by Hawk, J. K.
Their leader stepped forward and picked the boy up with both hands, holding him face to face. “You best keep quiet boy.” He chuckled coldly. “ My orders are to bring you back - dead or alive.” He released the boy and stared down out Steph as she cowered beside me.“I think I’ll claim you as my bride.” A Hoarse chuckle escaped his airways. “The spoils of war, am I right boys?” He called out and the others chuckled perversely.
Abel instantly became enraged and swung his leg forward striking the man in the groin like a freight train, dropping him to his knees as he clutched his privates in agony. Abruptly the Sargent lost his lunch, choking on his own bile and gasping for air. The boy giggled in satisfaction as the others raised their rifles at us, waiting for their leader to regain his dignity.
“ Taylor!” He called out as he rose back onto his feet. “Drop his drawers, he is all yours.”
“With pleasure, sir.” A scrawny unshaven man stepped forward, loosening his belt as he laid his rifle down.
“The boy is infected.” I spoke up. “Rape him and you will become a walking corpse.”
“The boy is the cure.” Stammered Harris. “Go ahead Taylor, it’s all good.” But Taylor hesitated.
“There is no cure.” I said, raising my voice. “The boy is a carrier, immune to the disease, but he can still transmit it.”
“Look at his eyes, sir.” Steph stuttered.
“I’m not taking a chance.” Taylor muttered.
“Fucking cowards.” The large man said, pushing Taylor aside. “I’ll teach theboy myself.”
With a fierce grip he pushed Abel down to his knees, bending him over with his head held firmly into the moss covered earth. The boydidn’t squirm, didn’t fight, instead his eyes met mine and a large grin spread quickly spread across his face. I have personally seen the boy’s strength, breaking free of the foul man’s grip should be well within his capabilities. But, even as the man lowered his dingy pants, the boy continued to smile at me, like a lunatic enjoying his own torture.
“THEY’RE COMING!” One of the other men cried out.
The pederast never had the chance to address their cries before the smell of burnt rotten flesh filled our noses and the brush quickly pushed aside as a smoldering horde breached our position. The others opened fire as their leader struggled to pull up his pants and grab a rifle, but he was not fast enough. A single corpse stumbled into the area just behind him, quickly plunging its teeth deep into the Sergeant’s neck.
“Run!” Cried the boy as he grabbed Steph’s hand and dragged her up the mountain, and I stumbled to follow. We only climbed a few hundred feet before we were stopped abruptly by six more fully armed men who immediately opened fire on the horde behind us. Without thinking I tackled Steph and the boy to the ground, once again holding their heads down and out of the way. He struggled at first, tried to get away, but I held tight and hollered into his ear.
“STAY DOWN! THEY’RE WITH US!”
The insignia on their uniforms, the dual gold eagles, was the sign of hope I had been searching for. GFS Marines, the baddest of bad-asses, pummeled the dead with a volley of rounds. Instant head shots, no misses, pure and perfect annihilation. Within seconds the detachment of fifty or so Infected had been laid to rest. And almost as fast, the two remaining insurgents dropped their weapons and raised their hands high in surrender.
“Mr. President!” A familiar voice called out.
“Ash?” I said as I rose to my feet. “What the hell are you doing here?” I asked sternly as he stepped forward and embraced me firmly.
“I told you, I’m a soldier, not a leader.” He retorted.
“What about…”
“They’re in good hands, I transitioned power over to the council, like you wanted.”
“It’s good to see you old friend.”
“As is you.” He said, lighting up a fat cigar with a smile. “Our escorts should be back any moment, we need to the chopper.”
“How far?” I asked.
“If we move now we can make by dark. We met minor opposition in Rangeley but should be no trouble now.”
“The children?” Steph asked.
“Therewere no children, but asmall outpost of raiders. They’ve been dealt with.”
“Theymight be hiding!” Steph exclaimed. “We have to look for them!”
“Look,” Ash interrupted. “We can do a quick sweep on the way, but our priority is to extract the three of you. The children may have to fend for themselves.”
“We’ll come back for them.” I said, rubbing her shoulder. “I promise.”
“Always the humanitarian.” Ash chuckled. “Shall we leave them here or take em with us?” He asked, pointing at the remaining Northern Alliance soldiers. I threw him a sinful glare.
“Kill them.”
He did not question me, the men waived their hands in protest, but no words were able to escape their lips before a round exploded through each of their heads and they tumbled to the forest floor. Ash’s men quickly searched the bodies for weapons and ammo before turning back to follow us. My good friend gracefully puffed away at his cigar, smiling in satisfaction.
“T.N.A.” Ash muttered.
“What?”
“The Northern Alliance.” He said with a airy cough. “Former American and Canadian soldiers, mere sheep, following the empty promises of a greedy dictator.”
“Those sheep have some powerful artillery.” I mentioned. “They detonated a thermobaric weapon just east of here.”
“Not them.” He said. “An unknown army has made its way north from Boston, no insignia’s and they take no prisoners nor do they follow any means of diplomacy. We caught wind of them a couple weeks ago, and it appears they have obtained some nasty armaments. We are in a midst of a true war, both sides together are estimated to be six thousand strong spread throughout New England.”
“What do they want?” I asked.
“Power, the boy, and the dissolution of the GFS, among other things.” He said with a chuckle. “No worries though, our apache’s pushed them south, but not for long. Their backs are against the flames. Your handy work?” He asked, but I didn’t answer.
“Maybe the GFS is just a pipe dream.” I said coldly.
“Like I’ve always said, man cannot be tamed.”
“It seemed like we were so close though.”
“We still are, but to complete our mission, we must seek out and eradicate those who refuse to evolve.”
“Genocide.” I said in sorrow.
“Necessary Genocide.” Ash retorted. “But that’s neither here nor there, let’s keep moving.”
* * * * * Blackened billowing soot scorched out the suns light as the roar of inferno and war cascaded down the valley. Shirts, rags and even skivvies were dampened to mask our airways from the befouled smog that choked this landscape. The raging flames were obscured, but its blistering breath caressed our backsides as sweat drained from our skin only to evaporate in a blink of the eye. Without rain, much of western New-England will surely burn, a bittersweet disaster, as a staggering population of the dead will be reduced to ash but an incalculable mass of terrified survivors will also perish.
Mason would surely pass it off as a necessary evil, followed by applaud and praise to the death toll of our enemies. Like Truman’s decision to obliterate Nagasaki and Hiroshima, my hasty actions have condemned the misguided as well as the innocent, and as necessary as it may be, moral it is not. Of all my mistakes and failures, this will surely plague me the most.
Genocide, the thought goes against everything that we’ve molded the GFS out of. An old world school of thought where ones beliefs are smashed under the heels of power. But maybe Ash is right, for our new society to thrive, we must squash those who mean to corrupt it. One must resort to violence in order to bring upon peace. As damning as it sounds, it has worked before, and yet it would seem that Evil will always find a way.
We broke through the tree line by late afternoon and set foot out onto what was on
ce Rangeley Village Cemetery. Now a vast field of neatly arranged craters, piles of bones, and broken tombstones. The final resting place of Rangeley’s beloved had been exhumed long ago and resourced in the name of a doomed defense. The markers of the dead were used as bricks, and the wood of their coffin’s used to board up windows, all of which will eventually burn or crumble, and nature will be the last to consume this once quaint little town.
However, Ash was correct, as we strolled down route sixteen towards the center of town, there was an empty silence about. No longer were the streets filled with the bustle of an adolescent community, but instead reeked of putrid death. The sidewalks were lined with the decapitated heads of the town’s residents, and by the sight of the spent shell casings, it was apparent that the Raiders found their bounty and took it by force. Another damnation created by our own selfish priorities.
“JESUS!” Steph exclaimed as she wiped the down pour of guilt ridden tears from her face.
“Keep moving!” Ordered Ash.
Abel tugged at my shirt, looking up at me with the gaze of a confused and distraught young mind. He didn’t have to say a word, I knew the question, but did not possess a justified answer. So in vain assurance, I patted his head just as the echo of a rifle barked over the rooftops and the soldier on point dropped to his knees with a gaping hole in his chest. There was a moment of stunned astonishment before the rooftops came alive with gunfire.
“TAKE COVER! Ash screamed.
His four remaining men, and himself spread themselves out along the street, takin refuge behind abandoned cars, businesses, and even a rusted old mailbox as Steph dragged Abel out behind a rock wall and I dove behind a leftover barricade. Ash and his men returned fire, and once again we were in the midst of battle just as the firestorm lapped at the edges of town.
The Northern Alliance or cornered Raiders, our current enemy was unknown, but our escorts fought them back with a warrior’s fury. Main Street splintered under a barrage of lead, windows shattered, and sparks lit up the ash cloaked daylight. The worst of it had yet begun, from back the way we came was the shadowy silhouette of Valkyrie’s march as the dead waltzed out of the flames and towards the dinner-bell of conflict.
“BRAXTON!” Ash called out.
“Yes sir!” A disheveled roughneck answered back from an adjacent building.
“Red Smoke!” Ash said, throwing hand signals in the direction of the enemy’s line of sight. Braxton pulled a grenade from his belt and pulled the pin as Ash called out to the others, “COVERING FIRE!” For which they unleashed a barrage of slugs upon the rooftops, blowing out windows, and crumbling the red-brick walls. Braxton turned the corner of his cover and hurled the grenade, only to fall back instantly from a shot to the head.
“GOD DAMN IT!” Ash called out. “SNIPER!” The grenade released a loud pop soon after, followed by a powerful hiss as plumes of red smoke rose up over the street and merged with the descending soot, creating a barrier of dark crimson ash. I looked at my old friend, waiting for his next order, but it never came. With visibility at a minimum I scurried over to his side.
“What are we doing?” I asked.
“Hush.” He commanded. “Wait for it.”
“Wait for…” I stopped.
A low rumble approached from over the lake, getting louder ever second, and within and instant two choppers screamed overhead. They did not hesitate to unleash hell, firing fifty caliber rounds into the buildings as the enemy attempted to fire back, but instead finding a quick and painful trip into the afterlife. And as the apache’s circled the enemy, Ash pulled a radio from his pack.
“DELTA BRAVO, WE NEED IMMEDIATE EVAC, A HALF CLICK NORTH ON ROUTE SIXTEEN - OVER.” He screamed into the mic, and then waited for a response. Within seconds a screech erupted from the speaker.
“COPY THAT, VERIFY LZ, WHISKEY DELTA – OVER!”
“LAND IT IN THE FUCKING STREET –OVER AND OUT!”
Without hesitation, Ash signaled everyone to push back and allow the gun-ships to continue the fight. Quickly I rushed back to Steph and Abel, only to find Steph holding her head upon the ground and the boy nowhere to be found. Houses within sight had already caught fire, and the inferno rushed our position with blistering heat as I scanned the area for the stubborn child.
“OVER THERE!” One of the grunts shouted, pointing out towards the approaching horde where Abel stood before them, arms outstretched and shouting obscenities. Without thought, I darted in his direction, Steph following close behind as we called out to him. Already our rescue chopper could be heard whining overhead and descending through the smog like an angel sent by god. Not once did I look back, but the loud crash that resonated from behind was enough for me to envision a hasty and reckless landing.
“GO BACK!” Abel shouted at the crowd of Necrotic’s, their skin blackened and blistered as the garments that till clung to their bodies continued to burn.
“ABEL WE HAVE TO GO NOW!” I cried as I grasped his shoulder.
“They’re not listening!” He stammered.
“ABEL RUN!” I demanded, and he did.
Grasping Steph’s hand the two retreated back with the others as I took a quick second to gaze over the hell that consumed this town. Abel’s concern was just, he always had a limited control over these mindless beings, but now, they ignored him as if he was invisible and reached out at me with mindless hunger. Slowly I backed away, widening the gap before turning and charging for the now grounded chopper.
With a thud, I fell back upon the pavement, or was I pushed? Looking up I found a Prowler standing before me, and the constant march of the dead coming to an instant stop. The beast snarled at his primitive kin, and they held their position as it stepped forward and leaned over me. Down the road I could see Ash dashing furiously towards me as Steph turned back, only to find that I was not there with her.
“PATRICK!” She screamed, almost deafening the gunfire.
Ash’s charge came to a halt as two other Prowler’s blocked his path. Selflessly I raise my hands up, signaling for Ash to stop.
“ASH, NO!” I screamed. “GET THEM OUT OF HERE!”
He hesitated in mid-step, but did not fall back, instead he raised his rifle and took aim. Although I was confident in Ash’s marksmanship, I knew all too well he would never pull the trigger. His unwavering loyalty and affection for me would not take the chance of a rare yet plausible miss, ending the man he has grown fond of over the years. And I was right, he held fast, his cheek resting firmly on the stock, and one eye fixed upon the Prowler before me, ignoring the other two, and his other eye gazed deeply towards my helpless stature. With overpowering authority my gaze burned into his, and in sacrificial silence I mouthed one last order for my faithful soldier.
“just go…”
Ash did not respond, his eyes glistening with the rise of fresh tears, and his hands trembling in desperation. But as he fought to foresee a successful attack, where we would all come out on top, the gunfire from further down Main St was redirected towards him, and the chopper. And still he hesitated, even as sparks and chips of pavement bounced all about his feet, he hesitated, waiting on last moment for a miracle. But it never came.
His rifle dropped, swinging freely by the strap on his shoulder, but his eyes never left mine. He didn’t say a word, but his face could be read like a book. Just as so many loyal soldiers before, like so many warriors of the past, he looked upon his longtime dignitary and friend with pride and never-ending devotion. He would never be the same after today, a brilliant tactician and a witty raconteur no more. This would be the breaking point of a hardened soul that would not be broken.
“NO!”
Steph’s shrill broke the sanctity of the moment, and Ash turned back, grabbing hold of the once shy and insipid young woman who has grown so much over the last few weeks. Meekness had turned to boldness, and the scrap who hid within the shadows had become a survivor. There was so much I never told her, so much I should have told her. In our short time together,
which I never realized until our one intimate night, she reminded me that I still had a heart. That I still had something to offer the world, even if it was just the brilliant shine in a young woman’s eyes.
“i love you…”
My lips wavering as I languidly mouthed the words to her, my eyes flowing from the desperation in her face as Ash threw her into the chopper with Abel already being restrained from within. Three courageous souls, three broken hearts, but not all is lost. For today, a Savior is born over the wails of an Angel, and under the protection of a voracious legionnaire. Down in our hole, grasping at earth as it fades to dust, a heavenly vine of hope dangles before our fingertips.
The choppers rotors spun faster, screaming over the infernal shrills of hell as the carriage slowly rose off the pavement and into the blotted sky. As I watched its ascent, a sloppy, red spray-painted call-sign came into view, ‘Atlas’, and so it was. The Iron Titan roared even higher, with the fate of the world resting upon its shoulders. A demigod, carrying a God, hoisting mankind’s future across an ashen sky.
The misguided and disloyal combatants on the ground pushed out of the smoke guised street and closer to my position. Their gunfire was sporadic, some aimed for the ascending chopper, others at a Army of the Dead, and few back into clouds of fiery smoke. And then, the Miracle that Ash had waited for, presented itself from the myriad of abandoned homes and business. Although too late, the Children of Urich mounted a counter offensive.
Boarded up windows became unobscured as the planks fell from their places, revealing a juvenile militia, armed with makeshift crossbows, recurves, and a few with guns. They were still alive, simply playing hide and seek until the right moment to strike. With fury in their eyes they released their arsenal, arrows imbedded swiftly into both the living and the dead, as those with guns took precise and lethal head shots. Chaos of war quickly became unanticipated and disorganized pandemonium, and the soldiers began to drop like flies as they fired their rifles at random nothingness.
As the battle on the ground continued, I could feel the eyes of my loving trio staring down at me; Ash, Steph and the precious boy, but I did not return their gaze as something else had caught my attention. It wasn’t the random screams and thunder of battle, nor was it the blaze that ripped through town like an untethered demon. But instead it was the heavy breaths of a villainous miscreation standing over me, poised and observant, studying its own prey, panting upon thick soot laden air.