There was a long silence as the soldier apparently tried to wrap his head around what she said. Destiny knew he was probably trying to make sense of her version of the story and somehow still think that O.A. was infallible at the same time. Whatever decision he came to, she knew well the training he had gone through. He would find some loophole in his consciousness that would allow him to meld her version of the story with whatever he needed to change in order to still be loyal to Genesis Cain. It was as close to brainwashing as she had ever seen in real life. Still, when they were both going in the same direction it seemed like the best option for a former mercenary like herself.
Before he had the chance to react in any other way besides stunned silence, Eric began to stir in the passenger's seat. It would be better for all of them if there was some place to stay during this part of their little journey but the fact was the truck was as good of a place as they could hope for right now. Like all O.A. vehicles it ran on new technology that required nearly no gasoline to run. Even a huge truck like this one would only use a few gallons per six months of regular use.
As far as conditions went, Eric could have been better. His clothing was almost completely shredded. Though the wounds from the zombies attacking and swarming had mostly healed, there were plenty of scars left over. She doubted that passing out would do much for rest and relaxation either but at least he was alive. That was more than any of them could have said for themselves if he had not have done what he did.
“Ugh,” Eric said rubbing his eyes, “Fucking hangovers have nothing on this shit.” He sat up and continued the process of wearily getting his bearings. Finally he sat up slowly and looked out the window. Then he looked over to Destiny and back out the front. With a quick look back to their passenger he finally said, “Where are we? Why aren't we moving? Why is he still here?” He looked down, “Why am I almost fucking naked?”
Destiny kept a deadpan expression as she answered, “The middle of nowhere. Because we have nowhere to go that we could go with you unconscious. Because we still need him to get into O.A. Because the zombies wanted to get a closer look at your chiseled physique before they ate you whole.”
“Oh,” Eric sat up and glanced back over, “Right. Did I come away with my sword at least?”
“It’s in the back. I think Curtis back there can probably find something for you to wear. They usually keep spare sets of armor and clothing in these vehicles. I'm not sure why unless they plan on soldiers getting into each other’s pants now and then.”
Eric glanced back and waved for the soldier to grab him some clothing and then looked at Destiny, “Curtis huh? You freed him and know his name; should I be worried about your allegiance?”
Destiny smirked a bit, “I don't know his name but I figured we may as well call him something and Curtis seems to fit better than Spot. I always liked the name Curtis. Let's put it this way,” Destiny continued, “You don't need to worry any more about where I stand now than you did before you saved our asses back there. Is that satisfying enough?”
Eric grabbed the clothing, “Curtis, yeah I can see him being a Curtis.” He reached down and tore the rest of the tattered clothing off. Sparing a glance at Destiny he said, “See if you can control yourself while I change clothes here girlie.”
Destiny looked the other way and laughed, “I've had all I could stand of you without clothes for the last few hours while we waited to see if you were sleeping or in a coma. Just be glad I'm not taking mine off. We both know neither one of you could control yourselves in that situation.”
Eric pulled on his new clothing and he seemed to like the way it fit well enough. He shrugged at her comment, “Well she has us there Curtis. Speaking of which,” he looked at her, “Don't you need to change clothes or something?”
Destiny smiled, “No, I'm fine with what I have on.”
“You sure?” Eric asked, “I think those look a little tight for you. Curtis,” he turned around, “Grab her something back there so she can change.”
“Curtis,” Destiny said calmly, “If you so much as look at the little trunk you boys put extra clothes in, planning for me to change, we're going to have to risk O.A. security without a living soldier. Eric,” she said with a wink, “If you want to see me without clothes on, why not just ask?” she pulled at the collar of her armored skin-tight suit.
Eric raised his eyebrows then waved her off, “Nah, we have people to kill or something. I guess we can schedule a mutual naked session sometime after we survive that.”
They sat there in relative silence for a while. Destiny was sure that he was thinking over the same thing that she was though she knew his perspective was different. For her it was going back home with the intention of slaughtering her traitorous brothers and sisters. It was quite different than taking it to a life-long enemy like it might feel to Eric. A large part of her still liked and respected what O.A. stood for. Why in the hell they thought it was a good idea to throw in with demons was absolutely beyond her. It showed that Dr. Cain was getting either senile or desperate or both.
In the end it didn't really matter how she viewed them but it might matter how they viewed her. She realized that at least some of the soldiers might feel somewhat fond of her still. Even in the little confrontation she had earlier with the group of O.A. soldiers there had been several differences of opinion. It might at least be conceivable that a few of them would not want to fight her. She thought it was surely wishful thinking to imagine that they would not follow orders but it was very possible that it could cause them to pause. If they did that, they'd be dead. The only way any of them would not fall she decided, was if they actually turned their guns on their fellow O.A. people in defense of her. That might buy them a few minutes.
“How is it going to work?” Eric asked. He had a serious expression on his face as he had clearly been processing their options as well. Now fully dressed, he appeared ready for action. It was stunning when she considered what he had been through only hours before but then again, this was Eric Bayne. He continued, “Do we just sit in the back while Curtis drives through the gate? Surely it won't be that easy.”
“Well,” Destiny considered, “It could be on a really good day where security was relaxed. Considering that at least the higher brass know we are alive and might have heard of our skirmish back there, it is very unlikely that it will be that easy.”
“Please tell me we don't have to pretend to be bound or whatever. Look at Curtis here,” Eric said, “Nobody is going to believe that he could take out and tie up the two of us.”
Destiny thought about it for a minute and said, “That's a good point. Do you have any other ideas?”
Eric appeared to think about it for only a moment before saying, “How about we play dead?”
“Seriously?”
“No,” he said, “I am serious. Listen, he couldn't take us both out but they could believe that a whole team did and only he survived. We lay down in the back face down and motionless. He drives up to the gate or whatever the hell is there and says he barely survived but his group was able to take out an already injured Bayne and Destiny.”
Destiny figured that might actually work, “The only issue I see is that he could turn a weapon on us and make it real that he killed us. What is to stop him from doing that?”
“If he so much as turns back towards us, I'll telepathically send my sword through his neck and we'll take our chances with headless Curtis.” He shrugged, “It’s as good of a plan as we could hope for in these circumstances.”
“I agree,” Destiny said quickly and started the truck.
“Wait,” Eric said, “Are we really ready here?”
“Sure,” she said, “I don't see any reason we wouldn't be.”
“Except that I have no idea what I am going into. I don't know what to expect at all. You have not only been to this place but also have worked there and know everything there is to know about it. What am I getting myself into here?” Eric asked.
For a mom
ent she was surprised that he would seem worried about anything after what he had just pulled off. Then again, it was always a good idea to know what you were going into and he was nowhere nearly as comfortable as she was with the O.A. complex. “It is actually a good idea to go over what we need to do once we get there. We have two options once we get through the gate. Option one is that we could have him drive the truck into the main hanger area which houses everything O.A. uses to get around. If we do that then it won't take long before the shit hits the fan. As soon as they see us alive the soldiers would come out like ants rushing to rebuild an anthill. Option two is that we could have him drive us through there into the mechanical repair hanger. That's obviously where repairs are made. There would be fewer people there and only one or two guards to react to seeing us. It would give us a chance to get into the complex instead of having to fight our way through a thousand O.A. soldiers.”
“I choose option two,” Eric said quickly, “I'm glad I asked.”
“Are you sure?” Destiny asked, “With this big ass gun we have here, we could do a lot of damage to a lot of enemies fast.”
“Yeah, but probably not fast enough if they are going to be scrambling around like you claim. It sounds like we could take out the first five-hundred and only see them replaced by another set.” Eric pointed, “Option two for sure. Let's get on the road. Organic Ascendancy, here we come.”
Destiny put her foot on the gas pedal and the truck took off. In the back, Curtis looked somewhat troubled or solemn. She smirked in his direction, “No need to call your demon friends to warn them Curtis. We'll just bring hell with us!” There was no reaction to speak of from their O.A. soldier. Being unreadable was actually something that went along with his training. Destiny figured that he would at least go through the gate since Eric threatened his head if he didn't. She didn't know what he would do after that but it really wouldn't matter. She knew and felt sure that Eric knew that no matter what happened afterward, going through the Organic Ascendancy gate would be one of the most dangerous and deadly moves they would ever make in their lives. It didn't escape her thinking that it could be one of the last moves they made in their lives as well. Only time would tell.
Chapter 13
Many decades had passed since Genesis Cain had felt the terrible lack of control that she was feeling at that moment. Something was happening. Though everything that was happening was by her command, it felt like she was losing control in some way. It was impossible or rather it should be impossible but somehow she felt like it was actually happening. Abel Nichols had been killed by her hand and brought back by her command and that was great but then Dr. Isaiah walked out. If he was to be believed, he walked out for the last time. The Nichols situation came about exactly as she had planned it but somehow it felt like a massive failure.
A knock at the door wasn't quite able to shake her negative mood. When it opened and Peyton Terry walked in, she still felt the same. Nothing in his mood seemed ready to make her feel better. By her estimation he was wearing the same clothes he had been wearing at the meeting the day before and there was stench of something positively terrible on his breath. She stepped back to avoid the draft and said, “What the hell happened to you?”
Terry shrugged as he walked inside. He didn't say anything immediately but instead just walked over to the window. He looked out for a minute before saying, “I remember when this complex felt like the final hope humanity would have to achieve greatness.”
“Is it not still that Mr. Terry?” Cain asked, making sure to keep a safe distance still.
“I don't know Dr. Cain,” Terry said as he turned his attention back towards her, “Is it? We lost one of our most important people recently in Abel and then he just appears back on the scene? Are we supposed to be happy about that Dr. Cain?”
She shrugged and scrambled to say, “Well, yes, frankly I would think you would be. Why wouldn't you be happy that humanity brought someone back from the dead?”
“Because humanity didn't, that's why,” Terry said bluntly.
Cain had about enough of his attitude, “I beg your pardon Mr. Terry. If we did not bring the man back to life then who did? It was my meeting room where he arrived. It was right before your very eyes that a man-made miracle happened for god's sake. It was my doctor who brought him back to life!”
“Right,” Terry said flippantly. “Except he isn't your doctor anymore is he? I wonder what you might want to do to someone as important as Dr. Isaiah was when he quits. Could you not just run him down, have him killed and then bring him back?”
“No!”
Terry charged forward a couple of feet, “Why not? What's stopping you? Why wouldn't you want to do it that way with Dr. Isaiah when it was good enough for Abel? Perhaps it is because you know as well as we all do that whoever that thing is that walked into that room today is most certainly not Abel Nichols. You are losing it Dr. Cain! Don't you see that things are going crazy since you allowed a fucking demon to partner with us? No wonder,” he stopped and faced the window again. With a shake of his head he simply stared.
Cain was the one to charge forward now. She ran over and spun him around with a grab of his shoulder. When he faced her she demanded, “What? No wonder what Mr. Terry?”
He smiled at her aggression, “Nothing. It’s nothing really.”
“Peyton Terry we have been planning strategies together for the better part of both of our adult lives. I am your boss, your commanding officer,” she shoved him into the glass, “I’m basically your goddamn master and god for the love of all hell! If I tell you to tell me something then you'd better damn well do it or...”
“Or what?” Terry demanded with a rising voice. “Or what Dr. Cain? You'll shoot me in the head and bring me back to life as a monster that doesn't even come close to resembling the person you murdered?”
Cain was beyond stunned. The only way she could think to salvage any control of the conversation was to simply turn around and try to hide the look on her face. She slowly walked to the bar across the room and poured herself some water. Cain took several deep breaths and drank from the glass. She was a little bit surprised that Terry had let her calm herself. Before she could make him regret it however, he spoke up in a more standard tone of voice.
“You said just a few minutes ago that we had been planning together for so long and you are right about that. I have a question for you Genesis,” Terry said in a calm tone, “Look at me, please.”
“Terry,” she looked around but he stopped her.
“No, let me finish. How long has it been since you consulted me, your planning specialist about a plan? How many things have gone on that were not run by or suggested by me? Your planner should never be surprised by a plan. What about Abel? You simply did not need him anymore with demons in house right? Don't look strangely at me Genesis. You cannot expect an employee to quit and not spill something like that. Rest assured that he only told me though. That really is the good news. If you don't trust me to keep it secret then you can just kill me too and then we'll all be gone won't we?”
There was a strong urge to argue with him, to crush his talking points beneath the heel of her commander in chief boot. When it came down to it though she realized he wasn't finished and not only that but he might be a little bit correct. Instead of answering or hitting back with a bit of verbal mastery of her own, she simply nodded for him to finish.
“Think about what has happened since you brought Admiral Bullosky on board Dr. Cain.” Terry waited a moment before continuing with a solemn expression, “Destiny was our best warrior and was getting the better of our enemy, Eric Bayne but she is gone. Abel was our spiritual guide who consulted so many different angles on every possible truth so that when he brought something to the meeting table, it was concrete and he was certain of it. He's gone and turned into a monster of some kind that I still cannot understand. Dr. Isaiah was working on everything we needed him to work on until this odd plan about killing and bringing back Abel came
up. Now your masterful, incredible, miracle-working doctor, our scientific and doctoral genius is gone too. Me,” he paused, “Well I'm still here but not really. You never consult me anymore about anything.”
Cain saw clearly the picture he was painting with his words and even the way he acted, perhaps the way he was dressed and smelled was all to prove a point. To his thinking, she was losing control of Organic Ascendancy as surely as she felt like she was. Just when she thought she was gaining power and influence over the future of the human race, things might not be exactly as she thought. Was she losing some measure of control right under her nose without even realizing it? Briefly she wondered what sorts of secretive plans Bullosky and his demons had for the massive organization if they were indeed trying to take complete control from her. She realized that Terry wanted her to see the error of her ways in many more ways than she ever could however. Feeling the loss of control over a few things, like the Nichols situation did not mean that she was suddenly thinking that her plan was a bad one; she simply wanted to be the one running it. Finally she decided to attempt to at least keep some control by keeping Terry in his position and did so by asking a simple question. “Assuming I at least partially agree with you, at least in the fact that we need to rid ourselves of Bullosky, what the hell are we going to do about it?”
Terry finally produced a real smile, “I thought you would never ask.”
**
Mandy still held some general fear for her life after what she had done to Eric. After all, it isn't like she turned her back on a minister or something. This guy was one of the most powerful human beings in all of known human history. So, being who she was, she turned her back on him. She'd be lying if she said it didn't feel like a bit of a powerful statement to pull one over on the famous Eric Bayne but it also led to constantly looking over her shoulder.
The Great War (Surviving the Zombie Nightmare Book 5) Page 13