The Ashes of Pompeii (Purge of Babylon, Book 5) (11 page)

But still…
sixteen?

She was jogging up the pier, having hopped out of the boat even before Maddie finished sidling alongside it. Lara was amazed how comfortable she had become with moving while carrying a full arsenal strapped to her body. The gun belt didn’t even feel heavy anymore, and she hardly noticed the M4 thumping against her back. She had even become used to the weight of the ammo pouches, the handgun, and the knife on her left hip.

Look at me, ma. All armed and a lot of men to kill.

She unclipped her radio and keyed it as she leaped off the pier and landed on the cobblestone pathway that wound its way from the beach to the hotel grounds beyond the wall of trees in front of her. “Talk to me, guys.”

“Four boats, two men each,” Keo said through the radio.

Two men per boat? That didn’t make any sense.

Why so few? And why in the daylight?

“Small boats?” she asked.

“Nope,” Keo said.

She couldn’t tell if he was just as confused as she was. It was hard enough to hear nuance over the radio, but Keo, like Will, had a bad habit of not giving away his thoughts, even up close and personal. And she knew Will. As much as she had put her trust and the lives of her people in Keo’s hands, she had to constantly remind herself that he was still a stranger.

“It doesn’t look like this is an attack run,” Keo added.

“So what are they doing?”

“Watching us back with binoculars.”

A scouting mission? Was that it? Was that all this was?

“How far?” she asked.

“About half a kilometer.”

“Can you take a shot?”

“You mean you want me to shoot them?” he asked, almost…was that befuddlement?

“Yes,” she said, racing between the trees.

She was momentarily alarmed by the sudden dip in temperature as she jogged up the cobblestone pathway. The island had cooled down noticeably in the last few days, but with the plentiful shade provided by the towering walls of trees to both sides of her at the moment, she felt as if she was running through a pristine valley.

“Um, no,” Keo was saying through the radio.

“Why the hell not?”

“I can’t make the shot. Who do you think I am, an ex-Army Ranger?”

She sighed. “Never mind. Just keep an eye on them for now.”

“Now that, I can do.”

Bonnie was on the front patio of the hotel waiting for her when she emerged out of the woods. The ex-model had her rifle and looked like she had just woken up, which was probably not too far from the truth. Bonnie was tired, but then, they were all getting by with less sleep these days. It was just another privilege of surviving in a post-Purge world.

Adapt or perish, right, Will?

“I heard on the radio,” Bonnie said. “Where do you want me?”

“Stay in the hotel,” Lara said as she jogged past Bonnie. “The girls. Watch the girls!”

Bonnie nodded before heading back into the hotel.

It took Lara another few minutes to finally reach the Tower, a tall structure—a combination lighthouse and radio tower—on the northeastern edge of the island. It stood next to a cliff overlooking Beaufont Lake and was tall enough at forty meters to give them a perfect view of the entire island and the surrounding lake and its shorelines. Will called it a perfect sniper’s perch, and she supposed that was true. Unfortunately for her, there was no one on the island at the moment who was good enough with a rifle to actually make use of it. Still, it served other purposes, like an early warning device in case of an attack.

Or boats of undetermined motives approaching, like now.

What the hell are they doing out there? If this isn’t an attack, then what is it?

She climbed the cast-iron metal staircase up the three floors and was laboring badly by the time she poked her head through the third floor’s opening. The Tower’s second and third floors had four windows in each direction, and Keo was standing at the north one, now peering out with binoculars. He had changed into dry cargo pants and a sweater and had that German submachine gun slung over his back. For the life of her, she didn’t understand why he didn’t switch to an M4, which had a much better range.

Even as she thought that, Lara almost laughed at herself. When did she get so comfortable with all of this that she was seriously considering telling a man like Keo what made for a better weapon? A year ago, she had thought every gun had a safety and didn’t know the difference between a clip and a magazine.

She had managed to regain some of her composure and wasn’t nearly hyperventilating as much when she stepped through the door. “Where’s Benny?”

Carly looked back at her from the south window. “Keo sent him down to the northwest cliff in case they had managed to sneak someone closer when we weren’t watching.”

“Did they?”

“The kid hasn’t seen anything,” Keo said.

“Benny’s still hurt.”

“He’s fine enough.” He handed his binoculars to her as she walked over. “North. That means they came from the same staging area I told you about.”

“The same one you’ve hit twice now.”

“That’s the one.” He smirked. “I don’t know whether to be impressed or annoyed by their refusal to abandon that place. A part of me feels just slighted enough to go back there and hit them a third time.”

“Hey, you shoot the grenade launcher, and I’ll drive,” Carly said.

“I thought you were leaving soon,” Lara said to him.

“That’s still the plan,” Keo said. “But I had a few minutes to kill.”

“Thanks.”

He gave her a noncommittal shrug, then pointed again. “See them?”

It was impossible to miss them with the binoculars. Even half a kilometer away, they looked clear as day drifting on the water. It wasn’t as if they were trying to hide. A couple of the men were standing and peering back at her with their own binoculars, while the rest seemed to be lounging about without a care in the world. All four boats were powered by outboard motors that were shut off, and the only sound was the crashing of waves against the rocky formations at the edges of the island outside the window.

There were only two in each boat, and although they were heavily armed, the way they were just loitering around made them look like fishermen hanging out for the day. Of course, the fact that they were all heavily armed and wearing what looked like army uniforms said otherwise.

“You’ve seen those before?” Lara asked. “The uniforms.”

“Yeah,” he nodded. “They’re the same ones I’ve run across.”

“But are they Army?”

“As in US Army?”

“Yeah.”

“No.”

“You sure?”

“I’ve been around grunts all my life. Those aren’t standard army issue. They’re assholes dressing up in costumes.”

Carly chuckled behind them. “Damn, you and that silver tongue of yours, K-pop.”

“I try,” he said. Then, “My guess? Whoever’s in charge already knows that you know they’re coming. Maybe he figures there’s no point in hiding it.”

“Maybe it’s a she,” Carly said. “Just because it’s the end of the world doesn’t mean you can be a sexist pig, Keo.”

“My mistake. It could be an asshole chick calling the shots.”

“Better.”

“So what’s the point of this?” Lara asked, lowering the binoculars.

“Maybe just intimidation,” he said.

“That makes sense to you?”

“Beats the hell out of me. I just do the shooting. I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about the psychology of why, how, and when.”

Lara shook her head. “Well, I do spend a lot of time thinking about that, and none of this makes any sense to me.” She keyed her radio. “Benny, come in.”

“Benny here,” the young man answered.

“Are you seeing anything out there?”

“Nothing. I’m halfway to the western half right now, but so far, I don’t see anything.”

“How’s the leg?” she asked.

Benny had come to them with a broken leg, and she hadn’t expected very much out of him as a result. But the young man had proven himself more than capable, and with the help of a custom leg brace designed by Stan, he was moving around again. To help maximize his abilities, she had given him jobs that didn’t require a lot of constant movement, such as standing watch on the shack at the beach or in the Tower.

“It itches,” Benny was saying, “but I’m still mobile.”

“Okay, keep looking. I need to make sure they’re not trying something.”

“Roger that.”

“Carly?” Lara said, looking across the room. “Anything along the shoreline?”

“Not a thing,” Carly said. “If they’re out there, or planning something, they’re really being sneaky about it. Sneaky buggers, as Danny would say.”

The not knowing gnawed at her. What the hell were they doing out there? Or was Keo right? Were they just trying to intimidate them? Maybe whoever was in charge didn’t even know these bozos had come here? Maybe they were trying to figure out what all the shooting last night was about? Did they know about the yacht yet?

She had so many questions, and so few precious answers.

To keep her mind off the growing frustration, Lara keyed the radio again. “Blaine, come in.”

“Blaine here,” the big man answered.

“Anything on your end?”

“There’s nothing coming at us. It’s all quiet on this side.”

“Okay.” She put the radio down and glanced at Keo. He was staring out the window at the men in the boats. They were mostly stick figures with the naked eye, but that didn’t seemed to deter him. “So?”

“So?” he repeated.

“You’re the expert. What happens now?”

“I’m the expert?” he said, sounding amused.

“Compared to the rest of us? Yes.”

“They’re going to attack tonight, aren’t they?” Carly said behind them.

Keo did that noncommittal shrug again.

“What does that mean?” Carly said, echoing Lara’s own thoughts.

“Pretty sure, yeah,” he finally said.

Lara waited for him to elaborate, but he didn’t. She was about to press him on it when she heard the roar of outboard motors starting up. She looked through the binoculars as the four boats turned around and began moving away, back in the direction they had come.

“They’re leaving,” she said.

“They’ll be back tonight,” Keo said.

She handed the binoculars back to him, catching his eyes as he took it. “We could use you tonight.”

“Your boyfriend will be back by then.”

Hopefully, but I’ve been living on hope for so long, maybe I’m just deluding myself this time, too,
she thought, but said, “I know, but we could still use your help.”

“I told you, army guys and me don’t get along.”

“After what you’ve done for us, I’m pretty sure Will and Danny aren’t going to have any problems with you, Keo.”

He didn’t reply right away. He hung the binoculars back up on the hook along the wall and looked across the room at Carly, who had also turned around and was watching him intently as well.

He turned back to Lara. “Look, I respect what you guys are doing here, fighting for this island. But you know my feelings about it. Sooner or later, this place is going to fall and you’re going to lose people. It’s not worth it.”

He stopped for a moment and seemed to be trying to gather his thoughts. Lara could tell talking things out wasn’t something Keo did on a daily basis and that this was all new territory for him.

“But I can tell I’m not going to change your mind,” he continued. “I hate to say it, but I’m a selfish bastard, and I can’t die for a cause I don’t believe in.”

She could see he was struggling with it, which actually surprised her. Will had called Keo a mercenary, and maybe he had been once upon a time. But he had clearly changed a lot since The Purge, even if he didn’t want to admit it.

Lara decided to take pity on him. She keyed her radio and said into it, “Maddie, come in.”

“Are they attacking?” Maddie asked through the radio.

“No. They left.”

“They just left?”

“Looks that way.”

“That’s good, right?”

“For now.” Then, “Maddie, I need you to prep one of the boats for Keo, like we talked about before.”

Maddie didn’t say anything for a moment. It took about five seconds, and Keo was watching her closely the entire time. Or was there something else going through his mind at the moment that she couldn’t read? She hated to admit it, but the only thing obvious on the man’s face was that long scar along the left side of his cheek. Other than that, she couldn’t read a damn thing from his expression.

“Roger that,” Maddie finally said.

“Thank you,” Lara said. “Sarah, come in.”

“Yes,” Sarah answered. She was back at the hotel with the kids, Bonnie, and the others.

“Put some supplies together for Keo. At least a month’s worth.”

“Is he leaving?” Sarah asked. It was impossible to miss the disappointment in her voice.

“Yes. I need it within the hour, okay?”

“Okay,” Sarah said.

Lara clipped the radio back to her hip.

“I could use some more weapons and ammo, too,” Keo said.

“You can take whatever you need from the basement.”

“The Army Rangers won’t mind if I raid their stash?”

“They probably will a little bit, but I won’t tell them and since you won’t be here to say otherwise…”

“Works for me. I guess all that’s left is to say good luck.”

“You too.” She shook his hand. “Thanks for everything. We couldn’t have gotten this far without you.”

“Yeah, watch yourself out there, K-Pop,” Carly said.

He smiled awkwardly back at her. If Lara thought Keo was bad at expressing his thoughts, he was even worse at saying good-bye, apparently.

She decided to take pity on him again. “I hope you find Gillian, Keo. I mean that.”

He nodded. “Thanks.”

She watched him step through the door, his footsteps
clanging
against the cast-iron stairs as he went down, and down… She didn’t know why, but Lara kept expecting him to pop back up through the opening and confess he wasn’t really leaving after all.

He didn’t, of course.

When they could barely hear his footsteps, she looked across at Carly. “We need to get ready for tonight.”

“Will and Danny should be back by then,” Carly said.