Again, Devin was frozen. He looked into the girl’s eyes and saw how scared she was, but he also saw something more. Her hard and unwavering stare told him that she’d fight to the death if she had to. He raised his hand slowly and placed his index finger on his lips.
She didn’t respond to his hand signal to be quiet; her eyes were locked on him and every move he made.
“Devin, what the fuck!” Charlie yelled and came back inside looking for him.
Devin spun and looked at Charlie; he tried his best not to give away the girl’s hiding spot.
Charlie approached Devin and snapped, “C’mon, fuck stick, we’re waiting on you.”
“I’m coming, sorry. Thought I heard something, was just checking it out,” Devin replied and walked towards Charlie.
The terrified girl shifted and knocked over a few boxes.
The clamor caught Charlie’s attention. “What was that?”
“It’s an animal. You see, I heard that same noise, but it turned out to be a cat. Can you believe it? A cat.”
Charlie stopped and said, “A cat, really?”
“Yeah, sorry for the delay.”
Devin was now standing inches from Charlie and blocking his further advance into the storeroom. “I want to see who Poppy has outside.”
As if on cue, a cry sang out from outside, prompting the girl to shift again, further knocking over boxes of shoes.
“I want to see this cat,” Charlie said and forcibly pushed past Devin.
Without thinking, Devin grabbed his arm and said, “We don’t want to keep Poppy waiting.”
“Let go of my arm.”
“Fine, I’ll go by myself and tell Poppy you’re fucking off in here looking for a pussy.”
“Fuck off!” Charlie exclaimed and shoved Devin. He took two more steps and peered into the aisle. “What do we have here?” he asked, looking at the girl.
Devin had pledged to Tess to protect the innocent. He was already struggling with making the decision to act or not once tested and here was his moment. Was he truly the honorable man that Tess would love? Would he happily go to the stake to be burned to save another innocent life? With no time to ponder deeply, he just acted on instinct by grabbing Charlie from behind.
“What the hell?” Charlie cried out.
Devin’s embrace was firm and pinned Charlie’s arms to his sides, making him defenseless. “Stab him, hurry, stab him!”
The girl didn’t respond. She watched the two men fight, their bodies bouncing off the metal racks.
“If you don’t kill him, he’ll kill you!” Devin barked.
“Let go of me, motherfucker!” Charlie screamed.
The ruckus they were making was sure to attract others, especially Poppy, who was in the back.
Both men fell to the floor hard, forcing Devin to lose his grip.
Charlie spun around like a top and attacked Devin. He repeatedly punched him in the face until Devin was about to lose consciousness.
“Now you finally die!” Charlie said and pulled out a large seven-inch knife from a sheath on his belt. He held it high, but just before he could plunge it into Devin’s chest, the girl sprang on Charlie from behind.
She took her knife and slashed his throat. Thick warm blood sprayed everywhere and covered Devin’s face and chest.
Charlie dropped his knife and grabbed his gaping throat. The look in his eyes shifted from anger to fear.
The girl kicked Charlie in the back.
He fell to the floor with a thud. He was still alive, but after a few spontaneous kicks he bled out.
She stepped over the men but stopped, looked back and said, “Thank you.” She then ran back into the storefront.
Devin could feel his face swelling from the repeated punches and the taste of blood sickened him. He ignored the pain and vertigo and sat up so he could throw up.
“Where are you two?” Poppy hollered from outside.
The thought to run came to mind but went when the rear door creaked, announcing that someone was coming in.
Devin thought fast. He positioned Charlie on his back and acted like he was giving him CPR.
Poppy walked up but didn’t say anything at first.
“One, two, three,” Devin said as he playacted. He could feel Poppy’s presence, but he refused to look up. He wondered if this was it. Would he die now? Was Poppy holding a gun at his head? Fearful to look, he kept performing CPR on Charlie’s corpse.
Finally, Poppy broke his silence. “What the hell happened?”
“He stabbed Charlie.”
“Who?”
Devin looked up and feigned anger. “The asshole who was hiding in here, that’s who!”
Poppy was holding a pistol but held it at his side.
“You can do some good with that by getting the motherfucker who did this. He went that way.”
Poppy raised one eyebrow and slightly nodded his head. He was quickly processing the scene; if anything, he was skeptical about it.
“Are you just going to stand there? If you want to shoot me, fucking do it! Otherwise, help me!” Devin yelled. He was committed and the only thing that could save his life was again a story. He couldn’t imagine what the scene looked like to Poppy and he had now come to realize that Poppy was not a redneck fool.
“He looks dead,” Poppy said.
He looked up from his crouched position over Charlie and said, “He wasn’t when I began.” Devin continued his act and placed two fingers on Charlie’s slit throat. “Nothing.”
“Nothing? No shit, his throat is opened up. The poor bastard is dead; no amount of CPR could have saved him.”
Devin stood, blood mixed with sweat poured off his face and chin. His shirt was soaked red and his arms trembled. He looked at Poppy, who hadn’t budged, his hand still gripping the pistol firmly.
Knowing the act had to continue, Devin picked up Charlie’s knife.
“Whatcha doing?” Poppy asked.
“Well, you’re not going to go look for the guy, I will,” Devin answered and stepped around Poppy. As he brushed his shoulder, he closed his eyes and said a short prayer that Poppy wouldn’t shoot him, but if he was going to die, he was going out honorably. He briskly walked through the store and onto the sidewalk. The girl was gone and, from the looks of it, actually got away.
Poppy emerged from the store and stood next to Devin. “What did he look like?”
“A man, tall, he came at me first. The timing was perfect, Charlie came in then, but I was down. If you had given me a damn weapon, this wouldn’t have happened and Charlie would still be alive.”
“So the man attacked you, got the better of you, then turned on Charlie? So that’s your story?”
Devin tilted his head and said, “It’s not a story, it’s what happened. Listen, fuck you, if you want to kill me, do it or you can accept me as one of you.”
Poppy looked deep into Devin’s eyes but didn’t reply.
“I think the guy must have gotten away. I want to go see who you have out back,” Devin said and turned.
“She’s dead. The bitch bit me, so I killed her.”
The grotesque sounds of the other men committing atrocities bounced off the cinderblock walls of the strip mall. With the other men busy and focused on their captives, Devin thought of killing Poppy too. He could kill him, take his truck and flee back to North Carolina. Was this his chance? Was his opportunity for freedom right now?
“You know, I swear I saw three women enter that place,” Poppy commented.
“Most people look like women these days; it’s not as if everyone is getting haircuts,” Devin quipped. “So where’s the third person?”
“She got away.”
“And one stayed inside, but it was a man, I tell you.”
Poppy holstered the pistol and snatched the radio. He keyed it and said, “Let’s go. Finish up what you’re doing.”
“So that’s it?” Devin asked.
“That’s what?”
“That’s it
?”
“If you’re referring to what happened with you and Charlie, yeah, you guys were attacked. That shit happens. I saw three women…people go in, I only saw two come out, so obviously someone was still inside. I’ll say this, I saw three women, but who would want to admit they had their ass kicked by a woman?”
“It was a man, I swear,” Devin asserted.
“Time to go, c’mon,” Poppy said as he walked past Devin.
Back at the truck, Devin began to climb into the bed when Poppy said, “You can sit up here with me.”
Hearing this made Devin feel good. He hopped inside the truck’s cab and relaxed.
Poppy got behind the wheel and slammed the door. He started the truck, but before putting it into drive, he turned to Devin and said, “Just so we’re clear, you still haven’t passed the test yet.”
Outside Pine Bluffs, Wyoming
“Very nice of the magistrate to give you a trailer too. This will get you far,” Travis said after putting several more boxes of MREs in the trailer.
“I asked and he delivered,” Cassidy said.
The magistrate had followed through on his word and given Cassidy a large SUV, three able-bodied men, a trailer and all the food, water and supplies she could carry with no limit.
The magistrate kept supplies inside the walls of the town, but he also used the silos to the north for a variety of reasons, one being to house caches of food and another as a secure place to synthesize his vaccine. He had another reason for sending her and the men north; he didn’t want to draw attention to her departure. Not everyone was in agreement on allowing her to leave, but the magistrate had given his word.
Travis, of course, had come to help. This also would allow him to say another goodbye. After a long night of thinking about her decision, he had no choice but to agree openly and support her. He didn’t have feelings for her, he just wanted to find purpose in helping her, but he could find that somewhere else.
“Just about done,” Travis said as he balanced two cases of bottled water in his arms. Missing a hand made life difficult, but he managed. Deep down he still hadn’t completely forgiven the magistrate, but what were his choices?
“I can’t thank you enough for coming to help,” she said and rubbed his shoulder.
When Travis had first seen her that morning, he chuckled to himself because of her attire. The tight-fitting green T-shirt she wore was tucked into tan military BDU trousers. She had even bloused the trousers around the suede tan boots she wore. On her head, she hid her cropped hair underneath a tan ball cap, its bill curved tightly. He had wanted to tease her and say she looked like a modern-day G.I. Jane, but she may not find his humor funny.
“Do you hear that?” one of the men asked. He was holding a box of equipment in his arms just outside the silo entrance. His name was Josh, and like the other two men, he had volunteered to travel with Cassidy. His lean muscular arms flexed under the weight of the box. He was not a native of Pine Bluffs but a transplant. He had come to call it home like the other two men, but now found a reason to go east. He too was from New York and had been caught out west in Seattle when the Death struck with a vengeance.
“Hear what?” Cassidy asked.
“Thumping,” Josh replied.
Travis lifted his head and listened but heard nothing. He closed his eyes and allowed his ears to open further. It took only a second for him to also hear the thumping. This was a sound he was very familiar with. “I hear it.”
“What is it?” Cassidy asked.
“Choppers, lots of them!” Travis exclaimed as he tossed the water into the trailer.
“I hear them now too,” Cassidy said.
Booms echoed and the earth below their feet suddenly shuddered.
“The town is under attack!” Travis barked.
“We have to go help!” Josh said. He raced to the silo entrance and hollered for the other two men to come up.
“We’re not going to do anything,” Travis snapped.
“What?” Josh blasted back.
“That sounds like a lot of choppers and, trust me, I know what a lot of choppers sound like.”
“Do nothing?” Cassidy asked.
“Let’s at least see what’s going on,” Travis said, offering a compromise.
Taking Travis’ truck, all five drove to the crest of a hill above the silo. There they’d have a good position to view the town and the attack. Not wanting to skyline themselves, Travis told them all to stay low.
At the top, Travis saw exactly what he thought he’d see. The town was under heavy assault. By a quick count he saw six SuperCobra attack helicopters and on the ground he counted fifteen Ospreys, meaning the town was being attacked by at least a company-sized infantry unit, and if he had to guess, he’d say they were Marines. It disgusted him to know that many of his brothers in arms were still doing the bidding of Chancellor Horton.
The Cobras were hovering above the town. Periodically a TOW missile would blast from a tube mounted on the side and slam into the town, shaking the ground around them.
“I’m going to help,” Josh declared and stood up to go back.
“Don’t be a goddamn fool. What do you think you’ll be able to do?” Travis challenged him.
“Something. I just can’t sit here and watch good people be slaughtered! Those are my friends down there!” Josh yelled, his face flush as his emotional state was taking over.
“Be practical. That is a company of U.S. Marines with the support of six SuperCobra helicopters. The town is fucked. I’m sorry, but by the time you get there, you’ll just get killed and not accomplish anything.”
The other two men, Bill and Tom, had also stood to go with Josh, but they lacked the passion to go back.
“The magistrate gave you a mission, take Cassidy to New York. That is your job now,” Travis said.
“I feel bad not doing something,” Cassidy replied.
“Don’t, you’ve done your part,” Travis countered.
“But I haven’t. It’s all lost. There was no way they had manufactured the vaccine. The samples I gave them are gone.”
Travis hadn’t thought about this, but what could they do now? “What do you suggest?”
“I don’t know,” she answered just as more explosions boomed and automatic gunfire cracked in the distance.
“While you talk, my friends are dying. I’m going back and you can’t stop me,” Josh declared. He marched toward the SUV and got in. “Who’s coming with me?”
Bill and Tom stood.
“Captain Priddy is right,” Bill said.
“And you? We risked lives to save you!” Josh yelled at Cassidy.
“I, um, I don’t know,” she answered, fumbling her words.
“Cowards!” Josh said harshly and sped off.
More heavy machine-gun fire echoed across the plains and rolling hills.
She looked towards the town now covered in black billowing smoke. Tears filled her eyes and began to stream down her face. Josh was right, but so was Travis, she thought, never in her life had she been so conflicted. She had yet to witness the harsh realities of the world she had awoken to. It was like she was having an out-of-body experience.
“Looks like we’re walking back to the silo,” Travis said.
“What are we going to do?” she again asked Travis.
He looked at her tear-covered face. Her eyes told him everything; she was afraid and rightfully so. Had they run late by an hour, they would have been under attack and probably dead.
“We’re going to live to see another day, that’s what we’re going to do,” he said, trying to reassure her.
“But the town.”
“It’s lost. What we need to do is get out of here. They might be looking for you and I’m not going to let them find you.”
“What about Josh?” Bill asked.
“He made his decision, but we need to leave, now!” Travis said and put his hand out to Cassidy.
She took it.
He pulled he
r up and said, “Let’s go.”
“Where are we going?”
“Plan hasn’t changed; let’s get you to New York.”
Pine Bluffs, Wyoming
“What did you do to him?” Horton asked, looking at his old friend and adversary.
“He was resisting, sir,” Wendell replied.
“Calvin, can you hear me?” Horton asked, snapping his fingers.
Horton had his former colleague brought to the city hall building and placed in the very chair where the magistrate had sat when he met Lori, a strange coincidence that only the magistrate knew. The light from the late morning sun had been shining through, but Wendell closed the blinds tightly.
The magistrate opened his blackened eyes to just slits. He looked at Horton, smiled and said, “Look at you. God, don’t you age? You’re like Dick Clark.”
Horton pulled a chair out and sat down across from him and smiled too. “So glad to see my old friend still has a sense of humor.”
The magistrate turned his head and spit out a large glob of blood. “Can you take the restraints off?”
“Sure,” Horton replied.
With the stiff plastic ties removed, the magistrate rubbed his sore wrists and touched his battered face.
“You had to know I was coming, I thought, I really thought I wouldn’t find you here. I mean, you’re smarter than this.”
“I guess you’re smarter than me,” the magistrate quipped and spit again. “I think your men knocked a few of my teeth out.”
“Oh, don’t worry about those, you won’t need them anymore,” Horton said, revealing the magistrate’s fate.
“Why, why did you have to kill so many innocent people?”
“Why? You know why. There was no way of saving Gaia without doing it.”
“There had to be other ways, there had to be. You were a good man; you taught me so much. I loved you once, like a brother. I believed in you and that we could come together to create a better world. There had to be another way.”
“We tried those. We infiltrated governments years ago and attempted to work within the system. You know this. We tried to implement environmental policies and even drastically changed the healthcare systems of the world. But these fundamental changes did not have an impact. The capitalists and other movements prevented us from totally remaking the world the way it needed to be. Our environmental initiatives were hijacked with carbon credits and hybrid cars, which you know didn’t lower the carbon footprints of coal or pollution. It gave the masses enough to feel good and they kept right on abusing the planet but now felt good about themselves. We failed, those policies failed. I thought once we took control of the healthcare systems that we could begin the process of reducing the population by restricting the quality of care under the guise of access. But you know what happened. We created our very own monsters. In order to take control of the governments through the electoral process, we needed to have a needy populace. We promised them care and security and in exchange they would give us power. You know what we got in return, a population that was worse; they only cared for themselves and what we could give them. It backfired. I don’t have to repeat everything, but you know it failed and failed miserably. We ended up with a disgusting mass of uneducated sheep who now felt entitled, and when we began to press forward with our policies, they resisted and decided their own hedonistic lifestyles mattered more than the planet. This had to be done, it had to be. The planet was headed for a point of no return. Now with the scourge of mankind removed, the planet can begin the healing process.”
The Death: The Complete Trilogy Page 52