“Ms. Eldritch,” Ortiz yelled, his gun held at half ready, “your father has sent me to take you home. To take all of you home, even you Mr. Eldritch.”
“Young man,” Samuel shook his head, “I’ll be going nowhere with you and neither will my granddaughter. If Xander has chosen to leave, then that is his choice, but you must let Remmy go.” Samuel did his best to play into the persona of the person the ERC had created in his image.
“Let him go?” Ortiz asked. “Mr. Eldritch, are you feeling well, sir? That boy is the only thing keeping the Reds at bay right now. The last thing I’ll be doing is asking Xander to let him go.”
Xander moved beside Captain Ortiz. He still kept his arm tightly wrapped around Remmy’s throat, the barrel of his gun still pressed to the side of Remmy’s head.
Jessica paced, her energy and anger becoming more frantic. Cora could see that she wasn’t going to be able to control herself for much longer. She needed to get Remmy free immediately.
“Sir?” Ortiz called into the radio inside his helmet. “Are you seeing this, Mr. Eldritch?”
“Yes,” Eldritch mumbled as he frantically punched keys on his computer. Thinking that his children were dead, he had never bothered to check the signal being transmitted from their Em-Paks. Had he actually cared about rescuing them, as opposed to using their deaths for political gain, he would have checked the signals long ago and found that Cora’s reported a malfunction and then went silent. Xander’s still transmitted loud and clear. “Captain Ortiz,” Eldritch said slowly.
“Yes sir?” Ortiz answered, his word distracted and quick. He kept his sidearm trained on Jessica. The Red wasn’t going to play ball for much longer. Xander had the Emo subdued. The boy showed some real promise.
“Ortiz, listen to me very, very carefully,” Eldritch’s voice came through the radio, his words tipped in venom. “Cora has deactivated her Em-Pak. She is an Emo terrorist, and so is my father. If you can subdue either of them do so, but otherwise they are to be given no special consideration. They are terrorists and I expect you to treat them as such.” Eldritch paused and took a deep breath, exhaling slowly. “On second thought, just kill them, Ortiz. They made their decision and I will not suffer the embarrassment of it. Do you understand, Captain?”
“Understood, sir,” Ortiz grinned. “Perfectly.” This made the math of battle a little easier to calculate and balance. It removed a few problematic variables. Ortiz turned to face Cora and Samuel. His face no longer held the look of a rescuing hero. No, now Ortiz’s face was set in the hardened mask of a seasoned soldier.
Cora felt as if the air chilled. Goosebumps covered her arms and legs. The small hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. Something about Ortiz’s look was very bad.
“Let Remmy go and we’re gone,” Cora offered, but it appeared to have no effect on Ortiz or Xander.
“Ms. Eldritch,” Ortiz said, his eyes narrowed and cold, “I’m going to ask you one time and only one time to lay down your weapon. Mr. Eldritch, I suggest you do the same. Your next decision will determine if I bring you back to the city in a helicopter or a body bag. What’s it going to be?”
“He knows we’ve deactivated our Em-Paks,” Samuel whispered to Cora. “Go along with what he says.”
Cora and Samuel unstrapped their wrist guns and tossed them to the ground. They then stepped back slowly, hands raised in surrender.
“Very good,” Ortiz nodded. He swung the barrel of his pistol level with Cora’s face. Ortiz had no patience for terrorist, no matter what their last name was. These two were never going back to the city.
Remmy watched as Ortiz’s finger flexed on the trigger. Time seemed to slow down, moving with the gummy stubbornness of honey. Cora was going to die. She was going to be gunned down and Remmy would be forced to watch.
“Remmy! Now!” Jessica snarled as she launched herself at Ortiz. Her jaws clamped around his extended arm. Bones splintered, crushed beneath the pressure of her powerful teeth and jaws. Ortiz cried out in pain. The gun fell from his hand, clattering to the ground. Half of his arm followed close behind.
Remmy, sensing that time was short, stamped down on Xander’s left foot with all the force he could muster. Xander yelped in pain, the small bones of his foot crunched under Remmy’s heavy boot. His grip loosened and Remmy wrenched Xander’s arm from around his neck. Bending Xander’s elbow in the wrong direction, Remmy used the motion to flip the boy over his shoulder. Xander’s wrist gun went off with a loud poof, peppering the ground near Remmy’s foot with metal shot.
Ortiz stumbled backwards, a look of pure shock etched into his face. He stared wide-eyed at his ruined arm that ended in a ragged, wet stump. Ortiz’s mouth silently mouthed words of disbelief. How had he been so stupid? He never should have taken his eyes and even more importantly, his gun, off the Red. Ortiz thumped to the ground like an oversized toddler, his legs splayed out.
Jessica walked forward, her eyes burning with hunger and rage. “Usually,” Jessica smiled a toothy grin at Ortiz, “I don’t like my food aged. It makes the meat tough and stringy!” She lunged forward, gnashing her teeth together. “But this time, oh my, my, my. This time I’m going to make an exception.” She dove towards Ortiz, but Remmy wrapped his arms around her waist, stopping her midair. Jessica thrashed wildly in Remmy’s arms, but he held on.
“Don’t Jessica,” Remmy pleaded. “Show them that you’re better than they are! Do what’s right!”
“What’s right?” Jessica snapped. “I’m doing what my nature demands. That is what’s right!” She beat her fists against Remmy.
Remmy let go of Jessica. She had been his friend, some small piece of her still was, but she was a Red and that meant there were different rules for her. And just as Jessica couldn’t demand that Remmy become a Red, he couldn’t ask her not to be one. Jessica simply was who she was. He let her go. She dropped to the ground and dashed towards Ortiz.
The soldier scuttled backwards in the mud a few feet and then remained still. He had failed in his mission. The price of such failure was death.
-51-
The mud was cold. It should have been warm or at least tepid with the amount of blood mixed in, but it was just cold. Xander lay still, unmoving. He had been so close, so close to going home. But that rotten Emo terrorist, one that his sister seemed to love, had thrown him to the ground, accidentally discharging his last shot. He had no more leverage, had lost his one bargaining chip. It was over. It was time give up. What would Xander do now? He pushed his fingers through the mud, as if grasping for an answer. Suddenly, it was there.
Something heavy brushed against the tips of Xander’s fingers. At first, he had thought that it was nothing more than a rock, but no rock was shaped like this. His fingers closed around the grip of Captain Ortiz’s pistol.
Cora ran towards Remmy, his arms wrapped around Jessica’s waist. The Red had shown some mercy on Remmy, perhaps remembering something from when they were once childhood friends, but Cora guessed that those memories would go only so far. As Cora paused by Xander, who was face down in the mud, Remmy put Jessica down, as if realizing that he couldn’t really stop her from being what she was. Some piece of Cora screamed for her to stomp Xander into the ground for threatening to kill Remmy. Xander was her brother, but that seemed to matter little to him, so why should Cora value their blood bond? She took a deep breath, releasing the anger and walked past Xander.
Jessica crept toward Ortiz, a hungry, feline smile stretched across her face.
The gunshot cracked and split the air, shocking everyone, even Jessica. It wasn’t the fact that it was a gunshot. No, there were plenty of those surrounding them. It was the fact that it so close, almost right behind them.
Xander stalked forward, gun held straight out in front of him. His face was streaked with mud, but his eyes glared from behind with an intensity Cora had only ever witnessed in her father.
“Don’t move,” Xander spat through gnashed teeth. He swept the gun back and forth.
<
br /> Cora wished that she had retrieved her wrist gun from the ground. The decision whether or not to kill Xander suddenly seemed much clearer.
“Xander!” Samuel’s voice boomed. “Stop this immediately.” He spoke with a tone reserved only for indignant grandparents, a tone that superseded even that of mothers and fathers.
Xander spun to face Samuel.
“You’re first,” he said coldly and squeezed the trigger.
-52-
Samuel didn’t want to hurt Xander. The boy was confused, disabled emotionally by his Em-Pak, and Samuel couldn’t help but feel the responsibility of that resting upon his shoulders. But Samuel was also a pragmatist and Xander was a danger to Cora and Remmy. They had a right to live, to be free, and to be together. Xander couldn’t be allowed to rob them of that. Samuel would do what was needed to keep his granddaughter safe. More so, he would do what was needed to give her the chance to live the life she had only just begun to enjoy.
It was too late for Xander he had made his choice, but Samuel had a choice to make as well. He had lived a long life, granted one riddled with mistakes and regret, but his mistakes were made in an honest attempt to do what was right. That counted for something, gave his life some meaning. Cora and Remmy deserved the same chance. Samuel remained fixed in place, his eyes locked with Xander’s. The boy fully intended to pull the trigger, even if it was his grandfather on the other side of the barrel.
The gunshot cracked the ferocity of a small thunderclap. Even Xander appeared slightly surprised by the deafening roar. Captain Ortiz’s muscled, trained arms easily controlled the pistol, handling the considerable and powerful kick of each discharged round. But Xander was young, had no experience with firearms and didn’t anticipate the force of the gunpowder combusting within the small chamber. The pistol bucked back, slamming into Xander’s face and splitting his lips. Blood gushed from the ragged zigzag that cut across his lips.
Samuel cried out in pain, spun in a half circle by the force of the bullet and collapsed to the ground. Cora rushed forward, but Xander twisted around, thrusting the gun into his sister’s face.
“Next?” Xander grinned, intentionally popping the T at the end of the word and speckling Cora’s face with his blood. He kept smiling, his teeth stained bright red and his Em-Pak chirping wildly. Xander moved cautiously around Cora and Remmy, keeping the gun trained on them. He made his way over to Captain Ortiz, who still sat on the ground stunned and bleeding. Jessica stopped when she heard the gunshot, but her muscles rippled with the desire to tear Xander apart. Her fingers clenched and unclenched as if in preparation for the violence she was about to visit upon Xander.
“Please,” Xander scoffed looking at Jessica. “You may be some sort of infected, wild psychopath, but none of that means anything to a bullet. I just shot my own grandfather. Do you really think I’ll hesitate to kill a piece of trash like you?”
Jessica laughed. “Bullets run out. Our numbers won’t. At least not before your bullets do.” She motioned over Xander’s shoulder.
Xander turned to see a large group of Reds working around the sides of him, slowly closing in.
Jessica laughed again. “The only reason they haven’t torn you apart is because I haven’t given them permission to. You’re mine to kill and all of this has gotten old. What I said before was true. I do miss my old life, sometimes, but I feel hungry ALL the time.” Jessica stood up to full height. She was only slightly taller than Cora, but her presence emanated a threat, an unseen shadow that towered over her and promised violence well beyond her size.
Jessica held the severed piece of Captain Ortiz’s arm in her hand. She laughed a good deep laugh, tore a chunk of flesh from the bone and tossed the rest of the meat to a nearby group of Reds. They fell on the limb in a feeding frenzy, devouring flesh and bone alike. The other Reds, as if spurred on by Jessica’s offering loped forward, row upon row of pointed teeth bared.
“Remmy?” Cora asked.
“Get Samuel,” Remmy said out the side of his mouth. “Go slow, okay? No sudden movements.” Remmy knew or at least hoped that Jessica wouldn’t hurt him or Cora, but the other Reds were a completely different story. They were hungry, enraged and smelled blood. Instinct and infection were calling the shots.
Cora backed towards Samuel, desperately searching the ground for her wrist gun, but it was lost in the thick mud. Samuel groaned loudly and rolled over. He was still alive, but his blood was doing little to calm the Reds. They appeared to have less self-control, or perhaps the desire to exert it.
The Reds slavered for meat, their jaws yawning and flexing. Long strings of saliva trailed from their mouths. Only Jessica appeared to have any semblance of control, which appeared to be quickly fading.
“Any time now, Captain,” Xander snapped impatiently. “Any time you decide to be a soldier again would be convenient.”
Ortiz fumbled with a small pocket on the shoulder of his uniform. Xander grew more and more impatient with Ortiz’s clumsy movements and wasted time. The man was a soldier and blood loss or not, he needed to start acting like one.
“Ortiz!” Xander shouted. “Get your head in this. Right now! Soldier up, damn it! Right now, Captain Ortiz, or so help me, I’ll shoot you myself!”
Ortiz shook his head like a dog emerging from the water and pulled a small silver packet from his shoulder pocket. He tore it open with his teeth and spat the ragged strip aside before pouring the contents of the packet over the stump at the end of his other arm. The caustic hiss of chemicals and smell of burning flesh filled the air. He winced, but fought through the pain. Ortiz examined the wound, content that it was cauterized and no longer bleeding. He climbed to his feet.
“My apologies,” Ortiz said weakly. Touching the transmit button, Ortiz spoke into his helmet’s radio. The pain he felt was pushed down, ignored. Ortiz, the man would have time for pain later, but Ortiz, the soldier had no such luxury. “This is Captain Ortiz calling the pilots of ERC gunships D6, H12 and J3. We are going scorched earth. Load all friendly Em-Pak signatures, including Xander Eldritch, into your targeting systems. All other heat signatures are fair game. Good hunting, gentlemen.”
The three ERC helicopters swung back to the edges of the Reds’ clearing, hovering like black clouds. Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh. The helicopters began releasing small missiles, targeting the areas where no friendly Em-Pak signals were shown.
The Reds frantically scattered, trying in vain to avoid the explosions. Remmy watched, his heart aching, as a small Red girl, perhaps only five or six, vanished in a pillar of greasy fire.
“Jessica, get them out of here!” Remmy yelled.
“Reds don’t run,” Jessica growled.
“You’re their leader now!” Remmy argued. “Now lead them! They are going to die! Get them out of here!”
“But…” Jessica protested.
“Now!” Remmy screamed as he ran to help Cora pull Samuel up from the ground.
Jessica nodded and sprinted towards the woods and the safety of the trees. The other Reds pulled back and melted into the trees.
Cora pulled Samuel’s arm around her shoulder as Remmy steadied his back. They needed to get to the woods. With the Reds gone, they were easy targets for the ERC soldiers.
Pain blossomed at the base of Remmy’s neck, his stomach flip-flopped and threatened to empty its contents as stars and black spots exploded in his field of vision. On all fours, Remmy fought the urge to vomit and lost.
Xander stood over Remmy. The pistol he smashed into the back of Remmy’s head was now trained on his sister and grandfather. Blood covered Xander’s mouth and chin. A malevolent grin was carved into his young face.
“Go,” Xander motioned with the gun. “You two serve no purpose, not any more. You’re just embarrassments. I’m leaving you for the Reds to finish off. But Remmy? Remmy still has a purpose to serve, even if it’s just to help me cause you pain. I’m taking him, Cora…or killing him. Either one works for me. You deicide.”
“Xander,
” Cora growled. Xander was no longer her brother, maybe he never was. Xander held no affection for his sister. He was only her brother through blood and nothing more. He was a monster. He is a monster Cora corrected herself. A monster created by her father and fashioned in his image. Xander was everything that her father had wanted Cora to be and nothing that she wanted for herself.
“Save you idle threats, sister,” Xander used the word mockingly. “You really thought you could keep me prisoner in some terrorist camp and there would be no recourse? You are seriously stupid, Cora, even more than I had given you credit for. This is the price for betraying your family.”
“You’re not my family!” Cora yelled. Xander laughed.
“Leave,” Remmy coughed, long strings of vomit and drool hanging from his mouth. “Get Samuel out of here, Cora!” Xander once again wrapped his arm around Remmy’s neck and yanked him up from the ground. The barrel of the gun remained focused on Cora and Samuel.
“But Remmy,” Cora pleaded, “I just got you back. I can’t lose you again, not after all of this.”
“You won’t,” Remmy said. “Please, Cora, if there’s any hope of fixing this, you need to get Samuel out of here now.” As if to reinforce Remmy’s point, the explosions began getting closer, picking off a handful of errant Reds that still remained, feasting upon the fallen ERC soldiers.
Tears streamed down Cora’s face, but were quickly lost to the heat of the fires that raged on all sides of her. She pulled Samuel, semi-conscious, towards the woods. Her grandfather’s steps were clumsy, but he had only been shot in the shoulder. He would be okay. Cora doubted that she ever would. Why would she come so close to saving Remmy only to have him snatched away from her by her own brother?
On the edge of the woods, Cora turned back towards the clearing. Only ERC soldiers moved, the Reds either dead or gone. One of the helicopters touched down and Cora watched as Captain Ortiz helped Xander into the cabin. Remmy, his hands bound together behind his back, was loaded in next. Ortiz finally climbed in and the helicopter lifted off the ground, tilted towards the Stele and disappeared over the horizon.
Love Bug Page 19