“They’ll be nearing the compound soon,” Dee murmured as her fingertips traced patterns on the back of the hand resting on her hip.
“Mhmm,” I murmured, knowing this stolen moment would pass soon and loath to release it, but feeling the weight of responsibility settling heavily upon me. “Dee… if we don’t get them out—”
She pressed a finger to my lips and sat up on one elbow, looking down into my eyes. She shook her head and smiled with such supreme confidence I fell silent. The nagging worries and fear that clung to the back of my mind were wiped away, and I felt a measure of Dee’s confidence buttress my own as she took on my worries.
“It’s a good plan…” she said. “Maybe a messy one… but I have faith in us to get my family out of there.” Rising to her feet, she reached down a hand for me, but I took the opportunity to take in the sight of naked perfection one last time. “We’re one now, Courtney Tanvers, and there’s nothing we can’t do together.”
“Please don’t tell me you’re going to use that name from now on,” I said with a groan as I stood up and grabbed my jeans.
“It’s your name, isn’t it? And maybe no Courtneys survived? You could take the stigma off it.”
“You admit there’s stigma, but insist on using it,” I grumbled as I pulled on the white leather jacket and frowned. “You see where my shirt went?”
“There’s a piece there.” She pointed to a tiny scrap of white cloth, then to another. “And there, and over there. I might have gotten a little carried away.”
Try as I might, I couldn’t hide the grin growing on my face as we pulled our things on. I could feel the thin veil of brusque comradery masking the young woman’s genuine awe at the throbbing connection between us.
With the rest of my pride, it was little more than a vague sense of their presence and well-being. This felt like something alive.
“We can get into position early,” Dee said as she strapped her sword in place. “I’d like to make sure the…” She turned to me and lost the brusqueness as a slow smile spread on her lips. “I can feel them too… Ava, Madge…”
“It feels like home, doesn’t it?” I said, though the words were unnecessary. I could feel her echoing my own sentiments.
Our determination solidified as one and we abandoned the little apartment. If we survived the coming conflagration, neither of us would forget our stolen time together.
Chapter 30
SCENE SEVEN
The scene began in darkness before peeling back to reveal a small wooden cabin. There was a single entrance and two doorways leading to bedrooms, as well as a small kitchen with two wooden chairs and a table.
Other than the basic essentials, the cabin was bare. The only sign that it was occupied was the pair of leather moccasins sitting near the door. Flashes of light and the sound of explosions came from outside, the chaos growing closer and closer to the door each second until with a blinding flash of light the scene dissolved for a second.
When the image reformed, much of the cabin was destroyed—logs tumbled down, boards splintered, and the walls sagged. Something shifted in the debris as an arm reached through the broken boards, the hand coated in blood as it hauled the massive body free.
The man who emerged was white-haired and tired-looking. His arms and shoulders looked like those of a man decades his junior, but as he pulled himself free, it was clear he was Dean Williams, though much aged.
“We gave you every chance to join our cause!” screamed a voice that shook with anger.
A tall redheaded man emerged from the smoke, his eyes burning in the darkness with a kind of madness. His lips pulled back from his teeth in a rictus snarl as he stalked forward, hands curled like claws. Behind him emerged six young men, their forms familiar if not the dangerous red glow in their eyes as the dark smoke parted.
“End him, Comrade,” Sasha said with a sneer for the old man as he struggled to his feet, one leg torn and bloody, the flesh hanging from the bone in a mangled sheet that dripped surprisingly little blood. “Our Master isn’t what he once was… He’s become soft, like the women and beta-cucks.”
“You… boys…” Dean groaned out as he leveraged himself up against the slumped wall. “Have let baser instincts rule you… Forgot what I tried to teach—”
Morty leapt forward and swung a heavy cane at the old man’s head as he screamed in anger, “Teach us? Teach us to be tools and weaklings is all you did, old man!”
Dean caught the cane when it swung for his head. After trying to tear it from the old man’s hand and failing, the man let out a curse and let go of the weapon and grabbed a pistol stuffed in Adonis’s waistband. The others watched as the slender man snapped off six quick rounds at the old man, yelling in anger as he did.
Dean moved like an eel, faster than the eye could follow, and avoided four of the bullets. But his twisting couldn’t avoid the final two, and the impact threw him into the sagging wall with a wet smack.
“Annie,” Dean whispered, his eyes rising to the heavens. “I’m coming home to you and Darla…”
“Shut up, you fool,” Fredrick said, and with an expression that seemed almost painful, he yanked a dagger from his boot and stabbed it into the old man’s barrel chest, right in the heart.
Dean wheezed out a gentle sigh, sagging into the small crack at the foot of the wall, but his fingers still scrambled, and the knife rose and fell gently as breath wheezed in and out of his lungs.
“The old fucker’s still alive?!” Morty asked, snatching his cane from Dean’s weak fingers so quickly it looked like he feared being scalded.
“Forget him,” Matthew said, turning his back on the old man deliberately and facing the others. The young man’s expression was hard, but his eyes were red and raw with emotion that he struggled to keep out of his voice. “Master Williams sealed his fate when he chose to oppose us. Adesh, have you secured all the Treasures?”
“Not all,” the dark-eyed young man said with a frown. “One of the girls escaped. The annoying one… what’s her name?”
“Donatella,” Adonis said as he licked his lips. “Shame… that one was growing up into a fine filly.”
“None of that matters,” Matthew said with a frown for the wheezing breath behind him. “The wheels are in motion now. It will be days before anyone knows of this attack, and our raid on the compound and these next days will be critical. Shen, what is our status?”
“The UK and Hong Kong authorities remain oblivious to my people’s movements.” The slender young man spoke with calm authority, unlike Matthew. He seemed more in control, and his mind far sharper. As he spoke, it was clear the others deferred to him as much as Matthew. “With the Weiger crisis consuming the media, both internal and external, my ‘revitalization’ efforts in Shenzhen have proceeded ahead of schedule. Currently, my Pogrom boasts over three hundred thousand graduates, and my Alpha Command has identified more than two thousand potential Alphas.”
There were a few whistles around the circle. All except for Morty, who knelt with a cruel expression on his face and yanked the blade out, the corpse giving a jerk and impossibly letting out a low moan when the young Brit drove the blade back home into the old man’s guts.
“You’re a genius, Shen,” Morty said, grinning up from where he crouched.
“I’ve just been able to leverage my country's centralized control mechanisms to aid our endeavor. I will need Tom Redding soon, though. The Communist Party officials I swayed to our cause have grown up with stories of…” The shorter man gave an involuntary shiver and carefully avoided looking at the man bleeding out. Most of the others showed signs of guilt as well—all but Morty, who looked ready to stab him again—and began edging away from the pool of blood as they spoke.
“We get it,” Adonis said. “It same in Egypt. Man who brought peace between Israeli and Palestinian in secret… They know the stories.”
“This will be the last time we see each other unless there’s a major crisis,” Matthew said to the others
as he cast one final frown over his shoulder at the destroyed cabin. “Thank you, brothers, for joining me in this. I didn’t want to have to do it…”
“Yeah, you did,” Morty said with a snicker. “The old fuck was sooooo full of himself. Priggish wanker.”
He went to step over and kick the corpse, but Fredrick grabbed his shoulder and instead handed him a sloshing bottle with a rag sticking in it and a lighter.
“Bless your heart, you lovely soul,” Morty said with a grin. “Unless anyone else wants to do the honors?”
“Do it,” Matthew said, and the group all turned to watch, most with grim expressions as the bottle arched out, trailing flames, to explode on the dry wood. They stayed for several long minutes, watching as the fire ate at the entire cabin before slipping away to let it rage.
In their haste to leave, none seemed to notice the crack at the base of the wall, or the smear of blood trailing away from it, into the heart of the forest.
It took mere minutes to locate two suitable motorcycles. The streets were lined with bikes of all types. Most were the small commuter motorbikes that seemed common through the city, but many were higher performance machines.
Two minutes to hot-wire and make sure the tanks had enough fuel, then we were screaming down the empty streets of Shenzhen with glittering skyscrapers towering above us. We rode as one, both crouched over twin Ducatis in red and yellow.
The city flew past with breathtaking speed, but the bikes moved beneath us as one, and for long minutes it felt like I was flying, mere feet above the ground. Then we reached the industrial outskirts of the city and began weaving our way north and west toward the compound.
A trip that might have taken two hours with city traffic took less than fifteen minutes with empty streets and two Alphas behind the wheels. We zipped out of the city center and through large districts of massive apartment buildings.
For such a massive city, it was eerie to see and hear nothing but a relief as well. As we neared an industrial district, I spotted the telltale dust cloud rising ahead of us, and Dee signaled she was going ahead. Our eyes met one last time, and I prayed to God that she would be safe as I turned onto a freeway on-ramp.
I’d mapped out my route the night before, memorizing all the major freeways and roadways in Shenzhen. Finding my way through the streets on ground level was an entirely different challenge from memory, but the glittering towers of the compound’s newly constructed buildings made it easy to check my location.
The five-lane freeway curled to the north and east, skirting the compound’s outer ring, and I spotted the second cloud coming down from the north.
Ava and Madge were right on time, and I gunned the engine, feeling the g-forces push me back into the seat as the bike took off beneath me. The speedometer climbed past 150 with ease, and I felt a thrill of adrenaline as I shifted, and the engine only throbbed all the more powerful.
At 200 miles per hour, I flew around the compound and was nearing the tall northern walls when green smoke rose near a small hill a half-mile off. The construction all throughout Hong Kong and at least this part of China avoided all the high points, the hilltops and places of high elevation.
The short hill I raced toward was covered in dense greenery, and frustratingly the roads were fenced on either side in this district, making it difficult to weave my way to the smoke. In the end, I rode straight off the side of an elevated walkway and jumped two fences, landing in an alleyway on the other side and racing out onto the opposite street.
There I spotted half of my pride and heart sitting in a convertible.
“CT!” Ava shouted, racing over and throwing her arms around me as I reached her.
Madge was a second behind her, and Annie behind her, as I staggered beneath their weight.
“Thank God you’re safe!”
“How did it go?” I asked, my arms trying to hold the three as close as I could while I scanned the surrounding buildings and rooftops with worry. “How close are they?”
“Just a few minutes behind,” Annie said, and turning, she hurried back to the car to snatch something pink and frilly from the antennae. “I’ll get them, one second!”
“You finally did it,” Ava said, her tone oddly pleased and happy given the intensity of the situation.
“He did?” Madge asked. “How do you know?!”
“We don’t have time for this,” I said, kissing each quickly and pushing them toward the yellow sports car. “Make sure you get to safety and remember the signal to watch for us on.”
“You make sure you stay safe,” Ava said, poking me so hard in the chest I reached up to rub the painful spot. “Get in, grab Dee’s family, and get out. Just like the plan says.”
I nodded and went to go, but I couldn’t part without one last kiss from each. Then I hopped on the bike and gunned it past Annie, snatching the pink panties out of her hands as I passed.
“Good luck!” Annie called after me.
The ground beneath my feet trembled with vibrations so faint most might not pick them up, but the scent of stale sweat and excrement was impossible to miss. Clutching the panties in one hand and letting them flap in the wind as I rode along, I caught the occasional whiff of Brianna from before our bonding.
The first Balphas nearly swarmed over me as they came racing around a building’s corner. In their madness to get at the unbred and unbonded female whose scent had driven them wild, they climbed buildings, through windows and torn-down doors, filling the street in a heartbeat.
Ditching the bike, I melted into the beast, walling out the world and feeling the thrill of power surge through my limbs. In a mighty leap, I reached the roof of a three-story building and headed toward the compound’s walls with an army of millions charging at my back.
I could see the wall guards’ faces from far off, and their confusion shifted to fear and then panic quickly once they saw the wall of ravenous Balphas charging toward them. A few brave souls grabbed the small Type 95 automatic rifles hanging at their sides and stood their ground, but the bulk turned and fled.
Steel doors slammed shut over basements and storage rooms as soldiers crowded inside when I came flying over the wall. A few rifles popped off, their rounds ricocheting off the buildings around me, but I paid them little notice as I ran on. I was moving fast and cutting side to side in sharp angles, but it was the hairs on the back of my arms that let me know I was in little danger.
The couple times the mutants had drawn close to me, I’d sensed the danger of falling prey to the mindless horde. In seconds they could swarm me and by sheer weight of numbers, if nothing else, take me down.
As I reached the roof of a tall barracks building and gazed back behind me, I felt a moment of regret for the destruction being wrought because of my plans. Tens of thousands of mutants were pouring over the walls and through broken gates. Large motor pools were engulfed in flames as fuel canisters were overturned and caught fire, and an electrical substation let out a high-pitched whine before a concussive detonation sent a small mushroom cloud into the sky.
The Balphas poured into the outer ring of the compound, and I saw the bulk heading straight for a massive arena set up in the second ring.
Cursing myself, I raced on, my nose ever on the lookout for the complex aroma of Dee’s kin as I angled toward the open-roofed arena. The structure had been empty in the satellite images we’d scouted, but as I neared it, the high hum of thousands of female voices could be heard.
My legs carried me down a wide street, rapidly emptying as workers and young Alphas ran for safety, their confusion and fear thick upon the air. Turning down a short alley, I popped out into a wide boulevard filled with dozens of nervous security forces.
I’d noticed mundane men on the walls, but seeing such a large group was a shock. When they saw a tall, pale-skinned Alpha run into their midst, their relief was palpable. Then they noticed my clothing and weapons and raised theirs in challenge.
Perhaps I should have offered words of peace or sough
t common ground, but that just wasn’t in my nature anymore. Instead, I rose to my full height and let loose a roar from the very center of my being, meeting them challenge for challenge.
Three dozen rifles clattered to the concrete, and the air filled with the scent of urine, fear, and shame.
When I snatched the blond man with the captain’s bars on one arm up, he raised his other arm weakly to fend me off, not bothering to use the pistol at his side as fear scrambled his training and instincts.
“What do you have in there?” I shouted, pointing at the arena.
“Master…?” the man asked, his face twisted in confusion as he continued to flinch at my every little movement.
Turning to the rest of the cowering men, I glared, and one brave soul offered, “The women and girls Chairman Shen and the Council collected are all being experimented on or something.”
“Enhanced, or so Alpha Farang said!” offered another one before ducking down to avoid my glower.
“There are ten million mutants about to overrun this place any second. Any chance it can be sealed, and those women protected?”
The men stared at one another for a long second, then the sound of screams and the thunder of many feet reached them as the Balphas approached the second ring.
“They built it to keep them in…” the first man said with a frown.
“It can!” gasped the captain. His hands had been scrambling at my wrist but so weakly I hadn’t noticed, but now I released him. After a quick gasp, he continued while backing away from me. “Except for the main gate… It’s all sealed on the outside.”
“GO!”
My voice was layered with deep vibrations of command as the word thundered out. The men, enemies until a second before, scrambled to obey the order.
Chapter 31
New World Alpha: Book Three (A Harem Fantasy) Page 15
