by Nathan Combs
“Yeah. There’s a ton of debris in front of the entrance. They won’t suspect it this time.”
“Wait until they clear the stadium and make their exit. Get them as they’re leaving. They’ll be more relaxed and in closer proximity to each other.”
*****
The stadium was empty.
Riding out of the main entrance, Bill said, “They were here last night, Wade. She’s either clairvoyant or she’s one lucky bitch.”
“You may be right, Bill…or maybe she’s just good.”
“I don’t believe that, and I know you don’t either. She’s just lucky. End of…”
The world erupted in a cacophony of noise, heat, and concussion. Knocked from their horses, both Bill and Wade staggered to gather themselves, drew their weapons, and pointed them downrange from behind the wounded animals.
“How many, Randal?” said Wade.
“One of Benjamin’s guys was KIA, five more with significant wounds. Ten have minor injuries. Sixteen, counting you and me, are unscathed except for some scratches and bruises. We also have a total of nine horses out of commission. If we were bunched up it would have been a lot worse.”
“All right, get the wounded back to Fort Hope. The able bodied men will remain here. She’s close by. She might even be watching. Let’s see if we can light up her life.”
Wade decided anyone watching would likely be in the area just east of the stadium where the ground was a bit higher on that side of the highway. He told his men, “We’re going to search to the east, four men to a unit, spaced a hundred feet apart. Look for reflections.”
They just crossed the second creek greenway when Little Soldier radioed, “The tower to the right. Looks like a church.”
“A church,” said Bill. “That’s the last place on earth I would have looked.”
“Yeah,” said Wade. “It’s payback time.” Pointing at his men, he said, “You four, flank left. You four, right. You four, take the rear. The rest of us, up the middle. Let’s go.”
Approaching the church at a full gallop, they were within three hundred feet of the complex when they came under heavy fire. Two horses went down instantly, but their riders reacted quickly and used them as shields to lay down cover fire for the others. The entire firefight lasted eight minutes. When it was over, Wade and his men entered the church and counted nine dead Light. There was no sign of Nina.
“This was just a blocking force so she could get her people out,” said Randal.
******
Nina watched the riders cross the greenway and stop. They all raised binoculars and looked directly at the church tower. “Cougar, they made us. Take all but ten of the family out the back. Leave my horse saddled and ready to go. I’ll be right behind you. You know where to go. Horst, I need you to delay them. Keep them pinned down, or at least slow them down until everyone gets out. Then get out yourself and head for the rendezvous area.”
Nina was furious they’d found the church. She berated Cougar for not having anti-reflective devices attached to the binoculars and scopes. In the past seven weeks, she’d lost a total of twenty-nine men, and although her war of attrition against Olympia was having the desired effect, she was not satisfied with the results. The murderer of her people—Captain Wade, the bastard Coltrane—was still breathing. She decided it was time to unleash her secret weapon, and turned her attention to Heather and Olivia.
“You were both upset when I wouldn’t allow you to have a tattoo. I’m sure you remember.”
“Of course we remember. You said the reason would be clear in the future. But we belong to you, Nina, and we have no mark to prove it,” said Olivia.
“That’s the point. You have no mark. And just for your information, do either of you think you need a stupid tattoo to know you’re mine? Both of you should know by now I would die for you.”
Both girls nodded in submission and smiled, basking in the warmth of belonging..
Nina turned to Heather and said, “You’re going into Fort Hope. You can gain entry precisely because you do not have ‘the mark of the beast.’ I didn’t tell you before, because it was irrelevant at the time, but they killed two of our snipers in Gateway and somehow figured out we tattooed everyone. That’s what they look for now when you enter Fort Hope. They make you strip at the gate and look you over for our tattoo. No tattoo, no problem. You can go in.”
“What do you want me to do?”
“When our infiltrators planted their bombs, they hid five in a safe place in case we wanted to use them later. Remember when I told you the way to spread terror was through children?”
Both of them nodded.
“You’re going into Fort Hope and hit them where it will really hurt. You’re going to bomb their school and kill their kids. The terror that creates will be off the charts. Olivia, I know you want to do your part too. Be patient.”
*****
In spite of herself, as Heather approached the gates of Fort Hope, she was nervous. She knew she looked like a harmless little waif, and carried nothing to indicate she even knew of The Light’s existence, but adrenaline was coursing through her body and she was apprehensive. Her mind was on hyper-drive and she thought, What if I smell like a cannibal? What if they won’t let me in? What if… Then she sucked it up and decided that Nina said she could get in and was counting on her to blow the school. She did not want to let her down.
Getting into Fort Hope was as easy as pretending to be exactly what she looked like: a helpless young woman who managed to survive on her own. They weren’t that concerned about who she was, how she managed to survive, or where she came from; they just made her strip and looked her over from head to toe for the tattoo. Once inside, Nina told her to wait two days in case they assigned someone to bird-dog her and gave her a cover story to position her perfectly for their plan. Heather told them she used to be a teacher’s aide, and just as Nina predicted, they assigned her to work at the school. On the evening of her second day, she placed the bombs in different locations in the school cafeteria and set the timers for the lunch period of the following day.
Heather made certain she was close to the cafeteria when the bombs exploded. When they detonated, there was instant chaos and she played her part. She ran into the cafeteria and started dragging children out, even sustaining several small cuts in the process. When the medical people arrived and took over, she stayed and helped them.
Heather’s bombs killed thirteen children ages six to eleven and injured twenty-four more. Three adults were killed and an additional six injured. Heather felt nothing except a sense of accomplishment. Nina would be proud of her. That’s all that mattered. The next day, she informed the gate guards she didn’t feel safe at Fort Hope and was leaving. She told them she’d managed to survive on her own for three years and didn’t intend to hide behind a fence while terrorists tried to kill her. She thanked them for the hospitality and wished them good luck.
Using a series of backtracks and random movements, she headed back to Nina.
******
The bombing of the school changed everything at Fort Hope. People were frightened. They were angry. They were heart-broken. Some of them wanted to leave.
Wade calmly addressed his troops. “I know you’re frustrated. I am too. She always seems to be one step ahead of us. How she managed to get someone inside the fort to blow the school, I have no idea. But she did. The question is, what are we going to do about it? We have to find her. Not just The Light. We have to find Nina. Without her at the helm, they’ll be a ship without a rudder.”
Randal said, “Dad, we have extra patrols out around Fort Hope, Gateway, and Zion. They’ve been effective. There’ve been no new attacks anywhere for a couple of weeks. I suggest we continue them and use every available man to search for their base. I don’t think they’re in Knoxville anymore. I think she moved back into the woods. Let’s start looking there.”
“All right, Randal, set it up. Anyone else have any suggestions?”
“
Wade,” said Bill, “I want to go on record as acknowledging I was wrong about her. She is good. But she’s lucky too. And I predict she’ll screw up sooner or later. We have to be ready to take advantage of the screw-up when it happens.”
******
Nina and Heather were going over the school mission. “You exceeded my expectations, Heather. And very soon we’re going to accomplish what we set out to do. Coltrane will be dead.”
“What do we do when he’s dead?”
“I don’t know. We’ll figure that out when the time comes.”
The next thirty days were a continuous series of guerilla attacks by The Light with an occasional takedown of some of their snipers as they were skulking away after an attack.
Nina and Heather were lying in bed when Nina said, “It’s time to unleash the secret weapon. Go get Olivia.”
Olivia returned with Heather moments later and looked at Nina expectantly, but didn’t say a word. Nina just looked at them both, and then started crying. Tears ran down her cheeks and her sobbing intensified to near hysterics.
Olivia was frightened. “Nina, what’s wrong?”
With effort, Nina gained a measure of control and said, “I won’t see you after today. I am going to die for you, Olivia. I am going to die for Heather…and for my family.”
Heather and Olivia simultaneously exclaimed, “No!”
Then, Heather said, “What are you talking about?”
“There is only one way we can get Coltrane. I have to kill him myself. And I will, but I’ll die in the process.”
“Please, Nina. Whatever you’re planning, don’t do it. Not if it means your life. There has to be another way,” said Olivia through her own tears.
“If there was another way, don’t you think I’d take it? There is no other way.”
“There has to be,” wailed Olivia. “You can’t die, Nina. You just can’t.”
“Nina, please. I’m begging you,” Heather cried. “For both of us…for all three of us, whatever you’re planning, please…please don’t do it.”
But Nina was adamant and refused to reconsider. After several minutes, with tears flowing freely, Heather asked what she was going to do.
“I’m going to surrender to them.”
Heather’s mouth dropped open. “No! You can’t. Why?”
“Why? Because there’s no other way, that’s why. I’m going to dress in my ceremonial garb and under a white flag, I’m going to Fort Hope and ask to speak to their commander. I’ll pretend I don’t know who that is. They’ll search me, of course, but they won’t find anything. Then they’ll take me to Coltrane. He’ll have every one of his lieutenants with him. Trust me, they won’t be able to resist. They’ll want to meet the bitch who has made their lives so miserable. It’s just human nature. They’ll actually treat me with a degree of respect. And they’ll want to hear what I have to say. Just as curiosity killed the cat, curiosity will kill Coltrane. With a bit of luck, most of his men will die with him.”
Olivia was aghast. “No, Nina, I can’t lose you. You’re my life. Please, no. There has to be another way.”
Heather said, “Nina, neither one of us will want to live if you’re gone. Please. Please don’t do this.” But Heather’s curiosity was also piqued, so she asked, “How are you going to kill him? You’ll be unarmed. You’ll be in a room with God knows how many capable soldiers and—”
“Do you both remember when I suggested we start doing Kegels on a daily basis?”
In unison they replied, “Yes.”
“Well those exercises were not for Horst’s benefit, I assure you of that. They aren’t going to search me for tattoos. Why would they? They’ll know who I am, and I will be sitting right in front of them with two pounds of C4 up my ass and a wired pressure switch in my vagina. One good squeeze and they’re history.”
Olivia and Heather silently stared at her in astonishment, mouths hanging open.
Olivia knelt and said, “Nina, you don’t have to do that. I can do it. I look just like you. They’ll never know the difference.”
“I can’t let you do that, Olivia. You’re going to take my place here, and you and Heather will run The Light. I don’t want you to die. I want you to live. This is something I have to do. I’m going to do it for you, for Heather, and for the family. It’s my responsibility.”
Heather and Olivia spent the next hour attempting to convince Nina she needed to live. The family would wither and die if she wasn’t there to guide them. Both of them repeated over-and-over that Olivia could carry out the mission. Buckets of tears were shed until reluctantly, Nina said, “Okay. Okay, Olivia. I’ll let you do it, but how will I live without you?”
Olivia replied, “You know I will die for you. You’ve always known that. I simply can’t allow you to be killed, Nina. And when I’m gone, you’ll still have Heather.”
Nina said, “Then we only have one more night together. Let’s make it memorable.”
The three of them cried long into the night. In the dark, Nina Lutrova was smiling.
Chapter Twenty
The Meeting
That night Nina decided Olivia would leave in three days. She wanted confirmation Coltrane and his men were dead, so the next morning, she dyed and cut Heather’s hair and told her to go back to Fort Hope. She was to tell the gate guards, or anyone else who asked, she was almost captured by the cannibals and came back for protection. “Tell them you’re scared to death. They won’t deny you entry, and you don’t have the tattoo, so you will get in. After Olivia kills those bastards, get as many of the details as you can and leave under the pretext we talked about. Just make sure you come back to me.”
When KCD (Kill Coltrane Day) arrived, Olivia, dressed in Nina’s black ceremonial costume with her sword on her back and a white flag perched on her thigh, sat on Hades five hundred feet from the gate. Three riders came out to meet her. She told them who she was and that she wanted to meet with their commander. Just as Nina predicted, they did a pat-down and took her sword, but did not strip search her. She waited while one of the men took the message to Coltrane. Five minutes later, she was escorted under heavy guard to the command center where she found Wade, Randal, Bill, Stuart, and six other men, waiting for her.
Wade said, “Under any other circumstances, I would say it was a pleasure to meet you. But that’s not the case. You have pretty big stones coming here, Nina. Talk.”
Following the script Nina prepared for her, Olivia said, “All right. Perhaps I came to discuss the terms of your surrender, Captain. Or maybe I grow tired of the conflict, and want to see if there’s a way to end it amicably.”
“Go on.”
“Unfortunately for you, neither one of those scenarios is the reason I’m here. Do you really think you can outsmart me? Do you really think, in the end, you can beat me? I assure you, Captain, that is not going to happen. To begin with, I am much more devious than you could ever imagine.”
“Surely you didn’t come to brag about how great you are. What would prevent me from killing you right now? If I do that, it’s game over and lights out for you and your clan.”
“Well for starters, Captain Coltrane, I am not Nina. My name is Olivia and I’m Nina’s twin. And the look on your face tells me you’re wondering what I have up my sleeve, but oops, I don’t have sleeves.” An evil grin slowly spread over her face and she said, “The real question you should be asking yourself is, what’s up her ass?”
~~**~~**~~**~~
I hope you enjoyed reading this first book in the Terminus series as much as I enjoyed writing it for you. Your feedback is important to me, so please take a moment to write a review and tell me what you thought.
Acknowledgements
Writing a book is no easy chore. The effort can be consuming. Frustrating. Even alienating. Good novels, at least coherent ones, would never see the published light of day without significant help and input from many people. A book is a collaborative effort. The author, the teller of the tale, gets the kudo
s, and if the book does well, he or she makes a few bucks. The fact of the matter is, the heart and soul of a good, well-written book is the editor. Good editors are scarce. Exceptional ones are rare. Fortunately for me, and for you, dear reader, Project Terminus is the beneficiary of an editor who took what was an immature yarn and transformed it into a good read. Thank you, Debra L Hartmann. You are that rare, exceptional editor and I am proud to call you friend. And thanks to Glen and the team at Streetlight Graphics. You are beyond talented.
About the Author
Nathan Combs, US Navy veteran, also spent many years as a deputy sheriff. He has hunted and camped throughout the United States and operated a successful survival website until July of 2015. He is retired in Cape Coral, Florida where he continues to write novels.
You can find out more at: nathancombsauthor.com