of his father. Ryan tossed a key to Levi.

“Open the box behind me,” Ryan commanded. Levi complied. “Put the glove on my hand,” Cole watched Levi slip on a wire mesh over Ryan’s right hand, and then put on a thin glove over the mesh. The square was dead silent as Levi put the glove on. Levi then took a step back. Ryan looked down at Cole.

“Do you know why we’re all here?” he asked. Cole nodded.

“I brought shame to the Family,” Cole replied.

“Louder, so that everyone can hear you,” Ryan commanded. Cole grit his teeth.

“I have brought shame to the Family,” Cole projected his voice, echoing off the buildings through the silence.

“And?” Ryan pushed.

“I murdered thirty one people, and only three were responsible,” Ryan nodded.

“Good. But, that is why you are here. Why are the rest of us here?” he asked.

“Because I am to be an example of what happens when you go against the most fundamental rules of the Family,” Ryan nodded.

“Good,” Cole didn’t look at Ryan as he crossed his gloved hand over his left shoulder. Ryan swung as hard as he could, backhanding Cole. Cole was thrown to the side. He convulsed, spitting blood out of his mouth. He staggered to his feet and took his place in front of Ryan again, his cheek slightly indented. The blood remained on the platform.

“What was that for?” Ryan commanded.

“The shame brought upon the Family through me,” Ryan nodded. He turned to Levi.

“Pick up the whip,” Ryan commanded. Levi complied. Cole looked up at the whip. It was made of the same material as the mesh, and had many small metal thorns running along each cable. Cole removed his jacket and shirt, folded them and placed them next to him. Harry stepped forwards and picked them up, and returned to his place. “Now, whip him once for every life that he took,” Levi looked up at Ryan.

“Is that including the three guilty souls?” Ryan nodded. The whip cracked as it dug into the flesh of his back.

“Count it out, Cole,” Ryan commanded. Cole grit his teeth.

“One!” he said. Levi pulled the whip back and brought it back down. “Two!” Crack! “Three!” Crack! “Four!” The sound of thunder rolled into the town from the ocean and echoed off of the mountain sides. Crack! “Five!”

Aria’s probably curled up in our room right now, Cole thought as the thunder continued to echo. Crack! “Six!” Cole clenched his fists, holding out against the pain. I hope she’s ok, Cole thought. Crack! “Seven!”

Cole dropped to the floor, his blood pooling around him. His body shook, and his hands trembled.

“Thirty one,” he whispered. Ryan looked down at Cole.

“I don’t think that they heard you,” he said. Cole took in a deep breath.

“Thirty one!” he cried out. Ryan nodded and turned to Harry.

“Put the whip back into the box, and lock it. And get someone to collect his blood,” Harry nodded and gingerly took the whip from Levi. He placed it in the box and locked it. He gave the box to Ryan who then turned away and made his way to the car. He handed the box to the driver and tapped the top of the car before it drove off. Ryan stood at the street, waiting.

“Move,” one of the Family members commanded Levi as they knelt down next to Cole. They placed towels on either side of his torso. Levi reached up and wiped some blood off of his face.

“You have my respect, Cole Avalon,” he said. Cole heard Levi walk off of the platform.

“Collect as much blood and tissue as you can and take it with us,” the member doing Cole’s bandages said to a few others. “And would somebody get a damned stretcher over here already?” he shouted out. Some members stepped forward with two poles and canvas. “Finally,” the member grunted. “You, you, and you,” the member pointed at three others. “Help me move him onto the stretcher. Carefully! We don’t want to make his wounds any worse you dumbass!” they gently placed him face down on the stretcher and attached buckets at the back end of the stretcher. Harry came forward.

“Alright boys. Clear a path, and line the roads. We’re going home!” he commanded. The Family members moved to the street that Ryan was standing at, and as they moved forward they lined the sides of the road. Cole was lifted and brought over to Ryan. His blood flowed down the stretcher into the buckets. Ryan placed his hand on the back of Cole’s head.

“I’m sorry son, but the rules that we have are the only reason that we can exist as a Family,” he said. Ryan began walking up the street with Cole following behind. Raindrops started to fall, pattering the ground around them. The family members behind the procession moved behind their comrades to move to the front, blocking off any roads that fed into this one, while there was a crowd of Family members at both the front and back.

The sound of thunder rolled in again, echoing through the city. The rain fell harder. People looked out of the windows of their houses to see what was going on. Parents shielded the eyes of their children as the procession marched onwards. The bloody gashes in Coles back were there for all to see. Susan Killian stood on the second level of the boarding house, looking down. They finally reached the Family Residence. The gates were already open, and the Family entered, closing the doors behind them. Ryan led the Family members carrying Cole to the recovery room.

“Place him down here,” Ryan said, pointing at a bed in the corner. They complied and left the room. Summer came bounding in, and ran straight to Cole. She quickly checked him over and proceeded to set up an IV and other equipment. Ryan stood back.

“I had to…” Ryan began. Summer held up a hand.

“Shut up. I’m taking care of my son right now, and I don’t need you distracting me,” she said. Ryan fell silent. “In fact, get out. Your breathing is distracting me,” Summer commanded. Ryan stood up and walked out of the room, closing the doors behind him. Harry was waiting for him.

“Some gang just attacked some of our guys while they were cleaning up the square, and they’re pinned down,” he said.

“It’s just one thing after another, isn’t it?” Ryan said as he walked off towards his garden.

“What do you intend to do?” Harry asked. Ryan shrugged.

“For the first time in my life, I have no idea. I don’t think I can do this anymore. I just… To my own son…” he said. Harry looked at Ryan as he continued. “Summer said ‘her son’, not ‘our son’. Was I wrong?” Ryan asked. He clutched at his heart. “It’s so heavy,” Harry grabbed Ryan’s shoulder and turned him around to face him.

“That is your burden as our leader. If you can’t do the job, who can?” Harry asked. Ryan looked up at Harry, a lone tear rolling down his cheek. “There is no Family Member that can lead us, so it falls to you. So take responsibility, and lead!” Ryan nodded. He stood up straighter.

“Ok. So, who are these bastards?” Ryan asked.

“We don’t know their names, but they aren’t from around here,” he responded. Ryan closed his eyes.

“Set up a team to recover our men, and send a doctor or two to come in and help the wounded after it’s done,” Harry nodded and walked away. Archimedes walked up to Ryan.

“Sir, what do you want us to do?” he asked.

“I need your team to be running support and patrol. Figure out how many of those gang members there are, take out as many as you can without getting yourselves injured, and report back to me,” Archimedes nodded and walked to a door that led to an outside balcony. Ryan turned and began walking towards his office. Sophie was sitting just outside the door waiting for him.

“What happened to Cole?” Ryan looked down at her. Letting out a long breath, he opened the door and walked in, beckoning her to follow him. He opened the window to the field in the back.

“What do you see, Sophie?” Ryan asked. Sophie jumped up onto the window sill, placing one small hand on his shoulder, the other on the window frame.

“A bunch of people, a huge field, tall walls, a warehouse being built, some gardens, a few large ponds, some buildings for members to live in, the beach and the lake,” Ryan nodded.

“And what is that all there to do?” he asked. Sophie looked at Ryan.

“Protect us?” Ryan nodded.

“Yeah, it’s there to protect us. It is also there to give us freedom. So, would it be bad if someone did something to damage any of it, on purpose or not?” Sophie looked back out the window. She nodded. “Even if it were me or Cole?” she nodded again. “Well, Cole did something that has damaged it, and caused other things to start happening,” Sophie looked at Ryan.

“Cole wouldn’t…” she began. Ryan shook his head.

“No, not intentionally. But the fact remains that he did, and there are consequences for every action, good or bad,” Sophie took her hand off of Ryan’s shoulder.

“Would you do that to me?” she asked. Ryan shook his head.

“No. You’ll never have to deal with that kind of stuff. After all, Cole is here to take part in the business. You won’t have to,” Sophie nodded.

“When can I see him?” she asked. Ryan shook his head.

“I don’t know. You’d have to ask your mother,” Sophie nodded and hopped down to the floor.

“Daddy, can I ask you something?” Ryan looked down at her and nodded. “Why do you love me more than Cole?” Ryan blinked. “You treat him like he’s a tool. He’s done so much for you for many years, but you don’t give him any compliments for it. You just expect him to have done it. He stops bad people and helps and saves good people. But, when I do good on a test at school, or when I share things with people, you pat me on the head, and you tell me ‘good job’ and ‘I’m proud of you’,” Ryan placed a hand on the back of his desk chair.

“Because he’s an adult now, and he’s a member of the business, so when he does a job, I do expect him to do it right the first time,” Sophie shook her head.

“Even before. I never heard you say that you’re proud of him, or that he’d done a good job. All you’ve ever said to him is ‘I love you’, and you say that to me and mom. Why?” Sophie asked. Ryan sat down in his chair.

“What brought this on?” he asked.

“One of the men told me what happened,” Ryan’s eyes widened.

“Who was it?” Ryan commanded, getting halfway out of his chair.

“I commanded him to tell me, or else I’d get him in trouble with you,” Sophie stated. Ryan sighed, and fell back into his chair.

“I love you both equally. I’m harder on Cole because he’s going to have a hard life ahead of him, and I won’t always be around to help him. Also, we took him in when he was ten, so I’ve only had seven years to teach him about the business and everything else, and that time was cut in half since he started training and learning on his own,” Ryan said. Sophie sighed.

“Daddy, everyone deserves to be told when they’ve done a good job,” Sophie bolted out of the room, leaving those words hanging in the air. Ryan looked up at the ceiling.

“Just when did she grow up so fast?” he asked.

Aria was hiding behind the door to Ryan’s office. She’d just watched Sophie sprint down the hallway. Aria peered around the door to see Ryan staring at the ceiling. She quickly followed Sophie’s scent towards the other end of the house. She stopped just around a corner hearing voices.

“Please mom? I want to see him,” it was Sophie.

“No. You can come back later when he’s awake. He wouldn’t want you to see him like this,” Summer said.

“Why not?” Sophie asked.

“Because he wouldn’t want you to. Now, let’s go and get some dinner, ok?” Aria peeked around the corner to see them walking towards her. Aria quickly darted into a nearby door and left it open a crack to watch. Summer and Sophie came around the corner. Summer looked straight into Aria’s eyes and made her ears twitch. She then smiled, and led Sophie onward.

“Mom, why do I smell the girl that’s trying to take Cole away?” Sophie asked. Summer laughed.

“She did get a tour of most of the house. Also, you’re probably being paranoid. Come on, let’s go,” Aria waited for them to leave and quickly moved towards the doors to the infirmary. She entered and carefully slid the door closed behind her. She padded over to Cole’s bed. She quickly slipped between the curtains and looked down at him. Instantly she covered her mouth and nose. The coppery scent of blood was in the air, and there were buckets of blood on the other side of the bed. Cole was on his stomach, his head held in a cradle so that he wouldn’t suffocate.

“Just what did they do to you?” she asked aloud. She gingerly touched his arm. There was no response. Aria grabbed his hand and held it in both of hers.

©2017