The pistol poked into his hip as the holster jostled around with every step. It was awkward, a constant reminder of what he was doing and just how out of place he was. He could hear his dad’s voice in his head, telling him this was stupid. He could hear him saying that this wouldn’t bring him back, but Alistair didn’t care. Instead, he focused on something he’d heard Craig say the other day, “pain deserves to be felt.”
They weren’t that far from MJ and the others. Every now and then they could hear their faint voices, carrying up the mountain. Alistair knew he needed to stay close, but not too close. He needed MJ to find Koran and he needed to be there when she did.
“You remember what I showed you?” Chase asked and pointed toward Alistair’s hip.
“Yeah. I um, I got it.”
He looked at Chase with resolution in his eyes, but he wasn’t sure if he’d be able to get the job done when the time came. He tried not to think about it and he turned his attention down the trail.
To either side, a cluster of dense trees consumed the rocky incline. The path twisted and turned with no real reason, like it’d been designed by a toddler with a crayon. Most of the trail was clear, but massive boulders appeared sporadically like sleeping elephants. Alistair used them a few times to get a better look down the mountain and make sure they stayed on track with the others.
“Do you think we’ll make it back tonight?” Daniel asked.
“You scared of the dark?” Trevor laughed.
“It’s barely forty degrees now. It’s only gonna get colder.”
“We’ve got tents and thermal blankets…all that outdoorsy stuff,” Chase said confidently. “Same shit we used to use when I went hunting with my dad.” The last word rolled off his tongue before he could catch it. It felt almost foreign to him and he stopped walking and lowered his head. “Dad,” he said again then smiled and stared into the distance blankly. His eyes teared and he quickly wiped the evidence from his face. “You think anyone survived?” he asked.
“What do you mean?” Trevor responded.
“Anyone…from before. From before all of this happened. You think there’s anyone else out there?”
“I hope so. I don’t wanna be stuck with you forever.”
“Yeah…yeah, gotta be somebody out there.”
Chase bobbed his head and smirked then started back down the trail. It took them a little over an hour to make it down the mountain. By the time they reached the bottom they caught a glimpse of MJ’s group as they crossed the empty plain toward a sparsely wooded forest.
“What the hell! Were they running?” Daniel asked in amazement.
“We need to catch up,” Alistair replied and started jogging.
The field was covered in long blades of dying grass and the remnants of fallen trees. Alistair leapt over the splintered trunks that had fallen decades ago, pushing the limits of his fitness. Revenge fueled his muscles, but even that could only take him so far.
Alistair slowed as they neared the edge of the woods. He sucked in a lungful of cold air and felt his lungs swell like a balloon. His legs were shaking and every muscle in his body burned like he was on fire, but he couldn’t afford to lose sight of the group.
“Come on!” he said and sprinted off.
“Give me a break,” Chase protested, but ran after him anyway.
Huffing for air, Alistair kept his pace for nearly ten minutes. Then his legs stopped listening and he collapsed into a tree. Chase, Daniel and Trevor were in the same condition, doubled over, struggling to breathe.
“The idea is that…is that, they don’t know we are here,” Daniel said in between each labored breath.
“I don’t care!” Alistair snapped. “I don’t care if they know. I want to find that asshole and I’m gonna kill him!”
CHAPTER 20
CHASING THE WIND
MJ moved swiftly through the gnarled, trees in silence. Her mind was scattered, instincts keeping her in the present, but her heart pulling her towards Toby and Grayson. What she wouldn’t give to see her soulmate again. What she wouldn’t do to touch him just one last time.
Sniffling, she wiped her face and swallowed down the guilt and heartache. Grayson was what she had now and to keep him safe she needed to find Koran. He was the mission, he was the target and there was nothing on Earth that would stop her from ending his life.
Hunter and Livingston trailed behind her, running diagonally down the trail like a pack of wolves. They’d closed in on Koran and could almost smell him as the breeze rushed through the forest, shaking the bare limbs like a rattle.
Huffing, MJ took a knee behind a massive tree trunk and raised her gun. This part of the forest was dense, packed with ancient trees that stood like guards. It didn’t take much to disappear into the thicket.
“You see anything?” Hunter asked. He huddled next to MJ along with Livingston.
“Not yet. I lost him when we crossed the field. He’s close.”
Hunter turned and narrowed his eyes. The shadows merged with the trees as the sun buried its face in the arms of the horizon. The branches, the leafless bushes, even the wind became Koran, rattling through the woods, disappearing into nothing.
“This shit is creepy,” Livingston said and nudged closer.
The silence of things they’d come to expect sent chills down their spines. It was common in rural parts to forget the noises of cars or phones. But there was nothing out there, except nature. No planes, no grumble from distant engines, even the hum of electricity was absent.
“Clock is ticking,” Hunter grumbled. “We’ve got a hole to dig and an asshole to put in it.”
Grinning, MJ stared deeply into the woodland, straining her eyes to soak in every little detail. Koran was out there, somewhere, slinking along like the snake he was. She just needed to find a sign, just a trace of where he’d been.
She zipped her eyes back and forth for minutes in silence. The cold air nipped at her exposed skin and burned her lungs with every breath, but she was determined. Another ten minutes went by, but then she saw something. It was subtle, but she knew right away that Koran had been there.
“You see that?” she asked.
“What?” Hunter replied.
“Right there, where the tree’s all scratched up. That’s where he went.”
Hunter glared into the trees and squinted his eyes. After a moment he shrugged and shook his head from side to side.
“Come on,” MJ said. “Let’s keep moving.”
She stood up and walked off, following a path that no one else could see. Barreling forward, she clambered through the naked branches as they raked across her face like claws. Every footfall was deliberate, every step with a predetermined purpose, like something was pulling her along or she’d walked the same way a hundred times before.
Without a word Hunter and Livingston hurried behind her. They stalked the woods with their weapons raised, sweeping from side to side. While they didn’t have the same sense of certainty, they were ready to unleash hell at the first sign of Koran.
“When I was little I used to go camping all the time,” Hunter whispered. “My dad would take us way out into the woods. Get us good and lost…then leave us.”
“What?” Livingston asked with a laugh. “Leave you?”
“Me and my brother. His way of teaching us I guess. We’d have the bags on our backs and that was it. He’d say…make camp boys. Then he’d leave us out there and we’d have to find our way home.”
“Sounds like a rough childhood.”
“It was great. My dad taught us everything. I learned more about surviving from that man than Ranger school or the Q course.”
“Shh!” MJ said as she suddenly stopped and fell to the ground behind a tree stump and a mound of dead grass.
She shouldered her M4 and stared through the scope. She could see someone moving through a cluster of dense bushes in the distance. She knew it had to be him, but she needed to be sure.
“Up there,” she whispered. �
��I almost have a shot.”
Hunter rested his shoulder against a tree trunk and leaned forward. “I don’t see shit,” he complained.
“I got a shot,” Livingston said in excitement as he knelt beside MJ.
“What?”
Without warning, Livingston squeezed the trigger on his rifle. A bullet tore through the scattered branches and slammed into the trunk of a tree. Koran dove to the ground and rolled over.
“Livingston you idiot!” MJ roared.
“I had him in my sights,” Hunter snapped.
“Is that you MJ?” Koran yelled. “Figures Craig would send a woman to do his dirty work.”
Laughing, he fired a burst of bullets that slammed into the dirt in front of her. She ducked her head as bits of shredded wood clouded the air. Glancing back over the tree stump, she tried to get a shot, but Livingston fired again, emptying his magazine in a frantic hailstorm.
“You can do better than that!” Koran heckled.
Hunter peeked out from behind the tree and fired a round. The bullet hit Koran in the leg and he scrambled back to cover.
“Fuck you!” he yelled.
Hunter fired again then MJ let off three shots of her own.
“Come on,” she called to Livingston as she moved forward and took cover behind another tree.
Hunter squeezed off two more rounds then loaded another magazine. Ducking his head, he rushed to catch up with MJ. He slammed into the tree beside her and gulped a breath of air.
“I think I got him,” he said with a grin. “At least wounded him.”
“What is that?” MJ asked, focusing on a thin string that stretched across the trees ahead of them.
“You heard Hunter, he got the mother fucker! What are we waiting for?” Livingston let out a yelp and rushed forward. Firing blindly, he stormed into the trees, shouting after Koran.
MJ dropped her gun and rushed after him. “Livingston no!”
CHAPTER 21
COLLATERAL DAMAGE
Suddenly, a series of gunshots crackled through the air. Several snaps answered back then a loud boom rattled the ground, sending birds scattering from the trees.
Alistair turned and looked up the trail. In the distance he could see a cloud of dust rising from the ground as debris fluttered toward the sky.
“Shit,” he cried out.
“What the hell was that? Did you guys hear that? What the hell was that?” Daniel asked in panic.
“They found him,” Alistair mumbled.
“What?”
“They found him, the found Koran.”
Without thinking, he straightened up and ran off as fast as his legs would carry him. Every breath he took was like sucking air from a tail pipe. His lungs screamed in protest and his heart tried to rip itself free from his chest. But he didn’t care. All that mattered to him was being there to look Koran in the eyes as he died.
Ahead of him, the plume of dust cleared. As he moved closer and closer a blur of images took and he came to a stop a few yards away. The scene in front of him was a nightmare, it was worst than anything he’d seen on movies or video games.
“Jesus,” he mumbled under his breath and leaned over with his hands on his knees.
A ball of sickness swelled in Alistair’s stomach. Livingston was laid out in front of him. His face was caked in dirt, his eyes closed, his legs sprawled in the grass ten feet away. Shrapnel ripped through his torso, leaving rocks and bits of splintered tree sticking out like a pin cushion.
Cupping his hand over his mouth, Alistair lurched forward and gagged. He looked away then took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He’d barely known Livingston but seeing him like that cut to his heart. He was somebody’s son, someone somewhere had loved him. And now his body was scattered across a forest in the middle of nowhere.
“Whoa!” Trevor sounded as he arrived with the others. His jaw fell into the dirt and he twisted his face in disgust.
The trail was covered with debris. Branches and thick pieces of trunk and been blown apart and littered the clearing. Shreds of tattered clothing and empty shell casings looked like confetti, mixed in with the blood, covered blades of grass.
“Be careful,” Daniel ordered and started scanning the tree line.
Alistair glanced back at them then moved closer. Wincing, he stepped over Livingston and headed toward the next body that was lying lifelessly on the forest ground.
Hunter’s face was swollen and partially burned. He had blood oozing from his ears and a wound on his stomach. But unlike Livingston, his body was still intact.
Alistair knelt next to him and placed a finger on the side of his neck. Groaning, Hunter turned his head and Alistair fell back in shock.
“Koran,” Hunter croaked and raised his arm. He pointed into the trees and Alistair followed his finger. He could see a figure disappearing into the brush.
“What happened?” Alistair asked, ignoring the urge to chase after Koran. “How can we help?”
Chase placed his hand on Alistair’s shoulder and shook his head from side to side. “We can’t help him man,” he said and motioned toward his chest.
A shard of wood was sticking out through his sternum. The tip had barely broken the surface, but he was impaled, with the other side coming out of his back.
Hunter coughed and spit blood into the air. With every rattled breath, he faded further and further. Reaching down, he pressed his hands over his stomach, trying to staunch the blood flow, not even aware of the chest wound that had sealed his fate.
“That bastard, he…he was right there,” he groaned. “Can’t believe he got me…I should’ve seen it.”
Alistair balled up his fists to stop his hands from shaking. He stared into the forest with a desperate look on his face, but there was no one to turn to, no one to help him.
“Pretty sure I shot that asshole. Where the hell did he get a claymore?” Hunter groaned then looked at Alistair like it was his first time really seeing him. “What…what are you doing here? Where’s MJ, where’s Livingston?”
“Livingston is dead” Chase said. “And I don’t see MJ anywhere.”
“Shit,” Hunter groaned and reached out his arm. “I gotta get up.”
“No!” Alistair shouted. “You can’t move.”
He grabbed Hunter by the shoulder and tried to hold him down, but he was too late. Fueled by adrenaline, Hunter rolled to his side and leaned forward. He abruptly sat up and the chunk of wood in his chest shifted just enough that it pierced his heart.
With a throttled scream, he fell back into the dirt. A stream of blood shot from his wound and he writhed on the ground in pain. Clenching his hands at his side, he took his last breath in a convulsing gag.
“Hunter!” Alistair shouted. “Hunter!”
His face was blank, and his eyes were dull and unfocused. In a matter of seconds, the little life he had left, drained into the soil. Hunter was gone, and all Alistair could do was stare into his empty eyes in confusion.
“I found MJ,” Chase called out. “I think she’s still alive.”
CHAPTER 22
A LONG WAY FROM HOME
“We can’t leave her here,” Alistair declared.
“We know that,” Daniel replied defensively, trying to calm his shaking hands.
“Sorry. I just don’t know what the hell we’re gonna do.”
He turned around and looked into the sky. There wasn’t a cloud above him and the glow from the sun below the horizon was all that was left. It was getting colder and every minute that passed, Koran got further way.
MJ lay motionless on the ground. They’d propped a bag under her head to use as a pillow and wrapped her in an extra jacket, but she looked bad.
There was a deep gash on the side of her head. Trevor managed to stop the bleeding and bandage it up, but they weren’t sure how much blood she’d lost before they found her. All they knew was that she looked bad and she hadn’t opened her eyes since they found her.
“So, what now?” Chase ask
ed. “Because we ain’t getting any closer to Koran and you know why we’re out here.”
“Seriously?” Trevor replied.
“Yeah seriously. Look around. Everyone that was supposed to get that asshole is dead or…or like her. It’s just us left.”
“So, what?” he said and turned to Alistair. “Listen man, I want to help you, but like you said, we can’t leave her.”
“That’s not it. They weren’t going to get Koran for revenge. That asshole is going to get an army and bring them back to the Mayflower.”
“An army?” Daniel echoed.
“Yeah, like the kind that kills everyone and takes whatever’s left. Like your sister or your brothers.”
Alistair turned and looked at Chase with a painful grimace. Even the thought of losing someone else was more than he could take. “We have to get him. We can’t, we can’t let him kill anyone else,” he said in a desperate tone. “Hunter said he shot him. That’s got to slow him down, right?”
“I’ll stay with her,” Daniel said. “You go, you catch that asshole. I’ll get her back home.”
“Me too,” Trevor added as he nodded his head at his brother. “Home…I’ll help get her home.”
Alistair glanced at both of them then frowned. Home seemed like such a distant thing. Like a place he’d known as a child, but since forgotten. And maybe, he didn’t want to remember. All the memories he had would forever be tarnished, because they’d only remind him of what he lost.
His father had always been there for him. He’d always tried to protect him and that was how he died, keeping their family safe. But his dad was so much more than a protector, he was a friend and was always there to cheer him up.
Alistair rubbed his hands together and shivered then looked up and smiled. It was all he could do, it was the only emotion that felt right.
“What’s so funny?” Daniel asked.
“I played the violin,” Alistair replied.
“What?”
“I probably would’ve been at a concert somewhere. My mom and dad in the front row, smiling through every bad note. I used to play the violin and now…now I’ve got this.” He held up the sand-colored pistol and gazed at it with teary eyes.
Survivors: Deconstruction Book Five (A Post-Apocalyptic Thriller) Page 11
