Conflict (Cascade Book 4)

by Phil Maxey

  For a moment the creatures all looked upwards as in awe and then turned and moved away.

  On the southern wall, over looking the river Cal fired off his snipers rifle nailing a flying lizard like creature which had already dragged three soldiers to their deaths off the side of the wall. Fiona stood beside him, firing best she could with her M4 into the ice covered waters a few hundred feet below.

  Cal knew why he and the others were released, but he couldn’t bring himself to use his abilities, doing so just gave the council a reason to keep him imprisoned for longer. If he could do his part without using his powers, maybe they would realize he was just like everyone else and would leave him and Fiona alone. So far he had racked up eight kills, and he hadn’t needed to use his mind creature connection thing once. He glanced at Fiona as the battle raged around him, even in the middle of this madness he was glad she was with him.

  A loud noise of cracking and bending steel emanated from the east of the river, followed by the sound of rushing water. All lights from the wall swung down to the river, and a mini tsunami of water smashed up against the cliffs below the wall.

  “One of the river barriers is down, be ready for anything!” shouted a soldier just a few yards from them.

  The splashing and the cracking noise grew closer to the wall, and then they saw it. A large oily black tentacle as big as a house rose out of the water, and then splashed back down, the spray rising above the eighty foot high cliffs and hitting the lower part of the wall.

  Bullets strafed the water where the beast had appeared but it was like firing into the air, no impact could be seen. One of the camps apache helicopters flew over the wall and dropped a search light down onto the rushing water, which just ebbed and flowed with no sign of anything else.

  “I’m sure it’s the same creature we saw in the river near Atlanta!” shouted Fiona anxiously.

  Cal readied his rifle, and looked down the night scope at the now calmer river. “I can’t see much of…”

  With an alright roar, whatever the creature was rose up out of the river, it’s former tentacle just being the end of a larger part which rose higher and higher. Water splashed against the wall as they were all now looking up at this thing that was standing twenty story’s high and was still rising. The Apache flew backwards, but it was too late and one of the creatures tentacles whipped around smashing the tail rotor and sending the chopper spiralling into the dark waters. All gunfire focused on this creature that ignored all attempts to stop it.

  “It’s too big Cal, it’s going to crash through the wall!” shouted Fiona, “Cal, you must do something!” her voice pleaded with him.

  Momentarily Cal was dazed by the spectacle in front of him, but he dropped his gun and closed his eyes and let the world around him fall away, until all he could see again was bright specks of light inside a dark void. The creature threatening them was bright and clear to him, he could also see all of it, not just the part above the water. It had more tentacles below the surface and was sitting on the bottom of the river bed. He could also feel the other E.L.F’s around him, and he quickly swung his view around. Thousands of glowing particles both near and far moved and jostled. He turned back to the huge leviathan which was now leaning over the wall, and focused his mind towards it.

  Fiona and those around her looked straight up as the creature lurched over them. “Anytime now Cal!”

  Straining his mind to reach the thing in front of him, he raised his hands above his head. The creature’s skyscraper like tentacle stopped, as if frozen in mid gesture high above the wall. Those on the wall stood mouth agape, as water slid off the creature and splashed down around them. He then lowered his arms backdown towards the river, and the creature did the same, retreating away from the wall and finally disappearing into the frothy river surface. The world around him returned, and Fiona hugged him.

  CHAPTER 30

  Zach looked down over the wall, near the dam that had kept the camp supplied with electricity for months. The clouds had cleared above, and the noon sun beamed down from patches of blue. The wall holding the water back was smashed near the top, and water was gushing through various holes. Teams of men, some hanging off the end of ropes were looking closely at the damage.

  “That’s not the worse of it,” said a man in his forties, wearing a hardhat mostly hiding short dark hair. “Follow me.”

  Jared led Zach down damp concrete stairs, though narrow corridors and into the bowels of the dam. He opened a red metal door with warning signs on it, and they walked into a cavernous room housing the dams generators.

  Walking down past the large brown-red turbines, they eventually walked up a small staircase and faced a row of eight foot high pale green metal boxes.

  “I don’t think I need to tell you what the problem is,” a number of the panels, buttons, dials were smashed, revealing the wires inside which looked burnt.

  “An E.L.F got in here?” Zach looked around for any other signs of damage.

  “No one in my team saw any. It’s not impossible but this is the only thing we can find damaged.”

  Zach knew what the chief engineer was getting at, but didn’t want to say it out loud.

  “Were there not guards here?”

  “There were some at the start of the attack, but as things got worse elsewhere in the camp they well pulled away.”

  Zach looked at the walls around him. “Any cameras?”

  Jared gave a short laugh. “No, cameras.”

  “How long we talking until the things here are back to normal?”

  “We are running at about 20 percent of our output, what with the reduced water flow and some of the generators being completely out of commission due to this damage, I would say at least a month before we are back up to one hundred percent.”

  “I want camera’s installed down here, don’t make them too obvious, and I’ll have guards back here patrolling twenty-four seven from tonight onwards. If there’s anything you need to make the repair work go quicker let me know.”

  “Just keep the creatures off our backs, and we’ll be fine.”

  Zach smiled and went to walk away.

  “Er, rumor has it that, it was your idea to use the Cascaders to help defend the walls?”

  Zach turned. “Yeah.”

  “To be honest, when we heard people were changing, becoming like those things outside, I supported them being put away, at least for a while. But after last night, I think maybe that was mistake,” Zach smiled again, and left.

  As Zach drove back to the Core, his mind pondered at why someone would want to sabotage the dam. One of Tinley’s men carrying out revenge for their boss? Or maybe the Hell Fire gang wanting to cause problems? Either way it meant there were people inside the walls who were actively trying to destroy the camp and harm those inside. At least Abbey’s back home.

  As he stopped the pickup in the parking lot of the Core his radio came to life. “Captain Felton, on your return to the Core, can you go to Amanda Hollands office. Over.”

  Zach sighed. What part of the wall is she going to post me too now. He acknowledged the request and begrudgingly made his way to her office, after a short wait he was sitting opposite her.

  She went to talk but he stopped her. “Before I get posted back to whatever part of the wall you want me at, I’ve just come back from the dam.”

  “Go on.”

  “Well apart from it taking a beating from the E.L.F’s, it appears that some of the electronics that control the generators were deliberately destroyed.”

  Hollands expression changed. “Sabotage? Are you sure?”

  “The chief engineer didn’t come right out and say it, but yeah I’m pretty sure.”

  She shook her head, then reached forward and poured some water into a glass. “Want some?”

  “I’m fine thanks.”

  “As if we didn’t have enough problems. Do you have any idea who is responsible?”

  “Maybe Tinley’s people who are still loyal to him or
members of the Hell Fire gang, could be either, or a combination working together. I doubt anyone else in the camp would have a reason to make life harder for themselves. What is the situation within the camp?”

  “That’s actually what I called you here for.”

  Zach looked at her, not sure by what she meant.

  “The council was impressed by how you handled things last night. And they want to make the position you had permanent.”

  “What position?”

  “In control of the camps defense. We would still have jurisdiction on what goes on outside, but inside the walls, that would be yours.”

  Zach sat surprised. “I’m not sure what to say.”

  “Say you’ll do it.”

  “And those affected by the Cascade will be left alone?”

  “Actually I was thinking, some of them could be drafted into our military forces, and we would still need to run tests of course, but apart from that, yes they would be left alone.”

  “Okay.”

  “Good, I’m glad that’s out of the way. Oh with it comes a promotion to O-4, which they tell me is the rank of Major. I hope you will understand if we leave all the hoopla of a ceremony to another day as there’s much to discuss.”

  Zach’s surprise continued. Abbey’s not going to believe any of this.

  “So, the situation in the camp. Come with me.”

  Soon they were in the central operations hall. She and Zach walked up to a man in his mid thirties with medium length light brown hair, and glasses. Just behind him was a women in her mid thirties, with tied back dark wavy hair. She was also smartly dressed.

  “This is Jason, he’s my right hand man when it comes to what’s going on in the camp. You’ll be working with him closely I presume going forward.”

  Jason leaned forward and held his hand out. “Umm, hi. Good to meet you Captain…no sorry Major,” Zach smiled and shook it.

  “And this is Jennifer Grove, my political advisor,” Jennifer gave a throwaway smile at Zach, and whispered in Hollands ear.

  “I know, yes. Sorry gentleman, but I have matters to attend to. Jason, get Zach up to speed on the camps situation,” she and her political advisor walked quickly off and disappeared through some doors.

  “Er, well the situations not good. We lost three hundred and twenty one soldiers. So, there’s that.”

  Zach felt the weight of that news. “What exactly are our troop levels now?”

  “Before last night we had around ten thousand troops, that also included squads such as the one you were part of. There were sixteen battalions, and…”

  “So in this camp we have over fourteen million people but yet only around ten thousand troops to defend them all?”

  Jason looked anxiously. “Well the council felt it would cause civil unrest if they introduced a draft, and especially during…”

  “I get it. So how many of the walls were breached? And what’s the status with the remaining E.L.F’s outside the walls?”

  Jason moved forward to a computer keyboard, typed a few commands, and one of the large screens changed to a plan view of the walls. “The red markers are where the walls have been breached. Repair crews are on sight, but they say it could be months before all the holes are plugged. Sir.”

  “You don’t have to call me Sir, you’re a civilian.”

  “Umm okay, Major.”

  “Just call me Zach. How many civilians did we lose last night?”

  Jason, picked up a piece of paper. “Early estimates are around eighteen hundred.”

  Zach swept his hand over his hair.

  “There’s also…”

  “Yes?”

  “There are E.L.F’s still in the camp.”

  “What? And they are being dealt with?”

  “Most, but not exactly…actually one is at your home location, near the lake.”

  “What?”

  CHAPTER 31

  Abbey sat watching the large dog sized E.L.F with feathery wings as it gnawed on a plank of wood from what was left of Zach’s workshop. She worried that the rope she placed around its neck and then tied to a bolt on the concrete floor was too tight. It had been a strange morning.

  Six hours earlier after only four hours sleep, she had woken with Zach. He had got to her part of the wall just as the E.L.F’s started to retreat across most of the perimeter of the camp, and didn’t wait to find out if she needed to go back to the detention center. Instead he sent the message out to the Cascaders to return to their homes. These people had just saved the camp, if that didn’t win them their freedom nothing would and anyway the council could just pick them back up again if they needed too.

  He was told to check on the status of the dam, as electricity was down across most of the camp. He wanted to tell them to find someone else for the job, but Abbey convinced him she would be okay by herself. He said he would pick up some food on the way home. He also apologised for the state the house was in, but she was glad to have something to do and set about cleaning up after he had left.

  After the clothes had been returned to the dresser or washed, and the dishes and plates had been cleaned, she made herself some coffee and sat on the single garden chair they possessed just outside the back of the house, facing the lake.

  It wasn’t long before she realised she wasn’t alone.

  Her neck had been tingling from when she woke, but she just shrugged it off as an after-effect from all the strain of the previous night. Sitting with her eyes closed though she became aware of movement behind some trees near the back of what used to be the workshop area. It was just the occasional creaking and crushing of grass, but those were noises she shouldn’t of been hearing. Since the Cascade the world had become quiet, and she knew there was hardly going to be a person lurking around on their property. The houses to the right and left of them, where still awaiting occupants.

  Walking back into the kitchen, she picked up the shotgun they kept in a chest and walked outside, heading straight towards the trees. She hadn’t gotten within twenty feet of the trunks when the monkey looking creature with large wings fluttered out from behind some foliage, and half limped half flew across their yard. Whatever it was it was injured, a bullet wound was clearly visible in one of its arms.

  Remembering she had a gun, she quickly raised it and was ready to fire when the creature slumped to the ground, breathing heavily. The tingling ran up and down her neck, and she realised this creature had been there from last night. She stepped slowly towards it as it looked up at her with eyes that looked like they were from a cartoon. You got to be friggin kidding me. It was the first time she had felt anything but fear and anxiety around an E.L.F. She just knew deep down this creature had no interest in attacking her, it just wanted to rest.

  Then she had a crazy idea, what if she could capture it? Looking around, she spotted some rope lying under some wood. She stretched it out and tried holding the shotgun and the rope at the same time but realised it was too difficult, so she put the gun down. If this feathered thing tried lunging at her, she was pretty confident she could concentrate quickly enough to stop it from doing any damage anyway.

  She tied the rope into a loop, and slowly crept forward. The creature looked around itself, licking it’s wound, and making passing glances at her as she got near it. When she was a few feet away, she leaned forward and very slowly placed the loop over the creatures head. What the fuck am I doing.

  Backing up slowly, she picked up the end of the rope and prepared herself for anything to happen. Concentrating she tried to focus her thoughts outwards to the creature, she then pulled gently on the rope. At first the creature resisted the tugging, but it gradually got to it’s feet. It’s wings flapped and it started to rise up, but then fell back down onto the muddy yard.

  Abbey looked around and spotted a bolt sticking up from the concrete base of the workshop. Slowly walking backwards, she got within range of the bolt, and quickly tied the rope to it. She then jumped up and down in excitement. “Ha!”

/>   The creature looked at her with curiosity, then laid down on the concrete floor.

  That had been three hours ago. Since then she had fed it, and put a bucket of water close to it, which it lapped at enthusiastically.

  She was so absorbed in watching it, that she didn’t hear Zach pull up sliding to a skid in his pickup. As he jumped out of the vehicle, leaving the door open, she quickly got to her feet and greeted him.

  “No, Zach, it’s okay I’ve got everything under control, put the gun away.”

  Zach looked between the creature and Abbey at least a few times before he first spoke. “Wha…what are you doing? We need to kill it or you need to put the whammy on it and send it on it’s way!”

  The creature, got to it’s feet and was making growling noises in Zach’s direction.

  “No, please put the gun away, it’s okay, it’s not going to harm anyone. Look, watch,” Abbey walked cautiously towards the creature.

  “Abbey!” He said anxiously.

  “It’s okay,” she calmly replied. When she was within a few feet she reached into a small bowl next to it, pulling out a chocolate cookie, and held it close to it. The creature sniffed, then grabbed the cookie out of her hand. Abbey looked scornfully at it. “What did I tell you about grabbing?”

  Zach looked on, his hand still on his gun. “What the hell.”

  “Mo’s injured,” she pointed to the creatures arm.

  “Mo?”

  “Yeah it’s short for monkey, I know it has wings, but anyway I named it Mo.”

  “I really don’t know about this Abbey,” Zach slowly started putting his gun away.

  “Mo has a rope around his neck, and his well tied to this bolt on the ground, and if there’s any problem I’ll do just my mind thing and send it away, okay?”