Conflict (Cascade Book 4)

by Phil Maxey

  “Central Op’s know’s it’s here.”

  “How the hell do they know that?”

  “As soon as they knew the Cascaders were going home, they put some drones in the air to keep an eye on all of you. They’re not going to let you keep it…and I’m not sure how comfortable I am with it either. This looks a lot like the creature I saw in the swimming pool in Roswell. If it is, then this must be a child, and it’s going to get a lot bigger.”

  “Just give it a day, or two and see how it is, if it causes any problems, I’ll send it back to where it came.”

  Zach took a deep breath. “Okay, two days. I’ll contact Op’s and tell them a kill squad isn’t needed,” as he finished talking he couldn’t help but smile. Abbey giggled. The creature happily crunched down on the cookie.

  CHAPTER 32

  Zach tapped impatiently on the arm of the chair in the living room, listening to the noises the strange creature outside was making. Being in charge of the camps defenses had some perks, one of which was you can set your own schedule, and right now he wanted to know if the E.L.F roped to the ground of his former workshop, was safe to be around. All he had seen of the creatures that the animals of the world became was their ability for destruction. They were the reason millions were dead. These were not cute and cuddly beings you could make your pet, these were killers intent on ending life, wherever they found it. He wasn’t a Cascader. He didn’t have a connection to these things that Abbey and Cal had. They were the enemy, and one was tied up just yards outside the back of his house. But the woman he cared for, wanted it there. She saw them differently now and he wasn’t sure how he felt about that.

  A car pulled up outside.

  Abbey came in from the kitchen with a cloth in her hand. “Are we expecting anyone?”

  “I called someone, to have a look at what’s in the yard.”

  Abbey walked to the curtains, trying to see who was getting out of a grey sedan. “But what could anyone tell us about it?” her tone then quickly changed, and she whipped around to face Zach. “How could you invite him here!” she then raced towards the kitchen door.

  Zach followed. “Raj, knows these things better than any of us, maybe even you and Cal.”

  “He doesn’t! And have you forgot what he did to all of us?” she shouted as she moved outside. Zach knew ‘us’ didn’t refer to himself, Fiona, Michael and the rest of the squad, it referred to the Cascaders.

  Raj stood twenty feet away from the creature with a backpack over his shoulder, looking in amazement at the E.L.F which was now standing and flapping it’s wings, looking back at him.

  He slowly laid his backpack on the ground. “Really quite astonishing.”

  Abbey ran past the creature and towards Raj, who immediately started backing up. “You have no business being here!” the creature started flapping it’s wings more vigorously and making growling noises.

  “Zach asked me to come, I…I thought it was okay?”

  “It’s okay, I just want you to look at what we have here, and tell me if you think it’s any kind of threat,” said Zach walking between Raj and Abbey and then turning towards the creature.

  Abbey backed up towards the creature. “I won’t let you take it Raj. I’ve seen how you treat them and us remember,” Zach was glad she was still making the distinction.

  Raj put his hands up. “Abbey, I’ve just come to look, that’s all. There will be no experiments. I’m here to help, Zach said it was injured?”

  “It’s a he, not an it. And he has a name, Mo.”

  Raj went to say something, when Zach intervened. “Yeah, it’s called Mo.”

  “I see, okay well let me take a look,” Raj walked closer to the creature, which growled and hissed. “It looks like a Simivem. That’s what we are calling them, it virtually means monkey bird. This one looks to be young, but obviously we can’t really say much about their actual age as they didn’t exist over a year ago.”

  “I think I saw an adult in Roswell, it was at least three times as big as this one.”

  “Yeah, we have had reports of them being a lot bigger. They seem quite solitary animals, and as intelligent as you would expect from something evolved from a primate,” he took a few steps closer.

  Abbey looked at the Simivem. “It’s okay, don’t be afraid, he’s here to help,” the creature responded by lowering it’s wings.

  “Looks like the bullet went straight through. As long as it doesn’t get infected I’m sure he will be fine. Although we don’t know how they react to bacteria maybe it’s immune system is more highly advanced, there’s still so much we don’t know.”

  “From all the tests you have been doing I thought you knew a lot,” Abbey said sarcastically.

  Raj smiled. “The worlds ecology has been completely reset. It will take far beyond my lifetime to learn what’s fully happened,” he then stood. “But maybe what you have done here, and your connection with this creature shows us what the future might hold.”

  “You really think people will be having E.L.F’s as pets?” said Zach incredulously.

  “I think life on this planet has a way of balancing out, regardless of what kind of life it is. Anyway, all looks fine here, and I don’t want to take anymore of your time up,” he said backing away.

  Abbey sighed looking down, and shook her head slightly. “We have coffee if you would like some.”

  “Yes, please that would be great, thanks.”

  CHAPTER 33

  The muddy water spurted in Isaiah’s face. “God damm it Sam, I said I wasn’t ready!”

  “What?” came the faint voice from the basement. “Again?”

  “No!” water burst from the broken faucet once more, drenching Isaiah, who swore, but continued to turn the wrench until the outpouring became just a trickle. “Its stopped!”

  “What?”

  Isaiah stood up in the small kitchen area at the back of their modest bar come cafe. Everyone who came from the Portland camp was asked how they think they might best contribute to the society they were now entering and they both answered that they felt a place where people could drink and relax would be beneficial for the camps inhabitants. So they were given a small place in the newly forming downtown area, on the agreement that they paid a rent back to the council plus a percentage of profits. They then did their best to convince some locals to donate drinks and supplies and within a few weeks, they had a steady stream of customers. During the day it was a cafe, and when the sun went down it became a bar. On the second floor was a small apartment, which they both slept in, until Sam moved in with Mary Tanner a few weeks earlier.

  The sound of steps came from the basement stairs, and Sam emerged, his hands covered in rust and grease. “We’re going to need someone who knows what their doing down there at some point,” he then started laughing when he saw Isaiah.

  “Yeah, you can laugh, but next time you’re up here and I’m down there.”

  The sound of a car pulling up came from the small parking lot they had outside.

  “That might be Tyler bringing the new glassware over.”

  The door opened and closed and Sam went to meet the young man, who was also now living under the same roof as many other young people at Mary’s residence.

  “Zach!” he walked over to Zach and gave him a hug. “Haven’t seen you in…how long’s it been? I heard you saved all our asses with using the Cascaders? Oh…how is Abbey?”

  Zach laughed. “I should have made an appearance earlier,” he looked around at the counter, bottles, tables and chairs. “This place has certainly changed since I last saw it.”

  Isaiah, came in from the kitchen with a towel around his neck. His hand reaching out and giving Zach a brief embrace. “Hey good to see you man.”

  “Take a seat, what you having? We got coffee on the go, or you want something stronger?”

  Zach smiled and sat. “Coffee would be fine.”

  “I think it’s been about a month since I was here. The place looks good, you getti
ng a lot of people coming in? It’s a bit hard to find, what with all the building going on.”

  Isaiah sat nearby. “I keep telling Sam we gotta advertise, get some posters up or something.”

  Sam brought the coffee over, placing it on the table. “All we got to do is just keep serving fine coffee and late night booze and we’ll be fine,” he then went back behind the counter, and started cleaning some mugs.

  “Thanks. You just out of the shower or something?” said Zach looking at Isaiah.

  “Plumbing issues, this place was here before the Cascade, the pipes have to be at least sixty years old.”

  Zach nodded. “Abbey’s good. It has been a crazy few weeks, but the nonsense with people detained is over, for now at least. But I’m here to make an offer to both of you.”

  “You want to invest in a bar?” said Sam.

  “Not exactly.”

  Isaiah’s eyes widened. “No way man, we’re not going back in.”

  “Just hear me out, it won’t have to be like that.”

  “We got this place, things are good, why the hell would we want back into the military?” said Sam.

  “I’ve been put in charge of the camps defenses.”

  Isaiah looked impressed. “Congratulations.”

  “And we got a major manpower problem. The council resisted implementing a draft because they didn’t want to cause problems with people, not while the camp was getting on it’s feet.”

  “Make’s sense,” said Isaiah.

  Zach was about to reply, when an eighties pickup looking a bit rundown pulled up outside, and a young man got out.

  “That’ll be Tyler,” said Sam.

  “Rob’s brother?”

  “Yeah, he’s staying with us up at Mary’s place. And he helps out here.”

  Tyler walked in carrying a box, and stopped when he saw Zach. They hadn’t talked much since getting back from Roswell.

  Zach smiled. “Hey Tyler.”

  He put the box down. “Ah, alright Zach, how’s it going?”

  “It’s going better than it was a few days ago. Sam tells me you been helping out here, that’s good.”

  “Oh just keeping busy, anyway I better be getting back,” he turned to Sam. “Mary said don’t forget the vegetables for tonights dinner,” Sam nodded, and Tyler left.

  A silence fell upon all of them, until Isaiah broke it. “Was a damn shame how things went with Rob.”

  “Yeah,” said Zach while sighing. “But he seems to be doing okay?”

  “He got close to one of the girls staying with Mary, her and the others have helped him get through day by day, but he lost his whole family…” said Sam.

  “So what’s this offer?” said Isaiah, trying to lift them out of their gloomy thoughts.

  “I want you and Sam to be the face of a new recruitment drive.”

  Sam looked confused. “You seriously want Isaiah to be your face?” Isaiah threw him a dirty look.

  “Both of you, yeah. And don’t take this the wrong way, but if people see that both of you are willing to step up, then that’s some incentive for others to play their part.”

  Isaiah looked unsure. “Yeah, I’m not sure, we got a good thing going here.”

  “It’s not back into to the military. I’m setting up a new civilian based defense force, managed by the military, but not part of the military. That’s what I want you to be the front for.”

  Isaiah rubbed his chin. “What kinda work will it be?”

  “You’re be in charge of the units in your zone. And apart from that we’ll be putting you on posters and on TV,” Zach smiled.

  “Can we talk about the bar?” said Sam.

  “We can work something out with that, but it’s a paid position, you’ll make enough to hire someone to work here.”

  Sam looked at Isaiah, who looked back at Zach. “How much exactly you paying?”

  CHAPTER 34

  Abbey stood in the kitchen watching small flickers of snow drift slowly to the ground outside the back of the house. The sun was just about to make an appearance, but was shielded behind a wall of gray. She looked to the right, and Mo was inside the small wooden shack that Zach had built for him, out of the remains of the workshop. She pulled the twin blankets she had on her shoulders tighter around her to try and push the cold further away, but her nose and ears were still slightly numb.

  Two weeks had passed since the ‘Battle of the Cascaders’ as the press named it, giving far too much credit to herself and the others Abbey thought, but she was thankful that the publics view of them had radically changed, and they were now see as defenders of the camp and not things out to destroy it.

  Also the Cascaders were the least of the councils problems, as the food stores kept getting broken into and set ablaze, and the dam still wasn’t anywhere near fully operational so electricity was being strictly rationed. Tree’s were slowly disappearing from inside the camp as more and more of them were being used as firewood.

  Zach came down the stairs and into the kitchen. “Sure is a cold one this morning,”

  “There’s coffee on the top.”

  “How’s Mo this morning, he was making some noises last night, is the shack still in one piece?”

  Abbey smiled, still there, take a look.

  Zach looked. “I presume they can handle the cold…”

  “I think I saw an adult on the roof of the parking garage in Atlanta, and it had built a pretty big nesting area, so maybe we need to put in there some branches or something.”

  “I’ll do that before I go into the Core. How you sleep?”

  “Same as usual, not so good.”

  “Leg?”

  “Yeah,” she lied. The dreams of the vine covered cities had returned.

  Zach took a sip on his coffee, when his radio lit up. “Major Felton, we have a situation with one of the outposts, we need you in as soon as you can. Over.”

  “I thought outside the camp wasn’t your thing?” said Abbey.

  He put his hand up, and clicked on his radio. “Which outpost? Over.”

  “Roswell. Over.”

  The already chilled air inside the kitchen dropped a further few Fahrenheit.

  “Brad?” said Abbey, knowing that Zach didn’t have any answers.

  “I’ll be right in. Over.”

  “I’m coming with you.”

  Zach looked at Mo.

  “I’ll throw some blankets and some branches in and around the shack,” said Abbey.

  Soon they were on the powder white road, heading towards the Core, both trying not to say what they were thinking. But talking about anything else seemed worthless.

  “Brad wouldn’t have been caught by any E.L.F’s he’s too crafty for that,” said Abbey.

  “We live in an unpredictable world, but yeah I don’t think anything like that would of happened,” Zach wanted to be more encouraging, but he thought to do so might make it worse if they learned any bad news once they arrived at their destination.

  Zach pulled into the parking lot, and they both ran into the main lobby, and were soon in central operations walking up to Brigadier General Garland. She had been demoted because of knowing about Abbey’s rescue mission, but held onto her job. She looked ashen faced when they ran up to her.

  “What’s the situation with Roswell, Sir?” said Zach.

  “We don’t know. There was a scheduled call between us and Brad last night, and he never replied. We have been trying again at regular intervals throughout the night, and I’m afraid there’s been no response. We have no other way of knowing if he’s okay or not.”

  “Is Fiona back yet with Rescue Squad one? If so I’ll go with her out to Roswell and check things out.”

  “Major, you have an important role here at the camp, you can’t just drop everything and go on missions outside anymore.”

  Zach went to protest but Abbey stepped closer to him. “Zach, you need to stay here, I’ll go out there with Fiona and the squad.”

  “Yeah, but…�
�

  “Zach…I’ll be fine and if he’s injured or something, we will bring him back.”

  Zach paused for a moment in thought. “In that case there’s some people I want with you.”

  * * * * *

  Elizabeth Trow sat in the Humvee with the door open looking up at west gate number two. Even though it had only been a few weeks, she had quickly gotten used to wearing civvies, and being back in uniform, even if it was in an advisory role was jarring. She turned her attention back to Fiona who was standing impatiently outside.

  Around her stood, Cal, Michael, Isaiah, Sam and Bass.

  “Okay, I’m sure Abbey will be here soon, but listen up. We treat this like any other mission…” Abbey’s pickup appeared in the distance, Zach was driving. “Here she is.”

  A frosty sun made little headway through the gloom of the clouds, and the light snow from the day before continued to fall. Most in the squad were well equipped with winter clothes.

  Abbey got out carrying her backpack and gun. Zach walked up and hugged her, they then joined the others.

  Sam thought he saw something over their shoulders, but smiled and looked back at Fiona.

  “What is it?” she asked.

  “Ah, nothing, I thought I saw a flying monkey.”

  Isaiah burst out laughing. “Man, you lost your shit already and we’re not even on the road yet…” just as he finished strange noises came from the back of the pickup, and large feathered wings sprung out.

  “What the fuck, it’s an E.L.F!” shouted Sam who with Isaiah went to raise his gun.

  “No! It’s Mo, he’s with me!” shouted Abbey.

  Isaiah looked incredulous. “What?”

  “She’s got a flying monkey,” interjected Sam.

  The others were quietly laughing.

  Isaiah, looked at Fiona. “You knew about this? The council are cool with people keeping them as pets?”

  “I knew about it, but haven’t seen it with my own eyes until now,” she looked at Cal who had already begun walking over to the back of the pickup. As he neared, the creatures wings flapped a few times, and then Cal reached out while the creature did the same. Everyone quietly watched as Cal and the creature briefly touched hands.