Legion: V Plague Book 19

by Dirk Patton

  For a beat he just glared, then his arm moved and the chain snaked out to whip around the old man’s neck. Igor jerked hard, pulling him off his feet before coming to stand over him. Barinov’s eyes bulged as he clawed at the heavy iron links that had cut off his air supply. Igor bent and hissed into his face.

  “Irina Vostov!”

  He dragged Barinov by the chain out onto the balcony and looked over the railing at a solid sea of enraged females. Screams from within the house alerted him to an impending attack and he slammed the doors before barricading them as best he could with the outdoor furniture. Reaching down, he grabbed the front of Barinov’s expensive suit and lifted him to his feet, looking into the man’s terrified eyes.

  “Irina Vostov!” he screamed before throwing Barinov over the rail.

  ***

  I scented the bloodlust coming from both women and I knew Viktoriya would not back down. Time stretched out, then with a scream of rage, Nicole leapt forward. Thousands of females moved when she did. Viktoriya responded with a scream of her own and suddenly thousands more were in motion, tearing into those who had responded to Nicole.

  I jumped when there was an unexpected gunshot from right next to me, then saw Gonzales’s head snap back before he fell beneath the pounding feet of the infected. Strickland glanced at me without lowering his rifle, but there were bigger concerns than him having executed a traitor or a foreign agent of whatever the hell the Master Chief had been.

  Nicole slammed into Viktoriya and they tumbled to the ground as the surrounding females screamed and began tearing into each other. More raced in, charging when they saw us. Their attack was rebuffed by the children, but fully a third of our protectors were killed in that one assault.

  Still more females came racing toward us, screams from thousands of throats tearing the night. As they reached the outer ring of children, several bombs fell so close that every sound and sensation was negated by the pressure waves. I took advantage of the moment to raise my rifle for a shot on Viktoriya, but couldn’t spot her amongst the thousands of raging females.

  Grabbing Mavis’s hand, I pointed to the east. She nodded and though I couldn’t hear her, I could see her mouth moving as she sang. More children rushed in to surround us as we began pushing our way through the melee of warring females.

  Corpses were piling up and the sand stank of blood and body fluids. For as far as I could see in every direction, females battled females. More bombs fell, one so close we were all knocked to our knees by the blast. Everything was lit by an orange pall as the city burned and the smell of kerosene was strong in the air. This was hell on earth.

  Unconcerned with anything other than killing, the females ignored the bombing and approaching flames. They were quickly separating into groups depending on whether they were listening to Viktoriya or Nicole. As we kept pushing forward, only alive because of the children Mavis was controlling, we were under a near constant assault.

  But not by every female. It quickly became obvious that one of the groups was not only bent on destroying the other, but us as well. Unfortunately, the other group wasn’t interested in protecting us, but at least the ferocious battle being waged was keeping the first group from focusing on us.

  Not that it mattered, as our small protectors were quickly dwindling in numbers. Soon, it would come down to how long I could fend them off with my knife. Hopefully a bomb would land on our heads and end things before we were shredded to pieces by infected hands.

  Another blast, even closer. This time I felt the heat of the explosion. And we were bogged down by the sheer quantity of females surrounding us. There was no pushing through and no fighting them. I whirled, seeking any way out and finding none. We were about to die.

  “Take the children and escape,” I screamed at Mavis to be heard over the roar of the fighting.

  I didn’t really think she had a chance, but maybe... just maybe she and the infected kids could slip through where adult sized bodies like mine and Strickland’s could not. She shook her head and I could see tears in her eyes as she looked up at me. A quick glance around confirmed we were seconds from a gruesome death.

  The tenor of the female’s screams suddenly rose, then an instant later the bottom of the Osprey’s open ramp nearly decapitated me as it roared into a hover. I didn’t hesitate to lift Mavis up and fling her aboard. Dog killed a female that made it past the children, then I grabbed him and tossed him onto the ramp while screaming at Strickland to get on the aircraft.

  He was engaged with two females that had successfully leapt over the rapidly narrowing perimeter the children had formed. I tore one of them off his back, ripped her throat out and tossed the body aside. Three more ran and leapt, clearing the heads of the children and I met them with my knife and fist just as another bomb detonated so close the battle around us came to a momentary pause.

  Killing the first female, I was aware the Osprey had moved away. Martinez almost certainly hadn’t had a choice when the blast wave struck. It had been intense, and I knew it was only due to her skills that the machine was still in the air.

  During the brief interlude, I killed the other two females with my bare hands. Turning to help Strickland, I saw the infected he’d been battling fall aside, then the roar of the fight resumed with an ear-splitting chorus of screams from every direction.

  The Osprey streaked back in, stopping on a dime in mid-air with the open ramp just above my head. As more females charged, the belly mounted minigun opened up and directed a steady stream of fire to clear us some space.

  “Go now!”

  I grabbed Strickland’s vest and tossed him straight up in the air as if he weighed no more than a child. His chest came down on the ramp and he was scrambling for purchase until I pushed on the bottom of his boots. Immediately, I leapt, hooking my arms over the edge of the ramp and pulling. Hands grabbed my boots and I kicked wildly until they fell away, then dragged myself aboard.

  Spinning around, I dropped to my ass with my legs hanging out into open space as Martinez accelerated away toward the dark, open desert. Passing over the estate, I stared with a mixture of satisfaction and profound sadness when I saw Igor standing on a large balcony, looking up at me. Hanging over the railing, struggling wildly was Barinov.

  Igor’s chain was wrapped around his neck and his kicking feet dangled just above the heads of a solid mass of females. They were leaping, shredding his flesh with tooth and nail. As I watched, Igor lowered him a couple of feet. The infected reached higher, tearing into his abdomen.

  The door behind Igor was barricaded against females who were in the house, but before I could shout for Martinez to turn around, they battered their way through onto the balcony. Igor didn’t resist or look away as they leapt forward. Just before he was dragged down, he raised a hand in farewell.

  I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the horrible spectacle. The satisfaction of knowing Barinov had met a just end wasn’t worth the cost of losing my friend.

  We were gaining speed and altitude when the estate and a large area of desert surrounding it suddenly vanished in a blinding ball of fire. A wave of searing heat came with the concussion from the blast and the Osprey was shoved up and sideways at the same time.

  Unprepared, I slid off the ramp, catching myself at the last possible instant with only three fingers as my feet dangled above the burning maelstrom below. I pulled hard for the inside of the aircraft, but it felt like we were now in a tumble and it took everything I had to simply hang on while Martinez fought to regain control.

  We went into a slow spin and I lost my grip, starting to fall away. Strong hands clamped down on my wrist, holding me as my body flailed on the amusement park ride from hell. Looking up, I met Strickland’s eyes as he screamed in effort to maintain his hold. Beyond, Mavis had her small arms wrapped around his ankles, her feet braced against a strut.

  For what felt like hours, I was violently whipsawed about, then Martinez got the heavy aircraft back under control. No longer fighting the ce
ntrifugal forces of a wildly spinning plane, I was able to grab Strickland’s arm and pull myself up.

  Climbing over him, I collapsed onto the deck of the Osprey. Strickland hit the close button for the ramp and it moved into place with a whine of hydraulics as he hurried forward to the cockpit.

  Rolling onto my back, I grunted when first Mavis, then Dog threw themselves on top of me. Wrapping my arms around both of them, I lay there and took long, deep breaths.

  “Thought you promised me there’d be no more stunts,” I said to Mavis, squeezing her tight.

  “I lied,” she said, hugging me back just as hard.

  We held each other as Dog grunted his pleasure in having me at his level. I scratched his ears and enjoyed the wonderful feeling of holding my daughter.

  Two hours later, my eyes snapped open when Strickland bumped the bottom of my foot.

  “We’re landing.”

  “Landing? Where?” I asked without sitting up.

  “The Reagan.”

  Waking Mavis, I pushed Dog aside and got to my feet as I felt the Osprey transition into a hover. It wasn’t long before the tires bumped hard and the note of the engines quickly spooled down. I glanced at the cockpit, seeing Martinez shutting down the aircraft, then decided the hell with waiting and hit the button to lower the ramp.

  The fresh smell of the sea mixed with jet exhaust poured into the cabin. Holding Mavis’s hand and keeping a grip on Dog’s scruff so he didn’t get into trouble on a busy aircraft carrier, I watched the steadily widening view as the ramp descended. Before it touched the steel deck, I caught sight of Rachel.

  She stood a short distance away with Admiral Packard and Captain West. Her long hair blew in the wind and the first rays of light from a new day picked her out and made her glow amongst all the muted grays of a warship. My heart beat a little faster at that moment. Who am I kidding? A lot faster.

  Mavis and Dog pulled away from me and raced forward when they saw her. I followed at a more sedate pace, smiling as she was given no choice other than to take a knee to hug both of them.

  “Didn’t expect to see you, sir. Your doing?” I tilted my head at Rachel.

  I shook the Admiral’s extended hand, then accepted Captain West’s while she was occupied with our two children.

  “Couldn’t very well leave her behind when I decided to come out,” he said, then made a gesture at West.

  They moved past me to greet Martinez and Strickland and I held out a hand to help Rachel to her feet. She wasn’t very pregnant, yet, but she was pregnant. She fell into my arms and hugged me tight for a moment before leaning back and looking into my eyes.

  “Is it over?” she asked.

  I nodded, smiling even though the people I’d lost made it a bittersweet victory.

  “It’s over, babe.”

  76

  EIGHT YEARS LATER

  Life slowly got better after the last great fight between America and Russia. In what became known as the Battle of Arizona, all of Russia’s government, senior military and wealthy elites who’d scraped and bowed at Barinov’s feet were destroyed. The few surviving troops were allowed to return to their homes, unmolested and with one admonition. If they ever took up arms against America again, every single last Russian would be erased from the face of the planet.

  Perhaps it wasn’t the best choice. Maybe we should have systematically wiped them out to secure a safer future for our children. But at the point, none of us had the stomach for any more killing. Besides, the struggle for survival in the new world didn’t leave time for planning wars and conquests.

  Despite Admiral Packard’s best efforts once the fight was over, there had never been a confirmation that Viktoriya and Nicole had perished when the estate was bombed. There were hundreds of thousands of female bodies within a one square kilometer area, many of which had been dismembered by the blasts and burned beyond recognition. There was no way to identify them and frankly, I didn’t see any way either woman could have survived.

  The Monsanto plant in St. Louis was put into production within days of the final defeat of Russian forces in North America. Huge generators were flown in along with several companies of Rangers, engineers and a team of geneticists. Within a few short weeks, the dense jungle foliage of Hawaii had been replaced with fields of freshly sprouted wheat and corn and soybeans and numerous other food crops. Genetically modified to be immune to the virus, they were also extremely hardy and very fast growing. We didn’t starve, and within a year the plant had been dismantled, transported to Hawaii and rebuilt.

  Rachel had given birth to our children who, thankfully, were normal. Well, as normal as a child I fathered could be. Lucas Igor Chase, our son, turned out to be very smart and thoughtful, just like his mother, and he’d probably be bigger than me when he reached maturity. Irina Chase, on the other hand, was hell on wheels. My grandmother would have called her a spitfire. She was afraid of no one and nothing, including speaking her mind in a very frank manner whenever she felt like it, with absolutely zero regard for the consequences. Thank God she got her mother’s beauty to go with that attitude! Oh, and she had me wrapped tightly around her little finger, much to Rachel’s continued annoyance.

  Mavis absolutely bloomed, growing fast and tall and strong, becoming a beautiful young lady. She adored her little brother and sister and was just as much of a second mom to them as a sibling. Set to graduate from college in a few months, she’d already decided she was going to join the Army and become an officer. I was proud as hell and terrified at the same time.

  “General?”

  I looked up from my keyboard to find my aide standing in my office door. At the personal request of the President of the United States, I was chronicling everything I’d seen and done from the day of the original attacks up until Barinov was killed and Russia was fully defeated. It was slow going but Rachel had jumped in to help with her recollections of what we’d lived and battled through.

  “The Headmaster wants to see you.”

  My shoulders slumped and I sighed.

  “What’d they do now?”

  “He didn’t say, sir. Just requested that you come at your earliest convenience.”

  Shaking my head, I saved my work, closed the file and stood.

  “C’mon, Dog,” I said, snatching my beret off a wall hook.

  As always, Dog was ready to go. But he no longer leapt to his feet. The years had taken their toll and I watched with a heavy heart as he gingerly got to his feet and carefully shook. His muzzle had gone gray, but his eyes were still as clear and sharp as ever. I didn’t look forward to the day when my best friend was no longer at my side, though I knew it wasn’t far off. That thought put a lump in my throat as we headed for the door.

  It was a beautiful, sunny day when I walked out and headed across the base. A trade wind was blowing, bringing the smell of freshly cut wheat. Striding along a sidewalk, I paused while Dog sniffed up a spot to relieve himself.

  “You too, sir?”

  I looked around to see Martinez walking towards me.

  “Colonel Strickland,” I said in greeting.

  She might have married the SEAL and taken his name, but she’d always be Martinez to me. But that wasn’t a knock on him. He’d turned out to be one of the finest people I’d ever met, even if he was a smart ass of the first order... and a squid.

  “And, yeah. Headmaster called. Got any idea what they did this time?”

  “Stormed the cafeteria? Took a teacher hostage? Staged a coup? Your guess is as good as mine.”

  She ruffled Dog’s ears when he bumped her hip then we walked together toward the school.

  “You guys coming tonight?” I asked, referring to our weekly dinner as one huge extended family.

  “We’ll be there, as long as Katie isn’t in jail,” she said with a laugh, referring to her daughter who was waiting in the Headmaster’s office.

  “The Admiral’s coming, too. Will be good to see him.”

  “You’ve really got to st
art referring to him as Mister President.”

  I shrugged. If the Admiral didn’t like it, he could tell me himself.

  “Todd volunteered for a recon team,” she said, and I could hear the worry in her voice.

  She was referring to hand-picked teams of special forces operators that were being sent into different regions of the world. Their mission was to locate materials and technology that could be brought back to Hawaii. But they’d found more than anyone had bargained for.

  “Probably needed a break from you.”

  “You know I’d kick your ass for that if we weren’t in public. General,” she said with a smirk.

  I laughed and resisted the urge to put a brotherly arm around her shoulders on the side of a road. It wouldn’t be proper given our respective ranks.

  “Want me to talk to him?”

  “God, no! He’d know I talked to you and would be royally pissed. Don’t need that headache.”

  We walked for another minute in silence, me wishing for a cigarette even though I’d been quit for almost eight years.

  “Rachel’s pregnant again,” I suddenly blurted.

  “What?” Martinez shouted, coming to a stop. “Really?”

  I smiled and nodded. She looked back at me, a broad smile spreading across her face as her hand came up to rest on her belly.

  “She’s not the only one.”

  Fuck rank and being in public. I wrapped Martinez in my arms and hugged her tightly.

  Afterword

  If you’ve skipped to here without reading the book first... STOP! SPOILERS AHEAD!

  Wow! Nineteen books, and to think I almost ended the series way back at Transmission, Book 5. What a hell of a ride!

  If you’re reading this, you’ve taken the entire journey with me. Thank you! Hopefully you’ve been as thrilled and scared and furious and heartbroken as I have as the story unfolded. Every character, with the exception of Roach, has been based on someone I’ve known or worked with over the years and it’s been amazingly hard to write their deaths, even if it is only fiction. But there’s one passing in real life that so completely turned my world inside out that I almost couldn’t complete the series.