Bella shook her head. "How can you think like that? You're a priest. These people are your flock."
"Well, the official line of my church is that humans are, by their nature, sinful, but whether you hold with that, or believe that we are simply naked chimps, our essentially selfish nature is obvious to anyone who cares to look. And that selfishness comes out most when people feel threatened, like now."
"I appreciate your warning, Father, but the fact is we are coming together as a community."
"Some of us are, Bella, but many are not, and resentment is growing."
Bella drained her mug and got up. "I don't agree that things are that black, and even if I did, what could I do about it?"
O'Rourke got to his feet and opened the door for her. "Get tough, Bella, and quickly."
"There's some folk waiting for you upstairs," Skulls said after he'd released her from his strong embrace.
Bella sighed and rolled her eyes. She'd spent the hours since her cryptic meeting with O'Rourke attending to at least half a dozen minor matters, from inspecting the power installation at the newly created school to discussing the lack of flour with the harassed woman who ran the town bakery. If there was one symbol of civilization the person in the street valued above all others, it was fresh bread, so this shortage had the makings of a crisis.
By the time she finally arrived back at the town hall, skirting around the market for fear of running into her father, she was starving and in desperate need of some down time. But it was obviously not to be.
"Who is it?"
Skulls shrugged. "Newcomers. The sheriff buzzed me on account of not being able to reach you. They turned up at the barrier in an armored car with enough firepower to blast it to pieces, but they was polite enough when I spoke to them. Wanted to meet with the big chief, so I invited them in. Said they're with some organization that can help us. I asked if they were FEMA, but they wouldn't answer any more questions. So, I brought them inside, told them to leave the armored car and goons at the barrier and I'd go find you."
Bella smoothed her hair with the palm of her hand. "I must look a mess."
He leaned forward and kissed her. "You'll do," he said, stepping back to allow her to pass. "D'you want me to come in with you?"
She grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the stairs.
There were two of them. Both wore black suits, the man a classically tailored two piece, the woman in jacket and mid-length skirt. He had an East Asian appearance whereas she was the light brown of milky tea.
"I'm sorry if you've been kept waiting," Bella said as she bustled in. Skulls followed her, taking up position beside the door.
"It's no problem," the woman responded in an unusually deep voice and, if Bella wasn't mistaken, a New York accent. She held out her hand as Bella made her way towards her chair. "I'm Christy Russo, and this is my colleague Henry Lin. Do we have the honor of meeting the mayor of this town?"
Bella shook the offered hand—the grip was firm and dry—and took her seat. "Please, sit down. Yes, I am Bella Masters and, for my sins, I am the mayor of Elizabeth."
"What does this mean, 'for my sins'?" Lin said as he sat down.
Russo gave a little tut and turned to him. "It is a humorous turn of phrase, Henry. Essentially it means 'I don't know how I got myself into this.'"
Lin nodded, apparently satisfied.
"Tell me, who do you represent and what brings you to Elizabeth?" Bella asked. She could feel the shadow of a bad head forming and wanted the meeting over as quickly as possible.
"We are here to offer help, Madam Mayor," Russo said.
Bella stiffened a little. "What makes you think we need help?"
"Well, you have certainly achieved much in bringing together what is obviously a large community. But you are currently surviving on the remains of what went before."
"Not entirely," Bella said, feeling aggravated at this woman's patronizing tone. "We are planting crops that will provide fresh food within a couple of months. Soy and broad beans are already being sown and we'll also have a wheat crop, once we can source a large supply of seed grain."
Russo smiled. "Don't get me wrong, I mean it when I say you've done incredibly well. We've traveled a long way and yours is one of the most successful communities we've seen. But you can't grow medicines or make cloth, for example. Many of the things that make us civilized were lost over the Long Night and the days after. We can help restore them."
"How is that possible? Are you from DC?"
"No," Russo said, shaking her head. "You will receive no help from the mock government in Washington. We represent your best hope of restoring and maintaining a working community with many of the trappings of civilization. Work with us, and we will help secure your long-term peace and prosperity."
Bella leaned back in her chair, her eyes drifting over to where Skulls stood. He shrugged, as unsure of what to make of this as she was.
"If you're not the Federal Government, then who are you?" she asked.
Russo pulled a business card from an inner pocket and slid it across the desk. "We represent the largest surviving corporate entity in the United States and, quite possibly, the world. We're here to help you, Madam Mayor. We are the Lee Corporation."
Chapter 10
"This is crazy," Tucker whispered as they hid behind a countertop in what had once been Alldays Department Store. "Five of us against how many of them?"
"Petrov, how many men does Liang have?"
Custer Petrov exchanged a few words in Russian with his two bodyguards. After a lot of shrugging he turned back to Paulie. "Not many. Outside, six are dead. We think, perhaps, another six inside."
So, they were facing a half-dozen trained soldiers able to choose their defensive positions and armed with assault rifles. Paulie had taken basic training in the military and Marvin was a veteran, but she was willing to bet Custer didn't know one end of a gun from the other. His goons, however, looked capable enough. Ex-KGB, probably.
And, of course, there was the small matter of the innocent people trapped inside with the Chinese occupiers. Paulie felt as though she was being expected to thread a needle wearing a blindfold. The enemy held every card. But the hand would only get worse the longer the game went on. Whatever she was going to do had to happen quickly because the Reaper was the ace in the hole.
"Custer, where are most people being kept?"
"In hospital," he said. "Some workers upstairs."
"What are the workers used for?"
Custer shrugged. "They look after soldiers, look after town. Soon, many more Chinese arrive, I think."
"How many of them are there?"
"Twenty, maybe. Most are women. Few men. Liang thinks, perhaps, that women are less trouble than men. He does not know women."
Paulie gave a grim chuckle, though she felt the burden of choice settling upon her. She could head to the upper floor and try to release the workers. If she succeeded, her forces would outnumber the Chinese. But they'd be unarmed, and inevitably many would die in the ensuing battle. On the other hand, what chance did they have if they tried to tackle the enemy on their own?
"First things first," Paulie said. "You know the room where the Reaper is being kept?"
"Reaper?"
"The big black drone—it's a killing machine. We have to disable it. I don't think Liang will activate it unless he has to. They obviously have a plan for it and to start it up early would be to acknowledge that he couldn't handle a small band of rebels. I'm betting he'd be reluctant to do that."
Petrov nodded. "You are correct, Sheriff. He is arrogant man. Perhaps we use that against him?"
"We're going for the Reaper, then. Are you with us?"
Petrov chattered to his goons before turning back to Paulie. "I help, so will Alexei and Vlad. Perhaps we are not always on the same side, Sheriff, but Arbroath is our town and we help get our people out."
They crept into the main shopping hall, expecting a hail of gunfire to erupt around them at any
moment. But they were met by nothing more than a silence broken by the echoing of their boots on the polished floor. This large room had long ago been cleared of its products and any fixtures and fittings that weren't screwed down. It had been used as a communal meeting place in the time before the militia had invaded and so they crawled between chairs and tables as they inched across to the other side.
"The Reaper is in Consultation Room 5, on this floor. It was used for cosmetic appointments. Two other rooms either side," Petrov said as they rested against the far wall.
"Is there any other way to get to it?" Paulie asked.
Petrov shook his head. "If you mean internal doors, no. Windows to outside, but barred."
"What about approaching it from the other direction? From further inside the store? Can we go around it?"
Petrov scratched his unkempt gray beard, his large round eyes staring at the ceiling as if he was seeing a floorplan of the store written up there. "Yes, I think we can go through storeroom and come out beyond Room 5. Why? Do you wish to go that way?"
"I want you to go that way, Custer. The door of Room 5 will be guarded, and when you see us making our move from this side, you attack from the other. How long do you need to get into position?"
"Ten minutes."
Paulie checked her watch. "We'll make our move in fifteen."
Petrov and his two followers ran off to a door farther along the wall which Petrov opened in one swift movement as Alexei and Vlad pointed their guns into the darkness beyond. With a relieved smile and a thumbs-up to Paulie, Petrov disappeared inside.
"D'you trust him?" Tucker said as they sat, waiting for the quarter of an hour to pass.
"I don't have a choice. What's the saying? 'The enemy of my enemy is my friend.'"
Tucker snorted. "What BS. Petrov's just an enemy, plain and simple. What d'you think he was doing here before we arrived? Lookin' after the good folk of Arbroath? Don't make me laugh. He collaborated when it suited him, when he thought he could make a buck."
"You're right, but we're both fighting the Chinese now. And, anyway, I think something changed when he saw the firing squad. He couldn't turn a blind eye anymore."
"Huh, maybe. But I don't reckon that leopard'll change his spots so easy. Watch your back, Sheriff."
Paulie smiled at him. "You too, Marvin." And to think she'd only invited him to sign up as a deputy to keep him out of trouble. She'd been so wrong, seeing a bellyaching waster when, behind the gray stubble and sarcastic tone lay an honest heart, one she owed her daughter's life to. No, don't think of Luna. Wally had her safe. Do the job that's in front of you and worry about the future when it comes. Easier said than done, of course.
"It's time. You ready?"
Marvin nodded and tapped the rifle he'd taken from a member of the firing squad. "Let's see if these Chinese knockoffs can shoot straight."
"Don't hesitate, Marvin. If you see a Chinese uniform, shoot first and we'll ask questions later."
She crept up to the door leading to the corridor containing Room 5 and double-checked her weapon. It was an automatic, so she made sure the safety was off and held it in her right hand as she grasped the door handle in her left. She glanced down at Marvin and then yanked it open.
Tucker fired immediately and the first guard fell to the ground as the second swung his weapon in their direction before collapsing forward, taken by a bullet in the back.
Paulie ran towards the room containing the Reaper as Petrov emerged from the opposite direction. Again, Paulie reached for the door as the others covered her. This time, no gunfire greeted her as she yanked it open. It was dark inside, but she could see the Reaper, a thin spear of sunlight that ran down the wall glinting from its glossy black shell.
"Quick, destroy it!" she barked but then she froze as, without any warning, its four rotors spun up and a red light began blinking on its carapace. In moments, it had begun to lift itself like an avenging ghost rising from a tomb.
Four rifles filled the little room with a deafening thunderstorm of noise. The Reaper dipped back as rounds bounced off its shell, but it righted itself instantly.
"What the hell is it made off? We're not even denting it!" Marvin called.
The rotary magazines of the two machine guns beneath the drone began to spin.
"Get out of here!" Paulie called. An instant later, the door exploded in a hail of bullets. Paulie scrambled to her feet and pulled Marvin along behind her. She had no plan, no thought beyond escaping the machine that was now hunting them. Of the five of them, only she'd seen it in action and she knew it was inexorable and, without the help of Alison, virtually indestructible.
They ran deeper into the store. A burst of gunfire and a scream tore the air behind them, but neither Paulie nor Marvin turned to see who it was and what had happened to them. She knew well enough. Perhaps the Reaper would hunt the Russians first, giving her and Marvin time to escape. But where would they go? This thing would find them and only its power running out would stop it. How long would its battery last? There was no way to know, but almost certainly long enough.
"We have to find Liang," Paulie said as they sheltered in what had been the perfume and makeup department, waiting for the telltale hum of approaching death. "He's activated it, so he must be able to turn it off."
"Yeah, but he's got at least another four guards and we don't know where he is. This place is pretty big."
Another burst of gunfire followed by silence. A figure burst through a door at the far end of the long room, scrambling on the floor among fallen boxes and debris, crying out in fear. "Petrov!" Paulie hissed.
The door swung shut and then opened again, slowly this time. A shape emerged, floating a few feet from the floor and hovered in front of the prone form. Petrov raised his hands and called out in fear.
Without thinking, Paulie raised her rifle and fired at it.
"Are you crazy?" Marvin hissed as the drone turned to face in their direction.
"Run!" Paulie whispered. Petrov's only chance was to get away while the Reaper was focused in their direction, but she couldn't see him moving.
"Run!" Marvin shouted as the Reaper's nose dipped and it headed towards them. He grabbed Paulie by the arm and led her through the door to the next hall just as it exploded in a hailstorm of glass fragments.
They ran as the thing emerged into the hall, weaving as best they could, though they had no doubt it would hit them if it locked on. As they emerged into the corridor beyond, Paulie spotted a small room to their right and pulled Marvin inside.
Damn! It was just a storage closet. No light, no way out.
They crouched in the darkness just as she, Solly and Bobby had hidden in the kitchen beside the Potomac River, then as now hunted by a remorseless machine.
"We gotta find Liang," Marvin whispered. "Where d'you reckon the controls for that thing would be?"
"I don't know. Could be anywhere."
"Hold on. I've thought of somethin'."
"Shhh. I can hear it coming."
Sure enough, they could hear the unmistakable hum of the machine's rotors getting louder.
"Move as far from the door as possible," she whispered, and they crawled to the end of the room. Paulie sat there, heart thumping as the sound of approaching death got louder and louder. She glanced at Marvin, who was behind her and barely visible in the darkness.
"Hold on a minute," he said, and she saw he was looking upwards. "Quick, up there!"
There was a desk pushed against the far wall, and they both climbed onto it just as the door behind them disintegrated. The light from the corridor illuminated what Marvin had been pointing to. A window.
He yanked the blinds down and lifted his rifle. A deafening roar followed an earsplitting crash as the window exploded outwards.
At the same moment, the door burst, flinging splinters in every direction. The drone floated in and brought its weapons to bear.
Marvin grabbed Paulie and, with superhuman effort, threw her up into the window
frame. With a cry of pain as glass cut into her thigh, she dropped out the other side to get out of his way as quickly as possible. She landed in a heap on the wet sidewalk outside the store and looked up at the window.
Another burst of gunfire and a cry of pain. Terror stabbed at Paulie's heart. "Marvin!"
There was no answer.
She waited for the machine to appear in the window and target her, but at that moment, she no longer cared.
The best man she'd ever known had risked himself to save her and was now dead, cut to pieces by that floating thing. She barely felt the blood trickling down her leg.
She lingered, unable to tear herself away, unable to move, unable to feel anything beyond bleak, bleak hopelessness.
She was lost.
Her tears mingled with the light rain as she stood in silent vigil waiting for the end, until she finally began to comprehend that if she didn't move, if she didn't get out of the line of fire, Marvin's sacrifice would have been entirely wasted.
Paulie felt for the cut in her thigh. It didn't seem too bad, and she could put weight on her leg. Time to go. Time to make someone pay. Liang.
She sucked in the chilly, wet air and, with one final look back at the window, turned away.
"Lend me a hand will you, Sheriff?"
An arm appeared over the window frame.
"Marvin!"
She ran over to the wall, pulling across a trash can to stand on, and grabbed his arm.
"That was close," he said, his face pale and drawn.
Paulie heaved him through the window frame, pulling aside the remaining shards of glass, and helped him to the ground.
She flung her arms around him and held him tight. After a moment's hesitation, he wrapped his arms around her and returned the embrace. "Why Sheriff," he said after a moment, "I never knew you cared so much."
"You idiot!" she snapped, half seriously. "What did you think you were doing? And how did you get away? Where's the machine?"
The Long Night Box Set Page 73