Legacy of the Living

by Sean Liebling

  "Well, let's go up the side and find out where they're going."

  "Sounds like a plan, Reaper."

  Together, the two men circled the block, coming up to the warehouse from behind, and carefully crept down the narrow alleyway between the adjoining warehouses. There was one narrow escape with a zombie standing motionless against the steel wall when they first entered the alley, but it was quickly taken care of by holding it down and twisting the head around backwards. Thank God, the bastards could not scream ... yet.

  The back had been free of guards, which made their ingress easier, and it was only minutes later that they were climbing the power conduits to the top of the building. Carefully the Reaper peered over the edge of the roof lip, surveying the expanse of asphalt roofing and the intermixture of skylight domes and air-conditioning units. Nobody was visible, which made sense. Levering himself over the edge, he turned to give Travis a hand up, and then slowly they crept to the nearest skylight and looked downward after flipping their NVGs up.

  Below in the brightly lit cavernous expanse of the warehouse, they saw a multitude of armed men and women clustered around steel pallet racking that rose in every direction. All were wearing gang colors, and as hard as the Reaper looked, he saw no 'regular' non-gang men or women. The Reaper counted over twenty armed adults before sliding backwards while tugging on Travis's arm. Together they crept to the center skylight, its position nearest to the back loading docks and looked down again.

  Travis's eyes widened as he saw another ten or more gang members and before them, huddled on the dirty concrete floor of the filthy warehouse ... dozens of small children, all naked, and trying to huddle together for warmth. Looking closer as gorge rose in his throat, he saw a chain running around and looping through them and what appeared to be handcuffs on the wrists of every child, linking them to the chain. Beside him, the Reaper stiffened and Travis instantly grabbed him tightly.

  "What are you doing?" Travis whispered urgently.

  "I'm going down there. Slavery is a very bad thing, child slavery is worse by an order of magnitude," growled the Reaper as he slid his hand up to pinch Travis just under the armpit. Pain shot through his left side but Travis didn't let go. Damn that Reaper for knowing nerve points, he grunted and spoke quickly through the haze of pain.

  "There are too many for us. We can't do this alone. Yes, I know tonight is a good night to die, and all that, but we won't be able to save the children. Think Reaper. There is a better way."

  "What do you suggest?"

  “We call the Sirens. They can help. We take them out in the early morning when they’re sleeping. Reaper, there are over thirty of them. The two of us won't make a dent in them. We are not that lucky. You're not that lucky, dude!"

  Jason released Travis's nerve he was pinching and slowly turned to him. Travis breathed a sigh of relief as the pain slowly receded, replaced by a growing numbness and rubbed his armpit furiously.

  "The Lord will call me home when it's my time, Travis," he murmured, then looked down through the skylight again.

  "Look at them, Reaper. Yeah, I get it, and I'm with you no matter what, man, but these are kids."

  "Babies..." and a long sigh left the Reaper before he leaned close to Travis again.

  "We need intel before we call them. We need to know exactly how many we're facing. What support we'll need and meds. Count the children, Travis. I'm going to scout the other skylights," he breathed before disappearing.

  Travis counted forty-two children and another three guards that appeared out of a side room, then watched as six of them left out another doorway before the Reaper returned.

  "How many?" the Reaper breathed into his ear.

  "Forty-two children, thirty-three guards so far."

  "Add another six guards to that. They're also getting ready to move the babies."

  "Move them?"

  "Aye. I overheard. They were laughing. The kids are their entrance into something going on in Chicago. We have forty-five minutes. Give me the radio!"

  The Reaper took the proffered hand-held CB radio and, moving back from the skylight, turned it on and spoke softly while making sure the volume was down.

  "Come in Sirens." A few seconds passed while faint silence filled the air before a voice answered them.

  "This is Sirens, who's this."

  "Reaper." More silence, then another voice spoke.

  "Go ahead Reaper, you got Alethea."

  "We need help." The Reaper held up his GPS unit and read off coordinates before speaking again. "How soon can you be here?"

  "You're in luck. We're less than a half hour away, checking out this northern section after your gift earlier. I need details, Reaper. What's up?"

  "Forty-two child slaves being held by thirty-nine hostiles wearing gang colors. They're leaving in forty-five to Chicago. I don't know all the details of that, just that it's their entry payment."

  A long silence issued from the CB and the Reaper started to hand it back to Travis in disgust when Alethea's voice came again.

  "We are only ten. I can have two hundred in an hour and a half."

  "I get it. Travis and I will disable their vehicles and slow them down a bit. If you can hit them before they get more vehicles, then the Lord's will is done. Reaper out." He started to hand the radio back to Travis again and the speakers instantly cracked.

  "Reaper!"

  "Yeah."

  "Know any Psalms?"

  "Yeah."

  "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death..." the voice was throaty and near a whisper, emotion obvious in its tones. The Reaper paused for a second then picked up the next line.

  "I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me," he finished.

  "We'll be there."

  "East side." And the Reaper turned the radio off and smiled. There were still good people left. More and more they were coming out.

  It was closer to twenty minutes before the Sirens appeared, Alethea in the lead. The Reaper and Travis had climbed down and were waiting in the center of the alley. There was no mistaking their presence as the Sirens simply walked down the alley as if they owned it. The Reaper rose from his crouch, and as they recognized him, clasped wrists with Alethea when she stepped forward. They spoke in whispers.

  "Thank you," he murmured.

  "Don't thank me yet. We haven't saved the children. I have two more groups coming at a run, as fast as the zombies will let them. ETA maybe fifteen minutes or so. Call it an even twenty as a reserve. Another hundred plus are on their way but they'll take at least an hour and a half to get here. I sent another fifty people south to the highway in case they get by us. They'll stop them if we're not enough, Reaper."

  "Good planning." Then the Reaper paused as someone came up and slapped his arm. Looking over he saw the tiny girl called Mouse, cradling her Uzi, and behind her the blonde-haired Dane.

  "Hey, Reaper." The Reaper could hear the smile in Mouse's voice.

  "Hey Mouse. Ready to die?" Jason never minced words.

  "Of course I am when I'm with my woman," and she hugged Alethea sideways, who returned it. The Reaper just shook his head, but a tiny smile twisted the corner of his mouth.

  "Alright, here's the plan I've come up with. The doors appear to be heavily barricaded so we'll have to go down on rope through the skylights. You got rope?" He addressed the question at Alethea who simply nodded. "Great, we'll tie off on the air-conditioning units and slide down as we take them out. I'm worried they'll kill the children if they start losing the battle, so I'll lead a team down that skylight. I'll need at least three of you preferably. That might be enough to hold the room if they try to rush us. Here's a rough plan of the interior as best Travis and I could figure." The Reaper laid down a sheet of paper and then a tiny flashlight to illuminate it.

  Alethea looked at the drawing and the included notations and frowned for a second before nodding. "Sounds good, let's do it. You do realize we may not be able t
o get in the room until help comes. Most of our firing will have to be from the skylights. We'll take out as many as we can from above before they start shooting back, and we'll try to cover the hallway to the room where the kids are. That work?"

  "Yeah, works great. We'll need to take them all out quickly in that back room, then get in there to properly cover the kids inside. I've fought terrorists and almost everything else under the sun and really think they'll try to kill the children if they start losing the battle. What's your take, since this is a gang?" The question was again addressed to Alethea, and she responded immediately.

  "No question about it. They will kill them just to keep them from us, if for no other reason. You sure five of you will be enough?"

  "Plenty. There are only a half dozen in there. Maybe ten guards in all. I just want the extra shooters to provide cover for when we get rushed."

  "Then I'll give you Butch, Jessie, and Rainrain. Good shooters and quick movers."

  The indicated women stepped forward. At least, Jason assumed they were women for they had breasts, although the heavy tattoos and piercings he could faintly make out in the moonlight made it a bit hard to tell, but he was glad for their company and shook each hand as it was offered. They had good strong grips, and they were dripping with weapons.

  "Thank you," he said, and received a chorus of nods and “Yeas,” before turning back to Alethea. "We'll climb up here, but your incoming teams will need to breach one of the ground level openings in order for us to flank them."

  "Got that covered. Team Two has explosives."

  "Good enough, let's go!" And the Reaper was instantly climbing the electrical conduit again, pulling himself up onto the roof, followed closely by Travis, then the nine women and Dane. Quickly they were in position with ropes tied off and ready to throw, and the Reaper waved to Alethea to start the countdown. Alethea had clustered her seven around two skylights that looked down in the main warehouse area, and as they started firing the Reaper and his four would fire when the guards below them were distracted.

  Alethea's team started firing, and things suddenly became very busy as the Reaper and Travis opened up side by side working their magic, firing from the outer edges in, the other three concentrating on the ones in the center. The gang guards were all down in seconds and the Reaper was kicking out the last shards of plastic while throwing the rope down when he heard an explosion and watched as a cloud of dust and smoke billowed into the room below them.

  "Lord help us!" the Reaper bellowed as he followed the rope through the opening by holding onto it with one leather-gloved hand his rifle hanging by its sling, and slid downward into the middle of the children while firing his Navy Colt repeatedly at the two figures trying to get in through the open doorway. Travis followed instantly, then Butch was sliding down, to be followed by Rainrain, then it just got interesting.

  At least five gang members tried to get in the door as the Reaper flattened himself on as many children as he could cover while raising then firing his rifle repeatedly at their heads. All were wearing body armor, and as always, he made every shot count. Travis was just to his right and slightly forward, until the Reaper saw him fall backward clutching at his side. Butch took his place and was firing through the doorway, and then the Reaper was reloading prone as he felt something bite his back and recognized the telltale feel of a grazing shot slicing over his left shoulder.

  “Christ, where are they all coming from?" Jessie hollered, and the Reaper noticed she was crouched against the wall also to his left and firing steadily into the doorway as more gang members tried to get into the medium-sized storage area. Behind him, the kids were all screaming and crying in terror; the Reaper could easily hear even through the earplugs he was wearing, and the squirming mass of their bodies under him threatened his aim but he didn't want to leave them uncovered. Then he saw a round black object sail through the doorway and was instantly screaming.

  "Grenade!"

  "Fuck!" Butch shouted, and before the Reaper could roll off the children and gather his feet under him, she was launching herself on the ovoid object while still firing into the doorway. With a thump, more felt than heard, the grenade went off and in slow motion Butch's body rose about a foot before settling back down on the floor again. However, her body was now motionless and the Reaper knew she was in Heaven getting her reward for a job well done.

  Rainrain was the next to fall as she fired steadily by the Reapers side having taken Travis's place. Jason felt the hot splash of blood against the side of his face and looked over to see a gaping wound in the center of her neck as she collapsed in place. He quickly shifted his rifle to his left hand as his right came down on her neck, trying to staunch the spurting flow and felt her convulse. Looking down, he saw the life leave her eyes and said a brief prayer for her soul. Just behind her, Travis was sitting up and firing, a fierce expression on his face while his shirt slowly darkened with the stain of blood from an obvious wound. The children were trying to crawl around and away from him while crying out in terror, but their manacles prevented them from doing more than getting in Travis's way, and briefly the Reaper was impressed Travis could even shoot with all the jostling.

  Then the Reaper rose, ignoring the whistling crack of bullets around him as he inserted a fresh magazine, chambering its first round. The Lord filled him as he strode forward. It was indeed a good day to die as he carefully placed his first round through the forehead of the closest gang member whose snarling bearded face was glaring at him while trying to bring his own rifle to bear. The bearded man collapsed with the back half of his head gone, and the Reaper took another step to the edge of the doorway, feeling the bite of another bullet as it creased his left thigh on its way into the room. Then another, which dug a groove through his right forearm as he held his rifle to his shoulder. He ignored the pain and continued.

  "Throw some of those pallets down to protect the kids," he hollered at the others behind him as he fired again, his round penetrating the neck of the next gang member in line, severing the spine and causing the filthy man to collapse. The Reaper stepped on the man's back as he entered the general melee the hallway had become.

  Jason brought the butt of his rifle across the barrel of a weapon shifting towards him, then swept it upward in a vicious stroke that impacted the chin of its owner, a woman, whose look of surprise was transformed into one of pain, then unconsciousness when the Reaper felt her jaw break under the heavy fiberglass stock. The path before him momentarily clear, he chambered a new round and fired from the hip, taking the next gang member just under the nose, already turning to the others as the back of that one's head exploded outward. At his back, he heard firing and the pressure the near passage of rounds created as they zipped by within inches of his head.

  With legs spread wide he fired twice more as fast as he could into the room beyond, taking down two more gang member who were turned sideways firing upward at the skylights. Return fire was raining down on them and he saw several hiding behind boxes against the pallet racking also firing upward. Then something hit him in the right side hard enough to throw him sideways against the hallway and he heard what sounded like Jesse grunt behind him.

  The Reaper lifted his rifle again, firing at one gang member hiding behind a crate, and watched as the top of his head disappeared in a bright red flash, then he dropped to one knee while yelling behind him.

  "You OK Jesse?" The Reaper gave a lightning-quick glance backward and saw her bent over, holding her hip, but she nodded then looked up with a fierce scowl adorning her face. She dropped to one knee beside him and lifted her AK47.

  "You bet, Reaper, let's kill some assholes," and she grinned at Jason with bloody teeth. The Reaper grinned back and turned forward just as another black ovoid arced through the air in his direction. "Fuck!" he heard from Jesse then ignored her as he turned the butt of his Remington sideways and batted it back into the room it had come from before throwing himself down and shouted.

  "Get down!"

&nbs
p; With a roar more felt than seen, the grenade detonated. The Reaper winced as his eardrums took a major beating even with the plugs in, and looked beside him at Jesse. She was down, wounded and unconscious with a bloody furrowed graze to her head, and then Jason could not worry about her anymore as another explosion rang out from his left and even more smoke billowed into the room followed by a wave of automatic gunfire.

  Then a wave of figures were running into the room, firing at the crates near the shelving units where the enemy hid, and the Reaper checked his fire as he saw they were wearing red armbands around their upper right arms.

  "We surrender!"

  As the Reaper peered into the room he made out a bearded figure to his right whose empty hands were held high overhead. Then there was no mistaking the form of Alethea as she rappelled down a rope from the skylight overhead with a bloody rag tied around her left thigh, and the Reaper finally relaxed.

  "We need a medic over here!" he yelled out before sitting down himself and pressing his hand to his side to stanch the flow of blood. One handed, he pulled his revolver out, and after thumbing out the spent cartridges replaced them with fresh ones from his belt as one of the Sirens ran to him with a large satchel over one shoulder and tried to pull his hand from his side.

  "Get Jesse first. I'm OK for now, and check on the kids," he said, nodding at the prone girl beside him. The medic nodded and went to work, cleaning the wound quickly and wrapping a roll of gauze around it after putting a pad in place. The Reaper helper her roll Jesse over to get to her side, and as the medic ripped Jesse's shirt open he saw it was just a flesh wound and breathed a sigh of relief. Three others stepped over them and ran to the room the kids were in, and then it was the Reaper’s turn as the medic turned to Jason, yanking his hand off the hole in his side.

  Soon, sore but patched up, the Reaper was standing next to Alethea as Travis limped up.

  "Alethea, I'm sorry but we lost two of yours, Butch and Rainrain. Butch fell on a grenade and Rainrain took one through the neck. Nothing I could do," he spoke softly as he surveyed the prisoners they had captured. There were nine left, mostly wounded, and the Reaper frowned as he saw their hands had been tied behind their backs. They had been questioned and the gist of it was they had captured the kids to sell to gangs hiding just south of Chicago to be used as young farm labor supposedly, but the Reaper didn't believe a word of it as most of their captives had been very young girls. He had seen the same thing in Somalia, Columbia and Afghanistan, and a farm wasn't where prepubescent girls were normally put to work.