Apocalypse unleashed lb-4

by Mel Odom

  Turn over. Get your feet down. Forty feet. You can tuck and roll out of that.

  He managed to turn over and slide his assault rifle off his shoulder so he held it by the strap in one hand. The ground came up fast.

  Trees seemed to be everywhere. He hoped Miller and Icarus missed them.

  Then branches whipped into his face and eyes as he plummeted.

  He hit the ground and threw himself to one side, remembering all the horror stories of men who’d landed from a high jump and had their legs pushed up into their hipbones. The air rushed out of him, and he saw the tree beside his head too late to avoid it.

  His forehead slammed into the tree, and everything went black.

  29

  United States of America

  Columbus, Georgia

  St. Francis Hospital Visitors’ Area

  Local Time 0114 Hours

  Joey’s heart hammered as he stood at the door and stared at Jenny McGrath sleeping in one of the chairs against the back wall. The room was quiet except for the low rumble of late-night television reruns. Muted lighting barely revealed the other people sitting around the room.

  Jenny slept under a Windbreaker and looked like a kid. That reminded Joey of the way his little brother, Chris, would curl up and drowse whenever he was tired. Thinking about Chris hurt. There was something about having a little brother that had made him feel invincible, like not everything was all about him.

  But that was gone now. So much was gone.

  He hadn’t intended to end up at the hospital. It had just happened. He’d started riding his bike at seven o’clock, trying not to think about the rec hall at eight and Bones and Zero looking for him. But after finding his mom at the hospital and seeing Goose on TV, it seemed as if all Joey’s problems were crashing in on him at once.

  He hadn’t gone home, just kept riding, and now here he was.

  He’d known Jenny was at the hospital with her dad, and he hadn’t exactly meant to track her down, but somehow his bike had just sort of found its way here. And now he found he really wanted to talk to her. Goose was over in Turkey, right in the middle of the fighting, already dead for all Joey knew. His mom was focused on that and on all the kids in their house. And then there was the problem of Bones and Zero and the rest, out to kill him. That wasn’t going to go away. Joey had seen enough true crime shows and detective movies to know that. He was a witness. If he had an attack of conscience, he’d name them all.

  They’d never understand that all he wanted was to go free.

  If there were just some way to keep the nightmares of the shopkeeper’s death out of his head, Joey thought everything would be okay. It was an accident. That was all. Just a bad accident.

  Only he knew it wasn’t. He could fool himself for a little while, but that didn’t last long.

  Suddenly he felt eyes on him. When he glanced at Jenny, he saw that she was staring at him.

  “Joey.”

  He didn’t hear her. He watched his name form on her lips. He knew he should walk over to her, but he couldn’t invade that room with his problems. Those people were in there trying to rest, trying to stay strong enough to support someone they cared about who was going through something threatening.

  You don’t belong here, he told himself. You need to go. He tried to leave. He honestly did. He willed everything inside him to leave.

  Instead, Jenny got up from the chair and walked over to him.

  “Are you okay?” she asked in a quiet voice. She pulled her hair from the corner of her mouth and studied him.

  “Yeah. I’m fine.”

  “What are you doing here?”

  Joey shrugged and hated the reflex action immediately. Shrugging was dumb and immature. But he hadn’t learned what else he was supposed to do.

  “Is your mom all right?”

  “She’s fine.”

  “Then what’s wrong?”

  “Nothing’s wrong. I was in the neighborhood, that’s all.”

  Jenny glanced at the clock on the wall. “In the neighborhood. At one in the morning?”

  The way she said it, her words sounded like an accusation.

  “Look,” Joey said, “if this is a bad time-”

  “It’s not a bad time.”

  “Good. That’s good.” He stared at her, remembering how cute she’d looked out on the dance floor the night of all the weirdness.

  “That’s really good.”

  She waited.

  “So how’s your dad?” he asked.

  “The same. Nothing’s changed.”

  “He’s gonna be okay,” Joey said automatically.

  “How do you know?”

  Joey shrugged again before he could stop himself. “I just do.” He was afraid Jenny was going to be mad at him.

  “Then you know more than the doctors,” she said.

  “Doctors don’t know everything.”

  Jenny looked into his eyes. “You want to talk?”

  “I don’t know. You feel like talking?”

  “Sure.”

  “That’s good.” Joey nodded in relief. He didn’t know what he would have done if she’d said no.

  “But we can’t talk here,” Jenny said. “People are trying to sleep.”

  “Yeah. I see. Want to grab a coffee somewhere?”

  “Cafeteria’s closed.”

  “We could go out.”

  She shook her head. “I don’t want to leave the hospital. In case… something changes.”

  “Okay.” Joey glanced up and down the hall.

  “I know a place we can talk.” Jenny reached out, took him by the hand, and led him down the hall.

  Local Time 0124 Hours

  “The chapel?” Joey glanced around the room.

  “It’s quiet. Usually this time of morning there isn’t anyone here.”

  No one occupied the room. Jenny pulled Joey into motion and got him seated in the back row. The light was dim. Joey sat beside her. She didn’t let go of his hand. He was glad for the physical contact, but the sensation made him feel weak and vulnerable, and he hated that.

  “So,” Jenny said.

  Joey looked at her.

  “You just happened to be in the neighborhood,” Jenny prompted.

  “Yeah.”

  “Want to tell me why you just happened to be in the neighborhood?” Joey thought about it for a moment. “Couldn’t sleep.”

  “What’s keeping you awake?”

  He thought about his answer for a moment, then shrugged.

  “Stuff.”

  “Want to talk about that ‘stuff ’?”

  “Not really.”

  Jenny leaned back in her chair and wrapped herself in the Windbreaker. She closed her eyes and breathed regularly. For a minute Joey thought she’d gone back to sleep.

  “I’ve just got a lot on my mind,” Joey whispered.

  “You try talking to your mom about it?”

  Joey grimaced. “I’d have to take a number. Besides that, this isn’t something I can talk to my mom about. She’d freak.”

  “Then talk to me.”

  “I can’t.”

  Jenny sighed. “Then don’t talk to me.”

  “I’m not trying to make you mad.”

  “I’m not getting mad.”

  Joey felt even more guilt. “I’m messing this up.”

  “Messing what up?”

  “I just came down here to spend some time with you. I just… wanted to be with you.” Joey watched her, wondering how she was going to take that.

  “I’m glad you did. It gets lonely around here. The nurses all mean well, but being here doesn’t even come close to normal.”

  “I don’t think anything is normal anymore.” Joey felt the solid warmth of her hand in his. It felt good. “I’m scared that it never will be again.”

  “Me too.”

  “My mom’s been talking a lot lately about the Bible. About the end times. I gotta tell you, it’s freaking me out. I mean, Mom always had an interest
in church. We didn’t always go, and she didn’t always agree with whatever the pastor was saying, but it was there. Like she knew we were supposed to go. But I didn’t really get anything out of it. I don’t think she did either.”

  “I think,” Jenny said, “that if your mom is right, that’s exactly why we were left behind. We didn’t try harder to understand what God had planned for us. I know I didn’t. If I thought about God, it was generally when my dad went on a binge or got hurt or got sick. When I couldn’t take care of him, I asked God to do it for me. I don’t think that’s really a relationship. I mean, if you had a friend who constantly just asked you for things, and all you did was give, you wouldn’t think you had a very good friendship, would you?”

  “No.” Guilt ate at Joey. What Jenny was describing wasn’t just his relationship with God. It was a lot like the relationship he’d had lately with his mom and Goose.

  “I think that’s what it’s about,” Jenny said. “Your mom says there’s going to be seven more years that we can exist on this world before God comes back. During that time, we’re supposed to figure out our relationship with Him, find ways to get closer to Him.”

  “Yeah. But that’s hard.”

  “What?”

  “Believing God really cares. If He really cared about me, about having a relationship with me, I wouldn’t be in all the trouble I’m in now.” Too late, Joey realized he’d said more than he’d intended to.

  “What trouble?” Jenny asked.

  He tried not to tell her. He wanted to hold back and be strong. More than that, he was afraid that once he told her, Jenny would feel compelled to tell someone else. The police. Or his mother.

  Instead, when he finished, while he wiped the tears from his face and felt ashamed and guilty and scared, Jenny just sat there. She didn’t look at him and she didn’t say a word.

  Finally she asked, “What are you going to do?”

  “I don’t know.” His voice was thin and hoarse.

  “You said they came looking for you?”

  “Yeah. They’re at the post.”

  “Are they looking for you now?”

  “I don’t know.” Joey resisted the impulse to shrug. “Maybe they came there because they heard the fort was offering shelter to kids. Maybe Bones spotting me was just bad luck. I seem to have a lot of that lately.”

  Jenny squeezed his hand. “You can’t just ignore them. They’re not going to go away. Not if they’re afraid you’re going to tell on them.”

  “I know.”

  “You could go to the police.”

  “They’d lock me up, Jenny. According to the law, I’m as guilty of murdering that man as Zero is. He made us all murderers when he pulled that trigger.” Joey shook his head. “I couldn’t handle being locked up. I’d rather kill myself.”

  “Don’t talk like that.”

  “It’s true,” he whispered. “And maybe that’s how this is supposed to work out.”

  “I don’t believe that.”

  Jenny’s words made Joey feel hopeful. For just a moment. Then reality set in again. She would tell him that. She had to. It’s what he would have told her if their roles had been reversed.

  “There’s something else,” Joey said. “I heard Mom’s trying to fix it so that the families of the soldiers in Turkey can go over there.”

  “Why?”

  “So we can be together. And so we can help them. At least until the government decides to bring them home.”

  “Do you think she’s going to be able to make that happen?”

  “Yeah, I think so. A lot of people at the fort look up to Mom these days.”

  “Are you going?”

  “It would give me a chance to get away from all of this,” Joey answered. “I could get away from Zero and the rest of those guys.”

  Jenny was quiet for a time. “I think,” she said finally, “that might be the best thing you could do.”

  “I know.” Joey focused on her. “Mom could arrange it so you could come with us.”

  Jenny shook her head.

  Joey squeezed her hand. “Please. I really want you to go.”

  “I can’t.” Her voice sounded dry and husky, as if she was about to cry. “I’ve got to stay here. With my dad. He needs me.”

  Silently Joey cursed his bad luck. He leaned back against the wall and stared at the darkened ceiling. “I can’t stay,” he whispered. “I just wanted you to understand.”

  “And I can’t go,” she replied. “I hope you understand.”

  Joey nodded.

  “If things were different,” Jenny said, “I’d go.”

  “If they were, I’d stay.”

  “But they’re not,” she said.

  Joey sat there and tried to think of something to say. The attraction he’d initially felt for Jenny had changed. It was no longer purely physical, but now it was stronger than anything he’d ever felt before. And he was being forced to walk away from her. It wasn’t fair.

  “When your mom goes,” Jenny said, “you need to go with her. I don’t want you to get hurt. And your mom will need you. Those soldiers can use whatever help you can give.”

  “I know.” Joey sat there quietly and held her hand. He didn’t want to think about leaving her. But he knew he couldn’t stay. He felt helpless and trapped.

  And alone. Even though Jenny was sitting next to him, he was pretty certain she felt the same way. It was incredibly lousy.

  30

  Outside Harran

  Sanliurfa Province, Turkey

  Local Time 0826 Hours

  Pain filled Marcus Allen’s world. He opened his eyes and stared up at the blinding sun. Automatically, after listening and hearing no movement around him, he felt for his Oakleys, but they weren’t there. He cursed the pain and the fact that the sunglasses were probably broken. The expense didn’t bother him so much as the effort it had taken to get them.

  He rolled onto his side and located the Galil rifle he carried as his lead weapon. The RPG was nowhere to be seen. He dragged himself to his feet and walked over to the wrecked Land Rover, which sat upside down.

  Weaver was just rousing, dangling from the seat belt that had kept him locked in. He groaned as he felt his chest.

  “Anything broken?” Allen asked.

  “No, but there was definitely no lack of trying.”

  Kosheib cut himself free of his jammed seat restraints with a combat knife. “Collins is dead.” He jerked a thumb at the man on his right.

  Kneeling, Allen peered through the passenger window. All the glass had broken out. Collins, in his forties and a habitual smoker, hung upside down with his arms over his head like he was involved in a bank holdup. A lit cigarette singed his dead lips.

  “What happened?” Allen asked.

  “Broken neck.” Kosheib grabbed the dead man’s hair and jerked his head to one side. It lay almost on his shoulder, obviously disconnected. Without another word, the Sudanese released the dead man and kicked the passenger door open with a screech.

  “What about Heinrich?” Allen asked.

  “I’m alive,” the young German killer answered calmly. “Just waiting for the opportunity to get out.” He was thin and had a mop of unruly black hair. Even on his best days he reminded Allen of a weasel.

  “What do you want to do with Collins?” Kosheib asked.

  “Leave him.” Nobody got a burial in Allen’s unit. If they survived to the end of a contract, they got the rest of their bounty and maybe a bonus from a happy client. No one in the group had any kind of history that would tie them to the others.

  “Is the truck going to be driveable?” Heinrich climbed out through the door as well.

  “Doesn’t matter,” Allen replied. “We’re trapped between the devil and the deep blue sea. We can’t go forward because we’ll be running into the American forces in Sanliurfa that aren’t going to be happy with us. We try to go back, we’re going to end up in the midst of the advancing Syrian army.”

  Weaver duste
d himself off. “You thinking we’re going to get out of Turkey on foot?”

  “Or find a roundabout way into Sanliurfa. We get there, Cody will help us get out of the country. Or at least keep us hid out.”

  SCUDs flew by overhead. The heavy thunder of their passing echoed against the hard-packed earth.

  “Maybe Sanliurfa isn’t the best place we could be,” Kosheib observed.

  “We took on the contract,” Allen replied. “We haven’t been pulled off of it.”

  “We’re not exactly going to have the element of surprise on our side if we go into Sanliurfa.” Heinrich kneeled by Collins’s body and quickly rifled the dead man’s pockets. He took money from the man’s pants. When he saw the others staring at him, he looked a little guilty. “What? I’m going to share it with you.” He shoved Collins’s half pack of cigarettes into his shirt pocket.

  “Where’s Owens and his team?” Allen asked.

  No one knew.

  “Spread out and find them.” Allen held his carbine across his body and walked farther into the thick trees around them.

  Local Time 0826 Hours

  Goose woke with blood in his eyes and a splitting headache. He lay on his back and took a breath. Keeping calm took effort.

  Move slowly, he told himself. If you’re hurt bad, you don’t want to make it worse. He’d seen wounded soldiers in the field go from manageable casualties to life-and-death situations in a heartbeat. All it took was a piece of broken bone to slice an artery.

  He worked his hands and feet first. Then he drew his right arm up to wipe the blood from his eyes. He’d figured out what it was from the copper taste that leaked into his mouth. Blurred vision returned to him.

  He stared up at the tree canopy. The white flesh of broken branches stood out against the verdant green and dull charcoal gray bark. Those partly explained how the fall hadn’t killed him.

  He moved gingerly to explore his body. Sudden movements would be stupid. As he shifted more and more of himself, there was more pain.

  Push through the pain. Pain just means you’re still alive.

  The distant thunder of the Syrian heavy armor grew closer.

  And you’re not outta the woods yet. Goose looked around at the trees. Literally.