The Phoenix Trilogy (Book 1): World On Fire

by Scottie, Charles

  “Painkillers are a big deal, you know. Hard to come by.” Natalie’s whisper held the unspoken threat to take away his medication, and Thomas reacted exactly as Natalie had hoped. His shaking worsened, and the panic was apparent. Natalie feigned thoughtfulness, before shaking her head.

  “I’ll make you a deal. You tell me where you got those and how, I’ll let you keep them.” Natalie’s offer should seem innocent enough to Thomas, being a possible avenue for the military to scavenge supplies, but she was aiming more to learn about his recent past than anything else. If she had guessed correctly, he had nabbed the pills to help his burns, and that meant whatever he might have to tell her would have taken place in the last few days. Thomas swallowed hard, fear plain on his face, but after a moment he nodded his head.

  “When I got burned, my old group left me behind. I was in too much pain to do anything, and I kept screaming, so they grabbed all my supplies and took off without me.” Thomas was trying to keep his voice low and his attention on Natalie, frequently stumbling over his own feet in the process. Natalie opted to help him move, sliding next to him and taking one of his arms over her shoulders to give him some stability. Thomas winced, but did his best to offer a grateful smile before continuing his tale.

  “They found me where I had been left, the… the others. They heard me scraping around by myself. I was basically senseless, but they helped me anyway. The painkillers were from them. I know that doesn’t help you any, but it’s the truth. I didn’t have anything, up until a little while ago.” Thomas sniffed, tears welling up in his eyes again. “They were good people. I should have helped.”

  Natalie nodded along to his story, her face sympathetic to his pain. Internally, she was conflicted. She believed him, but that didn’t mean he was telling the truth. He could be acting, and maybe she was eating it all up. But, if he was being honest, then that meant he probably didn’t know much about his new companions.

  “Tell me about them, Thomas. They sound nice.” It was the best attempt at soothing that Natalie could muster, and it seemed to be enough for the wounded man. Sniffling again, he bobbed his head, whimpering briefly as his tears reached the burns on his face.

  “They were all friendly, but I only really talked to a couple of them. Alison took care of me, along with Kean and Mars. They were brothers.” A faint smile crept onto Thomas’ face before being swept away, the action causing him obvious pain.

  Natalie retrieved the pills from his pocket, popping the lid and gently offering Thomas one before returning the bottle to his coat. She was certain that Marco saw her, but as Thomas hid his face to swallow the medication, she flashed the suspicious cousin a wink. The way he smirked back at her made her feel dirty, but she knew he wouldn’t interrupt her now.

  “Those three were the best. They were the only ones who weren’t concerned about me being hurt. They never worried about anything, not even the zombies. Always happy, always positive. They were so sure we were going to make it to the military’s camp together.” Whatever memory Thomas was reliving brought out another smile, and he did his best to stifle a whimper. The medication was going to take a while to kick in, and until then even simple expressions were a mistake.

  The thought of someone who was always carefree, especially in the situation they found themselves in, was something that raised a red flag. Unfortunately, Natalie didn’t have a chance to deduce if her suspicions were well-founded or simply pessimistic; the camp had come into sight ahead, and the time for questions was drawing to a close.

  Briefly, Natalie pondered trying to dig out just a little bit more before they were inside, but there were pressing matters to attend to first. Namely, how they were going to handle the next several minutes of conversing with the guards.

  Rather than allowing Thomas to continue on with his story, Natalie raised a hand for him to stop. In keeping with her false image, she softened her features in a compassionate show of support, silently willing him to rest. While he returned her kind gesture with a sigh of appreciation, Natalie drifted back to the problems ahead.

  Knowing that there was a new threat out in the world was all fine and well, but they possessed no immediate proof of the fact. Electricity was a precious commodity, and without it, Natalie had no means of photography for visual evidence. The only proof they had was the word of a seriously injured stranger, backed up by further testimony from a group of people that had already been reprimanded for falling out of line. It wasn’t exactly the best situation they could have hoped for.

  While BJ exchanged orders with the guards in charge, Natalie took a minute to carefully observe the wall itself. When she had first arrived, it had been dark and she had been under a great deal of stress. With all of the work at the medical ward keeping her busy throughout her stay, this was the first time she had been given an opportunity to study the fortifications up close.

  By and large, it appeared to be a patchwork of metal paneling and concrete woven together and then secured into the buildings on either side of the street. Any material that could suit the purpose was used, save for the gate itself, which was comprised of two heavily reinforced metal doors.

  Heaving the metal slabs open was a process, and they were manually operated by a group of three people apiece. As the formidable doorway was opened to her, Natalie noticed an additional series of three deadbolts designed to lock the metal into the ground, each needing to be hand-released before the door would move even an inch. Re-entering the outpost, Natalie felt a small wisp of relief; this place was built to take a hit.

  Looming above them now, the soldiers stationed at the top of the gate didn’t appear to show any concern over BJ’s quick return as the crew approached the security checkpoint. Natalie couldn’t tell, but she estimated they had only been gone for an hour at most, which she would have thought to be strange, if not worrisome. Instead, everyone looked as disinterested as usual, a fact that seemed to back up BJ’s claims that the military was growing lax. That attitude changed when BJ met with the security officer.

  There was no dramatic outburst, no passionate call-to-arms; BJ shook hands with the woman, who was obviously familiar with him, and calmly whispered something in her ear. Natalie tried to squash a feeling of grim satisfaction as the officer’s face noticeably paled. That’s a good start. Maybe we can get some support behind us after all.

  A flurry of activity erupted as the lady in charge took BJ’s words to heart, barking orders in a deluge that went completely over Natalie’s head. All around her, soldiers were readying themselves for an outing and making calls into their radios, a very confused and obviously concerned Thomas standing perfectly still in the middle of it all.

  In truth, Natalie had completely forgotten about Thomas. When two dour looking men flanked him at either side and began to pull him away, she felt a twinge of pity. He was likely being brought in for questioning, but even so, it felt like more abuse was being heaped on the man. She took solace in knowing he’d at least be able to receive decent care for his burns now that he was inside the camp, and resolved to let her feelings on the matter pass.

  Marco tapped at Natalie’s elbow and motioned for her to follow him aside. BJ and Rico were already waiting for them, though the exact specifics of what they would be doing next hadn’t been made clear to her. Once the group had gathered, BJ informed them of what lay ahead.

  “We’re being sent out with a handful of soldiers and a transport truck. Our goal is to load the digger into the back as quickly as possible, turn around, and come back home. Simple.” BJ’s face betrayed no expression, but his tone suggested he was less than pleased with this “simple” operation.

  “They insist we’re going to be free-and-clear for retrieval, but I’m not counting on it. Be ready for a fight.” There was the problem. The prospect of a new enemy was enough to get the outpost mobilized superficially, but they remained certain that the undead didn’t pose a real threat. Strange, considering the soldiers that surrounded Natalie now all seemed appropriately lee
ry of the job.

  Maybe more people agree with BJ than I thought. Hell, that’s probably why they’re forced to work in the refugee camp, instead of the inner ring. All one big game of politics in the middle of a warzone.

  Natalie and the others didn’t need to wait long before their vehicle arrived. She had expected it to be military grade, but instead, she got a ramshackle flatbed that looked like it had seen better days.

  The driver hopped out, made a snide remark about the truck just being a loan along with how he expected it to be returned immediately and free of gore, before promptly disappearing into a nearby tent. The man had clearly been capable, but Natalie couldn’t understand why he wasn’t driving the truck himself. Instead, a different young man who looked as though he had barely completed training stepped in to take his place.

  Natalie’s skin prickled. With the truck’s arrival, their fellow soldiers had collected at the back to prepare for their mission. Four recruits, not counting the driver, and not a single one of them looked remotely experienced. They had been given the bottom of the barrel to use in their outing.

  Either the outpost really was supremely confident that they wouldn’t be attacked, or they were counting on it and didn’t want to expend valuable resources. They were just going to have to make the best of it that they could. Silently, Natalie reviewed everything she knew about operating her shotgun.

  Without a word, BJ squeezed into the passenger’s seat at the front, refusing to show any hint of his feelings on the matter. Rico and Marco accompanied Natalie to the back, and while Rico was trying to follow BJ’s silent lead, Marco spoke as plainly as ever.

  “Fucking newbies. We tell them about a monster that could probably rip this place apart, and they send rookies to bring it back. Do they think this is a joke?” For the first time she could remember, Natalie was in complete agreement with the man. Rico remained quiet, jumping onto the back alongside the other recruits and offering a hand for her to do the same.

  Once they were in position, the gates were open and their short ride began. In sync with one another, Marco and Rico put on their protective gear and turned their sound dampening headgear on, clearly preparing for a gunfight. Natalie followed suit, noticing dully that she had begun to sweat.

  The truck was unreasonably loud in the empty streets, and it was rattling Natalie’s nerves to the core. This was different from anything else she’d done before. All of the careful, tactical approaches she had seen and used, that had kept her alive, were out the window. Instead, they’d been replaced with something as far in the opposite spectrum as could be possible. Feeling similarly anxious, Rico quietly ordered the others to be prepared, and soon the truck was filled with an air of tense readiness.

  Our destination is close by. We’ll get out, load the body, get back in and go home. Ten minutes, tops. Just keep your cool, Natalie. Stay calm. It became a mantra in her head, her eyes darting constantly from building to building, always waiting for the sudden burst of screaming dead that she had become so familiar with.

  Instead, they came to a sudden halt, and Natalie heard a loud curse from the driver’s cab. It was BJ, but the cause of his frustration was unclear. From what she could see, they had arrived, but the sound coming from the front of the vehicle told her that something had gone wrong.

  In unison, both Natalie and Marco jumped off of the back and into the street, followed quickly by the rest of their team. With her shotgun pressed deep into her shoulder, she swung around the side of the transport to get a better view of their target.

  Natalie understood why BJ had been upset now, and a flood of rage welled up inside of her to match. The building was gone. Where there had been a giant corpse in the middle of a smashed in store, now there was only rubble. Both neighboring buildings had collapsed inward toward where the tunnel had been, completely burying it under tons of brick.

  That’s impossible. Natalie was so dumbfounded that she barely registered BJ standing beside her now. This time he was making no attempt to hide the anger he was feeling. One of the new soldiers opened their mouth to say something, but a piercing glare from the furious veteran was enough to silence any complaint.

  “...the fuck is this? No, no fucking way, this place was standing not even a half hour ago. We were just here! We were just fucking here!” Again, Marco was saying exactly what Natalie was thinking. They had been here. This was the place, and they had been standing inside minutes prior. How? How did this happen? We were here twenty minutes ago, and somehow the whole place just falls apart? Bullshit. This is bullshit.

  “Somebody’s setting us up.” Now Rico had joined them at the front of the party, all four members of the crew shaking their heads in disbelief. A far off thought told Natalie that he shouldn’t be discussing things like that in front of the other soldiers, but she couldn’t deny that she agreed with him. Someone did this, and they timed it on purpose.

  “So this was a waste of time, then? That’s what you’re saying?” A murmur of agreement rippled from the company behind them. Natalie didn’t know who had said it, and she didn’t care. Did they know about this? Was it the outpost that covered all of this up, or somebody else?

  “Alright everybody, back in the truck. Even if there is something underneath all that, we don’t have time to go digging it up. Maybe the captain will send a crew out here for you guys.” It was the driver speaking now, and everything about the dismissive tone he used infuriated Natalie. They were going back empty-handed, and any credibility they had was going to take a hit. Natalie’s jaw was clenched tight as she clambered into the back.

  The ride home was short and uneventful, though to Natalie it dragged on forever. As if salting the wound, the undead never made an appearance, further cementing the idea that BJ and the others were paranoid and not to be trusted. In less than an hour, their reputation had been all but ruined. If it had been done on purpose, she had to admit it was a masterstroke.

  The rest of the day was a blur of frustration and confusion. From the moment they left the truck, they were ignored and shuffled aside. The woman BJ had spoken to about the digger ignored his outstretched hand as he thanked her for hearing him out and apologized for wasting her time. Exiting the checkpoint and entering the outpost proper revealed that the refugees inside had heard, and even they were cold.

  It was when the woman who had been so friendly with Rico earlier openly glowered at him that Natalie felt her lowest. He had turned to Natalie and whispered, “We threatened their hope of safety at last. Worse, in their eyes, we did it for nothing.”

  Lying awake in her new cot in the barracks, Natalie steamed over that for hours. We threatened their hope. That’s what they think. Doesn’t anyone realize how unlikely it is that we just magically became safe again?

  Their team had been put on some kind of probation. Natalie wasn’t there to hear the report in person, but BJ had announced to all of them that they would be confined to the barracks until they could be “evaluated,” though he didn’t say what that meant.

  While Marco and Rico were both intermittently ashamed and bitter about what had happened, BJ looked only frustrated. Apparently, he had been put through the wringer by the same Wesley that Natalie had heard mentioned earlier that day, and that had made this whole situation worse.

  The one upside to being sidelined was the promise for combat training. Hand-to-hand fighting, as well as a much deeper understanding of her weaponry, were both slated for Natalie’s very near future. It was simultaneously something that she needed, and an excuse to blow off some excess steam.

  At the moment, however, Natalie was left to her own boiling emotions. It was time to sleep, but every time she closed her eyes, she saw the collapsed building again. She remembered the almost casual annoyance that had been directed at her from the guards and refugees after their return. Burying her head in her pillow, she took a deep breath.

  There’s nothing to be done for it. If they won’t believe that something is going on, that’s fine. We’ll just ha
ve to do everything we can to stay prepared for ourselves. Let them pay for their own damn ignorance on their own time.

  It wasn’t how Natalie truly felt, but venting was all she could do to try and quell the rage that was in her heart. It was several more hours before she finally settled down enough to rest, and even then it was fitful and uneven. In the end, Natalie fell asleep to images of violence, her hands clenched tightly into fists.

  Stephen hadn’t seen Natalie since she left to take her assignment at the medical ward, but he had heard all of the news about her joining BJ’s crew and their failed expedition. Lia’s den was filled with people grumbling about it, and though he held a cautious optimism that the world was slowly returning to its normal self, he had to admit that he trusted BJ’s judgment on the subject more.

  Resting at the table in his usual place, Stephen ran a hand through his thick brown hair and let out a flustered groan. If BJ was right, and they weren’t as safe as the guards were insisting, then the future wasn’t exactly beaming. As if perfectly on cue with his sigh, Lia chuckled in his direction.

  “Keep rubbing that head of yours and you’re going to go bald. Ask Jessie.” At the mention of his name, a middle-aged man with a nearly sparkling bare skull nodded sagely, quietly beginning to prattle on about the days of his youth. Lia smiled brightly, but faltered when she noticed Stephen’s lack of energy.

  “Hey Pavel, take over the rations for a sec, will ya? Stephen and I are going to check stocks.” Satisfied that her duties would be taken care of for the moment, Lia gestured for Stephen to join her.

  Stephen wasn’t sure what it was Lia wanted, but she had always treated him like family, and he figured the work might do him some good. At the very least it might get his mind off of the last several days, and that was a relief that Stephen sorely wanted.