Afterburn: A Post-Apocalyptic Thriller (Next Book 1)
Page 20
“No way.” Stephen reached for the captain. “She’s part of the family. That was the deal—”
One of the soldiers shoved Stephen against the wall and ripped his rifle away. Stephen lunged forward, his fists balled, and the other soldier drove the butt of his M16 into Stephen’s stomach. The blow pushed all the air from his lungs and he hung there for a horrifying moment, wobbling, wondering if he’d ever breathe again and whether he’d puke in front of Marina, and then he was on all fours on the cool concrete floor, slobber dripping from his mouth.
Marina called his name, which made him feel a little better, but not much. He tried to stand, but his muscles were watery mud.
“No!” Kokona said. “Don’t hurt him. I surrender.”
The captain frowned as if unsure what to do next.
“You’ll forgive me if I don’t raise my arms like I’m supposed to,” Kokona said. “I’m just a baby.”
Antonelli ripped the blankets away and a silver blur flew up toward his face.
The missing bird…
In that split-second, Stephen realized the bird must have reassembled itself. And either it had found Kokona, or Marina had retrieved it for the mutant baby.
It darted straight for the captain’s face, a high keening whine filling the room. The captain ducked to the side but the projectile grazed his cheek, dribbling blood in its wake.
One of the soldiers sprayed a burst of gunfire, deafening them all, bullets ricocheting off the hard walls.
“Hold fire!” the captain roared, flipping the blanket to use it as a net. The wool swept over the bird but it punched through the fabric and turned, its cold eyes reflecting the fiery gleam of Kokona’s eyes.
The soldiers had forgotten Stephen in the confusion. He scooped his rifle from the floor, barrel first, and gave a weak swing as the bird flitted by.
Strike one.
The captain tossed the blanket at the bird but missed, and one of the soldiers futilely jabbed at the hellish fowl with a knife.
Stephen stepped forward and swung again, drawing on muscle memory from Little League. He had more muscle now but not much memory, and the swing was off by inches.
Strike two.
Kokona’s gleeful laugh only added to the chaos, and Marina called Stephen’s name again.
He ignored her. The game was on the line.
The bird skimmed the helmet of one of the soldiers, knocking it to the floor. The other soldier retreated for the safety of the hall. That gave Stephen enough elbow room to rock his weight onto his back foot and concentrate—chubby coach clapping encouragement in his mind—and then shift smoothly forward with the eye on the ball and—
Smack.
The pieces scattered across the room, tinkling off the masonry walls and the steel frames of the bunk. A small fragment struck Marina, causing her to yelp.
When the calamity died down, the captain regained his composure and said to Kokona, “Any more tricks?”
She smiled and batted her plump fingers together. Her eyes glittered red and orange. “I’m at your mercy, Captain.”
The captain ordered Marina and Stephen out of the room. “Conduct a thorough search,” the captain said to the remaining soldier. “Then seal off this room and stand guard.”
The soldier, a young man barely old enough to shave and so white-faced from the action that Stephen thought he might pass out, swallowed hard and nodded. “Yes, sir.”
“No one in or out. Nobody talks to her without my permission.”
Kokona looked up from the bed, her sleeper rumpled, her tiny toes curled. “Don’t worry. I’m not going anywhere. In fact, Captain, my basic existence hasn’t changed a bit. I’m still just a mutant baby stuck in a bunker.
The captain scowled as if he wished he could think up some kind of harsh punishment to dispense. Solitary confinement? Restrict rations? Take away potty privileges?
Stephen almost laughed with Kokona, but his gut throbbed and he didn’t know how to handle this new situation.
If only Rachel and DeVontay were here…
As the captain closed the door and looked through the little window at his captive, Stephen realized Franklin was their only hope.
And that wasn’t much hope at all.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
“Radio Field Command and report the capture,” Capt. Antonelli said to Lt. Randall in the telecom room.
Randall shook his head, his eyes bloodshot. “What are we supposed to do now?” Randall said.
“Whatever the brass tells us to do,” Antonelli said. “This is war, not a tea party.”
“But if the baby was behind the bird attack—”
“I’ll worry about the ‘ifs,’ you just do your duty.”
“Yes, sir.”
Antonelli realized the lieutenant was as exhausted as he was and he regretted snapping at his XO. “After you deliver the message, put Johnson at the main entrance. No one in or out, I don’t care if it’s High President Murray in a red bikini. And then gather the scraps of that bird from the prisoner’s room and destroy them.”
“How do I do that?”
“The mess area. There’s a propane stove. Fry them back to hell.”
The lieutenant gave a crooked grin. “Chicken barbecue. I like it.”
“Let’s just hope the fumes aren’t toxic.”
That wiped the smile from the lieutenant’s face. Antonelli gave him a gentle pat on the shoulder and said, “If you survive that, stand down and get some shut-eye.”
“Oh, right. I’m sure I’ll sleep just fine given what we’ve seen lately.”
“Right now, two dozen of our comrades are sleeping out there with bugs licking their bones.” They both glanced at the monitors, which showed only a few drifting shadows beneath the eerie aurora.
“Yes, sir.”
“How’s Huynh?”
“Doing better. Man, his leg was real messed up. PFC Kelly must have a magic touch.”
Antonelli wondered if Randall was hinting at a sly tease, but decided to let it go. “She does her job. Now, get on the horn.”
Randall saluted and began connecting the radio to the battery array. He thought about looking in on Colleen, but she was sharing a room with three other soldiers, finally getting some sleep. The move would’ve been far too obvious and they had to be careful now. Secret affairs and bunkers didn’t mix.
“Captain.”
Oh, great. Just what I needed.
He turned to find Franklin coming down the hall, his feet bare, his stained longhandle underwear doing little to restrain his sagging rolls of old-man blubber. The man would have been almost comical, a Doomsday Santa Claus, if not for the snarl on his cracked lips.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Franklin said. “Stephen told me about that shit. That’s not the deal.”
“New deal, Mr. Wheeler.”
“You fucking traitor. We hauled your ass out of a bloodbath and let you guys make yourselves at home, and then you turn into the very government assholes that I was afraid you’d be.”
“It’s not my call. I’m acting under the guidance of my superiors.”
“Fuck me, I can’t believe I fell for your bullshit. If there’s one thing you can count on no matter how many times the world ends, it’s that the government is gonna fucking government.”
Antonelli forced himself to be patient. He could have the man restrained, toss his rumpled old ass in there with that tiny mutant freak, and even order his execution, but right now the captain just wanted things to settle down so he could get a clear read on the situation. “This isn’t about us. This is about the fate of the world, Mr. Wheeler. That means doing things we don’t necessarily like. But we have to trust in the larger mission.”
“We’re not part of—”
Antonelli motioned toward the front entrance and the big, hostile, insurgent world beyond its steel door. “You have two people still out there, correct? You might want to think about them, and whose side you want to be on her
e. You might want them to fall under the protection and care of the New Pentagon. You might think about the two teenagers and the sentence for sedition in a time of war.”
“You wouldn’t.” But Franklin looked at the captain’s face and knew that he would.
“We’re winning this war by whatever means necessary.”
Franklin’s gray brow furrowed and his face looked as if he’d aged ten years in the space of those few sentences. He turned and slumped back to wherever he was holed up with the teenagers.
Antonelli walked down the hall, made sure the main entrance was secure and the guard alert, and then went to Huynh’s room.
The Vietnamese soldier was sitting up in bed, his rifle broken down in parts around him, an oily rag in his lap. He was riding the blade of his bayonet along the rough metal edge of the bed frame, sharpening it.
Sniiffft sniiiffft sniiiffft.
He started to stand when Antonelli entered, but the captain motioned him to stay down.
“PFC Kelly told you to rest,” Antonelli said.
“I rest before. Now I finished.”
“Do you know how badly you were hurt? Do you remember anything?”
“Bird,” the man said. In the muted light of the room’s small overhead bulb, his skin looked sallow.
Not surprising, since he was dead not three hours ago.
“Yes, bird,” Antonelli said. He pressed his wrist to the man’s forehead, and the skin was cool. “No fever.”
“Ready for duty, sir.”
That was one phrase the man had memorized, drilled into him during New Pentagon’s basic training. HQ expected to defeat an advanced mutant civilization with a makeshift pack of volunteers who were former store clerks, school teachers, and short-order cooks.
“You’ll get your chance. We’re moving out in two days. Will you be able to walk?”
The man’s face creased in eagerness. “I walk. Make war on Zap.”
“That’s right, Private. Make the hell out of war on Zap.”
The captain and Colleen had wrapped a large, bulky bandage around Huynh’s leg, even though the wound had nearly closed. The white cotton even featured a few splotches of dried blood for authenticity. As far as the other soldiers would know, Huynh had really not been injured all that badly, Kelly had a magic touch, and Huynh was toughing it out for the greater glory of Earth Zero and the human race.
An inspiration to them all.
Antonelli inspected the rifle parts and saw they were polished to a prideful luster. This soldier was dedicated.
“Very well, then,” the captain said in parting. “Carry on.”
As the officer left, Huynh returned to sliding the bayonet blade across the bed frame, metal on metal, edge on edge.
Sniiiffft sniiiffft sniiiffft.
“Ready for duty, sir,” he whispered, a tiny gleam in his eye.
THE END
Look for the second book in the Next post-apocalyptic thriller series
EARTH ZERO
As the remnants of the human race mobilize for an attack on the mutants who have taken over the abandoned cities, a small band of survivors are caught in the middle of the conflict.
Rachel Wheeler’s own mutant abilities could make her a valuable resource for the new government and the army it has formed in the wake of the apocalypse. But the people who want to take back the world have a ruthless vision for the future, and a toxic planet is unleashing its rage in the form of deadly predators. Meanwhile, the mutants are evolving at an astonishing rate and establishing a social order that defies human control. When her group is drawn into the ultimate war, Rachel must decide whether to stay loyal to the ones she loves or fight for ideals she doesn’t fully embrace.
The top of the food chain is at stake, and the extinction of the human race may not be the worst possible outcome.
See it on Amazon US or Amazon UK
See how the apocalypse started!
Get After: The Shock free for Kindle.
AFTER: THE SHOCK
A massive solar storm erases the world's technological infrastructure and kills billions. While the remaining humans are struggling to adapt and survive, they notice that some among them have...changed.
Rachel Wheeler finds herself alone in the city, where violent survivors known as "Zapheads" roam the streets, killing and destroying. Her only hope is to reach the mountains, where her grandfather, a legendary survivalist, established a compound in preparation for Doomsday.
Other survivors are fleeing the city, but Zapheads aren't the only danger. Rogue bands of military soldiers want to impose their own order in the crumbling ruins of civilization. When Rachel discovers a 10-year-old boy, she vows to care for him even at the risk of her own life.
And the Zapheads are evolving, developing communal skills even as they lay waste to the society they will eventually replace.
After #0: First Light
After #1: The Shock
After #2: The Echo
After #3: Milepost 291
After#4: Whiteout
After #5: Red Scare
After #6: Dying Light
How another group of people faced After
ZAPHEADS #1: BONE AND CINDER
When Mackie Dailey survives a cataclysmic solar storm that wipes out civilization and mutates others into violent killers, he seeks out the one person he cares about most.
But when he returns to a college campus looking for Allie, he discovers she is a Zaphead—nearly unrecognizable as the human he once loved. Mackie becomes caught in a power struggle among a small group of survivors who turn the campus into a stronghold against the Zaphead threat. His old nemesis, Lucas Krider, has taken charge, but Krider’s vision of a new world is just as horrifying as the extinction they all face.
Will Mackie sacrifice himself so the group has a chance to survive, or will his demons turn out to be more dangerous than the strange, rampaging creatures that nature has unleashed?
See it at Amazon US or Amazon UK
About the Author:
Scott Nicholson is the international bestselling author of more than 20 thrillers, including The Home, McFall, Disintegration, Liquid Fear, Speed Dating with the Dead, and the After post-apocalyptic series. His books have appeared in the Kindle Top 100 more than a dozen times in five different countries. Visit his website at www.AuthorScottNicholson.com or his Amazon Author Central page
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VIEW OTHER KINDLE BOOKS BY SCOTT NICHOLSON:
Novels
After #0: First Light
After #1: The Shock
After #2: The Echo
After #3: Milepost 291
After#4: Whiteout
After #5: Red Scare
After #6: Dying Light
Next #2: Earth Zero
Next #3: Radiophobia
Zapheads #1: Bone and Cinder
Zapheads #2: Scars and Ashes
Zapheads #3: Blood and Frost
The Scarecrow (Solom #1)
The Narrow Gate (Solom #2)
The Preacher (Solom #3)
The Home
McFall
Creative Spirit
Disintegration
The Red Church
Speed Dating with the Dead
The Skull Ring
Drummer Boy
The Harvest
Kiss Me or Die
Liquid Fear
Chronic Fear
Cursed (with J.R. Rain)
Bad Blood (with J.R. Rain & H.T. Night)
Spider Web (with J.R. Rain)
Spider Bite (with J.R. Rain)
Ghost College (with J.R. Rain)
The Vampire Club (with J.R. Rain)
Meat Camp (with J.T. Warren)
Playin’ Possum (with Milton Bagby)
October Girls
Crime Beat
The Dead Love Longer
Fangs In Vain
Burial to Follow
Story Collection
s
Curtains
Flowers
Ashes
The First
Zombie Bits
Head Cases
Gateway Drug
Missing Pieces
These Things Happened
American Horror
Children’s Books
If I Were Your Monster (with Lee Davis)
Too Many Witches (with Lee Davis)
Ida Claire (with Lee Davis)
Duncan the Punkin (with Sergio Castro)
Bad Day for Balloons (with Sergio Castro)
BOX SETS
Ethereal Messenger
Mystery Dance
Horror Movies: Three Screenplays
Ghost Box: Six Supernatural Thrillers
Mad Stacks: Short Stories Box Set
Bad Stacks: Short Stories Box Set
Odd Stacks: Short Stories Box Set
VIEW U.K. KINDLE BOOKS BY SCOTT NICHOLSON:
Next #1: Afterburn
Next #2: Earth Zero
Next #3: Radiophobia
After: First Light
After #1: The Shock
After #2: The Echo
After: #3: Milepost 291
After #4: Whiteout
After #5: Red Scare
After #6: Dying Light
The Scarecrow (Solom #1)
The Narrow Gate (Solom #2)
The Preacher (Solom #3)
Zapheads #1: Bone and Cinder
Zapheads #2: Scars and Ashes
Zapheads #3: Blood and Frost
McFall
Liquid Fear
Chronic Fear
Creative Spirit
The Home
The Gorge
Disintegration
The Red Church
Speed Dating with the Dead