“Do you still miss them?” Rachel asked.
Grandma Anna scraped a frozen teardrop off her cheek.
“I’d give anything to have them back,” she said. “Anything to see those boys’ beautiful faces again. Oscar and Sam. And of course, Samantha – my Samantha.”
“Did you ever fight?” Rachel said. “With your family I mean.”
“All the time,” Grandma Anna said, wiping her eyes dry. “Like I said, my Samantha was a feisty girl and she was damn stubborn too. Yes we fought, tooth and nail sometimes. That’s what families do Rachel. Most of the time it doesn’t mean anything. You don’t stop loving someone or being loved because of a little squabble. Don’t you fight with your dad?”
Rachel nodded. “Sometimes.”
Grandma Anna came over beside Rachel. She put an arm on the girl’s shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze.
“Will you fight them?” Grandma Anna said.
Rachel wanted to say yes. But she couldn’t forget how badly things had gone during her first encounter with the Exterminators. Wasn’t she being naïve in thinking that she could go back and take them on? Sure, there was more to her powers than she’d first thought. Grandma Anna had opened her eyes to many possibilities but still, would it be enough?
“I can fight,” Rachel said. “But I don’t think I can win.”
Grandma Anna and Rachel were standing close to the statue of St Thérèse, which was drowning in a hail of black snow. There was something calming about its presence; it was a divine comrade watching over the children.
“My dear girl,” Grandma Anna said. “Who can blame you for being frightened? This burden should never have been placed on the shoulders of one so young. And yet this particular burden, it has to be a child. Only a child can do it.”
Rachel glanced at the old woman’s face. She tried to smile.
“We’ll fight them together,” Grandma Anna said, taking Rachel’s hand in her own. “And we’ll win. We have weapons inside the basilica that will help you crush them.”
Rachel screwed up her face. “What weapons?” she said, looking towards the church. “I didn’t see any weapons in there.”
“Oh but you did,” Grandma Anna said.
Her eyes sparkled with a strange, steady light.
The old woman laughed heartily and with a firm hand on Rachel’s shoulder, she led the way back towards the door of the basilica.
11
Cody opened his eyes.
His head was pounding. It felt like he was lying in a deep freezer.
He lifted his head off the ground and saw the colored light everywhere. There was more of it than ever. It looked like it had multiplied tenfold while he’d been out and that was putting it mildly. Streams of light floated across the city skyline in various guises – low-hanging clouds, tube-like beams, pockets of slow-moving mist and much more. It was still pouring out of the gates and seeping up from below, as if emerging from the center of the Earth.
Cody’s hand probed under his hood and he found a large bump on the crown of his head. Man, that was big. It was going to throb for a while. How long had he been out anyway? Ten minutes? Twenty? As he struggled to his feet, a carousel of recollections flashed through his mind. He was clinging onto the edge of the roof. He’d climbed back up and ran towards the door that led to the stairs. That was when he’d slipped and banged his head.
Why had he been running?
“Oh shit,” Cody said. “Rachel.”
He saw it happening again in his mind – his daughter being thrown over the side of the building like a baseball. Cody’s stomach lurched at the vivid memory and for a second he thought he was going to be sick. Luckily the feeling passed. He pushed himself up, ignoring the sensation of something cracking in his skull. Then he hurried over to the edge of the roof, his heart pounding.
Cody saw the car park opposite the Robert E. Lee building. It was coming back now. A large SUV had driven out of there, going too fast on the slippery roads and traveling in a northerly direction.
“Where are you?” Cody said, straining his eyes to catch a glimpse of the SUV’s tracks on the snow. But it was too dark to see anything.
He had to find her. She couldn’t have gone that far in twenty minutes and with any luck she’d pulled over to the side of the road to lay low for a while. All Cody had to go on was the type of car she’d taken. It was better than nothing, as long as he found himself a set of wheels in quick time.
He knew exactly where to find transport.
Cody ran for the stairs. As he did, he looked towards the horizon and saw one of the tallest buildings in San Antonio crashing to the ground like it would under a controlled demolition. A snake-like streak of golden yellow light was wrapped around the space where the building had been seconds earlier.
Cody didn’t stop to watch the aftermath He pulled the door open and ran down ten stories to the street as fast as his legs would carry him.
As soon as he stepped outside, Cody jumped back. A flotilla of rainbow-colored mist was coming down the street towards him. Cody made the mistake of looking directly at the light and as he did so, an army of Sliders shot out of the mist and came straight for him at a ferocious speed.
Cody ducked back inside the entrance of the apartment building. He dropped to his knees and buried his face in his hands.
“It’s not real,” he said, shaking his head back and forth. Rachel’s words swam around in his groggy, aching head – don’t let them in.
He stayed there for a while, stealing the occasional glance outside and waiting for the mist to pass. As it moved slowly down the street, Cody heard that familiar whale-like noise, deep and moaning. It was a cold, impersonal sound.
When it was gone, Cody stepped back outside.
The plan was simple. He had to go back to the Rand to get the van and hopefully he’d find Nick, Crazy Diamond and Marv still in one piece.
And after that? Find Rachel. Then once they’d found her they’d point the van north, get the hell out of San Antonio and keep driving until they ran out of gas. When that happened, they’d walk. There had to be somewhere left in this goddamn mess where people didn’t have to fight all the time.
Or was he just trying to fool himself?
Cody started running towards the Rand. He didn’t get far before he saw a small cluster of dark shapes running up North Main Street towards him.
His fingers tightened around the handle of the Glock. Cody was about to duck behind one of the trees beside the sidewalk when he heard a familiar voice.
It was Nick Norton.
Cody stepped out from his hiding place, waving his hands in the air. When the others saw him they stopped.
“It’s me,” Cody said. “Don’t shoot for God’s sake.”
“Cody?” It was Crazy Diamond. “Is that you?”
“Yeah.”
They rushed forward to greet him.
Crazy Diamond threw her arms around Cody and when she didn’t let go at first, the two men gave him a warm pat on the shoulder.
“What’s going on?” Crazy Diamond said, releasing her grip on Cody at last. There was a worried look on her face as she looked over Cody’s shoulder. “Where’s Rachel? Is she still up there on the roof?”
Cody shook his throbbing head. “She took off,” he said. “Jesus, it was a disaster up there. She was overwhelmed. They’re too strong for her. How could I have done that to her? Put her up against those things.”
The others didn’t look surprised.
“We all did it,” Nick said. “Shit. Where’d she go man?”
“I don’t know,” Cody said. “I had a bit of trouble on the roof. I slipped and blacked out for a while. When I woke up, Rachel was gone and that’s when I came back here to get the van and go after her. She can’t be too far away.”
“You can’t go back to the Rand,” Marv said, pointing a thumb over his shoulder. “We held our ground as long as we could. Ended up having to slip out the back door ourselves.”
&
nbsp; “Yeah,” Nick said. “We’re lucky it lasted as long as it did. Stupid assholes must have thought Rachel was in there the whole time.”
“How long?” Cody said, looking past his friends towards the Rand. “How long since I ran out of there with Rachel?”
Marv shrugged.
“Don’t know for sure Cody,” he said. “We held them off in there for at least five hours. Maybe six.”
Cody felt like he’d been slapped in the face.
“Are you serious?” he said.
“As a heart attack,” Marv said. “It was a long fight.”
Cody clamped a hand over his mouth. “Oh shit.”
“Good thing you’re wrapped up like an Eskimo,” Crazy Diamond said. “You’re lucky you didn’t freeze to death up on that roof.”
“To hell with that,” Cody said, looking at her. “Rachel’s been gone for hours? I thought I was out for ten minutes. Twenty max. Well that settles it then. I need the van. I’ve got to go after her.”
He moved towards the Rand.
“You can’t go back there,” Nick said, blocking Cody’s path with his muscular frame. “Mackenzie and the ragtags will be coming up behind us any second now.”
Cody shook his head. “I don’t care,” he said. “Nick – she’s scared and alone out there. God knows what sort of state she’s in. Everything she worked so hard for all those months, all those early morning starts, it was wiped out in seconds.”
There was a frenzy of noise further down the street. A door was kicked open. Loud voices piled on top of one another. Heavy footsteps, like a pack of soldiers marching on the snow.
“Well that didn’t take long,” Crazy Diamond said. “Here they come.”
“You can’t go back Cody,” Marv said in a calm, quiet voice. “You’re right, we need to find Rachel. But we’ll find a car out there somewhere and hit the road. We’re not going to leave her, I promise.”
Cody felt Nick’s hand on his shoulder, gently steering him away. There was a knot in Cody’s stomach at the thought of leaving the only transportation he knew of behind.
“The van…”
“Not this time,” Nick said.
Cody saw the ragtags coming through the darkness. A cloaked figure stood at the front, leading the way.
There was little doubt where they were going now. They were going to the Robert E. Lee building to find Rachel.
Cody and the others turned and ran.
They heard a chorus of gunfire behind them.
“I guess they’ve seen us,” Nick said, glancing over his shoulder as they ran up the street. As he spoke a swirling white light, shaped like a shuriken – a star shaped throwing weapon from Japan – came rolling down the street towards them like a runaway tire.
“You’ve got to be kidding,” Marv said.
“Don’t look at the light,” Cody said. “Over here. Move!”
They hurried to the side of the road and put their backs up against the wall. At Cody’s command, they hid their faces in their hands. When the rolling star went past it disappeared into thin air. Cody looked down that way and now there was only Mackenzie and the ragtags, still following them up the street. Still shooting.
Mackenzie was at the head of the group, his long cloak flowing behind him. Cody thought he could see a burning black hole where the man’s good eye was supposed to be.
“Let’s get out of here,” Crazy Diamond said.
The ragtags kept shooting, forcing the four survivors back towards the Robert E. Lee building.
“We need to take cover,” Nick said. “We’re too exposed out here in the open.”
“The car park,” Cody said, pointing a finger up ahead.
They ran over the black snow, pumping their arms and legs as hard as they could. Nick and Marv fired back at Mackenzie and the ragtags who seemingly had no interest in taking cover. They were only interested in coming forward like a pack of robotic hunters who sensed that a kill was imminent.
Crazy Diamond led the others across a small square of grass bordered by naked trees on all sides. There were a few abandoned cars parked on the grassy oasis, one of which was lying upturned like it had been involved in a crash. The survivors cut across the grass towards North Flores Street, running past the Robert E. Lee building and into the small car park where Rachel had made her exit from earlier.
They ran to the back of the car park, taking cover behind the bed of a dirty maroon pickup truck.
Cody realized to his horror that Marv wasn’t with them. Peering over the edge of the truck, he saw the veteran solider standing at the entrance of the car park. His head was tilted back as if he was transfixed by something up in the sky.
A small cloud of mist descended towards him. It was reddish-pink and it looked like a large piece of floating cotton candy.
“Marv!” Nick said. “What the hell are you doing man? Don’t look at it.”
Further back, Mackenzie and the ragtags walked over the grassy square that led towards the car park.
Marv took a step towards the mist.
“Rita?” he said. “Is that you darling?”
“No,” Cody said. “Marv, snap out of it!”
Nick jerked forwards. “I’m gotta get him,” he said.
By now, Marv was reaching for the mist with one hand. The other, carrying his gun, was lowered at his side. “Oh God Rita,” he said. “I’m so sorry. I should have…”
He staggered forwards like a drunk, grasping for the mist.
As Marv chased his vision, the cloud vanished. Where the cotton candy mist had been, now there was only Mackenzie and the ragtags, standing on the road just a few feet from Marv.
“Oh shit,” Nick said. He was still edging forwards but it was suicide to go out there now.
Marv’s arms were still up in the air.
“Rita?”
The sound of gunfire cut through Cody’s head like an electric drill. He and the others watched in horror as Marv was shot to pieces by the ragtags. His tough old body stood up to the assault for a few seconds and he shook violently like he was being electrocuted. The gunmen stepped in front of Mackenzie, a cruel look on their faces as they kept shooting. Even when Marv went down, they still sprayed bullets at him for another five or ten seconds. Just to be sure.
The shooting stopped.
“You bastards!” Nick cried out. He took aim with his AR-15 rifle and started shooting into the crowd. One of the ragtags fell immediately.
Cody and Crazy Diamond fired back too. This sudden attack was enough to force Mackenzie’s men back towards the grassy oasis. They took cover behind the trees, waiting out the assault.
But Mackenzie didn’t move. While his soldiers hid, he stood alone on the corner or North Flores and West Travis Street.
Behind Mackenzie, a comet-like streak of white light shot across the sky. It crashed into a building and the explosion carried across the city. The noise made Cody’s Glock sound like a peashooter.
A thick cloud of black smoke rose up on the horizon.
Cody and the others stopped shooting and kept their cover behind the pickup. They peered out once or twice, staring across the road. Mackenzie was standing there in plain sight while the ragtags kept to the trees.
“Where is she?” Mackenzie called out. “I’m talking to you Cody.”
“Go fuck yourself!” Nick yelled. He peered over the edge of the pickup. “Murdering bastard. You’re so ugly nowadays Mackenzie I bet you have to sneak up on the mirror, am I right?”
Crazy Diamond scowled at Nick. “How is that helping the situation?”
“It makes me feel better,” Nick said. “I’m done with this guy. Marv was a good man, Lance and Rita and Richards – they were all good people and this asshole took them out. I’m going to shoot out his good eye. Blind the motherfucker. Dying’s too good for the likes of him.”
“We need a car,” Cody said. “Remember the plan Nick. We’ve got to find Rachel.”
Nick shook his head. “I’m done running from
this asshole.”
“You can’t kill him Nick,” Cody said. “Bullets won’t stop this guy, no matter how many you shoot. And look around you man. The Exterminators are tearing this city apart and when they’re done they’re going to go after Rachel. My daughter! Meanwhile we’re boxed in here and if it’s a straight shootout we’re screwed. We’ve got to get out of here now. We need to go back to the Rand and get the van.”
Crazy Diamond nodded. “Yeah,” she said. “You’re right Cody. We’re going to have to make a run for it again.”
Nick slammed the butt of his rifle against the pickup.
“We can’t all go back for God’s sake,” Nick said “If the three of us make a run for it at once they’ll pick us off.”
“What are you saying?” Crazy Diamond said. “One of us should go?”
“Right,” Nick said, taking a look around as if to assess their prospects. “One of us goes back for the van. Going to have take the long way back to the Rand. No straight lines. Whoever it is, they’ll have to cut over at least two blocks to avoid getting picked off by these guys.”
“I’ll go,” Cody said. “I’m probably the fastest runner.”
“We don’t have time to argue,” Nick said. “I’m going. I’ve got the keys to the van anyway.”
Cody shook his head. “Nick…”
Nick held up a hand. “Look no offence Cody,” he said. “But you’re a lousy driver man. I wouldn’t trust you to bring a golf cart back here in one piece.”
Cody screwed up his face. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“Whoever goes back is going to have to be on their A-game,” Nick said. He was shaking his arms, loosening his muscles as he spoke. “Get the van here, drive past Mackenzie and the ragtags, and pick the other two up. And the driver’s gotta do all that without getting shot. That requires a cool head. You’re too messed up about Rachel man.”
“Maybe I should go back,” Crazy Diamond said. “I think I’m probably faster than either one of you guys. And I’m a smaller target.”
“I’m going,” Nick said.
“Alright then,” Crazy Diamond said, holding her hands in the air like she was surrendering. “We don’t have time to argue about this. You go.”
Mega Post-Apocalyptic Double Bill Page 84