Devin asked, “When they arrive back in port, is there a big party, something that draws everyone?”
“Are you serious?” Tess asked.
“Yes, yes, there is. It’s always the first night back in port. There’s a huge bonfire, lots of drinking, fucking, crazy shit happens.”
“You see, I guess it pays to watch old pirate movies.”
“You’re such a dork,” she joked.
“Hey, pirates always party when they pull into port. At least the ones in the movies do.”
The snake edged closer to Morgan’s crotch.
“Right now, mister water moccasin is about to bite your junk. This is your chance to tell us anything that’s critical. Anything that will help us rescue all those kids,” Tess pointedly said.
“I told you. I told you. Please!”
“More details!” Tess stressed.
“You’ll never get all the kids. Some of them are just fucking brainwashed now, you know, children soldiers, tough as nails.”
“The ship the night of the party, is it heavily guarded?” Devin asked.
“No, no one is on it but maybe a couple kids.”
“Where can we find the kids?”
“If they’re recent captures, we hold them in the aft berthing, fourth level.”
The snake’s forked tongue was jetting in and out of its mouth as it now curled up just under his groin.
“Goddamn it, do something!” Morgan screamed.
“Okay,” Tess said, then grabbed his legs and closed them around the snake.
“Hey, what are you doing? Stop!” Morgan screamed.
“You told me to do something, and this is what I do to fucking pieces of shit!” she hollered back. With all her strength she squished the snake between his thighs and groin.
The snake reacted by biting him rapidly, one bite after another along his thighs and one last one in his crotch.
Morgan cried out in fear and pain.
Tess stood up quickly as the snake squirmed out. The last thing she wanted to do was get bit.
“Why, why? I told you everything you asked of me,” Morgan asked as he began to cry.
“Because you’re nothing but a fucking animal and a coward,” Tess yelled, then spit at him.
“Tess, enough, he’s done,” Devin said, taking her arm.
Her eyes were wide and dilated.
He could see the rage of years past coming through them.
“He’s subhuman trash and got what was coming to him,” Tess proclaimed.
Morgan started sobbing.
She kicked him hard and said, “Stop crying, you fucking baby!”
“That’s it. Let’s go and let him die in peace,” Devin insisted. He took greater hold of her arm and pulled her away.
Once a good distance away he stopped and asked, “Did that feel good? What the hell, Madam Sadistic?”
“As a matter of fact, it did feel good.”
He stared at her and didn’t know whether to just kiss her then or smack her for killing the one man who could’ve provided more answers to questions he knew surely would come.
Her chest heaved and she could feel a tingling from the encounter. She pulled her hair back and readjusted her ponytail and straightened out her shirt.
Morgan sobbed and begged for help, but no one was coming, his fate was sealed. A bite from a water moccasin didn’t mean death, but without antivenom his chances of survival were not high, and until then he’d experience great pain and suffering. She preferred that for a man such as him who preyed upon the weak and abused the innocent.
“I really do feel better. I think I’m going to go practice skipping rocks. Care to join me?” Tess said and marched back towards the creek, a spring in her step.
Pine Bluffs, Wyoming
Having purpose and a mission gave Travis something to look forward to. His night had been spent lying in bed going over the different scenarios of how it would go down. Many of those had him dying in a fiery nuclear blast, so he would reassess and start over. With Lori gone risking all, he was committed to assuring he would be successful so that she might come home. He found himself feeling guilty as he tossed and turned throughout the night. The more he thought of Lori in a romantic way, the less he thought of Tess. He had thought it but couldn’t speak it out loud, but that moment was coming soon. The reality of seeing Tess again was receding as a possibility. He hated thinking that way, but his world was on a path that was impossible to get off of.
To complicate matters for him, when he returned last night, Janine had greeted him happily with a large meal. He was proud of his new responsibility, and she could see it. He told her as much as he thought prudent. It was then that she shared her story and the story of the town. When the lights went out, she came to him in his bedroom. He found her attractive, but with Tess out there and Lori on his mind, he couldn’t. This rejection sent her back to her room in tears.
When he had risen for the day, he couldn’t find her, and the breakfast he had become accustomed to being ready for him wasn’t there. His intention wasn’t to hurt her, but he wanted to explain to her that lying with her would do greater harm than not. But the chance of explanation hadn’t been given to him, and if it had, he wasn’t sure it would have mattered. He had given up trying to explain the actions of women long ago.
He finished brushing his teeth and grinned widely to inspect afterward. Dental care was something that one did not want to overlook, he thought. The alarm sounded on his watch, telling him that it was time to go meet the magistrate and begin the planning for his part in the operation.
When he stepped onto the front porch, he found everything exactly how he had left it. Like Lori’s caretakers, Brick and Tiffany, Janine also lived outside the walls. He understood the nostalgia or sentiment they had, but practically it was insane, he thought. Had he been a murderer, he could have killed Janine that night. The magistrate did provide exterior security in the means of patrols, but they were random and had a lot of area to cover.
Janine’s explanation went a bit further than Brick’s. Besides not wanting to leave the house they had shared with their loved ones, Janine didn’t quite like or trust the townspeople. They had killed her husband and son early after the Death outbreak during a period called the Chaos. She told him their crime was similar to his, but what they didn’t have was the magistrate to appeal to or the covenant to call upon. The covenant could be perceived as harsh, but if someone examined it closely, they would find fairness in judgment. Not long after she had lost her family, the magistrate appeared with his small entourage. Their appearance didn’t come easy, she explained to Travis. There was resistance, but once those people were subdued, the magistrate took control. He ushered in a new life for all, the mob rule was replaced with the rule of law, and soon after that security and safety became prominent.
Travis took in a deep breath, filling his lungs with the morning’s cool air. He trotted over to the SUV they had given him and headed to meet the magistrate and Martin.
“How is your man going to get past the eye scanners?” Travis asked his first question of many.
The magistrate and Martin had given him the orders and the plan of attack. Like Lori’s mission, his also had uncontrollable moving parts that if one were out of alignment, the entire operation would fail.
Travis was smart and could adapt to changes in missions, which from his experience happened more often than not. His major obstacle was getting all those forces together and operating in a coordinated manner. He did have his doubts, though, once the military assets at the DIA saw their assault, they’d bring superior firepower to bear.
“You won’t have to worry about the scanners. One of our people will be at the first checkpoint. He’ll clear Martin and then jump in the vehicle with him,” the magistrate answered.
“Do you have any questions that pertain to your mission?” Martin asked.
“You know, I was thinking about this while I lay up till the wee hours. Why is it that Lori
has to kill him this way when you’ve all but assured me that you can deliver the bomb?” Travis asked.
Martin went to answer, but the magistrate cut him off. “We are fully aware of how difficult each operation is and that it may not work. So we want to have redundancies.”
“Makes sense, but still it puts her at risk when all you needed to do was take a bomb in,” Travis replied.
“Just so you know, the bomb is the one we want most to work. It will destroy everything, especially that new virus. I want to incinerate it along with everyone else there.”
“I’m still not getting it; you could have delivered a bomb a while ago, why now?” Travis asked, still not convinced by their answers.
“Captain Priddy, are you up for this mission or not?” Martin asked.
“Hold on there, I just have questions. Do you fault me for that?” Travis countered.
“Captain Priddy is within his rights to ask; he’s about to risk his life,” the magistrate said.
“Why now? Why use Lori? What’s up?” Travis asked, now becoming more suspicious.
The magistrate leaned on the table with a forlorn look on his face. “Captain, I’ll be honest.”
“Are you telling me you weren’t before?”
“Of course, we were just leaving out a little nugget of info.”
Travis adjusted in his chair.
“We would have tried before, but we didn’t have a weapon ready to use. In fact, we don’t know if the weapon we have assembled will work. It’s not as if we can go around and test it. I managed to assemble a team of people months ago, but they just don’t know if what they’ve created will do what we want it to.”
“So the nuclear weapon might be a dud?” Travis asked.
“Correct.”
“We can’t launch anything; we don’t have codes. All we’ve been able to do is take a warhead out of the missile and configure a triggering device. My team thinks they have it, but we won’t know for sure until you deliver it.”
“There are so many ways for this to go sideways,” Travis said.
“We’re aware of the risks, but you don’t need to be concerned about that end, yours is to lead the Scraps.”
“What is his background?” Travis asked, referring to Martin.
“United States Army.”
“Why not have him lead the Scraps?” Travis asked.
Martin raised his eyebrows at the question and looked at the magistrate.
“There are several reasons, but you’re better equipped to handle the job as an officer,” the magistrate answered.
This response rebuffed Martin, who slightly cut his eyes at the magistrate.
“Don’t look at me that way. We discussed this,” the magistrate said in response to the look he got from Martin.
“Wait a minute. You’re the leader of the people, but you’re not leading them? What’s the rub?” Travis asked, peppering Martin with questions.
“I can answer that. Captain, Mr. Martin here is only an enlisted man; you’re an officer.”
“Hold on, what did you do in the Army?”
“11 Bravo.”
“He’s infantry too. What was your rank?”
“Staff sergeant.”
“He totally could lead his people.”
“Captain Priddy, you don’t know some of the sources, and delivering the weapon is paramount over anything else other than Lori’s success.”
“There’s no guarantee the Scraps will listen to me. They don’t know me. You expect me to roll in there and take over,” Travis protested.
Martin remained quiet as he watched the back and forth.
Travis then decided to put his foot down; he never liked the fact that Lori was there alone. He didn’t trust anyone else to rescue her; he wanted that responsibility. “I’m not going to lead the Scraps, he is. I’m going to deliver the weapon, and I’m not budging on this.”
Martin shifted even more in his chair.
The magistrate was not one who enjoyed being told how things would be. While he fashioned himself as a fair leader, he preferred being a leader more than being fair. As a test to Travis’s resolve, he pressed him, “Not going to happen, Captain.”
Now with the ball back in his corner, Travis was determined to hold firm. One of the several reasons he was a good Marine had to do with his determination. If Lori was to die and he hadn’t been there to rescue her, he might as well die himself. “It’s that or nothing. You can kill me now.”
The tension in the room was high. The magistrate didn’t like Travis’s take-it-or-leave-it attitude. He looked at his stub and thought that this man in front of him knew how he dealt justice, and if he was asking him to kill him, it wasn’t a bluff. Travis might mean it.
The seconds passed like minutes as the two stared each other down.
Travis sat up right and placed his bandaged stub on the table. He placed his right hand on it and started tapping his fingers.
The magistrate remained still; he kept his eyes fixed on Travis.
Martin watched the showdown with excitement; he began to rock in his chair faster in anticipation of who was going to win this game of chicken.
The magistrate broke his stare and quickly stood up. He put on his jacket and said, “It’s chilly in here.”
Travis knew the comment was more him than the temperature.
“Captain Priddy, I understand your desire to help your friend. She’s beautiful, I’ll grant you that. I’m not going to sit and argue with you; we’re running out of time. My goal was never personal. I wanted to place people where I thought they could do the best for our collective efforts. You can deliver the nuke, and Martin here can go back and lead his people in the assault.”
Martin cracked a subtle smile and rubbed his hands together, but kept quiet. For him the magistrate made his decision and it fell his way, no need to add something that could overturn it.
“Thank you,” Travis said.
The magistrate looked at his watch, then back to the two men in the room. He gave a half smile and said, “If you’ll excuse me, I have some city matters to attend to.”
Travis gazed at Martin, who still sat, his eyes looking at the table. It appeared to Travis he was deep in thought.
The magistrate believed in never allowing disagreements to shatter protocol and manners. He walked over to Travis, his posture was upright and he held his head high. He straightened out his jacket before extending his hand.
Travis stood, looked him in the eyes and shook his hand firmly like his father taught him many years ago.
“Captain Priddy, I want to thank you, I know our relationship started out…difficult, but you’ve stepped up to the task. Mr. Martin here will get you set up with the vehicle and everything you need. I don’t think I’ll see you until you return. I wish you Godspeed.”
Travis raised his stub. It was becoming almost a showpiece for him now. “I’ll raise my hand to that, oh, yeah, you cut it off.”
“I like a man with a sense of humor.”
“What’s the saying? Let’s get the show started.”
The magistrate nodded and stepped back; he turned to Martin and said, “I’ll see you after you set up the captain.”
Martin nodded.
The magistrate left the room and closed the door softly.
Martin faced him and let out a huge grin. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone challenge the magistrate before. That was…awesome.”
“I have nothing to lose.”
“That might be true, but it took balls.”
“Or lack of brains.”
“Since you’re now replacing me, I think I ought to tell you just what you volunteered for,” Martin warned.
“I’m sure it won’t be easy.”
“Leaving the bomb is only part of your job. You have a secondary mission as well.”
Travis sat back down and leaned across the table. “I’m all ears.”
“We’re dropping something there but also picking up a package. T
hat was my mission, and now it’s yours,” Martin warned.
“What am I picking up?”
“It’s not what but a who.”
“Go ahead, enough of the drama,” Travis sniped.
“In the bowels of the airport is a laboratory. There you’ll find a patient you need to bring back. All the info is in a packet I put together for myself, but I’ll give it to you.”
“A patient? Who is this person that is so important to the magistrate?”
“I don’t think it’s because of who she was but who she is now. Her name is Cassidy Lange, and she was patient zero.”
Denver International Airport
Lori’s arrival had not turned into the horror that she imagined it could have. After he allowed her in, he was gracious and polite. He had taken her hand gently and walked her immediately to the couch to sit down. There he acted like the doting spouse or lover and queried about her time away. He had ordered his doctor to come and visit. She declined the medical attention, but he insisted, and there was no way to not have it done. This was his way of having her searched without appearing to be harsh.
The doctor had arrived promptly and performed his examination in the bedroom, to include a vaginal examination; this under the guise of ensuring her pregnancy was progressing. Lori was two steps ahead and had made sure the polonium-210 was tucked away nicely, but uncomfortably. After her medical exam she resumed reacquainting herself with Horton, and while he skillfully played his role, she played hers. He never asked about the night she had escaped. Even when she went to bring it up, he raised his hand and touched her lips softly in a gesture to remain silent. His gentleness would have seemed sincere to anyone but her. She knew the monster that resided behind that handsome face. Knowing everything he did was orchestrated, an act to deceive her, she played along and did exactly what he asked even going as far as sleeping with him. She applauded herself for showing strength during her sexual encounter with him because all she had wanted was to find something heavy and use it to smash in his face. Almost on queue he had fallen asleep afterward, his first snore was her signal to find refuge in the shower.
The Death: The Complete Trilogy Page 41
