Paradise of Lead Trilogy

  "Why did I do those things? Because I could. People must learn to submit to those with the power. Without leaders, humanity will cease to exist. We can't all be followers like you, Byron."

  "If I was a follower, do you think I'd be here right now? The others wanted me to stay with them, but I came out here to confront you and stop you from doing all the terrible things you are going to do."

  "You think you of all people can stop me?" Damien asks. "You're nothing but a drunken, mindless brute."

  "Yes, I used to drink too much. Yes, I'm not the smartest person, and yes, I use my strength to get things done. But though I may slip, I will pick myself up and do what I believe is right. And the right thing now is for you to pay for your crimes. You will pay for Seth, Maria, Aveline, Clara, and the hundreds of other lives you have destroyed or taken from this earth. You're a monster who deserves a death far worse than I can give you."

  "Your threats are empty and meaningless. You don't even know the amount of power coursing through your veins. You could have joined forces with us and helped us to create the greatest space government yet. Well, we will carry on without you and your omega code. Have fun dying to Blice's nanobots. I know you are already feeling the effects. How's your leg, by the way? Need I remind you who is in control here?" Damien draws a laser pistol and fires.

  The impact isn't what sends Byron to the floor. It's the instantaneous and excruciating pain as his titanium leg begins to melt in the extreme heat. The fiery agony spreads up into his body and every vein feels like it is on fire. Damien's maniacal laughter is the last thing he hears as his vision turns black and his face hits the floor.

  "Byron!" Isidore slips out of the shadows in the other room where he has been hiding and runs to his side and tries to pick him up, but he's too heavy. He presses the button on his watch. "Blice, Byron's down."

  "What happened?" Blice asks.

  "Laser pistol to his leg. It looks like they melted the titanium then spread into his bloodstream."

  "He already has mine in his body and with these added ones, they must be multiplying. We have to find a way to stop them or he's going to die. Niko, behind you!"

  Isidore turns around and looks into the cold unfeeling eyes of a person . . . no. He can feel the difference now. She's an android. The bloody gash on the top of her head where her blonde hair is matted and tangled tells him that she is a T.I.M.E. as well. Could this be the android Zach was talking about? Maybe he can reason with her. They are similar, after all. "Eve . . . hi. My name is Isidore. We don't have to fight. You're pretty."

  Her fist slams into his face, sending him back against the wall. The laser pistol is knocked from his belt and it slides across the floor out of reach.

  He slips down onto the floor. "Damn it."

  "Flattery won't get you anywhere, Isidore." Zach says over the speaker. "She has zero language skills. She does what Damien programmed her to do. She is for all intents and purposes just a robot."

  Isidore picks himself up and holds out his hands. "But she's alive."

  "That doesn't matter. Kill it."

  "It? She's as alive as I am."

  "Now is not the time for you to be arguing this point." Blice barks at him.

  "I'm not going to just kill her! She doesn't understand what she is doing. I can help her."

  Blice is only getting angrier. "Did that morphine screw with your head?"

  When Eve's footsteps echo against the barren walls, Isidore tries to run, but he slips on the polished floor and lands on his burned shoulder. Writhing in agony, he tries to gain his breath and his footing to crawl away, but Eve is on him again. She twists her hand in his hair then slams his face down on the floor. He screams as the blood trickles down his face and pools below him as she continues to overpower him.

  There is a splatter of blood and Eve makes a pained cry then falls lifeless to the floor. Isidore's body goes limp. He can't breathe. Thank God for whoever finally got her off of him. From his watch, he hears his owner's voice. "I'm coming, Niko! Stay still."

  Isidore smells blood and he looks up through his sweaty bangs to see Byron still unmoving on the floor. Where did Damien go?

  Blice runs into the room and takes Isidore in his arms. "She got you pretty good."

  "She was stronger than she looked." Isidore laughs and lays his head on Blice's chest. "Nice shooting, by the way. Was that you, Blice?"

  "Yep. I guess I did learn something from that time out at the shooting range with you." He pulls out a syringe and injects Isidore's arm then refills it and gives himself some. "Morphine. You get it for your injuries. I get it for my nerves."

  32

  Kazimir with Katarina on his back and Zach join them in the room. Kazimir hands a sniper rifle to Isidore then goes to Byron and tries to get him to wake up. Zach puts on a pair of goggles and pulls out a robot which he unfolds and tosses up into the air. It takes off flying as he controls it with the sensor on his arm.

  "What is that?" Isidore asks.

  "A drone. We'll find my daddy and hunt him down. Oh, bad news, guys. We can't get to the reactor. Looks like Common Ground soldiers found a way in and they've set up barricades." Zach makes a whimpering sound.

  "What's wrong?" Blice asks.

  "They just gunned down a group of citizens who were trying to escape. Get Byron up. We need him for this."

  "He's waking up. Byron, can you hear me?" Kazimir asks.

  "What happened? I don't feel so good."

  Blice tosses the morphine to Kazimir. "Give him this. It should help."

  "You can't just give drugs to everyone."

  "It's worked so far."

  Kazimir pulls Byron to his feet. "Can you walk?"

  "I can try." Byron says, his voice reflecting the obvious pain he is in. "I think something's wrong with my leg, though. It's not fully there, but I can put weight on it. I'll be slow, but I'll make it. Let's get this going."

  "Where is our military, Blice?" Kazimir asks.

  "They are combating the main force out in the wasteland. Rubble City was decimated."

  Someone shouts out above the gunfire nearby. "Erikson!"

  He turns around and waves. "Welcome to our little resistance, Alexi."

  "I have the remaining Rubble Rebels blocking off the gates to the city and shooting down any paratroopers that those planes are bringing in. So what's the plan? I'm with you to the end."

  Blice steps forward and shakes Alexi's hand. "Good to have you. Right now, we need to make sure that the citizens with the key cards are getting down to the new Paradise without any issues. I haven't been able to get in contact with Agent Monroe who I placed in charge of that. I hope the Common Ground soldiers haven't tried to stop that. Then we need to find Damien and Clark and eliminate them. After that, we have to clear a path through the barricades to get Isidore to the reactor so we can start W.A.N.D. then evacuate the city. The rest of us will get on the transports and be taken underground where it will be safe."

  "And what of Isidore?" Alexi asks.

  "I die." Isidore says plainly.

  "Oh. That's . . ."

  "It's what I was made to do." Isidore says. "It's okay. I don't mind. Let's just get moving. I want to get this over with so I won't have to think about it anymore."

  A group of soldiers rushes up behind them and raise their machine guns. "Halt! Stop where you are and surrender or we will be forced to gun you down."

  Alexi steps in front of everyone and holds out his arms. "Run. I'll deal with these. The world will never forget you, Isidore Williams."

  As the gunfire echoes against the empty halls, everyone runs out of the building. Isidore is the only one who turns back around and he wishes he hadn't. Alexi drops to his knees as the floor underneath him turns red. "No! Alexi!"

  Blice grabs his arm and pulls him along. "Come on, Niko. Leave him."

  Isidore closes his eyes as he raises one hand and the air grows heavy in the hallway above the soldiers. With one flick of his wrist, he brings the ceiling c
rashing down on top of all of them. "Thank you, Alexi."

  * * *

  They run until they are close to the barricade where the soldiers have parked a truck and set up some turrets. Hiding behind a collapsed and still smoldering store, they gather around in the shadows to make a plan.

  Kazimir secures Katarina to his back then starts walking off towards the technology center. "I'll meet you at the reactor. I can get there alone much easier than this entire group can. Call me when you get past the barricade."

  "Will do." Blice says then points across the large open park. "All right. Niko, see that collapsed apartment building over there on the other side of the park? If you get up in that rubble, I think you'll have a clear shot at all of those soldiers."

  He glances around nervously. "Um . . ."

  "What's wrong?"

  "I'll be all alone?" Isidore asks.

  "You'll do fine. You can do this, Niko." Blice says reassuringly.

  "I'm hurting, Blice."

  "I know, but we need your sharpshooting abilities for this."

  "What about Kazimir?" Isidore asks. "He was trained as a sniper."

  "A seven foot tall, three hundred pound man can't fit into that space. You're the only one who is small enough and still as talented with a rifle."

  "Guess I should have eaten those pancakes you made me after all." Isidore says with a small smile.

  "It's your own fault for not eating enough."

  Byron crosses his arms and glares at Blice. "Maybe it's your fault for starving him for weeks at a time when he was a teenager."

  Blice holds up his hand threateningly. "One more, Byron. Say one more thing like that and you'll never be able to say anything else ever again."

  "But it's true, isn't it?" Isidore asks as he looks down at the ground.

  "Yes, it's true. Now let's stop standing here wasting time and get going. Go on, Niko. We will wait down below that pile of rubble for your first shot before we go in. Shoot straight, buddy."

  * * *

  Isidore crawls over the rubble and broken glass beneath the jagged metal. His shoulder is aching badly, but he pushes past the pain. The screaming in the streets drives him farther. He will do what he can to save them. Reaching into the vest that Zach gave him, he finds the ammo and loads the rifle. He has eight shots. They made the correct decision to send him, but giving him eight bullets to take out an entire squad of what looks to be twenty soldiers is a bit much to ask, even with his enhanced aiming.

  A plane flies overhead, spraying the streets with bullets as the antiaircraft guns ring out and their reports echo against the mountains in the distance. Flashes of flames from the defeated space fighter planes that plummet out of the atmosphere dance above him in the sky against Blice's dark matter shield. The air is turned all shades of oranges and yellows, bringing light to this endless night.

  When he reaches the top of the debris pile, he kicks out the remaining shards of glass from the window and positions the barrel of the rifle in the corner of the window pane. This allows him to still be shrouded in the darkness by the overhanging metal and concrete from the floor above that has caved in. He looks through the scope to make sure he's able to see all of his targets. Perfect.

  He presses the blue button on his watch. "Blice, I'm in position. I only have eight shots, so be ready to get in there. Once I take the first one down, my cover will more than likely be blown. As it is right now, I can get a clean shot on sixteen of them. What are my priority targets?"

  "Get the officer down, but you need to focus on the ones manning the turrets. Our forces can't get the vehicles in with those still active."

  "Hold on. They're putting up some kind of shield. Looks like electricity, but I can't be sure."

  "I . . . interference . . . dead."

  So it's affecting their connection. Now there's only static coming over the speaker so he turns it off. His priority target just changed. Communication with Blice is the number one priority. Through the scope, he can barely make out the sparks of the control box for the machine powering the barrier. If he can damage that, then the barrier will go down and he can communicate with Blice. But if he misses, then that's not only a shot wasted, but it also puts everyone else in danger. There's no way to know what that barrier will do to them if they rush in with it still up and since they are waiting on Isidore's first shot as a signal, this could be catastrophic if it goes wrong. What would Blice want him to do?

  Isidore slows his breathing and manually slips into the heightened concentration of his combat enhancement program, just as Kazimir showed him. All he had to do was find it in his programs then focus his mind as he activated it. It's so much safer than having to be hit first. The light from the fires blazing above the dark matter glints off of the metal control panel. Looking through the scope, Isidore has to make a decision. The lives of everyone here depends on him and him alone. He takes a deep breath and slows his heartbeat. The officer is directly between the crosshairs, but he moves to the right and squeezes the trigger.

  * * *

  Blice slides down the debris-littered slope then ducks under the low hanging wall. He drops to his knees at the bottom next to Byron and Zach. "Okay, so they've put up a scrambler to mess with our transmissions. We can't communicate and I've lost contact with Isidore. Last time I spoke to him, he was in position and ready to take the shot. I hope he does the right thing and follows the targets I gave him. If he does what I fear he might to, it will be a massacre."

  "What do you think he'll do?" Zach asks.

  "I'm scared he's going to shoot that control panel."

  "He does know that if that barrier is affecting the communication devices, then it is also causing interference in his mind, right? That isn't just a normal scrambler. It's probably the one my daddy made in case there is another T.I.M.E. uprising. Good thing we're out of the range down here or you and I would be in danger too. Lucky you, not being part computer, Byron."

  "What exactly will it do to Isidore if he shoots it?"

  "It could severely damage the computer parts of his brain and cause him to shut down."

  "Momentarily, or what?"

  "No. Permanently."

  "Oh God." Blice has to get in touch with him. He presses the button on his watch. "Isidore, answer me. If you can hear me, do not shoot the control panel. I repeat, do not shoot the control panel."

  At that moment, an explosion shakes the ground and people begin shouting. Blice jumps up and climbs back up the embankment. "Come on, you two. He didn't. Please, Lord. Don't let that have been the control panel."

  When they reach the top of the rubble pile, Blice's heart breaks. No. The control panel is smoking and the barrier is down. The enemy soldiers are already trying to repair it. A few scouts have been sent off towards the collapsed apartment building that Isidore was holed up in. He can't give up hope. "Niko, answer me. Hello? Tell me you're okay."

  Nothing.

  "Isidore!" Blice screams, but then realizes his mistake as the entire squad of soldiers turns their attention to him. "Run! We've been spotted." Blice rolls down the slope and hits the bottom hard. As he gasps for breath, the machine guns sound out behind him and Byron and Zach join him.

  When Byron collapses in the mud and debris, Zach tries to help him, but only shakes his head. "He's not doing well at all. He feels hot."

  "Come on. Help me carry him out of here." Blice pulls Byron up to rest on his shoulder. "Where is Kazimir?"

  When the shooting stops and is replaced by screaming, Blice places Byron down gently in the bottom of the ravine then climbs back up and peers cautiously over the edge. A voice comes over the speaker on Blice's watch.

  "Blice, I got the barrier down."

  "Thank God. Niko, are you okay?"

  "I'm fine. Thanks for providing that distraction. I was able to get one down already. Watch this."

  Blice watches as the familiar sound of Isidore's rifle sounds out and two soldiers fall with one shot. "Nice shot, Niko!"

  "Than
ks. Stay down and I'll get that officer."

  The bullet goes straight through the man's heart and then more fall as he continues to pick them off. More reinforcements fill the streets and Isidore's voice changes over the speaker. "Blice, I'm out of ammo."

  Byron pushes past Blice and limps up to the line of soldiers. He raises his arms to the sky and cries out as a storm of fire rains down on top of the barricade, engulfing the soldiers in fire. They scream as they roll on the ground. Their truck explodes, sending bodies and concrete flying.

  "Good to see you're doing better, Byron." Blice watches in horror as Byron once again goes down. This time, he doesn't get back up and he doesn't move. Now is not the time for him to be dying. He goes to him and it takes all of his strength to support enough of Byron's weight to be able to drag him. Blice sees their chance and he calls out to them. "Go now! Get into the building. This is our one shot. Make it count." Blice calls Kazimir on his watch. "Kazimir, where are you? We're on our way to the reactor."

  "Already there and waiting."

  "Byron is down again. I think he's dying."

  "I'll take care of him as soon as we're in the transport and have this going. It's the nanobots. They're destroying his body. I'm surprised he's managed to hold out for this long. In other news, I've been monitoring the airspace around Paradise and there's nothing within fifty miles of here so let's get this going before more bombers show up."

  "What about nukes?" Blice asks.

  "All of my sources say we're in the clear. That probably won't last for very long, though. That might explain why Common Ground's forces are moving back."

  "Have you heard from Agent Monroe? Are the citizens being moved underground?"

  "Yes. That is going as planned." Kazimir says. "Seventy-five percent have been secured in the new Paradise. Things below ground are going perfectly. No issues to report."

  "That's good, at least."