Complex Three (The Savage Horde Series Book 3)
Page 23
A cat-like creature raced into his field of view. Before he could react, Mira was standing in front of him.
“You’re back!” she exclaimed and skipped right past him. “Frederick! Bessie!”
Joe looked over his shoulder and was surprised to see Mira launch herself into her creator’s arms. He hugged her, lifting her up off the ground.
“Glad you made it, princess.” He sat her back down, eyes beaming with affection.
“Of course,” she replied.
“I expected as much,” Best added. “You can be very resourceful.”
“Oh, Bessie. That’s these guys,” Mira said, gesturing to the humans. She took Best’s arm and pulled so hard she nearly fell over. “Come see Jade and the others. She’s home, you know? Over here!”
“I can’t wait to see her,” Best said.
Joe thought the response seemed a bit sarcastic, though he wasn’t in the mood to psychoanalyze. He was more concerned about getting away from the complex and never looking back.
They found Jade seconds later, along with the other girls and the two dogs. The fake canines jumped up on Frederick as if he really was their long-lost master. In a way, Joe assumed he qualified as such.
A tearful reunion followed, at least for Jade. Those not imbued with artificial tear ducts or real emotions remained dry eyed as she quickly recounted her tale of capture and escape from the prison.
Jade openly sobbed at times. As she concluded, a solitary tear ran down her cheek. Frederick wiped it away with the patient touch of a father.
“I’m so glad you’re back home,” he said, so softly that Joe had to lean in to listen to him.
“Now we need to find the others’ homes.” Jade gestured to Joe and Leisa. “They helped me find you, so now we need to help them find their families.”
Frederick turned to look to them. “Thank you for bringing my baby home…and me.” He extended a hand. “Nice to finally make a real introduction.”
As they shook hands with him, Joe heard Best in the background mumbling to Mira, saying, “She’s not really the youngest. I don’t get why he always coddles her. I went with him to the complex.”
Great. A little sibling rivalry, Joe thought.
“Time to go, darling,” Connie said, breaking into the group to stand beside Jade.
Joe noticed Frederick’s eyebrow raise at the nickname. He opened his mouth to say something, but the loudest boom yet from the complex silenced him.
The treetops shook a moment later, whipped by a wind which seemed to Joe like it had been generated by the blast. As he traded a nervous look with Leisa, a pungent sulfur smell reached his nose.
“That’s our cue, ladies.” Connie picked up Frederick’s precious tub of spare parts. “Move out!”
No one argued. They formed up in a line with Connie in the lead. Jade followed right behind him. Joe and Leisa found themselves in the middle of the pack. Frederick was next. He helped Faith and Barta make their way through the uneven jungle terrain by letting them each use a shoulder. The dogs brought up the rear.
“Will they follow us?” Joe whirled around to ask the scientist.
He seemed distracted, and finally said, “What’s that? My pups?”
“No, the creatures. Will they follow us?”
“Not likely. That mega-blast probably disabled everything within a quarter mile.”
Joe shuddered. “Seriously?” He assumed they hadn’t been more than that distance away when the trees shook, and they still weren’t moving very quickly. Joe had been tempted to help Frederick with Faith and Barta, but he barely had the strength to lift his own head.
“So was that one of the instabilities, eh?” Leisa asked Frederick.
“Yes. The whole complex will be leveled.” He smirked. “Guess I didn’t need to waste time disabling the mainframe.”
Joe cringed, thinking about the guards and what had to be countless other humans working in the facility. No doubt many of them had no interest in being there, but forced labor was a way of life in the Republic.
Nevertheless, self-preservation was also on Joe’s mind when he asked, “And if any of the, uhm, creations were far enough away?”
“They were made to fight, not scout,” Frederick answered. “They have little in the way of advanced sensors or intelligence, though I was able to give them a little more than the protocol requested.”
“And a larger fuel cell,” Best interjected. “I told him that wasn’t advisable, but he doesn’t like to listen to me either.”
“Now Bessie, it was just a trial. How was I to know they would start a full production?”
“You should have,” she replied. “I told you they were desperate.”
Connie cleared his throat loudly. “And so are we. We need to make tracks, so maybe quit the yapping and pick up the pace.”
“Duly noted, Sergeant,” Frederick replied. “Thanks again for rescuing us.”
“All in a day’s work.” Connie apparently noticed the group was being significantly slowed by Faith and Barta. Without asking, he dropped the box with a metal clank. Frederick grimaced at the rough treatment and went to retrieve the box himself.
Connie grabbed Faith and threw her over his shoulder. She giggled but he ignored her to take Jade’s hand. “C’mon, darling. Let’s hike.”
Jade held back, asking, “Are we going to get Smig?” Obviously, she realized they were heading in the opposite direction.
“That depends.” Connie spun to face Frederick. “What’s in that box?”
“Hard drives and motherboards…mostly.” He paused as if unsure whether to share more. After a stern look from Connie he added, “My research…and more dirt on the Republic than you can imagine.”
“So not spare parts?” Joe reasoned.
“From the way you described the damages, I’d say not enough to repair Smig,” Frederick said with a shrug. He turned to Jade. “Sorry, kid. If we can get him back to the lab…”
“The savages probably wrecked it already,” Connie said, no doubt growing impatient at standing around.
“Maybe not. You’ve seen the subterranean part,” Frederick said, sounding like he really wanted to find out. “It’s practically bomb-proof.”
“It would need to be,” Connie answered. “Anyway, we’d be heading in the wrong direction, back toward the savages.” He paused and looked to Jade. “I think we should keep going. Okay, darling?”
“Of course.” Jade nodded. “No reason to head back into harm’s way.”
Frederick opened his mouth to protest, but Jade’s next words were enough for him to pinch it back shut.
“Not now, Master,” she said quickly, as if speaking first would keep her from having to obey a direct order. “These guys deserve to go home first, and we cannot abandon them after what they did for us.”
As much as he didn’t want to face the savage horde, Joe wondered if there might be a good reason to help the scientist get to his lab first. “Are you-”
“Positive,” Jade said, nodding at a humbled Frederick. “We can’t risk your lives by going back. Perhaps later we can find out, but not now.”
“Thank you.” Leisa slipped her hand into Joe’s and smiled. “We’re ready to get home.”
He sucked in a deep breath. The lingering smell of sulfur didn’t burn as much as the thought of another all-day hike.
“You bet, Leis,” he said. “What’s another twenty miles?”
“Like a walk in the park,” she replied. “Just another training day. Right, Sarge?”
“Exactly.” His laugh rumbled like thunder. “I’ll toughen you ladies up eventually.”
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
For my fans……A huge thank you for taking the time to read Complex Three, the third book of The Savage Horde Series, especially if it meant you loved the first two books, Savage Hills and Cold Valley, so much that you had to keep going with the series.
If you thoroughly enjoyed this book, or even if it wasn’t your favorite, I would g
reatly appreciate any reviews left on Amazon, Goodreads, and anywhere else you please. Reviews help other readers decide whether or not to check out a story, so they can really help get this book noticed by others.
Again, I am beyond thrilled that you have continued carrying on with these brave teens and their grizzly sergeant. Your support means more than you could imagine. Whenever I have doubts about my stories or struggle to find the time to write, it seems like I am rewarded soon after with a stellar review or message from a fan. That makes me even more motivated to keep churning out new books. So a big thank you to all the readers!
To connect with Chris Bostic
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Other books by Chris Bostic
The Savage Horde Series:
Book 1, Savage Hills
Book 2, Cold Valley
The Northwoods Trilogy:
Book 1, Fugitives from Northwoods
Book 2, Rebellion in Northwoods
Book 3, Return to Northwoods
Standalone Novels:
Game Changer
Murder Cove