Sampson's Legacy: The Post-Apocalyptic Sequel To Legacy Of Ashes (Earth's Ashes Book 2)

by Ric Beard

  “I think there’s something wrong with you, Shaw.”

  “You have no idea. Okay, be my eyes, give me positions.”

  Jacob pointed his gloved hand in different directions.

  “I can’t see your hand. I don’t have my glasses.”

  “Circle around to your left. There’s a guy over there behind a truck. I’ll take care of the others.”

  “What, all of them?”

  “We have friends. Now go!”

  Lexi decided to forego a sarcastic salute before she launched from the cover of the tree a second time. Sprinting to put the trucks between herself and the campfire, she dove to her belly and spider-crawled underneath one, arm be damned. With the backlighting of the fire, she could see beneath each truck clearly.

  A pair of legs stood on the other side of the truck under which she was poised. She slid a knife out of her shoulder blade slot, wincing at the shock of fire from the bullet graze, and stepped closer.

  Lexi snarled as she readied the weapon and waited for a sustained rattle of gunfire to cover the impending sound.

  When it came, the blade slipped into the raider’s Achilles like she was cutting warm candle wax—a hobby she practiced at home to encourage meditation. By her design, the man’s scream couldn’t be heard as he reached for the wound and fell to his knees unnoticed by his comrades. Lexi rolled sideways, reached over, and slammed the knife into his temple as the moonlight cast his blood in black.

  One down.

  Another scream in the distance grabbed Lexi’s attention as another body thumped to the ground. Rolling back under the truck, she took up position on the other side and listened. She thrust the barrel of her rifle against one of the back tires and pulled the trigger. The rubber muffled the report, but there wasn’t anything she could do about the faint blue flash.

  During a lull in the gunfire, she heard a crack nearby. Duckwalking to the end of the truck, she slipped around to the front and slid under the troop carrier backed up to it. After blowing out a tire, she scanned the compound from ankle level. She looked up in time to see two men stop in the doorway of a building facing east, mistakenly protecting themselves from the assault coming from the south and west.

  Too bad for them, I’m coming from the east.

  Inside her scope, a targeting reticule locked onto the motion of one of the two men’s legs and flashed. Lexi pulled the trigger.

  Chapter Sixty-Nine

  A LOT WE COULD LEARN

  69

  The Shaw woman was crazy, but most of the fighters were on this side of the valley now. That should help Jacob keep her out of trouble until Sasha could reacquire her. Then he could go after Lucinda.

  Shaw managed to clip two standing in a doorway—Jacob had seen their bodies slump to the ground from the trucks. Now he was climbing the back of a building to get a view from the roof. When he reached the top, he found one of the enforcers had come up with the same idea. Jacob stared at the tip of his enemy’s barrel.

  The night vision on his glasses enhanced the enforcer’s wide smile as he tightened his grip on the weapon. Jacob dropped his hands to his side.

  “You all should’ve stayed out of the MidEast,” the man grumbled through his smile.

  The enforcer’s eyes jerked, the weapon slid from his grip, and he collapsed to his knees, his head lolling backward. Noting the silence between the barrages of rifle fire, Jacob shot toward the enforcer, clutched the front of his fatigues at the chest, and lowered him gently to the aluminum roof to avoid an untimely crash that might pinpoint his location. A shining silver knife protruded from the back of his neck.

  Jacob peered over the edge of the roof, across the open field leading to the defunct spotlights and the degrading fire, and spied Shaw, hauling ass toward the building where she’d dropped the two men moments earlier.

  How did she hit him from that far out?

  She stopped in the doorway and looked up.

  He waved a gesture of thanks, then realized she probably couldn’t see him in the dark. He took up position and covered the door through which she’d disappeared. Yanking the knife out of the man’s head, he stared in wonder at the way the shaft curved at the halfway point into a wide, stubby tip.

  There’s a lot we could learn from these people.

  A moment later, Jacob’s attention was snagged by the sound of crashing glass as a man came flying off the top floor of the structure Shaw had entered. His arms flailed as he seemed to flounder toward the ground in slow motion, his screams filling the night. His body bounced when it impacted the cold earth.

  Subtle.

  Shaw was little more than a shadow as her long body lingered inside the busted window frame, staring down at her latest victim.

  Jacob tapped the hidden mic in his shirt.

  “I see why you want to keep this woman,” he said.

  Moss didn’t answer and when Jacob saw a flurry of movement to his left, he understood why. A man stepped out from the cover of trees pawing over his shoulder at something, clapping at himself desperately, and spinning in a circle. He fell face first as Moss sprinted out from the tree cover, ripped his own blade out of the man’s back, and set off in pursuit of another enemy.

  Jacob watched him go and then turned his eyes to Lexi, but she’d already vanished.

  Peas in a pod.

  The inference of Moss killing the man at close quarters instead of disabling him was clear in Jacob’s mind.

  The chief is sick of people’s shit. Everyone dies today.

  Chapter Seventy

  NEUTRALIZED

  70

  Everyone dies today, Sasha thought.

  The implants in their ears had served them well.

  Sampson had confiscated the decoy receivers she and Jacob wore hooked over their ears, but she’d been able to hear Moss talking to her and Jacob the entire time she’d been standing near that campfire. When the flashbang rattled to the ground, her glasses had already been blacked out by a whispered voice command. At that point, it had just been a question of protecting Shaw. Even if Sampson De Le Court hadn’t taken her glasses, she doubted she’d have been able to warn Lexi in time, anyway. So she’d slapped her hand over the taller woman’s eyes, pushed her to the ground, and jumped on her.

  Even though pandemonium surrounded them, Sasha’s strange concern in the moment was that Shaw would feel her uneven breath, the rapid, thumping beats in her chest—not from the excitement of combat, but from finally being so close to her charge.

  What would Shaw have thought, had she known about the warmth surging through Sasha’s body as she lay atop the woman upon whom she’d spied for years in Triangle City, the one for whom she’d longed quietly while Moss delayed their introduction for the longest two years of Sasha’s life?

  Her body had forgone her training in that moment, and Sasha’s elation, as she ran for her life seeking out cover with the surge of joy rushing through her body, was a welcome surprise.

  Then she’d been pinned down, the price of covering Shaw as the ivory-skinned crazy woman recovered her weapon, and Sampson had slipped through the door of the mine. His escape was likely the product of his realization that many of his subordinates were about to be deader than leather, and that his only way out in one piece was to disappear into the depths of the mine.

  Sasha had leveled her weapon on him as he’d pushed Proctor through the doors ahead of him, but her attack produced only splintered wood as he’d vanished.

  “Shit.”

  A click popped in her ear. “Clear,” Jacob’s voice said.

  “Clear,” Moss said.

  “I’ve got one hunkering behind that truck at my ten o’clock.”

  “You sure?” Moss asked.

  Sasha nodded to herself. “Yeah, use infra. I can’t get him from this angle.”

  “Roger that, advocate.” Silence crept over the night as Sasha knelt, staring at the legs beneath the troop carrier. A quiet crack from the ridge rang out as a blue pulse screamed across the vall
ey and hit pay dirt.

  “Target neutralized,” Moss said.

  Sasha surveyed the figures littered about the field, the random booted feet jutting out from behind vehicles, their toes pointed at the sky, and bodies near doorways whose cover had been inadequate. She wondered if all these men would have to have been killed or maimed if men like Sampson hadn’t recruited them to their dirty work. What life might they have led if it weren’t for these assh—

  “Clear,” Jacob said.

  Sasha stood and rested her rifle on her shoulder, its barrel pointed at the sky. “Clear, but I lost Sampson. He ran into the mine.” She pushed a button, and a lever swung out. She began pumping it, watching the power meter on the side of the stock as it filled.

  “Power at fifty-four,” she reported. “I’m gonna need a minute.”

  The irritation was apparent in Moss’s reply. “He grabbed Proctor before I could deliver his dirt nap.”

  “In other words,” Sasha said, “you’re saying you missed.”

  A moment of silence was followed by, “Do you hear an engine?”

  “Roger,” Jacob said. “Sounds like a truck. I’ll check it out. You guys pursue De Le Court and get my girl.”

  “Roger,” Sasha said. “Your girl. Really?”

  In a rare moment of pointed aggression, Jacob barked. “If Lucinda dies after all this shit, I’m going on a murderous rampage, chief. I’m not kidding. Get her back.”

  The statement was such a shock, even Moss didn’t reply.

  Sasha trampled pine straw on her path toward the mine door and spied Moss dancing nimbly on his toes from the north, rifle bouncing on his back next to his quiver, pistol bouncing on his hip, as he’d opted for his bow. She shuddered involuntarily at the black form, hat shadowing his face, head held low, almost seeming to float above ground as he glided toward the door. It was like the encounter with Shaw had awakened new senses and the sight she’d seen 100 times, was new.

  Is that what we all look like?

  Then he stopped, reached into the air, made a fist, and pulled it down in repeating motions.

  Stop!

  Sasha skidded on the loose ground cover and came to an abrupt halt.

  Moss pointed two fingers at his eyes and then at the doors.

  Sasha eyed the doors intently.

  Then she heard it. A rushing sound, almost like water rumbling against rocks on a mountain stream. Then it was a wind. Then it was something guttural, like a herd of animals running from a predator. The shaft inside was playing tricks, echoing off the walls.

  Barking.

  “Boss, get the fuck out of there!” she yelled.

  “Already gone! Retreat!”

  Sasha ran in the same direction as Moss, planning to cover his six. His arms pumped as his feet kicked up gravel ahead of her, and she had a hard time keeping pace on the sudden incline; but she huffed and pushed herself onward. She risked a look back, and her eyes shot open, her heart beating hard in her chest. Suddenly Lexi appeared from between two buildings next to her and fell in a few yards back.

  “What the hell is that?”

  “Run!”

  Jacob fell in behind them as Sasha shot another glance over her shoulder.

  The massive mine doors swung open from both sides, and Sasha saw the unmistakable silhouette and yellow hair of Sampson in the glow of her night vision, pulling hard on a rope overhead to force the doors open simultaneously. A flurry of black and brown flooded into the night and split like tributaries in all directions, carrying the long bodies with ease.

  Dogs.

  Sampson stood on a platform with Proctor sitting at his feet, wagging his hand strangely over his head as the swarm of fur-covered beasts passed beneath.

  The thread of canines fell onto their path as Sasha, Jacob, Moss, and Lexi sprinted up the dirt road leading out of the valley. They looked like her new dog, the one waiting at Proctor’s house in Blacksburg.

  “They’re too fast,” Sasha huffed through hurried breaths. “We’re going to need to divert.”

  “To where?” Jacob asked. “You gonna jump off the side?”

  Feet kicking gravel and head pounding to match their rhythm, Sasha pushed as hard as she could as Shaw sprinted past her. Sasha glanced down as she passed.

  “Stop looking at my ass and run!” Lexi yelled.

  Sasha smiled in spite of herself. It was such a lovely ass.

  Then she fell.

  Chapter Seventy-One

  MADE TO RAM

  71

  The truck slid around a corner on the gravelly road as it roared down toward the valley, tires sliding near the edge of a drop off that met with the tops of towering pines anchored to the ground below. A looming mass of a man firing down into the valley didn’t even flinch upon their arrival. Jenna spied his massive figure and aimed the truck in his direction.

  Lucian leaned forward and peered through the windshield.

  “Wait, Jenna. Don’t hit that guy!”

  “What? Why not?”

  Lucian thrust a finger forward, and Jenna followed its trail. If not for his night vision, he would have missed the four figures in black hauling ass up the rocky road. One of them was the tall, lean figure he’d have recognized from any perspective at any distance as it sprinted in long strides up the rocky hill.

  Lexi!

  Further down the way, a herd of what looked like dogs were in pursuit.

  What the bloody hell?

  One of the dogs along the outer edge of the death parade stumbled and rolled off the side of the road, falling into the valley below.

  The big guy is shooting the dogs.

  Jenna slammed on the brakes.

  The massive man peered over his shoulder, and Lucian craned his neck out the window, holding his pistol out of view, just in case.

  “You with Moss?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Hop in back!”

  The big guy fired down the hill a couple more times, looked back at Lucian, then at the passengers in the bed of the truck. He shrugged and hauled himself up.

  “They’re not going to make it,” Lucian said.

  “Nina, tell Scruff to wind up that weapon.”

  Nina’s head disappeared from the cab as she withdrew to the truck bed.

  If the gun didn’t do it, she’d use the vehicle.

  “This thing was made to ram shit, anyway. Never know when you—”

  Chapter Seventy-Two

  COMING AT US FROM BOTH SIDES

  72

  Lexi threw a glance over her shoulder to find Sasha laying on her stomach as the pack closed in from below. She stopped.

  “Shaw!” Jacob yelled. “What the hell are you doing? Run!”

  “But Sasha!”

  “This is her mission, Lexi! You are her mission!”

  “Lexi!” Sasha yelled. “Run!”

  Lexi glanced back at Jacob, who appeared next to her and reached for her arm. But she swung it away from him, looked down the hill at Sasha, and growled.

  “No!”

  Lexi sprinted down the hill, her rifle ripped from her back and targeting dogs as she ran. A dog yelped as it was shocked by a deadly blue flash.

  Sasha was on her feet and limping, as she slipped and scrambled her way up the steep gravel hill.

  “Run, Sasha, come on!”

  Lexi closed the distance, stopped just short of Sasha and flicked a switch on the pulse rifle. Automatic fire raged from the barrel in hot blue lights, driving holes into the bodies of any targets she hit.

  But there were too many. The ones in the front shielded the ones in the back.

  A sound from behind, the engine she’d heard earlier growling toward them, wasn’t something on which she could focus with the animals raging up the rocky path toward them.

  Great, now we’ve got them coming at us from both sides. Goddammit!

  She turned, grabbed Sasha’s arm, and pulled her up the hill.

  “I don’t give a fuck about your ankle, Sasha! You run!”


  Tears streamed from Sasha’s eyes as Jacob took her other arm and pulled her.

  “She’s not gonna make it, Lexi!” Jacob yelled. “We have to leave her!”

  Sasha tried to stop, and Lexi yanked her forward

  Then Sasha’s weight bore down, Lexi’s strength drained out of her arm, and the advocate dropped down to her knees. Lexi dropped on her own.

  The world stopped.

  Lexi pulled Sasha close to yell into her ear, but the sight of Sasha’s deep brown eyes beneath the light of the moon gripped Lexi’s chest.

  One-hundred-twenty-six years of watching people suffer…of suffering, herself. Over a century of turmoil, the bloody deaths of millions, thousands before her own eyes…waking from the nightmares, drenched in sweat…pain, anguish, murder, death…

  Why was this woman the one, the final straw? Why shouldn’t she let her go, like she had so many others?

  I can’t.

  She turned on her knee and fired randomly into the closing pack, knowing it wouldn’t be enough.

  Chapter Seventy-Three

  FLOOR IT

  73

  “Scruff!” Lucian banged the glass. “Fire that Gatling up, ya lug!”

  “Charging!” Scruff yelled, shaking at the weapon with irritation.

  The truck slid on the gravel road as Jenna corrected for a dip, and Lucian peered out the windshield. A figure dressed entirely in black with a hat that enveloped its face in a void of shadow was plowing up the hill toward them.

  “Is that Moss?”

  Jenna slowed as they approached the man in black, but he rolled his whole arm in a circle and pointed downhill, urging them ahead. As the truck passed, he jumped and grabbed the side. Lucian turned and saw the huge stranger yank him into the truck.

  “Floor it, Jenna!”

  Once again, she put her foot down.

  Chapter Seventy-Four

  WOMEN ARE THE CRAZIEST

  74