by Dean M. Cole
The approaching wind front lifted ash and debris, generating a dust storm. Beyond the rattling flag remnant, flames sprang anew from a previously smoldering ruin, the winds of the storm front breathing life into the coals of the apocalypse.
Vaughn looked back at his team and waved urgently. “Time to go!”
Chapter 21
As she walked down the avenue with Vaughn at her side, Angela stared at her dust- and soot-covered boots. The military members of the group had raved about how comfortable they were, and they had seemed so … four hours ago!
She glanced at Vaughn and pointed at her boots. “Didn’t you say these were state-of-the-art and top-of-the-line?”
He gave her a knowing look. “You walk this many miles in a matter of a few hours, and it doesn’t matter how well made they are. Your feet are going to hurt.”
She pulled off her bandanna and goggles. “The winds have let up some.” Continuing to walk, she took off her backpack and stuffed the items inside. “Don’t think we need these anymore.” She eyed the storm front warily and added, “I just hope we make it to CMS before the rain reaches us.”
Vaughn nodded. “Now that the winds have died off, it looks like the thing has stalled out again.” He checked the map. “Few more miles to go.”
“I’m just glad we have the strength to do this. Can you imagine what this would’ve been like a couple of weeks ago?”
Vaughn blew air through his nose. “Nope.”
They walked in silence as her words sent both of them into their own thoughts.
Angela’s eyes lost focus as she remembered how she’d felt when the reset returned her to the ISS. It seemed an eon ago. So much had transpired since. She shook the memory and the dread it eschewed from her thoughts and looked back at Vaughn.
He smiled and nodded at her. “You look a lot better.”
Angela smirked. “Oh, Captain. You really know the path to a girl’s heart,” she said wryly.
“I’m just saying that—”
Angela smiled and waved a hand at him. “Just screwing with you. You’re right. We both do. Amazing what a week of good food and sleep can do.”
They walked in silence again, continuing to scan the buildings around them.
Since leaving the shelter of the parking garage, they had progressed several miles across the city. Initially, they had followed Lake Geneva’s opposite shoreline, hanging a right after crossing the bridge and staying low to keep out of sight of any potential enemy robots. Using Vaughn’s tactical leap-frogging advances, they had followed the shoreline northeast until they were once again well clear of the mechanized infestation. Then they had turned left, heading to the northwest, toward the CMS experiment.
At that point, they had dropped the tactical maneuvers in favor of what Vaughn called a forced march.
As she continued the long hike on aching feet, Angela looked at Vaughn and grinned crookedly. “This reminds me of our first long hike up the back side of Mont Salève.” A small laugh escaped her. “I can still see the look on your face when you realized how close you’d come to falling off that ledge on our way up.”
“Ha, ha. Laugh it up.”
Angela’s smile withered. Giving him a meaningful look, she tilted her head toward the city center. “That was before we knew what waited for us on the other side.”
Vaughn nodded somberly. “We sure as hell know now.”
“Speaking of …” Angela paused and scanned the road ahead. “Are we near the airport yet?”
“Yeah, about a half-mile from its northeast tip. This avenue should skirt its right perimeter fence.”
“Good. If I remember right, it’s pretty much a straight shot from there to CERN Entrance Five.”
“Yeah, it would be, but we’re gonna veer right in a few blocks. I don’t want to get too close to the airport. That’s a wide expanse of land. We’ll be too exposed.” He pointed off to the right. “So I plan to sidestep a block or two after we get closer.”
“Why not do so now?”
“For the same reason. That wide expanse will give us a good, unobstructed view of the city. It’s a good recon point, especially now that the dust has settled.”
Angela watched Vaughn as he spoke. He had changed. She wasn’t sure when it had happened, but gradually, over the course of the day, she had picked up on subtle differences in him. Good things. She liked the way he’d taken charge. He wasn’t hesitating anymore. He seemed more sure of himself. The lingering doubts seemed to have vanished.
Vaughn looked at her and canted his head. “What?”
“Nothing. Was just thinking you look stronger now, like you did back in Tripoli.”
He nodded. Pushing out his otherwise flat belly, he patted it and smiled. “Good food and good drink.” He winked at her. “Company’s not bad either.”
Angela chuckled and held out a hand. “Whatever.” She gestured at their fellow survivors. “I feel better that it’s not just the two of us this time. Everything doesn’t hinge on us. The world won’t end, literally, if one of these buildings collapses on top of you and me.”
Vaughn scoffed. “Not afraid of death now?”
The corners of her mouth flexed contemplatively, and she shrugged. “I have a healthy respect for it, but no, I don’t fear death. I had accepted that we were going to die the last time I overloaded the collider. Guess everything after that is just borrowed time, a bonus.”
Vaughn walked in contemplative silence. Then he gave her a sideward glance. “There’s more than that. Now we have a big, red, easy button, a ‘Ready Player Two’ reset.”
“What do you mean?”
Vaughn grinned. “Just saying, if it comes to it, and we have to, one of us can just overload the collider again as a last-ditch reset. We can start over.”
Scoffing, Angela cocked an eyebrow as she gave Vaughn a knowing look. “God help us if you’re the one left to push that button.”
He gave her a double-take. “What are you saying? You’re the one who taught me how to do it.”
Angela blew air through her nose and kicked a piece of debris with her dirty boot. “Yeah, but I’ve seen you with a computer. I don’t like our chances.”
“Guess you got a point there,” Vaughn said through a lopsided grin.
Angela looked ahead. Between two buildings, she glimpsed a long expanse of chain-linked fence. Raising a hand, she pointed at it. “I think we’ve found the airport.”
Vaughn followed her gesture and nodded.
Ahead of them, BOb suddenly dropped to the ground and lay prone.
The rest of the team began to do the same.
She looked down and saw that Vaughn had also dropped to the ground.
He waved urgently. “Get down!”
A metallic squeaking echoed off a nearby wall. Then the roar of a distant engine filled the air.
Angela dropped down onto her belly and then low-crawled up next to Vaughn.
Giving her a sideways glance, he cocked an eyebrow. “Try to keep up next time.”
“Very funny.” She looked around, searching for the source of the noise, but from her new position lying on the street, she couldn’t see anything beyond a few meters. “Where’s that sound coming from?”
“Don’t know.”
After scanning their surroundings, Vaughn signaled for everyone’s attention. Then he pointed at a structure on their left.
The one-story building was relatively intact and appeared to have been a small grocery store. It had a flat roof and had previously featured an all-glass front façade, although that had all blown out during the firestorm that had consumed the surrounding buildings.
Vaughn jabbed a finger at the store. “We’ll take cover in there.” He gestured at the robot. “BOb, cover our six.”
The bot dipped its head. “Roger, sir.”
Vaughn exchanged a silent glance with Rachel and then pointed a bladed hand toward the store.
The major nodded. Rising to a low crouch, she moved onto the buildi
ng’s front stoop. After a quick glimpse into the store’s darkened interior, she disappeared inside. A few moments later, she reemerged and waved them in. “All clear.”
Pointing ahead, Vaughn signaled for Angela to go first.
She nodded. Heart pounding in her chest, she crawled to her feet and hustled inside. The sounds of shuffling feet erupted from behind her as the rest of the group rose to follow her.
Shattered glass crunched underfoot as she trotted past the major and entered the store. Fortunately, the distant rumble of heavy machinery all but drowned out the sound.
Rachel pointed down an aisle. “Post up by those bottles.”
Angela nodded. Avoiding the worst of the shattered bits of glass, she walked deeper into the building and stopped at the indicated position. Then she pulled a toppled water bottle from a nearby shelf. After wiping off the worst of the dust, she removed the cap and took a long draw.
Teddy stepped up next to her and grabbed a Coke. “Good idea, Command-Oh.”
She turned and watched the rest of the team work their way into the building. Rourke and Monique followed by Bill and Chance joined her. Then Mark Hennessy walked up.
Finally, Rachel and Vaughn joined them with BOb in tow.
Following the examples set by Angela and Teddy, everyone grabbed bottles and started drinking.
Major Peterson took a long draw from an orange soda. He glanced toward the street and then back at the group. Light gray soot streaked the dark skin of the man’s face. “Anyone see what’s making that sound?”
They all shook their heads, even the robot.
After scanning the interior of the store, Vaughn pointed at the ground behind a rack of canned goods near the front. “BOb, take cover behind that and keep an eye out for any movement outside.” Then he looked at the rest of the group. “Spread out. See if you can find roof access. This is the highest building in the area. If we can get on the roof, we might be able to see where that noise is coming from.”
Rachel held up her water bottle and nodded to Angela. “Good idea.” Turning to walk deeper into the store, she called over her shoulder. “Grab something to eat while you’re looking. No sense in using up what we’re carrying.”
Heading off in a different direction, Angela pulled a bag of Funyuns off the shelf and opened it. Crunching the delicious rings loudly and not caring what fell to the floor, she soon found herself at the back of the store and still hadn’t seen the roof access.
She followed the back wall for a few meters, holding her nose as she passed a display case full of rotted meats. Then she saw a pair of double-swinging stainless-steel doors.
She dropped the now empty bag and pushed through the swinging, silvery panels. In the gloomy space beyond, she saw a rectangle of white light outlining a framed opening in the ceiling. The dust-filled light cascading from it revealed a wall-mounted ladder.
Turning, she pushed her head through the doors and peered back into the grocery store. She whispered loudly. “I found it.”
Vaughn’s voice rose from the gloom. “Where is it?”
“Back wall. Through the double doors. Looks like a storeroom.” Making a sour face, she added, “Just follow your nose.”
Rachel was the first one to reach her. Completely unfazed by the rank odor, the woman stopped across from Angela and, using her teeth, pulled a chunk of beef jerky from the stick in her hand. She proceeded to chew it loudly, eyes rolling back in her head. “Mmmm.”
Commander Bingham rounded a corner. He clasped an open Guinness stout in one hand and a bag of pretzels in the other. Chance held up the large bottle. “This’ll calm the mindquake …” The man grimaced. “Oh, that’s beastly! Pardon me, ladies.” Holding the items in front of himself, he pushed past Angela and Rachel. “God save the beer.” Then he stepped through the doors and disappeared into the storeroom.
Major Lee looked at Angela and rolled her eyes. Talking through a mouthful of half-chewed jerky, she grumbled something about Brits and beers and then followed him into the storeroom.
Seeing that the rest of the crew were on their way, and having had more than her fill of the putrid odors coming from the deli counter, Angela pushed through the doors.
The balance of the team soon filed in behind her.
Rachel tucked the remainder of her jerky into a leg pocket and then climbed up the ladder. A moment after she reached the top, light flooded the room as she turned the handle and raised the hatch. Initially, she only lifted it a couple of inches, but after a quick scan and apparently seeing no threats, she opened it fully.
Everyone winced as the hinges squealed. Fortunately, the engine noise that poured through the roof hatch more than drowned out the sound.
The major moved up a rung on the ladder and poked her head through the opening. Twisting her body left and right, Rachel peered around. Then she looked back into the room. “It’s all clear. There’s a parapet wall. We’ll be covered.” She waved for them to follow her. “Come on up.” Then she climbed the rest of the way onto the roof and slid out of sight.
Angela and Monique exchanged nervous glances.
Mark Hennessy nodded to Vaughn and then headed up the ladder followed by Bill and Teddy. Next, Rourke and Monique crawled up after them.
Bingham downed the last of his beer and then tossed it and the empty bag into a utility sink stuffed with rags. Then he, too, followed them up.
Vaughn frowned at the man. Then he looked at Angela and gestured toward the ladder. “Ladies first. I promise not to stare at your butt … much.”
Scoffing, Angela glanced back toward the front of the building. Through a window in one of the storeroom’s doors, she saw BOb standing vigil. She stepped over and started up. Looking back, she saw Vaughn staring right at her ass.
Angela grinned and rolled her eyes. “Really? We’re in the middle of the apocalypse, and that’s still all you can think of?”
“Was just thinking camouflage makes your butt look huge.”
Angela guffawed. “Yeah, I wish. Thanks to our diet for the last few months, I’m suffering from a serious case of no-ass-at-all. Pretty much have to run around in the shower just to get wet.”
“There you go, throwing images into my head.”
“Oh goodness, that’s enough, Captain.”
“Yes, Commander.”
A moment later, she emerged onto the debris-cluttered rooftop, and the smile fell from her face.
Crouching under a hazed sky that suddenly seemed wider and somehow more threatening, Angela fell back into her hellish reality. She felt exposed despite the four-foot-tall parapet wall that ringed the roof and hid them from observation.
On hands and knees, she watched as Vaughn climbed through the hatch.
Judging by the quantity of charred chunks of framing lumber and other bits melted into the roof deck’s tar liner, she thought it a miracle that the structure hadn’t burned with the rest.
Angela looked around. Every member of the team was squatting or kneeling so that their heads weren’t visible above the top of the wall. “Uh … we got a problem.” She gestured at the parapet. “This is the highest building in the area. If we poke our heads above that wall, we’ll stick out like a sore thumb.”
Vaughn looked at her and nodded. “Yeah, we’ll cut a silhouette. Any robot looking this way will see us.”
As he spoke, Vaughn scanned the roof perimeter. Then he scrambled over to a collection of pipes that protruded from the face of the short wall. He started tugging at the foil tape that covered the point where the tubes passed into the parapet.
Realizing the wall faced the airport, Angela understood. She scrambled over to him and started helping. Teddy saw them and started heading their way. The rest of the team members soon followed suit.
Angela and Vaughn peeled off the last of the tape, revealing a large, rectangular, boxed-out opening that passed all the way through the parapet. She peeked through the wide gap between the frame and the pipes and saw that tape also covered the far side o
f the foot-wide passage.
She tried to reach through, but her hand wouldn’t fit.
Growling, she shook her head. “Got anything we can poke through there?”
Vaughn pulled the Ka-Bar from its sheath and held up the long survival knife. “How about this?”
“That should be big enough.”
A crooked grin spread across his face. “That’s what she—”
“Captain.” Cocking an eyebrow, Angela shot him a warning glare.
Vaughn’s mouth snapped shut.
He bent over and started jabbing the knife through the opening.
The interior of the box-out began to glow as light entered from its far side.
Sawing and hacking, Vaughn worked for another couple of moments. Finally, he nodded and shoved the Ka-Bar back into its sheath.
He peered through the foot-wide opening. Light streaming through it illuminated his widening eyes. “I see movement.”
Leaning in, Angela tried to look past him, but Vaughn was blocking her line of sight. She glanced over her shoulder and saw the rest of the group had collected behind them and were similarly blocked.
“What is it?” Mark asked.
“I don’t know.” She tilted her head toward Vaughn. “Captain Big Head here is blocking the view.”
After giving her an annoyed glance, Vaughn fumbled for his binoculars.
Angela already had hers ready. She nudged him aside. “Here, lemme see.”
He grunted and begrudgingly shifted out of her way.
She peered through the opening. “I see the airport. Looks like it dodged the firestorm. Most of the buildings are still standing. There’s a bunch of wide metal ones just past the fence.
Vaughn leaned in. “Yeah, those are hangars. That’s where I saw the movement.”
Angela narrowed her eyes, searching the scene. “I see some empty foundations. Looks like some of the buildings are gone, but I don’t see any … Wait.”
