The Dead Years (Volume 8)

by Jeff Olah

  In a hailstorm of ammunition, Mason reacted first. “Get back behind the wall.” Not wasting an instant, he lead the way, sprinting the short distance with William firing off a few potshots as Randy followed Mason. With his friends out of harm’s way, William turned and ran as the field underfoot exploded all around him with each step. The rhythmic beat of his boots against the wet grass quickened as he approached his friends and was replaced by the eruption of Mason’s weapon returning fire on the helicopter as it approached.

  In a line, tucked behind the wall, all three men opened up on the looming chopper as it flew in overhead. Mason flat on his stomach, with Randy leaning into the wall and William doing his best to keep up, they hurled everything they had skyward. Metal projectiles smashed into the airborne vessel with increasing frequency, forcing Goodwin away from the door and into the interior, moving quickly to the cockpit.

  “Sir,” the pilot said. “We’re dropping fuel… the tank has been hit multiple times. We won’t even make it back to the clearing.”

  The two women straining to pull Dalton toward Building One at gunpoint were within fifty feet of the door when Marcus Goodwin spotted them. Tapping the glass on the windshield he pointed to the women. “Go there…”

  “But Mr. Goodwin we’ll never… we’re already…”

  “Just go, this is what I came here for. I’m not going to ask you twice. Get me close to those women and then you can stop complaining and fly me off this rock.”

  “It appears they have Dalton.”

  Striking the pilot in the back of the head with enough force to knock his headset into the control panel, Goodwin spat as he drilled the words in the man’s ear, “I don’t care if it’s my mother they have. Get me in close… right now.”

  13

  With Goodwin back at the door, weapon in hand, the pilot dropped elevation once again and darted for the courtyard as the women made slow progress, struggling with their capture. Mason was the first to notice the change in trajectory and started in the same direction, followed by William and finally Randy, who was struggling to find his footing. The chopper swept in as the sky lit up with muzzle flash, round after round rocketing from his weapon as Goodwin laid down a line along the right side nearest the buildings.

  Time slowed to a crawl as Mason watched the trail of gunfire heading away in search of its first victim. Shredded blades of grass blasted skyward as each round dove deep into the earth. Twenty feet from his wife, the door to the electrical panel from Building Two exploded from its hinges with a shot intended for the women. The anticipation of what was coming caused April to stop and turn toward the mayhem, raising the nine millimeter skyward as Savannah continued.

  With every ounce of focus forced through the sight of the AR-15, Goodwin fed a steady stream of terror toward the women as he barked at the pilot. “EVEN THIS THING OUT!”

  Now hovering over his lone target, as she fired into the bottom of his chopper, Goodwin let go the remaining twelve rounds, striking April three times. The life instantly began running out of her body as it slammed backward into the paved walkway. Her rapid and shallow breaths pleaded for oxygen as her husband slid in only moments too late.

  Her face, as beautiful as the moment the two met, showed no signs of the destruction the rest of her body had suffered. Mason met her eyes and spoke softly as she gripped his hands. “Baby, you’re going to be fine. Please be strong. I’m going to get you inside and take care of you.” Her terrified expression held a childlike quality that nearly brought him to tears. She was slipping away from him and he knew it. The realization that he’d spend the last few moments of April’s life just feet from the man that murdered her let loose a flood of rage that surged through every cell in his body.

  Turning from April as the pilot guided the chopper out of the area, Mason leveled his weapon at the door Goodwin stared down from, empting the magazine as he screamed skyward. William and Randy quickly followed suit, attempting to blow the fabricated metal bird out of the sky. Round after round, the vicious reverberation of metal on metal echoed throughout the facility. As the chopper began climbing, the men rapidly emptied what was left in their weapons, several of the last rounds breeching the cockpit.

  Both Goodwin and the pilot were spared the ultimate price, although a small electrical fire broke out as they decided to cut and run. Banking right and over the six buildings of Blackmore, the chopper lifted above the trees and headed for the backside of the mountain. The cabin extinguisher in hand, the pilot quickly knocked down the flames, although the damage had already been done. The stick heavy and unbalanced, the time had come to find a place to put the chopper down. With the clearing over two miles away, he turned to Goodwin. “Sir we’re going down, we are out of fuel and the fire severely damaged my ability to control the descent.”

  Goodwin’s plan was all but complete. He’d personally done to Daniels’ family what two weeks in this hell torn world couldn’t. His life’s work devastated the planet and now he just wanted to get back home. He didn’t speak a word to the pilot. Turning away from the cockpit, he stumbled to the rear cabin, secured his restraints and sat in wait as the chopper raced toward earth.

  William watched as the helicopter limped through the sky, just grazing the thirty foot spruce that lined the backside of Blackmore and hung his head as it moved out of sight. The intermittent sounds of the engine coughing and spitting as it descended out of the night sky ended with an abrupt explosion of sound, signaling the end of their battle.

  “Everyone inside.” Mason looked at both men through haze filled eyes and they didn’t hesitate to comply. “Take Goodwin’s man as well.”

  Randy headed back to the building with the help of William and both men reached Savannah at the door. William took control of Dalton. They made their way into the Command Center and as Eleanor watched them file in, she took notice of those missing. “Where are they? Where is my family?” Although she knew the answer.

  He knelt next to her on the walkway, cradled her into his arms, stood and quietly spoke to her as he walked to the building. “April please stay with me. You are needed here.”

  Her breathing slowed in the last minute and as he reached the door, she spoke in between the gasps for air and long pauses. “Mason… no, I don’t want to … please don’t take me inside. Justin is… he’s out here. I’ve seen him… he’s beautiful and he’s waiting for us. Let me go… I want to go to him…”

  She smiled as her last breath escaped. Mason pulled her in close and dropping to his knees rocked from side to side. He cried as he tried to force images of her from their life together to the surface of his mind. He wanted them tattooed there for the times that were coming, the times he’d need to be strong. The times he would be alone. The darkest moments that most certainly lay ahead. Always.

  He was lost; there was no plan to be made, no coming back from this, no way to right this. Mason scanned the area, his eyes resting on a portion of the courtyard seemingly untouched by the past days’ devastation. Not a downed Feeder within twenty feet and the patch of grass near the wall was unfettered. He moved through the yard and around the destruction, carrying his wife to the spot he chose for her.

  The final body he came upon before reaching the unharmed swatch of land was overwhelmingly familiar. Holding his wife in his arms and standing over the body, he spoke to her. “April, I found our boy and I know that you’re with him. Please tell Justin that I love him… I love both of you.”

  Mason laid April on the undamaged patch of earth positioned alongside their son and made his way back inside the building. Randy and the others had Dalton backed into a corner as Mason entered the room. The broken down man was being interrogated by the group and held the still functioning tablet in his hands as they peppered him with questions. All of which he answered quickly and precisely. As Mason moved through, Eleanor held her breath and the others parted, leaving him face to face with Dalton.

  Dalton tried to speak first “I know you are…”

 
“No, not another word,” Mason said. Turning to William, Mason continued. “What is this thing he has?”

  “Mason, it’s a device that can remotely operate every aspect of this facility. Its capabilities are endless,” William said.

  “Can you operate it?” Mason asked.

  “Sure but…”

  Mason snatched it from Dalton’s hands and held it out for William. “Get familiar with it.”

  Mason turned from the others, picked up the remaining nine millimeter left in the room and forced Dalton through the door and into the courtyard. Twenty feet beyond the rear wall, Mason pushed Dalton backward into a mound of lifeless Feeders. “You helped kill my wife and my son, for that you will never be forgiven, not by me… not by anyone.”

  Mason didn’t allow him to speak. He fired one round into Dalton’s forehead, killing him instantly.

  14

  Mason only returned to Building One to obtain a clean white bed sheet to lie across his wife and son as they awaited their final resting place. He instead spent the remaining hours of darkness dragging the hundreds of Feeders away from the grounds of Blackmore. Every couple of hours while moving the inanimate monsters out of the courtyard, he’d lose himself, half expecting to see April or Justin peering through the open doorway. He was quickly reminded of the fact that he was now alone in this world.

  Shortly after midnight, William left the others and made his way outside. He watched for a few minutes as Mason carried out his back breaking tasks before meeting him near the rear gates. The two men hugged, silently acknowledging the fact that this world had taken the people they most adored.

  William stepped back, looking into the night. “Mason this is going to be really hard. I’m here if…”

  This was not the time. Mason would come to terms with the loss in his own time. For now he wanted to talk about anything else. “Tell me what happened to you.”

  After describing the story of how he ended up at Blackmore for the others only minutes before, the details were fresh in his mind. The two men worked together through the night clearing the yard of downed Feeders and destroyed helicopter parts as William told his tale.

  “I watched my wife being torn out of the vehicle driven by that disgusting excuse for a woman Marie. As she drove away, there wasn’t anything I could do to stop her. Karen’s final moments are burned into my mind. Randy tried to help, although he was surrounded. I’ve already spoken to him about the details and thanked him. The next part is where it got a bit weird. Marie drove for the next hour or so, while I tried to find a way to escape, as the gun she held on me never left her side. She took me to an abandoned warehouse where she surprised a few friends of hers. They had a helicopter and kept speaking of a place in the Midwest that was safe. When they left the warehouse, two of the men flew ahead as Marie and a third man tied me up, tossed me into an SUV and followed on the ground. We arrived at that airfield where you all found the chopper and then somehow managed to steal it. When the three men ran out to stop you, I managed to get free and took care of Marie before hopping in the SUV and heading out the front entrance to the airfield.”

  “Took care of?” Mason said.

  “I think you know what I mean and after what she did to Karen…”

  “No need to explain, I was just asking if she was gone.”

  “Yes,” William said. “I made sure of it. She’ll never hurt anyone again.”

  “How on earth were you able to find us here? There’s no way you tracked us in the sky for that long, especially in the dark.”

  William nodded, “You’re right, there was no way to do that. Luckily for me, those men in black installed a GPS system in both the SUV and the helicopter, with what I can only assume was a remote tracking device. Long story short, it led me right to your doorstep.”

  . . .

  In the moments before the crash, Goodwin held tight to the seats on either side and set his jaw as his helicopter fell out of the sky and into the densely packed forest of the lower altitudes. The rear cabin was quiet as they began gaining speed near the treetops. One broken window. Debris entering the interior. The cabin twisting under the pressure. Slowing as it careened from one solid object to the next, finally breaking free and slamming nose first into the earth, Goodwin’s head snapping backward into the panel directly behind.

  Blood ran down his neck as he released himself from the seat and crouched in the devastated cabin. Glancing into the cockpit, Goodwin shook his head at the sight of his pilot, penetrated multiple times through and through by the large spruce they inadvertently brought to the ground with them. He reached for the only weapon left on board, a small caliber handgun and placed it into his pants pocket. Removing his coat, he wiped the mess from his face, neck and hands and tossed it aside. Scanning the area to get his bearings, he faced downhill and began walking.

  Out of the clearing and beyond the trees, the wooded cabin came into view moments before finding Anton’s corpse, now reanimated and tied to a tree. “Poor boy, you never had a chance.” Goodwin moved in, put a round into his temple and began removing his blood soaked fatigues. “Where’d you put it son?”

  Laying the man’s clothes out along the ground, he rifled through the pockets one at a time until reaching into his vest pocket and coming away with the laminated card. Clutching it, he picked up the clothes and headed for the cabin, light headed and on the verge of exhaustion. Entering the cabin, he laid the clothes out, secured both doors, and sat in the corner. “Those fools.”

  . . .

  After briefly commiserating with Eleanor, who had yet to speak, Mason left her and Savannah to themselves inside Building One. He returned with William to the exterior and continued the cleanup. By sunrise, the pair had emptied the yard of all downed Feeders and one by one cleared and secured each and every building within the facility. Randy counted and cataloged the arsenal stored in the basement of Building Six and brought to the surface the needed supplies.

  The lobby was sealed and the massive gate that guarded the rear entrance was pushed closed by the men. William drove the SUV he used to find the facility into the yard and positioned it along the rear wall for added surveillance. William happened upon the landscaping equipment in Building Four and by midday, he worked at one side of the yard, laying to rest the two women he never knew. It didn’t matter to him, he wanted to keep his mind occupied and in doing so, said final farewells to Tessa and Parker.

  Care was taken as Mason uprooted the earth to bury his father-in-law, his wife and his son. The questions he asked himself no longer mattered. The hatred had ran from his body hours ago and approaching sunset, Mason laid Richard Daniels in the grave located less than two feet from the one he’d prepared for April and Justin. The area, as pristine and untouched as is was, still felt massively unsuitable. Working through the remainder of the day’s light, Mason brought Eleanor to the finished site and let her have her private time to say goodbye.

  Sunset fell on Blackmore and with Eleanor returning, Mason set out to speak to his loved ones alone. He walked slowly and for the first time in many days, felt at peace. He sat on the grass facing the three makeshift headstones and spoke to his family.

  “When a loved one passes, people always say they’ve gone to a much better place. That phrase never really felt authentic until today. I am sorry. Richard, I am sorry that I never fully appreciated the complex man that you were. I am sorry that the two of us were not close. I should have tried harder. I blamed you for things that weren’t your fault and for that I can never forgive myself. I believe that you loved me and I now wish I would have told you that I loved you as well.”

  “Justin my son, every moment of every day I spent with you will be among my best. Before you came into my life, I was a child. You helped me to see what it means to be a man and a father. I will miss every minute away from you and can’t wait till we meet again. Please take care of your mother as you always have and give her a big kiss for me. Son, I am sorry I wasn’t there to protect you and as muc
h as I would like to, I cannot change that. Justin, I love you and will see you soon.”

  Mason paused as the wind picked up and a cool breeze flowed across the courtyard. This brought a smile to his face as he continued. “April… I cannot believe I allowed myself one day away from you. The three months we spent apart was the worst time of my life until today. My stubbornness tore us apart and for that I will live out every day for the rest of my life with regret. Sweetheart, I don’t know how to go on without you. I don’t know that I can. You gave me a strength that cannot be replaced. Please take care of your father and give Justin my love every single day. This world is a terrifying place without you, although I know you’d want me to survive. For you I will go on. I will help the others. You taught me that.”

  Forcing the lump in his throat back down, he finished. “April because of you I now believe that there is a place much better than this and I am glad you are there. It must be beautiful… You can show me when we meet again. I love you now and forever. Goodbye baby.”