“Shit, they’re splitting up,” Mercy hissed, peering through the reeds.
Tori glanced over her shoulder at the remaining rider, judging the distance. She faked a fall and rose again, limping towards the tree line. Her pursuer slowed down, negotiating the marshy ground. He yelled at Tori and pulled a whip from behind his saddle. Tori disappeared into the trees and the rider followed. A second later Mercy heard the spit if Barnes’s rifle suppressor followed by a horse’s neigh.
Damn, hope they keep the horse alive—
Mercy returned her attention to the river valley, her eyes searching for the four Kindred on foot. She checked the AR-15 again, making sure the spare magazines were close at hand. Wind rustled through the trees, the river gurgled nearby. Long grass whispered around her head. She looked to her right.
I’m glad you’re nearby Rose, sorry you’ve only got a pistol. Guess we’ve had worse odds before—
Mercy waited, counting.
Dammit, it’s no use. I can’t see a thing—
She rose to her knees and peered through the long grass. The four Kindred had fanned out across the valley, the furthest was heading towards the tree line. The nearest Kindred shouted and pointed his shotgun at Mercy.
Christ—
Mercy opened fire as his shotgun blasted the long grass on her left. She emptied a full magazine at the two nearest Kindred. They fell to the ground, swallowed up by the long grass. The man nearest the river dived for cover.
Mercy dropped and changed position, rolling to her left. She slammed a fresh magazine into the AR-15 and counted, her heart racing.
Pretty sure I got the lead two. That leaves the one in the trees and the one by the river. And the other rider. Barnes had better keep his eyes open—
Something heavy landed on the ground where Mercy had been seconds before.
Shit—
She covered her head and closed her eyes. The grenade exploded sending shrapnel in all directions.
Go, go, go—
Mercy stood up and ran forwards, her AR-15 at the ready. The grenade-throwing Kindred sprang up from the reeds on her right. She opened up on him, giving him half the magazine, his body jerked violently before slumping down into the mud.
“Mercy, behind—” Rose screamed on the right.
Mercy swung around and threw herself sideways as the second Kindred horseman charged from behind. She saw movement on the hillside.
Barnes—
The horse made a terrified squealing sound and collapsed to the ground, throwing its rider off.
Mercy landed in the long grass, her vision obscured. The snorts of the dying horse filled the air.
The rider, shit, where is he—?
A muffled cry.
Rose—?
Mercy stood up and peered over the sighing grass. A Kindred’s head reared into view as he raised a knife above his head. Mercy emptied the rest of the magazine into his head and neck. The man’s skull disappeared in a blur of blood and bone. His body fell from view.
Mercy ran over to the spot. Rose was on her back, beneath the Kindred’s corpse.
“Rose—?”
Mercy bent down and pulled the Kindred’s body away. Rose sat up from the muddy puddle and stared blankly at the bullet-riddled corpse.
“He had me, he really had me—” Rose said, her look one of wounded disbelief.
Mercy sank back on her heels, relief flooding over her, “Rose, he never had you. You’re here aren’t you? We had him all along, it’s all good—”
Mercy helped Rose to her feet. They began looting the Kindred bodies. A gunshot rang out from the trees followed by a shout. Mercy ran over to the treeline. Willow appeared, a M4 carbine slung over her shoulder.
“What was that?” Mercy asked, her eyes darting to the trees.
“The fourth Kindred, he snuck up on us through the forest. Jay took a pop at him with a pistol but he missed. Barnes is tracking him—” Willow glanced over Mercy’s shoulder.
“I wouldn’t like to be that guy then. That’s Barnes’s bread and butter—” Mercy said.
“How’d you do out there?” Willow asked, tilting her head towards the river.
“We coped,” Mercy replied. “Anyone hurt up here?”
Willow shook her head, “Only the bad guy on the horse, he’s not a bad guy anymore. He left us this,” Willow patted the M4 carbine, “and a pistol—”
Mercy allowed herself to relax. “Glad to hear it. Rose is clearing up down there. We got four M4s, four pistols, some flash bangs and frags. We’re in a much better position than we were an hour ago. We should be able to kick some ass back at the mine—”
“Payback, that’s what we want. That motherfucker’s got to die,” Willow said.
“That sonofabitch is going to pay his dues in full, don’t you worry,” Mercy said. She peered into the trees behind Willow, “I’m guessing the horse didn’t make it?”
“No. Shame, we could’ve used it. Barnes had to take it down, the guy spotted the cable, he was going too slow anyway. He would’ve got Tori if Barnes hadn’t taken the shot—”
Mercy sighed, “At least we’ve got horse meat, we’ll have to eat something soon—”
A whistle went up from behind. Mercy turned to see Rose running through the long grass. She was waving and pointing to the woods on the far side of the river. Mercy squinted at the distant treeline. Dozens of tropes were emerging from the forest. Mercy swore.
“It’s the gunfire, it’s attracted them, there’ll be more coming soon. The Kindred bodies might keep them occupied for a bit. Quick, let’s get some horsemeat and bail. We’ll follow Barnes if we can. He’s bound to double back and find us once he’s nailed that last Kindred—” Mercy said, frustration in her voice.
Willow rushed back to Tori, Jay and Amber to give them the news. Mercy went to help Rose carry the guns. They met the others in the trees and distributed the weapons. The lead tropes had stopped at the dead horse and rider down by the river but others were sweeping up the slope to the trees. More were appearing on the right.
“OK, we need to move,” Mercy’s eyes skipped over the butchered horse on the ground. She winced.
It had to be done—
They melted through the trees after Barnes, leaving the tropes to their meat feast.
Chapter 24
Flyover
Twenty minutes later Mercy raised a hand in the air. Distant explosions rumbled in the west.
What’s that—?
The booming stopped, replaced by the silence of the forest. Mercy caught Jay’s eye.
“NSA? Or your people?” Jay asked.
Mercy swivelled around, looking for a suitable tree to climb. Tori had beaten her to it and was scaling an ivy-infested ash tree. Mercy climbed after her to the upper canopy. She poked her head through the leaves and the views to the west and south opened up. Five plumes of smoke were visible on the western horizon.
“That’s DC, probably twenty miles from here, give or take—” Tori said from her viewpoint.
“Yeah, looks about right,” Mercy answered, she narrowed her eyes. “Wait, what’s—?”
Two dots grew on the horizon, approaching fast from the west.
Aircraft—
The jets streaked overhead with an ear splitting roar. Mercy cringed, instinctively ducking. She swung around, trying to see any markings on the planes.
Too fast dammit, they must be Constantine’s—
Her mind spun with the implications of an airstrike on Washington.
It’s got to be good news; the fact they’re able to strike at the capital now. It’s just two jets though. Here’s hoping—
Voices below. Mercy peered through the foliage.
Barnes—
She climbed down, followed by Tori.
“Barnes, did you get him?” Mercy demanded, heart in mouth.
Barnes nodded, “Sure, I got him.”
Mercy noticed Amber inspecting a new rifle and pistol. Mercy sighed and closed her eyes, reli
ef flooding through her. “Good job, we’ve still got surprise on our side then.”
“You saw the F-35s?” Barnes’s question hung in the air.
Mercy opened her eyes, a headache lingered on the verge of her consciousness.
Got to hydrate—
“Yeah, me and Tori saw two jets, I didn’t get the markings though,” Mercy looked at Tori. “How about you Tori?”
Tori shook her head, “No chance.”
“Odds on it’s our people. They must’ve knocked out the surface-to-air missiles along the coast. That’s progress but the NSA will still have SAM capability and Stingers around the city. Those F-35s can eliminate enemy radar systems, maybe that’s how they got so close to DC this time—” Barnes nodded as he spoke.
“This time? You mean they mightn’t break through a second time?” Jay asked.
Barnes shrugged, “It’s an arms race; it depends on what the defence capability is around the city.”
“Not to mention fuel, bullets, ammo, men. All that tech is only as good as the fuel and power that runs it. Once the juice dries up we’re back to the Stone Age, slugging it out with clubs and rocks,” Mercy said. She hung her head in thought.
“I got that last guy’s radio… he squealed a bit before he died. Turns out they were on a routine patrol, looking for new slaves for the mine. You were right, they were checking on that NSA alpha’s last recorded position. Radio’s been silent since I’ve had it, so it’s likely the alarm’s not been raised… yet—” Barnes said.
“That patrol’s probably due back at the mine this evening. We need to make our move tonight—” Mercy stared at the others.
Jay stiffened, “There’s at least fifty, maybe sixty Kindred. We should wait until the night shift goes down the mine, that’ll use up about ten Kindred to supervise the slaves underground. That’ll leave less for us to worry about on the surface—”
Barnes nodded, “Makes sense, it’ll improve our odds.”
Mercy closed her eyes, “We need to knock out their power and comms. If we do that they can’t pump air down the mine shaft. The night shift slaves will suffocate. No, we need to hit them at the shift handover when all the slaves are up top—”
Tori shook her head, “Hang on, look, those poor bastards are dead already, most of them wouldn’t be able to fight even if we did free them, they’re broken and just too weak. The mission stands the best chance of success the less Kindred there are for us to deal with—”
Mercy raised a hand, “No, we’re not going to be responsible for the deaths of forty innocent prisoners underground. That’s a horrible way to die, down there in the dark. You saw it, you know what it was like—”
Tori’s face crumpled. She nodded, “Yeah, I do—”
Silence.
Amber cleared her throat, “OK, so we infiltrate before shift handover, so before 6 pm? The Beast usually makes an appearance, if we’re in position around then at least one of us stands a chance of nailing the bastard—”
“You really want to do this now?” Barnes said.
“Well, it’s either today or tomorrow, “Mercy replied. “They’ll be more alert once the patrol doesn’t return, so there’s an argument for going in hard today, this evening—”
The silence was palpable.
“Jesus,” Willow breathed.
“Makes sense,” Jay said.
Barnes looked at the group, “OK then, let’s do this.” He crouched down and cleared leaves from the ground. He took a stick and handed it to Mercy, “Draw a map of the mine and we’ll discuss tactics.”
Mercy stared at the others, Rose met her gaze and nodded. Mercy knelt down and drew an outline of the mine and the slave compound.
“Inner electric fence here, outer pre-Fall perimeter fence… here. Front gates leading to ramp, here. Kindred barracks, cook house and latrines here and here. Slave compound here, power and comms block here, mine shafts here and… here. Mine waste and spoil heaps over here, on the other side of the ramp. Steep cliffs, bluffs all around the perimeter of the older, open cast area of the mine,” Mercy said, using a stick to point out the mine’s key features.
“Infiltrate and exfiltrate,” Barnes said. “We need a way in and a way out. Someone needs to take the main gate, that’s our way out. What can you remember about the gate?”
Amber spoke up, “It’s locked 24/7, only opened for NSA trucks, resupply and movement of the vivianite out of the facility. As far as I could see there was three or four guys up there; Kindred with automatic weapons—”
Barnes raised an eyebrow, “Body armour—?”
“Not that I could make out. Just their long robes and masks—” Amber replied.
“Reckon me and two others could handle the gate then,” Barnes said. “Two head shots, possibly three would be achievable. We could take out any other opposition with one of those frags you got. That would be the exfil point secured—”
“What about power and comms?” Rose asked. “We need to knock out the lights and their ability to inform the NSA.” She looked at the dirt map, “We’d have to climb down those cliffs to the bottom of the open cast area, we’ll need rope or cable. How far down is it?”
Mercy swallowed, “Difficult to say exactly, but at least two hundred feet, it’s not properly vertical towards the bottom. Rock and soil has slid down so it slopes away towards the bottom. Reckon we’d need two hundred feet of cable to get us down most of the way—”
“There’s plenty of cable on the utility poles up on the road we came by the other day,” Rose glanced at Barnes.
Barnes nodded, “So cable’s not a problem, we could pick it up on the way to the mine. So that’s the gate, power and comms taken care of. Who’s gonna nail this bastard then? Or do I even have to ask that question?” He looked at Mercy.
Mercy stood up, “I’ll do it. Me alone, this is my thing, my score.”
Jay stepped forwards, “No it ain’t. Me, Willow and Tori have unfinished business with that fucker too. He murdered our friends, you’ll need at least one other to go with you as back up. You always need another gun watching your back.”
Mercy raised her eyes then shrugged in acceptance, “OK, I get it, sure… that makes sense. Listen, I just want to check with everyone… there’s no pressure, no one has to do this. Is anyone having second thoughts?”
Mercy scanned their faces.
“Me, Tori, Willow and Amber are in,” Jay said. “We spoke about it earlier—”
Barnes spat on the ground, “Rose and me are in it up to our necks.”
Mercy took a deep breath and sighed. “Thanks everyone. It’s a go then, this evening. Me and Rose… no, me and Jay will take out The Beast. Barnes, Amber, Willow… you take the gate. Rose and Tori you take out the power and comms.”
Mercy paused, letting her words sink in. She closed her eyes, picturing the sequence of events. “Me, Jay, Rose and Tori will cut through the outer fence about two hundred yards east of the main gate. We’ll have scoped out the perimeter guards by then. We’ll dig beneath the inner, electric fence and climb under. Barnes, you can take out the guard nearest to us with your silenced rifle. We’ll use the cable to descend the cliffs. Me and Jay will split off and get as close as possible to the Beast to take the kill shot. No one do anything until they hear us take the shot. That’s the most important bit. We have to keep the element of surprise—”
Rose rubbed her arm, “Got it, you get first bite at the cherry—”
“Any questions?” Mercy said.
“Exfil?” Amber said. “How you gonna get out? You’re not gonna climb back up the cliffs, no way—”
Mercy looked at the others, “It’ll have to be the ramp. I saw some trucks by the barracks, that might be an option, but I’m hoping if we can sow enough confusion we can escape on foot up the ramp. With the power down it’ll be semi-dark and the prisoners will be in the mix too, if some of them can overpower the guards… I know, it’s a long shot—”
Silence.
“The ram
p it is then,” Rose said, finally.
“We’ll try and hold the main gate for as long as possible,” Barnes said.
They reached Woodmore mine four hours later. They had successfully stripped two hundred feet of telephone wire from the utility poles along the minor road to the mine. Mercy checked the watch Rose had given her from one of the dead Kindred soldiers. She peered through the undergrowth at the outer cyclone fence, fifty yards away.
An hour to shift changeover—
The light was fading. Mercy observed Barnes watching the perimeter guards though his scope. They had been in position for thirty minutes.
Mercy touched his shoulder. “Now feels good, the light’s fading fast. We’ve just enough time to do this before the next shift goes down. Can you take the shot?”
Barnes grunted, “Good to go, you ready?”
Mercy nodded, “Yeah, let’s do it.”
Barnes pressed his cheek against the rifle stock and took aim. He steadied his breathing then squeezed the trigger, the Steyr SSG 69 spat death. A hundred yards away the perimeter guard dropped to the ground. “Kill confirmed,” Barnes growled.
Mercy patted him on the shoulder, “Nice. See you on the other side of this—”
Mercy raced forwards followed by Jay, Rose and Tori. They made it to the cyclone fence and hunkered down. Jay produced Barnes’s multi-tool and started cutting the chain link. Mercy kept her eyes peeled. Rose and Tori pulled the chain link back as Jay cut.
Three minutes later they were through and in front of the inner electric fence. They started digging at the dirt with their captured knives. Five minutes later they had excavated a shallow pit beneath the humming wires. Mercy went first, squirming under on her stomach. Rose guided her through, prodding Mercy hard with a piece of wood whenever her arms and legs neared the electrified wire.
Mercy kept watch while the others guided each other under the electric fence.
Eyes out and eyes in—
Five minutes later they were through, staring down at the sheer cliff face.
Shit, that’s a long way down. Don’t think about it. Go first, the others will follow—
They tied the cable to the nearest concrete fence post. The sun had dipped below the trees. The smoke and sounds from the camp drifted up to them from below. Mercy wrapped her hands in long strips of sacking that they had found on the roadside. She grasped the cable and looked at the others. Her eyes fell on Jay, “See you down there—”
The Survival Chronicles (Book 6): Dark Mercy Page 17