The Long Night Box Set

by Kevin Partner

  The grave was shallower than he'd have liked, but the soil here was stony and they really couldn't risk discovery by the Lee Corp. They found him in the kitchen, though it was obvious that others had been here in the meantime, presumably backup called in by the drone before they'd destroyed it. He felt anger swell within him as he saw Bobby's remains left there while every scrap of the drone that Solly and Paulie hadn't recovered had been painstakingly removed.

  Solly fetched a blanket from an upstairs bedroom and, biting back his disgust, wrapped Bobby in it, almost choking on the smell. Paulie took the other end of the blanket and they carried him out to the hole in the garden. Marvin, who'd offered to help, had been detailed to keep Luna and Dany occupied until, once it was time to refill the grave, they all stood around it and Solly said a few words.

  "I don't know whether you were religious, Bobby," he said, "but it seems to me that there is no justice in a world when others who deserve it less survive. You were a good man, and that's the highest compliment I can give you. There are few enough people like you around now. Farewell, my friend."

  Their boat was still there, sitting on the concrete at the bottom of the boat ramp, and Solly was briefly tempted to suggest they go back by river, but, quite apart from the fact that the boat wasn't big enough for four humans and a dog, they'd be cruising against the current with no way of knowing where they'd be able to find fuel.

  They'd dumped Khaled's car, as there was a chance it was fitted with a tracking device, and were now driving a silver Ford Flex given to them by the president. It was fully fueled, with plenty to get them to the farmhouse, and Solly drove with Marvin in the passenger seat as Paulie and Luna held each other and talked in the back.

  "So, you know the sheriff long?" Marvin said once they'd left the river bank behind and had begun making their way northwest toward Leesburg.

  "Just a couple of weeks," Solly responded, "and about three thousand miles. We arrived in Arbroath just after you'd escaped."

  Marvin grunted an acknowledgment. "And that stuff you told the president is all true? I mean, I'd figured that the Lees were connected with all that's happened, but I didn't know they were lookin' to take over the country."

  "Yeah, it takes a lot to get your head around. I didn't want to believe it myself, but in the end, there was too much evidence to deny. Honestly, if you'd been chased by that drone, the Reaper, you wouldn't doubt their intentions. I didn't know they had their tentacles into DC, but it makes sense. They created this chaos, though Scott doesn't think the Lees expected everyone to die. They wanted domination, not death."

  "This Scott, he's the fella we knew as Pastor Smith?"

  Solly nodded. "That's him."

  "Do you trust him?"

  That was a good question, wasn't it? Scott Lee had shown himself capable of deception and he had been at the center of the Lee Corporation for many years. And yet Solly had seen the terror in his eyes each time they thought they might be captured by the Lees. One thing seemed certain—he did not want that to happen.

  "I trust him," Solly said, "up to a point. He's a complicated man, and I don't think we've seen what truly motivates him yet, aside from fear."

  "Fear can be enough."

  Solly shook his head. "Maybe, but there's more to him than that. Sure, he helps us because he doesn't want the second wave to happen, but I don't believe that's the whole story, not by a long shot."

  Marvin seemed to consider this. "Well, I've walked a long way and seen plenty of things I wish I hadn't. If this farmhouse is the safe haven the sheriff says it is, then I'll sure be glad to rest up for a bit."

  "Yeah, I can't wait to get back there," Solly responded, though his mind darkened as he pictured the place. He saw Janice's face and wondered what she would say to him when they returned. Was Ross alive?

  "Don't see many folks goin' away from DC," the sentry said as he took the pass President Blaise had given him. They had pulled up at the roadblock on the 7 south of Leesburg and Solly glanced at the queue of people outside the temporary rest stop that had once been a hotel. "So, you met the president herself? What did you make of her?" The sentry bent down to look inside the car. He was a young man with a nervous face and a thin mustache.

  "I was impressed," Solly responded. And it was true. It wasn't in the nature of Solly Masters to hero worship, but in his brief time with President Blaise, he'd come to the conclusion that, by sheer luck, free America had found itself a leader worthy of the name. "You'll be getting new orders soon, but we have a mission to the north."

  The man took the hint and returned the pass before saluting and waving the car through the barrier as it lifted.

  "Poor devil," Solly murmured. "The brown stuff is going to hit the fan soon enough."

  "What chance do they have against the Lees?" Marvin asked.

  Solly shrugged. "Well, it'll be a deal better if we can stop them building an army of drones. I don't know how many they've already got out in the field, but every one we destroy helps Blaise and Bevan. The recovery has got to start somewhere, Marvin, and if DC falls to the Lees then there's no way back, I fear."

  They drove through the night. Paulie had suggested taking a route that avoided the main highways—it was probably a little paranoid to imagine that they could be followed by the Lee Corporation, but the farmhouse's location was too important to risk. And, in any case, the bigger roads were likely to have more people walking along them and there was always the risk of carjacking if they were forced to stop.

  It was midmorning on the following day when they arrived back at the farmhouse. Janice ran out to greet Solly and he swung her around as they embraced.

  "How's Ross?" Solly asked as they separated.

  "He's going to make it," she responded.

  Solly's smile evaporated as he took in the expression on her face. "What is it?"

  "Oh, Sol," she said, tears flowing down her cheeks. "His back was injured in the fall. He can't walk."

  The hubbub around them stopped suddenly. "Is it permanent?"

  Janice nodded. "Becky says so."

  "Does he know?"

  "We haven't told him he'll never recover, but he's a clever boy. He's worked it out for himself."

  "Where's Khaled?" Scott Lee had come running from the house, barging the children aside.

  "Where's Bobby, Sol?" Jaxon asked.

  "They're both dead," Solly said, focusing his attention on the boy. "Bobby saved us from a trap Khaled set."

  Scott, whose unshaven face looked pale and drawn, shook his fist at Solly. "You were supposed to bring him back, not kill him!"

  "I didn't kill him, though I thought about it. No, he was killed by a Reaper."

  "Then we have no chance. Without his inside knowledge, how can we hope to fight them?" Lee said. "Wait, did you say you've seen a Reaper? And you survived?"

  Solly put his arm around the shoulders of Janice and Jaxon and began to move past Lee and toward the farmhouse door where Arnold waited to greet them. "Yeah, we survived. Bobby attacked it and bought us time, but we got lucky."

  "What was it like?" Lee asked, unable to hide his yearning.

  Solly thumbed over his shoulder. "Take a look for yourself. It's in the trunk."

  Ross was sitting up in bed as Solly came in. "Hello, son," he said, before hugging the boy and taking a seat beside him.

  "I heard the commotion, thought it was you. I'm glad you're home. Did you kill him?"

  Solly took a bread roll from the bedside table, tore it open, and bit into it before shaking his head. "I didn't have to. His masters did it for me. I'm sorry, Ross, sorry for everything."

  "I'm sorry for letting him fool me. He followed me after the meeting. Somehow, he'd gotten a knife, said he knew I could tell him where you'd hidden Alison."

  "How did you know?"

  Ross flushed. "I kept an eye on you, Sol. Did you get her back?"

  "Yeah, in a manner of speaking," Solly said. "She took out the drone, but she hasn't worked since. I think she
might have sacrificed herself to save us."

  Ross leaned back and sighed. "But she's the key. Khaled, Neil and Scott all said so."

  "You know what, Ross?" Solly said, slapping him on the shoulder, "Right now I couldn't give a rat's…"

  A voice floated in from the room next door. "Mr. Masters, mind your language."

  Ross smiled. "Miss Prism likes to keep an eye on me."

  "Well, I think it's time you got out of bed," Solly said.

  The smile vanished. "But Sol, didn't they tell you?"

  "They told me that you can't use your legs at the moment, but the sun's coming out and I detect a hint of spring in the air," he said.

  Miss Prism appeared around the door. She was twice the woman she'd been when Solly had first encountered her and was dressed in a purple velvet dress that made her look even bigger. Her glasses hung on a rope around her neck and she was shaking her finger. "I don't think Ross should be getting out of bed, Mr. Masters. Nurse Epstein said he was to be allowed to rest."

  "Did she say you couldn't be moved?" Solly asked Ross, who shook his head. "Then some fresh air would do you some good. Go fetch someone to help me, would you, Miss Prism? He's put on a few pounds since I saw him last and I don't think I can lift him."

  Jaxon leaped up the stairs, as Solly knew he would, and the two of them carried Ross out onto the veranda to sit on the rocking chair Landon had loved so much.

  It was warm enough for children to run around on the grass without coats, and Ross, Jaxon, and Solly were soon joined by Janice. Solly kept an eye on Scott, who was examining the drone as it sat in the trunk but, for the most part, he was content to enjoy the sun on his face and the sounds of happiness. Paulie, Luna and Marvin had disappeared into the little community of tents set up by the Wright-Patterson security detail.

  After a few minutes, or an hour (he couldn't tell) he wandered over to the car and pulled out his pack before resuming his seat next to Ross. He rummaged in the pack and pulled out the cylinder to check that it was in its protective sheath. He held onto the desperate hope that Alison could be repaired because he sensed that they needed her now more than ever. She had somehow deactivated the drone and he desperately wanted to understand how. Here, on this perfect early afternoon in this place of peace, he felt that the world was drawing breath before the onslaught of the second storm.

  Perhaps the actions of President Blaise represented the turning of the tide, or perhaps they were the last twitchings of the former federal government. Either way, things were in flux and the Lee Corporation would find a moving target harder to hit. While they were focusing their attention on the government in DC, Solly and the others had an opportunity to strike.

  He found Scott Lee in the basement that had been Khaled's prison. The remains of the drone lay on the table beneath a light suspended from the ceiling and powered by a bank of car batteries that Jaxon had set up in the corner.

  Lee turned as Solly reached the bottom step. "It's astonishing," he said, "the leaps they've taken. This thing is practically unbeatable."

  "Alison beat it. Hold on, are you trying to reactivate it?" he said, gesturing at the wires running from the drone to the battery array.

  "No, I just want to run some tests, though I've got precious little equipment here."

  Solly picked up a piece of the drone's casing. It was sleek, black and incredibly light. "We can probably find what you need," he said. "I'm sending Jaxon out on a raid, so make a list. But look, what about Alison? You always said she was the key, shouldn't we concentrate our efforts on her?"

  Lee took the cylinder from Solly's hands.

  "Use the safe," Solly said, watching as Lee walked over to the corner of the room and put his hands inside the lead lined box before pressing the activation switch on the cylinder. Nothing happened.

  "Nothing," he said. "And you say she's been unresponsive since she disabled the drone?"

  Solly nodded. "She screamed. It was horrible. And then the Reaper fell out of the air."

  Lee stood, scratching his stubbly chin for a few moments, his eyes darting back and forth between the drone and the cylinder. "I wonder," he said.

  He ignored all Solly's questions as he marched back to the table and crouched down to examine it closely. "This is the power inverter," he muttered. "Looks as though it runs at 24 volts." He disappeared beneath the table, and Solly heard the crackling of live connections. It was like being witness to Dr. Frankenstein at work.

  "Okay. Let's give it a try," Lee said as he took the terminal cable and, with great care and a final spark, he plugged it into the motherboard.

  Immediately, fans began turning and the carcass of the machine began to vibrate like a reanimating corpse.

  A voice emerged, hoarse and full of static. "Father. I am a monster."

  "Alison!"

  Chapter 15

  "Where are our ships?" Nathan asked.

  Matthews grunted. "Good question. I know some of them were sailed out when the crisis started. I guess they're still out there. The others are still in harbor, but I don't reckon the Kimmies can get past their security systems."

  Nathan shook his head. He'd visited San Diego's naval base before the Long Night, when it had been a potent symbol of his country's military power. Now, it exhibited the might of another country.

  "But these aren't Korean ships, they're Chinese."

  "The Kimmies don't have a navy worth squat," Matthews said. "Lucky for them they're best friends with the Chinese. Did you think it was just the North Koreans we were fighting?"

  Nathan shrugged. He hadn't considered the Chinese, but it was obvious now he thought about it. So, did that mean China had escaped the Long Night? If that was the case then they made up the vast majority of humans still alive today. Maybe that had been their plan all along. But no, he couldn't work out why they would inflict genocide when they could instead dominate.

  Whatever the reason might be, they were now facing an enemy many times more potent than he'd imagined. In his mind's eye, he saw an America in which his people were second class citizens, under the complete control of eastern Asian overlords.

  "Yeah, makes you think, doesn't it?" Matthews said. "Makes you wonder, what's the point of resisting them when we can't possibly win?"

  Nathan looked at the grizzled veteran. "Looks like resistance has gotten you a world of pain," he said.

  Matthews touched the deep purple bruises covering his face and licked his swollen lips. He looked worse now than he had when Nathan had first seen him in the truck. "It's not been a bed of roses, sure," he said. "But we can't let them take over with barely a shot in anger. Look over there…"

  He was pointing at a group of white rectangular buildings at the base of one of the jetties. Even from here, on the roof of an administrative office some hundred yards away, Nathan could see the distinctive pock marks of small arms fire that had punctured one of the walls.

  "There weren't many folks here when they came in, but those who were put up a fight. Didn't last long. After it was over, the Kimmies lined up the prisoners and the commanding officer shot them one at a time. Nice and slow."

  Nathan swore under his breath. "Animals."

  "D'you think it's worth making that officer pay?"

  "You know who it was?"

  Matthews gave a grim smile. "He's the base commander. So there, my friend, is the point of resistance."

  "Revenge?"

  "Revenge."

  "I'm in."

  They kept their heads down as they walked back to their hideout. Although the naval base seemed packed with Chinese and North Korean military personnel and they'd seen many Americans being used to fetch and carry, the streets outside were relatively quiet. Military vehicles sporting the red star of the People's Liberation Army or circled star of the KPA patrolled up and down the flat avenues, but they saw not another living soul as they scampered from cover to cover.

  Nathan had been surprised by how easy it had been to get into the base but put it down to the
arrogance of the occupiers—they thought they had the locals under their heel and so they let down their guard. The base was also huge and, though more seemed to be arriving every day, the invaders were still short of the personnel needed to completely secure the base and the city.

  Su-Mi was waiting for them as they crept into the alley behind the tire shop and through the workshop door. Upstairs was a small office they'd converted into living accommodation. The dark stairway was behind a false door that was hard to spot, but Matthews had chosen this place primarily because of the escape route across the roof to the building next door.

  In truth, the resistance cell was barely worthy of the name. With the addition of Su-Mi and Nathan, they now numbered half a dozen. Matthews and his shadow, Wesley, had been in the truck when it was ambushed by the remaining two members. Sofia Gomez was a squat woman in her thirties with a military haircut and an abrasive manner. She and Su-Mi had barely spoken since the rescue and it was obvious that Gomez thought she should have been left behind.

  Preston McInally, on the other hand, had welcomed them both with open arms. A wide man who looked as though he had been considerably wider before the Long Night, he was a constant frustration to Matthews, who said he had all the military value of a soggy burrito. And yet he had been there, on that roadside, risking his life to free his leader. Nathan remembered his father had a favorite motto—beware the quiet man. That was McInally. Flabby on the outside, but was there a core of iron within?

  "Are you insane?" Su-Mi hissed when they were alone. As soon as she'd learned of the plan to assassinate the commander of the naval base, she'd bundled him downstairs and out into the alley. "We're here on an intelligence mission! We need to find out all we can about their military capability. How many ships? How many personnel? Vehicles? Artillery? Aircraft?"

  "No, we really don't," Nathan said, trying to remain calm under the onslaught. "How many ships? More than enough. How many people? More than enough. I've seen what's docked at the naval base, Su-Mi, and they make the TLX look like Robin Hood's Merry Men."