The Dying of the Light (Book 1): End

by Jason Kristopher

  “Yes, sir,” Gaines said, and trotted off towards the rental car, and Eaton turned to Anderson.

  “Sir, we don’t really have the facilities here to analyze them fully.”

  “Are you telling me no one here has a laptop? That we can’t ‘borrow’ a computer from the hospital for a bit?”

  Rachel flushed. “Of course not, sir. It’s just…”

  Anderson held up a hand. “I don’t need to analyze them completely, sergeant. I just need to look for someone who’s disappeared, apparently.”

  Eaton grinned. “Lemme guess, sir. Tallish, skinny, sandy hair? Looks about 25?”

  Anderson was stunned. “How the hell did you know that?”

  “Oh, you know, sir. Women’s intuition and all that.” She held out a hand as Gaines ran back up with a bulging sack of electronic media. “That, and pictures, sir. D, I need your phone.”

  Gaines shrugged and pulled the phone from his pocket, handing it to her. Eaton opened the phone, punched a button and held it out to the commander. “Him, sir?”

  Anderson grinned. “Excellent work, sergeant, gunny.”

  “We thought he was a bit fishy, sir, we just didn’t have a chance to report yet.”

  “I’ll see you get this back, Gaines.” Anderson moved off, opening his own phone and making a call.

  “I guess I can put these back, then?” Dalton asked, his tone suggesting he’d rather leave them there until they rotted.

  “Absolutely,” I said, smiling as Gaines grimaced and trotted back to the car. The five of us turned to look back at the hospital. “How was it in there, Angelo?”

  “We had it kinda rough, man. They were coming out of nowhere. Not a place I’d want to have to secure again.” Martinez was thoughtful, then seemed to grow sad. “It’s a damn shame about the kid, though.”

  “The kid?” asked Kim.

  “Yeah, the survivor we found. Can’t be more than 7 or 8. He’s pretty messed up. We found him hiding in a closet. Think he was visiting someone, but we don’t know who. He won’t talk to anyone.”

  “Lemme try, boss,” I said, turning to Kim. “I’m good with kids. Maybe I can help him some, ease some of the trauma a bit.”

  She shrugged. “Knock yourself out.”

  I walked over to the tables the nurses had set up, and glanced around. I didn’t see any at first, but then one of the nurses moved and I saw a small arm lying on the table, unmoving. As I moved closer, I saw the boy look up at me; Morena had an arm around him, and suddenly I stumbled, sinking to my knees, my eyes locked on the pair.

  This… this can’t be. It’s impossible!

  Kim rushed over calling for a medic. I dimly heard her calling to me, as though from miles away, but I couldn’t think about that right now. All I could think of was that this boy and the woman taking care of him were the spitting image of Rebecca and her son Eric.

  Not possible. You shot one, and the other is… I cringed, and tore my gaze away from the boy, somehow reaching for and finding Kim, who drew me to her.

  I didn’t hear myself mumbling over and over. “It’s not them; it’s not them.”

  She heard a voice from behind her as she stared at the car. “Ma’am, will he be alright?” That would be Reynolds, she thought.

  She scrubbed a hand across her eyes to get rid of the tears she’d refused to let fall, and turned to him. “I hope so, captain. I don’t know what happened. You saw as much as I did. He just sort of sat down and started mumbling to himself.”

  “What was he saying, ma’am?”

  “‘It’s not them.’”

  “What the hell does that mean?” asked Gaines, who was watching Eaton as she knelt by the open door of the rental car, talking quietly to David.

  “I think I know gunny, but I can’t tell you.” She shook her head as he looked up. “I really can’t.” The sergeant subsided but still looked worried. She thought all of them were probably looking the same way.

  “Everything all right here, major?” asked Commander Anderson as he walked up.

  “I hope so, sir,” she said as she turned to face him. “Bravo and Echo squads have finished their sweep, and are on their way out now. I’ve got Foxtrot retaining the perimeter, just in case. I’ve already called in the cleanup teams, they should be here within the hour. Turns out the colonel had them trucking up I-25 at the same time we took off.”

  “Great, then we won’t have to wait forever for them to get here. What’s with Blake?”

  “He… he had something of a scare, sir. I think he’ll be fine, but we need to get him back to base.” She looked at him suddenly. “Sir, what about that guy with the camera?”

  Anderson grinned in a way that said bad things were going to happen to the little shit soon.

  “The techs have already identified him based on your pic, Gaines. His name’s Jason Horner. He was already a person of interest for us after a little fiasco we had with the press up in Rawlins. They’re deconstructing his life right now. They’ll know everything there is to know about him by the time we get home.” He glanced over to the nurses packing and cleaning the area where they’d set up their mobile trauma unit. “So what’s going on with this nurse, then?”

  Kim shrugged. “She’s good, sir. Very, very good. At least as a field medic. She has no military background, but she’s learned things that I’ve never seen a hospital nurse do, sir.” She stood tall and looked him square in the eye. “I want her for AEGIS, sir. But not on my team. I need to make sure David is okay too, — he had some sort of reaction when he saw them.”

  “Reaction?”

  “Went catatonic, sir. He’s being looked after.” Kim sighed. “Forrest’s tough, and she can handle herself. We should keep her around at the base and put her through training, but not on field duty yet, or at least not with 1st team. And nowhere near David.”

  Anderson stared back, expressionless. “Family? Friends?”

  “No family, sir, and she said she’s just moved here, so no friends to speak of that would miss her that much.”

  “Can she handle it, do you think?”

  “Yes, sir, I believe she can. She led over forty people to the roof, and went back twice to look for more.” She chuckled. “She said she would’ve kept going back down, but one of the men threatened to knock her out if she did. So she stayed and made sure everyone was okay. She’s seen them, sir, and not only lived to tell but came out without any obvious major psychosis. And we need medics, sir.”

  Anderson grunted agreement. “That we do, badly. All right Barnes, bring her over.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Morena looked up as she approached, and Kim waved her over. “My commander wants to talk to you. Do you have a moment?” she asked the nurse, who appeared startled.

  “Uh, sure. Did he say what he wanted?”

  “In my experience, Morena, it’s better to do first and ask questions later. If you get the chance.”

  “Gotcha. Lead on.”

  Gaines and Reynolds stood behind the commander in flanking positions as the two women approached, and Kim could see that Morena was nervous. She put a hand on her shoulder and flashed a quick smile, and the nurse straightened, heartened by the thoughtful gesture.

  “You wanted to see me, commander?” Morena asked.

  “Yes, Ms. Forrest. I’ve had reports from my soldiers here, but I’d like you to tell me in your own words what you think happened here today.”

  “I just need one word, sir: zombies.”

  Anderson raised an eyebrow and glanced at Kim, who shook her head and tried her best to stifle a grin.

  “Zombies? That’s ridiculous.”

  “Well, of course, zombies.” She began to count points on her hand. “One, they’re dead, then they come back to some sort of life, if you can call it that. Two, if they bite you, you turn into one of them. Three, they don’t seem to be hurt by anything other than head shots. Four, the moaning. The goddamn moaning. What else could they be?”

  Gaines and Reynolds
were doing their best to hide smiles and outright laughter, and Anderson’s smile turned up slightly in a grin himself. “Well, I guess that settles that, then.”

  “Settles what, sir?”

  “Ms. Forrest, we’d like you to come work for us.”

  Morena’s mouth dropped open, and Anderson smiled. “Work? For you?” Morena asked.

  “Indeed. We’d put you through combat training and assign you to a squad for field operations. We can always use more medics, and from what I’ve heard, you’re one of the best the major here has seen in quite some time.”

  Morena glanced at Kim, who was also smiling. “But I don’t know the first thing about being a soldier!”

  “Somehow I doubt that. Major Barnes says she personally observed you performing procedures that we know only military-trained field medics are usually skilled in performing. So what was it? National Guard? Army Reserve?”

  Morena flushed and looked down. “I… I knew someone once who taught me some things. He was… well, he was a soldier.” The way she said it left little doubt as to just what kind of soldier her friend had been, but Anderson just shook his head.

  “I don’t care if he was a merc or a true-blue American soldier, Ms. Forrest. We need your help. You’d be moved to our base, paid well, and given certain other perks. But you wouldn’t be allowed to tell anyone what you do.” Anderson leaned in and brought his eyes level with hers from about four inches away, dead serious. “Ever.”

  Morena gulped. “Well, in that case…” She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She kept them closed for a few moments, considering the offer. When she opened them again, she was decision and dedication incarnate, and even Anderson was impressed. “Yes, sir, I would be honored to join. I just have one condition.”

  Kim stood a little straighter, surprised. Anderson quirked an eyebrow at the forceful nurse. “And what would that be?”

  “I want to bring Michael with us, sir.”

  “Who’s Michael?”

  In answer, Morena turned and yelled over her shoulder. “Michael, come here, please.” The little boy that Kim had seen on the medical table came running towards them with a grin, then stopped and hid behind the nurse as he caught sight of the others nearby. Morena looked down at him. “This is Michael, commander. His mother was one of the ones in the critical care unit, and his father was the one your men found near surgery. They had been in a car accident. He has no one, sir, no family at all.”

  Anderson squatted down to put himself at eye level with the child, and smiled. “It’s okay, son. I won’t hurt you.” The little boy peeked out from behind the nurse’s scrubs. “That’s alright, kiddo. You and I will have plenty of time to get to know each other.” He stood back up and laid his hand on Morena’s shoulder.

  “We’ll see if we can’t get someone to look after him when you can’t; there’s plenty of on-base personnel, so it shouldn’t be that much of a problem. Your skills — and more importantly, your psychological strength — are certainly worth the effort.” Anderson glanced at Kimberly, and smiled. “And AEGIS has some experience with orphaned children, Ms. Forrest.”

  Kim smiled back at Anderson. “Sir, I’d be willing to bet that Mary would help out with that.”

  Anderson nodded. “You’re probably right, Barnes. I’ll check with her when we get back. As for you,” he said, looking at Morena. “I can’t bring you in off the field as an officer, but we’ll fix that soon enough. We’ll take care of all the paperwork when we get back, but I’m guessing you’ll be an e-4, Hospital Corpsman Third Class, until we get everything straightened out. Assuming you like the Marines, that is. How’s that sound?”

  “Just fine, sir,” she said, and snapped into a reasonably respectable salute, which Anderson grinned and returned.

  “Very well. Major, see that she and the boy get what they need stowed aboard the Globemasters. We’ll be wheels up twenty minutes after the cleaning crew gets here.”

  “Yes, sir.” Anderson walked away, and Kim hugged Morena. “Congratulations!”

  Morena smiled back and held on tight to Michael, who started to squirm as Eaton walked up.

  “What’d I miss?” asked the sergeant.

  “Morena’s going to be one of us, Rachel.”

  “Great! Lord knows we could use someone who actually knows something about medicine,” she said, laughing. “I’ve been doing some of the heavy lifting with medical needs, but I don’t know my ass from a hole in the ground when it comes to true field work. Santos is going to be so glad to have you with us.”

  Morena nodded towards the car where Blake now lay against the backseat. “What about him?”

  Eaton chuckled, a mischievous grin plastered on her face. “He never saw the Mickey I slipped him, major.”

  “Well done, sergeant.” Kim could hear his snores from where she was standing, and forced herself to smile. “I’m sure he’ll be fine; he probably just needed some rest.”

  At least I hope that was all he needed, she thought, looking at Morena and the child. Please, let that be all he needs.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Fort Carson, Colorado

  “I think I know what it is, Kim,” said Dr. Adamsdóttir. Kim turned away from her sleeping lover. David had been sedated for about thirty hours now. He’d been in the infirmary since they’d returned from Laramie, and she still had no idea why he’d snapped.

  I can’t have him on the team like this, though. I need everyone at 100%, if not 110%.

  Kim looked at the doctor and found, to her surprise, not even a hint of the irrational jealousy she’d felt towards her before. Maybe it’s that she’s married now, she thought. And happily, from what I hear.

  “Oh?” she said. “What’ve you got?”

  “We did the normal psychological profile when he came on board with AEGIS, and he was given a pretty thorough going-over after Fall Creek, too,” Mary said.

  Kim nodded. “We all got that; at least the first part. I assumed he was cleared, or he wouldn’t have made the team. Are you saying there was a problem?”

  “Not initially. At least, I don’t see any red flags.” Mary paused and looked at Kim. “I really shouldn’t be telling you this, Kim. It’s all confidential stuff.”

  Kim sighed. “I see. Just do what you think is best, then.”

  “I will. That’s why I’m going to tell you what I found. Come look at this.”

  Kim walked over and looked at the computer as Mary pointed to a graph. “These are his psych profile scores,” she said. “See that spike there? That indicates some sort of repressed or blocked memory, something he doesn’t want to talk about. The shrinks he talked to didn’t get much out of him about Fall Creek other than what we all know. I thought there might be more to the story, so I did some digging through his records, and what I found…”

  “Let me guess,” Kim said. “It’s about Rebecca.”

  Mary was startled. “You know about her?”

  “He told me about her a few days ago; he said he killed her after she’d turned.”

  “Then you know most of the story, but you still need to see this. I found a picture of her in the city records; apparently she worked for the mayor’s office.” Mary turned back to the computer, and brought up a photo on the monitor. A young woman with blonde hair and a bright smile appeared, and Kim’s breath caught in her chest. She sat down hard on a lab stool, frozen by what she saw.

  “That’s insane,” she whispered after a few minutes, as Mary looked at her in sympathy. “It can’t be her,” she whispered.

  “I thought so, too. So I had a friend at an outside lab compare this with Morena’s AEGIS processing photo. He sent me the results of the comparison.” She punched a command into her computer, and the two photos appeared side-by-side as a comparison was shown. The results were obvious, and Kim hardly needed to see them.

  “They’re a 93% match, according to facial structure, height, estimated weight, and a whole host of other factors,” said Mary. “Other than the
ir hair color, the women are nearly identical. We’re looking at positive proof that everyone has a twin somewhere in the world.”

  “Oh my God. No wonder…”

  “It gets worse,” Mary said, and entered another command. “It’s the same for the kid. You know that National Child Registry thing that the FBI was trying to get going a few years back? Well, as it turns out, they still do things like it in various places, and Fall Creek was one of those. Eric had his picture, blood type and fingerprints entered into their system, which was then uploaded to the FBI. I looked through their data, found his picture, and I had that compared to the kid we found in Laramie, Michael.”