Sixth Cycle

by Darren Wearmouth

  The group talked quietly among themselves.

  “Are there any objections?” the man said.

  Nobody replied. Jake couldn’t blame them for wanting to take advantage of the situation. Some of these people were probably stronghold outcasts; others perhaps preferred their freedom away from the imposing systems in place. Putting all of that on the line in return for survival and a better life was a fair price.

  “Follow me,” Jake said and headed back to the convoy.

  Trader and Carlos broke cover when he returned to their position.

  “Trader, fancy seeing you here,” the man said. “Bit out of your comfort zone, isn’t it?”

  “Ryder, finally decided to join the good fight?”

  Both men squared up to each other. Jake pushed them apart. “Save it for the wastelanders. I take it you two know each other?”

  “He’s part of the corrupt system,” Ryder said. “Most of my people killed in the last few days were kicked out of strongholds for daring to have a different opinion.”

  “You’re nothing but a second rate Robin Hood,” Trader said and turned to Jake. “His notional idea of freedom doesn’t exist. He robs from the hardworking to feed the deluded.”

  Ryder’s eyes narrowed, and his hand jerked against his rifle. “Watch your tongue. There’s nothing stopping us killing you right here. Accidents happen in the forest.”

  “Get a grip of yourselves,” Jake said, not wanting the situation to escalate any further. “I’ll take you to Beth and Barry. You can protect their part of the convoy.”

  Ryder took a step back and gave a single nod.

  Jake set off back to the convoy, concerned about their new fragile alliance, but pleased the situation didn’t descend into violence. It was clear that feelings ran high between the outlaws and the establishment.

  Trader walked alongside him. “What do Beth and Barry have to do with it?”

  “The outlaws were going to Epsilon. I’m guessing for protection behind their walls.”

  “Impossible. It’s against the rules.”

  “Don’t be so naïve, Trader. If they are decent people, I wouldn’t be surprised if they reached out to Epsilon, and they provided help in return. I’d do the same thing.”

  “We can’t disintegrate what we’ve built because of a single attack. You need to understand that our structure worked for years.”

  Jake stopped next to the SUV and looked him in the eye. “You need to understand that things change, sometimes for the better.”

  * * *

  Most of the Epsilon citizens didn’t seem surprised at the emergence of the outlaws from the forest. Trader’s team surrounded him while he briefed them. Beth and Barry gave Ryder a warm welcome, and the outlaws fanned out around their vehicle.

  Jake climbed back into the SUV, and they continued toward Omega. Trader clenched his jaw and kept his focus on the road ahead. Jake could understand the old man’s mixed feelings. Everything he worked for during the last few decades was falling apart. Trader kept shaking his head and grunting until the wall of Omega came into view.

  The gates remained closed when they neared. Trader stopped and ripped up the handbrake. “Do you want to take it from here?”

  “Get your men ready with the rocket launchers and wait. If Finch is still here, we might need them. Going back to Epsilon isn’t an option.”

  Four men stood either side of the gates on the rampart. Jake exited the SUV and walked forward.

  “Identify yourself,” a man shouted.

  “Captain Jake Phillips. I’m here with a convoy from Epsilon. We also have a group of outlaws.”

  “The outlaws stay outside. The rest of you can enter.”

  “That’s not going to happen,” Jake said. “Is Governor Finch inside?”

  The men on the rampart looked at each other. One disappeared from view. Jake glanced along the left-hand side of the solid stone wall. The outer steps leading to the barracks were demolished. A positive sign that the stronghold had already started preparations.

  Ryder, Beth and Barry crunched along the road and stood by his side.

  “Is there a problem?” Barry said.

  “We’ll find out shortly,” Jake said.

  Skye looked over the rampart. “Ryder, what are you doing here?”

  “We’re here to fight,” he replied.

  “Do you have Finch?” Jake said.

  “He’s gone. Kappa and Zeta arrived here an hour ago and told us about your plan.”

  “Are you gonna open the gates or leave us out here?”

  Skye looked to her right. Jake cringed when the intermittent siren blasted to signal the opening of the entrance. The gates clanked open, revealing a hive of activity inside.

  Jake left the others to return to their vehicles and walked inside. At least one hundred SUVs were parked inside. Some blocking the road, others around the barracks and bases of the towers, most parked by the inner wall in four rows of ten. Men and women stood around them, dressed in their stronghold-colored coveralls, cleaning weapons and talking in groups. A couple of hundred people queued up next to an extended wooden table. Steam belched out of three large metal pots. A man in a white apron poured green liquid into bowls and handed them out.

  Over a thousand citizens and guards ducked behind the front section of the rampart with their weapons ready. More spread around the sides as far as Jake could see. Skye raced down the steps and approached him.

  “Have you brought guns from Epsilon?”

  “Yes. We’ve got some rocket launchers too. Nice to see that you’ve already started arranging things. How many guns are we short?”

  “Four thousand.”

  “We’ve got five hundred. The rest will have to use whatever they can get their hands on.”

  She gave him a resigned look. “I hope you don’t mind helping give a crash course in weapons handling. We’ll split them into groups of ten.”

  “No problem. We need to start right away.”

  The convoy snaked through the gates and parked alongside the other vehicles by the inner wall. The siren above the gates stopped after they slammed shut with a dull thud.

  Wind gusted through the stronghold, bringing a thick sheet of gritty dust. Jake turned away and wiped his eyes. He surveyed the interior of the stronghold and thought about the best way to defend against an assault. A distant scream echoed through the forest.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Guards and civilians on the rampart focused outside after hearing the single scream. If anyone dared question Ryder’s entry, they would answer to her. The fact that he turned up with Jake didn’t surprise her. She liked him from the moment she met him.

  Skye twisted her ponytail up into a bun and fastened it in place. The growing amount of dust being carried on the wind surrounded the stronghold in a thick cream cloud. She watched Jake shield his eyes and scan the internal area. Ryder joined him and pointed toward the inner wall.

  She raised her newly acquired radio. “Advanced sentries. Do you see the enemy force?”

  “Only two. We’ll let you know and fall back when we see them coming.”

  “Thanks, Skye out.”

  She'd stationed ten of the guard outside the stronghold walls to give them a decent warning of an oncoming force. They’d given her advance warning of the Epsilon convoy’s approach.

  “Smart thinking,” Ryder said. “I never got a chance to thank you for helping me out in the cave.”

  “I’m sure you would’ve done the same thing.”

  “What’s the arrangement around the walls and the secondary plan?” Jake said.

  “I’ve called a meeting with the governors of Zeta and Kappa. They’re expecting to hear from you.”

  He turned to Trader. “Are you coming for the ride?”

  Trader leaned out from the trunk of his SUV. “You know what you’re doing. Skye, are you okay with me distributing weapons and organizing a few things?”

  “Sure thing.” She turned to Jake. �
��What’s he organizing?”

  “You’ll find out shortly, but it’s for the best. We discussed our options last night.”

  She held the radio to her mouth again. “Governors’ meeting at the tower in two minutes. Skye out.”

  “How the hell do you all manage to keep any form of decent communication if you all use the same channel?” Jake said.

  “Each stronghold and Trader has one. As we’re all here, I don’t see what choice we have. Maybe you can show us a better way after we get through this.”

  “We split them into sections and use one as a command channel,” Jake said. “Are we out of Sigma’s range?”

  “Yes. We’ll have no problems.”

  Ross moved alongside her and extended a hand. “Hello again, Captain Phillips.”

  Jake put his hands in his pockets. “We meet again, Captain Ross.”

  “General Ross. I’m the senior officer around here.”

  “Finch promoted him before he left,” Skye said, not able to resist verbally kicking him again. “When this is all over, I can’t see him keeping his sparkling new gold baton.”

  Ross scowled but didn’t answer back. He must’ve known deep down that he only held his position because he was Finch’s patsy, and that his rank held zero weight with Skye.

  “I remember him from Monday,” Jake said. “I hope he isn’t in a position of responsibility today?”

  “You just wait a minute,” Ross said and stepped toward Jake. “You can’t speak about me like that. I'm a general now. I outrank you.”

  “I don’t know who you outrank, but I know it isn't me.”

  Skye caught Jake’s eye and gestured her head toward the tower. He gave her a slight nod and walked around Ross.

  “Skye,” Ross said, following them. “We’re both Omega officers. You can’t let him come here and speak to us like this.”

  Skye sighed and spun to face him. “You’re not coming to the meeting as acting governor. Do you think Harrison and Herbie will stand for it after you spent years slurping Finch’s toe caps until your tongue turned black?”

  “I’m the senior officer here.”

  “You were Finch’s senior officer.”

  “I’ll find a job for you,” Jake said. “Don’t worry about that.”

  Ross clenched his fists, and his lips curled into a snarl. Skye turned and headed for the tower with Jake. This time, Ross didn’t follow. His redemption would have to come on the battlefield.

  Skye led the way up the spiral stone staircase and entered Ross’ former office. The two governors were already there, dressed in their sharp navy and brown suits. Harrison sat behind the desk and gave her a suspicious look. Herbie gazed at a painting on the wall. She noticed Jake looking down at the animal skins on the floor.

  “Yep. They’re his.”

  He smiled. “Thought so.”

  Herbie looked over his shoulder. “I hear this was your idea, Captain Phillips?”

  “That’s right. Trader’s scout confirmed the wastelanders being led here. We found out Finch was responsible by checking my ship's records in Epsilon. His army has rifles, pistols and rocket launchers stolen from the western bunker. We can’t fight a force like that on open ground without sustaining heavy casualties, and you can’t defend your individual walls against thousands with the numbers you have. The idea is to defend and take them out here. Even up the odds.”

  “Finch admitted it to me last night,” Skye said. “There’s no doubt he’s coming.”

  Harrison leaned forward. “Who put you two in charge?”

  “You can have Finch’s puppet or me and an experienced military man,” Skye said. “We haven’t got time to debate the state that Finch left Omega in.”

  She pulled Finch’s journal out of her pocket and threw it on the table. Harrison picked it up, licked his finger, and flicked through it. He reached the final page and frowned.

  “Beyond defending the wall, what else can we do?” Herbie said.

  “What’s the situation on the ground at the moment?” Jake said.

  Skye grabbed the stronghold plan from the side of the office and rolled it out on the desk. “We’ve split the Omega Force and some armed civilians on the north wall by the gates and on the south wall. Kappa are covering the east, Zeta the west.”

  “Looks solid enough to me,” Harrison said.

  “But not very dynamic, and I don’t see a fallback,” Jake said.

  Harrison sat back in his chair and grunted.

  “What are you suggesting?” Herbie said.

  “Split your areas into two sections each, so they can each use a dedicated radio channel. They need to communicate along their own parts of the wall without confusion. Each local commander can use the Trader channel to report any serious threats of a breach.”

  “Make sense,” Herbie said. “I’ll take one and two.”

  “Three to six,” Skye said.

  She looked at Harrison. He rolled his eyes. “I can count, goddammit.”

  “Skye, you take twenty of your team and use them as a mobile force to plug any gaps. I’ll use Trader’s team to do the same thing. We also need to position a firing squad in front of the gates. If the wastelanders manage to blow them, we need an immediate response to stop them flooding in.”

  “And if your plan fails?” Harrison said.

  Jake pointed to the middle of the map. “We fall back to the inner circle, reduce the perimeter size to account for casualties, and fight them to the death. Tell all of your local team what the retreat command means. We can put Ross and Trader to work with the remaining citizens on preparing fallback defenses.”

  Herbie, who watched and nodded as Jake spoke, headed for the door. “You’ve got it all worked out. I’m a man of business, and I know when I see the best plan. I’ll go and brief my team. Harrison, I suggest you do the same.”

  His footsteps echoed down the staircase. Skye felt relieved, but could understand his acceptance. As Jake spoke, she felt like part of a slick military operation for the first time since she'd been in uniform. She expected Harrison's arguments and Herbie's ego to block any serious decisions, but having an experienced neutral, who knew what he was talking about, knocked the wind out of Herbie’s sails.

  Harrison remained in his chair, though. “I just want you to know that if this plan works, everything goes back to the way it was. Your governor turning traitor isn’t going to ruin our system.”

  “We’ve got a chance to make things better, Harrison,” Skye said. “You must be able to see that things aren’t working.”

  “That’s Governor Harrison to you. I’ll go along with the suggestions for the good of the strongholds, because it has merit, but after we defeat this force, we’re returning to business as usual.”

  “Your population clocks are outdated,” Jake said. “I’m sure they worked when you were filling your strongholds up. What purpose do they serve now?”

  Harrison narrowed his eyes. “What do you know about it? We have to balance resources. While you were sleeping, we were the ones protecting the population.”

  “And now you cast them out or refuse them entry? I think you need to face reality.”

  He probably didn’t want to lose his little empire. Covering the western side of Omega was his way of achieving it. Skye didn’t want to waste any time having a philosophical debate about the wrongs of the system. They all had work to do, and time was running out.

  “Did you find Rhodes?” she said.

  Harrison smiled. “Last night. Cowering in a warehouse. I had him branded until he confirmed what Trader’s scout told us.”

  “Where is he?”

  “Hanging by his neck from our front gate. Don’t think I take security lightly. We found a group of Finch’s traitors on our way here, in two SUVs. After I questioned them, they were executed on the side of the road.”

  “Carlos told me about them,” Jake said. “They won’t be missed.”

  Skye’s radio crackled. “Falling back. Falling back. F
alling back. Wastelanders heading from the north.”

  Harrison sprang from his chair and pushed between Skye and Jake. They looked at each other and followed.

  * * *

  Skye sprinted for the section of rampart by the gates. She pulled her jacket collar up to avoid swallowing mouthfuls of dust. The level of visibility had decreased, but she could see figures climbing to the rampart to take their positions with their new weapons. Jake split away to brief Ross and Trader. She guessed Ross might jump at the chance to help organize a defense that they might not need. If they did, whether Ross was in charge or not, everyone was in serious trouble.

  She raced up the steps and pulled out her radio. “Omega section commanders. Join me by the gate tower immediately.”

  Men and women lined the walls as far as she could see, and she could hear their collective quiet chatter. The main gates cranked open two notches. Outside, figures appeared from the gloom and headed for the opening. A minute later it cranked shut with a dull thud. Skye couldn’t see or hear any wastelanders. Because of conditions, she could only see twenty yards into the forest beyond the clearing surrounding the perimeter.

  Footsteps slapped along stone. Two men appeared through the dust and crouched next to her. Both young corporals. A vehicle revved in the distance, heading from the southern wall. Its headlights stabbed through the murky atmosphere as it approached and skidded to a halt. A man and woman joined them by the tower.

  She pointed at each in turn. “Channel three, four, five and six. That’s your team’s allocation for local communications. Use Trader’s channel to report if you need assistance or see other sections getting overwhelmed. If you hear the ‘retreat’ command, fall back to the inner circle. Any questions?”

  Nobody said a word.

  “Okay. Send five of your team here to take part in a mobile group. I’ll use it to plug any gaps. Pass the channel info along the line and call me if you have any problems.”