The Big Ten: The First Ten Books of the Beginnings Series

by Jacqueline Druga

  “Better.” Frank smiled when the guard dropped. He put his gun away and turned to Ellen. Though it was a long trudge, Frank would have to carry her out of the compound and up the road. Ellen was passed out.

  ^^^^

  Down on the sixteenth floor, George kept staring at his watch, a gun still held to Joanna. He hadn’t heard anything, and no one had charged down.

  Miguel, holding Jeffrey, kept his stare down the hall, waiting. “Should we head up now?”

  “No.” George answered then slowly removed the gun from Joanna’s temple, extended his reach and placed it on Miguel’s. “Let him go, Miguel.”

  Miguel’s eye widened as he felt the gun pressed to him. He released Jeffrey. “George what . . .”

  “Shut up.” He held the gun tight to Miguel’s head, his arm steady. “Joanna, how many guards do you have left in this place?”

  “Four.” She rubbed her throat.

  “We’re dealing with Frank. Give them a few more minutes then send two of them after them. Bring Ellen back alive. Kill Frank.”

  Joanna, still shaken, motioned her head to Miguel. “What about him?”

  “He knows too much already.” George clicked back the hammer. “A real shame. I liked you Miguel.”

  Miguel breathed deeply as he slowly shifted his eyes. “No, George.” With a single second of pain, pressure and a loud ringing of the firing gun . . . Miguel . . . fell to the floor.

  ^^^^

  Something tickled her nose, she groggily brought her hand up to rub it, the pain as she did awaken her. Ellen opened her eyes, tall grass surrounded her. She lay amongst two knapsack, and two rolls of sleeping bags. The one sack lay open at her feet. No one was around. She was alone. Where was Frank? As she opened her mouth to call him, the eerie silence was broken by the loud cracking of gunfire. Ellen’s heart began to pound and beat out of control, she was afraid to get up. Who was shooting. Bringing herself to her hands and knees she was nearly barreled over by Frank’s legs as he slid down into the grassy area with her.

  “Shh. Stay down.” Frank reached to the side of her and grabbed the rifle she didn’t see and checked it. “I’ll be right back.” Hunching low to the ground, he moved ten feet in front of her to the picnic table totally engrossed with weeds. Kneeling low behind it, he lifted up the rifle and aimed. “Go to it.” Frank spoke softly. “Come on . . . go to it.” Slowly he spoke as if he was actually beckoning someone to do something. “That’s it, one more step . . . Yes.”

  The two guards that had followed him up the hill, firing at him, chasing him, stopped cold when they heard the soft snap. Both looking at each other in their last free second. Their faces showed the fact that they realized their error.

  The loud explosion sent dirt, sticks and flesh spraying like rain, Frank ducked under the picnic table until the pattering stopped. “Yes.” He crawled out. “You can get up, El.” Excited and full of energy, he ran to get a closer look. He didn’t need to get too close, the mess that lay around told him that conquest was complete. “Oh, yeah.” He clenched his fist and ran back to Ellen. “I always wanted to do that for real.”

  ^^^^

  George walked in silence alongside of Joanna to a quiet room where he could speak with her. His rage could be felt even though he spoke no words. Waiting for Joanna to follow him in, he slammed the door fiercely and pointed at her. “What in Christ’s name has been happening here? What happened to Ellen?”

  “We were working diligently to get things ready. But, she destroyed two cases in the embryo lab. A major setback. We estimate we’ve lost . . .”

  “How did she get to the lab . . . never mind. I don’t want to know. Obviously, trusting you Joanna, to run things here until I could join you was a mistake. A big mistake.”

  “Our guards will bring her back. Don’t . . .”

  “They will not.” George crossed his arms. “Those guards aren’t coming back. Two of them.” He shook his head as he laughed. “Against Frank? The man will take them down. But . . .” George shrugged. “We had to give it a try, didn’t we?”

  “Shall I get the other two left, to go out?”

  “What? And leave us alone with the survivors you’ve picked up? No. When the next squad comes in we’ll send them out after them. Divide them into groups. Eight in a group, Frank will have a bit of trouble. Besides. They’re gonna stay close to the highway, so it shouldn’t be too hard to spot them.”

  “Do you think they suspect you at all?”

  “No.” George answered her quickly. “And it will stay that way too. If something goes wrong with this, I want to be able to walk back into Beginnings and bring them down my own way. As one of them. As far as they’ll be concerned, I’m one of your prisoners now.” George moved to the door. “Now . . . I had a long trip. I come down here and everything is screwed up. You want to show me to my room so I can rest.” He waited for Joanna to agree and he followed her. “There will be no more mistakes.” George began to walk down the hall. “I’m here. And I’m running things now.”

  ^^^^

  Frank wasted no time pulling their supplies back from the clearing. He immediately opened the knapsack with food, pulled out a brown pouch of applesauce and a spoon. Eat.” He told Ellen. “You look like you haven’t eaten in days.”

  “I haven’t. But we can’t stop. We have to . . .” A large spoon of food pummeled into her mouth shutting her up. The bitterness of it sent a shiver through her. Not to mention the shock of being suddenly fed.

  “You gonna eat or do I feed you?” He tilted his head. “You can talk to me while you eat.”

  Ellen took the package and looked inside. “It looks red. I never saw red applesauce.”

  “You’re being pretty picky for someone who hasn’t eaten.” Frank grabbed the spoon again and lifted it. “Eat El . . . look an airplane.” He made motor noises. “Open up.”

  “Stop it.” Laughing, she grabbed the spoon and stuck it in her mouth. “There.” She swallowed. Whether it tasted good or not, it was food. “Listen to me Frank. You seem to think they can’t get us here.”

  “Who’s going to get us here, El?” Frank asked.

  “There are more of them. They aren’t in the compound, they couldn’t have hidden that many. But they’re somewhere out here.”

  “That many?” Frank scoffed. “Really. How many can there be?”

  “Maybe more than three hundred.” Ellen placed another spoon of food in her mouth.

  “El?” Frank snapped his finger in front of her. “Are you all right? Three hundred, El please. I haven’t seen three hundred people in more than one area since before the plague. Where are they getting three hundred?” He questioned her so non-believing.

  “They didn’t get them, Frank. They had them. Frozen in that compound. I saw it, with my own eyes. The biggest Cryo-lab ever.”

  “You’re serious.”

  “Very.”

  “Fuck.” Frank ran his hand over his face. “This isn’t good. I can’t take on three hundred men. Or at least I don’t think I can.”

  “And they aren’t stupid security guard like they used to have at the bank, the ones that worked for minimum wage. These men are trained soldiers like you.”

  “Not like me. I wouldn’t have run into a obvious trip wire, I can tell you.” Frank took a moment to think. “If what you’re saying is true, then this changes everything. We had it planned out. If there was trouble, I brought you here. If we had to run, we’d stay close to the highway. But . . . if there are three hundred or even a hundred running around out here, then they’ll get word they we are here. We’re gonna have to stay away from the obvious clearings and further from the highway. Which means we have to constantly move, and it may mean my Dad might not spot us on his way back up.”

  “What about Miguel and George.”

  “I don’t think they’re coming.” Frank looked sadly. “They should have been here.”

  “Could we be stuck out here?” Ellen asked.

  “At least un
til my dad gets home, then he’ll send the choppers out. We’ll still head north. They will find us. But how long it’ll take, I don’t know.”

  “Are you worried.”

  “For you I am.” Frank lifted his head and smiled. “Seriously El. It could be bad out here.”

  “I’m not scared.” Ellen inched closer. “How can I be. Look what you did. No one could have come in there and did what you did. I knew as soon as I saw you, it was over. I was going home.”

  “Home.” Frank laughed a nervous laugh. “We aren’t exactly home. But . . . if we want to get there alive. We’d better start moving.” He stood and began to gather their things. “Just for a little while and we’ll take it slow. You up for it?”

  “Absolutely.” Ellen stood. “I’m with you.”

  Frank stopped for a moment and faced Ellen. He looked down at her face, so pale, so much thinner than before she had left Beginnings. The cut on her cheek, the bruises, showed what she had been through. Frank could tell by her eyes, that she was trying her hardest to hide it all from him. It didn’t matter, he felt it all the same. “If you start to get tired, you let me know. I’ll carry you all the way if I have to.” Grabbing their gear, he kissed her softly then began to walk, staying so close to her.

  “I’ll let you know. But I think I’ll be fine.” Ellen truly believed that. The fearful reality of the journey they were about to embark on never crossed her mind. The world that they wandered upon, one that she heard of, but never faced, sparked not one ounce of fear in her. Why would it? She was with Frank.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  The Cryo-lab. Dean hadn’t been there in quite some time. But it was time now, even more so, to work on that data. Mid-afternoon, his clinic work complete and Dean went directly to there. Henry had been to the clinic to give a progress report on the helicopters--still nothing. The only thing that Henry seemed to be producing in that hanger was blood. He had gashed his hand twice, and with the progress reports he sought out stitches. Henry was trying to repair the choppers as fast as he could, but still nothing. How Henry described the situation to Dean told him everything. He explained that the engines were like the world’s biggest jigsaw puzzles. All the pieces there, but no picture to follow.

  “Dr. Dean?” Johnny poked his head in the lab. “I know you’re busy, but can Josh hang with you? I want to get up to the hanger to see if I can help.”

  “Sure, John.” Dean reached for a box..

  Johnny led Josh in. “Josh, Dr. Dean is gonna pal with you, O.K.? Thanks, Dr. Dean.”

  Josh waved to Johnny and hugged his book and walked slowly to the counter.

  “Thanks Dean.” Johnny waved then left.

  “Got your book there Josh?” Dean peeked. “Physics. Wow. Let me let you in on a little secret Josh.” He leaned closer to the still standing teenage boy. “I’m a scientist. Physics is not fun. But go ahead.”

  Josh watched Dean walk over to the counter with a small box. Dean set it down, and slid his body on a stool. Josh, imitated him almost to a tee.

  Dean snickered when he noticed that. “You miss Frank, Josh?”

  “Frank’s cool.”

  Dean shook his head. “He’s brainwashed all the young, hasn’t he?” Dean pulled out a red disk and showed it to Josh. “I have work .” He reached down and booted up the computer. He saw through the corner of his eyes, Josh mimicking him. “You gonna work, Josh?” Dean pulled out a disk and slipped it in. Typing a few taps, he pulled up what he wanted. He heard tapping come from Josh. “What are you doing?”

  “Work.”

  “Work?” Dean glanced over, Josh had pulled something up. “No, Josh.” He stood from the stool and ran over. “I don’t know how you did it. But you pulled something . . .” Dean looked at the screen. ‘D’ prompt was up. “Josh, did you see what I typed?” He peeked down, the light in the disk drive was lit. “You put a disk in there? Where did you get a disk from.” Dean pointed.

  “Book.” Josh opened up his physics book.

  As the cover flipped open Dean stepped back in surprise, there were no pages, it was completely shelled out. “This was Chester’s book. Was it in here?” Dean began to get excited.

  “Work.”

  “Yeah, I heard.” Dean placed his hand on the keyboard and pulled up the contents of the disk. He read the menu and chose set-up. The screen turned bright purple, and the words ‘Select drive to load de-sequencing program on:’ Read loud and clear. “No, I’m not that lucky.” Dean began to load the program. “Please, please.” Fingers crossed, he waited. Once the program was complete, Dean ran to grab a new disk. He followed the instructions, placing the new disk inside. The data came up, it still made no sense. Then suddenly before his eyes it changed, all of it. “Yes! It’s a de-scrambling program.” Dean screamed and jumped up and down. “Josh, Josh.” He excitedly grabbed the unsuspecting teenager and kissed him. “You’re the man. Holy shit!” Dean had to sit. His heart raced. He breathed heavier. “Josh . . .” He shook his head. “What can I say?”

  “Frank’s cool.”

  “No. Josh is cool.” Dean sat back. “This is what we need.” He began to read the opening paragraph. “The Caceres Society.” Again he smiled as he read. “This is it.”

  ^^^^

  How many miles had they walked? They hadn’t seen a soul. Frank told her they probably wouldn’t. Most survivors stayed away from the big cities. They had wiped them out long ago. Ellen supposed it was for other reasons. Bad memories was the reason that come to her mind first. And rightfully so. Though her and Frank stayed on the outskirts of Colorado Springs, visions of the world’s last dying days were still so predominant.

  Through the weeds that became small trees and poked through the parking lots and sidewalks, final chaos was so evident. Burnt cars. People hanging out of them. People who were mere skeletons of the beings they once were. From a distance the actual city of Colorado Springs looked normal. Ellen wanted to go into center town, curiosity beckoned her. But they couldn’t do that. They had to make their way out of the city to Pike National Forest. They’d use Highway Twenty-Five--the route that Joe would take--staying deep enough in the wooded area, but close enough to the road.

  Ellen took the hike well. Trying not to let the sight of the dead cities and suburbs be frightening. The only thing that rattled her, that brought back the painful reality of the plague, was the med station they had passed as they neared the edge of Colorado Springs. On a football field. Army trucks still posted, long tables, tents, and cots. The long over grown grass peeking up and almost covering the scattered about cots that held the now blanket covered, skeletal remains of the once civilized world. That sight was not that long ago, distance wise, and it was still fresh on her mind. She wanted to keep going, but was glad they stopped.

  Ellen enjoyed the moment as she sat on the bus stop bench outside of sporting goods store. She looked at the store front, glass busted, naked male dummies in the window. The word eunuch coming to her mind and making her smile while she sat alone. She was tired, but couldn’t tell Frank. He’d end up picking her up, and she couldn’t have him do that. She sat there waiting for him and eating her supposed lunch from its brown foil package.

  ^^^^

  Joe leaned back in the driver’s seat. He stretched his head, rolling his neck. The trip was quiet, Greg and he spoke very little except to tell him what was really going on with Frank.

  “Joe, there’s the exit.” Greg indicted. “Delhart. This is it right?”

  “That’s what Paul had told us.” Joe slowed up. “Yeah, this is it.” He smiled at the exit sign as they turned off. The green sign over painted with white spray paint, and words that read ‘all are welcome’.

  “Where is everyone?”

  “Probably more centered in town. Paul said it wasn’t a big gathering place. One mile . . . see.” Joe pointed to the town square mileage sign. He smiled and followed it with a chuckle. Both soon disappeared. “What is this?”

  “This can’t be the place.�
��

  Joe brought the truck to a stop, he had to, blocking the road were two over turned vehicles, blackened from being burned. They seemed to have barricaded the road. And it seemed as if for a reason. Joe opened the truck door and stepped out, grabbing his gun and bringing it with him.

  Greg moved closer to the wreckage. “Joe, come here.”

  Running over, Joe slowed down as he neared. A freshly decomposing hand, holding a gun stuck out the side of the car. “Shit.” He began to take in the sight. It wasn’t the welcome he and Greg expected. The two vehicles were indeed a barricade of protection. And the body laying off to the side, and the two burnt ones, still holding their weapons on top, were the proof. With a click of the cartridge into his revolver, Joe slowly moved behind the car toward the heart of the town of Delhart.“Follow me.” As he stepped cautiously beyond the barricade, he lowered his gun, and put it away. “Son of a bitch.”

  “Christ.” Greg lowered his gun also. “What the hell happened at this town?”

  Shaking his head, Joe took in the vision before him. The town, the small town, which had appeared to have been cleaned-up looked like the scene of a massacre. Bodies laid shot, sprawled on the street, hanging from doorways. All over. Thirty? Forty? Joe tried to estimate a count in his head as he stepped over them. He knew the scene well. The rotting smell of flesh was fresh in the hot August air. Flies buzzed about, and birds swept down to enjoy the blanket of food set out for them. “This just happened, Joe.” Joe bent down to one of the bodies. He looked at the decomposition of an arm. “Four, five days ago.” He brushed off his hands.

  A loud charging scream was heard in the distance, it grew louder and louder toward Joe and Greg. The running male figure barreled to them, then past them. His tall thin body a mere blur as he shot out of town.