“Are you sure of where we are going?” Kayla asked as I sped out of town.
“Not yet, but I will in a few minutes,” I said as I kept my eyes on the road. Sure enough, another vehicle was on the road, this one was a small truck. It was the same one I had seen before when I was running from Ben’s men. If I had a million gold coins, I’d bet them all that Kevin Mastro was at the wheel.
As it turned out, there were two men in the truck. They glanced over as I passed them, then their looks turned to shock as I slammed my much bigger truck into them, shoving them off the road and into the ditch. I stopped the truck and got out, waving Kayla to get down. I jacked a round into my rifle and waited by the rear corner of the bed.
The driver tried to get the truck out of the ditch, but after a second, realized it was hopeless. The passenger door opened, and a man I hadn’t seen before popped out with a gun in each hand. He oriented himself and swung both in my direction.
About halfway through his movement, I shot him square in the chest. The heavy bullet threw him backwards into the pickup, where he slammed into the door, slid down, and left a blood trail all the way.
Kevin Mastro was smarter. He raised both hands above his head and climbed as best he could out of the ditch. He looked at his companion and shook his head slightly.
“I told him you’d kill him, but he wanted to try it anyway,” he said with a grin.
I kept the big gun trained on Kevin’s head. “Easy way or hard way?” I asked.
Mastro gave me a half smile. “I’ll take the easy way, thanks. Ben has his fortress at the old school on Maple in Blue Island. It’s got its secrets, and you might regret finding out what they are.” He stopped for a minute. “I didn’t have anything to do with your brother, by the way.” Kevin lowered his hands. “Anything else?”
“One second,” I said. “Kayla! You recognize this guy?”
Kayla popped her head up and gave Mastro a long look. “No, he wasn’t there. I’d remember that red shirt he’s wearing.”
I looked at Mastro. “Leave this state, right now. If I even suspect you are residing in a neighboring state, I’ll finish you. Clear?”
Mastro shrugged. “If you take care of Ben, I have nothing to worry about. I’ve wanted to hit the southern states anyway.” He reached into the truck and pulled out a pack, and started walking back to the capital. He’d catch a ride on a boat and be gone before the day was out.
I safed my rifle and got back in the truck. Kayla looked at me.
“What now?” She asked.
“Now we scout the enemy’s fortress,” I said, throwing the truck into gear.
“And then?”
“Then we finish this.”
Chapter 42
I drove the truck easterly, keeping to roads that I knew paralleled the canal. I knew approximately, where I was going, but I would know more specifically once I got closer. I figured we’d be there just at evening, which suited me perfectly. Dusk was when the human eye had the most trouble adjusting between the light sky and the dark ground. Back in the day, it was the best time to move over open ground when zombies were around, because they had a hard time seeing you.
When we reached the woods near the canal, I pulled over and got my bearings. I figured we had a mile to go before we reached the bridge that crossed the canal, and I wanted to make sure we weren’t seen. Pulling up in a big damn truck didn’t accomplish anything on that end, so I thought we were far enough away to not be seen by any chance sentry.
I pulled all of my magazines and loaded every one to capacity, putting handfuls of extra cartridges in my vest pockets. My knives were sharp and my sword was keen. I stroked the blade of my ‘hawk with a small sharpening stone until it had the edge I wanted. I put on my dark gloves and pulled out a balaclava to cover my head. If I had to approach in the dark, I wanted to be invisible.
Kayla prepared as well. Her blades were all very sharp, and she had a small Glock on her hip. Spare magazines rode in her other hip, and she carried a backpack with assorted goodies. Her melee weapon was a short spear, about four feet in length and sporting a double-edged blade about a foot long. There was a sheath for the spear that hung down her butt, and a small u-ring held it within easy reach over her right shoulder.
I gave her a rifle and four extra magazines, which she distributed around her chest. I chambered a round into my M1A and looked in askance at Kayla.
She nodded in reply to my unspoken question. We were ready to go.
The canal flowed silently beneath us as we crossed the old bridge. The dark beams creaked ever so softly in the dimming light, and here and there, I could see places where the asphalt had dropped into the canal below. Eventually the whole thing would collapse and getting through on a boat would be tough.
On the other side, the viaduct was just a black hole, but I knew it was an illusion. The small tunnel actually turned slightly to the right, so we were looking at a flat wall, which made it seem like a cave. When we reached the other side, I waited a second for my eyes to adjust, since we went from pretty dark to pretty light.
Up on the corner of Vermont and Maple stood an old school building. The doors and windows that I could see were all intact, and the large windows on the old gym were all covered in iron grates which had protected them from the wandering hordes. If the other doors were in the same shape, this place would have been a good shelter during the Upheaval.
On the other side of the street was a row of small homes, looted and abandoned. This town would have been hard hit due to its proximity to the highway and the train station up the road. We kept to the sidewalk, staying under the canopy of trees and shrubs. So far, it seemed like we had managed to approach unnoticed.
After another block, everything changed. From my position under the bushes, I could see a serious problem with approaching the fortress. The old school was surrounded by a ten-foot wall of debris. Everything within fifty yards of the school had been torn down and used as part of the fortification. I could see parts of shingles, some bricks, chairs and tables, and what looked like some desks. On top of the wall was a series of boards lashed together to form a walkway for sentries. Completely surrounding the outer wall was a field of smaller debris. Bricks, stones, and wood planks were scattered all over, creating a huge uneven surface. Any zombie approaching this place would likely fall himself to death on all of the rocks and boards. Anyone alive trying to breach this place would have to slow down considerably to avoid twisting an ankle or outright breaking a foot. That slower person would make a hell of a target.
“I’m going to scout a bit, and see what I can see,” I whispered to Kayla. “Stay here and try to get a sense for how the sentries are situated.”
Kayla didn’t argue, she just nodded and stared back at the school. We hadn’t seen any sentries so far, but that could change.
I slipped into the brush and worked my way silently around the building. From what I could see, it was roughly in the shape of an ‘H’. There was a cleared space for vehicles in the front of the building, but a pair of concrete towers on the outside of a set of huge iron gates served very effectively against most threats both living and dead. I didn’t see any easy way in. Even the trees had been cut back to make sure the area around the building was one big killing zone.
I made my way back to where Kayla was waiting. She was still staring at the building, but she acknowledged my approach with a small nod of her head.
“It’s been quiet, but there seems to be some movement now,” Kayla said, pointing at the building.” Sure enough, men suddenly appeared on the walkways, and took up stations at each corner of the wall. Two more men appeared in the towers next to the gates. If the fortress was hard to penetrate before, it suddenly became impossible.
“Damn,” I said. “I don’t know how the hell we can pull this off with these guys out there.” I thought for a minute, and then made the hardest decision I hoped never to make. “We’re going to have to back off and think this one through. We could snipe a
t last two of them, but that might get Jake and Julia killed in reprisal. We need to find a way to approach this place in the time when we can get in and get things done without too much risk to those two.”
Kayla stared at me for a minute, and then looked back at the fortress. I could see she was in as much turmoil as I was. Inside I wanted to charge the gate, guns blazing, but without a reasonable way inside, it was suicide.
“Come on, let’s back off and get further away,” I said, moving through the brush. I was quieter now, and for some reason I stopped. I motioned Kayla to stop and I just sat with my eyes closed for a second. I thought I heard something, something out of the ordinary, but it didn’t repeat itself, so I motioned Kayla to follow.
Chapter 43
Once out of sight of the fortress, we made our way back to the other school. A quick look around found the doors and windows were intact, and everything was locked. On the south end, a window unit air conditioner that I could reach by standing on the railing was outside the front door. With Kayla holding my legs, I managed to push the unit inside and pull myself in.
I found myself in a small office, with a fake wood desk and computer table taking up nearly half the space. A closet with no door was in front of me, and I could barely make out the school supplies stored there. I stepped through a smaller office that consisted of a desk and a computer taking up ninety percent of the space, and out into the hallway. I nearly fell down the stairs that led up to the office, a strange feature in this old building. On either side of the stairs up to the office were stairs leading down to the front door. I quickly went down and let Kayla in.
We did a quick walk through of the building and found it intact, untouched, and only slightly dusty. The building was just three floors on top of each other, attached to a large gymnasium and stage. A balcony went around three sides of the gym, and I could see benches for spectators.
“Okay,” I said quietly, listening to my echo in the open space. “Let’s find a spot to plan.” We went over to the corner and I attached a red lens to my flashlight. I didn’t want to advertise we were here.
I took out the marker I had swiped from the office supplies and drew a crude outline of the fort and the defenses. “We can’t approach from any side, because we’ll be seen and the terrain will slow us down. The only option is to go through the front gate, but I don’t know how we can get them to open it for us.”
Kayla shrugged, and then stuck out her chest. “Maybe I can open it. Men are men, after all.”
I shook that suggestion off. “They know you from the ambush you escaped from. They’d be glad to have you back.”
Kayla frowned. “Then what are we going to do?”
I slowly shook my head back and forth. “Not sure, but I know we want to hit it tonight, when it’s darkest out so their natural defenses are at their lowest.” I looked at my watch. “It’s seven thirty now, so let’s get some sleep and we’ll head back out at around one. They should be a lot less vigilant then.”
Kayla agreed and we both stretched out to try to get some rest. I knew I wasn’t going to sleep, because all I could think about was what Ben had said about Julia. I hoped she was okay, and I wished I had had the courage to tell her how I felt. At least she would have had the assurance that I would be coming for her, no matter what.
I did manage to drift off to sleep, a testament to how tired I had been from the previous days. Kayla was quietly snoring, and a quick look at my watch told me we had another half hour to go. Outside, it was extremely dark, and only a little light from the moon helped to break up the shadows. A small glow came from the north, and I had to assume that was from lights on the fortress.
A movement behind me told me Kayla was up and my suspicion was confirmed when she joined me at the window.
“Did you sleep at all?” She asked, rubbing her eyes.
“A little. It wasn’t easy with you snoring,” I joked.
“Very funny. I should tell you…what’s that?” Kayla looked out the window intently and I followed her gaze. In the slim light, a dark figure was running towards the fortress, but he was using the road on the backside. He stayed to the center of the road, as if he didn’t want to bump into anyone or anything, but he moved quickly and silently, as if he had done it a hundred times before. He slipped away into the darkness before I could get a positive look at him, but something in the back of my mind told me I had seen that man before.
“What do you think?” Kayla asked, still looking at the darkness.
“Whoever it was, he’s gone now, so we’ll just stick to the plan. Let’s get moving,” I said.
We put back on the gear we had taken off to sleep, and Kayla took the time to put her hair into a tight knot on the back of her head. I didn’t blame her. The last thing she needed was for someone or something to grab her hair at the wrong time.
Outside, the night air was cool and still. We crossed the road in silence and made our way back to our observation post under the bushes. I could still see the men at their posts, and it looked like they hadn’t moved in the few hours we had gone to sleep. There were lights on the roof of the building that lit up the surrounding area, but only two of them seemed to work, and they were on the side and the back. I thought about slipping over to the darker sides, but something warned me that wasn’t a good idea. Ben wasn’t stupid, and it would be just like that asshole to have some sort of trap waiting for people like me who wanted to sneak up in him in the dark.
The more I looked at the fortress, the more depressed I got. I couldn’t think of a way in that would be quick enough, and Julia and Jake had already been prisoners for several hours. I sat back with Kayla looking at me, and reached a decision. Whatever the cost, I was going to have to try. Hopefully, they would be caught enough off guard that we could take out the majority of them and get inside.
I signaled to Kayla to take the two on the left and I was going to take the two on the right. After that, I was going to pour rifle fire into the two towers and hoped the ricochets would kill the men inside. How I was going to open the gate was still a mystery, but I was running out of options and night.
Just as we raised our rifles and sighted our targets, a voice spoke up behind me.
“I wouldn’t do that just yet.”
Chapter 44
I spun around and tried to see who spoke to me, but there was nothing but darkness. The voice was familiar, but I couldn’t place it.
“Who are you?” I whispered. “Show yourself!”
A shadow detached itself from a nearby tree and moved closer. Its smile was kind of lopsided and roguish, like its owner was constantly amused by life. He was armed to the teeth, though, with a rifle, a couple of small satchels, a handgun, and likely a few knives. The handle of what looked like a sword poked out over his shoulder.
The shadow smiled at Kayla. “Hey, baby girl. Your mom’s worried about you.”
Kayla jumped into the shadow’s arms. “Daddy! I’m so glad to see you! I’m so sorry for making you worry, but Ben has Jake and Julia and…”
Uncle Duncan quieted his daughter with a raised hand. “I know, sweetheart. President Jackson called us the minute you left his house. Your Uncle Tommy is around here somewhere. He was sent to do a little scouting and to stir up things a mite.”
Something clicked in my mind. “Sent? Who sent him? President Jackson? How did he know about this place?” I asked.
Uncle Duncan smiled. “Actually, one of those guys did.” He pointed down the road where two figures were walking up in the darkness. I could barely make them out in the gloom, but as they got closer, I was able to pick out certain things in the darkness. The men were large, one taller than the other, but the shorter one was more massive. They walked with the casual ease of a predator, taking in everything and extremely confident in their ability to handle just about anything. One of the men had a couple of handles sticking out over his shoulders, while the other had a single handle. Both carried rifles, and both were armed with handguns. Each ha
d a knife at his belt and another attached to the strap of the backpacks they were carrying.
When they reached the point where they might be seen by the guards, the two men silently slipped into the brush by the sidewalk and made their way over to where we waited with Uncle Duncan.
As the men approached us, I slung my rifle around to my back and reached out to the taller of the two men. He wrapped me up in a fierce hug, holding me tight for a long moment.
After a minute, he held me at arm’s length. “What the hell do you get yourself into this time, Aaron?” He asked.
I shrugged. “Just one mess after another, Dad. Sorry.”
My Uncle Charlie stepped up to me. “My daughter is in there?”
I looked at him in the dark, and to tell the truth, I was more than a little intimidated. “She is. I think she’s okay, but I don’t know. I don’t know much,” I said.
Uncle Charlie looked at me then looked at my dad. My father nodded and they both stepped out of the brush. I was about to say something about being seen, but then I realized no one was going to see them. All of the guards had vanished, presumably to go to the east side to watch the three houses that had suddenly caught on fire.
My dad stepped out of the shadows and looked over the gate. All I could see was that it was big and impressive. I don’t think my father saw it the same way.
“Duncan! I need something to knock on this door with,” my dad said.
Uncle Duncan smiled and pulled one of the satchels off of his shoulder. He made some adjustments to the side as he walked over to where my father was standing. Taking the bag by the strap, he swung it hard and flung it over to the gate. It hit the big iron doors and fell to the ground.
“I’d back up, if I was you,” he said to my dad as he walked quickly away.
My father and Uncle Charlie stepped to the side of the wall, out of line from the charge. A few seconds later, the night was lit up a second time as the satchel charge blew, blasting the doors apart and sending them sailing backwards. The guard posts by the gate were affected as well, as the explosion ripped into their foundations and sent one of them crashing to the ground. The other was still upright, but the windows were blown away.
Generation Dead Book 2: What You Fear Page 14