Echoes of Tomorrow Season One: Episode Four (Echoes of Tomorrow: Season One Book 4)

by Douglas Wayne

  Contents

  Title

  Copyright

  Join

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Join

  More Books in the Demontouched World

  My Other Books

  Echoes of Tomorrow

  Season One

  Episode Four

  Douglas Wayne

  ECHOES OF TOMORROW

  SEASON ONE

  EPISODE FOUR

  Douglas Wayne

  Copyright © 2015 by Douglas Wayne. All rights reserved. This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, businesses, events or locales is purely coincidental. Reproduction in whole or part of this publication without express written consent is strictly prohibited.

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  Chapter One

  Mobile Alabama

  September 16, 2013

  Screams filled the air as the new arrival sent waves of fire into the nearby guardsmen who had turned their attention on the new target. The men on the outer edge that were attacking the hospital ran off, away from the flaming bodies in the middle of the parking lot.

  Tyler leaned against the side of the building, frozen in terror at the scene unfolding before his eyes. Never in his life had he watched anyone be burned alive and hoped against everything he loved that it wouldn't happen to him. He imagined the intense heat cooking his skin on the outside while boiling his intestines on the inside. The flesh on his hands and arms turned a charred black before his eyes. He screamed out while waving his arms around trying to put the fire out.

  "Tyler," Marcy said, approaching along the side of the hospital. "Tyler, it's OK."

  Tyler's vision snapped back to reality. The fire faded away to be replaced with his skin. The intense pain he'd felt moments before ceased to exist.

  "What was that?" Dan asked, following close behind Marcy. Half of his crew followed close behind, each with their eyes on the parking lot as they hugged the wall.

  "Looked like he was hallucinating," Marcy said as she stared into Tyler's eyes. They still held a look of horror, like they were having trouble adjusting to something.

  "Not that," Dan said as he pushed past Marcy to grab hold of Tyler. He lifted Tyler up against the wall with one hand while balling his other fist. "I want to know why your friend here decided to leave us hanging."

  Marcy tried to push Dan off of Tyler, but she wasn't even close to strong enough as the older man pushed her away from him with ease.

  "What's your answer, asshole?"

  Tyler looked down at Marcy, who was struggling to get back to her feet. Adrenaline coursed through his body, causing his legs and arms to tremble as his body expected a fight. "They turned their attention to the parking lot and I took my shot. Not my fault you backed away from the door when I stepped outside."

  "I have half a mind to gut you right here." Dan slammed Tyler back into the wall.

  Tyler waited until Dan relaxed his grip to make his move. He slammed his fists into the crook of Dan's arms, knocking them down then stepped into a knee to Dan's groin.

  Dan doubled over and dropped to the ground and held his crotch. His posse stepped close, looking like they were going to pounce, but stopped short of reaching their friend.

  Tyler took a few steps back with his hands held up. "I don't want any trouble. You wanted out? You're out." As much as he wanted the words to be soothing, he knew they were anything but. Sure, they were out of the hospital, but they'd been thrust into a position just as bad if not worse.

  As if to enforce a temporary truce, three guardsmen rounded the corner to join in on the assault on the man from the sky. One soldier stopped as he noticed the group standing near the wall.

  "Get back inside," he shouted while pointing at the group. "We have..."

  Before he could finish the sentence a cone of ice pierced his chest, spraying blood across the parking lot. He dropped his gun, placed a hand on the large ice filled wound, then collapsed lifelessly to the ground.

  The two remaining guardsmen turned to face off against a new foe, a woman wearing a dress the color of blood with long obsidian hair. She held a wide grin on her face as she watched the man's blood leave his body and pool on the asphalt lot.

  "There's more of them?" Dan asked as one of his crew helped him to his feet.

  Tyler, not wanting to find out if there were others, took off running around the side of the building.

  Marcy followed close behind.

  This side of the parking lot was clear of the National Guard and other attackers, leaving a clear path to the makeshift barrier on the edge of the parking lot. The pair kept close to the ground as they crossed the pavement, not wanting to draw any extra attention by either side.

  As they got close to the barrier, Tyler got a good look at the people on the other side. Women huddled with older children in small groups, each with a set of eyes on the hospital. Spread out ten feet behind the barrier, a smattering of men stood holding firearms or other makeshift weapons. The men held their position as they watched the lot, looking like they were defending the line instead of making a move on the hospital.

  It didn't surprise Tyler to see them holding the line. He wanted to be as far away from the madness he'd witnessed in the parking lot himself. But the closer they got, the more he hoped the people would see them not as aggressors but as people looking to escape.

  Wisps of black smoke floated out of the trees around the men holding the line. The smoke coalesced around the head of a man holding what looked to be a double-headed axe. The man's eyes clouded, his pupils dilated, and his irises rolled back in his head. He dropped the axe to the ground and placed his hand on his head, mouth agape in horror.

  Tyler and Marcy stopped their advance as they were no longer sure the path out was safe. Their fears were confirmed when another shot of black smoke entered the mouth of a man with a rifle.

  "What the hell is going on?" Marcy asked as she dropped to the ground.

  "I don't have a clue." Tyler grabbed Marcy's hand, helped her up, and led her to a Humvee in the middle of the lot. They moved to the side of the vehicle closest to the building not wanting to be seen. In a matter of minutes the National Guard went from being the biggest threat at the hospital to a group of people not prepared to handle the true threat from beyond the fence. Axe and Rifle leapt across the barrier joining Mr. Fire and Mrs. Ice in their assault on the guardsmen.

  As more of the black smoke filled the air, women and children on the other side of the barrier ran off into the city, leaving their belongings behind. Even with the smoke between them, Tyler wished he could be on the other side of the barrier, free to run off into the city and away from the madness instead of being out in the open.

  Gunfire rang out toward the exit that Tyler and the others had left minutes ago. Tyler couldn't help but wonder what was happening on the other side of the building. Were the guardsmen havi
ng better luck taking down the people wielding the strange powers, or were they fighting a losing battle? Had more people been infected with the smoke on the other side of the building? If so, the odds were against getting out of this place in one piece.

  With his back against the tire, Tyler peered around the front of the Humvee. Near the corner of the hospital he noticed the group of guardsmen holding Dan and his friends on the ground by gunpoint.

  "We need to move. I think the Guard is getting this under control." Tyler moved his head behind the protection of the Humvee.

  "Where?" Marcy asked.

  Tyler opened his mouth, but couldn't come up with an answer. Running back to the relative safety of the hospital wasn't a good idea. While it was safe and secure for now, he wasn't sure how much longer that would last. With every attack more and more guardsmen would go down, leaving the place with a force so small even the lightest assault could get past the barricade. While not every group of people would want to remove the current residents from the hospital, if more people like Mr. Fire and Mrs. Ice attacked there was no doubt everyone would be in danger.

  Braving the area around the barrier had its own set of issues, namely the swirling black smoke that seemed to inhabit anyone who it passed. While they seemed to be given special powers like Ice and Fire, there was no way for Tyler to know if they were still them. From the look on Axe's face, he was sure something else was in control.

  Even worse, staying where they were wasn't a good idea either, as evidenced by Dan and his crew. Even while being attacked, the guard seemed more than willing to restrain and detain anyone from inside. That was without the threat of being hit with a stray, or not so stray, bullet.

  "I say we take our chances with the smoke. Maybe we can cross there." Tyler pointed to a break in the fencing about twenty yards away.

  "What about them?" Marcy asked, talking about the unit of guardsmen standing ten yards away.

  Tyler watched the unit close. Their attention seemed to be on the black smoke circling around the other side of the wall. Each of the three aimed their weapons at the darkness, ready to fire if anyone got close to it.

  "As long as the smoke stays over there and they don't turn their attention at the gap, we should be fine."

  "I don't know," Marcy said, concerned.

  Tyler had to admit, his plan had its flaws. If the wind shifted or one of the guardsmen caught them walking out of the corner of their eye, the whole plan would be worthless. At best, they could find themselves at the mercy of the smoke. At worst, the recipient of a few rounds of automatic gunfire.

  Tyler scanned the parking lot again, looking for another way out. But other than the gap in the fence, there wasn't a reliable option. Not unless they wanted to risk getting caught by running around outside.

  As much as he wanted to help Marcy get out of the same situation, he wasn't willing to stay here a moment longer than he had to. He decided that if she didn't want to follow him to the gap in the fence she would have to find a way out on her own.

  "I'm going to make a run for it," Tyler said, offering Marcy his hand. "Coming?"

  She took in a deep breath, held it for a moment, and exhaled slowly. "OK," she said, taking his hand.

  Tyler stood up and moved around the side of the Humvee with Marcy in tow. They were halfway across the hood when he noticed a man approaching the gap in the fence.

  "Down," Tyler said, pulling Marcy to the ground.

  "Is he one of them?" she asked through panicked breaths.

  "I think so." Tyler peered around the corner to get a better look.

  Unlike the others, this man looked like he was in control of his actions. In one hand he held a sword and had a small black book in the other. He had a smooth chiseled face and a firm muscular build making him look more like a Hollywood actor than the others attacking the hospital. The only thing off about him was his choice of clothing as white was hardly the color you expected to see in the middle of a battleground.

  As the man passed, he turned his head, noticing the two of them hiding near the hood of the car. He lifted the hand with the book to his mouth, held his index finger to his lips and smiled as he passed.

  Tyler looked at Marcy, who returned his gaze. "Whose side is he on?" he asked.

  When the man shoved the pointed end of his sword through Mrs. Ice's back, he had his answer.

  Chapter Two

  Blood sprayed out of the front of Mrs. Ice's chest where the sword pierced through. She moved her hands to the blade as if searching for the source of the pain. Her head tilted back and she opened her mouth, letting out a horrific scream that filled the air. The new arrival grabbed her hair and yanked it back, pulling her body further down onto the blade before whispering something in her ear.

  "What the hell is that?" Marcy said, pointing at Mrs. Ice.

  She seized as he held her against the blade and the same black smoke that covered most of the perimeter oozed from her mouth and eyes as if it was her final breath. The smoke hovered about a foot from her face as it continued to flow from her body.

  As the last of the smoke exited, she let out one final breath. Her chest fell first, followed soon after by her limbs. The man with the sword held her there for a moment while he continued to say whatever he was saying to her. From their position, Tyler couldn't tell what he was saying to her, but he suspected it wasn't pleasant.

  When he was finished, he twisted the blade to the side allowing Mrs. Ice's lifeless body to crumple to the floor.

  The attackers on the parking lot all turned their attention to the man with the sword who prepared for their attack. At the side of the building, the guardsmen detaining Dan and his crew drew their weapons and held them up to the man with the sword.

  "He's on your side, morons," Dan said as he dusted himself off.

  The guardsmen looked at each other, not sure whether they could believe the man. But all doubts were over once they noticed Mr. Fire and the others turned their attention from the other guardsmen and onto the man with the sword.

  "Cover your ears," Tyler said to Marcy as he dragged her to the ground.

  No sooner than they were on the pavement with their hands over their ears did the guardsmen open fire on the attackers. Hunks of flesh and sprays of blood covered the parking lot in mere moments, filling the low lying areas of the pavement with gore.

  The attackers not infected by the black fog were the first to drop, often dead before their bodies hit the ground. Those infected by the fog were another matter entirely. Some of those had dropped to the ground with injuries to their lower body that made it impossible to stand, yet they continued to pelt the guardsmen with bullets even as parts of their body were ripped free by the return fire.

  Tyler couldn't believe what he was seeing. How were these people able to fight back with the same injuries that killed many of the others? What was in that wicked black mist that allowed these people with a level of damage resistance that would make a Sherman tank jealous?

  Whatever it was, also seemed to gift them with a level of brute animosity to power through the pain as they pushed towards the guardsmen.

  The first wave of the unhindered attackers hit the guardsmen pushing their backs into the hospital walls. A few of the soldiers tried to bring their guns to bear during the melee, but the ferocity of the attackers was such that the best they could manage was a few pot shots before being torn apart, limb-by-limb. The ones that released their automatic weaponry in favor for pistols or their knives fared a little better, though only just.

  Behind the wave of attackers, not far from the man in white, Tyler noticed a pair of discarded M-16s on the pavement. For a moment, he debated staying on the ground, huddled well away from the action in front of the hospital. It wasn't safe where he was at, but the thought of announcing himself as an enemy to the people who desperately wanted the hospital didn't seem like a good idea. But the more he thought about it, the more he realized there were hundreds of people inside who weren't able to defend themse
lves, not counting the ones that wouldn't. As much as he wanted to cut and run, he couldn't do it with a clear conscious. He just had to hope his apprehension with firearms didn't make him freeze after he made his move.

  Tyler tapped Marcy on her shoulder to get her attention. "I'm going to make a run for a gun."

  "Don't," Marcy begged. "They'll kill you."

  "They won't know what side I'm on," Tyler countered. "Some of them probably saw me arguing with the ones at the door. They might think I'm on their side."

  "Until you pull the trigger." She turned her head away from Tyler and towards the hospital walls. Marcy didn't like the idea of him going for a gun any more than she liked sitting around while people died. She knew how critical the situation was in the hospital already. There wasn't enough supplies, let alone personnel in the hospital to handle the current situation, let alone treat dozens of people for combat wounds. And once the electricity went out for good, things would only get worse.

  "I don't like the idea any more than you, but we can help." Tyler glanced to the edge of the parking lot and noticed most of the black smoke had faded. Some of the people behind the barriers were still there, eyes intent on the action in the parking lot. Tyler had no idea whose side they were on and wasn't fond of finding out the hard way.

  "You can't go that way," Marcy said. "The mist..."

  "I'm not risking that shit either." He turned his attention back to Marcy, noticing tears in her eyes. "We're screwed no matter what we do. I'm as much of a fan of the National Guard as you, but I can't lie here and watch them get butchered."

  Marcy wiped her eyes on her sleeve. "Fine. I'm going with you."

  For a moment, Tyler considered arguing with her about it, but decided it wasn't worth the trouble. After all, she is just as screwed as he was. A second gun shooter on this side of the parking lot might be all they need to turn the tide long enough to let the man in white pick off the attackers one at a time.