Blink of an Eye: Beginnings Series Book 8 (75 page)

“
Move that patient out of the way,” Frank ordered Dean and backed up quick and as far as he could go down the hall away from the doorway of the room which Ellen was trapped.

Dean nearly shoved the cart from the way
. “What are you ... are you crazy!” he yelled at Frank when he saw Frank take a runners stance.

“
Yes.” He wiped the sweat from his eyes with the back of his hand, and took a deep breath. Then like a bull freed from his reluctant captivity, Frank charged full speed down that corridor with his heart, raising his arms as a shield and leaping with everything he had through the flames that blocked Ellen’s way out.

Ellen shrieked when she saw Frank emerge from the fire
. His legs high in the air and he dropped hard in his land to the floor at her feet, the momentum of his run rolled him with a crash into the wall. “Frank!” Ellen coughed.

Frank shook his head with a twitch and picked himself up
. He placed his hands on her shoulders stopping Ellen’s charge for him. He quickly looked around the room assessing it.

“
Frank, I can’t believe you did that. Why?”

“
Ellen ...” He saw the bed that had been shoved in the other corner out of the way.

“
You should have never done that, Frank. You could have been killed.”

“
I had to get you.” He moved to the bed.

“
You should have left me.”

“
What! And leave you here to die? Fuck that.” Frank grabbed for the mattress. “Besides ...” He grunted as he lifted it. “Dying is not an option right now.” He carried it toward the fire.

“
What are you doing?”

“
Watch out.” Frank looked past the flames blocking the door. He could see Dean and a few other men that made it to the hall. “Dean, back up.” He secured the mattress tightly. “Get ready, El.”

“
Frank ...”

With a throaty call out
, Frank raised the mattress and threw it outward toward the fire. The second it landed, tossing out ash, cinder, flames, and smoke to the sides of it, Frank lifted Ellen up into his arms and raced forth towards the flames, using the unbalanced mattress as a seesaw bridge over the smoldering fire that now ceased to keep him back.

Landing in safety
’s range, Frank kissed Ellen quickly and set her down to her feet right with Dean. “Watch her.” He pointed at Dean and took off running from the clinic.

Ellen didn
’t even have time to thank him. Frank was gone. She turned back to face Dean. And at that moment, Dean closed his eyes in gratefulness that she was all right and grabbed Ellen into his arms, embracing her.

Frank ran up to Henry who was battling the fire
. “Henry, how’s it look?”

“
We’ve got it under control. How’s Ellen?”

“
She’s fine. They’re getting the fire from inside. I’m heading out.” Frank looked beyond the horizon of town. In the distance large clouds of smoke sprang up, the perfect back drop for the gunfire and explosions that rang out all around. “Dad, come in.”

“
Yeah, Frank.” Though Joe spoke close to his radio, he didn’t cover the cries or sniffles that filled the tunnel.

“
Town’s secure. Clinic fire is under control. I’m headed where I’m needed. Robbie? Robbie, how’s it look,” Frank asked as he ran to his jeep.

“
We’re doing all we can, Frank. They’re scattering like ants.”

“
Need me up there?”

“
No. I think we have them. I think you’re needed there. A small group broke free, headed your way.”

“
Not a problem. OK, good job.” Frank jumped in his jeep starting it. “Lay enough damage to give us a safe lack of movement up there, then bring it in and we’ll send ground troops to finish them off.”

“
Got it, Frank.”

“
Mark. How we looking.”

“
In the distance we’re good, but ... some are here Frank.”

“
How many?” Frank picked up his speed.

“
Sixty ... Sixty-eight.”

“
Cole,” Frank called out. “What’s the situation?”

Cole
’s voice screamed over the loud sounds of shots behind him. “We’re exchanging gunfire with them, Frank. They’re at the back gate. I have two down!”

“
Keep behind the grade and in the trench, send four men to the roof of the utility building as snipers. I’ll be there in thirty seconds.”

Frank had sent his finest to the back gate to be front line. Though forty-four men laced the hillside not far from the back gate. Twenty-four of them Frank had trained by hand. As he jumped from the jeep he passed his four snipers in a run to the utility building. The battle rang out in an orchestrated manner. Rapid gunfire, single shots, a grunt here and there, the explosions of grenades, and an occasional scream.

In his low run to the hill and trenches
, Frank could see the dirt sprawled everywhere from the badly thrown grenades. He rolled to Cole who had his back to the small grade. “How bad are our men hit?”

“
Don’t know, Frank.” Cole reloaded. “They aren’t dead.”

Frank called over the radio
. “Mark, what’s our back gate count.”

“
Fifty-nine, Frank.”

Frank looked at Cole
“There’s not that many out there.” Frank smiled gave a quick Joe-style whistle and yelled out. “Cease fire.”

“
What?” Cole jolted his view to him.

“
Cease fire.” Frank waited for the gunshots to slow down. “I need Squads One through Four right here. The rest of you hit safety in the trenches. Now!” Watching the men scurry to the trenches, and hearing the enemy’s gunfire, Frank looked to his fifteen men as he loaded his M-16. “Gentlemen, let’s stop pissing around and finish this thing. We’ll show these pussies what Beginnings’ Elite is made of. Let’s give them the wave. Take formation.” All sixteen of them lined up in one long row. “On my call ...” A synchronization of clicking chambers rang out. “Ready and ... now!” The first line of eight men stood up firing outward. “Now!” At the exact same time the first line lowered, the second line stood up firing. “Now.” A switch of positions, down went the second line, up went the first. “Again!” Frank stood again with his second line, staying up only in enough time to shoot in a dart and move fashion. “Down.” All men lowered “Reload and check, Mark, give me a count.”

“
Twenty-six.”

“
Beautiful.” Frank gripped his M-16. “Ladies, last call. Let’s do it.”

The up and down exchange took place until somewhere in the pauses
, there were no more sounds of gunfire coming from the other side. A loud eruption of cheers echoed from the hillside and the trenches. Frank held his hand up. “Quiet. Mark?”

“
One more, Frank. He’s not moving.”

“
Dead?”

“
Negative, Frank,” Mark answered. “I’m still getting other signals from out there only they’re weak. This one is strong.”

Frank closed his eyes thinking
. “Tower, Do you spot anyone in the back gate region?”

“
Can’t see anything, Frank.” Steve the tower guard came back.

Frank looked up to the sky at the sound of the helicopters
. “Robbie, Robbie, come in.”

“
We cleaned house, Frank. Get the men ready to go out.”

“
We’ll do. But make a pass over the back gate region. See if you spot one out there, could be a sniper.”

“
I’m on it.” Robbie revved up the chopper engines tilting the bird to the right, separating from John and Johnny. “Got him, Frank. I see him.”

“
Where at, Robbie?”

“
In the brush of S-12. I think one of my traps got him. I can’t be sure.”

“
Only one way to find out. Head on in ... Security, down the back gate.” Frank stood up.

Cole tried to stop him
. “Frank, you’ll be a walking target.”

“
Then cover me,” Frank said arrogantly, walking over the small grade toward the back gate. He raised his weapon up, scope to his eye as he flung open the downed perimeter. Frank’s views shifted to the bodies, bloodied and tattered that lay all around. “What a fuckin mess.” He stepped over them. Looking as some hung from the tress, some on the dirt road, most dead in the positions they hid in. He marched ready to S-12, using his scope as a telescope and spotting him in the brush the closer he got.

The
Society Soldier held on to his leg, two short dagger-type spears had seared into his calf so severely that the bone was exposed. The soldier struggled to free himself, he shook violently and breathed heavily in a panic.

A foot from him
, holding is weapon in a steady aim at the soldier, Frank pumped back the chamber. The target in the scope marked his head and as Frank readied to depress his finger, the soldier raised his head to look. So scared he was, eyes filled with tears. And it was when Frank looked into those eyes that he saw they weren’t the eyes of a man. Glossed over they were, blinking rapidly. The soldier’s mouth quivered, and Frank knew by looking at him he couldn’t have been any older than seventeen. Steadying his weapon and pointing pressure on the trigger, the barrel inches from his head, Frank told himself this was the enemy. This was one of the ones who attacked his home. Shot his men. And then Frank told himself this was a kid. He lowered his weapon, tossing it over his shoulder and he bent down to the boy to free his leg. Frank had no reason not to shoot him right there, no reason for helping the boy. So he justified his actions in his mind. Beginnings needed this kid. He would be the first prisoner of war spawned from a battle that Beginnings ended quickly. A battle whose damage had yet to be determined.

<><><><>

There was silence in the Morse code room of George’s Command. Waiting, watching, hoping for something. However George did not give that antsy appearance and Jeremy Lyons noticed this.

Jeremy lifted away from his lean over the decoder
. “Nothing, sir,” he told George. “No word at all. Not even a basic transmission.”

“
Give it time.”

“
Time?” Jeremy’s voice raised. “They were scheduled to hit over an hour ago. They were told to contact with the simple numerical codes to let us know their progress. We should have heard.”

“
We may never,” George stated calmly.

“
How can you be like this. Do you realize that is nearly five hundred lives?”

“
I know this. But you knew as well as all of my division heads that those lives were expendable. We sent them out there never expecting their return.”

“
So all this work and planning you did. A loss doesn’t matter.”

“
A loss?” George laughed heartedly at that. “I beg to differ, this was no loss. Not at all. And like Beginnings, you don’t even realize it yet, do you? Four hundred and seventy, dead or not, this was still ... our victory.” And with that, George smiled.

Robbie never realized how big of an area it was outside of the back gate region until he had to find hundreds of bodies, or at least pieces of them. Trying to determine whether an arm or a leg actually belonged to the same person was a tedious task. He had to give his best body count and he had to get near to what the computer said was out there.

Tromping through the woods with twelve other men
, crunching the leaves, checking the bodies that could be alive, rolling over the ones that were, checking their wounds. If the wounds were fatal, Robbie and his men shot them in the head. If the wounds were not. He did what Frank asked him to do. He rounded them up, tagged them and readied to take them back to Beginnings. If they were adult, if they were not fatally injured, then at next morning light they would face a Beginnings firing squad.

Ellen glanced up in her walk down the clinic corridor to the overhead lights that flickered again then finally came on
. So happy she was to see that, so scary it was for her to get cleaned up in the dark. At least the lights were a sign that the clinic wasn’t gone. The hammering and pounding of nails that echoed in the halls also told her that what damage done, had to be minimal. She shivered in gratefulness as she headed to the examining rooms, then smiled when she saw Henry walking up toward her.

“
Hey, El.” He approached her. “How are you?”

“
I’m doing fine, Henry. How are you?”

“
I got you up and running.”

Ellen smiled and looked up
. “I see that.”

“
Danny is still splicing the wires from the area burned out.”

“
How is he doing? Is he OK, his stomach and all.”

“
He’s fine,” Henry told her.

“
What about the kids, Henry? How are they?”

“
They’re all with Jenny and the other women. Alexandra’s a little frightened. If you get a chance in all this, could you go and see her. She needs to see her mom.”

“
I’ll do that.” Ellen gave a peaceful smile. “Dean is in surgery with one of our men, and Andrea is in surgery with Jason on the other. I got stuck with a leg injury and as soon as I take care of that, I’ll go.”

“
Good. I’m glad you’re OK.”

“
I am too. If you see Frank, can you tell him I said ‘Thanks’ he ran off and ...”

“
I’ll tell him. And ... I better be going. I wanna check on the crew I have sealing off the damaged section of the clinic.”

“
I’ll talk to you later, Henry.” Ellen watched him start to walk away. “Henry?” She waited for him to look back. “Tell me, tell me in a way we were lucky. That all those stupid Frank-drills paid off when they hit us with the gas. Tell me.”

Henry
’s mouth opened some, then he closed it. “El, I want to tell you that. But you and I both know, right now, we’re gonna have to wait and see.” Sadly, Henry turned and walked down the hall.

Ellen closed her eyes tightly and swallowed the painful lump in her throat
, she spoke softly as her hands reached on the door to examining room two. “Please don’t let it have worked. Please.” She took a deep breath and opened the door. She didn’t recognize him when she walked inside and the soldier looked up at her. But she did recognize the ‘CS’ on the sleeve of his uniform. Seeing that, Ellen turned and began to walk from the room.

“
Wait,” he called out, his voice not even deep. “Please. It hurts.” he whimpered. “Please don’t walk away. Help me.”

Ellen hesitated in her reach for the door
.

“
Please.”

<><><><>

“
They got it under control now.” Frank harnessed his revolver as he walked through the back gate of Beginnings to head into town.

“
What’s up with him?” Joe motioned his head out to John Matoose who was dragging a body.

“
I don’t know. I had no choice but to send him up there. So tell me why, if those were his people, he didn’t tip the bird sending Dan out. He could have done that easily saying a mortar came by him.” Frank shook his head. “It doesn’t make sense.” So angry he sounded.

“
What’s the situation out there.”

“
Well. We have Johnny doing another reconnaissance, a little farther out to see if there are any more troops. Robbie and his men are reporting success out there. I just sent a cleanup crew out to help gather the bodies and burn them. Also to collect the belongings and the weapons which we can use.”

“
It’ll take a day or so to go through all that stuff.”

“
We have time for that,” Frank said. “That’s low priority. We just need to gather up the stuff first. Looks like every available man in Beginnings is working right now, huh?”

“
Looks that way,” Joe commented. “Cleanup crews in and out. We have a town full of scared people, Frank. I’m gonna have an afternoon meeting here in about two hours. That should give enough time to finish up. Don’t you think?”

“
I think so,” Frank agreed as they got in the jeep. “What was the final outcome on the evacuation? How did that fair out, I haven’t checked.”

“
It was Sunday,” Joe sad sadly as Frank began to drive. “We were very fortunate that a lot of the women ran to Containment to use that hatch with the kids. Henry and I had twenty-two out of twenty-eight children with us and fourteen women. When you called out about the gas, we pulled them in the cryo. It was tight, but Henry threw on the exhaust and with the masks ...” Joe kept his fingers crossed. “Our man in the Living Section said the ones that didn’t make it into center town were the ones who were in the last rows. They did make it to their basements and they did, like you’ve told everyone, have their masks on as a precaution.”

“
That’s good to hear.” Frank drove into town.

“
Son, I have to tell you. You did excellent. We had minimal physical damage. We have only two injured. We couldn’t have beat this, not at all, had you not been so prepared and so organized.”

“
No amount of organization stopped that gas, did it?” Frank graveled his words.

“
The masks may have. What did Dean say?”

“
He said he’d be guessing. I told him to guess and he said what I knew. Time is gonna tell. By his injecting the rabbits directly, he guesses hours before they start getting symptoms, a few more hours until they are down.”

Joe looked at his watch
. “Christ.” He shook his head. “We’re looking at the time ... how many men were in town?”

“
About thirty. We had twenty-four at the back gate and eight at the front. But both of those areas reported being hit too. We got the bulk here in town.”

“
What did ...” Joe stopped speaking when Frank held his hand up.

“
Yeah, Johnny?” Frank called into his radio headset.

“
Dad, about ten miles west I got a group of them. I’m guessing ... thirty maybe. I can’t count.”

“
Take them out,” Frank ordered.

“
Do you want me to do that?” Johnny asked.

“
Why wouldn’t I?”

“
They’re holding up white flags, Dad.”

Frank looked at his father
. “Johnny says he sees a bunch and it looks like a surrender.”

Joe lifted his shoulders
. “Make it your call.”

“
Johnny? Any view of weapons?”

“
Yeah, Dad, off to the side in a pile.”

“
All right, hover nearby, I’m sending Robbie and some men out with a truck to get them, if anything maybe we can get some information off of them.” Frank switched channels. “Robbie, you there.”

“
Yeah, Frank.”

“
Head west, get a hold of Johnny in the bird for direction. He says he has about thirty surrendering. Take some men with you, It might trap, if it’s not, bring them in. We can always keep them in the Security training building and post some guards on them.”

“
Will do, Frank.”

Frank turned down the volume of his radio
, through the ear piece he could pick up Robbie’s conversation. He half listened to that while nearing the clinic. How eerie it was for Frank as he looked around town, everything looking so normal, so peaceful, yet his gut cried out to him that this was just the calm before the mighty storm.

<><><><>

Ellen finished washing her hands
. She pulled her pocket of her lab coat to check for the tube of blood. It was there, and then she informed the young soldier, who now only wore a hospital gown that she would be back in. She knew Frank was waiting outside that door with Joe. Waiting impatiently for her to finish up. Ellen waited impatiently too ... to see Frank.

She opened the door and pulled it closed as she walked out
. “Frank.” She tossed her arms around him.

“
Hey, El. What’s going on?”

“
Stop.” She hugged him tighter. “Take a second, Frank, to hold me. Please.”

With closed eyes Frank embraced
, until Ellen was ready to pull back. He set her down. “How’s he doing?”

“
No fracture. Massive lacerations. I sewed them up. I think he’ll be fine.”

“So why couldn’t we go in there?”

“
You’d frighten him,” Ellen told him bluntly.

“
So the fuck what,” Frank snapped.

“
No, Frank.” Ellen shook her head. “You can’t say that.” Her eyes shifted to Joe as she explained. “I did an examination on him. Our typical entrance examination. Plus some because he was injured. We talked. He’s sixteen years old, Frank. If that. He doesn’t know. He so young he barely had pubic hair.” Ellen shook her head. “What makes matters worse is he has the mentality of a ten-or eleven-year-old. Not Denny enthusiasm type, but he really is a child. From what we talked about and from what I know about Survivors, that mentality comes from his living by himself for a very long time. He doesn’t know how long, he hasn’t a clue. But I can tell you he spent a good many years living alone, fighting for his life in our world. Never around adults, never learning how to be one. He said it was cold out, snowing, when a man came to the group he lived with. He told me they fed him, clothed him, took him to a military type base, and taught him how to shoot. He was scared to ask questions and scared to say no. We’re the bad guys he was told. Take out the bad guys. He’s scared, really scared.” Ellen breathed outward with her words. “And he kept crying in there, saying he was sorry. And he kept trying to reach to me as if I were some sort of mother to him.”

Joe was taken aback by Ellen
’s speech. “You sound unlike yourself Ellen. You sound concerned.”

“
I am,” she said. “I don’t know, maybe he pulled the right strings.”

“
He’s still on the other side,” Frank stated strongly. “And is he well enough to take to the building up at the Security area? That’s gonna be our new prisoner camp.”

“
No.” Ellen stopped him as he reached for the door. “This kid is a kid. He was doing what he was told to do. I don’t even think he comprehends the damage his people could have done with the gas. I know he doesn’t.”

Joe rubbed his own forehead
, a little perturbed. “What the hell do you want us to do with him, Ellen, dress him up and stick him in school with the rest of the kids?”

“
Yes.”

“
What!” Frank and Joe both yelled.

“
I mean, not yet. He’s a Containment case. No more. He’s a kid. Don’t treat him like a prisoner. Not him.” Ellen walked to the door. “Talk to him. Talk to him then make your decision.” She opened the door. “Bobby?” she spoke softly. “These men want to speak to you.” She lifted her eyes to Frank and Joe who followed in.

Frank saw it on Joe
’s face the second they looked at him. Frank knew the same expression was on his own face. A look of what to do. And what made matters worse for Frank was he was prepared to go in there and blast the kid, frighten him a little. But looking at his fright, and seeing him out of that uniform made Frank see something else ... how young he actually was.

<><><><>

Frank
’s eyes kept going to Ellen and Henry as those two sat with all the children in the crowded Social Hall. Frank bounced back and forth in a nervous manner as he stood with Robbie, waiting for the late afternoon meeting to begin.

“
Their chattering, Frank,” Robbie explained. “All twenty-seven of them. Going at the mouth. Saying how they left their camp last night and kept moving. How when they found out the plan, they just wanted out.”