by M. R. Forbes
“I’m a Stacker. I’ve never been in a hospital before I came to Earth.”
“Lie down on the table. You’ll get pulled back into the machine. It’ll be loud, but some people find it relaxing. We’ll measure your brain activity, and then I’ll take some blood, and we’ll try to match things up.”
“Sounds exciting.”
“What you experienced sounds a lot more exciting. I asked James to write something up on what happened. I expect you to do the same.”
“Paperwork?”
“We need to do our best to understand what we might be dealing with, especially considering the nature of your mission.”
“Roger that.”
Nathan went over to the table and laid down. Doc shifted the pillow under his head.
“Comfortable?” she asked.
“I feel fine, Doc.”
“Good. It’ll take about thirty minutes. Just relax.”
“Roger.”
She activated the controls, and he was carried into the machine. He closed his eyes as it began to thump around him.
It didn’t take long for the rhythmic noise of the machine put him to sleep.
Chapter 36
Doc released Nathan from the hospital after she took his blood. They gave him a fresh change of clothes and would have driven him back to his apartment, but he insisted on walking. He was either a prisoner of Edenrise or a part of Edenrise, and if he was a part of it, he didn’t need someone with him everywhere he went.
They let him go without argument, and he found himself on the street wearing a pair of black USSF utility fatigues. The hospital was only a few blocks from his apartment, and he decided not to go directly to the building. Instead, he walked east until he reached the park he had observed from his balcony. It was early morning, the sun was still down, and he couldn’t see the ocean from the lawn facing it, but he was thankful for the moment of peace and solitude. He sat on the grass, realizing then that it was the first time he had been unaccompanied since they had arrived at Edenrise.
It was the first time he had been truly alone since he had come to Earth.
He spent the time thinking about Niobe. Everything had been such a whirlwind, and now that he had a moment alone he missed her so damn much. He wanted her to be sitting on the lawn beside him. He wanted her head on his shoulder, her hand in his. He wanted to hear her voice, to see her smile, and to talk about all the small things that he loved so much. He wanted to hear about folding space and listen to her spout equations he would never understand.
It was the first time he was alone, and he didn’t want to be alone. The longer he spent sitting there, the more his thoughts wandered, the worse he started to feel. His mind was anything but calm. Maybe he should have asked Doc for the same sedative she had given James?
He stood up. He should go back to his apartment and try to get some rest. A nice hot shower might help him calm down.
“Relentless.”
The voice surprised him. He hadn’t heard anyone approaching. He turned around to see James approaching behind him.
“General,” he replied, coming to attention. He assumed since James had used his call sign he was there in an official capacity. “How are you feeling, sir?”
“Well enough,” James replied. “At ease.” Nathan relaxed his posture. “Doc wanted to shoot me up with another sedative, but I have conflicting orders from Tinker. We’ve got work to do.”
“Sir?”
“Your friend Hayden. He escaped Fort McGuire, remember?”
Hayden. Nathan had forgotten about him. “What about him, sir?”
“Tinker is pissed he isn’t dead. He wants us to rectify that immediately.”
“Sir, I thought we were letting the sheriff come to us?”
“That was my plan. Apparently, Tinker has other ideas. He doesn’t want Sheriff making it to Edenrise.”
“He’s afraid of him?”
James laughed. “I doubt that. It’s more personal. Tinker isn’t used to people standing up to him. The last one that did nearly destroyed everything he’s worked so hard to build.”
“You’re talking about his brother?”
“Affirmative. Tinker isn’t in any condition to deal with Sheriff himself. It’s up to us to finish what we started. Our failure. Our responsibility.”
It wasn’t lost on Nathan that James was calling it “our” failure, despite the fact that he was the general, and it was his mission. He had Hayden dead to rights at Crosston and let him live, thinking the virus would get him. There was a part of Nathan hoping Hayden would make it to the city and do whatever he came to do. He knew the man wouldn’t kill innocent people, and maybe having some decisions made for him would help stabilize his perspective on the situation?
“Did he even ask about what happened while we were recovering the mainframe?”
“No. He has the computer. He’s working on getting the data off it. It’s up to Doc to determine why we had the hallucinations.”
“She didn’t tell me anything about the tests she ran. Does she know what happened?”
“Not yet.” James put his hand up. “No more questions. Like I said, we have work to do.”
“Roger. So, what’s our plan? Do we know where Hayden is?”
James smiled. “Those are questions.”
“Roger that, General.”
“The plan is to kill him. We don’t have a location on him just yet, but if he wants to get here in any decent amount of time, he’ll have to stick to Liberator roads. We’ve already deployed drones to search for him, and Tinker wants us ready to take him out ourselves once we have a positive ID.”
“When do we leave?” Nathan asked, noticing he had a sudden chill.
“Asap,” James replied. “I’m headed to the base to suit up. Once we’ve located Sheriff, we’ll take the Pulse to him, drop in, and complete our original mission.”
“The Pulse? You want to bring a dropship?”
“Fucking Sheriff destroyed the chopper,” James snarled. “And killed Buzzcut. I owe him for that, too.” He stepped toward Nathan, getting in his face. Nathan held his ground, meeting the General’s sharp gaze. “I know you and Hayden have some kind of thing going between you, like a Tom and Jerry cartoon.”
“Tom and Jerry?” Nathan asked.
“It’s an old stream. It doesn’t matter. The point is, you better decide where your loyalties are, Nathan. You better decide right now and be fucking adamant in that decision. You have a chance to take Sheriff out; you don’t hesitate. You don’t make excuses. I don’t give a shit if you respect him. He’s the enemy. Do you understand?”
“Yes, sir.”
James smiled. “Good. I’m going to suit up. You meet me at the Pulse in one hour. I’ll have a bodysuit, armor, and weaponry waiting for you. I trust you can find your way there, yes Colonel?”
“Yes, sir.”
James turned around and headed away. Nathan watched him for a few seconds, feeling uneasy. He wasn’t dumb enough to think this new mission was as simple as a vendetta between Tinker and Hayden. Tinker could have sent James alone or with a squad of Liberators if that’s all it was about.
No, he was pretty sure this was about trust. Whether it was Tinker’s idea or James’ idea, one or both of them wanted to be sure they could trust him to do the hard thing. Stackers were loyal to a fault, which was why the original James Stacker had refused to give up even when the war was already lost. It was that unyielding commitment to the United States that had kept him fighting long after everyone else was gone. It was the reason Tinker had gotten where he was today, and the reason they were on the verge of finally winning the war.
They wanted to trust him, but they didn’t. Not entirely, even after he had saved James’ life. This was a test of his loyalty, to be sure he would do what needed to be done when it came to Hayden. He didn't doubt that if James caught up to Hayden first, he would try to grab him instead of killing him, and then make Nathan finish the job.
Another
chill ran down his spine.
He wasn’t sure he would be able to do it.
Chapter 37
The Hellion shrieked again. From the sound of it, the creature was waiting right at the top of the stairwell, as though it knew if they wanted to leave they would have to go past it.
Hayden stood at the doorway to the stairs, his eyes on the steps leading up to the monster. It was there for him. It wanted another fight. He was dead if he went out there alone. It had an armored hide and could heal from its wounds in minutes. Hell, he had already shot it multiple times with fifty caliber rounds that did pierce its skin, and it had come back for more.
How was that fair?
“What are we going to do, Sheriff?” Gus asked. “Wait for it to come down?”
“It’s smart,” Hayden replied. “Smart enough to guess we’ll get the drop on it if it rushes down here, and smart enough to know we have to come out sometime.”
“What about Pyro? Maybe she can draw it away?”
“The car can’t get down here, and she can barely walk. It’ll kill her if she gets close enough to shoot it.”
Gus was silent for a moment. “I’ll do it.”
“Do what?”
“Go up there and draw it away. I’ll probably only make it a few seconds, but that should be long enough for you to get past it and make a run for it.”
“No. I appreciate the sentiment, but we aren’t doing it that way. We stick together.”
He turned around, looking back at the Desperados. They were terrified, and he knew why. They were waiting for him to force them out there as bait. To send them through the gates of hell and into the devil’s mouth.
That wasn’t his intention. At least not yet. He looked past them, to their tents and sleeping bags. He needed something to distract the Hellion. Something that might confuse it, if only for a second or two.
“Billy, what kind of crap do you have in your tent?” he asked.
“Crap, Sheriff?” the man replied.
“I want something shiny, or something loud, or something that might be strange to the Hellion. Have you ever had a dog?”
“No, sir.”
“I have a dog back home.” He glanced at Gus. “His name is Gus. He was a friend’s, but that friend died. Anyway, sometimes you show him something new and his head tilts to the side, and he stares at it like it’s the oddest thing he’s ever seen, and he gets transfixed on it for a few seconds. And then when you toss it, he rushes over and sniffs at it and tries to figure out what the hell it’s all about. I’m looking for something like that.”
“I might have something, Sheriff,” Clint said.
“Where?”
“You need to untie me.”
“Are you kidding? You would have shot me in the back if I had given you a loaded gun.”
“What am I going to do to you, Sheriff? Look at that arm of yours.”
Hayden glanced around the room. He didn’t see anything that large in it.
“It isn’t here,” Clint said. “Back that way, behind the boilers. I didn’t want the other guys messing with it when I wasn’t around.”
“Gus, go ahead and untie him,” Hayden said. “Bring him back to the boilers. He tries anything; he twitches just a little, you shoot him.”
“Pozz that, Sheriff,” Gus said.
He walked over to Clint and lowered his weapon to untie the man’s hand. Hayden kept him covered while he did, but Clint wasn’t quite stupid enough to make the same mistake twice.
“This way,” Clint said, guiding Gus past the small camp.
Hayden could see the boilers near the corner of the space, and he watched Gus train the rifle on Clint’s back while the man vanished behind a pair of sizeable old oil tanks. He emerged a moment later, cradling something in his arms.
Hayden smiled.
“That’s perfect,” he said as they returned. “Does it work?”
“Of course it works,” Clint said, placing the small drone-like device on the ground. It was a silver sphere with a white ring around it, and three tiny legs sticking out at the base like a tripod.
“What is it?” Gus asked.
“The box I took it out of said ‘UFO’ on it,” Clint said. “It’s bullshit. Just a few rotors in a plastic shell, but watch this.” He turned it over and flipped a power button to activate it. It had a second piece, a small tablet device with a screen and two small joysticks on it. He tapped the screen, and the thing started flashing with multicolored lights and rising into the air. “I remember I made the same face you just described the first time I found power for it and turned it on.”
“How well can you fly it?” Hayden asked.
“I can get it up there and get the beastie interested,” Clint said.
“I’m going to be putting a lot of trust in you.”
Clint nodded. “Like you said, if you die, it’ll be coming for us next. I’d rather not get shredded by a monster.”
“Don’t worry Sheriff,” Billy said. “We’ll keep him in line.”
“All right,” Hayden said. He walked over to Gus and opened the gun bag, finding loaded magazines for their pistols. Then he went around to their backs and untied their other hands, putting the magazines in them. “We can’t do this without trust. You can’t survive long anywhere out here without trust. I didn’t kill your people because I wanted to. I killed them because they were trying to kill me and mine. I don’t agree with what you do, and I hope you’ll give up this life and find a real settlement to call home. But we don’t have to be enemies. I hope you get that now.”
“I do,” Billy said.
“Me too,” Chance said. “You could have shot us when Clint tried to shoot you. You’re a good man, Sheriff.”
“No, I’m not,” Hayden said. “I’m just trying to help this world get back to what it used to be.” He turned to Clint. “Are you ready?”
“Pozz,” the Desperado replied. The Hellion cried out again, the call echoing down the stairwell. Clint paled. “I think pozz.”
“It’ll be fine. Stay down here. It’s going to chase me when I run.”
“Good luck, Sheriff,” Billy said.
“Gus, let’s go,” Hayden said.
“You know, Sheriff, I’ve been thinking about career opportunities. Cannibalism isn’t that unappealing to me at the moment.”
Hayden didn’t think the comment was funny. “Let’s go.”
They made their way into the stairwell. Hayden held the door while Clint navigated the small toy through. The lights were off for the moment, the silver and white disc rising through the stairs ahead of them. He hoped the remote would reach up to the top.
They approached the last flight of stairs slowly. Hayden kept his revolver ready. Gus did the same with his rifle. They took the last ten stairs at a minimal pace, careful not to make a sound. They could hear the Hellion topside, its breathing heavy as it paced impatiently back and forth. Would it have come down if they waited long enough?
The hardest part would be opening the door to let the drone out. They had to do it quickly. Hayden positioned himself in front of the toy and motioned to the corner near the door, directing Clint. The drone floated over to where he had signaled, right at the edge and ready to shoot through.
The Hellion stopped moving, its breathing suddenly falling silent.
Why?
The drone made a slight whispering noise as it hovered beside the doorway. Hayden was still. He didn’t hear anything else around. He hoped Pyro hadn’t decided to try to help them. He crept up the last step, crouching low to stay out of sight from the small window in the door. He raised himself slowly, tilting his head to get his eyes in a better position to look out.
The Hellion was there, completely motionless, head raised slightly. Its nostrils were flaring, drawing in the air and huffing it out. One of its hands was up, claws flexing. They were covered in dried blood.
Hayden ducked as the creature suddenly turned to face the door. His heart thumped in his chest, and he
put his hand against it, ready to throw it open and let the drone out.
The Hellion began to move.
Not toward them.
Away.
It charged off, back to the west side of the shopping center.
“Whooo,” Gus said softly. “I can finally fucking breathe again. That was terrifying.”
Hayden put his finger to his lip to quiet the other mongrel. The Hellion wouldn’t have run off unless someone else was nearby. Who?
It didn’t matter. It was the break they needed. Hayden rose and pushed the door open, leading with the revolver as he moved back out into the building. Gus followed behind him.
“Pyro,” Hayden whispered, activating his comm. “Status?”
“Still hiding out in the trunk of the car, Sheriff,” she replied a moment later. “I think I heard something pass by overhead a little while ago, but I’m not sure.”
“Could be drones looking for us,” he said. “If they spotted the car, they might know we’re here. Or were here.” He knew leaving it out in the open might be a problem, but they had run into bigger problems. “You haven’t heard any cars or trucks?”
“Negative, Sheriff. I can take a look around?”
“Nezz. Stay where you are. The Hellion took off in your direction. Maybe it heard the drones too? Or it could be the Liberators are here and came on foot. I don’t know yet. We’re going to head west, get outside, and circle back.”
“Pozz that.”
Hayden looked at Gus and pointed down the hallway headed west. More old storefronts lined the passage, with plenty of broken glass and old debris scattered around them. He led the way at a light jog, careful to keep his eyes and ears open for the Hellion. The drone hovered behind him for a moment, and then dropped to the ground and didn’t move. The Desperados didn’t want anything to do with whatever was going to happen next.
Neither did Hayden.
As if he had a choice.
Chapter 38
“There,” James said, pointing at the display in the bottom right corner. “That’s one of ours.”