by Jeff Olah
95
It had been three hours since she entered the room and although her son had opened his eyes, there hadn’t been any further signs of progress. April sat in a chair next to Justin holding his hand and praying for her husband and father to return. She drifted in and out of sleep as her mother paced the halls. The cold sterility of the room made April nauseous as Tessa punched away at the keyboard in the corner documenting everything as it happened. Resting her eyes, she hadn’t sensed her mother’s return. “Oh… hi.”
“April you need to get some rest, you need to sleep. The two rooms past the kitchen have beds, more beds than we have been able to use in the past few days. Take advantage of the few minutes you have now.”
“How can you be so calm? Mason is out there looking for dad and there’s a good chance we won’t see either of them again.”
“I have faith… because it’s all we have at this point. We cannot give up. You didn’t make it this far by lying down and dying. Mason needs you here being strong for him and believing in the fact that he will return. Most importantly, your son needs you; he needs you now more than ever.”
“You’re right,” April said as she rose out of the chair. “Promise me you’ll wake me if anything happens.” Leaning in, she brushed the hair from her son’s forehead, kissed him and whispered. “Come back baby… please.” As April started to pull away, Justin exhaled softly into her ear, his warm breath trying to communicate. April turned to her mother as his hand began to tighten around hers.
. . .
The throbbing at the side of his head ran a close second to waking to a boot in the stomach. The blood pooling in his mouth tasted of bile as he rolled to his side and vomited. The world continued to spin as Mason pushed to his hands and knees before being kicked again and returning to the cabin floor. He had no idea how long he’d been unconscious, although it felt like days had past. As he turned over onto his back and his eyes came into focus, he saw three men standing above, his weapon and pack were nowhere to be found. Contorting his head backward, he saw the man he’d come to help, bound to a chair and beaten severely.
His jacket tightened around his torso as a giant meat hook of a hand pulled him to his feet and tossed him halfway across the room, colliding with another man near the door. Stepping back he realized the man he’d just knocked to the ground was Frank. Confused, Mason reached to pull him to his feet and was met with a nasty upper cut that threatened to knock him to the ground once again. Backing away, Mason stood next to Major Daniels, hands on his knees and breathing heavily through his nose.
“Mason, are we having fun yet?” the Major asked.
Turning to his father-in-law Mason said, “Not yet, but the day’s still young.”
Stepping forward, the behemoth of a man pushed Mason to the side and planted his foot on the chair between the Major’s legs. “Enough… your son-in-law here thought it was a good idea to come rescue you. I bet right about now he wishes he’d stayed back?”
“I think for once we are in agreement,” Major Daniels said.
“Great, although that doesn’t change the fact that he serves no purpose here.” Turning to Mason he said, “So sorry my friend, you were gonna die today either way, only now you won’t get the pleasure of understanding how horrific your father-in-law really was. The thing you’ll never know is the part he played in exterminating humankind.”
The giant was now flanked by Frank and the other smaller man who, up to this point, hadn’t said a word. “You look puzzled… I’ll clear a few things up for you. There is a man we need and your father-in-law is really the only one that can get to him. At some point, he’ll lead us to that man; we’re just going to have to apply pressure in the right areas. You know Frank here; he was our point man and arrived at Blackmore an hour or so before we did, pretending to be a soldier without a unit. Before his credentials were verified, it was already too late and he was in the building, but then the idiot got himself locked inside. The plan was brilliant if I do say so myself.”
The Major interjected, “The truth is that these men are the scum that my division was babysitting, and they are little more than low wage security officers you’d see in a department store. That giant mess of human is Anton and his little sidekick there is Travis.”
He wasn’t listening and his eyes hadn’t moved from his target. Without warning Mason lunged forward and pulled Frank to the floor, they rolled into the table and Mason ended up on top. He twisted the collar of Frank’s jacket in his left hand and shoved it to the floor, pinning his neck down. Mason punched through Frank’s flailing arms, striking him repeatedly with direct blows.
Frank attempted to retaliate; only most of his shots landed short and did nothing to distract Mason’s fury. Fatigue set in as he gripped the arm holding his throat down and dug his thumb into Mason’s wrist, forcing him to release. The blood rushing out of the new wound above his eye partially blinded him as he sat forward only to be met with Mason’s elbow sending him back to the floor, his brutalized head making contact first.
Mason’s right hand burned as the skin in multiple places was torn away. He leaned forward and gripped Frank’s neck. As he struggled to get free, Mason clamped down harder, the muscles in his forearm bulged as Frank pounded against them. Death wasn’t far off as he began to flail wildly under Mason’s weight. Seconds from ending this man’s life with his bare hands, Mason was pulled up from behind. He brought Frank from the floor in the process and only released his grip when he was thrown backward into the wall.
Frank moved to the opposite side coughing, spitting and finally cursing Anton for waiting so long to help. Regaining his composure, he walked over and kicked Mason in the stomach repeatedly until he lay in the fetal position gasping for air.
“Enough,” said Major Daniels. “He’s had enough. You have no authority here and no idea how deep this goes. Once Goodwin arrives here, we’ll work it out. Let Mason go and I’ll be sure you three live.”
Anton laughed and turning to Major Daniels said, “You’re allowing us to live. How nice of you, although there are a few recent developments you haven’t been privy to. First of which is the fact that we only need you until we find the Doctor. Also, the only reason your family has been allowed to live is a sign of good faith. If you want to end this today… if you want to go back to your little paradise in the mountains, you need to play ball. No more games. The next thing out of your mouth had better be the location of Lockwood.”
With the numbness in his arms and legs less of an annoyance, the Major leaned back in the chair and took in a long breath through his nose. “Son, you’ve tied me to this wretched chair, beat the hell out of me, threatened to kill my family and do unspeakable things to my wife. When your boss arrives and unties my hands, I am going to personally beat the life out of you. You might be under the misguided idea that your size somehow precludes you from showing me the respect I deserve, the respect I’ve worked years to earn, although I assure you that today you’re going to learn just how defective that belief actually was.”
Anton smiled. “Richard… your title, as well as the respect this world owes you left two weeks ago. No one is coming to save you. Goodwin is tucked away at headquarters with no intention of ever coming here. Why do you think he sent me?” Pulling Mason to his feet, Anton handed Frank his weapon and pointed to the door. “Take him outside and kill him.”
Helping Anton pull Mason from the floor, Frank used the remaining length of rope to bind Mason’s hands behind his back. He then pulled Mason by the hair, marched him to the door and pushed him through.
Alone with his thoughts, Richard Daniels hated himself. He hated who he’d become and what he’d done. This wasn’t Mason’s plan. It wasn’t supposed to end… not here, not like this.
The sound of a weapon being fired destroyed the silence.
End of Book Three
The Dead Years
Book Four
COLLAPSE
96
A single flake o
f snow fell to the ground, coming to rest in the river of blood slowly pooling around his size eleven boots. The velvety red fluid pulsated from the massive head wound, as his target lay face down in the colorful underbrush of the cabin’s exterior. As he inhaled, the cool air tasted of scorched gunpowder and held a twinge of apprehension. Lower altitudes near the slowly moving creek were home to more pine trees than he could count. Sporadic bursts of wind forced through the lower branches whispered at his back as he turned to check the area for any stray Feeders. Using his weapon to remove the coagulated mess from his jacket and pants, he grinned and moved away from the man he killed only moments ago.
Heading for the rear door the two men had exited less than five minutes before, he noticed movement in the trees at the far side of the creek and knew better than to drag this out. Taking a deep breath he pulled open the door to three noticeably surprised individuals. Even before the large man had a chance to reach for his weapon, Randy fired a round into each one of his tree trunk like thighs, sending him backward to the floor, a hobbled mess. Before turning to the Major, who hadn’t yet said a word, Randy moved to the smaller of the two men at the opposite end of the cabin and retrieved both weapons.
He pulled the startled young man in close and sat him in the chair next to his tortured comrade. The young man swallowed hard and began to speak, although Randy stopped him before a single syllable crossed his lips. “Hey… look at me,” Randy said grabbing him by the top of the head. “Your friend here is going to be dead in the next few minutes and if you don’t want to share the same fate, you’ll stay seated and keep your mouth shut… until I’m ready for you.”
“KILL THEM… KILL THEM BOTH!” Major Daniels shouted.
The beast of a man now reduced to a cursing and spitting heap, unable to stand, pushed himself into the corner and grabbing the leg of the table tried to pull it close. Using one hand to right himself against the rear wall of the cabin, he used the other to slowly slide the table, oblivious to Randy moving in his direction. “You’re all dead, each and every one of you. He’s coming back and you’re going to beg him to end your life.”
Figuring he must have hit a major artery when he leveled this man, Randy knew there wasn’t much time till he bled out and slipped into unconsciousness. Turning to Major Daniels, he nodded to the rear of the cabin behind him as Mason appeared, leaning against the door frame. Randy pointed to the beast cowering behind the table and looked to Mason. “You look like crap buddy. This one here... is he the guy that did that to you? How about we give you two a little time alone, maybe he can explain himself?”
Hobbling through the door and into the cabin, Mason nodded to Randy and moved to Major Daniels. He slowly slid in behind and began removing the ropes binding his father-in-law’s hands and legs together. The pain shooting through Mason’s arms and out through his fingers hampered his progress as each knot was more difficult to unravel than the one before. Perspiration carried blood from the Major’s face down his neck and into this collar as Mason finished freeing him. The two stood and moved in behind Randy.
Lunging forward, Major Daniels reached out for one of the weapons as Randy swiped it away and stepped back. The beast in the corner still cowering and loosing blood at an alarming rate was now flush and beginning to breathe harder with each passing second. Major Daniels made another attempt to finish off the man who’d beaten him for the better part of the morning as Randy begrudgingly pulled him away. “Wait, let’s get what we need from him first.”
Coming out of the rage induced fog that controlled his every reaction of the last few hours, the Major turned to Randy with a half-cocked smile. “Randy Stiig… It’s been quite a few years and if I’m being honest, you look like ten miles of bad highway.”
His surprise unmistakable, Mason interrupted. “Wait… you two...”
“No time for a long drawn out reunion; we’ve got a group of Feeders headed this way,” Randy said. “We need to scoot.”
Turning to Mason, Randy handed him one of two nine millimeter pistols and walked to the corner. The table was not quite as heavy as it looked and he gripped the corner and flipped it out of the way and into the smaller man still seated to his left. “What’s your name big boy?”
“Yeah sure,” said the behemoth. “Like you said, I’ll be dead in a few minutes. You’re better off just killing me.”
“His name is Anton, and you don’t need him,” the smaller man to Randy’s left said. “My name is Travis and I’ll help you.”
Without turning to face him, Randy used the blunt end of the pistol against the back of Travis’s head to command silence. “I’ll get to you in a minute; right now your friend is going to talk.” Moving closer and kneeling over Anton, Randy shoved the barrel deep into his mouth, knocking loose one of his front teeth in the process. Calmly, Randy continued, “I’m going to ask you three simple questions and for each one you don’t answer, I going to take apart one of your appendages.” Sliding the weapon back out of his mouth, Randy was met with a smattering of mucus and blood as Anton spit out the contents of his mouth and cursed him.
Wiping the mess from his face and still crouched over the monstrosity of a man, Randy narrowed his focus. “I know you were under orders to detain Major Daniels and extract information, but I know that’s not everything. What else did you come for?”
Anton leaned in and a smiled started across his face as he began to laugh. He stared right through Randy and didn’t blink as the others curiously looked on.
Obviously frustrated and out of time, Randy struck him repeatedly with the pistol and with each blow Anton rocked backward and continued to laugh that much harder.
Travis interrupted, “I’ll tell you everything, I know just as much as he does. He’s not even…”
Turning form his current target, Randy said, “Mason, keep him quiet.”
Kicking the leg out from under the chair, Mason watched as Travis toppled to the floor. With only a few feet between them, Anton shifted his weight and grabbed at the smaller man only to be met by Randy intercepting his forearm and pulling it toward him. The two men struggled as Randy forced Anton’s hand to the blood soaked wood floor.
Without warning, Mason came in from behind and before Anton had time to react, he dropped the barrel of his nine millimeter pistol onto Anton’s wrist and fired, almost separating his hand from the rest of his arm. Sprayed with blood and sections of splintered bone, Randy scooted backward as Mason stepped in.
“MASON, WE NEED THIS GUY!” Randy shouted.
“No we don’t, the kid here probably has just as much information and he’s ready to talk. Take care of it.”
Turning to Major Daniels, Mason motioned in the direction of the half-conscious behemoth, bleeding out in the corner. “Help me out here.” Mason and his father-in-law each gripped a pant leg and dragged Anton the length of the cabin as he used his final words to warn Travis what Goodwin was going to do to him when he arrived. Pulling him through the doorway and out into the brush, they laid him against the large spruce nearest the cabin. Mason used the rope from the cabin to tie Anton to his final destination.
“Major, can you let Randy know that we need to leave right now. Take the boy or leave him, but we need to go.”
Heading back to the cabin, he stopped. Without turning, Major Daniels said, “Mason, I’m glad you came here for me, and… please start calling me Richard.”
97
The halls of Blackmore had been eerily quiet since Mason followed Frank out into the forest. The only movement came from the many rooms filled with Feeders occasionally fighting for release. Even though these monsters were locked down and of no concern, Eleanor still flinched with every passing glimpse. With her daughter finally asleep in the dimly lit, makeshift bedroom, she made her way back to Tessa. The Cage held the same stillness as the rest of the facility, save for the clicking of the keyboard as Tessa poured her findings into the laptop.
It had been a few hours since Justin had shown any new signs of recove
ry and as his grandmother, she needed to know. Upon entering the room, Eleanor waited for Tessa to finish what she was currently working through. “Is there anything new? Is there something we have to hope for?”
“Eleanor, how are you holding up? How are the girls?”
“I’m sorry… I just… I need something, some good news. My daughter is hanging by a thread and I’d love to give her something to hold onto. When she wakes up and reality rushes back in, I just want to…”
“Eleanor, I know. I want the same thing,” Tessa said. “Your family is like my family now. We all want the same thing.”
“Thank you sweet Tessa, you have been wonderful. We would be lost here without you.”
Turning away from the counter and meeting Eleanor just behind the table Justin lay motionless on, Tessa reached out for her hand. She looked to the clock in the corner of the room, slowly searching for the right words. “Not a lot has happened since April left, although what has taken place within just the last hour points to some positive signs.” A tear ran down Eleanor’s face and her upper lip began to quiver as Tessa continued, “Even though he has been less responsive physically, it appears that mentally he’s possibly taken a step forward.”
Eleanor furrowed her brow and dabbed at her eyes with a handkerchief. “What do you mean, is he awake, did Randy’s blood help?”
“I think it may be too soon to attribute any changes to the things we have done here today. Justin hasn’t progressed in a way that we’ve yet seen. He’s different and that to me is all the hope I need. While I’m not under the illusion he’ll be walking out of this room today, I am hopeful we can continue to make some progress and learn things about this virus that will help him and benefit the rest of us. He is as much our saving grace as we are his.”
“OK…” Eleanor said. “What has changed about him, how can you even tell?”