by Shéa MacLeod
“The drunk and the liar?”
“Wish I hadn’t of said that,” Albie sighed. “It sure wasn’t Christian of me. And while he may be a drunk, he ain’t a liar. Guess you proved that. Micah, why don’t you go have a chat with Hank? Dave ain’t exactly comfortable around you military types.”
“Sure thing, Albie.” He winked at Rain before he sauntered over to where Hank stood chatting with a group of other men.
Dave Dugan turned out to be a stocky man in his forties with too much facial hair and a fondness for checkered clothing. His shirt and his pants were both plaid, neither of them matching. He stank of home brew and he needed a bath. Still, Rain politely shook his hand.
“Dave, why don’t you tell Rain here all about the dead bodies you saw the Marines taking.”
Dave peered at Rain through bloodshot eyes. “Dunno, Albie. She’s hanging with that Marine fellow. Can’t be trusted, them Marines.”
“Now Dave,” Albie patted his hand. “You know what I told you. Micah Caine is a hero. The minute he found out what those Marines were up to, he left. He’s on our side now. So, you just go right on and tell Rain what you know.” She gave Rain a nod and then placed a bottle of brew on the table before melting into the crowd.
Rain sank into the chair opposite Dave Dugan. “Another drink, Dave?”
He smiled at that and held out a chipped mug. “Don’t mind if I do.”
As Dave rambled on about his Marine conspiracy theories, Rain casually scanned the room, memorizing the faces of her new neighbors. Her ears perked up when Dave mentioned dead bodies disappearing from compounds.
“You actually saw the Marines taking dead bodies?” she prodded.
Dugan placed his finger over his lips and leaned in close, sending a waft of beer-scented breath straight up Rain’s nose. “Shhhh. Careful now, they got eyes everywhere.” He cast a quick look around the room as if he expected to see giant eyeballs looming out of the shadows. “Nobody believes me, see. But I seen ‘em. I did. Clear as I’m seeing you now.”
Rain wasn’t entirely sure Dugan was seeing anything particularly clearly at the moment, but she’d take his word for it. He was the first person she’d spoken to who had more to offer than just rumors and speculation. Who claimed to have actually seen things for himself. She hoped he really wasn’t lying.
She scanned the room. No one was paying them any attention. The adults were busy chatting over their drinks or playing card games while the kids were chasing each other around the tables.
“Okay, tell me about it. About the Marines taking the bodies. What did you see?”
“I don’t know.” He fidgeted, obviously nervous.
“Here, you look thirsty.” His glass was still about half full. “Let me top up your drink.” She poured some more beer into his mug.
Dave Dugan looked from his now full cup to her and back again. Then he took a big gulp before taking another quick glance around. Assuring himself no one was listening, he leaned forward.
“All right, then. But don’t you go telling nobody. If they find out I told ...” He drew a line across his throat with his forefinger.
“I promise. I won’t tell a soul.” Rain had zero problem lying. Finding out what the Marines were doing and stopping them was more important than keeping her word to a drunk man as far as she was concerned.
Dugan took another gulp of home brew. Then he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “The first time, see, was back in the beginning.”
“The beginning?”
“Of the Wars.” He said it like she was stupid. “Not long after the dragons came. Maybe a year. Maybe more. I was a kid then. Don’t remember much.”
Rain guessed he’d been in his teens and had probably spent the entire time since then drunk. It was a wonder he hadn’t completely pickled his brains.
“Okay, so what did you see? Back then.”
He frowned, scrunching up his face. “I was still living in the city back then. There were a few of us left in the cities. The ones that didn’t get nuked. We scrounged around for food, avoided the drags and the Marines. They weren’t like the Marines from Before, you know.”
“I’ve heard.”
He nodded. “Before, the Marines were good men. Honorable. Not anymore.” He shook his head sadly. “Not anymore.”
“The bodies?” she prompted.
He drained his cup and held it out for a refill. Rain obliged and Dave continued. “Well, one day I was in some store or other trying to find something to eat when I heard the humvees. I knew it was Marines so I hid. I watched. They had a couple big trucks with ‘em filled with bodies in black body bags.”
“Clean up, maybe?” Rain suggested. It would make sense to clean up the bodies. Prevent disease.
Dugan shook his head. “You got to understand, back then we didn’t bother with the bodies. There were just too damn many of them to bury anymore. Mostly we just burned ‘em or left ‘em to rot. Didn’t have much choice. And the military was too busy fighting to bother about bodies. The cities had mostly been abandoned anyway.
“In any case, I overheard some of them talking. They kept on saying something about somebody named Barnes needing more bodies. That was the start of it.”
Barnes. Figured. “You saw them again?”
“Sure thing. It was years later, mind you. Before I came to this place. I was passing through a compound east of here a ways. We were attacked by a drag. Killed half dozen fighters. Men and women.” He stared into his beer for a moment before taking a drink and continuing.
“The Marines showed up less than an hour after the drag was finally killed. They did their usual confiscation of supplies and then they took the bodies.” He looked a little pale as he hunched over his drink. “Didn’t matter that there was kids crying and people screaming and whatnot. They just took ‘em and left.”
Just like Sutter after she’d killed the dragon back at the compound. “You see them after that?”
“Couple years ago. I was out on one of my supply runs and I came across a small compound further north a piece. I only caught the tail end. I passed the Marines on the road. They had a couple body bags in the back of their humvee. I assumed it was their own men, but the people at the compound said it was two of their fighters got killed by the drag. I knew them Marines was up to their old tricks. People like to think the Marines only take live recruits, but I’m telling you, they do something unholy with those bodies.”
“YOU BARELY GOT OUT alive last time, and you want to go back?”
“I don’t think we have any choice, Micah. If we want to find out what’s happening, we have to go back in.” Rain paced the length of their tiny room in the church basement. After what she’d heard from Dave Dugan, she was ready to hit the Marine base yesterday.
Micah reluctantly nodded in agreement. “You’re right. I don’t like it, but you’re right.”
She knelt next to him on the bed. “I’ll be fine. This time it will be different. This time I have you with me.”
He pulled her against him and gave her a thorough kiss. “I’m glad you have such faith in me.” His voice was wry.
“Why shouldn’t I,” she said with a grin. “You’re a Warrior. Genetically altered for speed and strength and stamina.”
“Did you say stamina?” He leered at her which made her laugh.
“Oh, yeah, definitely stamina.”
“Tomorrow we head to the base. Tonight, I’ll show you the true meaning of stamina.” His leer turned to something much more heated.
“If you insist.” Rain’s voice came out a little more breathless than she intended.
“Oh, I do.” His hands found their way under the hem of her t-shirt and up towards her breasts which suddenly ached for his touch. “I most definitely do.”
“LOOKS CLEAR.” RAIN lowered the binocs.
“They’ll be out hunting for hours yet. There will only be a skeleton crew at the base. If we’re going to go, it better be now.” Micah lay next to her in the
dust of the hillside overlooking the Marine base.
She nodded. “Once we get rid of the sentry, there shouldn’t be any problem getting into the base through that hatch I found. Problem is finding the sentry.” She scanned the hillside, but there was too much brush, too many rocks. He could be hiding anywhere.
“He’ll be in the same spot the other one was.”
“Oh, come on. They can’t be that stupid.”
“It’s not stupidity so much as arrogance.” Micah shrugged. “You’ve got to understand, the Marines are the biggest bad-asses left on the planet, or at least this little corner of it. They’ve got the weapons and the warriors to fight the drags. They take what they want, when they want. They don’t consider you or anyone else a threat.”
“I knocked out their guard. Snuck onto their base. And I escaped.”
“I know how these people think, Rain. They’ll assume you got lucky. That you won’t do it again, and that no one else would think of it.”
She snorted. “Guess they got that wrong.”
He was right. They found the sentry in the very same spot where she’d discovered the first one. The second one was rendered unconscious just as easily, too. Micah gave him one solid punch to the jaw and it was lights out. This time they had the materials to tie him up and gag him. They had until the next shift when he was sure to be discovered.
Micah stopped her before they entered the hatch. “We go for the documents first. We find out what they’re up to. Then we go get Sutter. Got it?”
She scowled at him but agreed. Unfortunately, it made perfect sense. They couldn’t very well haul Sutter’s remains around with them while searching the base.
It was a heck of a lot easier traversing the air ducts now that she knew the way. Not to mention they had the proper equipment with them. Getting from the air shaft ladder into the air duct itself was a breeze when there were ropes involved.
Micah took the lead guiding them away from the air shaft and deeper into the base. Rain caught glimpses of rooms through the vents they passed: Labs, sleeping quarters, a gym. Everything spotlessly clean and polished to a shine. She was beginning to think the Marines had too much time on their hands. The people of Sanctuary and Fossil were way too busy fighting drags and trying to stay alive to keep things so neat.
“Here.” Micah’s voice was hardly more than a whisper. “This is one of the oldest sections of the base. They started cannibalizing the systems for parts a decade ago, so no one comes down here anymore. This is where they keep the records.”
Rain pressed her face to the mesh of the grate. The hallway below was barely lit by a single flickering light tube. It cast an odd, sickly glow over the place. Cobwebs floated on a phantom breeze sending eerie shadows dancing along the walls. She repressed a shudder.
Rain tested the grate. It held firm. But this time she had what she needed. The two of them made fast work of the screws. They quietly removed the grate before lowering themselves into the hallway.
“This way.” Micah led them further down the hall. “This is it.”
“How can you tell?”
“I know this base like the back of my hand.”
She gave him a doubtful look.
“Plus the ‘R’ on the door stands for ‘Records’.”
She rolled her eyes. “You’re such a dope.”
The door, not surprisingly, was locked. Micah dug around in his pack and pulled out a screwdriver, a hammer, and what looked like a kitchen towel.
Rain raised her eyebrow. “Plan on doing some repair work?”
He laughed. “Watch.”
He wrapped the kitchen towel around the handle of the screwdriver then placed the screwdriver blade in the lock. He gave the screwdriver a sharp tap with the hammer, the towel muffling the sound. A couple more taps and the lock fell out of the knob and hit the floor with a thunk. Micah flashed her a smile and swung open the door. “Milady.”
The room beyond was pitch black. She couldn’t even see her hand in front of her face. Rain rustled around in her own bag and pulled out a small pot. She gave it a good shake until it started glowing. The glow had a faint green tinge to it.
“You have glow sticks?” Micah sounded surprised.
“Glow pots. One of the guys makes them. Why?”
“Huh. Used to use those at raves. Well, something like them, anyway.”
“Rave? What’s a rave? It doesn’t sound very nice.”
He laughed at that. “Guess that depended which side of the rave you were standing on.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
He smiled. “Don’t worry. I’ll explain later. For now we should get to work.”
“Do you have any idea what we’re looking for?”
“Not really.” He shook his head. “Dave said he saw the Marines taking dead bodies shortly after the Wars started, right?”
She nodded. “Yeah. He said the first time was about a year after. I guess 1 or 2 ADW.”
“No, the Marines still used the old calendar back them. 2013 or 2014 is the place to start. Maybe there will be some kind of record. A memo, something to tell us what they were up to.”
“Won’t they hear us? The Marines or the scientists?”
He shook his head. “Naw. The closest occupied area is the labs and there are several corridors between us and them. Long as we don’t strike up a brass band, we should be fine.”
Rain frowned. “A brass what?”
Micah grinned. “Just, keep it down.”
There were stacks upon stacks of boxes, all labeled with mysterious strings of numbers and letters. Rain had no idea where to even begin, so she grabbed one and flipped the top off.
Inside were dozens of cream-colored folders stuffed with papers and photos, just like the one she once found on Micah. She pulled one of the files and flipped it open. The file was much more recent than what they were looking for, but the contents gave her pause.
It contained photos and handwritten reports of a compound about one week to the west of Fossil. The reports detailed the number of fighters in the compound, the weapons available, and the supplies right down to how many barrels of home brewed beer. There were even notations on guard rotations and tracks.
She frowned and grabbed another file. The contents were eerily similar, but for a different compound due east. The notes were in the same neat handwriting. There was even a hand-drawn map showing escape routes and secret rooms. The people of the compound had attempted hiding their provisions, but somebody found out and reported it. How could the Marines know all this stuff?
Each folder detailed additional compounds and contained the similar grainy photographs and notes in the same handwriting. There was only one answer. The Marines had to have a spy.
And yet the folders were all at least ten years old. Maybe older. She pulled out the final one and flipped it open. Her heart nearly stopped.
It was thinner than the others. There was only one written note detailing external fortifications and approximate number of fighters. But there was a photo. And the photo showed a compound she knew very well, indeed: Sanctuary.
“Micah?”
“Yeah.” He was at her side immediately.
“What’s all this?”
He flipped through a couple of the folders. “Yeah, I heard about this. Some of the older guys talking. It was before my time, though.” He hesitated. “It was before I remember, anyway. The base used to have an agent who would go around to the compounds and glean information. Someone civilians would never expect. A woman. She disappeared ten years ago. They assumed either the drags got her or one of the compounds discovered her and had her executed.”
“Do you remember her name?” Rain’s teeth were clenched.
“No, sorry, I don’t. But I do think these are her reports.”
Rain knew they were. She also didn’t need Micah to tell her the name of the Marine’s informant. She knew without a doubt who the spy had been. Sutter’s wife, Megan.
SIFTING THROUGH THE dusty boxes was dirty, monotonous work. Rain couldn’t help worrying that they’d be caught any moment, despite Micah’s assurances to the contrary.
She hadn’t been entirely surprised to find out Megan had been a spy for the Marines. It actually made a lot of sense. And the woman’s inane babbling during the dragon attack also finally made sense. She’d expected the Marine’s to save her. Ironically, in the end it had been Megan’s death which had saved Sanctuary.
If Megan had finished her report, the Marines would have known about all of Sanctuary’s hiding places. They would have cleaned the compound out long ago. Not to mention that they would have easily found Micah and her when they came looking.
As Rain heaved another ratty cardboard box off the pile, it split open spilling folders all over the floor. “Dammit,” she hissed. Frustration colored her voice. She’d about had it. She was a Tracker, not some kind of ... record keeper person.
“Here, let me help.” Micah put down his own stack of folders and knelt to help her. As he began sorting through the mess he suddenly froze.
“What is it, Micah?”
Silently he handed her a file. It was brown and brittle with age. The musty smell stung her nose.
She carefully opened it and glanced at the first page. What she read took her breath away. “They did it on purpose?” Her voice came out a little shaky. “They made those things and set them on us deliberately?”
Pain shadowed his eyes. “Yes.”
“Did you know?”
He shook his head. “No. I was a lowly Corporal when the war started. The rank of First Lieutenant was a field commission. There’s no way they’d share that kind of information with anyone below the rank of five star general.”
She got that. She really did. Because what they’d discovered was beyond horrifying.
The US Military had created the dragons on purpose, as experimental weapons of mass destruction. As if that weren’t bad enough, they’d let them loose on purpose.
“WE NEED TO FIND BARNES.” Rain was pacing up and down the narrow aisle between the boxes. Fury rode her, making her movements choppy.
