The End Series | Book 3 | The End: Warzone

by Cage, Zion

  Then the unthinkable happened: in May that year, some people had tried to kill him.

  He could still recall the events of that day. He had just come back from work that evening. His grandmother had been sitting on the patio. His mother had been inside preparing dinner while his brother had been doing his homework. His father, who worked in the bank, wasn't back from work yet. He usually spent the evenings with his friends at a bar before returning home. That evening, Stephen had just been about to enter the house when a black car had driven by. Tanner, who had been trained by Stephen like a military dog, had begun to bark fiercely. Gunmen in black had suddenly gotten out of the car and shot at him.

  Flinging the door wide open, he had ducked and dived into the house for cover. Unfortunately, his grandmother hadn’t been as athletic as he was. Being without cover, she received two bullets, one to her shoulder and another to her abdomen. The gunmen got back into the car and drove off. Hurrying out, Stephen tried to read the car's number plate, but the car didn't even have one. That was when he saw his grandmother on the floor, whimpering in pain. Tanner was by her, barking- the loyal dog he was. Being frail in health a long time before the incident, his grandmother hadn’t lasted up to five minutes after the gunshot.

  Not knowing why anyone would want to kill him, he took the attempt as a misdirection of fire on the part of his assailants. There was no means to track down the gunmen; still, he reported the incident to the police. Funny enough, whenever he looked into the eyes of his family members, he could see suspicion. They suspected he had done something to warrant the attack. They felt that his crime had been the reason he had been kicked out of the military in the first place. He didn’t bother trying to defend himself. Who would believe him? They had a good conspiracy going. And it made complete sense: he had done something in the military that warranted his death. There were just two problems: he couldn't think of any offense he had committed that was as grievous enough as to warrant his death. And even if he had done something, the military didn’t have to send him off on false claims to exact retribution. The military could use the constitution to handle it in a shorter time.

  Despite the pleas of his mother, he had returned to work the next day. Then another attempt was made on his life. He had been at work when a man wearing a jacket drove in, claiming that his tire was flat and needed pumping. The moment the man stepped down from the car, Stephen had noticed the bulge at the side of the man's pants. Because of his years of training in the military, he knew it was a gun, and so he became alert. Just as Stephen had bent down to check the car, the man moved to pull out the gun. Swiftly, as the man was about to pull the trigger on him, Stephen kicked his hand away. The bullet lodged itself in another mechanic's arm while the gun flew out of the assailant's hand. The man had pulled his belt out and ran towards Stephen. Dodging Stephen punches, he stepped behind Stephen and curled his belt around Stephen's neck. Struggling for breath, Stephen bent to the ground.

  The man, struggling to maintain control, bent down with him. Stephen had come to sit on the ground. From the corner of his eye, he could see his toolbox. He reached for it. The man on top of him was struggling so hard to snuff Stephen out that he didn’t notice Stephen’s hand pick up a wrench from the toolbox. Stephen had whipped the man’s head with it hard enough so that the sound of a crack had emanated from the man’s skull. The man had fallen to the ground, unconscious. Suspecting that there were more people who wanted him dead around, he had decided to leave everything behind and run back home. On his way, he realized that they knew his home and could still find him there.

  It was at that point that Stephen knew his life was in danger and that, as long as he stayed with his family, their lives would be in danger too. On getting home, he had picked up everything he would need: his bank card, his pistol, a few clothes, and his small Air Force survival kit containing a map of the U.S., a compass, a pair of binoculars, a walkie talkie, an insulated bottle, and a firelighter. Stuffing them all in a backpack, he walked out of the house. Only his dog had been at home then, so he had taken Tanner with him. It saddened him that he wasn’t going to be at his grandmother’s burial. Before leaving Akron, he had emptied his bank account and broken his SIM card after writing out important phone numbers in his journal. With Tanner, he had moved from Akron to Mansfield in Ohio. Once, he had made the mistake of calling home to tell them where he was, and he had been attacked again. Since then, he had cut off all connections with his family and moved to Columbus, where he had settled down. At least he was at rest there. No one knew who he was. No one would find him.

  15th November, 2021

  11:30 am

  Columbus, Ohio. USA.

  Marcus and Adelaide drove through Italian Village, looking carefully at the street as they passed. Their target was a huge red-haired man who sold barbecue at a small kiosk. The picture they had seen, the things they had read about him, and the things they had experienced with him told them it wasn’t going to be an easy task. One of their colleagues had died at his hands.

  After the general meeting in Washington, D.C., they had moved along with some other agents back to Ohio for the purpose of reaping children and young ladies. For everyone else, that was the last operation before they returned to their lives in Russia. However, for them, there was a pending task to complete before they could leave the United States. For several months they had been trying to track Stephen Wallace, but the guy was smart and had gotten himself off the radar: no bank card activity, no online purchase, no phone call from his number, nothing. According to the bosses, he had some intelligence he wasn’t supposed to have and, therefore, had to die. It had been made clear to them that they wouldn’t be returning unless they brought proof of his death. Luckily for them, Adelaide had spotted him the previous day, shortly after they had settled in the neighborhood. She had been unprepared then, so she had returned with Marcus the next day.

  “Marcus, this bomb could blow up any time now," Adelaide said as she furled her fingers around the gun she held under her jacket. It was locked in safety mode, so she wasn't afraid. "I don't understand why you'll insist that we take a car when you know that it will affect even cars."

  “Relax, Adelaide. The bomb will blow up soon, but it won’t be now. We need to take out this guy quickly, so we don’t miss out on all the fun of hunting. Besides, a car ensures that no one sees our faces. The faster we get this done, the better for us. If we must face this guy off in a fight, we’d compound issues for ourselves,” Marcus said, focusing on the road. They took a turn that led into the street where their target worked.

  As they got closer to the address, Adelaide got her gun ready for action. She had only one shot and she didn’t want to miss it. Marcus indicated a right turn and began to slow down to enable Adelaide to have a clean shot.

  Adelaide spotted the man through her sunshades, turning a chunk of meat over on the grill. She raised her gun and aimed at him. Her finger curled around the trigger and she pressed it.

  Suddenly the car engine went off with the car still in motion and they bumped into another car. Her bullet went astray and hit a wall.

  Adelaide turned to Marcus. “What happened?” she shouted at him.

  Marcus was going to answer but his eyes got fixed on the rearview mirror and his mouth hung open. He couldn’t speak.

  From behind, another car moving with speed bumped into them, throwing them forward against the dashboard. They blanked out.

  Stephen heard the gunshot and saw where the bullet struck a wall. He realized that the bullet had been meant for him. He was going to run but another thing made him stop and watch. As far as his eyes could see, cars skidded to a stop, crashing into other cars and structures. It was weird. Every electric sign went off. He looked at his digital wristwatch. It had stopped working too.

  Something was wrong. Quickly, he pulled out his bunch of keys and went to the post where Tanner was chained. Releasing his partner, he called out, running,

  “Come on, boy. Follow me!”<
br />
  The dog wasted no time in obeying him.

  Chapter Two

  “Shh, boy. Kill!”

  16th November, 20217:42 am

  Columbus, Ohio. USA.

  Stephen walked down the highway. Though he was still in Columbus, he was far from the Italian Village. He had walked all day long the previous day because no car he had seen was able to function. An EMP had hit. He was sure of that. Back at the Academy, he’d been taught about devices that were able to produce such consequences; however, he had never seen one large enough to affect such a vast area.

  Unless it was a nuclear bomb that struck.

  Still, if it were a nuclear bomb, they should have seen a sign.

  Whatever the case was, he’d had to trek the distance from Columbus to wherever he was in one day just to escape from the people who wanted him dead. The previous night, he doubted he’d slept for three hours before he’d gotten up again to continue the journey with his dog.

  The highway stretched endlessly before him and left him dejected. To his left and right, there were woods. He needed to find a town. He needed to get supplies. Unfortunately, he didn’t know exactly where he was. Since he hadn’t used a means of public transport, he had no means of telling his location. He hadn’t seen one of those signs showing how many kilometers away the next town was. He bent over and tussled Tanner’s hair.

  “Attaboy. Do you have any idea where we are? You seem hungry. Maybe we should stop and go hunting a bit, eh?” the dog barked, and Stephen smiled. “Come on. Let’s hope there’s a wolf that’s hunting in daylight.”

  The dog barked and wagged its tail excitedly at the sound of the word "wolf". Stephen laughed.

  “Isn’t it weird that your favorite meat is that of your own brothers? Come on, let’s go,” he said as he headed out towards the forest to his left. They hadn’t gotten too far when they heard the sound of a boy shouting for someone else to let him go. Stephen grinned.

  “Isn’t that one stubborn boy? Causing his mama trouble,” he said as he walked on. Suddenly, there was the sound of a loud slap. Then silence reigned. The situation disturbed Stephen. Something was wrong. He motioned for Tanner to be quiet.

  “Shh, boy. Wait here,” he said as he moved in the direction, he had heard the sound from. It came from the forest. Stealthily, he made his way into the forest. As he moved, he noticed multiple footprints in the dark soil. The majority of the prints seemed to be from young people. Then there were a few adult prints. He frowned. What was happening?

  He stood behind a tree in the forest and peered into the distance. There were two men. One was dark with blond hair. The other was white and bald. There were three children with them. Two were standing. The other lay on the ground, unconscious. He guessed it was the one that had been slapped. The children who were standing cried.

  “Look what you’ve done,” the light-skinned man said to the dark-skinned one who held one of his wrists in the other hand. “How could you have slapped him so hard? His face will swell, and he won’t be accepted.”

  “Well, he should have thought of that before acting all stubborn on me. Who does he think he is to insult me?” the dark-skinned man said.

  Stephen raised a brow at the dark-skinned man’s statement. The first sentence didn’t make a lot of sense. Apart from that, the man acted effeminate.

  Who were these men and where were they taking those kids?

  He decided to find out. He stepped out from behind the tree.

  “Hey, what’s going on here? What are you doing with these kids?” he asked boldly.

  The men were startled by his sudden appearance. The dark one reached to the back of his pants and pulled out a gun.

  “What’s your damn business?” he said as he shot at Stephen. Stephen quickly ducked behind a tree and reached to his waist to pull out his pistol. He cocked it and aimed at them. The two men had taken the children as shields. He couldn’t shoot at them.

  "I knew this stupid boy would be the reason we got caught. I'm gonna kill him, I promise," the dark-skinned guy said.

  The white-skinned one slowly backed away.

  “Hey, Mister. How about you come out and let’s finish this once and for all. We really don’t have the time to waste,” he said, pulling out his gun and pointing towards the tree that Stephen hid behind.

  The dark-skinned one walked towards Stephen with his gun stretched out. Stephen shot once in his direction to make it clear that he was armed, and the dark-skinned man halted, apparently taking caution.

  Something came behind Stephen, startling him so that he almost shot it when he turned to look at it. He sighed in relief when he saw it was Tanner. His dog had followed him with the stealth of a predator: just as he had taught it. He smiled. Pointing at the light-skinned man, Stephen whispered,

  “Shh, boy. Kill!”

  The dog bowed his head before running off in another direction. Stephen needed to cause a distraction for the dog. Holding his backpack in front of him as a shield, he ran out from where he hid, shouting and shooting at trees as though he shot at them. The dark-skinned one didn’t waste the opportunity. He shot back. Luckily for Stephen, he was able to get behind another tree without getting shot. He looked at his bag. There were numerous bullet holes in it. The clothes and metal kit in the bag had blocked the bullets from getting to him.

  He smiled as he heard the shouts of the white-skinned man. Tanner was on him. Knowing that the dark-skinned one would turn to shoot at the dog, he dived out of his hiding place. Just as he had imagined, the dark-skinned man’s back was turned to him. Stephen shot twice at him and the man dropped to the ground. Getting up from where he had fallen, he ran to where the white-skinned man was struggling with Tanner. Obviously, the man was afraid of dogs. Stephen pointed his gun at the man.

  “Stay, Tanner,” he said to the dog and the dog held back.

  “Who are you? Why are you kidnapping these kids? Answer me now or I’ll kill you here,” he said.

  The man laughed. “You’ve got no idea, do you? Kill me already. I won’t say a word,” the man said.

  Stephen’s nerves were already grated.

  “Have it your way,” he said as he shot the man in the head. It was when he heard the gasp of the children that he remembered he was not alone. He turned to them, putting his gun back in safety mode and tucking it under his shirt. “Hey, kids. Does anyone of you know who these men were?” he asked.

  The fear in the eyes of the children was unmistakable. He raised his hands up.

  “Relax, kids. I’m not going to hurt you. See? I’m with you.” The children slowly warmed up to him. “Do you know these people?” he asked again.

  One of the children, a little girl, shook her head no. “I was playing outside last night when they came up to me and carried me away,” she said. The other girl nodded her head in agreement. Stephen sighed. Dismissing the men as kidnappers who were making the most of the power outage, he went to the boy who still lay in the dust, weak and in pain. He suspected the boy was no more than ten. Placing a hand on the boy’s body, he said:

  “Hey boy, wanna go home?” The boy nodded ever so slowly.

  Stephen looked at the girls.

  “So y’all have been walking all night, huh?” he asked, and they nodded. “Does anyone of you know the way home?”

  The elder one raised her hand excitedly.

  “I remember some of it,” she said.

  “Great,” Stephen said, beaming brightly. “Then we’ll figure out whatever part is left. Let’s go,” he said as he lifted the little boy and stood up straight.

  16th November, 2021.12:54 pm.

  Columbus, Ohio. USA.

  As they entered the town, they found that the place was deserted. Even the children began to get worried. They walked a bit further in search of people before they saw a crowd gathered in front of a school, listening to someone. The sight became particularly interesting to Stephen when he noticed the two Air Force men standing behind the crowd.

&nbs
p; He realized he recognized one of them. It had been a long time since he’d seen him. He couldn’t resist the urge to go to him.

  “Hey, kids. Go find your parents. I’m sure they’re worried sick over you,” he said as he moved the boy down. He had learned that the boy's name was Toby. "Sophie, Nicolette, help Toby," he said to the elder and younger girl, respectively, as he walked off the direction of the soldiers.

  “Morn, sir!” he saluted the moment he stood right behind the Air Force men. They turned back at the sound of his voice. Bucky Malroose, one of the men, recognized Stephen and put his hands to his mouth.

  “I must be seeing things,” he said. The other soldier, not knowing who Stephen was, turned away after nodding his head in acknowledgment.

  “No, you’re not, man,” Stephen said, opening his arms for a hug. “Bring it in.”

  Bucky went for it. As they pulled away, Bucky asked,

  “Oh my! Where have you been, man? After you left the military, you suddenly disappeared.”

  “It’s a long story, man. Believe me, you don’t want to hear it,” Stephen said. “Hey, do you know what’s going on? I mean, all the lights just went off suddenly. It’s weird.”

  Bucky sighed before responding.

  “From what we heard, three nuclear bombs exploded over the nation, wiping out every source of power. It’s not just here, bro. It’s everywhere.”

  “You’re joking! What’s being done about it? Do we know the source? Is it a terrorist organization?”

  “We’re not sure yet. However, according to what I heard, the last two months, the President had received a private message about the threat of the attack. He wasn’t given a particular date. But, get this: he keeps this to himself and his intelligence team to sort it out. All this time, the military isn’t aware of anything going on or maybe the superiors knew and kept it to themselves. Whatever the case is, they seem to act in utmost secrecy about it. Just a couple of minutes after the explosion in Washington, we get information from the President, who, luckily for him, is currently in New York, to move every citizen to New York where measures have been put in place for their safety. Only minutes later, two more nuclear bombs go off over Colorado, Nebraska, and Kansas, wiping out all life in those areas too and taking out all power in the rest of the country,” Bucky said.