"I think I am beginning to understand," said Marceau. "Mon Dieu. I didn't understand it, then, but I understand it now. I had the same thought when we went into that shipping container when we were coming from England to the United States. I decided then. I didn't think I was dead. I knew I was dead."
"Oui, mon amour," said Pierre. "When your father first told me the facts about the virus, I told myself I was dead. It was only a matter of time before I was to be buried. When I was in the tunnels at the lodge yesterday, I thought the same thing. I thought 'I will never leave this place alive.' "
"John," said Masako, "Do you think Cho understood?"
"Of course. She told me often she never thought we would make it out of China. Or Japan. Or England. Or to the United States. She understood. That's why she was so fearless. She would do anything. Never worried about risk. Never worried about dying. She just tried to grab every minute of life she could." He closed his eyes briefly. "So, Pierre can you and Marceau and the others stand guard? Fred, George, Masako and I will get some rest to be ready for our evening adventure."
"Oui, mon amie. With pleasure. I will make a schedule. How long will you be gone?"
John shook his head and said "It could be several days. Like Fred said, we have to discover the flaw in their security. Their soft unprotected underbelly." Looking at Fred, he said "We should pack rations for at least three days as well as sleeping bags and camping gear."
"John, what about George and me," said Masako. "What can we do after we've laid out the bodies? I can't believe I'm doing this. It is so perverted. But exciting. I feel like I need to be by your side."
"Masako, I know you want to be a bigger part of things, but you well know that spying is a solitary business. I would be happier if you two came back to the lodge and helped guard the place. If forty of those guys roll out heading for here, we will need every gun we have, here, and every set of eyes as well."
"How about if Iris and I went out into the forest and watched. If they came, we could catch them in a crossfire."
John thought to himself, what am I going to do? She's too gung ho. She'll get herself permanently killed. "How about going out back and watching the rear of the building. Those guys in the covered wagon sent men in toward the rear. Just make sure you have a radio so that when you come back in, you're not hit by friendly fire."
"Got it. You can count on me," she said, coming to attention and saluting.
John gave Pierre a look that said, "Please, don't shoot her."
Pierre's expression was as easy to read. "I hope I don't. But don't blame me."
Before dark they took the Dark Demon around the outside of the barrier fence to the edge of the forest and loaded twenty-five bodies onto the trailer. Again, John's strength provided by the virus was a great benefit. Around midnight, Fred, John, George and Masako left with a trailer full of bodies behind. It was good that the Police had disappeared as this would be hard to explain.
"John, this is the strangest thing I've ever done."
"Yeah, George. I'm a little surprised everybody has gone along with it." John couldn't help but cast a glance around back at the trailer of dead bodies. The stench had to be unbearable behind them.
"Kind of macabre. Several of our people have not gone over that life and death barrier you were talkin' about. They are afraid this will incite somebody and they will come swoopin' down on us like a herd of locusts."
"Swarm. Locusts swarm."
"Then how about a herd of buffalo. Either way, we'd be trampled into the ground."
"I don't think so," said Masako. "Like George said before, this is a warning sign like no other. They won't be able to ignore it. A giant billboard with colored flashing lights saying, 'We're bad. If we can do this to you, what else can we do?'"
"Maybe so, but we did pay a price." George's mind drifted to Charles and Mary and then wondered where Abby was now. He had seen her face the night she left. It was an unemotional face. A face that seemed to portray a soul that was dead inside. He wondered why she left. Maybe it was Charles. Perhaps, she couldn't face his death.
"What you said before," said Masako. "Even without your life and death speech, we would all have been killed. Most of us still have a chance to, as you say, 'claw our way back to life.' To have a decent life. That is just the way it is now. We have to be prepared to do whatever it takes to survive. You said the will to survive was the most important characteristic of a survivor. I have that will and I will survive."
"Yes, and after Cho died, I almost lost it. You were right. I was going to jump into the Dark Dart and ride off into the sunset. I'm glad you guys stopped me."
An hour later, the bodies had been laid onto the eastbound lane of the highway. John and Fred had taken up positions on a hilltop half a mile from the school and George and Masako had brought a second load and distributed the bodies onto the highway and returned to the lodge.
"We've had a helluva run, haven't we John?"
"You sound like you think it's over, Fred. You don't think this was a wise move?"
"I don't know if it was a really smart move or a really stupid move. I do know it was a big gamble. I just don't know if this will scare them to death or piss them off so much they decide to come after us with everything they have."
"We were dead anyway," John said.
"No, we could have taken the other alternate. Get on our horses and ride."
"First of all, we didn't have any horses and second, we couldn't carry enough supplies. We couldn't make it through the winter, which is just around the bend. And one curious thing I've never understood. Of all those billions of bullets that were sold in the last year or so as people stocked up, we haven't found more than a few boxes. Why, Fred?"
The humid air had caused sweat to bead up on Fred's brow. He wiped it with the back of his hand. "I thought about that, too. I think the government took most of those bullets to keep them off the market. My bet is that all the rest of the bullets ended up being put into safes we couldn't find or couldn't open or buried in tubes in the back yard where we couldn't find them. The government kept saying it was going to take everyone's guns. Lots of people could make a gun to replace any gun the government would take, but bullets are not as easy. Very few people would be able to make a bullet from scratch, John."
"Maybe. I hope we find some. Our stock is running low. A big gun battle would drain us."
"Afraid so."
"I'll tell you my bet, Fred. I bet these people don't have much of their military might left. Those remaining in the school were probably support people and a few guards. As soon as they get our message, they will mount up and get outta Dodge. I bet that they sent their best and most powerful to find us and Charles managed to wipe out most of them. We took care of the rest."
Fred blew out his breath. "I hope you're right." Suddenly Fred perked up. "Uh-ho. I hear something." Fred turned his binoculars from the school to the highway in the east. "Motorcycles. Two. I see headlights in the distance. They're stopping. One headlight jiggled like somebody parked it and got off. I see another light. Flashlight. I think someone's inspecting the body. It's moving again. Stopping again. Same thing. He's checking each body. Well, we're going to find out soon whether they are scared or pissed."
The stop and go action of the motorcycles continued for half an hour until the cycles reached the school, where they turned in and disappeared behind the main building.
John and Fred watched intently for an hour with nothing happening.
"Fred, do you want to take a nap or should I? This may take some time."
"You go ahead. I'm too wired."
"Wake me in an hour," John said, unrolling his sleeping bag.
An hour later, Fred had unrolled his sleeping bag and shook John. "Your turn. Nothing going on."
"Right." John wiped the sleep from his eyes, took the binoculars and looked around. No action could be seen and except for Fred's snoring, the only sound was an occasional howl in the night and a rustle in the bushes.
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"John," a voice whispered.
"Masako, is that you? What are you doing here?" John whispered back.
"I wanted to help. I wanted to help protect you and Fred. After our load of bodies, George dropped me off. I've been watching. What did you make of those motorcycles?"
John thought, mental note: fry George's butt. No, never mind. She hassled him to death. George wouldn't have done it unless she threatened him. She probably pointed Cho's gun at him.
John pointed to Fred and put his finger in front of his lips. "I'm watching. Fred's sleeping. You want to watch?" he said, handing her his binoculars.
"Thanks. I have my own. What do you think?"
"The two motorcycles stopped along the road and inspected each of the bodies."
"I saw that. So what do you think?"
John again put his fingers to his lips. "Let's go over to the edge of the clearing."
Masako sat down with her back to a tree, opened her backpack and took out a small parabolic microphone. "George gave me this. I'll listen while I watch."
"Masako, I'm sorry I got you involved in this. It's not turning out like I thought it would. I'm not sure what I expected. Sitting on the porch watching the corn grow? My life began by watching people. It evolved to planning and occasionally helping. Now, it's doing what I'm pushed into doing, every day, because somebody forces me to do it. I'm still not in control of my life."
She kicked his foot. "Really? I thought this was exactly how it would turn out. Dog eat dog. Fighting for life. Tooth and nail. Like I said before, I'm beginning to enjoy my life. At first, I was overcome by the raw intensity of it all. The savageness of our new life. Blood and guts. Killing people right and left. I didn't think I could handle it." She paused when she thought she heard something, but it was only static. "When Charles shot the knee of that guy in the store, the man screamed, blood poured onto the floor and I passed out. I couldn't take it. But, now I'm beginning to understand that this is how it's going to be. This is what our spy summer camp trained us for. We prepped for this and I'm ready. I can feel my adrenaline surging."
"OK, I was worried about you, but I began to have more confidence when you agreed to go on the Dark Dart trip."
Once again, Masako stopped to listen. This time it was something. "Listen! Something's happening. Motors. Can you hear it""
"Yes," John said, walking over and shaking Fred. "Fred, motors."
Fred awoke slowly and gave Masako a strange look. "Where'd you come from?"
"Later," she said.
Shortly, two motorcycles emerged from behind the main building, drove to the road, turned west and left.
"More sounds from the school," said Masako, moving her parabolic microphone around to find the clearest sound. "Voices. I can't make out what they are saying. Motors. Maybe motorcycles."
Two headlights appeared from behind the building, drove to the road, turned to the east and drove off.
"That's not a good sign," said Fred. "Could be heading to the lodge."
The cycles stopped at the first body and then the second, each time getting off and checking the bodies. They drove up the road, slowing down by each body and flashing a light. At the top of the grade, they stopped.
"What do you think, Masako. You unloaded the last bodies. How far can they see from the top of the hill? How many bodies?"
"Sixteen from here to the top of the hill. Thirty-nine on the other side. It's a straight section of highway. With the crescent moon, they should be able to see over half of them. Probably more. I wouldn't want to be in their shoes. This was a great plan. Crazy, as hell, but great. Ghoulish, bone chilling and grim. But great. Bodies as far as the eye can see."
As Masako laughed an odd laugh, full of tension. John thought, maybe she's going crazy. It was too much for her. I hope not. I still care for her. "You know, Masako, it doesn't sound good, when you say it that way. We are supposed to be making a new world, a better new world, rather than killing everyone we find."
"They were going to kill us. They said it. We had one foot in the grave. We were just clawing our way back to life. You are one crazy guy, John, but I love you so much," she said, throwing her arms around him and kissing him. "Don't leave me again."
"If you guys want some privacy, I'll go over the hill," said Fred.
"Oh, Fred," said Masako, untangling herself from John, running over to Fred and taking his hand. "I'm so sorry. I forgot you were here. I was always honest with you. You are a great guy. I did care for you. I still do."
"No problem. It was fun while it lasted. What do we do now, John?"
"Same thing, I suppose."
"Does that mean I need to find another camp site?"
"No, not that same thing. What we were doing before Mata Hari showed up. Surveillance."
"You're going to be serious again, aren't you John?"
"Yes, Mata. It's not over. We have to be serious for a while longer. Turn your microphone on again and go back to work. What happened to those two motorcycles."
"In a minute," she said, wrapping her arms around him and kissing him again.
Fred looked off into the darkness and said, a bit annoyed. "Come on guys, get a room."
Masako picked up the parabolic microphone again and waved it around. "I think they are still up on top of the hill."
"Yeah," said Fred, looking through his binoculars. "I can see taillights. Now headlights. They turned around. It worked! It worked! They're coming back." Fred ran over and hugged John and then Masako. "You're not really crazy, John. You're smart. Maybe a little crazy. No, a lot crazy. But in a good way."
"Quiet, Fred," said Masako. "We're working."
The motorcycles drove back and into the school grounds and behind the main building. Thirty minutes later, a small caravan of three motorcycles, two buses and four cars drove out, turned west and drove off.
"Now what?" said Masako, excited and taking John by the hand. "We should follow them. See if they have another camp. More people. We have to be prepared. It would be good to know where they are getting their gasoline."
"Could be that the school had a supply," said Fred. "For the buses. We never checked. We never came scavenging this far from the lodge. We should start checking public buildings. Or schools. Or garages for the city, county and state vehicles. The school may have a generator."
"I think we don't have a lot of watts left in the Dark Defeater. Otherwise, I would agree. We need to be cautious. Let's wait here a while longer. If we don't see any other signs, we go back to the lodge."
"I could go over to the school and check it out," said Fred. "Make sure nobody is left."
"May not be a good idea, now, Fred. They could have booby-trapped the place. We can come back in the daylight when we have plenty of time."
"That's what they said in spy camp," said Masako. "A spiteful last chance to get even. What a thing to teach young people."
"Yeah," said John. "Let's not take a chance. We have plenty of food. Let's just sit and watch for a while. Maybe stay here all day and night just to make sure. The weather is nice. I could use a day off. I haven't had a chance to relax from my vacation."
Chapter 62 - The Service
The group gathered once more at their cemetery on a hilltop a mile from the lodge. It was the highest point around and had great sunsets. After the explosion they couldn't find any part of Charles, and so buried some of his clothing and two medals they found in his sock drawer. Nobody knew what they were. He had never mentioned them. Mary was buried next to her father, Joe. Charles was beside her.
After the burials, everyone gathered around the graves in a circle. Iris led them in several hymns. George brought a boom box and played 'Amazing Grace,' done on bagpipes, which everyone thought was appropriate. Afterward, they knew that something had to be said, but most thought they were not the best to say it.
Finally, Masako stepped to the center of the circle, between the graves, took out a piece of paper and looked around the circle, making eye contact with e
ach one. "Friends. Once more, we gather in sadness. To pay tribute, not only to a great man, but to our protector, our knight in shining armor, Charles MacTavish of the clan MacTavish.
"Because of Charles MacTavish, we are once again, thankful to still be alive. We will miss you, Charles. I will miss you. I drew strength from you and I will draw strength from your memory. Charles, I have a great pain in that place where your memory resides, but, it doesn't concern me. I will keep that pain sacred, within me, and use it as fuel each time I need to power through the remaining ordeals of my life. I will always try to make you proud of me.
"Charles did what had to be done. He stepped up, without concern for his own safety and he never failed. The first time I really saw him in action was when he blew up those pirates off the coast of Virginia. We all wondered what he was doing, stripping down to his underwear and jumping into that cold, cold water."
Masako looked around the group and saw that Marceau was smiling. Remembering that moment vividly, she couldn't help smiling back. "Then, a few months ago, we saw him crawling toward that machine gun and we knew what he was doing. He was saving our lives. An act of tremendous bravery. Time after time, he stepped in and we were saved. And of course, in his final act of giving, he gave all he had that we should continue to live. Thank you, Charles MacTavish of the Clan MacTavish. We owe you a debt we can never repay. But, you didn't expect us to repay, did you? You never did. You always expected nothing and you always gave everything.
"I'll finish with a Scots toast to Charles," she said, pulling a glass and a bottle from her bag and filling the glass with wine. 'Here's tae us, wha's like us? Damned few an' they're a' deid.' " She downed the glass in one gulp and smashed it on a rock.
Masako wiped her eyes with a tissue and walked back to her position beside John, her head hung low.
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