Cyber Apocalypse (Book 1): As Our World Ends

by Hunt, Jack

  “You coming, Raven?” Thomas asked.

  “Why? I’m not the one with a target on my back.”

  “You will be after this. Word travels fast.”

  “I’ll take my chances.”

  “Suit yourself.”

  Alex held the door open as one by one they piled out. He looked back at Raven, the young girl attempting to be a grown woman but with deep insecurities. “Thank you.”

  She folded her arms and gave a nod. “Just go before anyone sees you.”

  One kind gesture hadn’t restored his faith in humanity, as he hadn’t lost it yet, but that would soon change.

  26

  California

  The night had seen more lives lost. This time La Primera had attacked the only ones who were a threat to their reign of terror. At some point in the middle of the night, the gang had forced their way into the department and killed nine in administration and six police officers. However, that wasn’t the only strike that occurred. Throughout the city they had targeted officers in a vicious sweep, killing eight, and stringing two up by the neck. The message was loud and clear, the violence wouldn’t end until they had full control of the city. “They took Zonaras,” Officer Hudson said, coughing as he struggled to breathe. A medic wheeled him out, throwing out medical terminology as his partner did his best to prevent further blood loss. Hudson had taken three rounds but somehow had managed to survive. Garcia kept up with the gurney as they rolled it toward a waiting truck.

  “Did they say anything?”

  He shook his head.

  “I’m sorry, we need to go now.” The medic pushed him back as they lifted the gurney into the rear of the ambulance and closed the doors, leaving a blood-drenched Garcia standing there in shock.

  He looked back at the once impenetrable fortress that had been a light in the city, a beacon of hope. Now it was in ruins, and the people knew it. Without a clear count of how many remained, he knew they were working at a disadvantage. They couldn’t afford another loss.

  As he staggered back to his cruiser, a woman approached him, a look of pain in her eyes. He figured she would ask about her child, or husband. He had no answers, no reassurance. Before she got close, he put out a hand. “I’m sorry, this is not a good time.”

  “He said for me to give you this.”

  “What?” Garcia turned with a look of confusion.

  “One of the men who raided your department, he gave me this and told me to wait until you showed.” She handed him a scrap of paper. He took it and looked at her, then his eyes scanned the thinning crowd. Many had come to realize that safety was an illusion, no one could protect them, no place was safe. Garcia unfolded the note and read the message. “If you want to see the Reid girl live, come to Hopper’s Tavern alone.”

  Garcia wadded up the paper and tossed it as he ground his teeth together and raced to the cruiser. “Andre. Let’s go.”

  Andre had been handing out bottles of water and granola to those outside from a cache of supplies the police department used. With the skeleton crew no longer there, he didn’t want it to go to waste. He hopped in and they gunned it out of the parking lot heading for the north end.

  “What is it?” Andre asked.

  He tightened his grip on the steering wheel. “Carlos. He has the Reid girl.”

  “And the guy?”

  “I don’t know. He wants me to go to the tavern.”

  “You know how that will end, right?”

  He nodded as the cruiser screamed through the streets, his heart thumping in his chest as Benny’s words echoed in his mind. He knew repercussions would come but not to this extent. The vicious nature of the attacks marked a turn for Petaluma, for the hope they were clinging to.

  Carlos had declared war on the department, on the city, on the people, striking it at its weakest time when he knew they would be preoccupied with protecting the wounded, and key areas of the city. As much as he wanted to help Elisha, if they didn’t hit back and fast, he didn’t want to imagine what would happen to the rest. More lives were at stake.

  The cruiser reached blistering speeds; the siren wailed as he prayed to God under his breath. Religion was at the heart of who he was as a person, although he’d strayed from that path in his younger years.

  Swerving outside the home of Liam’s parents he got out and raced toward the open door, already feeling his stomach sink at the sight of a body. Service weapon in hand he crouched down and out of habit checked for a pulse. Over his years in the police he’d witnessed all manner of gunshot wounds, and remarkably he’d seen many survive when they should have died.

  No. No beat.

  Andre came up the rear as he stepped over the man in his fifties and pressed into the home. Not far from him was a female, her face obliterated, her body drowning in a pool of red. “Petaluma Police Department. Elisha?” he called out.

  As he entered the kitchen he took in the scene. A chair overturned, blood droplets leading over to open French doors. Upon reaching the rear he looked out and breathed a sigh of relief. What he assumed would be Liam or even Elisha turned out to be the family dog. Assholes.

  A wave of guilt washed over him. Andre appeared at his side and sighed. “What now?”

  “Speak with the mayor.”

  “How will that help?”

  “We can’t do this alone,” he said casting him a sideways glance. “The violence will continue to ripple out until it’s affected everyone and then he’ll take over.”

  He turned to head out.

  “So we leave.”

  “Leave?”

  “You don’t owe these people anything, Felix.”

  “You’re right I don’t. But I promised her mother I would look out for her while she was away.”

  “Cruising by the house, checking in on her, is one thing but you know Carlos. He won’t stop until these streets are washed in blood, and that includes yours. If there was a time to hang up the badge, it’s now.”

  Garcia placed his hands on the table and looked out the window. “Andre, you and I were never meant to be here. Our kind doesn’t end up anywhere but in prison or dead. I grew up here, I will die here even if that means at the hands of Carlos.”

  “I don’t buy that. If you wanted to die you would have stayed in the gangs. You and I got out because it was a fool’s game. We wised up to it. Now I admit when you told me you were applying for the police, I thought you were out of your mind but I stuck with you, saw the good you did, but that was before this event. If he can wipe out that many in one night, what do you think he will do today?”

  “I know but I don’t have a choice.”

  “Of course you do. We get the hell out of here, find a quiet spot in Armstrong Redwoods Reserve, and maybe live until we’re old.”

  He chuckled. “Look in the mirror, Andre. We already are.”

  “This isn’t your war.”

  “Yes it is. Arresting Benny was the beginning. Maybe, deep down I’d wanted to do that for a long time. I’ve spent my career on the fence, keeping the peace, turning a blind eye, never really picking a side. Well maybe now it’s time I did.”

  27

  North Carolina

  It was an eerie scene. At the crossroads of Camby and Water Street, a blanket of death hung heavy. The dying embers of Thomas’ home still glowed in the early morning, its black smoke drifting over the Jeeps and SUV. One of the police cruisers was gone but the other looked like Swiss cheese with holes punched into the metal. Three officers lay unmoving, one slumped over the front of the hood, blood trailing off.

  “Looks clear to me,” Ryan said.

  “Looks can be deceiving,” Thomas countered.

  “Yeah, you would know a thing or two about that, wouldn’t you?”

  They glared at each other as Alex scanned the windows of the surrounding buildings nestled in clusters of trees. Cowboy could be anywhere. Even if he wasn’t there that didn’t mean he hadn’t left behind one of his crew to keep watch. “No point all of us risking
ourselves. I’ll double-time it over and get the vehicle.”

  Sophie placed a hand on his arm and shook her head. “Something feels off.”

  “You mean something smells off,” Ryan added bringing a hand to his nose.

  Thomas shrugged. “What? That powdered milk turned my stomach.”

  “It’s turning mine,” Ryan quipped. “Ooof!”

  Alex wasn’t paying attention. He took a few deep breaths to work up the nerve. One good shot, that was all it would take and this was could be where it would all end. It was risky for sure but without a set of wheels they were stranded. Taking the key fob out, he pressed the button and the vehicle beeped and the lights flashed once.

  No one stepped out.

  Were they waiting for him?

  He looked at Sophie. “Anything happens. I want you to go. You understand?”

  “I won’t leave you.”

  He snorted. “You did it once, I think you can do it again.”

  She scowled at him and he grinned before darting out at a crouch from the tree line. He’d never moved as fast in his life. Keep running, he told himself as he bolted across the street and darted into the SUV. He fired it up without looking around and did a U-turn in the road and brought it onto Water Street. The brakes squealed as he slammed them on and waited for the others to emerge and get in.

  It all happened in an instant.

  As soon as they were inside, he tore out of there, relief washing over him in a wave. “Damn near had a heart attack.” He eyed his mirrors expecting to see them but the road was empty.

  “You know I don’t like the idea of bringing him along with us,” Ryan said from the back seat where Thomas was looking over his shoulder, all paranoid. “He’s been nothing but trouble.”

  “And you haven’t?” Alex shot back.

  “Thank you, Alex,” Thomas said.

  “I’m not disagreeing with him, simply stating a fact.”

  Thomas looked out the window and mumbled, “Oh.”

  “From now on we don’t stop for anyone. The next time we shut this vehicle off it’s for gas. You want to take a leak,” he reached over and picked up a bottle. “There you go. Toss the contents out the window.”

  “And what about me?” Sophie said.

  He glanced at her. “Right. Uh.” He returned to looking ahead. “We’ll deal with that when we get to it.”

  “Well you might want to get to it fast as I need to go.”

  He balked. “Why didn’t you go back at the apartment?”

  “Because I didn’t need to.”

  “Well can you hold it until we at least get out of the city?”

  “I guess I will have to.”

  They hadn’t made it more than ten miles outside of Asheville when the vehicle started chugging. Alex looked at the gas indicator. It was in the red. “No. No. The damn thing was half full when we left.”

  Sophia leaned over. “We have gas in the canister, don’t we?”

  “No, we used it.”

  They coasted to a standstill just on the outskirts of a town called Weaverville. Alex got out and looked back down the road and did a visual inspection of the SUV. Nothing looked out of the normal but there had to be, as there was no way they could have burned through that much gas in only ten minutes. He dropped down and looked beneath.

  That’s when he saw it.

  The gas tank had been punctured.

  The hole was clear as a few final droplets fell to the ground.

  “Damn it.”

  Thomas and Ryan got out and came around. “What’s the verdict?”

  “See for yourself.”

  Ryan ducked down as Thomas’ eyes widened, and he began backing up. “Oh shit.”

  “What is it?”

  He pointed and they all looked back to the way they’d come from. Rumbling down US 19 was a police cruiser, and behind that a black truck. “It’s him. It’s Cowboy!”

  Not waiting for them, Thomas ran down into the ditch and up the other side and vanished into the tree line. Ryan wasn’t that far behind. “Sophie.” Alex rushed to the passenger side and pulled her out. “Let’s go. C’mon!”

  “Why? What—” Her jaw dropped as she saw the approaching vehicles.

  They hauled ass as the cruiser’s siren turned on.

  They darted around trees, leaping over downed trunks and pushing their way through thick brambles. As his pulse sped up, he glanced over his shoulder and could just make out the vehicles coming to a stop behind the SUV. He kept a firm grip on Sophie’s hand as they hurried. Alex had no idea of where they were going or if they would come out near a home or business. Still, they couldn’t be that far from the main town, from people, from safety.

  28

  California

  Without a knock, Garcia entered the Council Chambers in City Hall, sweat dripping off his forehead, dry blood caked his shirt. All six council members looked at him as Mayor Ken Fischer rose from the long wooden table at the far end of the room.

  All were dressed in suits as if it was business as usual.

  He was about to piss on their parade.

  Fischer frowned. “Excuse me, officer.”

  “That’s officer Garcia, and we’ve already had the pleasure of meeting at a council meeting two years ago. You made it clear you didn’t like me and to be quite frank I didn’t particularly like you but I’m not here to argue. Are you aware of the situation?”

  “Of course we are. And who is this?” Fischer asked pointing to Andre who lumbered into the room behind him.

  Garcia didn’t give him an answer. “The police department was attacked last night. La Primera wiped out what staff was on shift, killed fifteen, they also opened fire into a crowd of survivors at the shelter killing multiple nurses and civilians, and went on to kill another eight officers. Right now we have no idea how many police are patrolling. I figured you might shed some light on that?”

  Fischer took a seat again and looked at the rest of the council. Shock spread.

  “We were told by the chief that only thirty-four of the sixty-five sworn officers showed. If what you’re saying is true we have…”

  “Around eighteen to police sixty thousand,” Garcia said.

  “I think it’s much less than that.”

  Garcia looked at them. “You need to call in the National Guard before it gets any worse.”

  He snorted. “And how do you suppose we make that call, huh? The grid is down. And, if we could have done that, don’t you think we would have by now? The military have their hands tied. Cities are on their own right now. We have already done the rounds.” He stabbed his finger at Garcia. “And before you say we’ve done nothing, as I can sense that’s where you’re taking this. Several of the council members you see here drove out to some of the surrounding towns to assess the situation and get more help. I’m afraid, officer, everyone is in the same boat. The bombings have destroyed what little infrastructure we had.”

  “Do we even know if they were bombs?”

  “Officer Garcia. Whether they are bombs dropped from planes, or a kinetic orbital strike, I don’t think it really matters.”

  “Back up. A kinetic what?”

  Fischer shuffled uncomfortably in his seat. “Kinetic bombardment. If tungsten rods were dropped from orbit, it could hit a city with the explosive power of an intercontinental missile. Back in the times of Vietnam they called the smaller versions Lazy Dog bombs. Like shooting a bullet, but instead of losing speed, it gains velocity as it travels to the earth. Except instead of it being two inches long and released from a plane a few thousand feet in the air, we are talking about twenty feet long and dropped from orbit reaching speeds up to ten times the speed of sound.” He paused. “Look, I’m not saying that’s what this is, it’s just a theory. No one has got close enough to these ground zero sites to verify but it’s an idea that’s been thrown out.”

  “By who?”

  Fischer opened his mouth as if to speak then closed it. “Officer, the city is paying
you to do a job, not to ask questions. Now unless you have some pressing need that we can meet, I suggest you return to your duties.”

  “You have no clue. Do you?”

  “Excuse me?”

  “No, I won’t excuse you,” he said losing his patience. “Outside these doors all hell is breaking loose and I want to know what you — all of you — are doing about it? Because to me it looks like you are sitting in your ivory tower and waiting, no, scratch that, expecting us to do the dirty work and for you to come in at a later date and accept the applause. Now I would make the calls myself, and drive out to whoever I need to if it meant getting support, but you’re the ones with all the numbers, all the connections and all the power in this city. So how about you get off your asses and get out there and do your job?”

  “I beg your pardon? Keith, escort these men out.”

  A large council member rose from his seat and Andre prodded him in the back with the barrel of his rifle. “Sit down.”

  Fischer look dumbfounded. “Do you know who you are speaking with? After this, Garcia, your career is over.”

  “News flash. There is no after. Now how about you stop jerking me off and tell me what you were discussing here today? It better be something practical, and something that is going to turn this shit around because if I have to go out there and do it by myself or with a strained department, some of which may already be dead by now, so help me God, you will find yourself dead within the next forty-eight hours.”

  “Are you threatening me, officer?”

  “No, just stating facts, and trust me, it won’t be by my hand.”

  Elisha groaned as she came to, her mind in a foggy haze. The taste of iron on her lips made her want to vomit. A dull pain behind her eyes made her feel nauseous. She was lying on a cold concrete floor with no memory of how she got there. It was only the sight of Liam that reminded her.