by Mark Tufo
“He is denying you and Mane your due!” Cloud yipped.
“The dog is right,” Jayer said silencing the pack. “He is not one of us, and therefore is not bound by our laws.”
“Then we shall take it from him!” Cloud got the betas barking.
“No, you will not!” Jayer jumped in between him and Oggie. “He saved my life. If he wishes to eat alone and in peace, this, at least, I owe him.”
“Is this true, Oggie? Did you save my mate?” Mane had stepped forward.
“I did,” Oggie answered.
Mane questioned it no further. “Then it is with my mate I stand,” he said, moving next to Jayer. Cloud acquiesced as he had to; that he was not happy about it was without question.
Oggie ate until he was full, then he ate some more. And when he was absolutely certain he could fit no more inside of him he ate more.
“I am done, but before I leave this kill I would like for Wounder to eat with the alphas,” he told Jayer before strolling off to find a shady spot to enjoy a feeling that had been missing as of late.
She nodded at him, even as there were some questioning glances around the pack. She, Mane, their pups, and Wounder, who tentatively strode forward, ate their fill. Twenty minutes later, the entire pack feasted on a bounty they would not be able to finish. The birds that circled overhead would dine well tonight.
Oggie was given a wide berth that day, the juveniles no longer daring to taunt the Giant Killer. Oggie was allowed to walk up with the alphas if he chose, although, more times than not, he would wander around and often times found himself with Wounder, whose status was elevated merely because of the fact he walked with Oggie.
Chapter Nineteen – Mike Journal Entry 11
The catapults never started up that night. It had nothing to do with what I had done. I’m sure the opposition knew we were hampered by the dark. Even if they feared going near the contraptions, there would have been an officer forcing them to do so. No, what kept the rock launchers at bay was a woman. Well…a girl really—Lana, to be more specific. I’d been keeping an eye out to see if anyone dared to get out in the open again when I heard a commotion off to my side.
“Enemy approaching!” shouted a sentry. I heard Bailey order her guards not to shoot.
“Talbot, you should come over here.”
I was curious, and at first, I mistakenly thought it was a difficult shot she wanted me to take. I was kind of enamored with my own skill and that Bailey needed me to do it for her. Pride goeth before the fall. Isn’t that how the saying goes?
“Shit,” was all I managed as I saw Lana running across the field towards us. She kept looking back to the five men chasing her.
“They’re going to catch her,” Bailey noted.
“Good,” I said sourly.
Bailey looked over to me.
“What? I don’t want her here.”
“What if she has information that could be vital to us?”
“She’s a pain in the ass, Bailey. I don’t like teenaged women; they scare the hell out of me.”
“You’ve killed men, zombies, werewolves, and Lycan…yet that little waif scares you?”
“Yup. I’m not proud of it though.”
“They almost have her.”
“Dammit.” I put my rifle up to my shoulder. I put two rounds in the ground immediately in front of the men closest to Lana. They nearly fell over themselves in their haste to stop.
“You do not wish to kill them?”
“One of them could be her boyfriend, and I’m not removing him from the mix,” I said, not taking my eye from the aperture.
“Wise. I would add ‘beyond your years’, but you have so many of them, and not all of them are particularly prudent.”
“How is it that so much time has passed, yet the Tynes’ wit has still not sharpened beyond that of a garden slug?” This time I did look to see Bailey was actually flipping me the bird. “That’s awesome,” I told her and I meant it. I would have hugged her if I didn’t think she’d deck me immediately afterwards.
“I have just given you a gesture which, from what you have told me, is one of derision, and yet you compliment me? BT was indeed right. You have suffered some sort of brain injury.”
“Just nice to see something from my time period, even if it is disdain laced.”
“Michael, you have saved me!” Lana yelled up from the base of the fence.
“You’re her hero,” Bailey whispered.
“Fucking fantastic.” I waved over a couple of men with a rope ladder to help her up. “Lana, what are you doing here?” She made a great show of falling into my arms. I would have let her fall to the ground if I had been certain she wouldn’t go spilling over the edge.
“Why, Michael, aren’t you happy to see me? I’ve missed you so much. We can finally be together.” She ran her hand suggestively down the side of my face.
“Come on, Lana. Even as impetuous as you are, you would not cross enemy lines just to anger your father.”
“You’re right.” She immediately switched from a submissive flirtatious girl to an all-business woman. “Bailey, could you please get your council together quickly. I have some important news I wish to relay, and please do not tell them that I am here.”
Bailey paused and looked quizzically at the girl, then nodded.
“So, wait, this whole fawning thing is all an act?” I asked.
“Michael Talbot, you are old enough to be like my greatest great-grandfather. Ewww.”
Talk about having your ego stomped on and then lit on fire. Bailey nearly missed the stairs she was laughing so hard as she descended to get the council gathered.
“I’m going to stay and keep an eye on the catapults.”
“Don’t be silly,” Lana said as she grabbed my hand. “My father would never let them fire those if I am here.”
“Are you so certain of that? I’m thinking if Jangrut wants to fire them, not much is going to stop him.”
“If Jangrut does not do as my father orders, then he will not get paid. That is all he really cares about.”
“Yeah, only, what you’re not realizing is that your father is offering silver. But when Jangrut looks over here, he sees gold. It’ll only be a matter of time before he decides he no longer wants to do things by your dad’s rules anymore.”
Lana had not thought of that before and looked none too pleased about it either. She began to walk down the stairs.
“I guess we’re going.”
She took her time getting to the meeting, stopping to talk about one thing or another, mostly inane. I didn’t know what she was doing until later when I realized she was just stalling because she wanted everybody in that meeting. Unlike me, this girl was wise beyond her years, but really, how hard is that when you only have eighteen years to work with? Get a hundred and eighty of the damn things and see how well you stack up.
Everyone looked shocked to see Lana walk in, but Merrings looked like he’d swallowed a lemon. His face curled up and then the color ran from his features as his eyes darted all around. I knew that look. He was panicking and wanted to bolt.
“Well, isn’t this interesting,” I said as I moved closer to him in case he did make a go at running. Although, I don’t know where he thought he would go.
“It is a pleasure to see most of you again,” Lana started.
I almost chuckled at Azile’s expression, as I had to figure she thought this comment was directed towards her.
Gount looked lost. “I’m confused, Lana. Is this some sort of peace envoy?”
“I wish that were the case, Chairperson. As of a few moments ago, I am now a defector from the Continental Coalition Army.”
“Continental Coalition Army. That has a nice ring. Very 1776-ish,” I said aloud. From the reaction on people’s faces, I probably should have kept my inner thoughts where they belonged. “Ahem, sorry.”
“She lies!” Merrings had stood and was pointing at Lana.
“What part is she lying abo
ut exactly?” I asked him. “That she’s not thrilled about seeing everyone here? Because, truly, she is entitled to her opinion. So you can’t really call her out for that. Sit, sit, buddy. We’ll work this all out.”
Merrings groaned. He placed his hand-wrapped face against the table. “I did it to save Talboton.”
“What exactly is he talking about?” Gount looked from Lana to Merrings.
“I think he should tell you,” Lana said.
“I was filled with dread when the stones starting falling. I feared for the safety of our town. I left and had a meeting with Chancellor Saltinda.”
“What?! You betrayed us?”
“No, no!” he protested. “I just wanted to give them what they wanted so we could end this needless bloodshed.”
“Merrings, we have discussed this. They will not stop until they have everything,” Bailey said, not believing (or more likely not wanting to) that the councilman had met with the enemy.
“We don’t know that!”
“Wait, am I missing something? When did this meeting happen? How could you possibly set something up? Carrier pigeons? Leprechaun messengers? I can’t decide if that’s more terrifying or awesome.”
“The subway,” Bailey answered.
I almost asked if it was the sandwich shop, because I hadn’t had anything that resembled decent bread in a very long time. Then, something more akin to useful thought was processed in my head. “There’s a train tunnel under this place?”
“It is more of an underground passageway that was used for a transfer of goods from a warehouse to the main store. Our founding father knew the value of an alternate escape route, said he learned it from you.” Gount laughed a little.
“There’s a tunnel and no one thought to tell me?”
“Michael, it is not something we talk about. It is a closely guarded secret,” Bailey informed me. “Only council members know of its existence. We cannot tell everyone for obvious reasons.”
“The fucking town is named after me; I think I should kind of be on the ‘know’ list. Shit, Merrings, if you went out and met them, they must know about the tunnel. Bailey, wherever that thing comes out, you’d better get some men there.”
Bailey jumped up and was about to act.
“It’s alright, my meeting was only with Saltinda. He will not act against us.”
“Oh sure, now that we have his daughter, I’m sure he won’t do anything rash,” I said.
“How could you?” Gount asked, looking defeated.
“I did it for Talboton, for its future survival.” Merrings was trying to rally his flagging morale or maybe it was his morals. “Besides, he does not know exactly where the entrance is, only the general location.”
“And how were you planning on getting him what he wanted?”
“There are hand carts down there just for this reason,” Gount informed me.
“I would very much like to see these tunnels.”
“Why?” Azile asked.
“I think you already know.”
“I was going to say ‘humor me’, but I do not think anything you have to say will be funny.”
“I think it’s time to take the fight to them instead of constantly seeing what they have next for us. They are way ahead of us in terms of this battle. We don’t do something, and soon there will be no one and nothing left to defend.”
I waited for Azile to protest; expected it, in fact. When it didn’t come, I was kind of at a loss for words. I’m used to protests, not acquiescence. Just goes to show you, no matter how long you live, you’ll never understand women.
“Umm, okay then. I’ll get together with Bailey and we’ll get a team together. In the meantime, what do you plan on doing with him?” I was pointing to Merrings. “My vote is to shoot him.” I wasn’t kidding.
I’m pretty sure Gount thought I was kidding at first, but he saw the serious set to my features with not a hint of sarcasm to be found. For once, it was a desolate landscape in that department.
“We…we can’t shoot him. He is a valued member of the council and the community.”
“He’s a traitor. His actions have threatened this entire town.”
“My intention was not to harm this town,” Merrings stated.
“I don’t give a crap about your intentions. You decided to take matters into your own hands after this council had already decided on its course of action.”
“You…you forced this war on us,” he said shakily to me.
“I did? Well please fill me in, and if you’re talking about the firing pins, you’re wasting your breath. Tell him, Lana.” This was a calculated risk, because I did not in certainty know the answer myself.
“Tell him what, Michael?” she asked in a stage whisper everyone had heard. Lana looked none too happy as everyone’s gaze swiveled to her.
“What were the coalition army’s plans?”
If she looked uncomfortable before, that had been ratcheted up to downright prickly. I’ll give her this—she pulled herself together before speaking. “I did not know this before our previous meeting, but it had always been the intention of the coalition to fight Talboton. At first, my father was against it, but he was overruled by the others, especially when Jangrut became involved. They’d been talking about it in secret for years.”
Gount gasped. “I thought we always had good diplomatic relations.”
“The problem is that you had something they wanted,” I added.
“That is true.” Lana picked up. “Nothing may have ever come to fruition from this coveting had not the Lycan threatened us all. The other communities wanted to have the protection the rifles afforded. So, the secretive talks and strategies took on a reality.”
“Where do Jangrut and his people fit into all of this? I cannot imagine your father, at any point, wanting to get involved with them,” Gount asked.
“The simple answer is they know how to fight, something which is severely lacking in the other townships. The Landians have had constant clashes with the Cajunites over territory and prime hunting locations for years,” Azile answered.
“Lana, I’ve met your father. He may be a bit on the hardheaded side, but he had to know that throwing in his lot with the Cajunites was not going to end well. As soon as Jangrut got what he wanted, he would most certainly attempt to expand his lands and become a modern day Genghis Khan.”
“Michael, they do not know what you refer to,” Azile said.
“Warlord, conqueror, despot, dictator, merciless ruler. Take your pick. I’m sure he will fit into the role nicely. So there you have it, Merrings. If anything, I should be paraded around the town as a hero for not giving arms to our enemies. Damn shame the same cannot be said about you. My vote for firing squad still stands.”
“I will not hear any more of it,” Gount said. “Merrings is a councilman and citizen in good standing.”
“Who also was willing to put every inhabitant of said township at risk. Although, I guess that does make him the perfect government employee. You need to send a message.”
“Perhaps if you are in such a rush to send this message, you should do it,” Gount said, I guess attempting to call my bluff. The problem with calling a bluff was that the person had to be bluffing.
I stood up. “Let’s go.” I walked over and yanked Merrings up by the shoulder. That was when all hell broke loose in that meeting. Merrings started bawling. Gount and Azile came up to stop me. Bailey wavered between whom to support.
“Michael, I do not believe this is the way this should be handled.” Azile had placed her hand on my arm. When she looked up to my face, she realized just how tightly my cordage was bound. My arms felt like steel bands ready to lash out. That all changed the moment one of Bailey’s guards burst through the door.
“Men in the tunnels!”
“That worked out well,” I told Merrings, slamming him back into his seat so hard he chipped more than one tooth from the impact.
“They’re…they’re supposed to wait for
me to come back.”
“Funny thing about combatants, they very rarely do what you expect them to. Lead the way,” I told the guard. “Although I should put Merrings out in front and see how that goes.”
He shied away.
“Fucking politicians; always willing to stir up the shit as long as they don’t have to touch the stick.”
Bailey motioned for one of her men guarding the proceedings to keep watch on Merrings and then we headed out. We raced back to the entrance by the vault and headed down the stairs. I guess I’d been too enamored with all the rifles to notice the utilitarian door off to the side of the small opening. To be fair, I figured it was to a janitor’s closet or utility room at best, not a damned cool-ass tunnel.
There was a guard by the door and, as we approached, he whispered, “They’re about midway. I can see their torches.”
“Close that door,” I told Bailey just as she was about to descend down to the landing. I didn’t want the invaders to see any of the ambient lighting. We were plunged into darkness as the door clicked shut. “Do they know we know they’re coming?”
“I don’t think so or they don’t care,” the guard told me.
“Bailey?” This was still her town to defend. The call was hers.
She brushed past me and opened the tunnel door. “HALT!” she shouted as I held open the door. I couldn’t make out anything much more than a bright circle of light from the torch and maybe two or three faces, because they were still fairly distant. They were taking their time, being cautious; and why not? As of yet, they had no reason to think they’d been discovered. That changed with Bailey’s announcement.
The tunnel, for lack of a better term, was not much more than an underground corridor. Wider than a standard hallway by about double, so six maybe seven feet across, apparently enough to move whatever used to be shuttled back and forth. It couldn’t have been too big, because it still had to make it through the doorway. With Bailey and me standing side by side, we took up a fair amount of the real estate. We were lucky when the bullet crashed into the steel doorway behind us. Bailey and I both retreated as more shots were fired. We quickly shut the door, two more rounds impacting it with a heavy thud.