Arkadium Rising (14 page)

Drenched in sweat and with little energy left with which to fight, Marcus Grant pushed the pace at the front of his group as they hiked to the summit of the steep hills leading out of downtown Concord. They were now down to a ragtag bunch of seven survivors, and most everyone had suffered wounds as they fought their way out of town. Most everyone had also killed. No one remained innocent, including his brother, Jason.

Night was approaching quickly, and they'd only escaped with a few backpacks and their assorted weapons. With the town swarming with armed survivors, they'd had to abandon the idea of reaching their cache of supplies. Almost everyone carried sheathed hunting knives and an AR-15 provided by the Arkadium in preparation for today.

Any sense of planning or organization within this new world—a world of their own creation—had been sent to the wind to scatter. This thought both scared him to death and thrilled him to no end. He had to suppress a grin as he glanced back at the others following in his strides.

Next in line, Delaney hiked her pack higher on her shoulders and beamed at him with utter devotion. Only the dried spray of arterial blood across her flushed cheeks ruined the illusion of a child about to step foot inside Disney World for the first time. She'd always been a novelty to him, an energetic plaything. But seeing her now, having seen how beautifully she had performed as they retreated from the downtown firefight, he was starting to think that she could become more than that to him.

Dead on his feet and with dried blood and mud pressed into his shirt and pants, Jason shifted into his field of view, pulling up next to Delaney. He'd tucked his snub-nose .38, a revolver he picked up during the melee, into the waistband of his jeans. He still bore a look of utter disbelief, even though he had witnessed every unfolding moment of the unmaking of civilization. He was in shock, no doubt, as all of them would be to a certain extent. But while everyone else seemed to be completely on board with the arrangements of the group, whenever Jason looked him in the eye, Marcus saw only his own murder reflecting back at him.

Behind Jason and Delaney, Marcus could see Eldon Pointer with his arm around Mandy Miller, consoling her softly as she cried. Her husband, Craig, had been the first casualty in the group, taking a high caliber bullet to the head. Eldon was a good man, and Marcus would need to lean on him for his spiritual guidance if they were going to survive. The idea of the struggle, the fight to exist for another day, and then another after that, again brought a gleeful smile to his lips. Marcus strained to see Austin Collins and Hector Sanchez following single file at the tail end of their group, and then focused his attention to the road ahead, to where he would always have to look from now on.

One less-than-vigilant second. That's all it took to nearly destroy his group only hours into their ascendancy. In that brief flicker of time one of his followers—hopefully one of the newly dead—failed to properly secure the bindings of one of the townsfolk destined to be sacrificed to the surging waters of the unhindered Blackhawk. He should have known things wouldn't unfold without a hiccup; the Arkadium's idealized ritual for ending modern humanity had been nothing more than a crackpot fantasy. There were too many moving parts to try to control during the ceremonial lead-up to the dam explosion and the EMP. All of those years of waiting, all of those years of training in secret, and at the moment of apogee, one of his followers had exhibited the most human of qualities: weakness. Such a waste.

He didn't know which of the townsfolk first slipped free of their bindings, but all it took was one. Once free, that person freed another, and those people freed others until a sizable force was able to climb high enough to survive the flood. And once the waters retreated, an angered, well-armed hoard set off to track down Marcus and his people with the single-minded intention of killing them all. One less-than-vigilant second had transformed his people from the hunters into the hunted.

When they reached the summit of the hill, Marcus stopped to rest and let the others catch up. He leaned against a brick wall surrounding either a country club or wealthy estate. Delaney broke away from Jason and soon joined him. She wrapped her arms around his waist while resting her head against his chest. The closeness, despite the rank sweat dripping from them both, was reassuring and familiar.

"We should push on until this shithole is in the rearview." She slipped her hand under his shirt and raked her fingernails over his stomach muscles. "Tomorrow morning we can find a nice place to camp and get some sleep. When we're ready to move on, it'll be like a fresh start. Like none of that shit ever happened."

Jason joined them and dropped his pack. He practically fell to the ground as he sat next to it. He ran his fingers through his hair and tilted his head back with his eyes closed. His lips were chapped and his pallid face already looked thinner. The struggle to survive had only just begun, and already his brother didn't seem up to the task.

Marcus was truly worried about Jason. If anyone else in the group, including Delaney, couldn't carry their own weight, Marcus would gladly cut them loose. But not Jason; he could never leave him behind.

"We'll have to catch our breath," he said. "We need a second wind. Not everyone is as fit as you."

Delaney looked up at him and smiled. "I've been preparing my mind, body, and spirit. All for you."

Marcus planted a kiss on her forehead. Eldon and Mandy reached the summit of the hill. When he looked for the stragglers, he saw a quickly advancing line of bundled flames closing on them. Torches. They were still being followed.
Hunted
.

"You better hurry up or you're getting left behind!" Marcus called out.

The closer of the two stragglers, Austin Collins, looked back, saw the marching torch bearers, then picked up his pace.

While he waited for the group to reform, Marcus realized he had to act decisively. He did a mental count of their weapons and ammunition. This was a good defensive position. They could wait in the trees and surprise the townsfolk. Even with their fewer numbers, they could potentially cut them to ribbons and end the threat in a matter of minutes. It made sense, but it didn't feel right. Instinct told him to push on and use their lead to their advantage.

"What are we going to do?" Eldon asked. "They seem quite persistent. I don't think they're going to just let us go. Not after what happened. Not with what we did—"

"What we
had
to do to guarantee our survival," Marcus corrected. "Always remember that, Brother Abel."

Eldon nodded, stung but appreciative. Austin and Hector reached the group and everyone directed their weary eyes toward Marcus, seeking clarity. Leadership.

As Marcus's hesitation lengthened, Austin said, "What now, boss?"

"There are woods for miles around us," he finally said. He tried to project confidence, to sound like he had an answer for every potentiality. "We need to leave the road and use the woods to our advantage." Everyone hung on his every word, even Jason. The feeling of power sent a mad rush through him. Taking charge was a thrill. A
high
. Marcus could definitely get used to this. "We'll start by cutting through this property. They'll never suspect us taking that route."

"I don't see a way through," Mandy said softly. They were the first words she'd spoken since Craig's murder. It was a good sign. She was the group's healer, and losing her would endanger them all.

"That's easy. We'll go up and over." Marcus fitted his fingers together to form a stirrup. "Who's first?"

"I'll go." Jason stood, leaving his pack near the base of the wall. They stood inches apart, Jason looking up slightly to meet his eyes.

Again, that murderous glare.

Marcus almost vetoed him, but thought better of it. "Make sure everyone gets over safely. We can't afford a sprained ankle."

"Just get us out of this mess, Marcus. That's all I ask."

"Of course, brother."

Jason stepped into Marcus's waiting hands and then reached as high on the wall as he could. Marcus lifted him until he could shimmy up to sit on the top of the wall. Hector grabbed Jason's pack and called out to him before tossing it high into the air. Jason caught it and then dropped it to the ground on the other side. He then eased himself over and down, landing with a grunt.

"Looks clear," Jason said. "It's an enormous house. I don't see anyone."

"You okay?" Marcus asked.

"Yeah," Jason replied. "Let's just get this over with."

The group passed over the wall without incident, helped from one Grant brother to the other. Last to scale the wall, Marcus tossed his pack and AR-15 to Hector Sanchez, who sat on top of the wall.

"Need a hand?" Hector asked.

"Naw, I'll be right over. Sometimes being six foot four comes in handy."

Hector nodded and jumped down on the other side, leaving Marcus alone. His group already worked with an almost scary efficiency. He'd had his worries before the ceremony at the Black Hawk Dam, but those worries were already diminishing, becoming a relic of the time before Election Day. They were all new people now, and the efficient dynamics of their group would only aid in their survival.

He measured the distance to the wall and then backed up for a running start. Before he started his sprint, he saw the line of torches down the hill, now no more than five minutes behind.

Marcus took off in a sprint. His fatigue forgotten, he leaped high on the wall, his boot connecting midway up the brick face. His kick propelled him higher, and he easily grasped the lip of the wall. He heaved himself up and over, dropping into a lush, professionally landscaped estate. As soon as he landed his people encircled him, expectant, incapable of acting without his firm direction. Hector helped him shoulder his pack and Eldon handed him his weapon. He felt like a man from before Election Day coming home from the office to his waiting slippers and a fresh martini.

"Someone's lit candles in the house." Austin pointed his AR-15 toward the two broad windows in the lower level of the impressive ivy-covered Georgian. Two-story columns stood sentinel on either side of the front doorway. The building was massive, easily five or more bedrooms. He checked for movement inside. One window opened to glimpses of expensive furnishings in a front sitting room, while curtains obscured the other window.

"Right. I see that." At least a dozen candles lit the inside of the house, but it was still nowhere near as bright as with electric lights.

"At least there aren't any dogs," Eldon said.

Marcus glared at Eldon until the old man lowered his eyes. He wanted to kick himself for not thinking about the possibility of guard dogs before sending his people over the wall en masse. He made a mental note to not let it happen again.

Marcus pushed past Eldon, purposely knocking shoulders with him, and surveyed the front yard. It was a vast carpet of well-manicured lawn, with flowering ornamental trees and gardens skirting the entirety of the wall. He almost laughed out loud when he noticed a gate they hadn't seen from their position on the street side of the wall. If they would've gone another hundred feet up the road and around a bend, they would've come across the metal gate spanning the driveway.

"Hector, go check that gate. See if it's locked."

Without hesitation, Hector took off at a good clip, his weapon level with the ground. Marcus had already mentally moved Hector to the inner circle of his group. He'd proven himself trustworthy and loyal. It was also obvious with how he held his AR-15 and reconnoitered the yard that he'd had some military training.

Marcus advanced toward the far corner of the house and everyone followed him without a word. The driveway snaked across the lawn in a gentle arc. Unlit flood lamps lined the path.

"Let's work our way around the far side of the house, away from the windows." Marcus motioned them forward. After checking the gate, Hector raced over to meet them as they all converged at the corner of the house.

"How does it look?" Marcus asked, keeping an eye on the house for movement.

"The gate for the driveway is locked. It's electrical. When the EMP hit, it must have shorted in the locked position. There's a pedestrian gate with a latch that wasn't locked, so I flipped it to the locked position. Best I could do."

"Good work," Marcus said, and then addressed everyone. "See those bushes along the edge of the woods? That's our goal. Stay low and keep moving."

Dressed in camo and other dark colors, they would all be nearly invisible in the darkness, but they still hunched over as they quickly crossed the driveway and continued to the far side of the property.

"
Marcus
," Delaney called out in a hushed voice from the center of the group. "I see someone."

Marcus held up his hand and everyone stopped in their tracks. He looked at Delaney and then to where she was pointing. There was a slight form at the edge of the woods. As if startled, the person disappeared into the underbrush.

"Damn it," Marcus muttered and shifted his pack from his shoulders to the ground.

"Let's just stay near the house until we're out back," Jason said. "Whoever that is probably doesn't even know we're here."

"Can't chance it." Marcus headed toward the narrow gap in the woods where the person had disappeared. "Austin, Hector, follow me. The rest of you, hunker down under those side windows."

"What are you going to do?" Jason asked.

"Don't you know that by now, brother? Whatever it takes."

Marcus led Austin and Hector into the darkness, halfway expecting Jason to try to stop him. That would be so like him, but he remained with the others. Maybe his brother was finally realizing the world had changed, and that he would have to change with it. He hoped so. He'd risked so much just by saving Jason. He needed his brother. Not only was he family, but he was also the closest thing he had to a moral compass.