Mercy nodded, “There’s always shit—”
They moved forwards, keeping to the side of the street. Barnes stopped short of the fire station and entered the neighbouring property’s drive. He went along the side of the building and found a hole in the fence. They climbed through and stood behind the fire station. Empty windows looked down on them. Barnes found an open fire escape door. He waited, listening.
They entered the building. Broken glass littered the floor. They moved forwards slowly and found the stairs. A minute later they were on the first floor and moving towards the front of the building. Barnes entered a room and approached the largest window. Mercy glanced outside.
Great view of the street. Good Observation Post—
Barnes pulled at a strip of duct tape on the windowsill and removed a small box.
Trail camera—
Barnes crouched beside the window and put his rifle to one side. “The record LED’s still on and there’s still some juice in the battery. Let’s see what it’s got—”
He started scrolling through the stored images.
“Is it on time lapse? Or is it triggered by motion?” Mercy asked, her patience wearing thin.
“Both,” Barnes grunted, continuing to scroll.
He’s got jack shit. This was a waste of time—
“Wait, what’s that?” Mercy jabbed her finger at the screen.
Barnes let out a low whistle, “Bingo, there’s a group of alphas, six of them. One is carrying something—”
“Can you zoom in?” Mercy asked, her stomach filling with dread.
Barnes pressed a button and the image grew larger, “It’s a good job this camera takes night shots.” He examined the screen, “Shit, if that’s your friend they’re fucked—”
Mercy took the camera from Barnes and squinted at the screen, she counted six alphas. At the centre of the group was a larger alpha carrying a familiar figure. Mixed emotions flooded through Mercy. “That’s her, that’s Rose, she’s alive. Where are they taking her?”
Barnes spat on the floor. “This road leads to a bridge over Spa Creek, it goes to the Naval Academy. There’s an alpha nest inside. The NSA had some heavy losses there, they left it alone.” He pointed at the image, “See that alpha there? The female; she’s a high status one. There’s… some sort of queen that controls that group. That one, that bitch,” he tapped the screen, “I’ve seen her before, she’s like the queen’s second-in-command. Nasty piece of work. I saw her rip the throats out from four NSA soldiers—”
Mercy stared at the alpha on the screen. “Second-in-command? Queen? They’ve developed a societal structure, a matriarchy. I’ve seen this before, we were hunted by an alpha queen back in Grand Cayman; she controlled others. We barely got out alive—”
Barnes stroked his beard. “Like I said, your friend is fucked. That nest, in the Naval Academy, it’s at least fifty or sixty strong. There’s no way you’re gonna see your friend again. Not alive anyhow—”
Mercy closed her eyes.
Christ. No. Think, there’s always a way, there’s always a way—
Mercy looked up at Barnes. “Wait, where did you train? Do you know your way around the Naval Academy?”
Barnes pursed his lips, “Yeah, I’ve been in there but it was years ago. Things change. I wouldn’t trust my memory. Navy SEAL home is near Virginia Beach, south of here.” He switched off the camera and repositioned it on the window frame. “Come on, let’s haul ass, we’ve got to get back to the bowling alley—”
Mercy stood up, her mind racing, “Yeah, let’s go. Wait, this place… have you searched it for anything useful?”
“Sure,” Barnes said, I got some food here and some soda, a first aid kit and some other shit. It makes sense to have stashes all over the city—”
Mercy touched the phosphorus grenade on her webbing, “Did you find any asbestos suits?”
Barnes raised an eyebrow, “Fire proximity suits? They’re not made of asbestos anymore, they’ve got aluminium in them now. Yeah, there’s a gear room downstairs with all that kit. Why? What you cookin’ up in that head of yours?”
Mercy pulled a face, “Nothing. I don’t know, just keeping options open. Take me to the room. I want one of those suits—”
Barnes shrugged, “Sure, it’s on the way out. We get to use the pole on the way down, follow me.”
Barnes found the fireman’s pole and slid down to the ground floor. Mercy followed. They stepped into the truck bay. Four fire trucks were huddled together behind the bay doors. Barnes tapped the side of the nearest truck and waited. He tapped again, harder.
“No one at home,” he moved between the fire trucks to the far side of the bay.
He brought Mercy to a specialised gear room and shone his torch inside. A row of fire proximity suits were hanging on the wall. Mercy took the nearest suit and its protective headgear. She looked around the room for inspiration and grabbed a pair of wire cutters. “Let’s get out of here,” she turned to the door.
They left the fire station and retraced their steps. Barnes reached a street corner and stopped. The sky was brightening in the east, he dropped to the ground and produced a mirror from his ghillie suit. He used it to see around the corner. His shoulders tensed and he swore. “Shit, I knew we should have stayed at the bowling alley—”
“What is it?” Mercy asked, concern edging her voice.
“There’s a watcher at the crossroads, round the corner. Fucker’s just standing there, not moving. Sensors on those things are 360 degrees. We should’ve brought the spare ghillie suit for you, it would’ve covered your heat signature.”
“Can we go a different way?” Mercy said, looking at the rooftops.
“Yeah,” Barnes said, his voice hard. “Yeah, give me a minute.” He closed his eyes, thinking. “Got it, follow me, do exactly as I do. It’ll take longer, we’ll go by the back lanes. They’re overgrown with weeds and shit, we can flank this bastard—”
Mercy nodded, “Got it.”
Barnes took them down a series of lanes and alleys. They made it to the bowling alley forty minutes later. Barnes tapped the side door four times and waited for Fay. Once inside Mercy brought Fay up to date with what they had learned.
Fay looked at the fire suit, “So what are you gonna do with that?”
Mercy shook her head, “I haven’t figured it out yet. I’m gonna get Rose free though.”
Barnes grunted, shaking his head, “That’s a suicide mission, there’s at least fifty or sixty of the critters in there. They’d tear you apart—”
Mercy stared him down, “Look, leave it to me. I’ll work something out. You two get some sleep. I’ll take first watch. There’s no way I could sleep anyway—”
Barnes threw a second ghillie suit at Mercy, “Here, take this. It’s got the BoPET lining I told you about. It was Lou’s—”
Mercy examined the ghillie suit and wrapped it around her, “Thanks, now get some shut eye and let me think—”
Mercy drew her legs up and rested her head against the wall. She closed her eyes and reflected on what she had learned. The building was quiet in contrast to her thoughts.
We need to scope out the Naval Academy, but it’s vast and we couldn’t cover all the angles even from a high vantage point. It’d take too long to recon the whole area from one OP. Those alphas could be anywhere—
Mercy rubbed her eyes, pressing them with her fingers. White stars exploded in her vision, she took her fingers away when it became uncomfortable.
A drone. We need our own drone. A mini one, we’d be able to scope out that whole area in less than an hour. If we could find the nest then we could come up with a plan. There’s only three of us, so we’ll need a diversion, these things hunt at night so that’s the best time to raid the place—
Mercy tapped the phosphorus grenade and looked at the fire protection suit on the floor. Fay was asleep, her breathing slow and steady. Barnes seemed asleep but his body was rigid.
He’s like me, unab
le to sleep. Just resting his eyes, he’s wired tight. How can Fay even sleep? I envy her that—
Mercy’s thoughts returned to a rescue attempt for Rose. She combed her memory, running over details that stood out from their encounter with the trope queen on Grand Cayman Island.
That bitch controlled the others verbally but I’m sure there was something else going on too, maybe hand signals or some telepathic shit. Who knows?
Glass crunched somewhere in the building, splintering the silence. Mercy froze. Silence returned. She listened. Seconds then minutes passed. Slowly, she relaxed. She peered through the pin tray mechanism to the bowling lanes on the other side. The only light came from the grimy windows at the front of the building. Another crunch of glass broke the silence. It was closer.
Fuck, this is real—
Mercy placed a hand over Fay’s mouth. Fay’s eyes snapped open. Mercy held a finger to her lips and pointed at the lanes on the other side of the bowling pin setter. Fay nodded and sat up. Barnes opened his eyes and crept forwards, pulling his ghillie suit around him. Mercy did the same, covering Fay and herself with the second ghillie suit.
Mercy peered over the concrete shelf at the bowling lanes. Movement caught her eye at the back of the hall. She looked slightly away from the area, then she saw it.
A small animal? A cat?
Without warning the shape threw itself along the floor and stopped in the middle of the nearest bowling lane. Mercy tensed.
A fucking cat—
The cat stood still, a large mouse hung from its mouth.
Fay whispered, “It’s just a—”
“Wait, something’s not right—” Mercy breathed.
The cat arched its back. It dropped the mouse and hissed.
Three shapes emerged from the shadows.
Fuck, you’ve got to be shitting me, this can’t be happening—
Three hunter killer robots moved towards the cat.
Chapter 7
Burning Reapers
Get down—
Mercy pulled Fay to the floor making sure the ghillie suit covered them. Barnes had disappeared under his own suit.
Thank Christ we’re at a lower level—
Mercy listened, every sinew tense. Fay was trembling, her breath hot on Mercy’s neck.
What are they doing? What’s that stupid cat doing?
A prolonged hiss was followed by a feline shriek. The cat turned and bolted through the bowling pin gate into the recess behind. It landed on top of Mercy’s ghillie suit.
Fuck, fuck, fuck—
Mercy held on to Fay and willed her friend to be quiet. Fay’s breathing quickened. The lead hunter killer stepped forwards and projected a red laser into the recess, scanning the area. It pressed close to the bowling pin setter, extended its mechanical arm and started to probe the recess. The cat hissed again and the robot slammed against the pin setter. The noise of metal against metal filled the bowling alley. Fay squirmed, trying to crawl away.
“No Fay, stay, wait. We need to do the same as Barnes—” Mercy whispered.
Violent banging came from the NSA prisoner’s room.
For fuck’s sake, that’s all we need—
One of the robots broke off to explore the new noise. The cat arched its back and launched itself through the bowling pin setter, between the attacking robot’s legs. The watcher turned and chased the fleeing cat. A drilling sound came from nearby.
They’re trying to break through the door to Barnes’s prisoner—
Tables and chairs went flying at the back of the hall. Seconds later the smell of burning flesh filled the air. Without warning loud bangs rocked the rear door behind Barnes.
Barnes pushed Mercy along the recess towards the second exit. “Time to leave while they’re occupied. Get moving—”
Mercy crawled along the floor and reached the side door.
Can’t hear a thing with all that noise behind us—
The rear door started splintering. Barnes shoved Fay up behind Mercy. “Just go,” he growled, “there’s no time for caution—”
Mercy gathered up the ghillie suit and pushed the panic bar, the door opened, daylight filled the narrow corridor. Mercy blinked, temporarily blinded. She stepped outside and looked around.
Clear—
She ran across the tarmac to the trees. Fay followed close behind. Mercy pulled out her pistol and swung around, covering Barnes as he dashed across to the treeline. A single shriek pierced the air from the bowling alley.
“They’ve got the prisoner,” Barnes said.
Mercy raised her eyebrows, “That’s fucked up. That trope of yours… that scream, it sounded as if he was in pain—”
Barnes glanced back, “Bastard probably had some of his nervous system left intact. Those watchers can do some bad shit. Trouble is if you resist, more show up. Best to avoid them at all costs—”
“So what now?” Fay asked.
“This area is compromised, closest safe house is the fire station. I’ve got supplies there. We’ll get our shit together and figure out what to do next. Follow me—” Barnes moved off.
Mercy glanced back at the bowling alley.
Dammit, I left the fire suit back there—
She shrugged.
There’s more at the fire station, we’re good—
They picked their way through trees, overgrown gardens and alleys.
Barnes knows his shit—
They took a different route to the fire station. After observing the building and checking for threats they were once again on the first floor overlooking Bay Ridge Avenue. Mercy slumped down beside Fay. Barnes took up position beside the window and scoped the streets and sky. After fifteen minutes of tense silence he pulled away from the window. “We’re good, they’ve not followed us—”
Fay looked up, “How many safe houses have you got around the city Barnes?”
Barnes took a multi-tool from his pocket and started to pry open a section of the floor. “Six, with provisions and four others as observation posts, one of them the Maryland State House. Its dome gives a good view over the Naval Academy.”
“I’m glad you’re on our side,” Fay replied.
Barnes produced food and water from a hidden stockpile under the floor. “Help yourself,” he waved his hand at the food.
Mercy took a MRE and opened it. “We’re going in soon, I’ve got to get Rose back and the others… if they’re there—”
Barnes started on his food, “Go ahead, I’m listening—”
Mercy raised her eyebrows then continued, “I get what you said about the Maryland State House—”
“There’s a but coming ain’t there?” Barnes drawled.
Mercy ignored him, “But yeah, on the map the Naval Academy Chapel is closer. If we could get onto its roof we’d have a good vantage point over the Academy grounds. And if—” she paused.
Fay looked up, “And if what—?”
Mercy continued, “If we could find a small drone, we could recon the whole place in an hour or so, much quicker than combing the area on foot. These alphas have a nest, the whole place is overgrown like the rest of the city, so there’ll be a trail. They go out hunting at night, they’re creatures of habit, so there’ll be trails leading back to the nest—”
Barnes picked at some food stuck in his teeth, “Just the small question of the drone though. I’m afraid I can’t magic you up one of them—”
Mercy persisted, “There’ll be shops, malls we could try, right?”
Barnes shrugged, “Sure there are malls, but the main ones were looted long ago. Pitched battles were fought at some of those places; people trying to control the remaining supplies—”
“Without power, electrical stuff would’ve been low on the agenda back then. So, there’s a chance we could find a small drone in an electrical store. And drone batteries, I guess, are specialized? So, probably ignored or discarded by people looking for regular batteries—?”
Barnes pursed his lips, “You’re right
about the batteries; lithium polymer or nickel cadmium, or nickel metal hydride would do the trick… yeah, they’d be quite niche, there’s a chance they survived the looting—”
“So—?” Mercy said.
“So… what?” Barnes replied.
Mercy sighed. “Do you know of any electrical stores that might have sold drones back when the world was the world?” Mercy tried to keep the exasperation from her voice.
“Yeah, I know a place, west of the city near Route 50. There’s a big mall; me and my spotter scored some food there on our way to DC. We kept out of the main area though, looked like trouble—”
“Trouble—?” Mercy said.
“Trouble—” Barnes repeated.
“We’re used to trouble. When can we go?” Mercy asked.
Barnes sighed and scratched his beard. “It’s still early, let’s get a few hours’ rest and head out at midday. The alphas will be deep in their nests and the watchers will have done their sweeps and may be stationary—”
Mercy pulled a face, “Yeah, fine, midday it is—”
They ate their meal and rehydrated using Barnes’s stash of water. Mercy curled up in a corner and managed a few hours’ sleep while Barnes kept watch.
They readied their kit and left the fire station at noon. Barnes took them away from the city centre, they back tracked to the suburbs and wound their way through the outskirts of the city. After an hour Mercy spotted signs for Route 50. Barnes moved tactically, his concentration intense. Mercy watched, observing his technique.
This amount of focus is draining, just to cover a mile is exhausting, and Barnes has been surviving here for weeks—
They reached a junction and stopped. Barnes peered around the corner of the last building and held up his hand. He retreated, pressing against the wall. He shook his head and pointed back down the street. Mercy retreated and slunk into the nearest doorway.
Barnes joined her seconds later. “Quick, in here, there’s a watcher around the corner, don’t think it saw me but best to disappear ASAP—”
Mercy pushed against the doors and entered the small grocery store. Grimy windows kept most of the light out, the floor was littered with trash. Mercy took a few steps and spotted a door at the far end of the store. She moved through the aisles, leading the way. A groan came from the other side of the shop. Fay stepped on a fragment of broken glass which crunched. A scuffing sound came from the next aisle.
The Survival Chronicles (Book 6): Dark Mercy Page 4
