“Sir, I didn’t expect…”
“No time…need…out.”
“Sir, my mission is to hold the passes, over.”
“Hundred…thousand…coming.”
“We can handle it, sir. The men are ready.”
“…death awaits,” the general’s voice cracked on the other end and the call ended.
Hunter perked up as he listened to the conversation. “What’s got him in a tizzy?”
“I’m not sure. I couldn’t piece it all together, but it sounded like he wants us to bug out.”
“Doesn’t surprise me. Send us out here. Get us all chewed up. Give back the ground we just took.”
“I know this ain’t your first rodeo.”
Gunfire rippled in the distance, the thud-thud of machine guns firing. The sound traveled along the mountains. Hunter looked down the highway. Kinnick’s two-way radio buzzed. “Sir, we got contact,” a frantic Elwood said on the other side.
“How many, Lieutenant?”
Claymores burst in the distance followed by the sound of an M240 machine gun, carbines, and rifles.
“They are supposed to wait for the claymores until it gets thick,” Hunter said. He stood and angrily stared down the roadway.
“Lieutenant?” Kinnick said into his mic. Hunter stood, staring at him with the eyes of a wolf.
“Lieutenant?” Kinnick shouted.
“Come on, Colonel,” Hunter said, hoisting his SCAR. They ran for the pass.
STEELE
Little Sable Point, MI
“I will not leave you,” Steele repeated. It was the tenth time he had assured them he wouldn’t flee. The scared faces of about eighty people stared back at him. He stood head and shoulders above those that remained, looking down at them. Anyone that had a working vehicle was already gone. The camp had disintegrated around them in the night. After the Red Stripes had fled, most of Little Sable Point had followed.
The left behind had gathered in a mob. Fear rippled through their ranks like an angry ocean. Steele stood on the back of Big Bessie’s mostly empty semi-trailer. A few boxes remained that hadn’t been stolen by Thunder and his gang. Big Bessie stood to the side, big arms folded across her chest.
“We don’t have enough fuel to get everyone out of here,” he said, his voice booming. “The pastor and his men are coming.” People in the crowd moaned in misery. “We will tighten our ranks and fight. It’s the only chance we have.” We will die for it.
“What are we going to do without the Red Stripes?” Scott shouted. He wore glasses and a dirty untucked button-down shirt. He seemed out of place with a 12-gauge shotgun in his hands that Steele thought he would be better suited for a keyboard and a monitor.
“What about my children? What will happen to them?” Harriet hollered. She cuddled two young kids in front of her.
“I have trained some fighters. The pastor and his men are not trained soldiers. They are regular people.” He cringed at the word regular. Nothing about those people was regular. “We only need to hold them off, put up enough of a resistance for them to decide we aren’t worth it.”
A man waved his hand at Steele in dismissal. “You’re crazy to think you can stand against all of them. I’ll be in my camper spending time with my family. You should all do the same.” The man gathered his wife and kids, walking away.
“You would rather sit by and watch the slaughter than fight for your family?” Steele screamed at the man.
The man turned back, looking over his shoulder. “What did you say?”
“I asked if you would sit by while your friends and family are murdered?”
The man turned all the way around. “I’d rather be with them when it happens than fighting some battle we can never win.” He put a reassuring hand on his young son’s shoulder and walked away.
Steele watched him go along with the others. “We can win. We only need to survive.” The crowd murmured a dull moan. People walked back to their shelters and vehicles. They needn’t go far as the circle of vehicles had shrunk over the last few hours. Steele had made them pull the remaining fueled vehicles in tight, leaving very little common ground around the lighthouse. “Be ready to fight,” he shouted after them. In minutes, he was alone with only his volunteers and a few others. Max watched his every move. Gregor nodded, determined. Jason held his gun tightly in his hands.
“We ain’t going to last long without food,” Big Bessie said, her voice more like a frog’s than a woman’s.
Steele hopped down from the back of Bessie’s trailer.
“I’m not worried about that,” he said.
“Why’s that?” Big Bessie said, cocking her head.
“You can’t eat if you’re dead.”
The heavyset woman breathed hard, staring at him. “Do what you gotta do then and make sure we survive. ’Cause I’m planning on finding that asshole Thunder and getting all my food back.” She held up her tire iron threateningly. “To think that bastard was sweet-talking to me. Said I had pretty eyes.”
Steele wanted to avoid that lover’s quarrel. “If only it was that easy.” He turned toward his small group. They stood piecemeal before him, spread out as if they didn’t trust what was about to happen, feet stuck in the places they had stood amongst the crowd. His small group of confidants—Kevin, Gwen, and Tess—stood waiting for him.
“Not the most inspiring speech I’ve heard,” Kevin said with a hiccup. He wiped his mouth with the sleeve of his ACUs like a drunk ROTC student.
“They all left, so I would say they agree with you.”
“I’ve got an idea for the next one,” Kevin said.
“Great. You got until the pastor shows up. Not sure how many more speeches I’ll get after that.”
The slender man visibly gulped, his Adam’s apple jiggling in his throat.
“Take Jason and Gregor and go check on Ahmed and Larry while I talk to Gwen for a minute.”
Kevin nodded and the men disappeared. “The rest of you, man the barricade.”
Gwen looked at him, her eyes watery in the moonlight. He stepped up and took her hand in his. The lighthouse loomed like an ancient tower. Tess hovered a few feet away, watching them. He ignored her dark eyes.
“You’re planning on making a stand here?” Gwen said.
“Yes. I’ll make a stand here.”
“No, we’ll make a stand.”
Steele shook his head and squeezed her hands. “No, you’ll leave here and won’t look back,” he said more flatly than he wanted. That did not come out right.
Her face twisted in the shadows. “Excuse me?” she snapped.
“He’s right. We shouldn’t risk the baby,” Tess said from the side.
Steele gave her an angry look.
“Nobody asked you,” Gwen said over her shoulder.
“Can you give us a minute?” he said to Tess.
Tess sighed and disappeared.
When she was out of earshot, Gwen spoke up. “I understand she is concerned about the baby, but that’s none of her business. You’re mine. I would rather die than let you fight this battle on your own.”
“Don’t worry about her,” he said, glancing in the direction she went.
“I’m not worried about her,” Gwen said. Venom oozed from her lips. “She told me all about your kiss.”
He felt his cheeks redden as bloody embarrassment raced to his face and anger bubbled inside him. “I don’t have time for this right now. You have to leave.”
“Like hell I do. She said that you were an unwilling participant and I believe her. But you should have told me.”
“I’m sorry, but it doesn’t matter now. You can’t stay. People are going to die tomorrow. Knowing the pastor,” his voice dropped to a whisper, “he will kill all of us if he wins.”
Her eyes widened. “What about all that brave, we-only-need-to-hold-them-off talk?”
“It’s just that. Thunder’s gone. I only have nine barely trained fighters plus anyone else who gives a shit about the
ir families. I can’t let it end here. Our story doesn’t end here.” He glanced down at her belly. “My story won’t end if you live on. My blood will run through our child’s veins. It gives me peace with what is to come.”
Her eyes looked down at his chest and back up to his eyes.
“I cannot leave you, even if it means that we all perish,” she said.
“Did you see all these people holding their families in terror? They won’t fight with their families on the firing line. I need you to take the children and the elderly away from here. As far away as you can get. We can’t fit everyone, so you need to take the most vulnerable.”
She shook her head furiously against his wishes. “No. This is my fight too. I can fight better than most of them.”
He squeezed her hands. “It’s our fight. You said you want to make a difference. You’re more than a gun on the line. Your task is so much more important. It is to run and make sure these families survive. I will deal with the rest and when it’s over, I will find you.” He looked over his shoulder into the night.
Her lips drew downward, her eyebrows closing down and in. “There has to be another way,” she uttered. Her voice was almost as small as a child’s. “I don’t want to leave you again.”
“There isn’t another way. I will find you when this is done.” Silence divided them. Time trickled by. The moon covered them in its own spotlight. They were frozen criminals in the night.
“We have a responsibility to protect the children from this madness.” She grabbed the collar of his ACU jacket and pulled him close, his face only inches away from hers. “But you find me, Mark Steele.” She pulled him closer and planted a kiss on his lips. Their lips locked in something so real and organic; it was the love they felt inside and out.
She loosened her hold on him for a moment, looking him in the eyes. “You find me.” She looked around him. “I’ll gather the elderly and the children. Speaking of which, I think you have a volunteer you need to speak with.” She straightened his collar and gave his chest a pat with her hand. She turned around and walked away into the night, and he exhaled.
Goddamnit, this sucks. He watched her swaying hips disappear into the darkness to Tess’s camper.
A timid shadow approached Steele. Max had been standing there watching them the entire time. Steele had known it, but Gwen had needed his full attention.
“I will fight with you, Captain,” Max said. The boy looked scared but seemingly older. He gripped his gun in his hands. He is still too young for this world. If I could spare you these things, I would.
Steele waved him closer. “You’re a good kid, Max.” He put an arm around the scrawny teenager. “Come with me, I have a special mission for you.”
Max’s eyes lit up, staring up at his hero. “Wha—t k-k-ind of mission?”
“Follow me,” he said. He patted the teenager on the shoulder, releasing him.
They walked in silence. Reaching Tess’s camper, they stopped.
“I’m going to be honest with you. This is the most important mission. This isn’t guard duty or watching the road.”
Max’s eyes grew large.
He’s more of a kitten than a lion. Steele gripped the teenager’s bony shoulder. “Can I trust you with this task?”
“Of c-c-course.”
“Now, I need you to be on your A game. Alert, quick on the trigger.” Steele flexed his finger up and down. “And be a team player. No questions asked.” He eyed the young man with hard, scrutinizing eyes. “Can you promise me to do this?”
“Yes, sir,” Max snapped at him.
“Good.” Steele pierced him with his eyes. “You are going to go north with Ms. Reynolds. She is going to need your help and your protection.”
“You-you want me to leave Little Sable?” Sadness crossed Max’s youthful features like he’d been picked last in a dodgeball game.
“Yes. Gwen will be going north, and she needs someone to protect her.” She doesn’t need one, but she’s getting you. He has to believe in fighting for something. “You have good eyes and a good head on your shoulders. She will need your help. You know why this is important, right?”
“Because she’s your lady?”
“Yes, but even more so, she’s pregnant, and I will not have anything happening to her or our child. Do you understand? I wouldn’t send anyone else on something like this.”
Max blinked and smiled. “I-I do. But what about the pastor?”
They both turned to watch a single motorcycle headlight rumble down the road. Steele eyed it, knowing the omen that the two-wheeled rider carried.
Steele put a hand on his shoulder. “You leave the pastor to me.”
JOSEPH
Cheyenne Mountain Complex, CO
Joseph double tapped his finger on the tablet and a document opened up, filling the screen.
“Did she ever mention anything about a cat?” Joseph said.
Byrnes’s forehead creased in confusion. He glanced down at the laptop on his desk.
“A cat? Like Fluffy or something?” Byrnes said.
Joseph gave him a curious look and handed Byrnes the tablet. “See for yourself. This is incoherent at best.”
The colonel swiped the tablet with a finger and studied the next page. The fluorescent lights in his office were on full blast now rather than the pleasant dim reading light given off by a lamp.
The colonel had closed the door as he spoke with Joseph. He had told Joseph it was so they could concentrate on their task, but Joseph knew it was to give them a few more minutes in the case of another outbreak. To accentuate the fact, the colonel’s M9 Beretta 9mm laid on his desk, ready to be scooped up at a moment’s notice.
“The virus attacks the frontal lobe causing it to swell and bleed in the brain. It’s possible that she was experiencing hallucinations caused by her condition, forcing her mind into a loop of a childhood memory.” He looked over the tablet at Joseph.
Joseph pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. “I don’t know. I can’t remember her mentioning anything about a cat.”
“Neither can I.” Brynes handed the tablet back to Joseph. “I’ll think on it. But right now, I’ve tasked Dr. Hollis and Dr. Nguyen to study the process the virus is going through from entrance to activation within the dead cells. This thing is remarkable. Makes you wonder if God is trying to send us a message.”
“Not the message I’d hoped for,” Joseph said and eyed the colonel. “I suppose it was only a matter of time before Mother Nature turned the tables on us.”
“Or flipped them over on us.” Byrnes looked back at the laptop. “We are almost positive Mother Nature is behind this and not some bioweapon. We’ve found no biosynthetic materials or any evidence of gene splicing.”
“I’d almost rather be going up against a bioweapon. If someone can engineer it, we could probably un-engineer it pretty quick.”
Byrnes’s eyes lit up. “Could you imagine if we could control this? Basically, we could give it a limited lifespan of about twenty-four hours. We could drop it on known insurgent areas and let them eat each other alive. Next day, we roll in and clear out the rest. Bingo. Problem solved.”
The horrifying images of the outbreak in the village of Kombarka, deep within the Democratic Republic of the Congo, flashed one after another through Joseph’s mind. He gulped down stomach acid, witnessing again the terror and fear surrounding the people, hearing their screams as they were torn apart by their neighbors and loved ones. “Let’s not imagine it that way. Let’s imagine it on the endangered species list.”
“Or getting us off that list,” Byrnes said. He checked his watch. “Come on. Let’s get to the lab and check on the team.”
They suited up in their blue biohazard suits in a sterile room. Each man checked the other for breaches in his seals or punctures in his suit. After a breathing and comms test, they entered the compression chamber. White gas pushed out of the chamber and the doors rolled open.
The other doctors were already
inside the lab. Dr. Hollis looked up at them as they entered. He looked like a light blue, almost ripe blueberry. Joseph nodded to him. Their suits crinkled as they walked to the other doctors. Drs. Nguyen and Desai were crowded around a plastic, covered incubation chamber. Dr. Nguyen’s gloved hands were stuck inside the chamber. The thick gloves gave him an extra layer of protection from the virus inside.
He moved liquid from one tube to another while Dr. Desai studied the liquid through a microscope that brought up the image she viewed on a flat screen nearby.
She gave him a sad smile from behind her plastic mask when he got close. “I heard about Rebecca,” she said. Her voice crackled over the comms headset, making her sound a planet away.
Joseph frowned. “She spent her every waking minute working until she turned. Some of it got a little cryptic at the end, but her contributions have been outstanding.”
“She was a top-notch physician,” Dr. Desai said. She turned back to her work. Cells danced on the screen. Joseph stood in silence for a moment. He was tired of ripping open the scab of Rebecca with the wound so fresh. The only way to keep his mind off of her was to work.
“Have there been any new developments?”
Dr. Desai pointed at the screen. “We know that the satellite virus initially uses the monkeypox as a vector but can only succeed if the cells die or the host dies. Then after the cells die, the virus goes to work. The more dead cells, the faster the transition from alive to infected dead.”
“I know, doctor. I’ve been grappling with this idea since we discovered it.”
“Well, on a good note, the satellite virus is like any virus. It holds genetic material that it implants in healthy cells. It rewires the cell’s function and puts out its own instructions. The only difference being that it waits for the cell to die before activation. Its genome is comprised of over two hundred thousand base pairs, albeit much less than a human. The problem we have is figuring out which combinations of code does what for the virus.”
“So, where’s the off switch?” Joseph said.
She glanced back up and her dark eyes gave him a disapproving look. “You know we have mapped the entire human genome over the last fifteen years, and we only understand a fraction of what gene combinations do. This testing, with limited time, will be difficult to discover. However, there is something somewhat unusual I wanted to show you.”
The Rising (The End Time Saga Book 3) Page 33