Fallen

by J. Dursky

  Chapter 18

   

  I hear the doors of a truck slam and the diesel engine roars.  If they drive off I will never know where the base is located.  I can’t let the military experiment on the boy. I want to help him find his sister, and see if I can find out more about a cure. But I need to get past the four soldiers still standing in the yard.

  From this location in the front yard I can see the highway through the trees. I need to watch to see which way they go.  They are headed south, going up the hill. 

  I hear a voice through one of the radios on a soldier.  It says, "We have the package mobilized, eliminate all witnesses." 

  I also hear the word "No" as the order is given.  It was Dr. Hunter's voice.  I am not exactly sure what we are witnesses of.  They must think he told me something he shouldn't have.  He told me some of the things we discussed were classified.  My thirst of knowledge is now coming back to haunt me. 

  I hear their guns click.  It is the sound of the safety being turned off.  They don’t know where Lila is located. She has been inside and out of sight this whole time.  My heart rate increases.  I can feel it in my ears, in my chest, neck, and finger tips.  I can feel my pulse in my entire body.  If their mission is to now kill Lila and me, I know what I need to do. 

  They each stand 20 feet or so from me. They wear the same uniform, vest, helmet, camera, and each carry the same assault rifle.  I do not have a weapon, armor, or cover of any kind.  Something inside me ignites. I feel the same feeling of electricity flowing through my veins.  Is it the fear that brings this out of me?  Is it the adrenaline?  Or is it something else?  If I am capable of doing something extraordinary, now is the time.

  I have a plan, I can see it.  I am unsure why I can see it, but I know it will work.  I can feel it.  This will be over in three moves and 18 steps.  I see each move planned out, like a chess player, I know what it will take to put them in check mate. 

  I charge the solider at my eleven o'clock.  I take three steps toward him. I jump to kick him in the chest and flip backwards off of him.  His momentum carries him into the chain link fence that surrounds the yard.  I hear him moan. The kick removed all the air from his lungs. 

  Three more soldiers remain.  I hear gunshots.  I hear them not only from the explosion of the shell pushing the bullet through the rifled barrel, but I hear them traveling past me through the air.  They make a high zinging sound as they pass.  I also hear Lila, from inside, saying, “What are you?”  I shouldn't be able to hear her from here, especially over the sound of the gunshots. 

  I spin to see the other three.  They move slowly.  Not because they are sneaking, because they cannot move as fast as I can.  Logically I need to attack the closest one first.  This one is seven steps away. He would only be four steps but I have already taken three in the opposite direction. As I take the steps I can feel the earth giving way under my shoes.  It does not make me slip or prevent me from having traction, but I feel like I am running on a giant sponge. 

  I reach the second solider. I want to use him to also remove the third.  I run directly to the soldier but slip between him and the next closest to his position.  As I get there I bend my knees, lower my hips, shift my weight, and grab him by the arm holes in his Kevlar vest.  I use this momentum and leverage to spin and hurl him at the next soldier.  I start to embrace my strength.  The more conscious I become about it, the more efficient it becomes.  The same works for speed it seems. 

  I watch as he flies through the air.  The other two soldiers seem to be frozen in time.  The two soldiers collide at an incredible rate of speed.  It reminds me of a car crash as I see the impact between human bodies.  I hear popping, cracking, breaking, and snapping.  They lie motionless where the bottom of the stairs meets the basement wall. 

  I see Lila looking out the window from inside the basement.  I still have one more threat to take care of.  I have never been a violent person, but when you intend to hurt me, or more specifically, my girlfriend, you will unleash a monster. 

  I have no sympathy or mercy for the soldiers ordered to kill us.  I charge the fourth and final soldier. I have nothing special planned for him.  It will be as simple as the fight I had with the man who killed Ayla.  I know my target's weak spot.  It takes me eight steps to reach him.  He is facing somewhere in the gap between the first two soldiers I attacked.  He is spinning but not fast enough.   I can see the flairs from the mussel of his rifle.  He is firing, not at me, just into open space.  As soon as I get to him I strike with my left fist.  I aim for the Xiphoid Process again.  I make contact in the center of his torso with full force.  I feel bones break beneath his vest.  He doesn't even get a chance to groan, it feels and sounds like his lungs burst inside his chest from the impact. 

  I run back to the basement to talk to Lila.  "What did you say?"

  "What? When? I don't think I said anything."  She says.  She has that look of shock again.

  "I heard you, you said, “What are you?”  Were you talking about me?"

  “I may have. Did you hear me? From outside?”

  “Yes I did, it sounded like you were right next to me.”

  She hugs me, I think she is crying.  "You have to go, I believe him, and you can stop this."

  “Not without you!”

  “Its fine, you have to go.”

  “No.”

  “Babe, listen to me.” She grabs my face and looks me in the eyes. “He told me he thinks you are the key. I believe him now.”

  I make a quick decision. I usually think things through but Lila has a way of making things seem like a better idea than they may actually be.

  “Ok, I have an idea. I’m going to leave the bodies in the yard.”

  “What?”

  “Mouse traps.” I say.

  “I don’t get it.” She replies.

  “Dr. Hunter said they revert to their basic instincts, if any Fallen show up, I would think they will probably feed on the corpses in the yard. So let’s leave them there. I mean, hell, I don’t know but it seems logical. Right?”

  “Ok.” She says as she buries her head into my chest and wraps her arms around me. 

  I don’t want to leave under these circumstances but I know I need to go.  I tell her to grab the radios off of the soldiers in the yard so I can communicate with her if I need.  I will be on channel 55 I tell her.

  She looks up at me with tears in her eyes.  I have the same look.  She throws her arms around my neck and pulls me close.  She kisses my lips, I can feel her tears running down her cheek and covering my nose. 

  "I will fix this. I will come back to you.  Stay here and stay safe. If you have to leave, the truck is ready in the garage. Make sure you call me if you decide to go somewhere."  I say as I kiss her again. 

  I run to the garage.  I can't use Ayla's car or my truck, her tires are slashed and the truck has all the survival gear loaded up in the garage.  I know the general direction the truck went.  I hit the button to open the garage door, grab my sunglasses off the work bench, and start my motorcycle. It is 10 years old but has a lot of new parts. I have customized it myself. My dad and I even painted it ourselves last spring. It is a green metal flake base coat with a bright yellow candy coat over it and a black stripe on the front. It looks green until you see it in the sun, in which it looks yellow. Green and yellow are my favorite colors. 

  I am out of the garage before the door has completely risen.  I get off the gravel drive, onto the blacktop, and hammer it!  My motorcycle is not new or top of the line by any means, but I have customized it myself and it will run with the best of them.  I retrace the path the trucks chased me down just 24 hours earlier.

  I see the truck in the distance, several miles away.  I think I’m gaining on them but I can’t get too close.  I didn't think catching them on the bike would be much of a challenge even though they are not driving the speed limit.  They are going q
uite a bit over in fact.  This makes me have to travel at an incredible rate of speed.  I have never gone much over 100 miles per hour on my motorcycle before.  The speedometer goes to 150 and the needle, is beyond it. 

  There is not much to look around at in southern Iowa.  There are a few houses, barns, farms, small towns, and the occasional store on the side of the highway.  I do see a few things that are out of the ordinary.  There are cars that are stopped in the highway with no passengers.  There are cars in the ditch as well.  I have to weave back and forth between the cars.  I see smoke in the distance. As I get closer and to higher ground, I see a house on fire.  This would typically spark a response vehicle to help.  I don't think any help is coming today.  I see people walking in the fields.  I cannot tell if they are Fallen or not.  I need to focus on my mission, not what is going on around me. 

  I do not know the top speed of the bike, but it has always scared me when I have driven it this fast.  I have never done it for more than a few seconds, but even then, I was covered head to toe in protective gear.  Right now, I am not.  It should scare just about everyone to be in or on a vehicle moving at this speed.  This time it feels different.  I am not afraid. It does not feel any faster than the speed limit.  I don't know if it is the task at hand or the need to help someone.  I make the comparison of crashing to all the recent events. I feel confident, this is not as scary as losing my sister and some of my best friends, not knowing where my parents are, or possibly losing Lila. I don't know if it’s something inside of me that changed.  No matter the reason, I feel as if I can do anything I want without being afraid. 

  I stay back so they can't see me in the mirrors of the truck.  There is nowhere I can hide as I chase him so I have to use distance as camouflage.  I still have the pistol on me from when I was putting my shoes on this morning. It is in my elastic waist band and I have my shorts tied tight.  I know they have guns as well.  I am not sure what to do when they stop.  I will have to improvise.