Cyber Apocalypse (Book 3): As Our World Burns

by Hunt, Jack

  Jodi didn’t miss a beat. “Gus!”

  “I’ve got it.”

  Got what? Alex thought as he hunkered down behind one of the many cabins and took out three bikers running in at a crouch. Seconds passed before a large explosion erupted farther out, then another, then another. Smoke and dirt burst into the air as multiple bikers were taken out in one fell swoop.

  Jodi looked over at Alex, a grin forming. “Claymore mines. My husband said they would one day come in handy.”

  Geez Louise, this lady was definitely missing a few marbles, that was for sure. She hadn’t even registered Scott’s death. Had she even seen it happen?

  On top of the house, Alex could still hear Yvette screaming. He saw her husband, Jared, appear at her side. He fired a few rounds from a handgun then ducked, pulling her down. She was in shock, frozen.

  Absolutely no use.

  Alex dashed out under heavy gunfire, returning it so he could make it over to the cabin that Jodi was positioned behind. She kept releasing a rapid three-round burst then would pull back. “Scott is dead.”

  She looked at him and went back to firing.

  “Jodi!”

  “What do you want me to do about it? There’s nothing I can do.”

  She turned and fired again.

  “You can get these people out of here before they all end up like him.”

  “No time for that. Not now.”

  “These people were your responsibility. I warned you.”

  “And this place is my responsibility.”

  “Jodi, there are kids.”

  She spun back. “Don’t you think I know that!? Why do you think the others left? I gave them all the choice. I couldn’t force them to leave.” With that said, she darted away cutting down two barrel-chested men without missing a beat. She disappeared into the large resort, leaving the three of them outside. If they didn’t get on that boat or in the house now, they would be wiped out. It wasn’t a matter of skill, it was odds, and the odds were stacked against them.

  Alex shouted to Liam and Lincoln to return and they burst out of hiding while he covered them. As soon as they were inside, he followed, making it in by the skin of his teeth. Lincoln slammed the door closed behind him, and Jared and Liam moved furniture into place to block the door.

  “That won’t be much use,” Alex said, turning and pointing to the rear room which had floor-to-ceiling glass. The place was built for aesthetics, not warfare.

  “Where is she?”

  “She went up,” Jared said while trying to comfort his wife and children.

  “Lincoln, Liam, get anything you can in front of those windows while I go speak with her. It won’t hold them but an obstacle is better than nothing.” Outside the gunfire had ceased as the bikers pulled back after their numbers were reduced by the claymore mines.

  Stairs led up to the second floor, where a small doorway hid another set of stairs that provided access to a flat roof that he was told was used for BBQs and evening dinner parties. Today it held the fallen, one of their own.

  Jodi had a hand on Nancy who was sobbing hard and cradling him in her arms. Taking his eyes off them, Alex went over to the edge, making sure to stay low. Gus had turned on the generator and lit up the grounds with huge spotlights making it easier to see those lurking in the shadows.

  The grounds were littered with bodies, or what was left of them.

  “When did she set up those mines?”

  “The second you left. I tried to get her to leave, Alex. But…”

  “No need to explain.” Alex cast a glance back at Jodi who was guiding Nancy back down. Gus sighed and dropped down behind the waist-high wall that wrapped around the top of the roof. He took out a half-smoked cigar and stuck it between his lips and lit it. “I was working here long before Jodi came along. Groundskeeper, caretaker, jack of all trades. Never in my life did I imagine I would be tasked with defending this place.”

  “There’s still time to get on the boat, Gus.”

  “And leave her behind?” He looked at him as he blew gray smoke out. “No, I promised Steven I would look after her. She’s stubborn but I love her.”

  “It’s just property.”

  He pulled a grim expression. “Not to her, it’s not. Every penny they had went into this place.” Gus turned toward him. “You’ve heard the saying, blood, sweat, and tears, well, they’ve given it all.”

  Alex peered out through his rifle scope. He could see movement at the edge of the tree line. They were waiting, biding their time, but for what?

  Backup. They were waiting for backup. In his mind’s eye, he could picture the rest of the bikers roaring up Elk Mountain Road north of the river. Once they rolled in, it would be over. Too many. Too much firepower. They would overtake the resort and kill them with ease.

  “So are you ready to die then?” Alex asked looking back at him.

  “Shit no, I didn’t see my retirement playing out like this, but a person has a right to defend what’s theirs. You need to respect that.”

  “Sure they do,” Alex replied. “But for what? A few fucking buildings?”

  Gus snorted, and his cigar sizzled as he took another hit. “That’s not what she’s protecting. He’s buried here. Steven. Her husband. That gal has been through the wringer, watched him die slowly from cancer, and ran this place — all the while being a mother to those three kids. You might think it’s right to leave but you won’t convince her otherwise.”

  Alex snuck another peek. He turned back and tapped him on the leg. “You’re a good man, Gus, a little fucking loopy, but a good man. Keep an eye out, just don’t get your head blown off.” He took off and headed back down. Jodi was on her way up the stairs when he entered the stairwell.

  “Okay. I get it. I lost someone too but do you think Steven would have wanted this?”

  “Yeah, he would.”

  “Bullshit. That’s your grief talking.”

  Jodi scowled. “You want to talk to me about grief? Please. After what you shared? It sounds like you are dealing with your own.” She went to brush by him and he took a hold of her bicep again. She looked at his hand and he stared her in the eye. “What do you think Steven would have done for these people? Think about that. Do you want your kids to grow up without a mother as well?” He released her and headed down. The group was huddled together. Nancy, Jared, Yvette, and the kids were all on the floor, terrified and for good reason, maybe now they would listen.

  “Those of you who want to see tomorrow, come with me now.”

  Without waiting, he moved toward the rear and pushed open one of the large French doors. It barely made a sound. He glanced out, checking for threats. Under the glow of the outdoor lights it was clear but that didn’t mean they were in the clear. They still had to make it a good thirty yards down to the dock.

  He turned and found them in a line, ready to head out.

  “We’re heading for the boat. Liam, you cover the east, Lincoln, the west. I’ll lead them out. Stay low, everyone. Do not stop. Do you hear me? No matter what happens, keep moving.”

  He took a deep breath, took a second to think of Elisha, and then he burst out the rear and swept his rifle back and forth, expecting trouble.

  Danny called out to his mother but she didn’t answer.

  Alex didn’t wait even as he saw him disappear inside to go get her.

  They moved fast, as one unit, hurrying, using the trees and bushes as cover.

  Not a single round was fired even as he loaded them into the boat and waited for Danny. “Come on. Come on!” he muttered under his breath as the water lapped up against the dock and shore.

  Still no sign of him, Gus or Jodi.

  “Wait here, if I don’t return in five minutes get them out of here,” Alex said to Liam. He hopped out of the boat and hurried at a crouch toward the house. He slipped back in and called out to them as he dashed up the stairs. When he made it to the top, he saw all three of them crouched behind the wall, waving him down.

&nbs
p; Then came the sound he’d expected but hoped he wouldn’t hear.

  The roar of motorcycles.

  25

  Lake Pillsbury

  “Wait for it, wait for it!” Jodi said peering over the wall of the roof. Motorcycles swerved, bikers dismounted, and ran at a crouch with AK-47s toward the resort. She lowered her hand and Gus gave the firing device a firm squeeze. An explosion followed sending grit and dust ten feet in the air. Men screamed in agony; some retreated, others went silent.

  Jodi used the explosion to open fire and take out those closest.

  Inside each of the strategically placed mines were steel spheres inside a plastic matrix in front of a layer of one and a half pounds of C-4.

  It was brutal.

  Gus moved to the next device. That’s when Alex noticed he had multiple ones rigged up with several hundred feet of firing wire that snaked away over the top of the roof.

  Gunfire erupted, an angry chorus peppering the walls of the house as the bikers opened fire with automatic weapons. Gus retaliated by initiating three more claymore mines positioned in key locations around the property.

  Their reach was widespread, the results highly effective.

  Alex took a look at the evolving situation.

  While they certainly had made a dent and made the gang even more cautious, they had done to them what hitting a wasp’s nest might do — riled them up.

  “We need to leave, now!” Alex said. “The others won’t wait much longer.”

  Whether it was her son’s words or the reality of the situation sinking in, Jodi agreed with a nod. Staying low, Alex led them down into the house to the second floor. When they were only a few feet from the staircase they were driven back by rounds fired from the lower level.

  Somehow, a few of the bikers had managed to skirt around to the rear without being seen. They’d entered and were making their way up as they were coming down. A barrage of bullets tore through wood and shattered framed photos, tearing up the walls as they pulled back to the safety of the stairwell. “Go, go!” Alex said, urging them back in as he turned and engaged with three guys who were making their way up to the second level. The shots were clean, accurate, and deadly, taking two of them out.

  “Alex!” Jodi bellowed

  He turned and saw Gus on the floor.

  “Shit.” He hurried over and with the assistance of Danny dragged him into the stairwell and back to the roof. They slammed the door closed and jammed a steel rod into a loop of metal to secure it. It wouldn’t hold but it would buy them a few minutes.

  Making his way over to the east side of the roof he looked out and saw the second boat moving away from the shore. It was a bittersweet sight. They should have been on it but at least the kids and parents were safe. Alex turned back to see Jodi applying pressure to a chest wound. He shuffled over, keeping his head down.

  Gus was gone.

  “He’s dead, Jodi.”

  “No.”

  “There’s nothing you can do.”

  She wouldn’t listen but continued CPR, shock getting the better of her.

  Danny kept his rifle aimed at the door, expecting any second now for the bikers to riddle it with rounds and burst out. Alex slumped behind the wall, defeated, rifle at the ready, his mind in turmoil. He was a realist, this was where it would end.

  All those miles he’d traveled to reach his daughter.

  He should have felt regret, anger at the thought of never seeing her again, but he didn’t. Strangely he felt gratitude. He was grateful that he’d made it back and had gotten four weeks with Elisha. He just wished their last conversation hadn’t been an argument.

  Danny exchanged a look with him.

  The kid was scared.

  They all were.

  He knew how this would play out. Eventually the bikers would storm the house.

  They would make one last valiant attempt at defending themselves out of a pure will to survive only to die in a hail of bullets.

  There had only been a few times in his career he thought he would die; both were in choppy waters off the East Coast. He’d always imagined that’s how his life would end, trying to save the owners of a boat stranded at sea, sinking into a watery abyss.

  “Thank you,” Danny said.

  “For what?”

  “For trying to help.”

  He didn’t know how to reply to that.

  “What did you want to do with your life, kid?”

  “Not this.”

  He chuckled as their eyes shifted to the door.

  Any minute now.

  Jodi had finally given up but was clutching Gus’ hand and muttering something — an apology? A prayer?

  He couldn’t fault her or be angry. Like him, she was a product of her past, a collage of memories, shortcomings, success, and failure. Everyone was driven by emotional choices that often didn’t make sense in the moment but were justified later.

  This wasn’t any different.

  Alex shuffled over to her, and placed a caring hand on her back. Jodi glanced at him with swollen red eyes. She looked as if she was about to say something when rounds tore through the door, tearing the metal plate that was a part of the lock away from the wood.

  Danny immediately returned fire as did he.

  When they stopped firing, it went silent.

  They shifted back, waiting for the door to burst open.

  “C’mon you bastards!”

  More gunfire, this time, however, it came from the bowels of the house below.

  Then a familiar voice. “Alex. Don’t shoot. It’s me.”

  “Liam?”

  The door widened, and his finger twitched near the trigger. He expected to see Liam pushed forward like a human shield for some grizzly biker but instead he was alone.

  “What are you doing back?”

  “I couldn’t leave you behind.”

  “But the others?”

  “They boarded the second boat. Lincoln and I returned. You ready?”

  He nodded and extended a hand to Jodi when he caught the smell of smoke, thick, strong.

  “You smell that?”

  All of them looked out, across the property toward the tree line, that’s when they saw flames and smoke billowing high above the treetops and drifting toward them carried by an easterly wind. The forest was ablaze, a golden arch of orange with tongues of fire dancing into the night sky.

  What followed was a deafening torrent of gunfire.

  Alex shuffled across to the western wall and peered out. What he expected to see was bikers firing at the house but instead he saw them trying to defend themselves from behind. Like a swarm of ants, people emerged from the forest, some dropped and opened fire, others ran at a crouch, and used the trees as cover but all of them engaged with the bikers.

  He peered through the scope of his rifle, scanning the tattooed faces. He’d seen that ink before.

  “Garcia.”

  Many of the outlaw gang members got back on their bikes, trying to peel out only to be cut down in a hail of gunfire. Alex, Liam, and the others joined the fight, opening fire on those who were backing up trying to avoid being shot by the Norteños.

  They didn’t stand a chance.

  Alex watched in awe as the tide turned.

  Their numbers had already been reduced by the claymore mines but with Garcia’s crew coming from the west, and them raining down bullets from the east, the bikers were stuck in a fatal funnel, left with no other choice than to engage, die or flee.

  The suddenness of the attack overwhelmed the Brothers of Mayhem. Some managed to escape on their bikes but the rest were left to fend for themselves, a challenge they couldn’t win. Outnumbered, outgunned, and screwed on both sides, it was just a matter of time before they lost.

  When no more gunfire could be heard, only the crackling of wood, Alex stood up and gazed out across the forest now ablaze. It was bigger than any fire he’d ever witnessed. Golden embers danced like fireflies bringing the aroma of burned wood their way.
Although there was a clearing between the forest and the structures of Mendocino Resort, they would still need to evacuate to the lake. The heat was increasing in intensity, and the smoke becoming almost unbearable.

  After making their way out and heading for the boat, Alex heard his name called.

  He turned to see Garcia jogging toward him, rifle in hand, several other tatted gang members in tow.

  For someone he’d disliked, damn, he sure was pleased to see him.

  “I don’t know how you pulled it off,” Alex said with a grin. “But man, your timing was impeccable.”

  He shook his hand and Garcia looked past him. “Many survive?”

  “Most.”

  “Sophie and Elisha?”

  He shook his head and frowned. “You didn’t return to the cabin?”

  “No, I came straight here. To be honest, I thought we were too late.”

  “You nearly were. What happened out there?”

  “Engaged with them along the road in, some fled into the forest. Marco decided to drive them back toward the water and hedge them in using fire. It worked.”

  “That it did,” he replied. They both looked back and grimaced as they saw a large portion of the national forest now ablaze. There would be no fire jumpers to put out the flames, no organization, or relief workers to handle the aftermath.

  Instead, it would have to burn out.

  “Anyway, Marco’s guys will ensure they don’t escape.”

  He nodded. “We need to head back to the cabin.” Alex turned to the others and told them to go on without him. “I’ll join you later at the camp.”

  As he and Garcia walked away, Jodi called out to him. “Alex.”

  He cast a furrowed glance over his shoulder.

  “Thank you.”

  He managed to summon half a smile before taking off at a jog toward a waiting vehicle, fear still holding him in its grip.

  Epilogue

  Lake Pillsbury

  Four months after the attack

  Rays of morning sunshine warmed their faces that chilly December after gathering for the unveiling of the new Mendocino Resort. It was far smaller than the previous one, which had been reduced to charcoal, but it didn’t matter, it offered a glimmer of hope at a time when the nation was staggering to its feet.