by Greg Ramsay
She looked at John, the man who had pledged all he could to help her, the man who knew what would come of it and didn’t care. She would do the same, for him, for all of them, regardless of her unique circumstances. Lia saw the faint outlines of vehicles in the distance and she knew the others would be waiting for some sort of explanation. She didn’t know what she was going to say to them. Oh ya, by the way Tory’s dead, and I’m a failure... On top of that, Barton’s alive, you’re all going to die, because it’s hopeless to try and stop him? Lia felt helpless and weak. She couldn’t do anything if he can come back from a nuclear explosion, possess a child, and make himself indestructible, despite hiding in a host. She never had time to ask and she was appreciative that John didn’t say anything as he pulled into the camp. He said goodnight, and left her to her thoughts for the remainder of the night as he returned to help Steele fill Lia’s shift at watch. Wanderer went with him.
Chapter 17 – Fight on, Hopeless
Lia sat in her Hummer, thinking of her friends, of Tory, and of what Barton had told her. She was this Prime Subject thanks to the Leader inside her. It had been an accident when he bonded with her. Or was it? She thought hard about everything Barton had told her, how he seemed to know her... Who was she? Did she know him somehow? Her memory was so useless. Her whole life was like an empty shell begging to be filled again. She didn’t know how the shifted never figured out where she was for the unknown amount of time she was unconscious in that mall. Sure, they weren’t bright, but still. There were so many questions burning in her mind, fighting to take priority over the fact of impending danger for her friends. Lia couldn’t make any headway, becoming more forlorn as she sat by herself. The loneliness of her Hummer made it feel like the pain she felt, could only get worse. As Lia lay her head on the cool glass of her door window, a tear fell from her cheek and slowly streaked down the fogging glass; resigned, she cried herself to sleep.
She awoke suddenly when a gentle knock shook her window, and turned to see John standing outside. She wiped her cheeks, still sticky from her tears, and opened the door. John smiled gently and said. “Hey, the last shift’s yours.”
“Ok,” Lia said.
John looked at her, noticing the red marks that ran from her eyes, like she had been crying. John just shook his head disappointedly.
“Don’t worry about us; we’re a team, remember, and all of us are distinguished in our own skill sets It won’t be as easy for him to beat us. Besides, we’ve been pretty lucky; the only shifted we encountered you took care of.” John smiled at Lia, hoping his prior sentence would lift her spirits. Lia smiled slightly, John offered her his hand. She took it, letting him help her out of her Hummer.
He led her to the Jeep and opened its passenger door for her. Lia climbed in and smiled when she saw Wanderer sitting, wagging his tail in the back seat. Steele sat upright in the driver’s seat; she glanced over at her when she sat down and shut her door. Steele never said or hinted that she had been told about Tory by John.
Regardless Lia asked, “Did John say anything last night?”
Steele turned toward her and replied. “He just said that you wanted to switch shifts.”
Lia felt a little awkward, but she thanked John inwardly for letting her be the one to tell the others; she felt it was her responsibility, as she had expressed that to him. “So I just keep an eye on these cameras and radio you if I see or sense anything?” she said, knowing the answer but trying to change the subject.
Steele nodded. “Yes, that’ll do. I’m headed to my vehicle to get some more sleep.”
“See you soon,” Lia said, and Steele left the Jeep. Lia watched all the cameras, scanning each one carefully, waiting for the Leader’s sense to kick in. Luckily it didn’t, and the rest of the night passed gloomily, but uneventfully.
The sun slowly rose into the cloudy Nebraska sky, peeking through dark cumulous clouds, shining its gentle rays on the silent convoy. Lia opened the Jeep’s driver’s side door to let Wanderer out. She got out herself, walked to the trailer, pulling out a can of beans for herself. When Wanderer returned from his rounds, Lia poured the food out for him and he ate it all from the dusty ground.
“Not as good as shifted, I know,” she said knowingly, but he didn’t complain. Lia also grabbed a container and filled it with water for him, leaving it to sit in front of his lowered head. Lia ate her can of beans. Once she was done, she went back to her Hummer to relax until her friends woke. She walked to the side door of the Hummer and saw Black and Grant asleep inside, so she walked back to the Jeep and sat inside it instead.
Less than a half hour later Steele woke and exited her Hummer. Marks awoke next, leaving the two remaining sleepers who were less easy to rise. Steele walked over to Lia’s Hummer, tapped on the window, and neither Black nor Grant awoke. Lia left the Jeep as well and met John at her Hummer. They laughed quietly at their sleeping companions. After ten minutes John said, “Ok that’s enough.”
He smiled craftily as he pulled up the hood of Lia’s Hummer, and manually started it. The Hummer roared to life, scaring its occupants. John, Lia and Steele laughed at the displeased looks on their unpleasantly woken friends’ faces. Black and Grant stiffly exited Lia’s Hummer.
Lia laughed and said. “So we all played a vehicle trade game, eh?”
Grant and Black laughed and Grant said, “Ya, we took your Hummer once you took the Jeep.” Lia smiled nonchalantly. “Works for me.
You guys want to get some food?” she asked.
“Not a bad plan,” John said, and the others nodded their agreement.
Lia walked with them as they went to the Jeep’s trailer to get food. Once each of them acquisitioned some food, Grant turned to Lia and asked, “Where’s Tory?”
Lia faced them all as a group, and said, “There is something I need to tell you all... Last night when I disappeared I did so because I awoke, and found Tory missing. I could hear her crying, and I was trying to find her when you guys noticed I was gone. When I eventually found her, she was crumpled up – crying, scared – like a beaten child. She was surrounded by dark tendrils and pinned to the ground helpless. The tendrils amassed, using her as a host. The Leader within me had to nearly kill her to stop them ...” Lia trailed off as she flashed back to seeing Tory’s burned body, failing to save her. John looked at Lia, nodded his encouragement; no one was interjecting, so Lia continued.
“It seemed like she was dead – I felt so scared, and I felt like I murdered her. I called out for her to wake up countless times, and got no response for an agonizingly long time. Suddenly her crying stopped and she began to laugh... When I looked into her eyes, they had changed, and her voice became that of...” Lia stopped, almost unable to continue, and Steele broke her silence.
“That of whom?” she inquired, nervously hoping for another answer than the one she imagined.
Lia looked at her sadly, and said, “Barton.”
Steele’s face was echoed in her fearful expression by Grant and Black. John’s prior knowledge didn’t forestall his sombre expression at hearing the name again. Lia continued, “He told me many things. He said he was indestructible ... he told me the Leader within me made me some sort of special subject to him, and he said... he would slowly kill you all one by one...”
The fearful expressions mixed with shock were evident on her friends’ faces, and Lia waited for their responses, hoping for their understanding of something she wasn’t sure she understood herself. She didn’t have long to worry about how they would react, because despite their warranted fear, they all laughed. Lia was confused, shocked, unable to imagine what they found funny in what she just told them. She looked at them each, then asked, “What’s so funny?” Steele regained her composure.
“Obviously Barton doesn’t understand who he’s up against – I don’t care if he thinks he’s unstoppable – we’ll kick his ass!” Lia just stood there shocked.
“I can’t beat him and you guys think you can? He is going to kill you all!�
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Steele turned serious. “You think this is all about you? We are a team, you included, and if we stick together we’ll be fine!”
Lia felt ridiculous; she had basically denounced them all as worthless, and yet they were still willing to fight. Lia’s expression reflected her inner regret. She said, “I’m sorry guys. I just don’t want you to get hurt.”
Steele shook her head, and John spoke the same words she would have. “You said he was going to hunt us regardless of whether we were together or not, so we might as well stay together, and give him a hell of a fight. If he thinks he can just take us down, we’ll have to make him work for our blood.”
Lia smiled and said, “Thanks guys.”
Steele smiled and said, “Don’t bother thanking us, we’ll need each other if we’re going to get through this, besides we aren’t splitting after coming this far.” Lia nodded. “Alright, if that’s out of the way, everybody get in your vehicles and we’ll head out,” Steele said.
Chapter 18 – Swarm
Lia jogged back to her Hummer, let Wanderer in, and got in herself, starting it as soon as her door was shut. The other vehicles started; Steele’s voice came over the CB radio.
“This is a test, everybody hearing me ok?” Everyone radioed back, “Loud and clear,” so Steele disengaged from their circle. The others followed suit, and were soon back on the road. Within ten minutes, the convoy was near the heart of Omaha City, about to pass by a residential park, when Wanderer started whining. Lia slowed down and grabbed her microphone.
“I think Wanderer wants out; I’m going to pull over at this park to our left.”
Lia pulled over, opening the side door of her Hummer, and Wanderer jumped out. Steele and the others pulled over as well, exiting their vehicles and watching the buildings around them. Wanderer walked around the park sniffing the ground for a while, then stopped abruptly, and began growling. His body tightened like he was preparing to fight; Lia jogged over to him to see what was wrong, then she sensed them. She yelled, “Shifted inbound!”
Steele and the others ran up to Lia. John and Steele went back to back, as did Grant and Black, all of them ready. Lia drew her kynari and released the Leader’s armour. Lia turned as she heard a huge roar. Shifted started to pour in on them from the surrounding buildings. Lia ran toward the advancing shifted at her left; Wanderer ran beside her. Lia yelled, “Go back to the others, Wanderer!” Wanderer turned back, running to John.
Lia filled her kynari with her crimson energy and formed two dual blades as the raging shifted met her approach. Lia cut through two in one swing, diving to avoid four synchronised attacks and spun her blades to cleave off their arms. While she ducked backward, she could see Steele and Marks had killed three shifted each already, same for Black and Grant. John yelled, “Cover me, reloading!” He ducked to grab another mag. Steele twisted toward his side, deftly shooting a shifted that was approaching him quickly. Lia had already stood again, running her blades through three more shifted, ducking and weaving as they tightened around her. Hundreds more shifted kept pouring in from the countless nests they hid in the city’s buildings. Lia’s friends were also quickly becoming surrounded. Black fired her dual pistols like they were machine guns, dropping every shifted in front of her, while Grant shot the countless ones behind with his shotgun. Each soldier respectively had ten lesser shifted at their feet, but more kept coming. Lia was quickly surrounded by easily forty or fifty shifted. Lia suddenly had an idea.
“You guys good over there?!” she yelled over her friends’ gun fire.
“Ya, we’re good here for now, how ‘bout you?” Steele asked nonchalantly, despite the shifted piling in front of her.
“I’ve got a plan!” she yelled back.
“Which is?!” John yelled back. “You guys keep fighting, I’ll be fine.”
Lia dropped to the ground with her kynari above her chest, and the shifted closed in, piling on top of her. Lia waited until she couldn’t see any light because of all the black creatures trying to rip a piece of her, and smiled as red energy started to build at the upward facing tip.
“Lia?!” John yelled out as he tried to fight off the shifted around him, watching her get smothered He continued to call out for her as he fought, beginning to panic, not understanding why she had given in. Then he saw deep red light slicing through the gaps in the piling shifted. John shot off another mag, bending to reload with Steele covering him as he heard Lia yell “RELEASE!”
John watched amazed as a pillar of crimson energy erupted through every single shifted and fired into the sky before dissipating harmlessly. John had lost focus and didn’t hear Steele yell, “Cover me, I’m reloading here!” He turned in time to see a shifted swinging his clawed arm for Steele, then a beam of red energy cut a hole clean through its head, dropping it in front of her. Steele turned and nodded at Lia, who stood with her kynari poised to shoot again, and nodded as she slammed another mag home in her rifle.
“Pay attention Marks!” she yelled as she killed another two shifted in one burst. John laughed nervously as he shot through three shifted in front of him.
“Sorry Captain, my bad?!” John yelled back.
“Don’t apologize, just kick ass!”
Black spun the pistol in her right hand as she turned her body sideways and shot two shifted approaching Grant as he reloaded his shotgun, then killed three in front of her with her other pistol. The shifted kept coming and Black yelled out. “Running out of ammo here!”
“Same here!” Grant, Steele, and Marks replied.
“We’re gonna have to force our way back to the vehicles!” Steele yelled. “Lia can you clear us a path?! We’re running out of ammo here!” Steele yelled across the park.
Lia formed a single large energy blade in the tip of her kynari, quickly cleaving through the shifted around her so she could see ahead of her to her friends. She swung her red blade forward, and yelled, “RELEASE” as she dove sideways to align herself with the shifted blocking the vehicles. Her red blade exploded out as a laser, destroying the shifted blocking the way in a single shot.
Steele, Marks, Grant, and Black seized their opportunity and ran toward their vehicles. Lia ran toward them, her speed allowing her to reach her Hummer in seconds. She opened the side door of her Hummer, Wanderer jumped in, after he finished killing his third shifted. Lia slammed the door before cutting through a shifted that almost took the door off the Hummer. Lia ran to the Jeep. “Black take my Hummer, I’ll mount the turret of the Jeep.” Black jumped out of the driver’s side of the Jeep, then ran to Lia’s Hummer firing at shifted, and got in just as Lia mounted the turret.
They took off down the main road through the city, with the shifted pursuing them. Lia opened fire on them. The turret’s armour-piercing ammo blasted from its spinning barrel, shredding through the quickly gaining shifted. Shells flew from the turret to join with the bodies of the fallen shifted, more fell as the shifted ran over the bodies of their brethren. Lia could see them still gaining, despite the speed the convoy was travelling; she knew they would overtake them eventually. “Grant, keep going without me. Tell Steele I’ll catch up once I’m done with these bastards!”
“You sure?!” Grant yelled back as Lia closed the hatch on the turret, and sat in the passenger seat, preparing to jump out.
“Yes, I’ll be fine, these guys keep coming and they’re gonna take us over if I don’t distract them.”
“Alright,” Grant said.
“You want my pistol?”
Lia smiled. “No thanks, I’m weapon enough.”
Grant nodded, smiling as Lia swung open the door and jumped out. Lia rolled on the ground, standing just in time to see Grant shut her door as the convoy drove away. Lia pointed her kynari toward the sea of shifted running toward her and yelled, “RELEASE!” Her crimson energy exploded out in a huge beam that cut through the midsection of the wave. Shifted on either side of her attack continued to advance, most with chunks of their bodies missing from their sides, yet
more shifted attempted to fill the gap. Lia looked around her seeing buildings all around her. The shifted were leaping from the hundreds of windows in each, including those behind her. She focused inside her mind and called for the Leader within her.
I need your help! she yelled. Lia heard the Leader laugh.
Perfect, I was getting bored, he said nonchalantly.
Well, let’s do this then! Lia yelled.
She held out her kynari again as the Leader’s mask formed on her face and she focused on the image of the blade. The combined energy of the Leader and Lia poured through the kynari. The Leader’s energy surged like a suppressing tide that melded with Lia’s red energy before exploding out in waves. Combined black and red energy revolved around Lia, forming a crimson cyclone. Lia drew it in, until it receded. The black katana’s spiked hilt once more took the place of the kynari’s body. The Leader split control of movement with Lia so she stood waiting as hundreds of shifted surrounded her.
What do you think is going to be most efficient way to deal with these bastards? Lia asked the Leader.
Let’s form a shield and release its tendrils when they attack, just like last night. Once the tendrils make contact with them we’ll course energy through them on contact, and burn some of them. The rest we’ll have to deal with more explosively, he said.
You’ll deal with the first wave and I’ll use my release to deal with the rest, Lia stated.
Exactly, the Leader confirmed.