The King stared at the man and saw he was wearing a t-shirt and fatigues. It was obvious that he wasn’t armed. One of his commanders said, “It appears he wants to talk.”
The King continued to stare through the binoculars and sneered, “I can see that!”
“Are you going to talk with him?” another commander asked.
The King knew he was in a difficult position. If he sent someone else down to talk with that man, his courage would be questioned, and he ruled with a heavy hand causing fear in all that served him. The commanders around him waited and didn’t expect the King to go; but he surprised them. He handed the binoculars to his Senior Commander and said, “Watch for my signal.” The Commander nodded and issued orders to his second.
The King stepped out and started walking down the slope. He estimated the stream was more than two-hundred and fifty yards from the city so he should be safe on his side of it. He sized up the man standing on the other side of the stream as he approached, obviously former military. He was taller than most he encountered but still shorter than him. His hair was cut short and his expression was hard to read. As he grew closer, he got a feeling this man was dangerous. He knew that he gave off the same vibes, but this man didn’t appear to give any indication he was nervous. He stopped eight yards from the edge of the stream and the man said, “I’m surprised you came to talk; I expected you to send a subordinate.”
“You didn’t; why should I?”
“I suspect you worried what your men would think if you didn’t. However, that’s not my concern. Do you want to negotiate terms?”
“There’s nothing to negotiate. I intend to take your city and kill everyone in it capable of offering resistance to my forces.”
“What about the others?” Ryan asked.
“They will be allowed to live, and they will continue to farm this land and provide my army with food. They will of course be encouraged by those I leave behind.”
“So you’re saying they will be slaves?”
“I prefer encouraged; it has a much nicer sound to it.”
“Is there any way to avoid so much killing?”
The King stared at Ryan and then smiled, “If all of your able-bodied young men agree to come out and stick out their necks to have their heads removed, I will allow the others to live and become one of my possessions.”
Ryan smiled slightly, “That sounds like a rather harsh option. Are you sure there’s no other way to avoid this?”
“You’re right. I remove that option; you don’t sound appreciative of my offer.” The King smiled, “You really don’t know what I’ve brought with me do you?”
“Please educate me,” Ryan responded.
“I have three thousand heat resistant uniforms for the ones that will go over your wall. Your trick with the gasoline last time won’t work this time. And they won’t be using wooden ladders to climb your wall.” Ryan stared at the King and he sneered, “I understand you served in the Hundred and First.”
Ryan nodded, “I was a Colonel and commanded the first regiment. What about you?”
The King smiled, “I am King Augustus Maximus and I was a General commanding the Seals.” The King raised a hand and adjusted his helmet. Ryan saw six archers come running down the slope toward them and he knew he’d never make it to the city before they moved into bow range. His eyes narrowed slightly, and the King smiled, “I always think it’s good strategy to kill or capture the opposition’s leader.” The King expected Ryan to turn and run but he stood there staring at the six archers as they sprinted down the hill. The archers stopped sixty yards behind the King and raised their bows.
• • •
Arie saw the archers sprinting down the hill and said, “Archers one through twelve, prepare to fire.” Margarette lifted her bow and pulled back the arrow. Arie saw the archers come to a stop and ordered, “Fire!”
• • •
The King watched Ryan smiling expecting him to fall any second, but he continued to stare at him. After a few moments, the King turned slightly; all six archers were dead on the sand sixty yards behind him. He turned back around, and Ryan shrugged, “I wouldn’t try to run, you wouldn’t get very far and that armor of yours won’t stop the arrows fired at you.” The King knew he was right; those six archers were wearing the same armor. He had put himself in danger and he knew there was no escape. Ryan shook his head and said, “I knew you were a consummate idiot when you moved into the trees. I’ve seen girl scouts march better than the forces you’re commanding. Plus,” Ryan held up his right hand and raised a finger, “One, the Seals are the Navy’s Special Forces.” Ryan lifted another finger, “Two, they are always commanded by a Senior Admiral on the Joint Forces Command.” Ryan raised another finger, “And three, there has never been and never will be a General in the Navy. You’re lying and I find it hard to believe the men under your command haven’t called you out on it; they must be just as dumb as you are. I’ve been watching you with drones and I must say that I am not impressed. I could just kill you now with some arrows, but I’m concerned that the one that replaces you might be far more competent. So you’re free to go.”
The King’s face was a mask of rage and he suddenly reached behind him, pulled a dagger, and threw it at Ryan’s chest. Ryan saw him turning and he began turning sideways. He leaned back as the dagger flew just in front of him. He reached up and grabbed it by the handle. He straightened up and looked at it. He looked at the King and smiled, “Now this is something that impresses me. Whoever made this throwing dagger was a consummate craftsman. You should be ashamed of carrying it. It has a coating on it that allows it to penetrate armor and it’s perfectly balanced.” In an instant, Ryan threw the dagger between the King’s legs barely cutting the leather holding his breastplate. It stuck in the sand behind him and the King knew he had no time to react to Ryan’s throw. He felt his breastplate come loose as he turned and picked up the dagger out of the sand. He turned back to Ryan and saw him smiling, “Want to have another go at it?” The King glared at Ryan and his rage was gone and replaced by fear. If he threw the dagger again and missed… He turned and started walking back up the slope. Every few feet, an arrow would come whistling in on each side of him and embed in the dirt. He flinched each time he heard them hit and the process continued for eighty yards until they stopped. He kept his head high and decided that he would die with dignity…but that didn’t happen. He arrived at the top of the slope and his anger filled him. He’d show that man who was competent!!
• • •
Ryan walked into the city and then ran to the drone hut. He rushed up behind Jake and heard him say, “I don’t know what you said to him but he’s hotter than a copper branding iron.”
Ryan looked at the display and saw Augustus screaming at the officers gathered around him. He drew his sword and all of them went to a knee and bowed their heads. He screamed at them for thirty minutes. Maranda walked in and watched the display with them. Finally, the officers rose to their feet and rushed away. “How did you do?” Maranda asked Ryan.
Jake commented, “They’re breaking up their formations; looks like they won’t be attacking today.”
Ryan turned to Maranda, “I think I got his attention. I’ll know tomorrow if it worked.” Maranda nodded and walked out of the hut. Ryan went out and called the archers off the wall. They had another day before the big day.
Chapter Six
The next morning, Augustus walked out of the tree line and stared down at the city. He saw the four thousand archers standing on top of the wall and sneered, they won’t pose a problem. Two men carried a huge drum out of the tree line and put it to the side. Ryan was watching the display and started to hope his plan was going to work. Still too early to tell. He continued to stare at the display and saw one of the men start beating the drum; a moment later, he heard it. Two columns of archers marched out of the tree line in perfect step. They marched down the slope and two hundred yards from the stream they split with one column turning
left and the other right. They formed a straight line and then marched forward until they were next to the stream. They came to a halt and slammed their body length shields into the dirt; their shields were hardened, and arrows would not penetrate them. The archers lifted their bows and every archer on the wall immediately knelt behind the wall. Ryan stared at them on the display and Jake remarked, “There’s eight thousand archers in that line.”
The drum continued to sound and then three thousand men marched out of the trees wearing flame retardant uniforms. They stopped a hundred yards down the slope and split into 40 lines with seventy-five men in each of them. They then marched another hundred yards and then the valley was filled with the sound of loud diesel engines firing up. Forty caterpillar cranes began rolling out of the tree line in two’s. They spread out and then moved down the slope and passed the forty lines of men wearing the suits. The men fell in behind the Cats as they rolled forward and stopped behind the archers. The archers split their lines as the Cats rolled up and they came to a stop inside their lines equally spaced from each other. The valley was silent, and Ryan shook his head, he had failed. There were still more than eight thousand killers still in the trees. There was going to be a huge loss of life. Then he heard the drum beating again. He glared at the display and saw four columns of warriors marching out of the tree line. He turned and ran out of the hut shouting, “MOVE TO YOUR POSITIONS NOW!!”
The four thousand archers stayed low as they ran down the steps and joined the two thousand other archers already lined up below them. Ryan sprinted to the cover on the south side of the wall and jumped down into the tunnel. Maranda jumped in behind him and the fifty Archers didn’t like her doing that, but they jumped in behind her.
• • •
The four columns with two thousand men in each of them marched down the slope in perfect step and stopped eighty yards behind the Cats and archers. Augustus stood up from his chair that was sixty yards down the slope and turned to the Woolly Man, “Take my chair. It’s a perfect place for you to view your revenge. You are welcome to my wine and we’ll celebrate our victory together after this is over.” Woolly bowed to him with a huge smile on his face and sat down in the chair. The King turned and walked down the slope until he was standing in front of the four columns. He raised his long sword and the drivers of the Caterpillars gunned their engines; their roar filled the valley and shook the ground. Augustus dropped his sword and the Cats and archers started moving forward in a straight line.
• • •
Ryan sprinted through the tunnel and arrived at the end in the trees while the four columns were marching down the slope. He exited the tunnel and the archers behind him rushed out and moved quickly into the trees. The last ones emerged while the Cats were racing their engines. They spread out and waited for Ryan’s signal to move out.
• • •
The line of Cats and archers stopped briefly about a hundred yards from the wall. The Cats raised and extended the arms of their cranes until they were even with the height of the wall. The lines of warriors in the flame-retardant uniforms rushed up over the cab of the Cats and climbed out on the arms where handholds had been welded. Once they were in place, the line started moving forward.”
• • •
Jake lifted the walkie-talkie and said, “Brandon, do it!” He received no reply and saw the men were in place on the arms of the Cats. “Brandon…now would be a good time!!” The Cats started forward and Jake yelled, “BRANDON!!!”
“Relax, kid; it’s on the way. We used a drone to time it.” Jake fell back in his chair.
• • •
Woolly sat on his chair and cackled out loud. He watched the cats approaching the wall and he ran down the slope another fifty yards to get a better view of the slaughter about to happen. The roar from the Cats filled the valley but Woolly heard something else. He looked to the south and didn’t see anything. He turned to the north and his eyes flew wide open. A wall of water was rushing out of the north end of the valley and it was moving at an incredible speed! It was at least eight feet high and the water rushing in behind the torrent in the front was at least twice that height. It was roaring in and the killers hadn’t heard it coming because of the Cats. He turned and started running up the slope. He unfastened his breast plate and left it behind him as he ran as fast as his short legs would carry him. He didn’t make it.
• • •
The thousands of killers on the north end of the wall saw the rushing torrent first. They were stunned for an instant, and then they turned and ran away from the city. None of them made it back to the stream before the wall of water hit them with devastating force. The line of archers and killers lined up behind the Cats were swept away in the torrent of water. The eight thousand killers holding ranks with Magnus saw the wall of water and they broke up the slope running as fast as possible. The wall of water rushed over them and Augustus disappeared under the rushing water. The higher wall of water slammed into the Cats and rolled them over and over. The entire valley was a rushing torrent that moved at an incredible speed toward the south end of the valley.
Jake moved the drone and saw thousands of bodies being washed over the cliff at the south end of the valley. They fell into the deep ravine and soon he saw the Cats falling over the cliff as well. He lifted the walkie-talkie, “That’s enough.”
“I’ve already shut it down,” Brandon responded. Jake nodded and turned back to the display. He saw something moving across the valley at the tree line.
• • •
Woolly was slammed by the water and pushed toward the bank as the water expanded into the valley. He fought to keep his head above water and he nearly lost it several times, but he managed to whip his arm around a tree root sticking out the top of the bank. He pushed his other arm through the root and held on for all he was worth.
It seemed to take forever but the water started slowing. It began to drop leaving him lying on the bank with his arms locked in the tree root. He was exhausted from the struggle and he finally managed to pull his arms from the root and fall on his back. He was heaving in breaths of air and he raised his head slightly. There was a large river flowing in front of him. He went up on an elbow and saw that nothing remained of the King and his army…they were all gone in the rushing water. He heard a noise behind him and turned his head. He saw a blonde-haired woman standing behind him with a raised battle ax. He recognized her an instant before she swung the ax; she was one of the slaves he used to torment.
Maranda screamed and brough the ax down on Woolly’s left shoulder cutting him all the way down to his hips. She put her foot on his chest and freed the ax. She turned and chopped off his head. She fell to her knees and lowered her head. After a moment, she stood up and threw the ax far out into the water. Ryan put his hand on her shoulder, and she turned into his chest, “That’s it…I’m done! I’ve seen too much killing. I’ll never kill again!”
Ryan pushed her away and looked into her eyes, “You’re not done yet.” Maranda started shaking her head and Ryan quickly added, “There are still hundreds of guards at the convoy. If we don’t remove them, they’ll go back and kill others.” Maranda stared into Ryan’s eyes and then nodded. Ryan turned and nodded to the archers gathered around him. The archers moved into the trees and spread out.
The three thousand archers from the city that emerged from the north tunnel moved out in a line to the north and the three thousand archers on the south moved out and linked up with their line. They stayed hidden in the forest until all of them were in place. Ryan was on a knee staring out at the trucks and Maranda knelt beside him. Ryan turned to her, “I suspect this will be our last fight.” Maranda nodded. Ryan turned back to the trucks and said, “Chase told me that if we won this fight, he was going to disband the archers and make them full citizens.”
“How do you feel about that?” Maranda asked as she kept her eyes on the trucks.”
“I never thought it would happen. But he’s right, there isn’t
any one else out there capable of harming us. Now we can all have families.”
Maranda nodded and after a moment her head went back; Ryan had said ‘we’. She turned to him and he stood up, took a whistler arrow out of his quiver, pulled the bow back and looked at her, “I was wondering if you might agree to be the first member of my family.” He turned and released the arrow. The loud, high piercing sound of the arrow filled the air and the six thousand archers rushed out of the trees.
Maranda was stunned by his comment and didn’t move until Ryan yelled over his shoulder, “GET MOVING!”
Maranda ran out of the trees and raised her bow. There were a group of about sixty guards gathered beside a truck and she hit one of them, dropping him. A few of them survived and they threw themselves on the ground and tried to roll under the truck. She went to a knee and hit another guard in the head with an arrow. She clutched her bow to her chest and rolled under the trailer. She came out the other side and jumped to her feet. She shot a guard standing up ten feet from her and heard a bow twang behind her. She turned and saw Ryan had come up behind a guard rushing at her with a sword and hit him in the back severing his spinal cord. He dropped and Maranda shouted, “Thanks!”
“No problem!”
Maranda began moving down the long line of trucks and wondered why Ryan wanted her; he had never shown her any interest. Pretty much every unattached female in the city was all ga-ga over him; he could have his choice. Maranda shot a guard trying to climb over the burned-out trucks beside the road and decided that she couldn’t understand why; he would just have to tell her…but…she was going to accept his offer. She’d have to be crazy not to.
The Watcher II: The Time of Suppression Page 7
