by P. T. Hylton
“They’re going back to Agartha,” Jaden growled.
Alex’s mind raced. If New Haven made it back to Agartha, the plan wouldn’t work. “We have to do this fast. We’ll make the hand off. Then you have to cut them off before they get to the city, George.” She turned back to the others. “I’m going to stay up here for the moment to see if I can get eyes on any Twisted trying to attack our flanks. Ed, make damn sure no more Twisted get through that door.”
“You can count on me, Captain.” From the determination in his voice, Alex had no doubt.
Owl pulled the first aid kit from the compartment mounted on the wall of the transport. “I’m going to see what I can do about patching up Felix. Shout if you see any Twisted, and I’ll get back in the fight.”
For a few minutes, the truck was silent. Up ahead, George’s ship was slowing to keep pace with the transport and descending to five hundred feet. From what Alex could see, the road on either side of them was empty. The sound of her own breathing filled her ears as she watched, waiting, knowing the next attack could come at any moment. She felt something wet on her forearm and looked down to see a cut she had no memory of receiving. It could have come from the Twisted in the transport, the fight at the nuclear silo, or even something earlier. She had no idea.
“You holding it together?” Alex asked Chuck.
“So far,” he said. “Keeping her as steady as I can.”
“You’re doing a damn fine job.”
He nodded up ahead. “The pavement looks pretty intact up there. If we can make it a bit farther, we should be able to put some distance between—”
Movement on both sides of the road cut him off. Two Twisted on each side of them burst out of the brush, leaping at the transport. There was a loud thump, quickly followed by another as two Twisted landed on the roof.
“They’re on top of us!” Ed shouted.
Jaden didn’t waste a moment, shoving the warhead into Ed’s hands. “Hold this. Owl, come with me.”
Ed staggered backward under the sudden weight of the three-hundred-pound weapon. Jaden jumped out of the back, hauling himself onto the roof of the transport with one hand. Owl quickly followed.
From the cab of the truck, all Alex heard was a series of grunts. A Twisted fell off either side of the vehicle.
Alex glanced in the side view mirror and saw that three more Twisted had emerged from the side of the road and were racing toward them. She knew Jaden and Owl could handle them if they tried to go for the roof, but the back door was uncovered at the moment with Ed holding the warhead and Felix injured. She scooped her rifle off the floor of the truck and rolled down the passenger window. Then she slipped her torso through, sitting on the window, her legs still inside the vehicle. The Twisted were far enough away and the pavement was smooth enough that see was able to take careful aim, dropping all three in quick succession. She slipped back inside.
Chuck glanced at her. “We’re not going to get a better shot than this, Alex. The road is smooth and clear.”
“Roger that,” she said, and grabbed the radio. “Come on down, George. It’s time to make the transfer.”
“On my way,” he answered, a somber tone in his voice.
The ship above them quickly dropped down. As it reached thirty feet and matched their speed, the cargo door opened.
Jaden’s head appeared, hanging down from the roof at the back of the transport. “Ed, hand me the warhead.”
“Gladly,” Ed grunted as he struggled to hoist the weapon into Jaden’s outstretched hands.
“Alex…” Chuck said, his voice thick with concern.
“I see it.” Up ahead, the road was in even worse condition than most of what they’d encountered so far. She leaned her head out of the still-open window. “Jaden, we have to do this now.”
“Got it,” Jaden shouted back. He shot into the air with a mighty leap and disappeared into the open cargo door of the ship.
For a long moment, the ship kept pace with them.
“Hold it steady, Chuck,” Alex muttered.
The truck hit the rough part of the pavement, and Chuck was forced to slow down. Just as the ship above them started to pull ahead, Jaden jumped out, his arms and legs pinwheeling as he fell through the air. He landed on the roof with a thump.
Alex grabbed the radio. “You’re clear, George. Get out of here!”
Ed let out a laugh. “Holy shit, I don’t believe it! We did it. The plan worked!”
Jaden’s voice was laced with sadness as he climbed back into the vehicle. “We completed the first step. But the hard part still lies ahead.”
13
Tankards never struggled to find patrons, but today there was standing room only. The simple bar had always given men and women a place to meet after a hard day’s work, a place to laugh and bond with each other. Some looked for love, at least for a night; others drowned their sorrows. Today, however, the bar was filled with somber tension and the low rumble of hushed voices.
Billy, the owner of Tankards, stepped out from the back room. He scanned the bar with his eyes and nodded to the bouncer by the door. “We all clear?” The bouncer opened the door, looked around outside for a moment, and nodded back at Billy. The owner disappeared into his office for a moment and came back with Jessica by his side. The crowd went silent when they saw her.
“Thanks for coming,” she said, addressing the crowd. “I know that we’re all risking our lives with these meetings. The fact that we’re here means that New Haven’s will is not broken. As long as we are still willing to fight, we have a chance.” She hoped she sounded confident. She felt like her knees were about to buckle.
A voice came from the back. “Do you have a plan?”
This sent a murmur through the crowd.
“Yes, unfortunately I can’t share all of the details yet. If any of you are turned, Maryana will get all the information you have. For now, you’ll have to trust that we are planning to make our move soon. We are going to kill her; we just have to pick our moment.”
“Is she really that bad?” asked a woman near the front. “Ashley seemed okay after she was turned.”
Jessica looked the woman in the eyes. “That, I can answer. Maryana is pure evil. Her goal is death and torture. She will try to manipulate us, and she is very good at it. I need you all to see past her lies and make sure that everyone else does, too.” She looked at Louie, the bartender. “Is it ready to go?” He gave her a thumbs-up. “I’m going to show you something that isn’t going to be easy to watch, but you all need to see it. I tapped into the city video circuit and took this footage from Maryana’s last recruitment session.”
The monitor over the bar clicked on and footage from the Badges’ holding cell began to play. The footage was bad enough, but the audio pumping through the bar’s powerful sound system made it even worse. There were plenty of screams and lots of crying, but the most horrific sound was Maryana’s laughter as she worked on the citizens she’d captured. Jessica watched the crowd; most averted their eyes from the screen. Some of them appeared to be frozen, unable to look away, despite the expressions of horror on their faces. After two minutes of footage, one of the men in the room ran over to a garbage can and vomited. Jessica gave Louie a signal to cut the video.
The room fell silent. The men and women stared into space, shaky and pale.
Jessica let the silence hang in the air for a few moments before speaking. “That tape is three hours long. I apologize that you had to see even a few minutes. When Maryana speaks to you, she may seem fun and charming, but that is just part of the torture. She is a monster all the way through. I need you all to see that. I need all of you to make your friends and family see it. The only way we can beat her is together, and the only way we can be united is to see through her lies.”
“What can we do?” The question came from a small woman standing off to the side of the bar.
“For now, keep your eyes open and tell everyone you know about the danger we are in. If you see any weakness in Mary
ana’s security, let Louie know. Pass along anything you think may help. Other than that, stay safe and stay hidden. Once Maryana realizes that there is a resistance, things will get ugly, fast.” She looked at the crowd and tried to make eye contact with each one of them. “Louie will serve you some drinks. Once you are composed, I want you to leave in small groups, like it’s just a normal day at Tankards. I’ll call another meeting when I have more information.”
Jessica turned and walked to the back room with Billy. The people in the bar tried their best to act normal as they discussed what they had just seen.
“You did great out there.” Billy said. “CB would be proud.”
He opened a drawer to his desk and pulled out a bottle of brown liquid. He put a glass in front of Jessica.
“No, thanks, I’d better keep a clear head,” she said.
Billy pulled the glass back in front of himself and began to pour. “I’m fine with anything that will erase what I just saw.” He took a large sip and let out a sigh. “What is the plan? How do we take her out?”
Before she could answer, there was a knock at the door. Billy frowned as he walked over and opened it a crack. His expression changed to a smile. “Look who’s here. Sick of domestic life already?”
He pulled the door open the rest of the way, and Wesley stepped through.
“Not at all, but I’ll be damned if I let a vampire rule this city.” Wesley glanced at Jessica. “Especially after what she did to CB.”
Jessica felt a rush of mixed emotions at the sight of Wesley. On the one hand, having an experienced soldier would make things much easier. On the other, she did not want someone else she cared about to put himself in harm’s way. “Are you sure about this, Wesley? Your family…”
“I’m sure,” he said quickly. “They’re with Vanessa’s mom. They’re as safe as anyone can be, with Maryana in charge.”
Billy shrugged. “I’m not going to turn down your help. Not at a time like this. Jessica here was just about to tell us the plan.”
Jessica considered trying to convince Wesley not to help, but Billy was right. They were in no position to turn him down. “We need to get a strong explosive close to Maryana. If we can rig up something small, we can get in range without drawing suspicion, I can handle the rest.”
Wesley thought a moment. “Can we get some charges from the GMT’s storage?”
“I don’t think so. The Twisted are always swarming that area. They don’t allow any humans in there, so it would be hard to sneak in. I think I can rig something up with the supplies from other departments, but it won’t be easy. I’ll need parts from electrical, farming, and communications.”
“Assuming we can do all that, how will you get the device past her guards?” Billy asked.
“I’ll turn myself in. I can’t risk them finding the bomb so I will need to hide it well. I’m thinking, a small incision in the stomach cavity. I will be the delivery device, but I will need you to detonate it. They will find the detonator if I have it on me.”
Billy and Wesley exchanged a surprised glance. Then Billy looked straight into Jessica's eyes. “No. There has to be a better way. I know you will do anything to save this city, but losing you is not an option. New Haven will need you after Maryana is gone.”
Jessica’s voice was hard. “Billy, I don’t want to die, but it might be the only way.”
“That’s right. It might be. There may be other ways. Let’s figure out how to get an explosive. Then we can work on blowing Maryana to bits. I know you are smart enough to find another way.”
Billy reached for the glass on the desk, but before he touched it, it suddenly slid across the desk and shattered on the floor. Other items fell along with it as the room seemed to shift and tilt. Jessica and Wesley grabbed onto the desk to steady themselves.
“What the hell?” Billy said.
“The ship is accelerating fast.” Jessica thought for a second. “It must be the GMT. Either they’re coming for us, or Maryana is going for them. Either way, I’ve got something to do.”
Jessica grabbed her tablet and pulled up a list of parts. She transferred the information to Billy’s device. “I just gave you the list of things I’ll need for the bomb. You two get to work. Hopefully the GMT will save us, but we can’t count on it.”
Before the men could respond, Jessica opened the vent to the duct in the floor of his office and climbed in headfirst. The first few feet of duct work were just wider than her shoulders. As she squeezed through, her body blocked almost all of the light coming from the office. Her heart raced as she squirmed through the dark space. She came to a tee junction and things opened up. After that, it was still tight, but she had enough room to crawl on her hands and knees.
She traveled as quickly as she could without making much noise. The image of a Twisted claw tearing through the ductwork and grasping her neck flashed in her mind. She tried to stay focused on the task. If the Twisted did find her, she knew that she couldn’t fight them off, so she decided not to worry about it.
After a few minutes of crawling, she checked the ship’s map on her tablet. She crawled to the next junction in the duct and went right. Then she opened a grate and lowered herself into an electrical room.
The hum of the fans cooling the equipment filled the air as she surveyed the large breakers and levers protruding from metal cabinets. She connected her tablet to the control computer and looked up the information that she needed. Standing in front of the circuit breakers, she checked the numbers one more time. She removed two of the breakers and smashed them. Then she climbed back into the ductwork.
The movement of the ship felt more pronounced as she crawled through the ducts. It was moving erratically, nothing like the steady path and gradual changes in speed she was used to. She guessed that they were chasing something.
She crawled through the ductwork as fast as she could, but it was slow going. She worried that the ship would catch up to the craft it was chasing and blow it out of the sky. The backup circuit for the defensive systems was still operational, and if she didn’t get to it in time, it might mean the death of her friends.
She came to the next vent covering and checked her tablet. She was a long way from the other electrical room, and she needed to move faster. She listened for a few seconds and when she didn’t hear anyone in the hallway beneath her, she opened the vent and dropped to the floor. Thankfully, the hall was empty.
Jessica ran down the corridor and turned left at the first junction, nearly careening into two coverall-clad men standing in the middle of the hall. Both men brought their hands up in a defensive position, clearly startled. The three stood motionless for a moment. Then one of the workers said, “Jessica? What are you doing here?”
She recognized his face but couldn’t remember the man’s name. “I’m in a rush. You know, life and death stuff.”
He stepped aside and nodded at her. “Don’t let me slow you down.”
Jessica breathed a sigh of relief and continued on her way. As long as she didn’t run into Twisted, she should be able to shut down the ship’s defenses in time.
Maryana leaned back against the flight control room’s bulkhead, her arms crossed, contemplating what Jaden and his pet humans were attempting to accomplish. Five hours ago, a ship had left Agartha, heading north, and New Haven had followed. The ship had led them deep into the Canadian Rockies before suddenly disappearing among the mountains. Maryana had held position, wondering what Jaden wanted to find in such a remote location. The ship had appeared back on radar a half hour later, and they’d given chase until it once again disappeared. The cycle repeated itself three times before Maryana realized the truth.
She’d been duped, and Maryana hated being duped. The little ship that had led her away from Agartha had been a distraction, and she’d fallen for it. Worse yet, she was out of radio range with her Twisted on the ground, so she had no idea what Jaden had been distracting her from.
She’d immediately changed course and headed back
toward Agartha.
And now, a few hundred miles from the city under the mountain, the small, speedy ship had once again appeared on radar. Whatever its game, Maryana was done playing. She wanted that ship out of her sky.
“How long until we can fire?” she asked the room.
Councilman Horace squinted his strange, Twisted eyes at a monitor. “Less than two minutes.”
“You have ninety seconds to fire or I’m pulling off your left ear.” Maryana had to admit, Horace was proving to be quite competent. Since the City Council wasn’t doing too much actual counseling since her takeover, she’d sent Horace back to his former role as head pilot. She wanted the best man behind the yoke, and he was it.
Yet, despite the competence of her pilot and the smoothness with which her plan was operating thus far, the spark she’d felt a few days ago was already starting to fade. It was fun to torture the people, but even that joy was fleeting. She’d hoped the people of New Haven would prove to be a unique challenge. After all, weren’t these the hardened descendants of the last survivors of her infestation? They’d spent a century-and-a-half living in the sky, surviving against all odds. But they’d disappointed her, proving to be just as weak and easily cowed as the people of the twenty-first century. It was a shame.
Still, she was trying to look on the sunny side. She ruled over a flying city. That wasn’t all bad. And there was the hint of an intriguing possibility on the horizon. In every torture session, every meeting about possible threats with her Twisted, there was one name that kept coming up. The light of hope sparked in the citizen’s eyes when they said the name, even in the direst circumstances.
Captain Alexandria Goddard of the Ground Mission Team.
The people believed that Alex would save them.
Maryana had met Alex Goddard. She’d even driven a knife into her shoulder. The woman had seemed spirited, but she hadn’t struck Maryana as extraordinary. Perhaps the people just needed a hero, and in this de-populated future, this woman was the closest thing to it. Or maybe there was more to Goddard than Maryana had seen in their brief encounter. Either way, she looked forward to facing the woman again. She looked forward to breaking her spirit, to forcing her to beg for her life. Preferably in front of the entire city. There was something truly wonderful about forcing a large group of people to see the fallibility of their heroes. It killed a tiny little piece of their souls.