by Mark Lingane
The medic sat next to Alan and shone a small light into his pupils. There was no response.
“What’s happened to him?” Shane Jackson, the Raiders center asked.
“I … don’t know. He seems shut away. We’d better get him to the medical bay.” She looked up at Shane, who nodded.
They tried to get Alan to stand, but he collapsed to the ground. A stretcher was called for and they carried him to the medical bay. The medic tested various reflexes, but there was nothing. In the end, she lay him down on a hospital bed, plugged in a saline drip, and left him alone. As she watched him through the glass in the door, the radio tech approached.
“He did seem unhinged back at HQ,” the tech said.
“He’s broken. It’s all too much for him.”
“That leaves Brad in charge.”
38
BRAD STORMED AROUND the compound. He had organized a truck to head back to HQ. No one had been overly keen in joining him, but he didn’t need anyone else. He could take them all on, outlaws, Chargers, the lot. But he had that description of one member in the group, relayed by Tyler, booming around his head. He had another word for the description: traitor.
He watched the soldiers milling around, seemingly lost without Q-backer Finchley. Nothing was as bad as having a potential traitor in his midst. He needed to know if Tyler was telling the truth. After all, Tyler had been a Charger, and there was no knowing the level of their deceit. The thoughts in his head screamed at him, and he struggled to keep his rage under control.
Brad opened the medivan and cautiously made his way in. Memphis’s pack was standing against the wall. He tipped out the contents and searched through the few items. It showed a life on the road. Nothing with memories. Crumpled clothes. Food. A small toolbox. He opened the toolbox and out fell a small piece of plastic. He knew what it was, and he knew what it meant.
Memphis came to the medivan door and was confronted by the sight of Brad searching through her belongings. “What are you doing with my pack?” She snatched it away from him.
“Why do you have this?” He waved the plastic card at her.
“I … found it.” She glanced into the bag, hiding her embarrassment.
“You found it? Where?”
“I, er, it was just … I thought if we came across a pack I could use it in some way. It looked like something important to outlaws, to them.”
“Don’t pretend you don’t know what it is.”
“Of course I know what it is. You don’t have my kind of life and not know about things like the GoFFs.” She tried to grab it away from him.
“You know the law for being caught with one of these.”
“What law? It’s just a card.” She started to place her meager possessions back in her pack.
“All the people we’ve found carrying these are enemies of the state, either political or criminal, like drug runners.”
“How can you call me an enemy of the state after what I did back there?” Her resolve was breaking and she could feel herself succumbing to her emotions. “I’ve been by your side while we’ve fought them. I’ve killed for you.”
“So did Thomas and look what his agenda was.”
“Don’t treat me like this,” she screamed. She grabbed the card and stormed off.
He chased after her, grabbing and wheeling her around. “We’re dealing with outlaws and renewed alliances, and in the middle of our misfortune, I find you. Trouble looms around us and suddenly you’re a big uncertainty to me. You know intimate details about us, and all our strengths and weaknesses, you’ve heard it all. Do you run and tell them everything you find?”
“I’m not an outlaw or a Charger. I’m just me. I need to make my own way in the world and this card gives me a way of doing that. Outlaws are dumb. You can fool them with these.”
“Fool them, sure. The words you use to describe outlaws are outlaw words. We don’t call them ‘packs.’ They call themselves that. If I scanned this card, I wonder what I’d find.”
“I’ve just heard the word used, that’s all.”
“And I wonder where. I got a nice little message from Thomas via Tyler. You know what it was? Apparently a young, but senior, terrorist leader was captured because she stole weapons from the Master. He caught her and had her arrested and sent to the high-security Los Angeles detainment cells. She never got there. Tell me, how did you meet Sebastian?”
She looked down at the ground. “But you saw me kill them. I wouldn’t do that if I was one of them. I’m not a traitor.”
“You don’t get to choose. I know what you are,” he shouted. He calmed his voice and spoke through clenched teeth. “I know what you are, and being an enemy of the Master doesn’t put us on the same side. The enemy of my enemy is still my enemy and will turn as soon as they can. This we’ve learned the hard way and at great cost.”
“I haven’t done anything.”
“What have the two of you agreed?” Brad glanced over at Sebastian.
“The two of us? You mean Sebastian? He doesn’t know anything. There’s no agreement. Leave him out of it.”
“So, you admit to being a spy.”
“That doesn’t even make sense. You’re acting like a meat-headed moron. I don’t know who you are now—you’re not the same person who spoke to me last night. He was compassionate. What are you?” She flung her fist into his chest.
Brad barely flinched. His face turned bright red; he was devoured by fury and he struck her across the face. She staggered back, clutching at her burning cheek.
“For God’s sake, he saved you,” she said.
“Why does the Master want him?”
“I don’t know. He’s a tesla. What does he want with any of them?”
“What do you mean, ‘any of them’?”
She hesitated. “No one knows why the Master wants the teslas, other than he needs them for a new weapon. I didn’t know Sebastian was special.”
They both looked across to where Sebastian was sitting on the grass. The sun broke through the clouds and several butterflies took off around him, enjoying the unexpected warmth. He smiled as he got one to land on his hand.
“What did you mean when you said you didn’t know he was special?” he said. “Why would you say that unless there’s something you regret? The Master’s looking for him … you were going to hand him over to the Master, weren’t you?” Brad grabbed her shoulder and forced her back against the wall.
“Stop it,” she hissed. She looked into his furious eyes and terror filled her. “Okay, okay, I was going to, but I can’t now. Look at him.”
“In you, I see betrayal. Anyone who has the courage and the conscience to betray the Master would have no hesitation in handing over a young man to save her own skin, or less. Listen to me. I don’t care about you being in my lands, but you’re no longer welcome here.”
He glanced at Sebastian. The clouds had closed, making his complexion appear more ghostly than normal.
“But know that I’ll be watching you,” Brad said quietly. “Sebastian might be blind to your true nature, but I’m not. I’ll have my eyes and ears open, and if I find out you’ve handed him over to the Master, I’ll hunt you down. There’s no place in this large country where you can hide and I won’t find you. I have spies everywhere. When they call, I’ll come, and I’ll execute you in the most painful way I know. Have I made myself clear?”
She tried to speak, but he had his hand on her throat and was crushing the air out of her. She nodded as best she could as her face turned crimson.
Brad slowly released her and she collapsed, gasping for air.
He called to two of the men. “Get her out of my sight,” he spat. He glanced over at Sebastian. “And him too.”
“Where to, sir?”
“Don’t give me problems. I don’t care, just throw them outside the gates.”
Memphis knelt on the ground rubbing her throat, and glared up at Brad with her eyes full of hate. She seethed as the men grabbed her. Strugg
ling against them was futile, but it didn’t stop her. She called out for Sebastian.
Joey Maxwell hurried into the compound searching for Brad. He took in the sight of Memphis on the ground rubbing her neck, the large mark on her cheek, and the center standing in front of her with two guards by his side. He took a step back and glared at Brad. “What—”
“It is none of your business, soldier,” Brad replied.
The radio tech hesitated, noting the heated expression on Brad’s face. “Sir,” he said, “we’ve lost comms with Tyler, but we’re picking up traffic between the enemy and someone called Clint. Do you know this person?”
Brad seethed. “That evil little … yes, I know him. They were all in it together.”
Joey gave him a strange look. Brad was sounding a lot like his father. “Sir,” he said, emphasizing the situation, “HQ is lost.”
“That’s it,” Brad said. “We go now. We must strike when they’re overconfident.” He raised his voice and called, “Men, rally.”
“Okay, you probably don’t want to hear this, sir,” Joey said, “but your father’s right. Now that he’s … out of commission, you’re the most senior officer we have. You can’t run into battle anymore. HQ is lost. If we go back, all the handful of us here can do is die in a blaze of glory. I don’t know about you, but I’m more useful alive.”
“But think of the soldiers back at the base. They’re our people. We’re not cow—”
“Be careful what you say, sir,” Joey replied. “I’ve been part of your detail for a long time. We’ve been friends. You’d better not make thoughtless words.”
“And you’d better have a good reason for speaking to your commanding officer like that.”
“Senior officer and major dick as well. All I’m saying is that we need to think about it rationally. We have allies all the way up to Alaska. We can rally them, and they can mobilize quickly.”
Brad turned his back on Joey. “We’re going,” he shouted, and strode toward an armored truck. “Tell that useless Raiders center to clear the way if he knows what’s good for him.”
“I won’t tell him any such thing, sir. They gave us safety when we needed it.”
“Then get out of the way, and I’ll blast the gates open.”
The men were standing around, confused by Brad’s behavior. They’d been listening to the argument and didn’t know what to do.
Sebastian ran up to Brad. “What’s going on with you?” he said. “You’re acting weird. Why are you insisting on doing this?”
Brad swung his hand around and smashed it into the side of Sebastian’s head. A huge spark leaped from Sebastian and stabbed into Brad’s hand. Sebastian reeled back under the force of the blow, crying out with pain and confusion, and crashed to the ground.
39
BRAD STARED AT his hand. Hitting Sebastian had been like striking iron. He staggered backward, reeling as the world spun around him. In an instant, the anger had drained from his eyes. “What’s happening?” He clutched at his head.
“You hit me is what’s happening,” Sebastian said.
“I’m so sorry,” Brad said. “I’m not sure what’s going on. My head, it feels …” He put out his hand to help Sebastian up, but Sebastian pushed him away and got to his feet on his own.
Brad looked over at the medivan and hung his head in shame. “Oh, no, Memphis. I’ve treated her …”
“What have you done to her?” Sebastian found his own anger rising.
Brad hung his head. “I’ve been unreasonable, pigheaded, and irrational.”
“Just like Edward and Will?”
“Worse. I’m sorry. I need to talk to the medic.” He walked toward the vehicle with his head down.
“Could you at least tell the guards not to throw us out?” Sebastian called after him.
The medic ran blood tests, and examined Brad’s reflexes and various pressures. She ran the numbers and looked over the results as he sat despondently on the table.
She finally addressed him. “I’d suggest that everyone in your family stays well away from any kind of stimulants,” she said.
“It’s a bit late for that. We could’ve done with that diagnosis decades ago. At least it explains why my father was always an exceptional killer when he was young. What has our family, or what’s left of it, become?”
“Overdramatic, if you ask me. Pull your head in, sir. I just had that young girl in here with a bruise the size of Connecticut on her face. It’s not my place to challenge a senior officer for his appalling behavior, but you’ve been behaving … appallingly. You need to apologize to her.”
She stabbed a needle into his leg, and he grimaced with the pain. “That’ll settle you down,” she said. “Now go.”
He approached Memphis, his hands clasped behind his back and his head lowered. She sat at a mess table staring vacantly ahead, holding an icepack to her face. He coughed.
“You stay away from me,” she shouted. She stood up and backed away from him.
“I’m sorry. The medic said I had a reaction to the injections.”
“You’re just like your brother.”
The statement cut him deeply. “I know, and I’m so sorry. I’ll make it up to you.” His impassioned plea did little to dent her anger.
“I never want anything to do with you. The quicker I can get out of here, the better.”
“I understand. I’ll arrange an escort to take you wherever you want to go. You’re completely free to move anywhere within the Forty-ninth Division lands, or what remains of them.”
She glared at Brad, and the expression in her eyes was a convoluted mess of despair, betrayal, and hurt.
“All I can offer is my humble apologies and sincerest regret. I have nothing but the deepest respect and admiration for what you and Sebastian have done. You’ve been quiet heroes.”
“But you hit me.”
Brad hung his head. “It was inexcusable. I can’t give you a good reason, because there never is one. Anyway, good reasons lead to bad ones, and I’d rather kill myself than become that person.”
She sat down again and held her head in her hands. She inhaled, her breath juddering as she fought against tears. “We’ll never be friends,” she said.
“I understand.”
There was a commotion outside by the main gates. They swung open and several vehicles were directed straight into quarantine.
Brad caught sight of a 49th Division uniform. He turned back to Memphis. “I’ll continue to apologize to you for some time to come. You’d better get used to it. But I think I need to check this out.”
Shane Jackson, the Raiders’ center, was talking to the men in the containment area. Brad stepped in behind him. He instantly recognized several men. Tyler, Edward, and Will were there, plus some of the officers.
“Any of you infected?” Brad asked them.
They all looked at each other. Defeated, battered, but not infected.
Tyler said, “Q-back—I mean, Center Williams, you can’t ignore quarantine procedure. What if—”
“But none of them are. Debrief me, Tackle.”
“There were too many,” Tyler said. “They were a frenzied mess, but they overwhelmed us. In the end, we had to break and get as many as we could to safety.”
Brad counted the soldiers. There were only twelve men. “There were more than this—where are the rest?”
“We sent them north. It seemed liked the best option. It protected the people and the fuel lines.”
“Why did you come here?”
“We needed to talk. You have Q-backer Finchley. The lines are either down or compromised. We need his strategic mind.”
“Yes … we’ll have to leave that off the table for now. The q-backer isn’t well.”
“He’s not infected, is he?”
“No. He’s … retired. I’m acting in his position. Badly, it turns out.”
Tyler gave him a quizzical look. “The outlaws and Chargers aren’t the main problem. We can bring in s
uperior firepower to defeat them, but we can’t fight against the infected. We can’t fight them in close quarters. It only takes one wound and you begin to turn. How do we fight against that?”
“We blast them from a distance. We need chemical weapons, and we need helicopters.”
“And where do we get them from?”
“You and I are going to get them,” Brad said.
“On our own?”
“Yes, it’ll be quicker and we’ll attract less attention. Also, I want an escort for Sebastian and Memphis, to get them to a safer area. If this place is going to be swarming with infected, I want them out of here.”
40
WITHIN SEVERAL HOURS, they had stripped a lightweight Raiders truck down to a bare shell to allow for greater speed, and packed the steambike full of supplies. Sebastian got on the bike, Brad, Tyler, and Memphis climbed into the truck, and the two vehicles left for Sacramento, where the next major outpost was situated along the north-south wall that protected the western side of California.
The road to Sacramento was better than what they’d been on up to now. Brad had explained that they’d been fixing the travelways between the surviving population centers over the last decade. A fifteen-foot wall stretched from north to south at the entrance to the city. Guards numbering in the dozens were stationed at the gates.
As they cruised into town, a large group of agricultural people collected around them. Brad turned away the disappointed crowd, who were desperate for supplies. Brad’s 49th Division uniform got him a lot of respect, but the people followed them like ghosts, staring with hungry eyes and their palms outstretched.
“They look so hungry. The ground looks okay, so why can’t they grow their own food?” Sebastian asked.
“Lazy,” Memphis said. “Like all trading towns.”
“This country’s in a bad way,” Tyler said.
“This is the good part. We were protected by the worst of the wars by the mountains to the east. You wait until you get down into the plains,” Brad said.