Land of Nod, The Prophet (Land of Nod Trilogy Book 2)

by Gary Hoover

  “No!” Nahima shouted at the screen and then headed for the weapon storage area in the basement. The others followed clumsily behind her. By the time they made it to the doorway, she was already handing out large weapons. Jeff took the assault rifle she handed him and bounced it in his hands. It felt large and clumsy to him – larger than anything he had ever used. He put the strap over his shoulder without complaint.

  Few words were spoken, and the five of them were soon out the door and loading themselves onto the lift-car. Jeff wasn’t sure what the plan was or if there even was one, but he had been accepted by Artimus, Nahima, and Baldwin as a family member. His emotions were, at most, only a notch or two less passionate than Nahima, so he was ready to help any way he could.

  As the lift-car rose above the surrounding houses, Jeff could see huge plumes of black smoke in the distance.

  Nahima pointed the nose of the lift-car in that direction and gave it full-throttle.

  Chapter 77:

  Jeff could see Blackbuck’s vehicles. Two were smoking and apparently badly damaged. The other two looked like they had suffered less severe damage.

  Several of Blackbuck’s troops were visible behind a concrete barricade near one of the vehicles. Nahima brought the craft down low to limit their exposure to the weapon fire that was zipping back and forth between the compound and Blackbuck’s troops.

  A crowd had gathered in a very large ring around the area. They weren’t shouting or violent as Jeff would have suspected but seemed to be calmly watching the battle – more curious than anything and seemingly not taking sides. I guess it’s not like they’ve lived for years under stifling, despotic rule. From their point of view, they probably just saw Duanan as going a little... loopy... probably not fit to lead anymore, but not someone they desperately wanted to string up.

  Almost as soon as the vehicle landed, Jeff and the others disembarked and scurried toward the group.

  Blackbuck turned and acknowledged them. He clearly wasn’t happy with the situation.

  “How’s it going?” Dave asked.

  Blackbuck shook his head and gestured at the twelve soldiers. “This is all that’s left of us. We took out their heavy weapons, but they took out ours as well. When we went in, they were well positioned and well organized. They broke us up, split us off and captured or killed most of our people. Our lifts are out of commission, but we’re trying to get this one up and running.” He gestured toward a couple of men who were furiously working to get the vehicle running. “I’m just hoping we can hold them off long enough to limp away.” He eyed the lift-car. “Do you think that has the capacity for all of us?”

  Dave looked at the lift-car. “If we could get everyone on there and get off the ground, we probably wouldn’t make it far before they took us out. No shielding, no heavy weapons, and we’d be moving slow with such a heavy load.”

  Jeff moved in tentatively. He wanted to fill Blackbuck in on recent discoveries, but was nervous. He decided to just blurt it out. “Do you know that Duanan has tied himself to the pheerions? If we can’t do this, he’ll probably just turn the city over without so much as a shot fired.”

  Blackbuck looked at him with an expression Jeff couldn’t read then shook his head and mumbled something. Jeff didn’t recognize the words but could understand they were vulgar expressions.

  “At first, I just thought he was weak, but I began to wonder if there wasn’t more going on,” Blackbuck said with a look of disgust. “Unfortunately, this is all we’ve got.” He gestured at the small group of soldiers. “Not enough people and no heavy weapons.”

  Jeff cringed as a shot impacted the barrier just above Blackbuck’s head and created a shower of concrete dust. Blackbuck’s men responded with a small barrage of their own. Nahima and Baldwin took positions at the barrier and joined in.

  “What if I told you–” Jeff paused, not sure how to say what he had on his mind. “I don’t want to sound arrogant or crazy, but what if I said you had a weapon you don’t know about?”

  Jeff saw a half-inch thick steel reinforcement bar protruding from the concrete near his head. He reached up, grabbed the bar firmly, and bent it over on itself.

  Blackbuck’s eyes widened. He reached up, grabbed the bar, and tried to bend it himself.

  It didn’t budge.

  Jeff pulled the bat out of his belt and raised it over the barrier. As he did so, he concentrated, imagining he was able to suck energy from the bat through his hand. He imagined that he could turn the bat into a magnet for energy beams.

  He looked up, and it appeared that some of the energy bolts that were passing nearby were bending slightly toward the bat as they passed. Jeff concentrated harder and focused on the feeling of drawing the energy toward the bat and into his body. The energy bolts started bending more and more dramatically, and then one impacted the bat.

  Jeff could feel the energy hitting the bat and then flowing into his body. It produced a warm, pleasant, tingling feeling. Then another and another bolt impacted. Soon all beams passing within five feet of the bat were hitting it and passing harmlessly through the bat into his body.

  Nearly everyone in the group stared at Jeff and the bat.

  Jeff lowered the bat and looked at it. It was glowing and felt warm, though not hot, to the touch.

  “I’m going in, and I’m going to get the bastard. Who’s coming with me?”

  Chapter 78:

  “This is Major Abbell,” Blackbuck introduced the young, but severe-eyed soldier to Jeff. “She’s my best field tactician. We’ll follow your lead, but I’m in charge.” Blackbuck paused and looked at Jeff, then at all the others to make sure everyone was clear. “Major Abbell is second. If either of us gives an order, I expect that order to be followed immediately, completely, and without question.”

  Jeff nodded then saw something that seemed surreal – even in a world in which that term had become nearly meaningless – over Blackbuck’s shoulder. Blackbuck turned to see what had caught Jeff’s attention.

  A tall, lanky man in dark clothing strolled toward them across the cratered area between them and the distant onlookers. The man appeared to be smoking something, and as energy blasts passed within inches of him, he didn’t flinch or alter his route. He simply strolled casually as if he didn’t notice them.

  As he got closer, Jeff realized that he recognized him. John, the guy who briefly kidnapped me… and the guy who killed Baldwin and Nahima’s mother.

  When John was within a few feet and coming to a stop, he finally seemed to recognize the wisdom of taking some cover. He crouched to get his head below the barrier.

  Jeff saw that he was smoking what looked like a thin cigar attached to an ornate mouthpiece.

  John pulled it from his mouth and used it to point toward the compound. “I’ve decided that the plooch cowering behind those walls is a worthless sister-stroinger. If it’s your plan to kill him, I’d like to help.”

  “Well I guess that’s something you know a little about,” Jeff said as he tossed him the assault rifle. The others looked on in confused silence.

  “Tell me something, John. How do the people out there feel about all this?” Jeff nodded toward the distant crowd John had come from.

  “Most of them want you to win, but not enough to actually help.”

  Jeff nodded and then looked toward Blackbuck to indicate he was ready. Jeff worked his way toward the edge of the barrier, consciously summoning courage with each step. Blackbuck fell in directly behind him, and Major Abbell moved toward the rear.

  Without pausing long enough to lose his nerve, Jeff rounded the edge of the barrier, raised the bat so that the barrel was a few feet in front of his face, stepped from behind the concrete, and began walking with determination toward the compound.

  A few shots impacted the bat nearly immediately causing Jeff to cringe and squint. Other shots passed harmlessly and missed Jeff and the others by several feet.

  Jeff looked over his shoulder and saw the others crouching and h
uddling behind him while following in a tight formation. The only one who didn’t seem to be trying to crouch and present as small a target as possible was John who was strolling casually and raising his gun periodically to squeeze off a shot. With each of John’s shots, Jeff noticed reduced fire. As they progressed, the opposing fire became less dense, though it never ceased.

  Jeff stepped over a gate that had been blown off its hinges, and he surveyed their options. The most direct path took them to a large, heavy steel door. It looked tough to get past, but the cavernous doorway appeared to provide some shelter from enemy fire.

  Jeff heard a yelp and saw one of Blackbuck’s men swatting a singed spot on his leg. Others returned fire in response. Damn it! Just keep moving. Jeff headed toward the large door at a near run. I’ll figure out how to open it once we’re there.

  Jeff arrived first, and then the others huddled around him. The doorway shielded them momentarily from enemy fire. Jeff pulled on the door handle. He didn’t really expect it to be that easy, but he couldn’t resist trying. There was a keypad beside the door. He examined the keypad for a few moments then brought the bat back behind his head. He lined it up and then brought it forward. The impact created a brief shower of sparks. He tried the latch again but to no avail. He could see some other doors along the sides of the building that had been damaged previously and looked accessible. Damn it! Probably should have gone for one of those. Should I still try? We’d be exposed and they’ve had some time to take aim while we’ve been here.

  Jeff shook his head in frustration and then swung the bat at the door, hitting the handle and latch. The metal bent and buckled but didn’t give. He hit it again and again, with tremendous force that resounded loudly.

  He continued swinging, and each blow did more and more damage until – after seven or eight swings – the latch failed and the door swung open. Jeff pushed through and was met by immediate, heavy fire, most of which he drew into the bat. A few shots came from his own men behind him, and several of the enemy guns were silenced. Benji pushed past Jeff and charged a man ten feet to their right. Jeff cringed at the violence of his attack and began to think they should have left him behind. He was a powerful ally but didn’t really fit in with a military operation.

  In the brief flurry of activity, nearly all of the enemy troops were either in active retreat or on the ground, but Jeff saw one standing and firing from a side wall and focused on him.

  The soldier fired several shots but when he saw Jeff easily absorb them into his bat, he became shocked and frozen. Jeff walked purposefully toward him, cocked the bat, and when he was within range, swung through. The bat impacted the soldier’s mid-section, doubled him over, and sent him back into the wall where he impacted and then slumped.

  The large entrance hall fell silent, and Jeff looked around to get a feel for where to go next.

  Chapter 79:

  What had once been a grand, pristine entrance area was now littered with bodies, broken furniture, and other shattered decorative elements. The mansion that had been fortified relatively recently, but it wasn’t designed specifically to be a fortress.

  “They were defending this stairway very heavily earlier,” Blackbuck commented. “I’m not sure if they’ve pulled back because they’ve been weakened, or they’re just trying to draw us into a trap.”

  Jeff nodded and pointed to the stairway. Blackbuck nodded in return and they started a slow, cautious ascent of the stairway. It curved around on itself and connected to a large, open landing twenty feet above the entranceway. There were paintings adorning the walls all along the stairway. Some had fallen, and others had been burnt in the earlier fighting. Few seemed untouched.

  Jeff and the others scanned the landing carefully as they climbed. Anyone firing from up there would have a big advantage. As if in response to Jeff’s thought, a single shot came from above and connected solidly with one of Blackbuck’s men. Gunfire erupted from the guns of Jeff’s colleagues, and the gunman on the landing slumped.

  Jeff started back toward the soldier who had been hit behind him. He couldn’t tell if he was injured or dead, but Blackbuck grabbed his upper arm firmly.

  “We don’t have that luxury. If he’s still alive, our best chance to help him is to win this thing and get him on our way out,” Blackbuck said calmly but very firmly.

  Jeff nodded grimly, realizing that the stairway would be an extremely dangerous place to pause. They continued, and Jeff breathed a sigh of relief as they reached the landing without further incident.

  There were two hallways at opposite sides of the landing.

  “If we stay together and get pinned down, they could take out our whole group,” Blackbuck said. “I suggest we split into two groups, and hopefully at least one of those groups will be able to get through to Duanan.”

  Jeff nodded. He wasn’t comfortable with the idea, but he also trusted Blackbuck’s sensibilities.

  Gunfire erupted, and Jeff and Blackbuck both turned to look. Rasp had gotten away from the group by several paces, and one of Duanan’s people was charging him and firing. Rasp already appeared to have been hit, and his back was against the landing railing as the man approached. Several guns were raised, but the man was moving too fast and already too close to Rasp for a clean shot.

  Dave charged the man and collided with him just before he impacted with Rasp, who was clutching the railing and appeared to be off balance and injured. Dave drove the man to the side, away from Rasp, and pushed him up against the railing.

  Jeff cringed as he saw Duanan’s man twisting his gun toward Dave, but Dave saw it too, grabbed it, twisted it out of the man’s hand, and tossed it aside. As he did that, the man – who was tall, but at least eighty pounds lighter than Dave – started punching wildly. Dave paid little attention to the flailing and got a firm grip on the man as he pushed him against the railing. Dave reached down, grabbed one of the man’s legs and began lifting him. The man’s eyes widened in terror as he realized what Dave was trying to do. He looked over his shoulder at the long drop to the hard floor, then he turned back to face Dave as he continued to flail. Dave lifted him above the railing and began to push him over, but as the man fell, he reached and grabbed Dave around his neck.

  Dave bent over the railing, trying to push the man away from him, but the other man clawed desperately and had Dave badly off balance.

  Jeff ran toward Dave and leapt as he saw Dave’s feet leaving the floor. He got a hold on one ankle, but he was afraid Dave’s mass, along with the mass of the other man who was still clinging to Dave, would pull him right over. Dave ended up dangling from that one leg as Jeff held onto the railing with one hand and Dave’s ankle with the other.

  I’m strong enough, I’m strong enough, I’m strong enough, Jeff tried to tell himself, but even though he did feel much stronger than usual, the weight of the two men, combined with the desperate movements of both, made it nearly impossible to hold his grip.

  “Let go of me, damn you!” Dave shouted. “You’ve got more important things to deal with.”

  Then Dave made Jeff’s task even more difficult as he began to kick at Jeff’s hand to force him to let go. Dave’s free foot impacted Jeff’s knuckles and Jeff felt a surge of frustration as he lost his grip. Dave seemed to fall in slow motion as he dropped to the hard floor below and ended up in a twisted heap with the other man.

  “I’m still alive, damn you!” Dave said from below, and Jeff allowed himself a brief smile.

  “I go... protect Daaaaaavve,” Rasp said to Jeff.

  Jeff smiled and patted him on the arm. “Go ahead. We’ll keep moving.” Then he looked at Benji who was looking down at his friend with an expression of clear concern. “Why don’t you go with him Benji?”

  Rasp took off down the steps at a run, and Benji followed close behind.

  Chapter 80:

  Major Abbell had chosen a few of their soldiers to accompany Jeff, Baldwin Nahima, and John, while Blackbuck took the remaining troops in the opposite directio
n. Jeff led, and Major Abbell stayed close behind him as they headed down a dark, narrow corridor. There didn’t seem to be any power, but there were small emergency lights glowing on the walls that provided enough illumination to manage.

  An energy blast erupted from behind Jeff and passed so close to his ear that he could hear the crackling ions as it flew. It impacted approximately six feet in front of him, and then he saw a body drop to the floor.

  Jeff looked back over his shoulder. “Thanks.”

  John nodded.

  Jeff continued, paying a little more attention to the darkened doorways at both sides of the hallways. He slowed as he saw objects scattered ahead of them.

  As they neared the objects, Jeff realized they were bodies from the earlier battle – at least six or seven.

  Jeff looked back to check the expressions of the others, but saw they were all stone-faced and difficult to read. Even Baldwin, who Jeff thought might be shocked by the sight, seemed to take it in stride. Jeff stepped carefully over the bodies and tried to subdue his own emotions.

  As he was nearly past the last body, he stopped and signaled for the others to do the same. Approximately fifty feet ahead, Jeff saw a barrier that appeared to be made from overturned desks and other furnishings. The barrier ran across the hallway, and Jeff thought he could see shapes of people beyond the barrier.

  Jeff squinted and tried to determine what he was seeing.

  Something’s moving, he thought as he tried to focus on the area beyond the barrier.

  There was an eerie silence as the others looked at Jeff and each other, unsure what to do next.

  “Everybody stay here,” Jeff said quietly. “I’m going to go a little farther and… ”

  Jeff was interrupted by a volley of fire coming from the area he had been studying. Major Abbell fell as she was hit squarely in the chest, and John shouted a curse as a shot glanced off his shoulder. The others scattered, took shelter, and began to return the fire.