“Silas, uh I made a huge mistake. You see Max he wanted me to do, well stuff.” Sofie began.
“I'm sorry to hear that, but we had a bit of dust up here and they are going to be trying to bust in any moment.” Silas stated urgently.
“Well you see I just couldn't do that. It was hard enough to let him touch me. Silas I killed Max, the monitor, he is going to be one of the fallen.” Sofie said in a rush.
“The children” Silas replied as he flicked off the radio and bounded up the stairs.
The creature that in life had called itself old Maxie, slowly began to stir. It had no idea as to the agent that brought its lifeless body into motion, nor did it care. The first thing it became aware of was the acrid smell of its own spilled blood. Trying to move it was only able to twitch fingers and toes, not even able to focus its eyes on its surroundings.
Slowly in a stiff jerky manner it began to gain movement in its legs and arms. Objects in the room were coming into focus, but they were inanimate and of no interest. It dragged its fingers through the pool of blood it was sitting in and then raised its bloodied fingers to its lips.
A loud explosive thud came from below, followed in quick succession by two more pops. The creature needed to find out what was making that noise, but was unable to get its feet underneath it. It started crawling towards the direction of the sound. As it reached the stairwell door two more pops rang out. The creature was desperate to get to whatever was making that noise, it flailed its arms and legs trying to get to its feet. A hand found the door knob and it pulled itself up.
It stood there pressed against the door, hands pushing against the doors surface trying to find a way past. A whirring sound echoed up from the stairwell and then the sound of voices. The creature became desperate to reach the sounds and pushed and scratched against the door.
From down the hall a sleepy young boy poked his head out through the set of swinging doors and called out. “Mister monitor sir what is going on? Is it time to get up?”
The creature turned towards the boy and with jaws snapping began to shuffle forward. Silas burst through the door with the creature halfway between him and the boy.
“Hey meathead over here. You don't want some scrawny kid for your first meal.” Silas boomed at the creature.
The thing turned and focused on the noisy thing behind it. Blood was streaming from the wound in Silas' arm and dripping to the floor. Silas ran his fingers through the rivulets of blood running down his arm. Silas flicked the blood off hitting the creature square in the face. The smell of fresh blood was all it needed to start it advancing towards Silas.
Silas backed up to give him room to maneuver. When the creature was close enough Silas, ignoring the pain in his arm, grabbed the creatures outstretched hand and spun it towards the wall. Silas pinned the creature to the wall with his bulk and withdrew his knife in his good hand. Silas plunged the knife up at the base of the creatures skull and pushed up hard, slicing through the brain.
The creature became still and went limp. Silas stepped back and removed his knife as the corpse fell to the floor. Silas looked at the boy gawking at him from the doorway.
“Young man, you need to return to your bed and stay there until your parents come for you.” Silas directed.
“Yyyes sir” The boy stammered as he left.
Silas flicked on the radio. “Sofie all clear.”
“Thank goodness. How are you holding out Silas?” Sofie answered in a mixture a relief and concern.
“I'm good. It won't be long now you hold tight and take care of those precious ones.” Silas replied his confidence palpable even over the radio.
Silas sealed the door at the top floor, dragged a chair behind the set of double doors leading to the children's bed chambers and sealed those doors. Silas drilled some peep holes through the doors as well as some holes to shoot through. With his work done he finally took the time to bandage the wound on his arm, a little clumsy with only his teeth and one good hand to work with.
The blood loss had made Silas a bit light headed and he sat down, consuming a bottle of water and a candy bar to fortify himself. Placing the shotgun in his lap, Silas loaded a round to replace the spent cartridge and waited for what was to come as the pounding began on the outside door.
Chapter 13 - Endgame
Sister Astrid began to flee the dormitory as soon as Eustace drew on Silas. The pellet, from Silas' shotgun blast, whizzing by her head, only served to make her run faster. Astrid cleared the doorway, pulled her skirt up to keep from tripping and ran top speed to Mother's apartment.
Without breaking stride, Astrid ordered the guard out of the way and burst into Mother's office. Finding the office empty, she proceeded directly to the bedroom, in the back. Lying naked on the bed was Rachel, with Sister Lucy sitting astride her. When the door burst open Lucy dove under the covers, but Rachel calmly sat up, grabbed her robe and slipped it on.
“One moment Sister. I don't discuss matters in chambers, Sister Lucy attend me if you will.” Rachel directed.
Lucy gathered the bed sheet about her and followed Rachel out. When Rachel reached her desk Lucy pulled out the chair, careful so that sheet did not slip off her shoulders and waited for Rachel to be seated.
When Rachel was seated, Lucy quickly pulled back Rachel's hair and pinned it up. Once Rachel was suitably presentable, she turned her attention to the agitated Sister Astrid. “Yes Sister, you have news?”
Astrid was now unsure if she should be more concerned about Silas locking down the dormitory, or the scene she had burst in on, between Rachel and Lucy. Taking a deep breath, Astrid began. “Mother, I am sorry to disturb you while you were … at leisure. You see, I went with Sister Hester and Brother Eustace to locate Sister Sofie and when we got to the dormitory, Silas was there locking the place up.”
“Locking it up, what do you mean? Where is Brother Eustace and Sister Hester?” Rachel questioned, her face stern.
“Silas killed them. He said something about a reckoning was coming and there would be a payment, in blood. Mother, I don't know what Silas has in mind. I wasn't sticking around to find out.” Astrid answered, her agitation apparent.
“You did the right thing, Sister. I've been afraid for a while, there was a treacherous few in our midst and now they have shown themselves. Astrid please ask Brother Peter to come in, from the hall.” Rachel soothed, oozing confidence.
When Peter came in, Rachel addressed him. “Brother, get a couple of men and see what Silas is up to, at the dormitory. Be careful, he is armed and has already killed two of the faithful.”
Peter hurried out of the office and Rachel turned her attention to Astrid. “Sister Astrid, please have the Sisters and Brothers gather in the chapel.”
“And the guard Mother, should they join us as well?” Astrid asked.
“No, only those we know are faithful.” Rachel answered, with a cold look in her eyes.
When the office was empty, Rachel guided Lucy back to the bedroom. Once they were in, Rachel closed and locked the bedroom door. She dropped her robe and then gently turned Lucy around to face her. Lucy was still holding the bed sheet around her, Rachel reached out and slipped the sheet down and watched it cascade to Lucy's feet.
Rachel admired the young woman in front of her a moment, before speaking. “It will take them some time to gather. We have a bit of time and we were interrupted, way to early.”
The perimeter of the True Believer compound, was a dual wall setup. The interior wall, was the original Brighton Academy fence of stone and heavy wrought iron. That fence, had been reinforced with overlapping layers of chain link. The outer wall, was a ten foot high, back braced chain link fence. In between the ten foot expanse, between the walls, were no less than fifty of the fallen.
The fallen served to dissuade anyone, trying to slip through the fences and kept the interest of any roamers, from the smells and sounds of the compound. Technically the only way in or out, was through either the front, or back gate of t
he compound. When the interior section of either gate was opened a corridor was formed, allowing clear passage from the fallen. The gates. of course, were always heavily guarded.
Turk with Clay and Abigail, had a plan to slip through the fence and support Silas and Sofie. Tim, the remainder of Clay's people and the three children, would make themselves known to the True Believer camp, at sunrise. The hope was between the small force inside and the larger force on the outside the camp, could be taken with a minimum of bloodshed.
Turk went to say goodbye to Margo, on his way out. “Well Lil Miss, you ready?”
Sullenly, Margo snapped a salute. “Yes sir”.
“Missy, ain't no need to get uppity with me, we each got our parts to play. With luck, we'll be together again in a couple hours.” Turk answered, trying to soothe her.
“Luck? Seems to me, we ran out of luck a long time ago. All we have is each other and we need to stick together.” Margo replied, in no mood to be calmed down.
“Lil Darlin, you can't look at it that a way. I reckon we've had a fair passel of good fortune, all along. What do you think brought us together, in the first place. I'm as good a tracker as they come, but I could have easily missed some of the signs I was following, when that woman took ya. I ain't gived up on us yet, don't you.” Turk replied, solemnly.
Margo teared up a bit, at Turk's sincere expression of the depth of his feelings for her. Suddenly, she leapt into his arms and hugged him hard, around the neck. “Just watch your ass, Papa Bear.”
After a moment, Turk put her down, gently. “That’s my girl.”
Rachel and Lucy arrived at the chapel to find thirty two of the Sisters and Brothers, already gathered there. As soon as she entered, the crowd, which had been sitting quietly, suddenly began firing questions at her.
Rachel raised her hands for silence and when the room became quiet, she began. “My friends, Sisters and Brothers, a dark hour has come upon us, we find ourselves besieged, from inside.”
“Who attacks us Mother, surely we can remove them?” A woman, in the crowd, called out.
“Silas and I am sorry to say, Sister Sofie. My primary concern is the children, I have sent Brother Peter to look in on them. In the end, the usurpers will be dealt with, it is written 'Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.'” Rachel answered, pulling from Josiah's playbook.
Rachel seeing that the room was waiting for her, continued. “Our problem goes deeper. Those that we have sent to purge the non-believers to the south, have become polluted. They are on their way to corrupt, what we know is truth. “
The crowd began murmuring, but again Rachel raised her hands for quiet. “I have a righteous mission for you all. I have gathered ten of my most gifted students, to be progenitors of a new generation of Believers. Sister Lucille and a few others from the Sisterhood, will travel with me as stewards of the progenitors and their offspring. Once we have established a new stronghold, I'll send for you. Until then, I'm asking you to hold the line here and make sure our escape.”
Amidst calls of 'You can count on us' and 'We will not fail', Rachel poured a drink, like she had been doing the past several days to close these meetings. Sister Lucille passed out the trays of drinks, unknowing that this morning, Rachel had added a reagent to the glasses that would activate the poison, in the drink.
Once everyone had a glass and Lucy had returned to Rachel's side, Rachel raised her glass. “Let us be ever faithful to the path of Truth, may the sins of your life be cleansed, by the blood of the Mother. Amen.”
Everyone downed their glass. With some, the effects of the poison took a little longer and confused expressions, came over their faces. Others just collapsed, where they stood.
Lucy looked at Rachel with a mixture of horror and fear, but Rachel calmed the young woman. “Do not panic my dear, you have the protection of my blessing. These others will serve us best as the fallen.”
Rachel poured three more glasses. “Now take these to Brother Peter and his men and then meet me with the other Chosen ones.”
Turk and Abigail followed Clay and a small contingent of his men, to the back of the True Believer compound. They stopped at a point, as straight across from the warehouse as they could. Clay sent some of his men to positions a few yards to either side of them, to distract any zeds in the corridor, between fences.
Clay cut the outer fence and then he and Turk, keeping Abigail between them, entered through the slit in the fence. They had added fresh zed fluids to the bladders in Josiah's coat and when draped over Abigail, she began to wretch from the smell. While the slit was tied shut, the trio quickly moved to the inner fence, undisturbed by zeds.
Turk braced a notched pole, against the inner fence. Clay shimmied up the pole and waited at the top for Abigail. Once Abigail reached the top, Clay helped her down to the other side. When Turk got to the top of the fence, he pulled the pole after him and handed it down to Abigail to put in place for he and Clay.
Clay lead the way to the warehouse. Once inside, Abigail showed them the way to the safe room. At the back of the warehouse, a cabinet full of assorted clothes, rested against the wall. Abigail released a latch to allow the cabinet to move away from the entrance.
Before she could move the cabinet, Turk stopped her and handed the radio to Clay. “I reckon we should give your wife a shout, just so she knows who's comin in.”
Clay flicked on the radio. “Sof its Clay, we're standing outside the safe room, we'll open up in just a second.”
“Thank God its you, I was getting worried” Sofie answered, with more than a hint of tremor in her voice.
Abigail, anxious to see Zoe, rolled the cabinet out of the way and opened the door to the safe room. Sofie greeted them, shotgun in hand, the two young children protectively behind her. As soon as she saw Clay, Sofie stepped out to him and Abigail rushed in to gather Zoe in her arms.
Sofie now simply dressed in jeans and a sweatshirt, with her brown hair pulled back in a ponytail, looked much more like the woman Clay had married. Sofie laid her hands on Clay's chest, looking at him with tears filling her eyes. “I'm sorry.”
Clay gently placed one hand under her chin and the other on her waist, as he drew her in, he mumbled. “You got nothing to apologize for.” His words were lost as Sofie raised her arms around his neck and silenced him, with a passionate kiss.
Turk, a little uncomfortable with the emotional reunions, retrieved the radio from Clay and stepped to the side. Turning on the radio, he hailed Silas. “Silas? Turk here.”
After a brief moment, Silas replied, “Yes. Uh, Silas here.”
“How are you hangin in there, sir?” Turk asked.
“I got this place pretty well sealed and all the children here are safe. Probably confused and scared, but safe.” Silas answered.
“Good, we'll do our best to keep em that way. I'm here in the warehouse with Clay and Abigail. We just made contact with Sofie. The sun will be comin up soon and the group we have outside, will show themselves. Clay and I will be ready to shut things down, if anyone gets ornery.” Turk reiterating, their seat of the pants plan.
“Okay. A bit ago someone was working hard to break in here, but that has gone quiet now. They may have decided to fetch a ladder and come in through the upper level window. The only ladders are in the warehouse, so be careful.” Silas advised.
“I reckon it's possible someone got wind of us, comin in. Best we lock these gals back in and get ready for anyone lookin for trouble, Turk out.”
Margo watched as the sky turned from black, to dull gray and finally fiery orange. When there was enough light to clearly see, Tim gave the word to move out. Margo was mounted on Bo, on her left was Mitch, riding Ghost and on her right was Chloe, riding Sassy. Spread out on either side of the children, marched the majority of Clay's people. Interspersed in that crowd, Tim had placed ten riflemen, with orders to take up sniper positions.
Balanced on the toe of Margo's boot was a wooden lance, about six feet long. At the point of th
e lance was tied a white strip of cloth, a parley flag. Margo rode slowly forward, feeling ever so much like a modern day Joan of Arc. Margo whispered to Bo to keep him calm as they approached the gates of the compound and the throng of zeds, pressing against the outer fence.
Colton Amesly was on watch at the main gate and gaped a bit dumfounded, seeing the three children on horseback leading the people, that a couple of weeks ago, he had said goodbye to. Colton could not fathom why they had chosen such and unorthodox way to return. However, of bigger concern to him was whether, or not. his wife Ellen was in the approaching wave.
At roughly fifty yards from the main gate Hannah, walking alongside Mitch, gave the word. “This is close enough.”
The three children pulled their horses to a stop and Mitch and Chloe raised their free hand to signal to everyone, they were stopping. Hannah stepped forward carrying the bullhorn Josiah had used to sermonize, during the siege of the park. The riflemen took prone positions and watched for anyone, looking to fire on them.
Red Rises (Book 2): Dead To Rights (HZA, Vol. 4) Page 31
