“We do know,” Jillybean said. “He wants me. If he has me he thinks he might get everything back, and more. He doesn’t think anyone will follow Jenn and even if they did, he doesn’t think she’s the commander that I am.”
“That’s because she’s not,” Stu replied. “I love Jenn like a kid sister and I know better than anyone that she’s not ready to lead this fight. It’s why this whole idea is crazy.”
Jillybean touched his arm for just a fleeting moment. “She won’t be leading my armies. Captain Grey will be. He was a captain of rangers for the U. S. Army before any of this started. No one left alive knows more about tactics and strategy than he does.”
Grey dipped his head at the compliment. “My only question is why do you want Jenn to lead? Why not Stu? Or better yet, why not the Guardian? No offense Stu, but Holt has leadership experience and, if he were king, he could get the Guardians on our side easy as pie.”
“First,” Jillybean said, cocking a thumb, “Troy would not take the position. Second, the Corsairs are even less likely to follow him than they will Jenn. In their eyes, he’s way too goody-goody. Third, they think of Jenn as a worthy opponent. It was her white and gold flag that flew when they were suffering defeat after defeat in San Francisco. Fourth, they saw her die, and they’ll see her escape from the Black Captain, unharmed. Do not underestimate the power that the mystical has on some people.”
A pained look swept her features as she stuck out her pinky. “And finally, unlike me, Jenn will be a good queen. Her heart is always in the right place. You will never have to question her, Stu.”
Just then Stu was embarrassed that he had ever questioned Jillybean in the first place. She had taken it on herself to fight the greatest evil in their little part of the world when no one else would. She had been willing to die from the very start, while he had been petty and immature, refusing to see the bigger picture even when she laid it out plain as day. Embarrassed, he couldn’t look her in the eye.
She laughed suddenly. It was a free, happy laugh as if she were sitting in front of a fire on Christmas Eve, gazing at a stack of presents taller than herself. “Don’t be sad, Stu. This is a good thing.”
“How?”
“Because I’m free. My head is completely empty.” With everyone watching, she pulled him down and kissed him on the lips. “It’s good to be queen sometimes,” she said, and then left, breezing out the door. Within two steps, she was barking orders. She called for the sailor who was best with a needle and thread. She yelled for Gerry the Greek, who was the acting quartermaster of the fleet. She bellowed Leney’s name.
He came at a run ash ordered him to, “Get McCartt, Steinmeyer, and Lexi May over here. We have a lot to discuss and not much time.”
Signals were run up the mast and forty minutes later, ten people were crowded into the Queen’s cabin. Troy had been added at the last minute. Everyone cast nervous eyes at Captain Grey and Neil. The one was clearly a zombie and the other looked like he was a second from tearing someone’s arm off. Jillybean made quick introductions and then dropped the bomb on the group concerning the change in leadership.
“You will listen to the new queen in all things,” she ordered. “And, if you want to win this war, you’ll listen to Captain Grey. He will lay out the plan of attack. Captain Grey.”
“Hold on,” Leney said, quickly, holding out his hands. “Let me get this straight. We’re getting a new queen and she’s going to have a zombie as an adviser and this thing,” he gestured at Captain Grey, “is going to be second in charge? After all I’ve done for you, this is how things are going to be?”
Jillybean took his tattooed hands in her own and her smile for him was genuine. “Your part in this will not be forgotten. From the start, you were my staunchest supporter. I want you to have your choice of roles. The army will be divided into three battalions and the…”
“I want to be in command of the fleet,” he said, before she could finish.
“I don’t think the fleet will play as big a role in the coming action as our ground forces. It will be almost all resupply. It will be vital, just not sexy. Still if you want the position I’m fine with it. I only ask that you transfer your command to a different ship.” She glanced at Stu. “I think Mike would love the Queen’s Revenge.”
Stu mumbled something that might have been a “yes.” All he had heard were the words: love her and these spun in his head. It seemed everything was spinning and everything was moving way too fast for him. In no time, McCartt and Steinmeyer were assigned battalion commands, while Captain Grey kept control of the third.
“We’ll be attacking as soon as humanly possible,” Jillybean told them. “The Captain has got to be reeling in shock seeing his own fleet turned against him. He and his men will be demoralized, and when we land our troops so close to them, it’ll add a great deal of fear to the mix.” There was a second reason she wanted to hurry, she couldn’t allow any mutinous elements within her ranks time to hatch their plots. Speed was vital.
Captain Grey had agreed. He wanted to land his forces west of Hoquiam under the cover of darkness and move them up as fast as possible. McCartt would engage directly from the west, Steinmeyer would hit them from the northwest, while Grey would swing around and come down from the northeast an hour later in the hope of catching their flank lightly defended as the Corsairs ran to defend the first two attacks.
Grey was supremely confident. “We’ll hammer them with blows before they know what hit them, and crack their defense. The landing should commence as soon as we’re done here.”
This was a bit of a surprise to Jillybean. “You’re going to begin this while I’m meeting with the Black Captain? Don’t you think that’s a little underhanded?”
“I guarantee that he’s not waiting for you,” Grey retorted. “He’s maneuvering and so should we. Right now, minutes count more than men.” When she still hesitated, he said, “Trust me, I won’t attack until I know Emily is safe.”
More than anyone, she knew the necessity of speed. Orders were given, more drones were sent up and in no time the entire fleet disappeared into the dark, leaving a quiet Queen’s Revenge alone in the harbor. There were only seven people on board with Gerry acting as captain until Mike arrived.
Jillybean was the quietest of all. She stood at the bow, delving into every possible reaction the Black Captain could make. Stu wanted to go to her, to kiss her and hold her before it was too late, but he held back, really afraid for the first time in his life. His courage failed him and by the time he was able to take the first step toward her, Neil came stumbling up. “It’s time,” he said, pointing at the glittering watch on his grey-skinned wrist. He hugged her and whispered something into her ear. She nodded and went to the launch that waited.
Troy nudged Stu. “Are you coming? She asked for you.” The dark hid his face as it went white. She wanted him to see her taken by the Black Captain? It felt horribly cruel to him. “She needs you to be strong,” Troy said, before heading for the launch
Stu followed, his head held high. It was a small boat and his knees pressed against hers. His shook while hers were steady, making him wonder if he was actually there for her to calm him.
“It’ll be okay,” she whispered, catching his eye.
“I screwed up,” he told her, his voice cracking.
“Maybe there’ll be a time when you can make it up to me.” She nudged his knee and smiled.
That time, if it ever came, would be far in the future. Already they were nearing the island. He wanted to stop. He wanted to paddle backwards. He wanted to come up with something to say that would make everything alright. Instead he stroked the oar until they ran up on the sand.
At least he could be a gentleman. He was out first and held his hand to her. She shook her head. “I don’t want my boots to get wet. You’re going to have to carry me.” She was light and yet his heart thumped heavily.
Her smile disappeared when he set her down. “I’m a queen no longer. Troy, the fl
ag.” She held out her hand and the Guardian gave her the one she’d had put together: white with a gold crown. Troy then jogged forward to do his job, making sure that the Black Captain and his two men were unarmed.
She and Stu were frisked as well. “Whenever you’re ready,” the Corsair said, holding a lantern in her face. “Unless you want to back out that is. If you do, I get to rape the young one right on the beach.”
“Take your childish threats somewhere else,” Jillybean answered, coldly. Turning her head slightly, she whispered to Stu, “I will see you again.” She squeezed his hand once and began walking to her fate. Despite claiming to no longer be a queen, she was more regal than ever. Stu didn’t want to blink as the darkness surrounded her, held back only by the pale light of the lantern.
Shadows moved toward them. The light paused as the two groups came together. Jillybean knelt and gave the flag to the ghostly figure of Jenn Lockhart. There was no time for words. Almost as if the flag was the essence of her royalty and that giving it up made her once again a mere mortal, the Corsair grabbed Jillybean by the arm and dragged her roughly to her feet.
She was pulled away as Mike and Troy made empty threats. They could do nothing. Jillybean was now the property of the Black Captain.
Jenn came to Stu, holding the flag as if she were holding the still warm corpse of a beloved family pet. “She made me queen again. I-I don’t want to be queen. Ever.” Her eyes were haunted, as were Emily’s. They clung to each other.
“You don’t have a choice,” Stu told her in his usual growl. “She may not be the only one who dies for your crown, so you better wear it.”
Her young shoulders sagged as if the metaphorical crown had very real weight. “I’ll be queen if we just get out of here,” she said, looking back over her shoulder. “The signs, Stu. I know you don’t believe in them, but they’re filled with death. They are another thing I don’t want.”
This was even more alarming than their frightened faces. “Is it Jillybean who’s in trouble?” Stu demanded.
“It’s all of us.”
Stu had no fear for himself; he could only think of Jillybean and was three steps in her direction when Mike Gunter grabbed him. “Don’t! They warned us not to go back. He said they had snipers. I don’t know if I believe it, but we can’t take the chance.”
The Captain did indeed have snipers. He whistled for them to return from their hiding places as Jillybean approached. He bowed from the shoulders. “Your Highness.” The Captain was so velvety black that the light from the lantern seemed to slide right off him. All she really saw of him were his mocking eyes.
“I’m a queen no longer,” Jillybean replied, as she had earlier.
“It’s true,” one of his men said. “There was a little ceremony, and some kneeling. I’m not going to lie, I shed a tear.” He laughed a little too loudly, as did some of the snipers.
Jillybean gazed around her at the men. “You missed your chance, you could’ve taken all of us. Unlike you, Corsair, we actually came unarmed, like we had decided.”
He shrugged as if he didn’t care. “I’m not too worried,” the Captain said, smoothly. “That boat will never get out of the harbor, and even if it does,” he flicked a hand, “That idiot girl queen would likely be more valuable to me out there where their mistake will multiply and cascade, until in the end, they will die from the very avalanche they started. But I do wish I could see their faces when I spring my first surprise. If we hurry, we might get a front row seat.”
Icy fingers gripped Jillybean’s heart as they entered a small, short-masted skiff. The cold grip grew painful when the Captain’s men began to paddle further out into the harbor, heading in the direction where Grey’s battalions were being off-loaded. By her calculation, they should have been close to being done.
“If you’d sown mines they would’ve…”
The Captain laughed at her. “Don’t bother trying to guess what I’ve planned. If you could have, you would never have come.”
As the Corsairs steered toward her fleet, Jillybean couldn’t help herself and ran through every possible military situation that could have the Captain so confident. He certainly didn’t have soldiers hidden along the empty hills; her drones would have picked up their heat signatures. The same was true of zombies. And there wasn’t any scarring of the land that suggested there were hidden defensive works in Grey’s rear. And there wasn’t…
A radio crackled to life. “The boats are light. We are in the clear. Say again, the boats are light. We are in the clear.” She knew the voice—it was Leney. Her mouth popped open in surprise.
The Black Captain had been watching for exactly that look. He threw back his head and let out a booming laugh. “You should see yourself! It’s so precious. I don’t know if I have ever seen anyone look so surprised. You know what, though? There are going to be a whole mess of people wearing that same look in about ten seconds.”
He picked up the radio. “Light ‘em up Leney.”
Jillybean expected gunfire, instead a hundred boats were suddenly lit by lanterns, and in the flickering light she could see her silver crown slide down from as many masts. In its place was the Corsair standard, a square patch of black flapping in the wind.
“Your friends, McCartt and Steinmeyer and all those stupid Santas, have just been left high and dry. There’ll be no resupply, no more ammo, no more food, no more nothing. And you want to know what’s worse than being stranded behind enemy lines?” Jillybean refused to answer even though she knew a few things that were worse.
The Captain didn’t wait long to answer his own question. “It’s being stranded behind enemy lines and surrounded by zombies. And they’ll have you to thank for that. It was a neat trick when you pulled it on me and I’ve been waiting for just the right time to return the favor.”
He clicked the radio. “Let’s get those flares going, Sticky Jim. Make ‘em go real high. We don’t want any of our zombie friends to miss out on the banquet.”
A second later a shrill scream ripped through the night as a flare raced high into the sky. In its light, the Black Captain looked like a demon. His eyes were golden and terrifying. “I believe that’s checkmate, Jillybean.”
***
The End
Author's Note:
Before you ask, yes the Generation Z story continues! Luckily, there is a way for you to read Book 5, chapter by chapter, before anyone else! All you have to do is go to my Patreon page (Here) and support my writing. The tier levels are exceedingly generous with freebies running from autographed books, video podcasts, free Audible books, signed T-shirts, and swag of all sorts. At a high enough tier you will even get to meet me in person as I take you and three friends out to dinner.
Patreon a great way to help support me so I don’t have to go back into the coal mines…back into the dark.
Another way is to write a review of this book on Amazon and/or on your own Facebook page. The review is the most practical and inexpensive form of advertisement an independent author has available to get his work known. I would greatly appreciate it.
Now, that you’ve gone to my Patreon page and left your review—thank you very much—I would love for you to take a look at another series of mine: The Apocalypse Crusade:
Forget what you think you know about zombies...
Forget the poorly acted movies and the comic books. Forget the endless debates over fast and slow walkers. From this day on, all that crap will fade away to nothing. America is on the precipice of hell and not for a moment do you believe it. You have your cable and your smartphone and your take-out twice a week and your vacation to Disney Land all planned, and you tell yourself you'll drop those ten pounds before you go.
But you aren't going anywhere.
In one horrible day your world collapses into nothing but a spitting, cursing, bleeding fight for survival. For some the descent into hell is a long, slow, painful process of going at it tooth and nail, while for others it's over in a scream that's choked off
when the blood pours down their windpipe. Those are the lucky ones.
But you will live, somehow, and you'll remember day one of the apocalypse where there was a chance, in fact there were plenty of chances for someone to stop it in its tracks and you'll wonder why the hell nobody did anything.
At first light on that first morning, Dr. Lee steps into the Walton facility on the initial day of human trials for the cure she's devoted her life to; she can barely contain her excitement. The labs are brand spanking new and everything is sharp and clean. They've been built to her specifications and are, without a doubt, a scientist's dream. Yet even better than the gleaming instruments is the fact that Walton is where cancer is going to be cured once and for all. It's where Dr. Lee is going to become world famous...only she doesn't realize what she's going to be famous for.
By midnight of that first day, Walton is a place of fire, of blood and of death, a death that, like the Apocalypse, is just the beginning.
What readers say about The Apocalypse Crusades:
"DO NOT pick this up until you are ready to commit to an all-night sleep-defying read!"
"WAY OUT WICKED"
"...full of suspense and intrigue, love, both innocent and romantic, hate, both blinding and unnatural, non-stop action, and a very real gripping and palpable fear."Peter Meredith
PS If you are interested in autographed copies of my books, souvenir posters of the covers, Apocalypse T-shirts and other awesome Swag, please visit my website at https://www.petemeredith1.com
PPS: I need to thank a number of people for their help in bringing you this book. My beta readers Greg Bennett, Joanna Niederer, Eric Gothier, Paul Clay, Jeanette McGaha, Connie Nealy, Ezben Gerardo, Jenn Lockhart, Nancy Spedding, Fi Findlater, Kariann Morgan, Roy Bost, Kari-Lyn Rakestraw, Doni Battenburg, Marinda Grindstaff, Brenda Nord, Monica Turner, S.D. Buhl, Michelle Heeder, Charles McClure—Thanks so much!
Generation Z (Book 4): The Queen Unthroned Page 54
