“Did they find anything?” Richards asked.
Dani looked at the old man and nodded. “They found me.”
“Good Lord,” Richards said, his jaw dropping. “What happened?”
“I followed them around the city,” Dani said. “I knew it was dangerous but this was the first thing we’d seen in months. First sign of anything, of any life beyond the survivors that I knew.”
Cody held up a hand, like he was back in school.
“But there was no trace of anything up there,” he said. “I remember hearing it on the news at the time, back when the Black Storm first showed up. NASA, all those people in the know, they checked to see if anything was…”
“Just because we can’t find something on our screens,” Harry said, “doesn’t mean it’s not there. Not if it doesn’t want to be seen.”
“What happened next?” Crazy Diamond asked.
“They spotted me hiding,” Dani said. “One of the machines released some sort of hook from its body and I was locked in its grip. I was trapped and it was real strong. Next thing I remember, I was standing underneath those jagged wings looking up and thinking how much bigger that ship looked up close.”
“My goodness,” Richards said.
Dani nodded.
“It brought me up the ramp,” she said. “The doors slid open. And there was someone there inside the ship. Somebody was waiting for me.”
“Who?” Richards said. “What did you see?”
“I can’t remember much,” Dani said. “It’s fuzzy. Just blurry images – the outline of a tall man or something like a man. He was bigger than a basketball player, that’s for sure. I was strapped down on this countertop thing and he stood over me. Cold – I was so cold. The man – the thing’s features were hidden in the white lights that came down from the ceiling. I felt like I was an animal in a zoo. Felt scared.”
“This person,” Richards said. “This thing. Did they speak?”
“It spoke to me in English,” Dani said.
“What did it say?” Cody said.
Dani looked at Rachel briefly.
“You are not the girl.”
Nick jumped forward in his seat again. “Say what?”
Dani nodded. “It said that I wasn’t the girl.”
“She got lucky,” Harry said. His face was deadly serious. “Real lucky. We’ve had to fill in the blanks but the way I see it, they weren’t on killing duty that day. These things she saw. They were looking for something. Someone.”
“A girl?” Crazy Diamond said.
Harry looked over at Rachel and nodded. There was a hint of concern in his eyes.
“A girl like you sweetie,” he said.
Cody felt like someone had just pulled a rug out from under his feet.
“What are you talking about?” he said.
“If you folks ask me,” Harry said, “that’s the reason why your plane didn’t crash. The Black Widow brought you back because you had a special piece of cargo on board.”
“Are you serious?” Crazy Diamond said.
It was Layla who cut in from afar. “You’re alive aren’t you?” she said. “You should have died when she hijacked your plane. Just like all those other poor bastards who tried to fly out of here. I doubt it’s because of your movie star buddies sweetheart. It’s because of that girl right there.”
Richards leaned forwards onto the edge of the bench. He was looking intently at Harry.
“What is the Black Storm?” Richards said.
“Our best guess?” Harry said. “It’s like a computer program, designed by something far beyond our technological comprehension. The Black Widow is one part of that program. Same with the Sliders and everything else that took us by surprise.”
“And the technology has matured,” Layla said, looking over in their direction. “The Sliders are here to finish what the Black Widow started. They kill faster. Whoever’s doing this to us, it looks like they’re in a hurry to knock off work.”
Cody was staring into blank space.
“Yeah,” he said. “It all makes sense.”
Nick looked at him with a puzzled expression. “What makes sense?
“It is intelligent,” Cody said. “I just remembered something that happened when we were driving to the airport.”
“What are you talking about?” Nick said.
“The Black Widow appeared in my car,” Cody said, looking at Nick. “In the passenger seat. And she was pretending to be Kate, trying to talk me into crashing the car – into killing myself and Rachel. But the first time she came to me, she didn’t mention Rachel, not one time. That triggered me. I told her – what sort of mother doesn’t give a shit about her daughter? Well that got rid of her for a while. Then she came back. And second time around? She couldn’t stop saying Rachel’s name. Do you understand what I’m saying? It was like it had learned. Evolved. It was trying to get better at killing me.”
Nick grimaced. “That’s creepy,” he said. He looked at Harry. “What are we fighting here? And what chance do we have?”
“Of winning?” Harry said.
“Yeah.”
“None.”
Nick nodded, like it was the answer he’d been expecting to hear.
“Why us?” he asked.
Harry pulled out another cigarette and tapped it off the pack.
“You ever stood on an ant?” he said, looking at Nick. “Did you feel the need to justify yourself to it?”
Cody locked an arm around Rachel’s shoulders. There was a cold, uncomfortable sensation gnawing away at his insides.
“You’re the Resistance,” he said to Harry. “How do you resist?”
There was a look of resignation in Harry’s eyes.
“This isn’t a fight my friends,” he said. “It’s not a war either. What are we doing? We’re just avoiding the extinction of the human race for as long as we can. What is the Resistance? It’s our stubborn refusal to die. Pissing them off for a while – that’s the best we can hope for.”
Harry stood up and dusted himself down for crumbs.
“Now with those sparkling prospects in mind,” he said. “How about it comrades? Will you join the Resistance? That’s why we brought you here after all. And if whoever’s behind all this is looking for Rachel, we’ll do everything we can to protect her. Trust me on that one Cody. You’ve got a better chance if you stick with us.”
Cody looked at Rachel. She was sitting on the bench finishing up the last of her oatmeal. She hadn’t reacted to anything. He wondered if she’d been listening closely to everything Harry had said.
“Well?” Harry said, looking at his guests. “What do you think?”
Cody was about to respond when the roar of an angry car engine shattered the silence.
Everyone inside the hall jumped to their feet. Plates were dropped. Worried faces looked towards the front door.
“What’s that?” Cody said, spinning towards the door. “Your people?”
Harry’s skin was pale. His eyes were like two giant saucers staring into the abyss.
“All my people are inside this building,” he said.
Chapter Eight
“Get out of here!” Harry yelled.
Lines of people quickly got busy passing out the weapons they’d stashed in dozens of wooden crates at the back of the Alamo. Rifles and pistols were handed out. Those who didn’t take a weapon dealt with crucial items of baggage that had to be moved during the evacuation. Others dealt with food salvaging. It was rushed but orderly. Everybody seemed to know what to do except Cody and the others who stood in shocked silence. Their bags were taken off them with a promise that they would be put in a safe place and collected later.
A fierce-looking man with a shaved head rushed past Cody with a black and brown AK-47 strapped around his shoulders. A young woman with flaming red hair was close on his heels, carrying the same weapon in her arms. They moved towards the front door. Cody guessed they were scouts, tasked with taking a look outside.
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“Okay everyone,” Harry said. He spun around doing a 360, taking a look as if to make sure everyone was listening. “You know the drill. Out the back door. You know where we’re going – the next hideout. Just a brisk run. Good exercise folks.”
“Who the hell is out there?” Layla asked, looking towards the front door. Her eyes were spilling over with rage. “Who the hell followed us?”
“Don’t know,” Harry said. “Let’s not stick around to find out.”
Layla slammed her rifle butt off the ground. “Bastards.”
Harry pointed to Cody and the others.
“Don’t look so worried,” he said. “We have a bunker located nearby. We’re going to Denny’s folks! Once we get there, we’re going to be invisible for a while. It’s just a short run so old-timers and slowpokes – do your best to stick with the pack. We’ll be underground before anyone knows it.”
Harry looked around the Alamo one last time.
“Everyone ready?” he said.
The reply was unanimous. “Ready!”
“Let’s go!” a stocky Latino-looking woman called out. She had a ferocious voice that commanded respect. Clapping her hands together, she moved with the focus of a highly skilled sheepdog, steering the sheep towards the back of the building.
Everyone moved as quickly as they could. Cody, Rachel, Nick, Crazy Diamond and Richards did likewise. They filed through the back door into the garden area.
The sound of screeching brakes nearby was earsplitting. Doors opening. Doors slamming shut.
The two scouts emerged from the side of the building. They caught up with Harry and the fleeing Resistance crew.
“Two vans,” the shaven-headed man said to Harry, keeping his eyes straight ahead. “Big ones.”
“Keep moving,” Harry said. “Don’t slow down.”
They ran through the overgrown gardens behind the building. The flowerbeds were empty or cluttered with trash that had been swept along by the wind. Long grass and weeds spilled over the edge onto the pathways.
From the Alamo, the Resistance ran onto East Crockett Street. They moved forward in one long line, a single procession with their feet tapping lightly off the concrete. The strongest and fittest, and those with weapons kept to the back of the procession as a last line of defense. The Resistance kept to the sidewalk, tucked up next to a burned out multistory building that might once have been an apartment block.
They ran past the landmark six-story Crockett Hotel.
Richards was slowing down. Cody could hear him at his back, breathing heavy and struggling with the pace of the group. Turning around, Cody saw that both Crazy Diamond and Nick had slowed down to help Richards. Crazy Diamond wrapped her arm around the old man’s shoulders and encouraged him to push harder.
“Go!” Nick said, when he saw that Cody was slowing down to check on their progress. “Get Rachel to the hideout.”
Nick slowed down further, allowing Crazy Diamond and Richards to run ahead of him. He covered their backs, his rifle pointing off into the darkness.
The Resistance took a right onto Bowie Street. Cody’s heart leapt with joy when he saw the large Denny’s sign up ahead. It was indeed a well-placed bunker, located just a few minutes run from the Alamo. Cody wondered how many other emergency locations the Resistance had scattered around the city.
Cody saw the Latino woman lead the procession through the empty Denny’s car park. She reached the door first and wrapped her fingers around the handle. Looking over her shoulder, she waited for the others to catch up.
A set of squealing tires skidded around a sharp corner up ahead. Three sets of blinding headlights came racing down Bowie Street at high speed, heading straight for the stunned crowd gathered outside Denny’s.
“Shit!” Harry said, stopping dead. “They’re trying to surround us.”
Layla pulled up beside him.
“Three vans?” she said. “Where are they coming from?”
“Looks like Denny’s is off the menu,” Harry said. He ran up to the edge of the car park and stared in horror as the three vans sped down the street towards them.
When Harry turned around, his eyes were wild with fright. He clasped his hands over his head, crushing his baseball cap in the process.
“What have I done?” he said.
Layla was pacing back and forth at her father’s side like a caged animal.
“What do we do now?” she said. “Dad, we’ve got like two seconds to come up with a plan.”
Harry’s face had dulled to a sickly gray color. He hadn’t exactly been the picture of health before but now he looked like death warmed up. Still there was a defiant look in his eyes as he turned to his daughter.
He wasn’t beaten yet.
“We’ll be alright,” he said, touching her shoulder.
Harry ran back over to the crowd. The Resistance crew were still standing outside Denny’s, like a colony of rabbits trapped in the oncoming headlights of the three vans. Everyone appeared to be in shock. Cody was surprised to see that even though some of them had weapons in their hands, it didn’t look like they were willing to use them. There didn’t seem to be any fight in the Resistance.
“Keep moving,” Harry yelled. “Follow me. Into the mall!”
Harry and Layla ran across Bowie Street and the rest of the Resistance followed. Cody ran alongside them, keeping Rachel hidden amongst the huddle of fast-moving bodies. There were various pieces of rubble on the road that they had to skip over. Bricks mostly, but Cody noticed amongst other things, a set of large padded headphones and a plastic doll’s head.
Richards sounded like a man on the brink of exhaustion. Crazy Diamond was by now literally dragging him across the street. His body was broken. Nick was still at their back, pointing his rifle at the vans that had almost caught up with them. Cody wished that some of the other Resistance soldiers – those with weapons – would stand with Nick and start firing at the vans. At least that would buy them time. But nobody wanted to fight – they were only interested in running away.
It wasn’t just Richards slowing them down. The older Resistance members were struggling to keep up. They were lagging behind, forcing others to turn back, retrace their steps and help.
The headlights shone brighter at their backs. The vans were getting closer.
“Forget the mall,” a woman cried out. “‘Make for the river instead. Force them off the road.”
“No,” a man replied. “We’re not going to win a footrace against anyone.”
“To the mall,” Harry said.
The Resistance closed in on the Shops at Rivercenter mall. Just as they did, two other vans appeared in the distance up ahead. They were speeding towards the mall, one van on either side of the road like they were racing against one another. Now the Resistance was trapped on both sides – they had three vans at their backs and two in front.
There were cries of despair from within the Resistance line.
Harry and Layla slowed down to a jog. Eventually they stopped and held their hands up in surrender. Most of the others did likewise.
It was over.
Five Mercedes Sprinter vans rolled up outside the Shops at Rivercenter mall. There were two silver vans and three black – they were long and fast and bulky vehicles. Big and reliable. Cody could see the outline of dark shapes sitting inside all five of the Sprinter cabins. None of the people sitting there got out immediately. There were double cabs located at the front of all five vans, which meant two rows of people. More people. That wasn’t good.
The vans’ diesel engines growled in unison.
“Oh shit,” Harry said, walking away from the mall entrance. He kept his hands up. “Now we’re in trouble.”
Layla pointed her rifle at the nearest van. “Last option available,” she said. “We shoot the bastards.”
Harry pushed the barrel of Layla’s rifle down.
“Take it easy,” he said. “You want to get everyone killed?”
Nick stepped forward.
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“What the hell are you talking about Harry?” he said. “It’s time to resist for God’s sake. Look – that’s just people sitting in those vans. I don’t see no spaceships or little green men coming after us with laser pistols, do you? Grow a pair old man. We’ve got guns. We’ve got the numbers to fight them.”
Before Harry could respond, there was a sharp clicking noise. One of the van doors was pushed open and several people stepped out onto the street. Three men and two women, all approximately in their mid-thirties, made their way towards the side of the vehicle’s bonnet. To Cody’s surprise, those who had been pursuing them were dressed like everyday office workers, albeit a bit on the black side. Both the men and women wore dark, tight-fitting suits with black ties hanging down the front. It was a smart and deadly uniform – all five of them carried a pistol at their sides. The gun was low, but ready.
More van doors opened. More people stepped onto the road. They were dressed in the same manner as the others – the office funeral look. Grim and tidy. They had guns too, either pistols or rifles that hung at their sides. Cody wasn’t sure why they weren’t pointing their weapons at the Resistance. They looked a little too relaxed.
The last man to step outside wasn’t armed. The other suits immediately stepped to the side, opening up a path for him to cut through the middle.
This man walked amidst the tunnels of light cast by the headlights. He was a strikingly handsome man with a chiseled jawline and slicked back, blondish-brown hair that ran down to the back of his neck. He was probably in his late forties or early fifties and with his sharp silver-gray suit, he stood in contrast to the darker clothes of his companions.
Cody noticed a crescent-shaped scar underneath his bottom lip.
“Hello,” the man said. His voice was like a sharp blade that cut through the air. “That was a good chase – a worthy effort on your part. I enjoyed that.”
The Exterminators Trilogy: A Post-Apocalyptic Thriller Box Set Page 21
