by Jeff Olah
He knew what awaited them and the risk he was taking, although if the young men trailing Rath and Chloe were to once again overtake them, it would be their only diversion.
8
He didn’t remember taking off his gloves, he also didn’t remember dropping them anywhere along the way, which was more likely the answer. Climbing out of the base of the foothills, his hands ached from the drop in temperature and the frozen winds that continued to taunt their ascent through the boulder field. He hadn’t turned since they left the wall and thirty minutes into their climb, Chloe still managed to move forward, although he wasn’t sure how much longer she’d be able to maintain the quickened pace.
The origin of the smoke trail, now less than fifty yards off and at an equivalent altitude, Rath looked for a place to rest. “Chloe, get down behind this bush.” He pulled out the single bottle of water left in his pack and handed it to her as he slid down into the cover afforded by the overgrown foliage.
“Where are they, those men chasing us?” Chloe asked.
“I don’t know, but I promise they won’t hurt you. They only want me.”
“Why, what did you do to them?”
“I’m not really sure, but we won’t be here long enough to find out.”
Getting her wind back and taking a second long swig from the ice cold bottle, Chloe handed it back to Rath and turned to stand. A distant crack pulled her back just before her head appeared over the top of the bush, the tree to their left exploding as a nine millimeter round tore into its trunk, sending fragmented pieces of birch into the early morning air. The difference between the falling snow and the powdered shards of wood were almost indistinguishable.
Three more shots, each closer as they tore past them and into the rock formation twenty yards ahead. Rath pulled Chloe in tight and whispered into her ear. “Five seconds and then we’re gonna run toward the smoke, run as fast as you can and keep going up the hill until you get to the top.”
“Ok… but what is that?”
“I’ll explain later, but it’s bad. This IS something that we both need to be afraid of. So don’t stop running until I tell you to. You understand?”
“Yes.”
Gauging from the four earlier shots, they had less than a hundred yards on their pursuers and quite possibly only a twenty second head start. This had to be the same individual from town who’d fired on them earlier and Rath was hopeful that while the gunman attempted to navigate the hillside, any shots fired would be even less accurate than before. He counted to three in his head, got to his feet and helped Chloe move to the edge of the thick underbrush.
“Let’s go.” He lifted her around the small boulder to their left and Chloe’s legs were already in second gear before her feet touched the lightly dusted trail. Between the two outcroppings, he was surprised at the girl’s agility as she moved along the trail between the head high boulders as if she’d run this course every day of her life.
Six steps behind her and convinced that he provided Chloe with the necessary cover, they progressed quickly toward the looming column of smoke. A fifth and sixth shot came in quick succession and Rath dipped his head to the left, less out of fear than gut reaction.
Both rounds tore into the morning sky, ripping through the black smoke and pulling traces of it toward oblivion. Firing on the run, he’s never going to hit—
As if karma was listening and decided to instantly make itself known, the seventh crack coming from somewhere behind, killed the silence once again and scorched through his right shoulder. A flesh wound, although deeper and much more painful than he’d anticipated, Rath was thrown to his left under the pressure. Fighting the momentum, he righted himself and continued to shield Chloe. Somehow she seemed to be accelerating as she continued along the trail and within seconds of reaching the outcropping from which the smoke filtered, she slowed to a stop.
He noticed the pair of tracks leading into the recessed alcove only a second before the beast stepped out. Not quite six feet and weighing slightly less than Rath himself, the Andro that caused Chloe to brake rested with its back to them, its meaty hand against the massive boulder.
With the storm escalating from the South, Rath used the well-timed white noise to continue forward, retrieving Chloe and bringing her to his chest as he picked up speed.
Knowing the men behind were closing, although unaware of just how close, he flipped his head back seconds before slamming into his intended target. Less than ten yards behind and quickly closing, something about the young man pursuing him was familiar. His face came clear and the snapshot pulled at something deep within Rath’s mind. Something he didn’t have time to work through.
Covered head to toe in black, the young men were only feet from catching him as Rath lowered his left shoulder and continuing forward drove it into the back of the Andro who was caught completely by surprise. Nearly dropping Chloe, Rath staggered right under the force and plowed into the opposite boulder as the men from behind careened into the Andro and one another—a dense soup of arms, legs, fresh powder and chaos.
Numbness beginning to run down his right arm, Rath righted himself, began to stumble forward and checked on his passenger. “Chloe, are you alright?”
Loosening her grip and pulling her face from his left shoulder, she fought to calm her breathing. “I’m… okay… just—”
Unsure whether her winded condition had more to do with fear or the prior footrace, he winced setting her back on the ground. Quickly turning to the four bewildered men in black, who at present were attempting to navigate their new situation, Rath shielded Chloe’s eyes from what he already knew was about to take place.
As the four men in black pushed to a standing position and encircled their new target, the look of shock and despair that slid across their faces was almost tragic. Five Andros, all well over six feet tall, moved out into the clearing between the two rock formations that made up the narrow corridor. The largest of the horde smiled when he saw what awaited him.
Rath had a good sense of the danger he and Chloe had been running toward for the last thirty minutes, although the chill beginning to ascend his spine told him the men in black either had no idea what the smoke indicated, or they simply wanted him more than they feared a pack of Andros. He had no intention of staying behind and attempting to figure out which side they stood on. With his final destination little more than ten minutes off, and the drift beginning to fall at an intensified rate, he and Chloe needed to move.
No one spoke as the men in black quickly made eye contact with one another, as if some preplanned maneuver were going to get them free of their current situation. The young man with the handgun, who appeared to be the leader, raised his weapon and squeezed off two rounds. Both shots sailed wide right as the five Andros moved in unison, descending on their four much smaller victims. The final image burned into Rath’s memory before moving out… an Andro repeatedly slamming his opponents face into the ground before retrieving the victim’s stun baton and snapping it in half with its bare hands.
9
Once he turned, Rath never looked back and he knew by the look on her face that Chloe wouldn’t either. The sounds were sufficient to describe the fate of the four men dressed in black. The pack of Andros lying in wait just fifteen minutes beyond the rear entrance to The Patch appeared to be longtime residents of the hillside and would likely leave at least one of their victims alive and use the others at their discretion. The anguished cries as three of the young men were literally torn apart was torment enough, although Rath knew that this was only part of their sadistic ritual. What came next was unthinkable.
. . .
Above the wailing of the three individuals fighting for their last breaths, the fourth was pinned to the ground; face up with his eyes held open. He begged first for mercy and then for a quick release from this life. He shouted “Kill me you arrogant beasts… just end it already.” The five Andros paused momentarily and appeared amused, if not all together excited by the prospect of not only a fresh kill
, but also the opportunity to make a spectacle of their most recent conquest.
The largest of the five Andros, standing just over seven feet tall and weighing well past three hundred pounds, motioned for the others to pull the viciously beaten men to their feet. One of the men already bleeding out from the powerful blows he’d taken to the head, fell limp into his capturer’s arms. The other two used what little remaining strength they possessed in an attempt to pull away from their much larger foes.
The ground shook as the seven footer moved from one end of the narrow corridor to the other. He reached for the young man still pinned to the ground, pulled him up by the neck and tossed him against the rock wall. “Tell your people that this is our side of the mountain. Do not ever return.” With one kick, the Andro buckled the smaller man’s knee into an unnatural hyperextended positon and instantly sent him back to the ground. “Go now and let them know what you’ve seen here.”
Acting on impulse, the young man started back in the direction of his friends. Crawling not more than a few feet, he was stopped by the massive Andro as it grabbed one of the other men in black by the arm. The Andro clamped down and peering into the young man’s eyes said, “You should have listened; now your friend is going to pay the price.” A grin slid across the beast’s face as he ripped the right arm from the half-conscious man’s body and tossed it to the ground. Blood flowed freely from both the stump and shoulder socket, saturating the area as a fine pink mist rose above the snow covered ground.
. . .
With well over two hundred yards between them and the scene he’d undoubtedly helped create, Rath pointed Chloe to the alcove just ahead and had her pause at the entrance. “Let me check it out before you go in.” She stood with her back to the hillside as Rath entered and followed him inside with her eyes. The space was much smaller than he’d remembered from twenty-two years before and he made quick work of the interior before motioning for her to enter.
“We’ll rest for a few minutes and then we need to climb that steep hill ahead, so drink some water and stretch your legs.”
“Stretch my legs?” Chloe said.
He smiled. “Another figure of speech.” Rath brushed the light dusting of snow from the first few feet of the alcove and laid down a small cloth from his backpack, then sat and watched as Chloe dropped to the ground in one motion. They sat in silence, both watching the shadows move from one side of the alcove to the other.
Running her fingers though her hair, Chloe attempted to right the mess it had become since leaving home. “Are we there yet? I really want to see my mom.”
She was doing what her mother had told her and kept up the façade of not being scared, even through everything the two of them had seen. Her look had softened since awaking in City Hall and he wasn’t quite sure why, although the hard part was over. Their loved ones were only minutes away and worst case scenario, he’d have to make a trade with those in charge for both women. With the smallest amount of luck and also a bit of forgiveness, the four of them may just have a new home. “We’ll be there in just a few minutes.”
“Thank you Mr. Rath… can I ask you a question?”
He’d long since given up trying to get her to address him simply as Rath and had even become partial to the way it sounded in such a delicate tone. “Sure, what is it?”
“Those men, the ones who have been trying to hurt us, the really big ones… why are they called Andros?”
“Your parents never explained them to you?”
“No.”
“How old are you?”
“Eight… I’ll be nine soon.”
He wasn’t about to go into the history of the Androphagi and the nation of cannibals that descended from the north of Scythia in the years of ancient Greece. Chloe also had no use for this information or about how the name was adopted by the remaining population of earth once the world was divided into two distinctly separate societies. Rath couldn’t begin to find the appropriate words to illustrate how these people fed on other human beings, as well as one another. He knew she only needed for him to explain that these were bad people and that she must always be very afraid of them.
“These people that you’ve seen many times over the last few days, the ones we call Andros have lived out in the open, out in the cold for many years. They’ve been out here so long that the cold weather doesn’t bother them. These Andros have become hardened over time and have developed into a pretty mean group of people. They don’t like those of us who get to live inside warm homes and get to eat proper food.” He knew that last part was going to be trouble before it even left his lips.
“Is that why the big one said he was going to eat me? Do they eat people?”
Tell her the truth and wait for more questions or make up a story and again wait for more questions? The truth was probably easier if the questions continued; at least he wouldn’t paint himself into a corner he couldn’t escape. “Yes… they do, and that is why we always need to stay as far from them as possible. Do you understand?” He cringed as he waited to see where this would lead.
“Yeah, I think I get it.”
And that was it. She let out a long sigh and turned away, looking out into the snow as it drifted sideways along the opening. She was satisfied with his explanation and he was happy to not delve further into this subject.
The pain in his right shoulder began to fade as he studied Chloe, now mesmerized by the passing wind sending flurries into the space. She giggled as a single flake landed on the tip of her nose, although she didn’t turn back to see his reaction. She simply said, “My mom.”
An echo in the distance pulled him back to present. The Andros were on the move and in all likelihood, had picked up their trail. Their short reprieve quickly at an end, Rath peered out into the same frostbitten morning as his tiny traveling companion. “It’s time.”
10
The quick walk to the end of the stone corridor proved again shorter than his memory. The ensuing twenty foot ascent, also not as treacherous, he helped Chloe with the first few handholds, cinched down the straps of his backpack and stayed within two feet of her as they climbed. Reminders to focus on what was above and the intermittent words of encouragement pushed Chloe to the rim in less time than it took to detail the new set of instructions, which he decided to give her once more as they reached for the top.
Before positioning his right leg atop the ledge and distributing the full weight of his body along the remaining three exhausted limbs, Rath nodded in the direction of the south facing wall thirty feet from their current position. “Chloe,” he said motioning to the pair of ten-foot blast doors carved into the side of the mountain. “We’re home.”
As he reached for the final handhold and began to pull himself up, the hillside broke loose. Thick layers of uneven shale and much larger rock structures shifted above and below. Attempting to twist away from the careening hillside, Rath changed the position of his left foot and inadvertently triggered a second area to break free. Without time to adjust to the shift, all he could do was watch as three large boulders came together, pinning his left leg to the mountain.
“Rath!”
A nuisance, nothing more, he thought. Even though there’d be no way to free himself without help, he wasn’t injured, simply stuck between a few absurdly heavy rocks. Peering down between his legs, he realized that although he hadn’t suffered a break, the unfortunately placed stones encircling his calf and the resulting pressure began to cut the sensation to his lower leg. Two quick tugs confirmed his suspicions, he’d either have to get help from the place he left twenty-two years ago or become fast friends with the Andros that he assumed weren’t more than ten minutes off.
“Chloe, I’m not hurt, just stuck. I’m gonna need you to go to that big door and get help. The people inside will take you to your mom and they’ll help get me out of here.” He nodded to the stone the size of his fist near Chloe’s left foot. “Take that rock and keep pounding on the door until they come out.”
&n
bsp; “What if they—”
“Please Chloe; I need you to do this for me. The people we love are behind those doors and we need to get in.”
“Okay… but why is it called The Patch?”
A simple explanation was all he could afford, given their current situation. “At one time this was the only place on the planet that was safe. Safe from the really bad winters that were already coming and a protective cover for all the bad things that were happening outside. They named it The Patch.”
She turned and looked at the massive steel doors then back at Rath. Chloe grabbed the rock at her feet and walked slowly toward the rear entrance, her head on a swivel.
Rath continued to struggle against his current position as she walked slowly toward the doors, each step timid and pronounced. With less than five strides to go she began to lift the stone above her head and ran the last few feet, striking the doors where they merged dead center.
Reverberating through the light dusting of fresh powder, the sound would have certainly carried for miles if not buffered by the driving wind. She slammed the stone against the door six more times and although his leg began to cramp in place, his only thought rested on the horde closing in from behind. At this point, he was fairly confident that the pack of Andros would close the gap, reaching him before help did and he began to make peace with that fact. What he wasn’t about to accept was this eight-year-old becoming their next victim; he just didn’t know how to prevent it.
