Salvation (Cascade Book 8)

by Phil Maxey

  “Where you going? Come join us Abbey!” Shouted Erin across the long room.

  Suddenly her legs felt heavy. Looking down, her feet had stopped moving forward. The doors were only a few yards away but it might as well have been miles. She felt a breath on her neck.

  “We gotta go,” said Clovis just behind her.

  “I’m trying,” she said within gritted teeth.

  Clovis walked past her, pushed the double door open, took a look back then disappeared from view.

  She swore under her breath and pushed even more effort into her thighs. She took a tentatively step forward.

  “Abbey? Come play poker with us!” This time Erin’s voice reverberated through her. She started to turn when the kitchen cupboard exploded.

  Muffled Screams filled the air. Abbey realized she was on the ground, her head against the side of a bed. She unsteadily got to her feet, trying to see through the thick smoke which filled one half of the room.

  Bomb.

  In a flash of panic she pulled the box from under her top. It was undamaged. She then looked at the people around her, most were getting to their feet as well. Some had trickles of blood across their faces. She staggered forward then suddenly realized she felt lighter. At first she couldn’t understand why, then when she saw Erin unconscious on the ground, she knew she had her answer. Some of the others around him were also out cold, some were bleeding. She wanted to stay and help, but knew this was her chance. She turned and headed for the doors.

  *****

  The cool night air washed over her face as she pushed her head up and out of the manhole. There was still a ringing in her ears, but as soon as she pulled herself free of the ladder and stood upright on the street, the sounds of the E.L.F’s around her filled her mind, drowning out the constant drone. She slid the cover back over the hole and looked around her.

  They’re coming.

  She could sense them. Cascaders, moving towards her position from underground, moving through the tunnels. She could feel their anger, their hate.

  ‘In the side street, near the ruins of the clock tower’.

  Burt’s voice rang through her mind. For a moment panic started to overwhelm her and she suddenly felt alone in the complete darkness of the small town.

  Focus…they’re coming…

  “I know!” She shouted into the night. She quickly rummaged around her backpack, which she had earlier hid in one of the maintenance cupboards near the entrance to the tunnels, and found her flashlight. She switched it on and swept it around her.

  “Okay, that’s what’s left of the library…police station…so clock tower should be…”

  The stunted triangular dark shape was just visible against the lighter night sky behind the buildings in front of her. She took off, being careful to avoid the numerous craters which lay scattered across the concrete and ran down the street in front of her. Soon she was at another junction. Switching directions, she jogged forward until she caught sight of the rubble of what was left of the eighteenth century historic building which stood off the main street of the town. A small dark alley to the side beckoned. As she ran forward a tingling sensation filled her and she knew she was no longer alone.

  She stopped and looked up, pointing her light in the same direction. A loud squawk filled the silence around her and huge wings created an updraft scattering her hair.

  With a loud thud Mo landed on the concrete in front of her and hopped from foot to foot, mildly squawking.

  “Mo!” She spring forward and hugged the monkey bird creature briefly.

  “We have to go!”

  He held his hands out.

  “No, not flying. I have a car…” She ran forward to the alleyway and shone her light along it. Burt’s pickup sat proud, only just fitting within the width of the dirt path it was parked on.

  She took a step towards it and realized at the same time as her pet did that they were not alone. Clovis stepped out of the shadows near the vehicle.

  “Thought you’d come for his piece of crap truck,” he said smiling.

  Mo went to spring forward, when a growl came from further along the pathway, causing the Simivem to pause.

  “Yeah, I got me a pet too. I had more but you killed them all.” Clovis walked to the passenger’s door of the pickup. “So we leaving or what.”

  CHAPTER FIVE

  As the dark forms of the newly growing landscape flowed by, Abbey’s mind kept threatening to shut down, and for her emotions to turn off. She had one hand on the wheel and the other on the only weapon she managed to smuggle out, a fully loaded Glock, a present from Bower.

  They had been driving for about half an hour, and not a single word had broken the silence inside the cabin.

  I’m responsible. He’s going to kill me. I’m responsible. They think I’m with him. Erin will hunt me with the Cascaders. I’m responsible. The aliens…

  She let out a scream and slammed on the breaks, causing both of them to lunge forward.

  The truck sat idling. She wanted to pull the gun out and shoot him. Kill him in cold blood and throw him out of—

  “You got something you want to get off your chest, girly,” said Clovis.

  Her head whipped around to him. “We agreed you would just cause a distraction! People were injured! Women and Children!”

  “Was anyone killed?”

  “No…I don’t think so, but that’s—”

  For the first time since they started talking he looked at her. “That bastard wasn’t killed?”

  “No, I think he was just knocked unconscious or something. Was that your great plan? Kill him, maybe take his place? He’s going to come for us, you know that right?”

  Clovis looked forward. “We should keep on moving.”

  “Where are you even going? Everyone in the outpost or camp, will want you arrested! Or dead!”

  “I thought your boyfriend was in charge of the whole shindig.” He continued before she could answer. “He seemed okay with me back in the bunker.”

  She knew the only reason Zach left Clovis alone was because he was part of Erin’s Cascaders, but like her, she also knew Zach was biding his time, and when the Erin problem was resolved, Clovis was next.

  “He thought you might be useful, otherwise you would have been in jail.”

  Clovis laughed. “Only one man ever got the better of me, and that ain’t your boy, Zach. The other man, we need to find a way to take care of.”

  She sighed then pushed down on the gas pedal.

  Soon they were riding on a stretch of highway that seemed to float above trees and hills. Occasionally a river, its waters rippling in the silver light of the moon would pass below. They both sensed the lack of creatures, but remained silent nonetheless.

  The road descended as they entered a large town and more forgotten wrecks of vehicles started to slow their progress.

  “Take the smaller roads,” said Clovis.

  Abbey ignored him, instead keeping to weaving in and out between the warped metal blocks that were now rusting and falling apart.

  “We ain’t gonna get through the—”

  “I heard you the first—” She slammed on the breaks as an E.L.F standing two story’s high stood looking at them. Its head, dog like, was covered in scales and flowed into a more primate looking body. Its eyes shone line beacons, illuminated by the pickups headlights. It stood on two stout legs, its mouth partly open revealing canine teeth a foot long.

  “I’m not sensing it, why am I not—”

  Before Abbey could finish the creature charged forward knocking a green sedan and a white pickup to the side. They crashed up against the slim walls which lined the road.

  She threw the pickup into reverse and slammed down on the pedal, causing the wheels to spin until they gripped and they surged backwards, smashing through vehicles.

  “Its gaining!” Shouted Clovis. He briefly closed his eyes, lost momentarily in concentration. “Why ain’t this critter stopping!”

  With each
new impact the pickup lost speed, and the E.L.F bounding towards them got closer.

  An almighty crunch stopped them in an instant and sent them lunging forwards, their seatbelts just stopping them short of the windscreen.

  Abbey shook her head on landing back in her seat and looked at her side mirror. “We’ve crashed into a semi!” She flicked the gearstick back into drive, pulling the steering wheel to the right and hit the gas, but the pickup resolutely refused to move. “We’re stuck!”

  They both scrambled to pull their seatbelts off as the creature disposed of a final vehicle between them and itself, and with a roar leapt forward into the air. Abbey flung her door open, grabbing her backpack with one hand and her Glock with the other and dived to the side. Before she had even hit the ground, the sound of metal crumpling, clashed with the shattering of glass and the ground around her shook.

  Not bothering to look back, she clambered over the wall in front of her, and immediately fell, not knowing in the dark when she would hit the ground. She soon did and began rolling down a steep embankment. As the earth and sky changed place she sensed Mo nearby, and managed to send him the emotion needed to stay away from the huge creature that just attacked them.

  Finally she came to a stop against something solid, but in the dark she had no idea what it was. With her head still swimming, she looked back up to the only point of light for miles, the single remaining headlight of Burt’s pickup. The huge creature was still slicing angrily at his vehicle, bits of it being torn off and then thrown into the night sky.

  Not coming after me.

  She slowly got to her feet with no idea of what was around her, and felt her wrist which was aching.

  As the E.L.F continued its attack on its metal enemy, she realized the ground she was on was solid. She had a flashlight in her backpack, but with an eighteen foot mound of death just tens of yards away from her she wasn’t about to turn it on. She felt behind, her hand touching something cold.

  Metal fence or guardrail? Maybe I’m on a side road.

  As her eyes begun to adjust, she noticed a large monolithic building a few hundred feet away and started jogging towards it.

  *****

  It had only been a few hours since Sam returned with Isaiah and another injured justice force member, and Zach was already deep into R.E.M sleep when a loud knock shook the door of his small but well laid out room. “Yup, I’m awake, what?” He half shouted.

  The door opened a small amount and a young soldier’s face appeared in the gap. “Sir, sorry to wake you, but we have Mr. Crenshaw on comms in main operations, he wants to talk to you, he says it’s urgent.”

  “I’ll be there.”

  The soldier left, closing the door gently.

  Zach went to lift his head, then regretted it as the painkillers he had taken some hours before were wearing off. Waiting for a lull between throbs, he sat up and looked back at his pillow. A small dark patch of blood had formed from the bump on his head. He reached up tentatively feeling the small egg shaped lump, then grimaced on how sore it still felt.

  He sat for a moment thinking of Abbey, and what she must be having to contend with all the way across the country.

  Monsters, now aliens. What’s next? Zombies?

  He allowed himself a brief smile then got dressed.

  Soon he was back amongst the bustle of the bunkers main operations room. It was half the size of the one in the cave network, but still impressive, especially considering a few weeks earlier it didn’t exist.

  The soldier from before saw him enter and pointed to a headset lying on a nearby desk.

  Zach placed it carefully on his head. “What can I do for you Brad? Over.”

  “It’s Abbey, Zach. Over.”

  The pain in Zach’s head intensified as did his heart rate. “What about her? Is she okay? Over.”

  “As far as I know she’s fine, but she has gone Zach. There was an explosion of some kind in one of the rooms in the bunker network, a number of people were injured. Mitchell is saying it was Abbey’s doing. Over.”

  “What?” It was an instinctual response and one that left his mouth before what Brad had said fully settled in his mind.

  “Yeah it makes no sense to me either. There’s something else…It appears she might have left with Clovis. Over.”

  Zach started to feel dizzy, the room swaying in sync with the pounding at the top of his skull.

  “You there Zach? Over.”

  “I’m here—” He looked at the nearby soldier. “Hey, I need some pain killers and some water.” The solider nodded and quickly left. “—Sorry, yeah. I find that hard to believe…Unless she was kidnaped? Over.”

  “That’s what I said to Mitchell, but she says people saw them leaving separately. She left, right after the explosion, and he left shortly before. Over.”

  A strange notion starting to form in Zach’s mind.

  Could the bomb have been an attempt to kill Erin?

  “Is Erin alive? Over.”

  “Yeah, Mitchell was pretty pissed that he was injured. But there’s more bad news. Mitchell is sending a squad of her people including Cascaders after them. Over.”

  “What?”

  The soldier appeared with the tablets and a plastic cup with water in it.

  “Mitchell say’s Abbey’s a threat to all Cascaders everywhere, and she must be stopped. Over.”

  “What about the toxin? We need it down here!” He tried to stop his emotion from being obvious.

  “There was no mention of that.”

  Zach swore under his breath. “Can you patch me through to the general? Over.”

  “She has cut all communication. I tried getting her back on the radio, but there’s no response from up there. What do you want us to do? Over.”

  Zach snatched the pills and water from the soldier and swallowed them, then handed the cup back to him.

  The pain coursing through his head was stopping most thoughts from forming. He sat heavily on the desk and took a deep breath.

  “Zach?”

  “I need to talk to Trow and think this through. Abbey’s probably on her way to you, but I’ll get back to you. Over.”

  Brad acknowledged, but Zach was already straining his mind to understand what could have happened.

  I can’t help her now. I need to help the people in the camp. We need that toxin.

  He took another breath trying to calm his heart and head, trying to think of any way of out the mess they were in, but each time he did his mind returned to Abbey.

  She’s out there again. Out there with him.

  One of the side doors opened and Fiona walked over to him.

  “There’s news from Brad?”

  Zach looked up. “Yeah. Things just got a whole lot more complicated.”

  CHAPTER SIX

  Mounds of rubble just visible through the thick dust loomed above Abbey as she walked the silent streets of the camp. Blocks of steel and cement, each one large enough to crush a car, sat at awkward angles threatening to collapse even further.

  Where is everyone?

  One of the shapes was out of place. Running forward, across the street, she saw it wasn’t a part of a building, but instead a clawed hoof, as big as she was tall, but completely opaque due to the thick layers of dust it was covered in.

  I’m too late.

  She felt them before her other five senses told her she was not alone. Turning around to look along the street, she shuddered. Purple lights, hundreds, each a vague humanoid form, but giant in size. The Hulathen.

  No…I need to find Zach, he will be here, in a bunker. I need to…

  Abbey abruptly opened her eyes from her dream. A faint glow that heralded the sun had already moved above the horizon, lit the floor in front of her. She had managed to find a back entrance via a loading dock, to a huge superstore, and then snuck into the first vaguely comfortable looking room she could find, an employee’s common room.

  Plant shaped blurs swayed through frosted glass windows. She
went to reach into her bag for her water when she realized in front of her was a fully stocked vending machine, complete with bottles of water, candy bars and some sandwiches which had become something else.

  She then felt a presence to her left. Clovis was sitting on one of three chairs which surrounded a small round table. She quickly reached down to the floor, from the sofa she was on.

  “You looking for this?” He held up her Glock, with his finger on the trigger.

  She froze.

  He sneered. “Never liked the fancy guns.” He placed it on the table.

  “How you find me?” She was too angry with herself to allow the fear in her throat to affect her speech.

  “I’m like you remember. I know where our kind are.” He got up suddenly, grabbed a chair, walked to the vending machine, and with one swipe smashed the glass with the metal legs.

  Abbey saw the distance between him and the gun and sprang up, lunged then grabbed the weapon for herself, pointing it towards his back.

  He leaned into the machine and pulled out two bottles. “I did think about killing you. As you slept. Really thought about it.” He sighed then without turning around twisted the top off one of the bottles and gulped half of its contents down.

  Abbey’s hand wavered on the gun.

  “If you’re going to kill me, best you do it. Otherwise we need to find a new truck.”

  “They’re isn’t any ‘we’.” She said still pointing the weapon at his back.

  He reached through the splinted pieces of glass once more and pulled down a handful of chocolate bars, then walked over the broken shards towards the door. “Me and Tiger will be outside when you’re ready.” He left.

  For a second Abbey remained pointing the gun at the door, and then let out a breath and let her hand drop to the side. Her eyes then grew wide and she quickly turned and rummaged under one of the sofa cushions. Finding the white box that Raj gave her. She relaxed slightly.

  She walked to the broken machine with her pack, and held it open inside, pulling down what bottles and food she could, until she knew the weight would be too much to carry.