Knights of the Apocalypse (A Duck & Cover Adventure Post-Apocalyptic Series Book 2) (14 page)

“Let them in,”
Brae said as she disappeared into the bathroom. “I’ll be out when I can stop
these stupid tears.”

Erica crossed
the hotel room and opened the door. The five women flooded in the room as if
they had all been leaning on the door. The smell of alcohol followed them like
a lost puppy and filled the small room.

“FEAST!” Sandra
said again. “Hey, why aren’t you guys ready?”

“Just be a
minute,” Brae shouted from behind the bathroom door.

“She’ll just be
a minute,” Erica echoed.

The girls
spread out around the room. A couple flopped on the bed while exclaiming “Wheee”
on the way down. One of them tried to pull Erica with her but was too drunk to
grab her wrist and fall at the same time. She landed with a thwump. “You’re
going to love tonight, Jennifer. When was the last time you had a girls’ night
out?”

“It’s been a long
time,” Erica answered.

“Well, this is
going to be a good one. I know this guy at the Gallopin’ Stallion. He’s going
to hook us all up tonight.”

The bathroom
door opened and Brae stepped out in a sleek evening dress. She had managed to
wipe the tears away, but her cheeks were still puffy. “Ready to go.”

“What’s wrong,
Brae?” one of the girls asked. “Have you been crying?”

“No, it’s
nothing,” she said.

“You can’t lie
to me,” Sandra said. “I know that look. It’s a look of emotional distress mixed
with a lack of fulfillment that only a man with little stamina and less junk
can give you. Tommy was here again, wasn’t he? I can tell by how disappointed
you look.”

Brae’s mouth
dropped open. “You can really tell that by how I look?”

“Yes,” she
said. “And I saw him leaving.”

“Two-Minute
Tommy?” one of the girls on the bed said. “I’m sorry, Brae.”

The one lying
beside her added, “He doesn’t treat you right.”

Sandra laughed.
“He doesn’t treat anyone right. He grabbed my ass when I passed him in the
hallway.”

“That loser.”

“It’s okay. I
grabbed his wallet.” Sandra held up a leather pouch and shook it so it jingled.
“Looks like tonight is on Tiny Tommy.”

The girls laughed. Brae laughed and the
sadness faded from her eyes.

THIRTEEN

Aside from the nightmare-inducing screams of
the eternally tormented filling the brittle air of the dark streets of Aztec,
New Mexico, the town was silent.

The cannibalistic creatures had found the
conscript that got away. Cody’s screams were different than theirs. They were
more human and more horrible. And while they shrieked and wailed, he only
screamed in pain and horror as they ate him alive.

The remainder of the group sat by the river
listening to the pain of every howl. They could almost pick out which limb was
being chewed by the sounds Cody made.

There was one final scream of pain and the
wails ended. Silence returned to the desert town.

One conscript offered a quick eulogy. “Poor
bastards.”

While Jerry recovered, Shane had sent the
other bodies and informed the group that all three of the conscripts had
deserted the group. It had been Shane’s plan. He felt it best that the rest of
the group didn’t know about the attack so he added, “Dumb bastards. That’s what
they get for running off. We stick together and we’ll get out of this alive.
Wander off and we’re Gravy Train.”

A young conscript named Joshua, not even
twenty, asked, “What’s Gravy Train?”

Shane shook his head. “I hate you kids.”

There was a solemn silence as each man
pictured themselves in the jaws of the mutants. A conscript named Patrick
finally spoke. “What a terrible way to go.”

“The worst,” another agreed.

“I’ve heard of worse,” Joshua argued.

“You’ve heard of a worse death than being
eaten alive?” Patrick asked. “Bullshit.”

“Oh yeah,” he defended himself. “How about
Slow Worms? Being eaten alive—but for weeks. At least this is over in a
matter of minutes.”

“But they’re slow worms,” Patrick said.

“So?”

“They’re even slower than normal worms. So if
you get caught by slow worms
you kind of deserve a
horrible death. Now if you get caught in a Hellburst, no one could say you were
too slow. Those things come out of nowhere.”

A grey-haired conscript named Ken let out a
laugh. “Those aren’t real, you moron.”

“Of course they are!” Patrick said. “You’re
standing there one second all fine and then the ground opens up and the fires
of hell consume you in a split second of intense pain and probably a lot of
blistering.”

“No,” Ken said. “Your dumb ass just stepped
on a land mine.”

“They’re not land mines,” Patrick said, but
clearly wasn’t sure.
 

“Of course it is.”

“It’s a geyser.” Jerry spoke quietly in hopes
it would inspire the others to keep their voices down. They were getting too
loud. “Hellbursts are geysers that were brought close to the surface during the
bombing. Sometimes it only takes the weight of a small dog to break through.
The steam will kill you before you fall through the hole.”

Patrick and Ken both turned silent. Joshua
spoke up. “Sounds like you’ve been around, new guy.”

Jerry shrugged.

“Have you ever seen Heaven’s Vengeance?” the
young conscript asked.
 

“It’s a lightning storm. Just without the
rain,” Jerry said. “They were around before, but less of us saw them because we
didn’t live in the desert. There was a lot less desert back then.”

“Have you ever seen a Giant?” The conscript,
Colin, had stayed out of the arguments, seemingly afraid to say anything. “I
saw one once. But no one believes me.”

“That’s because you’re an idiot, Colin.”

“And you’re an ass, Ken!”

They were getting louder again so Jerry spoke
low. “I’ve seen them.
Big, hairy mutants.
Whatever
made them grow also made them assholes. But if you don’t bother them, they
won’t bother you. For the most part.”
 

“Like the wolf men of the northwest. I heard
they were mutated men as well.”

“Close,” Jerry said. “They were hit by a
weapon they called Moreau—meant to turn animals into monsters. They were
plain old wolves. And you’re definitely more afraid of them than they are of
you.”

“What’s the most dangerous thing you’ve
seen?” Joshua asked.

“Why do you want to play that game, Josh?”
Shane asked.

“I want to know. I want to know that working
in the mines is as bad as it gets.”

Jerry shook his head. “The world is full of
terrible things. Giants, wolf men, mutant plants. Rumors can kill a person as
easily as any creature or Hellburst. I’ve seen many die pursuing a paradise
that doesn’t exist. I’ve seen others die waiting for the government to come
back like they promised. We’re our own fatal
flaw
.
Even after all that happened, we still believe in our own humanity. But that’s
where the truest evil dwells. That’s why so many are willing to live under the
rule of tyrants. Despite every reason they give, we want to believe they have
our best interests at heart.

“This world is ruled by warlords, barons,
presidents and kings. But they’re all the same. Striking at others in the name
of
their own
. The most horrific things I’ve seen have
been performed in the name of good. And, even when good men stand against evil,
the result is the same—people die. Some good. Some bad. But either way,
they are just as dead and then there’s one less person alive to make a
difference.”

Jerry looked at Joshua. “Nothing’s changed.
You want to know what the most dangerous creature is? Man is the most dangerous
thing out there. We’ll be our own downfall over and over again for as long as
we are willing to look the other way when a tyrant acts. And we’ll do it
willingly so long as it’s our tyrant.”

The room was quiet. The wails had stopped.
The men looked at one another with nothing to say.

Jerry smiled. “I’m just kidding. It’s bears.”

The men chuckled more from relief than humor.
Jerry wasn’t trying to make them
laugh,
he was trying
to shut them up until the princess arrived. He put a finger to his lips and
walked to the edge of the river.
A whitewater
raft—bright yellow and hardly subtle—approached from upstream.
 

The Animas ran shallow beneath the bridge and
it had only taken one red Volvo to pinch the river in their favor and narrow
the passageway beneath the bridge. The conscripts lay in wait behind rusted
hulks on either side of the Animas clutching their rusted weaponry with fierce
grips. They expected an army. Their enemies had penetrated the kingdom’s walls
and abducted one of its most guarded citizens. Bare minimum, they would be
facing an elite group of fighters and the group prepared themselves for a
savage battle.

There were two of them. Even Jerry was
surprised to see the boat so empty. It floated up to the shoreline with only a
man and a princess inside.

The conscripts rushed the boat from all
sides. Patrick tackled the man from the boat before he could react. The two
splashed into the river and came up gasping for breath almost instantly,
gasping and trying to climb out of the freezing water.

Jerry and Shane pulled the woman ashore and
put themselves between her and her abductor as they watched Patrick and the
kidnapper take shiver-driven high steps to escape the cold river. The kidnapper
got there first and put a foot in Patrick’s chest. He kicked the conscript back
into the water.

Ken rushed in to attack the kidnapper. A wet
hand struck him across the face and knocked him to the ground as the kidnapper
jumped to his feet.

Colin stepped in to fight and backed away a
moment later gripping his stomach. The conscript fell to the ground. His gasps
turned to cries as he discovered the blood flowing from his gut.

The kidnapper held a bloody knife in his hand
and turned towards the girl.

Ken scrambled back as the kidnapper turned on
him with the knife.

Josh struck from behind. The young conscript
brought the kidnapper to the ground and began punching the man in the back of
the head.

The girl screamed, not in horror but fear.
She darted between the two men and rushed to the fallen kidnapper.

Josh rolled the man over, drew his own blade
and raised the knife above his head to strike.

The princess kicked Josh in the face and sent
him rolling toward the water. She stood between the conscripts and the man on
the ground as he got to his feet.

Joshua sprang back on to the shore. He still
had the knife in his hand.

The princess leapt between her kidnapper and
the boy with a short rapier in hand. She whipped the blade through the air. It
whistled.
  

Joshua tried to step beside her to get the man
but she mirrored his every move. “Move, lady!”

Jerry stepped in between the princess and the
conscript. “Stop it, Josh.”

“What the hell are you doing?” the young
conscript asked.

“Look at her,” Jerry said.

Anna, princess of the Kingdom of the Five
Peaks, wore perfectly the look of a pissed off princess. Golden hair raged
across her face. Anger had forced a sweat in the cold night and the beads ran
over skin that had never known the merciless sun of the wasteland. With her
brow furrowed and her teeth bared, she all but growled, daring any man to move
against her or the man behind her.

Jerry pulled the knife from Joshua’s hand.
“She’s not being kidnapped. She’s being rescued.”

The men on the shore weren’t sure how to
react. No one moved in. Most lowered their weapons. Patrick splashed from the
river and froze at the edge of the bank shivering. Colin moaned about the stab
wound in his stomach.

“Who cares?” Patrick asked. “I don’t care
what she’s doing here. I wasn’t sent here to solve a mystery. I was told to
bring back a princess. Period.”

She did not have the timid voice of a fairy
book princess. It was fierce. “I’m never going back.”

“Sure you are, princess,” Patrick said,
before taking one too many steps towards her.

The slash caught him across the face and he
stumbled back to the shoreline.

Pulling his hand from his cheek revealed a
four-inch trail of blood. Rage flashed across the conscript’s face, but he
hesitated to make another move. He stood there shivering and bleeding.

The kidnapper was a young man no older than
the princess herself. He got to his feet wielding a second sword and stood
beside the princess.

Princess Anna continued. “I’m not going back
to that bastard. I won’t spend another day with him. Not another moment. I’m
going home or I’m going to hell, but I’m not going back.”

Shane lowered the sword. “I think she means
it, guys.”

“Have it your way, Princess,” Patrick said.
“But first you’re going back to the prince.” He rushed towards the girl.

Jerry stepped in and kicked him in the chest.
This sent him back into the river. “Let’s think this through.”

Gasping again, Patrick stood and sloshed his
way toward the shore.

“What’s there to think through?” Shane asked.
“She has to go back.”

“Why?” Jerry asked.

“So we can get our citizenship,” Joshua said.
“That’s why.”

“You want citizenship to a place where even
the princess wants to escape?”

“I want to be a knight,” he said. “I don’t
care how she feels about it.”

Patrick stumbled on the shore once again.
Between gulps of breath, he cursed, “I don’t give a damn what she thinks of the
place. I’m not going back into the mines!” He raised his knife and screamed.

Screams answered back. They came from all
around: the road above, upriver and down. The storm sewers echoed with wails as
the Aztecs made
themselves
known. There was a splash
as several of the creatures dropped into the water from the bridge above. One
wailed as it landed on Patrick and bit into his neck.

The conscript turned pale as he was dragged
back into the frigid water one final time.

More splashes burst from the river as the
beasts continued dropping into the water. Their wails filled the air and turned
it thick with horror. Jerry could barely hear himself yell over their screams.
“Run!”

He grabbed the princess by the hand and
shooed her towards the road.

A hand reached from the water and seized the
kidnapper by the ankle. The young man was pulled from his feet and hit the
ground with his chin. He dropped the sword but managed to hold on to his
consciousness.

The creature’s face, pale like dead flesh,
erupted from the river in a splash of froth and teeth. Water rushed from its
mouth as its wail built from a ravenous stomach and escaped its mouth.

The young man reached for his sword but the
Aztec had pulled him too far.

Jerry shoved the princess up the embankment
and dropped back into the riverbed. He stumbled across the loose rock until he
reached the river’s edge and brought the hatchet down on the creature’s wrist.