Dark Sentinel: Book one in the Sentinel Series
Page 9
The driver jumped out and grabbed Kali, dragging her back to the truck and throwing her into the back seat. Marcus stumbled to his feet and grabbed a pistol from a downed soldier, and charged into the plume of dust, towards where Vana had been taken moments ago.
As the dust cleared he found Charlie wrestling with the leader on the ground, whilst Vana kicked at him. The man gained the upper hand, rolled on top of her and pulled a knife from his belt. He went to drive it into Charlie’s chest, but before he could, Marcus raised the pistol and fired twice, both shots hitting the man in the chest.
He flopped over and Charlie pushed him away.
There was no time for gratitude. Marcus reached out his hand and dragged her from the floor and both Charlie and Vana ran towards the waiting truck, the driver gunning the engine.
They dived inside and the truck lurched backwards as it retreated through the hole and out onto the open ground.
◆◆◆
Kali drifted in and out of consciousness on the back seat of the truck, the wound on her head bandaged and the bleeding stemmed.
“We’ve got to get her back to Doc,” said the driver. “She needs to be treated properly.”
Vana grabbed Marcus’s hand. “I need to get to the second impact site. Everything we need to take down Davon is there.”
“We have a vehicle stashed not far from here,” said Charlie, raising her voice to be heard over the engine. “Supplies too. We could use that, and these guys can take care of Kali.”
“Okay,” said Marcus. “Let’s do it.”
“Are you sure you wanna do that?” asked the driver. “Kali seemed pretty determined to get the girl back to New Hope. I’m not sure she’d go for it.”
“We had a chat about it back in Jericho,” said Marcus. “She was starting to warm to the idea. Besides, we need to wait for Kali to be in better condition before we can do anything meaningful, so we may as well do this first.”
The driver was in no mood to argue. Charlie relayed the location of the cache to him and they headed straight for it. Marcus hoped whatever they found there was worth the effort. He dreaded to think what Kali would do to him if he came back empty-handed.
◆◆◆
As the truck containing the two guards and Kali pulled away, Marcus put his head in his hands and rubbed the sweat from his brow. If the Legion didn’t kill them, it was a sure bet that Kali would when she awoke.
Chapter Seven
The rugged and steep terrain of the last few miles became too much for the truck to handle, and they were forced to leave it behind. Imposing hills dotted the landscape all around them and led on to the mountains beyond, their peaks buried in thick grey clouds. There was an eerie silence, broken only by the howling of the wind as it tore through the terrain. The sharp wind nipped at Marcus’s exposed hands. He blew on them and rubbed them together in an attempt to regain some feeling in his fingers.
Wooden signs, crudely painted with skull and crossbones motifs were dotted around and warned they were approaching the outer limits of how far it was possible to travel in this direction. Beyond this point radiation levels climbed steeply, dooming anyone who dared push the boundaries to a lingering death.
“Lovely day for a walk,” said Charlie. She brushed a layer of dirt from one of the signs as they walked past and shook her head at its warning. “Let’s not stay here any longer than we need to alright?”
Marcus glanced over at Vana and narrowed his eyes. She’d been quiet during the truck ride, and while this wasn’t exactly unusual for her, he sensed that she was holding something big back.
“When are you going to tell us what’s really going on?”
Vana didn’t reply. She was busy looking through a pair of binoculars Charlie had handed to her. “Never-mind. I’m getting used to being left in the dark. It’s amazing I’ve managed to survive this long.”
They headed for the columns of smoke from the still smouldering remains of the meteor, skirting the base of a steep hill, before appearing on an open plain. The full scale of the impact lay before them.
The smell of burning filled the air. A deep trench which ran hundreds of meters from the direction of the impact terminated in a crater at its furthest end. Scattered fires still burned, covering the ground in a low-hanging wispy fog. Anything green had perished in the immediate aftermath and trees had been flattened and burned to ashes by the blast it produced. Charcoaled wood crunched underfoot as they walked and the smoke in the air irritated Marcus’s eyes and throat. He took a piece of cloth, wet it from a water bottle he carried and wrapped it around his face to help filter some of it out. Charlie followed suit, while Vana appeared unaffected.
They were not the first to reach the site. A sturdy chain link fence surrounded the impact site, behind which several tents had been pitched. Armed guards walked the perimeter. A checkpoint guarded the only way in, manned by two men, who were constantly talking into their radios.
As they grew closer the outline of an object could be seen, hidden beneath a blue plastic sheeting, pegged down to prevent it from blowing away. They flopped on top of a mound of earth some distance away, in an effort to remain undetected. Vana slipped the binoculars out from under her jacket and brought them up to her eyes.
“What on Earth are they hiding under there?” asked Charlie “Whatever it is, I assume that’s why we’re here?”
Vana nodded. “We need to get in there,” she said, pointing at the plastic covered object at the head of the trench.
“Of course we do,” said Marcus. “Across all this open ground, past all those guards, in broad daylight. What could be easier?”
Charlie jabbed Marcus in the ribs with her elbow. “I’m up for it,” she said. “We’ve come this far right? We can’t walk away now.” She smiled at Vana. “And besides, I want to know what’s going on.”
Marcus sighed. “Nothing’s ever easy, is it?”. He crossed his arms and looked to the sky. “How are we going to get past that lot?” He waved his hand towards the checkpoint.
“As much as I’d like to charge in there with guns blazing, I think we need a better plan.”
“You’re right, these guys look somewhat competent. Not the usual half-witted, knuckle dragging, incom--”
He stopped. Vana and Charlie were staring at him. They looked at each other and exchanged a grin. Vana stifled a laugh.
“Sorry,” said Marcus. “Just getting it out of my system. I’m good to go.” He looked to Vana. “When we get there, what do we need to do?”
“Retrieve some items.”
“Well, how do you know what’s under there? Or that what you are looking for is still there at all? Perhaps Davon already has… whatever it is.”
“Honestly, I don’t know for sure, but my instincts say not.”
“Well I hope you’re instincts are right,” muttered Marcus, “but I still don’t see how we’re going to get down there without being seen.”
“I have an idea,” said Charlie
“I hope this is better than charging in all-guns-blazing,” scoffed Marcus.
She grinned. “Marginally.”
◆◆◆
“Are you sure you want to do this Vana?” Marcus asked. “It’s risky.” He grabbed handfuls of dirt from the mound and squeezed it between his fingers, before dusting his hands clean and starting again.
“It will work,” said Vana nodding her head. “All you need to do is to get me to the crater and I will take care of the rest.”
“We won’t have long once we make our move. We will have to be in and out of there quickly. Are you ready?”
Vana nodded. If it wasn’t for the fact there was a chance they could take down Davon Marcus might never have considered this plan.
“Here, hold your hands out,” Charlie said to Vana. She complied and Charlie bound her hands loosely with a length of rope. “You should be able to slip your hands out no problem. How does it feel?”
“Good,” said Vana, taking a deep breath.
&nb
sp; “The other two guards are moving off,” said Marcus. “It’s now or never.”
They stood from their hiding spot and walked slowly towards the guards patrolling the crater, making no efforts to conceal their approach. Vana was in the lead, her hands held in front of her, visibly bound, whilst Charlie and Marcus followed behind. Every so often Charlie would push Vana as if to move her along. It wasn’t long before the guards spotted them and approached with weapons drawn.
“Stop!” one of the guards yelled, “You can’t be here, this is a restricted area.” His gaze locked onto Charlie’s shotgun slung over her back and his posture stiffened.
“We’re licensed bounty hunters,” said Charlie in response to the guard’s demeanour. “We have permits for these weapons.”
More alert now, the guard shifted on his feet. “Why are you here?” he demanded.
Marcus spoke up, “This is the girl Davon’s looking for. We’ve come to collect our reward.”
The guard studied Vana for a second before turning to speak with his partner.
“The girl comes with us,” said the first guard. “You can wait here.”
“Oh no you don’t,” said Charlie. “We’re not going anywhere until we get our reward.”
She came face to face with the guard, their noses almost touching.
“Do you know what we went through to catch her? I’m not letting her out of my sight until I see some money.”
The guard shoved Charlie back, and she fell to the ground.
“If you know what’s best for you, you’ll stay down,” growled the guard pointing his rifle at Charlie.
“Whatever you say. You’re the boss.”
Marcus gave Vana a wink. She slipped her bonds and darted through the checkpoint, running as fast as she could towards the crater.”
“She’s getting away!” yelled Marcus, jumping around and pointing dramatically.
“Stop, or I’ll shoot!” shouted the second guard, raising his weapon in Vana’s direction.
“Put that down, you idiot,” said his companion, batting the gun to one side. “He wants her alive.”
With the guard’s full attention now on Vana, Charlie swept her legs at the man standing over her, bringing him crashing to the ground. She dove on top of him and launched into a barrage of melee attacks. Fists, knees, feet, were all employed in a blur of grunts and yelps.
Marcus threw himself at the remaining guard and wrestled him to the ground. They rolled around in the thick dust. A sharp pain ripped through his shoulder as he tried to keep the man down. The guard struggled against Marcus with his rifle. Several shots rang out from it before it was knocked away, out of reach of them both.
The guard snarled and pressed his thumb into the now bleeding wound on Marcus’s shoulder. Waves of nauseating pain rippled through his upper body causing him to release his grip and fall away.
A boot flashed past Marcus’s head and connected with the jaw of the guard, knocking him back to the ground. Charlie racked her shotgun and pushed it into the downed guard’s temple. He spat a mouthful of blood into the dry ground.
“If you were going to shoot you’d have done it already,” he said, gruffly. “Nice diversion, but you’re crazy if you think you’re getting out of this alive.”
She didn’t have time to reply, as a bullet pinged off the ground beside her, kicking up a small cloud of dust.
“Shit!” yelled Charlie.
Two more soldiers quickly approached, while others lay down covering fire. Marcus scrambled to his feet and grabbed Charlie’s arm. “Come on.”
Charlie smashed the butt of the shotgun into the man’s jaw and smirked as several teeth flew from his mouth. He slumped to the floor, unconscious.
Together they stumbled through the checkpoint and towards the crater, which was now the only cover available from the rapidly advancing group of men.
Bullets whizzed past them, hitting the ground at their feet, shards of razor-sharp rock exploded all around them and peppered the exposed skin on Marcus’s arms. He shielded his face as best he could from the barrage and charged on. They were almost at the crater when Marcus felt a searing pain in his leg, a bullet had caught him just below the knee. He fell to the ground at the lip of the crater. Charlie grabbed Marcus by the arm and pulled him over the edge and down out of the line of fire.
“Shit,” gasped Marcus, gripping the wound on his leg. “I’d managed to go thirty years without being shot, and then all this kicks off and I get shot twice in a week.”
“Stop your moaning and get up,” said Charlie, “They’re right behind us.” She pulled Marcus to his feet and dragged him under the blue sheeting covering the object.
“We’ve got maybe thirty seconds before--” Marcus stopped. His mouth dropped open, and for a moment he forgot about the pain in his leg.
Underneath the covering was what looked like the fuselage of some sort of aircraft, but of course, it couldn’t be. You couldn’t fly aircraft anymore, the dust in the atmosphere clogged up their engines, causing them to fall from the sky. And then there were the radiation belts to contend with.
But this was certainly something that once flew. The sleek aerodynamic lines and dark metallic surface gave it the look of a bird of prey. Despite hitting the ground hard, it was remarkably intact. At the front, half buried in the earth was a something resembling a cockpit, although Marcus could see no windows.
Vana stood next to it, her moving over the surface of the object as if she was searching for something.
Charlie ripped a sleeve from her shirt and used it to apply a tourniquet above the wound in Marcus’s leg, which stemmed the blood loss to a light trickle. Marcus barely noticed the condition of his leg, he was trying to process what he was seeing.
“This is the strangest looking meteor I’ve ever seen,” he said.
Charlie knotted the tourniquet and waved her hand at the object in the centre of the crater. “I hope you know what you’re doing with… whatever the hell it is,” she said.
“Nearly…” she replied. “Got it!” there was a low hum, as a doorway in the side of the object seemingly appeared out of nowhere. The interior was a soft white colour, and completely featureless.
“Inside,” said Vana. “It’s safer in there.”
Charlie helped Marcus to his feet and dragged him inside the craft. Vana followed closely behind. Two of the Legions guards appeared at the lip of the crater. There were shouts, followed by more shots. Vana touched a control panel on the inside of the doorway, and as quickly as the door appeared, it vanished. The wall where the door used to be, was now a flawless white surface. Silence enveloped them. Marcus’s ears were ringing from the noise of the gunfire, but now that he was inside there was no noise at all.
The small room they were in was only a few feet wide and light seemed to emanate from the white walls. Red splotches of blood from the wound on Marcus’s leg gave colour to the otherwise colourless room.
“We’ll be safe in here,” said Vana, “they won’t be able to get in.”
“I think now is an excellent time for you to explain what the hell is going on,” said Marcus, leaning against the wall to take the weight off his injured leg.
“This looks like some sort of aircraft or something,” said Charlie.
“Not an aircraft,” said Marcus, “It crashed down with the meteor, right?” He looked at Vana who nodded in agreement.
“So, something from before the big impact? I had no idea there was anything like this up there.”
“Neither did I,” said Marcus, looking over at Vana.
“It’s not from here,” said Vana, looking sheepish, “It’s mine.”
“I still don’t understand,” said Marcus.
“You’ve noticed I’m… different from you?”
“You mean your mutations?” Marcus looked at Vana properly. Her face was slightly thinner than normal, and her eye’s a bit bigger, and of course a shade of deep purple. In here, under the strange light, she seemed to glow.
>
Charlie, who was adjusting the tourniquet around Marcus’s leg looked at Vana. “I assumed you were from the Badlands. I’ve seen some pretty strange people living out in those sorts of places,” she said.
“They’re not mutations,” said Vana, “I’m supposed to look like this. Where I’m from.”
“And where would that be?” asked Marcus.
“A long way from here.” Vana turned and placed her head against the wall, closing her eyes.
“And you travelled here in this thing?”
Vana nodded slowly.
“Is she saying what I think she’s saying,” said Charlie, “because if she is then I think we seriously need to check whatever medication she’s on.”
“Look where you’re standing,” said Marcus, “I’ve never seen anything like this before.”
“So, you’re telling me you’re… not from Earth?” said Charlie
“Yes.”
“Oh man, this is some crazy shit going on here,” she said, pacing around the enclosed space.
“Hang on,” said Marcus. “I’ve lost quite a lot of blood, but for a second there it sounded like you said you’re an alien.”
“I know it’s a lot to take in,” said Vana. “But it’s true.”
“I need to sit down, feeling a bit woozy here. Someone let me know when things start making sense again.” He slid to the floor, trying to stifle the flow of blood from his leg.
“So why did you come here,” asked Charlie.
“I was following someone. In a way. It’s… complicated. Suffice to say, crashing was not part of the plan.”
Charlie laughed hard. “This is crazy,” she said catching her breath. “If it wasn’t for the fact that I’m standing in the evidence I wouldn’t believe a word of it.”
“Now who’s overreacting,” mocked Marcus. Charlie shot him a wide-eyed glance. She tightened the tourniquet around his leg in response.