Rise of the Death Walkers (The Circle of Heritage Saga)

by Lawrence Nason Jr.

  I put down my bag and asked. "What would you like to do first love? The whirlpool?"

  She reached out and grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the bed. "Not on your life Mr. White. I have waited too long for this..."

  Back at the reception that was now winding down Sam White, his wife and her mother were deep in a conversation concerning Jason.

  “Are you Sure that this is the way we have to handle this Cara?”

  “I have checked over and over Sam. Every other variation ends with Jason not being strong enough to lead us in the war.”

  “Mother it seems so cruel to do this to Jason. You know how hard it was to know what that monster was doing to Kira and the children. Especially Jenna.”

  “I know Amanda. It has to be this way. As soon as Jason finds out Katie is pregnant we have to perform the ceremony to take Jason’s memory of the events that will occur in Niagara Falls. He has to believe Katie dies there or his wife and daughter will never live to see the beginning of next year.”

  Sam hated how he had to manipulate his grandchildren to force the timeline into what was needed to defeat the enemy. He knew that how a person ends up is governed by what trials and tribulation they face as they are growing up but there had to be some limit set somewhere.

  “Enough of the bickering!” He hardened his resolve. “The memory altering ceremony will be performed at the time you have set Cara. We can’t allow the timeline to be anything short of what we need to defeat the enemy.”

  Chapter 15 - Second Life

  I looked up into the burning sun of the Oklahoma skies. It was late in the summer season while, leading my training platoon in one of the many mock battles I had been participating in over the past few days. To say my life was changing was an understatement in the most drastic form. The dark days after I had lost Katie, the woman of my dreams, had run together in what was now a merciful blur to me. I tried hard not to dwell too much on what had happened but there were times where the memories forced themselves back into my life without warning.

  The memories that plagued me day and night were always present, always the same.

  I would be standing near the railing overlooking the falls waiting for Katie to return to me with the hot dog she had purchased from the stand we had passed earlier. My attention had wandered from her for a mere second as I watched a couple with their children who were screaming in delight at the majestic view of mankind's most beautiful wonder. I glanced at the forming of the ever frequent rainbows that were viewable in the mist of the falls on a sunny day. Katie's piercing scream tore through the morning brightness casting a dark wave of terror into my mind as I turned my head toward the sound.

  What I saw caused me to hesitate for a second before I exploded into action. The sight of Katie over the shoulder of a burly man would been enough to incapacitate any other person. The now familiar flash of unique color only viewable by someone trained as I was shattered the incapacitation.

  I had tried to force myself through the now scrambling crowd toward the man who seemed to have little problem moving around. The frequency of Katie's scream reached earsplitting levels. The man reached the railing surrounding the deep crevasse that marked the edge of the basin of the waterfalls hundreds of feet below. I stared in horror as the man simply flung Katie over the railing and turned back toward me with a grin of malice on his face. The action had caused my mind to lock in terror and I could not move for close to a minute.

  "Human scum, you now have the choice to leave us alone as we do what we must on this world. Bow out now before you lose everything and everyone you have ever cared about in your futile life." The huge man had sneered at me before turning to attempt to leave.

  My mind was horrified with what it had just registered and my jaw went slack. Instincts kicked into overdrive.

  Suddenly I found myself in the same place only it was ten minutes earlier. I had a memory of what had happened but when I turned to my right, Katie was standing next to me gazing out over the beauty of the falls before us.

  Katie turned to me and said, “I think I would like something to eat, maybe a hot dog. What about you?”

  I shook my head to clear the memories of what could possibly happen from my mind and turned to smile at Katie, “A hot dog sounds good to me.”

  I scanned the crowd searching for the face of the man in my memories as she walked away to the hot dog stand to get us something to eat. I spotted the man and cut loose with a stream of mental energy that would be sure to scramble whatever thoughts he had in his head. I planted the thought in his mind that he was suffering from a heart attack. The crowd parted when the man fell.

  I turned my attention to my newly-wed wife who was returning from the stand with two hotdogs in her hands.

  As she reached my side she turned to look at where the commotion was coming from and then looked at me. “What happened over there?” She asked.

  “Looks like someone passed out I think.” I replied without pausing. I took the hotdog she offered me and took a bite out of it. My mind was racing to explain to itself just what had occurred. Was this sudden clairvoyant episode another facet of my abilities or were some outside influence responsible for what had just occurred. I would have to wait until I had some quiet time to attempt contact to the one being who possibly had an explanation of just what had occurred. I was still chewing on the one bite I had taken when I saw Katie’s eyes narrow at my lame explanation.

  “It is unusually warm for this time of the year love so anything is possible.”

  “Yeah,” she sighed, accepting my explanation. “That's true I suppose.” She began to consume her hot dog as she watched the medic's arrive to take care of the man who had collapsed.

  I hated to keep her in the dark about things but I had no choice given the fact there were dark forces on the move lately and this attempt on her life was just one of many that would take place in the future. The enemy was outraged with each failed attempt and they were trying at more frequent intervals to attack people in my life who were important to me.

  On our return from our honeymoon we were surprised by the gift Dr. Grant and his wife had arranged for us. The house which had been under construction for us was about halfway built. When Katie objected to such an extravagant gift my father in law had just waved his hand and said it was the least they could do to start us off in our life.

  Katie started college that fall in Canton and even though I did not need the advanced education in such a formal environment I registered for some basic educational courses at the community college on a part time basis and for the rest of the time I managed the corporation my grandfather had built up. Since I was the most direct heir to the fortune my grandfather had built he inserted me into the daily duties he used to perform and slowly withdrew himself from the company.

  Grandfather Sam began to take more time away from his daily duties and spent most of his time in the forest communing with nature. I had told him of the attempts that had been made on Katie's life and he grew more thoughtful and more withdrawn as the weeks passed by. On the day we informed him that Katie was with child he sprang into action. He sent me a note that I was to meet him at the Circle in the evening as dusk was falling.

  I met with him at the appointed time and the conversation that took place rocked and shattered my world. “Grandson you now have to disappear for a number of years. You have to stay away from Katie and start a new life apart from her.”

  I looked at him in shock. Leave my wife and disappear? How could he expect me to do this? Start a new life when the woman I loved was with my child? I glared at him and prepared to begin a confrontational conversation when his next words shocked me to the core of my existence.

  “Pasche if you do not do as I say your wife and unborn child will perish at the enemies hands. This has been foretold by your Great Grandmother Cara.” A look of sadness he gave me threw me completely off guard and I could not believe what happened next. The members of my tribe gathered around the circle and
an immense force slammed me to the ground.

  When my vision cleared my Grandmother and the women of the tribe surrounded me and my Grandmother said to me, “Grandson what I do now I do for the future of humankind.” The pain of the mind altering ceremony was etched into my nightmares now and a new man stood at the threshold of his new life.

  In my mind buried deep in the subconscious now were the memories of my life as it had been. Locked behind a solid wall that could be only broken by one being who I would not see or even think of until the time was proper. Katie in my conscious mind had died at the hands of my enemy at Niagara Falls during my honeymoon. I would not know the truth for many years to come and when I finally realized what had happened to me I would be deeply embedded in another relationship.

  With a shock I came back to my current surroundings under the burning Oklahoma sun. In my conscious memories Katie was dead and the recollection of those memories haunted me every waking step I took.

  It had been weeks later when I finally had begun to become aware of my surroundings. I dimly remember breaking out of the hospital where the courts had ordered me placed after I had been declared unfit for trial for killing the man in Niagara Falls. When I walked out the door of the sanitarium I turned my back on my people and my heritage. My only desire had been to escape the familiar surroundings that continually reminded me what I had lost. My so called finest mind the human race had ever known blocked any attempts of communication from my family and the race that had bred me over generations of time.

  "Jeran, we are waiting for you to tell us what to do." The voice of the first squad commander in the battalion of trainees I was leading jerked me out of my reflections.

  I turned to him and recalled what I was supposed to be doing. "Micky, Take first and second squad around the north end of the square and lay down flanking fire. Third and fourth squad will be advancing with me from this location we have second battalion pinned down in the building in the middle of the square. We will end this now and get the box with a minimum of losses." I stared at him with hard eyes. "No prisoners and no mercy. We fulfill the objective and move back to base camp."

  "You got it corporal." Micky moved out to take position. I was rapidly becoming known at the most merciless commander in the entire training division and there was talk that I would be getting my own black ops command after completing advanced combat training.

  I waited until I saw the signal that everyone was in place before I turned to my second and commanded. "Move out. If it moves and it's not ours it dies." The entire process would take no more than twenty minutes and as I had commanded nothing survived on the opposing forces. We were using electronic pulse guns that would trigger a hefty shock to anyone hit. It was a tribute to the training my men had received that I had not lost a single man in the entire operation.

  We had reached the objective and were back at our base camp waiting for further orders from the training personal responsible for rating this final exercise in our advanced urban warfare course. I would be notified at the conclusion of the operation if we had received a pass or fail. If I passed I would be given my orders as to my first assignment.

  "Corporal Whitemar, report to Captain Blake immediately." I flinched as my assumed name was bellowed over the announcement system. Jason White was no more and Jeran Whitemar was who I was and would remain. Jason White was wanted for escaping custody Jeran Whitemar was an unknown in the sea of millions of Americans and thousands of soldiers who volunteered to defend the American way of life.

  I straightened my uniform before stepping into the tent where Blake would be waiting for me. "Corporal Whitemar, reporting to the Captain as ordered, sir!" I snapped to attention and flipped a crisp salute in his direction.

  Gerald Blake was a forty year old career soldier from Florida who basically was built like a mountain. He had a no nonsense air about him and the only reason he was commanding this training battalion was because he had belted a colonel in South America when he had been ordered to withdraw from a combat zone. "Have a seat Jeran." He ordered me.

  I slid the chair out from the briefing table and sat down as ordered. "Captain, I know.."

  He cut me off with a curt gesture of his hand. "Jeran you have been known for your excesses during training but can you explain to me why you took out three training cadres during the exercise today?"

  This was news to me.

  "Sir I ordered my men that if it moved and it was not one of my men then it constituted an unknown factor and was to be neutralized. They were doing as I ordered them to do so if there is any punitive measures to be taken I will take full responsibility."

  Blake stood up and walked to the back of the tent where a table stood. "It was a bit overzealous during a training exercise. Can you explain why you gave that particular order?" He turned back to me and waited for a reply.

  "Sir in the situation as it had been explained during the briefing. We had been told there were no innocent victims in the target zone therefore I could only assume that anyone in that building constituted a threat to my men and we were ordered to retrieve a box not to take prisoners. We did as we were told and the box was delivered to you here at base camp. Therefore in my own opinion the orders of the operation was fulfilled to the letter." I sat at attention as I said this my eyes locked on his.

  He looked at me and smiled. Reaching back he grabbed a stack of papers and walked back toward the briefing table and sat down.

  He tossed the papers in front of me and said, "Jeran you completed training with honors and these are your orders. You will become a member of the team I was ordered to put together that will be the militaries first true strike force. The team will be called Blackzone."

  I looked at the papers in front of me. "Blackzone has exactly what purpose?"

  "We will do what the politicians cannot do and be sent where the normal forces cannot be sent. We do the dirty work. Your cover assignment will be in a small detachment in Germany. There will be one other going with you. The only person who knows what your true assignment is will be the First Sergeant running the detachment. He will give you the orders we send for you.

  You will be promoted to Sergeant and will be responsible for the platoon who will be assigned throughout Germany. You will have a total of twenty five men from all walks of military specialties. During the time you are not on operations you will be the leader of a special weapons unit within the detachment who are responsible for providing the Germans access to nuclear artillery rounds in the event a war breaks out. That is your cover assignment. When you receive orders from your First Sergeant concerning special operations you will be prepared to leave at all times. Some operations will yank you out of the location and send you anywhere in the world within a twelve hour window."

  He reached for a bottle of beer and tossed it to me. "So now have a drink with me and celebrate your assignment. I will see you from time to time with special instructions."

  I opened the bottle he flipped at me and took a long pull from it. "Why was I chosen for this group Captain?"

  "Because there are not many trainees who have the balls to take down a General who was visiting to observe the final training operations. I would have given anything to see the look on General Paxton's face when you shot him and slammed a rifle butt against his head." He grinned at me and held up the bottle in a toast. "To chair warmers laying out cold flat on the floor."

  I chuckled and said. "To be honest I didn't see his rank until he was out cold and on the floor. He was in my way and I had a job to do."

  Captain Blake grinned at me and said "It was General Paxton who recommended you to the team. Go to supply and withdraw what you need for the promotion then pack your duds and be on the tarmac at twenty one hundred tonight. That's when your leave starts. They will take you anywhere in the continental US you wish to go. You have thirty days to be with your family."

  "If it's ok with you sir I will take my leave in Germany. I have no family here to say goodbye to. I would like to take
the time to familiarize myself with the local customs and language before I start my duties there." I drained the bottle and sat it on the table.

  "No family to say goodbye to?" He looked at me and scratched his head.

  "No sir, Any life I had here I left behind and won't be going back." I said

  "Ok, Jason then you will take your leave in Germany. That's all for now. I will see you in a couple weeks in Heidelberg. You will know where to reach me before we have to meet." He saluted giving me the indication with his eyes that would be all for now.

  It wasn't until I had left the tent and was walking across the compound that I realized he had called me by my real name. I came to a standstill with this realization and wondered where I had slipped up. I glanced at the papers in my hands and noticed they were all filled out to my assumed name. How had he found out and what did he know? Shrugging I continued to walk toward the supply tent. If they knew who I was and what I had done and had not arrested me by now then I would keep going like I had been. I was content with where I was now. Happiness did not have a priority in my life. Contentment was all I could reach since the best half of my life was gone.

  I stopped at the supply tent and presented my promotion orders. I realized that the speed I had been promoted was not in line with the normal run of things within the army. Rank did not matter to me I was just looking for the quickest way I could end it all while dealing with the obvious limitation that was now apparent in my mind. I could not do this myself because there was a part of my mind that prevented me to do so.

  Something had been done to me during the time I was in the hospital that I could not remove myself. That's why I had chosen the job I was now in. It could provide me the means to end everything without having to do so myself. I only cursed the fast reflexes I seemed to have. Up until now I had been close several times in my training but my instinctive reflexes had prevented anything from happening to me.