Then the mad dash across the road-clogged countryside, his first encounter with the monsters, the family getting torn apart... His escape down the river, his capture and escape from the dam. And finding Dee, who had come to rescue him. He choked up at the thought, tears threatening. It would all be for nothing if he didn’t get them up this mountain.
Shaking off the emotions, he concentrated on taking the bends of the road as fast as he could. He could feel George wrapping his arms around him. Dee had wrapped her arms around them both, and leant into the corners with him.
Jack risked a glance to the side. Ben and Boss sped along behind him. This was a dash to the top, a dash to live, to fight another day.
Flying around another bend, Jack saw the stairs he was looking for, which would take them the last few meters to the lookout platform. Screeches and howls greeted him as he brought the quad bike to a stop. Leaping off the bike, he grabbed George and took the stairs two at a time, his injured leg screaming in pain. Boss bounded up ahead. Jack didn’t blame him for it. The kid was running for his life.
Dee watched Jack, Boss, and George head up the stairs. Checking her rifle, she looked back down the road. Already some of the Variants were charging toward them, their reptilian eyes fixed on her and Ben. Inexplicably, they stopped about a hundred meters away, as if assessing Ben and herself. Dee wondered if they were contemplating which limb to rip off first.
Ben bumped into her as they backed up the stairs. She kept a bead on the massing horde.
Whispering, Ben said, “Aim for the middle of the head. Take the one on the left. Remember, squeeze the trigger, nice and gentle.”
Dee heard a deep, angry bellow. Then the lumbering frame of the Alpha Variant, bones protruding from his shoulders, came into view. She stared horrified at the decapitated heads alongside his own. So that’s what they’re waiting for. We are for him to kill. His meal to devour.
“Run, Dee! Now!” yelled Ben.
Dee reacted. Spinning around, she tore up the stairs toward the lookout. Ahead, the others were already clambering onto the platform. Jack yelled something to her, but she couldn’t hear him. The last few days of running, fighting, and surviving were catching up to her. She was emotionally and physically drained, spent. Willing her body on for one last shot at safety, she reached the ladder to the lookout platform. Jack was reaching down, hand outstretched, his blue eyes willing her on. She grasped his hand. Jack pulled her up and onto the platform. Dee scrambled to her feet and spun, searching for Ben.
Jack watched in horror as the monster leader bounded up the stairs after them. It moved incredibly fast. He had just hauled Dee up onto the platform when he heard the thump thump thump of the chopper. Boss stood in the middle of the platform, waving a flare.
Just a few moments more. Ben reached the ladder, turning and firing over his shoulder as he went. The leader was now only meters away, his minions fanning out behind him.
When Ben reached the top of the ladder, Jack rushed to help haul him over the lip. A ferocious bellow sounded out, and Jack watched in horror as the giant creature leapt ten meters into the air and landed on the ladder behind Ben. He pulled back one of his huge arms and speared Ben with a claw, right in his side.
Ben screamed in agony as Jack tried to pull him to safety. Jack yelled for assistance, his eyes finding Boss’s. The teenager rushed over. Digging his feet against the railing, he tried to help Jack pull Ben onto the platform.
The Alpha swung his other arm at Boss, and a huge claw speared Boss through his calf muscle. With a savage bellow, and an insane glint in his eyes, he ripped off Boss’s lower leg, spraying blood over the poor kid. Warm, red blood arched, hitting Ben and Jack.
Thump, thump, thump.
The chopper hovered above the lookout, the wash of its spinning rotors sweeping over Jack as he hung onto Ben. The blessed sounds of the minigun firing pounded in Jack’s ears. The gunner swept the blazing rounds of hot metal death at the gathering mass of creatures.
Brrrrooooootttttttt.
Jack saw Dee push George toward the lowering chopper, but the little boy looked back frantically, clearly searching for Jack.
“Take the kid and go, Jack!” Ben yelled, in obvious pain.
Jack looked at George, conflicted. He wanted to get to safety, but he didn’t want to leave this man to such a horrible fate. With an angry yell, he let go of Ben’s arm and reached over to pull Boss away from the Alpha. The poor kid was shaking from the shock of his injuries.
Dee screamed as George broke loose from her grip. Pulling the screwdriver he still had in his tool belt, he charged, screaming at the Alpha, and jammed the screwdriver into its eye.
The Alpha let out a deafening bellow and released Ben. Dee ran over and helped to pull him up and toward the chopper.
The minigun operators let loose, firing upon the Alpha, bullets slamming into his tough bark hide. He howled up at the helicopter, swiping his huge claws at it in frustration. The gunner continued to fire. The Alpha howled once more, saliva dripping from its sucker. Then it jumped from the ladder, and retreated into the forest below.
Strong hands grabbed Jack, helping to haul him and Ben into the chopper. Dazed and confused, he sat on the cold metal floor as the chopper lifted away from the platform.
Jack could see monsters covering the road and stairs. They streamed out of the bush, howling up at their escaping prey. The fire they had lit still burned on the airfield, thick black smoke rising into the air.
He was alive. He had found Dee. He had found a little soul. He had found hope amongst the tragedy of the last couple of weeks. Jack looked over to George, and couldn’t help but smile at him. The little kid had saved them all. The smallest of souls can have the greatest of effects.
He looked over at his wife. She leant against the wall of the chopper, cradling the teenager’s head in her lap. One of the minigun operators was attempting to stem the flow of blood from his leg. Their eyes met and they smiled at each other.
Jack found Ben’s eyes; the man with the long wizard beard had risked his life to reunite Dee with Jack. Jack moved over and put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. “Thanks, mate. Thanks for coming to get me.”
“No one left behind, mate. You go and be with your family, Jack.”
They exchanged a look of respect, of shared experience. Is this what all soldiers experience?
Jack looked at the medic tending Ben’s wounds. “Is he going to be okay?”
“He’s losing a lot of blood. All I can do is stabilise him until we get back to base.”
Jack patted the medic and slid over to Dee, taking her hand in his. He just stared at her, tears of joy, mixed with sorrow, welling up in his eyes. I made it. I found her.
Dee watched Jack looking at her. No words needed to be said. They knew how lucky they were. They had survived. They had found each other amongst the chaos. Battered, bruised, wrung out, but alive.
Stroking Boss’s head, she tried to reassure the kid it was going to be all right. She was no medical professional, but even she knew he had lost a lot of blood.
She watched as the man in Army fatigues tied a strap around Boss’s torn leg. Without looking at her, he said, “He’s going to need blood, and lots of it. What blood type are you, Ma’am?”
“Umm, O negative, I think,” Dee replied.
“Perfect. Universal donor. I’ll get set up.”
Dee looked into Boss’s eyes. “You hear that, kiddo? You’re going to be fine.”
Boss murmured something. Leaning closer, Dee heard him say, with a smirk, “I’m Samaritan, so don’t bury me in the Jewish section.”
A sobbing laugh escaped Dee’s lips. Even when facing death, the cheeky kid quoted Monty Python.
EPILOGUE
Jack stood on the cliff top, watching the sun sink below the New Zealand mainland. The cooling salt air brushed against his healing skin.
For two weeks, he had stayed in the makeshift infirmary. When they’d first arrived, the Army medics and sur
geon worked tirelessly through the night to save Ben and Boss. Both of them had required long surgeries and liters of blood. Dee had stood vigil next to Boss, refusing to leave his side until he was in the clear. Jack visited Ben as much as the nurses allowed him; the tough old goat was sitting up in no time. Jack discovered he was a fellow WWII enthusiast. Discussions about a familiar subject had helped the healing process for both of them.
Ben gave him some information about how bad it was out there in the world, while Jack told Ben of his experiences in the dam. He explained how he had made it out. They discussed the men they’d seen helping the Variants. Collaborators, Ben called them.
On the long walks Jack took to calm himself, his mind replayed how he had killed the man with the red trucker’s cap. Even though he had no remorse, it haunted him. He had killed someone. Snuffed out a life.
He reasoned that the man was a traitor. He’d betrayed his own kind to save his skin. Perhaps he deserved to die. In Jack’s opinion, they all had to band together, man against monsters. They had to stop all this petty racial bickering, because they were one race. The human race. These Variants were now the apex predators. If we want any chance to survive, we have to do it together.
One thing still bugged him, though. How had he and George regained consciousness when no one else in that corridor had? He mused over this for days, but couldn’t come up with any plausible explanation. Jack decided to let it go for now. They had bigger things to be concerned about.
Thinking of George, he smiled. George had adapted well to his new surroundings, even finding a few new friends in the camp. They had him running around squealing in no time.
Dee, Jack, and George had spent the morning collecting manuka flowers from the many trees that dotted the hills surrounding the bay and camp. George had asked why they were doing this several times, and Dee had patiently explained that it was a way of remembering people. If truth be told, she and Jack had seen this ritual in a movie with Native Americans in it, and had loved the sincerity of it. When Dee’s father had died, she and Jack had honored him with the ritual.
As they had no bodies to bury, this was the only way they could think of to honor those lost.
Jack and Dee had discussed at length about trying to find Jack’s family. No one they knew had made it to Mayor Island, or any of the other pockets of survivors they had radio contact with. Jack insisted that his family were smart. They knew about the cabin, so there was a chance.
Jack could feel the sea breeze picking up as it came up off the ocean and met the volcanic island. Perfect, he thought, smiling.
Crunching on the pathway behind him warned of people approaching. Turning, he watched in admiration as Boss, using crutches, his lower right leg bandaged at the stump, walked along behind the others.
Boss had stayed in the infirmary for a further two weeks. The nurses had finally let him out, for a short time, at least.
“You guys ready?”
“Yup,” they chorused.
Jack let out a nervous sigh. “We are here today to honor and remember those that we lost. We lost friends, family, pets, everything. But amongst it all, we found each other. We drew strength and courage from each other. These brave men and women on this island, and Ben, who helped us; they give us new hope so that we can carry on. Because, we owe it to others’ sacrifices that we carry on, not only for them, but for ourselves.”
Jack, Dee, Boss, and George raised up their arms and opened their palms, allowing the wind to carry away the crushed flowers. Dee reached over and slid her hand into Jack’s.
George clung between them, leaning out over the cliff to watch the flowers float toward the sea.
“A fine speech, Jack.” Jack turned around. Frowning, he watched Ben hobble toward them. “A fine speech indeed.”
Ben reached out and grasped them all in a hug.
“Benny!” George squealed.
Ben ruffled George’s hair with affection. Smiling at Jack and Dee, he nodded at each of them. “Sorry I’m late. The Colonel’s meetings tend to drag on. But we’ve a heap to do and little manpower to do it with.” He stroked his long bushy beard. “Did you guys mean what you said? About letting me train you?”
Jack and Dee exchanged a look. “Hell, yeah!” they answered in unison.
“Good, I’m glad. We need everyone we can get. Especially people like you. You both showed real courage under fire. I think that, with some training, you two will be real handy in what's to come.”
“What is to come?” Jack asked.
“Yeah, look I can't give details yet, but we’re going to fight back. The Colonel’s been on the horn to the Americans. That's all I can say at the moment.” A pondering look flickered across his face. Jack searched his twinkling brown eyes for anything else, but Ben’s face remained a calm mask.
Ben nudged Boss on the shoulder.
“Boss, the Colonel has agreed to teach you radio operations. He’s dying to know how you reached the Americans on some amateur ham radio. You begin as soon as the Doc gives you the all clear.”
Boss grinned at him, barking out a laugh. “Did I leave that part out? “
“Yes!”
“Guam. He said he was in Guam. Wherever the hell that is?”
Boss smirked at Dee, glanced at Jack and Ben. “You guys know I’m the hero in this rule of three, eh?”
Frowning, Jack exchanged a look with Dee and Ben. “Hero? In the rule of three? Boss?”
“Yeah, you know, teenage guy or girl ripped away from his home, orphaned. Meets old wise man. Gets trained and fights back.”
Jack laughed. “Ah, you mean the classical hero's journey. And it’s twelve steps, I think.”
“Yeah, that’s the one, but whatever.”
Ben, now laughing, held his injured side. “Kid, don’t make me laugh, I’m still healing. Just so you know, the rule of three is a survival guide. Basic guide at best.”
Dee, laughing with Ben, wrapped her arm around Boss and held him close.
Jack smiled as he turned back to see the last of the sun dip down over his homeland. Despite all the horror and trauma he had been through, he was happy. He had survived. He had escaped the Variant nest. He had saved George. Amongst all the chaos, he had found Dee. He was determined not to let this second chance go to waste. To find his family. To give George, Boss, and everyone a world to live in.
He wrapped his arms around Dee, feeling her warmth as they watched the first of the stars appear on the horizon.
Not just my stars, but everyone’s. They belong to everyone. To shine a little light down on this dark new world. George squealed, the noise bouncing around the cliffs. Jack looked over and smiled. The child was chasing a cicada.
He could be forgiven for thinking everything was normal. It felt as if the last couple of weeks hadn’t happened. As if Dee and he were on a camping trip enjoying nature. Jack sighed as he looked back at the mainland.
Three weeks without food, three days without water, three hours without shelter, and three minutes without air.
***
The Alpha made his way through the field, his subjects following a short distance behind. He could smell the others approaching from the north, west, and east. He stopped in the middle of the field and bellowed up at the moon. Three bellows sounded out in answer. They were close. Soon his plan would be put into motion. Soon the remaining humans would be corralled into their nests. They needed to breed again, provide him with food.
A human fragment tugged at him. Didn’t he used to do this with animals?
He shook the memory away. The anger, the hunger, gnawed at his soul. First, he wanted to find the little one that had taken his eye. He wanted to feel the satisfaction of ripping the flesh from its bones and sucking out its marrow. The humans had escaped from his grasp in the thumping beast that sent stinging, burning rain on him. He had lost many of his tribe chasing them.
He watched as the others approached, the Alpha leaders towering over their minions. The other three stopped arou
nd him. Together, they bellowed up at the moon, their packs joining in.
He assessed the other Alphas, and grunted, “Where?”
The Alpha who had come from the north signaled behind him. Two Variants pushed two humans forward, shoving them to the ground at the feet of One Eye.
He looked down at them. The blonde hair of the female was matted against her head. He fought the urge to sink his teeth into the curvature of her neck and taste her blood. The last remaining human part of his brain bubbled to the surface. She’s a real looker.
Bellowing angrily, he grunted, “Where?”
One of the Variants kicked the male. One Eye looked down at the slightly overweight man, with his shaved head and beady eyes. He hissed at him, shoving his face closer. “I…I…I don’t know where they are, please…”
One Eye sniffed him. He could definitely smell them on him. With an angry bellow, he lashed out and speared the man through the head with his claw. With a satisfied hiss, he lapped up the spilling blood and brain matter.
One Eye turned to the Alpha that had come from the east. “Where?”
The Alpha from the east pushed a skinny male out onto the ground. Skinny held up his hands in surrender, pleading, “ Please…please don’t kill me… I know where they are.”
He pointed east, toward the mountains.
One Eye snarled in satisfaction. His anger barely contained, he let out a deafening bellow.
One Eye hauled on four chains, pulling the terrified prey at the other end toward them. Four children appeared, covered in filth. They were sobbing.
The four Alphas smacked their suckers. The small ones tasted so much sweeter.
Handing over his offerings in chains to the Alphas, he grunted, “Eat.”
The four gathered Alphas sank their teeth into the children’s throats, tearing them out, and forever silencing them.
Extinction NZ (Book 1): The Rule of Three Page 10