by M. Van
“Wanna try the roof,” she said as if it didn’t make any difference to her. I couldn’t contain a smile at that.
“I’ll go first,” I said and eased the backpack off my shoulders again. I pushed it through the window, careful not to disturb the zombies clambering by. Without too much trouble, I placed it overhead onto the roof and started to lift my body after it. The hefty wind coming from the rotors nearly took me off balance, but I managed to climb out. Zombies brushed my leg as I lifted myself onto the roof. I waved a quick hand at Angie before I made my way to the other side of the car.
Standing on the roof, the zombie parade seemed even more massive than from the inside. The entire square had filled with shuffling bodies. Zombies in all shapes and sizes roamed the marketplace. I could tell they weren’t from around here by the state of their rotten flesh. A few new ones roamed the crowd, but most seemed to have been infected for a while and had traveled quite a distance. Even their clothes hadn’t fared well.
Ash had managed to lift her butt onto the open windowsill, and although she had gained strength in her arms, I could tell she had trouble lifting her weight onto the roof. I grabbed her arm and guided it around my neck. She gave me a halfhearted smile. I knew she appreciated the help but didn’t appreciate the fact she needed it. She was still a stubborn kid, although I would never call her that.
Gunfire drew my attention to the street we had come from. A truck moved in slow motion through the crowd of zombies. Soldiers on the roof of the truck fired their weapons at the infected trying to claw their way up the truck. A few of them had clambered onto the hood, but bullets forced their bodies off balance before they disappeared into a wave of zombies. Angie was right; we didn’t have much time. The soldiers would soon reach the Knight, and if they didn’t, they might change their minds about capturing us alive. It could mean they’d start shooting at us or even at the chopper.
I lifted Ash up onto the roof and helped her shoulder her backpack. Not long after, the chopper maneuvered over us and lowered, before a rope landed with a thud on the roof of the Knight. I looked up and saw Angie’s gesture to climb. The sight of the rope made my throat tighten. Climbing had never been one of my virtues. I was never one to carry my own weight, let alone with a paralyzed kid hanging off my back.
Shots were fired, and I ducked in a reflex. I could feel the air displacement made by the bullets. Over my shoulder, I saw my assumption had turned to reality. Some of the soldiers had aimed their weapons at us. They finally figured out the chopper wasn’t on their side.
I slid my backpack over my chest and turned my back to Ash so she could wrap her arms around my neck.
“Don’t you dare let go,” I shouted over the noise of the engine roaring over my head. Ash didn’t answer, but I felt her arms tighten her grip.
I took hold of the rope and managed to lift myself up, tangling my legs so the rope gave me some leverage to distribute my weight, but it didn’t take long for my arms to start burning.
Again, shots were fired, but this time I couldn’t hide. We hung on that rope like a sack of potatoes ready to be used as target practice. Dangling back and forth, I climbed a few more feet and looked up to see what I presumed to be Angie keeping an eye on us while Mars returned fire.
Angie lifted the mic to her mouth and said, “We’re moving. Just hang on.”
And that’s what I did—I stopped climbing and hung on.
The chopper lifted us high above the town where it turned and started to move away. I glanced down to see the Knight engulfed by the mass of zombies, its headlights still on. My heart ached a little to know the machine that had kept us safe sat there discarded like a piece of junk.
Ash clung to me as if her life depended on it. I wished I could have held on to her, but I had enough trouble maintaining my grip. She had to do it on her own.
“You okay,” I shouted over the sound of the rotors.
“Ask me when we land,” she shouted back. As she said it, I felt a tug on the rope. I looked up and saw a winch pull us up.
“I don’t think we’ll be landing soon,” I said as the countryside flashed by me in a haze of dark shapes.
I strained my muscles, putting everything into holding on to that rope. The rush of unidentifiable images passing in front of my eyes started to make me sick to my stomach, and I closed my eyes. Fortunately, it didn’t take long for the winch to pull us up. Close to the ledge, I felt strong arms lift and drag us inside the cabin.
Part Two
Cheyenne
| 14
The door of the chopper slammed shut as I lay panting inside the cabin, waiting for the feeling to return to my arms and legs. The effort of hanging on to the rope had drained my energy, and I felt numb. Ash still clung on to my back and hadn’t moved, while my backpack uncomfortably pressed against my chest. When I managed to lift my head, I saw three sets of helmets ogle me through tinted visors. With my thumb, I motioned to Ash.
“Can someone … release … my load,” I asked in a raspy voice. It didn’t take the helmets long to start moving. I couldn't tell who was who, but someone lifted Ash from my back and sat her in a seat. Strong arms helped me off the ground and guided me to one of the other seats. I wasn’t surprise when the visor lifted, and a set of jade green eyes peered into mine. His beautiful smile set off a row of white teeth against his dark skin. I had almost forgotten what a great smile Mars had.
“Hi,” he said in a casual tone, “long time no see.” My emotions running wild were ready for my mouth to break out into wide grin and throw my arms around him, but my Dutch “just-act-normal, that’s-crazy-enough” habit kicked in. That gave my mind a mental kick, and I settled for a nervous, but tentative smile. It didn’t stop Mars’s smile from growing brighter as he leaned in, placing his lips on mine. It turned out Angie’s statement on the mic had not been overstated.
In the back of my mind, it was exactly what I had hoped for, but his sudden gesture of affection shocked me, and I froze. As he pulled back, I could feel the heat rise up my neck and settle in my cheeks.
“Hi,” I said and sensed the tiny quiver in my voice. For a moment, he watched me thoughtfully through narrowed eyes and then grinned.
“Hi,” he replied as he buckled my seatbelt without taking his eyes off mine.
This pitiful exchange of words made my heart pound, and I felt sure my face was the color of a tomato. I tried to find something other than his smile to focus on as he took a seat across from me.
Angie had Ash strapped in after they’d hugged and settled into a seat. The third person still had his visor on as he spoke into a mic.
“All settled, get us home.”
I reached out to Ash who sat next to me, to check if she were okay, and she gave me her usual shrug. Then I turned to our rescuers.
“Thanks for getting us out,” I shouted and added, “again.” Angie waved me off as if it were all part of the job, and maybe for them it was. “What’s going on, and where are you taking us?” I asked.
The rotor noise inside the chopper was pretty loud, and Mars handed Ash and me a couple of headsets. I repeated my question after I put them on, and Mars answered.
“We’re heading for Cheyenne Mountain complex,” he said. “I’ll explain once we’re on the ground.” He pointed a finger into the air and waved it around. The headset made it easier to talk than without it, but Mars was right: the static in my ears and the noise level was enough to make a conversation hard to follow. Still, I found it hard to just sit there and watch. Besides, the nerves that ran through my body made it impossible to keep my mouth shut.
“How’ve you been?” I asked. Three heads perked up to look at me. Mars, Angie, and Ash all gazed at me, and even the guy with the visor still down shifted his head.
“Open coms,” Mars said with a smirk. “You have to mention a name if you want to talk to someone specific.” With that, I felt the heat in my cheeks resurface and smiled nervously.
“It won’t be long before we get there,” Mars added.
I stared out the window, trying to make out some of the landscape. The darkness outside made this almost impossible. By the helicopter lights reflecting back to me, I could tell we passed over a body of water, but most of the time I stared at my own reflection in the window.
A surreal feeling washed over me. This morning I was more than excited about going home, exited to see my family again, eager to introduce Ash, and now we were on the run again. It made this reunion with Mars feel somewhat like a disappointment, and although I didn’t want it to be, I couldn’t help feeling this way. Staring at my own reflection in the window didn’t help much either.
My hair had grown a couple of inches but looked like a dark-blond mess. The gaunter features of my face had disappeared since we’d last met, but it was hard to see anything Mars would like. He had kissed me twice now, and although that should make me feel better about myself, why did it feel like such a hard sell?
I leaned back in my seat and let the thoughts settle in my head. I had a feeling things were about to get hectic, and I needed a clear head. It wasn’t long after I closed my eyes that the monotone sound of the rotors helped me doze off.
The descent of the helicopter woke me up. Outside, darkness still ruled, and I could see nothing of the mountain complex Mars had mentioned. I knew of it and had seen it plenty of times on TV shows. The mountain that I knew held a vast network of tunnels and whatnot to accommodate, among other things, NORAD. I couldn’t remember what the letters meant, but I knew they monitored the skies in and around the United States. Built some fifty years ago, it could withstand the threat of nuclear devastation.
The chopper landed on what looked like an airstrip. The lights lining the tarmac and illuminating a couple of buildings reminded me of the airport in Jackson we had escaped from. The thought of Dr. David and what he would be up to made me shiver, and I pushed him from my mind.
After Mars helped me get out, I waited at the door of the chopper for Ash. She took her time sitting in the open door, gazing up at the sky.
“Come on already,” I said impatiently, but had to smile at the big blue eyes taking in the beauty of the vast range of stars. It was probably because Ash was raised in the city and hadn’t been out much in open areas deprived of city lights that she was so fascinated by the sight. It seemed she could never get enough of a starlit sky.
“Chill out, will ya,” she said with a sneer. “I’m comin’.” She wrapped her arms around my neck, and I lifted her out of the chopper. I drew in a deep breath of fresh air and looked around the airstrip. In the distance I could see lights coming from several guard posts and a fence surrounding the property.
Mars and Angie stood waiting for us at a blue transfer bus with dark-tinted windows, along with the man who had spoken with the pilot earlier. They had all taken off their helmets. The third man was middle-aged, and he stood with that military posture that for all I knew could have been another FBI agent. With all the cloak-and-dagger shit I had witnessed the past year, I wasn’t happy to trust my first instincts on meeting people anymore.
Angie had her dark hair braided from the top of her head down to her shoulders, molded into what I assumed to be her signature-style Mohawk. She looked short standing next to Mars. His height made him seem lanky, but from my own limited experience I had gathered he was anything but lanky. The thought of Mars’s strong arms wrapped around me after he had saved us in Florida made me grin.
The rotors of the helicopter started to spin again as I walked to the bus. They increased speed with every one of my steps until the machine lifted into the air and took off.
Mars seemed in an animated conversation with the middle-aged man who now looked angry. Only when the sound of the chopper had decreased, I picked up on what they were saying.
“You shouldn’t have let them on board,” the man said in a venomous tone. “If they had been infected, they could have brought the chopper down.”
“But they aren’t infected,” Mars said.
It didn’t take a genius to understand they were talking about us. The man’s words made sense; it would have been irresponsible to lift us onto the chopper if it weren’t for the fact Ash and I couldn’t turn, but it seemed as if the man didn’t know that.
“I think we have a fan,” Ash whispered near my ear. I nodded and shifted her higher up my back as I stepped closer.
“Mags, Ash,” Angie started to say, “this is Sergeant Francis Tyler of the United States Air Force—he is stationed here at Cheyenne Mountain complex.”
My assumption he was military turned out to be correct, and I felt glad that I hadn’t lost my entire sense of intuition. Sergeant Tyler stuck out his hand to shake, and I managed to take it without letting go of Ash’s leg.
“Pleased to meet you,” Sergeant Tyler said while he switched hands to Ash. “Before we can enter the base, I need you to know a couple of things.”
“Go inside where?” Ash asked before the man could say anything else. She shifted, and I knew she was looking around for a building large enough to be called a base. Tyler glared at us and then turned to Mars.
“You said they had been briefed,” he said. Mars cleared his throat and placed an arm around the man’s shoulder to pull him aside.
“Hey,” Ash exclaimed as Angie poked her in the side, “don’t do that.”
“Shut up, kid, and listen,” Angie said.
“I’m not a ki—” Ash broke off her sentence at the look Angie gave her. It amazed me that Angie could do that and made a mental note to ask her how that worked.
“They think you’re working with us to get Warren,” Angie said in a hushed tone. “For now, just keep your mouth shut—both of you—and we’ll explain later.”
“Who’s ‘they’—” I started to say but shut my mouth as her eyes caught mine. She really had to tell me how to do that.
A moment later Mars returned with Tyler, and it seemed as if he’d been able to reassure the man.
“Right,” Tyler said as if nothing had happened. “Rule number one, listen and do everything you are told. Rule number two, don’t wander off—stick with the group. Everything else will be explained as we go.”
Hesitant to answer, I glanced at Angie while Tyler looked at us expectantly.
“Affirmative, sir,” Ash said, throwing a hand to her head in a salute. Tyler grunted something and turned to enter the bus.
I chanced a glance at Mars. He shrugged and smiled with that calmness that seemed to cling to him. Angie motioned us to follow her into the bus, and we did.
After I dropped Ash into a seat next to Angie, I found a seat at the back of the bus. I should probably have been more joyous for making it out of Jackson, but the disappointment of not being able to go home hurt. Before all this zombie crap happened, I wasn’t too eager to go home. It would have meant I’d be dead by now, and back then I couldn’t face the fact of my family watching me wither away.
A zombie sinking its teeth in me had changed all that. The virus it carried had some strange reaction on the cancer that had been eating me alive. Getting infected along with meeting Ash were probably the best things that had ever happened to me, and I wanted to share them with my family, people I loved and loved me back. That wasn’t going to happen now, but even so, I felt jitters reeling inside my belly as I noticed Mars talking to the driver.
I slumped in my seat and closed my eyes as the engine of the bus rumbled to life. It wasn’t long until we stopped, and I heard Mars’s voice talk to what I presumed to be a guard at a guard post. I didn’t bother to open my eyes. Ash’s excited voice filtered in next, alternating with Angie’s. They were exchanging stories about what had happened after we’d all escaped from Dr. David’s lab in Florida before it had exploded and we’d parted ways.
Despite the sleep I caught on the chopper, I still felt exhausted. My head pounded, and I wasn’t in the mood to enter the banter, so I shut them out.
I jerked up as I sensed someone at my side—my heart hammered in my throat, and I refle
xively flung out my arm. It hit something other than the back of a seat.
“Easy,” a familiar, calming voice said. In the dark, I found Mars sitting next to me. His presence didn’t settle the pounding of my heart, but I felt my body relax some and shafted in my seat to face him.
“Sorry, didn’t mean to startle you,” he said.
“I’m not … you didn’t …” I said. I fumbled the words and apparently, that amused him.
He chuckled as he replied, “So you punch everyone in the face after waking up.”
I blinked and felt a blush creep up my face.
“Sorry,” I said, and I folded my hands on my lap. He lifted his hand to my face, and I managed not to pull away when he traced the burn-like scar that ran from my left temple down to my jaw. It was actually more of a faint line, and I didn’t think he’d be able to see in the dim lights of the bus, so he must have remembered. For me the memories of crashing that truck on I-678 were still very vivid.
“I had kind of hoped you’d be happier to see me,” he said. His bluntness surprised, me and although bluntness was something the Dutch seemed notorious for, it caught me off guard.
“I am,” I said in a nervous reply. Then I let out a breath of air, “I just hoped …”
“You wanted to go home.”
I raise my eyebrows at him. How had he known about that? But then, how had he known where to find us?
“We knew about your dad’s plane,” he said. “It’ll be explained later. I just …” Mars huffed out a breath. The gesture made me smile. This was a side of him I hadn’t seen before.
“And you were such a smooth talker when we met,” I said playfully.
“That was just the redirecting of nerves in the face of certain death by zombie,” he said and grinned. “In normal life I’m just like the average male and have no idea what to say.”
“Well, that makes two of us then …” I said and paused to figure out if I had just said I resembled the average male. “I mean, know what to say … I mean not know.” I huffed in frustration, and as I fumbled, the words made me feel like the tourist I probably still was.
