Righteous Apostate: Raptor Apocalypse Book 3

by Steve R. Yeager

  Noah hardly budged. He held the thumb between the blades of the shears. The flesh began to separate as the edges bit. There was so much blood it was hard to tell how much had already been cut.

  “Are you going to obey me then?” he asked.

  “Yes,” she said. “Yes, anything.”

  “No more talk of getting rid of Jenny?”

  “I swear it. I swear.”

  “Good,” he said and removed the clippers from Jesse’s thumb.

  Eve fell to her knees weeping. She slumped against the couch and looked at Jesse. Gasping, she tried to look away. She couldn’t. She’d done this to him. Her stupid, pathetic, infantile jealousy had ruined him.

  Noah was a monster. And loving him so blindly had made her a monster. She deserved any punishment he could possibly give her.

  Opening and closing the bloody shears, Noah mockingly displayed them to Jesse. “Guess you can still hitchhike, my friend. You have Eve to thank for that.”

  Jesse’s swollen and battered head lolled to one side then the other. He was no longer screaming. His eyes were small slits of white glass. Lifeblood continued to drain from his missing fingers.

  “Shame,” Noah said, looking at the floor. “It’s going to be a real mess to clean this up.” He grabbed a white linen napkin from the nearby table and wrapped it over the joint where he’d cut off Jesse’s fingers. He tucked the ends neatly under the ropes and around Jesse’s hand. The white napkin soon became saturated in red blood.

  “Messy business,” Noah said as he stooped to pick up one of the missing fingers. He held it up to inspect it. “But, sadly, it had to be done.”

  Jesse was moaning a muffled scream through his clenched teeth. His head bobbed around randomly until it finally flopped to one side, and he stilled.

  Noah stepped in front of Cory. He ran the severed finger across Cory’s cheek, leaving a trail of red. “You, son. You will be our savior. I shall leave you intact to better meet your fate. Maybe it was always God’s plan for you save the world.” He laughed and patted Cory’s cheek gently with his opposite hand.

  “Why?” Eve asked, going to Jesse. She held onto the bloody napkin, tightening it to staunch the bleeding.

  Noah placed the red-stained shears on the kitchen table and raised Jesse’s finger to his lips, shaking his head from side to side.

  “You really are a stupid, stupid girl.”

  -29-

  NOT AGAIN

  JESSE’S DIMMED SENSES struggled to take it all in. He blinked, or thought he blinked, and found himself gripping at the ragged edges of consciousness, hanging there by the very tips of his fingernails, clawing, pulling, struggling to get away from the darkness that threatened to pull him back into it’s comforting embrace. He could hear silence, or thought he could hear silence. Nothing, then ringing. Then sounds. The whispering wind, blowing grass. Tiny, almost imperceptible.

  His eyes opened, and he could see the outlines of what appeared to be wall in the distance. Mostly it was a mix of browns and tans, tilted and out of focus. He blinked again, narrowing his eyes to slits until the blurry forms came into focus.

  He was outside the walls of Noah’s compound. He tried to move. He could not. He hurt worse than all of his previous sufferings stacked on top of each other, the pain both intense and sharp. The closer he came to full consciousness, the more it hurt. But the pain brought him what he needed. It brought him brief moments of clarity, fleetingly brief. And in those moments, he realized he was not going to return for Kate.

  He was dying.

  “Hey,” came a voice.

  He tried to pull his chin up from where it rested against his chest. He could not move it that far, so he lolled his head to the side.

  Cory was tied up next to him, bound to a pole with thick rope. He had been stripped down to a black T-shirt and black cargo pants.

  “You finally awake?” Cory asked.

  Jesse attempted to nod, but squinted in pain instead.

  “Hey,” Cory said again. “Stay with me.”

  Jesse realized he was weeping. There was nothing left for him to do but die. He had done all that he could to survive. Maybe it had been a mistake to not shoot himself years ago and end the suffering. Give up. Join his family in death. Instead, he’d chosen to live. And what he’d seen since then had led him to one conclusion, and one only.

  Mankind did not deserve to survive.

  Not the type of men who rose to the top and took control today. Evil was too easy. The raptors were not evil. They couldn’t be. They acted on their designed purpose. They killed, they destroyed, and they survived. They were clearly the winners in the war of survival. But the men around him had killed their brother men for far more trivial reasons. Power, lust, vanity, control over others. The basest of human desires.

  No, it was over.

  And that was good.

  No use prolonging the enviable.

  But Cory. He was the key. His death would lead to the death of the raptors. Should he be allowed to do it though? Should he be the one who ultimately saves humanity? A species that should not be saved. One that had proven itself incapable of acting in ways that would lead to its own survival.

  “No,” Jesse whispered.

  “What?” Cory asked.

  “You can’t die here,” Jesse said. “Not while all these assholes are still alive. You…have to listen to me. You must listen,” he breathed. He wiggled his right hand, trying to free it. The pain coming from it no longer bothered him. He could get past it. He was a man ready to die. Pain meant little to him now.

  He could—

  “Jesse?” Cory asked.

  “What?”

  “You passed out again. You were saying something.”

  “I was?”

  “Before you do,” Cory said. “I need to tell you something. Are you able to understand me?”

  Jesse smiled, or thought he did. He nodded slightly.

  Cory coughed a few times. Finally, he said, “I have been an asshole. I have been… I cannot… There is something I must say.”

  Jesse raised his head as far as he could. Much of Cory’s too-cool attitude had gone missing. He looked weakened somehow.

  “I...” Cory said. “I have never met someone I admire more than you.”

  Jesse watched him as closely as his swollen eyelids would allow. There was no deceit in what he’d said. Jesse pulled again at the cords binding him to the post and glanced away. No one had ever admitted to him that he was admired, nor loved. Other than his wife and daughter, he had essentially been alone all his life. Amy had come close, but he never knew whether she truly loved him, or if he was only her protector. And he’d shot and killed her.

  “When I die,” Cory said, “the world will be free of raptors.”

  Jesse knew that wouldn’t be true. It couldn’t be. The answers to the really big questions were never that simple. But Cory believed it, so Jesse let it be. He didn’t have enough energy for arguing. He barely had enough energy for dying, and he had always wanted to do it well.

  It was finally time to do so.

  “Hannah,” Jesse whispered. He pictured her in front of him. This time he knew she wasn’t real, and something about that hurt him far more deeply than the physical pain racking his body. He knew he would never see her again, even in death.

  “She was your daughter,” Cory said.

  “Yes,” Jesse said.

  “You loved her.”

  “Yes.”

  “I love my sister,” Cory said.

  The admission made Jesse pull again against the cords binding him. He felt a little give, so he redoubled his effort. He knew if he could just pull a little harder, the missing fingers on his right hand might allow him to slip free. But he also feared he might pass out again from the pain. Still, he had to try. He didn’t know why. He just had to.

  “Cory,” Jesse said, wanting to say one last thing in case they were his final words on this earth. “If there is something beyond this, I hope… I hope
I see you there.” He then yanked hard on his bounds. The pain roared like searing flames burning up his arms. His hand began to slip through the knot. He wriggled back and forth. The intensity of the pain increased exponentially. He ignored it and focused everything he had on staying conscious.

  Blinking water out of his eyes, he twisted again.

  Then his missing finger and the lubricating effect of so much lost blood allowed his wrist to slip through the knot. His injured shoulder let him torque and flex in a way he never should have been able to move. He contorted, bunching up the ruined muscles of his back, until finally, with an audible wet sucking sound, his fingers slipped free.

  He tugged at the loose end of the rope with his finger stubs until it dropped away.

  “Jesse,” Cory said. “You still with me?”

  Jesse came awake again with a start. He must have passed out again. But his right hand was free. Unfortunately, it was hanging uselessly at his side. He couldn’t move it. Not an inch. He’d injured something else in the effort, and the entire right side of his body had gone numb.

  He couldn’t get free. He couldn’t even move.

  A raptor screeched in the distance, somewhere behind him. He couldn’t even turn enough to see where it might have come from.

  “Sorry,” he said to Cory through clenched teeth. “I tried.”

  He heard more raptors joining in and calling others to join them.

  It was only a matter of time now. Soon, he would be gutted and eaten. Cory would be gutted and eaten too. Maybe it would kill off the raptors, maybe not.

  He finally managed to raise his head to level. He stared at the compound, thinking of the people inside and the evil man who led them, preached to them, and called himself Noah. Jesse didn’t know much about the Bible, but he remembered a line that had always stuck with him. He couldn’t remember it exactly how it was written, but he grasped the meaning, and the irony. He had one finger left on his bandaged hand—his middle finger. He held it up and prominently displayed it in front of him, flipping off the compound.

  “The meek ain’t going to inherit shit,” he said. Then his weakened neck muscles gave out, and his chin dropped against his chest.

  -30-

  STAND BY YOUR MAN

  “I LIED,” EVE said, hissing her contempt at Noah. “I lied about it all. Everything I told you. Never. You will never find it now. Not after what you did to him.”

  She folded her arms and smiled.

  He did not answer.

  “Are you going to let them go? Are you going to get rid of her?”

  “We’ll see.”

  She licked her lips, tasting the coppery twang of her own blood. Her lips were swollen and split from the blows she had taken from him, making it painful to speak. Licking them again, she pivoted to look at the window behind her while pretending to ignore him. Even with the curtains drawn shut, she could still see the encroaching darkness. Jesse and Cory would not have much time before the first raptors showed up. But now, at least, they had a fighting chance. They were away from Noah, and she was certain Jesse could find a way to get free.

  In fact, she was counting on it.

  Attempting to sit up straight, she was also counting on Noah beating crap out of her, so she figured she might as well get her own jabs in first. She’d just seen Jesse nearly die because of what she’d done. He'd lost so many fingers, so much blood. But this was totally unlike Noah. He had never behaved this cruelly before, never gotten this worked up. He would have to give up eventually. He had to. She was also counting on that. She’d only lied to him enough to get him to stop hurting Jesse. Ryan and Matt would find nothing where she’d sent them—nothing at all—except perhaps, a surprisingly painful death.

  “Are you going to let my friends go?”

  “So, no Jenny now?”

  She said nothing.

  “I see, negotiating then? You consider those two your friends now?” he asked. “After what you just did to them? Eve, girl, you are truly something special.”

  He raised his hand to strike her, but instead pinched her cheeks and shook her head back and forth. “Come on. Tell me the truth now, girl. After all, we have done for you? We took you in. We fed you. We taught you about all the wonders of God. And now you refuse to tell me?” He sighed and released her from his iron grip. “I sent you on an important mission. You were to be the savior of humanity. And…and I sent a woman, no less. Gah! You were to retrieve a very valuable item for me. One more valuable than anything else left on earth. With it, we can finish off God’s plan for renewal. Think of it, my dear. They’ll be no more raptors. No more crowds of useless, scheming people. We will have a brave new world where you shall be the mother of an entirely new generation of God’s children. You will be the new Eve and dwell in the new Garden of Eden. You will be part of Genesis reborn. You and I, we can start over.” He stopped and took a series of breaths. “I can forgive you. I can even forgive you for making me hit you. That has always been a mistake on my part. I’m too short tempered. I admit it. Satan has sometimes guided my hand. But, a gracious and glorious God has helped me to see the righteous path clearly. And I am truly repentant.”

  He seemed sincere, or out of his mind crazy. Maybe he could change if she only tried harder to change him. And, after everything that had happened, maybe she had been right to do what he had asked. Maybe this was, in fact, God’s plan for her. Maybe he was not a monster. Maybe he was only misguided. And if she could persuade him to release Jesse and Cory then—perhaps—they could find some common ground. It was all about ending the raptors, wasn’t it? So maybe this was all a big misunderstanding.

  Still…

  “Okay,” she said.

  Noah smiled and stepped closer. He brushed the back of his fingers tenderly against her cheek. She leaned into his touch, and he wiped away the blood and tears under her eyes with the pad of his thumb. “There, there,” he said. “Don’t cry. Tell me about your little…adventure.”

  She sniffed to stifled her tears, inhaling deeply. Then she sighed out one long breath. He helped her to sit down, knelt before her, and tenderly cupped her hand in his.

  “Well,” she said between the growing sobs, “the day we left, I caught up with Cory…but… Adam, he fell and died.” She began to weep again. He reached out and wiped away the fresh tears.

  “We traveled to Denver, and then we ran into Jesse. He lived there. He helped us. Then after Denver we…” She stopped and looked away. “We were taken.”

  “Taken?”

  “Yes, by a man named Cyrus.”

  “Cyrus,” Noah repeated as if he knew the name.

  “But Jesse got us out.” Her crying intensified. “Then we went to the bunker you told me about. There was so much…so many things. We should return to it. So much food…”

  “All in good time.” Noah said reassuringly.

  “I used your ID like you said that I should. At first, it didn’t work, but once I got inside I found what you asked for. And I… I left the badge behind along with your note.”

  “That’s my girl.”

  “Then we made our way back here.”

  “Good, good. You did well, Eve.” He patted her hand. “See? You have nothing to fear if you tell me the truth. Nothing at all. Now where did you hide it? And why didn’t you tell me all this in the first place?”

  “I—”

  “Yes?” He leaned in closer.

  “I still want you to release them first. Do it, and I’ll tell you where it is.”

  Noah considered this for a couple of seconds. Then he said, “Of course, my dear. Consider it done. I never meant to harm them. We need good men. They can be made whole again, I'm sure. I truly regret what was done to your friend Jesse. But that is all in the past. I will make it up to him. I promise.”

  She nodded.

  “Now, where is it?”

  “I left it in Denver.”

  “That, I know. But where exactly?”

  “In this building on the nort
h side of the city. I can draw you a map if you want.”

  “Very well.” He went to a desk and returned with a scrap of paper, a pencil, and a hardcover children’s picture book to write on. He passed the items to her. She swept her hair over one ear and began drawing a map for him.

  As he examined the paper, he smiled. He rose and shifted behind her while she filled in the details. Once she completed it, he went to the front door and called outside for Dexter. The round-faced man arrived a few seconds later.

  “What?” Dexter asked, looking from Eve to Noah expectantly.

  “Dex, I’ll need you to catch up to Matt and Ryan. Give them this.” Noah took the map from Eve and handed it to him. “Tell them this is where she actually stashed the item I sent them to retrieve. Make sure they are cautious about how they make their approach.” He leaned in and said something else to the man, but Eve could not hear what was said.

  “Now?” Dexter asked.

  “Yes, now.”

  “But, it will be dark soon.”

  “Then I suggest you get going. And don’t question me again.”

  Dexter stared at Noah for a beat then turned on his heel and left, calling out to someone outside as he closed the door behind him.

  “What about Jesse and Cory?” Eve asked.

  “All in good time,” Noah replied.

  “You are going to let them go, right?”

  He drew in a breath, tightened his lips, and moved to stand before her. “Eve, those two do not belong with us. They will never stay here freely. We were chosen to live here, not them.”

  “But you said.”

  “I can’t let them go. Not with the stakes so high. Cory might prove to us what is possible with this virus, but he may not be enough.”

  “But you promised!”

  “Did I?” Noah said. “I don’t recall making any promises.” He shifted his feet and stood on her toes, pressing down harder and harder. “You really are a foolish girl.”

  She looked up at him. The light coming from the kerosene lamp on the dining table struck his face. Deep shadows and sharp angles replaced the gentleness she had seen a few minutes ago. He glared down at her for a long second before going to pick up the leather belt from the back of the chair Jesse had been tied to. The belt was covered in thickening blood, like the chair. He snapped the belt together, and the leather made a wet, sickening noise.