One Hour Later

The room was full of smoke that had faded in from the fires raging outside and it actually began to burn at Walker's eyes. Hopefully there wasn't any harmful chemicals in the nearby warehouses or the teams here will be suffering for years to come from health problems. He leaned his head against the wall then turned it to see Gibson biting his fingernails. This was the man that had called him grandpa awhile back. Wonder how old he really was?

Gibson spit out his nail and turned to Walker. "Got a problem?"

"Not really." Walker turned his head to face the wall in front of him then closed his eyes. Instantly pictures of Alex and Angela flashed before him relaxing his mind and giving him something to focus on. "Do you have any family?"

"Nah, no time for family. You?"

Walker nodded as he tried to hold back his smile. "An eleven year old girl and a beautiful wife."

He opened his eyes and sighed heavily as he thought about his wife and daughter who were now at home probably sitting on the sofa and watching the news reports. Knowing Alex she would be really worried about him, especially if she called Gage or Sydney up. Wonder how Gage was doing? This was his first real big case after he was promoted to Field Captain. How is he doing with the stress? Especially not knowing where four of his men were. Must be killing him unable to go out and search for them.

"How many years have you been with the force?" Gibson asked disturbing Walker from his thoughts.

"Too long to count." Walker let out a chuckle as he turned his head to the younger man. "Little over thirty years as a Texas Ranger, forty-five all together if you count my time as an officer for Texas Department of Public Safety."

A shocked expression went over Gibson's face. "Man, that's longer than I've been on this Earth." He shook his head. "Guess you like it, huh?"

"Yeah, I actually do." Walker glanced down at the rifle cradled in his arms then took a deep breath. "Due for retirement in just a few years. Going to spend more time with the family."

Gibson nodded. "Cool. I just don't see me as a family guy, you know. I'm always running around doing this or that. Can't ever get a steady girlfriend and my mom is always breathing down my neck about a grandkid. Guess that's what I get for being the only child."

Walker laughed. "Parents are like that." His voice didn't quite disguise the emotional pain he was in by just thinking of his own parents who were killed too young in life. "I fear the day my little girl starts dating. Heck at eleven she already hinted at having boys that liked her." He shook his head. "Kids, they grow up so fast."

"Hey, you two." Minton walked into the room, his eyes studying the window to Walker's left. "Communications are still down." He shook his head. "I hope everything is okay back at base." He walked through the room to peer out the window to the glowing night sky. "It's getting rather hairy out there though. Wonder how long this will last?"

"Can't last that long." Gibson stretched then slowly stood up. "I'm going to walk for a bit."

Minton held his hand up then nodded. "Just stay in earshot of everybody. Don't let your guard down, you never know what may happen."

"Yeah, yeah." Gibson waved at the men in the room then left to pace the halls of the warehouse.

The SWAT leader sat across from Walker, his back leaning against the paint chipped wall. "Good kid. But he needs to focus more." His foot began to tap as he fidgeted with a clasp on his vest. "Dang, I need a cigarette."

"Smoking will kill you." Walker reached into his pant's pocket and pulled out a pack of gum. "I don't chew gum, but I carry it in case of situations like this." He threw a piece to Minton. "Hopefully it'll kill the urge."

"Nothing will kill the urge." He eagerly popped the piece into his mouth then nodded at Walker. "So, what's a person like you doing down here?"

Walker shrugged. "Needed some excitement back in my life before I retired."

Minton had a laugh at this. "Picked one hell of a day to hang out with the young punks like us." He shifted his rifle then brought his knees up to his chest. "So, did I hear right. Forty-five years of service to this lovely state of Texas?"

"Yeah, you heard right. More than half of my life." Walker smiled at this realization. "Wow, never thought of it that way before."

"Hey you two, the group is advancing." Reported Simmons who appeared in the doorway of the room. "Seems about a dozen or so individuals. Can't tell if they are armed or not."

Walker quickly jumped to his feet and went to the front door where he could see a large crowd outside. "Okay, everybody needs to guard here! Watch for any stranglers that might try to sneak in through another entry point."

Minton nodded. "Got it!" He went around to pat men on the back and point them to where they needed to go. "Walker! You'll be with me and Simmons to guard the front door!"

Swiftly Walker went to the wall by a large window then leaned against it so he could get a peak outside. In his hands was his rifle, but he knew all too well not to use it unless his life was truly at risk. His fingers flexed around the stock and muzzle as his adrenaline kicked in. If the rioters did get to them, they will surely be outnumbered which could be very disastrous for the team seeking refuge inside this warehouse.

He turned his attention to Milton to see the SWAT leader leaning against the door, his rifle down at his side. They both exchanged glances then went back to study the approaching crowd. Walker said a quick prayer then peered out the window once again to see one lone man standing before the crowd holding up what appeared to be a flaming cocktail.

"Watch out!" Walker quickly pulled his head away from the window as a flying Molotov cocktail came through the open window. As it shattered onto the ground it quickly burst into flames destroying any night vision Walker had. "They're coming!"

He heard screams from outside as the crowd rushed the warehouse and Walker knew the time has come to fight. Movement to his left told him that somebody was crawling through the open window. He turned his head that way to see a young man, no older than twenty staring right at him. Walker could see the teen smile in the glow of the fire as he reached out towards him. Quickly Walker shuffled away from the wall, stood to his feet and got into a guarding stance, his rifle out in front of him. This actually got a laugh as the front door burst open to let in a dozen or so gang members.

"Put your weapons down!" Shouted the teen as several around Walker raised makeshift weapons in the air which were obviously made from warehouse debris. "NOW!"

Minton stepped out of the shadows and shook his head. "No, you all need to give up now! This riot has gone on long enough! Just drop your weapons and let's end this as peacefully as we can!"

The man stepped up to Walker who didn't flinch as he took out a cell phone from his jacket. He pushed a button then held the phone to his ear. "Homes, take a picture of the Texas Ranger, send it to my cell." After a minute or two he showed Walker a picture on the phone. "I think that should show you something. He's alive for now, but in a lot of pain. We just want higher ups. We will let the other officers go." He leaned even closer to Walker. I want no lying, no heroes. Like you," He stabbed his finger into Walker's chest. "I know you are a Captain. Drop your weapon now, go to your knees and put your hands behind your head."

Walker knew even with the other officers around him he was outnumbered and could be swarmed by the other rioters if he made a mistake. He slowly lowered his gun to the ground, got to his knees then laced his hands behind his head. As he did this Minton, Simmons and Gibson did the same thing.

"The rest of you, leave now!" When they didn't move the leader pointed to the door. "NOW!"

After much hesitation the other officers finally left and Walker let out a deep sigh of relief. The younger, not so experienced officers were finally gone, hopefully to return safely to their families tonight. A gang member walked up to Walker, grabbed his right arm and forced him to stand to his feet.

"All of you, strip off your gear and your boots!" Ordered the leader.

Quickly Walker did just that to see his gear being distributed to what must be the higher ups in the gangs around him. Once he had his boots off he was forced back onto his knees as somebody brought his hands to his back. Here he could feel as zip ties synched around his wrists and then could feel somebody removing his socks so they can tie up his ankles. He kept his attention focused on a spot on the floor till somebody grabbed a handful of his hair and violently yanked his head up.

"You're ours now!" The leader squatted in front of Walker. "This is going to be fun." He snapped his fingers. "Take this one and that one," He pointed to Minton. "To a room together and make sure they stay quiet!"

The hand holding his head up threw it down to allow four others to lift him up and carry him down a hall till they got to a room at the very end. Here he was thrown to the ground, landing hard on his left shoulder. He had no time to recover when a fist slammed into his eye then another into his back.

"Stupid pig! You're the one with that gang program!" Shouted a young male as he slammed his fist into Walker's face. "Paco, can we beat them to death!"

Paco, the teen in charge shook his head. "Not to death. I want them alive for a bit, to see that I have kept my word about the other officers."

Blood ran into Walker's mouth from a busted lip, the bitter metallic taste causing him to instantly spit it out. The few punches to his face left him in pain, but thanks to his high tolerance he was soon able to ignore his throbbing eye and lip. His mind focused primarily on survival and how to get out of his situation. Slowly he turned his head to see Minton writhing in agony on the floor just feet from him. He saw blood trickling down the man's face from a gash to his temple. And judging by how he had his legs curled tightly to his body, he must have gotten a kick to the stomach or groin.

Walker slowly tried to get up, but was abruptly stopped by a knee to the face. He could actually hear as his nose and possibly other bones broke. Searing pain made him yell briefly before he fell heavily onto his back and on his tied up hands. He curled up into the fetal position as he tried desperately to focus through the pain that radiated out from his injured and now bleeding nose.

"Don't you move again!" A gang member kicked him in the side to emphasize his point. "Let's get them against that wall!" He shouted as several hands dragged Walker to a paint chipped wall. "Remain quiet you two! Any second now, your men will be safe."

Paco reached into his jacket as music blared from its pocket. He quickly took out a cell phone and flipped it open. "Ranger Zeigler, glad to see you made it. Hang on, I want you to talk to your Captain and tell him everybody is okay."

Walker shifted his weight then allowed the man to hold the phone to his ear. "Zeigler, is it really you?" He asked, his voice laced with pain.

"Yes, it's me." Zeigler sounded worse than him and even appeared to be wheezing some. "Reed and Stevens are here along with SWAT members Simmons, Rodriguez, Taylor, Bowen and McAllister." Walker could hear him grimacing then take a very uneasy breath. "They blocked communications. I don't know how, but they did. Also, I'm afraid to report, sir that one of the SWAT members that were with me was killed."

"Zeigler, thanks for the update. Get taken care…" The phone was pulled away as a fist slammed into his already swollen left eye. "Minton, the team made it back safely." This got him to be thrown down onto the ground and kicked several times in the back and stomach. He grimaced in pain then lifted his head up to see the SWAT leader staring at him. "We did the right thing."

Minton slowly nodded. "And what about my two men that was captured earlier?"

"I'm sorry. One was killed." Walker curled into a tight ball as more kicks came his way.

Walker could hear Minton scream as he heard the men beat him with renewed anger. Gradually he lifted his head to see a crowd of four around the officer, punching, kicking and even spitting on him. He watched as Paco broke up the crowd, took out a small hand gun and held it to Minton's head.

"Make sure he sees this!" Ordered Paco as he took off the safety.

Several hands grabbed hold of Walker then forced him to face Minton who could barely lift his own head up. A hand grabbed hold of his hair then pulled up so Walker couldn't tear his attention away to what was about to happen in front of him. Paco's finger squeezed the trigger sending a bullet straight through Minton's temple, instantly killing the officer. He shot two more times which left the officer's head barely recognizable.

Walker pulled at the hands holding him as anger raged at his heart. How could they kill an officer like that in cold blood? Minton did nothing to them, nothing at all. He let out a yell of frustration as he was thrown to his back and brutally beaten for a second time. Walker tried desperately to curl into a fetal position, but found his body just wouldn't respond to his command's anymore.

He groaned in pain as his mind began to fade in and out, his will to live still strong enough to keep him slightly awake. Gradually he lifted his head and turned it to see Minton's dead body just feet from him. Blood pooled from the wounds to the officer's head to stain the cement floor. Walker could see his own blood as it dropped onto the floor to mix with Minton's. Part of him couldn't believe what he had just saw and he tried to believe that the officer in front of him will get up. But Walker knew the bullets killed Minton before he had even hit the ground.

"So, Ranger how do you like the pain?" Paco squatted down and patted Walker's broken jaw which got him to involuntarily grimace. "You, will die a slow and painful death." Quickly he stood up and fired two shots into Walker's chest. "Let's go!"

Once Walker got over the initial shock of being shot, he could feel the searing pain in his chest. Judging by his labored breathing, at least one of the shots hit his lung. Paco was right, he will die a slow and painful death by drowning in his own blood. He gingerly rolled over to his side and spat out the blood that began to pull into his mouth. He didn't know what the other shot had hit, but he was afraid it might have ricocheted off of one of his ribs.

He coughed several times, the action causing him to nearly scream out in pain. His vision began to blur as his blood pooled into his chest, drowning him. So, this is how he will die. All alone, next to a dead officer in a abandoned warehouse in Dallas. Shame he didn't get to see his family one last time. Just thinking about them made his mind relax. As images of Alex and Angela played in his mind he slowly slipped into a deep sleep.