~~~
Inside the cellar, Sarah and Jade spoke in whispers, not wanting to wake the baby. “What do we do if they get inside the compound?” Jade was feeling uneasy at not being involved with the fight.
“We stay here. There are booby traps all over the place.”
A brief silence followed as Jade studied Sarah’s face. The baby sleeping next to her meant everything, but her skin crawled at being cooped up and out of the action. She needed to change the subject to take her mind off it. “What happens?” she asked inquisitively. “What happens to you when you get your visions?”
Sarah seemed surprised by the question. “I don’t know, really. It starts off kinda slow. I start feeling a tension in my head, and when it reaches a certain degree I just know I’m going to have one.”
“Does it hurt?”
“No, I wouldn’t say it hurts. It’s more draining than anything. It’s like you just got your battery drained and you need to recharge.” Sarah smiled weakly. “The gift has been in my family for generations. I thought it had skipped me.”
“You consider it a gift?” Jade asked, a bit startled by the declaration. “Aren’t you horrified by what you see?”
Sarah seriously considered the question. “Much of what I see is horrible and hard to erase from my memory. But if I didn’t see it we wouldn’t be here right now. I have to see this as a gift. The visions have allowed us all to survive.”
“I guess I can understand that,” admitted Jade. “So you knew at a young age that psychic tendencies ran in your family?"
"Yes, on my mother's side. We had some interesting events over the years. I was very close with my grandmother, who was always talking to Spirit. I used to laugh at her as a child. She was always just chatting away to herself, or so I thought, and I used to think she was silly. I was still pretty young the night she passed. She was living with us at the time and had been sick for quite a while. She was excited that her time was coming and whispered to me that she'd let me know she was okay once her body let go. The night she died I walked outside feeling devastated. All of a sudden this butterfly fluttered around me before landing on my shoulder. I instantly knew it was her. At that moment I came to believe my family had a gift, and I believed in the afterlife."
Jade was thoroughly wrapped up in the story and remained silent, waiting for her to continue. Sarah smiled at her, but a hint of sadness showed in her eyes. "I wanted for years to experience it. When it came, I wasn't so sure after all. It all started with the priest. Father McCann. It's how I knew you were coming. I had no idea the visions could become so dark. "
They both remained silent for a minute. Once it started to become uncomfortable, Jade thought of something and asked, "How did you know that Jason could be immune?”
“The priest,” she said, matter-of-fact. Sarah had seen him several times in her visions. He had been one of Mace and Jade’s companions. He'd been murdered by a teenage gang in San Francisco but had somehow reached from beyond the grave. “He told me in a vision. He whispered that you had received a small dose of the airborne infection, and the antidote within you created antibodies. You passed those on to Jason here,” she said, gently rubbing the blanket the baby was wrapped in.
Jade could see a hint of sadness behind Sarah’s eyes as Sarah stared at her child. Sarah had lost her own baby three months earlier in a miscarriage. She and Bo were trying to conceive again.
Feeling Jade’s eyes upon her, she turned her gaze back from Jason. “He’s beautiful, you know. The perfect little infant.”
“You’ll have one, too,” Jade said warmly, touching her arm. “I know you will.”
“Perhaps. But I have come to accept that whatever happens is meant to be.”
~~~
Firing repeatedly from the guard tower, Mace swung his rifle back and forth swiftly, picking off as many moving targets as possible. The men that had been attacked had joined the ranks of the moving dead and their members were now rapidly approaching the perimeter gate. The compound was about to be overrun.
Mace jumped as a huge stream of fire shot out below him, blasting sixty feet from the fence line into the void. He could feel the heat on his face and pulled his head back from the source. Peering over the railing a few seconds later, he spotted five men with WWII era flame throwers standing shoulder width apart. They each fired steady bursts at the mutant infected that were within range. The mutants roared in outrage as they burned, flailing their arms as they attempted to move forward. They were like dry wood and burned swiftly, each dropping as they were consumed, crawling forward until they were overcome by flames.
More backup appeared in the form of 40mm M320 grenade launchers which were underbarrel mounted to five of the M-16’s. As the flame throwers continued to fire bursts of flame through the chain link fence, one of the men with the grenade launchers climbed the guard tower. As he crested the platform, Mace spotted him and moved to give him room. The soldier sported a huge grin as their eyes met. It was obvious to Mace that this guy loved his job.
Carefully lining up a shot with a mutant that was over 200 yards away, he flipped up the rear sight, took a deep breath, and then exhaled. All Mace heard was a soft plunk before the mutant in the distance literally exploded and chunks of flesh splattered in an incredible display. The guy looked over and winked at Mace before popping the barrel to eject the spent casing and load another.
Shaking his head in awe of the available firepower, Mace worked his way back down the ladder. Reaching the ground, he jogged away from the cluster of men to better assess the situation. Moving thirty feet away, he could still see the mutants thanks to the spotlight, and many were burning as they were brought down by automatic gunfire.
What concerned him were the ones that were swiftly moving away. With their eyes extremely sensitive to light, the spotlight and flames activated their flight response, triggering a change in their body chemistry that transformed their rage to fear. He thought of Sarah’s words to Bo and realized they couldn’t just stop at ending the immediate threat. They needed to end the mutant infection for good.
Mace took off at a sprint, finding Shawn towards the end of the fighters lined up against the fence. “We’ve got to go. They’re getting away.”
Shawn looked confused, looking from Mace to the infected who raged as they were consumed by fire. “Even their nuts are getting barbecued. They’re not going anywhere.”
Their conversation, despite the madness of combat, was overheard by Angela, who stood on the other side of Shawn. “Why does that remind me of a Christmas song?”
“I have no idea. You must just be deranged,” Shawn answered with a playful grin.
Angela snapped her finger and pointed at him. “Chestnuts roasting on an open fire. That’s it!”
Mace couldn’t believe the conversation. “Could we save the foreplay until later? The mutants are getting away.”
Both Shawn & Angela pointed at the burning pile of infected. “No they’re not.”
“No, not them. There are others, mostly the men who got attacked. They’re running away, and if we don’t move, we’re going to lose them. The infection could still spread.”
“Shit,” said Shawn.
“Let’s go,” Angela said without hesitation, pointing towards the 4x4 with the spotlight bolted to the bed. “They keep the keys in the truck. That spotlight is fully adjustable and can even lift to six feet. Let’s gather some ammo and soldiers and make a run at them.”
“Don’t they still need the spotlight?” asked Mace. Before he could even finish the sentence, Angela was on the Walkie-Talkie.
“Attention base camp, we need another spotlight ASAP at guard tower one. We’re taking the 4 x 4 on a search and destroy. Copy. Over.”
Bo was on the radio immediately. “Roger. It’s on its way. Nothing lives, you understand? Priority one. Over and out.”
Angela screamed at the soldiers blocking the gate. “We need two more men for a search and destroy!” Pointing at the gate, s
he yelled, “We need that gate open now! We’re taking the truck! Another spotlight is already en route!”
The two closest men instantly jumped in the back of the truck, checking their weapons as Angela hopped in the driver’s side and revved the engine. The truck peeled out forward before she turned the steering wheel hard to make a fishtailing U-turn. Several men were pulling the gate open before she stopped next to Shawn and Mace and yelled, “C’mon! What are you waiting for?”
Shawn dove into the passenger seat as Mace jumped in the back, and they were off immediately. Angela yelled, “Watch this!” to Shawn as she drove through the gate and deliberately smashed into a burning mutant infected who was still on its feet. It bounced off the truck, flames licking the hood as it went down. The truck bounced over the fallen mutant, and the men in back held on tight as the truck rocked and fire briefly clung to the tires and underbody. Shawn was filled with lust as he stared at her. Beauty and fearlessness were a rare combination.
“That reminds me of a Christmas song,” he said loudly as the truck sped towards a fleeing infected.
Angela laughed as she yelled back, “Which one?”
“Grandma got run over by a reindeer!”
“You’re deranged!”
She laughed louder as she zeroed in on the fleeing quarry, and Shawn stuck his head out the window, firing repeatedly at the infected with his M-16. Mace was manning the spotlight, standing squarely in the back of the truck, holding on tight to the spotlight brace as he directed the light towards the creatures.
One of the soldiers in back lifted his automatic rifle and fired repeatedly at a mutant a short distance to the left as it attacked one of the marauders. The creature’s head exploded and it fell over as the marauder rose, now newly infected. Shrieking, it raced towards them. As the soldier fired at it, a projectile came flying from the compound, hitting it directly in its side. Its whole body exploded in a burst of flesh and tissue, tearing it apart.
Mace looked back towards the compound gate, which was now closed, to see the soldier in the tower with the grenade launcher waving. The new truck with the spotlight was just pulling up, and Mace could make out the grin plastered across his face as the light hit him.
~~~
Still deep in conversation in the storm cellar, several knocks diverted Jade and Sarah’s attention. Hoping that the situation had already resolved itself, Jade rushed up to push open the storm door panel. Standing outside was Lisa, one of the survivors who had arrived with Jade, accompanied by her daughter, Chelsea, who was four. Buster, their golden lab, sniffed around behind them.
“Could we come down?” There was look of quiet desperation on Lisa’s face.
“Of course. Is everything alright?”
“Yes, I just wanted to wait this thing out with some familiar company. I’m not used to staying out of the skirmishes. It’s driving me crazy not knowing what’s going on.”
“Oh my God, you have no idea how much this is killing me, too,” Jade replied in agreement.
“Not quite like being on the road where you only have yourself to rely on.”
Tickled by the comment, Sarah couldn’t help but start giggling. “Can you picture us a year ago, sitting around drinking coffee and gossiping? Now we’re all feeling incomplete because we aren’t shooting at some damn thing.”
Looking at the women, Chelsea felt the need to contribute. “Buster farted this morning, and it smelled like eggs.”
The women all started laughing.
When the laughter started to die down, Lisa looked curiously at Sarah. “Do you know the outcome of this? Have you seen it?”
Sarah shot a glance at Jade and grinned. Jade had asked her the same question earlier. “No, I do not know the outcome. Sometimes I see specific things and other times it’s just very vague.”
Feeling a little embarrassed, Lisa started to apologize. “I’m sorry; I can tell you get asked this stuff all the time. I don’t mean to pry. I just never knew anyone that was psychic before.”
“Not to worry,” said Sarah. “I was given a gift and with it comes responsibility. If I was in your shoes, I’d want to know as well.”
~~~
At the compound, the attack had abated enough for the second 4x4 with the spotlight to head out on a search and destroy. Ray’s body had been removed from the tower, and the destroyed spotlight was replaced. By the time Bo arrived to inspect the situation, the chain link fence had already been repaired where the flame throwers burned through it.
Staring at what remained of the mutant infected, Bo turned his head in disgust.
“I remember them now,” he said to Pete, who was busy with another man loading the bodies onto a truck bed for disposal. Bo had been knocked unconscious during the previous attack by a mutant infected. He’d gotten a very brief look at one.
“What the hell did that to them?” Pete asked, taking a break and wiping the sweat from his brow.
“Damned if I know.” Scanning the horizon for any disturbance, Bo said, “We need to figure out how to stop it. We need to find the source.”
~~~
Mace stood in the rear of the truck, pointing the spotlight at one of the buildings inside an industrial complex. They had chased an infected to the fence line before it rushed into one of the doorways. Staring at the door, Mace recalled the location when they had first arrived in Overland Park, remembering the burned bodies of three infected that had gone through the exact same entrance. It all began piecing together.
“This is ground zero for the mutation,” he said with conviction as everyone stood outside the vehicle, checking their surroundings. “I was here before,” he said, “when we first arrived. We came right after the first attack. This has got to be it.”
“What do we do, then?” Everyone remained focused on the door of the building, although quick glances around meant they weren’t entirely comfortable with their surroundings.
“Let’s storm it,” said Angela, moving forward. The two other soldiers hung back, unsure of the next move.
“Not so fast,” said Mace, stopping her. “You know how many of those things were at the compound. God only knows how many are inside there.”
“What do you suggest, then?” Angela asked, itching to finish off any infection.
“Come back here with a small army and burn the whole damn place to the ground.”
CHAPTER TWO
The rock flew perfectly straight, hitting the coke can dead center and sending it reeling off the fence. Jacqueline lifted the slingshot in triumph as the kids all cheered. Woody was in his cowboy outfit next to her, giving her a big thumbs up. “Nailed it,” he said, before pulling his own slingshot from behind his back and snapping a rock at the next lined up can. It ‘pinged’ off, sailing end over end until it rolled to a stop on the ground.
“Show off,” Jacqueline said with a wink and a smile.
Woody turned away, kicking softly at the ground with his cowboy boot. “Whatever,” he said quietly, not making eye contact. All of eight-years old, he was part of a group of thirty-two orphans in Wyoming that had been rescued from their caretaker. Evelyn, an elderly woman who ran the orphanage, had physically and mentally abused them. After the fall of mankind, any families that had the misfortune of stumbling upon her property were quickly torn apart. Training the children to due her bidding, she would separate the younger children from their parents. The orphans would then kill the rest of the family, whose remains were then cooked to keep them all well fed.
Mace and his group had come upon them by accident on their journey to Kansas. In an altercation, Mace had shot and killed Evelyn, and Jacqueline had stayed behind to raise them.
Placing a hand on Woody’s shoulder and bending down to force eye contact, she lifted his chin and said, “It’s okay, sugar. I’m not mad at you. You’re a very good shot. You don’t need to worry anymore about getting hurt. I won’t hurt you, I promise.”
Woody’s face stayed blank. His cowboy outfit was a Halloween costume mod
eled after Woody from Toy Story, and he had changed his name to match his persona after the end of civilization. “We’ll see,” he said quietly.
Jacqueline let go of his face, and he immediately turned away. Digging into his pocket, he pulled another rock and fired at one of the remaining cans. He and most of the kids kept an emotional distance. Their wounds would take years to heal, if ever.
Staring at the child in sadness, she reflected on what had transpired in the last four months. She had dreamed of building a home for them filled with love and laughter, but it remained very quiet most of the time. Their fears were not easily assuaged, and they kept mostly to themselves.
She did have a few favorites. Maya was unbelievably sweet and gentle, but whenever Jacqueline tried to get close to her she would pull back. Jacqueline knew she was making progress, but it could be measured in terms of inches, not feet. The moments of breakthrough had been few and far between.
Inside the house, the children were scattered about after a meager dinner of potatoes and rice, so Jacqueline rang the cow bell in the living room that signaled story time. The majority of the children were ten or under, the oldest being twelve, and she found that while not being particularly vocal, they loved to gather together to hear her read them stories.
“Tonight we have a new book,” she said as they she gathered around. Most were dressed in Halloween costumes. It was their method of escaping their emotional wounds and the harshness of their reality. A few kids still managed to smile at the mention of a new story.
“Can anyone tell me what Peter Pan is about?” she asked. She looked around and everyone remained quiet. A little hand went up from the back. It was Maya. In her little voice, all she said was, “Tinkerbell.” Her hand went back down and no one else moved.
“Yes, you are right. Tinkerbell is in the story. She is a fairy that helps Peter Pan. Good job, Maya.”
A hint of a smile appeared on Maya’s face at the praise.
Children of the Apocalypse (Mace of the Apocalypse #3) Page 2
