He hadn’t given it much thought but now the reality hit him. The soldiers wouldn’t much care, so long as they could bear children. He put his hand over his mouth and turned away. Were they surrounded by vegetables, minds destroyed by too many drugs?
‘What do we do?’ Jackson asked.
‘No idea. We can carry them, I suppose, but we can’t get them down the staircase below without them being awake.’
‘I can carry them.’
‘There must be a hundred people in here, don’t be daft.’
Jackson snarled and Alex held his hands up. ‘Hey, take it easy. Hasn’t God told you what to do?’
He backed away from the next look. He wasn’t ready to be punched again. Though having been through it, it wasn’t as bad as all that. Not a nice experience, but no longer a terrifying concept. Jackson turned back to the woman on the bed and shook her. ‘Wake up.’
Alex sighed and pushed back through the sheet. Bayleigh was on her feet with only a faint smear of blood on her upper lip.
‘Are you alright?’
‘Yeah, fine, doesn’t hurt a bit.’ She gently touched the side of his face and he winced as her fingers brushed the edge of his eye socket. ‘Is that bad?’
‘It’s been better. I’m alright. The plague’s done.’
‘Done?’
‘It’s no longer live, so anyone without a gas mask won’t be infected anymore.’
‘So we can rescue all the hostages.’
‘Sort of. They’re still under anaesthetic.’
‘No, they’re not.’ Luke strode into the tent, brows furrowed.
‘What?’
‘They’re being magically held under. The anaesthetic would have killed them or made them brain dead. This is a spell.’
‘Bloody hell, that’s pretty impressive.’ He paused for a minute to reflect on how he’d just described a spell as impressive. Not nonsense or ridiculous, but impressive. And where had Luke come from? He didn’t give him a chance to ask, simply nodded at him and turned to Bayleigh. ‘Speaking of which, how are you feeling?’
Bayleigh flushed and nodded. ‘I’m pretty good.’
‘Only pretty good?’
‘Actually, I feel amazing, like I could run a marathon.’
‘You might have to if we don’t clear out of here. There’s a few things I need to tell you. For now, you just need to know that everything that’s happened here is part of something much larger. And I’m not sure it’s something I want to happen. Either way, right now we need to get the hostages out.’
Alex peeked around the curtain. Jackson was still shaking the woman, though not too hard, he was relieved to see. ‘What about the spell?’
Luke hefted the book and smiled grimly. ‘I think I might be able to do something with this. If I have enough time.’
‘Isn’t that like a medical book?’ Bayleigh asked.
Luke nodded to Bayleigh. ‘It is. And I’m fairly certain they’ll have used something medical to put them under. Knocking someone out for four days is going to be dangerous however you do it.’
He started leafing through the book and Alex looked again through the curtain. Jackson had given up and stood impotently beside the bed with his fists clenched. Alex slipped through the curtain. ‘It’s magic. She’s not going to wake up.’
‘So what do we do?’
Alex started at the look on his face. It was screwed up, mouth quivering like he was about to cry. It lasted only a moment before the mask came back down. ‘Hey, what’s up?’ Alex asked.
Jackson glared at him and said nothing. Alex shrugged and looked at the woman. The lines were slowly leaving her face. She was young, not much older than Krystal. He shuddered at the thought of what the soldiers were planning. This couldn’t happen.
‘He’s silent.’ Jackson muttered beneath his breath and Alex frowned. Had he heard it right? ‘Who’s silent?’
‘God.’ It was even quieter. ‘He told me to do this, but he won’t tell me how to get this sorted.’
‘Maybe he wants you to do it yourself.’ He felt like a fraud just saying it, but there was something about the slope of the big man’s shoulders that made him want to pat him on the back and give him a cup of tea.
‘I have been. This has all been by myself. He won’t speak to me.’
What the hell was he supposed to say to that? His instinct was to laugh first, scoff second, but for that brief moment when he looked vulnerable and sad, Jackson had been a different person. Alex blinked and stretched his mouth open, trying to find the words. ‘Could it be that he’s really busy with everything that’s going on? Maybe he trusts you to get on with it so he can worry about other people.’
That was lame. That was worse than lame. Jackson raised his eyebrows, mouth turning up at the corners and Alex almost burst out laughing when he spoke. ‘Of course. He trusts me. He believes in me. I’m being selfish. He doesn’t have time to talk to me and hold my hand. He chose me because he wouldn’t have to.’
He nodded, shoulders straightening. His eyes flicked across to Alex and he nodded, just a little, before he cleared his throat. ‘I’m carrying them out.’
Alex stifled a laugh and shook his head. ‘Give Luke a chance. He—’
‘Luke’s here?’
‘Yeah, with big news apparently. But he thinks he can get rid of this spell. We just have to give him time.’
‘He’s got time, hasn’t he?’
‘COME OUT NOW. We have our machine and we have you surrounded.’ As Etienne’s voice boomed through the tent, Alex turned to Jackson. ‘Apparently not. You think they’d get bored of threatening us.’
Jackson grinned and cracked his fist into his other hand. ‘I’m glad they don’t. I’m not bored of hurting people yet.’
Alex put his hand on Jackson’s arm. ‘Take it easy, alright. The last people you hurt was us.’
Jackson looked at the ground for a moment and shrugged. ‘I’m doing God’s work. Get in my way and I’ll go through you.’
The vulnerability was nowhere to be seen in his eyes as he pushed past Alex and through the sheet. The scientist stood staring at the woman on the bed and wondered whether waking her up was really a good idea right now. As long as they were sleeping, they were safe. He knelt, scooped the gas mask from the floor, and pulled it back over her face. Then he went to join the others.
Krystal
The soldiers came up to the gallery twice during their search. But they never looked above it, and when they looked out the window it was to bitch and moan that they were never going to find her. Soldiers filled the cavern, more than she’d thought there were, and they poked into every tiny hole and cranny around the place. A bunch more were inside the cathedral, the occasional ring of a boot floating up to where she sat.
She was hungry and tired. Bored as well, but the low level terror at the thought of being discovered stopped her being blasé about it. They hadn’t found David. At least, if they had, they hadn’t celebrated and he hadn’t given her away.
Krystal pushed herself as far from the edge as possible, pulled her knees up and rested her head back against the dome. Then she slept.
Jackson
He barrelled between the sheets and found Luke cross-legged on the ground. Bayleigh and Ed had their backs to him, staring at the front of the tent where a thin piece of canvas protected them from the soldiers.
‘Your decisions are most unfortunate. It seems sad to have to kill some of the few remaining humans alive on Earth.’ Etienne sounded bored. Was he never going to understand how badly his men sucked at their jobs?
‘We have the ladies and the moment I see even the tiniest sign that you’re coming in, we’ll start killing them.’ Jackson roared as he stepped between Bayleigh and Ed, thrusting his chest out. He wasn’t sure why he’d said it, because he wouldn’t. But they didn’t know that. There was a pregnant pause from outside.
Etienne spoke again, more quietly and from just the other side of the canvas. ‘You won’t kill them.
Because the moment you do, we will execute every one of you.’
‘And you’ll lose your precious vessels and your entire plan is screwed.’
Another silence. Jackson gave Bayleigh a grin and she smiled back. It was a sick sort of smile but it was there. Jackson turned to the entrance then shook his head. Why was he standing around waiting? He stalked around the small entry way, searching for anything he could use as a weapon. He came up with a metal tray and a chair, which would be useful if they came at him one at a time without guns. It seemed unlikely. They were crap, but not that crap.
Bayleigh moved closer and hissed in his ear. ‘Do they really have the machine?’
‘I dunno. Text David and find out.’
Bayleigh pulled her phone out and started typing. Jackson watched her. She was pretty but she was a stupid bitch. He groaned, rubbing his temples. The reminder of his past life brought tears to his eyes and he turned away, gripping the metal tray so hard the edges cut into his hand. How was he still thinking such terrible thoughts? How could he have hit her? He was beyond that. He was a new person, born again before God. So how could these evil thoughts spill so freely from him?
He turned away from her, searching for a new focus for his attention. It alighted on Ed and he took a few steps to stand beside him. ‘Are you alright?’
Ed nodded and took a step away. ‘Yeah, fine. You?’
‘Mmm.’
Alex was watching him. The bruise was coming out on his face, the side Jackson had caught, turning a lovely shade of purple. Jackson grinned, and when Alex caught him, tapped the side of his head and grinned some more. Alex turned away and muttered something to Bayleigh. She nodded absently, but Jackson didn’t need to be near enough to hear. He knew it was about him.
It didn’t matter. Alex had been right about one thing. God trusted him. God put him here because no one else could do the job he had to do. They could say whatever the hell they wanted, it would make no difference in the end. By the end, they’d bow before him in apology, once he’d saved their lives.
‘I’m not getting any response from David. I’m gonna try Krystal.’
She didn’t need to say that out loud. She could have just done it. What did she want, a damned medal?
‘Got it. This is it and it’s easy to counter.’ Luke rose from the floor, keeping the book open at a page. ‘It should only take a couple of minutes.’
‘Then what?’
‘Then we walk out of here with the hostages and the devices and they can have their piece of machinery back.’
‘What?’ Jackson almost slapped the book out of Luke’s hand. ‘We aren’t giving it back, we’re taking the whole damn machine.’
Luke sighed and shook his head. His eyes were that weird golden colour that made Jackson’s skin crawl. ‘Listen. The moment we’ve got the prisoners out of here, these soldiers are going to be pissed. And Seph and Az are as well. We need to give them a reason to stay here, at least long enough for us to get away. If we take the machine they’ll hunt us down and no one survives. Trust me on this, they have no reason to keep you guys alive. Frankly, I think they’d very much like you dead.’
He stepped back and looked in the book, running a finger down it and paying him not the least bit of attention.
‘Oh, thank god. Oh crap. Right, Krystal’s still got the machine, so they’re lying about that. But David’s disappeared and doesn’t have a phone anymore.’
He’d have done better leaving David on the bed. Having found out about Luke, he almost wished he had. But that wasn’t God’s plan. Jackson didn’t know why, but he was linked to David. He’d saved his life for a reason and that reason would present itself at some point in the future. Until then, he would look after him.
‘Where did he go?’
Bayleigh shrugged. ‘She doesn’t say. She’s on top of St Paul’s and he went back through the window and disappeared.’
They exchanged a rare moment of complete agreement, exchanging tired, disbelieving looks. Then Luke lifted the book. ‘We wake them up and get them out of here. We can find David on the way. Jackson, can you explain to the nice man outside about the machine while I do this? Keep him busy.’
Jackson grinned, showing his teeth. This, he’d enjoy. And if Luke thought he’d got away with ordering him about, he could live with that for now. He peeked through the gap in the canvas. Etienne was wringing his hands and watching the tent with a frown on his face. Looked like he already knew they’d called his bluff.
Jackson slowly opened the tent, putting his body in the way before anyone could see the others, and slipped out. He squared up to Etienne, showing him some teeth and silently begging for the twat to try the bluff again. He was silent though, waiting for Jackson to speak.
‘We’ve still got the machine. Now who’s the liar?’
He rocked back on his heels, grinning broadly and making eye contact with as many soldiers as he could. Etienne bristled and Jackson thought he was going to deny it. Instead he shook his head and found his arrogant expression from wherever it was hiding.
‘We will find it, though. It’s only a matter of time.’
‘Until then, how about you and me have ourselves a little fight? You can show me if there’s any man under there at all.’
He pushed Etienne in the shoulder and the man raised an eyebrow as he staggered back. ‘You really want to fight?’
‘Yeah?’
‘Fine. I would benefit from letting off a little steam.’
He rolled the sleeves of his robe up and settled back into a martial-arty sort of stance. Jackson burst out laughing and raised his fists. The guy was nuts. He wasn’t that old, no more than fifty maybe, but that made him almost twice Jackson’s age and half his size. He’d seen all the movies where the small guy was faster and won the fight, but they were movies. Even the small guy went down when you hit him hard enough in the face.
Jackson lunged without warning, arms spread wide. His hands closed over air and he staggered forwards. Etienne danced past his right shoulder to stand behind him.
‘You don’t become one of the five without having training in every area. I never took to my fight training much, whereas my spell casting was a firm favourite.’
He started muttering and Jackson spun around, arm outstretched. His finger tips brushed past Etienne’s face so close he felt it in the tip of his swearing digit. Then Etienne vanished. Jackson swayed, off balance, staring this way and that. Where was he? This wasn’t God’s way, this was the Devil’s work. He snarled and launched himself forwards.
He heard Etienne’s intake of breath as his fingers brushed material. As the bastard moved he caught a glimpse of white. He hadn’t disappeared, he was just really hard to see. He had to keep him moving. He lunged again and almost got him. Then a hand landed flat on his back and a shock went through him, like being hit with a cattle prod. He jerked, twisting his back as he stumbled.
Jackson spun and swung again, making his arms as long as possible. This time he didn’t even feel the robe. He stopped, chest heaving as he turned slowly. He tried to slow his breathing. He had to think to win this. He heard a swish of robes on stone and swung towards it but he was far too slow. When the palm touched him this time it was as though he’d been shot with a tazer.
He flew forwards and landed on his knees, roaring as pain lanced through his legs. He toppled over and only just got his arms out to stop his fall. He lay on the stone, struggling to draw breath. The hand landed on his shoulder and he tensed, screwing up his face in anticipation. It was twice as powerful this time and his entire body convulsed. He screamed and hated the sound, so frail and pathetic.
The surrounding soldiers applauded and Jackson snarled through his tears. They were mocking him and his face burned. He pushed, got halfway up and collapsed. He tried a different method, rolling onto his side and curling up, then pushing himself up to sitting. His phone buzzed.
He almost ignored it. Probably the bitch wanting to have a moan. Only the bitch was d
ead. And he didn’t call her that anymore. He groaned and bit his lip. He was weak and spineless and he’d just been beaten by a man in a robe with no muscles to speak of. He glanced over his shoulder.
Etienne was standing a way aways, visible again and not even breathing hard. Jackson turned back and pulled his phone from his pocket.
They’re awake. We’re removing the masks now. We’ll be ready to move in five. Keep going.
He laughed and it came out as a sob. Keep going. Easy. He shoved the phone back in his pocket and rose to his feet. He cleared his throat as he turned around and raised his fists. ‘Is that it?’
Etienne smiled and stepped closer. ‘You really don’t have to do this. I’ve proved my point and you’ve wasted enough time.’
‘Have you found the machine yet?’
A flash of irritation crossed Etienne’s face and he didn’t reply. Jackson managed a smile. ‘Then I guess you need a little more time.’
Etienne muttered and thrust his hands out toward Jackson. Something struck his chest like a bus, too fast to prepare for. One minute he was standing, the next his head slammed against the stone and he tasted blood in his mouth where his teeth went through his lip. He moaned and rolled onto his side.
‘There is no winning here. There is only you looking more and more pathetic. Is this God’s will? Does he want you to be humbled in this way?’
‘He wants you gone. You and your bastard soldiers have no place in the new world.’
Etienne threw his head back and laughed. ‘That is rich, coming from someone who only a few hours ago was pounding his fists into someone he called a friend. God doesn’t want you, little man.’
Jackson grunted as he rose and turned again. ‘I’m a little man? I’m the one willing to fight with my fists, you’re the one hiding behind your magic. Who do you think God would judge more deserving of his love?’
‘We have God’s love, here in this cathedral. You have nothing but bruises and lies.’
Thirteen Roses Book Three: Beyond: A Paranormal Zombie Saga Page 17
