Condemn (BUNKER 12 Book 2)

by Tanpepper, Saul

"What I don't understand," Eddie said, wiping the grease from his hands onto his pants, "is why he'd take our people.

  "Revenge," Bix said.

  Finn nodded. "For what we did to them back at the ranch. We destroyed his operation, exposed his lies. He took our people so Bix and I would follow him back there."

  "But it'd be crawling with Wraiths by now," Bix pointed out.

  "Exactly."

  Understanding swept over Bix's face. "We've turned the place into one giant killing cage. He means to lure us in!"

  Finn nodded.

  "Then how do we stop him?" Susan asked. "Sun's going down. If we leave now, we'll be caught out on the road after dark."

  "And if we leave in the morning, we may not catch them at all," Eddie said.

  "They've got a solid head start on us," Finn acknowledged. "We still have to fuel up the truck. But he's also on horseback, which means they'll be taking the long way around. They'll be camping somewhere along the way tonight."

  "Yeah, with everything booby trapped," Bix reminded him.

  "Which is why we wait till morning."

  "They'll be at the ranch by noon. There's no way we can catch him."

  "We won't have to. We're going to cut him off before he does."

  "How?"

  "The footbridge." He pointed at the functioning motorbike. "And we're taking that thing across with us."

  * * *

  "You're freaking nuts. No, not nuts, you're insane—"

  "In the membrane. I know." Finn smiled grimly at his friend. "But he's got Bren, not to mention Mia and Samuel Largent."

  He remembered the flower drawing that Mia had colored for him, the one he'd stuck to the ceiling above his sleeping mat all those months ago. He'd lost it back at the ranch, along with the rest of his stuff.

  His eyes drifted upward at the empty spot, and he felt his anger grow.

  There had been little argument from the group, as daylight swiftly left the sky and shadows quickly spread over the land. There had been no time.

  Jonah and Eddie worked together to draw fuel from the storage tanks down below and refill the truck. Harrison and Susan struggled with the motorbikes, but were unable to get any of the others to run. The rest of the group collected and repacked supplies in preparation for the next day's rescue.

  Then they sealed themselves inside the bunker.

  Finn could feel the darkness pressing against the walls of the dam, prying its fingers against the front door. He shivered. It was going to be a long night, and sleep was likely not in the cards.

  Only after the rush to prepare and protect themselves did the others try to argue Finn out of his plan. But no one proposed a feasible alternative. Jonah was the exception. He said Finn's strategy was the only one with a reasonable chance of working. "They know we're coming. They'll be expecting us behind them, not ahead."

  "Well, if you love the plan so much," Bix said, "then you can go with Finn. I'll happily give up my spot. I mean, have you seen this bridge? I literally peed my pants crossing it the first time."

  Jonah could have jumped on the comment with a snide remark, but he didn't.

  "Won't work with anyone else," Finn said. "Adrian wants the two of us. If he sees Jonah, he'll get suspicious and we lose the element of surprise."

  There was a lot of grumbling about how difficult it would be to follow along out of sight until the right moment. Finn reminded them that Jonah had binoculars.

  But the truth was, he didn't want any of them involved at all, including Bix, who was needed to get the bike across. Once on the other side, he planned to ditch him. Jonah would never let his guard down long enough to let himself be fooled in that way.

  He intended to meet Adrian alone and negotiate for everyone's release. He would give himself up in exchange.

  "Okay, so we stop the rat bastard on the road. Then what?"

  "We hold him until the rest of you arrive in the pickup. Once we have him surrounded, he won't have any choice. He'll have to give up."

  "You know I love you, Finn," Bix said, "and your theory about the Flense was brilliant. But that is about the lamest plan I've ever heard."

  "It'll work," Jonah quietly said.

  Finn couldn't explain it, but for some reason he suspected Jonah knew what he was planning.

  They ate what they could — not because they were hungry, but because there was nothing else to do — then they settled in for the night in the game room. But Finn was restless and slipped out to return to the room he had shared for three years with his father.

  Bix found him there a little later.

  "Look at it this way, Finn. By this time tomorrow, it'll all be over. We'll have Bren back. And the rest. We'll take them to the camp. Then we'll find Twelve and screw the Flense."

  Finn leaned back onto the worn and dirty cardboard and sighed unhappily. He wished he had his friend's confidence. Or even the ability to fake it. "You know, it's just been nothing but one disaster after another since we left here."

  "The disaster started long before that, bro. None of this is your fault."

  Except it was, it always was. After all, he had failed to stop Eddie from getting burnt in the boiler room. He hadn't noticed the missing food. He had pushed for them to leave. He had promised them they'd find Bunker Twelve.

  For three years, their little group of thirty-one had remained safe. Then, in the space of two weeks, they had lost ten. If things turned bad tomorrow, they'd lose more.

  He looked over at Bix, intending to disagree with his friend, but he was already, impossibly, asleep.

  The trail of horse droppings made it clear that they were on Adrian's heels, not that there was any doubt in Finn's mind which way the madman had gone and where he was headed. Even stopping to double-check the manure's freshness, which Bix argued that Jonah should be an expert at, "since no one knows caca like Jonah knows caca," it took them just under two hours to reach the cutoff road leading to the cable bridge.

  Adrian had made his camp at the junction. His fire was out and the ashes on top were cold, but the embers were still hot underneath. The ground showed evidence that a lot of people and horses had spent the night there.

  Scouting the site, Kari nearly stumbled into a snare, but Eddie stopped her in time. He showed the group the tripwire and traced it back to a claymore mine buried just underneath the forest litter. They didn't know if it was meant for them or if it had been accidently missed in the morning's haste to leave.

  Harrison carefully disconnected the trigger from the battery and spooled the wires around the mine, then slipped it into his pack. "No sense to leaving it behind," he said.

  They also found another of the plastic boxes identical to the one Jennifer had given to Finn right before he and Bix escaped the ranch. A walkie-talkie was wired to it. Bix reached out to pick it up. This time it was Finn who stopped him. "Leave it alone." Worry creased his brow as he stood and peered into the woods around them. "I don't like it."

  "But it might come in handy."

  "We already have one and we don't know how it works or what it does. We don't need another."

  They gathered as a group at the end of the bridge and looked out over the canyon. Jonah whistled in awe. The sound echoed back at them, sounding like the cry of an eagle. "Go ahead, Blakeley," he said, shaking his head. He gave them a wry smile. "I'll take the road. Meet you guys on the other side."

  "Invitation's still open," Bix replied. He walked about ten feet out and stared for a moment straight down to the river far below before returning. Finn knew what he was looking for, but he didn't want to know if it was still down there.

  "No thanks," Jonah said.

  "Scared?"

  "Never, but I'm not crazy, neither."

  "It's stable," Finn said. "It'll hold."

  "You sure about that? Maybe it'll hold you two weasels but that bike's got to run at least two-fifty. Which is more than the two of you put together. Soaking wet."

  "Funny. Ha ha."

  He clapped B
ix on the back. "Just kidding. I'd probably piss myself, too."

  "Ain't no shame in that."

  "You two better get a move on," Harrison said. He handed Bix his pack and rifle. "There's extra ammo in there. Be careful. And remember what we talked about."

  Bix nodded.

  "I love you, son."

  Bix blushed. But when Hannah stepped forward with a hug and whispered that she did, too, the blush deepened so much that Finn feared he might faint from oxygen overload.

  Eddie wheeled the bike to the edge of the bridge. "How exactly were you planning on doing this?" he asked. "The base plates are barely wide enough to walk on. You'll either have to straddle the bike going across, or—"

  "No way!" Bix said. "No freaking way anyone's riding the thing across."

  "Then one of you will have to get in the front and pull on the handlebars and steer while the other pushes from behind."

  "Then that's what it'll have to be," Finn said. He stepped forward and took hold of the handlebars. Bix didn't argue. He'd rather not have to walk backwards across the damn gorge.

  Moving slowly and steadily, they made their way out over the canyon.

  After fifteen minutes, they'd gone about a quarter of the way across. Finn straightened up to ease the cramp in his back. He waved the group on. They hesitated a moment longer, then turned and melted into the forest.

  The sound of the truck engine reached their ears, then was gone.

  "How are you hold up?" Bix asked.

  They were still in shadow, as the sun hadn't yet breached the tree line, but they wouldn't be for long. Already, sweat dotted Bix's forehead.

  "Not as bad as I thought it would be." He'd been so focused on keeping both his feet and the front tire on the narrow track that he'd stopped seeing the river far below.

  "You need to rest, let me know."

  "No, let's keep going."

  "You see anything down there?"

  "No. You?"

  "Nope."

  They continued on for another ten minutes. The cables seemed to creak all the more from the added weight, but the bridge didn't swing as much as it had the last time. It helped that there was no wind.

  "What'd your father tell you?"

  "When?"

  "Back there. He said to remember what he told you."

  Bix was quiet for a while. Finally, he said, "He thought my mom would be proud of me."

  "She would."

  He sighed. "You know, in the past, I wouldn't have taken it as a compliment. My dad and I were always the kids in the family and we liked it that way. Two peas in a pod is what she always said. And I always just thought that she was a total— Well, that she was always too stiff. It used to piss her off how little we took seriously. 'You'll never grow up, just like your dad.' That's why she left."

  "Sorry."

  "She was ashamed of us."

  "Well, she—"

  Finn's foot slipped off the side of the grate and he dropped to his knees. His rifle twisted on its strap, knocking him on the side of the head. The bike began to tip.

  Bix struggled to keep it upright, throwing a hand out to the cable rail beside him and grunting from the effort. Finn scrambled back to his feet and righted it. For a moment, neither boy moved. They just stood there and panted, their faces white from the near-miss.

  "Here's a suggestion," Bix said. "Don't do that."

  "Yeah, I think until we reach the other side, less talking the better."

  The bike probably wouldn't have fallen. The gaps between the support wires woven between the base and hand cables were small enough that the machine likely would have snagged on one. But even so, there would have been no way they'd be able to pull it back up onto the bridge if it had. They simply lacked the strength and leverage.

  They reached what they thought was the halfway point, and each took a moment to rest and get some water.

  "Want to switch places?" Bix joked.

  Finn rolled his eyes.

  "Just thought I'd ask, you know, to be fair."

  "No, but when this is all done, you owe me."

  "Name it. How about a nice busty Norwegian fully schooled in giving full body massages. And when I say full, I mean full."

  Finn snorted. "I think maybe that's your fantasy."

  "Her name would be Helga. Helga Björgund . . . lund . . . son. That sounds Scandinavian, right?"

  "Helga? You got something for Vikings?"

  "Hell yeah.

  Finn laughed. The bike started to shake, making him stop.

  "Ready, bro?"

  "Yeah."

  Another twenty minutes passed. Finn's arms were shaking badly by then, and Bix didn't look so great either.

  "You know you don't look so great," Bix panted.

  "I was just thinking the same thing about you."

  "How far do you think we've come?"

  "Why don't you look?"

  "I'm not looking anywhere but at my feet. And I refuse to see anything else but those damn metal grates."

  Finn exhaled in exasperation. "Okay, stop." He planted himself, then looked up past Bix's shoulders. "About three-quarters of the— Oh, shit!"

  "What?"

  "Nothing," Finn said. "Don't look. Don't look! Just hurry!"

  "What?" Bix whispered.

  Finn tugged on the handlebars. He stepped back, no longer obsessing that his feet were planted exactly right in the center of the grate. His eyes weren't focused on the front tire anymore, they were glued to the other end of the cable bridge.

  "How far?" Bix asked. His voice shook with terror.

  "They're on the bridge."

  "Leave the bike!" Finn screamed at Bix. "We're not going to make it like this!"

  "No!" Bix yelled back. "Keep going! We're almost there."

  "Those things are almost half way across, Bix. We have to go! NOW!"

  "Just forty more feet, Finn. You can do it. Come on, I know you can." He let go.

  "What are you doing?"

  "Keep going! Save Bren." He stepped away from the bike. "See? You got this."

  Finn wobbled. "No! Push!"

  Bix spun around, pulling the rifle to the front of his body and chambering a round. He kneeled as he took aim. "Go, Finn. I'll buy us some time."

  "There are too many! They're coming too fast!"

  "Go, dammit!"

  Finn pulled hard on the motorbike and nearly fell off the platform again. He whimpered in fear, but kept going. A single shot rang out. Out of the corner of his eye, Finn saw something tumble off of the railing. It crumpled to the platform fifty yards away and rolled off.

  "Are you going?" Bix cried.

  "Yes!"

  Bix aimed again and fired another round.

  He missed! Oh my god, he missed!

  Three rapid blasts followed, rippling through the canyon. In the distance, a figure jolted. It staggered forward, then seemed to recover. But it was soon overtaken by two more Wraiths right behind it and trampled into the metal.

  How much further? How much further?

  Finn could feel the angle steepen behind him, so he knew he was getting close. But the slope also made it harder to pull the heavy bike. His feet kept sliding. His hands kept slipping. The cramp in his back was beyond painful. It burned, sending spikes of pain into his neck.

  The Wraiths had reached the halfway point. There was no way Bix would be able to stop them in time, not with bullets.

  "Let's go!" Finn screamed. "Bix! I'm dropping the bike!"

  "No!" Bix yelled back. "Don't you dare! It's the only way you'll be able to cut Adrian off!"

  He fired off another three rounds, then set the rifle onto the grate at his feet.

  Finn pulled harder on the handlebars, drawing the bike six more inches toward the edge. He watched as Bix pulled off his backpack, yanked the zipper open, and reached inside.

  "What are you doing?" Finn yelled.

  Bix didn't answer. His arms started to whirl.

  The claymore! He's got the claymore!
/>   Bix set the mine on the bridge, picked up his rifle and shot dead the closest Wraith before shouldering his pack and jogging back. "Go!" he shouted at Finn. "Go! Get off the damn bridge!"

  With dawning horror, he realized what Bix was planning. And he knew what would happen when the mine exploded. "There's not enough wire, Bix!"

  "I know! Go!"

  The last ten feet were excruciating. The angle was almost too steep, and Finn's arms almost too exhausted that he nearly gave up. But the bridge supports suddenly appeared at his sides, and when he looked down, there was solid ground beneath his feet.

  He dumped the bike and his pack and tried to raise the rifle to his shoulder. His arms shook so badly that he couldn't aim. He feared he'd hit Bix instead.

  The Wraiths had reached the mine. Their movements threatened to knock it over the side. One kicked it and it spun along the grate before coming to a stop. It started to tilt off.

  Bix was kneeling, trying to attach the wire to the battery and not paying attention.

  "Hurry! Bix, they're—"

  The mine exploded in a white flash. Finn threw the rifle away from him as he ran back out onto the bridge. The cables trembled and held. White smoke rolled toward the spot where Bix had been crouching, engulfing the Wraiths that had already passed the bomb. Bix was back on his feet, running, waving at him and screaming to get off the bridge.

  Finn started to back up. He could feel the bridge shaking beneath him from Bix's pounding feet. Bix stumbled, sprawled and nearly fell off. But he was back up, grabbing the rail.

  The bridge trembled as cables began to snap. Bix flailed for a moment. A half second later, a loud TWANG! tore the air. The bridge tilted to the side, throwing him back against the rail. He spun around. "Get off!"

  "BIX!"

  There was another loud, metallic snap. Finn jumped and landed hard.

  By the time he spun around, the bridge was gone, and so was Bix.

  "BIX!"

  Finn grabbed the unbroken safety cable and leaned as far over the side as he possibly could. The frayed and twisted remains of the bridge disappeared out of sight beneath him.

  "Bix?"

  A ball of white smoke, tinged red, hovered over the canyon like a bleeding apparition. It immediately started to dissipate and drift away.