V Plague (Book 17): Abaddon

by Patton, Dirk

  Frowning, he dismissed the notification and after enabling the ringer, put the device away as his car pulled to the curb. The valet got out, wisely choosing to keep his mouth shut. Black ignored him, slipped behind the wheel and accelerated away.

  Passing the parked sedan, he glanced casually in its direction. In that brief instant, he noted the small pile of cigarette butts on the pavement below the driver’s window. They’d been there a while, possibly even all night. And he also saw the man behind the wheel pop his door open.

  Traffic was so light as to be almost nonexistent as Black drove away. Keeping an eye on the mirrors, he saw the two men get out and look in his direction before crossing the street and heading for Viktoriya’s building. Both were in slacks and wearing light jackets. It was a warm morning. Too warm for outerwear to be needed for any purpose other than the concealment of a weapon.

  “Fuck,” Black muttered, watching them reach the far side of the street and stride toward her building’s entrance.

  They could be anyone. American or Russian. Intelligence, law enforcement or even Mafiya. And there could be a hundred reasons other than Viktoriya that they were here. But he knew better. And if she was in trouble, maybe him having approached her the night before was the cause.

  Hitting the brakes, he pulled to the curb and jumped out of the car. He’d hidden a pistol beneath the spare tire in the trunk before going to the club and quickly retrieved it. Weapon tucked securely into his waistband at the back, he broke into a jog, reaching Viktoriya’s building less than a minute after the two men had disappeared inside. He ignored the curious expression on the valet’s face as he pushed through the glass entrance.

  “Did you forget something, sir?” the doorman asked from behind a large desk.

  “My phone,” Black said without slowing.

  His eyes were glued to the display above one of the elevators as it counted up. He didn’t wait to see where it was going, instead dashing to a vacant car with its doors standing open.

  Pressing the button for Viktoriya’s floor, he impatiently waited as the doors slid closed at a stately pace. With a barely perceptible bump, the car began ascending and Black reached behind his back and drew the pistol. Holding it pointing at the floor along his leg, he glared at the location display and willed the elevator to move faster.

  He nearly jumped in surprise when his phone rang shrilly, the tone magnified by the confines of the car. Irritated, he nearly ignored it when the caller ID displayed Unknown Number, but the night had been strange enough that this could be important.

  “Yes?” he growled into the handset.

  “Chuck? Tom Small.”

  “Tom? Sorry, man. No time. Call me later.”

  He began to hang up, pausing when the Key West’s XO shouted.

  “WAIT! I’m not in port. We’re at sea and I need your help.”

  “What?” Black asked, confused. “You’re calling me while you’re at sea?”

  “Listen close, Chuck. Something’s wrong at Pearl. Am I right?”

  A tingle ran up and down Black’s spine.

  “I can’t talk about this,” Black said, as the counter showed only five more floors to go. “Look, I’ve gotta go, Tom.”

  “Damn it, Chuck! We’ve got some orders…”

  “What orders?” Black interrupted. “From who?”

  There was a pause and he could hear a muffled conversation before Small came back on the line.

  “You told me you met two Russians, a man and a woman, that were with Major Chase. They’re on board and we just got orders to hand them over to the Russians.”

  Black was stunned silent for a beat.

  “Listen close, Tom. You cannot do that. Shit’s starting to hit the fan here. I can’t give you details over an open line, but you cannot let that happen. Admiral Packard would never allow it.” There was a soft ding, announcing arrival at Viktoriya’s floor. “Gotta run, man. Stay safe.”

  Black disconnected the call and set his phone to vibrate. Leaning forward, he peered around the edge in the direction of Viktoriya’s apartment. Down the hall he could see the two men from the street huddled in front of her door. One was focused on the palm reader, connecting a thin cable to it while the other stood watch.

  At the moment, he was looking away from the elevator bank and didn’t see Black emerge and begin moving quickly in his direction. By the time he turned his head, the big Marine was less than ten yards away, arm up with a pistol held steady on the man’s head. For a beat he was frozen into immobility, then he gently tapped his partner on the shoulder. The man glanced around, surprise registering on his face.

  “Who are you?” Black asked in a quiet voice.

  Neither man spoke. Black’s eyes narrowed as time stretched out, then the lookout took a small step back. Opening space between them.

  “Another step and I’ll blow out your knee,” Black growled.

  He kept his voice low. It was early, but that didn’t mean people in the other apartments weren’t up and the last thing he needed was for the local cops to get called about a man with a gun in the hallway. Things were already complicated enough.

  They still didn’t speak and he saw something pass through the lookout’s eyes. He was adjusting aim, fully prepared to follow through on his threat, when Viktoriya’s door suddenly opened from the inside. The mens’ heads snapped around as several sound suppressed shots from inside the apartment tore into them.

  Black moved instantly, putting his back against the wall before the bodies had hit the floor. His weapon was rock steady, aimed at a point that would be center mass of a human body emerging from the apartment.

  Viktoriya appeared a second later, a pistol with a long suppressor on the end in both hands. It was aimed at the fallen men and she calmly fired a single round into each of their heads before looking up to meet Black’s eyes.

  “Help me get them inside,” she hissed, stuffing the weapon into her waistband and grabbing the closest body’s legs.

  With a sigh, Black put his pistol away and moved forward to grab the corpse’s arms. Together they lifted and carried it through her door.

  28

  I watched the kangaroos approach without the faintest fucking clue of what to do. There were already too many of them for me to hope to be able to drive the ATV through their masses and escape. If there was even a remote chance that I could keep it on all four wheels and successfully push my way through, that didn’t solve the problem of claws. There was nothing to prevent me from being shredded as I drove or knocked off the machine and descended upon.

  The rifle was still in my hands, but it was all but useless. I was being attacked from all directions and while I was shooting in one, there was no one to watch my back. And here I was as time ran out and hadn’t come up with anything brighter than to stick my thumb up my ass and wait to die.

  Adrenaline was flowing and my berserker was itching for a fight, but I’d somehow maintained the ability to reason. I wasn’t going to wade into these large animals with a blade and hack and slash my way to safety. Perhaps the beast inside recognized that enough to not seize total control.

  I spun a fast circle, looking for any opening in their ranks or even a terrain feature I could put my back against to fight. Nothing. Rolling hills barren of most everything other than some kind of scrub brush and rocks no larger than my fist.

  Another fast circle and my eyes stopped on the ATV. Specifically, the cans that were strapped to it. With only seconds remaining, I grabbed one free of its restraints and saved time by stabbing into it with my knife. Gasoline flowed through the hole and I created a quick perimeter of fuel-soaked sand before flinging the half empty jug into the largest mass of approaching kangaroos.

  Sparking my lighter, I held it to the ground and fire blossomed into existence with a loud whoosh that would have singed the hair on my head, if I had any. Flames quickly spread out, creating a burning barrier around me, then sped along the path left by the leaking can as it flew through the air.<
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  Kangaroos continued to approach, seemingly undeterred by the fire. Well, if it was a fight they wanted… Taking a deep breath, I lowered my head and tightly gripped my blade.

  Watching the animals with hooded eyes, I felt the power of the virus course through my body. Every vein dilated as my blood pressure shot up. My senses sharpened to the point I could scent the musky smell of the beasts over the sharp tang of burning petroleum. Part of me wanted to throw my head back and scream into the night sky.

  I was spinning in place, moving lightly on my feet. Evaluating where the first attack would come from. Rolled my shoulders in anticipation of charging forward as a particularly large animal passed through the fire without any indication it was aware of the fur that was singed off its body. It paused for a beat before stretching up on its toes.

  It truly was an impressive specimen. Taller than me, even before the whole toe thing. Leg muscles rippled as it suddenly charged in silently. I met it halfway across the flame encircled area, deftly sidestepping an immensely powerful kick that would have broken bones or disemboweled me. Whipping around, I slashed with the knife, spun away from another kick and attacked again.

  Hot blood spurted across me as its throat was opened, an artery pulsing a fountain as it twisted. It lunged and I ducked past its reach, slicing into the back of its right leg. I’ve got no fucking clue about kangaroo anatomy, but it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that there had to be a lot of vital tendons in the back of legs that large and powerful.

  The creature fell to the side, one leg flopping uselessly as it rolled to a stop in a river of burning gasoline. The stench of cooked hair and flesh assaulted my senses and this time I couldn’t stop myself from screaming into the night.

  Two more kangaroos pushed in, coming at a full gallop, or hop or whatever the hell it’s called. I was spinning to meet them when the flames reached the half full jug of fuel I’d thrown.

  It went up with a roar, night turning to day as several gallons of gas suddenly erupted. Liquid fire was splashed in all directions, igniting brush as well as sticking to kangaroo hides. Then it began raining fire as fuel that had been blown skyward fell back to earth.

  The animals were distracted by the sudden explosion, the attack momentarily on hold. I whirled about, but they had stopped approaching, though I couldn’t begin to explain why.

  As I searched for a fight, I noticed that my arm was on fire. Burning fuel had landed on me and flames stretched from my wrist to my elbow. But, I couldn’t feel any pain. It was like I was looking at someone else’s arm. Calmly, I bent and scooped sand which I used to smother the flames before they could begin consuming my flesh. There was still no pain.

  Looking about, I was surprised to see the kangaroos retreating. What the fuck? Come back and fight, the voice inside raged. I threw my head back and screamed my frustration before turning to the kangaroo I’d battled. He was still alive, despite a slit throat and the fire having cooked most of the fur off his body. With a cry of rage, I leapt on him and buried the length of the blade in his head.

  Standing, I began to run, intending to chase the retreating kangaroos. If they weren’t going to bring the fight to me, I sure as fuck was going to bring it to them! I screamed again, racing across the sand for a hundred yards in pursuit. Was reaching out to grasp the tail of a fleeing animal when a black cloud suddenly descended directly in front of me and it vanished inside a seething mass of bats.

  I pulled up in surprise, skidding in the sand and falling to my knees as more of them poured in onto the animal. Within seconds, it had fallen to the ground under their assault. Ten more seconds and they took to the air, leaving a horribly damaged carcass. It was almost unrecognizable.

  Slowly climbing to my feet, I stood in shock, staring at the dead kangaroo. Then I looked around. The sand still burned everywhere fuel had soaked into it, lending an unearthly orange pall to the night. Black smoke boiled skyward, blotting the moon. And the bats. Hundreds of thousands? Millions? All savagely attacking and killing every moving thing within sight. Except for me.

  Nothing could stand against their sheer numbers. When they weren’t descending upon a kangaroo, they were swirling in the air above like a living tornado. I continued watching their absolutely unstoppable carnage. Smiled as more animals fell. Raised my arms and screamed my pleasure as the bats swirled about me.

  This was hell on earth. And I was its master.

  29

  I don’t know how long I stood there, reveling in the feeling of unrestrained power. Enthralled with the idea of being able to vanquish my enemies with a flip of my hand. My mind went places. Dark places, full of violence and blood and revenge. And death.

  How many infected could I wipe out with the bats? How many Russians? An electric charge went through me when I asked myself the question of what other animals might fall under my control. With an entire army of savage beasts at my back, there was no one and nothing on earth that could stop me!

  Thankfully, at some point, a degree of sanity began to return. I looked around at the devestation the bats had wrought on the kangaroos and this time there was no elation. There was horror at what they were capable of in such large numbers. Disgust with myself for the thoughts I’d had. Fear that I was losing control.

  A shudder passed through me that would normally have been the aftereffect of the massive adrenaline dump that comes with battle. And perhaps some of it was, but there was also terror that the virus was consuming me. That I was on the verge of becoming someone else. Something else.

  The bats no longer swirled around me. They had settled to the ground, blanketing it with a quivering layer of bodies for as far as I could see in any direction. Just how damn long had I stood there?

  Trying to shake off the sense of dread that rode on my shoulders, I moved toward the ATV. My friend still needed help and I had to get the medicine while I was still me.

  That thought caused me to pause in mid stride. While I was still me. How much longer would that be? What if I lost control again? Was anyone safe around me?

  I didn’t know the answer. Couldn’t begin to guess. But at that moment I knew I couldn’t be around them. At least not until Joe was able to help me. If he could.

  A sense of profound loss as poignant as when Katie died descended over me. It was so strong I could hardly breathe. My chin dropped to my chest and my shoulders slumped as I gasped for air. At least that’s what I thought it was, then I realized I was crying. Sobbing like a child.

  I stood there in the desert, surrounded by millions of bats and the death they had brought, and wept. From my very soul. The pain of everything and everyone I’d loved and lost welled up inside until it felt as if my chest was being crushed in a vise. Like a video running at high speed, I saw faces and events. Heard last words gasped by broken bodies. Looked into eyes as the final light in them blinked out. In an instant, I relived every loss I’d experienced since the night of the attacks.

  Falling to my knees, I bent over the ground and wailed. Saw Katie’s face as she smiled at me. Felt her touch. Smelled her hair. Then I saw Rachel, exhausted, lying in a bed. Her hair was stringy, soaked with sweat. But she was smiling as she held our newborn child in her arms. Mavis was beside her. Dog had his chin resting on the mattress, watching and protecting as always. And I somehow knew they were alone. Without me.

  A racking sob escaped my mouth as I began pounding the sand with my fists. Throwing my head back I screamed at the night sky. Bellowed my rage and pain. Drew strength from the emotions as I climbed to my feet, still shrieking at the top of my lungs. And used it all to force the darkness back into its cage.

  I screamed until I was hoarse. Until I could no longer utter a sound. Panting for air, I noticed my clothes were soaked. My eyes stung from rivulets of sweat that were pouring off my shaved head. And I was exhausted. Wrung out both physically and emotionally. For a time, I was unable to do anything other than stand there, swaying gently.

  As my head continued to clear, I looked
around and stared in surprise. There was not a bat to be seen. Turning a slow circle, I scanned the desert before raising my eyes to check the sky. They were gone.

  For a brief moment I wondered if I’d hallucinated the whole thing. Thought the events with the bats was possibly a result of the virus. But one look at the hundreds of shredded carcasses surrounding me confirmed I hadn’t imagined anything.

  Lucas!

  I suddenly remembered why I was out here. Remembered every word of Rachel’s warning about what would almost certainly happen to him without more antibiotics and the rabies treatment. Checking my watch, I was shocked to see it had already been two hours since I’d set out for Coober Pedy.

  With a renewed sense of urgency, I rushed to the ATV. There were new dents where I’d impacted the kangaroos, but it was upright and all four tires were still inflated. I took a few seconds to ensure the remaining fuel cans were secure, then swung a leg over the seat and pressed the starter button.

  It fired right off and I got it moving, not happy to feel a slight vibration in the handlebars that hadn’t been there before. Something had bent. All I could do was hope it held together for the run to Coober Pedy and back.

  I had to keep my speed down to navigate through the field of dead kangaroos, amazed at how many the bats had killed. It was in the thousands, not hundreds as I’d originally thought.

  Finally reaching open road, I accelerated hard and within a few seconds had to back off on the throttle. What had been a mild shimmy at ten kilometers an hour became an uncontrollable death-wobble when I exceeded forty.

  Cursing, I jammed on the brakes and slid to a stop in a cloud of dust. Hopping off, I examined the machine and finally spotted a suspension rod on the right side that was bent into a shallow arc. The wheel it connected to was pulled in slightly at the bottom and no longer aligned with the other three. And there wasn’t a fucking thing I could do to fix it without a machine shop.