Cataclysm: V Plague Book 18

by Dirk Patton

  Braking to a stop, Nicole stepped out of the UTV and weaved together a series of notes that calmed them. Not completely, but they stopped snarling.

  The helicopter came fast and low, no more than forty feet in the air. It flared dramatically and settled into a hover directly over her position. Looking up, she shielded her eyes from the brutal downdraft of the large rotor and recognized Gonzales when he leaned out the open side door and waved.

  Waving back, she sang another song to the females as a harness at the end of a braided steel cable quickly came down and slapped onto the asphalt a few feet away. Moving to it, she stuck her feet through, settled it around her hips and grabbed on tightly.

  At no point in Nicole’s life could she have ever imagined doing something like this. She’d never been athletic and the most taxing thing she’d ever done was to carry two bags of groceries up a flight of stairs. But the virus had changed her. Given her a strength that surpassed even a much larger man. What would have been near impossible in her previous life was now something that required no effort.

  When Gonzales twirled a finger in the air, she repeated the gesture. She could see his mouth move as he spoke into a microphone, then she was quickly winched high above the heads of the females. Glancing around, she gasped at the sheer number of them. The herd stretched in all directions for as far as she could see.

  Coming even with the open door of the helicopter, she smiled at Gonzales as he reached out and took her hand. Pulling her into the cabin of the aircraft, he held both her hands and looked into her eyes as a crewman slipped the harness down her legs. She stepped clear and moved close to Gonzales.

  “What went wrong?” she shouted over the roar of engines.

  “Change in plans.”

  He was still holding her hands and staring into her eyes. The smile began to melt off hers as his expression didn’t change. Something was off.

  Before she could ask again, a sharp pain caused her to whirl. Gonzales tried to maintain his grip on her hands, but she easily pulled free and swung an arm at the man who was immediately behind her with a large auto-injector in his hand. With a cry, he was knocked aside, tumbling through the open side door. She heard a scream as he fell that was instantly cut short when he crashed into the waiting females.

  “What are... you...”

  She whirled to face Gonzales, but her world was already tilted ninety degrees. She tried to slap his arms away as he reached for her, but her body wouldn’t respond.

  “What di...”

  She didn’t finish the question before darkness took her and she slumped into his arms. Gently, he lowered her to the deck and gestured at the two surviving crewmen who were watching with huge eyes. They hurried forward and quickly worked a strait jacket over Nicole’s upper body. Once it was secured, high-tensile steel manacles were locked around her ankles.

  Sliding the door shut, Gonzales heaved a sigh and carefully slid her across the deck to rest against a solid bulkhead. More chains waited which were locked onto her restraints. She wasn’t going anywhere, even if she did have the strength of an infected.

  Gonzales gave orders to the pilot over his headset, then switched to an external comm channel. He initiated a call as the deck tilted and the aircraft began racing to the south.

  “I have her,” he said when the call was answered.

  He listened for a few moments, ignoring the bound woman for whom he’d repeatedly professed his love.

  “Yes. Tell Comrade President Barinov that she is unharmed.”

  59

  “Not giving me the cure this time? Thought you wanted to kill him,” I said to Viktoriya.

  “As I said earlier, circumstances have changed. Barinov’s health is something that can no longer be concealed. It is becoming apparent to all.”

  I looked around the room to buy some time.

  “Then what’s all this? What’s the point?”

  “The point? The same as it has always been. Only now, there is competition for the prize.”

  “So, Barinov’s generals aren’t as sold on the idea of you taking power as you thought?”

  “There is... shall we say a faction? A group of tired, old men that are maneuvering to step into the power vacuum when he passes. I need to counter that threat.”

  “By healing him with my blood? That will extend his time for who knows how long. You might want to rethink your plans.”

  Her eyes twinkled as she laughed.

  “I did not think you were so simple minded,” she said. “There is no part of my plan that includes extending his life. Quite the contrary. I shall be receiving your blood.”

  There were few things Viktoriya could have said that would have shocked me. This was one of them. We stood in silence, her smiling as she watched me put the pieces together.

  “You want the strength,” I said. “You’re going to kill the generals with your bare hands because you don’t have the right people to get through their security.”

  “You are almost correct. A specific general must die. Without him, the others will crawl back into their holes and lick the boots of whoever is in power. But I have someone else in mind to do the killing. Someone who is quite adept.”

  She watched me with an expectant smile.

  “Should have known you wanted more than just my blood. You need me to do your dirty work, too.”

  “Only that part. I will handle Barinov, personally. It must be me, otherwise all of this will have been in vain.”

  “I expect you’ll do it publicly and immediately declare yourself Emperor or Tsar or something like that.”

  “Tsarina is the appropriate word,” she said, smiling and nodding as if I were a dim child that had finally grasped something important. “I am a woman, in case you had failed to notice.”

  I snorted, refusing to play along.

  “And you really think that will work? The military will follow you? The people will accept you?”

  She laughed again and gestured for me to take a seat.

  “As I have said, you do not understand Russians. Unlike you Americans, we recognize the need for a strong leader. An iron man, or woman if you will. It is in our DNA. And a demonstration of power and the will to use it will cement my reign.”

  “Your reign? Over what? A dead world of famine and drought? I think you are underestimating your people.”

  “Perhaps,” she said. “Perhaps all is not as bleak as you think. But that is not your concern. Now, take your seat. Do not make me ask again.”

  She emphasized her threat by looking at the display on the wall. Rachel and Mavis were still seated at the table, laughing at something. With a sigh, I moved to the indicated chair and sat down. Viktoriya watched me closely, a smug expression on her face.

  At her gesture, the two white-coated men stepped forward and began organizing the necessary equipment for taking blood from me. I’d donated to blood banks several times in the past and recognized what they were preparing.

  As they worked, each of them kept casting sideways glances at me and I realized they were afraid of me, just like the soldiers. When the younger one faced me with an elastic band in his hands, I jerked my arms up and said, “BOO!” in a loud voice. He recoiled with a small cry, knocking over the tray he’d just finished setting up.

  Viktoriya snapped at them in Russian. In a panic, they cleaned up the spilled equipment and retrieved more from a cabinet.

  “Do you think that was amusing?” she asked, glaring at me with hands on her hips.

  “Actually, it kind of was.”

  I gave her a grin that disappeared when she turned to look at the screen and punched a number into a sat phone.

  “What are you doing?” I asked, feeling my muscles swell as a huge surge of fear induced adrenaline dumped into my system.

  Viktoriya ignored me, speaking Russian into the phone with her eyes locked on the display.

  “Don’t hurt her! I’ll do what you want!” I shouted.

  On the screen, the scope moved off
Rachel, coming to settle on Dog. He was outside, asleep on the lanai.

  “I’m sorry. I’m cooperating,” I said, ice water running through my veins as I stared at the crosshairs centered on Dog’s chest. “You don’t have to do this!”

  Viktoriya slowly turned to look at me, the phone tight against her ear. I wanted to hold her eyes but couldn’t stop myself from continually checking to make sure Dog was okay.

  “Kill the dog,” she said into the phone.