“No sign of anyone,” he said. “There are no footprints in the snow around the carrier.”
“Maybe he’s still hiding,” I said, trying to sound optimistic. “Maybe Kenny and Jo and Dawn-Marie are waiting for us. They could be sticking to the shadows, waiting for us to get back.”
The woods were dead silent, save for the sound of the fire burning in Ark Two. If that patrol was still in the area, they’d have engaged us by now. I didn’t want to think about the possibility that my little sister might be dead. Surely someone had to have survived – Kenny, or Dawn-Marie, had killed three soldiers, using Ark One as a diversion. They had to be alive – they just had to be.
It was at this point I heard a faint moaning, about 50 m away. I raised my weapon and followed the sound with Sid alongside me. We slowly made our way through twisted poplar and thick diamond willow as we carefully climbed a slight incline. There were footprints in the snow, big ones and little ones, but only two sets. Where was the third set of footprints? Kenny had gotten Jo out of the carrier. They both had to be somewhere nearby, but where was Dawn-Marie?
Sid placed a hand on my chest and dropped to one knee. He picked up a handful of snow and held it out for me to see and flashed his light on it.
”Blood,” he whispered.
There were more drops of blood in the snow. They led to a deadwood thicket, where I saw him hidden under a pile of broken and dried-out branches. Kenny was still clutching his carbine, but he’d been shot to pieces. I ducked under the broken branches and loosened his parka to help him breathe.
“I’m so sorry, Dave,” he gurgled. “I tried to protect them … I tried to save Jo.”
“Where are they? Where’s my sister?” I said, as my throat tightened.
He raised a weak hand and touched my cheek. It dropped to his side like a stone. “Dawn-Marie was getting rations out of Ark Two. We were packing up your carrier, because mine was running on fumes. They hit us without any warning. In the distance we could hear your mortars and that’s when they opened up.”
“Where’s Jo, Kenny? Where is she?”
He coughed up a mouthful of blood. “They took her, Dave. They took Dawn Marie and they’ve got Jo. I tried to stop them. I tried…”
Kenny’s voice trailed off and his head fell forward. Sid placed two fingers on his neck and shook his head.
Anger bubbled up in my chest. I scrambled out of the deadwood. Ahead were footprints leading out of the tree line – I sprinted forward, not caring if I was exposing myself to Sunray. They’d taken Jo. The bastards had found our hide. They shot Kenny and left him to die and now they had my sister and Dawn Marie.
I just ran – that was all I had left. I ran straight through the tree line, following the footprints of a small group of soldiers. I followed them to a maze of tire tracks that ran in circles around me, eventually trailing off into single file out across a farmer’s field, and back to the highway. Behind me the sound of our newly acquired APC rang out, along with Sid’s booming voice.
“Dave!” he bellowed. “Stay where you are, because we need to get the hell out of here now! I’m coming to get you!”
I slowed to a jog and then dropped to my knees, utterly defeated. They had my kid sister. The bastards had Jo.
30
I crawled back in the carrier and took a seat in the corner next to the engine panel. Sid climbed in after me and closed the combat lock on the rear door. He glanced at Cruze and said, “Kenny’s dead. They’ve got the chick and they fucking took Jo. That APC we thought we heard … the one that was missing from the coulee. It must have happened when we started our assault.”
“Oh, my God.”
We thought we’d taken every precaution. We were well camouflaged inside our hide and Sunray had to know we were going to take out his people in the coulee. He fucking waited until the sound of our mortars exploding to launch his assault knowing that in the heat of battle, we wouldn’t have heard his guns. And even if we had, there was no way we could have gotten back to the hide in time to stop him.
Mel dropped back down in the crew commander’s hatch as a haze of static belched out of the radio. She was just about to fiddle with the squelch when a trio of loud beeps blared through the speaker followed by a man’s voice.
“Three-Two Charlie this is Sunray, over.
She stared at the radio, unsure whether to respond or not.
“Three-Two Charlie, this is Sunray, over.”
“Son of a bitch!” Sid snarled as he climbed over the jump seat and snatched the handset.
“This isn’t Three-Two Charlie, you prick!” he spat.
The radio hissed again and then Sunray’s voice filled the interior of the carrier.
“Three-Two Charlie – is the call sign of the Coyote you stole from me. Consider it a gift – or better yet, a fair trade. I admit that tracking you has been a challenge since the day you crossed over into Eden. Clearly you reservists received exceptional training with your unit. I salute your effective use of strategy in finding what the locals refer to as the abattoir. I suspect you think me a monster, but I care little for how others see me. The world must be rebuilt, though there is no possible way to recover all that we have lost. Life in an unthinkable time must be met with unthinkable measures, hence the abattoir. It is just one of numerous methods I have implemented by which order is established as we begin to start over.”
I grabbed the handset from Sid and motioned for him to calm down. He ground his teeth and climbed back into the turret as I squeezed the PTT button.
“This is David Simmons,” I said, forcing back my rage. “We’re all that’s left of the King’s Own.”
“I know who you are,” he answered. “The child told us your name. The King’s Own was a fine unit before the end came, wasn’t it? Nevertheless, you are trespassers in Eden. Our intelligence informs us that a resistance movement has taken shape, and that it has elements throughout the disputed territory. I don’t need to remind you of the seriousness of your move into Eden and your unprovoked attack on the few survivors left in Dinsmore – it’s why two of your people are now dead. Three, if you count the defector once we’re done with her. Rest assured, however, that your sister is safe, and will remain so as long as you listen carefully to what I am about to tell you and do precisely as instructed.”
I could feel the bile rising in my throat. I squeezed the handset so hard that my knuckles turned white. “You think you’ve won a victory because you killed two of our people and blasted one of our carriers. Well, from where I’m sitting, your body count is worse than mine. We killed everyone in the coulee.” “A necessary sacrifice, but that is the nature of battle, isn’t it?” he replied. “Still, I do applaud your efforts. Now, tell me what the infected knew about the resistance.”
I hadn’t had time to debrief everyone about what we found. Cruze mouthed the word resistance and threw me a worried look. I raised a hand and motioned for everyone to remain silent.
“They had nothing to say because they were dead when we got there,” I said, feigning innocence.
The radio spat out a haze of static followed by Sunray’s voice. “Don’t play games with me, boy,” he said angrily. “You know there is a base somewhere not far from here. I aim to find out where it is. Remember that I have your sister. Perhaps you would like to talk with her.”
I ground my teeth together, and banged the handset against my head.
“What’s he talking about?” asked Mel. “What’s this stuff about a resistance?”
“Other survivors,” I said. “A few hundred clicks away. He doesn’t know where they are, and that’s why he took Jo. He wants me to lead him to them.”
“Well you’re not going to do that, are you?” asked Cruze. Her breathing was labored. She had elevated her leg by placing it on an ammunition box.
“I don’t know what I’m going to do!” I said in frustration. “He’s got Jo. He’ll kill her if we don’t play his game.”
The static on the radio disappe
ared and a wispy, terrified voice filled the airwaves. It was Jo.
“David … are you there?”
An ache radiated out from the middle of my chest as my eyes began to fill with tears. “H-Hi Jo,” I answered.
“I don’t know where I am,” she said. “I’m not supposed to talk about that. Is Kenny … is he … dead?”
I squeezed the handset. “Yeah, Jo. He’s gone.”
What she said next broke my heart.
“I’m sorry they caught me, David. I just couldn’t find a good hiding place. I wanted so much to make you see that I was a good soldier too. Please don’t be mad at me, okay?”
I bit into my lip, trying desperately to keep myself from falling to pieces. “I’m so not mad at you, Jo. I’m never going to be mad at you. Ever. We all love you and we’re going to get you back. Somehow we’ll get you back to us again.”
The radio went silent for a few moments inside our carrier. We’d failed her. I’d failed her, and now she’d been taken captive by a madman.
“Tears the heart apart, doesn’t it?” said Sunray. “I will allow her to live, so long as you find the location of the resistance. Do try and understand that I take no pleasure in using a child as a pawn, but I must neutralize them before they have a chance to mobilize more support.
“You have enough fuel inside that vehicle’s tanks to see you through a day or so. I suspect you can scrounge up the remainder from what’s left back in the coulee, but I’m going to give you a leg up. Prepare to copy the following information.”
I pulled my field message pad out of my pocket and flipped it open. Mel tossed me a pencil, which I caught with my free hand.
“Ready,” I said grimly.
“Grid nine seven four three eight six. There you will find a fully fuelled G-Wagon, along with a trailer and a dozen or so empty Jerry cans. I recommend that you fill them with what’s left inside the vehicles in the coulee. You’ll need every drop.”
I squeezed the handset. “And then what?”
“You’ll find the location of the resistance and report back to me on the radio. Once I have confirmation from my recce elements that the information you have provided is accurate, I’ll radio with a location for you to reunite with your sister. You have seventy-two hours – I suggest you begin your search immediately. Sunray out.”
The handset slipped out of my hand and bounced onto the floor as I stared at the grid reference on my pad. Mel had already opened her map and was looking for the G-wagon’s location. She held the map against an engine panel and pointed to a spot off the main highway, no more than 10 km to the east.
“Here,” she said, pointing at the map. “We’ll have to double back to the coulee and drain the tanks. Maybe we’ll find some more Intel on Sunray once daylight comes. At the very least, we know he won’t be attacking us this time. What do you think, Dave?”
I threw my field message pad across the back of the carrier. “What do I think? He’s got my freaking sister, and he’s holding her hostage. He’s using her as a bargaining chip!”
Sid dropped down from the turret and slipped a hand onto my shoulder. “She ain’t a bargaining chip, buddy. And he’ll kill her along with the rest of us if you do what he asks you to do. To hell with finding this resistance – let’s find this prick and end him.”
I glanced at Cruze’s leg for a moment. We’d have to cauterize that bullet wound soon or she’d lose it. “Doug!” I shouted. “Get back here.”
Mel Dixon made way for Doug as he crawled over the driver’s seat and through the crew commander’s hatch. “What do you need?” he said.
I pointed to Cruze’s leg. “You once told me you and your uncle saved your cousin’s leg after a hunting accident. You helped him cauterize the wound to stop the bleeding. Cruze has a bullet wound that went straight through – is there anything you can do?”
Doug crawled into the back of the carrier, lifted the blood-soaked bandage and gave me a grim look as he shook his head.
“I could have, about half an hour ago, but her leg is saturated now. Cruze needs to get to a doc ASAP.”
I was out of options. Sunray had my sister and Cruze was slowly bleeding to death. I searched the team’s faces for a sign of hope and each one of them stared straight back at me. Each was looking to me to come up with a plan.
I couldn’t refuse to make contact with the resistance. I had a vague idea of where they were located, and part of me wanted to simply grab the radio and spill the beans, but then what? Sid was right – Sunray was going to kill Jo whether we cooperated with him or not. We represented a glitch in his plans. We’d created losses. We’d destroyed the abattoir and killed his personnel – there was no way in the world he’d let us live after that.
Our team of survivors had dealt Sunray a blow, albeit a tiny one, but maybe it was enough to give other survivors living under his rule a measure of hope. If we could fight him, maybe they could as well. That left me with only one option: Cruze would come with me to link up with the people at Carlsbad Farms. I’d get her the medical attention she needed and then my priority would be the rescue of my sister.
I exhaled heavily and said, “Some of our supplies and weapons are in the overturned carrier. There are probably some supplies that didn’t get destroyed down in the coulee and somewhere out there are others like us – people who aim to take down Sunray. We’ve got seventy two hours to save Jo, so team … put your thinking caps on.”
JOURNAL ENTRY: 19 NOVEMBER 0337 HRS ZULU
I’m taking Cruze to Carlsbad Farms – that’s the best chance she’s got of saving her leg and hopefully her life. We’re splitting up what’s left of the team. Sid is now in charge and his team is going to take that Coyote into a hide on the eastern side of the river. From there, they’ll go on a long range reconnaissance patrol. They’re going to check all the grid references on that field message pad I took from the spotter who helped kill Kate Dawson.
They’ll radio me information on Sunray’s assets. I’m going to have to divulge the location of this resistance base. But what Sunray doesn’t know is that Sid will be watching him mobilize. He won’t come into Carlsbad without having conducted his own reconnaissance first. That gives me seventy two hours to link up with the resistance and set up a diversion. Something to keep his recce elements busy while the resistance plans to attack Sunray’s rear: that’s where Sid’s team will come in. Everything rests on Sid finding where Sunray is going to mass for his eventual attack. If we can hit him from the flanks when he’s mobilizing, there’s a chance we can save Jo and kill Sunray while we’re at it.
He’s expecting me to follow his orders to the letter and that’s what I’m going to do – I’ll just feed him information that I want him to know. Enough to draw him into a kill zone so that we can take him out.
We’ve loaded Cruze into the G-Wagon and I know that we’re likely being watched – Sunray isn’t stupid. He will dispatch a team to follow me from a safe distance – that’s what I’d be doing if I were in his shoes. I’m going to have to figure out my next move once Cruze and I are on the road. In the meantime we’re going to head east. We’re going to follow the highway across miles upon miles of empty, snow covered farmland. We’re going to make it across the border and I’m going to find this resistance base called Carlsbad Farms. With a little luck, Cruze will survive the trip.
Less than a week out of the creep infested city and we’ve lost two of our people, we’ve lost both our vehicles and my sister has been taken. Sunray is on our tail. We’re out-gunned, outnumbered and we’re running out of time. We have to make this work. We have to find Carlsbad farms
Somehow we have to save Jo.
Acknowledgements
The North is the first in an anticipated trilogy. I hope you liked the story enough to consider reading the next installment entitled Insurgency. The last book will be called The Peacemaker. My goal is to publish the second book in October 2015 and the final book in October 2016.
I guess I’d better star
t writing if I’m going to keep on schedule.
Yes, there will be zombies. Yes there will be losses, so don’t get too attached to any of the characters because they might not make it to book three. (What can I say? It’s the end of the world!)
Thanks to my wife Cheryl for putting up with all my shouting at the computer as I wrote this installment. Thanks to Sharon Stogner for all her help. Thanks to Wayne Simmons for suggesting I self-publish this story even though I had a couple of offers on the table at the time.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sean Cummings is the author of five other books ranging from traditional urban fantasy (Shade Fright, Funeral Pallor) to a blend of dark fantasy and superheroes. (Marshall Conrad: A Superhero Tale)
2012 saw the publication of Sean’s first young adult novel. POLTERGEEKS is a rollicking story about teen witch Julie Richardson, her dorky boyfriend and a race against time to save her mother’s life. The second in the series is called STUDENT BODIES. Both are published by Angry Robot Books and are available at bookstores everywhere.
He lives in Saskatoon Canada with his wife and two lazy cats that don’t earn their keep.
The North: A Zombie Novel Page 25