by KJ Nelson
The man looked utterly and completely relieved. His eyes rolled up into the back of his head, which was gone in another second. His torso went next, followed by his legs and feet.
The wind picked up slightly and blew the ashes directly into Ben’s face. He gagged and choked, rubbing at his eyes. It was the same ash that had covered the entire world for months after the aliens destroyed every major city on the planet.
Cameron didn’t hesitate, she raised the replicator and pointed it at Cletus. She focused the scan, but before she could complete it, a shot rang out.
Her mind exploded with pain. Not only the pain as the bullet ripped straight through the replicator then her palm, but also the pain of her mind dying with the replicator. She felt its anguish as it died. She cried out in agony.
The metal disc fell away from her hand onto the ground. All of its power depleted, all of its potential to save humanity gone, forever.
32
Cameron screamed over and over. She reached her blood-soaked hand down to the replicator. She could tell it was gone. I didn’t hum at her touch as it once did.
“Don’t move,” Cletus yelled, aiming his shotgun at her face. “What did you do to Hank, lady?”
Cameron stood in place, not wanting to give the man a reason to shoot her. Ben was freaking out. It was his rifle that had shot the replicator and Cameron’s hand. One clean shot.
“That...that looked like what happened to Charleston,” Ben said in a high pitched voice. “The way he just floated away.”
He was crying again, though no tears ran down his cheeks.
“What do we do now? Rodrick is going to kill us,” Ben continued rocking back and forth. He started dry heaving into the dirt.
Cletus walked over and picked up Stafford’s pack. His movement drew Cameron’s gaze away from the replicator for the first time.
She looked at Stafford and saw the concern on his face for her condition. She was still moaning under her breath at not only the loss of the replicator but the feeling of it being destroyed.
She had her suspicions that it was more than just a tool or machine. What she felt when it was shot confirmed it. The replicator was alive. Their minds being paired the way they were, Cameron felt with granular detail every emotion that the replicator felt as it died.
The regret that it would no longer be able to serve its purpose. Its pain at being blasted apart. In that split second, Cameron changed. The thought of how many people she had killed in the last two years, made her sick. If they had felt one ounce of that pain and regret as she took their life, it was more than she could bear.
Cameron looked over to Drac and saw him staring at her intently. His eyes burned into hers with a steady passion.
They told her to pull it together. They told her he knew how it felt. They brought her sanity.
Cameron sighed out one last sob and nodded to Drac.
“I said, what did you do to Hank?” Cletus said, his voice raising an octave higher.
Cameron decided the best course was to remain quiet. She looked to Stafford and Drac and shook her head in one quick gesture. She fought back another round of anguish and steeled herself.
“You’re not going to answer?” Ben’s face was still deathly pale as he looked where Hank had been standing only moments ago.
“Rodrick is going to kill us.” He said again, turning to Cletus.
“No, he ain’t,” Cletus spoke calmly. It was obvious he had a plan forming. He was chewing his bottom lip as his mind worked.
“We’ll tell him that Hank got killed by these three and that we killed them back in vengeance.” It was clear why Hank was in charge. It was obvious Cletus wasn’t very skilled in the art of subterfuge.
“He’ll kill us for letting them kill Hank,” Ben insisted. Cameron had met Rodrick and from that one experience, she knew Ben was way more likely to be right.
She weighed her options then decided on her course of action. Without any weapons, she had no choice but to redirect the two men, otherwise, they were most likely to kill them and run from Rodrick’s fury.
“My name is Cameron. I’m Warlord of the co-op.” Cameron spoke in her powerful voice stopping the two men in their tracks.
They both stared at her as they thought through what she said. Cletus started to smile, seeing his way out. Rodrick would be so overjoyed they’d captured a rival Warlord that he would probably reward them instead of killing them.
“Get them on their feet, and tie them up. We’re taking them back to the mansion.” Cletus smiled wickedly.
33
The mansion, the compound that the Freeriders called home, was situated on banks of the Ashley River. It was a huge estate owned by the most wealthy man in South Carolina before the Crumbling.
Cameron had her men scout the perimeter of the walls years ago when the Freeriders set up there, and they were impenetrable. Cameron dreaded her fate if they weren’t able to find a way to escape before they got there.
Ben and Cletus stood all three of them up and tied their wrists with para-cord. The bindings were extremely tight and Cameron didn’t think she would be able to slip her hands free of their binding. It looked like Stafford and Drac were in similar situations.
The men didn’t bother bandaging Cameron’s wounded hand, and it throbbed in agony. She tried to keep her mind off the pain.
Over their mouths went three terribly dirty handkerchiefs. Cameron could smell sweat and body odor emanating from hers and she dry heaved at the acrid odor. Fortunately, they left their eyes uncovered.
The two men loaded Cameron and Drac onto Hank’s horse and tied their feet to the stirrups.
“You’re going to have to walk, big man,” Cletus took in Stafford’s bulk and shook his head. “Where do you find enough food to feed those muscles?”
Of course, Stafford couldn’t answer with his mouth covered, so he just stared at the man with a blank expression.
Before they left, Cameron watched Cletus walk over to the husk of the replicator and put it in his satchel.
Sitting on the horse Cameron felt Drac’s stomach pushed up against her hands behind her. His tight abdominal muscles flexed as the horse began to move. It was extremely difficult to ride without the use of their hands, and it took all the strength in her legs to keep from slipping off the side.
Cameron leaned into Drac, and he leaned into her. Together they were able to maintain their balance. Cameron hoped she could trust Drac to help if it came to a fight. His life was on the line as well.
Without being able to talk, Cameron had no idea how she was going to be able to get Cletus and Ben to stop long enough to mount an escape.
After they had traveled several miles, Cameron turned in the saddle enough to see Drac’s face. With her head, she motioned leaning off the side. Drac nodded his understanding and Cameron purposefully allowed herself to fall out of the saddle.
With her legs tied to the stirrups, she wasn’t able to fall completely to the ground. It took a painfully long ten seconds for Ben to notice she had fallen and to turn his horse. Ben shouted for them to stop. Cameron got what she wanted and Cletus who was leading Cameron and Drac’s horse slowed to a halt.
Cletus climbed down off his dark brown animal and walked over to Cameron. He lifted her with one of his gangly arms and righted her in the saddle. He breathed again in her face and Cameron held her breath to keep from inhaling his stench.
Once she was upright again in the saddle, Cletus reared back his shotgun butt and smashed Cameron in the side of the head. Cameron fell forward unconscious.
Cameron came to as she fell to the ground from the horse. The cord holding her legs had been cut so she was able to fall completely to the ground. The sensation of falling shocked her brain into consciousness and she screamed into the handkerchief as she fell.
She twisted her torso to avoid smashing her face into the concrete beneath her. She landed on her right shoulder and felt the jolt reverberate throughout her body.
Drac
joined her on the ground a moment later. He was better able to control his descent and landed on his hip and rolled to cushion the blow. He kneeled down next to Cameron and made eye contact with her, checking her as a doctor would a trauma patient.
Apparently what he saw wasn’t too disturbing as he nodded his head and stood. It took several dizzy seconds for Cameron to stand. It wasn’t easy with a likely concussion and without the use of her hands.
She felt nauseous and lightheaded as she tried to stand in one place. The world spun around her at dizzying speeds. She blinked her eyes several times hoping to dispel the vertigo.
Once the world stopped spinning, she took in their location and her stomach dropped. In the night moonlight, she saw they were in front of a large wrought iron gate. It had a huge block letter sign above it that read “Freedom Cove”. The mansion that the Freeriders called home.
Cameron knew she wouldn’t make it to see the sun rise on a new day.
34
The gate opened slowly as two men moved it aside. Both of the men wore sleeveless jean jackets. They also carried large caliber rifles with huge scopes mounted on top.
“Whatcha got Cletus?” The one on the right side of the gate asked with a big grin. These men looked better fed than Ben and Cletus. Cameron assumed food went to the people that pleased Rodrick the most.
“A Warlord,” Cletus said, puffing his chest out. His lanky form didn’t help promote the picture of power he was hoping for and the two men just laughed.
“I doubt it, stick man.” The other guard said with a chuckle. “Which one is this supposed Warlord?”
“The girl.” Ben motioned to Cameron who probably looked the least threatening she had ever been.
“You two are straight-up idiots, you know that?” The first guard turned shaking his head looking at Cameron for the first time. “There’s only one female Warlord.”
“I know,” Cletus drew out the last word nodding his head quickly. “She’s Cameron, Warlord of the co-op. And I caught her!”
“We caught her,” Ben emphasized his place in the ordeal. Cameron was sure he didn’t want to be left out of any rewards.
“Where’s Hank?” The second guard narrowed his eyes suspiciously at Cletus, not believing his story.
“They...uh...shot him dead. Right between the eyes. Blew his brains all over the countryside.” It was so obvious to Cameron that Cletus was lying, and the two guards just stood there looking at him in disbelief.
“Rodrick needs to hear this story. Dez, you take them down to the big house and I’ll man the gate while you’re gone. Send Blake back after you hand them off and you knock off for the night. “
The left guard, Dez, nodded at his orders.
“Let’s go,” he said, moving behind all five of them. They were treating Ben and Cletus as prisoners until they had their orders from Rodrick.
Cameron shuffled forward when Dez stuck the end of his rifle into her back. She continued moving slowly looking for any way out of the situation.
They walked through the gate and Cameron took in the 12-foot high plaster-covered walls that surrounded the entire compound. There were no footholds, or trees near enough to scale the walls. There was also a three-foot trench dug on both sides of the wall. There was only one way in, and no way out.
As the party walked down the long driveway the moon hung low overhead. Cameron looked for anywhere she could run, but the land around them was flat and featureless. She could see the dark shape of a huge house about half a mile up the driveway.
She heard Stafford behind her breathing heavily. They were in a really bad spot, and they all knew it. Cameron looked to her left and saw Drac wearing his customary poker face. She drew off his forced composure and steeled herself against what was waiting for them.
Cameron drug her feet trying to delay the inevitable. Dez pushed her hard from behind.
“Move,” he spoke in a hard voice. Cameron picked up her pace.
As they neared the house Cameron could see dim lights in most of the windows on the front of the property. The driveway ended in a large circle. In the middle of the roundabout stood a huge fountain. In the center of the fountain was a 15-foot tall pineapple.
The pineapple was the South Carolina sign of hospitality. Cameron had a feeling the residents of this home weren't going to be living up to the symbolism the statue represented.
“Yo Dez, whatcha got there big dog?” A female voice rang out from the shadowed front porch of the mansion. Along the front, there were eight huge white pillars that went up all three stories of the house and connected to the overhanging roof.
A tiny woman made her way into the moonlight. She was the picture of every punk rock girl in the vein of Avril Lavigne. Her green mohawk stood tall, adding an extra six inches to her less than five-foot frame.
She had numerous piercings in her nose and eyebrows. Her left ear was gauged and a chain ran through and connected to a small loop at the top of her ear.
She smiled showing extremely well-manicured teeth. They were almost too perfect and Cameron wondered who would worry about such a thing at the end of the world.
“Supposedly this is Cameron, Warlord of the co-op,” Dez shrugged his disbelief in the claim.
“Oh…” the girl purred in a purposefully sultry voice. “Is that so?”
“That’s what these two said,” Dez motioned to Ben and Cletus who nodded quickly to the girl. “I think we should let Rodrick…”
“I’ll make that decision,” the woman cut him off with a vicious tone. This girl was dangerous, Cameron thought to herself as she took in her control of the man.
“Yes ma’am,” Dez said simply. “I’ll leave it to you, I’m to fetch Blake for the front gate.”
“Scurry on,” the woman said dismissively flicking her acid green nails at Dez.
“Annabelle,” Cletus said, taking a step forward. Cameron almost laughed at her name. It was such a contrast to the portrait she had made of herself that it was comical.
“We captured them, we want the reward.” Cletus continued.
“Where’s Hanky Panky?” Annabelle asked, focusing for the first time on Cletus and Ben.
“He got killed.”
“By who?”
“The woman,” Cletus pointed at Cameron. Ben stayed out of the conversation. Obviously, he wasn’t so sure things would go well so his new plan was to keep quiet and let Cletus take the blame.
“Why didn’t you save him? Where is his body?” Annabelle asked in quick succession.
“Uh...They took us by surprise and then we...uh...buried him down by the river,” Cletus stammered, showing his earlier lack of brainpower.
“Right,” Annabelle clearly didn’t believe a word he said. “And you, new kid, your name starts with a b, I think. Is this what happened?
Ben looked from Annabelle to Cletus and back.
“Y...y...yes ma’am,” his lie was even less convincing.
Annabelle smiled her perfect smile and turned her back on the group.
“Right this way ladies and gentleman.” She said leading them all to their inevitable doom.
35
Cameron used everything she’d learned over the last two years of being Warlord to keep herself under control. She wanted to scream, run, fight, and claw all within three seconds. She felt Drac push his arm against hers lending her strength.
Stafford was on the other side. She regretted getting him caught in this situation as well. She should have let him lead the co-op, he might have been able to avoid this whole situation.
“No, I saved them. I got them food, I got them through everything.” Cameron told herself. One single tear slid down her cheek before she could reign it in. She used her shoulder to wipe it away. It wouldn’t help matters.
Cameron followed Annabelle through the huge double door entryway into the Freerider’s headquarters. The room looked as if it came directly out of a magazine.
There was not a single footprint on the white marble flo
ors. In the dim light provided by the sun and hundreds of candles, Cameron couldn’t see a single fleck of dirt anywhere.
It was the cleanest place she’d been since the Crumbling. It reminded her of the operating rooms she would visit when she sold medical supplies to surgeons. She looked down at her dirty clothes and at those of Stafford and Drac and felt even more disconcerted with the situation.
Rodrick and his men had a reputation for being lawless and ruthless. The cleanliness on display didn’t fit any picture Cameron had of them prior to setting foot in the mansion. It forced her to reconsider every single assumption she’d ever made about Rodrick.
Cameron continued to take in the huge entryway to the house. There were double staircases that arched away from each other leading to the second floor. Cameron scanned the room left and right looking for Rodrick. She didn’t see him anywhere.
“Shoes,” Annabelle said, simply causing Cletus and Ben to immediately start taking off their muddy boots. Cletus pushed Cameron in the back and motioned with his head for her to do the same. Cameron looked down at her combat books and shook her head. There was no way she’d be able to untie them without her hands.
Cletus frowned and pulled out a pocket knife and cut the ropes binding all three of the prisoners. Relief flooded Cameron’s shoulders as she pulled her hands in front of her body for the first time in hours. Cletus also removed the bandanas from around their mouths.
Cameron’s hand dripped blood from the still open wound and it splashed on the floor in several small droplets.
“Wipe it up!” Cletus spoke in a voice just above a whisper, obviously terrified. Cameron bent down and wiped the blood off the floor. While she was bent down she unlaced her boots. She watched Drac and Stafford follow suit.
Cameron wanted to ask who the neat freak was, but decided against talking. She was glad to have the use of her hands back. That might prove crucial as they faced Rodrick.