Cascade (Book 4): Conflict

by Phil Maxey

  Ultimately the day came though, twelves year later when Rocky was too old to go on stage, and jump and bark.

  “Morning Rocky,” he said patting the stuffed animal on its soft head. He then moved to the next, “Morning Eno,” and finally he picked up a small collar which sat on a bright red pillow, embodied with the name “Ollie”. Holding the collar to his chest, he smiled and thought of how bright and fun his last stage partner used to be. A tear started to well in his left eye. He tried not to think of what Ollie turned into. What all the animals became. Devils and monsters.

  Putting the collar carefully back down. He pulled on his leather pants, white shirt, thick jumper, denim jacket and boots. Not the old uniform he used to wear, but now he had a different audience, he had to play a new role.

  He took one last look at his latest motel room, then left. The large gold framed poster which traveled with him wherever he went rattled on the wall. “TONIGHT IN LAS VEGAS THE ASTOUNDING GENEVA AND THE AMAZING OLLIE!”

  CHAPTER 20

  After the close call in the national forest the scenery hardly changed, only broken by the occasional view over distance cities and factories. But almost always the thicket of leafless trees, some covered in snow, some frost, kept them walled in.

  On a few occasions, usually when they were passing through a built up area Cal would get his tingling sensation, but it was always mild and quickly faded. Even when their route took them over bridges which repeatedly covered large areas of water, and they would see E.L.F’s way off in the distance, the creatures kept far away.

  But as the convoy got to about forty miles from Atlanta the tingling returned and this time it wasn’t going away.

  “Umm I think there’s something coming our way,” said Cal.

  “Can you tell where it’s coming from?” said Raj.

  Cal shook his head. He knew if he concentrated he would be back in the strange realm where he would see E.L.F’s as bright dots on a three dimensional radar screen, but he really didn’t want to visit that place again, so he just tried to feel where it was probably coming from.

  “I think from the east.”

  “That’s directly on the route we are on. Still coming?”

  “Yup.”

  Zach clicked on his radio. “Bass, Michael, we might have an E.L.F coming at us on this highway, slow down for a moment. Over.”

  The vehicles all slowed in unison.

  “Now?”

  “Still coming.”

  “Damn,” he clicked on the radio again. “Bass, Michael, we need to stop. Stay close together, but make sure the guns are pointing east, and get ready for anything.”

  The convoy stopped. Soldiers jumped down from the truck, and moved into the nearby woods. Bass emerged from the top of the tank, and looked east with a scope.

  Zach’s radio came to life with his voice. “Zach, it’s a vehicle about three miles out coming fast. Could be Tinley’s people sent out a greeting party, shall I blast it with the cannon? Over.”

  “If it get’s within half a mile, light it up. Over.”

  Cal’s tingling was of a type he had felt before.

  “I got to see this for myself, wait here, if things go south watch the sides of the highway, this could be an ambush,” said Zach as he got out. Cal went to say something, but Zach was already jumping up on top of the tank.

  Bass glanced at Zach who stood next to him. “Looks like one driver, and they seem to have some heavy weaponry on the back,” he crouched down to address someone inside. “Ready the big gun, don’t waste too much of ammo, it’s only a pickup driven by a crazy person.”

  “Can I get a quick look with the scope?”

  Bass handed him the device, and Zach looked, focusing best he could. His eye had healed, but his vision had decreased. Things at too far a distance were a bit of a blur. Abbey teased him that he needed glasses.

  A pale green pickup came into view. “Yeah I see them, what the fuck are they doing, can’t they see we have a tank? Get ready to fire on my mark,” Zach watched, trying to get a good view of who the driver was, but from this distance all he could make out was a dark shadow and reflections on the windscreen. “Get ready…Fire!”

  A stream of red glows spat form the end of the tanks turret and hit the highway in front of the pickup which swerved, and then came to a halt.

  “Missed! At least they stopped,” said Bass. “Same again?”

  Zach heard the Humvee’s door open and close behind him. “Zach, the person in the pickup, they are like me, they are effected,” said Cal.

  Zach glanced down at him, not really absorbing what was being said, he then focused again with the scope at the person who was now waving at them, alongside the pickup. “It’s…a woman, I think…she’s…..Oh god, everyone stand down! It’s Abbey!”

  Bass looked shocked. “What the hell.”

  Zach jumped down from the tank, and started running. Abbey was running too. One hundred yards. Sixty. Thirty. Ten…they embraced and Zach lifted her clear off her feet.

  “Ow,” Abbey winced in pain and held her arm to her chest.

  Zach pulled away. “Sorry, how are you? Did he hurt you? Are you hurt?”

  Abbey smiled while tears rolled down her face. “I’m fine, well my wrist is broken, but apart from that I’m fine Zach, I’m okay.”

  Zach’s emotions tore at him, pulling him from rage for Tinley hurting the woman he loved to relief that she was standing in front of him, alive. He hugged her again being careful not to touch her left arm. The Humvee with Fiona driving pulled up behind them, and they all got out. Fiona ran up to Abbey and hugged her. Abbey winced once more.

  “Sorry, you’re hurt?”

  Abbey showed everyone her wrist. “Yeah, he broke my wrist, but that doesn’t matter, I’m here now.”

  “Where is he?” Zach looked anxiously around. “Is he chasing you?”

  Abbey went to reply in the negative when in the distance, almost unnoticeable a sound was coming from the pickup she had just left. A male voice. They all ran back to her pickup, where a voice they all recognised was coming from the radio on the passengers seat.

  “Abbey…Abbey Abbey Abbey…I know you can hear me.”

  Zach went to lurch for the radio, when Abbey put her hand up. “He might be triangulating where we are from the radio.”

  “Good let him come,” said Zach.

  “Screw it, let’s just leave him there, what do we care what he does out here?” said Fiona.

  An awkward silence moved around the group.

  “We can’t leave, he has Daisy, I can’t leave her with him,” Every part of Abbey wanted to jump in the pickup and drive as fast as she could back to the camp with the others, and there was every chance that Daisy was dead, but what if she wasn’t? What if he was torturing her because she escaped?

  Zach picked up the radio. “You have a woman, we want her back. You leave her for us to pick up and we leave you alone, that’s the deal. Over.”

  A few seconds passed. “So the two love birds are back together. How do you think your ex-wife would feel about you starting again Zach? You obviously didn’t love her that much.”

  Zach closed his eyes to try and control the rage inside him. Then he felt Abbeys hand on his shoulder and calmed. “I need proof of life. Over.”

  A full sixty seconds passed before Daisy’s voice came through the radio. “I’m alive Abbey, but…”

  “There’s your proof of life.”

  “7 pm, on highway twenty, west of the city. Bring Daisy. If she’s not there by then, we are coming after you and your people. And we won’t stop until you are dead.”

  “Hey, am I not entitled to a trial? Would the council approve?” he could be heard sniggering, before he continued. “But sure Zach, whatever you want, we will bring the girl,” the radio went dead.

  “That was too easy,” said Fiona.

  “Yup,” Zach looked eastwards. “Bass, get on the radio, tell Op’s that we have Abbey back, and we have arranged a m
eet to get Daisy back as well. If we get the chance we will take out Tinley and as many of his men as we can, but there’s a very good chance shit will go sideways.”

  Bass nodded and ran in the direction of the tank.

  Zach walked up to Abbey and put his hand on her face. “Do we have any medics with us?” it was something Zach hadn’t even thought about until this moment.

  “Yes, we have Private Chapman,” said Fiona.

  “Abbey, go find Chapman, get checked out, eat, drink then we need to talk.”

  Abbey wasn’t sure what Zach meant by that. About Tinley? But the thought of any medical help for her wrist made her hurry in the direction of the parked vehicles.

  Zach then turned to Fiona and Cal. “We need to find a good spot, just west of the city, somewhere we can defend if needed.”

  CHAPTER 21

  Geneva looked out over the city of Atlanta remembering what it looked like at dusk. He stood in a forgotten office of one of the tallest buildings in downtown, a place he always liked to go at this time of day and thought about all he had accomplished.

  As a kid he had two dreams. Be a magician, and have his own biker gang. His own hard work and obsession helped him achieve one, and the Cascade helped him achieve the other. Every summer a bike club would drive through the small mid-western town he grew up in, and even though everyone else would be afraid of the bearded men in denim and leather jackets he would be in awe of them. Not so much of their impressive looking machines they rode on, but the fear they installed in everyone in the town. They were man and machine hybrids that people respected. And to be in charge of such a mechanical army, that would be the kind of power that he could only imagine.

  The city he was in now as the sun set, was the very same one he was in when the Cascade really got bad. He had been scheduled to do a show. One that he hoped would give some local kids some relief from what was developing around the world. That he and Ollie would show these kids that there are still some real animals left and they are our friends. But then the city was attacked and he saw thousands die by tooth and claw.

  He descended with some others into the bowls of the city, taking with them as much supplies as they could carry. He also took Ollie. He was a good dog, he wouldn’t become like those above ground. Those he was with, told him to leave Ollie behind, that he will change, but Geneva refused to believe. He would not, could not lose his friend.

  Except he did, and Ollie killed a good many of the survivors that were down in those tunnels. Eventually the thing Ollie became was put down by the underground dwellers, and Martin Long was exiled above ground, to survive on his own.

  I thrived.

  By time the blood stains on the sidewalks had been washed away by the autumn storms, Geneva as everyone called him, had gathered a small band of fellow bikers around him. At first they bartered with those they came across. But just by being a bike ‘gang’ he saw the fear in people eyes. So they started to take what they wanted, from whoever they wanted. As their numbers swelled, they grew more ruthless, ransacking any town or community they came across. Some that joined them were actual ex-gang members, people who had been released from the prisons across the land, when the states gave up trying to hold them. These people knew about weapon stashes left behind by drug cartels. So they armed themselves and a biker gang became an army. Eventually he returned to Atlanta and reclaimed those underground areas for himself and his people.

  Like any army they needed spies. People that would tell him what the authorities that were left were up to. He didn’t want the world to return to what it was. It could never do that. That animals were gone. Now there were only humans and freaks of nature. He could do nothing about the latter, but the humans could be manipulated.

  His spies in the camps kept him informed of their desperate attempts to survive. And when needed he would give the camps a little ‘push’. A gate would fail allowing E.L.F’s in, or their water supply would suddenly be contaminated. Each event pushing the camps closer to disaster, until they would be overrun. The freaks were working for him even if their mutated bodies didn’t realise it.

  Towards the end of the previous year, he knew of three remaining camps, although the camp near Boston was virtually dead and wasn’t worth bothering with. That left the camp near Portland and the one near Austin. Of those, Portland was in the worse shape, so that’s the one his infiltrators would concentrate on first. Soon, their defences were failing and it was inevitable that the camp was doomed. Then he got word that the new man in charge, a Colonel by the name of Tinley was not what he appeared to be. He was telling one thing to the remaining survivors but was instead creating his own private army of people that were stripping the resources of what was left of the camp for their own purposes, even if those purposes were not clear.

  This was a man he would work with.

  When they finally met on Tinley’s ‘great’ rescue mission from Portland, he looked into the eyes of a man that was more machine than human. That if you stripped away his flesh you would find only wires and hydraulics driving his passions.

  Together they hatched a plan to take over the last camp. Tinley would be greeted as a hero, despite the losses and soon his people would take over. Geneva would then join him, and together they would expand their territory, killing the freaks as and when they found them.

  But a Captain by the name Felton messed that up. Instead, Tinley and his people were locked away.

  Geneva thought about leaving him there, letting his trial run it’s natural course, but Tinley had information. He knew how to access the old army’s ‘big’ weapons. He also had people that would still be loyal to him. So some of Geneva’s spies revealed themselves and Tinley escaped and was brought to Atlanta.

  Capturing the women was not part of the plan though. That was all Tinley. Geneva learnt that he had a hatred of the opposite sex that ran deep, but that was Tinley’s business. Until now.

  Clovis appeared behind Geneva with a flashlight. “It’s time. He say’s that the Captain is to be his.”

  Geneva sighed. “Tell him that’s acceptable, but I want the tank intact.”

  CHAPTER 22

  Cal looked down the night-scope on his snipers rifle at the twin bridges. His location wasn’t ideal, being only slightly elevated but he had a clear view of where the hand off was going to take place, and from this distance he could shoot the skin off a cup of milk.

  Even though Zach wanted the honor, they agreed that whoever had a clear shot at Tinley once Daisy was safe should take it. They also knew Tinley wouldn’t make it easy for them, even if he was there, although Zach was sure he would be.

  Zach had sent the message of their location back down the radio which they had talked with Tinley on earlier. There was no reply, but he was sure Tinley heard.

  The rain started to turn to snow. It was 6:45 pm.

  An hour earlier they arrived at the spot which Zach immediately designated as the right location. The water below the bridges was undisturbed ice, meaning no E.L.F’s had passed through recently, and Cal didn’t detect anything anyway. It was also a fairly long bridge meaning, only one way in and out. Each group would wait at their side of the bridge, and Daisy would be sent forward by Tinley’s people to the other side. Then everyone would leave. At least that was the fairytale that no one believed.

  Zach was sure that Tinley would try to come for him, that was his weakness.

  Fiona sat in the Humvee with Zach on the west side of the bridge. Everyone else was either in the turreted Humvee, the truck or the tank.

  “Are we sure the missiles the tank has will take out a chopper,” said Fiona, tapping on the steering wheel.

  “Bass thinks they would. It’s got a fairly accurate targeting system, should be enough.”

  “And we’re sure he’s going to be using a chopper?”

  “They got Abbey and Daisy to Atlanta by air. Likely to be a chopper with a few stops, or a plane. If it’s a plane, then we might have a problem,” he smiled.

>   “I hope this Daisy is worth it.”

  “She’s the reason Abbey escaped. I owe her. And anyway, Tinley’s not going to stop being a problem for us and the camp, unless we stop him.”

  Tinley’s voice came through the old radio. “Ready or not, here we come Zach.” Zach clicked on his own radio. “Here we go. Everyone stick to the plan. Stay sharp. Over.”

  Hidden in tree’s off the highway, Bass from the top of the tank looked towards the east for any lights. There were none. “Not seeing anything. Over.”

  Suddenly the bank on the other side of the river lit up. Hundreds of lights stretching a mile in both directions illuminating the ice.

  “Fuck,” said Fiona.

  “Stay focused.”

  “Where did he get all those people? Zach, there must be at least five hundred! If they come across that river…and we must be visible for miles around. If there’s any E.L.F’s around here…”

  The old radio came alive once again. “On the ice, leave your weapons behind. And Zach, I’m only going to hand the girly to you, personally.”

  Fiona went to say something else, but Zach spoke before she could. “We always knew it would come down to this. Just stick to the plan and we will be fine,” he then got out into the snow that was beginning to settle.

  Most of the river looked solid, but there were a few pools of water which splashed onto the surface, a reminder of the flow just a few feet below. Zach carefully made his way down the bank, sliding on his backside when he needed and made his first tentative step onto the frozen river, sweeping his flashlight left and right.