They called the others and gathered around the empty stove in the main room.
Jay started opening the first tin. “I’ve dammed the stream, it’s deep enough for fish. I didn’t see any but you never know. I put down snares but I’m not hopeful—” he made a face as he pulled the tin’s lid back. “Looks like some kind of stew, who wants to go first?” He placed the open tin on the floor.
Mercy picked up the tin and glanced at the others, “Here goes nothing.” She scooped some stew out with her fingers, put it in her mouth and closed her eyes.
Silence.
She chewed, the taste registering on her tongue, “Not bad. I’ve had worse.”
Tori let out a relieved sigh.
Mercy gave the tin to Willow, “Well, we’ve got twelve tins to get through. Thanks to whoever used this place before.”
Jay started opening the next tin, “Yeah, wonder where they are now?”
“Probably dead or trope food. This place looks as if it was some kind of hunting lodge back in the day—” Willow licked her lips.
“What do you want to do tomorrow?” Jay changed the subject.
Mercy leant against the wall and watched as Jay finished opening the second tin. “I was with two friends before I was caught by the Kindred. We had this agreement; if ever we were separated the plan was to meet up at the nearest high ground. So I want to check the area for hills. I heard a shot back in the camp from up at the fence, it could’ve been anything but part of me wonders if one of the guards took a shot at something—”
“Something… meaning maybe one of your friends?” Tori said.
Mercy nodded.
Jay sighed, “Look, it’s gonna take me a while to open all these tins with this thing.” He held up the screwdriver, an exasperated look on his face. “There’s an easy tree to climb out there, on the other side of the stream. See if you can get a view of the area before it gets dark.”
Mercy shrugged, “Good idea. Tori, wanna watch my back?”
Tori stood up, “Sure, let’s go.”
They left the shack and made for the chestnut tree on the other side of the stream. Mercy looked up into the canopy, the branches were within reach and plentiful. She glanced at Tori who shrugged.
“We’re good,” Tori said, her eyes sweeping the forest.
Mercy started climbing. Five minutes later she was high in the tree, looking out over the surrounding forest. She saw a hilly area in the distance and pursed her lips.
If they’re anywhere, that’ll be it. It looks about two miles away as the crow flies. We’re in no state to cover that distance tonight, but tomorrow after some rest, it should be OK—
Mercy climbed down and told Tori what she had seen.
Tori was interested. “Yeah, today… no. Tomorrow yes. My arms and legs feel pretty beat up from all the climbing in that shaft.” She looked at Jay’s line of boulders damming the stream, “Don’t reckon Jay’s gonna catch any fish that way, not without bait.” Tori narrowed her eyes, “What about that trope in there? Reckon fish would eat trope flesh? We could cut some off to use as bait—”
Mercy pulled a face, “Jesus, Tori—”
“Yeah, OK, I know, that idea sucks. It was just a thought. I saw some dogs eating dead tropes back in Baltimore. They were desperate though—”
“Come on let’s get back to the others,” Mercy jumped across the stream.
They returned to the shack and shared a meal of cold beef stew, chick peas, chicken soup and peaches in syrup with the others. After their meal they gathered firewood and set sound traps around the building and in the trees. Jay and Willow fashioned two spears using dead wood from outside. The rain returned and they retreated to the shack exhausted.
Jay looked out the window, “Dark enough for a fire?”
Mercy nodded, “Reckon so.”
They started the fire in the wood burning stove using the last of the matches. A bird’s nest and twigs served as kindling. Soon they had a decent fire and the atmosphere in the room lifted.
“Food, a fire and good company. It don’t get much better than this,” Amber said.
Mercy looked up, “You’re feeling better then?”
Amber nodded. “Yeah, just tired. That alpha, it lifted me up, put its hand around my mouth. I couldn’t call out—” she shuddered.
The others watched the flames through the stove’s window.
“It’s all good, it worked out OK. There was nothing you could’ve done. Don’t beat yourself up about it Amber—” Mercy said. She sat against the wall and closed her eyes. Waves of fatigue descended on her shoulders. She felt herself beginning to drift off then jerked awake.
We need to set watch—
Mercy’s eyes flitted to the hall doorway. Daylight had faded. She frowned.
What the hell—?
A faint red light was blinking under the dead alpha’s shirt. Mercy stood up.
Jay flinched, “What’s up?”
Mercy said nothing, she walked into the hall. Jay followed her. Mercy bent down to examine the alpha’s corpse. She pulled up its shirt. A small pinprick of red flashed under the skin.
Goddammit—
Mercy turned to Jay.
“What is it?” he said.
Mercy went over to one of the front windows and pulled a shard of broken glass from the frame. “It’s not anything good, that’s what it is—” she dug at the alpha’s shoulder blade with the glass fragment then swore. “Fucking NSA—”
“What?” Jay asked, craning to see. “Shit, they’re tagging them—”
Mercy lifted the flashing tracking device with the glass fragment. It was connected to the underlying flesh by fine silvery threads. “It’s biotech, like a parasite, half organic and half machine,” disgust etched her face.
Me, Rose and Tawny… is this the kind of shit they’ve put inside us?
“We need to destroy that, they’ll come looking for their boy—” Tori said from the doorway.
“Looks like it’s still working. I’ll take it outside, away from here, throw them off our trail. I’ll be back in a while,” Mercy pulled the tracker free and headed for the door.
“Wait, Mercy you can’t go alone—” Jay started after her.
Mercy stopped in the doorway, holding up a hand, “No, Jay. Leave me alone, I’ll do this. I need to think a few things through—”
Her tone stopped him in his tracks. He raised his hands in defeat and nodded, “Fine, I get it. See you when you get back—”
Mercy disappeared into the night. She went down to the stream and picked her way along the bank, her mind racing.
This is so fucking out of control. Are we being played by the NSA? Maybe they know what we’re doing, where we are, who we’re with the whole time. They could be watching me right now with their fucking drones, eyes everywhere—
Mercy stopped and looked at the sky. Light rain splattered her face.
Get a grip. They would’ve lifted us by now if they knew where we were. No, keep a lid on the paranoia, that’s just as much your enemy as the NSA. Keep cool and stick to the programme—
She took a deep breath and listened to the forest around her. Flynn’s face came to her. A wave of hopelessness swept over her.
Flynn you’re either dead in which case—
Mercy rubbed her face and shook her head.
No, Flynn you’re not dead. I would know it. You’re alive. You’re either free or they’ve got you. I swear I’ll find you… and Tawny—
She sighed.
Just as soon as I find Barnes and Rose.
Mercy continued another thirty minutes along the stream. She reached a clearing and sat on a rock. She took the tracker from her pocket and stared at the flashing LED.
Hah, if I could tie this to a bird or a squirrel, that’d keep them guessing. For a while anyway—
She looked around the clearing and frowned.
Dammit—
She placed the tracker on the rock and crushed it with her boot.
&
nbsp; This’ll have to do, your boy is MIA. Come and look for him if you want, all you’ll get is this smashed tracker—
Mercy turned around and shivered. The forest pressed in around her.
I could be anywhere. Huh, just as well I came by the stream, it’ll bring me back to the cabin—
Jay was waiting for her on the porch when she returned. “Glad you’re back, go inside, get some rest. I’ll keep watch, we have a long day tomorrow—”
Mercy nodded and disappeared inside.
The following morning dawned grey and damp. Mercy heard a laugh and smelt cooking. She opened her eyes. The others were gathered around the wood burner their eyes glued to its window.
“What is it?” She rubbed her eyes.
Tori turned around, her eyes wide. “Jay caught two fish in that dam he made yesterday. We’re cooking them in the embers—”
The thought of fresh fish had Mercy salivating in seconds. She stood up and joined the others. The fish was ready minutes later and they each had a few mouthfuls. Mercy closed her eyes savouring the taste of the trout.
“Jay, you’re a proper woodsman. You are hereby appointed chief bush tucker provider—” Willow said, wiping her mouth.
“Pity there ain’t any more though,” Tori added.
Mercy gazed at the front window, “It’s stopped raining, we should move out. Everyone still good to tag along with me and find my friends?”
Willow nodded, “It’s as good a plan as any. More people to nail the Beast, hit him where it hurts.”
“Yeah, I’d like to cut his balls off, rip his lungs out and feed him to the tropes,” Tori said.
Jay nodded, “All good here.”
“My kind of talk,” Mercy said. “OK, let’s be ready to move out in ten minutes—”
Mercy climbed the chestnut tree again to refresh her bearings for the high ground. She spotted smoke some distance away, on the edge of the forest.
That has to be the mine. About five klicks from here—
They set out and made good time following a rough track part of the way. It brought them to the edge of the forest forty minutes later. The ground opened out into a broad river valley.
“There’s less cover now, keep your eyes open, stay in the long grass and bushes. Best that I go first, in case my friends have eyes in this direction,” Mercy said. She strode ahead, leading the others in the early morning light.
The ground was marshy in places and the going was slow. They avoided the lowest point beside the river and kept to cover as much as possible. An hour and a half later they reached the edge of the high ground.
Mercy stopped on the side of the hill once they were safely hidden in the tree line. “I’ll go up alone. If my people are up there they need to see me and me alone. They’ll be armed and they don’t know you. I don’t want them jumping to any conclusions; thinking I’m your prisoner. That would not end well—”
“We’ll wait for you here,” Jay said. “We’re not going anywhere.”
Mercy gave them a wave and headed up the hill. Thirty minutes later she broke through the treeline onto the barren, rock strewn crest. Her heart sank.
No sign of them. Wait, what did you expect? A welcoming committee? Do a 360 degree sweep, give them a chance to see you’re not NSA bait—
Mercy walked around the crest of the hill. As she completed the circuit a voice called to her from the trees. “Halt, don’t move—”
Mercy’s heart leapt. She froze.
Barnes—
“What’s the code word,” Barnes barked.
“Dawes,” Mercy replied, without hesitation.
The undergrowth parted on her right. A dishevelled Rose stepped out followed by Barnes in his ghillie suit, sniper rifle in hand. Rose ran up and gave Mercy a hug.
Barnes approached, “Three days… three fucking days you’ve been gone. We probed that bastard mine but there was no way for us to spring you, there was too much security. How did you get out—?”
Mercy sat on a tree trunk and brought Barnes and Rose up to date. They listened without interrupting and were silent for a while after she had finished.
Rose reached out and took Mercy’s hand. “I thought you were dead, those men, they reminded me of the Preacher’s cult back in New York. They—” she stopped, memories flooding her face.
“Yeah, they were bastards. Their leader, Brother Bastion, he’s a particular form of dark matter. I don’t know what part of hell he crawled out of but it’s a part I haven’t seen… until now—” Mercy replied. She paused.
“Go on—” Barnes said.
Mercy leant forwards. “I’m going to wipe that shit off the face of the earth.”
Chapter 23
Ambush
Barnes shook his head, “No, no way, we’re not going there. It’s a distraction from the main mission. You’ve lost focus. Our job is to take out President Mitchell, we’re not going off on some wild goose chase. That’s a side show—”
Mercy held her breath and counted to ten. She stared at Barnes, “I’m going to kill that Kindred bastard, end of. Look, I’ve got some people for you to meet, down this hill. They helped me break out of the mine. Four survivors; Jay, Tori, Willow and Amber. I’ll go and get them, wait here—”
Barnes pulled a face and stepped back.
Rose stood up. “Want me to come with you?”
Mercy shook her head, “No, it’s fine Rose.” She looked at Barnes who had walked away. “Talk to him, the mine is important to the NSA. We can hurt them if we disrupt production of the vivianite. There are innocent people there, we could even free some of them if things go our way—”
Rose raised a hand, “I’ll talk to Barnes. We’ll need more weapons if we’re to do anything about that place. What do you have in mind?”
Mercy bit her lip. “I’ll think of something—” she turned and started walking down the hill. An hour later she had returned with the others.
Mercy approached Rose, “Where is he?”
“Over on that outcrop, he’s spotted a Kindred patrol down by the river, about a mile away. They’re following the river—” Rose replied.
Mercy narrowed her eyes. “Could be nothing, could be something. We took out a NSA alpha yesterday, it was tagged. I dug its tracker out and destroyed it along one of the streams that feeds into that river. They could be sweeping the area for it—” Mercy broke off. Barnes was approaching through the long grass. “He looks pissed about something—”
Barnes stopped beside Mercy. She introduced him to the others. He repeated their names, committing them to memory.
“Looks like we’ve got company in the valley below. Were you followed? Are they tracking you?” Barnes asked.
Mercy told him about the NSA alpha and the tracking device.
“Christ,”” Barnes muttered.
Rose shrugged, “It’s not a problem, we can get away. Let’s—”
Mercy raised a hand, “Wait Rose. Barnes, how many of them are there?”
Barnes narrowed his eyes, “Two on horseback, four on foot. They’re all armed and have comms. Why?”
Mercy gave Rose a look.
Barnes raised his eyebrows, reading the situation. “No way. Really? You think that’s a good idea? The only reason we’re still alive is because we’ve kept a low profile. We do this and we risk serious exposure, we might as well send a flare up for the NSA to find us.”
Mercy shook her head, “No, if we do it right we can ambush them and get their weapons. We’ll stand a better chance at the mine if we’re all fully armed.”
“Two horsemen?” Tori asked.
“Yeah, probably officers or trackers, they’re out front, taking it slow. The ground’s marshy down there,” Barnes answered.
Tori patted the coiled length of cable wrapped around her waist, “I took this from the mine. If we could lure the two horsemen at a gallop, we could knock them off their horses using this tied between two trees. We could finish them when they hit the ground, take their horses even�
�”
Barnes scratched his beard, “Might work, provided the riders were far enough away from their foot soldiers. Who’s gonna be the bait?”
Tori straightened up, “That’ll be me. I’ll let them see me, make a break for it and fake a fall… make it look like I’ve got an ankle injury or something. I’ll run between the two trees… they’ll chase after me and this’ll knock them from their horses—”
“Simple as that—” Jay said. “What about their back up?”
Barnes dropped to one knee and started scratching in the dirt with a stick. “If we do an L-shaped ambush near the trees with my gun placed here,” he indicated the top of the L, “and the AR-15 here, and Rose’s pistol here,” he indicated the bottom of the L, “then, with the element of surprise, some luck and good timing it might just work—”
Mercy looked at the diagram, “Yeah, if me and Rose stick to the bottom and you stick to the top we’ll get them in the crossfire. Jay and the others can be positioned in the trees near the cable trap. They can deal with the riders when they get knocked from their horses. We can deal with the infantry, if I empty a full magazine into them I could get two at least. You can pick the others off with your sniper rifle and Rose is there with her pistol as back up. It could work—”
The conversation stopped as everyone considered the plan. Willow broke the silence, “Well, if they’re only a mile away, let’s get to work—”
Mercy stood up, “OK, you heard her, let’s go—”
Thirty minutes later they were all in position. Jay, Amber and Willow had tied the cable between two trees at rider height. Barnes was concealed with full line of sight down the slope to the valley below. Mercy and Rose were hiding in the long grass and reeds in the marshy ground near the river. They gave the signal to Tori who crept fifty yards along the riverbank then waited until the horsemen came into view.
Tori stood up and flailed her arms as if she had just emerged from the river. She turned to look at the horsemen. They spotted her and shouted something at the men behind. Tori fled, running through the marshy ground, her feet disappearing into the mud with each step. The riders shouted out and galloped towards her. One rider peeled away, making for the trees along the side of the hill.
The Survival Chronicles (Book 6): Dark Mercy Page 16