by Rachel Aukes
“Shut down the broadcast!” someone yelled.
“This is Cheyenne Mountain in Colorado,” another voice came through. “We have air support and can—”
The radio squealed and then silenced.
I was yanked to my knees and dragged to where Clutch was already kneeling.
When they dragged Griz over, he sported a bloody nose. Akio and Greg were soon added to our lineup.
I knew the odds of our mission succeeding were nil. We’d already accomplished far more than I’d ever anticipated. We’d prevented delivery of the Orange toxin, and we’d told the provinces about the capital’s plans and the antigen. They would have to take it from there. The only part of our plan that had failed was for us to get out of the capital alive.
“We have subdued the targets,” an officer spoke into his radio. “The room is secure.”
A moment later, Aline walked in, with Mike and James on either side. She looked downright pissed, which cheered my mood…somewhat.
She walked in front of us. “Exactly what did you hope to accomplish today with these antics?”
None of us spoke.
She paused in front of Akio. “Why do you even care about what happens? This isn’t even your country.”
He slowly looked up at her. “Easy. I wouldn’t want this done to my home. I couldn’t stand by to watch it done to another’s home.”
“You’re a fool.” She looked at each of us. “You’re all fools to think you’ve done any good here today. Four people died in the fire at the airport. They were innocent. Come spring, many more will die from the zeds that will unfreeze and start to walk again. Causing dissension among the provinces is treason. They need a strong capital to look up to, and you took that from them today.”
“Lady,” Griz said. “You overestimate your value. We got along just fine without a capital before. Hell, we didn’t even know you guys existed until a few months ago. You can go ahead and keep on thinking you and your two sheep there are guardian angels, but you got it backwards. You’re getting in the way by bullying defenders out in the provinces to do your bidding. From what I’ve seen, you’re leeches, sucking resources and supplies from the folks who need them most.”
She wagged a finger at him. “You’re wrong. We’ve helped the provinces. We’ve distributed supplies to them. You have no idea what it takes to start up a government from ashes and to bring together groups of survivors into a network.”
“You should’ve stopped there. You would’ve been remembered as a heroine,” I said. “But, you didn’t know when to stop. You screwed up when you switched from connecting folks to directing their destinies.”
An officer hurried into the room. James held him back from getting too close. “Madame President?”
“What is it?”
“It’s the squadrons from the south. They’ve returned.”
Aline frowned. “What do you mean, ‘they’ve returned?’”
“They’re here, in the city. And they’re demanding your immediate removal.”
“That’s impossible,” Mike said. “What are they doing here?”
“Perhaps,” Akio began. “They saw my note in the supplies I dropped last month. A note that may have mentioned the Orange toxin and how they were deemed to be acceptable casualties.”
Aline walked over and slapped Akio across the face. “You fool. They’ll lead zeds right to our doorstep.” She faced the officer standing nearby, and pointed at Akio. “Shoot that man.”
The officer’s eyebrows rose before he shook his head. “But—”
A herd of heavy boot steps echoed outside the room, yanking everyone’s attention toward the door.
The officers nervously held their rifles, the barrels pointing in all sorts of dangerous directions.
“Lower your weapons, and you will not be fired upon,” a man yelled into the room. “We’ve had a lot of target practice, so I recommend you lower your weapons now.”
The officers looked at one another. None, ironically, looked to Aline for direction. A moment later, they put their rifles on the floor and held up their hands.
Troops poured into the radio room and herded everyone—except for those of us on our knees—into the corner.
Aline refused to raise her hands, and the man who appeared to be the leader of the new troops walked in and straight for her.
“Hello, Paul,” she said to the man with a bronze maple leaf on his collar. “Welcome home.”
He smirked. “I bet you weren’t expecting to see me around here anytime soon…or, ever.”
He removed his helmet to reveal a scarred scalp. “You may remember, I had hair when I left. Radiation is an interesting thing. I’ve watched thousands of my men die, bleeding out of every orifice and coughing up their own lungs. When you denied my request to retreat, I knew you didn’t give a damn what was happening.”
“I did care,” she said. “You were freeing the world from the infected.”
He shook his head. “That’s only a half-truth. You also wanted us gone. Us scarred-up soldiers bring back too many memories of what it’s like out there. We get in the way of the fantasy world you’re trying to create here.” He smiled. “Don’t worry. You’re going to find out what it’s like out there firsthand soon enough. I’ve got a nice spot picked out for you near Texarkana. We call it the devil’s dance floor. We lost two thousand men there, and you’ll get to meet them for yourself.”
“Paul,” she pleaded, “it was a hard decision to send you. But, we all have to work at containing the zed threat, in whatever way we can.”
He nodded to two of his men, who restrained Aline.
“Paul!” she yelled, but the men took her away.
Paul then looked over each of us.
“You’ve got some flair for timing, Major,” Clutch said. “And, we’re mighty thankful to have you come save the day.”
The major gave a slight nod. “That your voice on the radio?”
“Yes, sir,” Clutch replied.
He smiled. “Your timing was perfect. We were pulling up to the gate when we heard your broadcast. I know Aline, and with a broadcast like that, I knew she wouldn’t be anywhere else but here.”
“Release them,” the major ordered, and we found ourselves free of our restraints.
I grabbed my bag, climbed to my feet, and stayed closed to Clutch and Griz.
“The capital looks like it’s fallen on hard times,” he said. “Fifty miles out, we saw enough smoke that we assumed the whole capital was burning. While there are a few rats I’d like to smoke out of here, the capital is still a good place for survivors. More important, we could use some real beds to sleep in for a change. But, first, you’re going to get me up to speed and show me where the antigen is.”
“It’s a long story,” Clutch said.
“Then, find me a cold beer and a comfortable chair first.”
Clutch smiled. “I know just the place.”
REDEMPTION
Chapter XXX
After Major Paul Mallary and his officers laid claim to the President’s home, we briefed him on everything that had happened since we had arrived. Akio was able to fill in the gaps of the time between when the squadrons were sent to the south and our arrival. I learned that Aline had started as a good facilitator with a knack at building relationships. As time passed, the relentless loss of survivors had a profound effect on her, and she’d developed an obsession to sculpt a new country, beginning with the capital.
The major kept his word. He imprisoned Aline, James, Mike, and Peter. Moose Jaw had two airports. The military airport had been destroyed, no thanks to me. But, the city’s commercial airport remained functional. With an armed crew, Akio loaded the prisoners into a King Air and flew them south, where they were shoved out of the airplane with nothing but the parachutes on their backs. If the zeds didn’t get them, the irradiated environment would. It was brutal, and I winced at the thought of how they met their end.
Akio, a commercial airlines pilot with
tens of thousands more flight hours than I had, flew the antigen and research to Helena’s CDC facility. I signed on to help deliver the vaccine as each batch was created. The CDC estimated that it would take three years to produce enough vaccine for the world’s survivors—and even longer to distribute it—but we’d do it, assuming we could keep the planes running and full of fuel. Akio, I, and three other pilots would be the Pony Express of the twenty-first century. Clutch, of course, had volunteered to be my navigator and co-pilot before I had a chance to ask him.
The major retained control of Moose Jaw, but no longer called it the capital. Before the outbreak, he’d been a history professor in addition to being an Army Reserve officer. He believed the provinces were too spread out with not nearly enough survivors in between to support a centralized government. He called democracy an idealistic notion at this point in the game. Instead, he proposed a cooperative feudalistic system, believing the only way to survive until everyone “got back onto their feet” was to have each province control its own area, with trading and agreements with nearby provinces.
His opinion had its share of dissidents, with people accusing him of trying to bring us back to the Dark Ages. Personally, I agreed with him. The world was already worse off than what people faced in medieval times. We were homeless and struggling to survive day by day. I figured a feudal system had to be easier to achieve than Aline’s idea of a centralized government.
Clutch stepped back from loading our supplies, which included new radios to talk with Moose Jaw and other provinces. He wore a T-shirt, which showcased his full-sleeve tattoos. “Ready to head home?” he asked.
I smiled and nudged into him. “You bet. Let’s go home.”
Griz had already climbed in the back along with Joe, the only remaining survivor of the New Eden squadrons sent to the south. My Cessna had been destroyed in the fire, and so I opted for a comfortable twin-engine, which could make it back to New Eden without a fuel stop and haul a lot more supplies.
I climbed in, and Clutch took his seat and organized the maps. As I taxied to the runway, Akio smiled and waved broadly from the edge of the ramp. I waved back and smiled, knowing I’d see him in a couple days when he’d come to pick up the zed kids and bring them to the CDC center in Helena.
I’d miss Moose Jaw. It was more than the sense of safety and the electricity and people like Akio. It was the city’s potential. Moose Jaw was proof that we could live relatively normal lives, even in all this.
But we weren’t ready for that. Not yet.
I throttled forward, and the airplane picked up speed and took to the air as though it couldn’t wait to get off the ground. We climbed high, seeing only major landmarks such as rivers, forests, and cities. The sun glistened on a flooded river, and I hoped its floodwaters would wash away the zeds, leaving only pure water behind.
We touched down at the airport outside New Eden by mid-afternoon. Fortunately, there were no signs of wild animals today. The Humvee sat by the hangar, but there was no sign of Zach.
After we tied down the plane and moved the supplies from the plane to the Humvee, we leaned against the Humvee’s bumper. Clutch handed me a bottle of water, and I drank greedily. The three of us stared off at the woods, watching the tree line. When nothing emerged, we all climbed into the Humvee and headed back to New Eden.
On our drive, we saw more creatures moving around than when we’d left. Not many animals—only the sick dogs and wolves seemed to venture out during the day. It was the two-legged ones.
Spring was here.
The zeds were thawing out.
Chapter XXXI
Later that night
Back in the silo was a bittersweet welcome party for Joe. While everyone had known the risks of sending the squadrons after the zeds, everyone had also hoped more would return home. I didn’t stick around when people started grilling Joe about what happened out there. I had no doubt the man had been through a far worse hell than any of us.
Clutch had already disappeared to his tiny office in the lowest floor of the silo to catch up on the daily logs since we’d been gone. I hit the shower and stood under the hot spray for my entire five-minute ration. With my skin still steaming, I headed up to my dorm. I rifled through my backpack and pulled out the special items I had bartered for at the capital and hid from Clutch.
I set the bottle of wine and corkscrew down on the mattress. I pulled off my T-shirt and pants and slipped on the dress. Before the outbreak, I never would’ve worn anything like it. It was a slim-fitting, tiny white thing with spaghetti straps and dainty roses printed on the sheer fabric. It was as much a nightgown as a dress, but it fit perfectly. My shoe wardrobe consisted of two pairs of hiking boots, so I decided to go barefoot.
I stood in front of a small mirror. I tried to look past the jagged scar on my forehead and circular scar on my calf where I’d been shot. Hell, I had so many scars now, they crisscrossed my skin like spider webs Then again, Clutch bore far more scars than I did.
I didn’t have model looks before the outbreak; I certainly didn’t have them now. Curves had toned into lean muscle. My face had lost its softness. Taking a deep breath, I tried to focus instead on the dress and how it fit my body. Get ’em where I want ’em. I grinned, thinking of the one rule I had set for myself during the early days of the outbreak. It had meant that whatever happened, I needed to take control to get things to work out so I could survive. I’d never thought it applied to anything except fighting zeds. Until now.
I grabbed the wine and searched around until I found two red plastic cups.
“Holy shit, why are you wearing that?” Jase asked, startling me.
I nearly dropped the bottle. “Jesus. You about gave me a heart attack.”
“She can wear what she wants, Silly,” Hali scolded, giving me a knowing smile.
I scowled at Jase and walked past the pair. “Like Hali said, I can wear what I want.”
“Have fun,” Hali said.
“Where’s she going?” I heard Jase ask as I entered the hallway.
I hurried down the steps, not wanting to run into anyone else. If Griz saw me, he’d never let me live it down. Fortunately, most folks were already in bed. My feet flew down the stairs until I reached the right floor.
Clutch’s office door was open, and I peeked in to see his nose buried in a stack of paper. I knocked and stepped in the doorway. “Got a minute?”
“Yeah,” he grumbled, dropped his pen, and looked up. His features changed from exhaustion to shock in an instant. I had no idea how I didn’t laugh at the expression on his face. I’d never seen his mouth drop so quickly. He shuffled his papers to the side in a rush. “Yeah, um, yeah, come in.”
He came to his feet rather clumsily, like a schoolboy, and I grinned. He seemed to struggle finding words. “You look nice tonight. I mean, you look better than nice.” He finally settled with, “You look really good.”
I held up the bottle of wine. “Happy Birthday.”
His lips slowly curved upward. “I didn’t think anyone knew.”
I shrugged. “You told me once, a long time back. We never seem to get the chance to celebrate things like birthdays anymore, so I thought tonight would be as good as any to sneak in a little celebration.”
He smiled. “I like that idea.”
I shut and locked the door and gave him a mischievous grin. “I don’t plan on sharing this wine. I had to trade my machete for it.”
He frowned. “Your machete? You shouldn’t—”
“I have another one under my bed.” I set the bottle, corkscrew, and cups on the table. “Now, do you want a birthday party or not?”
He came to his feet. “Hell yeah. I can’t remember the last time I did something on my birthday.” He went to work at opening the bottle. He glanced up every couple of seconds while I watched. He filled each cup with the red wine, nearly draining the bottle, and he handed me my cup. “You do look really good.”
“Thank you.” I took a sip, watching him.
He took a drink, eyed me, and then took a longer drink. After a deep breath, he set his cup down, took mine, and set it down next to his.
He kissed me softly on the lips. “You asked me to say the words once. I couldn’t do it. Not then. I was afraid that if I said them, something would happen, and you’d be gone.” He swallowed. “But, I can say them now. I love you. With every fiber of my being, I love you.” His shoulders relaxed as though a weight had been lifted.
“I know,” I whispered. “But, I like hearing you say it.”
He then gave me a kind smile. He deepened the kiss, our tongues meeting for a slow, passionate dance. Our bodies pressed tighter together, moving in a rhythm only we could feel.
He broke the kiss, and his smile widened then, enough to show the wrinkles at his eyes. He lowered himself, kissing first my neck, then moving a strap aside to kiss my collarbone. His kisses were innocent, yet they sent tingles across my skin. Already, my breaths were coming faster. His hands ran down my shoulders, my hips, my thighs, and then came back up under my dress. He chuckled when he realized I wasn’t wearing underwear.
I held on to him; his heart pounded under my palm. He pressed tighter against me, and I wrapped a leg around him. I felt a shudder surge through him, rippling down his body into mine. He stared at me, the wildness on his face making my heart pound harder. Unable to stand it anymore, I tugged off his shirt as he unbuttoned his pants and shoved them down. He lifted me off the floor and took me right then and there. In perfect rhythm, he kissed me, devouring, violently satisfying kisses as he drove into me.
We made love, and it was sublime.
For the next hour, he went about showing me exactly how he felt about me, until someone pounded on the door.
“Hey, I know you guys are in there,” Griz’s voice yelled out. “These walls are thin, you know.”
Clutch threw a stapler at the door. “Go away,” he yelled back before grinning down at me.
“Come on,” Griz yelled. “Wrap things up in there. Deb’s water broke. She’s having the baby!”