Ballistic: Icarus Series, Book Two

by Aria Michaels

  We had spent the last few hours traveling alongside the Rock River, only to watch it waste away like the rest of the landscape. The once muddy banks were now broader than the river itself. The current had all but dissipated. The stagnant pool sat idle within its shrinking boundaries. The once mucky shores were slowly peeling away, succumbing to the pressure of the unforgiving sun.

  A large plume of smoke lingered in the distance. The closer we got to Rockford, the larger the smoldering beast got. Anything that may have survived the fires that raged after Icarus had been finished off by the crazy storms that soon followed. There were no signs of life here. Worse than that, there were no signs of a struggle. It was as if this little corner of the world had simply given in.

  Riley finally caught up with me as we rolled past the toppled shards of what appeared to be a small factory. The building had collapsed into a heap of faded white siding and crumbling brick. A massive yellow bulldozer lay on its side amidst the rubble. The boom arm of a crane leaned precariously across the mountain of rubble, but the machine it had once been attached to was nowhere in sight.

  I turned my back on the destruction just in time to swerve around a collapsed stoplight in the middle of the abandoned intersection. Zander whistled from a few yards ahead, and the rest of us followed him. He turned through a four-way stop toward the large brick building across the way.

  The pumps at the front side of the station had already been drained. The metal caps to the underground tanks had been tossed aside. The fuel drains left open. That would have been a risky move given the lightning storms had they not been dry as a bone.

  The fumes were much stronger than anticipated, and I wrinkled my nose as we rolled past. We gave the pumps a wide berth and made our way around the perimeter of the Road Ranger filling station. We rolled toward the shade provided by the truck stop’s weigh station. The second my front tire rolled into the wedge of shadow beneath the large awning, I slid off the seat and let the manky old bike fall to the ground.

  “Oh, my God.” My mouth hung open in shock.

  The copse of trees that grew behind the truck stop was completely mowed down, leaving a trench of charred kindling. The ground ahead of us was a disarray of twisted scraps of metal, most of which were warped beyond recognition. Suitcases and bags littered the pavement, spewing their singed contents out onto the cracked concrete.

  The mangled wreckage of a massive passenger plane lay smoldering in the field ahead, spewing thick black smoke up into the sky. The dark puffs of soot fed into the odd-shaped smattering of clouds that lingered there. The craft’s landing gear was a pile of rubber and metal just a few short yards from where we stood. The nose end was buried in the ground up to the blackened windows. One of the wings was severed from the body of the aircraft. It was wedged against the shell of the cabin, holding it up like a kickstand.

  Wires and cables dangled like severed tendons and sinew from the dregs of the craft’s twisted body. A row of seats jutted out from the gaping hole at the rear end of the gutted craft. The seat belts and bright orange oxygen masks had melted in the blaze, fusing with the scorched remains of the former passengers.

  “D, E, L,” I said my stomach churning as I read the letters on the side of the plane.

  “T-A.” Riley nudged me and pointed toward the east side of the grounds where the tail of the plane had found its new home.

  A charter plane the color of 1975 had sacrificed itself beneath the tumultuous weight of the Boeing’s forsaken rudder. The last few rows of upholstered seats littered the ground near the gaping hole in the tail.

  The toffee-colored jet never stood a chance against its louder counterpart. The front end was crushed flat like a discarded soda can, leaving the rear end of the craft jutting from the ground like a lawn dart. A pile of windshield glass lay gathered in the dust beneath the twisting sea of metal carnage.

  At least three other planes had been plucked violently from the heavens and laid to rest here. Their ashen corpses smoldered in the space between the fueling station and the airport, spewing a thick vapor up into the sky. The massive, black beacon we had been following for the last twenty miles had led us here to bear witness to the destruction. Smoke rose high into the air, wrapping itself protectively around the crash site like a dark veil hiding a widow’s tears.

  Jake dropped his pack to the ground and stepped forward as if to make his way into the field. I grabbed his arm and shook my head. My heart was jumping in my chest, the faint thrum slowly blossoming into an uncomfortable presence behind my ribs. I didn’t need to get any closer to know there were no survivors. No human survivors.

  “Holy crap, you guys,” Christa said.

  She and Bella were wrestling each other to be the first to climb from the buggy. Bella managed to clear the rig first, and both of them came rushing over to get a closer look.

  “Stay back, Christa,” Jake barked. He jumped in front of his sister and glared at Ty. “Get her out of here, now. She’s just a little girl. She doesn’t need to see this.”

  “I’m not a little—” Christa protested, but Ty cut her short.

  “Come on, Sugar. You ain’t gonna win this one.” He grabbed her hand as she tried to scoot past him and led her away. “Let’s go and see if we can’t find any leftovers in this, here, fillin’ station.”

  “Right behind you, cowboy,” Falisha said, her voice catching as she turned away from the crash site.

  “How could this happen?” Eli clasped his hands behind his head. “The whole world knew about the flare. There were protocols in place.”

  “They couldn’t have known Icarus would turn into a full-blown solar storm,” Zander said. “Nobody knew.”

  “It doesn’t matter,” Eli said his nostrils flaring. “The FAA had already grounded all flights during the primary window. It’s standard procedure with an event that size. These birds should never have left the ground.”

  “Well, obviously they did!” Jake flung his arm out gesturing toward the smoke and debris. Bella barked in agreement, trotting to his side and licking at his hand. He brushed her away. “Protocol, my ass.”

  He kicked a rock and sent it sailing toward the metal awning. It bounced off the vertical support. The ping echoed through the stark silence. Thunder rolled overhead as if in response. Jake looked up into the churning mass of clouds, sighed deeply, and bent to scoop his pack up off the ground. His shoulders slumped in defeat as he sauntered back toward the Road Ranger. He rubbed at the back of his neck, his hands shaking. Riley and Eli shuffled after him. Zander slid his hand into mine, and Bella hobbled awkwardly at my side, her head hung low.

  The gas station had quite obviously been raided, and those responsible had taken little care in this process. The massive storefront windows were long gone, and most of the shelves lay toppled and empty. Crushed boxes and shredded paper littered the slick tile floors. A small metal bell above the door tinkled a welcome. Glass crunched under our boots as Zander and I stepped through the door.

  “This place was completely gutted,” Falisha said shaking her head as she hopped up onto the register counter. “They took everything but the lotto tickets and the condom machine in the bathroom.”

  “We did find this,” Ty said holding out a half-flattened plastic bottle of water. “Here you go, boss-lady. Looks like you need this.”

  “That’s okay. You hang on to it,” I said eying the water a second longer than I meant to. My limbs felt heavy, and my bones ached. I pressed my hand against my ribs and leaned my back against a counter top next to Falisha. “I’m good.”

  “Take the water, Liv.” Zander nudged my arm, his lips set in a grim line. “Now.”

  Of course, he knew, and he clearly wasn’t happy with me.

  “What do we do now?” Riley asked rubbing her temples.

  “I don’t know,” I said dodging his stare as I swiped the bottle from Ty’s hand. It took every ounce of willpower I possessed not to drain the entire bottle of its contents. I cut myself off after a few
lukewarm ounces and slid the bottle deep into my pack. “One thing is for sure. We can’t stay here.”

  “Obviously,” Christa said toeing an empty box of fruit snacks on the floor. “The last sign we passed on the highway said that camp place was still ten miles away.”

  “We can handle that,” I said closing my eyes against the dizziness that was threatening to overtake me.

  “No way, freak-show,” Christa said crossing her arms. “Some of us don’t have super powers, remember? I refuse to do another ten miles in that stupid cart. I’m tired, my butt is sore, and your weird dog has the worst breath ever.”

  “We need to get somewhere safe and out of the sun,” Eli said, staring out at the wreckage in the field behind the gas station.

  “What we need,” I said, “is to get my brother out of that place. We can rest when we know he’s safe.”

  “You’re insane,” Eli said stepping toward me. Bella sat between us, her big brown eyes darting back and forth. “I get that you want your kid-brother back, okay, but we can’t just go storming into that refugee camp like a bunch of Vikings. We’d get slaughtered.”

  “Speaking of storming,” Jake said cringing as a burst of white lightning crackled behind the wall of clouds above us. “Guys, we need to move.”

  “You can barely stand right now, let alone fight,” Eli said crossing his arms over his chest. “You are the strongest one here. What good do you think the rest of us will be against a group of highly trained soldiers?”

  “He’s right, Liv,” Zander said. “It’s too dangerous. We need to get out of the sun, rest, and regroup. And we definitely need to do some recon before we even think about making a move on that camp.”

  “I second that,” Ty said leaning heavily against a vertical beam in the middle of the aisle. “I would give my left bootstrap to just put my feet up a spell and catch my breath, maybe grab a bite?”

  “Oh, sure,” Christa stepped closer to Eli’s side and rolled her eyes dramatically in Ty’s direction “Let’s just call a taxi, catch a ride to the nearest five-star hotel, and order room-service. Look around you, genius, everything is gone.”

  Ty’s brows knitted and he took a step back, visibly wounded. Jake scowled at her and shook his head. “Christa, you are not helping.”

  “We could try one of the sub-divisions closer to town,” Falisha shrugged. “There’s bound to be at least one house still standing, right?”

  “Something with a basement, preferably,” Jake said staring out through the busted storefront.

  “I don’t know.” Riley anxiously crossed her arms over her chest. “We’ve been on the road for hours and this place is the only thing we have seen standing since we left Byron. Maybe we should just stay here for a while.”

  “In the airplane graveyard?” Christa scrunched her nose. “No, thank you.”

  Lightning chose that moment to split through the wall of clouds. It sliced through the sky and struck the tail end of the plane, sending sparks up into the air. Even against the rusty orange of the mid-day sky, the flash was bright enough to leave me squinting in the after-glow. The hair on my arms and at the nape of my neck hackled. Jake cried out as if the bolt had struck him directly.

  “Okay, I don’t care where we go,” Jake said, clenching his fists. “But we need to do it now. I refuse to stay here and play Russian roulette with Mother Nature.”

  “Fine,” Zander said shouldering his pack, “but we have to steer clear of the camp and surrounding area until dark. It’s too risky.”

  “Jake says we can’t stay here, and you say there’s nowhere to go,” Falisha said turning to Zander. “That doesn’t leave us many options, now does it?”

  The sound of a shotgun being cocked echoed through the empty station. The swinging door behind the register flew open. A tall woman strode through it, her gun raised at the ready.

  Dark hair hung in unruly waves down to her waist, and a thick purple scar ran from the right corner of her mouth to her ear. She had a dragon tattoo that started at her wrist and disappeared beneath the capped sleeve of her khaki-colored button down shirt. Her eyes were hidden behind a pair of large, dark aviators.

  “It leaves you with exactly one option,” said as she pressed the barrel of her gun against Falisha’s back. “You are all coming with me.”

  Chapter 20

  Survivors

  “Turn right onto Beltline at the four-way, and follow it toward the bridge,” the woman said, nudging Falisha in the back. “Be quick about it. I don’t like the look of these clouds.”

  “You and me both, lady,” Jake stepped in front of the buggy that held his sister and my dog.

  Falisha, Riley, Ty, and Eli had been ushered ahead of the woman. The nose end of her shotgun rotated in a steady and rhythmic arc between them. The rest of us trailed behind earning little more than the occasional passing glance from the woman with the gun. She had every reason to be confident in her position. Bella was locked inside the buggy with Christa and the rest of us had our hands full. Literally. She had duct taped them to the handlebars of our bicycles.

  “Who are you?” I said glaring at the back of her head. I wrenched my hands against the tape. “Where are you taking us?”

  Bella growled softly in her chest, but her eyes were not on our captor. She spun restlessly within the confines of the small trailer that Zander dragged behind him. Bella lunged across Christa’s lap and perched on the sidebar of the buggy frame. She mashed her nose into the zipper, sniffing frantically. Her hackles raised, she started scratching at the mesh canopy that held her and Christa inside the buggy, and the growl moved up into her throat.

  “Ow! Seriously, dog?” Christa snapped as she tried to push Bella off her. “Is this really necessary, lady? Why do I have to be locked up with the stupid dog? Can’t I just—?”

  “Shut up, Christa,” Jake hissed under his breath.

  “Keep moving,” the woman said in a steady voice. “If it’s all the same to you, I’d rather not be out here when the next storm hits.”

  “Liv,” Zander whispered.

  There was a rather large gun aimed at my best friend. I couldn’t risk my attention being drawn away from it for one second. I pressed on, as desperate for answers as I was for her to lower the weapon.

  “Where the hell are we going?” I yelled, frustration building in my throat. “What do you want with us?”

  “Seems to me you have more questions than answers,” she smirked over her shoulder at me and shook her head. I saw my reflection in her sunglasses. The desperation on my face pissed me off. “Here I had you pegged as the leader of these misfits. I must be losing my touch.”

  “Liv,” Zander said sharply.

  Was he really scolding me right now?

  I glared at her, but bit my tongue and focused my hatred on the sound of my broken bike chain dragging across the concrete. As angry as I was with this woman for getting the jump on us— on me, now was probably not the best time to run my mouth. Perhaps if that gun were trained on me, it’d be less dangerous for me to speak my mind. But, then, she seemed to have already figured that out. Clever.

  “If you want our stuff, why not just swipe it and let us go?” I asked, my jaw clenched. Bella barked again, a high-pitched anxious sound that set me further on edge. Something had her spooked. Whatever that may be, it was apparently more dangerous than the gun being aimed at my friends. “Where are you taking us?”

  “Relax, honey,” she smirked over her shoulder at me. “Keep moving, and put a muzzle on that dog of yours, or I’ll do it myself.”

  “Bella, hush,” I said firmly.

  She whimpered softly staring out the left side of the buggy, but her barking ceased as our convoy rolled up and over the crest of the overpass.

  “Name’s Tessa, by the way,” the woman said as she expertly herded us through the smattering of cars that had stalled out on the bridge.

  “Please,” I said forcing my voice calm, “just let us go.”

  “I’m afraid
I can’t do that, honey,” Tessa said. “You will be better off at RFD where I can keep an eye on you.”

  “The airport?” Eli asked.

  “We figured that place would be long gone.” Ty said, once again dragging the doctor behind him.

  “You and everyone else,” Tessa huffed. She pointed ahead with her gun. “Watch out for the broken glass up here by that little gray truck.”

  “We don’t want any trouble, okay?” I sped up, trying to meet her stride while dragging against the bent rim of my back wheel. “We are just trying to get to the refugee camp to find my…to find a friend.”

  Tessa snorted and shook her head. “Honey, if you go anywhere near Camp Seco, the only thing you are going to find is trouble. You best just say goodbye to your friend, and move on.”

  “No!” I lunged at her completely forgetting that I was still attached to my mangled bicycle.

  Tessa’s reaction was swift and accurate. The moment my front tire lifted from the ground, her leg was there kicking it out from under me. The entire bike flipped sideways in mid-air from the force of her kick, sending me, and the ten-speed, hurtling to the ground. Being taped to my handlebars meant I was unable to brace myself for impact. My elbow hit the pavement, and I landed hard on top of my bicycle. My vision crackled around the edges for a moment, and a wave of pain rushed through my midsection.

  “Well, that was unnecessary,” Tessa stood over me with the gun at her hip, staring down at me through those damn mirrored sunglasses. “Looks like someone’s got a bit of a temper.”

  “Go…to hell,” I huffed, the spiked pedal still digging painfully into my side.

  Every breath felt like a thousand razor blades ripping through me. Tessa smiled down at me, the skin wrinkling into deep forks around her gray-blue eyes. She slung the gun strap over her shoulder, hooked her elbow through mine, and hauled me up off the ground.