Cyber Apocalypse (Book 3): As Our World Burns

by Hunt, Jack

  “Oh Liam, I really don’t think you are in a position to be calling people names. Now, by my estimate it should take you roughly an hour and a half to get back here. Ticktock, my friend! I look forward to seeing you.”

  He signed off.

  And with that said he looked over at Vern. “Keep an eye on her.”

  “My pleasure.”

  “And Vern. No touching. Not yet.”

  Jethro walked out and glanced at his guys as he took another swig. He then looked in the girl’s rooms at the aftermath. He tutted. “What a waste. Earl, you really didn’t need to kill them. I could have put them to good use.”

  “The oldest one came at me.”

  “I bet she did.” He patted him on the shoulder. A few hours from now he would deliver both Elisha and Liam to Rudy, let him have the pleasure of killing them, and then they would raid the resort. None of them were escaping. He walked outside the cabin and took a seat in the rocker and got on the radio to Rudy’s crew. “He’s on his way.”

  20

  Mendocino National Forest

  Panic gripped his chest. Images of turning Michael over in frigid choppy waters flashed in his mind. Out of control. Unable to do anything. This was it all over again except now on land. He could feel himself losing his grip on reality. This couldn’t be happening. Not again. Not now. His breathing increased, his chest rose and fell making him lightheaded.

  Alex rose from his seat, refusing to look at Liam.

  “I should go,” Liam said. Alex nodded, trying his hardest not to blame him for this, and yet it was his fault. Had he not gone and taken matters into his own hands, it was very likely Jethro wouldn’t have sought them out. Sure, they might not have avoided an attack on the resort but at least they would be together. Sophie was God knows where now, Garcia was miles away, and as far as he knew, Leo, the only hope of protecting his daughter, was probably lying in a puddle of his blood.

  Jethro was holding all the cards, calling the shots and no doubt had this place under surveillance. If he even got a whiff of them going against his orders, there was no telling what those animals would do.

  Jodi stepped out of the room and called out to Gus, Scott, and her sons.

  Alex figured she wanted to rally them together, share the news, and make preparations to leave. What other choice did they have against an army of a hundred bikers?

  “I’m sorry, Alex,” Liam said, swallowing hard.

  Alex gritted his teeth, feeling his blood boil.

  “I didn’t…”

  “Didn’t know what?” Alex spun on the balls of his feet and stared him down. “What other way did you see this playing out? Huh?”

  Liam dipped his chin. “I’ll make it right. I promise.”

  “Yeah. How? How do you expect to do that, Liam?” he asked. “The second you arrive you know what he’ll do. And now thanks to you, Elisha’s caught up in it.”

  “I didn’t ask her to go with me.”

  “No, no, no.” He stabbed a finger at the floor. “You don’t get to pass the buck. If you had not been so stubborn and gone against what we agreed the night before, this wouldn’t have happened.”

  “You don’t know that.”

  “Yes I do. Four weeks since Harry’s death and no trouble until now.”

  Liam’s features twisted in anger. “He killed my friend. He murdered Harry in cold blood.”

  “Yeah, yeah, he did, and I’m truly sorry but every choice we make now has consequences for better or worse. Whether you can see it or not, you didn’t just light a match and set meth labs ablaze. Liam. You burned down what remains of our world,” he pointed at his own chest, “of my world.”

  Lincoln appeared in the doorway. “I’ll go with him. There’s still a chance.”

  Alex scoffed. “There better be for his sake.”

  “Alex.”

  “Don’t open your mouth again. I swear, I will…” he trailed off taking a deep breath and trying to keep his anger in check. He snatched up an AR-15 leaning against the table and walked toward the door. He stopped beside Liam for a second and without looking him in the eye said, “If anything has happened to her. Anything.”

  He didn’t need to say what would happen; it was obvious. Alex moved out, only making it a few feet beyond the door when Jodi and the others returned.

  “We’re leaving and I would advise you to do the same,” he said.

  “We’re not going anywhere, and neither is he!” Jodi replied, raising her rifle at him.

  Alex frowned, then put a hand out. “Whoa, whoa, whoa, Jodi, what are you doing?”

  She sneered, shouldering the rifle. “What does it look like? According to what Jethro told my son, he believes that we have sixty-three people at this resort. A lie of course but quick thinking by Shaun. Why do you think he wants us to leave?” She looked at Liam. “Then we have him show up with a biker,” she said, gesturing to Lincoln. “And we’re supposed to let Liam go and then leave this place?”

  “That’s right.”

  “I call bullshit.”

  Liam stepped forward. “Now hold on a second.”

  “Stay right there.” There was an edge to her voice.

  Guns racked, everyone went tense, barrels jerked up.

  In a flash, rifles and handguns were pointing at both sides. Alex swept his gun back and forth, as did Lincoln and Liam. “Now let’s just calm down,” Alex said. “My daughter is out there. If he doesn’t show up, they will kill her.”

  “I’m sorry but we can’t let him go. For all we know he could be working with them. He shows up here, finds out that we don’t have sixty-three people and then they roll in and take everything.”

  Liam was quick to come to his own defense. “You heard me on the radio. Did that sound like someone who is working for this maniac?”

  “It could have all been an act.”

  “You can’t believe that,” Alex said.

  “I don’t know what to believe.”

  “Jodi. Everyone. Please. Lower your guns. My daughter.”

  “My son!” she bellowed. “He’s lying in there with a name carved in his chest. They could have killed him. No, no one is leaving here.”

  Alex turned to Lincoln and Liam and told them to lower their weapons. They were reluctant but eventually did. “Jodi, I understand you are scared but nothing that you have here is worth losing your life over. Supplies can be replaced, life can’t. Trust me on that.”

  “I didn’t work all these years to have someone take this place out from under my nose. I would rather fight and die than walk away.”

  “You’re not thinking clearly.”

  “Maybe I’m not. I know I wasn’t thinking clearly when I brought you here, that’s for sure.” She called over her shoulder. “Scott, Gus, put them in the storage locker.”

  They stepped forward and again guns went up and the tension in the room increased.

  “Okay, okay, hold on a second,” Alex said with both hands raised. “Even if we stay, that doesn’t change what is coming at dawn. Tell them, Lincoln.”

  He nodded. “If they have their eyes set on this place, they will take it and kill every single of one of you.”

  Jodi laughed. “Is that what he told you to say? Yeah, it would be a lot easier if we just walked out of here, wouldn’t it?” Jodi added, her eyes darting between them. “But, they won’t be the first to come and try to take it. We will bury them with the others.”

  “Maybe they’re right,” Gus said.

  She glanced at him, looking for support. “Gus.”

  “I’m just saying. There is a big difference between three assailants and a hundred, Jodi. We don’t have the firepower to hold them off.”

  “We have plenty.”

  “Your husband’s gun collection is large but not that large. Please, Jodi, listen to them.”

  Alex stepped forward, his rifle slung over his shoulder, hands out toward the barrel of Jodi’s rifle. She jabbed it forward in a threatening manner but he continued to wa
lk toward her, not taking his eyes off her for even a second. He reached up and took a hold of the barrel and lowered it. A few tears formed in her eyes but she turned her head away before even one tear trickled out. “Go. Go then,” she said.

  A moment of hesitation, then Liam and Lincoln moved out before she changed her mind. Alex made it to the door and looked back at them. He was torn.

  “Jodi. I lost a child once; I never want to go through that again. Don’t let it happen to you. Get your boys out of here,” he said.

  Ankle still sore, he moved out not even thinking how he would get back until Gus came shuffling out. “Alex.” He pointed to a carport as he caught up and handed keys to him. “Take my truck. Bring it back in one piece. I’ll talk to her. I can’t guarantee anything, but if you return and we’re not here, you’ll probably find us on the east side or at Camp Kilkenny. You heard of it?”

  “No.”

  “Follow Simmons Road to where it forks. Hull Mountain Road heads north, you don’t want to take that, go south on Simmons until it turns into 18 N 53 Road. You’ll see signs. It’s a good distance from here.”

  Alex gave a nod and hurried, scanning the tree line, wondering if they were out there, watching. They would be expecting them all to leave, whether he went now or later didn’t matter. As they peeled out, headlights cutting through the darkness, he only hoped they weren’t too late.

  21

  Willits

  Leo awoke on the hard ground, his fingers clawed the dirt, his stomach spasmed in excruciating pain. He wanted to cry out in shock and agony but the sight of his attackers forced him to contain his struggle. A flash of memories besieged his mind: opening the door of the cabin, collecting an armful of wood, turning the corner right into him. If he hadn’t been carrying all that wood he could have fought back, cried out even, but it happened so fast.

  A knife plunged into his stomach.

  A hand went over his mouth, a strike to the side of his head then his legs buckled.

  “You think he will show?” a voice said from a short distance away.

  Leo winced feeling spikes of pain as he lifted his head from the ground to see who was speaking.

  “He has no choice.”

  One of them stepped out of the cabin, and he caught a glimpse of light but not of Elisha. Was she alive? What about the girls?

  “Jethro, they’re on the move.”

  “Good. Very good. See, Earl,” he said. “All they needed was a little motivation.” The guy got up and headed in leaving only one of them outside. He remained on the bench, smoking.

  Leo took in his surroundings. He was no longer at the corner of the cabin; he’d been dragged into the brush. Dumped like garbage to bleed out. Bleed? He slid his hand beneath him and felt wetness. How much blood had he lost? Better question, how was he still alive? Maybe they hadn’t hit a vital organ. How long had he been out? The back of his skull was throbbing. He crawled forward trying to rise but every movement was met with sheer agony. As he eyed one of his attackers, the tall grass partially obstructed his view. How many were there?

  Leo gritted his teeth and rolled over onto his back, looking up at a canopy of leaves, and a sky full of stars. So this was where it would end. Years in a gang, shot at, threatened and he would die hundreds of miles from home at the hands of a couple of two-bit criminals.

  Move, damn it, move!

  He rolled again toward a tree, hoping to use it to support him as he staggered to his feet. All the while he was aware that any sudden movement might cause them to come over and finish the job. Leo swallowed his pain and forced himself to rise.

  He clung to the rough bark and shifted up to his knees then looked down at his stomach. His shirt was soaked red. He lifted it and saw two wounds to the abdomen. He needed to apply pressure but considering how lightheaded he was, he figured he’d already lost too much blood. It wasn’t uncommon for someone to survive a knife attack, it happened all the time in the city. Hell, he’d seen a guy walk away after being stabbed nineteen times and live to tell the tale. It was all about depth, location. Still, if he didn’t get medical attention soon, he would die.

  Figuring the girls were dead, he turned to stagger off into the night, hoping to reach a neighbor. But he’d only taken a few steps when he heard a scream come from the cabin followed by Elisha’s cries for them to stop.

  “Motherfu…” Leo began to say as he turned back to the cabin, and eyed the stack of wood nearby, and the axe stuck in a log. He pressed on, wrapped his hands around it and pulled it out, all the while wincing and feeling as if he would pass out at any minute. Pressing one hand over his wounds, and clutching the axe in the other hand, he sidled up to the corner of the cabin and looked around at the guy leaning forward in the rocker, staring at his cigarette lighter.

  The guy would shoot him before he reached him.

  Bending, he placed the axe down and scooped up a few loose stones and tossed them toward the tall grass where his body had been. The guy with a bald head and goatee lifted his eyes. He cast a glance toward the door and took out his handgun, snapped his lighter shut and got up to wander over to the grass. He didn’t get close. Instead, he turned on a small flashlight and swept the light across the top as he held out the handgun.

  Timing.

  It was all about timing.

  Using every ounce of strength he had left, he picked up the axe, and as the man lowered his weapon and clicked off the light and turned to head back, Leo tossed the axe as hard as he could at his chest. It slammed into him with such force that it sent him back several feet, embedding in his chest. Leo staggered out of the shadows and scooped up the man’s gun. He glanced down at him as he took his last breath. A look of shock masked his face.

  Leo spat on him before turning toward the cabin.

  They wouldn’t be expecting him.

  From inside, he could hear Elisha screaming for them to stop.

  She was putting up one hell of a fight. Leo checked the magazine to see how many rounds he had, before palming it back in and making sure there was one in the chamber. He stumbled forward, dizzy from having lost so much blood. “God help me, please.” Leo ran the tip of his finger from his head down to his abdomen and then across his chest to symbolize the cross before pressing on.

  He gripped the door handle, and heard Elisha cry out one more time before he entered, gun raised, ready to unleash hell.

  To his right, he saw someone walk out of a room with a bottle of liquor in hand. The man’s look of surprise was met with a round to the chest. Then he turned toward another who was trying to get on top of a semi-naked Elisha.

  His pants were down, his naked ass out for the world to see.

  His head turned straight into the next round.

  Two more down.

  For a split second, he thought it was over. He’d only seen two enter and one outside. Then just as his brain was making the connection, two rounds sent him back outside, landing on the porch, the gun still in hand.

  “Hell, they should have called you Lazarus,” the man said. “But trust me, this time, son, you won’t rise from the dead.” Leo made one final, desperate attempt to lift his gun before the man squeezed the trigger and a third round speared his skull.

  22

  Potters Valley

  Alex slammed the brakes on as he came around the bend and was blinded by the glare of bright lights. His truck rumbled, his foot remained poised above the accelerator.

  He lifted a hand to make out what was up ahead. As his eyes adjusted, a spike of fear went through him at the sight of around twenty motorcycle headlamps shining in his direction. He scanned his rearview mirror and saw Lincoln bring his bike to a crawl behind him.

  Shit.

  It was a trap.

  They’d blocked off the only road out.

  Reaching Mendocino Resort wasn’t easy. In almost forty years there had only ever been one dirt road from the west that ran up to the resort parallel to the Eel River — that was before a logging road was created
, but Jodi had said it was rarely used due to bad conditions. They were on County Road with the river on the left of them. Even if they wanted to use the logging road they couldn’t without heading back and no doubt these assholes had blocked that too.

  Alex slammed a fist against the steering wheel.

  Jethro had this in mind from the get-go. This wasn’t an agreement; it was a setup. All he wanted was Liam’s head on a stick. He had no intentions of letting Liam reach Willits, and certainly no intentions of letting Elisha go. For all he knew, Elisha was dead.

  He gritted his teeth, anger rising.

  The bikes roared as they lurched toward them. They had no choice but to do a U-turn in the road and head back. Alex cursed loudly as he took off at a high rate of speed heading toward the resort.

  Gunshots rang out, several rounds tore into the truck as they gained on him.

  In an instant the rear window shattered, sending tiny shards of glass over his shoulder, a few embedding in the back of his neck. His knuckles went white from gripping the steering wheel so tight. Alex kept his head low as motorcycles got closer, almost touching his back bumper. He drove erratically, swerving to the left and right to prevent them from getting alongside him. Dirt and sand spat and pinged up against the undercarriage as it bounced over potholes and he struggled to keep the tires on the ground.

  A few more rounds punched through metal, and then something strange happened.

  The bikers slowed and ended the chase.

  Alex didn’t let up on the accelerator even as he saw the headlights fade into the night. Why weren’t they pursuing? Alex made it another ten minutes down the road before he eased off the gas and swept his mirrors.

  Nothing.

  No one was there, just an empty dark road.

  It was only after they’d made it almost back and were approaching the intersection between Elk Mountain Road and the turnoff for the resort that they found themselves in the same predicament.