The blast rattled inside the cab. The raptor's skull exploded outward, throwing a fountain of red at its pack mates on the hood. Cory cocked the gun, and the empty casing bounced off the side window and landed on the upper dashboard.
Jesse's right ear went numb.
“Any day now,” Cory said.
“What?” Jesse said, then, “Wait. Wait, hold on.”
Cory raised the gun to fire again. “Any day now,” he repeated.
Jesse said nothing.
The light on the dashboard blinked out.
Praying, Jesse turned the key, fighting to stay conscious.
The starter motor engaged. The engine labored to turn over.
Once.
Twice.
From behind, the rear window exploded inward, dropping out of its seal and collapsing onto the back seats. Cory turned and fired. Jesse briefly blacked out from the proximity of the blast. He fell against the steering wheel, but somehow managed keep the key turned in the ignition.
The engine coughed, sputtered, and with a deep clacking roar, came to life. He feathered the accelerator pedal, tapping it gently until the engine settled into a steady rattle.
Cory held the shotgun up to fire again. “Any day,” he repeated through clenched teeth.
Jesse turned away. The last blast of the shotgun had stunned him. He shut his eyes, opened them. Everything around him was blurry. Spots drifted across his vision.
Cory cocked the gun again. Took aim. Then—
Nothing.
The gun had not gone off. Cory pumped the gun again and pulled the trigger. He looked surprised when it didn't fire. He shook the gun.
“Empty,” Jesse said.
Raptors started climbing in through the back window.
Cory turned the gun, one hand gripping the trigger, the other on the fore-end of the shotgun. He prepared to strike a raptor with it. Jesse heard a small metallic click come from the gun. He opened his mouth to warn Cory. Then—
Boom!
The entire cab was filled with punishing noise. Pellets ripped through the roof of the truck.
Jesse ducked and knocked the gearshift into the D position and stomped on the accelerator. The truck lurched forward and bounced against the curb. He struggled to correct their course. He could barely turn the wheel more than a few inches either way. He just didn't have the strength to turn it any further.
Cory spun the shotgun and frantically pounded on the raptors climbing into the rear seats with the butt end, keeping his finger away from the trigger. He was beating them back, but more came.
Jesse forced himself to ignore the chaos. He used every ounce of his remaining strength to keep the truck traveling in a straight line. The raptors on the hood slid away. They were not able to dig their claws into the metal surface. The truck bounded over bodies and debris. With a redoubled effort, Jesse found the right angle on the wheel to keep the truck going straight and aimed for the middle of the road.
“Go, go, go,” Cory said.
Jesse got to the end of the street and tried to crank the wheel to the left.
He couldn't.
“Help me,” he said.
“What?”
“Help me. Left. Turn left. Turn to the left. Hurry.”
Cory, still fighting a raptor in the back seat, reached over with one hand, gripped the steering wheel, and assisted with the turn. Together, they managed to crank the wheel just enough to make the corner.
Pounding from behind the seat spurred Jesse onward. Cory raised the pointy end of the crowbar while Jesse let his head fall against the driver's side window for support.
In his peripheral vision, Jesse could see Cory stabbing at something, over and over. He kept the truck going straight, but another turn was coming up quickly.
“Turn,” he said.
Cory spun around and grabbed the wheel again with one hand. Jesse gently tapped the brakes, slowing for the next turn. The truck banked into the turn, but then struck something and started fishtailing. Jesse eased up on the brakes and let go of the steering wheel.
“Left,” he said. “Now right. Now left. Now right.”
Cory was spinning the wheel with one hand. The truck pitched left and right, out of control. Finally, something thumped beneath the tires, causing the truck to lift up and slam down. Jesse pressed on the brakes and the truck spun sideways, banking hard, and then snapped back as it came to a skidding stop.
Smoke billowed up from under the hood.
They had only managed to travel a few blocks. The raptors that had been chasing them came racing forward at a full out run. Jesse put his hands on the steering wheel. The truck was still running, barely. The engine clacked and sputtered. He stepped on the accelerator while Cory again helped turn the wheel. But, with a sinking feeling, Jesse realized something was seriously wrong with the truck. It moved forward a couple of feet, making an up and down motion that came from the rear. It felt like a tire had gone flat and come off the rim.
He pushed the accelerator pedal to the floorboard. The engine growled and truck began to bounce down the street, bucking them both up and down and off their seats. Jesse maintained control the best he could and fought to keep from passing out. He kept his foot planted, coaxing every bit of power left in the engine flowing to the wheels.
The raptors were gaining on them.
Jesse realized they were moving far too slowly. He squinted at the way ahead, looking for something, anything. Blood pounded in his ears, and his vision narrowed, grew dark.
With a bang, the engine quit.
He knocked the gearshift into neutral. The truck coasted. The bouncing decreased. Cory braced his hands on the dashboard and pushed himself back into his seat.
It was over.
This was as far as they were going to get in the truck. Jesse gritted his teeth and tried to focus. He glanced in the rearview mirror. The raptors following the truck had scattered.
They were no longer chasing. They were running the other way. They were leaving.
Like a miracle sent from Heaven, a crack of orange split the horizon, filtering between the houses and filling the streets with the dim light of a new day. Jesse squinted against the sunrise and let the truck roll until it came to a complete stop.
He smelled oil and hot metal and exhaust. Smoke curled up from the front grill and clouded the way forward.
The engine was ruined.
He slumped against the steering wheel, completely and utterly spent.
“What now?” Cory asked.
“I guess we walk,” Jesse whispered.
-23-
ADAPTATION
EVE LAY IN silence next to Cyrus on a queen-sized bed in his quarters. It had been three weeks since she had arrived, and already she had become his favorite. He wasn't that bad, not really. He was no worse than Noah, whom she was second wife to. But here it was different. She had Cyrus's ear, and most of the time he listened to what she had to say with keen interest. She couldn't ask for much more.
Kate was also safe now, too. She was training with the doctor and that seemed to be working out quite well. She had even begun to speak in complete sentences, not just individual words, a huge improvement for her. Eve had even been allowed to visit with her on special occasions.
Cyrus did have a side to him that frightened her, but she had found ways to calm him and make him appreciate her all the more, and his willing confidence in her meant she would never be sent away to live among the other women. She had met some of the women who had once been his but had not worked out as well as he'd liked. Many of them now possessed a certain emptiness, a numbness about them as if they were simply waiting for their own deaths. Some had even chosen to hasten it, apparently, but she had yet to see any evidence of that happening. They had just not lived up to their potential, she figured. That was all. If only they had the same attitude toward it that she had, then they would be fine with it. They just needed to accept their lot in life and move on, or they needed to be smarter about it, like
she was.
She yawned and worked her jaw until her ears popped. Then she untangled herself from him and went to a small kitchenette in the adjacent room and got to work on his breakfast of powdered eggs, reconstituted milk, and dried raptor meat, which she softened by soaking in the milk.
He joined her as she cooked. He placed one hand on her shoulder and the other on her waist. She spun and leaned her head back to stare into his icy blue eyes. Those eyes were captivating, like those of a cat, full of cunning and intelligence.
She'd been startled by his arrival. He never came in the kitchen while she was cooking. She poked out her bottom lip, and he suckled it between his.
“Go on, sit. I'm busy,” she said playfully as she broke from the embrace.
He said nothing.
She turned away, feigning shyness. A sudden stab of fear raced through her, and she pulled her arms out of his line of sight so he would not see the gooseflesh that had formed.
What did he want? Had she done something to displease him? She worried over this while returning to the stove to cook his eggs. She thought hard as she watched the eggs form into thick curds, but came up with nothing. She fluffed the eggs until they were perfect then seasoned them with salt and pepper and added them to his plate.
She set his completed breakfast on the table before him.
“Coffee?” he asked.
“Oh, yes, one moment.” She swore under her breath. How could she have been so careless to forget such a simple thing? She would have to try harder.
She returned to the kitchen and hurriedly made him instant coffee from a kettle she had set to boiling earlier, then returned slowly, balancing the delicate china cup carefully to not spill a single drop.
Coffee was a luxury only available to him. Sometimes, he might share it with her, or left just enough in the bottom of his cup she could have a sip when cleaning up. She loved the taste of coffee.
The glowing digital clock on the wall read 05:43. As per his normal ritual, he would need to leave soon if he wanted to see the sunrise.
She asked, “Don't you need to go?”
“You trying to get rid of me?”
“No, it's just…you go. Almost every day you go to watch the sunrise.”
“Today, I have other plans,” he said, leaning backward in his chair and opening his legs.
“Why do you do that, anyways? Why the sunrise?”
He considered for a moment, and then said, “I'll tell you someday, but not today.” He opened his legs wider.
She understood exactly what he wanted now, and she obliged.
After spending the next half-hour pleasing him, she lay next to him, slick from the sweat of their activities. She brushed the tips of her fingers in circles on his hairless chest.
“So, what is it you are doing today?” she asked, hoping what she said seemed innocent enough.
“It would bore you.”
“No, any time I spend with you is not boring.” Mostly she wanted to learn more about the complex. She was also curious where he spent most of his time. Plus, she hadn't been outdoors for days. “Please? I don't mind. I just want to see the sun today. I haven't felt it in so long.”
“Then you will come with me,” he said. “But, first…we both stink.”
He led her to a shower stall in his quarters, which was another luxury he had. Hot running water and plenty of soap. She appreciated it too, and washed him meticulously as he had instructed her to do.
“Ready?” he said after they had dressed. He inclined his head and went to hold the door open for her. He could be a real gentleman when he wanted to. She smiled and joined him.
They walked the long corridor from his quarters deep inside the complex to the stairs leading down to the next level. A man who had been standing sentry outside their quarters excused his way past and ran off ahead. His footsteps echoed from the concrete walls, growing quieter as he disappeared around a corner. At the end of the corridor, where it split into two different directions, David and another man she knew as Ryder met up with them. David narrowed his eyes as he passed her. She had sensed his hatred of her from the very start and no matter what charms she had used to change his attitude, he simply would not budge. He was dangerous, and his half-melted face was disgusting to her. How could Cyrus keep such and ugly creature around him? It wasn't right.
“They are waiting,” David said bluntly from behind. He then made a slurping noise as if talking had caused him to drool. “Why is she here?”
“I thought she would enjoy some fresh air. The weather outside is—?”
“Warm. Sunny. No rain.”
“Good.”
They walked through more corridors and expanding hallways, down another flight of stairs, then through a large cavernous room, and finally past a massive steel door at least three feet thick. Another fifty feet down, a half-pipe walkway took them out from under the oppressive weight of the mountain above.
Outside, the sun had climbed high enough to stretch their shadows on the gray asphalt. A few scattered white clouds drifted lazily along on the horizon. The morning sun felt good on her pale skin. Being shut in for days had made it difficult for her eyes to adjust to the glaring brightness. She inhaled and took in the fresh scent of the new forest, and all of her weariness faded.
A black Humvee approached, idling forward. She'd ridden in it once before, but still could not get used to its menacing appearance, with the spikes and all. The Humvee took them down the mountain and along a road filled with new growth and into what was once a former zoo. She imagined children walking through the park, looking at all the caged animals in wonder. She remembered going to the zoo with her father and mother and baby sister, seeing the different animals. They were all gone now, just like her father, mother, and sister.
Ahead, under the cover of a canvas awning were four metal cages. They left the Humvee behind and approached on foot. She realized what she had smelled earlier, as soon as she had stepped out of the vehicle.
Raptors.
In one of the cages far ahead was a single large raptor taller than her. Two other cages held smaller groupings of raptors, and another cage appeared empty.
“How do you like my little zoo?” Sebastian asked.
She smiled at him. “Needs more monkeys,” she said.
“Monkeys?” He laughed and returned her smile, running his hand over his bald head. “Sorry, I wish there were some here. Really, I do. But sadly, no more monkeys.”
“Pity,” she said. “So what's here?”
He bowed slightly and held out his arm for her to take. They walked the path through overgrown bushes and half-burnt trees. When the path forked, he turned left and led her up an adjoining trail. She slowed and missed a step when she saw what was ahead.
“Ah, here they are,” he said.
Standing on the asphalt pathway between another group of cages were six of his men. Each wore a gold armband. Between them, they held two others that did not have armbands. One of the men they held—a well-muscled man with long black hair and a graying beard—stood nearly a foot taller than those gathered around him. The other guy was a short, balding man with a cut lip and scraggly wire-like hair.
“Good morning, gentlemen,” Cyrus said in greeting. “I trust you used the night to think things through?”
Neither responded.
“Come now,” he said. “This is what is best, and you know it. All this petty squabbling gets us nowhere.”
The men remained quiet. David moved behind Eve and she fidgeted. Cyrus left her side and stepped closer to one of the cages. He leaned nearer to the bars. The raptor inside sprung to attack him and crashed against the side of the cage, wriggled, and tried to shove its head between the parallel steel bars, hissing, making huffing noises. Frustrated, it snorted and stuck its claws out, alternating between them in a struggle to reach Cyrus.
He was not startled by the ferocity of the creature. He remained just out of its reach, looking at it like a misguided pet. He cocked his
head sideways, imitating the motion raptors often used. He teased it by wiggling his fingers in front of its snapping jaws. The thing crashed harder against the side of the cage, snarling furiously.
Chuckling, he brushed away saliva that had landed on him and walked away from the creature, returning to the tall man with long hair.
“We are all brothers here,” Cyrus said. “I hope you understand that. You have nothing to fear from us, nothing at all.”
“You ain't my brother,” the man said. “I ain't nobody's brother. Not to someone who locks me up like an animal in a cage. Lemme go.”
One of the guards hit the long-haired man in the stomach with a wooden baton. Eve withdrew and involuntarily raised her hands. She caught herself and masked her reaction by pretending to brush something from her shirt.
The large man grimaced at Cyrus. His lips were curled into a snarl, and he was missing his two front teeth.
The wiry-haired man spoke next. “Please, we are nothing. We have nothing. All we want is safe passage west, but we were stopped here. We mean you no harm. We only wanted to keep going.”
“Shut up,” the long-haired man said. “Let me go. Keep this guy. He's been nothing but a pain in my ass.”
“Oh, is that so?” Cyrus said in a tone of false surprise. He nodded to David and Ryder, who stepped past Eve and took hold of the wiry-haired man. David grabbed the guy's right arm, Ryder his left.
“Hey, what are you doing?” the man asked.
David and Ryder dragged the guy next to a cell with three small raptors in it. The raptors lunged at the sides of the cage and screeched, but as much as they tried, they could not squeeze between the steel bars. David and Ryder moved until they held the man a few inches from the clawing raptors, sending them into a fury.
“Let me go,” the man said. “Please.”
The raptors screeched, snarled, jumped, and tore at the steel bars.
“Soon, brother,” Cyrus said. “What was it that you did before the raptors came?”
“I was a project manager for Sycorp.”
“A project manager,” Cyrus said. “A project manager,” he repeated. “Fair enough. So, are you good at leading men? You know how to do that well?”
Red Asphalt: Raptor Apocalypse Book 2 Page 18