“Lai, I am your commander and you would do your best to heed my orders.”
“Don’t you need a ship to be a commander?” Her eyes shot open and she clasped her mouth, “I’m so sorry command-” Neysor’s brief chortle stopped her from continuing her drawn out apology, “Sir?”
“I just… You’re right Lai, as always. How can I call myself commander without a crew or ship? I’m not any more a commander than you are a biochemist now.”
Something was definitely different with Lai’s superior, claiming he was no better than her? Laughing? He was the calmer version of himself that Lai had met when she first boarded the Yuik.
He had a sort of glow about him and seemed fresher. It frightened her.
“Th-then what are we?”
Neysor turned back to his ship that was nothing but a graveyard in his mind and smiled contently, “We’re warriors, Lai, scavengers and survivor but most of all?” He turned to look at the city where he knew his prey had fled,
“We’re the hunters.”
One Thing At A Time
After giving Greg some directions Kate and Wolf had climbed through the small window and we all shared in a few hugs before sitting down. Kate and Wolf sat on the side with the still writing Clara while Harry stayed with me.
They both looked more or less the same once I got a good look at them, maybe a bit more tired. Both of them had grown their hair out, Wolf had stayed clean shaven though.
They both wore similar bland and washed-out jumpers and jeans, the traditional fashion of the zombie apocalypse it seemed.
“S?” Kate asked condescendingly, “Who names themselves S?”
I shrugged, “Apparently psychopaths with superiority complexes. In saying that though we should probably still be careful, we can’t go in guns blazing or we’ll be ripped apart.”
Wolf ruffled his hair and winced at some internal pain, “This is his truck though, yeah? Why don’t we just drive in there? Can barely see through the tinted windscreen anyway, and the second he gets close we take him hostage. Element of surprise should keep resistance to a minimum.”
I’d missed that, not just from them, but from back in the 80s and 90s when I used to pull that kind of stuff weekly. He had a good point, and a halfway decent plan, “Sounds solid to me, we just have to make sure to keep quiet until we’re in ther-”
“John! Something is happening up here!” Greg called out, loud enough to awaken Mark and even draw Clara’s attention for a second.
I ran for the front and looked through the already open window and at Greg, “What is it?”
He jutted his head forward, “That!”
I looked out the windscreen and saw them, about a dozen of the white armoured aliens all aiming their angry looking guns at us. “Oh… right.” I climbed through the window and stumbled through onto the passenger seat. “Everyone hold tight back there! Greg, stay on course.”
Before he could respond we were hit with a volley of green, splashing the windscreen with a green tint and a concerning fizzing sound.
I grabbed one of my pistols from its holster and put the top half of my body out the window. It was hard to hold onto the slippery bar on the roof, even harder to take aim with Greg’s driving and the rain in my eyes, but I managed to line one of the bastards up in my sights and pulled the trigger and got one.
I’ll never forget that first splash of blue as her head shot back before lolling forward as she collapsed. The way the blue clung to the air and turned into a lingering mist.
We were dozens of metres away from them but the second they’d lost one of their own they retreated, dragging their friend with them while blindly firing backward. It was at that moment that I knew these people weren’t soldiers, at least not all of them, they were like us,
Thrown into a situation beyond their control and desperately trying to survive.
I pulled myself back into the truck to a very shocked Greg, “What are you doing? Get out there!”
“No.” I said as I tucked my gun back into its home.
Greg was still thrown, “Do you want me to run them down?”
They’d made it to a house crushed by a tree and were crossing the lawn with the loud and blind naivety that comes from desperation. “No, let them go, let’s get to that camp.” I’d expected some major confrontation with them but had instead been shown their humanity. They did exactly what I would’ve done if I were in their situation. The only thing that separated us and them was luck.
After everything that had happened on that day it was hard to admit that we were lucky.
Yes, we’d lost Steve, but we’d found the team and someone new.
“How are you John?” Greg asked out of nowhere.
My response was a curious “Huh?” As he pulled me out of my moment.
“How are you?”
I smiled, “Yeah, not bad. Everyone’s asking me that today. Do I look bad?”
Greg shrugged without taking his eyes off the road, “Not really. I guess this is why we are worried. We lost a good friend today and you seem fine.”
I brushed some of the rain water off my jacket out the window, “I suppose I’m getting used to it. That and we’re on our way to get some good ol’ fashion retribution, that’s always put a kick in my step.”
Some of the tint had been peeled off by the green which had been washed away by the light rain, but I wasn’t worried by S seeing in, cocky prick probably assumed that his plan was perfect in every way.
“How about you Greg? You doing alright? You got a place to stay with the others?”
His eyes drooped and darted around a bit, “No. Just Kate and Wolf and me. No one else made it. We just stick with moving around, but until you took down that ship it was too hard to leave the city. Hordes were everywhere.”
I felt like he was holding something back, “Ah. Sorry.” The idea of pressing him for information seemed exhausting and inappropriate. Plus I had better things to think about than what Greg was holding back, specifically Neysor, Steven, and S.
It was depressing that the only thoughts that occupied my mind were of getting destroyed, eaten and revenge. I wanted to think about how glad I was to have the team back, how lucky I was to have found Kate, and what we were going to do once we made it out of the city.
But it seemed impossible.
“One thing at a time.” I whispered to myself.
“What was that?”
I shook my head and started to climb back through the window, “Nothing, nothing at all, just let me know when I get to kick some arse.”
Greg smiled, “Sure thing John.”
Once I got back to my seat Harry elbowed me in the ribs, “What was that?”
“Just some survivors from the crash, must’ve thought we had food or something. Hey, Wolf, what happened to the rest of the team? I figured at least a few would’ve made it this far.”
Wolf opened his mouth to speak, closed it, had a think, and opened it again, “The chopper crashed when we made it out of the city, Kate, Greg and I were the only ones to make it out.”
‘No,’ I wanted to say, ‘you’re lying and you know it.’ But all I could manage was a mimic of what I said to Greg, “Ah. Sorry.” That response was quickly becoming my go-to synonym for ‘bullshit’.
Kate and Wolf shared a solemn nod that I knew was wrapped with relief. The guys I could deal with, but Kate?
After everything I’d done to get back to them. Something was very wrong and I added finding out what it was to my list.
Control
“Fifteen seconds out! Be ready!” Greg shouted through the gas mask we’d found under a seat.
Waiting and waiting like we had been since changing the plan after the tint no longer offered sufficient camouflage.
Every minute since had steadily accelerated until a half hour felt like five minutes, but very quickly it had changed to each second being its own universe.
Changing the plan was a necessity, a terrifying necessity, but one nonethel
ess. “You’re sure this is the way you want to do it?” Asked the slightly more sober Marcus.
It took me a second to realise that he was talking to me while I checked over my rifle, “Of course, we made sure that yours is empty.”
“That’s not what I… wait, really?” His pitch heightened as he spoke and frantically looked over his AK.
Harry and I shared a look before shaking our heads in unison, “Nah, course not mate.”
“Five seconds from the gate!”
We all stood except for Clara who insisted that she’d be sure to write a beautiful eulogy for each of us. It was Harry closest to the back, me behind him, then Kate, Wolf and finally the ‘barely on his feet’ Marcus with his back pretty much to the cabin.
The truck hit a bump and we planted our hands on the roof to try and keep our balance while silently laughing at the tipsy Marcus who fell back into his seat.
In all honesty, I’m pretty sure both Harry and I were glad that we hadn’t given him a loaded weapon.
“Hold on!”
I didn’t have time to respond with a witty quip as the truck slammed through the fence and dragged most of it along for the ride.
Suddenly everything was serious.
There were shouts and crashing coming from all around the truck. At first I was convinced we were made and our vehicle was about to become a bullet-riddled hunk of burning metal.
Then I heard the shouts, only bits and pieces, but it was enough. They thought we were their friends in some kind of medical danger.
The plan was working.
“Someone get a fucking medic to the centre of camp!” A voice called out as we tore past.
“You up for this Kate?”
She said nothing, just nodded. I went to kiss her but she retreated her head before showing me her cheek.
‘Probably just stressed about this,’ I tried to rationalise, ‘maybe she has PTSD from last time?’
“Where’s my kiss John?” Wolf said before puckering up.
I laughed and gave him a wink, “Oh don’t worry, you’ll get yours.”
The truck ground to a halt and I only just caught Harry when he almost fell out the back.
“Suited man’s coming around.” Greg whispered through to us.
“Ladies and gentlemen! These men,” I swapped places with Harry while S continued with his eccentric pageantry, “these men are heroes! No more will we have to live in fear of being attacked in our sleep!” He was almost at the back, “No more waiting for the day that John Prince finally decides he’s hungry!”
I could see the back of his black suit as the canvas cover lightly waved in the wind. He was facing a crowd with his arms outstretched, preparing for a big reveal no doubt.
Without moving his arms he twisted his head and talked to me out of the corner of his mouth, “Make sure you make a good show, we’ll talk about your punishment for the truck later.”
I was completely thrown, he couldn’t read our minds. Something about the exposure to the ship had rendered us temporarily immune to his psychic abilities.
It was awesome.
“I now present the heroes of New Brisbane!”
I threw the sheet open and before a single person could so much as utter a gasp I’d kicked S in the back of the head and jumped down, “Everyone stay the fuck back or it’ll be you next!” I dropped my gun on the floor and started dragging the dazed S through the mud while the others jumped out of the truck and kept the guns on the crowd.
Except for Marcus, who somehow managed to face-plant in the mud and pull the trigger on his gun resulting in the metallic ‘click-click-click’ of the empty AK which drew everyone’s attention.
I was worried I was about to be swarmed with my back to the others as I dragged my squirming cargo to his tent.
Then Harry fired a few rounds into the air, “All of you will stay right where you are or I swear I’ll toss you to the zeds! You three, go with Wolf here to get on blocking up the gate with the truck!”
It was cool hearing Harry shouting out orders and controlling a crowd, and I really wanted to see more, but I had business to attend to.
Once we got into S’ spacious tent I found a chair and tied him to it. He was still reeling from the kick and his glasses had fallen off at some point when I dragged him, but he knew where he was and what was going on, “Oh John, how the tables have turned. I don’t suppose you’ll tell me how you protected your minds from my… talent?”
I took off my jacket, folded it and put it on the cleared table, “Not a chance.”
He scoffed, “You haven’t a clue have you? Good thing you aren’t that bright, I suppose my men did manage to do one thing right and kill that dog of yo-” I silenced him with a right hook, not enough to kill him, just enough to shut him up.
When he turned back to face me it was clear that that was enough to do some damage though, his eyebrow had swollen to three times its normal size already. Despite that, S just smiled up at me, blood surrounding his teeth, “Not bad princess. Maybe pull a bit less next time.” I obliged, cracking him in the forehead hard enough to cause him to tumble backwards with the chair.
“Oh yeah Johnny boy. Feeling better yet?”
I picked up the chair from the back and leant in and whispered “Not even close.”
He laughed in response, “Then get on with it.”
Harry came into the tent and looked at the bleeding and dizzy S, “Um… You need anything John?”
I thought for a second then nodded, “Yes, actually. I need you to start rounding up all the weapons you can find, get them to the centre of camp. Put Greg on watch and Kate and Wolf on crowd control, let Mark and Clara do… whatever, and you make sure no one comes in here.”
Harry seemed somewhat daunted, “A-anything else?”
I wracked my brain for a second before responding, “Nah. Wait! Could you scrounge up a hammer, nails, car battery and some jumper cables? Just remembered a cool trick the C.I.A. taught me.” The last few words obviously directed at the still smiling S.
“Oh goody! Maybe I’ll get to become a super hero like you and torture people too!”
Harry was clearly disturbed by him, “How… How can you put up with this John? He’s getting off on it for Christ’s sake!”
I agreed with him it was freaky, but I was a vengeful person, “I know. But who am I to say he can’t enjoy it?”
He went to say something before disappearing outside, “Boring, isn’t he? You know he was next rig-”
I kicked him just below his sternum and sent him flying across the table, knocking over a chair and ripping through the back of the tent.
As I crossed the pigsty of a tent I was sure that I’d killed him. Then he let out a winded groan right as I got close enough to drag him back in.
“That… That was a good one.” S more heaved than said. “Maybe you’re not as big a…” He choked on the last word and spat up a decent amount of blood as I sat the chair back up.
“You get the picture.” His words had started to trail off before his head dropped to his shoulder. A mix of blood and spit was bubbling near the corner of his mouth and I knew what was happening.
“Look at me.” I snarled.
His eyes opened, barely a squint, but I could still see that they were bloodshot and swelling.
“You look into my eyes and you know, hey!” I lifted his loose head up and heard him gasp through his damaged windpipe, “I am not done with you! You will look into my eyes and know that you deserve every second of this. You will end today begging for the sweet freedom of death because you know that only I control that.”
He smiled his twisted smile again, “Monster John? Remember what I said before?”
I squatted down and looked into his false smile and broken eyes and knew that, just by starting that, I had reverted to an older and darker version of myself.
And I loved it. “That I do, and I want you to keep it in mind as well when I go to work. I want you to know that I am the monster and
I am in control.”
Now that is a part of me that I don’t want to remember.
At all. So I’m just going to skip over it.
Let’s just say that S got hurt, badly. I’d done investigative torture before to get information, but it was different, torturing S wasn’t saving lives or helping anyone, it was for my own sick and twisted version of revenge. I just know that afterward there was some different part of me, a part that could be ok with what was going on around me. Because I knew that, no matter what, nothing could be worse than what I was for that brief period.
Nothing could even compare.
That’s probably why I blocked it out.
It’s why I don’t remember.
It’s why I won’t remember.
Overboard
One Minute Post First Contact
“Turn this helo around, now!” Jason Minks roared through his mask at the pilot while watching the events on the ground.
Neither Mikael or Gabriel had seen the sergeant so angry before, and Kate wasn’t helping, “He’s dead Jason! We have to get out of here!” She said while reaching for his shoulder.
“If you put a hand on me I swear I will throw you out! I am the acting mission officer and I say we’re going back for John!”
Wolf and Gregorvich had been oddly silent through all of it. The second the gas had started to fall the human soldiers on the transport helicopter had pulled on their masks and prepared for massive casualties, which they did get, temporarily.
“Wolf! You have to talk some sense into him!” Kate pleaded. It took him some time to register what was going on but he eventually responded, “She’s right Minks, we have to get to safety. Even if John survived, he won’t be alive for long down there.”
Greg, obviously done with watching his friends fight, stood up, making the large helicopter twice as crowded as it was already, “That’s enough! We’ll put it to a vote-”
Gabriel tore off his mask and stood as well, “No! We aren’t voting! Wolf, if it weren’t for John you’d be dead. Hell, all of us would be, and now we’re just going to leave him behind?”
The Mulligan Planet 2 (The Mulligan Planet Trilogy) Page 3