by R. B. Tetro
But most of the faces were frowning at him, still holding a grudge against him, for leaving the gang and going out on his own while his brother stayed behind. Scout swallowed hard and squared his shoulders as Kodiak got to his feet.
Kodiak was aptly named. He was as big as a bear and covered in hair and growled like one too. “Why have you returned to us Scout?” Scouts adopted dad demanded.
Scout looked at Tomahawk and kept his mouth shut.
“He has returned because he needs our help. Magnus and the Blood- eyes have formed some sort of alliance with the snogs. They’ve destroyed Fortress and are on their way to the Cavern of the Light. He has come back to the people that raised him to ask for help, before civilized humanity is wiped out forever,” finished Tomahawk.
For a moment, everyone in the cave sat in shocked silence. Then, as one, they erupted in raucous laughter. Scout dropped his head, letting the angry blush subside from his cheeks.
“Why should we help you, Scout? The civilized humans were the ones who forced us to leave the Cavern of the Light, and the civilized people were also the ones to drive us out of Over Watch. The civilized humans were also the ones who have hunted us and imprisoned us for raiding their people to survive, which we would never have had to do if they had not taken what was rightfully ours!” thundered Kodiak.
The cave went silent.
Scout looked again at his brother who stood and came over to stand beside him in a much needed show of support. “You should listen to my brother. He’s the only one with enough courage to live above ground. Where do you think Magnus will turn his attention to after he conquers the Cavern of the Light? There is nowhere we will be safe if he is allowed to continue!”
Some of the laughter stopped. Kodiak sat down; not so sure of himself.
“It’s been decided then, and it’s final,” Tomahawk announced, staring at Kodiak. “We will make peace with our enemies and help them against a greater enemy.”
Scout expected Kodiak to come unhinged but he didn’t. He dropped his head and nodded in agreement. Scout was so surprised all he could was to stand there with his mouth hanging open while the rest of the mountain scavengers went about getting ready to go to battle. “ Why is he helping? I thought he would be yelping” Scout asked his brother.
“Oh…that’s right…I was so excited to see you, I forgot to tell you. There’s been a few changes since you left. Kodiak is no longer the leader…I am,” Tomahawk informed him.
CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
Doomed humanity
echoing through the ages
…master class, reduced to rubble
master race, revealed as inferior
self -destructive
greed, hate and malice
wear down humanities righteousness
exposing the evil… lurking beneath
- Poet
Angel could hear the old lady and Poet behind her as she lay still on the mat beside Onyx. They seemed to be arguing quietly about whether to stay and fight for Over Watch or set out toward the Star Towers. The old lady remembered all too well what happened at Fortress and wanted to go and it seemed as if she’d already included Chloe, Poet and Angel in her plans, without consulting them.
“We have to stay with our people. We’re too weak to make the journey to the Towers alone,” said Poet.
The old lady shook her head and spit on the ground. “The council guard is Five hundred strong and Magnus will send more. We saw it at Fortress. That many is impossible to hold off even with the fighters from the campground coming to join us!”
Poet sighed wearily, kicking a pile of nearby rocks. He and the old lady had been through a lot together. He wasn’t about to let her go off on her own now. He looked around at the raggedy group of survivors, fitfully trying to sleep. The old lady handed him her flask and grinned at him.
He smiled, took the flask and took a careful sip before returning it to her. “We need to…” Before he could finish an explosion rocked the entire mountain.
“Sounds like it’s been decided for us!” the old lady shouted. People started to run by the outside of the cave they were in, carrying ammo and supplies to the front line.
“They blew the gate off the damn mountain!” Poet heard one of the soldiers shouting as they ran by. They scrambled to gather their supplies and join the battle.
Daniel was standing at the mouth of the cave, along with Pops, Reverend, Juggernaut and the two brothers. Pops looked concerned, to say the least. Both of his remaining sons had volunteered to stand guard at the gate that was supposed to have been blown off the mountain.
“Stay together… everyone! We stay together, no matter what!” Daniel shouted. He led them out of the cave and down the narrow tunnel leading to the outer gate. “If we’re overrun… follow Reverend!” shouted Daniel.
As they neared the battle for the gate that was no longer there, they could hear the all too familiar sound of men and women dying. The sound of gunfire and fighting was deafening. The mountain seemed to be shaking and rumbling in protest.
They were out- numbered. It seemed to be a recurring theme. The only thing different was that they were fighting the cavern guard this time, instead of the blood eyes and the snogs. It was surreal for most of the fighters on both sides. Up until now the enemy had been pretty easy to distinguish. The golden rule being…if it tries to eat you, kill it.
This time they were fighting men and women that they knew and in a lot of cases had been friends with. The cavern guard didn’t seem to be bothered by it at all. Nor did they seem to be bothered that the council president and the other two council members had been chained to the gate they had just blown off the side of the mountain. They rushed their position with over two hundred well- armed guard members.
Over Watch’s guard didn’t wait for them. They and everyone else hollered as loud as they could and ran right at them. The first clash was bloody and violent.
Daniel and Reverend led the charge on the right side. They stopped the attack and started pushing the council guardsman back. The old lady and Poet found a pile of rocks and scrambled up to the top and started firing arrows into the council guardsman. The Over Watch guard suffered the worst of it. The council guards largest force hit them right in the center, decimating their ranks in the first assault.
Daniel could only see about twenty men still standing in the swirling smoke. He and the rest of his group moved out on the run to help the center of their line of defense.
The old lady and Poet had their hands full. Ten council guard soldiers had them pinned down, and were closing in on them. Poet looked at his last two arrows and grinned at the old lady. She looked at her last three, grinning right back at him. “It’s been a good run,” she grunted and ducked down behind the rocks they were standing on. Poet ducked down beside her. The old lady looked around suddenly for Angel. She’d been right behind them, but now, there was no sign of her or the wolves.
The council guardsman had reached the bottom of the rock pile they were hiding behind. Poet loosed his last two arrows, killing one council guardsman with each one. The old lady nodded and winked at him, before standing to fire her remaining three arrows. The first bullet hit her high in the right shoulder. It spun her around and she was facing Poet and looking down at her wound with a confused look on her face.
Poet reached for her to pull her down behind the rocks, but she was hit again in the leg and then several more times until it looked like she was dancing a lead ballet before toppling over and falling from the top of the rock pile to the bottom. Poet cursed and threw his bow at the oncoming council soldiers.
He pulled his knife and started to climb down toward them, stabbing the first one he saw in the eye and the next one in the chest before they had him and he was down and they were beating on him and the last thing that he saw was the wolves crashing into his attackers before he began to fade away.
CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
Snogs. A lot of them, more than either Scout or Tomahawk had
ever seen in one place at one time before, too many to fight out in the open. Their only hope was to find a way into Over Watch before the snogs caught they’re scent. That wasn’t going to be easy, considering they’d come to the infamous mountain stronghold from the back side, where there was no gates or way in.
Scout leaned back into the rock face behind them, trying to think. The rock wall was cool on his lower back. He reached around and felt that it was damp and crumbly. He looked at Tomahawk and they both smiled and knew they might have a chance. Tomahawk whistled three times, long and low.
Kodiak pushed his way through the group and stepped up to the base of the mountain. Scout looked at him and put his index finger up to his lips. The giant raider nodded and snorted softly, hefting his war hammer, swinging it at the wall. Rock and dirt exploded and the head of the hammer disappeared into the hole.
Kodiak roared and punched the damaged rock face. The entire section of the mountain disappeared inward, pushing out a blinding cloud of dust. Scout looked up at him frowning and shook his head.
Kodiak looked like a scolded child. He hung his head and slowly backed away from hole. Hundreds of snogs started screeching and moving toward their position.
“Everyone inside…!” Tomahawk shouted. One by one the band of raiders picked their way into the opening. They were surprised to find that it opened up into a sizeable cavern. Before they could seal up their entrance, the snogs attacked them in force.
Scout and Tomahawk fought back to back. Tomahawk was using his hatchets to great effect while Scout ducked and slashed with his long knives. They stood with their backs against the far wall of the cavern and watched as hundreds of bloodthirsty creatures poured into the cavern.
“It’s a good day to kill and die!” Tomahawk shouted. He raised his hatchets high in the air and shouted out his loudest war cry.
Scout started yipping and dancing in a circle.
Kodiak stood to his full height and roared, causing the rampaging snogs to freeze for an instant, and then they were all over them and they were swinging and ducking and slashing and hacking until they could barely raise their arms. At the last second before becoming completely overwhelmed, they saw several of the snogs striking out at things in the air, and some of them being cut in half by some sort of flying knifes. Whatever they were, there was a lot of them. Some of them sliced the snogs into pieces while other flying things exploded into their masses.
The snogs were confused.
Tomahawk led a counter attack right into the middle of them, while the flying machines whirred and killed around them. The overwhelmed snogs had no choice but to fall back and retreat out of the cavern opening until it was only them standing there, battered and bleeding. Scout looked around frantically for the back- pack that had been ripped off during the fight. He saw it behind some dead snogs and hopped over them to retrieve it.
A bent and stooped old man with thick glasses and a Calloway golf hat watched him pull out Mr. Mean out and gave him a big kiss. “Should have known it was you,” the old man said to Scout.
Scout whipped around and smiled when he saw that it was his friend Tinker, and he knew that, for the moment, they were safe.
CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
When Poet awoke he realized someone had tended to his wounds. He managed to sit up, despite feeling dizzy, and made his way to his feet and started to look for the old lady. Off to his left, about fifty yards away, there was a daunting pile of dead bodies. He knew that his friend was more than likely among them, but he couldn’t bring himself to look for her there, so he started shuffling painfully down the long rows of wounded men and women.
They’d obviously managed to hold on to the gate and although it had cost them over fifty of their numbers, the small army from the campground had arrived and joined the fight, and the cavern guard had conceded the day.
He spotted Angel taking care of a wounded, tan and white wolf that she called Sniffy. Onyx was sitting behind her. He saw Poet and focused on him so that Angel could see him as well.
Poet nodded his thanks to Onyx and he was pretty sure Onyx nodded back. Angel smiled and reached out to him. He looked at Onyx and carefully hugged her. At first, it was friendly but the battle had been brutal and they were both frazzled. They clung to each other until Reverend came over to check on them.
“Where is the old lady?” asked Angel.
Poet and Reverend looked at each other and pretended not to hear her.
“Where’s the old lady?” she demanded.
There was silence for a few moments. “She died fighting bravely,” Reverend told her. Angel gasped and went down to her knees.
Poet wanted to comfort her but he had nothing left. He sat down on the blood- covered stone. His face felt like it was on fire. He wanted to rip his hideous looking face off and run away until he couldn’t run anymore. The old lady had been his rock. Her friendship had inspired him and made him push on when he didn’t have anything left- time and time again. Now she was gone and he was alone in a world that he didn’t understand or want to be a part of.
Angel touched his face. He turned and saw his grief for his friend reflected in her eyes. He tried to speak, but only managed to sob. Reverend patted them both before moving off to help with the wounded. “Be ready to move inside Over Watch in five!” he shouted over his shoulder at them.
Angel started rubbing some white, gooey-looking substance she’d used on Sniffy, on Poet’s face. He started to object until he felt it working immediately. It felt like his face was being caressed by a cool breeze and he could manage the pain. “Thank you,” he mumbled.
“You’re welcome. I’m sorry about your friend,” she said.
He looked down at the ground and cried silently. “I’m alone now,” he sobbed.
He felt her slender fingers rubbing his shoulder. “I’m also alone,” she whispered in his ear.
Poet looked at her. She was covered in blood and it wasn’t her own. It wasn’t until later that he heard about what she and her wolf friends had done and how many of the enemy they’d killed and wounded.
“You want to be alone together?” he asked.
Her radiant smile was answer enough. She hugged him hard and helped him get to his feet. “From now on, he’s with us Onyx,” she said. Onyx came over to him and sniffed him and even let Poet just barely touch his muscled back before howling and calling the rest of the pack around him. The pack was quiet and attentive as he seemed to communicate what Angel had said to the rest of them. One by one, each wolf came and sniffed him and allowed him to touch them briefly.
Poet was honored and although his heart was sick with grief he was determined to fight on to protect his new friends and family.
CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
Katrina Wells was the old lady’s name before the world went black. She’d been a school teacher and finally a middle-school principle; known for being tough but fair. Her life was simple and gloriously blessed with three children and a husband who ran a profitable welding business out of their garage. Their lives were like anyone else’s life, full of hope for better things and too busy to enjoy what they had, what they all took for granted until it was all gone and all that was left was nothing.
Katrina and her husband were married for over thirty years before the street raiders gutted him and her children in front of her as she lay stunned from a concussion grenade, unable to move or to cry out, she’d laid there crying quietly, changing on the inside. That’s the day she became the old lady. Nothing more, no name needed in such a temporary, savage world. The street raiders had left her for dead. She was… inside, but her outside body was far too stubborn to give up.
After burying her family, she’d made her way into her ruined house and gotten her belonging together and made her way out west… to the mountains that the Red Robin said were the only free mountains left. For three long years she had wandered around in the rocks until, at last, running into Poet. He had led her to Fortress and there she had started to live again, but
she always knew that it was all just temporary bullshit, like her real name, so she stayed the old lady.
When she awoke, she was packed in dirt and upside down. She remembered being shot and spinning around and then being shot some more and the last thing that she saw was Poet screaming at her and trying to kill his way to her. After that, without warning, the ground caved in on itself and that was the last thing she remembered. She tried to move and then tried to scream and got a mouth full of dirt for her troubles.
She was packed in tightly with dirt all around, which was unsettling to her although she’d never suffered from claustrophobia. Slowly…carefully, she tried to move her left hand then her right foot and her left foot, and when she got to her right hand she cried aloud with relief as she realized that she could still move it and there was open air beneath her.
She frowned and tried not to think about there being too much air beneath her with a life-ending fall at the bottom. It beats dying packed in the earth like a shriveled up, shot to hell worm. She began to wriggle her hand and pull it up into the dirt beneath her and push dirt loose around her.
It was slow going. She was faint from blood loss and still hadn’t had more than a teaspoon full of air at a time. But still, she kept digging, awkwardly upwards then scooping and dragging her hand until she could feel cool air on her forearm, her elbow, then her shoulder. Finally, she could feel herself hanging- God only knows how high- in the open air. She was breathing again, the air rushing up into her blood crusted nostrils; heavenly, sweet, damp…
She froze. Below her there were the sounds of growling and shrieking and…rattling? They were right below her now and the dirt around her was starting to shift and crumble out from beneath her. She had time only to wrap her hand around the handle of her long knife, before tumbling downward in a flood of loose dirt and air. On the way down, she saw a rock demon standing over an injured rattle cat poised for the kill-strike.
