“Makes sense,” Rose said.
“You’re supposed to be the most important one Mercy; you and Rose. What if you’re captured and coerced to trick whoever’s left in play? We should have a code word to confirm everything’s OK—” Barnes said.
Mercy thought for a minute. “I’ll use my surname as a code word; Dawes. I’ll say it’s Mercy Dawes here or whatever, that’ll be the code word; Dawes. I can’t forget that and it won’t sound suspicious if I’m being held at gunpoint—”
“OK, that works, keep it simple,” Barnes replied.
“What if we’re split up closer to DC?” Rose said.
Barnes grunted, “There’s a park in the northeast of DC. It’s called Stanton Park. It’s at the intersection of Maryland Avenue and Massachusetts Avenue in the Capitol Hill neighbourhood. There’s a playground on the western side and a statue on a plinth in the centre. It’s overgrown, there’s houses nearby to hide in and keep watch. Meet up there, it’s as good a place as any—”
“Got it,” Mercy said.
“Stanton Park,” Rose repeated.
They emerged from the panic room three hours later. The smell of death filled the air. Charred bones and flesh littered the floor. They left the car park and moved through the streets, keeping to cover. Barnes led them through a maze of small streets, avoiding the main thoroughfares. An hour later they were moving through darkness.
The suburbs passed in a blur of overgrown buildings and fissured tarmac. Light rain blew in from the bay, the temperature dropped and thick fog invaded the city. An ivy-covered stadium loomed out of the dark. A grimy sign declared: NAVY-MARINE CORPS MEMORIAL STADIUM. Mercy scowled.
I’ve had enough of stadiums. Barnes better not be taking us in there—
Barnes passed the stadium and took them to a tree lined road under a major highway. A sign: ADMIRAL DRIVE, caught Mercy’s eye.
Barnes stopped and crouched in the trees below the highway. “That’s Route 50 up there. It goes west to DC. It’ll get us out of Annapolis.” He checked his watch. “Just another hour or so. I know a place we can stay for the night. A motel. I’ve used it once before. Should be OK. We all good?”
Mercy nodded.
They look how I feel—
Rose pulled at her boiler suit, “I smell like shit, I really need to wash. I mean really—”
Barnes shrugged and pulled a face, “You and me both, Rose.”
“You got any food at this place?” Mercy asked.
Barnes shook his head, “No, but there’s rooms and cars to search.”
“Probably looted a long time ago,” Rose shook her head, unhappy.
“We’re good Barnes, just get us there—” Mercy said.
Barnes grunted and climbed up the steep embankment. Abandoned cars littered the highway as far as the eye could see. In places the road was so gridlocked they had to jump from car roof to car roof to get past the blockages. They found a few rounds of unused ammunition at an old military checkpoint and pressed on. Barnes stopped around noon and pointed ahead.
“Over there, through the trees. Cedar View Motel, me and Lou used this as a stopover on our recon trip to DC—” Barnes lifted the binoculars to his eyes. “We’ll just watch it for a bit—”
Thirty minutes later they entered the motel grounds from the rear.
“Looks clear,” Mercy said.
Barnes knocked on the foyer door and stepped back, waiting. Rose chewed her lip keeping her eyes on the car park and main road. Barnes nodded at Mercy. She opened the door, silenced SIG held out in front of her.
“It’s clear,” Mercy announced a moment later.
The foyer was littered with garbage, the walls were covered in graffiti. A window behind the reception area was broken, a draft played with the rotting drapes.
“It’s got atmosphere,” Mercy said.
“I’ll give it that,” Rose answered.
“The keys are behind the desk,” Barnes pointed.
Mercy moved forwards and scanned the floor plan on the wall. “Nearest room is down the corridor there.” She grabbed a set of keys from a hook behind the reception desk. “Let’s check it out—”
They entered the narrow corridor and entered the first room. It was unoccupied. Rose threw herself onto one of the single beds. A cloud of dust filled the air.
Mercy put a hand across her mouth and blinked, she went into the bathroom and checked the toilet cistern. “Hey, there’s actually water in here, coffee could be within our reach. Come on let’s explore this shithole, see what we can find—”
Barnes shrugged, “I’ll stay here. You guys see what you can find and keep it quiet. We want to be invisible. Be back in thirty minutes or I’ll come looking for you—”
A soft snore rose from the bed. Mercy smiled despite herself.
Rose you could sleep in a shitstorm—
Mercy woke Rose and they left Barnes to secure the room. They searched the unlocked rooms along the corridor. Their haul included a wire coat hanger, a lighter, an unopened packet of chewing gum and a sewing kit. They took their search outside, checking the cars in the parking lot.
“Over here,” Rose hovered beside a metallic silver SUV.
“Looks intact.” Mercy tapped the driver’s door. “There’s stuff inside but I can’t see through all this grime. Open it—”
Rose undid the coat hanger, bending the wire into a long hook. She slid it down the side of the driver’s window and searched for the lock pin. She met resistance and pulled the hook towards the rear of the car. The lock popped with a click.
“Nice,” Mercy whispered. “I’ve got you covered—”
Rose opened the door and stepped back.
Mercy changed position and glanced in. “It’s clear, let’s see what we’ve got. Looks like someone was going on a fishing trip—”
Rose opened the trunk and pulled out a suitcase.
Mercy pulled the lid off a cool box. She let out a low whistle. “There is a god,” she took out a six pack of beer and clutched it to her chest.
“Got some outdoor clothes here, leather boots and… duct tape. Guy’s duds but they’ll do—” Rose sounded pleased.
Mercy checked her watch, “OK, let’s get back, our time’s up—”
They brought their finds back to the room. Rose pointed to food on the bed.
Barnes shrugged, “Found some potato chips and cigarettes out front when I was laying a couple of sound traps. There’s some old vending machines out there, these were jammed in the mechanism—”
“Rusty water, smokes and potato chips. Takes me back to my childhood—” Rose yawned. She went into the bathroom to change into her new clothes.
Barnes checked his watch, “OK, we’ll rest until morning. We’ll take turns on watch. I’ll go first—”
“So this is it, we’re finally on our way to DC—” Mercy handed the potato chips around.
“Yeah, living the dream,” Rose said, reappearing in her new clothes.
With fewer and fewer of us left. Flynn—
“That’s an improvement on the boiler suit Rose,” Mercy said.
Rose lay back on the bed, “Yeah, I feel a bit more human.” She paused and pulled a face, “No offence everyone, but we sure do stink. My priority is to find a place to wash. This is now officially a thing and it’s going to happen come hell or high water.”
Mercy latched on to Rose’s words, “Come hell or high water? I hope not. That was a form of medieval torture back in the dark ages—”
The room fell silent. Barnes dragged a chair over to the door and jammed it up against the lock. He started to field strip his pistol. Twenty minutes later Mercy and Rose were asleep.
Barnes woke Mercy three hours later. “All quiet, it’s all yours, enjoy—”
Mercy grunted and took up position beside the door. Moonlight spilled through the blinds onto the floor.
Flynn—?
Mercy ran her fingers through her hair.
I should be crying, shouting, screamin
g. I’m a monster, I don’t feel anything. Instead, I’m… numb. I’m sorry Flynn—
Mercy sighed and rested her head against the wall. The trees outside rustled in the wind, shadows danced on the threadbare carpet. Mercy reached up to her neck remembering Flynn’s smell, his touch. She closed her eyes.
Cans rattled outside.
The wind—?
More rattling.
Fuck no, it’s one of Barnes’s sound traps—
Mercy opened her eyes and went to the window, crouching low. She looked out onto the overgrown plot.
Movement along the treeline and over there. Shit—
Mercy threw a cushion at Rose.
“Wake up people. We’ve got company—”
Chapter 16
Execution
“Feral dogs—” Barnes groaned, staring out the window. “Last thing we need, they’ll bring the watchers down on us.”
“We need to deal with this quick,” Mercy said. “Any ideas—?”
“Use the window,” Rose said. “There’s at least six of them, if we cover the window then open it up just enough, they can only get in one at a time. We can kill them one by one. We could use the wardrobe to block off half the window. Here, give me a hand to pull it across—”
Mercy helped Rose to drag the wardrobe over to the window.
“Yeah, there’s at least eight of them, there’s a few more skulking in the trees. They look skinny—” Rose peered through the window.
Snarling and scraping came from the other side of the rear door. Some of the dogs were barking.
“OK, I’ll open the window and keep it wide enough for one to stick its head through. Mercy, you good to use your knife?” Barnes asked.
“Yeah,” Mercy responded.
“Wait, use this,” Rose threw Mercy a magazine from the floor. “Tape it onto your knife arm just in case.”
Mercy nodded and wrapped the magazine around her right forearm. Rose used the duct tape to secure it.
“OK everyone, stay awake, shit happens and we don’t want it to happen now.” Barnes looked at Mercy. “Ready—?”
“Yeah, open it up,” Mercy gripped her knife and looked out at the barking dogs.
Barnes unlocked the window, keeping a firm grip on the handle. A large mastiff-cross rammed its head into the opening and tried to climb through the gap. Mercy thrust her knife into the dog’s skull and twisted. The dog went limp and flopped back, out of the window. It was immediately replaced by a second snarling dog. Mercy dealt another killing blow, her knife slick with blood. The dog fell back outside.
“Enough,” Barnes said. “Let’s see what they do, pull the curtains closed and stay down.”
Fierce snarling and snapping followed for the next twenty minutes as the rest of the pack fought over the two dead dogs outside the window. Forty minutes later it was all over.
“They’ve gone,” Rose declared, peering through a gap in the curtains.
Barnes checked his watch, “OK, so we’ll give it a bit longer and head out at midday. We’ll keep Route 50 close and leave the city limits, get out into the country. We’ll disappear into the forest, the tree cover will help. It’s about thirty miles to DC and I agree with Rose; we stink of death. We should get a wash somewhere along the way. I don’t want to meet that pack on different terms—”
They rested for a few hours. Barnes made Mercy and Rose study his maps of the area. Midday arrived. They left the motel and set out, keeping Route 50 in sight. The sky was a dull grey, the air heavy with the promise of rain. Mercy watched Barnes as he negotiated the transition from an urban environment to a rural one. He stopped at intervals and listened, his eyes closed. He used his scope to check the terrain ahead, at times favouring longer routes when they offered more cover.
The going was slow but steady. Hours passed. Clouds gathered, conspiring overhead. The forest floor was damp, birds called to each other from the branches. Insects buzzed in the air. Mercy swatted a persistent fly. She looked right, towards Route 50. The road rose in the distance, traversing a low hill. She stopped and wiped a drip of stinging sweat from her eye. Her vision blurred and she blinked. She focused on the brow of the hill.
What the fuck—?
Mercy caught up with Barnes, “There’s something ahead. I can’t make it out, it looks… weird. Can you scope it out—?” Mercy pointed at the road in the distance.
Barnes frowned, “I see it. That’s about half a mile away. Hold on—”
He walked over to a tree, steadied his Steyr SSG against the trunk and focused on the brow of the hill. “Fuck me—”
“What is it—?” Rose asked.
Barnes pulled back from his rifle, “Take a look.”
Mercy stepped forwards and peered through the scope. She frowned, a puzzled look on her face, then her eyes widened.
People. On. Crosses. Loads of them—
She took another look through the scope.
Jesus, there must be… dozens of them. Crucifixions. Actual crucifixions—
Rose tapped Mercy on the shoulder, “Show me.”
Mercy stepped away to let Rose see.
Rose pressed her eye to the scope. “Christ—” her face paled. “Some of those poor bastards have turned, they’re still moving. Some are burnt.” “It’s a message, a warning. Keep away. It’s obvious.”
Barnes shouldered his rifle, “Agreed, it’s bad shit—”
“NSA or militia?” Mercy asked.
Barnes shook his head, “NSA’s too professional for crap like that. No, that’s some independent contractor, possibly some weird-as-fuck cult. There’s some batshit crazy sickos in this great country of ours. But that there… that’s seriously off the scale—”
“OK… so we’re going to avoid it?” Rose asked.
Barnes spat on the ground, “Sure as hell we’re gonna avoid it. We’ll flank the hell out of it, go deeper into the forest. I’ve got a compass bearing so we’re good. It’ll add a few miles to our route but under the circumstances—” he trailed off.
Mercy grimaced, “What’s a few miles amongst friends?”
“Exactly,” Rose said.
They went south, deeper into the woods. Barnes changed direction, bearing west after an hour or so. They came across a small stream and followed it down a gently sloping hill. Barnes stopped and held up a hand, he dropped to one knee.
What now?
Mercy peered ahead, through ferns and long grass. She pursed her lips in concentration.
What is it? Wait. There. A straight line—
She followed the straight edge. And found another hard edge.
Nature hates a straight line—
Barnes pulled away from his scope, “A shack, looks like a hunting lodge, fifty yards ahead. No sign of life, but we’ll stake it out for a bit. I want eyes and ears switched on, stay here. I’m going in for a closer look. Watch where you put your feet, look out for booby traps, man traps, all that shit and don’t spook the wildlife—”
Barnes checked his watch, “I’ll be back in an hour—”
Mercy nodded and hunkered down beside Rose. Light rain fell, pattering on the leaves above. A line of ants pursued their single minded task a few feet away. Mercy sat back-to-back with Rose. Insects buzzed and crows called out, heralding the approach of dusk. Cold crept into Mercy’s bones. She shivered in her damp clothes. Her mind wandered.
Flynn, where are you? Why did we make it and you didn’t? Flynn—?
Mercy blinked. Flynn flooded her memory; his touch, his smell. His life.
Fuck it. Lock it down. Not here, not now—
Movement on the left. Ghillie suit. Barnes materialised out of the undergrowth, his eyes narrowed. “Looks good. We can use it. We’ve got a place to crash for the night—”
Good, there’s too many ghosts out here—
They dropped down into the hollow, the small stream ran through the clearing. They entered the shack and searched the rooms.
“No food, but at least we’ve got water an
d can make a fire once it’s fully dark,” Rose said. “Floorboards to sleep on, luxury.”
Mercy rubbed her arm, “I don’t know about you guys but I’m going to take a wash in that stream. Who wants to watch out for me? I’ll return the favour.”
Rose stood up. “I’ll come, we’ll take it in turns and then get firewood. Barnes you can go last—”
Barnes grunted, scratching his beard, “I’ve been living in these clothes for weeks now. Think I’ve got a whole fucking ecosystem in here. It’d be good to wash some of it away—”
Mercy held up a hand and pulled a face, “Too much information Barnes. Too much information—”
Rose smiled, “Yeah, tagnuts are a bitch, ain’t they—?”
You’re back Rose. You bounce back every time. Thank goodness you’re back—
They washed in the stream and settled down for the evening. Barnes took first watch followed by Rose. Mercy concentrated on her breathing and followed the sound inwards.
Try not to think. Keep away from the darkness. Don’t dwell on loss, use it—
She yawned.
Use it or lose it—
Sleep enveloped her. Ghosts surrounded her. She turned her back on them.
Not yet. I’ve a job to do, a mission to complete. I’ll join you when it’s time—
Cool breeze. Cold. Mercy shivered and woke up. The front door was open. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and listened. The stream gurgled outside, wind rustled through the trees.
Where’s Rose—?
Mercy stood up and went to the door. Rose was outside, staring into the dark.
“What is it Rose?” Mercy asked.
Rose turned around, “I thought I heard something… out there. It’s gone now, probably a fox or something—”
Mercy listened.
Or something—
The breeze made the forest a living thing.
“Come back inside Rose. Get some sleep, it’s my watch now anyway,” Mercy said. “I’ll hand over in a couple of hours—”
Rose shrugged, “Sure thing. This place is peaceful, but spooky too—”
“Catch some Z’s babe… not the dead type,” Mercy added, her dark humour bringing a smile to Rose’s face.
Rose went into the shack. Mercy stayed outside for a few minutes before returning inside. She sat in a rickety chair beside the window, listening to the forest and the night. Minutes passed. Barnes’s heavy breathing came from the far corner of the room. Rose mumbled in her sleep. Then she heard it.
The Survival Chronicles (Book 6): Dark Mercy Page 10