Frozen Flesh

by A J Donovan

  Jade’s knuckles are white on the steering wheel. I put a hand on her shoulder. “Don’t worry. We’ll be fine. No matter what happens, I’m stronger than anything they have.”

  She nods. “I hope you’re right.”

  I sit back in my seat, taken off guard. She’s right. We have no guarantee that I am the strongest Unturned out here. For that matter, we don’t know what kind of weapons they could have, or what kind of other twisted monsters we could encounter in this new world. The beasts are bad enough, but what if they’re not the only creatures we need to worry about?

  We roll to a stop twenty feet from the front gate. Karen steps out of her vehicle, as planned. She volunteered to go first because she knew several army medics in this area before the Outbreak. She thinks at least a few of them will be here. We were going to send some of the soldiers first, but someone suggested that this camp might have already heard about the massacre at Camp Turk. They might not react well if they think we were involved in causing all that death.

  I reach for my power and form an invisible shield in front of Karen as she walks up to the gates. I doubt they would shoot strangers on sight but it never hurts to be overly cautious. She approaches the gates with her hands held up.

  “I’m a doctor. My name is Karen Raine. I have colleagues in this camp. Can we come in?”

  The guards speak to each other quietly and then one of them disappears behind the walls. He is probably going to tell whoever is in charge. I doubt these two men have the authority to let such a huge group of newcomers come inside the settlement.

  We wait in tense silence for a few minutes and then the man reappears for a moment. He says something to the other man and then they both disappear behind the walls.

  Karen looks back at us, unsure of what to do now. Are they coming back? I am about to get out of the car and join her when the gates start to open. I have no idea what’s going on, so I expand my shield to cover both of the lead vehicles as well as Karen.

  Half a dozen men in army fatigues come outside and raise their weapons, standing in a line between us and the open gate.

  A tall man with a dark blonde buzz cut strides out from the settlement and walks between the men, coming to a stop just in front of Karen.

  He walks with authority, a man who is used to giving orders and having them followed. His eyes are just as cold as I remember.

  I step out of the car. My throat is dry.

  “Dad?”

  Chapter 29 - Her Best

  Jennifer

  “Jennifer.”

  The blonde woman turns from the screens covering the wall in front of her. Dr Emil Haddad walks into the communications room and glances at the wall briefly. “You’ve been spending too much time in here. It’s not healthy.”

  They all say the same thing. Some are being compassionate, trying to help her, others think she is incapable of handling such an intense workload. The one thing they all have in common is that they think they know better than she does.

  Jennifer is flawless in her composure, her mask never falters. She gives the doctor a brilliant smile and charms and reassures him, and within minutes he’s leaving the room again with an entirely different view on things. It is as easy as it has always been.

  Then she turns back to the wall and lets the mask fall away.

  “They’re coming for you,” she murmurs. “Those trigger happy idiots. But which of you will they reach first?”

  She sighs, screaming internally at how little control she has over the actions of military men with ego problems and too much firepower. She lets herself feel for a moment, then she reigns in her emotions and reminds herself of who she is. If she can’t stop them, she’ll do her best to slow them down. And her best has never let her down before.

  Jennifer walks from the room with confidence in her step and smiles as a plan starts to form in her mind.

  Chapter 30 - Hailstorm

  Jake

  I finally wake up in a car. The light outside is different, I think it’s been hours since I was knocked unconscious. By him.

  Betty looks at me and gives me a smile, but I can feel how sad she is. Molly is in the car with us. I don’t need a psychic link to know that she’s angry.

  “What happened?” I ask them.

  “We got out of there,” Betty says. “We managed to sneak out without anyone noticing.”

  Molly scoffs. “You make it sound easy.” She looks at me. “Betty had to mess with the guards’ minds so they wouldn’t notice us leaving. It wasn’t easy, dragging you through the house and outside to the car.”

  I stare out the window. “What will we do now?”

  “I don’t know,” Molly says. “But I know what we won’t do. We won’t carry you anywhere ever again. You weigh a ton.”

  “We’re following the radio signals,” Betty says, ignoring Molly. “The military camp isn’t far away and Reggie could be sending people after us as we speak. The broadcast promised shelter and supplies. We are in desperate need of both of those.”

  Several minutes pass in silence while I try to accept what happened. I can’t believe it. I can’t believe he would do that.

  “I can drive for a while,” I say. “If you want a break.”

  Betty glances at me. “Thank you for the offer, but no. I don’t think you should drive while you are so angry.”

  “I’m not angry.”

  “Aren’t you?”

  She is right, of course. I’m furious. I want to rip those traitors apart with my bare hands.

  “Diana?”

  Betty looks at me again and I can see the pity in her eyes. It just makes me more angry. “She’s alive.”

  I sigh. “I know. I mean, I hoped. I didn’t even think about the possibility that she was...”

  My mouth fails to form any more words when I realise that Diana could have been killed. I can’t imagine this world without her in it.

  “She’s a fighter,” Molly says. “She’ll survive this.”

  My hands curl into fists and I take a deep breath to steady my furious thoughts. “But they have her. She didn’t escape with us.”

  “Yes, they have her.”

  My rage spikes again. “I’ll kill him. I’ll kill all of them.”

  Betty sighs. “I understand your anger, Jake, but we can’t go back there today. We need time to regroup.”

  Rage flares up in my chest. “Diana is in danger! Right now, at this very moment, she could be hurt, or worse.”

  “They won’t hurt her,” Betty says.

  “You can’t know that for sure,” I snap.

  Betty remains calm and keeps her eyes on the road. “Most of Reggie’s men have divided loyalties. While it is true that they follow him, they also see Diana as one of their own. If he killed her, it would be like killing one of them. He knows that keeping her alive is dangerous, but killing her will guarantee that they will never follow him again. If he is willing to kill one of them, he is willing to kill all of them.” She takes a breath. “That’s how they will see it.”

  “She’s right,” Molly says. “Reggie wouldn’t risk losing his leadership. Besides, he could use her as a hostage, if you show up again. He can’t use her against you if she’s dead.”

  While I believe that Betty’s words are true, it is Molly who calms me down. Of course Reggie would want to use her as a hostage. He won’t kill her.

  “Alright, but we still need to get back there as soon as possible,” I say. “She might be safe for now but who knows what he’s doing with everyone else. There are more than a few people who won’t be happy to follow him anymore. What about them?”

  “I agree,” Betty says. “But we should wait. The military will help us when they hear what happened. They could support us and send soldiers with us when we go back.”

  I sigh. “Fine. Let’s get to the military camp and then we can plan our next move.

  “Thank you for understanding.”

  I pause for a moment, thinking about our chances of gettin
g help from the soldiers. “If they won’t help us, I’m still going back by myself.”

  “Not by yourself,” Betty says. “I will be with you. Those people are my family, too, and Reggie needs to face justice for what he did.”

  “I’ll come with you,” Molly says. “But she’s right, Jake. If we can get help, we should. It’s the smart move.”

  I nod. We need to play it smart, especially now.

  We don’t have the luxury of making any more mistakes.

  ***

  We keep driving for several hours. Betty insists on taking turns driving even though I am not tired and offered to drive through the night.

  Betty is trying to be kind, but I can tell she is tired. We have all been through a lot recently and I’m sure the possibility of finally finding her grandson is weighing on her mind.

  I let Betty take the wheel as dawn breaks. Molly calls shotgun and I lie down in the back, eager to get some rest.

  “I’m going to scan the channels for more broadcasts,” Molly announces. I grunt a reply and let Betty take over the conversation.

  I slip in and out of sleep for a few hours. Molly is relentless in her search for more broadcasts, but she only finds the same one again and again. The military camp is calling for survivors. There’s nothing else out there. Or, at least, there’s nothing close enough for the radio to pick up.

  “I’ll take over driving in a few minutes,” I say, still lying down in the backseat. The roof of the car is a dull grey and the windows show me nothing but the pale morning sky.

  “Take your time,” Betty replies, but almost immediately she gasps. “Someone is nearby. They’re close. Too close. I don’t know how they snuck up on me, it should be impossible-”

  I sit up quickly and lean forward between the seats, looking around outside for signs of whoever it is. “Who is it, Betty? Are we in danger?”

  “I have no idea,” she says. Her words come quickly and her voice is shaking. “I don’t like this. They must have hidden themselves from me, but how could they know about my abilities?”

  “Reggie could have found a new Unturned since we left,” Molly suggests. “Told them about your powers.”

  “It hasn’t even been a full day yet,” I say. “That’s not enough time to find and train someone and catch up with us too.” I reach out with my mind and immediately feel several unfamiliar minds nearby. I can’t tell who they are or what they want but I know they’re close.

  “They’re clustered to our right,” I say.

  “And there are a few on our left,” Betty says. “They are surrounding us, I believe. Their emotions are calm but I think they plan to use violence.”

  “An ambush,” Molly says.

  “Focus on driving, I’ll take care of this,” I tell Betty.

  The words are barely out of my mouth before I glimpse something out of the corner of my eye. The projectile rushing towards us is big and metal, probably some kind of explosive device.

  “Brace yourselves!” I yell, throwing my fist against the door. Ice flows from my fist and encases the side of the car in the few seconds it takes for the rocket to close the distance between us.

  The force of the blast flips the car.

  The world starts spinning. Weightlessness makes me feel like I’m floating and the spinning sends my stomach into knots. The combination of both sensations overwhelm and I force myself to ignore the rising nausea. I grab onto the backs of the seats in front of me to brace myself for the crash.

  I hope Betty and Molly are wearing their seatbelts.

  I don’t know which way is up or down but it doesn’t matter. We hit the ground hard and the impact with the ground hurls me into one of the walls. My head cracks against metal and pain spikes through my shoulder and ribs.

  ***

  I try to move my head to check myself for injuries but I can’t get my body to respond. I am lying against the door, I think. The car must be on its side. Or maybe I’m on the roof.

  Jake. They’re coming.

  Betty’s voice is weak. She sounds like she’s in pain.

  “Where are you?” I rasp. I manage to turn my head and see them strapped into the front seats. Airbags deployed at some point during the crash. Hopefully they helped to cushion the impact. “Are you hurt?”

  “Nothing serious,” Betty says. “Though I won’t be moving any time soon. Molly?”

  “I’m fine.” Molly sounds better than Betty, but not by much.

  “They’re almost here, Jake,” Betty says urgently. “You need to do something.”

  “I can barely move,” I say.

  Molly twists around to glare at me. “Use your power, you idiot.”

  She’s right, of course. I reach for my power and it responds eagerly, filling me and spreading cold relief through my aching body. Strength follows the cold and I take a deep breath. Time to move.

  I kick at the glass above me. It shatters and rains down onto me. I brush it off and twist around until I can get my feet under me. It should be difficult to climb out of the car when it is lying on its side like this but power is flowing through me. I jump up and climb onto the outside of the car.

  There are almost a dozen people approaching us, all dressed in some kind of black uniform.

  “Fire!”

  I ignore their weapons and thrust out a bloody hand. A wave of frost hurtles towards them, picking up speed and strength as it goes. A few of them jump out of the way but most are thrown off their feet and tossed several feet before they hit the ground again.

  I use both hands to throw out another, bigger wave. It knocks back the remaining attackers and the ones still trying to get back to their feet. I take advantage of their moment of incapacitation and rip the front door off the car. Molly is closest to me and I slash the belt with an icicle before pulling her out of the car.

  She hops off the vehicle and down to the ground. Within moments, several birds and smaller animals rush out of the trees. Our attackers are already back on their feet and they divide their attention evenly between us and the animals. Half of them aim at us and the others turn to the animals. They work well under pressure, they aren’t surprised by any of our abilities, and their weapons are top grade.

  These aren’t Reggie’s men.

  Anger rushes through me. I don’t have time to figure out who these people are or why they want to hurt us. I need to get Betty out and check that she’s alright.

  I send another wave of frost at them but this time I sharpen my thoughts and chunks of ice form within the wave. The ice is sharp and heavy and lethal.

  When the mist clears, none of them are left standing.

  Molly looks up at me with wide eyes. “That was a bit extreme.”

  I ignore her. “Keep an eye out for more of them. I’m getting Betty out.”

  I scan our surroundings to make sure no one else is nearby. My gut tells me that this isn’t over yet but I can’t see anyone else.

  I turn to climb back into the car and notice the huge lake for the first time. The explosion flipped the car over a line of trees and we landed right next to the water. If we went much further, we could have ended up underwater.

  I grit my teeth when I realise how close we are to the military settlement. It has to be somewhere on this lake. If we had managed to avoid them for another few hours, we would have been safe.

  Betty is breathing hard but she forces a smile for me when I climb down into the car. I don’t think I have ever seen her look so frail. She always has so much energy, it’s easy to forget how old she is.

  I cut the airbag to get it out of the way and then cut the seatbelt off her.

  “Hold onto me,” I say. “This might hurt.”

  She nods and lets me lift her out of the seat. Trying to climb back up and outside would be impossible without possibly hurting her even more. I touch the windshield and ice spreads across it. Once it is covered in frost, I push at it and it shatters. We step through and I set her on her feet again.

  “Can you stan
d?”

  “Yes, I think so.” She leans heavily against the metal frame of the car. With all the damage and the missing windshield, it looks like it was involved in a high speed crash. I suppose the truth isn’t far off.

  “Helicopter!”

  We spin around to find Molly pointing towards the trees. A helicopter is hovering over the forest, less than thirty feet away from us. I can’t believe we didn’t hear it coming. It must be the shock from the crash that is disorienting us. I frown as another idea comes to me. It could be the work of the Unturned that blocked Betty’s senses. I wonder what kind of power could hide whole groups of people and a huge, noisy helicopter.

  I prepare to throw a shield in front of us but it soars overhead and flies over the water, turning around and coming back towards us.

  “It changed directions for some reason,” I say. “Keep an eye on the forest behind us. They could be coming at us from both sides.”

  “Reggie doesn’t have a helicopter,” Betty says.

  I ignore her. “Molly, protect Betty. I’ll deal with them.”

  Turrets mounted on either side of the helicopter swivel towards us and start firing. I throw up a shield and pour power into it, increasing its strength beyond normal ice. Bullets crack against it and I focus, thickening the wall until the bullets have no chance of getting through.

  The ground around us is torn and shredded by the spray of bullets. Molly and Betty stay close behind me. My vision flips so I can see through the ice, the water in the shape of five people hangs in the air on the other side of the shield. Then the five of them shift and move and start rushing to the left.

  The machine flies over the road and flanks us, coming around to our left, behind the shield. They’re too close, I won’t have time to throw up another ice wall. The nearest turret swivels towards us. I don’t want to kill them but I don’t have a choice. I prepare to throw a wave of ice at them but a screech pierces the air and a hawk soars overhead.

  Talons claw at the face of the man on the turret and he cries out, swinging blindly and sending the turret spinning. The bullets just miss us.