Blink of an Eye: Beginnings Series Book 8 (13 page)

“
You said you’re going out there.”

“
Yeah, that’s my job.” He backed up.

“
No, Frank. It isn’t.”

“
El ... I have to go.”

“
Frank, no.” Ellen chased him and then she saw Joe. “Joe, tell him,” she spoke as she followed as fast as she could behind them.

“
Tell him what?” Joe asked

“
Tell Frank it’s his job to protect the community. It is Robbie’s job to go out there unless Frank has no other choice. Tell him, Joe.”

Frank
was past perturbed at that point when he rounded the buildings to Armory. “El, enough.”

“
Don’t go.” Ellen grabbed hold of his arm. “Please don’t go out there. Robbie can handle it.”

Fumbling with his keys in a complete confusion spin on what was wrong with Ellen
, Frank handed the keys to his father and faced her. “El, why are you being like this?”

“
Because I don’t want you to go out there.” There was a deep raspiness to Ellen’s voice as if it came from her soul. She looked up to Frank, her hand clinging to his arm.

Frank blew out slowly and yelled into
Armory at his father who already was in there. “Pull out for a basic drop-in. I’ll be right in to help.” He took hold of Ellen’s arm and led her aside from the door. “El, come on, sweetie.”

“
Frank.” Ellen closed her eyes. “I don’t care how dangerous you think it is or isn’t, right now, to me, any chance you take with your life is a chance too big. You are the strongest thing in my life, Frank. Don’t go. For once stay here.”

“
El,” he emotionally said her name. “I’ll be fine.”

“
I don’t care!” Ellen screamed. Then she brought her voice back down, “Not now. I can’t take any chances of anything happening to you. Not now. Please.” She closed her eyes tighter, her voice dropping with each word, “Please. Please.”

He didn
’t understand. Running his hand slowly down his face, Frank watched Ellen. How scared she looked. How so much in her life had to be getting to her, for her to be so emotional about him going. “OK.” No sooner did he say that, Ellen’s arms were tightly wrapped around his neck.

“
Thank you.” She buried her face at the base of his neck. “Thank you.”

“
I still have to move.” He set her down. “And I will be on standby if Robbie radios in that it’s not good. OK?” He watched her nod and he heard his father call for him. “I have to go.” He backed up. “We will talk later about this.” He pointed as he went into Armory. “We will.”

Ellen knew as he walked away from her and as she headed back to the clinic that Frank hadn
’t a clue on why she felt the way she did. That was fine with her, all that mattered was he didn’t go. If Frank took a look at all that had been happening with the men around her, first Henry almost dying, then Robbie, then Dean’s blindness, he would see why she feared so much for him, and why she worried. Maybe if he saw it, he wouldn’t have pointed that finger at her.

His dark Asian eyes peered over the scope of the rifle
. Since his black baseball cap was worn backwards to keep his coal-black hair out of his eyes, his eyes were the only visible portion of him on that rooftop. On one knee he perched his tall body, a body that was thin yet defined. A body, hair that came just past his collar, and a handsome face that hid his age, to Danny Hoi that had always been just fine. His forefinger rested on the trigger, so ready to shoot, watching the street below and the four men who had just arrived. He raised his free hand, lifted his cap, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and replaced it. “What are they doing?” he asked the man next to him. “Bentley?”

“
Walking?” Bentley answered. He too was in the same stance as Danny, but not having as easy of a time. His body was much rounder, yet solid. One thing about Bentley that made him look so much more different than any other Survivor who wandered about was his hair, dark, almost black, and clipped short in a man’s clipper cut. He crinkled his nose, causing his glasses to slide slightly across his sweaty nose. “Uh I uh don’t know, Danny.” Bentley shook his head and spoke with a nervous voice, “You’re wrong.”

“
No way. I’m telling you. Bent, it’s them. It has to be. Why else would we get the ...”

“
Error maybe. You’re wrong.” Bentley lowered his weapon.

“
What are you doing?” Danny asked, shifting his eyes back from Bentley to the men afoot.

“
Danny. Look. Look at the way they are dressed.”

“
So. They’re wearing military.”

“
Not typical. And there’s an old guy out there. And ... and mind you. He just went into a tuxedo shop.”

“
Huh?” Danny looked down below. “Shit.” He pulled back some but did not lower his rifle. “What the hell is going on?”

“Cole. Cole, come in.” Joe walked into the hangar, radio in hand. “Cole, damn it. Come in!” He released the button. “Where the hell is he for crying out loud?” he asked Frank, who loaded up the chopper.

“
He’s not in trouble or he would have radioed at the first sign.”

“
What if he didn’t have time?”

“
There’s always time.” Frank looked up to see Robbie, suited up and ready. “Let’s go, Robbie. Dad, try him again.”

Joe placed the radio back to his mouth
. “Cole. Cole, come in.”

Cole heard the static and the call. He was laughing when he heard it, talking to his two men about maybe bringing home blue tuxedos just to get the woman roused up. Then he thought about it and remembered they were women. The odds of them making their life a miserable hell until they went back out and got the correct tuxes were good. “Hold on.” He took that after-laugh breath, rubbed his eyes, tossed his rifle over his shoulder, and walked to the jeep to get the radio. Still laughing, he picked it up. “Yeah, Joe.”

“
Cole, are you all right? Any trouble?”

“
No, Joe. Why what’s up?” Cole asked.

“
We have news.”

“
Bentley.” Danny nudged him with excitement. “Pick up your weapon. Pick it up.”

“
Oh shit.” Bentley nervously fiddled with his rifle.

Danny positioned himself better on that roof
, leaning more into the ledge. “Ha-ha. I got you this time you son of a bitch. Time to tally up the card.” With his words and a bright smile, Danny began to fire down to below.

Horror shot through Joe with a feeling of being too late when he heard the gunfire through the airwaves, then silence. “Shit. Move it out!” He hurried Robbie into the helicopter and just as Robbie and the last of the team stepped in, Joe got another call on the radio.

“
Joe ...” Static. “Joe.” It was Cole.

Relief
, a released breath. Joe picked up the radio. “Cole, what’s going on?”

“
We’re OK.” Cole closed his eyes for a second to the quiet around him. He picked himself off of the ground. “We uh ...” He shifted his eyes around, checking on his men. “We’re all fine.” Just as Cole bent down to pick up his weapon, he saw them lying not fifteen feet away. “Joe, we have three dead SUTs.”

“
Dead?” Joe asked. “Any more trouble?”

“
None that I can see. Let me get back to you.”

“
Do that. I’m still sending Robbie and another man out with you to at least to escort you back in case there’s any more trouble. We’ll be there in twenty.”

“
Thanks, Joe.”

Joe hooked his radio to his belt
. “Frank, you heard.”

“
Yeah, I did. Robbie and Dan.”

“
Sounds good.” Joe motioned his hand to the other two men waiting to go out. He sent them on their way. “Good quick action on Cole and his men. Don’t you think?”

“
Too quick.” Frank shook his head. “Maybe we should send all four out. Yeah, I think we will.”

Robbie heard this as he stepped from the chopper
. “Frank, you don’t need to.”

“
Why?” Frank asked.

“
I’ve been out there. They travel in groups of eight to ten. If there are any more there are only seven of them. We hit them with the gas first, then take out the remaining who aren’t affected by it.”

“
I don’t know, Robbie. Just to be safe, let’s send a whole team out.”

“
Frank, come on. I can take them out alone,” Robbie said with arrogance. “Ye of little faith, bro. Let me have some fun.”

Frank breathed heavily out
, looked at his father and then back to Robbie. “All right, you and Dan. But you canvass the area before you drop out and stay with them. And ... and you don’t help them scrap, you stay ready, find a rooftop or something. Got that?”

Robbie rolled his eyes
. “Yeah, Frank, whatever, I’m not a pup in this, you know.”

“
Sorry. I know. All right.” Frank waved his hand. “Move it out.”

<><><><>

Congratulations were in order or at least that’s what Cole thought. Congratulations to whichever one of his men had the quick insight and quick thinking to take out the SUTs so close to them. He approached his two men who stood stunned, passing Gene who took a seat in the jeep to catch his breath after the excitement. “You all right, Gene.”

Gene placed his hand on his chest
. “Will be. Give me a second.” He snatched Cole back as he walked by him. “Cole, is it safe to go back into the tux shop?”

“
Um ... give us a few minutes to check out the area. Hang tight.” He moved to his men. “Good job. Who did it?”

“
Did what?” Mark asked.

“
Shot the ...” Cheering caught Cole’s attention. Cheering and laughing, and he spun his head to see the two men moving quickly down the street. Hurriedly Cole raised his rifle at the tall, thin man and the shorter, heavier man. “Hold it.”

Danny scoffed as he carried his dangling weapon
. “Put it down. We aren’t the bad guys here. We just saved your life.” He ran past Cole to the SUTs that were lying there. Danny, using his boot, lifted the pant leg of his baggy Levis—so as not to get blood on them—and he rolled the SUT from its stomach over to its back. “There, Bentley, I told you.” Taking the barrel of the rifle, Danny nudged the SUT. “Check the other two.” He ran the barrel down the arm of the dead SUT and found the patch, pointing it out to Bentley. “There. Look. CS. I was right. Bent?”

“
Dead.” Bentley sniffed and tossed his rifle over his shoulder.

Danny laughed loudly
. “Was I right? Was I? Who’s the man? Who is the man?”

Bentley rolled his eyes
. “You are, Danny.”

“
What I tell you? I told you it wouldn’t fail. I told you. No, you had to insist it was going off for no reason. It’s perfected, Bentley. Perfected why would it ...”

“
Excuse me?” Cole made an apprehensive approach to the two. “You shot them?”

Danny faced Cole with a grin
. “Yeah. We did. We saw them from the roof. Good thing for you we were up there or you wouldn’t be standing here. Man, they are sneaky.” Danny looked back down at the SUT.

“
Let me ask you a question?” Cole slowly reached for his weapon. “How do I know you aren’t one of them?”

A snicker
, a snort, and both Danny and Bentley laughed. Danny held up his hand as if Cole had just told the funniest of jokes. “Look at us. Look at me.” He leaned in some to Cole. “I’m wearing jeans. My pal here is wearing jeans. Those things ...” Danny’s voice dropped to a whisper, “They’re wearing uniforms. The number one reason you should know I’m not one of them is the same reason I know you’re not one of them.”

“
Which is?” Cole asked.

“
You talk. I talk. They don’t. Well ... they do, but they don’t, do they, Bentley?”

“
Some do,” Bentley answered. “But never in whole sentences and never with reason.”

“
Not true.” Danny held up his finger. “Remember the one?”

“
Oh yeah.” Bentley nodded. “Though you have to admit he reasoned, but not about anything we quizzed him on.”

“
He knew why we had to shoot him.”

“
Oh sure, definitely.”

Cole
’s head spun. “Who ... who are you two?”

Danny adjusted his rifle over his arm
. “Oh hey, sorry.” He extended his hand with a firm shake to Cole and spoke rapidly which was something he did often. “Danny, Danny Hoi. Excuse the hair. And this is George Bentley. I call him Bentley or Bent for short. You?”

“
Cole St. John.” Cole retracted his hand in shock after the handshake at the rambling pair.

“
No way?” Danny snickered. “Is that really your name?”

“
Yeah.”

“
No way?” He laughed again. “It sounds like something out of a
James Bond
movie. You gave it to yourself, didn’t you?”

“
No,” Cole told him.

“
It’s OK, you can tell us. Changed your name because you figured everyone was dead and who would know anyhow.”

“
No!” Cole got defensive.

“
Your mother really named you Cole St. John? I guess it’s better than John St. John.” Danny shrugged. “So are you guys looking for that place?”

“
What place?” Cole asked.

“
You know, that place everyone says exists but only those who have gotten thrown out know it exists.” Danny looked at him, waiting for a reply.

Cole was confused
. “What are you talking about?”

Bentley saw the lost look
. “Here let me explain. Sometimes my friend gets a little excited. He’s eccentric. We’re looking for a place we heard is in Montana. We ran into some men a while ago, a long while, and they told us about it. One of them said they couldn’t get in and the other said he had gotten tossed out years ago. It’s supposed to be a city?” Bentley titled his head. “Have you heard of it?”

“
I think I have,” Cole said cautiously. “Is that what you guys are doing? You’re searching this place out?”

Danny nodded
. “What the hell else do we have to do? No, scratch that. We could be sitting in our own city, but they ...” He pointed to the dead SUTs. “They are making it impossible to settle anywhere nowadays. Wait a second.” Danny stepped forward to Cole. “I should have known.” He touched Cole’s arm. “Bentley, feel his skin. He’s much too clean to be living out here. Feel his skin.”

Cole smacked away the reaching hands
. “Hey.”

Danny ignored him
. “Most of the men we have come across smell and don’t clean up regularly.” Danny sniffed. “You don’t smell, well, not of being unkempt and your skin isn’t gritty. He doesn’t have that sandy feel. I personally have avoided it. Bentley too. With the world at your hands, it’s hard to believe people let themselves get like animals. Don’t you agree? So are you from this place? You are aren’t you?”

“
Oh boy.” Cole widened his eyes.

“
You are,” Danny said with excitement. “Bent, he is! Hey can we go there?”

“
Oh Boy.” Cole stepped back.

“
Where you going?” Danny asked.

“
I need a drink.” Cole walked to the jeep.

Danny snickered and nudged Bentley
. “He needs a ... he needs a drink? Tell me he’s not from a civilized world saying something like that?”

Bentley agreed
, “He wouldn’t say it if he hasn’t been saying it.”