Fury of the Six (The Preston Six Book 5)

by Matt Ryan

  Joey raged at the sight of his daughter aged a couple of years in only a few days. Is this what Edith had talked about? Is this what they did to her?

  Joey rushed forward, Lucas and Poly flanked him. He hit a solid wall a few feet into the room. His gun bent back and he reached his hand out, feeling the invisible wall.

  “I knew you wouldn’t act rational.” Marcus said, casually turning to look at them. “That’s why I have the wall up. Don’t bother trying, you can’t get past it unless I allow it.”

  “Give her back,” Joey said.

  “You don’t deserve her. You have no idea how important she is to the worlds.”

  “This again?” Joey asked. “Give her to us, now.”

  “What did you do to her?” Poly asked.

  “I helped her. I did what you couldn’t and probably wouldn’t do. She had the mind of a giant, stuck in a baby’s body, it was cruel. I set her free and now she’ll grow up as quick as her mind does.”

  “You bastard, I’m going to kill you.” Poly used different knives and stabbed at the wall but nothing got through. She flailed against the wall, crying and reaching for Evelyn.

  Marcus looked concerned and adjusted Evelyn in his arms. “I obviously could have killed all of you a hundred times over since we first knew of each other, but I haven’t. Don’t you want to know why? Your beautiful daughter here understands the why, but she wants her momma, her papa, and her friends to know why. She won’t help me without you.”

  “You tried to kill us back in your bunker.” Poly seethed with rage.

  “Yes, I did. You’ve become most irksome to my plan of saving Earth. Curious though, how Alice reported you dead when you are obviously alive. Something I will no doubt figure out in time. Where is Julie?”

  “She’s gone back on Earth,” Lucas said.

  Marcus laughed. “I know she is near. She is one of the most fascinating people in all the common worlds. I will be truly interested in seeing what you and her produce for a child.”

  Lucas fired an arrow against the shield and it bounced off.

  “Come on in, Hank and Gladius. This regards you as well.”

  Hank and Gladius hung around the door and stayed there.

  “Very well. I’ve been searching for you all since the day I made a journey to a purged planet. Do you know how many mutants I’ve created, trying to invent something as special as all of you?”

  Joey paced near the shield and gave Lucas the look. Lucas typed into his Panavice and nodded his head. They had figured on a shield from Marcus, and Julie had linked her Panavice with Lucas’s. Lucas looked down at his Panavice and showed Joey the screen.

  Ten minutes.

  He cringed at the idea of waiting another ten minutes while this putrid man spewed his poison for his daughter to hear.

  “How many mutants did you create?” Lucas asked and Poly sent him a hateful look.

  Marcus continued, ignoring Lucas’s ploy to keep him talking. “You know, each of them are related to me in some way? I took my own superior DNA in an attempt to create special people like you.”

  Joey rolled his eyes and sighed. He couldn’t listen to this man for one more second. “Why don’t you just kill yourself? Save us the time here and we can move on with our lives. If Evelyn is so important, don’t keep her from her parents.”

  “What I’m trying to say is, Isaac used a serum based off of my DNA to help create you. Now, I’m not saying I’m your dad or anything, but we are definitely related. Evelyn has even taken to calling me Grandpa.”

  “Gramps,” Evelyn said. “It’s funny because you don’t look older than thirty-two.”

  “Dang, have I already hit the thirties?”

  “If he doesn’t stop . . .” Poly punched at the wall.

  “Come on, Julie,” Joey whispered to himself.

  “Now I am sure Julie is trying to tear this wall down, so I will be quick with my story.” Marcus set down Evelyn and she jumped on the seat next to him.

  “Evelyn, come to Mommy.”

  “You need to hear what he’s going to say,” Evelyn said.

  “Thank you, my dear.” Marcus took a few steps closer to them. “You know, I didn’t send Isaac to kill your parents. I actually had no knowledge of his actions until much later. He was trying to win back my favor after I punished him for ruining Ryjack.

  “And Simon, well, he overstepped my orders and killed Almadon, but to be fair, I’d only told him you were off limits. He was merely trying to bring you to me so I could keep you safe and help create her.” He pointed to Evelyn.

  “I suppose Samantha was just an accident?” Poly said.

  Marcus sighed. “Her death was an unfortunate side effect of bringing in a man I knew little about. Zach picked me up in his big rig the first day I arrived on Earth. I told him I’d make him a person of great importance and power and I would only require his complete obedience until our task was complete. But Zach had flaws and disobeyed me. I believe he thought he had surpassed me in some way. In the end, he acted on his own in killing her.”

  “So we are to assume you are an innocent bystander of multiple unfortunate circumstances?” Joey asked.

  “For the most part, yes. There is a threat out there like nothing else in all the worlds. There is a society with technology I could only describe as magic and science weaved together. But they need human bodies to sustain themselves, and from the wrecks of worlds they leave behind, it’s apparent they need a lot of them. I think there might even be two such of these greater beings, battling each other. I’ve noticed differences in purged worlds.”

  “Hector’s world?” Lucas said.

  “You’ve seen one of these worlds then?” Marcus asked.

  Joey glared at Lucas. “Yes.”

  “Good, then you will understand when I show you this. It always starts the same. A woman appears on every TV, phone, radio, intercom, and walkie-talkie, delivering a message to the world. To save our limited time, I’m just going to show you her video.”

  A projection of the woman appeared on the invisible wall. She looked to be in her late thirties. Pretty, but had a look of stone determination. “It is my deepest regret to inform you that although your lives seem important to each and every one of you, you’re entire civilization is but a mere blip in time and space. I have a great need for you. Your lives, your essence, will push me on, and therefore, your existence will have meaning.

  “Our culling will begin immediately. You may resist with all the vigor your world can muster, but none of it will matter in the end. Take solace in knowing there are many of you in existence, so no matter how far we reach, there will always be a you somewhere in the worlds. I thank you for the gift you are giving us. You matter more than you know.”

  The screen blanked out and Marcus stood closer to the wall, walking the edge of it.

  “What the hell was that?” Gladius asked.

  “Please listen to him,” Evelyn said.

  Hearing Evelyn’s support of this man invigorated Joey’s resolve to crush down the wall and kill him. He pushed on it with his hands and tried to get Evelyn’s gaze. She looked so much older.

  “This is who I believe created the stones,” Marcus continued. “She uses them to wipe entire species off the map. I’m not sure what is behind her motivation exactly, but it’s only a matter of time until she finds Earth. And when that happens, there is nothing you can do to stop her.”

  “What does any of this have to do with anything?” Lucas asked.

  “The Cough. You think I used it to take control of Earth, and there is some truth to that, but ultimately I am trying to save it, maybe save all the worlds. The tech they possess—” Marcus shook his head. “Don’t you guys get it?” He pointed at Evelyn. “They’re coming and they’ll take all of you, unless she is ready for them.”

  “Evelyn, come here sweetie,” Poly said.

  “No, Mom. You’ve been scared of me since the day I was born. Don’t think I don’t see the way you look at m
e. Even now, I can hear it in your breath and see it in your eyes.”

  “That’s not true.”

  Evelyn hopped off her chair and walked to the edge of the screen. Poly knelt and Joey stood behind her, keeping his focus between Marcus and Evelyn. Seeing his daughter walking stirred emotions of pride, fear, and anger. Marcus changed her, made her body grow into a little girl, but her eyes looked the same.

  Poly reached for her, but the invisible wall stopped the mother-daughter embrace.

  “He hasn’t lied to me.” Evelyn pointed back to Marcus and Joey felt his anger hitting its zenith. Changing his girl’s appearance was one thing, but corrupting her heart and mind was completely another. “So you don’t lie to me now, Mother. Are you afraid of me?”

  Poly sobbed and wiped her eyes. “I wasn’t afraid of you, but of what you meant. This horrible man,” she pointed at Marcus, “has destroyed all of our lives, and if you were just a normal little girl, he wouldn’t try to take you away from us. But you are right, I knew the first second I saw you, you were different.”

  “You think I’m strange.”

  “No.” Poly placed her hands on the wall. “No, I thought you were the most wonderful thing ever to appear on Earth. But that knowledge sent deep fear into me because I knew he’d be coming for you.”

  Evelyn smiled and looked from Joey to Poly. “I believe you.”

  “Then end this now, Evelyn. I know you can stop this. Stop Marcus and take this wall down.”

  Evelyn looked back at Marcus and then to Poly. Joey gripped his gun tight and readied himself for what Poly asked Evelyn to do. “You still don’t get it, Mom. I was made for a purpose. I have a specific task I need to complete, and Marcus is going to help me with it. We need him.”

  “No,” Poly sobbed. “He’s evil. You can’t trust him.”

  “I can tell when a person is lying; he has not lied to me.”

  Joey glanced at Lucas and his Panavice. Lucas gave him a slight nod.

  “I headed to this room on purpose,” Marcus stepped in. “I knew it’d give me the opportunity to explain things. Now that you know what is at stake—the entire planet and every other one just like it—you need to know Evelyn is our best chance at stopping them and taking the fight to them. I am constructing an entire facility dedicated to Evelyn back on Earth. But she needs a mom, she needs a dad. I want you to join her there in preparation.”

  Joey reeled from the offer.

  “We aren’t going anywhere with you,” Poly said.

  “This is what you wanted . . .” Marcus said. “This is the chance for it all to be over between you and me. No more chasing, no more fear of who is behind you, no more wondering if your family is safe. You and your family can live together and when the time comes, we’ll save all the worlds, with Evelyn at the front line.”

  “What can a little girl do to save the world?” Gladius asked.

  “I implanted a nanobot into every person on planet Earth and when the time comes, Evelyn will be able to access every one of those.”

  “Why don’t you just do it yourself and leave us alone?” Poly asked.

  “If I could, I would. This task is solely in the hands of Evelyn.”

  “What?” Lucas said, looking at his screen. “No, no, no . . .” Panic spread over his face. He pursed his lips and stared at Joey, trying to convey a message without words. Something had gone terribly wrong, and the way Lucas looked at the Panavice, it must have been Julie.

  “I’m sorry,” Lucas said before running out of the room.

  Hank moved to follow him, but Gladius put a hand on his shoulder. “I’ll watch his back,” she said and ran after Lucas.

  Hank raised his hand in protest, but she was gone.

  “Just the three of us now, and from the looks of it, Julie isn’t breaking my wall down anymore. Hope she’s okay,” Marcus said with a wry smile that made Joey want to slap it off his face. If he’d done anything to Julie . . .

  Joey pulled out his Panavice and looked at the screen. A message from Lucas said, Julie’s having the baby

  No, it’s too soon, he thought. Poly got up and peered at the screen. She couldn’t hold back her gasp.

  “Bad news?” Marcus asked.

  “Julie’s having her child. I can’t wait to finally see him,” Evelyn said.

  “How do you know that?” Poly asked.

  JULIE GROANED AND GRIPPED HER stomach as another contraction hit. Her pants were soaked from her water breaking. She punched in a message to Lucas, and then looked around for another person to help. But in the dark of the night, all she saw were glowing rocks and embers from a few cindered bushes around Marcus’s compound. Not now, anytime but now, it’s too soon.

  She gripped her Panavice and sent another bot into his system, trying to find the weakness in his code. Another contraction and she dropped to her knees. The Panavice slipped from her hands and fell into the dirt.

  The contraction passed and she picked up her Panavice. She’d break down the wall if it killed her; she owed it to her friends and to her rapidly arriving baby. She didn’t want a child to be born in a world where Marcus still existed.

  OMW, Lucas texted her.

  She knew he’d come running and regretted telling him, but she couldn’t let them keep thinking the wall was coming down any second. She used her moment of comfort to double her efforts, searching and probing the edges of his program. It was as complex as anything she’d seen, except for the purge people’s tech.

  One of her bots sent back a green light message, meaning it found a way in. Her fingers flew across the screen, looking at what the bot found. She opened up her nuke program when another contraction hit. She reeled in pain and dropped her Panavice again.

  “Didn’t expect to find you alone,” Emmett said, reaching down to pick up her Panavice.

  HARRIS RUSHED INTO THE BUILDING with Travis. The parents were expected to take the left side and they would take the right. He spotted Evelyn’s dot, deep into the bunker and hoped the kids were able to handle Marcus. He had another place to go.

  The entry didn’t have a moving Arrack in sight. The parents did their job well.

  “It should be near the main power source,” Travis said.

  Harris nodded in agreement and ran to the back of the entry and through a double door, held open by two dead Arracks. Past the doors, another room, a banquet room perhaps. It didn’t have any tables or chairs, but a few tapestries hung on the walls with various fruits and vegetables.

  He dashed across the room and shoved open another door. Lucas ran into him.

  “Whoa, what happened?” Harris asked.

  “It’s Julie, she’s having the baby.” Lucas tried to move past him, but Harris pushed him back.

  “What of Marcus?”

  “They are in a standoff in his room. He’s got a barrier up. Spouting all kinds of junk, saying Evelyn is going to save the world from those purge people. It was his plan all along.”

  Gladius ran up to them. “Jeesh, man, you are fast. Hey, Dad, Harris.”

  Lucas pushed past Harris and ran toward the front of the building. Gladius raised her brows and ran after him.

  Travis stepped toward Gladius, and Harris thought the man might be considering going with her.

  “Come on, we’ve got to do our part,” Harris said.

  Travis took a deep breath. “I hate she is involved in this. If anything happens to her, I won’t be able to honor my agreement with Poly.”

  Harris nodded. “I won’t fight you if that time comes.” He ran down the stone stairs and through many corridors and rooms. The passage became narrow, forcing them to walk sideways to get past the last hallway and then crouch down as the ceiling got lower and lower.

  A steel door stood at the end of the hall. There was nothing particularly secure about it but enough to keep out any wandering Arrack who may happen upon it. Harris pulled out his Panavice and typed into the screen. The lock on the door turned green and the door swung in.

 
The white walls and stainless steel of the interior room felt in sharp contrast to the stone structure they’d been running around in. Marcus was a never ending supply of surprise. How he could have a room like this, made so far from anything remotely considered technological, was a feat in itself. Harris walked into the room scanning for, and not finding, any traps.

  “You sure she’s in here?” Travis asked.

  “Oh yeah, this is it. The last stored version of her in any world we know of.”

  A single black stand sat in the middle of the room, about the size of a filing cabinet.

  “Is she . . . active?”

  “No, she’s in stasis.”

  “You sure he doesn’t have another version out there?”

  “I don’t think so. We just need to destroy her here, leaving the last remnants on Earth. And Julie has an end game set up for her as well.” Harris felt his jacket pocket. “You got the card?”

  “Yeah,” Travis said and handed Harris a red card with a green dragon on it.

  “Nice design. I know of a lady who’d love it.”

  Travis nodded but didn’t say a word as Harris slid the card into the slot. He then pulled a Panavice from his jacket pocket and placed it next to the card. The bar on the screen ran up to a hundred percent. Harris pulled the card out.

  “This is going to set our worlds free,” Harris said, shaking the card in the air. “And you should have it.” He handed Travis the card.

  “I thought this was your whole reason for coming here, to pillage all of Marcus’s knowledge.”

  “I trust you will put it to good use.” Harris watched Travis take the red card. “Now,” he turned to the black tower, “we destroy her and everything Marcus ever created.” Pulling a vial from his jacket, he placed it on top of the black cube. He then set a catalyst right next to it, strapped with a small explosive. “Okay, it’s set.” Harris backed away from the device. “Thirty seconds.”

  Travis backed up with Harris until they were out of the room and shut the door. Harris watched the seconds count down on his Panavice until it reached one. A small explosion sounded from the room. It was no louder than the firecrackers he played with in his youth, but it wasn’t the explosion that would kill Alice, Renee, or whatever version Marcus created for her here.