Apocalypse Weird: Genesis (The White Dragon Book 1) (12 page)

“I liked him,” she continued. “I thought I might ask him to meet me the next day for a swim. I thought he might want to learn how to surf. I could teach him how to surf. Or maybe we would just lie on the boards in the water and talk some more. But then my mother died. She killed herself. Why would she do that? She was like the opposite of someone who’d want to kill herself. But she lay there on the kitchen floor in all the blood and all I could think of was why didn’t we get there earlier? If we had gotten up earlier that day or if we had just driven a little faster, we would have been there in time. And she wouldn’t be dead now and she would be here. With me. She would be here with me.”

Kasey’s voice abandoned her. She wept, and Jennifer held her and said something to her that she couldn’t understand, but she was comforted by the sound. And through the tears she felt Aarika’s hand on her arm awkwardly caressing it. Blair cried too, she saw.

“I’m sorry,” was all she could say. “I’m very, very sorry.”

“We might not be able to get him out,” Aarika said into the silence. “Your friend. Jack. We might not be able to. There’s only four of us, and except for Jennifer we don’t know much about weapons and strategy and hostage negotiations. But we’ll try. We’ll try to do whatever it takes to get your friend. Okay?”

Kasey looked into Aarika’s face and from his toward Blair and Jennifer. Blair nodded. Jennifer grabbed one of the rifles. Even though she hadn’t been on active duty for a few years, Kasey could see her determination, her intention to see this through.

“Okay,” Kasey said. “Okay.”

“We’ve got six rifles,” Jennifer said. “Two Sig Sauer M400 semi-automatic, three Remington 870 twelve-gauge and plenty of rounds for both. And a Colt M4 Ops with a thirty-round magazine. I’m gonna hold on to that one. Blair, have you used a gun before?”

“Yeah. Kind of.”

“Where?”

“Ahem.”

“Spit it out.”

“Call of Duty.”

“The game.”

“Yes.”

“Okay. Well, at least you know where to aim it. I’ll give you one of the Sigs. Aarika and Kasey, you’ll each get a twelve gauge. Now, you gotta prepare yourself for a bit of a recoil, so hold on to it.”

“Sure,” Aarika replied.

“Kasey, give me your backpack. You’re gonna carry your ammo in it.”

Kasey nodded and took the clothes out.

“You’ve got about a hundred rounds and I’ll show you how to reload, okay?”

“Yes. Sir,” Aarika said. He smiled but Jennifer didn’t smile back. The soldier in her had taken over. Kasey recognized it, saw how her strength and confidence in what needed to be done extended to the others. She must have been an excellent leader, Kasey thought. She was glad that they had found her.

For the next ten minutes, Jennifer methodically went over each of the weapons, explained how to aim and shoot them, change the magazine on the Sig and put shells into the shotguns. Meanwhile, the sky began to lighten. In a half hour, the sun would rise.

“You ready?” Jennifer asked.

They nodded quietly. None of them were.

Kasey decided at the last minute to change from her shorts into the long pants Jack had packed for her. They were comfortable and had a few side pockets for ammo. She was contemplating taking the baseball bat as well but decided that she had enough to carry as it was. The twelve gauge was heavy and the backpack easily had fifteen pounds of ammo in it. She used the back seat to change. Blair climbed up front and Aarika made a point of looking out the window.

“Anything interesting out there?” Kasey asked.

“Not really. I just want to give you some privacy,” Aarika answered.

“That’s nice of you. But I’m sure it’s nothing you haven’t seen already.”

“I work a lot,” Aarika answered after a while.

“What about in college?”

“I… I don’t know. It just never…. I never had time…”

“You’re a virgin?” Blair asked.

“Blair!” Jennifer said. “Leave him alone.”

“Sorry. I didn’t mean anything by it.”

“To answer your question.” Aarika hesitated for a moment. “Yes. Yes, I am a virgin. So now you have it. It’s out. Anything else you need to know?”

Kasey tightened the belt and put on her boots.

“There’s nothing wrong with that, Aarika,” Kasey said. “And whoever gets you will be one lucky girl.”

“Thanks,” he said. “See! Blair! That’s what you’re supposed to say. That’s what a normal person says.”

Blair chuckled. Jennifer shook her head.

“I could tell you about my first time—”

“No!” Jennifer interrupted Blair. “I think we’ll all be able to live without that information.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m pretty sure yes.”

“Your loss.”

“Let’s go,” Jennifer said as she climbed out of the car. The others followed and were soon crouching behind a low wall that surrounded a parking area.

“If we move along the wall, we’ll get behind that building,” Blair pointed at the commercial two-story building in back. “From there, it’s only a block and a half to the sand quarry.”

They went past the parked cars along the low sidewall. The shotgun felt cool and heavy in Kasey’s hand. Jennifer had given back Officer Carpenter’s handgun together with a box of ammo, and she had put the belt and holster on as well. They had loaded all the rifles in the car. Jennifer had removed the plug from the Remington she’d given to Kasey. The store-bought shotguns only held two rounds. With the plug removed, they held six. In addition, she had about fifty rounds in her backpack and ten in each of her side pockets.

With all the additional weight, Kasey felt heavy on her feet. It was harder to move, but the additional ammo did give her a sense of security she didn’t have before. At least now she was able to defend herself.

As they passed the building, several helicopters flew overhead.

“What are those?” Aarika asked.

“Blackhawks,” Jennifer answered. “Within the next couple of hours, the Island will be completely shut down. They’re putting Army troops and Marines on the ground to handle the population, to ensure safety, and they’ll have blockades on all the major roadways. There’ll probably be detention camps and a curfew.”

“Detention camps?” Aarika asks.

“Yes. Crime increases exponentially during times of uncertainty and fear.”

They reached the end of the low wall.

“We’ll go right and behind the building over there,” Blair said. He was already crossing the street.

“What road are we on?” Kasey asked.

“East Industry Court.”

“I’ve heard of it. Doesn’t that lead to Grand?”

“Yep. But we won’t go that far south.”

“I don’t know about you guys but… I was wondering if we shouldn’t wait for someone to help us?” Aarika said as they ran behind a flat building. The sign on the front said
Radiators
.

“We could,” Jennifer said. “But I wanna see if they’re even in that building. If they are, we can still go and try to find someone. But I wouldn’t be surprised if it was days before anyone would be able to do anything.”

“It’s us then,” Aarika said.

“Looks that way,” Jennifer replied.

They ran along the flat building. A few tractor-trailers were parked in a corner at the end. Next to them stood about a dozen containers. A rusty fence ran behind the containers toward the other end of the lot.

“The sand pit’s right on the other side,” Blair said.

The fence was about ten feet high and covered by the remnants of a green, tarp-like cloth. It was tattered and torn and ripped in many places.

“We can climb over those,” Blair pointed at a group of four containers stacked in two pairs of two.

“Hey look!” Aarika said. He stood in back holding a section of the fence up from the ground.

“Good job,” Jennifer said.

“You’re a virgin, really?” Blair said when he passed Aarika.

“Shut up,” Aarika replied. “I’m still much better looking than you ever will be.”

“I’ll give you that.”

They crawled through the opening. To their right, a stack of discarded railroad ties sat on the ground. The stack had partially collapsed under its own weight. Straight ahead, the plateau they were standing on dropped off, leading into a crater-like pit that was approximately three hundred feet wide and thirty feet deep. At the bottom stood a huge, rusty machine with a conveyor belt attached to it. A few bulldozers were dotted around. The early morning light made them look like abandoned sculptures, the front loaders raised up, the backhoe part oddly deformed.

The world changed in one instant,
Kasey thought
,
as they made their way down. Going downhill was easier than she’d expected. The weight of the backpack helped her keep her balance. And concentrating on each step kept the growing despair at bay.

She didn’t have much hope that they could do anything to get Jack out. She was convinced that they were walking straight into a trap from which none of them was coming out alive. But when she asked herself whether or not it would’ve been better not to know him, not to have gotten involved with him, and not to spend a gentle night on the beach with him, she knew that she wouldn’t have changed a thing. He’d given her something she hadn’t experienced before. A quiet strength that let her be just as she was. She knew deep inside, that with him, she’d never have to change one single thing about herself. Kasey realized that thinking about him made it both easier and harder for her, as it instilled the desperate longing in her to get him back, and at the same time comforting her with his memory.

When they were at the bottom, they passed the piece of old equipment. The conveyor belt had seen better days, and the rusty machine was overgrown with vines. From there, a sandy road led steadily uphill until it disappeared around another mound.

“We’re not far,” Blair said.

Kasey could hear the fear in his voice. Part of her wished that she hadn’t involved the others. Bringing them in put them in danger and she hated the thought of it.

“There’s someone ahead of us,” Jennifer said quietly.

They were halfway up the hill when Jennifer stopped. Kasey could see it now, too. Someone, or something, lay on the ground about forty feet away.

“It’s a child,” Jennifer said as she ran the last few feet and knelt next to it. They caught up with her and Kasey knelt down as well.

“He’s alive,” Jennifer said, feeling the boy’s pulse. Parts of his clothes were singed, there was what looked like dried blood everywhere. He was bleeding from multiple wounds on his arms and legs. Carefully, Jennifer turned the boy on his back. His face was swollen and bruised.

“Christopher,” he whispered. “Where’s Christopher?

When Kasey looked up, she saw another person lying on the side of the road about thirty feet away.

“Look over there,” Kasey said and got up.

“He was right behind me,” the boy said.

Jennifer and Kasey ran toward the other child. Before they got there, Kasey already knew that he was dead. He had a large wound in his abdomen. Jennifer took his pulse. She shook her head no.

“He’s gone.”

They went back to the others. Aarika was giving the boy sips of water from the bottle.

“What happened to you?” he asked.

“Where’s Christopher?” the boy asked. “He was right behind me when we came through.”

Jennifer took the boy’s hand.

“What’s your name?” she asked.

“John J. But everyone calls me Johnny.”

Kasey saw that his eyes couldn’t focus anywhere.

“You’re in shock. Just lay still,” Jennifer said. She sat down next to him, stroking his hair.

“What happened?”

“Hm?”

“What happened to you and your friend?”

“Where is he? Is he all right? He was right behind me. I saw him behind me when we went through the fog.”

“What fog?” Aarika asked.

“Up there,” Johnny lifted his arm weakly and pointed toward the mound of sand to their right.

“Where did you come from?”

“I… Christopher he… he saved me. He got me out, got all of us out. He saved us. He saved us all.”

His eyelids fluttered.

“Johnny, stay with us!” Jennifer wet her hands from the water bottle and patted his face. “Stay with me!”

“Where am I?”

“You’re on Long Island,” Kasey said. She couldn’t stop the tears from coming. “Where did you come from?”

“Texas.”

The others exchanged a glance.

“Texas?” Blair said.

“It’s so dark. Why is it so dark? Is anybody there?”

“We’re here,” Kasey said. She gently took his hand in hers. It was a child’s hand. Small and fragile. “We’re here with you. Don’t be afraid. We won’t go anywhere, okay?”

Johnny looked at Kasey. At least she thought he looked at her. But he couldn’t see her anymore and soon he stopped breathing altogether. Jennifer felt his pulse and shook her head. She looked at her watch.

“Time of death, 05:10 a.m.,” she said quietly. She closed the boy’s eyes with the tips of her fingers and then wiped the tears from her own face.

They stayed there for a while. Nobody spoke. This, whatever this was, had claimed another life. Two lives. And young ones.

“We should lay them together,” Blair said. “They were friends, we should let them… rest together. Rest in peace together.”

The others nodded. Blair lifted the boy up and carried him to his friend and put him down gently. He started to cry.

“This could’ve been me. Thirty years ago, this could’ve been me. I had a friend like Christopher.”

Aarika put his hand on Blair’s shoulder. “Sorry,” he said. “I’m so sorry.”

They sat there for a while.

“Should we say a prayer?” Blair asked.

“If you want to,” Jennifer said.

“I don’t know any.”

Jennifer nodded. “May they stand with all the angels,” she said quietly, “who know Your love and praise Your saving will. Amen.”

“Amen,” Blair said while making the sign of the cross.

“Amen,” Aarika said.

“Amen,” Kasey said.

Kasey’s eyes met Jennifer’s.

“Let’s find your friend,” Jennifer said. “And get him back.”

They got up wordlessly and walked up the sandy road. At the top, to their right, the fog masked another plateau next to a large mound of shale. It was thick and impossible to penetrate with the eyes.

“What did he mean by ‘they came out of the fog’?” Blair asked.

“I don’t know,” Kasey said.

From here, they could see the contours of the warehouse behind the fence.

“Is that it?” Kasey asked.

“Yes,” Blair answered.

Kasey had been afraid for her life only once before today. While she was surfing in high winds, she’d fallen off the board and the undercurrent had dragged her to the bottom. She had lost her sense of whether she was up or down and she couldn’t find the surface. She’d thought then that she’d die. Today was different. She wasn’t fighting for her life and wasn’t in immediate danger at this very moment. But the fear was just the same. It was the sense that she would not survive. She could feel the heat of it in her chest and upper abdomen. Jennifer must have noticed something because she put her hand on Kasey’s shoulder.

“I’ve gone into some pretty dicey situations, especially during my second tour,” she said. “Fear is a constant companion, believe me, I know. But you can lessen it.”

“How?”

“Focus on your fellow soldiers. Be there for them. Look out for them. And you’ll see, the fear will become less.”

“I’ll try to keep that in mind.”

“You’re doing great.”

“Thank you.”

Kasey had never met a warrior until she met Jennifer. From her radiated a calmness and surety that spread to the group. She’d read once that there is a very strange peace in giving over your judgment to someone else, to do whatever it was the other asked you to without thought, with total trust.