Ex-Patriots

by Peter Clines

  “Please tell me you didn’t send something stupid.”

  Zzzap shook his head. I thought about it, but no. What now?

  The engine pitched higher and the drone banked towards them. Both heroes twisted to avoid the wings as they cut through the air. The Predator dropped down, leveled out, and accelerated.

  I think we got their attention.

  St. George paused in the air. “Where’s it going?”

  Home, I think. Zzzap looked at the radio waves hanging in the air. Yeah, it’s getting called home.

  “Could you follow it?”

  I can beat it there. He tipped his head to the east. If I’ve got the distance figured right, twenty minutes, tops.

  “Can you be subtle?”

  The wraith looked up. There’s still a lot of sun in the sky. If I’m careful I can hide myself in front of it, take a quick look around.

  “Do it. I’ll see you back at the Mount later.”

  Zzzap gave him a thumbs up and vanished like a bolt of lightning. St. George looked down, picked out a few big landmarks, and worked his way back toward the Cahuenga Pass.

  * * *

  The scavengers still sat just south of the Barham Bridge. Jarvis, Hector, and Lynne stood watch on one end of Road Warrior. Lee, Danny, and Al monitored the other end. They’d killed about a dozen exes while St. George chased the Predator, and half a dozen more stumbled toward the big truck.

  “Was it a plane?” Lynne shouted up to him. “Who was it?”

  “Hey!” he snapped as his boots clanged on the truck’s roof platform next to Lady Bee. “In case you forgot we’re still outside in infested territory. Keep it down.”

  She cringed. “Sorry. But was it a plane?”

  “Sort of,” he said.

  Al frowned. “How is something ‘sort of’ a plane?”

  “Helicopter?” asked Paul from the truck’s bed.

  “Was it one of those motorized hang-glider things?”

  “Ultralight?”

  St. George shook his head and held up a hand. “Two things for now, okay.”

  They settled down.

  “The thing that was up there, we’re not sure whose it was. We want to take it easy. For all we know, these people could be another group like the Seventeens, just trying to find other survivors to steal their supplies.”

  Hector twisted his lip, but said nothing.

  “Second thing is this. Let’s not give people a bunch of false hope. Zzzap is backtracking it to its source and we should know more by tonight or tomorrow morning. But I’d prefer if you all kept this to yourselves for now, okay? We don’t want to get people excited over nothing, so let’s wait until we know what it is.”

  He could feel their enthusiasm drop.A few shoulders sagged. Lynne looked at him. “So... now what?”

  “We get back to work,” said St. George. “There’s another big gas station down there. Let’s see if we can make it there before we call it a day and head back.” He leaped from the roof platform and sailed down to the ground in front of the truck. The hero set his hands against a dark SUV, pushed it against a sedan, and shoved both vehicles a few feet off the road.

  Most of the scavengers climbed back into the truck. Billie walked up to him. “You look tired.”

  “Kind of, yeah,” said St. George. “I don’t do much high-speed flying.”

  She glanced past him and raised her voice. “Danny, watch your back.”

  They all turned. A blonde ex wearing stained sweats and a tank top had worked its way across the road. Lee and Al stepped forward as the dead thing bit down on Danny’s shoulder. His chainmail blunted the rotted teeth. He yelped and twisted back. The dead woman stumbled after him, its teeth chattering. He gave it a shove and it snapped at his fingers.

  “The chainmail works,” deadpanned Al.

  “Hell, yeah,” stammered Danny. He took a few deep breaths.

  “See, this is what I’m talking about,” St. George said. “Stay focused, people. Maybe there is someone else out there, but we’ll never know if we all get killed, will we?”

  “They won’t kill you,” said Hector dryly.

  “Yeah, but Stealth gets really annoyed when I go out with fourteen people and come home alone.”

  Danny held the ex away with his rifle. “Hey,” he said, “does she look familiar to anyone else?”

  Keri peered at the ex and shook her head. “Nope.”

  “They’re all getting so shriveled it’s hard to tell,” said Al.

  “That one’s not shriveled,” said Lynne with a grin. “Silicone stays bouncy forever.”

  The ex clacked its teeth and took another swipe at Danny. He gave it a shove to keep it off balance. “Final decisions? Famous or not?”

  St. George tilted his head and pointed. “What’s on its arm?”

  “Ink,” said Hector. “Roses. She had some nice work done.”

  Ilya snapped his fingers. “She’s a porn star.”

  Lee gave the ex another look. “You think so?”

  “Blonde hair, fake tits, one very tattooed arm, kind of familiar.”

  Paul pointed his rifle down the road. “Isn’t there a big porn headquarters right down the street?”

  “I don’t think all the porn stars lived there.”

  “Hey, I’m just saying it’s there.”

  Billie looked back to St. George and spoke in a low voice. “Was it a Predator?”

  He blinked and dropped his own volume. “Yeah. Good guess.”

  “Prop engine, sort of a plane, doesn’t sound like there was a pilot.” She shrugged. “I was only in Afghanistan for eighteen months, but I saw a couple of them.”

  Lady Bee laughed. “Oh my God, I think he’s right. That was Brooke-something.”

  “Aren’t there ten or twenty Brookes?”

  “No she’s a big one,” said Ilya. “Damn, what was her last name?”

  “I think that’s enough to say she counts as a celebrity. Jarvis?”

  The bearded man sighed and nodded. “Yeah, sure. I ain’t never catching up, anyway.”

  Billie watched Danny try to trip the ex, but spoke in the same low tones. “Why are you so cautious if it’s one of ours?”

  “We don’t know it’s one of ours,” said St. George. “For all we know it’s a bunch of redneck survivalists who logged a lot of time playing flight simulator games. Until we know for sure, I think it’s better to be cautious.”

  “Fair enough.”

  Danny kicked one of the ex’s legs out from under it and the dead thing tumbled to the ground. Ilya tossed him a pike from the back of Road Warrior and he caught it one-handed. He took a good grip on the weapon, drove the spiked tip down through the ex’s mouth, and watched a puddle form behind its head.

  Chapter 6

  NOW

  “It’s a military base,” said Barry. He’d been home from his recon mission since sundown, changed back from the energy form, and eaten two peanut-butter sandwiches on the way from Four to Roddenberry. He was working on the third. It had apple slices in it that crunched whenever he took a bite.

  They were in Stealth’s conference room. The cloaked woman had spread another map across the table, this one showing most of the American southwest. The thought flitted through St. George’s mind that he had no idea where she got all her maps from. Maybe she’d looted a travel store at some point before they founded the Mount.

  Barry placed his hands on the edge of the table and heaved himself up out of his wheelchair. “Army, if I remember my camo patterns and stuff,” he continued, “but I’m pretty sure I saw Air Force there, too, and maybe a couple of Marines.”

  “All working together on one base?” said St. George. “Isn’t that a little odd?”

  “Unusual, but not unheard of,” said Stealth. Her black-gloved finger traced out an area in southwest Arizona. “The most likely candidate is the Yuma Proving Ground.”

  “Didn’t seem that big,” said Barry. “This was just two or three little places and a small ai
rstrip, none of them much bigger than the Mount.” He took another bite of his sandwich.

  “There are a lot of sub-bases in the proving ground,” said Danielle. She reached up and brushed a stringy lock of strawberry-blonde hair away from her freckled face, then swiped at it again when it dropped back down. The only way she could attend was to take off the Cerberus armor, and she was fidgeting. It had taken St. George an hour to convince her to take it off. “I did a quick trip out there once to test the mount for the arm cannons. As a whole it might be overrun, but it wouldn’t surprise me if there was still a functioning base or two there somewhere.”

  Barry studied the map while he chewed. “I think it was around here,” he said, twiddling his fingers at part of the map. “There was a pretty decent-sized area with a triple-fence where most of the activity was. A couple hundred exes outside. Forty or fifty buildings, a helipad, and a power substation pulling from somewhere off-base. And there was an airstrip twenty or so miles from there where the Predator was docked or parked or whatever you say. It looked pretty clean and ex-free, too.”

  “How many people?”

  He shrugged. “Not sure. Looked like a lot less than us. I mean, the original us. Skeleton crew guarding the walls. A lot of buildings, but it didn’t look overcrowded. You know how we’ve got tents on rooftops and all that? There’s none of that.”

  St. George looked at the distance between the proving grounds and the city of Yuma. “Any civilians?”

  Barry shook his head. “If there were, I didn’t see them.”

  Stealth shook her head. “It is unlikely a military base would have large numbers of civilian refugees.”

  Danielle frowned. “It’s not like the movies, you know,” she said. “In a real crisis protecting civilians would be a top priority.”

  “It is unfortunate, then, that the ex-virus was not recognized as a real crisis sooner,” said the hooded woman.

  St. George let out a slow breath and a wisp of dark smoke curled from his nostrils. “So this is real,” he said. “The military’s still up and running and they’re looking for us.”

  “There is the possibility the base and its resources are being used by other survivors,” said Stealth, “but the logical assumption is this is a functioning base staffed by the U.S. Army.”

  They all stared at the map for a few moments.

  “Look, I hate to be the serious one here,” said Barry, “but are we sure this is a good thing?”

  They looked at him. Danielle frowned again. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “These guys have been on their own at least as long as we have,” he said. “We don’t know what kind of shape they’re in, physically or mentally.”

  St. George’s lips twisted into a thin smile. “Still worried about a crazy military?”

  “A little, yeah.” He shrugged again. “I just think we should be a bit cautious before we go running up to hug a bunch of heavily-armed guys who’ve been standing out in the sun for two years.”

  “There’s the other side of that coin,” said Danielle. “We don’t know they’re alone. For all we know there are military installations and population centers all over the country that are connected.”

  “We have seen no evidence of such a thing,” said Stealth.

  “And I’ve never heard it,” said Barry, waving his half-sandwich in the air. “Even if they were all on the east coast, I’d see something in the air now and then.”

  “I’m just saying it could be,” insisted the redhead. “Let’s not convince ourselves this is a bad thing before we have more evidence.”

  “Let’s not forget something else,” said St. George. “They know we’re out here now. We sent them a message through their Predator.”

  Barry nodded. “That we did.”

  “It seems safe to say they didn’t know what they’d find when they sent the drones,” St. George said. “Now they know we’re out here. I think we should wait and see what they do. Let them make the next move.”

  Stealth tilted her head at him. “And if they do not make a move?”

  “Then we can send Barry to check them out again. But for now, let’s play it cool.”

  Barry grinned. “Don’t want to call too soon after our first date?”

  “Don’t want them thinking we’re a threat,” said St. George. “They’re probably as freaked out by us as we are by them. And like you said, they’ve got a lot more guns. Let’s wait a couple days and see if the Predator comes back.”

  Danielle nodded. “When they do, we can use my call sign and codes. Even if they can’t verify it, they should be able to recognize it as our military without too much trouble.”

  Stealth gave a slow nod. “A sound plan for the present.”

  “There’s one other thing, though,” said St. George. “What do we tell everyone?”

  “What do you mean?” asked Danielle.

  “Everyone here at the Mount. Inside the Big Wall. Do we keep quiet? Do we tell them the military’s coming to save the day?”

  “I am sure that decision has been made for you, George,” said Stealth.

  He looked at her. “How so?”

  “Besides the four of us, fourteen scavengers know of the Predator drone. I find it unlikely all of them have remained silent on this matter. I would estimate at least two hundred people have been told the news during the course of this meeting.”

  St. George sighed.

  “Oh, joy,” said Barry. “That won’t cause any headaches.”

  “I would suggest we advise citizens against any premature assumptions as to the nature of this incident. Perhaps we can protect them from potential disillusionment and the corresponding blow to morale.”

  “Assuming, of course,” said Danielle, “there’s going to be a reason to be disillusioned.”

  The lights flickered. “That’s my cue,” said Barry. He swallowed the last crust of his sandwich. “Batteries are running low. I need to get back to the chair.”

  “They’re not lasting any time at all now,” muttered the redhead.

  “We’re supplying six times as many people,” said St. George. “We need to figure out a better way to do this.”

  “You’re telling me,” said Barry. He swung himself off the table and into his wheelchair. “You know it’s been six weeks since I slept in a bed?”

  “Come on,” said the hero, scooping up his patchwork leather jacket. “Let’s get you over to Four.”

  “Cerberus,” said Stealth, “if you could escort Zzzap back to the electric chair, I would like to speak with St. George for a few more minutes. Alone.”

  “Somebody’s in trou-ble,” sang Barry with a grin.

  The redhead took in a quick breath. “Will you be long? I was hoping to get the armor back on tonight.”

  “Take the rest of the night off,” St. George told her. “We’ll get you suited back up in the morning.”

  “Oh, sure,” said Barry. “She gets to sleep in a bed.”

  “Someone needs to check the gates, though,” said Danielle. “If you two are going to be here for a while—”

  “I will check the gates once our meeting is done,” said Stealth. “Will you see Zzzap back to Four, please?”

  Her elbows pulled in closer to her body. “Sure,” she said. “No problem.” She wheeled Barry around and out the conference room doors.

  St. George dropped his jacket back on the table and looked at the cloaked woman. “What’s up?”

  “How did the new chainmail armor perform?”

  “Nobody likes it, but Danny Foe let an ex get the drop on him and it stopped the bite. Not much past that. Everyone was on their game today.”

  “Is there anything else to report from your mission?”

  He leaned back against the table. “Pretty much just what we expected to find in the valley,” he said. “Exes seem more numerous but spread out more. Most everything’s looted along Cahuenga, but it’s hard to tell when so it doesn’t help us figure out if there are other surviv
ors out there.”

  “Did you listen?”

  “What?”

  “You launched a flare which would have been visible throughout most of the southern San Fernando Valley. If survivors saw it, there is a reasonable chance they would have made an effort to attract your attention.”

  He sagged a little. “I didn’t even think of that. I was so excited about the plane.”

  “The fault is mine,” she said. “I became focused on the flare as a signal for our own purposes. I did not consider the possibility it would serve as an indirect beacon to others until after you had left.”

  “It’s not your responsibility to think of all this stuff.”

  “Someone must be responsible,” she said, “and I am the best suited to the task.”

  “Well,” he said, “maybe it won’t be for much longer. If it really is the Army we’re all off the hook. Someone else will be in charge.”

  She tilted her head at him. “I did not realize you were eager to be relieved of your responsibilities.”

  “Aren’t you? I mean, let’s face it. There’s got to be people better qualified than us to rebuild civilization.”

  “Perhaps,” she said. “Perhaps not. To my eyes, you are eminently qualified.”

  They looked at each other for a few moments, then a few more, and then she turned and moved to the bank of monitors. St. George picked up his jacket. The doors were closed behind him when he realized he’d missed another opportune moment.

  * * *

  “So,” said Barry as the wheelchair rolled along the garden, “you want to hang out for a bit? It’s boring as hell just sitting in the chair all the time. I’ve got tons of movies.”

  He felt Danielle shake her head behind him. “I’ve got to get back,” she said. “A couple things to do.”

  “Like what?”

  “What?”

  “What do you have to do?”

  “Just... stuff. You know. I spend so much time in the armor a lot of stuff gets neglected.”