by Angela White
They went west and then south again as the piles grew larger, sharper. Almost like they’ve been stacked, Kyle thought, and then realized they probably had been to create the maze they were now deep inside of. It would be hard to spot them from anywhere; the debris was that high.
“Where are you going?” Kyle asked as Angela broke off from the formation and veered toward a line of partially collapsed stores.
“Getting something we need.”
The Premium Pet Products store was half-crushed and half-collapsed against the neighboring convenience store, and the smell of dead fish was strong as they neared it. The small piles of bones near long-gone windows gave the whole block a sense of doom.
Adrian indicated for Kyle to follow her, and gently set Conner’s body on a mostly clear patch of concrete. When Angela disappeared into the pet store, moving carefully over charred rubble and sharp metal, Kyle was on her heels.
Angela stepped carefully, penlight glaring off bodies and gore as the reek of aquatic decay permeated the disturbed air.
She walked down the two aisles that were still intact, noticing this store didn’t seem looted, only damaged. She was counting on that. No one thought of going to a pet store when the end of the world came, but that didn’t change the fact that it held a vital item. In their case, it was now as valuable as water.
Angela blew the dust and layer of webs back to read the small bottles, and grabbed the edge of her shirt. She swept them all into the makeshift carrier and went outside.
“Fish medicine?” Kyle asked, as Angela dumped the tablets into her pocket.
“Surprised to know it’s the exact same ingredients as human antibiotics and legally bought?”
Kyle scowled. “That was the old world. $150 bucks for a ten day supply for a child with Strep throat, and yet the same medicine for a fish ailment was...” He picked up an empty bottle. “$33.89.”
Kyle tossed it away angrily. “And people wonder why it all fell.”
Adrian helped Angela force one of the small pills down Conner’s throat, getting him to swallow as he began to wake.
“We need to get under cover,” Adrian informed them, picking Conner up. “Night’s coming.”
Kyle took Point again, and they headed for the tower as the clouds roiled above them.
Faint drops sizzled on their skin, and they hurried to get under cover. The rain was coming.
Except it didn’t. The sky looked ready to burst, but they stayed dry.
The radio tower’s base was nearly covered in the rotting wood of a lumber company across the street, and it took them a long bit of climbing to reach the narrow platform. Once on it, they quickly settled down and tended the issues they were able to handle.
From their new vantage point, they could see movement of Garret’s hunters and survivors fleeing the city ahead of the Major.
4
“Where did they go?”
Kenn didn’t bother to answer, since he didn’t know. Cara was supposed to lead Adrian away from Mansion Row and then double back. Kenn wanted to grab one of the Major’s loaded vehicles for the ride out of this hellhole.
It had now been an hour, and there was nothing. No Adrian, no Cara, not even any noise. It was colder now than when they’d first arrived in Little Rock, and the chill in the wind wasn’t comforting.
“She set us up.”
“Maybe.” Kenn shrugged. “Either way, Adrian’s free.”
Kevin’s training resurfaced in his tired mind. “We need a signal!”
“But not just anything will work,” Kenn pointed out. “Asshole knows Adrian’s methods too well. This has to be something Angela will recognize, or we’ll all be in cells this time.”
“Like what?” Kevin asked, hating this feeling of isolation, but more than enjoying the rush from it. If they survived, he would gain another jump in rank and have more respect for himself.
“They’ll watch hardest as it gets dark, when they have a clear view,” Kenn muttered. “We’ll settle in somewhere until then. Pick it, rookie.”
“Unless we want to swim with the fish, I’d say high,” Kevin answered. “The billboard would be a good vantage point.”
Kenn motioned him to take the lead, thinking he would be glad when Adrian was back with them.
“I’d even take Brady,” he muttered, wincing at his own loud steps. The debris was impossible to avoid.
Kevin squinted upward for a moment and then did the same on the other side. “Hey, we’re in luck! One of the panels over here is hanging down. We’ll be out of sight.”
Kenn followed Kevin up the rusty ladder, straining a bit under the weight of the kit that he was now damn glad to have. Kevin didn’t have his, but Kenn’s kit would allow them both a comfortable couple of hours. Being prepared had advantages.
From their wide perch, Kenn could see the top of the Major’s compound and a small group of guards on the roof. In the other direction, he picked out the street that would lead them home.
Garret’s compound was a fancy house in the middle of four others. He’d knocked out the side doors and windows to create an adjoined compound of three-story brick buildings that were being heavily patrolled by his bodyguards. His bounty hunters didn’t do a turn on guard duty. They were above pulling watch duty.
The center building housed the cells and Garret’s personal residence, and Kenn knew that’s where Adrian would be stashed. Kenn eyed the stores across the street and the small refrigeration company on the corner. Neither had been damaged in his first explosions. Maybe he could do something with them.
“Damn. You’ve got some great stuff in here,” Kevin stated a bit later. “My kit was light in comparison.”
Kenn leaned back, soaking up the praise. “Years of missions taught me that the manual never has it all covered.”
Kevin scraped the last of the applesauce from the packet and muffled a belch that could have echoed for a while. He began to clean up their mess.
Kenn shook his head. “Leave it. If someone catches a movement, we can send a piece of debris flying on the wind for cover.”
Kevin was also absorbing information. Most of the Eagles loathed the Marine, and while Kevin didn’t want to be best friends, he did want to learn whatever Kenn wanted to teach.
The billboard, asking those in Little Rock to visit the children’s museum often, swayed uneasily in the wind, creaking and groaning. Kevin didn’t care for heights, but the view was great. Among the rubble, they’d discovered paths and Kevin was currently trying to figure out where they led. Many of those routes through the decay weren’t random. “What are we using for a signal?”
Kenn pointed to the kit. “You tell me and remember your lessons.”
Kevin began digging again, paying attention this time. He came up with starting a fire, glow sticks, a flashlight, and a mirror. “The flashlight?”
“Too noticeable,” Kenn corrected “Try again, but rule out using light to communicate.”
“Can’t you...uh, I mean... You know.”
Kenn shrugged. “Been trying. If she could hear me, she would have responded.”
Kevin frowned. “Do you think they’re okay?”
Kenn snorted. “This is Angela, who crossed the country with only one man for backup, and Adrian, who’s been doing this his whole life. Not to mention his trained assassin and the teenager who’s been surviving here for six months. If you want to worry over someone dying, consider how the rest of the team’s gonna feel when they find out Cara betrayed us.”
Kevin hadn’t considered that. His voice became cold. “They’ll kill them all.”
Kenn, in full training mode now, corrected again. “They’ll strike a deal, try not to have to honor it, get us out of here, and then we’ll help kill them. Make sure you have the order correct, because Adrian won’t leave any of them alive after what they’ve done and forced his son to do.”
5
Cara lowered the binoculars. Now that she knew where both groups were, she could go to the Maj
or and bargain. He’d forbidden the snake women from staying here, but he didn’t have the power anymore. She would use his vendetta to regain their home.
And Conner? her inner voice asked.
Cara winced. That one she might die for, once her people had the permit to stay. Conner wouldn’t be the Major’s prisoner for long.
“You ready?”
Cara wasn’t about to let her XO see weakness, but she had to let her in enough to be certain Gina would do as instructed. “Each of those men are pure stock. If we keep them with us when it’s over...”
Gina’s scale-covered body tensed in need. “Yesss, our women will agree for that reward.”
“Even if I want to break into the compound and kill Garret, so that Conner will stay with us?”
Gina was impressed with her leader’s level of depth. “Guilt will work on that one. Smart.”
“Will it work?”
Gina shrugged, thinking of the one she wanted for herself. “After the samples they’ve given out, it isss a safe bet that the girls would agree to whatever you want for the chance.”
Cara had been hoping for that, but had to hear it from her XO to be sure. Gina never lied, never softened things, and it had made them an inseparable force to be reckoned with. They expected to be together forever, which was perfect, since they’d been lovers long before the war. If not for reproduction, they wouldn’t ever have anything to do with men again, not even trading. That part of the human race was to be shot first and used second, as far as the snake women were concerned.
“Let’sss go make a trade. Garret can have Adrian and his witch. We get Conner and Adrian’s men.”
The two women turned toward the compound.
Hisss!!!
The snake lunged forward, and the tall woman didn’t react fast enough. It struck her in the chest, sending poison into her heart.
“No!” Cara charged the python with her knife, slicing and gouging.
Hisss! The python spun and slammed into her with its full weight.
Cara slid into the side of a crumbling house, and a part of the roof fell, hiding her.
Angry and only slightly wounded, the snake flinched back from the dust, hissing angrily.
When nothing moved, it slithered toward the prey it had paralyzed, jaws already distending to consume the needed meal.
Cara woke in time to watch it happen.
6
“Where are they?!”
“I don’t know, sir.”
Bang!
The man fell to the ground, and the Major aimed his gun at the next guard. “Where are they?”
“I, uh...I’ll find out.”
“Make it fast.”
The man ran.
Garret couldn’t believe he’d made such a mistake as to leave the prisoners alone. It had been a long time since he’d done such a stupid thing, and he was blaming it on Adrian. He hadn’t really been the same since receiving the video of his wife willingly conceiving Conner.
Hudson came down the walk looking satisfied, and the Major’s control snapped a bit. “Shouldn’t you be invading his camp?!”
Hudson motioned toward their parking area. “We’re all set to roll, boss. Just waiting on nightfall.”
Garret paused. What if Adrian managed to get out of the city?
“Hudson.”
“Yeah?”
Garret grunted in fake sympathy. “My most trustworthy man. Would you keep me alive, Hud?”
Hudson nodded immediately. He would have anyway, but he was glad to be able to mean it. “Yes.”
“Good. Mitchel is trouble, Hud. From his graying hair, to his weakening fists. Because he’s a hard-ass.”
Hudson took the hint and offered assurances. “Some of the crew and I will hang for a while, out of sight. Grab him first, and then make him watch us take his Safe Haven.”
Garret began to feel better. “Yes. That’s a good idea. He’ll come in tonight, one way or the other.”
Hudson indicated toward his team leaders. “We’ll be ready, sir. We won’t let him through to you.”
The Major went toward his office without sneering as he wanted to. He wasn’t worried about being killed, only missing the opportunity to snare his prey.
“But I have one ace left,” Garret murmured. “One juicy piece of bait to bring you back, buddy. And our son will insist.”
7
“Something went wrong.”
Daryl had already been thinking it, but the words brought a sense of doom over the entire team. Waking to the snake women and their slurring explanations hadn’t been much of a comfort either.
A group of the women in the tunnel entrance were covered in those shiny scales, and the men kept stealing glances as the females stood watch. Waterproof, the scales were also a type of clever camouflage, and the team was impressed.
They were inside an aboveground storm drain that ran alongside the park, huddled together for warmth and comfort while they ate. The Major had taken their kits, but the snake women, who were on guard, had offered some of their supplies.
“She wouldn’t do that!”
Outside, an argument among the females caught attention.
“Then where iss she?”
“Maybe she got caught. She wouldn’t betray us.”
“Not even for Conner?”
Silence.
Daryl and Billy exchanged looks. If Cara had betrayed her women, then their duty to help the team was gone.
As is our method of payment, Daryl realized. The snake females had been counting on Cara bringing Adrian and Conner back.
Kenn had promised them that Adrian would send them on their way with trucks of supplies, but Cara wanted Conner...and the Major wanted Adrian...
“We have to get out of here.”
Billy glanced toward the tunnel, where three new snake women had just appeared. “Easier said than done. No wheels, no weapons, no idea where to search.”
The new women walked in with tongues out, sniffing. The expressions on those faces, the longing in them, made Daryl give a sickly smile. “We could do what Kenn and Kevin did. If we give these females hope for their future, they’ll help us.”
“I knew you were gonna say that,” Billy groaned.
Their voices were carrying, telling the women they were aware of the dangerous situation and trying to figure out how to solve it.
“Adrian will still reward them for helping,” Alex protested. “We don’t have to be…donors.”
Next to him, Ray kept his eyes down, feeling the heat of needy stares. Dale did the same thing when it had been too long between physical moments, but Ray wasn’t sure he could handle this.
“What if we offer them a place in Safe Haven?” Alex offered desperately, loathing his body for jumping at the revolting thoughts of something forbidden.
“Will you provide an escort, when we decide to leave?” Nuna asked.
“To anywhere you want to go,” Daryl answered quickly.
The wind howled through the drainage sewer, carrying reek and relief. Being inside the tunnel together had body odor rising.
The middle woman knelt down in front of Ray, finger going out. His skin was so soft! Their child wouldn’t have a layer of scales like so many of the births now.
Ray held still, realizing this woman would make the choice–already had.
Nuna’s face was the only other one they’d seen painted, eyes lined in brilliant green instead of Cara’s blue. Her weapons were also different, in that she had no blowgun, only the real thing on her hip and twice as many ammo belts over her shoulders.
Ray saw the scales in her blonde braids and swallowed the first thought so that he didn’t say it. How do you keep the scales on–glue or sew?
Ray picked out the tattoo of female lovers on the woman’s skin and realized it wasn’t so much lust as an honest need for offspring that weren’t damaged. She didn’t want him because she would enjoy it, and for the gay man, it somehow made the thought bearable. She was doing it to help
save her people. So was he.
Ray drew in a breath. “Where and when?”
The woman blinked. And then made the deal. “The very second Mitchel is returned to you, wherever we are at that moment.”
Ray cringed inwardly, but did his duty. He smiled at her. “I’ll be ready.”
Nuna backed away. “Don’t die during the fight. If you do, the deal is off and we’ll kill you all.”
Ray swallowed. If he couldn’t give her what she wanted, things would get ugly.
The other two women followed Nuna out of the tunnel, but came right back with a large pack over each shoulder.
“Pick a weapon and come stand watch. The Major doesn’t fear things in the night. They fear him.”
“How long has the Major been here, waiting?” Alex asked angrily.
The shortest of the females subtly tossed a small packet to Ray. “The month after the war. He knew Adrian would show up for his son. He’s had all of us watching.”
The team took that in, accepting a dusty weapon and a single extra clip each.
“We’ll hit his convoy as they roll out of the compound,” the short woman stated. “It’s Nuna’s plan.”
Daryl decided to let them know a few things. “First, Adrian isn’t inside there anymore. We’re sure of it. Second, if the Major’s like Adrian, he’ll expect a convoy hit and be ready. We need to get him right before they load up. And third, what is Ray putting in his pocket?”
Ray flushed, head dropping.
The woman didn’t laugh. “A hand, one that may keep us all alive. Now that Cara’s gone, Nuna’s in charge, and if he can’t satisfy her, she will kill you.”
Daryl didn’t tell her the female would be the ones to die. He hoped it wouldn’t come to that.
Daryl motioned to the team, and they fell into a single file line of determination. They wouldn’t rest until their people were freed.
“What about Kenn and Kevin?” Alex asked.
“They’re with Adrian, or on the way to him,” Billy stated firmly.
The others found it easy to believe and didn’t question. Kenn was always close to the boss, and when he wasn’t, he was trying to get there. If anyone could find Adrian, it was his XO.