Fury of the Six (The Preston Six Book 5)

by Matt Ryan

  The midday jungle turned to darkness. Rain poured down on them and Joey ran the scan on his Panavice, locating the signals. His heart leapt at the sight of the two red dots on his screen. They were only a few miles away. He gazed into the darkness, in the direction of Evelyn and Edith. He had no idea what planet they were on, or where he was in the world, but it didn’t matter. He was closer to Evelyn, closer to having a family that wasn’t perpetually endangered. “Got her. Three point two miles that way.”

  “Great. Now we just need to figure out where we are.”

  Joey spotted another marker on his screen and knew exactly where they were. “Sharati’s not far from here.”

  Lucas wiped the rain back from his face and flung the excess water on the ground. “Just great. Out of all the planets, Arrack is where he’s keeping her?”

  “This is also what we’ve been looking for, his headquarters outside of Earth or Vanar. This is the last stage,” Joey said.

  “I got bad news,” Lucas said looking at the stone.

  “One way stone?” It wasn’t a question. He knew and turned back to face Evelyn’s direction. They’d have to find another stone to get the others.

  “Yes,” Lucas said.

  Joey glanced down at his Panavice and pinged Sharati. She accepted and her face appeared on the screen. Joey tilted the screen and let the water fall off.

  “Joey?” she asked.

  “We know where she is.”

  “I see her on my screen as well. I’m coming to you. Meet me half way.” Sharati’s camera turned away from her as she turned it off and Joey saw a group of Arracks around her.

  “We better play it safe with her,” he said to Lucas.

  “I don’t trust her either.”

  Joey watched Sharati’s red dot on his screen as she moved toward them. He began their trek in Evelyn’s direction and hoped the rain would let up. He couldn’t see more than a hundred feet ahead.

  “Should we use our lights?” Lucas said loud enough to be heard over the roaring rain.

  “Better not.”

  Lightning crashed and lit the landscape. More desert looking than anything else, rocks, dirt, and sloping terrain were laid out before them. They could manage it.

  “Come on, we’re meeting Sharati.”

  Lucas kept his bow out with an arrow clipped in place, constantly scanning their surroundings. Joey kept his guns holstered and wished he had worn rain appropriate clothes. The shield didn’t do a thing for water and it soaked into his clothes, weighing him down. His feet might as well have been stepping through a shallow pool. Streams ran everywhere, and in the first hundred feet, he’d plunged into knee deep puddles. Taking big steps, he climbed from a deep puddle as a lightning strike lit up the terrain just enough for Joey to get his bearings and keep on course toward the hill on the horizon.

  Checking the red dots, Sharati made much more ground then them. Joey ignored the warning calls from his body and pushed harder, getting some distance from even Lucas. “We’ve got to pick it up, Lucas,” Joey said, looking over his shoulder.

  “Pick it up? I’ve got twenty freaking pounds of water I’m carrying here. My socks are soaked. My socks!”

  Joey sighed and started to jog. He made it ten feet and fell, face planting into the mud. He pulled his foot out of the water hole it went into.

  Lucas laughed. “Watch out, that first step’s a doozy.”

  “Let’s just get to the top of the hill so we have the higher ground.”

  “You think something’s up?” The smirk left Lucas’s face and he looked out into the darkness.

  “Always.”

  Joey crawled up the hill, not even bothering with trying to walk up the embankment; after several falls, Lucas joined him. The soft mud caked on his hands and knees, making the climb that much more difficult.

  At the top, Joey stayed hunched over, breathing hard and letting the rain pour down his face, dripping from his mouth and nose. The effort took more out of him than it should have and he struggled to get back on his feet. He stared at the dark sky and watched another flash light up a distant cloud.

  What were the chances of getting caught in a desert downpour? Two, maybe three times a year this might happen. He thought of Evelyn and knew Edith would protect her from the elements. He glanced down and saw Sharati’s red dot close by now. She should be visible from the hill they were perched on. He stopped and turned to face her direction.

  As if on command, a bolt lit up the desert.

  He had been right about Sharati. She didn’t just have a few Arracks with her, she had a small army. Joey’s heart picked up and he gripped guns in both hands. She’d saved them on a number of occasions, but she also tried to kill them. Which one would show this time, friend or foe?

  He might have yelled, or asked the group to stop running at them, but the rain and wind drown out any chance of that. With each passing second, the urge to run straight to Evelyn became stronger. If he could just get close to Marcus, he could stop it all. He didn’t want to put one more person at risk if possible. The Arracks moved as a unit and if they had ill intentions, Joey knew there was nothing he could do to stop them.

  “She’s got company,” Lucas yelled.

  They waited and watched, hoping this interaction would be to their benefit. Sharati took lead and had her group halt at the bottom of the hill. She didn’t have any troubles in the mud, easily making her way up the embankment. She reached the top and gave them a toothy smile as if out of practice.

  “You’re fortunate to be here on a raining day,” Sharati said. “The city has been praying for rain for months and when Marcus showed up, it started to rain. You are very blessed indeed to be here for this.” The rain slid off her silver skin and made her look shiny and smooth.

  “Well, aren’t we the lucky ones,” Lucas said, wiping his face in futility.

  “She’s that way, not far from here,” Joey said. “Will you help us?”

  Sharati looked back at her group, a mixture of male and female Arracks, some with the yellow streaks on their shoulder. “That’s why we are here. We know Marcus didn’t make the rain, just as we are sure he is the cause of all our pain since he arrived here.”

  Lucas stepped to the side and slipped. He slammed onto the muddy surface and then scrambled, trying to get back to his feet and falling again. Joey reached over and helped him up. Lucas tried to shake some of the mud off, but it stuck and smeared all over his clothes. He lifted his hands in the air and shook his head.

  “You okay?” Joey asked.

  “Just . . . no.”

  “Sharati,” Joey said. “If we leave now, I think we could be to her in a half hour.”

  “No, there’s a flash flood river between us and her. There are no bridges for miles, and no way to cross safely.”

  Joey turned and looked at his Panavice. Evelyn hadn’t moved since their arrival on the planet. Lightning cracked in the distance and the wet landscape ahead revealed itself in the flash. How bad could a desert river be? “We’ll go it alone then,” he said.

  “Joey,” Lucas said. “That’s not the plan. We are supposed to go back and get everyone.”

  Joey kept his back to Lucas and looked out into the darkness.

  “It’s tough to stand in this stuff,” Lucas continued. “You really think we can cross a river in it? You sure you’re fine?”

  Was he fine? No, but at what point had he been fine? Maybe before any of this started, but fine was a luxury of a distant life and a future goal. He’d give Poly and Evelyn their fine if it killed him. He stomped away from them, toward Evelyn.

  “This isn’t the plan, Joey,” Lucas yelled over the rain.

  Joey spun around. “Really? The plan?” Joey slapped the water off his face and glared at Lucas. “When has a plan with that man ever worked? What, you think we should go gather up your wife and yet to be born child, or my wife or our best friends and take them to him? Should we keep delivering our people on a silver platter?”

  �
��This is about Samantha, isn’t it?”

  Joey turned away from him and ran his hands through his hair. He screamed at the sky before turning back to Lucas. “We just have to go there and catch him by surprise. He can’t track our Pana’s and Julie said it would be impossible for him to trace Evelyn’s and Edith’s trackers. This is our chance, Lucas, you and me could end this now.”

  Lucas didn’t answer and Joey threw up his hands and walked away. The mud slid under his soaked feet as he walked past Sharati and down the back side of the hill.

  “It’s suicide,” Lucas called from behind.

  Joey kept stomping through the mud and water.

  “He’s a stubborn one,” he heard Sharati say.

  Joey didn’t look back and kept in a straight line toward Evelyn. He didn’t want to bully his best friend into anything, but he wasn’t going to risk the ones he loved anymore.

  “Wait for me, for Pete’s sake.” Lucas splashed through the water and caught up to Joey. He put his hand across his shoulder and walked with him. Joey looked over to his friend and stopped.

  “I want to end this as well, you know?” Lucas said.

  “I know,” Joey said and felt bad for questioning Lucas. “We just need to get past this river and we’re there.”

  Lucas nodded and they turned to walk toward the two red dots.

  The rain lessened as they moved down the hill and back to the flat terrain. Water filled up the desert like a sponge, but the sponge couldn’t take any more and the water seeped everywhere, filling every hole and depression. Joey glanced back and saw Sharati and her group following closely behind.

  It took twenty minutes to get to the river Sharati mentioned and Joey stopped at its edge. The water roared with turbulence and shred through the parse land, carrying with it a heavy mixture of mud and rock.

  “No freaking way,” Lucas said with his arms crossed.

  Joey paced at the edge and pulled his hair back with both hands. Sharati kept her distance but he spotted her with each lightning strike. “We have to get across.”

  “No, this is nuts. We just can’t. Look at the water, Joey.”

  “It doesn’t matter. Some water isn’t going to keep me from getting my daughter back.” Joey stepped to the shallows and felt the foot deep water pushing against his legs. He gauged the distance and figured if he swam hard enough, he could make it across, even if the river swept him down a mile, he’d get across.

  “Get out of there. You’re going to get killed, and then where would we be?” Lucas yelled.

  “He’s right. There’s no way,” Sharati said. “Shudi, Shudi.” She gestured to Arracks behind her and down the river.

  Small pebbles peppered his legs and he took another step, sliding his foot down the sandy bottom of the river’s edge. Waist deep, he felt the force of the river. The idea of crossing started to feel foolish and the larger debris rolled over his feet and slapped his legs. Joey took a deep breath and eased into the river, neck deep. The cold water slammed against his whole body and for a brief second, he thought he might be able to walk, maybe it wasn’t that deep.

  A large rock struck him in the thigh and he cried out in pain. The impact knocked him off his feet and into the full, raging force of the river. He tried to swim, but the water churned him around like rolled dough. He went under and the sound of rock clanking against other rocks roared beneath the melee above him.

  He fought to get to the top and flung his arms manically to keep above the rapids. A rope struck him, tightening around his forearm. He couldn’t see the shoreline as the torrent of water continually splashed his face, but he felt the tug toward it.

  “No, I can get across,” Joey called out, knowing very well they couldn’t hear him. He turned and tried to fight against it, but his arms were already getting tired and the rope pulled him harder. He gave in and felt the edge of the shoreline.

  An Arrack with many necklaces rushed to him and grabbed at his wrists. Another Arrack joined in and they both pulled him ashore.

  The rain continued to pour down as he lay on his back, next to the raging river. He felt the squishing mud underneath him and gripped it with his hands. He felt like crying. A lightning bolt high in the sky formed a jagged streak directly above. The thunder that followed rumbled through him.

  “Joey?” Lucas called out. “What the hell, are you crazy?” he said, trying to catch his breath. “If Sharati hadn’t called out Cowboy Arrack here to rope your stupid ass, you’d be dead right now.”

  Joey couldn’t tell if he had tears or if the rain just flowed over his face. Evelyn was so close and he couldn’t get to her.

  “You listening?” Lucas asked.

  “Get him up,” Sharati said.

  Several Arracks crowded around him and got him to his feet.

  “Now you understand, you can’t cross, right?” Sharati said.

  Joey nodded. “Where is the nearest bridge?”

  “Thirty miles to the north.”

  He walked past Sharati and slipped on the mud as his leg shook. His head hurt as well, but he squeezed the muscles in his leg and got it back under control. Where the rock struck his thigh ached in pain.

  “Where are you going?” Lucas asked.

  “To the bridge.” It didn’t matter if they followed or not. He’d find the bridge and get to her.

  He heard Lucas and Sharati talking, but the rain clouded their words. Didn’t matter, he’d get there with or without them.

  One hour into walking next to the river, his feet hurt and his legs felt like gelatin masses, begging for a break. He pushed on. Long ago, he lost sight of Lucas and Sharati and the rest of the Arracks. He thought he spotted lights in the distance, but it could have been the lightning. The downpour had lessened and turned into a light rain with a spattering of showers. The river on the other hand, seemed to strip through the desert with more vigor than before.

  Watching the river for the last hour, gave him a chance to clear his head. He was foolish to try and cross it. His left thigh ached from the boulder that struck him in the water, and with each step, it throbbed in pain. But that was only one of his problems.

  Sneakers weren’t the best form of wet weather wear and while they kept grip on the slick landscape, he felt his feet softening and rubbing through the muddy socks. Small pains in his feet were turning into larger pains. When daylight came, he thought of taking them off and inspecting his feet for blisters and cracks.

  He wasn’t sure which direction was east, but he desperately awaited the rising sun. With the sun’s rays, he hoped he might have a chance of drying off and increasing his speed to this bridge.

  How much had he already walked? Two miles? It was going to take a day or more to get to the bridge at his current pace. He stopped on a small hill above the river. The rocks clacked around at the bottom and the top formed heavy rapids making a soothing sound. He resisted the urge to sit down and take off his shoes and instead took out his Panavice.

  The Panavice displayed Evelyn’s red dot. It still hadn’t moved and sat right next to Edith’s. It did give him some comfort, knowing the two were still together. At least, Evelyn had a friend with her. She was probably sleeping next to Edith.

  “I’ll be there soon.” He took a step and slipped, falling on his side in the mud. He lay there, shaking his head and wondering why the worlds were so against him. Standing back up, the mud slid off his hands and he shook his legs, trying to get as much off as he could.

  Cleaner, he took a deep breath and sped up to a jog. The shoes squished with each step and the mud tried to pull him back down but walking wasn’t going to get him to his daughter any sooner. He jogged faster. It felt good, getting some wind on his face and even the water seemed to run away from his eyes and mouth.

  He wished he could’ve said he ran the entire time over the next six hours, but many horrible things happened and mainly to his feet. He had taken off his shoes hours ago and ran across the mud barefoot, a decision he wished he’d made from the start. Bu
t the soggy shoes and socks had already done their damage by way of blisters and a crack near the heel of his left foot. The leg that had an encounter with a flowing, river rock had a large bruise that went bone deep and swelled out, feeling hard to the touch. He felt his mind slipping as well, he couldn’t tell if it was a side effect of the slow motion or just being hungry and dead tired.

  None of it mattered. He had to find a way to her, the pain in his body would go away with time but if anything happened to her, he didn’t know how he could go on. So, he kept jogging, not as fast as a few hours ago, but a steady pace nonetheless. His lungs burned with each heavy breath of the rain-filled air.

  Dawn broke across the horizon. The impending sun gave him hope and he ran harder. His body couldn’t handle it, but he’d never pushed it this far, so maybe it could. What he wouldn’t do for one of those jet packs Julie mentioned.

  He slowed down and looked back. He’d hoped Lucas would be there, trudging along with him, but in the daylight, he saw how hopelessly alone he actually was. The desert spread out as far as he could see, with nothing but shiny pools of water and a smattering of bushes and cacti dotting the landscape.

  He slipped. If his body had been working normally, he might have had a chance to recover, but instead he braced for impact. The muddy ground rushed to his face and he slammed into it, his shoulder taking the brunt of the damage.

  He groaned and rolled onto his back. It wasn’t the first time he’d fallen during his run, but definitely the hardest. Pain shot through his sides and he gripped his shoulder. An especially dark cloud moved over him, and with it, a downpour of rain. It blocked much of the sun and he felt the heavy drops peppering his face.

  He laughed hysterically, and then screamed at the sky and laughed some more. The water pooled around his body and diminished any chances he thought he had of getting dry, yet it all seemed to be the funniest thing he’d ever experienced and continued to howl.

  “That all you got? Bring it on! That can’t be all you have.”

  Next, came the tears. He sat up and buried his head between his knees. The idea of finishing the thirty miles crashed around him. He should have tried to cross the water again. Damn Sharati for pulling him out. He could have made it, he was sure of it. He glanced at the raging river and it hadn’t showed any signs of slowing down. The storm had moved to the north and he figured it would be feeding the river for quite some time.