by Phil Maxey
The creature kept coming, bounding over the bushes and snarling.
“I can’t, I can’t think…”
“Fuck,” said Zach, aiming at the head of the creature. This is going to be close.
Abbey closed her eyes, and felt the creature rushing towards Evan. She let her consciousness expand outwards to greet the creature, and then she opened her eyes.
The creature slammed into Evan, knocking him off his feet and into the side of the Humvee, everyone else ran for cover. Abbey stood, shocked. “What? I don’t understand.”
The creature skidded to a stop, and whipped it’s head around spotting Abbey. As it moved towards her, the flying creatures above started swooping down, causing it to swipe at the air. Mo landed to her side, and spread his wings out.
Zach ran to Abbey, “It’s not working, you need to get back inside.”
She pulled his hand off her arm, and stepped towards the creature concentrating with all her might. Cal stepped to her and started doing the same. The large cat like creature, started to shake it’s head, then stopped and looked at them both, visibly calming down. The creatures above, stopped swooping.
The large creature moved off to the edge of the trees, where others of it’s kind were sniffing the air and looking on.
Dr. Chapman ran and knelt down near Evan who was unconscious. Zach and Abbey ran to them.
“Is he…” said Abbey.
“He’s unconscious. We need to get him into the back of the truck then I can take a better look at him,” said the doctor.
Zach and Call, carried him to the truck, and helped him onto the inside of it. The doctor jumped up and started examining him.
Zach pulled Abbey to one side. “You could have been killed!” he said urgently while trying to keep his voice low.
“I’m fine Zach. I don’t know why it didn’t stop.”
Zach shook his head. “We don’t understand any of this stuff,” he looked over to the side of the road where the cat creatures were silently watching. “What if your hold over them goes and they decide they want to attack? They’re so close we wouldn’t have time to do much.”
“It doesn’t work that way Zach, once we connect to them, their aggressiveness towards us leaves them. Those E.L.F’s over there are now harmless to us unless one of us chooses to change that,” she put her hand on his shoulder. “Trust me, it’s okay, and next time we will be better prepared.”
He sighed, and pulled away, going back to the truck with Evan and the doctor in it. Evan was sitting up, feeling his shoulder. “How is he?”
“His shoulder was dislocated which I just fixed, it will be sore for a while. He lost consciousness for a short while, but he seems to not have any lasting effects, but he needs to be watched closely. No more strain for him for at least twenty-four hours.”
Zach patted his boot. “You did good, but get some rest now.”
“I did? I don’t really remember much.”
“Yeah, you were real brave,” said Wyatt sitting close by, everyone else nodded in agreement. Evan smiled.
Zach walked back to the Humvee, Abbey was already sitting inside, she gave him a hopeful smile when he sat back in the drivers seat. Clicking on the radio he told everyone they are moving on.
Within two hours they were passing through the town of Catacomb where weeks earlier they had tried to salvage the drone.
“Three more hours and we’re at our stop for the night,” said Zach. He looked across to Abbey but she was sleeping. He caught her eyes moving rapidly under their lids and wondered what she was dreaming about. Even though he was trying to resist, he could feel her pulling away from him. He wondered if she felt the same about him. Their experience during the early days after leaving their cells in New Mexico brought them together, but since she had learned she was a Cascader that bond felt frayed. She was always a rebel, someone who liked to be different, and now she really was. He couldn’t imagine being in the crazy monster filled world without her, but it wasn’t his choice alone to make.
Looking in the rear mirror, he saw Sam and Isaiah were both also sleeping. Sam’s head was resting on Isaiah’s large shoulder and Zach couldn’t help but laugh. Of all his days, he had not seen two finer soldiers. He looked in the right mirror and saw them a few hundred yards behind, bounding along the highway, the large cat like creatures. It was a surreal sight and for a moment he felt he was in a circus leading a parade of animals. He sighed, and focused on the road ahead.
As the rain fall increased the sun started to set. Abbey awoke with a start. She touched her forehead, feeling the sweat. Reaching forward she opened her pack and pulled out a bottle of water. She then stopped as if remembering something and peered upwards.
“They’re still up there,” said Zach. “And the others. I’ve been slowing down every now and again to let them catch up.”
Abbey smiled and took a sip of water. “How far left.”
“We’re almost there, maybe another forty minutes.”
“Has anyone sensed anymore E.L.F’s?”
“If they have, no one has mentioned it.”
“Ahh man, you been dribbling on me, what the hell,” Isaiah protested. Sam sat upright, and blinked. “How far?”
“Not far,” repeated Zach.
“Anymore creature encounters?” he croaked. “Anyone got any?” Abbey leaned back and gave him the bottle. “Thanks.”
“No,” said Abbey.
The sun had been below the horizon for a while when they entered the outskirts of Jackson. Bass ordered the tank crew to take the same directions as the last time they were there, and soon they were pulling up in the same parking lot in front of the pharmacy.
As Zach, Cal, Abbey and Fiona switched on their flashlights and walked over the broken glass of the entrance, rain pounded down outside. The others soon filed in to escape the downpour, while the tank and Humvee were positioned close to the entrance forming a barrier.
Wyatt looked wide eyed at the aisles, sweeping his flashlights beam over them. “There’s still so much here,” some of the other Cascaders ran forward grabbing what they could.
“Hey people, slow down it’s not going anywhere,” said Bass as most of the eleven people with abilities gleefully started opening cans of soda and chips.
Abbey walked forward with two sleeping bags into the darkness and stood near the large counter, facing everyone. “Find a place to bed down for the night, it’s quite safe in here, take a can of soda if your thirsty or some chips if you’re hungry,” she then hopped over the counter and out of sight.
CHAPTER 40
Abbey looked out over what she thought was a bay, but it was unlike any she had seen before. Strange exotic creatures climbed and smashed back down into the ocean, while others emerged from the depths moving onto the heavily overgrown concrete walls and disappeared into the undergrowth.
The heat was intense. She turned her attention from the sea back to the Cathedrals of vine and flowers that stretched high into the sky. Most were alive with creatures that lived within. She walked forward best she could and realized that beneath the alien life all around her was a human city, one of stone and marble, that once stood proud, but was now hostage to these new invaders.
A stone doorway with markings was just visible, so she made her way too it, pushing the branches back until she was inside. A huge cavernous space opened up before her, while creatures skittered and scattered back to their holes. Ahead of her a being stood of humanoid form. Its skin was of a blue-purple hue, while horns protruded from it’s angular head. A tail and wings flapped and slid and it’s lizard like tongue flicked and tasted the air around it.
It moved towards her and she backed up against a cold pillar, her fingers reaching for something to use against this creature. Closer and closer it came until it was just a few feet from her. Then it spoke. “Home Arclight.”
Abbey woke into darkness and immediately pushed her hands out in front of her to stop the creature from coming any closer, but she then realized there was no s
trange being there, only shelves of packets and bottles of pills.
The candles they had lit some hours earlier had gone cold, and there was only intense black around her. She reached for her backpack and pulled out the water and gulped some down. The dreams were getting worse. A feeling of panic started to creep over her mind. Is the same thing that happened to Cal, happening to me? No, that was when he was transitioning, I’m already past that stage. This is something else. But what? What or where was this strange city? Who was this being that mentioned her hacker name again? And a reference to home? Boston?
She slowly got to her feet and walked to the counter, carefully climbing over it. She could see mild light coming from the front entrance, so walked to it, trying not to walk into any of the shelving units or tread on anything that would go pop. The sun was coming up on what looked like a half decent morning. The ground was covered in frost in the parking lot, but it was not raining or snowing. A noise from behind her made her turn around.
Fiona smiled. “I thought I was the only one that got up at this hour.”
“I had a bad dream,” although she wasn’t sure if it was ‘bad’ now she was awake to think about it.
“Yeah there’s a lot of that going around. But not really surprising that people can’t sleep properly after the world was ended by monsters.”
“That’s not how I see them anymore.”
“If you’re not a Cascader they still want to kill you.”
Abbey smiled. “You have to remember, that the world is just as new to them as it is to us, maybe more so. Entire species were born just a year ago into our world, and they did what they needed to, to survive.”
“Yeah by killing millions. You make it sound that the things out there are victims of circumstance.”
“In a way they are. I’m not saying humans shouldn’t be wary of E.L.F’s they of course should, but they are the new animal life of this planet, and we need to deal with that fact.”
Fiona wondered if Cal felt the same. “Well, I’m going to get some coffee, do you want some?”
“Sure, thanks,” Fiona left and Abbey sighed. She didn’t blame humans for not understanding how the world had changed. She didn’t herself, but she was beginning too. She squeezed through the gap, between the entrance and tank, and stood outside. The skies were clear above, but a breeze brushed against her face, making her wish she should have brought more than one blanket with her.
Above she sensed something. Mo was hovering hundreds of feet up, circling. She then noticed the other creatures laying amongst nearby trees. Still here.
Bass tapped Zach’s arm, making him wake up. He was holding a steaming cup of Coffee.
Zach uneasily sat up. “Well, this is how I like to wake up,” he said smiling.
Bass sat down next to him. “With the kind of day we got ahead, every little bit helps.”
“I hear that,” said Zach trying to sip on the hot coffee. “Get any sleep?”
“Some.”
“Any news from Ops?”
“No.”
After a short while, everyone was gathered around inside the large shop area, with the aisles around them.
Zach stepped forward. “I’m going to go through the plan one last time, so we know exactly what each of us has to do. Two groups of Cascaders. Headed up by by Abbey and Michael. They will be taking control of each group of the E.L.F’s outside…”
Wyatt interjected. “What if more E.L.F’s come long?”
“Good question. Whichever group is closest to the new creatures, they are going to have to deal with it.”
Wyatt smiled, proud he asked something useful.
“The tank, four soldiers and one of the trucks will be staying here. This is our link to the camp, and our final fall back position if things go south. This location is called Echo.”
“The tanks a bit exposed just out front, we should find a location with more cover,” said Bass.
“Agreed. Everyone who I did not mention as part of the Cascader groups, will be part of two more groups. A defensive group, to protect our position on the outskirts of the city which we are calling Tango, and an offensive group who’s mission it will be to find Geneva and take him out. The defensive group will be Sam, Isaiah, Bass, Dr. Chapman, Greggs, and private Groves and Bailey. The offensive group will be myself, Cal and Fiona. Everyone clear so far?” everyone agreed or nodded. “The Cascaders are going to be used to create distractions. Once we find out where they have their main base of operations, we will use the E.L.F’s to attack it, this will hopefully draw their people towards the E.L.F’s and it might force Geneva out from whatever hole he’s hiding in. We will get as close into their base as possible to be able to take him out, when he appears. As soon as he’s down, we get the hell out of there, and return first to Tango, and then back here to Echo, then back to the camp. If you’re in trouble, that’s also the order you escape too. First try to get to the base on the outskirts, and then here. You all have your own weapons, and supplies.”
Sara spoke up. “If things don’t go well, in Atlanta, it’s still five hours from there to here? That’s days by foot.”
“There will be a truck, and two Humvee’s at Tango, but if they’re not available, well, you just have to survive best you can to get back here,” a murmur ran around the Cascaders. “I know that’s not what you want to hear. I know in the past you have not been soldiers. But today, you are. Today, if things go to plan, we will give everyone back at Camp Bravo a chance to live a better life. Everyone check the time, it’s zero eight hundred hours now. We should be at the outskirts of Atlanta around noon. We then wait for five hours until it’s dark, then we attack.”
“Let’s do this!” said Evan and everyone shouted “Yeah!” in response, then slowly filtered away to get their belongings and get themselves ready.
CHAPTER 41
“I kinda wish the weather was worse,” said Fiona glancing at the sky, while driving the front Humvee. “You can see our feathered friends as clear as day up there.”
“It will be nighttime when we attack, apart from that, if they see them during the day, they will just think they’re the usual E.L.F’s that hang around the city,” said Zach sitting in the passengers seat.
“Let’s hope.”
Cal stood in the turret position just behind them and smiled. The last time he was in this position, the world was moving at a pace he couldn’t keep up with, and he was changing even though he didn’t know it at the time. The ice cold air blowing past him couldn’t get through his winter hat, goggles and scarf around his face and he felt a sense of belonging to something larger than himself. Not just because he was a Cascader, but because of what they were all attempting to do, help save the camp.
Soon they were passing through a national forest and the wintry trees on both sides of the highway did justice to the name.
Wyatt looked at Evan sitting next to him in the truck, the middle-aged man kept crossing and uncrossing his arms. “Are you scared?” asked Wyatt.
Evan looked at him and frowned. “Nah, we get in, we tell these creatures to go attack, and then we leave, what’s to be scared of?”
Wyatt gave a meek smile then looked out the back of the truck over the top of the second Humvee at the large feline like creatures that were bounding after them in the distance.
As the convoy passed over the bridge where they had previously met the Hell fire gang, Abbey shuddered and closed her eyes. Flashes of the night came back to her. We so nearly died. She swallowed and opened them and looked at the ice covered river and beautiful landscape that surrounded it. She wasn’t afraid anymore of the strange nature around her, only some of those people that lived amongst it. She thought again of her dream. Could she be dreaming of Boston? Surely it couldn’t be that overgrown by now? It’s only been a year since the Cascade.
“Are you okay dear?” said Dr. Chapman observing Abbey from the backseat. They were both sitting in the second Humvee, while Bass drove.
Abbey smiled. �
��I’m fine, just going over that bridge, brings back memories.”
“There almost wasn’t a bridge. We had plans to blow it, luckily we didn’t otherwise we would of not been able to fish you off the ice.” said Bass.
“Everything happens for a reason!” said Chapman.
Abbey looked at the forest sweeping by and hoped that was true.
When they were about two hours from Atlanta, they approached a multi-lane junction, with highways crossing left and right above them. The road they were on which passed underneath, appeared dark.
“Is it just me or does that look wrong under the highway up ahead,” said Fiona. “How’s it look Cal?” she shouted.
Cal felt the back of his neck. “Something’s there,” he shouted. He could just about make out layers of what looked like gray streaks which crossed the road as it went under the overpass. There were so many of them that no light from the other side was getting through. The convoy stopped.
Zach clicked on his radio. “Abbey when you left the city did you come past this? Over.”
“I came up from the south, didn’t pass through here. But there’s an E.L.F ahead of us, I’m getting out to see. Over.”
Zach swore to himself. “Wait Abbey, I’ll come with you. Over.”
Zach got out as Abbey was walking past, and had to run a little to catch up with her. “Abbey, wait up.”
“You should probably hang back Zach, I don’t think we have encountered whatever this is before.”
Zach looked into what seemed to be fine netting blanketing the way forward. “It looks like a spi…” before he could finish, a white piece of what looked like twine stretched out from the others wrapping around Abbey and pulled her forward through the air into the darkness.
“Abbey!” Zach shouted, raising his gun but not knowing what to shoot at.
Abbey passed through multiple layers until she was inside a large open space, full of tiny points of light, that pulsed and moved along strands. She felt like she was inside the mind of a machine, with electrons flying around the network. Concentrating, she allowed herself to relax and her mind to move outwards, soon the strand that was holding her loosened, and she was lowered softly to the ground. Like dark clouds clearing in a storm, the thick blanket of material slid to the sides, until light from the other side of the highway became more and more visible. Shortly afterwards whatever E.L.F this was, was holding back to the sides of the pillars which held up the highways above.
