by Kenny Soward
“There’s some woods right there,” Jake said, pointing past a vacant lot to where the overgrowth was thick between two houses. Marcy didn’t turn to see what he was pointing at, and her eyes remained locked on his face. “Are you ready?”
Marcy nodded, jaw clenched with pain and uncertainty.
“Go,” Jake said, then he stood, turned, and fired up at the two people standing on the lower roof as he walked backwards across the vacant lot. One of them jerked back from the edge with a cry, while the other one fired back, bullets hitting the ground around Jake like fat raindrops.
It didn’t matter. As long as they were focused on Jake, they wouldn’t shoot at Marcy. He heard her sneakers pounding on the cement behind him, each step bringing her that much closer to safety. He just needed to keep this last man occupied.
Jake’s body relaxed, his focus tightened, and the rifle became an extension of himself. He lined up the gun sights with the man shooting back at him, and together they played a strange game of bullet chicken. Several rounds thudded into cement around him, and Jake returned fire. He popped off one, two, and then a third shot just as a bolt of lightning cracked the sky, causing Jake to reel backward and throw his arm up against the blinding light.
He blinked while his vision cleared, half-expecting to be blown away at any moment, but when he squinted up at the rooftop, the gang member was gone. Jake had no idea if he’d shot the man or not, or if the lightning had struck him down. Either way, he wasn’t going to complain about it.
Jake turned and ran after Marcy, catching up with her right at the edge of the forested area, and together they plunged into the wavering cover and disappeared from sight.
Chapter 27
Sara, Gatlinburg, Tennessee | 9:04 p.m., Monday
Sara stood on their covered back porch, leaning forward against the rail with a glass of ice water in her hand, watching the sun go down somewhere behind the gray wall of storm. The mountains stretched out in their majestic beauty as far as the eye could see, lifting higher and higher against the ominous clouds coming in from the east.
The valley stretched out below her, dipping and turning with beautiful creeks and winding roads that were now completely flooded, some parts looking like lakes had formed. Normally, the faint glow of lights from homestead windows could be seen from here, but with the power out there were only candles to burn.
Todd had surprised Sara and Zoe with a dinner of pan-seared chicken, broccoli, and mashed sweet potatoes, and they’d gobbled it down with ravenous abandon. Zoe especially liked the mashed sweet potatoes, and Sara had to stop the girl from smothering them with so much butter that they became more like soup than potatoes.
The rain continued to fall softly, picking up with the promise of another hard strike before the night was over. The oncoming storm was supposed to happen around midnight, but Sara and the kids might end up in the cellar way before then.
Right now, it was the calm before the storm, a perfect time for contemplation.
Sara wondered about the people in the valley and what she might find when she went out tomorrow morning. She hoped people would be friendly and cooperative, rather than hostile. She hoped she could help someone, or maybe someone could help her, or, at the very least, they could lean on each other in the days to come. Sara would be prepared in any event.
Sara glanced over at the hot tub, still covered for now, and yearned for Jake even more. They’d always appreciated the late nights after the kids were in bed and all the family activities were over. Neither one of them drank often, but an occasional glass of wine and a dip in the hot tub to celebrate another year of love, life, and family never hurt anyone. Sara found she couldn’t stomach such things without Jake here to share them.
Saying goodbye to the rain and wind for the moment, Sara turned and went back inside to get a refill of water. Zoe and Todd were upstairs in the game room playing around, and Sara was glad Todd enjoyed spending time with his sister, and razzing her, too. It gave Sara a little break and nurtured their brother-sister relationship. Siblings with large age gaps often grew apart, as Sara and her brothers had, though those two up in the game room seemed dead-set on sticking together.
After taking a long drink of water, Sara went over to the kitchen table and sat down. She thought about reading or even playing some games on Todd’s tablet to put herself to sleep, but nothing sounded interesting. The news called out to her, and she found herself drawn to the keyboard after just a short time away, clicking on every website she could find that might have some information on Boston survivors. FEMA had even posted an online list with names of those who’d checked in safe, and those who’d been identified as deceased.
Jake’s name wasn’t on the first list, and she ignored the second list, pulling up her text application to see if Jake had found a way to send her a message. Her heart sank when she saw that he hadn’t. It must mean he was still somewhere deep inside downtown Boston with no cell phone reception or power. Maybe he’d even lost his cell phone all together.
Sara had sent Jake several texts over the past few days, and all of them had sat unread in her text queue.
Wait, Sara thought, blinking at the screen as a tiny shiver of elation ran up her spine.
“They were all unread as of an hour ago,” she murmured to herself, sitting up straighter in her chair. “And now they show as read. They’ve all been read. What does that mean?”
She knew exactly what it meant even if she couldn’t bring herself to admit it. Over the past ten years, Jake and Marcy had texted thousands of times using the same cell phone provider, and the status of their messages was always up to date. If Jake was too busy to open his phone, Sara’s messages to him would show as “unread.” Same thing if Sara was busy with Zoe or at work. They’d even tested it a few times and it had always come up accurate to the minute.
It could be some kind of glitch, but Sara didn’t think so.
Jake had read her text messages, she was sure of it. She felt it in her blood and bones, and even in her soul. Her husband was out there alive, and he was trying to get home to them. Sara bit her lip to keep a smile from spreading across her face, the seed already taking root, and soon the smile spread from ear to ear.
Sara closed her laptop and yelled up to the kids. “Good night, guys. Make sure Zoe is in bed by ten.”
“Okay, Mom,” they both called back in near-perfect synchronization.
Sara got up and shuffled into the master bedroom, closed the door behind her, and changed into her pajamas. She went into the bathroom to brush her teeth and wash her face before returning to stand beside the huge king-sized bed she hadn’t been able to sleep in in four days.
With one big sweep of her arms, Sara shoved everything off the bed and onto the floor. Then she crawled beneath the covers and put a soft pillow beneath her head and one between her legs. Still smiling from ear to ear, Sara drifted off into a comfortable dark sleep, looking forward to the challenge of tomorrow.
Chapter 28
Douglas Dam, Sevierville, Tennessee
Daiyu yanked the long van left onto Douglas Dam Road with a sharp turn of the wheel, then she floored the gas pedal and accelerated down the winding track with an engine roar that ignited Yi’s blood. After another hundred yards, Daiyu whipped the van left down an old, winding service road that forced her to slow down or else crash the vehicle. Yi and his warriors were jostled around in the back, but none of them complained, because they were about to prove themselves once more in the light of the dragon. Yi said a silent prayer, asking the spirit of the dragon to grant them the power and courage to complete their mission.
When he was done with his prayer, Yi looked across at Ivan, who wore blue jeans and a bright orange T-Shirt. The big Russian stared back at him with cold, fearless eyes. Ivan hadn’t taken the pain medication Chen tried to give him, instead sitting in stoic silence, carrying the pain of his bullet wounds inside him. The rest of the warriors were dressed in civilian clothes, like Ivan. The only thing tha
t set them apart from the regular citizens of the Tennessee Valley were the assault-style weapons they had nestled in their arms and the magazines clipped to their belts.
Yi’s body leaned forward as the van pulled to a sharp halt. Chen and Daiyu climbed out of the front of the van while Yi threw the back doors open and exited along with the others, taking several steps into the early evening light. It was sprinkling rain, but a bigger storm was on its way. Yi and his warriors would add their fury to it, bringing the wrath of the dragon down to bear upon their enemies.
They were parked at the top of the Douglas Dam, a huge cement structure housing four massive electric generators nestled at the mouth of the French Broad River. The hydroelectric dam provided a peak electric output of 146,000 kilowatts to the surrounding valley, as well as freshwater fishing and recreational activities such as skiing, boating, and swimming for the two million people who visited Douglas Lake every year.
The five warriors on the demolition team took their packs of explosives and ran across the top of the dam to begin setting their charges. Four others backed the van as close as they could to the walkway and began unloading the barrels of AB-2VER-X agent, wheeling them across the causeway behind the demolition team.
As the teams got to work, Yi, Ivan, and Daiyu hopped a short white wall and walked casually down a wet, grassy knoll to a parking lot that led to the control center. They spread out, keeping ten yards between them at all times. Yi’s eyes narrowed at the single-story building as he looked for signs of movement inside, but the blinds were drawn tight and no one moved outside the building. He spotted several surveillance cameras and intercoms around the roof of the building, and all of their lights blinked red.
“They know we’re here,” Yi said in a low tone as his hands tightened around the grip of his gun.
When they were within fifty feet of the building, Yi held up his hand for them to stop. They had come down this way to challenge the power plant’s defenders and keep them from interfering with the demolition team. If no one came out in the dam’s defense, then they would simply perish in the great destruction that was to come.
Yi listened and waited in the rain, wind whipping across the ground to blow through his short-cropped hair. He was beginning to think the enemy would cower in the building until death came for them, but then the intercom system crackled, and a tinny voice came through to penetrate the quiet.
“You are trespassing on United States Government property,” a man’s voice called out. “Put your weapons down and step away from the building. The authorities are on their way.”
Yi grinned, because he knew the authorities were not on their way. If there were any authorities left, they were being pulled all over town to help rescue people from the mass flooding.
Daiyu turned her head sharply toward Yi, her raven-black hair bundled tightly behind her head and her eyes full of murderous intent. She put her hand on a grenade nestled against her stomach beneath her shirt and raised her eyebrow.
Yi gave a brief nod, and Daiyu grinned and stepped forward, raising the barrel of her weapon before firing several bursts through a window of the control center until the entire slab of glass exploded inward and fell out of the frame. Then she reached under her shirt, took out the grenade, and pulled the pin. With perfect form, Daiyu tossed the grenade into the air to sail right through the window.
Yi, Daiyu, and Ivan crouched down and shielded their eyes as the grenade went off inside the building in a blast of hot air and shrapnel. Glass blew out along the near wall, and someone screamed inside.
Breathing rapidly with the lust of victory, Yi stood up and watched smoke trail out of the windows and into the rain. “One grenade defeats our enemies,” he said with a scoffing tone, and Daiyu gave a dark chuckle in response.
Ivan suddenly brought up his rifle as he zeroed in on a man running left to right across the parking lot, firing bursts from his rifle. Bullets ricocheted off the cement around them, and something hot whizzed past Yi’s ear. Yi glanced at Daiyu, and they both started to jog forward to cut the man off from the control center. Then shots fired from the opposite direction, bullets flying in like angry wasps, and Daiyu cried out and spun and fell to the ground.
A man walked slowly toward them with his rifle up and spitting fire. Yi pivoted in the opposite direction and brought up his weapon as he fell to his knee. He aligned his sights and fired in the space of one breath, putting two bullets into the man’s chest and dropping him on the spot.
He stood as Ivan came trotting up with a half-grin, half-grimace on his face. “The other is a threat no longer,” the big Russian said.
“Good,” Yi said to his comrade, as a moan from nearby reminded him of Daiyu. He found her on her hands and knees, spitting up blood into a puddle on the ground. Kneeling next to her, Yi rested his hand gently on her shoulder.
Daiyu jerked her head up with pain-filled eyes and a bit of blood on her lips, but no tears ran down her cheeks. She tried to say something, finding she could only croak. With a frustrated grunt, she turned her head toward the control center and then back to Yi.
Yi nodded, stood, and motioned for Ivan to follow him. As Yi approached the control center, he took a grenade from its holster, pulled the pin, and tossed it inside before he crouch-walked around to the side door where the man who’d shot Daiyu must have come from.
The grenade went off and this time there were no screams of pain. Yi ripped open the door and stepped into the rear of the building where a half-dozen men and woman huddled behind a barrier of desks and chairs. They took one look at him and scattered in all directions. One man stood and hurled a table leg at him, but Yi’s rifle spat fire and blew him backwards.
Once they’d cleared the control center, Ivan and Yi came outside and found Daiyu still alive and crawling up the grassy knoll toward the van. They helped their comrade, lifting her between them and carrying her to the top where they leaned her against the wall.
“I want to watch,” Daiyu said, spitting blood as they sat her down. “I want to see the dragon’s awakening.”
“You will,” Yi said to her, then he pressed a button on his earpiece and spoke. “Chen, are you almost ready?”
“We’re on our way back now,” Chen replied, and Yi saw several people running down the walkway toward them.
In another few moments, Yi’s forces sat or stood on the wall overlooking the French Broad River. Yi crouched on one side of Daiyu while Ivan stood and stared out at the waters.
“We’re ready,” Chen said, holding up a black controller with two red buttons on it.
“Go ahead,” Yi gave the order.
Chen hit the first button, and mechanisms caused the twenty-gallon barrels of AB-2VER-X agent to fall over and dump their contents down the sides of the dam and into Douglas Lake.
“It will take some time for the acid mixture to take effect,” Chen said, but even then Yi could see steam rising from the cement where it was cracking and dissolving under the potent mixture.
For the next fifteen minutes, there was only the sound of the sprinkling rain and Daiyu’s labored breathing as they waited. Finally, Chen looked at Yi with wide eyes. “That should be more than enough time.”
“Then let us see the dragon’s awakening,” Yi said, chest swelling with pride.
Chen pressed the second button, and five massive explosions tore through the dam, shaking the ground and sending chunks of flaming cement up into the sky.
Lake water ripped through the remains of the dam structure and began to fill the basin below. When the basin could no longer hold the water, it surged up the shallow banks of the lower French Broad River, seeping into the woods and across the fields like a shadow devouring the farmlands. The ground was already so saturated from the rains that it could not absorb the flooding, and farmsteads near the shore crumbled and were swept away, the people inside given no chance to escape.
Yi gasped and stood with his arms wide, breath caught up in the beautiful destruction in front of him. A t
ear fell from his eye as he imagined the dragon looking down upon him, pleased with his heroic efforts. He had his team to thank—loyal, deadly warriors happy to give their lives for the new age of humankind.
Laughing, Yi crouched down and put his hand on Daiyu’s shoulder to see if she was witnessing the dragon’s awakening with the same level of emotion as he was. He wanted to see her look of pure joy as she basked in the glory of the dragon. Daiyu did not respond to Yi’s smiling face. Her eyes were open wide and stared straight ahead, lifeless but for the image of the burning river reflected in them.
Yi stood and his smile dwindled to nothing as he realized that this great victory did not mark the end of their journey. He looked around at his warriors reveling in the river’s glow with pride and glory, all the celebration Yi would allow.
“Let us go,” Yi said to them as he turned away from the burning river. “There is still much more left to do.”
WEATHERING THE STORM Book 2
Available Here
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