Fallocaust (The Fallocaust Series Book 1)

by Quil Carter

  In front of them was the blond woman, naked and partially devoured. Her breasts had been chewed off and her left thigh had been ripped apart in a fashion that rivalled ravers. This was perfect; they had infected themselves with her raw flesh.

  “Fuck you, fuck you, you fucking brown nosing faggot!” one of them yelled. He was the one who had robbed Killian. Cam was it? “I don’t deserve this! Let me out!” The other two were silent and submissive, they barely raised their heads. The smart ones.

  “We will be holding trials in a few hours.” I kept my voice calm and steady, not a single flinch or waver. “So I suggest you come quietly when you are being collected, am I understood?”

  “Fuck you!” another voice from a different cell called. There would be four in that cell, and the other woman in the last, assuming she was still alive.

  I walked over to the last cell. I was surprised to see the woman who had been arrested was sitting politely by herself, very calm. She didn’t look like the others. She was dressed in cleaner clothing, and held herself like one of a higher class. She definitely wasn’t a Red House whore that was for sure.

  “Why did you knock that other bitch’s teeth out?” I asked her.

  Her eyes found mine. “She fucked my husband.”

  Honesty, that was rare. “Sounds like she deserved it,” I said back.

  “She did,” the lady sighed and brushed her hair from her eyes. “She can have him, he’s no good anyway.”

  I took out the keys and unlocked the cell. She looked at me surprised and didn’t move. The others started shouting at me again when they realized what I was doing, calling the woman every name in the books. I hope she strutted past those assholes.

  Women didn’t survive pre-Fallocaust as much as the men did, and with the radiation skewing female live births the odds were against them. As the blond tongueless one proved, they were easily taken over when outnumbered. This woman obviously had balls if she knocked someone’s teeth out, so she was better value to Aras alive. That would make Greyson happy.

  “Get out of here.” I stepped back to let her pass. “You’re paying double taxes at collection. If I talk to Greyson and you haven’t, I’ll personally throw you to the deacons.”

  The lady looked at me in shock and nodded. She got up and walked past me quickly. I followed her outside.

  She squinted at the brightness and took a breath of air before dropping her head and walking quickly towards the south. I locked the door, and as I turned to make my way towards the square I heard the loud speakers around Aras crackle to life.

  “Mandatory town meeting by order of the Mayor. Mandatory town meeting by order of the mayor. Please gather yourselves in the square by two.”

  I waited until the loud speaker stopped before I turned to Mickey. He was the same age as Killian but he looked much older; he had short brown hair and brown eyes. “Mickey, these prisoners have trideath, all of them. I want you to get Hollis and tell him to bring the prisoners into the square tied not shackled, and also gagged, understood?”

  Mickey nodded, his heart jumping at the chance to do something for the new mayor. I took advantage of it. “You’re a sentry now, my personal sentry. When we’re in the square I’m expecting you to keep the locals under control. Can I count on you?”

  His heart sped up, he nodded vigorously. If there was one way to make these new kids follow you to the ends of the earth it was singling them out and making them feel special.

  “Yes, sir! I’ll get Warden Hollis,” the boy said with an eager nod. He ran off towards Hollis’s office.

  Well, wasn’t this just coming together nicely? I walked back towards my house. I wanted my gun for this, and I wanted Killian in a safe place. He would probably still be asleep.

  If my plan worked out everything in Aras would be fixed, or at least our crime and obedience problem. Greyson should pin a god damn medal on me for this. I had done in three days what he couldn’t do at all. This mayor shit was easy; the town would be eating out of the palm of my hand by tonight.

  Killian wasn’t home when I grabbed the things I would need; he must have been at Leo and Greyson’s. So I quickly grabbed my M16 and belted it onto my back. I always felt bare without it, even if I had several knives, a pistol, a grenade, and a stick of C4.

  I put the grenade and the C4 back; those I didn’t want around our town meeting.

  As I made my way back to Leo and Greyson’s people were already gathering in the square, some of them looked rather angry.

  A faction of the mob approached me. All of them shouting at me with different levels of anger. I was used to them ignoring me as I had taught them all to, this was aggravating and annoying.

  “I demand to see my sister! She was set up in this!” an older man shouted at me. He was dressed in sewn together pants and a t-shirt stained yellow, his breath smelled like a dog’s ass. “Karl fucking put her up to this, I demand to see her! I want her tried first. I have something to say to all of them!”

  Sorry, buddy, your sister was nothing but a rotting corpse and some dude’s shit now.

  “My fucking storage shed got broken into last night, and that was Irvine. I saw that fat bastard run!” a woman shouted. “He had three others with them and they’re still out there. You need to get off your ass and do something about this fucking crime.”

  I kept walking as they followed me; everyone in the square was staring at the commotion. I felt someone grab my shoulder. I whirled around and yanked it back. I drew my pistol.

  “Next one of you fucks to touch me is going to get a mouthful of lead,” I said darkly. “You wanna know why you can’t see your sister? Trideath, she got it while robbing the house. They all have it.” I felt my adrenaline rise. I looked around and noticed there were quite a few people in the square. “Hear that? The fucks who tried to rob the Kerry’s got trideath, they all have trideath. They are all diseased and contagious. So while we wait for the meeting to start, mull that over.” I put my pistol away. I could hear a truck rumbling in the distance; I hoped that was Matt fulfilling my orders.

  “Trideath?” someone gasped. I turned and saw it was Owen.

  “Oh, fuck me,” I growled. “Is the boss back?”

  “Nope, I brought a guy back with me. Killian is helping stitch him up, he wanted me to find you.”

  “They found someone?”

  “I got him back early this morning. Redmond didn’t want to wake you.” Owen nodded. “Some raticater they found in the lab prison locked up; he’s over at Marley’s right now his arm and leg are buggered.”

  “Really?” I tried to hide my surprise. I had to bury it, my mind had to be elsewhere. “Where are the bosses?”

  “They’ll be home tomorrow morning. What’s going on Reaver?”

  I smiled, and I got the usual reaction of fear and surprise. I put my arm around Owen’s shoulder like I had done Matt, and like Matt, he looked at me like I had lost my mind.

  I led him away from the still nattering mob. “Let me fill you in, buddy. I’m going to need your support.”

  Chapter 33

  Killian

  I looked out of Doc’s window, wringing my hands as I saw the people start to head towards the square. Outside the air was filled with electricity as people gathered. There were whispers of a court hearing for the criminals, and a hushed fear that trideath was spreading. Several people had come into the clinic already asking if it was true. Marley had yelled at them to keep their voices down, people were sleeping and…

  … and we had someone new in Aras now.

  I looked behind me towards the bathrooms where I had made him bathe. Marley teased me mercilessly about me having to clean everything I came across, but this waster was caked in dirt, rot, and dried blood. I didn’t even know what colour his hair was, or the shade of his skin. His wounds would never clean properly with so much grime around him. The poor guy was too weak to do it himself so Marley’s grandmother, Doc’s mom, was in there giving him the scrubbing of a lifetime.

>   Marley had paged me when Owen came through the gates. The sentry said that the newcomer had collapsed from exhaustion right off of the quad and had to be carried in. I had barely got to talk to him, but Owen had told me what I had feared the most. He had come from Perish’s arian prison. He had survived the whipwolf massacre.

  I was so angry at myself for not checking the two-way mirror. I could have saved him from two weeks of torment, I could have saved his food poisoning and his horribly infected leg and arm. If I had just checked…

  I sighed and watched as Sadii ran from the square towards Redmond’s office. I swallowed a boulder in my throat but it remained, radiating the anxiety that was pooling inside me.

  Reaver… what were you doing? Greyson will be home soon…

  I was sick with worry; my hands had nail marks in them now from clenching and wringing them so hard. With each person that gathered in the square the abuse on my flesh got worse. I knew my boyfriend and I knew his heart was darker than even he realized. If the cold, static air around us wasn’t a testament that something bad was going to happen, I didn’t know what was.

  “Marley? Help him out of the tub will you?” Gram called She had already declared she would have none of the ‘Teufel’s’ shenanigans and would be heading to her apartment above the clinic to watch Sleepless in Seattle. I was tempted to join her, but I had to see what Reaver was going to do. If the crowd turned on him I would need to start shooting people.

  A few moments later a whole new guy emerged from the bathroom.

  He was well… I’m sure Reaver would understand when he saw him, but god… he was stunning. The man’s pale, clean-shaven face was framed with beautiful auburn hair that fell past his ears. His cheekbones were high and his lips pink. If he was a waster he was the most good-looking one I had ever seen. Why the hell didn’t Perish want him? I was a troll compared to… that.

  The man gave me a friendly smile. His eyes were brilliant green, the same shade the plants were at Perish’s, but under his eyes were darkened circles. The pale gauntness of his face only making them appear darker and more pronounced.

  Oh gosh, I was staring… I better say something. “You look… you look human.” I laughed, feeling like an idiot.

  The guy laughed too and took a cane Marley had offered him. “If that creature is a werewolf I won’t be human for long.”

  I laughed again. I motioned him to one of the free beds. “Sit and make yourself comfortable. I’ll start disinfecting that wound.” I turned and grabbed the bottles from the shelf. “Oh, I didn’t catch your name?”

  “My name’s Asher, Asher Fallon.”

  “Nice to meet you, Asher, my name’s Killian.” I raised my hand and shook his. I was kind of happy he didn’t recognize me, but maybe he just didn’t want to talk about it. I would be okay with that.

  I went back to cleaning his wound. Marley took control of his arm. The wounds were horribly infected and I had to scrape a lot of dead flesh away but I would be able to stitch the wounds closed.

  When he was near done I reached into my pocket and pulled out some pain killers. “Here, this won’t really numb what we’re about to do… but in the long run they’ll help, and help you rest.”

  “Everyone seems friendly here, a break from the other blocks I’ve been to,” Asher said, “but it looks like I’ve come at a bad time.” His eyes looked towards the row of windows. I looked too and could see the mass in the square had grown larger. We were a good block away at least; I hoped he would sleep through what Reaver was doing. I didn’t want his first impression of Aras to be… Reaver.

  “Nothing our mayor can’t handle.” I gave him a reassuring smile, but inside the boulder was growing to the point of almost nausea. I eventually had to excuse myself for a moment to do a couple lines in Doc’s office; my hands had started to tremble. It was taking all I had to hide the anxiety I was feeling about the town meeting.

  On my way back, for the fourth time, the loud speakers crackled to life.

  “Mandatory town meeting by order of the mayor. Mandatory town meeting by order of the mayor. Please gather yourselves in the square by two.”

  When it shut off I could hear a truck rumbling near us, I watched as two trucks went past us. One was carrying a rust-streaked swing set and the other one was full of scrap: wood, barrels, boxes, and the prisoners, all bound with rope and gagged. They were all looking around with saucer-like eyes, their whites a stark contrast to their blackened faces. They looked more like rats than human now; I couldn’t even tell they were arian.

  My mouth went dry. I looked and caught Marley’s eye. She looked worried too.

  “I need to see what he’s doing.” I dropped my voice, hoping it wouldn’t reach the ears of our newest resident. “Keep Asher from seeing as much as possible; try and get him to sleep.”

  Marley put a hand on my shoulder and nodded. “You’re the only one who can wrangle him with Leo and Grey gone. Just be careful.”

  I felt the warmth of the pills calming my nerves. I turned and gave a polite goodbye to Asher and casually walked out the door. Though once I was out of sight – I ran.

  The residents had swarmed around what looked like a makeshift stage which was really just sheet metal covering the top of the square’s fountain. On top of the sheet metal was the frame of a swing set.

  Reaver was nowhere to be found, but Mickey, Matt, and Jess were standing guard around the stage, their arms folded, their eyes fixed on the crowd. I could see AK-47s on their backs.

  I weaved through the crowd. Everyone was talking, discussing the trials, discussing the fear of the trideath plague. Some sounded angry, others scared, all were waiting for the mayor to appear.

  I ran up to Matt. “Where’s Reaver? What’s going on?”

  Matt didn’t answer me. He got onto his radio. “He left Doc’s. I have him.”

  A few moments later Reaver answered. “Give him the radio… Killian?”

  “Hey, ba… hey, Reaver,” I said into it and turned it down so it was harder for anyone else to hear.

  “I don’t want you in the crowd, go with Matt and don’t leave where he puts you, you’ll get to watch, just safely. Promise me.”

  I didn’t need to promise, I didn’t want to be down here either. “I promise.”

  I handed the radio back to Matt and he quickly led me away. I felt like I was in a movie at that moment. Everything just seemed surreal, I couldn’t believe what was happening. I just wanted to go home with Reaver and do drugs, watch a movie, and have sex. I didn’t want this for him; why did Greyson make him do this? This was out of control.

  I wanted to convince myself Reaver knew what he was doing, but every resident was out here waiting for news, waiting to see why they had been summoned. What if Reaver lost control? They didn’t know him as mayor like they knew Greyson; what if they tried to hurt him? Or there was like some mayor mutiny or something and anarchy broke out.

  Matt had his hand on my arm as he led me to an abandoned store almost directly behind the gathering residents. We walked up the spiralling stairs and pushed open a spray-painted door.

  Inside were a mattress, a patio table, and several chairs. This looked like a sentry nest.

  Matt handed me an assault rifle that was leaning against the window. “That’s just a safety thing, you know your luck.” He popped his head out the window and looked down at the crowd. He let out an impressed whistle. “I think he’s going to be able to pull this off. Is there anything that fuck can’t do?” He shook his head and patted my shoulder. “Great view, my friend, great view. Stay put until Reaver or I getcha.”

  “Thanks, Matt.” I swallowed and pulled up a chair by the window. I wiped the sweat from my head with my t-shirt. I was thankful for the pills if nothing else.

  It was fifteen minutes later that the music chimed on the loud speaker.

  When it ended I looked down and saw the crowd start to part. My heart leapt as I saw Reaver walking through the sea of people; every resident stepping back fr
om him like he was a negative magnetic field. Behind him I saw Hollis and Redmond, both with machine guns on their backs and large combat knives on their fronts. Their faces were firm and menacing, they were almost marching behind Reaver.

  Reaver was dressed in a variation of his sentry uniform. Instead of his bulletproof vest he had on combat armour that had been spray painted black, he was wearing it over top a clean crimson t-shirt. His black cargo pants were belted with a combat knife strapped to one side and his pistol on the other.

  His M16 was on his back, and to my surprise it was belted over what looked like a black cape.

  I put my hand over my mouth to muffle my own gasp.

  He was dressed… he was dressed like a chimera, or at the very least a Skylander elite.

  My mind went to the photo; Leo the chimera scientist holding the newborn.

  Reaver had been raised a waster orphan, but as true as his bones and breath, he was a Skylander.

  The tears burned in my eyes as I watched him step into a role he had no idea was in his blood, his genetics. The enforcer, the executioner… the torture tool.

  God, in that moment he looked so much like Nero.

  I had to tell him. I had to warn him. I had to make sure he didn’t become someone horrible. He didn’t even realize how easy it was for someone like him to turn bad. If he knew his origins, that he was a chimera’s son, he could at least be aware that he was more susceptible to –

  Shit…

  Killian, you fucking idiot.

  His night vision

  His advanced hearing.

  Every one of his enhanced senses… even his beauty.

  Reaver was a chimera. He was one of Silas’s creatures.

  Leo had stolen a chimera baby; the scientist had made off with one of King Silas’s genetically engineered humans. He wasn’t his son… he was his brother.

  It had been in front of my face the entire time.

  Reaver walked past Mickey, Matt, and Jess, still staring forward with their guns against their chests, looking like legionaries more than Aras sentries.