Cascade (Book 4): Conflict

by Phil Maxey

  Soon he was inside with them sipping on some coffee.

  “I don’t know Zach, these people are not soldiers,” said Abbey standing. The burning candles provided just about enough heat. Cal and Fiona sat on the sofa with a blanket across them.

  “We don’t need them to be soldiers, that’s what the squad is there for, to protect them. They just need to do what they do.”

  “And use the E.L.F’s against the Hell Fire gang?”

  “Yes.”

  Abbey looked down. “I don’t know Zach. The E.L.F’s attacked humans because that was in their nature, but we would be using another species to kill other humans.”

  Zach looked at Fiona and Cal.

  “How many would we need?” said Fiona.

  “Around twenty.”

  Fiona looked at Cal. “What do you feel about this? Do you think there are twenty that are ready to fight outside the walls?”

  Since the battle on the walls, he had had hardly any contact with the other Cascaders, so he cast his mind back to his time in the detention center. “Maybe. But Abbey’s right, they’re not soldiers. They’re wives, mothers, sons, just normal folk.”

  Zach sat down in a chair. “Look. They hit a number of our prime manufacturing factories and grain stores earlier. The dam is still weeks away from being online and the camps got maybe a few months worth of extra food supplies left. We can’t just sit here and let them keep chipping away at us, but we can’t go all out and attack them, because that’s exactly what they want us to do. We could take a few squads in there, and do what damage we can, but we know next to nothing about what’s in Atlanta. We have one advantage that we think they don’t have yet, and that’s…”

  “Us,” interrupted Abbey.

  Zach nodded. “That’s what tips the scales in our favour.”

  “How do we get the E.L.F’s to Atlanta?” said Fiona.

  “Unless commanded otherwise, the E.L.F’s seem attracted to…Cascaders,” it was the first time Zach had used the term, and it stuck in his throat a little. “We just pickup whatever we can on the way to Atlanta, then send them in to attack. While they are distracted, a second squad slips in and takes out their leader, the Geneva guy.”

  A silence fell upon the room.

  Abbey looked up. “Okay, I’ll talk to some of the others and see who’s in.”

  Zach looked concerned. “No, Abbey it’s too dangerous, you’re still recovering.”

  “Zach, if you want anyone to come on this mission, I need to be the one to approach the others.”

  Zach shook his head even though he knew she was right.

  CHAPTER 37

  Fiona sat with Cal in the front of the Humvee. “This is going to be the last one,” he looked at her. “I’m done after this. Whether we kill that fucker or not, I’m done. I’ve hardly seen Steph at all over the past few weeks,” her voice tightened. “If you want to carry on, I understand, but I can’t do this anymore.”

  Cal put his hand on hers and smiled. “Then this is my last one too.”

  The convoy of one light tank with a compliment of soldiers, two Humvee’s, one with a turret gun, and two army supply trucks sat just behind the east gate, in the bright morning sun.

  Michael, Dr. Chapman and Abbey sat in the back of the first truck looking around at the twelve other Cascaders. She could feel how anxious most were. They signed on because she made a compelling case that their abilities were needed, like the time on the wall to push back the E.L.F’s, but this time she wasn’t sure they were doing the right thing and she couldn’t allow them to know her doubt.

  An older teen sat with his knee bouncing up and down. “Wyatt, why don’t you come and help me with the supplies,” Abbey smiled at the others, and she and Wyatt jumped down, onto the slush covered road. “You can leave your backpack here.”

  “Oh…right, sure,” Wyatt handed his pack to the others inside. “How can I help?”

  They walked to the back of the other truck, which was filled with supplies, ammo and explosives. Abbey noticed Wyatt was looking even more anxious.

  “Ha, no, don’t worry you don’t have to do anything with those. I just wanted a chance to talk to you before we left.”

  Wyatt nodded nervously.

  “Are you sure you want to go on this mission? Because it is a mission, it’s not a comfortable journey outside the walls and then back by nightfall. You’re going to have to use your abilities against people.”

  “I…I know, and I want to play my part.”

  “Good. Stick with the others, and just follow what the commanding officers tell you to do and you’ll be fine, okay?” she smiled, and he nervously did the same, and then walked back to join the others in the other truck. If it was any other situation she wouldn’t have taken an eighteen year old along on a mission like this, but she had reports from a lot of people from the battle on the wall, that he was particularly gifted with his abilities and controlling E.L.F’s and that’s what they needed. Even so, she had already asked Cal, Zach and the others to keep an eye on him.

  Michael walked up to her, with Zach and Bass just behind.

  “How’s everyone looking, are they all set to go? They know what they need to do?” Zach said to Abbey and Michael.

  “Wyatt was looking a bit nervous so I had a quick talk with him, but he’s now ready. The others are good.”

  Zach looked at Michael. “You’re clear on your role?”

  “Totally. If any of them sense anything funky, they let me know and I let you know and then you tell me what you want them to do…I think.”

  Zach smiled. “That’s exactly it.”

  Fiona and Cal joined them.

  “Let’s do a quick run through while everyones here,” said Zach getting out an old map of the southern states. “Today we do an eight hour journey to Jackson, and we camp down at the pharmacy we stayed in last time. That’s a good base of operations moving forward, and it should be too far still from Atlanta for any of their patrols to spot us. We will be leaving the light tank there, and it will act as a relay for our communications back to the camp if needed. We then move forward to Atlanta and establish a fall back location on the outskirts of city. Then we put the plan into affect. Everyone clear on that?” each person nodded. “Today is about, get to Jackson and even though I have a hard time believing I’m saying this, picking up any E.L.F’s we can along the way. With a truck full of people with abilities I’m hoping that goes without any problems but stay prepared regardless and there’s always a chance Geneva’s people might have metal birds in the sky, and either spot us and relay back that we’re on the way or attack us. Central operations has had drones in the sky for the last few hours and they say apart from normal E.L.F activity there’s no sign of the Hell Fire gang for a few hours drive to our east. Right, let’s get going.”

  Fiona hugged Zach which he wasn’t expecting and then Bass, and Abbey did the same to Cal and Bass. Soon, Fiona, Cal and two other soldiers were in the first Humvee, with Zach, Abbey, Sam, Isaiah and corporal Gregg’s on the gun in the second Humvee. Bass as with the last journey to Atlanta was the tank commander.

  The sun glinted off the large steel gate as it slowly slid to the side, making the ground shake as it did and revealing a few rotting bodies of E.L.F’s. The road ahead was covered in frost and a light scattering of snow, but was clear.

  As they pulled out, Wyatt looked around the eleven others. Each was well wrapped in winter clothing. Of the elderly siblings, Gerik was busily talking to Ashley the ex-florist, while his sister was quietly sitting lost in her own thoughts. Evan, who was a former construction foreman in his fifties was talking to Sara the librarian who looked younger than her late twenties suggested, but most of the others were keeping to themselves.

  Mo landed on the back of Abbey’s Humvee, just behind the gun turret and made Gregg’s jump. “What the h…” Mo flapped his wings a few times, hissed and then settled down. Gregg’s swallowed in relief. “Never going to get used to this,” she said under
her breath.

  An hour before they set off, Abbey gave a few chocolate cookies to all the non-cascaders, and got each person to approach her monkey bird hybrid pet and give him a cookie. Abbey was standing next to them, and Mo took the gift enthusiastically. She wasn’t sure if it was enough to get Mo to trust her friends, but hopefully it meant he wouldn’t actively be aggressive towards them. Zach suggested that maybe Mo should be left behind, tied up with a few hundred yards of rope and as much scraps of food as they could find, but she wasn’t having any of it. She knew this would be a dangerous trip, but she couldn’t help but feel that it would be more dangerous without her new friend watching from high above.

  Bass informed Zach that it was looking good ahead, and they were soon making good progress on the highway east.

  Abbey looked at the small trees with frost covered leaves and thought of Brad, and what might of happened in Roswell. “I’m sure he’s alive, he will be too useful to Geneva to kill.”

  Zach looked at Abbey. He didn’t have much hope Brad was still breathing. “We don’t know what’s in Geneva’s mind, other than he’s another madman like Tinley. I just don’t want you to get your hopes up. He might be alive, but the chances are he’s not.”

  Abbey didn’t want to hear what Zach was saying, and looked away. “I know.”

  They were soon traveling through a part of the highway with lots of abandoned vehicles, and beyond were numerous homes and businesses of a small city. Wyatt, Abbey and Cal felt something at the same time.

  “You’re sensing something?” said Fiona while driving, to Cal.

  He clicked on his radio. “There’s a group of E.L.F’s about six miles to our south, and some to our north. The way they are moving I would say they are in the air above us. Over.”

  In the other Humvee Abbey was already looking at the skies.

  “Can you see them?” said Zach.

  “No, but they’re up there, they must already know we’re here.”

  Zach clicked on the radio. “Convoy we need to stop. Bass, keep yourself and your men inside. Over.”

  They quickly pulled up, and Abbey jumped out and ran to the back of the truck. “Are you all ready?”

  Most replied they were, and they all jumped down from the back.

  “Okay let’s all join hands, maybe that will help.”

  Standing in a small circle, their hands reached out to each other, as large shadows suddenly swept over them. Abbey could sense Mo’s anxiety, but couldn’t let herself be distracted.

  “Okay I want you all to find the creatures that are flying above us in your minds. Reach out to them, and make them feel welcome.”

  “Hippy dippy bullshit,” said Evan quietly, but closed his eyes nonetheless.

  Michael peered tentatively out the back of the truck upwards at the large flying creatures circling above the convoy, they were easy to spot against the bright blue patches and white clouds. One of them suddenly broke formation and dived down towards the group holding hands that were just yards from him. He raised his gun, but the creature swooped and then hovered looking downwards, it then flew back up.

  Most in the group could feel the updraft from the creatures wings as it passed close by.

  “I’m not sure if I like this…” said Wyatt.

  “Just keep concentrating, and we’ll be fine,” said Abbey looking upwards. The E.L.F’s flying above them looked very similar to Mo. She then realised that Mo wasn’t on the back of the Humvee anymore but was flying high above with the others of his ilk. She smiled. “Okay we can stop.” They all let go. “Everyone look up.”

  They did, and saw some of the creatures hovering while others swooped and landed close to the convoy.

  “Well damn,” said Evan.

  “I’ll make a believer out of you yet,” said Abbey smiling. She then slowly approached one of the creatures. It was three times the size of Mo. As she got within around fifteen feet of it, it opened it’s wings. Abbey was momentarily stopped by the impressiveness of the creatures fifty foot wingspan, but as she moved forward, the creature brought it’s wings back in and kept dipping it’s head and making mild noises. Everyone in the convoy watched frozen. Zach had his rifle pointed squarely at the creatures head.

  Mo swooped and landed ten feet away from Abbey, and started flapping his wings and hopping on the spot.

  Abbey smiled and put her hands up slowly. “It’s okay, Mo,” she then reached into her pocket and pulled out a cookie, and held it out to the larger creature. The adult Simivem reached out slowly at first, then snatched the cookie and sniffed it. It then started crunching it within it’s sharp looking teeth. The huge feathered creature then chirped and took off causing Abbey’s hair along with sticks and the grass to lift upwards, until the creature was circling above. Mo, chirped as well and hopped closer to Abbey.

  Zach walked up to her. “That was one of the damnedest things I’ve seen and I’ve seen some strange things over the past few months.”

  Abbey forced a smiled and walked past Zach back to the others. “Hopefully they will now follow us.”

  Everyone got back into their vehicles and they were soon passing out of the city and back to the wintry fields and trees.

  Wyatt smiled excitedly. “I can feel them.”

  “We all can kid,” said Evan.

  “That was so cool what we did and then with what happened with Abbey and the large one. I wonder if that was the pack leader or something,” he turned to Michael. “You must be used to that kind of thing?”

  “Hmm, no, not really.”

  “Leave the soldier alone, he’s got better things to be doing, like covering our asses,” said Evan.

  “It’s cool,“ said Michael. “Abbey and Cal only knew what they could do recently, like all of you, so this is new to all of us.”

  Wyatt smiled with the excitement of a kid who had discovered a new toy.

  CHAPTER 38

  The dark haired middle-aged woman screamed, as more pieces of broken wood were thrown onto the heap.

  “I don’t know why that creature was near me!” she pleaded as the procession of men and women each one with a piece of wood, walked slowly and solemnly forward to play their part.

  “You have to listen to me. I’m not like those freaks! I hate the creatures as much as you do!”

  Geneva stepped forward onto the balcony. The crowd fell silent, while the women struggled against the chains that bound her to the wooden post.

  “Friends!” he raised his hands. “Alice should have our pity…she did not choose to be changed by the Cascade, to become…one of the fallen. You see her now, how she pleads for her life. But know it’s an illusion, inside she is laughing at all of us, because of how she existed amongst us, without any of us knowing her true self!”

  The woman looked up, her eyes wide. “No, please Geneva, I beg you, I’m not what you think I am. That…that creature it was just there, I wasn’t controlling it…I.”

  “Do you hear? Do you here how she deceives us even now?” some of the crowd shouted for her to be burnt. “Yes, I hear you my friends, shout loud and proud, what do you want us to do with her? With this inhuman thing?”

  “Burn! Burn! Burn!” rang out around the concrete steps and brick facades.

  Geneva looked down to a hooded man close to the mound of wood and bound struggling woman and nodded. The man, then dowsed the wood with gasoline, lit a small torch and threw it onto the wet pieces of wood. All throughout the woman did not stop her pleading, but as the flames took off, her words aim switched from Geneva to God.

  The crowd fell silent, and the woman’s cries bounced off the walls of the enclosed space. Geneva placed his hands on the railings and stared as the woman suffered. The door behind him opened, and Clovis came out, leaning close to Geneva so as to be heard over the woman’s screams.

  “They have left.”

  Geneva turned, acknowledged and returned his gaze to the burning woman on the stake.

  CHAPTER 39

  After
two hours the convoy moved through Jacksonville and the height and thickness of the trees around them increased. The limited blue sky which they all enjoyed earlier had now been eclipsed with gray and light rain started to fall.

  Abbey felt the silence in the cabin. “Sam, how’s the bar doing?” as he was replying, she felt a rush of tingling. “Sorry, but there’s E.L.F’s, maybe five coming towards us fast.”

  Zach clicked on the radio and the convoy stopped. “Which direction?”

  “Hmm from behind the tree’s to our right.”

  “E.L.F’s on our right, from the south. Over.”

  Abbey got out, and Zach sighed. Each encounter with the creatures, wasn’t getting any easier for him.

  She stood on the highway and tried to see through the bushes and trees but they were too thick to see more than a few yards into them. Cal walked up to her, followed by the others from the truck.

  “They will be here soon,” said Cal.

  Evan stepped forward looking fed up. “Do we need to hold h…” before he could finish a creature which looked like a sabre-toothed tiger but larger and with a row of fins down it’s back sprung out from the trees and ran straight towards Evan who stood transfixed by what was coming at him.

  “Evan, concentrate, you got this,” shouted Abbey.

  The creature kept coming, bounding over the bushes and snarling.

  “I can’t, I can’t think…”

  “Fuck,” said Zach, aiming at the head of the creature. This is going to be close.

  Abbey closed her eyes, and felt the creature rushing towards Evan. She let her consciousness expand outwards to greet the creature, and then she opened her eyes.

  The creature slammed into Evan, knocking him off his feet and into the side of the Humvee, everyone else ran for cover. Abbey stood, shocked. “What? I don’t understand.”