by A. R. Wise
"First time you've ever used those?" I asked as I watched him try to figure out how they worked.
"Yeah, actually." He laughed as if we shared the joke, but I stared at him stone faced. "Now get your hands behind your back. Trev's going to want to get the chance to ask you a few questions."
"Who are you guys? You're not cops, that's obvious." I put my hands behind my back and waited as Frank circled around.
"We're the good guys, believe it or not."
"Obviously. I can see that by the way you were hoping a mom would eat her three-year-old."
He clicked the cuffs on me too tight. "Well, that was Trev. Like I said, he's a little fucked up."
"Where's he at?" I asked. "I'd like to thank him for being such a good guy."
"He took the other girl, the older one. They're headed back to the island."
"What does he want with her?"
He was hesitant to answer, but he finally said, "You probably don't want to hear about it."
"What a good guy."
"Yeah, you got me. Trev's a piece of shit, but he's fighting for the good guys. He's on my side."
"You've got to explain just how you're the good guys here."
"It all depends on your point of view."
I scooted back, toward the post that Annie was tied to. I tried to position myself so that if Frank stood directly in front of me, his back would be to the door. "What's your point of view?"
"Well, have you ever heard of the Age of Reason?"
"Nope."
Frank's back was turned to the entrance of the dock house. Levon crept in, his sword held low, ready to stab the cop.
"What about the Georgia Guidest…" Frank was interrupted by Levon's attack.
The sword drove into the cop's back and stuck half an inch deep in his Kevlar vest. Levon's face turned to shock as Frank spun round, ready to shoot whoever had attacked him. The sword was stuck partially in his vest and when he turned it was pulled out of Levon's grip. It clattered to the floor far to my left.
I sat down and pulled my feet over the handcuffs as Frank pointed his gun at Levon.
"Who in the fuck are you?" asked Frank.
Levon put his hands up and took a step back. He smiled and said, "Just your friendly neighborhood super hero."
"You dumb shit," said Frank. He aimed the shotgun at Levon's head. "Now you're going to be a dead neighborhood hero."
I glanced to the right as a signal to Levon and then wrapped the chain of my handcuffs over Frank's head. Levon dove to his left, mimicking the maneuver he and his brother pulled off in the grocery store less than an hour ago. Frank's shotgun blasted but I didn't see if Levon was hit.
My cuffs strangled the cop, but he was a lot stronger than I expected. He elbowed me hard before taking aim at Levon again. I pulled to my left but he kept his aim steady. If I didn't think of something, Levon would die. I couldn't let that happen.
I started to run backward and dragged Frank along with me. He choked and tried to resist, but I was determined to save my friend. We reached the end of the concrete dock, beside The Casper, and I took a deep breath falling back into the water.
Frank and I fell together through the murky depths. The edge of the dock was a straight drop. The industrial area was artificially built and its shores sank deep. Frank and I would have a long trip to the bottom.
He let go of his shotgun and clawed at the chain around his throat. His legs kicked back at me as we sank together, spinning through the water in our final death throws. I could feel his throat collapsing beneath the force I inflicted.
In my mind, as we fell away from the light above, I could see the eyes of the man I'd choked to death earlier. I could see his eyes burst into bloodshot flowers. Frank's probably did the same.
He struggled for a lot longer than I thought a man could, but he eventually succumbed. His legs stopped their furious kicks and began to convulse, and then merely tremble.
There was no air left in me by the time he died. I thought about trying to swim to the surface, but it would be a hopeless struggle.
My lungs quaked in desperation. Humans instinctually refuse to drown, and when I ran out of breath my body took over in a furious attempt to reach the surface. I released Frank's corpse and kicked to rise as high as I could, but it was impossible.
My body forced me to take a breath and water flooded in. The cold grip of a watery grave was pointless to fight against and I felt my body begin to sink.
I stared up at the surface and a light pierced the darkness. It was brilliant, pure white and grew larger until it seemed to envelop me. I wondered if I would see God.
Then it sank down past me and I watched the flashlight fall to my right.
Hero's hands gripped the chain between my cuffs and suddenly I was speeding to the surface. Fresh air struck my face as we burst above the water and I vomited as Levon climbed the ladder that hung off the end of the dock. He pulled me up and I wretched over and over. An incredible amount of water poured out of me and it took far too long for air to re-enter my lungs.
"You crazy mother fucker," said Levon as he panted beside me. "I thought I was going to have to give you mouth to mouth!"
"Maybe next time," I said as life crawled back into me.
I stared up into the starry night. The city lights were dead and the night never looked better.
"Let's check on the girl and her mom," said Levon as he helped me up.
"Is Mommy okay?" asked Annie when we took the tape off her mouth. She looked ill and fell into Levon's arms when he cut her down from her bindings.
"I don't think so, sweetie." I carefully inspected Laura's body. She was beaten badly and the wound on her foot had been torn open. The left side of her face was bruised and swelled up. I turned her over, onto her back, and prepared myself to find her dead eyes staring back.
She smiled at me.
"Hey there," she said in a hoarse whisper.
"She's alive!"
Levon set Annie down and rushed over to see.
"Get me something to help her," I said.
"Like what?" asked Levon.
"There should be some supplies over there, on that table. I brought them here earlier. Look for some bandages and alcohol."
"Mommy?" asked Annie as she crawled over to us. "Are you okay?"
"I'll be okay, sweetie." She turned her head to look at Annie, but no other part of her body responded. It was as if she was speaking from the grave. I was afraid she'd been paralyzed.
"Can you feel your legs?" I asked.
She kept looking at her daughter with a smile. "I love you, Annie."
"I love you too, Mommy."
"Stay with me, Laura." I turned her head to look at me. Her pupils were nearly as wide as her cornea as she gazed up and past me.
"We're at the dock," she whispered.
"Stop it, Laura. You stay with me. God damn it. You're not dying on me."
"David and I."
I grabbed her chin and shook her until she focused on my eyes. "Look at me, Laura."
She smiled and closed her eyes.
"No, no, no." I started to perform CPR on her, but there was no response. Annie pulled at her mother's hand and started to cry as I continued to try and revive her.
She wouldn't come back. I pinched her nose, tilted her head back, cleared the air passage, and performed the proper steps I'd been forced to learn the year before when Mom found out I was going to be fishing with Dad. I went through the steps three times, just to make sure I'd done everything right, but I couldn't get a response. I started to try again.
"She's gone," said Levon as he put his hand on my shoulder.
I pulled away from him and tried again anyhow. He pulled me back and tried to hug me, but I pushed him and ran out of the dock house. The grief that tore through me was beyond my capacity. My mind couldn't take any more and my sanity began to fray.
"Help!" I screamed out into the night sky. "Someone fucking help me! For once, just once, someone give me
a fucking hand here. No more! I can't take any more. You already did this to me, you piece of shit. Don't do this to Annie." I screamed at God. I screamed and hoped he heard my hatred. I wanted him to know how much I hated him for this. "Help her!"
A white light shined on me from up the hill.
I put my arm over my eyes and tried to see through the light as it grew brighter. "Hello?"
"Are you Billy?" asked a man's voice.
Two men in black, armored suits jogged down the hill. One of them carried a flashlight and an assault rifle and the other held a medical bag.
"Reagan sent us. We're supposed to check you out. He said you knew something about a cure."
"Holy shit!" I screamed out with fevered excitement. "Get in here. Help my friend. She's dying."
They hurried inside and got to work. I pulled Annie to me and held her close as we watched the medics work on her mother. One of them started barking orders into his earpiece, telling someone to bring a helicopter to the north docks immediately. The other man pulled a defibrillator out of his bag and started to work on Laura's lifeless body.
Levon grabbed one of the men and said, "My brother's back there. Up the hill. He got cut real bad."
"We know," said the man in the armored suit. "One of our guys is already helping him. You're lucky he's easy to identify or else we might have driven right past him. Captain Reagan gave us your descriptions."
Hero looked at me and I've never seen a more ecstatic expression in all my life. "I've got to go see Mark."
"Go," I said. He grabbed my shoulders and pulled me in for a hug. Tears streamed down his cheeks as he ran out of the dock house and back up the hill.
I picked up Annie and held her as we watched the men work on Laura.
The medic rubbed the defibrillator paddles together. "Clear." The shot of electricity caused her body to bounce on the concrete. Then the other man pressed his fingers against her throat and I held my breath as I waited for his answer. He shook his head and frowned. The other man stared back down at his defibrillator unit. "Charged, and clear." He shocked her again. Her body bounced on the concrete.
Laura coughed and opened her eyes.
"Yes!" I screamed and kissed Annie's cheek over and over.
One of the medics turned to me and said, "She's not out of it yet. We're going to need to get her to the base. What happened here?"
"Everything," I said.
"Is Mommy okay?" asked Annie.
"Yes, sweetie," I said. "She's going to be fine."
"And what about Kim?" The look in her eyes broke my heart.
I looked into her big blue eyes. "I'm going to get your sister back, Annie, I promise. If it's the last thing I do, I'll get Kim back."
EPILOGUE
Captain Reagan examined the bite on his arm. It had been stitched up but the infection still burned at his skin. He lifted his arm and examined his armpit for the telltale buboes that would reveal his imminent transformation. They weren't there, but he knew they would appear soon enough.
He slid off the examination table and tied the hospital gown behind himself. Then he started to explore the hermetically sealed, plastic room. It was disturbingly sterile and he felt like a human plague as he wandered around inside it.
A red light began to spin near the entrance, signaling a visitor. He wondered who it would be this time. There had been ten different doctors in to see him already, each befitted with comically extensive protective gear. He was a biological hazard and was relegated to a short life of constant examination before the infection took over. It was going to be a shitty way to die, but he was okay with that. He looked forward to seeing his wife and son again.
The sealed door spit a hiss of steam as a new visitor came in. It was a tall person wearing a black, armored suit with a grey visor. His chest plate was decorated with various military symbols. This was someone important.
Captain Reagan stood rigid and saluted the new visitor.
The mysterious person saluted back and then turned to seal the entrance. When they were secured, the man started to take off his mask.
"Don't do that," said Reagan. "You could get infected."
The visitor took off his helmet to reveal his identity.
"General Covingtion?" asked Reagan in shock.
"Howdy Charles," said the General. "I guess I owe you an explanation."
TO BE CONTINUED…
AUTHOR'S NOTE
Sorry to leave you with a cliffhanger like that, but by this point I'm sure you expected it!
Laura is alive, barely, but her daughter is in the hands of the vilest character in the series. Billy and Levon are certainly infected at this point, and they haven't had a chance to get injected with the cure. With them under the thumb of the overly cautious military, how will they save Kim? And even if the military is able to save Laura and Annie, will they be willing to set them free?
All right, now I'm just teasing you.
Part four of Deadlocked is the finale of the story, and all of the questions will be answered. The conspiracy will be revealed, and the cops, as well as the military, will be exposed. Part four will be told in third person, as opposed to how the first three parts were written. This will allow me to spend time with each of the characters as the story comes to a close. No one's fate will be left ambiguous.
The theme of the Deadlocked series has been the importance of family, and that certainly played a big part in this one. The finale of the series will continue the theme, but the definition of what makes a family is going to change. Our main characters have formed a new family, and you'd better believe they're going to fight to protect them.
I started the Deadlocked series the day I discovered that my mother had been diagnosed with breast cancer. I live a thousand miles from her, and the helplessness I felt was crippling. Writing Deadlocked provided me an outlet to obsess over and take my mind off what would otherwise have consumed me. In the first part, I avoided blatant literary analogies to my personal feelings, and instead punished David in a sadistic attempt to pass on my anger, pain, and sorrow. In part two, Laura took on the universal qualities we all want to see in our mothers. Her character allowed me to thank my own mother for what she'd offered me all her life. In part three, I allowed my grief to pour out onto the page.
My mother's battle with breast cancer is far from over, but she is an incredibly tough person (Laura!) and she will overcome it. However, in this part of the series, I was able to express my worst fears by putting Billy through what I was terrified I might have to deal with. The loss of his mother was the single hardest thing I've ever had to write, and I still can't read that chapter without tearing up. There's no question about it, Billy's farewell to his mother was a cathartic exercise for me. That was the scene I'd been building myself up for, and I'm happy with how it turned out.
There are a couple things I'd like to focus on in this story that mirror important aspects of the first two. Billy's story mimics both David and Laura's in several ways. His journey through the plastic graves, with the teetering casket falling on him, calls back to his determined charge under Becken Bridge in part two. This time he is in Laura's role as the person being led into a situation they don't want to go through.
Also, both David and Laura were pulled under water to emerge after as stronger, more determined characters. That happens here as well, but the difference is that you won't get to see the new, driven Billy until part four. His struggle with Frank in the channel is the scene that ties in to the other water scenes. Now that he has emerged, you can bet that his struggle to save Kim will be fought with renewed vigor.
And then there's Reagan. I LOVE that character. Not only is he fun to spend time with, but his story arc is going to be incredibly important for the series. We didn't get to spend a lot of time with him here, but he is going to be a big part of the final story, and it will be through him that we learn the truth about this apocalypse. I can't wait for you to read it!
Finally, I wanted to say thank you to every
one that has supported the Deadlocked series. The kind letters that readers have sent, the fantastic reviews, and the passion that people have expressed for these characters has made me ecstatic. Being a writer has always been my dream, and you've helped make it possible. Let me try and do a better job of explaining just how much it has meant to me…
My mother has always supported my desire to be a writer, and despite spending my life climbing corporate ladders and providing for my family, she would always ask me how my writing was going. She did this because she knew how important it was to me, and she knew how fleeting life can be. I was ignoring my dream and allowing life's petty concerns to usurp my time. I was letting my dream die off, and she saw it happening. After she got sick, I tore into Deadlocked as an escape mechanism, but to say that was the only reason would be a lie. Just like Billy, I longed to make my mother proud. I was terrified I would never get the chance.
After Deadlocked came out, and my mother started her journey to beat cancer, she received a call from a friend of hers. This friend asked her if the author on Amazon named A.R. Wise was actually her son.
Immediately following the call, my mother got on the phone to excitedly dial me up and exclaim, "You won't believe what just happened," before telling me the story. Then she said, "You're a writer, Aaron. You really did it. I'm so proud of you."
We did it, Billy. We won.
* * *
These books by A.R. Wise are also now available:
Deadlocked : Broken Pieces Volume 1 - This series of short stories from the Deadlocked universe help to flesh out the series and add background information that helps readers understand more about the characters. Also included in this volume are two other, non-Deadlocked related stories.
Prey No More : Vampire's Prey book one - Book one of my new series is now available. This is a full-length novel as opposed to the Deadlocked novellas. It details the struggle of the victim of a vampire attack as she and her family try to stay one step ahead of her tormenter. In the first book of the series, the family finds themselves embroiled in a battle between good and evil in the sleepy town of Eve's Prairie, but they soon learn that there's more to what's going on than they thought. All the while, her vampire tormenter is quickly closing in.