by Olah, Jeff
One of the men, well over six feet tall and outweighing him by a good thirty pounds, had him by the neck. The other two each took an arm and forced him back toward the sidewalk. They were fast, and although it seemed absurd, appeared to have choreographed their movements.
“Hey, hey, hey, hey.” The man from behind began to clamp down.
And as Vince slowly stood, wiping his face and shaking away the obvious disorientation, Mason stopped fighting and turned his eyes back to the street and then toward the entrance to the suburban community.
Ava was gone. She had taken the nine millimeter and as far as he could see, she hadn’t been followed. He forced back the urge to smile, and although he figured he knew the hell he was about to face, he didn’t care. He had done what he’d come to do, and now he just needed to stay alive long enough to get back home.
Vince took a moment to collect himself, to brush away the debris from his pants and his jacket, and then with the same half-cocked grin from earlier, crossed the street and started toward the sidewalk. “Let him go.”
The men released him and stepped aside.
“Okay,” Vince said, again wiping the blood from his face. “This is where things are going to get real for you. You’re not going to like to hear what it is I have to say, but you are going to want to listen. You’re friends back at Harbor Crest and the pair at the solar farm … well, let’s just say that what you decide to do next will either save them or seal their fate.”
Vince looked toward the gate for a second and then turned back to Mason. “You ready?”
18
Randy stepped aside, but eyed the man in the green jacket through the driver’s side window. The man appeared to be speaking with someone in the passenger seat as he drove toward the makeshift charging station, turned off the black Tesla Model X, and climbed out from behind the wheel.
Mayor Gil had descended the stairs from the overlook tower, crossed the gravel and asphalt yard, and looked from the line-up of electric vehicles to Randy. “We’re gonna need to play real nice like with these cowboys, get them to think we’re cooperating.”
Randy was already slowly shaking his head. “Why?”
“Not now. Let’s go ahead and give them what they want and let them get on their way.”
Randy was still watching the man in the green jacket, but spoke under his breath to Gil. “Why the change of heart, what happened?”
“I radioed home, got Travis on the line. He said they got a few of their own problems, but said we needed to do whatever these men asked. He said he’d explain it later, that we didn’t really have a choice.”
The men in the other vehicles now began climbing out and gathered near the trio of electric vehicle charging stations and glared back at Randy and Mayor Gil. Randy shook his head and started toward them. “This isn’t—”
Gil reached for his arm and pulled him back. “Let’s give em’ a chance to get what they came here for. No need to get all rustled up about nothin’ that ain’t yet happened.”
This was out of character for the good Mayor, on more than one level. Randy had never seen the older man back down, and although they were far outnumbered, there was a code that was supposed to be followed, an agreement between the two communities, and it appeared that Gil knew something he wasn’t ready to share.
“Okay,” Randy said, turning his back to the men at the charging station. “What’s the play, what are you thinking?”
Mayor Gil forced a smile. It looked odd, like he was in pain. “For now, nothin’. We sit on our hands and wait for that fella in charge to show us his hand.”
Randy didn’t like that plan. He had always preferred a more direct route. Turning away from Mayor Gil, he tossed aside the metal pipe and eyed the men fifty feet away. “So, what are we doing here? You just gonna stay huddled in your little group, whispering sweet-nothings to one another, or you gonna come over here and talk to me like a man?”
A few of the men laughed, looking nervously at one another. The man in the green jacket stepped away from his vehicle and held up his hand. “We’re going to be here for a bit, probably all night, and you’ll get the answers you’re looking for, but not from us.”
Randy started toward the men, although this time, instead of stopping him, Mayor Gil followed. “Let’s keep our heads, no reason to stir up the hornet’s nest.”
“I’m thinking …” Randy paused a moment, but then continued as he approached the men standing around the Teslas. “I’m thinking that’s exactly what we should do.”
The man in the green jacket was already turned away from the others, his stare drilling a hole into Randy’s forehead. “I could have sworn that I asked you to wait for us over there?”
“Yeah, I heard you the first time, but I’ve been told a time or two that I don’t listen very well. Must be from all times I was dropped on my head as a kid. I’m sure you and most of your boys can relate.”
The man the green jacket looked confused, like he didn’t quite get the joke. Either that or he just didn’t appreciate Randy’s humor in the moment. He pulled the black pistol from his waist once again and turned his attention to Mayor Gil. “You need to teach your friend here some manners.”
Randy took a step forward, now only a few feet away from the man in the green jacket. “How about I teach you—”
The man interrupted, switching the weapon to his left hand and extending his right. “I don’t think we’ve been properly introduced. My name is Norman, Norman Davies. I was sent here to recharge these vehicles and since we’re going to be here a while, and your friend obviously hasn’t brought you up to speed, I’ll forgive your clearly misplaced hostility.”
Randy looked down at Norman’s hand, shook his head, and then let out a short laugh. “Norman … really, your name is Norman?”
Norman opened his mouth to respond, but behind him one of the men near the charging station cleared his throat and held up a two-way radio. “Hey, it looks like it’s all set. He’s almost ready.”
Randy turned to Gil and then back to the man he now knew as Norman. He didn’t like this thirty minutes ago and he was liking it even less with each second that passed. There was something happening, something he had a bad feeling about, something that he felt he needed to bring an end to. “I think we’re done here.”
Norman laughed this time. He made a point of turning to the others and shrugging his shoulders. “I don’t even know how to deal with this guy. On one hand I really appreciate his energy, I really do. But at the same time it’s kinda pissing me off that he has no idea what the hell is happening. I mean it’s not his fault.” He turned back to face Randy. “But come on, can’t you see the writing on the wall?”
Randy nodded, turned away, and started back toward the gates. Over his shoulder and with an uptick in volume, he said, “You got thirty seconds, then I call back down to Harbor Crest and things get really complicated for you and your friends.”
Norman stepped toward Mayor Gil and rested his hand on the older man’s shoulder. “You have your walkie?”
Gil nodded.
“Okay,” Norman said, “get your friends at Harbor Crest back on the line and ask them to hop on channel four. You do the same and we’ll uncomplicate this whole thing in a matter of minutes.”
19
Ava had turned right out of the gate and although her surroundings were unfamiliar and the terrain was mostly damp and uneven, she could only think of Mason. She’d left him behind when he was the only one who’d come for her, the only one to walk through those gates and sacrifice himself for her. She knew she’d never be able to forgive herself, but somehow she was going to repay him for what he’d done for her.
It was dark and wet. Her left side ached, her head was pounding, and she felt like she needed to take at least one deep breath. She transitioned between jogging, walking, and something in between. Every ten seconds or so, she’d find a tree to rest behind and check for those that may have followed and any random Feeders looking for the
ir next meal.
So far, after maybe ten or fifteen minutes, her labored breathing and the slow movement of the treetops were the only sound.
“Okay.”
Ava lowered herself behind the tree, closed her eyes, and counted to ten. Opening them slowly, she scanned the area ahead and to the left and to the right. She figured that if she’d run in a straight line from the gates of Lincoln’s compound, the road leading back to Harbor Crest would be somewhere to the left and then maybe a half mile or so north.
She would get home, find her father and Lucas, and help them somehow get back to Mason and then figure out what all of this was. She had to—she wouldn’t be able to live with herself if she failed.
Again.
Pushing away from the tree, she flinched as the pain along her left side shot from just below her last rib up into her shoulder. She didn’t like what that meant for the next thirty minutes and for her chances at getting help, but for now she told herself to just ignore it.
Yeah right.
Before she took a step, there was movement from the rear. She quickly turned and was able to make out the four silhouetted figures moving through the trees. Their slow pace and spastic gait gave them away as Feeders. They were locked on her scent and with less than twenty feet separating them, Ava needed to move.
She turned in the direction she thought she needed to go, and again broke into a slow jog. She could stay ahead of the foursome at her back and without any outside interference, get to the road before they gained any ground.
Ava only heard the low guttural moan and the familiar sliding of feet a second before she was hit from the right and dropped the nine millimeter. It was a large Feeder, probably even bigger than her father or Ethan, and as he landed on top of her, must have weighed at least a few hundred pounds.
She thought about all of the close calls and all of the near misses over the last several years, even yesterday. And although she didn’t like the idea of dying out here all alone, in the middle of nowhere, she liked it even less not being able to get back to her family and not being able to help Mason.
It wasn’t supposed to end like this.
20
Mason sat on the sidewalk staring up at the man he now remembered as Vincent Decker. Three months before, he’d had a short conversation with the tall thin man about all the ways their communities could work together to expand into the southern territories. Vince wanted to know what that might look like given the fact that what lay beyond Los Angeles was mostly a mystery, but had also proclaimed that, “With enough firepower, anything was possible.”
Mason vaguely recalled the odd conversation, and was now beginning to put the pieces together. The bold move to take Ava in the middle of the day, the beating they’d unleashed upon Lucas, the warning shot that had ripped apart the side of his head, and the exiling of Lincoln from the home he’d built.
It was all to get to this point, every single detail. Now Mason needed to find a way to unravel this whole mess.
Vince had moved to the white SUV near the sidewalk and leaned against the front bumper. He spoke quietly into the two-way radio, his words not making much sense until now. He turned to the men behind Mason, regarded them with a quick nod, and then held up the radio. “Alright Mason, you’ve got one shot at this. And remember, time is of the essence.”
He wanted to stand, wanted to tear Vince’s head from his body, finish what he’d started when he lunged at the tall lanky man. He wanted to turn, take the shotgun from the man at his back, cut him down, and then use what was left in the weapon to take out the others. It was what he wanted, but not what was going to get him out of this mess.
His time would come, but for now he needed to watch and wait.
“You know,” Mason said, “this can’t end well for you.” He turned to look at the men on his left and his right. “None of you.”
Vince stepped away from the white SUV and started toward him. He brought the radio to his cheek, peering out through the gates and ignoring his comment. “You boys got everything ready to go?”
There were a few seconds of silence and then two quick voices through the radio, one right after the other, neither of which Mason recognized. “Ready. Ready.”
“Alright,” Vince said as he rubbed at the side of his head. “Here we go.”
Mason pushed away from the sidewalk and before the men could react, he stood. It was time to see where this was going. “What do you want?”
“What do I want? I have a feeling you already know.” As the men approached Mason, Vince waved them back. “You’re a smart man, at least you probably think you are.”
“Is this about what’s out there, about the fact that my people and I have no interest in helping you venture out beyond the southern territory?”
Vince chuckled. “Is that where your little mind went with all of this? I mean really, you’d have to be an idiot to think I’d ever need your help. You have an abandoned shopping mall and a solar farm, that’s about it, but we’ll get to that in a minute.”
Mason ran his hand over his wound, the injury still sending sparks of pain into his neck and back.
Vince noticed. “You know, I wasn’t trying to kill you, not right then anyway. You just turned right when I thought you were going to twist left. Luck of the draw I guess, but now we have other things to discuss.”
Mason started to respond, but Vince reached to his waist and made a show of holding up his pistol. “While you and your people were trying to find a better way to grow crops, a faster way of reclaiming water, planning and constructing that solar farm. While you were attempting to find a cure for all of this, trying to make the world a better pace, I decided to focus on a shortcut to every single one of your new world advances.
“While you and Travis and Randy and Owen and whoever else drove back and forth to the desert to retrieve solar panels. While the so-called doctors within your sad little community worked day and night to bring the dead back to life, I took a handful of men and actually made the world a better place.” Vince paused for a beat. “Well, better for us anyway.”
Mason was feeling the itch to drive his fist into the side of the thin man’s head. “How about you get to the point?”
Vince grinned. “While you and your people were doing your best to make the planet a better place, I was out there killing myself trying to find every single weapon and every last round of ammunition left in this soulless world. You have no idea the lengths I went to, but then again you also had no idea that you were actually working for me. You built all the systems, all the ways we as a people are going to continue in this world, you just forgot one massive detail.”
Mason didn’t feel the need to respond.
“You forgot about the need to defend yourselves. Now, you can deny it all you want, but I know exactly how depleted your armory has been, and I know that you’re dangerously close to running out of places to look. And now, because you and your people can’t even put together enough of a defense, a trip to the southern territory is also out of the question. You really don’t have many options.”
“You don’t know anything about me.” Mason stepped closer. “Or my people.”
Vince shrugged. “Well, I guess we’ll have to see about that, now won’t we?”
Again Mason took the opportunity to not speak.
Vince waited a moment, looking over his shoulder toward the homes, at the gates, and finally back at Mason. “Okay, here’s how this is going to go down. I’m going to let you leave, but what you do next will determine how the rest of the night and tomorrow plays out for you and your people.”
Again Mason asked, “What do you want?”
Vince held out the radio and keyed the mic. “What I want is really very simple. I want you and your people to find a new home, start over, only somewhere else. Take your chances in the city, or maybe head for the valley. I hear it’s nice this time of year. Me and my people will be taking up residence at Harbor Crest and with the fleet of specialized vehic
les we’ve managed to obtain, we’re going to have to ask you to hand over the keys to the solar farm as well. Now, I know that making the decision won’t be easy for you, so I’ve put together an incentive plan to give you a little motivation.
“There is a massive horde of Feeders that we’ve been corralling for the last few months, it numbers in the hundreds and is waiting to be released less than a quarter mile from Harbor Crest. I also have thirty men with automatic rifles waiting outside your gates and another nineteen already taking control of your precious charging station. But if you’re lucky and fast, you’ll get back in time to save most of your people before they join the dead in chasing down those who remain.
“Your other choice would be to stand there and possibly take another swing at me before one of my boys drops you to the ground with a single pull of the trigger. It would be a waste of precious time, but it also might make you feel better, for a second anyway.
“So now you’ve got a decision to make. I know what I’d do.”
21
The bitter stinging stench of antiseptic reminded him of the day’s earlier events. His sweat pooled near his brow and ran into his face, at times blurring the path ahead. Mason had no reason to question the man who had just threatened his people and his way of life, and with Ava somewhere out here all alone, he just needed to run.
Once out of the gates, he never looked back, cutting through the trees and sprinting toward the highway. It was all he could do to keep his anger from making him turn back. It was the wrong move, no matter what lies ahead, but it would feel so good to let out just a portion of the aggression boiling inside.
But that wouldn’t change anything, and if he was being honest with himself, this was his fault. He was the one calling the shots. Other than the lab and the infirmary, his name was on every inch of Harbor Crest. He was also the one who set up the relationship with Lincoln and his people. He should have seen this coming, or at least had the sense that something like this could have been a possibility.