A girl ran out from the downstairs hallway. Jenny’s sister. She ran to Jenny and threw her arms around her, clinging to her.
“Eve,” Jenny said, holding a hand out protectively. Jenny’s sister clutched her tightly and stared back at Eve with widened, frightened eyes.
“Eve, don’t,” Jenny said.
Eve shifted the bat in her grip.
“It’s okay,” Jenny said. “I won’t tell.”
Was she lying? Eve thought. Was this a trick?
“It’s okay,” Jenny repeated. “We…we hated him too. So, go. Get out of here. Go on.”
Eve stood there not believing what she had just heard. Then Jenny made a shooing motion with her hand. Eve glanced at the table to her right. Next to the lamp was the leather case that Noah had used to inject Cory with the virus. She snatched it and tucked it inside her shirt.
“Go,” Jenny repeated.
“Why?” Eve asked. “Why are you helping me?”
“Just get the hell out of here before I change my mind, okay?”
Eve nodded and ran into the kitchen. On the kitchen table against the wall opposite the sink was Cory’s sword. She grabbed it and glanced back at the entrance to the living room. Was she certain Noah was dead? Had Jenny lied? Had Jenny seen something she hadn’t? Her heart raced. She could…no, they would stop her. They were coming. They had to be. They would catch her.
“Think, Eve, think,” she chided herself.
She backed against the kitchen door that led outside and opened it with a quavering hand. She reversed her way through and closed the door silently behind her. Glanced left, right.
Nothing.
Nobody had seen her. Twilight had come and gone, and everything was now cast in indigo shades. She heard raptors in the distance. Her only path was to escape. To get outside the walls.
The raptors.
But Jesse was outside. Cory was outside. She had to get to them before it was too late. If she could free them…
What if they had freed themselves already?
What then?
She swallowed hard, ducked behind the house, and peeked around the corner. Jimmy and Hank were on the eastern platform. They had turned the spotlight on and were watching the tree line, scanning the light back and forth in a series of slow, mechanical passes, same as they did every night. On each cycle, they were stopping to focus on where Jesse and Cory must be.
Once the raptors were sighted, the entire camp would be alerted to come watch her friends die. She had only a handful minutes to get to them and no good idea of what she was going to do once she did.
She had to try. She had to get away.
Maybe she could circle around past the garden and climb the wall. But the second she reached Jesse and Cory and was lit by the spotlight, it would all be over. Even if she could cut them free, Jesse was in no condition to run for his life. She had to kill the spotlight first.
And then she realized just how she could do it.
Concealing the sword against her stiffened leg, she rounded the house with her head hung low and moved as casually as she could toward the platform, staying in the darkest shadows until she reached the wall.
She looked around once again. No one was making any indications they had seen her. Most were standing near the communal fire with their backs turned away, waiting for the alert from the guards on the platform. She put her shoulder against the rough logs of the wall and slinked along them, crouching low until she was directly under the wooden platform, just to the left of the ladder leading up to it. The spill of light from the spotlight filtered down through cracks in the boards above, painting lines on the dirt at her feet. She could see the shadows of Jimmy and Hank above her as they shifted to swing the spotlight left and right.
Running down from above were cables coming from the light and connected to a bank of batteries mounted in plastic boxes. The heavy cables were attached with big metal clips that looked like oversized clothespins. She hovered over one of the batteries, grabbed a clip, and yanked it free.
The spotlight went dead.
“Hey,” Jimmy said.
Someone banged on the lights above.
“It’s out.”
“Yeah, you dumbass,” Hank said. “I can see that. Did you forget to charge the batteries again today?”
“No. Maybe it’s a fuse?”
“There are no fuses, shit-for-brains. Go check the batteries.”
“It went off all of a sudden. So it ain’t no dead battery.”
“Go check them before I kick your ass,” Hank said in his gravelly voice.
“No, you check it.”
“I’m not checking it. I’m in charge here.”
“Who put you in charge?”
“I did.”
“Yeah? Well, that’s stupid. You ain’t in charge of me. So you go check.”
“Yeah?”
Eve stiffened. She saw the shadows of the two men above her move toward the ladder. Any second now one would climb down and discover her. She was trapped. She squatted lower, trying to make herself as inconspicuous as possible, but that was going to be impossible.
Think.
She unbuttoned her shirt so it was hanging open and combed her hair with her fingers. She prepared to face whichever man came down to check on the battery. She hoped it was Jimmy. Hank disgusted her.
Then Jimmy landed hard, face first in the dirt a few feet from the platform.
Hank climbed down after him and kicked Jimmy in the ribs. “You thinkin’ I’m stupid? I’m tired of your shit.”
Jimmy scissored his legs and tripped Hank. Hank rolled on top, grabbed Jimmy by the shirt, and started banging his head against the dirt.
Even though they were fighting, she was still trapped under the platform. There was no way to get out without them seeing her. All they had to do was to look in her direction. She wrapped the sword handle with her palm and drew it an inch.
She prepared herself, retreating away from the batteries while watching Jimmy and Hank continue to scuffle in the dirt.
“Stop!” another voice yelled.
Taking giant steps, Ryan came bounding from the front porch. Eve watched him approach, holding perfectly still. Ryan walked right past her as if she wasn’t even there. He kicked Jimmy hard in the stomach. Matt, Ryan’s constant companion, followed closely behind him.
“Dammit,” Ryan said to the two men lying in the dirt. “What the hell are you two ass-clowns doing?”
Ryan’s back was turned. He kicked more dirt at the men. “You are supposed to be keeping watch.”
“Sorry,” Hank said, getting up and brushing himself off. Jimmy also got up beside him.
Furtively, Eve crept away from under the platform, keeping out of their direct line of sight. She ducked behind one of the nearby dome tents, and squatted there, keeping watch on the others who were leaving the fire to see what the commotion was about.
“What the hell is wrong with you two?” Ryan said. “I catch you fighting again, you’ll be going out there to play a little patty-cake with the raptors. Got it?”
Nodding, Jimmy and Hank kept their heads lowered.
“Now, are you done with this bullshit?”
Both nodded to Ryan.
“Good.”
Matt handed Ryan a backpack and a spear.
“We’re leaving,” Ryan said. “So, Dexter is checking in with Noah and will be back soon. He is in charge while we are gone. Comprende?”
“Yes, sir,” Jimmy and Hank said in unison.
“Now go get that light fixed.”
Hank ducked under the platform, and it took only a few seconds for the spotlight to switch back on.
“Disconnected,” Hank said as he grabbed Jimmy by the shirt and shoved him toward the ladder. They both climbed to the top of the platform and resumed their scans.
Ryan and Matt watched for a moment then turned and headed for the front gate.
Eve knew she had failed. It had been close. Too close. She knew if she
tried again, she would be caught. Fixing her shirt, she straightened and walked past the communal fire casually, nodding once, and continued to the rear of the house like she was heading for the Porta-potties. No one paid her any attention. As she approached the wall at the rear of the compound, she heard another voice.
“Hey,” the voice said. “Eve, wait up.”
She kept going.
It was Ron, Dexter’s best friend.
Eve turned. “What?” she asked.
“Hey, no need to be so gruff.” He paused, staring at her sideways. “What happened to you?”
Eve shrugged and said nothing.
“Oh,” Ron said, nodding. “Sorry. I know he treats you real bad, but if it weren’t for him, I’d be raptor chow. You should feel lucky you are alive too. I just wish… I wish… Have you seen Dex?”
A shiver went down her spine. She swallowed. “Dex? No. I haven’t seen him.”
“Okay, he must be doing something for Noah. Thought you might have seen him.”
“Wait,” Eve said. “I did see him. He was helping Ryan with something. Check with him.”
“Sounds good, Eve. Okay, I will. Hey, so what are you doing out here?”
“I… I just need to…you know.”
He nodded.
“And what’s with that fancy stick?”
“It’s nothing. I use it to check for snakes.”
Ron stared at her. He licked his lips. Eve considered running. She also considered drawing the sword and attacking him. But she couldn’t do that. Ron was not the brightest bulb, but he’d always treated her kindly.
Finally, he nodded. “Okay, then. Hang in there, Eve. He does love us, you know. While I don’t like what he does to you and Jenny, he’s pretty good at keeping us alive. But…”
“Yes?”
“What he’s doing to Jenny’s sister. That’s just wrong.”
“Oh?”
“Wait…please don’t tell him I said that. Please don’t, okay?”
Jenny’s little sister? Eve thought. The realization dawned on her. Jenny actually was on her side.
“No,” she said absently. “I won’t say a word.”
“Well, goodnight then,” Ron said.
“Goodnight, Ron.”
Ron left her standing alone and returned to the front side of the ranch house. She waited for him to disappear before weaving her way through the garden near the back wall. She grabbed a long plank from where it lay beside a patch of newly planted tomatoes and leaned it against the wall. She made sure no one else could see her then picked up a coiled hose and screwed it onto the metal faucet near a planter box. She pulled the other end along with her and climbed the ramp she had made to the top of the wall. Balancing precariously, she lowered the hose, swung over the top, and went hand over hand down the other side, just as she had learned to do in the elevator shaft.
-32-
COMPOUNDED WOES
JESSE MANAGED TO slip one arm free, but in doing so, the entire right side of his body went numb. His other arm remained tightly bound to the pole behind him.
Trapped.
To the west, the sun had just set over the mountains. The occasional sweep of the spotlight forced him to squint whenever the harsh light landed on his face. In the forested area behind him, the raptors continued to snarl and cry. It was only a matter of time before they gathered in sufficient numbers and emerged from the trees.
Eve had betrayed them—again. He had been foolish to trust her. She would survive, he guessed. Adapt or perish. It was the way of all life. Something remembered from long ago. Maybe her betrayal wasn't all that important. Not any longer, at least. He was dying, and Cory was about to die too. The one saving grace was that the virus would finally be released.
Maybe it would work. Maybe it wouldn’t.
He would never know.
Though, something about it had been nagging at the back of his mind for weeks. Signs were everywhere. He’d seen fewer and fewer of them ever since winter had come and gone. Maybe this virus was completely unnecessary.
Damn it, he just hurt all over. But the pain would end soon enough. He thought back on his earlier regrets over living for so long. Why had he even considered that? He’d been so wrong. He’d made it this far, and he was glad that he had. All those men he’d killed—each and every one had deserved what they got, and more. All except the one who’d raised his arms in surrender. He’d seen that image replay over and over in his mind during the past few weeks, like a video set on repeat. He wished he’d never pulled the damn trigger in the first place. But, flushed with hot passions and a lust for death, he had. Maybe he’d been completely justified for doing so. Maybe not. Still, if what he’d learned as a kid in Sunday school was correct, he was going to have to answer for it soon enough. It was just too much of a bloodstain on his soul.
He thought again of his wife and the first time he had seen her across the room in the high school gymnasium those many years ago. She was so damn beautiful and much too good for a loser like him. He’d barely made the football team and was certainly no star player. Mediocre, at best. He also thought back on the brief few moments he’d held his newborn daughter cradled in his arms, smelling the sweetness of the endless possibilities for her future. She grew up so fast before his eyes. One moment she was learning to walk, the next he was watching as she rode her tricycle through the front yard. The next moment she was off to school, backpack and brown paper lunch bag in hand. Her shining future had been cut short, and that troubled him more than anything else.
Now all this? The raptors, the death, the misery. He never would have believed it in a million years. He figured he should have been angry about it. But, strangely, he wasn’t. After so many years of killing raptors and sating his vengeance, he’d grown weary of it.
“What’s that?” Cory asked.
Jesse slowly pivoted his head to look at him. His neck felt as though it contained the only set of muscles still capable of doing any real work.
“I heard something,” Cory said.
Jesse listened. He could only hear a low ringing tone buzzing in his ears, punctuated by the occasional throaty cry of a raptor.
“I don't plan on dying,” Cory said.
“Well, neither do I,” Jesse said, smiling weakly. “I don’t think any of us do.”
“There are always options.”
“I’m…listening.”
“I cannot die yet.”
Jesse grunted. “Not as if there is much of a choice,” he mumbled under his breath. He almost wished Cory would just keep quiet. Dying in silence was hard enough.
“The virus will not work,” Cory said. “It takes time before it becomes fully effective.”
“Time?” Jesse asked, raising his chin.
Cory said no more.
Jesse sighed lightly and shifted to watch the tree line in his peripheral vision. He could already see shapes moving between the trunks. There were things in the darkness that were coming to eat him. Now it didn’t matter, not a single bit.
Squinting, he turned to look at the compound in front of him, and that damn glaring spotlight. As he looked at it, the beam faded to a dull orange, and then to black. He opened his eyes wider. The light had gone off earlier, so he expected it to switch back on again soon, blinding him once more. They had to be mocking him with it, he figured, watching and waiting for him to die. Probably laughing about it too.
A raptor shrieked. From another direction, a muted snarl. They were getting closer.
“For what it is worth,” Cory said, “I want to thank you.”
Jesse began laughing. It hurt like hell to do so, but he continued laughing in the darkness until a fit of coughing overtook him, and he was forced to bow his head to catch his breath. Lifting his head, he spat out a wad of blood and snot.
“Keep still,” Cory said.
Jesse’s hand moved. His left hand. The one that had been tied to the post. Maybe it had not gone entirely numb from the ropes. Maybe it was something e
lse. He jerked at his wrist again. It moved a little more. He tugged again, and pain, excruciating pain, shot up his arm like a searing beam of white heat. It tore through his neck and into his head. He blinked and winced and fought to keep from passing out.
When he again lifted his head, his left arm was free. He held it out front and tried to raise his right arm. It too was free, and he could move it. He examined his hand in the waning light. The wrap they had placed around it was soaked through with blood, and it looked weird, funny, like a giant cartoon hand. One finger stuck up—his middle finger—and his thumb was just a fat lump jammed out sideways.
Another voice whispered to him. “Hold still,” it said.
What the hell? He could barely believe what he’d heard. It couldn’t be.
It was.
Blood rushed to his left wrist. He bent forward, pulling his arms protectively across his abdomen. He sucked in a few labored breaths and straightened.
Eve was behind Cory and cutting the ropes holding him to the post.
Clearing his head with a shiver, Jesse glanced at the compound. A few dim torches flickered on the far wall, but the spotlight was still dark. No one appeared to be on the guard platforms.
He flexed both wrists. Feeling was starting to return. With feeling came a new pain. It was as if he could sense his missing fingers, which were clearly gone. He staggered over to where Eve and Cory were standing.
“Why?” he asked, stumbling, breathless and confused.
“Noah’s dead,” she said.
Dead? Gasping, Jesse fell forward, stutter stepping on his toes toward Eve. He bumped into her and knocked her down. Drool ran freely from his lips.
“You!” he muttered. He tried to kick her, but the motion threw him off balance, and he collapsed in the dirt.
Cory looked down at him then whirled on her. He ripped his sword from her and drew it completely. He raised it to her neck and set the blade against her throat.
“Why are you helping us?”
“I told you, Noah is dead. But… I…”
“You what?”
“I killed him.”
Cory kept the sword at her throat, and she bent away from it, exposing more of her neck to him.
“Yes, I killed him, and now I’m here to—”
Righteous Apostate: Raptor Apocalypse Book 3 Page 23