Killswitch Chronicles- The Complete Anthology

by G. R. Carter

  “Water?” Lowery asked.

  “Small river just east. About one mile.”

  “East it is,” Lowery said. The man nodded and slipped back off into the brush.

  Lowery turned to Essie. “How’s that elbow? We’re going to be movin’ quick-like. Need you to stay right close to me. Can you do that?”

  For once, Essie didn’t reply sarcastically, she simply nodded. Without another word, Lowery was up just slightly above a crouch and then into the brush where his fellow Ranger had disappeared. She scrambled after him, brushing back encroaching stems. Each one seemed to grab at her. A mile was a split second in the sky. Here it seemed an eternity.

  Every movement and every sound seemed to be a threat. Essie focused on Lowery’s back, staying as close as possible. He was likely going about half the speed he was capable of, but it still seemed a sprint. She was in great shape, but the shock of the arm and the adrenaline dump of the fight and crash made her muscles cramp. Her breathing was heavy, sucking more of the ever-encroaching smoke into her lungs. The only saving grace was the cool temperature; in summer this thick growth would have made the heat unbearable.

  The rattle of automatic weapons made her jump. Lowery ignored it and continued his darting between small scrub trees and prairie grass. Shouting voices Essie couldn’t understand sounded close. She fought the panic welling inside. Claustrophobia was real and pulling at her. She desperately wanted to turn and fight.

  Finally, they were on the bank of a small river. Lowery didn’t hesitate, plunging right in with his rifle above his head. There was a fair amount of ice building up along the bank; the river didn’t seem to have much current. Essie hesitated for a moment, dreading the freezing water. In her pause, she noticed two of the Rangers already on the opposite bank. They seem to know each other’s locations all the time, she told herself. Resolved to be one of the unit and not a damsel in distress, she stepped in after Lowery, who was already halfway across in water nearly up to his chest. Her legs, then her torso went under the water. Even through her flight suit and jacket, the rapid temperature change nearly took her breath away.

  The shouting was closer behind now. A barrage of screams and curses in a mix of Spanish and English bounced off the ice until the Rangers opened fire above her head. Essie kept moving through the water best she could, gasping as the frigid water swirling around her sucked away precious body heat. She watched Lowery emerge on the other side and immediately swing his rifle around to the opposite bank. Muffled pffts were following by small clouds of condensed air as round after round came out of the Texan’s suppressed rifles. An ear-piercing chainsaw sound roared from behind her. Small geysers sprung up in the water and on the bank in front of her path, but she kept moving.

  She emerged from the water and pulled out her now-waterlogged sidearm.

  “Get behind me and get down!” one of the Rangers yelled at Essie. Before the words were all the way out, he dropped to the ground, motionless.

  Essie scrambled over the ground to the stricken man. She grabbed his rifle and swung around, facing the threat for the first time. She aimed at the first shape across the river, but he dropped before she could fire, then another target did the same. She kept searching, but before she could fire a single round, there was no one to shoot at.

  “Clear.”

  “Clear.”

  “See about Mario,” Lowery told his men. Essie moved away and watched as two Rangers checked over the man lying in front of her. They looked up at Lowery and shook their head in unison. Mario was gone.

  Lowery looked down at the ground for a moment. Essie wondered if it was a prayer, or maybe a unit leader’s frustration at the loss of one of his own. The moment was gone as quick as it came, and he began to look around, searching for something. Without a word, he walked towards a giant oak a few yards off the riverbank. Meanwhile, the two Rangers tending to Mario stripped his ammunition and sidearm. When they were done, they wrapped him in a canvas taken from his backpack. From nowhere the rest of the Ranger team appeared. Quickly a litter was made and Mario placed on it.

  Essie lost sight of Lowery, then found him again as one of the Rangers tossed up a rope to where he sat perched up in the tree’s large side branch. Another man joined him and waited while the rest of the team hoisted the litter up. Lowery lashed the litter to the top of the branch and worked his way down the tree. He stopped at the base, carving something into the trunk with his eight-inch knife.

  Lowery walked right past Essie and conferred with his team. They spoke low in what appeared to be a spirited discussion. One of them pointed north, and Lowery nodded. He turned and waved at Essie to come to him. “We’re heading out. You want to tell us where you’re really from? Independence is too far for your bird to fly out here.” He waited for Essie to acknowledge the assessment. “Our mission is to find friendlies. Are you, or aren’t you?” he said briskly.

  Essie decided to go all in. “I’m based out of Springfield. But we’ve got a reinforced airfield in Joplin. That’s one of ARK’s remaining strongholds,” she admitted.

  The smile she’d seen him carry was gone now, replaced by a somber look that made him appear years older. “Okay, we’ll take you there. Not sure which one yet. But we’ll see you safely to ARK territory. Be ready to go in five, okay?”

  Essie nodded, then grabbed his arm. “Captain, I’m sorry about Mario. I know it isn’t easy to lose one of your command.”

  Lowery’s look belied pain, hard as he tried to hide it. “That’s actually loss number five on this trip.”

  *****

  A warm fire crackled behind Essie’s back. She watched shadows dance on the tall grass and scrub trees in front of her, making them seem alive with movement. The radiant heat seeped in through her coat, making her less miserable than she’d be without it. The front of her body felt the chill of the night. She knew she needed to try to sleep while Rangers trained for these conditions were out there somewhere, taking their turn on watch.

  Sleep wasn’t going to come easily, though. “What’s so important that Texas would send a team as valuable as yours on a suicide mission?” she said in a half-whisper.

  There was no response from Captain Lowery, whose head lay just a foot away from hers. He hadn’t said a word in the hours since the fight at the river. Essie hadn’t pressed him for conversation, just tagging along as best she could. The pace had been exhausting, even for her.

  A dinner of roasted rabbit helped her stave off total collapse. Which unfortunately left her mind racing with questions.

  “I’m sorry about your friend,” she offered into the night.

  “He was actually my cousin,” Lowery finally replied. The voice held the weariness of leadership. “We’re a pretty tight-knit group. Just about all of us who made it through the Dark Times know each other somehow. Our families, I mean. Makes it easier to know you can trust each other.”

  “But harder to lose people,” she replied. “Until I started flying for ARK, I was close to just everybody in my world. I knew almost everyone.”

  He seemed to take the opportunity to change the subject. “Where is your real home?” he asked.

  “The Okaw. In what used to be Illinois. Pretty much everything between the Mississippi and the Wabash rivers. We call it the Red Hawk Republic.”

  “I thought Illinois was completely burned out. No survivors except cannibals and whatnot.”

  “Chicago was all destroyed, yeah. Big dead zone all around. Any survivors wound up in Caliphate territory. Way too many people in one place with not nearly enough food. Plus a few melted-down nuclear plants for good measure. But our area made it through okay. After the wars against New America, that is. Even managed to keep folks like ARK from starving, too,” she said.

  Lowery rose up out of his bedroll and threw a couple of small logs on the fire. Essie sat up also.

  “I’m surprised you’d build this big of a fire,” she said. “You that confident the tweakers won’t find us?”

  Lo
wery stoked at the flames with a stick, sending a few sparks up into the air. “We outran the surviving batch of tweakers a long time ago. Figure the prairie fire cut off anyone on that side of the river from us. I ain’t never seen a tweaker fly at night.” He paused and looked out towards the wilderness surrounding. “Besides, there’s worse things out there,” he pointed with his stick, “than tweakers. And those worse things don’t like fire.”

  Essie involuntarily reached for Mario’s rifle. She’d kept it with her all day. No one had asked her not to.

  “You never answered my question, Captain Lowery. What’s so important as to send the best and brightest of Texas out here into the rough country? I’m sure you’re needed back home.”

  “Wasn’t aware I was obliged to answer, Miss Essie. But I will, just in case not all of us make it,” he said somberly. Essie pulled her blanket closer around her shoulders. She wanted to hold onto the heat her back gained from the fire.

  “Truth is, Texas is surrounded and outnumbered right now. We’re down to just a few towns and bases.”

  “The Nuevos – sorry, I mean tweakers – they’re that powerful?” Essie asked.

  “Nah. Ain’t just them. Fact of the matter, I think we had them tweakers beat. Took out several of their leaders, our team did.” He chuckled at some sort of private joke. “Might say we ‘decapitated’ their organization.”

  They sat in silence for a moment. Lowery impressed Essie as a good leader and good fighter since they met. Now she realized he was a hard man, with a mean streak like that of her brother Alex. She thought no less of him for it.

  “But the remainin’ tweakers got someone helpin’ ‘em. Just catch a glimpse now and then. Ain’t so many of them, but they’re better at organizin’. They forced us back several places. So, we’re consolidatin’ in our best positions. Got our own air force. Old jets that didn’t need advanced electronics. But the tweakers got some help that way, too. Fewer of our birds come back every time.”

  “So why would they send you here?” she asked again.

  “When we lost communication with ARK, we didn’t know if anyone righteous was still out there. Our President figured we weren’t gonna survive on our own, even with my squad. We got others, too, not just my unit. Needed allies worse than a few men. We set off to see why your people went dark. Used motorbikes as far as we could, been on foot ever since. Kind of a Hail Mary, you might say,” Lowery said with a sigh.

  “I’m not Catholic.”

  He chuckled. “You’re obviously not a football fan, either. I ‘spose ya’ll don’t play that sport anymore.”

  “Oh, now I get it. Sorry, lost the reference. My brother was – well, is – a fan. There’s some kids who play. Actually, the Red Hawk name comes from one of the local college’s football team name. My dad merged our survivors with theirs right after the Reset.”

  Essie could see a little grin come across Lowery’s face, accentuated by the firelight. “I did it again,” she huffed. “Oh well, I guess I would have told you anyway. And be honest, you have heard of the Red Hawk Republic, haven’t you?” she stated.

  “’Course I have, Miss Essie. Not of that Okaw you’re talkin’ about. But yeah, everyone’s heard of you Red Hawks. The legends work their way down to us. Ten feet tall, with fire-breathin’ dragons you ride into battle,” he snickered.

  “Got half the story right. They’re called Razorbacks, not dragons.”

  He nodded while looking at the flames, still smiling. “And your dad is the almighty be-all of the Red Hawks,” he said matter-of-factly.

  She teared up instantaneously. “No, my dad died in battle against New America. He held off their attack long enough for the rest of our defenses to get organized. But he didn’t make it through,” she said. The raw emotion surprised her; she’d been young when he died, and that was a long time ago. She turned to keep her reaction private.

  “Kinda like our Alamo? Well, we’ve had a few more of those since the…What did you call it? The Reset?”

  Essie composed herself and replied. “Not sure who called it that first. But we got reset back to the old days, so it seemed to fit.”

  “We call it the Darkness. Some say the Dark Times. Hadn’t been for our President, we’d’ve never made it through. Quite a leader. Least, he used to be.”

  Essie didn’t pry. She wanted Lowery to tell her more, but she hesitated to push. She didn’t need to. “He had all these supplies stored up. And a network of folks on former military bases he was tight with. When the Darkness hit, he sprung right into action.”

  “Sounds like he knew it was coming,” she offered.

  Lowery stared at the flames, not looking directly at her. “That’s been suggested once or twice. But no one cared after all the chaos was going on. Here was a fella could help out our family. We gladly followed.”

  “We were both kids when that happened.”

  “Yes, ma’am. I was barely a teenager. I remember quite a bit. My dad was a diesel mechanic, so he was helpful to the President straight away. Kept his generators running. All by accident I’m sittin’ here, I reckon.”

  “I don’t believe in accidents. There’s either the hand of God or the hand of man.”

  “Ain’t much on religion, Miss Essie. President didn’t care much for it. Didn’t tell folks they couldn’t, just as long their loyalty was to Texas first.”

  “I’m not sure I like your President,” she said.

  “Nah, he ain’t a bad guy. Treats people well enough.”

  “But you’re not sure he’s still got what it takes to lead?”

  Lowery didn’t answer. “Tell me about your brother,” he said.

  “Mean as a snake. Tough as leather. Cranky as an old diesel,” she laughed.

  “Sounds familiar.”

  “You better not be talking about me,” she said as she punched his arm. She winced; the motion hurt her tightly wrapped elbow. One of the Rangers had dressed the wound shortly after they stopped. He didn’t think there was any permanent damage.

  “Figured that’d be a compliment to you.”

  “I guess you’re right. Always trying to make up for being little sis,” she admitted.

  “But being the big man’s little sis helps?”

  “I suppose. I haven’t seen much of him since he took over for Dad. He’s always busy. I really don’t think the guy sleeps. He’s nearly been killed a couple of times. Lost an eye, walks with a bad limp. But he keeps going,” she said. Sometimes she forgot how much she respected Alex for what he’d overcome. It took moments like this to remember.

  “Now that sounds like the kind of folks we’d like as allies,” Lowery said. He hadn’t lied to Essie; the Rangers really were on a trip to find someone able to help. His was a proud nation, willing to fight to the end. But the math just wouldn’t pencil, even for the bravest of souls. There were just too many enemies. Texas could kill ten to one and still come up short. His men had walked, fought, and died for countless miles to find help for their home. Here, sitting wrapped in a blanket in the middle of a tall grass prairie, he may have finally found an unlikely break. “Reckon he’d help us?” he asked hopefully.

  Essie smiled. “Definitely would if he could. There’s a whole bunch of crazy jijis between us and you, though. They’re the ones who took out ARK’s capital city.”

  “Who are they?”

  “They call themselves the Northern Caliphate. Jihadists, you know, like holy warriors. We call them jijis for short. Crazy as loons. Came down from north of us. Mass migration more than invasion, really. Some to the west, along the Mississippi River. Others to the east until they got to the Ohio.”

  Lowery seemed dejected. “So ya’ll are done for? That why you out here flyin’ with ARK?”

  “The Republic done for? Not a chance! It’s a long story why I’m out here. But I’ll be going back home just as soon as I can.”

  “If there’s a home left for you.”

  “Don’t worry. The Republic, our Republic, will never s
urrender. We’re just as fanatical as the Caliphate…just for good, not evil.”

  “Reckon those jijis probably say the same thing.”

  Essie shrugged. “Who cares? We’re right, they’re wrong, and in the end, we’ll win. We always do.”

  Lowery chuckled again. “Well, Miss Essie, if all them Red Hawks are as tough and confident as you, I reckon you will be the last ones standin’. I just hope you solve your jiji problem quick enough to give us a hand.”

  With that he grabbed his blanket and lay back down. Essie stared at the fire for just a moment longer and then did the same. As she looked up at the stars she wondered about the picture Lowery had painted of the larger world. Maybe Alex was right. Maybe the Republic really was the last hope for civilization in a darkening world.

  The thought left her less frightened than concerned. They couldn’t fail. Even if that meant helping Nicole Diamante save ARK – the thought made her stomach churn – so they’d be a bulwark against other threats.

  A tiny speck of light moved across the sky above her. She’d seen them before; they looked like stars slowly moving from one side of the horizon to the other. Supposedly they were satellites still orbiting the Earth, once used for everything from communication to weather forecasting to spying. It was hard to imagine a time when humans could do such things; she’d been too young at the Reset to appreciate the feat.

  A yawn finally signaled surrender to exhaustion. She closed her eyes and dreamed of being on that satellite, flying effortlessly through the sky, far away from the cares of earthly wars.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Downtown Beardstown

  Western Frontier of the Red Hawk Republic

  The rattle of heavy machine gun fire was unmistakable, even blocks away and inside a house. Levi and Oliver hadn’t been warriors long, but certainly long enough to recognize the sound of mechanized death.

  Without a word, both moved to grab their rifles hanging on the wall. Then they checked their sidearms and moved to the middle of their house. It hadn’t been home for long, but they made sure to know the most secure spots. Survivors of this world left nothing to chance.