“Thirty four at last count, although Seb lost some people on the Shearwater raid—”
“And the garrison at Fort George? I mean the Citadel. How many men has the Colonel got there?”
“Five hundred plus change,” Crimson answered. “He’s also got a base in Portland, Maine and some other places. He’s got the whole north east covered, but his biotech people are here. Halifax is regarded as a safe haven compared to the rest of the country. But we heard things are changing, the virus has mutated again.”
“Yeah, saw it first hand in Manhattan. Tropes coming out in daylight, skinnies coming back to life—”
“Skinnies?”
“It’s what we called the dead, hundreds, thousands of them left in cars, trains, buses, planes, just coming back to life—” Mercy answered.
“That ain’t happened here… yet, the Colonel burned a lot of trope bodies, used quicklime in mass graves,” Crimson stopped. “But then they ran out of quick lime, so they just buried the bodies, used bulldozers.”
Mercy looked up and met Crimson’s gaze. “Ran out of quicklime? So the threat’s not been fully neutralised. So you’ve got fresh tropes coming into the city from outside every day and there’s thousands of dead, buried in mass graves. Great, just great. Sounds like a ticking bomb to me—” Mercy went quiet, an idea began to form in her head.
“You want to meet Denton then?” Crimson said at last.
“Yeah, that’d be good. What time is it anyway? It’s hard to tell, there’s no windows in this place.”
Crimson looked at her watch. “It’s 4 pm. You were asleep for six hours.”
“Jesus—” Mercy said.
They heard a noise from the other end of the room and saw Tawny stretching her arms.
“Time to go to work then,” Crimson stubbed out her cigarette.
~
Fat bastard— Mercy thought as she approached Denton. She remembered what Crimson had told her. How can people follow someone like this?
Denton was big, built like a wrestler whose muscles had turned to fat. He was bald with tattoos on his neck and the sides of his skull. His eyes were piercing, intelligent, he wore rings on all his fingers and both thumbs.
“Welcome to the Family Philips, Mercy Dawes. Sit, take the weight off your feet. Seb has told me how you helped him with the NSA at the library. Your people freed one of my family, I am very grateful for your efforts. Your friend Leo has concussion, but he’s a lucky guy, he’ll be fine. He’s told me a lot about you and your escape from the NSA, persistent bastards aren’t they?”
Mercy exchanged glances with Tawny and Rose. “When can we see Leo? We’ve been worried—”
“Of course you have, you can see him right after we’ve spoken, Seb’ll take you to him. Leo tells me you want to spring some people from the Citadel,” Denton put his hands together and rested them on his ample stomach.
“Yes, Leo and his group have family in the work camp outside the fort. I’ve got friends being held in there too—” Mercy said.
“Being held by the Colonel’s scientists Leo tells me. They must be high value prisoners to be held within the walls of the Citadel—” Denton let his words hang in the air.
Mercy felt a pang in the pit of her stomach, she did not trust this man. Think clever, offer him something, get him on side—
“If you could help us raid the compound and free some of the slaves, then me, Tawny and Rose could stay behind after you pull back, we’d infiltrate… blend in. We could gather intelligence maybe even access the Citadel itself—” Mercy did not mention Flynn.
Denton’s face was inscrutable. He sat in silence thinking. “It’s been a while since we scoped out the Citadel, we’ve been focusing our efforts on the Shearwater base. But now that you’ve captured this sniper rifle and sight,” he stopped, considering his words. “All it would take would be one lucky shot, if the Colonel shows his head above the battlements, which he will, we could take him out with this,” Denton slapped the M40 rifle at his side.
Mercy had forgotten about the sniper rifle. He had a point, “You got someone who can use that thing?”
“No, but one of the other families has; ex forces, used to work for me but we had… a disagreement. This would be an opportunity to build bridges, move forward, take control. In fact I’ve already sent a runner to Family Grant to see if they’d be agreeable to a meeting. An operation to raid the compound would require the efforts of at least three of the families. There are six families on the East Shore, some will chose not to engage, but the others may collaborate if they see mutual advantage. You have come at an opportune time Mercy Dawes, things were getting boring around here—”
He’s a mad bastard, the worst type; a smart, mad bastard— Mercy thought.
“I’d like to see the Citadel for myself, before we do anything,” Mercy declared.
Denton considered her words. “Makes sense, it’ll take a couple of days for me to put something together with the families. You’ll need to cross the bay to the West Shore at night, the bridges are controlled by the NSA so you’ll need to go by boat. That can be arranged, some of my people can take you. You’ll see what you’re getting yourself into, you will be taking a risk. The city centre is a burnt out wasteland, full of new tropes. You sure you want to go in there?”
Mercy nodded. “I have to do this.”
“OK then, we’ll make it happen—” Denton clapped his hands together. “Seb take our new friends to Leo, then come back, we’ve got work to do.”
Denton smiled at Mercy. His eyes were dead.
~
Murphy licked Leo’s hand. Leo opened his eyes, he focused on Murphy’s head.
“Hello boy. How are you?” Leo said.
“More to the point, how are you?” Rose asked.
Leo looked up from his bed and took in Tawny, Mercy and Rose. His eyes flicked back to Tawny and lingered there. “I’m fine, I guess. Stupid mistake, I remember jumping from a wall, went sprawling, my leg went from under me, must’ve hit my head— stupid. I was lucky the Philips crew picked me up or I would’ve been trope food.”
“You look OK, anything broken, any injuries?” Mercy asked keeping her voice level.
“No, no, I’m good, head’s a bit muzzy but it’s clearing. The medic said I’ve got slight concussion, a day or two and I’ll be good as new.”
“They got a medic here?” Tawny looked impressed. “We had to make do with a first aid book back in Manhattan, not the best for gunshot wounds I can tell you.”
Rose gave Tawny a look then prodded Mercy. “Go on, tell him.”
Mercy hesitated.
“Tell me what?” Leo asked.
Mercy’s shoulders slumped. She told him of their discussion with Denton and the planned scouting mission to the Citadel. She also revealed what Crimson had told her of Denton’s history of betrayal. Rose pulled a face.
“Denton’s a man, what do you expect?” Tawny said, her voice emphatic.
Leo looked up at her. “Hey, we’re not all bad.”
Tawny stared at him. “I remain to be convinced.”
Leo frowned then sat up. “I’ll make it my mission in life then.” There it was, he had nailed his colours to the mast, at least he thought so. This was like defusing a bomb; if he did or said the wrong thing Tawny would shred him. He changed the subject, “So when are we going?”
“What do you mean we?” Mercy said, “You’ve got concussion, you need to recover.”
“You’re not going without me, I need to see the compound too. My brother and sister are in there somewhere, an extra pair of eyes will help with any planning,” Leo said.
Mercy was silent, thinking. Secretly she was pleased Leo wanted to come but she could feel the tension between Tawny and Leo. Emotion was never good in the field. Murphy yawned and the atmosphere changed, Mercy made her mind up; they would stick together. Leo was right, an extra pair of eyes would help.
Mercy nodded. “OK you’re in Leo, if you still feel OK this e
vening we’ll head on out.”
“Murphy’s coming too,” Rose said.
Mercy stiffened, this was turning into a circus. “This isn’t a game Rose.”
Rose met Mercy’s gaze. “I know, he’s already saved your life once. So he gets to come with us. We’re not going to leave him here.”
Mercy sighed and ran her hand through her hair. “OK the dog comes too.”
~
They spent the rest of the afternoon studying a map of Halifax, cleaning their weapons and resting. Mercy was itching to get going, she was so close to Flynn, she wanted to look in his eyes, feel his breath on her cheek, his arms around her.
“This is Kenny,” Crimson’s voice interrupted Mercy’s train of thought.
Mercy opened her eyes and looked up at Crimson and the gangly teenager standing beside her. Mercy raised her head from her pillow, a puzzled look on her face.
“Kenny’s coming with us tonight, he knows the harbour area and he can handle a boat. We’ve got permission to use one of the ribs stashed on the East Shore,” Crimson added.
Mercy sat up. “Wait a minute, you’re our guides? I was expecting—”
“Older guys? Like Seb? No, Denton’s using all his muscle to impress the other families, you get left with us,” Crimson said, her face impassive.
Kenny knelt down to ruffle Murphy’s ears. “I like dogs, we used to have a Siberian husky called Max.” Kenny looked up at Mercy, his eyes were sad, Mercy could see old scars on his forearms, she remembered a girl called Sienna with similar scars back at the orphanage. The orphanage seemed a world away.
“Good to meet you Mercy,” Kenny said. “Crimson’s filled me in on what the NSA did to you. Those bastards wasted my family, so I’ll do anything to help, I’ve got your back—”
Mercy shrugged. “Sorry to hear about your family Kenny, good to have you on board.” Mercy rubbed her eyes then remembered what she had meant to ask, “Hey Crimson? Can you get a few watches for us and can you ask Seb for those binoculars I gave him, from the sniper team? We could use those.”
“I’ll see what I can do,” Crimson said. “We got blades, swords too. Kenny show them what we have.”
“Silent killing’s always best,” Rose said without looking up from cleaning her Glock.
Crimson left and Kenny took Mercy to a large trunk at the back of the room, he opened it and stepped back.
Mercy looked into the trunk and saw a pile of swords most likely scavenged from some museum. “Tawny’s got herself a sword, Rose is too short, me… I don’t like them, they get in the way, I’ve got my knife, so I think I’m good.” Then something caught her eye, she knelt down and took out a narrow blade. “This is long but it’s not a sword.”
“It’s a bayonet, European I think, Swiss maybe,” Kenny said. “Take it, it suits you, like your friend said, silent killing’s best.”
Mercy withdrew the bayonet from its scabbard, it shone in the light and felt good in her hand. “Yeah OK, it’ll make a good back up, thanks.”
They went back to the kitchen area and met up with the rest of Leo’s group. They had settled in and were glad to have the protection of the Family Philips. Tawny was briefing them on the scouting mission and the proposed plan to work with some of the other families to raid the NSA compound. Leo’s kids seemed happy to rest up and recuperate in the meantime.
Molly approached Mercy. “Just wanted to wish you luck on the recon trip. I’d like to go with you—”
Mercy could hear the ambivalence in Molly’s voice. “It’s all good Molly, we’re already oversubscribed on this one, thanks for the offer but I think you should stay here and keep an eye on your crew, make sure they’re fully armed and don’t drop your guard. Be prepared for anything, remember you’re never fully safe anywhere.”
Molly nodded. “I’m on it, already spotted a way out of here, culvert in the south fence, trees beyond—”
Mercy smiled. “That’s what I’m talking about; always keep your eye on the exit.”
The door opened, Crimson appeared with Leo in tow. She approached Mercy and pulled up her jacket sleeve revealing three watches strapped to her wrist.
“Take your pick,” Crimson said.
Tawny, Rose and Mercy each took a watch and checked the time against Leo and Crimson’s watches.
“Denton’s gone to meet with one family, Seb’s gone to another; that sniper rifle you captured was a game changer, turns out it’s got a night sight. Tomorrow, they’ll try two more families. They just need two other groups to join in the raid, that’d be enough especially if they go in at night,” Crimson said. “Oh and here’s the binoculars you wanted.”
“Great, thanks,” Mercy examined the binoculars then looked up, “So— how long have we got for our recon mission?”
“The clock’s ticking,” Crimson replied, “unless Denton gets no takers, which I doubt, the raid will probably be a go. So I reckon we’ve got forty eight hours to get eyes on the fort and compound. That’s to get there and back here—”
Mercy looked at her watch. “Seven pm, what are we waiting for? Let’s go.”
Chapter 20 Crossing
Crimson led them west, out of the oil terminal and over wasteland. Light drizzle peppered the air, a slight breeze blew from the south. The wasteland was overgrown, and choked with rubbish.
“What happened here?” Tawny whispered to Crimson, her eyes taking in the burnt out cars and rows of makeshift shacks. “Looks like a refugee camp—”
“That’s exactly what it is, was,” Crimson answered. “After Colonel Randel torched the city centre people moved to the East Shore and tried to live here. They didn’t last past the first winter; no food, starvation. The few that did manage to survive the winter became trope food in the spring when new tropes moved in from the surrounding areas.”
Mercy kept to the back, her eyes flitting between the others ahead and the ground behind. She was relying on Tawny, Leo and Rose to watch their flanks. It was second nature now, it had to be. They moved with caution, Crimson had inspected everyone’s kit, taping down loose objects with duct tape, she had even made sure their water bottles were full to reduce noise.
They reached the shore thirty minutes later. Kenny moved forwards, he pointed at the bay ahead, “That’s Bedford Bay, The Narrows and Halifax Harbour over there, that’s Georges Island, there’s an old fort on it but it’s not used by the NSA, up there in the distance is the Macdonald bridge, the NSA are all over that. We’re gonna cross over to Pier 21 on the West Shore. I’ve got a rib stashed in the oil docking platform on this side, so we just need to lie low for a bit, wait for darkness, then we cross the road onto the platform.”
“Why don’t we go now?” Tawny said, she looked impatient.
Kenny shrugged. “We only cross the water in darkness, that’s the rule. The NSA’s got eyes on the West Shore. One of the other families lost ten guys going across in daylight, all it takes is one alert NSA lookout and you’re really exposed out there, they can pick you off, there’s nowhere to hide.”
Tawny nodded, her face resigned.
Mercy looked up, crows were circling to the north. “Whatever happened to the rest of your crew Leo? The plan was to meet up at noon in Dartmouth Common wasn’t it?”
“Yeah, Molly told Seb about that when I was out of it. He sent some guys up there the day after we were rescued, no one turned up, they said there was a lot of trope activity up there. They were going to send another couple of guys today to check again but I don’t know—” Leo looked away.
Mercy touched his shoulder. “Hey it’s alright, you weren’t to know were you?”
Tawny leaned in.
“Yeah, like she said, it’s not your fault, it’s useless blaming yourself, it’s not about you. It’s about this,” she waved her hand through the air, “it’s all fucked up.”
“OK, let’s keep it down, twenty minutes more and we’ll make a move,” Kenny said bringing an index finger to his lips.
Mercy used her bin
oculars to check the opposite shore, she focused on the piers down from the one Kenny had indicated. A large cigar shaped object was moored at one of the piers, she focused on it and raised her eyebrows. “Hey Kenny, is that what I think it is?” She pointed at the pier and handed Kenny the binoculars.
Kenny had a look. “Yeah, that’s the Russian sub that rocked up six months after the Fall. Far as I know no one ever got out, it’s still locked up even now. Not much use for a sub nowadays.”
“So, it’s full of nukes?” Mercy asked.
Kenny shrugged and handed her the binoculars. “Guess so—”
“Probably a whole fleet of subs and ships that never made it back to port out there, sitting in Davey Jones’s locker as we speak,” Tawny said.
Kenny looked at the sky. “OK, I think we can make a move now, follow me. The platform should be clear of tropes. I was here a few days ago and it was OK, but keep your eyes open,” he stood up and led them across the road.
They followed him and crossed the wooden decking leading to the platform. The water below looked black and cold. Mercy shivered as the sea breeze cut through her jacket. Flynn was just across that stretch of water, she had to keep it together a little longer. Kenny slowed and raised his gun holding his hand up. He turned and mouthed the word wait. He went ahead and disappeared around the first of the platform buildings. Mercy looked back along the wooden bridge, the way was clear, she noticed the crows were still circling to the north.
Kenny reappeared and waved them forwards. They reached him, “All clear. Follow me.” He led the way through the building to a covered area around the back. “Help me with the tarp.” He started removing a tarpaulin from a twelve seater rib which hung suspended from a winch.
They removed the tarp and watched as Kenny used the winch to lower the rib into the water. “OK take those steps and get on.” They filed down and boarded the craft. “There’s lifejackets under the seats, put one on and buckle up, tidal current can be strong but she’ll be fine,” Kenny said patting the two large outboard motors. He uncoupled the winch cables and started the engines. A minute later they had left the platform behind.
The Survival Chronicles (Book 2): Angel of Mercy Page 17
