“What’s there to explain?” Lori asked, her hand gripping the hook tighter.
“Are you taking us back to the chancellor?” Travis asked.
“Ha, ha, God no.”
“Why not?” Lori asked.
“Why would I? You two are my ace in the hole to destroy that homicidal maniac.”
Travis and Lori gave each other a confused look.
“I’ll explain everything when we get to where we’re going.”
North Topsail Beach, North Carolina
The burial of Brady’s older sister reminded Devin of his cousin and family’s burial six weeks ago. Looking back, that moment seemed like a lifetime ago. In fact, many times when he thought back, his life seemed to be chopped up into different lives altogether. As the days turned to weeks and months after the Death arrived, the number of ‘lives’ seemed to accelerate. He sometimes wondered if this was all a nightmare and one morning he’d wake up in his midtown apartment. He could only hope, but no matter how often he convinced himself that it was all some sick dream, he knew it wasn’t. The world was gone, Cassidy was gone, and now for Brady, his big sister was gone.
They had managed to coerce Brady out of the room and down to the front yard, but once he saw the open grave, he screamed and ran back inside. Devin didn’t think it was the shock of seeing his sister dead; it was the reality that the last remaining person in his family was gone. The one last person that connected him to the past was no more, and he was alone.
Devin made a note to himself to not let Brady feel that way. As he, Tess and Brianna had done, they pledged themselves to each other and in essence became family, even Brando was part of that pact. The definition of what it meant to be family was different now; it would just take Brady a little longer to understand.
Tess’s hair fluttered in the ocean wind as she smoothed out the silty dirt.
Megan and three of the boys walked over and placed flowers on the freshly dug dirt.
Alex ran up panting, a small cross under his arm. “Here, I found some nails and paint in the garage,” he said, handing it to Tess.
Tess winked at him and said, “That was sweet.” She took it and placed it at the head of the gravesite while Devin hammered it into the ground.
One by one each child left and went back to the house, with Brianna coming last.
Tess, Devin, and Brando remained, all standing over the site as if in a trance.
“When I find the fuckers who did this, I’ll slit them open,” Tess grumbled.
“I’ll be right behind you, if I don’t beat you to it,” Devin said.
“Let’s find the kids so we can get the hell out of here. This place is definitely not my home anymore,” Tess said.
The sound of a truck engine hit their ears.
Acting on pure instinct and adrenaline, they all bolted towards it, but not before grabbing their weapons that had been stacked just a few feet away.
Devin was leading the way, but Tess accelerated past him as if he were standing still.
Her heart was pounding, and the look of revenge was in her eyes. With no concern for her own safety and acting like a crazy person, she bolted onto the street, with her rifle at the ready.
Devin made the street only to see Tess now stopped in the middle of the road, taking a stand against a large Toyota truck.
The doors of the truck opened, and two men stepped out, both carrying weapons.
Tess didn’t ask a question much less say a word; she let go a volley of fire that took both men down to the ground. However, her aim wasn’t at their chests or heads but at their legs.
The men hit the ground, wailing and screaming in pain.
Devin watched her with amazement. Every time she acted so decisively, he was in awe and his attraction towards her grew.
She strutted over to the driver, who reached for his pistol.
Again, Tess didn’t say a word; she raised the rifle and shot his hand.
The man yelled out in pain.
“Whoa, lady, calm down!” the second man said, his hands up.
Tess walked over to the driver, who was rolling around on the pavement, and put the muzzle of the rifle against his head and finally asked, “Where are the teenagers?”
“What teenagers?” he bellowed.
She pressed the rifle harder against his head and asked, “Where’s your boat?”
Devin wasn’t sure about this tactic, nor was he sure these men had anything to do with it.
The crack of the rifle had drawn all the children and Brianna out of the house.
Alex came sprinting down and gave Devin the confirmation he needed, “That man there, I know him. He was one of the guys who came before.”
“I’ll ask you one more time, where is your boat?”
Brando was standing next to the second man, growling, ready to pounce.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he cried out.
“Wrong answer!” Tess said and pulled the trigger.
The back of the man’s head exploded.
Not flinching, she marched towards the other man.
“No, don’t. I’ll tell you. I’ll tell you everything!”
Tess was on a roll.
Devin had seen her act out, but she was a few notches above her old ruthless self. He figured it had to be the murder of Brady’s sister, Becky, which had sent her over the edge.
The man had told them everything he claimed he knew. He described a situation that sounded like it came from a horror movie. Renfield and his people didn’t have a land base of operations but were operating off a container ship. Apparently Renfield was the captain of the ship before the Death. After the Death ravaged the world and killed his family, he took the ship out with what crew he could muster and had now fashioned himself a modern-day pirate. He would sail up and down the Atlantic seaboard, sending his marauding parties into shore. This made for a logical explanation as to why Alex claimed to not see them but every few weeks. The man further explained how Renfield’s passion for flamboyance coupled with his insanity had driven him to declare himself the overlord of the coast from Atlantic City to Miami. The man told them that all the teens but one, Becky, was still alive the last time he was on board. The teen boys were put to work while the girls had been sold off as sex slaves.
Hearing the sex slave part drove Tess crazy. The moment after he mentioned it, she reflexively punched him in the face.
It took a lot of Devin’s strength to pull her off of the man and to calm her down.
With a detailed explanation of where the kids were, they now needed a plan. This was the hard part and Devin knew it.
By the time they were finished with their interrogation of the man, they secured him to a large heavy workbench in the garage, taped his mouth shut, and closed the door, leaving him to whimper and bleed through the night.
Following a few steps behind, Devin called out to Tess, “Let’s discuss a strategy.”
“We will. I’m hungry; let’s get a bite first,” Tess replied and went into the house.
All eyes were on her when she walked in. The children other than Alex had never seen the Tess who showed herself today, and it scared them.
Tess noticed the stares but chose to ignore them. She walked into the kitchen and grabbed a liter bottle of water and a can of Chef Boyardee. Like a zombie she sauntered over to the couch and sat next to Meagan. She reached out, touched her leg and asked, “Hey, Megs, how’s Melody?”
Meagan recoiled from her touch. “Fine.”
Again noticing the stares and Meagan’s negative response to her, she said, “I’m not a crazy person. I did what I had to do so I can get the teens back.”
“And we are thankful,” Alex said.
The other kids kept staring.
“Brianna, you’ve had an opinion on a lot lately. Anything from you?” Tess asked, her intention was only to spark a debate.
“I’m good, but I will say, that was some crazy stuff.”
Tess peeled back
the lid and dipped a spoon into the can.
“You never cease to surprise me. I had my doubts at first but well done,” Devin said.
“Glad you approve,” she said sarcastically.
“So tomorrow, we’ll have him take us to the boat. If our luck holds out, the other boat will be there,” Devin said.
“Getting the boats is the easy part. It’s how do we get on the ship full of fifty crazy men without getting shot up before we take our first step onto the deck?” Tess asked.
“That’s why we’re here discussing,” Brianna said.
“People, I’m sorry, but this rescue mission is going to be a fucking bitch, straight up. First thing is we just don’t motor up and step on. You heard him, Dev, once they get positive ID, they lower that davit thing and haul the boat out of the water. Say we get on without anyone noticing, just how are we going to locate and get the kids? I’m sure they’re all over that ship, and you heard that douche bag downstairs, the ship is huge. I’m sorry, but one of the reasons I have a fucking attitude right now is because the minute he told me it was a ship, I just about exploded with anger.”
Devin grinned, walked over and plopped himself on the couch next to her.
“What’s that stupid grin for?” Tess asked.
Devin looked around the candlelit room and said, “I want you all to remember this moment.”
“You’re such a dork,” Tess said, jabbing him with an elbow.
“Okay, here it is. All ships need to refuel, so they must pull into a port somewhere. We find that and make sure we’re there when they go to top off.”
Tess shoved a spoonful of raviolis in her mouth and mumbled, “You’re a smart dork.”
Devin brought his hand to his beard and began to rub. Pride that he had come up with a brilliant solution to their problem filled him.
Tess took another spoonful of raviolis and playfully smeared it on his face.
“What was that?” he asked, shocked and amused.
“Oh, you looked hungry.” She laughed.
The kids all laughed loudly seeing Tess and Devin act playful.
He cleaned his face off and said, “Stuff still tastes like dog food with tomato sauce.”
“Better eat something. We gotta big day tomorrow,” Tess said.
Outside Pine Bluffs
Travis knew exactly where they were when they pulled through the tall chain-link fence gate. It wasn’t the signage on the gate that told him; he’d seen enough photos of these types of installations to know. In front of them were two small tan-colored cinder-block buildings with similar-colored roofs.
They stepped out and stretched.
Lori looked around; in the far distance was another facility just at the edge of the horizon. She turned and asked, “What is this place?”
“It’s a nuke silo,” Travis answered.
The magistrate grinned and replied, “Correct. Very good, Captain.”
Martin led the way and opened a door to one of the small buildings.
“Right this way,” the magistrate said, pointing towards the door.
They all went inside and stopped before walking down from the platform.
Lori looked over the railing. She was amazed at how deep it went.
“Let’s not be shy,” the magistrate said, passing by them and descending into the building.
Down they went; one concrete step after another took them farther into the earth.
Lori clung to the cold steel railing. She wasn’t nervous, just being cautious.
Travis got beside her and whispered, “How ya been?”
“I should be asking you,” Lori replied.
They reached the landing, a large concrete floor platform that sat four stories below the entrance.
The magistrate unlocked a massive blast door and opened it.
Lori was impressed by the size of it. In some ways it reminded her of a bank safe door.
They stepped through into a dimly lit circular shaft that spanned forty feet. The concrete floors had a sealant that shined and reflected the fluorescent tube lights. The shaft had an eight-foot diameter and was nothing more than a large corrugated metal tube.
“Let’s see where this goes, shall we?” the magistrate said playfully and began walking.
Lori sniffed and scrunched her face at the smell. “What is that?”
“Dead people,” Travis guessed.
“Unfortunately the men who operated this facility didn’t make it. We discovered their corpses a few weeks after they had died. We cleaned it up, but the smell still lingers,” the magistrate answered.
“I would have thought the U.S. military would have been securing these sites,” Travis mentioned.
“The Order is not as sophisticated and organized as you might think.”
At the end of the shaft was a large metal door.
The magistrate pulled out another key and unlocked the door. He opened it and waved them through.
Travis stepped into the dark room first; his senses told him the space was open and large. Cool air enveloped him, and by the sound of his footfall he could tell he was standing on a metal grate.
“All in, step farther. Don’t worry, you won’t fall,” the magistrate teased.
Lori came in followed by Martin.
“You’re one for theatrics, aren’t you?” Lori commented.
“Ms. Roberts, I’ve found that appearances are a big part of life,” he replied as he stepped in and closed the door. He reached his right hand out, touched the wall, and found a large light panel. He started clicking.
Each click turned on a panel of lights. As the lights turned on, they began to show what was hidden in the darkness, an intercontinental ballistic missile.
“Oh my God,” Lori gasped. She looked over the railing down to the floor. Her eyes then scanned the entire sixty-foot length of the huge white missile. What was missing for her was the black stenciled letters UNITED STATES AIR FORCE or USA, like she had seen on popular images.
“That’s a Minuteman missile, right?” Travis asked.
“A LGM-30 Minuteman III to be exact. It has an operational range of 8,100 miles and is equipped with a W78 thermonuclear warhead,” the magistrate said, clearly happy about his possession of the weapon.
“You’re scaring me. What exactly are you planning on doing with this?” Lori asked.
“Unfortunately, I can’t do much in the way they were meant to be used, but I have some plans for them.”
“Them?” Lori asked.
He turned to face her and answered, “Imagine you’re standing in the middle of a field surrounded by corn. Well, we’re standing in the middle of a field of nuclear missiles. This is one of over forty we’ve found unmanned.”
“What?” Lori asked her mouth wide open in shock.
“Like I said, the Order isn’t as organized as you might have imagined.”
“But what are you planning on doing with these weapons?” Travis asked.
“That’s where you and your friend here will help. Come with me,” the magistrate answered and left the silo.
They walked to a small break room and took a seat at a table. From the looks of it, they had been there more than once.
“Take a seat, and I’ll tell you exactly what is happening. What you thought you knew is only the half of it.”
Lori and Travis took seats in the plastic chairs. Martin came in last and closed the door; he then sat at the head of the long table.
The magistrate began to pace the room for a moment, then said, “Years ago I was a member of the Order. I believed in making our planet a better place, but when the plan to create the Death was passed, that was it for me. I protested, but a man whom you know as Chancellor Horton had me removed. I knew their plans were to kill me, so I fled. I went into hiding, off grid and as far away as I possibly could.”
“Wait a minute. I was with the chancellor, and I saw these tablets with inscriptions. The Order clearly stated their intentions. You’re not that old.”
“How can you resist them? They control what is left of the armed forces,” Travis said.
“Ha, that’s where you’re not entirely up to speed, Captain. There’s no shortage of commanders that are in doubt and outright against what is happening. However, my sources tell me the chancellor is aware of these disgruntled officers and plans to move quickly to remove them. But this is not the worst of what I have to share. A deep source has told me that the chancellor is working on another virus, something more lethal and efficient than the Death. I don’t know why he wants this, but I can only assume to kill off more people, even those of us that are immune.”
Hearing this, Lori sank into her chair in despair.
The magistrate continued, “We have to stop him.”
“The nukes, you’re going to use the nukes!” Travis exclaimed.
“Yes, but not how you think I am. I don’t plan on some sort of massive strike. Hell, I couldn’t do one even if I wanted to, but the idea to use them is only part of the plan, and the other part is where I need you, Mrs. Roberts.”
The Death: The Complete Trilogy Page 38