“Make sure you take as much food and water as you need,” Goldman said, when Eda returned to the living room.
“You got a bag?” she asked. “Mine’s still somewhere out there on the highway.”
“Take one of Emily’s,” Goldman said. “Look in the closet in her bedroom.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’m sure,” Goldman said, sinking deeper into the couch.
Eda took an old Nike backpack out of Emily’s room and filled it with food and fresh ammo. She then went downstairs and helped herself to one of the many spare M4s in the weapons chest. Its removal didn’t even make a dent in Goldman’s pile of killing machines. Eda brought the rifle back up to Goldman who looked it over for her.
“It’s good,” he said, after examining it as best he could. “I showed you how to reload didn’t I?”
“Yep.”
“And you’ve got plenty of ammo.”
“More than I can carry.”
Eda dropped the rifle at the front door beside her bag and sword. She then went back inside the living room and sat on the floor beside Goldman who was flat out on the couch.
She took his hand. It was like touching thin air.
“Maybe I should stay,” she said. “I don’t feel good leaving you alone like this. You know?”
Goldman shook his head. It was clear the old man still had a chunk of stubbornness left in him should it be required. “No you won’t,” he said. His voice was a whisper now. “There’s no time for any of that watching me die crap.”
Eda nodded. “Sure there is.”
“No,” Goldman said, looking at her. His breathing was fast, erratic. “Young lady, I hate to say this but it’s up to you now. It’s up to you to warn the people. A thankless task I’m sure – no one will want to hear what you have to say. Fewer still will believe you. Thing is, they all think the worst is behind them, the poor bastards, but you gotta tell it like it is. You’re the messenger now. Okay?”
“Okay,” Eda said.
“I’m sorry it has to be you,” Goldman said, squeezing her hand as best he could. “The last thing you deserve is another End War. And here’s the thing Eda, don’t forget that there’s never going to be an End War. No matter how many fights they call the End War another one will always show up after it. Sooner or later. That’s the shitty truth of it.”
Goldman let go of her hand. Wheezing softly, he pulled one of the family photos towards him and pressed it tight against his chest. Eda stole a quick look. It was a nice portrait of them all – the young Goldman, his wife and three girls, sitting around a picnic table with a shimmering blue lake in the background.
“I enjoyed that drive,” he whispered. “You’re crazy for letting me behind the wheel.”
“I know,” Eda said.
The old man chuckled. His eyes stared up at the damp-infested ceiling.
“Go now,” he whispered. “Before it gets worse.”
Eda nodded. “Okay.”
She pushed herself back up to her feet. An explosion of white-hot pain shot up and down her limbs.
“See you,” she said, limping towards the front door.
“Hell of a day,” Goldman said.
“Hell of a day,” Eda said.
She left the apartment, closing the door gently behind her. She had Emily Goldman’s bag strapped onto her back. Lex’s katana hung from the scabbard on her belt and Talbot Goldman’s M4 was draped over her shoulder. Her rain cloak was shredded at the left arm but it would do until she found something better.
She made good time despite her injuries. She was back on the 93 and traveling north, chasing after the Nomads and anyone else out there who would listen to her warning. It was still early morning in Boston and the rain hadn’t come yet. Being on the road felt familiar to Eda. It felt good.
Movement is life.
Close to the old South Boston bypass, Eda heard a light tip-tapping noise at her back. At first she thought it was the rain. Then she stopped dead on the highway and a smile emerged on her battered face.
“Where the hell have you been?” she said.
Frankie Boy strolled up casually, like nothing was amiss. Like he’d been gone for five minutes chasing rabbits. He sat down beside her on the road and Eda crouched down, letting him lick her face and inspect her wounds.
“Missed me huh?” she said.
She let her hands rummage around his thick coat. Then she patted him on the back three times and rose stiffly to a standing position. She looked down the 93 again. A long, spiraling road stretched out in front of the two travelers. Eda had found the Nomads somewhere on this same road a few days ago. It felt like a lifetime ago.
Manifest destiny.
Is that what she was up against? Was it the divine right of the pauper nations to conquer the continent of North America and to turn it into something new?
Time would tell.
Eda and Frankie Boy exchanged a knowing look, one that would commit them to each other for the war ahead.
They walked together down the highway, side by side.
It began to rain.
The End
INTERMISSION!
The Exterminators Trilogy
Black Storm (Exterminators 1)
For Íde, who has saved me from a thousand Black Storms.
1
“We gotta run okay? We need to get out of here.”
Cody MacLeod kneeled in front of his daughter and squeezed her gently on the upper arms. She felt fragile, like a china doll. “Whatever happens, we can’t let the bad woman catch up with us,” he said. “She makes people do bad things. You know that don’t you?”
Silence.
“Do you understand Rachel?” Cody said.
Rachel nodded her head.
“We’ve got to stay one step ahead of her,” Cody said, pushing a few loose strands of blonde hair off Rachel’s face. “Two steps, three steps.” His voice was shaking and he took a deep breath before saying anything else. This wasn’t a good time to lose it and even if he was on the brink, he couldn’t let Rachel see.
They were in the hallway of their house in Spring Branch, Texas. Cody turned towards the front door where two bulging backpacks were sitting. One of them was plain black and the other featured a rainbow colored sky with two silver ponies grazing in a field of green grass.
“All we gotta do is walk out the door,” Cody said.
“Are we leaving for good?” Rachel said. Cody saw the confusion in his daughter’s indigo blue eyes – the same indigo blue eyes that he’d possessed as a child before the years had dulled them.
He nodded. “Yeah I think so.”
Cody heard the Black Storm blowing outside. The wind was howling and moaning – a crude B-movie sound effect that had escaped from the big screen into the real world. Still it was relatively calm, at least compared to the gale force winds that had been blowing the night before when Cody had made the decision to leave home. It was a decision that would either save their lives or seal their fate.
There was doubt in the little girl’s eyes. Cody could tell that she wasn’t sure he was making the right call and Jesus, who could blame her? He wasn’t sure about it either.
“Geez kid,” Cody said. “Don’t look at me like that. You’re looking at me the way other people used to look at me back in the eighties and nineties. That’s Grandma’s eyes I see in you right now. You don’t trust me? You don’t think we should go?”
Rachel managed a lazy shrug of the shoulders.
“I’m not on drugs honey,” Cody said. “I swear on your Mom’s soul.”
“I know Dad,” she said. I’m just scared.”
He pulled her closer. She was so beautiful and innocent – the only perfect thing in his life. And she’d remained perfect – thank God for that. Had Cody stayed in Hollywood to try and claw back his career, the industry would have noticed her. It would have sunk its teeth into Rachel and ruined her like it did for her mother, Kate. No chance – that was one of several r
easons that Cody and Kate moved to Texas ten years ago. Cody would die before he gave those bigwig assholes in LA the chance to get their hands on his daughter.
He smiled at Rachel.
“I’m scared too,” Cody said. “But we have to go. You’ve watched the reports on TV. You’ve heard it on the radio. You know what people are doing to themselves, to each other out there. You know how dangerous it is and you know how dangerous she is.”
Rachel didn’t blink. Despite her saying she was scared, she looked calm –older than her ten years. Sometimes Cody thought, kids did adulthood better than most adults.
“Is it the woman in the long black dress?” she said.
“Yes honey. It’s the woman in the long black dress.”
Rachel nodded.
“I saw her in my room last night,” she said.
Cody’s hands fell off his daughter’s arms. His mouth hung open and the cold air that haunted the MacLeod residence slid down the back of his throat. He looked at Rachel, his eyes racing over her blue denim dungarees and the white long sleeved t-shirt that she was wearing underneath. He ran a finger down her blue and white basketball shoes, not sure what he was looking for. Damage – but what sort of damage?
With cupped hands, he touched her face.
“She was in your room?” Cody said. “Last night? Did she say anything? I mean, did she try and talk to you – to make you do anything? Did she tell you to hurt yourself?”
Rachel shook her head.
“She was just standing at the edge of the bed looking at me,” she said. “Her face is like a mannequin. That’s what they said on TV. She looks like a giant doll with silver lights instead of eyes.”
“Weren’t you scared?” Cody said. His heart was pounding.
“No,” Rachel said. “Well, not really.”
Cody buried his face in the palm of his hand.
“Jesus Christ,” he said, almost losing his balance and toppling over onto the hardwood floor. “Tell me something kid,” he said. “This is really important. Is that the first time you’ve seen her?”
“Yes.”
“Well then it’s definitely time to go,” Cody said. “She’s starting to pay too much attention to this family for my liking.”
Rachel’s eyes were wide open. “You’ve seen her too?”
Cody nodded. “Yeah.” Several times.
“They’ve been talking about her on the radio Dad,” Rachel said. “People are seeing her everywhere. China, Europe, Australia, Brazil and lots of other places that I’ve never heard of.”
“Yeah I know,” Cody said. He was itching to leave. He wanted to grab Rachel and get her out of the house immediately.
“All the people who see her end up dead,” Rachel said. “That’s what they say, isn’t it?”
Cody squeezed tight on her hand.
“Not everyone,” he said. “Like I said, I’ve seen her too.”
“In the house?”
“Yeah, in the house. That’s why we need to go.”
Rachel looked thoughtful. Her eyes darted around the living room before returning to him.
“Is she chasing the world? The whole world?”
Cody straightened the collar of his black cotton shirt.
“Yeah honey,” he said. “I think she’s chasing the world. And that includes us – you and me. We’ve got to get away from this house because I’m not going to let anything happen to you. Okay?”
Cody was glad to see that Rachel could still smile.
“Okay,” she said.
Outside the Black Storm grumbled. It sounded like it was an angry giant sitting on the roof of their house, waiting impatiently for them to come out.
Cody tugged gently on Rachel’s arms. She didn’t move.
“Where are we going?” she said.
It was a good question.
Cody nodded. “You remember my friend?” he said. “A big guy called Nick Norton?”
Rachel shook her head.
“Sure you do,” Cody said. “You met him once. He works on Alaska Airlines, flies out of San Antonio all the time. He’s an old school buddy of mine from LA. He was in the movies too when he was a kid, just like your old man.”
“I don’t know,” Rachel said.
“Big black guy, all mouth and muscle. He was over here about four years ago. You must remember – it’s not like we have a ton of guests or anything like that.”
“What about him?”
Cody leaned in closer. He felt the need to whisper.
“He’s got a plane,” he said. “It’s a big plane – Boeing 737-800, fully fuelled and ready to go. He’s invited us along – some of the other pilots and their friends and family will be there too. I got a text from Nick about fifteen hours ago – the plane is at the airport right now, waiting for everyone to arrive. You understand? We’re going to drive down to the airport and get on Nick’s plane.”
Cody’s face darkened.
“Only problem is I can’t get in touch with Nick anymore,” he said. “My phone keeps jamming up.”
Rachel’s eyes lit up – a mixture of fear and curiosity.
“Because of the Black Storm?”
“Maybe,” Cody said. “But it doesn’t matter, not as long as we get to the airport in good time. He’ll wait for us, I know he will.”
Rachel’s expression was grim.
“We’re going up into the black sky?” she said, pointing to the ceiling. “What’s up there?”
Cody followed her finger towards the ceiling. Kids and their questions, damn it. Who knew what was up there in that black shroud that had wrapped itself over the Earth? Something, maybe nothing. Everything was black these days – even the inside of the MacLeod residence. The curtains were pulled over all the windows, shielding them from the sight of the Black Storm, the mysterious force that had come out of nowhere and robbed the world of sunlight.
“It can’t all be bad up there,” Cody said. “We gotta try. Anything’s better than staying down here on the ground while people go mad and do bad things. I’ll bet you it’s safer up there. Yeah?”
Rachel looked down the hall towards her bedroom.
“I want to take Bootsy with me,” she said. “If we’re not coming back.”
Cody sighed. He couldn’t hide his growing frustration any longer. They should have been gone already. He didn’t want to hang around the house one second longer than he had to. He tugged gently on her arm, with more urgency this time.
“You’re too big for that teddy bear,” he said. “You’re ten.”
The look on her face stopped him dead.
“Mom gave him to me,” she said. “Remember?”
Of course he did.
“I’ve packed a ton of photos of Mom in the bag,” he said. “Lots of photos. We’re not going to forget her.”
“I want Bootsy,” Rachel said. Cody almost smiled – it was like Kate all over again. If she wanted something, she was going to have it.
“Alright kid,” he said, letting go of her arm. “Get Bootsy but don’t stay in that bedroom one second longer than you have to. I’ll grab the bags.”
Cody watched her run down the hallway. He felt uneasy watching her go through the bedroom door knowing that the Black Widow had been in there last night. Cody had already seen the ghostly figure several times in the house but there had been no words spoken. That was something to be grateful for at least. And now the Black Widow was coming after Rachel? Any doubts Cody might have been having about leaving had shattered with that revelation.
A few seconds later, Rachel came running back down the hallway with the beat-up teddy bear swinging at her side. She looked content.
“All set?” Cody asked. “Can we go now?” He picked up the two backpacks and flung one over each shoulder.
She nodded. “Just one thing?”
“Oh c’mon Rachel. Let’s get out of here.”
“Who is she Dad?”
The two backpacks slid down Cody’s arm in slow motion. He squatte
d so that he was almost eye level with Rachel.
“She came out of the Black Storm,” he said. “At least that’s what people say but we don’t know for sure. Everything – the black sky, black rain and the Black Widow – they’re all connected. All these things are part of the Black Storm.”
“And it makes people do bad things?” Rachel said.
Cody nodded. “Very bad things.”
Rachel smiled. It was a great smile – sudden and unexpected.
“We’d better go,” she said.
“Right honey,” Cody said. “Now you’re talking.”
He opened the front door and they stepped outside.
It was dark. A permanent state of dusk hung over the world – a rotten, simmering blackness and it was everywhere. It was unending too. Blue skies and sunlight were a distant memory. The air was thick and muggy and scentless. A stiff wind was blowing and the trees that surrounded the remote two-story house were swaying.
They walked towards the car in the driveway. Cody’s white 1970 Dodge Challenger was one of only a few references left to his Hollywood past. He was probably the only part-time freelance writer in the world who owned such a vintage car. It was a little much but Cody loved the Challenger with all his heart. It was a perfect replica of the car used in Vanishing Point, one of his top five all time movies. It wasn’t just an ornament either – he kept the Dodge in outstanding driving condition and a good thing too – he was going to need it firing on all cylinders if it was going to get them to the airport.
The surface of the car was covered in a thin layer of dirt. Cody didn’t have time to worry about it – he opened up the trunk and threw the bags in, pushing them all the way to the back. As he did so, Rachel jumped into the back seat taking Bootsy with her.
“Take me somewhere nice!” she called out. She always said the same thing when she got in the car.
Mega Post-Apocalyptic Double Bill Page 45