Project Terminus (10 page)

In a matter of fact voice, Nina said, “We can’t keep killing people when we’re hungry, Mo. We can’t preserve all of the meat. We’re wasting too much.” She leaned in close and nibbled on Saadeh’s left ear. Whispering softly, her hands wandering down his torso, she said, “Mohammed, do you remember when you told me we should capture people and get them to join us, and that we could use them as slaves and, when necessary, for food?”

Saadeh, with a confused look on his face, said, “I said that?”

Nina smiled and said, “Well of course you did, Mo. Don’t be silly. Who else would be smart enough to come up with that idea? You have so much on your mind you’ve simply forgotten about it.”

With his ego in full bloom and a portion of his anatomy at attention, Saadeh said, “Nina, my Queen, I do remember now. It was by the big lake…after the midnight feast. Yes, so…I leave it to you to work out the details. But continue with what you are doing. Please.”

She obliged, and afterward, she smiled at him and said, “I’ll get right on the slave-food thing, Mo.” Then under her breath as she walked away, she said, “One day, when I no longer need you, I will kill you, my dear Mohammed.”

The plague began to dissipate in the Chattanooga area roughly fourteen months after it started. Their group numbered twenty-two by then, and while they didn’t escape it entirely, (two people they assimilated into the group died from it) Nina surmised the low numbers were a combination of proximity to those infected, natural immunity, pure luck, and maybe even karma. The fact that they stayed well away from the countless skeletons and rotting corpses they encountered in their travels throughout the Chattahoochee probably didn’t hurt either.

With followers came increased capabilities. The extra trigger fingers and gear prompted Justice to train some of them in the use of firearms, and in what he called “military justice tactics.” He promoted himself to general.

Nina knew Justice’s troops were worthless, inefficient, and wouldn’t be able to fight their way out of the proverbial paper bag. Justice and Mohammed had decided early on that all male members would have their teeth filed down, heads shaved, and faces tattooed within a week of becoming members. She had to admit the resulting appearance of The Light members presented an intimidating image to future captives.

“I’m glad our little family is growing,” said Saadeh. “But it is becoming difficult to cut them from the herd for food without arousing suspicions from the others.”

“That’s true, Mo. I agree,” said Nina. “But in the end, it will be all right. They’ll see the light.”

Saadeh scrunched up his face and asked, “What are you talking about? What light?”

Nina didn’t tell him that Svetlana meant light in Russian. She just smiled and said, “It’s a figure of speech, Mo. But the more I think about it, I think you’re right, The Light is a good name for our group.”

Saadeh asked, “The Light?” Then after a reflective pause he said, “Oh yes, of course, The Light!”

Nina smiled to herself and said, “I’m glad you thought of a name for us, Mo. From now on, that’s who we are. We’re
The Light
. I’ve been meaning to ask you…tell me more about your little white pills.”

That fall, The Light headed to Chattanooga with the expectation of finding more people. When they left six months later, their numbers had swelled to over six hundred. However, instead of making things easier, the sheer number of mouths to feed made life more difficult. It was a fact they couldn’t kill their own people and feed them to the others without a damned good reason.

That might make the natives restless
, Nina mused. She knew she had to come up with a solution soon.

A month after they left Chattanooga, Nina felt invincible and in total control. And she was. Using her intelligence, as well as her beauty, she controlled every decision and every movement The Light made. She did it all through Saadeh who, miracle upon miracle had become useful to her after all. The hallucinogens he concocted were key to controlling the clan. Plus, he proved to be a dynamic motivational speaker. Nina was in heaven. She had never been this content in her life. Then they went to Robbinsville.

Nina and Justice were sitting in the room they used as a conference area.

She said, “What the hell are we doing in Robbinsville, North Carolina, Paul?

“Because there are lots of people living in small groups in the mountains, and they’ll be easy to take.”

“
Really
? I can’t believe I let you talk me into coming here
.
The only good thing about this burg is the facilities.
You have one more week. If you don’t produce some captives by then, we’re out of here.”

Fortunately for Justice’s ego, an hour later one of his patrols brought in four new captives. Nina put on her skin-tight black leather pants and matching bustier, and made her way to Saadeh waiting stage-side. Mohammed and Faisal joined them after they took their positions on the edge of the football field to await Justice’s signal. Justice was standing in the center of the stage, and she watched as the two men and two women were led to the platform. When Justice pointed in their direction, they began their slow, methodical walk to the stage. Nina thought the event was much like a king and queen making their grand entrance in front of their subjects, and in fact, that’s exactly what it was. Saadeh did his thing, and as usual, the crowd went wild. Also as usual, Saadeh promised they would perform the “Roasting Ceremony.”

Saadeh just dismissed them when Nina’s attention turned to the runner coming toward them, frantically waving his arms. Placing her hand lightly on Saadeh’s arm in order to halt his exit, she stopped and waited until the runner gained the stage. In halting sentences punctuated with gasps for air, he told Justice the food patrol sent out four days before was twenty four hours late.

Justice was annoyed and told the runner, “Get Maurice and his squad over here right now.”

Nina’s antenna went up. This was not normal, and she knew something was wrong.

Saadeh showed no concern at all. “Handle it, Paul,” he said. Then taking Nina’s hand, he led her off the stage and back to his room.

God, she was sick of balling Saadeh. He was horrible in bed. She tolerated it because, for the most part, she could screw and then kill anyone she wanted to, any time she wanted to. Eating them afterwards was a nice bonus too. However, the roasting ceremony alone was worth the hassle—it was her favorite thing of all time. The event was a gigantic performance on stage in front of hundreds of The Light. Beheading captives in front of her worshipping horde provided her with the most extreme orgasic like pleasure imaginable. In fact, they had become so intense, she worried she would fall off the stage and ruin the image she was projecting to her subjects.

With the ceremony hours away, she decided she needed a distraction. She spoke to the guard that Saadeh insisted be stationed outside her door whenever she was in her quarters. “Go find Sarah and bring her to me.”

The guard nodded. “Yes, Nina.”

Twenty minutes later, there was a knock on the door and Nina said, “Come in.”

The door opened and Sara Driscoll entered the room. In her mid-twenties, tall and lean with short auburn hair and green eyes, Sara was almost as attractive as Nina. Captured nine months ago, Sara had instantly assessed the situation. She realized if she wanted to live she would have to pretend to go along with the program until she could escape. But escape was difficult because Justice assigned one of his men to monitor every move she made. Although she pretended to, she never ate the meat and no one ever paid enough attention during the ceremonies to see she wasn’t munching on her fellow man. She also didn’t take the drugs given to them. That was easy to fake. You pretended to swallow them, and minutes later you jumped around and yelled like an idiot. Sarah Driscoll was, in fact, perfectly normal and sane. But she was also in a very precarious and dangerous situation, and she intended to survive it.

Nina was ambivalent about the filed teeth and didn’t think much of the tattoos either, but she steadfastly refused to allow Sarah to have either. Which was a moot point, since Justice didn’t trust the girl.

“Get your clothes off and get over here, Sarah,” demanded Nina.

Nina knew Sarah Driscoll was as straight as an arrow, but she was enthralled with the performance she faked so well. It was so over the top doing someone who hated it turned her on almost as much as killing.

Sarah smiled and began taking off her clothes. When she reached the bed, she stood looking down at Nina.

“You’re lucky I don’t want to eat you literally, Sarah.”

When Nina was finished with her, Sarah returned to the room she shared with two other girls who were willing participants and ready to go to the show. The roasting ceremony would start soon, and Sarah hated them. She also hated the sessions with Nina, and often fantasized about killing her, even though she was scared to death of the bitch.

One of her roommates gave her a strange look and said, “C’mon, Sara, let’s go.”

“You guys go ahead, I’ll be down in a minute. I have to use the bathroom.”

There was no running water because there were no utilities, but Nina insisted that garbage cans full of water were kept in each bathroom for flushing and personal hygiene. The bathroom Sara used was just down the hall from her room, and she spent ten minutes trying to wash Nina off her skin. Then because she had no choice, she opened the door and went out to the football field.

For Nina, this particular roasting ceremony was historic. She experienced a sensation so intense it threatened to overwhelm her, and she thought her knees were going to buckle. It went on and on, but just as she thought she would pass out, she regained a measure of control. Then she did something she’d never done before. She licked the blood from the sword, reached into the stream of blood spurting from the severed neck of the woman, and rubbed it on her face. Another powerful orgasm-like sensation coursed through her and she stood perfectly still with her eyes closed until it began to dissipate. Then she thrust her sword into the air and screamed, “
LIGHT!
” She had never seen her subjects that frenzied, that excited; she decided from then on she would use the same tactic at every roasting ceremony.

Two hours later, with the two captives butchered, roasted, and eaten, she and Mohammed returned to his room where she went through the daily ritual of appeasing his lust. Then, Nina Svetlana Lutrova, the former lead pianist for the Philadelphia Orchestra, returned to her own room and fell into a deep and dreamless sleep.

As they were passing the forward OP, Sean said, “Maybe we should have tried to notify the Northern Groups about this mission, Wade.”

“It would take too long. It’s a five-hour hike to the Ranger group, plus another hour to the Delta group. It would take them a half hour to mobilize and then five or six hours to get to Fort-T, plus another seven or so to get to Robbinsville. That’s nearly a full day. One of their patrols could slip through. We’re on our own.”

When they hit the blacktop, they fast walked it to the hide above the football field and duplicated the sequence they used during the initial recon. Chris and Bill held at the entry point and watched for outgoing patrols, then continued on to the hide while the other four held at the entry point.

When they were all in the hide thirty minutes later, Chris said, “Look at the football field.”

Randal muttered, “Damn.”

The stage had been moved to the northern end of the field.

“I ranged it. Six hundred and forty-two yards,” said Chris.

“Why did they move it?” asked Bill.

“It doesn’t matter,” said Randal. “You can still make the shot, Chris?”

“No problem. It might complicate wiring the stage, though. It’s really close to their HQ now.”

Randal said, “We have no choice but to deal with it. It’s going to be a long day, and we can’t plant the explosives until late tonight. Regardless, by tomorrow night at the latest, they’re going to start worrying about that second patrol. There’s nothing we can do now except wait and get some sleep. Chris, you and Bill take first watch. Highlander and I will take the second; Dad and Sean, the third.”

It was 7:15 am, Saturday, September 1.

Nina was restless. She was also hungry for something besides meat. She told the guard to go find Sara.

After the guard left, she stared out the window thinking about the missing patrol. It had never happened before, which meant it was odd. She attempted to discuss the missing patrol with Mohammed, but he wasn’t interested in anything except sex. Another affirmation for Nina that Mohammad was an idiot.

Lost in thought, she was startled by the knock on the door. It took a moment for her to remember. “Come in, Sara.”

Sara came in and said, “Good morning.” Nina never called her in the mornings. She only ever summoned her after a roasting ceremony, and Sara was curious.

“Relax, Sara. I want you to do something for me.” 

“Would you like a backrub?”

“That’s tempting, but no. I want to add some fruit to my diet. The blackberries are ripe and I want you to pick some for me. Find a bucket and bring me some berries. And Sara…if you try to escape, the guard has orders to blow your brains out if he even thinks you’re thinking about it.”

“Why would I do that, Nina?”

Nina smiled sweetly and said, “Why indeed? Go get the berries, Sara, and when you come back, I’ll think about letting you give me that backrub.”

Sara found a bucket and the guard followed her to the football field. She stood for a moment, searching for the most likely location to find blackberries, and finally selected a knoll on the western side of the field. She started toward the hill with the guard following twenty yards behind her.

“Heads up,” whispered Chris.

Randal was sitting up and peering through the brush in an instant. He saw Sara and the guard starting up the hill. They were less than 200 yards away and coming directly at the hide. “I can’t tell if she’s being watched or protected, but unless she alters course, she’s going to be on us in five minutes. Dad, go left and take the girl. I’ve got the guard.”

About half way up the hill, Sara stopped and scanned the hillside. Blackberry bushes on top of the knoll caught her eye and she decided there were enough berries there to meet Nina’s demands. She also considered the possibility that the guard might screw up and allow her to reach the top before he caught up with her. If that happened, she could take off and disappear into the woods before he could get there. She decided to take a chance and picked up the pace.

As she was nearing the crest of the hill, the guard called out, “Slow down, Sara.”

Sara pretended not to hear him and continued up the hill.

“I won’t tell you again, bitch. Stop or I’ll blow your brains out.”

Sara stopped, and turning said, “Nina might not like that, Caleb.”

“Who cares, I’ll just tell her you tried to run. You won’t be around to call me a liar.”

“What’s your problem, Caleb? Nina wants some blackberries and I don’t intend to be the evening’s meal, so fuck you.”

“Fuck me?
Fuck me?
No,
fuck
you,
you
bitch!
”

Just as the barrel of the gun started to rise, Randal struck. He chopped down through the man’s trigger hand and, using an upward thrust, jabbed his knife into his jugular. Before the body hit the ground, he administered the coup de grace. Bill was at Randal’s side within seconds and together they dragged the body into the brush and crawled back to the hide.

The girl was a mere ten feet from where Chris, Sean, Bill, and Highlander lay hidden in the brush. At the exact moment Randal took out the guard, Wade put Sara on the ground and dragged her into the hide. With a hand over her mouth, he lay on top of her and said quietly, “I’m going to remove my hand. If you yell, I will slit your throat. Do you understand?”

Eyes wide, Sara nodded.

Wade slowly removed his hand. “Okay. Who are you?”

“My name’s Sara Driscoll.”

“Start talking, Sara, and do it quietly.”

Sara stared at the military garbed men with camouflaged faces staring back at her, and realized they were not cannibals. She said, “No problem.” Then instinctually she said, “Let me tell you right now, I am
not
a cannibal. I have never,
ever
, eaten a human being.” Nodding in the direction of the football field, she said, “I definitely am not one of them.”

She went on to explain how and when she had been captured, and what she had done to remain alive. “I’ve been looking for a chance to escape, but they always post a guard on me. I was going to make a break when I reached the top of the knoll, but, well…you know how that story ended.”

Wade asked about the ceremony and Sara explained how it worked. “Saadeh is a chemist. Rather, he
was
a chemist before everything went to hell. He concocts the drugs they feed the clan before the ceremony. That’s where they sacrifice—”

“We know about the ceremony. We watched the one last night,” Wade said.

“Well, then you saw her majesty in action. You can’t imagine how evil that bitch is. I’ve had plenty of chances to kill her, but I’m ashamed to say, I’m scared to death of her.”

“Is there going to be another ceremony tonight?”

“No, tonight’s Saturday. They don’t have ceremonies on Saturday nights. They have a sunrise brunch ceremony on Sunday morning.”

“What time do they start to gather for that?”

Sarah made a face. “Duh…it’s at sunrise. That’s why they call it a sunrise brunch.”

Wade went face-to-face with her, and said, “You’re in no position to be a smart ass, Sara. Don’t do it again. I’ll ask the question a different way. Do they go onto the field after the sun is up, or do they start the party while it’s still dark?”

Sara’s flippant attitude dissipated instantly. “You’re right, I’m sorry. Forgive me. To answer your question, they get massively screwed up on Saturday night, so they usually don’t get out to the football field until after the sun is up. Some of them are totally out of it and never make it to the ceremony at all.”

“Why did they move the stage?”

“I’m not sure, but I’m guessing it was because her majesty didn’t like the long walk when she made her grand entrance.”

Wade nodded and sat staring at her until she nervously asked, “What now?”

“That’s a good question. I haven’t decided yet.”

Wade motioned for Randal to exit the hide. They moved a short distance away and in a low voice Randal asked, “What the hell are we going to do with her, Dad?”

“That’s a tough call, Son. I don’t want to kill her. Do you believe her story?”

Randal thought for a moment, then said, “Yeah, actually, I do.”

“My gut tells me she’s being truthful, so I do too. Let’s see what else she has to say.”

Going back to the hide, Wade entered first and Sara, still flat on her back on the ground looked up at him, said, “Can I ask you a question, sir?”

“You can ask,” said Wade.

“Who are you guys?”

Wade looked at her, and with narrowed eyes said, “We’re survivors, Sara, just like you.”

Sara’s flippancy was returning. “Yeah, right. Let me rephrase the question. You’re obviously more than survivors. And you’re checking out The Light. Are you going to do something about them? I mean, if you are, I can help you.”

“Keep talking.”

“Well, I know a lot more about them than they think I do. I can give you a lot of useful information.”

“Like what?”

“Like Mohammed Saadeh, for example. You’ve seen one of the ceremonies, so I’m sure you know who he is. Yes, he’s the recognized leader, but in reality he’s nothing more than a dipshit con man wearing a red cowboy hat. Paul Justice? That’s the guy wearing the cavalry hat. He’s their military guy. He’s a complete and utter moron. And then there’s Aziz. That’s the big guy. He’s Saadeh’s bodyguard, but he’s a half-wit. He follows Saadeh around like a puppy dog. The only one with any brains—and she’s one smart bitch—is Nina Lutrova. If you kill her, you’ll effectively kill The Light.”

“And how do you propose we do that, Sara?”

“Shoot her ass, I guess. I mean, get real…you’ve got guns.”

Wade thought,
This girl has balls. I’ll give her that
. Then he said, “What were you doing out here?”

“Nina sent me to pick some blackberries for her. That’s it. That’s all I was doing.”

“How long before she starts to wonder where you are?”

“Umm…I’m not sure. Maybe another half hour.”

“And what do you think she’ll do when she decides you’re late?”

Sara thought for a second. “At first she’ll be pissed, then she’ll try to find Caleb—that’s the guard you offed. When she can’t find him, trust me, she’s gonna go into full alert mode.”

“What will that consist of?”

“With Nina, you can never be sure, but it won’t be good. No offense, but if you’re planning on fighting them, I hope you have more than six guys, because you won’t stand a chance.”

Wade said, “Let us worry about that. We’re only here gathering information. I’ve decided not to kill you. You can go.”

Sara’s mouth dropped open and she stared at Wade with wide eyes. “I can go? Go where?”

“Back there,” said Wade, nodding his head towards the school.

“Are you crazy? I’m not going back there. I’ve been trying to get away from them for nine long months. No way. If I go back down there, I become brunch. You can kill me if you want to, but I’m not going anywhere near those assholes.”

Wade stared at her for a full minute, then said, “Okay, Sara, here’s your deal. If you’re sincere, and you’re willing to help us, we can help you.”

Grimacing, she said, “Can you be a bit more specific?”

“We do intend to take them down. And trust me, we have the ability to make that happen. We have a plan, which we are now going to modify. How good of an actress are you?”

Sara saw where this was going. “Look, I do want to help you, but I can’t go back like nothing happened. Nina will never believe me.”

“Will she even talk to the guard, Caleb?”

Sara paused for a second. “No. At least I don’t think she will. I’d just knock on the door and take her the berries.”

“Who would miss the guard?”

“I don’t know.”

“If he was missed, who would question you about him?”

“Nina would, definitely.”

“And if she did question you, suppose you told her the guard tried to molest you and that you fought him off. Then you told him you were going to tell her about it and he took off? Would she buy that?”

Sara stared open mouthed at Wade, then reluctantly said, “Maybe. But I don’t see the point. I’d be back where I started, and I don’t look good in barbecue sauce.”

In spite of himself, Wade grinned. “What happens after you deliver the blackberries?”

Sara rolled her eyes. “You don’t want to know.”

“Okay, got it. I’ll rephrase the question. How long before you could leave her room?”

“About an hour or so, I guess.”

“Do you have any duties after that?”

Sara said, “No. I’m Nina’s private stock. And just so you know, I’m not gay, or even bi. I just didn’t have a choice if I wanted to stay alive. And trust me, staying alive is number one on my bucket list.”

Wade pulled her to a sitting position and said, “Okay, Sara. I’m going out on a limb here. I’m going to take a chance on you. We can’t have Nina sounding the alarm if you and the guard both disappear. So you have to go back down there and win an Academy Award. Can you do that?”