The Survival Chronicles | Book 8 | Final Mercy

by Nally, Fergal F.

  Rose—?

  Rose aimed and shot at the searchlight. The light died amid a shower of electrical sparks. Darkness returned. More explosions erupted behind and ahead.

  Wait, we were being fired on. Weren’t we? What’s happening?

  Tawny scrabbled up beside Mercy, “The airport’s under attack from outside. I saw one of those mechs over there to the west. It’s the Vegas warlord, Wylie. He’s found this place—”

  Shit. No… wait, it works for us. We can use this—

  “Come on, we’re small fry now. Forgotten. We can infiltrate, find our guys, and bail. Come on—” Mercy replied. She rushed forwards to join Rose.

  “Rose, there’s mechs attacking the boneyard. Let’s find the others,” Mercy yelled.

  They moved forwards under rows of aircraft, weaving around landing gear and additional heavy timber shoring used to prop up the planes. Tracer rounds lit up the night with green and orange streaks. Heavy fighting was evident in four areas. Rose pushed into the heart of the aircraft graveyard. A row of Lockheed Martin C-130J Super Hercules four-engine, military transport aircraft came into view. Four Ford pickup trucks sped down the asphalt road between the planes, heading east. Two of the trucks were equipped with M2 Browning .50 calibre machine guns. The other two trucks were fitted with multiple rocket launchers.

  Christ, they’re well tooled up—

  Rose stopped and pointed at the last Hercules in the row, “There, look. Are you seeing what I’m seeing?”

  Mercy followed Rose’s gaze.

  One Pontiac Firebird Esprit and one Dodge Charger—

  “That’s the best lead we’ve had all night. Come on let’s go,” Mercy replied.

  They ran across the access road and under the noses of the hulking transport planes. Two minutes later they were standing beside the muscle cars.

  It’s them, it’s definitely their cars—

  Mercy looked up at the massive C-130J Super Hercules towering above her. Its size was intimidating. Rose moved along the side of the aircraft towards its rear loading ramp. Two armed men ran down the ramp towards a waiting Dodge Durango SRT, the driver revved its V8 engine. The men were carrying an anti-tank missile. They climbed into the car and sped off. Rose waited a few seconds then jumped up onto the loading ramp and disappeared from view.

  Christ Rose, wait for us won’t you?

  Mercy and Tawny followed Rose into the belly of the giant aircraft. It was dark inside. Mercy almost tripped on the floor mounted cargo rollers.

  “Careful, watch your feet,” Mercy whispered a warning to Tawny.

  A single gunshot rang out ahead.

  Rose—

  Mercy swore and ran towards the muzzle flash. She found Rose standing over the body of a woman dressed in battle fatigues. A pistol lay on the floor beside the woman. More explosions came from the airport perimeter, the deep thud of heavy machine gun fire was drawing closer.

  The fight’s getting hotter out there. Someone’s gotta win sooner or later, and when they do—

  “Give me some good news Rose. Time’s running out—” Mercy said.

  “Over here, help me with this,” Rose pulled at a heavy tarpaulin.

  Mercy and Tawny helped Rose. They managed to rip the tarpaulin away, revealing a row of low cages. Mercy squinted at the cages. Familiar faces peered out at them through steel bars.

  “Goddammit, cages. They’ve caged them. Bastards,” Mercy shouted. “Tawny, watch our six. Rose, there’s a crowbar on your left, let’s break them out.”

  Rose used the crowbar to snap the padlocks on the cages and five minutes later Barnes, Dimitri, Annalise, Jade, and Flynn were free. Rose found keys on the dead guard’s body and opened their handcuffs.

  “Jesus, they weren’t taking any chances were they?” Rose said, removing the last set of handcuffs. “Are you guys able to walk? We need to get out of here.”

  Flynn nodded, “Yeah, we’ll be OK. I’ll stay with Barnes, his face is still swollen, he can’t see too good. Get moving, we’re right behind you.”

  Annalise picked up the dead woman’s pistol and spare magazines as the others ran through the cargo bay towards the loading ramp. Illumination flares bathed the boneyard in ghostly light. Machine gun fire and the crump of mortar rounds sounded nearby.

  Mercy stuck her head outside and peered right and left, “OK, follow me everyone, we’re going to find a different way out of here. Let’s go.”

  “Wait, over there, in that plane’s hold. It’s a truck, we could take that,” Jade said, pointing at the Super Hercules across the access road.

  Mercy squinted at the truck in the cargo hold. The low crump of a mortar round two hundred yards away made her flinch. “OK, let’s give it a try. You guys stay here. Rose, Tawny… with me.”

  Mercy crossed the access road with Rose and Tawny. She went up the ramp and crouched down in front of the truck.

  “Tawny, you get in, see if you can find the keys and start her up. Me and Rose will do a sweep around the back and make sure it’s clear,” Mercy said, keeping her voice low.

  Tawny nodded, “Roger that.”

  Mercy and Rose went around the side of the M939 series, 5-ton 6x6 truck, their guns at the ready. Tawny stepped up on the driver’s step and peered into the cab. She opened the door and climbed in. Mercy stooped down and looked under the truck.

  No one on the other side—

  Mercy moved along the side of the truck and stopped when she reached the rear wheels. The sound of the battle outside reverberated through the cargo hold.

  We’re in the middle of a war zone—

  An explosion went off outside sending shrapnel through the hold’s fuselage. Mercy dropped to the floor, her hands reaching up to protect her head. The shockwave passed through the aircraft. Mercy kept her eyes closed and held her breath.

  OK, OK, it’s OK we’re still here, breathe—

  She opened her eyes and stared at the cargo hold ahead. A man was on the floor, staring at her, a surprised look on his face. He blinked then held his hand out to her.

  Shit—

  Mercy brought her gun up. He coughed up blood then collapsed, his head smacking against the cargo floor.

  Shrapnel. He’s hit—

  Mercy stood up and turned to Rose, “One guy, back there, he’s down. Let’s go—”

  They rounded the end of the truck and found the rest of the hold empty. The truck was half-full of crates and jerry cans of fuel. The truck’s engine roared to life, belching diesel fumes into the air.

  Mercy rushed up along the other side of the truck. She turned to Rose, “Me and Tawny will try and drive this thing back to the fence. You get the others into the back—”

  “Will do,” Rose yelled. She ran down the loading ramp towards the others.

  Mercy climbed up into the cab and slapped Tawny on the shoulder, “Nice work Tawny, let’s get this thing outside. There’s room in the back for everyone.”

  Tawny let the hand brake off and engaged gear, “Drove one of these things back in New York, blocked an alley with it. Let’s see if I can remember how to drive it.”

  The 5-ton truck lurched forwards then stalled.

  Christ, don’t say anything. Let her do it—

  Mercy reached for her seatbelt and watched as Tawny started the engine again. Tawny let out a string of expletives and then crunched the gears. The engine roared as she pressed the accelerator and the truck juddered down the loading ramp. Tawny swung the steering wheel to the right and pulled up alongside the other Super Hercules.

  “Wait here Tawny, Rose’s got this. You and me though, we’ve gotta get us out of here,” Mercy said, reaching into her jacket pocket. She produced her compass and took a back bearing. “We need to drive southeast of here to find our off roader. This row runs east-west, when Rose gives the signal take us west until we come to an intersection, then turn left.”

  Let’s hope that works, it’s the best I can do under the circumstances—

  Another sequence of f
lares burst into the night sky, illuminating the boneyard in a shimmering silvery light. Forked lightning lit up the distant sky. Mercy gripped her compass and started counting.

  One, two, three—

  Rose’s face appeared in the rear cabin window, she thumped the glass with her hand, “We’re all in. Go, go, go—”

  “You heard the girl, Tawny. Get us out of here,” Mercy said, her eyes glued on the access road ahead.

  Tawny pressed her foot on the accelerator and the engine responded. They moved down the road. Tawny’s confidence grew by the second. “OK, I’ve got this, I’ve got this,” she shouted above the engine noise.

  Mercy scanned the endless rows of aircraft to the left and right.

  Come on, come on, open up on the left somewhere, come on—

  Tracer fire lit up the boneyard to the right and ahead of the truck. Smoke billowed across the ground from a burning fuel dump near the airport buildings. Mercy squinted, trying to see through the smoke. She jerked her head back as a line of seven huge mechs lumbered out of the smoke.

  Oh my god, they’re like the ones we saw back in the Smithsonian. Fourteen or fifteen feet high—

  “There, there’s a left turn,” Tawny shouted. She turned the truck’s steering wheel. The truck skidded into the turn, throwing Mercy hard against her seatbelt.

  Light erupted from one of the mech’s raised arms and the asphalt exploded just behind the truck.

  Mercy gasped and looked into her side mirror. The mechs had disappeared into the thick cloud of smoke once more.

  “Pedal to the metal, Tawny. Like fucking now,” Mercy yelled.

  “On it,” Tawny cried.

  The truck gathered speed and roared down the southern access road.

  We’re a big moving target, maybe this wasn’t such a good idea—

  Mercy tore her eyes away from the road ahead and checked her compass.

  “OK, so where now?” Tawny yelled after five hundred yards. “We’re reaching the end of this row. They all look the same to me in the dark, these planes. Jesus, where are we?”

  I have literally no idea—

  Mercy’s eyes strayed to the left, three mechs were advancing towards a hulking aircraft. A gun crew were firing at the mechs from the roof of the aircraft.

  I don’t fancy their chances—

  The mechs opened up on the aircraft and it exploded, a sheet of flame erupting from its mid-section.

  Christ—

  “We’re running out of road here, Mercy. Some directions would be good, anytime now,” Tawny’s voice filled the cabin.

  I have no idea Tawny—

  Mercy stared at the rows of planes on either side. Three illumination flares shot into the sky two hundred yards away. A flash of yellow caught Mercy’s eye on the right, she turned to stare and checked her compass.

  Yellow—

  “There, turn right, that’s those yellow planes we saw near where we came in. Get us over there. We can crash the fence in this thing and make a break for it—” Mercy replied, the strain clear in her voice.

  Tawny reached the end of the road and turned right, towards the outlying row of bright yellow aircraft. “We’re leaving the road now, hold on.”

  “Go for it,” Mercy yelled.

  Jesus, I hope they’re OK in the back—

  Tawny sped across the wasteland, past the rows of yellow Airbus A300-B4 aircraft, towards the perimeter fence.

  “Try full beam now, we’ve got nothing to lose, they know where we are,” Mercy said.

  Tawny flicked on the truck’s headlights and the fence loomed out of the night. Mercy gripped the passenger door as Tawny gunned the engine. The 5-ton truck slammed through the fence at forty miles an hour.

  Jesus, I’m gonna need root canal work after that—

  Tawny let out a long whoop and grappled with the steering wheel as the truck’s tyres bit into the desert landscape. The truck slid down a hidden dip and almost toppled over at the bottom. Tawny swore loudly and dropped gears. She managed to drive the truck out of the depression and emerged into a dry riverbed.

  “It’s pretty level here, we’re below the airfield’s line of sight, which is good. We need to slow down, this terrain is treacherous, I don’t want to trash this thing,” Tawny shouted.

  “Yeah, a busted axel or driveshaft would be a bummer out here. This is taking us south which is good enough. See if you can exit the river bed in about five hundred yards, that’d get us out on the right bearing to collect the off road vehicle,” Mercy said, clutching her compass.

  Tawny reduced speed and kept her eyes on the river bed’s dips and hollows. The truck jerked along the rough terrain for another ten minutes. Mercy checked her side mirror, her eyes narrowed.

  No sign of pursuit. If those mechs belonged to the Vegas crowd they’ll be after the Judge’s command centre. They shouldn’t be worried about one lone truck escaping. It looked like both sides were pretty evenly matched. Still, I wouldn’t like to face one of those mechs—

  “There,” Tawny pointed at the edge of the river bed. “There’s a way up.”

  Tawny turned the steering wheel and the truck’s Cummins 240 horse power diesel engine growled beneath the hood. The truck climbed up the side gulley to the desert floor above.

  “Dip the lights, Tawny,” Mercy hissed. “Head… that way,” Mercy pointed south east.

  Tawny followed Mercy’s instructions and squinted at the indistinct terrain ahead. “This is actually quite dangerous, we could fall into a dip at any time. I can’t see jack shit.”

  Mercy opened her window and peered back towards the boneyard. The sky over the airport was lit with flares. Tracer rounds criss-crossed the facility. “It’s OK, just go slow, take it nice and easy.”

  Two minutes later Mercy lifted her hand and pointed into the starlit desert at the DPV, “There, over there, that’s it.”

  Tawny raised her eyebrows, “Good job. I never thought we’d see that baby again. I can drive the truck. Are you happy to drive the off roader?”

  “Yeah, how hard can it be?” Mercy said, giving Tawny a sideways grin. “I’ll do the route finding in that thing, you stick to my tail lights. I’ll try and get us to the interstate, back where we turned off, just after Franconia when the dust storm hit.”

  “Wait. You want to go south now? Not west?” Tawny asked.

  Mercy nodded, “Damn right, there’s too much action up here. The interstate is obviously not the place to be, too much of this warlord testosterone crap going on. Yeah, we’ll go south and find another way to the coast. There’s a city, Lake Havasu City, thirty klicks south of Franconia. If anyone comes after us, they’ll think we’ve kept to the interstate west. We might be able lie low and regroup in Havasu City.”

  I hope—

  Tawny gave Mercy a look, “As good a plan as any at this stage, I guess.” She stopped the truck beside the DPV. Mercy jumped down and went to the rear of the truck.

  “Rose? You good? Everyone OK back there?” Mercy shouted.

  Rose’s face appeared above the tailgate.

  Something’s wrong—

  “Oh my god, someone’s hit—?” Mercy breathed.

  Flynn—?

  Rose leant over the tailgate and vomited onto the ground.

  “Rose? Are you OK?” Mercy said, her voice small.

  Jade materialised beside Rose, “It’s Dimitri, he’s dead. He was hit by something, shrapnel I think. I was sitting beside him. One minute he was OK, the next minute he collapsed. Barnes found a small wound in the base of his skull. He’s dead Mercy—”

  Mercy closed her eyes, the world spun around her.

  Goddammit. Dimitri. Goddammit—

  She hunched her shoulders, “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry—”

  Barnes leant over the tailgate, “There ain’t nothing we can do. He’s gone. At least it was quick, he didn’t feel a thing. Look, the airfield is still hot, those things could be out here now, looking for escapees. We need to get moving. We’ll bury
Dimitri when we get away from here. OK?”

  Yeah, Barnes is right, pull your shit together. There’s people relying on you—

  Mercy looked up at Rose, “Are you able to join me in the off-road vehicle Rose? We’ll navigate south, away from this clusterfuck—” She unlocked the tailgate.

  “Yeah, I’m there,” Rose answered, wiping her mouth. She jumped down from the truck.

  They climbed into the DPV, Mercy started the engine and pulled away. She glanced at her compass, “We can’t miss the interstate if we go due south. Hang on and watch out for bad shit.”

  Rose spat out of the DPV, “I hope we’ve left all that bad shit behind. I wonder if Wylie and the Judge were back there or if it was just their followers fighting it out. Why was the Judge so intent on chasing us? We’re small fry to these people.”

  “Maybe they thought we were spies for the Vegas or Phoenix contingents. Maybe we were just unlucky to be on the road in the middle of their turf war. Maybe it was a coincidence—” Mercy replied.

  Rose frowned, “No, I’m not buying it. I don’t do coincidence. There ain’t no such thing. There’s always a reason for the big shit. And those guys were switched on to us big time.”

  “Well, we did blow up their road block at Flagstaff. Well, you blew up their road block at Flagstaff,” Mercy said, her eyes glued to the unfolding terrain ahead of the DPV.

  “Yeah, OK, I’ll give you that. Yeah, well, that would piss off a lot of people I guess. OK, maybe we just got unlucky, but hey, it’s good these two factions are beating the crap out of each other,” Rose said.

  What did we just do back there? We could’ve all died, not just Dimitri—

  Rose slumped back in her seat. Mercy hunched her shoulders.

  The adrenaline has burnt off. The madness is over, this is when the crash happens. I’ve got to get them to safety. We need to rest, regroup—

  The DPV’s tyres gripped gravel then asphalt.

  I-40. We’re here—

  Chapter 18

  Desert Hills

  Mercy put her foot down. They made good progress on the I-40 and came to the turn off for State Route 95 an hour and ten minutes later. She slowed the DPV, “What do you think Rose? We should bury Dimitri while we can—”