Apokalypsis | Book 5 | Apokalypsis 5

by Morris, Kate

  “Whoa,” Jane remarked. “So, Jeff’s the government liaison?”

  “No, he just took over the place or something,” Tristan answered.

  Abraham added, “Yeah, well, the oil companies spent billions of dollars in this county developing all of the oil, the refineries, the pipelines, all of it, so they didn’t want people trying to destroy their work. Money generator. Whatever.”

  “This place has a decorative wrought iron fence around it about eight feet high, which shouldn’t be that big of a deal,” Tristan said. “But the problem is that Glen,” he thumbed over his shoulder, “told me that Jeff has six guys with him at all times on that property. It’s only a five-acre spread, but that can be a lot when there’s only four of us. Damn. I wish Spence wasn’t down.”

  “We can do this,” Jane said firmly. “I know how to shoot. We all do.”

  He nodded, but Roman was not feeling the love for this plan. He certainly didn’t want Jane involved.

  “We need something to draw some of them away, down the road a little maybe. Not that far, but just far enough to give us a chance to lure them away so that we can eliminate as many as we can that way.”

  “That’s a good idea,” Abraham said.

  “I’ll be right back,” Tristan said and hurried from the room. He came back a few minutes later with an armload of supplies.

  “What’s all that?” Jane asked.

  He smiled, “Chemistry class, kiddos.”

  “Chemistry?” Abraham asked as if excited. Stephanie had called him a nerd, and Roman was pretty sure she was right.

  “We’ll need a distraction, a noise, so we’re gonna make a bomb. Not really, but it’ll be loud enough to draw them off.”

  “How?” Abraham asked with curiosity.

  “Little this, little that,” Tristan said. “I’m going to go get the truck.”

  He dashed out alone without another word.

  “We can take you home,” Roman told her and got a sneer.

  Tristan was back in a flash with the truck and parked it behind the store.

  “There’s a tire shop in town,” he told them.

  “We need tires?” Jane questioned.

  He turned to her, “Tires burn well. Bring the chemicals and grab a couple armloads of clothing from the laundromat, anything will work.”

  They followed him to the truck where they deposited the supplies on the floor in the backseat while he dragged the generator over. Abraham helped him load and secure it. Then they were off to the tire shop, which had already been looted, strangely enough. Roman helped him load six old tires without their rims from behind the building into the bed of the truck along with a half-empty can of diesel fuel Tristan found in the open bay.

  As they drove to the government official’s house, which was definitely not the deeded home of this man named Jeff, Tristan told them his plan. He trawled slowly past the house, which was, indeed, gated off and private, even though there were other expensive homes on the street. There were a few lights on upstairs, but the rest of the property seemed dark and quiet. It was a sprawling white stucco home with a red tile roof like they built in more tropical areas like Florida or California, not Ohio. The government agent’s tastes were particular. Roman wondered what happened to the agent or where he was now since Jeff and his friends took over the mansion.

  Tristan pulled off a few blocks away into an oil well right of way and put it in park. They were probably a hundred yards from the mansion, maybe less, and separated by woods.

  “This should be good,” he remarked. “Let’s get out and listen, make sure no crawlers are around. Keep in mind, when this goes off, it’s gonna make a hell of a noise, so it could draw in some night crawlers, too. We’ll work this in the buddy system. Jane and Roman will stay together. I’ll work with Abraham.”

  They nodded and got out. Everyone was quiet for a few minutes just straining to hear. That much silence could be deafening, which was sometimes worse than the actual noises of the world. It seemed to Roman like they were always trying to listen for noises now. Like most times, nothing came. However, he knew better than to take that silence for granted. They were fast and could appear out of seemingly nowhere in a heartbeat.

  “There’s a ridge there,” Tristan pointed, shining his flashlight to their left. “Roman, you and Jane will set up on that ridge. The fire will be right down here in front of you. Ought to backlight our friends pretty well when they show up. Lie down prone or kneel behind trees. I know it’s snowy, but it’s the best way. Looks like there’s some trees up there, too, for cover.”

  “Where will we be?” Abraham asked.

  He pointed straight ahead, “In those woods there. Looks dense. Good cover. Less moonlight on us. We’ll get them in a crossfire situation, and when they start running, I’ll pursue on foot. You’ll hang back and shoot any over your way. You get into trouble call out for me.”

  “Should we do the same?” Roman asked, wanting to help.

  “After you secure the area here. Make sure they’re dead. Leave a survivor if you can. Shoot him in the leg or a good, solid gut shot. Tie him like we did the man at the laundromat.”

  “Why?” Roman asked.

  “Interrogation in case I accidentally kill Jeff.”

  Jane asked, “Tristan, what if this is the wrong place?”

  “It’s not. This is it,” he answered with finality.

  “Then what?” Roman asked.

  “Then we wait,” he answered.

  “For what?” Jane asked this time.

  Tristan paused, “For the second wave. It’ll probably only be a few that come out. When the first wave doesn’t return, they’ll send others to search. Once we eliminate both waves, then we’ll breach. By that time, they’ll be onto us. At first, they’ll probably assume their buddies are shooting at night crawlers. We’ll have to be highly careful. None of you has enough experience in this. We know he’s got six men left in there with him at all times. Laundromat boy told us that.”

  “Yeah, Glen said some quit or went off on their own,” Roman said. “Think that’s right?”

  “I don’t think he was lying. There comes a point in an interrogation that they break. He was telling the truth. If this is a party pad, there may be more in there at any given time. He said that Jeff likes to throw little parties for his potential customers. But I need him alive.”

  “Yes, we’ll never find her sister that Jeff sold if he’s killed,” Jane worried.

  “Everyone okay with the plan?”

  They all nodded.

  “Let’s get started. We don’t want the sun to come up. We’ll lose our element of surprise.”

  “Yes, sir,” Abraham said.

  “Everyone, stay alert. I’m gonna mix some chemicals. Jane, keep an eye out for us while we’re setting this up?”

  “Yes, got it.”

  Jane swung around and brought up the rifle Tristan had pulled out from under the backseat for her. She scanned the area while he and Abraham unloaded the tires. They formed them into a tire teepee of sorts as Tristan instructed while he mixed cleaning chemicals. Then he started stacking buckets of the mixed chemicals, as well as the rags that he first soaked down in diesel fuel, inside the teepee opening and placing them in the center.

  “When this goes off, it’s going to be loud. When you get into position, put your earplugs in and keep them in. Don’t want to blow out your eardrums.”

  “Yes, sir,” they said in unison. Then Roman added, “What is all that?”

  “I’ll show you guys tomorrow how to do this. It’s a combo Molotov cocktail and a bomb. Lots of slow burn incendiary juice and the tires to get it roaring.”

  “Okay,” he agreed but was curious as he watched Tristan place four bottles of rubbing alcohol, the diesel fuel, which he poured into an empty jug, and nail polish remover also in the ring.

  “Nail salon next to the laundromat,” he explained with a quick one-two upward jerk of his eyebrows and a grin.

  Then he
tied together with another pantyhose seven cans of what looked like empty aerosol whipped cream and place them next to the fuel. Roman had no idea what he intended, but this was weird. It wasn’t anything like high school chemistry class where they worked with simple salts, bases, and acids and the occasional lighting of a Bunsen burner.

  “Once I light this, we’ll have about two minutes. Be ready. Anyone comes through those woods,” he thumbed over his shoulder toward the mansion. “You shoot ‘em. Don’t worry about the one we want to maim. You leave that to me. Instead, you guys shoot to kill.”

  “Okay,” Roman readily agreed, not sure he could’ve done that anyway.

  “Everyone, get into position,” he quietly said as he squatted to stuff more rags into the mess beneath the tires.

  He and Jane climbed the small incline.

  “Over here,” she whispered and led the way.

  They crouched down in the snow, each behind a tree, but still side by side.

  “Are you scared?” she asked.

  “Only that you’ll get hurt.”

  “Make sure you look behind us a lot,” she said, ignoring his comment. “I will, too.”

  “Right, don’t need anyone sneaking up.”

  They settled in on their stomachs under the long branches of a thick white pine where the snow couldn’t touch the ground and watched below as Tristan flicked his lighter and lit the white cloths sticking out of one of the tire’s rings. They instantly caught. Then Tristan sprinted away to join Abraham. At first, it was more of a soft poof of flames, but it didn’t take long before the loud bangs began. It sounded like grenades going off, or what Roman would imagine they’d sound like. Beside him, Jane jumped when each new aerosol can exploded, which was what he assumed was happening. The tires burned and threw tons of black smoke into the air. The flames reached higher and higher into the cloudless night sky. Then a colossal boom went off that actually shook the ground.

  “Look!” she exclaimed on a fervent whisper and pointed.

  Lights came on in the mansion. Soon there was shouting, and spotlights lit up at each corner of the house. They illuminated the side yard, and a few seconds later, men came running through the sparse woods. He counted five.

  “Five,” Jane further confirmed.

  He tried to calm his breathing as they tore through the underbrush and winter shrubs in the forest. They weren’t being very quiet, either.

  Her sharp inhale let him know something was wrong, and he lowered his gun to look at her. She even tugged his sleeve.

  “What?” he whispered in a barely audible tone. Jane’s hand shot out and covered his mouth. Then she pointed behind them. He placed his hand over hers and lowered it. He mouthed, “crawler” and got a shaky nod. Damn. They were in trouble now. They couldn’t risk shooting it because it would alert the men coming after them, which would cause them to lose the advantage and would mess up Tristan’s plan. They couldn’t shoot the men because it would alert the thing behind them. Then he heard it. A confused, low growl mixed with a whine as if the fire were agitating it.

  He rose slowly, leaving his rifle on the ground next to Jane. She grabbed his pant leg and shook her head. Roman knelt and whispered in her ear, “We can’t have it behind us. When Tristan takes the first shot, then you follow and help them. I have to take that thing out. It could kill us.”

  Her eyes pleaded with his, but then she finally nodded. Her resignation came at a good time because the underbrush nearer them shook as if someone were coming through it. The men’s voices in the woods in front of them were drawing closer. The night crawler behind them was, as well, probably spurred on by their noise.

  Roman crept through the trees and carefully spied in the darkness. The massive, roaring fire below illuminated a lot more than he would’ve thought. He had to be careful about this because he didn’t want to be spotted by the men, either, and shot in the back. So, he kept low and moved slowly.

  It screeched softly, sniffed three times loudly as if it were trying to scent something. That caused chills to race down his back. Humans didn’t behave that way. Wolves, bears, animals of a predatory nature, but not humans.

  He pinched his face mask down on his nose more tightly and withdrew the hunting knife that belonged to Jane’s father. The idea of what he had to do almost made him retch. Gutting the deer hadn’t bothered him because Roman knew it was necessary to feed people, the people he cared about. The meat was delicious, too. This wasn’t a deer. It was a human. Thinking of it hurting Jane fortified his decision, though.

  Roman paused and listened. Then he heard it again, closer this time. It was about to walk past him. He could see it now, silhouetted by the moonlight in a slightly cleared area, where it paused out there. After another moment of bizarre sniffing, it increased pace and began jogging. Behind him, Roman heard the first shot crack off. Then the thing picked up speed. They were so damn fast.

  There was no way he was going to sneak up on it now. It was all-out sprinting. It changed direction slightly. Roman was going to have to take it down. He dodged through the trees and around the higher thickets. It was going for Tristan and Abraham. Behind him, Jane fired. The men in the woods began yelling, some screaming. The night crawler in front of him changed direction again and ran toward the screaming men. He hit the former man in the side and took him down. Roman moved faster than he thought he even could and reared up and stabbed it in the side. Then he stabbed again in its neck, deeply. It attempted to cry out but couldn’t. Roman knew it would die from this wound, if not from the other one, so he shoved up off of it and hurried back to Jane to help. Staying low, he crawled forward to retrieve his gun.

  He took a one-kneed stance half behind a tree on her other side to keep watch behind them better. He looked down the iron sights and didn’t see anyone. It didn’t seem like he’d been gone that long, but Jeff’s men were probably now trying to hide behind trees, too.

  “How many left?”

  “Two,” she answered. “I think.”

  Suddenly, he spotted movement to his right. One of the men was trying to flank them. They probably spotted Jane’s muzzle flash. Abraham or Tristan, he wasn’t sure which, fired again, and someone screamed. It was short and ended on a gurgle. Roman worried about the man he’d seen out of the corner of his eye and spied carefully down the hill. Then he saw him in the moonlight, running between two trees that were close together. Roman popped off a shot but missed. There were too many trees.

  Quickly, he tapped Jane’s shoulder. They had to fall back slightly and take up another position. This one was blown. It seemed like the smart thing to do. She followed as if she thought they should, too, and they found new trees a few yards away. It would be a good place to spot the man when he crested the hill.

  “Roman!” she screeched and fired in front of him to his right. He swung and saw the night crawler at the same time he heard more shots from Roman and Abraham’s area. She shot it, but it was still coming. Roman fired, too, as she pulled the trigger again. This time, it went down.

  “Roman!” Tristan called from very near. “All clear.”

  “There’s another man, down the hill,” he said as Tristan suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

  “Not anymore,” he replied. “We’ve got six down. Six came out. Six down. Now we wait.”

  Abraham seemed calm, but Roman could tell he was worried by the look in his eyes. The intense blue of them was nearly glowing in the moonlight like a different kind of fire.

  “What if they don’t come out?”

  “Then I’ll go in,” he said and turned to go. “Let’s see if we can get this shit for brains down there to talk.”

  Roman’s eyes jumped to Abraham’s. He nodded. “We have one tied up down there.”

  They followed Abraham down the hill again as the fire raged on, which worried Roman that more of the night crawlers would come. The man Tristan had tied was secured this time with handcuffs, and Roman could only speculate that Tristan found them at the laundromat. Or
had brought his own, which was kind of a disturbing thought.

  “Is he still in there?” Tristan asked the skinny, tall man with dirty blonde hair and a bleeding stomach wound.

  “Yeah, yeah. He’ll kill you, man.”

  “Is his name Jeff? Dice?” He got a nod for an answer, and then asked, “Anyone else over there?”

  “Just Jeff and his brother.

  Tristan asked, “Brother?”

  The scumbag nodded. Then he spat blood and coughed. “Hey, man. Help me out here. I’m bleedin’ out.”

  “You’re fine. I’m in the Army. I know lethal wounds. That ain’t one. Who else is in there?”

  “Just Jeff and Jim. That’s all,” he coughed and sputtered again.

  “No girls?”

  He shook his head and attempted to wipe his nose on his shirt. “No.”

  “Where are they, the girls?”

  “Jeff came up with this plan to sell them for supplies. It worked. They’re gone. The other one, I don’t know. He came home pissed tonight. Said she got away, killed the babysitter or something.”

  Roman knew he was probably referring to Remmie.

  “Who’d he sell them to?”

  The man shrugged, then winced in pain. “Don’t know. Friends of his. He said he was going up to the city tomorrow to get more, find more. We ran out of stuff to make the meth, so the girls were working for keeping his money going. Look, I didn’t want to do that. I just don’t have anywhere else to go.”

  That was a pathetic excuse as far as Roman was concerned.

  “How do we get in?”

  “Back gate,” he said, his words slurring. “Man, you sure? I’m getting lightheaded.”

  “No, no, it’s cool. Just tell me some more, bro’. What about the gate?”

  “I told them this was a bad idea. I told ‘em we’d…”

  He didn’t finish. Death took him in the next moment, and Roman noticed that Jane turned away. It was an odd thing, watching a man take his last breath.