Righteous Apostate: Raptor Apocalypse Book 3

by Steve R. Yeager

  Ryder stood. He crabbed sideways until he had maneuvered himself directly behind the guy who had spoken. The man slinked down in his chair. As much as he tried not to show it, the guy was clearly frightened by the large threatening shape behind him. Jesse glanced at Tommy, who was feigning indifference. Not only was Tommy a threat, he was the man Andrea had said to shoot at the first signs of trouble. He was the head of the snake, the primary opposition. Once he was eliminated, she said the rest would fall into place. Jesse wasn’t so sure. He also wasn’t sure he could so easily shoot the guy, and that made his stomach tighten further. He looked at the floor as he ran a hand over his belly then slipped his fingers behind his back and felt the comforting coolness of his Beretta.

  When he looked up, Tommy was pointing with his index finger again at David. “None of us voted for you,” he said.

  “Vote?” David said. “You…think this is some kind of democracy? You think you have any say here? Any? Any at all? You are here because we invited you here. You will listen, and you will obey.”

  Tommy looked at the man who had spoken earlier. That man put his hands on the table and twisted himself to view David. “What about him?” he said, indicating Tommy with a nod of his head. “I say we vote. And I vote for him.”

  “Oh?” David asked, with a hint of danger in his voice.

  Another guy raised his hand. “I vote for him too.”

  Ryder shifted and leaned over the table and slammed the guy’s raised hand down against the tabletop. With a quickness that belied his size, he drove a four-inch knife blade between the bones of the man’s hand, pinning it to the tabletop. The guy looked at his ruined hand with wide eyes. A second later, he screamed. He tried to stand, but was pinned to the table and slumped back into his seat. Ryder wriggled the blade free and the guy sucked his hand back against his chest and cradled it there, panting in fear.

  “See,” Ryder said casually to Tommy. “You asked earlier why we needed the Doc. Well, there you go.” He smiled as he wiped the blade off on the man’s shoulder. “Now keep your yap shut, and we’ll make sure she takes a look at that.”

  Andrea nodded. Jesse slipped around behind her and took the empty chair beside her. He reached behind his back as if he were itching himself and brought out the Beretta under the table. He put his finger on the trigger and thumbed the safety.

  “So,” David said. “We can either have a peaceful transition, or we can fight among ourselves. All of you will share in the responsibility. But, let me make this clear. This is not a democracy.”

  Another man at the table spoke up. “Cyrus was an asshole,” he said. Four with gold armbands nodded their agreement, but Jesse saw that the men with silver armbands did not. One folded his arms across his chest and raised his chin.

  David wiped his chin with his fingers. “Good. Starting to listen.”

  “What about the women?” a man with a silver armband and two missing front teeth asked in a breathy whistle.

  Andrea leaned forward, setting her elbows on the tabletop. “They will be protected and will not be harmed. This is non-negotiable. Am I clear?”

  David stared across the table at her as if she had crossed a line not meant to be crossed. He recomposed himself and stood. He began pacing at the end of the room. “All will be well cared for.” He paused, put a hand on his chest, and began massaging himself. “It is true that we’ve lived like savages for far too long and there will be changes. The world has changed.” He stopped and slurped a line of drool that had escaped his lips. “And we’ve got to change with it.”

  “Change that favors you,” Tommy grumbled.

  David said nothing as he circled the table, heading for the door. He opened it. “There,” he said, pointing to the corridor outside. “Leave if you want. You can go join the others. Abandon your position on Silver. Abandon your seat on this council. Is that what you want?”

  Tommy obviously did not. He glanced at the man who had been stabbed with the knife, then at the two others clearly on his side. He nodded once. Two men sprang to their feet and grabbed Ryder by the shirt. They slammed him against the wall, drew small thin blades, and began stabbing him in his belly, working their way up to his neck. It all took place in less than a second, quicker than anyone could react. Jesse shoved his chair backward and pulled up his Beretta. He chose the man closest to Ryder and fired. Then he fired again at the next man. The initial shot grazed the first man, so he swung back onto him and fired again.

  With the sudden outbreak of gunfire, panic flooded the room. Chairs crashed against walls, some toppling. Men dove for cover under the table or fell against the walls. Tommy lunged for Ryder and grabbed him by the shirt. He spun Ryder’s dying body out front and used the man as a shield, blocking Jesse’s next two shots. Jesse scrambled left to get a better angle, but Tommy shifted to counter the move. David rushed forward, shoving hard against both Tommy and Ryder, throwing an elbow at Tommy’s head. The swing went wild, missing, causing David to stumble.

  “Move!” Jesse yelled and shifted left again. He caught Tommy peeking out from behind Ryder’s large mass.

  He fired.

  The bullet whizzed past Tommy’s head, forcing him to retreat to cover. Jesse tried for a better angle, but someone bumped his arm and the next shot went high. Shoving the other guy out of the way, Jesse drew a bead on Tommy again, picturing the path the bullet would take as soon as he stepped left again. But before he could get the shot off, Tommy backed through the doorway. Four other men shoved their way past and followed Tommy out of the room, again blocking Jesse, who now couldn’t fire for risk of hitting the wrong person.

  Jesse rolled against the side wall and sought a way around. Ryder’s limp body fell back through the doorway and collapsed against the others now exiting while Jesse tried to claw his way past and into the hallway. By the time he made it through, only the backs of the men chasing Tommy were visible. Andrea grabbed Jesse’s arm before he could take another step.

  “Stop!” she yelled.

  His stress hormones were on full flow again. His instincts screamed that he needed to shoot Tommy.

  “No!” she yelled into his ear. “Let them get him!” She pulled him again, adding, “They’ll get him.” But she didn’t sound certain of what she’d just said. “I need you here, not chasing after them. I know what I said earlier. Forget it. Stay here with us. Help us fix this.”

  Jesse exploded the breath from his lungs in a whoosh. He lowered the Beretta. David grabbed him by the shirt and pulled him deeper into the room. “Stop. Don’t go,” he said as he pressed Jesse against the wall and held him there.

  Gun raised, Jesse scanned the room. Of the two men he’d fired at, one was obviously dead and the other now lay on the floor, holding his gut. Thin rivulets of blood seeped between the guy’s fingers. David released him, and again, Jesse scanned the door. Should he go after them? He knew he should. He knew this wasn’t going to end well.

  Then he heard a groan.

  Miraculously, Ryder was still alive. Just barely. He was breathing rapidly, and the sounds of his wheezing breaths were not entirely coming from his nose and mouth. Pink froth bubbled out from his back. Andrea knelt down beside him. She snapped her fingers and two others ran to her side and helped lift Ryder to his feet. They guided him to the conference table and laid him on his stomach. Andrea lifted Ryder’s shirt as Jesse watched over her shoulder. Red marks covered Ryder’s sides and back. Blood trickled out and dribbled onto the dark tabletop. The wheezing grew as he became starved for oxygen. More of the pink froth formed on his lips. He tried to speak but produced only slurred words and gurgles.

  Jesse looked to Andrea, who in turn looked at David.

  She shook her head. “I’m sorry. Nothing I can do for him. He’s as good as dead.”

  -5-

  BAD TIME FOR A DELIVERY

  THE DOOR TO the conference room swung open. Two men stepped through. Andrea scanned their faces and tensed.

  “Shit,” she said, reading thei
r bleak expressions.

  It had only been ten minutes since she had sent them after Tommy. Now they had returned, unsuccessful. She rotated to look at Jesse. He was crouched on his knees with his head in his hands and back against the wall. What she’d asked him to do had already blown back on him. He wasn’t coping well. Did she have a choice? No, it had to be done.

  She pushed the two men out into the hallway. “You have to find him. Quickly. If he gets outside, we’re all dead. Got that? Dead.”

  The two nodded and left.

  As she reentered the room, she thought of running. She knew she couldn’t, not yet. She had to get these animals under control first. David was speaking in hushed whispers to those who remained in the room. Ryder lay on the conference table, clothing soaked in his own blood. The two men Jesse had shot had been propped up along the wall opposite the whiteboard. Their heads hung forward, and their chins rested on their chests.

  She rounded the table and pushed David aside. “Let me cut through the bullshit,” she said to those remaining. “Cyrus is gone. He’s dead. So, if you want to live, we must stick together. Got it?”

  Another man rose from the table, Kade. He was a member of Ryder’s team.

  “I’ll go too,” he said, and when Andrea did not reply, he rushed out of the room.

  That left only two she knew she could count on and four she knew she couldn’t. Bad odds. Without Ryder there to keep them in line, it was hopeless. David, she’d realized earlier, was not going to be able to do it on his own. Was Jesse? Was anyone?

  Tyrell spoke next. “Why should we support you?”

  “What you get,” Andrea answered, “is a seat on the new council we are forming and a stake in what goes on here. I’d call that quite fair. Now that Ryder is gone, we’ll need someone who can take his place.”

  Tyrell grinned. His large yellowed teeth and deep black skin contrasted with the pinkness of his gums. “I don’t know. Don’t know about these guys.” He dipped his head to indicate the men across the table from him.

  “Shut up, nigger,” a little man with short, knife-cut hair said. She knew him as Dmitri.

  Tyrell stopped smiling.

  “Now keep that mouth shut like a good little boy,” Dmitri said, spreading his fingers out on the tabletop, getting ready to push himself up.

  “Enough,” Andrea growled. She despised the little man. She knew he was with Tommy, but by him remaining behind when Tommy ran, well, now she wasn’t so sure what to think. Tyrell was also the larger of the two, and fifty pounds heavier than Dmitri.

  “So, Doc, what is in it for me?” Dmitri asked. “Why should we follow David?”

  Andrea knew she couldn’t give Dmitri a spot on the new council she had in mind, but he would require something.

  “Silver,” David said before she could answer. “You can take over Silver since Tommy has now forfeited that position.”

  Andrea glanced at David, giving him a look she hoped would make him think carefully about what he said next, or just keep his damn mouth shut. Giving the guy control of Silver would automatically put him on the new council they were forming, ultimately undermining her plans.

  “First,” David continued, “Tommy will need to be caught and—”

  “Executed?” Dmitri said slowly, savoring the taste of the word. He poked Ryder’s corpse lying on the end of the table with his fingertips and pursed his lips. “And does this mean your boy here gets Gold? I won’t take orders from some dark-skinned—”

  Tyrell was already rounding the table before Andrea could react. Dmitri pushed his own chair back and shot to his feet. Pulled something from his front pocket, a butterfly knife, and flipped it open with a series of quick movements.

  “Come on, boy. Come get a little something from your friend Dmitri.”

  “Stop this!” David yelled, stepping between them.

  Tyrell closed the gap with Dmitri, taking slow, deliberate steps. He stopped when he pressed against David’s outstretched hand. Andrea knew then that it was probably hopeless to continue arguing. Discussion wasn’t going to win now, only force and moral certitude. She regretted Jesse’s premature action with Cyrus. It had left her with not enough time to weaken the right people. Damn him. She glared at him. He just stood there, staring blankly at the wall opposite him. David, she realized, had lost all semblance of authority over these men. Why had he turned out so weak? It was frustrating now. She had expected so much more from him. It also seemed her plan to guilt Jesse into taking out their primary opposition had not worked as she’d intended. Tommy had gotten away. He was the one person she had hoped to neutralize. But that had just blown up in her face.

  She went to Jesse and stood in front of him. She debated if she should slap him, but he mumbled something she couldn’t hear.

  “Move,” he said.

  This time she had heard him clearly. She stepped aside. From the corner of her eye, she watched the few remaining men and knew it was lost for good. They were calling for Tyrell and Dmitri to fight. David continued to stand between the two, but he was being buffeted back and forth.

  “Stop!” David yelled, swiveling, trying to look at both of them simultaneously, but there was no acknowledgement of what he had said.

  Andrea rushed to David, gripped his shirt, and yanked. “Let them fight! Let them kill each other.”

  “Listen to the woman,” Dmitri said. “She speaks sense. Go sit your monkey-ass down and we’ll talk. Maybe she’ll bring us some tea and cookies.” He took two steps back from David and blew Tyrell a mocking kiss.

  Tyrell lunged. David caught him and somehow pushed him up against the whiteboard. Tyrell spun out of David’s grip and flung himself at Dmitri.

  A gunshot went off.

  Everyone froze.

  Andrea turned to Jesse, shocked, and when she turned back, both Tyrell and Dmitri were looking at him too.

  “That was a warning,” Jesse said. “No more of this bullshit. Now sit down and work this out.”

  Everyone except Jesse and Andrea slowly retook their seats, keeping their gazes affixed on the gun in Jesse’s hand.

  “Now talk,” he said.

  No one said a word.

  David turned to Andrea and signaled for her to leave. She stayed right where she was.

  He shook his head. “I can salvage this. We can fix this.” Drool ran from his mouth. His one good eye was burning with rage. Now was not the time to interfere, she realized. Maybe he did have some backbone in there somewhere.

  “Get the hell out of here,” he said to her forcefully. “Now! Go!”

  She hated leaving him behind, but there was little choice. Either he would get control on his own or the whole place was going to collapse. Her presence was probably hurting him more than helping. Same old macho bullshit, she thought, recognizing it for what it was. She turned to go, stopping to take Jesse by the elbow. He was holding his gun level and ready to fire at either Dmitri or Tyrell.

  “Which one?” Jesse whispered.

  “You have the power to salvage this,” she whispered back. “You’ve got to help us.”

  Jesse shook his head. Andrea sucked in a breath and let it out slowly.

  “Dmitri,” she breathed.

  Jesse shook his head again, blinking rapidly.

  “You must.”

  He said nothing.

  “Think of what will happen here if you don’t.”

  He lowered the gun and examined it in his hand. He was trembling.

  “The women,” she whispered. “All of them. Think of what will happen if we fail to get control. Think of Kate. Think of her.”

  Jesse said nothing.

  “Please.” She wrapped her hand over his and closed it on the gun. She guided him to shoot Dmitri.

  “No,” he protested.

  “Yes,” she said, raising her voice. “You can, and you damn well better.”

  “Stop it,” David said. “We can’t do it like this.”

  Tyrell was the first to give an acknowledge
ment that he was willing to back down. All eyes turned to Dmitri. He frowned, leaned back, and nodded.

  “Now get the hell out of here,” David said, spraying drool like shrapnel. “I’ve got this.”

  Andrea did not think David could handle this mess alone. Not without Jesse pointing a gun at the two and keeping the peace between them. She knew she couldn’t stay behind, but figured Jesse could. She would go make sure the others were safe. With Tommy running loose, she needed to check on the women and get them locked away and safe until this all resolved one way or another. And if David and Jesse failed, then she could remain locked inside with those she planned to save. First, though, she had to get Kate out, maybe that Cory guy, too.

  But as she stood there planning what to do, Jesse left the room.

  “Hey,” she said as she followed him out into the hallway.

  None of this was going as she had expected it would. Things were going from bad to worse. But there was still time to salvage it, get things under control. It would have been much easier if Jesse had done what she’d asked him to do in the first place. He should have killed Tommy the second they had walked into the room. Why hadn’t he just done that? Damn him. He should have listened.

  From inside the room came a loud crash. She returned to peek inside. Tyrell and Dmitri were squaring off to fight.

  “Get back here. Take him down. You have to,” she said to Jesse, but he was already approaching the stairs at the end of the hallway.

  He said nothing and stepped on the first tread leading up.

  It was over, she realized. Goddamn it. Over. Soon there would be nothing left to salvage. She had thought between her and David that they had done well selecting those who could get along with one another once Cyrus was gone, but with Ryder dead, everything had changed. Cyrus had stacked the deck in his favor, not hers. His method of leadership had kept everyone in line. Now that he was gone, everyone had to figure out how to work together. But that was never going to happen.

  She needed a drink.

  Exhaling, she said, “Let it go,” to herself and ran to catch up with Jesse. She didn’t know whether it was anger that made her want to leave them all behind in the conference room, or something else. But, whatever it was, David was now on his own. She hoped he could find his damn backbone.