The Survival Chronicles (Book 3): Mercy Fall

by Nally, Fergal F.

  Correct decision. That’ll give us some time—

  Rose watched to make sure the soldiers were heading towards the shore. Satisfied, she turned and followed the others inland towards the buildings and warehouses. She caught up with them a few minutes later. Tawny was pushing the pace, taking risks. Rose frowned but she trusted Tawny’s instincts. Rose brought up the rear her eyes sweeping the trees behind and to the west.

  It took twenty minutes for Tawny to find a way through the trees to the fence. The ground was uneven and covered in roots. The others stumbled behind her, they were making too much noise but it was speed they needed, not stealth, Tawny forged ahead. The fence was industrial chain link and in good condition, she followed it east away from the lake shore.

  After five minutes the trees gave way to low bush. Tawny frowned, they were more exposed. Her eyes went to the sky, she stopped and shielded her eyes looking west over the lake. A hot air balloon hung suspended in the sky a mile away, she recognised its colours.

  “NSA’s got eyes in the sky,” she pointed at the balloon. “Keep alert—”

  They continued for another five minutes then came to a break in the fence. Someone had used wire cutters to gain access to the warehouses. The gap was small, wide enough for one person. Tawny crawled through and ran across an open area to the first warehouse, she watched as the others followed. This felt better, she was used to buildings and concrete, her eyes searched ahead.

  Tawny skirted the first warehouse and plunged deeper into the complex her eyes alert for danger. She peered around a corner and froze, the entrance to the industrial estate lay ahead, a Humvee with a 50 calibre roof mounted machine gun stood at the gate. A troop carrier was parked on one side with men surrounding it, gearing up, preparing to move out.

  Tawny pulled back and turned to the others. “Change of plan, NSA’s got the entrance covered. We need to find another exit.”

  Rose took a step forward, “NSA are behind us, maybe ten minutes away, they’ll find us if we stay here.”

  “Shit,” Garrett said, his voice tense.

  “You’re right,” Mercy said. “Come on, someone help me.” She crouched down beside a drain cover and started pulling. Garrett joined her and between them they managed to shift the cover exposing a dark shaft below. Shouts came from the main gates followed by the sound of a diesel engine.

  “Quick, go, go, go—” Mercy waved at Stevie. He climbed down the manhole and disappeared into the darkness. Claire and Garrett were next, followed by Rose and Tawny. Mercy lowered herself down the shaft, Flynn was last. The ground vibrated at the approach of a vehicle. Flynn pulled the manhole cover back into place. Narrow rays of daylight penetrated into the shaft from above. They climbed down using the steel rungs embedded in the concrete. A shadow fell across the grate, men’s voices drifted down from above.

  “Alpha recon reported a sighting in this vicinity, search the warehouses, get tear gas, we’ll flush out the drain system—”

  You’ve done this before— Mercy frowned, they needed to move fast. Her bare feet were a problem. She reached the bottom, Flynn dropped down beside her.

  “Tawny’s leading the others, there’s a torch on her rifle. Here, let me carry you. Your feet—” before Mercy could say anything Flynn had scooped her up. “I like the dress don’t get me wrong but we need to get you new clothes.”

  Mercy smiled. “Yeah, pity though, I was getting used to my new look.” Her face changed, “Better get a move on, the NSA are gonna pump CS down here pretty soon—”

  Flynn splashed through the murky water after Tawny’s distant torchlight. Twenty seconds later they heard the manhole cover being dragged open. Flynn gripped Mercy and quickened his pace. They caught up with the others at a T-junction. Tawny was looking both ways, undecided.

  Right turn, right Tawny—

  As Flynn caught up with the others Mercy realised why Tawny had stopped. Smoke was drifting down the passageway from the right.

  Tawny turned around, “They’re trying to force us left, we need to go right to break out. We’ve no time to discuss this, everyone take a deep breath and follow me.” Tawny did not wait, instead she put her head down and plunged into the advancing cloud of gas.

  The others followed without question. Mercy took a breath and closed her eyes as Flynn marched into the swirling smoke. Mercy counted, expecting her eyes and airways to burn, she remembered tear gas from the early days of the Fall.

  One, two, three, four, five—

  Nothing, no tears, no burning airways.

  It’s just smoke, they’re using smoke grenades—

  They were lucky, but smoke in the confined space was bad enough. Flynn started coughing, Mercy could feel his grip weakening. She opened one eye, Tawny’s torch was bobbing ahead, the smoke thickened then a few moments later they were through. A draft cooled Mercy’s cheeks, she opened her eyes. The drain ran straight for ten yards then forked left. Tawny took the left turn and after fifty yards looked up.

  Flynn caught up with the others and put Mercy down. He wiped his eyes and nose with the back of his sleeve. “That was too fucking close,” he muttered.

  Something brushed against Mercy’s foot, she pulled away, her jaw clenched. She was not going to let a rat spook her or the others, she backed away and looked ahead to see Tawny’s legs disappearing up a vertical shaft.

  Too soon? Too soon? Tawny—

  A minute later the sound of a manhole cover moving was followed by a shaft of light from above. Claire and Garrett climbed up the shaft and disappeared into the daylight. Stevie went next, Rose stayed down and ushered Mercy and Flynn up the shaft. Rose’s eyes searched the darkness behind Flynn.

  “Hurry, I’ve got your back—” Rose whispered.

  Mercy pulled herself up the rungs and emerged into blinding daylight. She blinked shielding her eyes. They were in a suburban cul-de-sac, for a moment everything looked normal, pre-Fall normal. Then Mercy saw the yellow paint on the doors, the bullet holes and broken glass.

  No, it’s not a dream, we’re back in the real world—

  Mercy took a deep breath and helped Flynn out of the shaft. Rose appeared seconds later and kicked the cover back into place. Garrett waved from the side of a house. A low rumble filled the air rolling over and over like distant thunder.

  Mercy swallowed hard and looked at Flynn.

  Christ, what next?

  Chapter 21 Railroad

  They followed Garrett down the side of the house and entered the back garden in time to see Claire clambering over a fence. A ladder was propped against the side of the fence, Garrett held out his hand and helped Mercy onto the first step.

  I’ve got to stop, I can’t go on much longer—

  The rumbling grew louder. Whatever it was, they were getting closer. Mercy forced her arms and legs to work and pulled herself over the fence. She dropped to the ground on the other side and turned to see a slow moving train trundling through the wasteland. Her eyes widened, she had not seen a working train in years. Then the reason became apparent.

  “Artillery. The NSA are moving field pieces east to help with their assault on Fort Worth and Dallas,” Claire said watching the train.

  Mercy stared mesmerised as the heavily laden train clanked in the distance. “It’s moving slow, maybe we could hitch a lift and get out of here—”

  “Tawny’s already on it,” Claire pointed at a hut lying alongside the tracks. Tawny was behind the hut beckoning to them.

  Garrett and Flynn jumped down from the fence, they saw the train. Flynn smiled.

  “That’s our ticket out of here girl,” Flynn picked Mercy up and carried her across the wasteland to Tawny.

  Tawny looked flushed, “Train’s going slow enough at the moment, we can climb on, find a way to a box car. Problem is, there’s random guards on board, keep your eyes open and be prepared to kill. I’ll go first, I’ve got the M4.”

  The others nodded and watched as Tawny slung the carbine across her back and moved forwards
to the passing train. A freight car with a low lying step approached, Tawny ran forwards, grabbed the handrail and hauled herself up. Claire and Stevie followed her. The freight car passed and was followed by three crate laden flat cars.

  Flynn nodded at the second flat car, “That’s ours, I’ll go first and reach down, you grab on.”

  Mercy had no time to think, Flynn jumped onto the flat car step and grabbed a hold of the handrail, he turned and reached out for Mercy. Garrett lifted her up so she could grab Flynn’s hand. Garrett jogged beside the train supporting Mercy long enough for her to secure a foothold on the lower step. Flynn guided her up and onto the flat car.

  Garrett vanished behind them. Flynn climbed up after Mercy, they both collapsed beside crates on wooden pallets. Mercy closed her eyes and adjusted to the movement of the train. It was gathering speed, she felt Flynn move beside her and opened her eyes. He helped her up, held her face in his hands and kissed her.

  “OK angel, let’s get our act together, we need to move forwards and meet up with the others,” Flynn squeezed past Mercy. Mercy shivered despite the midday heat. She had to get out of the sun. They crawled along the flat car and clambered onto the next car in line. It too was laden with crates, they made their way along the side to the freight car ahead. A hand reached out and grabbed Mercy’s shoulder. Rose’s face peered out from under a tarpaulin which covered the crates.

  “Glad you could make the party,” Rose said as Mercy and Flynn joined the others under the tarp. “The freight car’s locked and no access from the roof, reckon that’s where the shells are for the artillery pieces. Whereas here—” Rose held up a tin of food, a big smile plastered across her face, “we lucked out.”

  “Garrett’s somewhere behind us,” Flynn said, concern edging his voice. “I’ll go back and find him.”

  “I’ll come with you, safety in numbers,” Rose replied.

  Mercy felt better out of the sun, she smiled at Tawny and Stevie. Stevie handed her an open tin of pineapple chunks, she held the tin to her nose and inhaled. She drank the syrup allowing several pieces of pineapple into her mouth, she chewed, the taste was overwhelming. Stevie and Tawny were doing the same, for some reason the crate they had opened was filled with tins of pineapple chunks. Mercy was not complaining, she emptied her tin and put it down.

  “Where’s Claire?” Mercy asked Stevie.

  “Gone to check out the other pallets—” Stevie answered after coming up for air, pineapple juice running down his chin.

  Mercy nodded, her stomach felt queasy, she had eaten too fast. She lay down and closed her eyes feeling the sun’s heat through the tarpaulin. With her stomach full and the rhythmic rocking of the train, exhaustion overcame her and she fell asleep.

  A sudden jolt woke her. Mercy’s eyes fluttered open. Her senses were assaulted with information; movement, voices, the cold hard surface beneath her. Her mouth was dry, her joints stiff. Disorientated, she sat up noticing the military jacket spread over her. She turned, Flynn was beside her bathed in dim torchlight.

  “Hey there sleepy head, how are you feeling? That was pretty rough back there, eh?” He looked older than his eighteen years.

  Mercy nodded, the day’s events returning to her. She looked at the tarpaulin, it was dark outside. “How long have I been asleep?”

  “Don’t know exactly, a long time, five, six, hours maybe,” Flynn responded. “We got lucky, Claire found some clothes and boots for you. The train is packed with supplies for the NSA’s offensive on Texas. We passed through Amarillo, never stopped, heard gunfire close to the marshalling yards. NSA troops were on the ground keeping the infected away from the train, you slept right through that one. We saw a lot of tropes, in bad condition, slow ones. Heard voices shouting up and down the train, we seem to be OK here, we’re out of sight under this tarp, there’s crates stacked on either side. Garrett figures we’re headed east, south east by the stars, which fits with the idea we’re headed for the front.”

  Mercy looked down at the NSA uniform and boots beside her. “Don’t know how I feel about wearing this but beggars can’t be choosers I guess—” she turned away and pulled the trousers on, they were too long so she turned them up. Claire had even managed to find socks for the boots. Mercy donned the socks and boots and instantly felt better.

  An army marches on its feet, so I guess that figures—

  Mercy pulled the torn dress up and over her head, it was hardly a dress anymore, more a battered and bloody rag.

  Well goodbye Jedediah, I hope you and your buddies met a bad end—

  She pulled the tunic on and buttoned it up, it was generic military with no insignia, likely raided from a US Army store. She remembered her previous encounters with the NSA, it was only the officers that wore insignia.

  “That’s a lot better, it’s amazing how a pair of boots makes you feel—” she struggled to find the right word.

  “Invincible,” Flynn offered.

  “Yeah, invincible, that’ll do,” Mercy nodded, a wry smile on her face.

  “Funny how with you women it’s always been about the footwear,” Flynn teased.

  Mercy pulled a face then she noticed the field dressing on Flynn’s leg, she edged forwards and reached out, concern on her face. “What happened to your leg?”

  “No idea, think a round nicked me back at the lake. It’s OK, Claire dressed it, she found a medical kit with the clothing so I’m good.”

  Mercy pulled Flynn towards her and buried her head in his shoulder. He held her tight, the train chuntered along the tracks. “You’re not allowed to—” she paused, “you’re not allowed to die on me,” she pulled away and looked into his hazel eyes.

  “Don’t worry Mercy girl, I ain’t going anywhere,” he leant in and kissed her softly on the mouth. She responded, the kiss grew into something more, lighting her up inside. Mercy could feel the energy grow, a flame against the darkness, a deep hunger opened up in her. She could feel the life and the connection between them. They broke contact and gazed at each other for a long moment. A distant shout broke the spell. Mercy looked around.

  “Don’t worry, sound carries, that’ll be from a couple of carriages ahead. It’s actually cold out there, sun’s gone down,” Flynn said.

  “How are we fixed for weapons?” Mercy asked.

  “Nothing on this car. Claire didn’t want to be seen so she just explored this one. We could always check the next car, now that it’s dark—” Flynn suggested.

  Mercy frowned, concentrating. “We need more weapons, to survive. If this train is headed east it’s taking us closer to Constantine and her people which is what we want. How fast are we going anyway?”

  “Garrett reckons thirty miles an hour, it was slower through the city, in case of any problems on the track I guess.”

  “So any idea what the next town or city is? We don’t necessarily want to be on the train all the way to NSA lines, we want to jump off when it slows.”

  “Yeah, Garrett’s already thought of that. He reckons Constantine’s forces have left a rear guard in Fort Worth, to buy time for her main force to retreat south and regroup at Galveston. He says the train will have to slow once it reaches the outskirts of Fort Worth, there’s a lot more trope activity there, the train’s noise will draw them. He says the NSA usually establish a fortified firebase, to keep the tropes out and the NSA in. There should be a stronghold somewhere near the railroad.”

  Mercy processed the information. “So we should be able to jump off in the suburbs, flank the NSA lines and get to Constantine’s side, if we play our cards right.”

  “Correct. Garrett and Claire both know Fort Worth so that’ll be a help,” Flynn replied. “Garrett says it’s about three hundred and forty miles from Amarillo to Fort Worth, if the train keeps going at about thirty miles an hour we’ve probably got another four or five hours to go.”

  “Perfect, let’s go and look for weapons then.”

  Mercy waited while Flynn briefed the others. Rose gave Mercy the Rang
er combat knife, Tawny removed the torch from her rifle and passed it to Flynn.

  “OK, we’re to take no risks, Garrett’s words,” Flynn whispered in Mercy’s ear.

  She nodded, “Damn right. Let’s go—”

  Mercy lifted the tarpaulin and looked out, the train was lumbering through the night, the air was cold and the landscape flat in the monochrome starlight. She looked up and was relieved to see a crescent moon disappearing behind thick cloud. She waited, listening for voices, she took Flynn’s wrist and read his watch, 3:29am.

  Low tide—

  Mercy moved out from under the tarpaulin and made her way to the side of the flat car. She looked back at the freight car scanning its roof, nothing. Keeping her eyes on the floor she crawled slowly along the edge of the flat car. Tracks clanked below the train, a steady rhythm, goose bumps prickled the skin beneath her shirt. She smelt rain in the air, a distant flash lit up the sky and was followed by a low rumble.

  The crates were lashed down with ratchet straps, cargo nets and ropes. Mercy clambered around and under a series of anchor points before reaching the end of the flat car. She waited for Flynn and looked ahead at the next similarly laden car. Flynn tapped her on the shoulder.

  “Ready,” his voice low, strained.

  Mercy crouched and waited, listening, smelling the air. Nothing. Finally she nodded and swung her legs over the end of the car reaching out to the opposite footplate. She looked down at the coupling hooks, the ground raced by. She raised her eyes and focused on the next car then threw herself forward and grabbed the freight deck. Her hands landed squarely on the steel rim, she pulled herself across the gap and onto the deck.

  She made room for Flynn and watched as he completed the manoeuvre. A sour smell wafted in the air, a loose section of tarpaulin flapped a short distance away. Mercy lifted the tarpaulin and crawled into the gap between the rows of crates. There was just enough room to crawl, she stopped and pulled out the torch. Cupping it in her hands she inspected the first section of crates.