The Survival Chronicles (Book 7): Hard Mercy

by Nally, Fergal F.

  Tawny pulled a sceptical face, “I guess we’ll find out—”

  The sound of snoring interrupted their conversation. They looked over at Barnes, asleep on the sofa.

  “Who ever heard of a snoring Navy SEAL? Don’t they train that shit out of you?” Flynn smiled.

  “Yes, I’ve heard him snoring before. You’d have thought SEAL training would’ve covered that one, wouldn’t you?” Mercy shook her head in mock exasperation.

  Roll on tomorrow. Rose, we’re on our way—

  They set sound traps, secured the house, and turned in for the night.

  The next day dawned misty and dull. They set off at first light down Mission Home Road and joined Simmons Gap Road forty minutes later. They continued along their route for another few miles until the asphalt ran out.

  Barnes stopped and consulted his map, “This is the Simmons Gap Fire Road, it’ll take us to the Skyline Drive… there’s a Ranger Station up there. We’ll see how it goes. There’s only four of us, so we should stay close. I’ll take point, Mercy you’ve got our six. Everyone, eyes and ears big time from now on. Let’s go—”

  “The mist is pretty grim, I can hardly see a thing. It wasn’t like this yesterday,” Tawny complained.

  Barnes spoke over his shoulder, “Welcome to the misty mountains, yeah, it’s pretty thick alright. We’re good with the map and compass though. The mist should burn off late morning, noon at the latest, visibility will improve then.”

  Mercy smiled to herself.

  Good to have you back big guy… that was some fucked up shit you went through back there. I’m glad you made it through—

  The fire road climbed the hillside, weaving through the lush forest. Birds called out from the branches above. The cool breeze rustled the leaves in the canopy. They fell into a steady rhythm and covered the ground in silence, each lost in their own thoughts. The breeze intensified the higher they went. Mercy caught glimpses of the land falling away beneath them.

  Trees everywhere. Beautiful country, just beautiful. God’s own country—

  They reached a clearing and Barnes stopped to consult the map. He drew near to the others and lowered his voice, “We’re near the Ranger Station, it’s off down that track. What do you want to do?”

  Mercy shook her head, “We’re good, we should head straight to the co-ordinates Annalise left. There’s no point going off-grid. I say we press on—”

  Barnes grunted, “I agree. OK, quick water break… then we’re Oscar Mike.”

  Tawny looked at Barnes, “Oscar Mike?”

  “Sorry, that’s on the move to you—” Barnes said.

  Flynn looked around, “Hey, I just realised… we’re in bear country here aren’t we?”

  “We sure are.” Barnes said, “Shoot first and ask questions later—”

  “Yeah, like I’ll probably fill my pants first,” Flynn answered. He looked at his M4 carbine, “Will this even stop a bear?”

  “No, but you’ll piss it off and it’ll come after you. We can then bail while it’s occupied ripping your head off,” Barnes kept his voice deadpan.

  Mercy gulped down some water and wiped the sweat from her forehead. “OK, let’s quit the small talk and push on—”

  No bears, please, no fucking bears—

  They joined Skyline Drive and headed southwest. The road was riddled with potholes in places. They had to climb over fallen trees twice. Barnes slowed as they approached their destination. He raised a closed fist and knelt down to examine something on the road. He beckoned Mercy forwards.

  “What is it?” Mercy whispered.

  Barnes indicated at a pile of animal dung on the side of the road. He pointed at his eyes then at a collection of huckleberry bushes low on the left. Mercy peered through the bushes and saw movement. Barnes passed her his binoculars. She focused on the spot and let her breath out.

  Longhorn cattle. Jesus, I didn’t think there’d be any of them left alive. Looks like they’re doing OK. They’re roaming free—

  The sound of horses followed by the cocking of a lever-action rifle made her drop to the ground.

  “Throw down your weapons, all of you. Anyone who fucks with me gets dead… fast—” a man’s voice.

  Goddammit—

  Mercy dropped her pistol and raised her hands. The others hesitated then followed her lead.

  Chapter 24

  LGM-25C

  “Turn around, real slow. Don’t do anything stupid, I’ve got a real itchy trigger finger—” the man drawled.

  Mercy turned to face a man on a horse. He was flanked by two others; another man and a woman. Three more men emerged from the undergrowth, all armed.

  “Who are you people? What do you want?” the man asked.

  Barnes glanced at Mercy.

  Mercy straightened her shoulders, “My name’s Mercy Dawes. I’m from New York City. These others are with me… that’s Barnes with the beard, then you’ve got Tawny here and that’s Flynn. We’re looking for an Annalise Young, I knew her father, Billy-Ray… he sent me here to find her.”

  Mercy let her words sink in.

  A young woman carrying a crossbow stepped out from behind a tree. “I’m Annalise Young. I’ve never seen you before, how do you know my father?”

  Mercy turned towards the woman, “I’m not going to sugar-coat it. I met your father in Norfolk, he was working for a drug dealer called Deadstick. Your father was an explosives expert. Deadstick found him useful. Long story short… your father stowed away on a truck that me and my friends used to get across to Hampton. The NSA chased us. Your father helped us escape and we used some safe houses and a lighthouse he knew about from his drug running days. He helped us get to Annapolis… but he didn’t make it. He took an NSA bullet in the leg near Buckroe Beach, outside of Hampton. We patched him up, he was desperate to reach you. He gave me a letter to give to you, but I lost it… sorry. An NSA gunboat killed him somewhere off Oyster Harbor, south of Annapolis. There were three NSA boats… our helmsman steered the RIB we were using into one of their gunboats. Your father was on the RIB, he didn’t make it—”

  Mercy stopped. She watched Annalise’s face. Annalise showed no emotion.

  “Some story,” the man on the horse remarked.

  “Yeah, some story,” one of the women echoed.

  Annalise took a step back and looked away. She hesitated then started talking, “Yes, my father was an explosives expert. He completed two tours in Iraq, when I was a kid. He suffered from PTSD. Did he tell you that? Turns out there’s not much work for an explosives expert in peacetime… for a veteran with PTSD. Bridge demolition was his specialty. We needed money for my mother’s cancer treatment, he went east and found work. He sent cheques through the mail. He’d come home every month for a few days. Mom had her treatment… dad provided for us, said he’d found work at Norfolk Naval Station, on the docks. I believed him, mom believed him, all that mattered was her treatment. The money kept coming, she had her treatment, twelve months of it… but the cancer got her in the end. I knew deep down that dad wasn’t working on the docks. You don’t get that sort of money working for the government—”

  Annalise broke off.

  “I’m sorry Annalise, there’s more… but maybe we should talk alone?” Mercy shrugged her shoulders.

  Annalise turned to the man on the horse, “It’s OK, their story rings true. I’ll vouch for them.”

  The man on the horse nodded, “OK Annalise… it’s your call.” He turned to Mercy, “I’m Brody, this here is Jade,” he indicated the woman on his left, “my daughter. You and your people are welcome to stay at our camp for a few days. You’ll have to hand over your weapons though, that’s non-negotiable. You’ll get them back when you leave—”

  Shit, I guess that makes sense. Well, at least we passed the interview without a shot being fired—

  Mercy caught Barnes’s eye then nodded at the horseman. “Agreed. We could use some shelter and also some… local knowledge. You see I have a friend, Rose. Sh
e’s been captured by some NSA-controlled tropes… weaponized tropes. The NSA have been conducting biotech experiments on selected tropes in DC. They call them alphas, they’re evolved, much more intelligent tropes. Vicious bastards, they’re GPS tagged and seem to be remotely controlled by the NSA somehow, maybe by some sort of cloud AI—”

  Mercy looked at the riders’ blank expressions.

  Too much information—

  She turned to Annalise, “We need to talk—”

  They arrived at the campground forty minutes later and were brought to a lodge complete with wood burning stove, table and chairs. Fresh coffee was made and passed around.

  Annalise sat beside the stove and stared at Mercy, “So talk.”

  Mercy sipped her coffee, her mind agitated, “OK. I can see how maybe you don’t know about alphas and what was going on in DC.” Mercy looked at the people gathered in the room. “Look Annalise… what I have to say, you might want to process it first. Do all these other people have to be in here?”

  Annalise looked at Brody.

  Brody stood up, “OK, everybody out. Give us some space, we’ll be done in a while.”

  The room emptied leaving Mercy, Barnes, Tawny, Flynn, Annalise, Brody and Jade.

  “OK, let me have it… all of it,” Annalise said.

  Mercy shifted in her seat, “Your father wanted me to tell you he loved you and he was trying to get back here. He gave me your address in Mission Home. We found the co-ordinates you left in your mail box—”

  Brody frowned but remained silent.

  “Your father told me you were fifteen and had been rounded up by the NSA with other kids. You were experimented on in Richmond by Cobalt Biotech. Just like me and my friends here. “Your father said you can walk through tropes. He got you out of Richmond eighteen months ago, he said you were all alone, up here in the mountains…”

  “I’m not alone anymore,” Annalise looked at Brody and Jade.

  “So… what do you want?” Brody asked.

  Mercy waved her hand in the air, “We need help, up here, in these mountains. Local knowledge, a guide, call it what you want. We’ve used an NSA GPS tracker to follow the alphas and we know they’re somewhere in these mountains. We’ve not switched on the tracker for a while as we don’t want it to lead the NSA to us. The problem is we’re running out of time for my friend Rose, we need to get to her fast, rescue her, get her away from these alpha tropes. We thought… I thought Annalise could give us a steer… after all, this is your back yard—”

  Jade gave Brody a look. She turned to Mercy, “There ain’t nothing in this life for free no more, you’ve gotta earn our help—”

  Brody raised a hand, “We could help you out, like you say these mountains are treacherous if you don’t know what you’re doing, especially when bad weather comes in. And then there are the bears—”

  Tawny flinched and muttered something under her breath.

  “But we would expect something in return,” Jade said.

  Annalise put her hand on the table, “The NSA militia in Charlottesville are holding some of our people in the prison. They’re using them as slave labour… and worse, if you’re a woman. The militia have tropes chained to the perimeter fence as part of their security. I could deal with one or two of them but if you and your friends here are the same as me, we’d stand a better chance to break through the fence—”

  Brody leaned forwards, “So, you see… you have a need and we have a need. We can help each other, it’s a win-win. Would you be prepared to help us out?”

  Mercy glanced at Tawny and Flynn, “Sure we would, but we need to rescue my friend first. These alphas… I’ve no idea what they’re going to do with her. Our time is short—”

  Brody stood up, “It’s settled then, I’ll get one of my best scouts, he’ll take you away from here so you can use your tracker and see where they’ve taken your friend. That way they won’t get a fix on our camp. Then we can organise a trip to go and get her back. What’s her name again?”

  Mercy stood up, “Rose—”

  Brodie held out his hand, “Let’s shake on it.”

  Shake? That’s so… twentieth century—

  Mercy shook his hand, “You’re old school… I mean, with the old customs. I haven’t shaken anyone’s hand in like… forever—”

  Brody grinned, “Not everything has died out, at least not yet. The old world did have some redeemable features, despite what happened in the end. I’ll be a few minutes. I’ll go get your guide—”

  Brody left the room.

  Mercy looked at Annalise and Jade, “So, how many of your people are prisoners in Charlottesville?”

  Jade reached into her breast pocket and pulled out a wallet. She opened it and pushed it across the table to Mercy, “They’ve got my mother and my younger brother and sister. Also some other of our families are in there. They ambushed us on a scavenging trip. They shot three of us, two died, we came back here. We’ve been planning a raid for a while but their fence and the tropes tied to it are a big deterrent. We knew about Annalise’s ability, but she’s only one person. With your help it’ll be different—”

  Annalise tapped the table, “They’ve got twelve of our people in all. There’s others in there, being held against their will. They’re being forced to do farm work and to scavenge high risk sites with sniper back up. We’ve watched a few of the militia’s operations from a distance. They send prisoners in as bait, drawing the tropes away. Then they go in and take what they can from wherever it is—”

  Tawny glanced at Mercy and nodded, “I’ve seen that done before. It sucks. We’ll need to do a recon of this prison and see where the weak spots are. We’ll be able to come up with something—”

  The door opened and Brody stepped in, accompanied by an older man. “This is Sledge, he’s a tracker. He’s the closest thing you’ll get to Sasquatch around here. Sledge, these are the people I told you about. We’re going to help them out and in turn they’re gonna help us spring our people from Charlottesville.”

  Sledge took in Barnes, Tawny and Flynn. He approached Mercy, “You’re the one Annalise vouched for. Brody filled me in.” He glanced at the window. “I hear you’re up against the clock, so let’s go now. I’ve got a place in mind where you can dial up that thing,” he pointed at the tracker on the table.

  Mercy pursed her lips.

  Shit, this guy reeks of booze. Don’t say anything though, this is a means to an end—

  “Yeah, let’s go—” Mercy stood up.

  Sledge made for the door, “It’s quicker if we go on horseback. You people can ride, can’t you?”

  Shit, well, we did train on the horse simulator on the aircraft carrier—

  “Yeah, it’s been a while, but we’re good,” Flynn piped up, eyeing Mercy.

  They went outside. Seven horses were waiting for them.

  “A horse each,” Brody said. “Annalise and Jade will go with you. Sledge will lead the way, you’ll switch that thing on and find out where they’re holding your friend. We’ll see you back here when you’re done—”

  Tawny pressed up to Mercy, “What could possibly go wrong?”

  Mercy grimaced.

  Fifty minutes later they were on a subsidiary peak, away from the campground. They tethered the horses and gathered around the NSA GPS tracker. Sledge had brought a map of the area which was spread out on the ground.

  “Ready when you are,” Sledge said, his rheumy eyes looking Mercy up and down.

  His hands are shaking, I wonder if he needs a drink? Maybe he distils his own moonshine up here?

  Barnes stood under a red oak tree and switched the tracker on. He waited while the device connected to the satellites above.

  Mercy chewed her lip.

  Come on, come on—

  Flynn put his arm around her.

  Not now Flynn, not—

  “I’ve got her, I’ve got a signal. It’s them, they’re at… 38°25'28.4" North, 78°30'17.5" West,” Barnes said.

&
nbsp; Sledge bent forwards to examine his map, “OK, OK, OK… give me those co-ordinates again.”

  Barnes checked and repeated the location.

  Sledge traced his finger across the map. “That’s just west of the Oaks Overview, near Naked Creek.” He paused and looked up, “It’s about twenty klicks from here.” He shook his head, and frowned.

  “What is it?” Annalise asked.

  “I don’t understand. Why would they go there?” Sledge muttered.

  “What is it?” Mercy repeated, trying hard to keep the exasperation from her voice.

  Sledge looked up, “It’s one of the old Titan II silos—”

  Mercy shook her head, “Sorry, what? Titan II… what’s that?”

  Barnes frowned, “Nukes. Nuclear missile silos. Uncle Sam has thousands of silos all over the country. Some decommissioned, some mothballed… some very much active. The Appalachians have their fair share—”

  Mercy’s face was blank.

  Nukes—?

  Tawny looked at the map, “Christ. They’ve taken Rose to a nuke missile base? What the hell for?”

  It’s Mitchell… it’s got to be him. His digital consciousness, the NSA Command AI… whatever you want to call it—

  “It’s Mitchell, isn’t it?” Flynn blurted out. “He’s gonna nuke the Resistance—”

  Jesus Christ—

  They fell silent and stared at the map in disbelief. A skylark burst into song overhead and somewhere, deep in the forest, a woodpecker began tapping on a hollow tree.

  Chapter 25

  The Oaks Overlook

  Sledge stood up and pulled out a handkerchief from his pocket. He wiped his neck then walked over to his horse. He produced a hipflask from his saddlebag and took a long swig and stared at the others. “My brother-in-law, Marty, he used to work there… back in the day. He was called in to repair the water filtration system… he used to talk about the place. Those silos were upgraded, all the old cold war gear was taken out and replaced with state of the art tech. He said there were four silos in these parts… all of them run by machines and a skeleton crew of humans. The machines were supposed to be better than people. The silo crew were just there as… insurance—”