Legend of Mace (15 page)

Standing on the roof of the Chapel with Roger and Woody, Mace surveyed the area as a flare suddenly streaked overhead. “Who’s missing?” he said immediately as he followed the trail of twinkling light.

The rage tingled within. One of them was in trouble. Purpose filled his being. “I’m going after them,” he said without hesitation.

Lisa rushed up the ladder. “It’s Chelsea,” she said as she moved quickly towards them. “I think Maya and Kelly are with her. They’re the only ones missing.”

“Kelly?” Roger stated with fear. “What do we do?” he asked, turning towards Mace.

“Stay here and protect the camp. I’m going after them.” Mace nodded towards Lisa. “You coming?”

“Just try and stop me. That’s my kid!” she yelled as she headed back towards the ladder.

“What do you need?” Roger asked Woody as Mace and Lisa disappeared over the edge of the roof.

“Take up a sniper position right here. Shoot anything that gets in their way.”

Retreating to the edge of the city, the Plaguers gathered in paranoia and outrage. “Did you see the dark star?” Stephen said nervously. “It's more sorcery!”

“That's why we’re here!” answered Marty, exasperated at the defeat and his own foolishness. He ached to release the rage that boiled in his stomach. All the witches would burn for this.

Hearing the sound of motorcycles approaching from the opposite direction of the hotel, panic momentarily swept through the crowd. They thought they were being surrounded by the curse.

“We're doomed!” yelled one.

“Witches!” screamed another crazily.

“Wait!” yelled Joline. She knelt down and touched the pavement with the palm of her old, withered hand. The closer the sound came, the more she could feel the vibration in the ground and air. “We're saved!” she yelled as she stiffly rose and stared in the direction of the motorcycles, which now appeared in the distance. There were dozens. As they drew closer, the line of bikes continued. It was an army.

“We are saved!” Joline yelled again in jubilation. She walked forward to greet the motorcycles.

Staying behind, Marty and Stephen silently acknowledged her wisdom and vision. She was now their leader. Their heads spun wildly with paranoia.

Motorcycles pulled up, the men and women riding them looking hard and dangerous. Wearing black leather vests and shaggy beards, the men pulled their bikes to a stop and slowly dismounted. A few women pulled up alongside them. Several wore nothing but string-bikini tops and skimpy jean shorts. They all carried weapons strapped to their bikes or backs.

Razor scratched his dirty beard as he strode towards the old woman. “We feel drawn here for some reason,” he said a bit confused. “What the hell is going on?” He thought about killing her.

Spending the last three years raping, looting and murdering, the biker gang was a hardened group of killers. The Plaguers watched in amazement as an RV brought up the rear of the congregation, followed by a gas truck, ambulance, and semi with trailer. There were close to a hundred bikes. Their overall numbers just doubled.

“There's a curse,” Joline said straightforwardly. “and we're at its epicenter.” She pointed in the direction of the Alamo. “We must destroy it and all who protect it.”

The biker looked at her strangely. She looked and sounded looney: They all did. He and his gang didn’t experience the same effects as the rest of the Plaguers. The RV at the end was their traveling drug lab. Falling victim to the new infection, the drugs and their hardened egos prevented it from fully altering their brain chemistry. They did, however, feel the same unconscious magnetism as the rest.

As their group grew, so did the pull of their connection. As the bikers merged with the other Plaguers, the draw of their presence reached even farther. As the huge throng gathered together, their magnetism reached far across Texas. Other smaller groups, already connected by the infection, felt the pull. Like a strong gravitational force, they were unable to resist its attraction. San Antonio, Texas became the focal point of Plaguer consciousness.

Mace and Lisa roared out of the compound. Lisa headed straight for the hotel while Mace patrolled the area. Both were armed to the teeth and ready for any type of resistance. On the rooftop, Roger watched their departure through the rifle scope as he scanned for Plaguers. It remained clear, but he saw the dust cloud in the distance and heard the dull rumble of motorcycle engines far off.

Jade climbed the ladder to the chapel roof, interested in hearing Roger’s take on the Plaguers. The camp was on high alert, and she left the children with Melissa in their small hospital clinic. If anything happened, it would be the last room to fall.

Pulling up next to him, she leaned her rifle over the adobe wall of the roof, scanning the perimeter. “Anything out there?” she said.

“No immediate threats. They left in a hurry.” Roger kept his eye on the scope. “Something’s going on out there, though,” he said, nodding his head towards the dust cloud in the distance.

“We know they're impressionable,” Jade said as she peered at the large wall of haze. “What else do you know about them?”

Roger remained silent as he continued to scan the area. “They’re crazy. Like scary crazy. One gets an idea and the rest believe it. They’re drawn to each other. I never saw a group as large as this one and I don’t like it. They won’t stop. They’ll come back. We’re going to need to kill them all.”

Chelsea and Maya scrambled down the dark stairwell. Once they'd seen the Plaguers retreat they'd seen their opportunity to escape. Halfway down, Chelsea tried to come up with a plan.

“We need to go back for Kelly,” she said breathlessly as they descended the stairs quickly. “We need to find her before anyone knows she’s missing.”

“Little late,” Maya huffed as she followed directly behind with Buster trotting on her heels. “You already fired the flare.”

Chelsea jumped down four steps to land on the next floor. “How was I supposed to know those freaks were just gonna leave? My mom is going to kill me!”

Once they reached the third floor, they heard the Harley and dune buggy racing towards the hotel.

“Shit, we’re too late!” yelled Maya. “What do we do?”

Chelsea stopped to catch her breath. “We’re screwed,” she answered, slightly panicked. “I don’t know yet. Let’s just see what happens.”

The dune buggy skidded to a stop and Chelsea heard her mom yell out, “Chelse!” before three gunshots rang out.

“Mom!” Chelsea screamed as she scrambled down the flight of stairs. Two more gunshots rang out as Chelsea barrelled through one of the 2
^nd
floor rooms that was free of explosives. She stuck her head out the glassless window and spotted Lisa below aiming a handgun at the head of a Plaguer. The Plaguer was badly injured. One of his legs was shorn off below the kneecap, a victim of the mine blast.

“You filthy witch,” the man said weakly. "You'll all burn.”

Lisa pulled the trigger.

“Mom!” Chelsea yelled. “We’re okay!”

The expression on Lisa’s face was of pure rage. It softened once she saw her daughter. “Don’t ever do that to me again!” she yelled. Looking around quickly, she said, “We need to go!”

“I don’t know how to get Buster out!” Chelsea yelled back.

Looking at the crumbled entrance, Lisa wasn’t sure how stable the rest of the building was. “Stay there,” she said as she checked around the perimeter for another way in. Walking quickly around the building, she returned a few seconds later. “I’m going to try to dig out the front. Stay here until I find out if I can. I don’t know how stable the building is.”

Hearing Mace’s Harley approach, Chelsea’s breath caught in her throat as she saw him whip around the corner with Kelly on the back of the Cruiser.

“Kelly’s okay!” Chelsea yelled to Maya, who stood behind her trying to see out.

“Thank God,” Maya said, feeling relief wash over her. “Let’s just get out of here before they come back!”

Mace pulled the Harley up and set the kickstand. Kelly immediately jumped off and shouted to Chelsea at the window. “I can’t believe you left me with those fucking whack-jobs!”

“We had to!” Chelsea yelled back. “I’m so glad you’re safe. We were really worried.”

“Look at me!” Kelly said as she held her hands out at her sides. She was covered in muck. “I’m covered in this shit!”

“How’d you get away?” Chelsea shouted.

“They’re totally crazy,” Kelly said, calming down. “They ran away thinking witches were chasing them.” She couldn’t help but smile at her part in that.

Mace walked over to Lisa. “Let’s dig them out and hunt the rest down. I don’t want to worry about them coming back.”

“Sounds right to me. There’s a spot in the front we should be able to dig through. I’m just not sure how safe the building is.”

“I know. Let’s get to it.”

Ten minutes later, the girls hurried through the lobby towards the patch of sunlight that signaled their exit. They were halfway across when Herman glided down from a lobby wall and clutched onto Chelsea’s back. Chelsea screamed in surprise, tripping over her own feet. Falling hard, she felt Herman scramble up to her head as she got back up.

“Damn it, Herman!” she yelled as she ran again, feeling her knees skinned up. Herman stayed clamped to the top of her skull.

Maya burst through the hole, followed closely by Chelsea with Herman still clinging to her hair. A loud thunk let them know Buster missed the exit on his first attempt. He appeared a second later, looking a little dazed.

Addressing the three girls, Mace said quickly, “Get back to the compound and take up positions. I want snipers on all rooftops. Tell Bowie and Crockett I want wheels on the dirt in 10. We’re going after them. I want them locked and loaded. Handguns on top of arrows. Tell them to bring Dolphin and Miles.”

“Right,” said Chelsea. “Sorry we snuck out,” she added.

“No you’re not,” Mace answered with a tense smile. “It’s okay. I know you do it all the time. Let’s just take care of business.”

Surprised by his understanding, Chelsea smiled at him. She liked the new Mace. She turned to her mom, still smiling.

“Don’t even,” Lisa snapped. “You are in so much trouble.”

“Shit,” Chelsea whispered under her breath as she looked away.

“And get that stupid lizard off your head.”

Reaching up sheephishly, Chelsea lifted Herman off her noggin. “He’s a baby dragon,” she corrected quietly as she brought him down and held him in her hands.

“Let’s go,” Lisa said to Mace. Turning to Chelsea, she asked “How many we looking at?”

“A lot. Maybe a hundred.”

“They’re on the run,” Kelly said proudly. “They’re total freaks.”

Mace fired up the bike as Lisa climbed in the cage of the dune buggy. “Nothing we can’t handle,” she yelled to Mace over the motorcycle engine.

Crockett was nervous. He didn't like the feeling. Kelly was still out there and he wasn't sure why her absence concerned him so much.

"What's wrong with you?" Bowie asked, checking him out. Of all the boys, Bowie was the hardest; the most selfish. He'd always been that way. It was just part of his genetic makeup. Standing next to him on the wall, the only person Bowie was concerned about was Bowie. 

"Nothing," Crockett responded swiftly, trying to hide his unease. To his relief, as he looked back outside the compound Kelly and the girls approached from a distance.

  As Kelly walked closer, he didn't want to show her he cared. He figured the best course of action would be sarcasm. “Hey Jersey,” he yelled from the top of the wall. “Talk about an improvement. You just need a little more shit smeared across your face and you might be decent to look at.” He smacked Bowie in the arm at the crack and they both chuckled. 

“Your mom should have just swallowed you,” Kelly replied, stinging from his lack of concern. She felt disgusting. Neither Crockett nor Bowie  got the joke.

Looking up at Bowie, Chelsea said, “Mace wants bikes out in 10 minutes. Real weapons. They’re heading down the Riverwalk. He wants you, Crockett, Miles and Dolphin out there.”

“Woot! Woot!” yelled Bowie as he immediately hopped off the wall. “Get ready to kick some ass! C’mon boys!”

Mohawks immediately took off towards the off-road motorcycles.

As Roger watched the girls approach through the scope, he felt greatly relieved that none were seriously hurt. Seeing Kelly’s condition, he checked their surroundings before quickly climbing down the ladder. After running a quick errand, he approached Kelly in the middle of the compound. She gave him a tired smile.

“Am I glad to see you,” he said.

“Me too,” Kelly responded, grateful that somebody actually cared. “I thought I was gonna get stuck out there in Cartoon land.”

“Same kind of crazy as before?”

“Yeah,” she said, nodding. “They’re totally nuts. I think they may have left, though.”

“We can hope,” he said as he sniffed near her. “You smell horrible. What happened?”

“You really don’t want to know.”

The dirt bikes suddenly raced past, kicking up dust as the boys yelled in excitement. Crockett shot a quick glance at her as he passed.

“Go get cleaned up,” Roger said. “I put a few buckets of clean water in the room for you.”

“Oh my God, thank you,” Kelly said sincerely as he hustled back to guard the roof. "You really are the best!" she yelled after him. 

Mace and Lisa raced along the Riverwalk, looking for any trace of Plaguers. Taking lead on the Cruiser, Mace followed their heavy foot tracks. Weaving around debris piles until the path opened up, he felt freer for the first time in years. He wasn’t thirsting for bloodshed: The addiction wasn’t calling. He just needed to keep the camp safe. He’d do whatever was needed.

He saw the large dust cloud in the distance and knew it must be their gathering place. Slowing the bike down, he waved a finger for Lisa to pull over, then did so himself. Lisa pulled next to him a second later.