As expected, a guard manned the gate to the entrance that led to the pyramid's garage. He had pockmarked cheeks, a hawkish nose, and small unremarkable eyes, but any defect in his appearance was easily bolstered by the automatic rifle slung over his shoulder.
"We're not expecting any deliveries this morning. What's your business?"
Cheryl hesitated for only a half-second, pulling Plan C out of her mental back pocket, based on her intuition and the guard's demeanor.
"We're trainers. We've got a delivery for the ceremony."
"Where's your permit?"
"Don't have one," she said. "These are some very special Beasts for the Senior Warden."
The guard scoffed. "Beasts? There's no—"
While Aidan remained silent, Cheryl motioned for the guard to come closer with her finger. He leaned his head towards the open window. "Listen…I could get basted in honey and tossed on an anthill for telling you this, but the cargo we have here is…of…a very delicate nature."
The guard started to shake his head and back away.
"No, really. Come here…"
He came back, and she whispered. "You've heard he's into some pretty weird stuff, right?"
The guard snorted and did a little pigeon bob with his head.
"Well…what we got here are some of the hottest pieces of dead meat in all the southwest. They were hand-picked by the Grand Poobah himself, because they're obscenely stacked…and fresh."
The guard took off his cap and slicked a lock of sweaty, brown hair from his forehead. "You mean he's like a necrophiliac or something?"
She raised her eyebrows and continued whispering. "You have no idea what kind of sick, kinky stuff that guy's into. He's going to have some sort of orgy or something right before the Cyclops switch is thrown. Tell you what…why don't you just let us in the gate so I can pull over and give you a look."
The guard licked his lips. "I…I dunno, Ma'am. Anyone who comes through here today is supposed to have a permit sticker on the windshield. I could lose my job…my life if—"
"Just have a quick look so you know I’m not lying. Then, you can radio the boss. And he can radio his boss…and so on…and so on…until someone can confirm that I'm supposed to make this delivery."
"Well…" he said, looking up at the camera on the guard building as if to make sure it had his back. "They got EM boxes?"
"Tame as kittens. You can even pet one if you want."
He blew out a puff of air and slicked his hair back again. Then, he walked back to the guard station, reached in the window, and pressed a button to open the gate.
Cheryl drove through then parked at an angle that she hoped obscured the back of the truck from the camera on the guard station. Then, she hopped out and went to the back door. The guard stood there, biting on his lower lip as he waited for her to open it. The second she hoisted it up, Aidan came around behind the guard and hit him in the back of the head with a steel pipe. He crashed to the concrete and lay still in a splatter of blood. Cheryl's pang of guilt was brief. The guard was a sacrificial lamb in their quest to take back the world from O.N.E.'s madness and save countless other lives. Together, they lifted the body up and hoisted it into the back of the truck next to the fifty-gallon drums of explosives.
"Crap…look at the mess," Aidan said, looking down at the large Rorschach blot where the guard's head had lain.
"No one will notice it with all of the tobacco juice stains. Let's just hope we we're in a camera blind spot when you whacked him."
They drove into the underground garage and parked the truck next to a dozen similar vehicles that were used to transport Beasts. Then, they exited via a side door and went to get ready for the big day.
Chapter 24
The morning of May 1st arrived like any other spring day. The sun rose on the eastern horizon in a glorious display of fiery orange and pink; birds sang in the tree tops; and the townspeople went about their daily routine, rushing to be the first in line to get the first to get the warm, gooey sweets at the bakery or get the just-picked cannabis buds at their favorite pot shop to celebrate this special day.
During the previous night, Cheryl and Aidan had snuck out of the dormitory, so they could spend the night together at Philip and Ashley's apartment. Now, looking out the apartment window, Cheryl wished she could pretend this day was like any other, but she knew it wasn't. There was excitement in the air, an electric vibe, and what felt like the pulse of imminent danger. She glanced back towards the bed. Aidan was still asleep, lying on his stomach. At some point during their lovemaking last night, his patch had slipped off his face, but right now his scarred eye socket was hidden in the pillow. He looked peaceful, like he was dreaming of better times in the past…before life became insane.
Did she have regrets? Yes…about many things…but last night wasn't one of them. All hopes and dreams of a future with Mark had vanished, and it was almost certain that the night of April 30th was the last night that she and Aidan would be alive. So, she'd tossed all her inhibitions and let passion and fear combine into sweaty hours of pleasure.
When Aidan woke and saw her at the window, he reached out a hand and tried to pull her back into bed. She refused. "We need to get to the square to make sure we've got a good spot for an easy exit."
After a bit of stalling, he agreed and got up. They took turns showering and got dressed. Then, Cheryl started pacing around the apartment as he watched her with a look of amusement. "What are you doing?"
"Looking for some sort of weapons to take with us."
"You can't have anything on you that might get you arrested. There's going to be security checkpoints all over the place."
She ignored him and continued to look around the room for a sturdy, metal lamp base or something else that would give her a modicum of peace to have with her. After finding nothing that looked useful in the living room, she went to the kitchen and took a large knife out of the wood block on the counter.
Aidan nixed it when he saw it. "I heard they set up metal detectors. Don't worry…once the armory is taken and we meet up with Paige and the others, we'll have all the gun power we need."
"I'm not walking out of here completely unarmed." She tossed the knife on the counter and started going from room to room, throwing open drawers and closets, trying to find something useful that wasn't made of metal. After a couple of minutes of tearing the place apart, she plopped down on a chair at the kitchen table and buried her head in her hands.
Aidan walked up next to her and put his arm around her shoulders. A second later, she threw him off, jumped out of the chair, and ran into the kitchen. There was an empty wine bottle on the counter, presumably one that Philip and Ashley had shared the night before they donned robes and willingly went to watch a man be murdered on the outskirts of town.
She grabbed it by the neck and slammed it down on the edge of the counter.
It broke in half, sending chards skidding across the floor.
Aidan rushed in. "You're not…"
She smashed the upper half down again, creating a couple of long, jagged, and very sharp edges.
"Now I'm ready to go," she said, after wrapping the bottle neck in a dish towel, tucking it into the back of her jeans, and pulling her blouse down over it.
Shaking his head without saying anything, he just threw up his hands like whatever makes you happy.
After that, they gathered a blanket, some water bottles, and a few snacks that they put in a cooler. That was it—they carried nothing else but the clothes on their backs because chances were, even a backpack would slow them down when it all went down.
As they walked down the apartment steps, Cheryl felt giddy and lightheaded. If the RT's plan worked tonight, they would turn the darkness in on itself. O.N.E.'s program would collapse like a black hole consuming its own structure. There was a satisfying irony in the idea of creating an apocalypse inside the very group that that started the epidemic. The thought made her smile, but the corners of her mouth turned down a
t another thought. Chances were…she and Aidan would never escape the hell they were going to help unleash. They were surely to die in the chaos. She had come to terms with that. After surviving this long after the start of the epidemic, she was willing to give her life to give the bastards a mortal wound. The greater cause was worth it.
***
By the time they neared the square adjacent to the pyramid, the sky was an unusual shade of blue. The sun peeked through wisps of clouds, glowing a sickly yellow as it caused beads of sweat to trickle down her cheeks. Cheryl thought the heavens looked frothy like the gods were brewing something terrible above.
The foreboding sky turned out to be an omen of the first of bad things to come. When they reached the entry point of the square, there was more to endure than just handing over a barcoded ticket. In addition to metal detectors, there were full body scanners set up—the kind they used to have in airports before the epidemic began.
Cheryl panicked and told Aidan to slow down.
"What?" he asked, as she pulled him over to an area where there were trash cans and a full bike rack.
"I'm going to have to throw something away."
"Oh…" he said as he watched her reluctantly give up her glass weapon.
"Don't look so glum," he said as they continued on towards a group of armed guards who were scanning tickets. "It'll be all right."
"Just keep telling me that," she said. "Maybe, I'll believe it."
There were already thousands upon thousands of people in the square adjacent to the pyramid. It clearly seemed like more than had ever lived in the town of Sedona, before or after the start of the epidemic, and she wondered if many had come in from the surrounding towns to witness today's ceremony. Instead of being allowed to stand in the back of the crowd where they could plan a strategic exit, ushers forced them to move up into the middle section. Standing in the midst of so many people, it felt like she and Aidan were tiny insects inside a swarm.
The formal ceremony wasn't scheduled to begin until dusk, so there was going to be a long, hot wait until then. To kill time, Cheryl began to study the masses around her. There were families with young children, groups of partying twenty-somethings, and a smattering of old people that had survived the epidemic.
Every few minutes, chants flowed through the crowd. People raised their fists and shouted, "One New Earth…One New Earth…"
It was shocking to see how many of them blindly anticipated what was to come, even though most of them probably had no clue what was going to happen. Most… but not all. When hands were raised to make waves like at a sporting event, she noticed that some people kept one arm down at their side. With that hand, they made a symbol with their thumb placed between their index and middle finger. It was strangely similar to the way kids crossed their fingers behind their back when they wanted to cancel out something they were agreeing to. These were the resistance fighters—the RT—spread throughout the crowd, compromising less than three percent of those she saw around her. After studying them for a while, she didn't have to see one of them make the symbol to recognize one of her fellow rebels. She could just discern the wild look in their eyes and know they were in on today's alternate game plan.
At some point, before the sun set and Cyclops was unveiled, there was supposed to be a smoke signal in the sky, signaling that Vinnie and Ruth, and other members of the RT had successfully taken the armory. When that occurred, it was time for everyone in the resistance movement to start moving away from the pyramid and towards the perimeter of the gathering, so they could be ready to grab weapons during the confusion that would occur when the Beasts were deactivated. Then, the leaders of O.N.E. would be held at gunpoint and given an ultimatum—they could capitulate to the RT or they would be taken down by force and the Cyclops, the pyramid, and everyone in the entire radius surrounding it would be blown to bits.
Waiting for that first domino to drop was excruciating. Sometimes sitting, sometimes standing, Cheryl and Aidan did like the others, fanning themselves with paper fans adorned with the O.N.E. symbol. Entertainment came from the loudspeakers and video screens that broadcasted the voices and images of a myriad of speakers who spoke from the platform at the top of the pyramid, all looking pompous as they waxed poetic about the newfound security that Cyclops was going to provide for all citizens.
By the time the sun was low in the sky, the food and water they'd brought with them was gone, and they were getting agitated. "It's getting late," Aidan said. "Where is the—"
Cheryl noticed something in the western sky and held a hand over her eyes to shield them from the glow of the dying sun. "There…" she said as his gaze followed hers to a trickle of black smoke swirling into the sky. Others saw it too. They smartly refrained from pointing, and one by one began to navigate through the crowd to get into position on the outskirts of the crowd.
"We'd better go," he said.
They left their blanket and cooler, and everything else they'd brought with them on the ground and meandered through the sweaty bodies until they finally reached the edge of what felt like a forest of flesh. Once they reached the rope line, they halted. On the other side, armed guards in full riot gear stood shoulder to shoulder ready to prevent anyone from leaving.
"What's going on?" Cheryl asked the closest one. "We just want to run home and grab some more water."
"Nobody leaves." His voice was cold and mechanical, and he didn't even appear look at her from the other side of his visor.
"But the O.N.E. pamphlets said everyone had to be in the square by 9 p.m. It's only a little after 7 p.m. now, so why aren't you letting anyone out?"
When he refused to answer and used his gun to motion her to step back, she knew they were trapped, and so was everyone else in the crowd who was with the RT.
"We'll just have to wait," Aidan said. "They'll come. They'll create a distraction, and we'll get out."
"They'd better," she mumbled. "Or, we're stuck here for the whole damn party, and I predict a helluva hangover if it comes to that."
Their patience was strained to the limit as the sun was replaced by a full moon. An hour ticked off…then another. By now, the square was so full of people, it was standing room only, and they were shoved against the rope
A roar went through the crowd as the Senior Warden's gigantic face appeared on all the television screens. He beamed so wide, his oversized teeth looked like the sharp points of a picket fence. Then, the camera panned to a line of people who were being led up the steps of the pyramid. Their hands were tied behind their backs, and guards prodded them, keeping them moving.
Once there was a captive standing on every step, the line stopped. Then, Senior Warden Luke Marshall, who was on the platform on top of the pyramid, raised his arms above his head and made the O.N.E. triangle symbol with his thumbs and index fingers. The crowd went wild, clapping high in the air and shouting, "Luke…Luke…Luke…"
Cheryl dug her fingernails into Aidan's arm. "I don't like this. We need to get out of here…"
"There's nothing we can do yet."
His calmness wasn't helping to reduce her agitation. Any second now, she was going to leap on one of the guards and go for his gun. Chances were good, she'd be killed as well as Aidan and a wide swath of the others around them, but she wasn't sure was going to be able to prevent herself from taking some action, even if it proved to be fatal.
"Look," Aidan said, pointing to the nearest television screen.
She glanced at it then up at the pyramid where the cameras were showing the unfolding of an unbelievable mass ritual. As the Senior Warden read off a list of the criminals' charges, the camera view switched to an overhead shot of the pit at the base of the pyramid. There were hundreds of Beasts who hadn't been fitted with EM boxes, gazing up at the cameras. Their gnarled hands, and bony, blood encrusted fingers reached up, and their dead, ghoulish eyes looked towards the camera. Blackened teeth opened wide like the beaks of baby birds, waiting for their next worm.
The crowd went wil
d with excitement, raising their hands and cheering like they were in ecstasy at the sight of so many corralled zombies, waiting to be fed.
Aidan looked green. "Really? They're going to sacrifice all of them?"
"Not sacrifice," Cheryl said with a solemn voice as she relived the horrible image of the man who had his heart ripped out on the outskirts of town. "Execute. A little while ago, I heard a woman next to me talking about the rebels and the nonbelievers, and what they were going to do to them to set an example."
She gasped as she recognized the first unlucky prisoner at the top of the steps. It was Ruth.
Her arms were wrenched behind her back, constrained so tightly it seemed they must be prickling with pain or entirely numb. Somehow, her involvement with the RT had been discovered, and there was no doubt what her fate was meant to be. As the priest in the white collar read the charges against her, her short brown hair fluttered in the wind, and her face remained placid. Then, the guard next to her threw out his hand and gave her a shove. She tumbled down the steps, rolling and bouncing until she landed in the pit. For a few seconds, her screams reached an ear-shattering high pitch…then there was silence except for the sound of ripping flesh and the crunching of bones as the cameras recorded every grotesque detail for the crowd to see.
Cheryl covered her mouth and looked away from the screens.
Aidan averted his gaze too and whispered in her ear. "Choke it down. Don't do anything to draw attention to yourself."
She swallowed hard, steeling her nerves as she realized that many in the crowd around her were cheering even louder. Seeing them celebrate Ruth's death was heartbreaking. Didn't they realize they were all being fed a load of candy coated dung? She hadn't been in Sedona when O.N.E. overtook the town, but she supposed they'd done it slowly—come in first as some sort of relief group after the epidemic started, and then made changes bit by bit until they townspeople accepted the most horrific ideas as matter of fact.
Eaters (Book 2): The Resistance Page 30