by Aral Bereux
Her brow raised, Caden was marching off. He’s a freaking tyrant!
‘And you’re already proving to be a pain in the ass.’
She turned into his comment. Bas boxed the last items: another bottle of whiskey, a leather-bound book, and the antique box. She turned around in time to see the lid lift on its hinges.
‘Pissed off a temperamental watcher by the looks of things,’ Bas said. He was discarding the lid of a syringe beside its wrapper and filling it from a vial of thick white liquid. ‘Bend over.’
‘What?’ She wasn’t baring her ass for anyone right now.
‘Penicillin shot,’ he said, and she felt a firm hand in the middle of her back, pushing her over the table. The pin marks in the wood disappeared as the tugging on the band of her pants lowered them, to stab the needle into her skin. She felt the thickness of the liquid seep into her.
‘Ow! Ease up,’ she said.
‘He’s trying to keep you safe.’
She rubbed the fresh pinhole in her cheek, watching Bas return to his box.
‘You’ll need another dose, if you can chase one up.’
The lid snapped shut and he placed it in with the contents of the cardboard box, including her knife. She snatched it out as he brushed past her.
‘Hmm.’ He leaned in with narrowed eyes that shifted upwards. A tattoo poked above his T-shirt, reaching for his neck. She doubted many skull and crossbones were ritualistic. Something from the new world. ‘Don’t remember me do you?’
He left the tent with the question lingering. Her quick step after him forced her into a vulnerable stillness in the middle of the compound. Unable to move with the pain in her side, she surveyed the grounds. The buzz of excitement spreading around the Rebels, with the promise of a new camp, was contagious amongst them.
The tents were gone except for Caden’s, behind her. Most were leaving on their bikes. Some hunted for anything dropped or unintentionally left. All things were valuable, and she listened to Caden dress down a soldier for assuming otherwise. He screamed at the young boy until he lowered his head and cowered under his raised fist. Once released from Caden’s command, he scampered with his tail tucked well between his thighs toward one of the waiting Jeeps.
Her bike wasn’t where she had left it – where the boy walked past. Her eyes scanned the grounds. They were empty, dust where the tents had sat, mud everywhere else. Caden brushed past, pushing a bag into her hands before entering the tent again. She winced with the force against her injury, and watched him fold the cot she’d slept in, leaving the blankets on in his urgency to leave. His precision was quick and he past her with it under one arm, in a huff, refusing to stop.
‘Follow me.’
‘Where’s my bike?’ she asked.
He lifted the cot into the open Jeep where the cowering boy sat inside. He used his strength to slide it over the ammunitions piled in the rear before grabbing the bag she was absently holding. She asked again and he slammed the door after fitting the bag between the cot and a box.
Behind them, Caden’s tent fought two soldiers trying to collapse it quickly. Caden gave them a ‘Hurry up,’ as he walked past, and Julianna followed, ignoring the plea from her stomach to slow down. He was inspecting the empty grounds.
‘And my clothes? I don’t wear uniform.’
‘You do in my camp,’ he muttered, and bent to grab a guitar pick from the dirt. She rolled her eyes at his back when he slipped it into his pocket.
‘I want them back now.’ Her waist nagged and a wave of dizziness swam through her.
He turned on the balls of his feet, still searching the ground. He couldn’t see anything else. The grounds were clear and he turned once more to brush past her. A trace of a smile graced his face, and she watched him look down at the two young officers folding the tent where it rested.
The older boy slung the tight case over his shoulder. The freckles on his face stood out on his pale skin, under the moonlight. The younger one quietly followed with his head down and his hands clutched behind his back, walking towards the Jeep. The driver started the engine. Within moments, Caden and Julianna had the grounds to themselves. All trace of the camp was gone but for the smoldering fire releasing a small curl of smoke from its center.
Julianna lowered her face from his glance. His eyes were dark and bottomless, taunting her with his authority. She knew Caden Madison was an exception in her world and to his. Not every watcher possessed the ability to flick their personal switch without an emotional guide the way he could. He was controlled even in temper.
‘Suck it up, princess!’ Caden yelled. He was behind the trees. ‘You’re riding with me.’
He used the last penicillin in her ass, dug a bullet out, and called her sweetheart. She was being foolish.
Yes, you are being foolish, sweetheart.
Get out of my head, damn it!
The wind howled around her and a storm was threatening. A shiver racked her body and she found herself on the ground, in the dirt, as the familiar rev of her bike engine grumbled towards her. Caden sat on her bike, wheeling it slowly. The kickstand went down and he propped.
‘Daniel will keep. Your mother, well, that silly bitch...’ He trailed off. ‘Some people can’t be saved. Hoping you’re different, hoping you take after the better part of the family.’ He leaned over. ‘Can help you if you let me.’
I know where your father is. Stay with me and I might just tell you.
He waited for her reaction as the rain misted over them and the kickstand lifted up with a metallic twang. His eyes were no longer dark, nor were they angry. He was speaking a truth she had been waiting to hear for a very long time.
‘Come on...a lap around this place, then we go.’ He extended his hand to help her to the bike. She accepted.
She knew that he had her.
Chapter 13
2ND MAY, 2018, 0020 HOURS.
WEST CAMP.
When Taris arrived with his men, the fire was out. Dampened by the mist of rain swirling around them, he stood near its warmth. His fists clenched and his rage rose. So close to finding them. He looked around the spot he stood. So close.
A low hum reached his ears and he lifted his gaze to the bike engine’s echo coming from the river bend near the rocks. He thought of the report given over the comms in his office. What was left of the ambush on the camp, retreated. One soldier. One single damned soldier! Taris wasn’t convinced, but a girl fitting Julianna’s description had been shot. She’ll slow them down. Yes, they would need to go slow. Time was tick-tick-ticking for his dear cousins, running out, and he’d be waiting on the lines when it did.
His radio clicked.
‘Go for Delta.’ He pressed the radio to his ear. The wind interfered with his base command.
‘Target...sight...shhhhhhhh.’
Taris gave the radio a shake. The white noise moved across the frequency. ‘Delta to base. Do you have a sighting? Over.’
Shhhhhhhh, crack!
So dammed fucking close!
‘Base, do you read?’ the radio hissed again. The Jeep was a few steps away with the comms. He’d try that.
The mist parted and curled his body on his way to the car and the officer waiting behind the wheel handed him the comms. Taris tapped the screen, entered the code, and a HSD soldier looked directly at him with a radio still in his grasp and to his lips. It dropped at the sight of his Commander.
‘Well?’ He waited.
‘Another twelve hours and we should have a location on her IDM, Commander.’
‘We don’t have twelve hours to wait.’
‘Sir, we’re moving as quick as we can. The scrambler she has isn’t resetting. It was an inside job.’
Sergeant Sweetheart crossed his mind, sent on her way to the camp yesterday. She had disappeared, and then there was the Daniel. Coincidence or luck? He wondered.
He contemplated the soldier. The portrait of himself smiling in the background caught his eye. The situation he’d be in with Ge
neral Rosewalt if he failed this time around it wouldn’t be a happy one.
‘I need more than that.’ He slid his finger over the glass again. There was another call from the Senate. He slipped the comms into his pocket, ignoring the alarm buzzing for his attention.
‘Sir?’ his driver asked.
Taris glanced around. He was feeling the pressure. ‘Fuck me,’ he said. Sergeant Sweetheart had caused a lot of grief and he sure as hell wasn’t making the same mistake twice.
Julianna Rae’s next. Fucking bitch! I’ll make her pay more.
‘Sir?’ his driver asked again.
Taris pushed his hands deep into his pockets. She’s close. The fire wafted smoke, and he breathed in its aroma. Julianna’s scent drifted along the breeze with it He narrowed his eyes, the urge to hunt overwhelmed his mind. His driver slipped farther along his seat and clamped his mouth shut.
With the new camps settling on every other boundary, he would soon carve the land into Sectors like the city. The countryside had less places to hide. He nodded to himself, deep in thought. The sound of a bike engine hummed again. He met the driver’s eyes; he’d heard it, too. Taris nodded, sending him to search. The investigation would be worth it.
The comms buzzed in his pocket again. He ignored it, more interested in the driver stepping down with his rifle slung over his back as the next Jeep pulled up beside them. Taris stepped back, giving the occupants enough space to step down to his level. The driver with the rifle made his way past them, eyes low and afraid.
Doug Cathan lifted his glasses to rest on his head. He gave Taris a nod and ambled to the back of the car. He flipped the tray down, toppling Daniel hard into the ground.
Daniel glanced up through the dust his fall created, with his legs folded under him and his hands bound tightly to his back. The black cloth wedged firmly in his mouth between tongue and teeth, gagging him when the dust floated into his nose.
Doug raised his brow. ‘We’ve interrogated the fuck out of him and he’s said nothing.’
Taris stared down at Daniel flashing his dark watcher eyes defensively.
‘Now, now, Danny boy, put them away, will you?’ Taris said. ‘Just some questions. You answer them, we let you go, how’s that sound?’
Taris grinned. The full moon lit Daniel’s bruised face perfectly. He adjusted the knees of his pants to crouch without restriction. He dropped the tight gag from Daniel’s mouth with a tough pull and watched his prisoner breathe easy once it hung around his neck.
‘Sorry about your uncle’s little spat earlier.’ Taris leaned in. ‘You look beaten up, but I’m sure you understand our concern with finding Julianna.’
‘Never met the girl.’ Daniel turned his face and spat a loose thread from his mouth. ‘Next?’
‘CCTV confirms the two of you passing through Sectors Four through Eight together, asshole.’ Taris rubbed at his eyes. ‘Next?’ he said.
Daniel laughed. ‘Julianna?’ he teased. ‘Had no idea. My kid sister? Get outta’ here.’
Taris straightened his stature. He enjoyed looking down on his prisoners, especially this one. Slipping his sidearm from its thigh holster, Taris checked the magazine in everyone’s view.
‘Maybe you should consider your options a little more wisely.’
The laughing stopped. Daniel’s mouth sounded dry. ‘She’s safer with Caden. That’s saying something, don’t you think?’
‘Ain’t that the truth,’ Taris said and the gun swung against Daniel’s eye. Daniel returned to the dirt, shoulder first, and a slow line of warm blood trickled into the crease of his eye. Taris raised his weapon for another blow.
‘You’re blocking my objectives, Danny boy.’ Taris rubbed a finger along the arch of his brow. ‘And it’s pissing me the fuck off!’ The second blow collided with the fresh cut, widening it for the blood to flow freely.
Taris teased Daniel’s squinting eyes with his pistol again. ‘I will tear you apart piece by piece, like a vicious dog to a rag doll, if you don’t start talking.’
Daniel spat the blood from his split lip. ‘Sometimes I wonder about you. With everything in your reach, she manages to slip past.’
‘I agree, really I do.’ Taris nodded. ‘It’s hard not to be proud of Julianna. All that training and time I gave her. It’s why you’re here. We both know you hold loyalty to no one. Surely you won’t start with a pain in the ass such as your sister.’ He crouched again. ‘Where is she? Where’s the new camp located? And who the fuck’s this Isis that pains me in the ass?’
‘Been thinking about that new leaf-turning thing. You know, start a fresh. Make amends.’
The bike.
Daniel smiled.
Taris slammed the Sig down against Daniel’s face twice, sprawling him onto the ground, unconscious and bleeding, with his legs tangled. The driver and Doug approached him with their weapons ready; they’d sensed it, too. No prob-lem-o. He had them now.
Taris pointed the gun. His prisoner was too valuable to kill so soon. Another full-blood could be valuable to the trials in the camp. Daniel was valuable. The thought was enough to leave him alone.
He pulled the trigger. A nearby nesting of birds took flight as the single shot echoed across the open grounds. He hunched over the bullet lodged in Daniel’s shin and he looked up, with his senses twitching.
The bike stopped. Taris grinned manically.
Checkmate!
He readied his gun again. His Lieutenant was behind him, watching in his silence. Taris thought he heard a momentary lapse where his comrade left his guard down, and his eyes narrowed to listen some more at the words spinning in the almost empty mind.
‘Did you say something, Lieutenant?’ Taris pivoted.
‘Didn’t have to shoot him; he’s already out.’ His arms crossed against his chest. The walker stood his ground, shoulders above Taris’s already tall stature. They squared off. Taris held his pistol out to the side.
‘Soft spot for him? He’s a Rebellion loyalist. Our traitor.’ The need for specifics was out. He didn’t need to be obvious. ‘Maybe you’re with him?’ Taris stepped forward.
The Lieutenant disagreed. He stepped back, dropping his hands to wave over the edge of his holster. ‘I think you crossed the line. Damage him enough he’ll have nothing to live for. Then we’ll get nothing.’
‘That’s sound advice. Listen, I’ll heal him back at the camp,’ Taris lifted the Sig into his holster. ‘But right now, I wanna check out those sounds coming from back there, and he needs to be secured. I need you to stay with him.’
‘Sure.’ The Lieutenant nodded. ‘I’ll call it in.’
Taris lingered a bit longer. Their eyes met. It was late and things happened late at night, and they were tired. Situations were easily misjudged. Taris nodded, still unconvinced.
He turned away.
He felt the raise of a gun pointing at his back. He sensed it, though a walker wouldn’t know that. He smiled out to the empty grounds and the smoking campfire. He was quick with his turn, out of instinct and necessity. He’d anticipated the Lieutenant’s move. Hell, he’d been waiting months for this moment, and now it was here, in the dead of night, with the mist hanging low and a full moon to cast its damnation.
The unbuttoned holster released the Sig effortlessly into his grip, and with the double trigger already cocked from the assault on Daniel, the bullet departed its chamber.
The shock of the first bullet piercing the nasal passage left the Lieutenant wide-eyed. The metal ricocheted into his skull and the warmth of the blood streamed down in thick purple lines. His body didn’t know what reaction to have. Taris aimed again and another flock of birds took to the sky. The second one nailed it home, dropping the traitor into a seizure while his one hundred-year-old body adjusted to his violent death clawing away.
Taris lingered hungrily at the blood seeping into the mud. He lowered his gun. ‘Far-fetched, my traitor friend,’ he muttered. ‘Always knew your excuses were far-fetched.’
The mess
before him confirmed one thing: there were more Rebels within his ranks. But the instigator was dead. The gaping hole in the back of the skull was testament to the fact.
* * * *
Caden killed the engine. He raised a finger to his lips to keep her quiet as the gunshots finished their echo over the landscape. Birds scattered manically above them and they listened for more. Their planned trip, searching for anything left, had paid off with the full box of ammunition in his jacket pocket, but now he wasn’t so sure.
The fever was taking her over. He felt the heat through his shirt as she huddled into his back. He clutched his hand over hers as she held his waist and gave them a squeeze. She was sick, and now gunshots were ringing in the air. He needed her to hold up. Needed for her to focus just in case. She lowered her hand, patted his thigh, and he looked down at her touch. She understood and she straightened when he sat straight, searching with his watcher’s eyes for any threat approaching.
She spoke very quietly. ‘On foot?’
He didn’t like it, but she was right.
She was off the bike and hiding low behind the large rock wall before he could finish his thought.
Julianna! ‘Get back here!’
She readied her knife, raising three fingers to him. He nodded and lowered the kickstand, leaving his bike to crouch behind her, curious to see what held her attention.
They were quiet, and spread out. Three men followed Taris in an armed search along the riverbank. The rifles swung out, scanning with their lasers and torches. Taris was following his instinct.
Caden tapped her shoulder and raised his gun, trying to press it into her hand. She held her knife stubbornly against his offer. She shrugged off his protection and furrowed brow and crept away to the low-lying scrub in the path of their would-be hunters. Her uncle walked a meter away and stopped with Taris while the patrols kept ahead.
‘She’s here. I can sense her.’ Taris nodded and pivoted around on his toes. His head moved around from left to right, scanning. ‘I can feel her here. Very, very close.’
