Mercy took another long drink and felt her head clear. She pulled up her shirt, the surgical scar was still there. She put her hand to the back of her neck and felt the scab where she had removed the GPS tracking chip.
“You removed yours?” Rose asked.
Mercy nodded. “Yeah, I figured it out.”
“They chipped all of us, Flynn tried to take his out. They beat him up pretty bad for that, so we left ours in,” Rose’s voice was quiet. “They’ll have chipped you again, using a different place though.”
Mercy felt her arms and chest, then her legs. Nothing. She put her hand behind her back and felt her spine to her shoulder blades. There it was, just inside the right shoulder blade.
“Bastards,” Mercy spat.
“Yeah, we’re just lab rats to them,” Rose said.
“How long have you been here Rose? How are the others?” Mercy asked.
“Don’t know, a few weeks maybe, there’s a lot I can’t remember. We saw them take you and Flynn back at the wall. They kept us separate at the beginning. I got the feeling we were expendable but they seemed to change their minds. They said because we were friends they could use that as leverage, make you do stuff or they’d harm us.” Rose paused, “They did something to Flynn, they said he was a control in their experiments, they put something in him, something alive, but he collapsed, his body rejected it. It was terrible Mercy, he was bleeding from everywhere, it reminded me of the pandemic.”
Mercy stared at Rose. “Then what happened Rose?”
“They took him away, he was gone for quite a while but he came back just like you now, on a gurney. They’d given him an anaesthetic and done something, probably removed whatever it was. He came back, he recovered but he’s got a scar like you,” Rose tapped her stomach. “The rest of us they pretty much ignored. Rites and Tawny they took yesterday,” Rose indicated the two empty cells in the room.
“They’re playing with our minds, keeping us pliable.” Mercy looked around the room, “Place is probably bugged, they could be listening right now.”
“What about you Mercy? Where’ve you been?” Rose asked.
Mercy told Rose what had happened to her in Montauk and then on the North Victory gas platform. She did not mention the radio signal she had intercepted from Galveston.
Rose was silent and listened to every word. “You’ve been through all that, survived, got here only to be recaptured again. That’s mad—”
“I’ve had better days,” Mercy sighed, her shoulders slumped. “So they’ve taken Flynn, Stevie and Dakota to Halifax?”
“Yeah, about a week ago.”
“Well, I think we’ll be joining them soon,” Mercy said.
Rose looked up. “How do you know that?”
“It just makes sense, what they’ve done to me seems to have worked, at least in their minds. The tropes are advancing, it’s an arms race and the shit’s about to hit the fan.”
Rose and Mercy spent the rest of the afternoon catching up and swapping stories. Two soldiers came with food and water later in the evening, the men were uncommunicative. Mercy lay down and closed her eyes, she would need to be vigilant. The opportunity for escape would come, she had to be ready, she closed her eyes and focused on her breathing until sleep took her.
Mercy heard voices, the clock on the wall said 8 am. The room’s neon light blinked; she had seen solar panels and a wind generator on her circumnavigation of the buildings. The voices grew nearer, keys rattled and the door opened.
“The helicopter’s not coming, they’re sending the plane instead.”
“Good, I prefer the plane, the sea fog’s cleared, it should be an OK trip.”
“The others ready?”
“Yeah, that bitch won’t pull a stunt like that again.”
“Damn right, Franks couldn’t walk straight for two days.”
“OK, let’s get these two ready.”
Three armed NSA soldiers entered the room. Mercy remained still, watching, she saw the names Shaw and Michaels on two of the men’s jackets. They opened Roses’s cell door.
“Adopt the position,” Shaw said to Rose.
Rose climbed off her bed and turned away from the man holding her arms behind her. He handcuffed her, a long chain extended to leg irons which he attached to her ankles.
“All yours Michaels,” Shaw said.
Michaels pulled Rose by the arm escorting her out of the room.
The two remaining men came over to Mercy’s cell. “Your turn Dawes. Adopt the position.”
Mercy stared at the men, calculating. Now was not the time, she could take one of them maybe, but not two. She stood up from the bed and did as Rose had done. The men tied her in chains and led her down a corridor to an ante room. Tawny and Rites were sitting on a bench, both chained. Tawny’s face was cut, her right eye bruised and swollen.
“Tawny, Rites,” Mercy said, concern edging her voice. “Are you OK?”
A vicious blow struck Mercy on the arm from behind. “Shut up bitch. Prisoners are not allowed to talk.” Mercy gasped and staggered, almost falling.
Tawny looked at Mercy and shook her head, Rites stared at the ground, dried blood stained his face, he seemed to be in pain.
“OK, OK I get it,” Mercy said, her voice hoarse.
The soldier shoved her onto the bench beside Rose and stood back watching them.
Shaw entered the room and squared up in front of them. “OK, so we are going on a little trip. You guys are lucky, you get to be admitted to the Safe Zone today. We’re flying out of here, flight time to Halifax one hour forty approximately. Weather conditions are good at the moment. I want no trouble, any shit and you’ll get a dose of this,” he held up a long instrument which looked like a cattle prod. Shaw looked at Mercy. “Oh, but I forget my manners, you’ve not met Matilda have you?” He strode over to her and brought the device to her neck.
“Boss, that one, they said she’s not to be damaged, you know how they are—”
Shaw hesitated then withdrew the prod. “Yeah Michaels maybe you’re right. But they didn’t say anything about the others. He went over to Rites and rammed the prod onto his chest and pulled the trigger. The device crackled, blue sparks issuing from its point. Rites’s head jerked up, his face red, his neck veins bulging, his mouth crunched as teeth snapped. He jerked once then twice, foam and tooth fragments spilled from his mouth. Shaw released the trigger. Rites fell to the floor, twitching, the smell of burning flesh filled the air.
Shaw turned back to Mercy. “It’s all good, Matilda’s in control here. She’ll be coming with me on the plane. You will do as I say, without question. Understand?” He let the question hang in the air. “OK enough time wasting, get them into the jeep. The plane’s ready to go.”
The other guards escorted them outside. Mercy blinked in the harsh daylight, she tried to get close to Rites, his eyes were closed, blood trickled from his nose. He was still breathing but was shaking badly. She did not want to anger the guards so she kept quiet.
They were loaded into the jeep. The soldiers had side arms, one carried a rifle and another a shotgun. They drove in silence away from the settlement through the dunes. The radio crackled to life in the front.
“Britten-Normand Islander on final approach, touch down six minutes.”
The jeep emerged from the dunes onto a wide open beach. A flock of birds exploded into the sky as the jeep raced along the sand, in the distance a group of seals moved towards the crashing waves. Red plastic cones stretched along the beach marking the makeshift runway, another jeep sat in the distance, a windsock fluttering on a pole above its roof.
Without warning a loud roar came from overhead, a light aircraft swooped by and landed on the sand between the cones. It slowed and taxied to a halt beside the distant jeep. They drove over to the plane and stopped alongside it.
“Everybody out, this is our ticket out of here,” Shaw shouted.
Mercy, Rose, Tawny and Rites were put in a row beside the plane. The New St
ate Army logo was plastered along the plane’s side and wings. The guards opened the door and pushed the prisoners up the steps into the cabin. It was a tight fit but there was enough room for seven passengers, Mercy allowed herself to be manhandled to the front of the plane.
Four prisoners, three guards, one pilot—
Mercy noted where everyone sat, she watched as the weapons were stowed, she stared at Shaw, anger in her gut. It was cold in the plane but she didn’t care, her anger would keep her warm.
The pilot gunned the twin engines and checked his instruments. Shaw leaned over to speak to him. Mercy could not hear what the two men were saying but she saw the handcuff keys dangling from a chain on Shaw’s neck.
Mercy closed her eyes. Act broken, compliant, act like a prisoner, make them complacent. Mercy focused on her breathing and controlled her anger, she would call on it when the time was right.
The aircraft flew through a perfect blue sky, the sun blazed in on Mercy’s right warming her. Engine noise drowned out any conversation between Shaw and the pilot. After a time Mercy opened her eyes and looked out the window, they were over the sea, she let her eyes drift to the horizon. A thin strip of land stretched from left to right, they had been in the air for over an hour. The plane started to descend, the pilot was changing course, preparing for approach.
Mercy closed her eyes and thought of Flynn. Would they let her see him? She would insist on proof of life before she agreed to cooperate. Her ears popped a short while later, she looked out the window and saw a road and a large lake below. There was no city, just trees extending as far as she could see on either side of the lake.
Then she saw a green air strip cut into the trees as the plane made its approach. The pilot made a smooth landing and taxied to the end of the runway before cutting the engines.
“Hey, where are we? Why haven’t we landed at Shearwater?” one of the guards shouted from the back.
Shaw turned around and glared at the guard. “Shut up Larson, we’re at Porters Lake. Change of plan, that’s all you need to know. Central’s sending transport so we just need to hang tight here. We’ll hole up in the lake house.”
“Knew there was a reason they didn’t send the chopper, it’s them damn tropes, knew they should have burned the bodies not just buried them,” Larson said to his companion in the back.
“Yeah, like you’re gonna burn 300,000 bodies. All they could do was the mass graves and quicklime you know that,”
“Yeah but it wasn’t enough was it? They’ve come back for more ain’t they? Pretty soon we’ll run out of bullets—”
Shaw shouted, “Shut the fuck up Larson, you know Colonel Randel’s got this. It’ll work out, the biotech guys are all over this shit.” He jumped out of the aircraft and opened the door. “OK everyone out, make it quick.”
The pilot was talking on the radio. Mercy strained to hear what he was saying.
“Roger that, transport arriving 1800 will relay information to officer on ground. What’s the latest on CFB Shearwater?” The pilot nodded at the radio and bit his lip, “Understood, those bastards will pay for that. What are my orders?”
Mercy and the others clambered from the plane and shuffled along the grass led by one of the soldiers. Shaw boarded the plane again and spoke to the pilot who shook his head. Shaw went to the hold and pulled out a large gun case and a second bag.
“OK guys tool up make sure you’ve got enough ammo, there’s frags in there too,” Shaw dumped the bags on the ground. He approached Mercy and the others. “Slight change of plan, due to unforeseen circumstances, our arrival in Halifax has been delayed. Transport will be here in a few hours, the city’s thirty miles away so we’re not far. We’re going to use the lodge, you’ll have to walk there so we’re going to unlock your feet. Anyone tries anything will get acquainted with Matilda— got it?”
One of Shaw’s men unlocked their ankles while the other trained his rifle on them. Mercy noticed Shaw was facing outwards, eyes on the trees, his M16 rifle at the ready.
Something’s going on here, his men are nervous. There’s trope activity in the city? I thought this was supposed to be the Safe Zone—
The plane’s engines kicked into life, the plane turned, facing down the runway. The pilot gave Shaw a wave and opened the throttle, the plane gathered speed and took off. Soon it was a speck in the air, then gone.
“That’s not a good sign,” Larson muttered under his breath.
Shaw led them down the landing strip to a track at the end, they took a right turn and kept to the middle of the track. The wind rustled the tree tops and birds called through the branches. Spots of rain landed on Mercy’s cheek, she looked up, clouds were gathering. The trees thinned after a while and the track opened into a clearing, a lodge house lay on a patch of overgrown grass ahead.
Shaw raised his hand and they stopped sixty feet from the house. “Get down and stay here. I’ll take a look.”
His men nodded. One trained his weapon on the kneeling prisoners the other on the trees. Shaw walked towards the house and disappeared around the back. Mercy glanced at the others, they all looked beaten, heads down, silent. Except for Rose. Rose was alert, her eyes glued to the trees.
“I’d give my right arm for a cigarette,” Larson said.
“I’ll give you one just to shut up,” Michaels replied. He reached into his pocket and produced a packet of cigarettes handing it to Larson.
“I owe you,” Larson answered, bringing the pack close to his mouth shaking the last cigarette free. He lit it, inhaling the smoke deep into his lungs. His eyes mellowed as he looked at the trees, then he frowned as he saw the girl with a crossbow aiming at him. A second later Larson felt a sharp pain in his chest, he looked down to see the bolt. His arms and legs became heavy and his vision faded. He collapsed to the ground in a heap. Michaels followed suit a moment later, an arrow piercing his throat.
Rose leaped up and ran to the trees. Mercy stood and followed Rose. Tawny looked up and reached over to Rites.
“Come on Rites, get up. We gotta go,” Tawny said.
Rites struggled to stand but was slow. A voice from behind shouted, “Take one more step and I’ll blow your brains out.” Shaw stood on the far side of the lodge, his rifle trained on Tawny and Rites. He approached and looked at his men. Michaels was gurgling, blood pouring from his neck.
Shaw stopped a few paces away and stared into the trees. “You dumb fucks don’t know who you’re dealing with here. You’ve just killed two NSA soldiers, this whole area will be searched and you will be found. You’ll be hung, drawn and quartered. Your heads will be on spikes on the walls at Fort George within twenty four hours. Give yourselves up and I will see to it you get a quick death.”
A patch of long grass moved among the weeds behind Shaw. A young man wearing a camouflage jacket stood up and levelled a crossbow at Shaw’s back. He pulled the trigger, the bolt went wide, disappearing into the trees beyond. Shaw turned around and pointed his rifle at the youth. Tawny twisted and threw herself at Shaw placing her handcuffs around his neck. She pulled hard, Shaw grunted, dropped the M16 and brought his hands to his neck.
A figure darted from the trees and ran towards Tawny. Tawny recognised Rose as she struggled with Shaw. Rose reached down taking the cattle prod from Shaw’s belt. She thrust it into his face and pressed the trigger, Shaw screamed, his eyes bulging as the electricity pierced his flesh.
The smell of burning skin filled Tawny’s senses. Shaw’s screaming echoed in the clearing, Rose pulled the prod away from Shaw’s face and waited a moment before shoving it into his open mouth. She pulled the trigger a second time. Shaw’s screaming stopped, his body went limp and he collapsed to the ground.
The camouflaged youth stepped out of the long grass his face unreadable. He strode over to Tawny and Rose. “Thanks for that, guess I owe you my life. The name’s Leo, welcome to Porters Lake.”
Chapter 14 Fugitives
Mercy watched with cold detachment as Rose killed Shaw. A ragge
d bunch of kids armed with bows and knives emerged from the forest. Some were dressed in camouflage hunting jackets others in ordinary clothes. They were all ages, she remembered similar gangs in New York City, usually led by an older kid. She counted twenty four in all, they pulled her towards the youth who was speaking to Tawny.
“So who’s your friend?” Leo asked Tawny.
“The name’s Mercy Dawes, you’re Leo, I heard,” Mercy said.
Leo pointed at the three dead NSA soldiers. “Jade, Willow, Rueben get their weapons and anything useful.”
Mercy looked at the bodies. “Nice work, thanks for freeing us.” She knelt beside Shaw’s body and found the handcuff keys on his neck chain. She unlocked her cuffs and did the same for Rose, Tawny and Rites. “There’s more NSA coming from Halifax in a few hours, we don’t want to be here when they arrive.”
Leo nodded. “Makes sense, we can get you out of here. First things first. Are any of you tagged?”
Rose and Tawny nodded.
Mercy looked at Rose. “Me too, I removed one chip from my neck but I found another near my shoulder blade.”
Leo raised his eyebrows. “Chipped twice? You must be important to them. Let’s go into the lodge then and remove them. The last time the NSA used this airstrip was a few months back, they stashed some stuff here. We left it alone, didn’t want to draw attention to ourselves. We’ll check it out now—”
They broke into the lodge through a window. The house was well furnished, having an office section and separate living quarters. They found a military first aid kit and dressings. Tawny removed GPS tracking devices from Rose and Rites and crushed them under her heel. Mercy removed Tawny’s chip and Tawny did the same for Mercy.
“Why did you decide to intervene?” Mercy asked Leo.
Leo watched as Tawny applied a dressing to Mercy’s back. “Wasn’t my call, one of my kids; Ruby, she’s our crossbow ace, she’s the one who shot the first guy. Ruby’s got a mind of her own, she had a sister about the same age as your Rose there. Let’s just say her sister didn’t make it, Ruby doesn’t like men pushing women around sometimes it’s as simple as that—”
The Survival Chronicles (Book 2): Angel of Mercy Page 11
