The Phoenix Trilogy (Book 1): World On Fire (34 page)

    “Painkillers
are a big deal, you know. Hard to come by.” Natalie’s whisper held the unspoken
threat to take away his medication, and Thomas reacted exactly as Natalie had
hoped. His shaking worsened, and the panic was apparent. Natalie feigned
thoughtfulness, before shaking her head.

    “I’ll
make you a deal. You tell me where you got those and how, I’ll let you keep
them.” Natalie’s offer should seem innocent enough to Thomas, being a possible
avenue for the military to scavenge supplies, but she was aiming more to learn
about his recent past than anything else. If she had guessed correctly, he had
nabbed the pills to help his burns, and that meant whatever he might have to
tell her would have taken place in the last few days. Thomas swallowed hard,
fear plain on his face, but after a moment he nodded his head.

    “When
I got burned, my old group left me behind. I was in too much pain to do
anything, and I kept screaming, so they grabbed all my supplies and took off
without me.” Thomas was trying to keep his voice low and his attention on
Natalie, frequently stumbling over his own feet in the process. Natalie opted
to help him move, sliding next to him and taking one of his arms over her
shoulders to give him some stability. Thomas winced, but did his best to offer
a grateful smile before continuing his tale.

    “They
found me where I had been left, the… the others. They heard me scraping around
by myself. I was basically senseless, but they helped me anyway. The
painkillers were from them. I know that doesn’t help you any, but it’s the
truth. I didn’t have anything, up until a little while ago.” Thomas sniffed,
tears welling up in his eyes again. “They were good people. I should have
helped.”

    Natalie
nodded along to his story, her face sympathetic to his pain. Internally, she
was conflicted. She believed him, but that didn’t mean he was telling the
truth. He could be acting, and maybe she was eating it all up. But, if he was
being honest, then that meant he probably didn’t know much about his new
companions.

    “Tell
me about them, Thomas. They sound nice.” It was the best attempt at soothing
that Natalie could muster, and it seemed to be enough for the wounded man.
Sniffling again, he bobbed his head, whimpering briefly as his tears reached
the burns on his face.

    “They
were all friendly, but I only really talked to a couple of them. Alison took
care of me, along with Kean and Mars. They were brothers.” A faint smile crept
onto Thomas’ face before being swept away, the action causing him obvious pain.

    Natalie
retrieved the pills from his pocket, popping the lid and gently offering Thomas
one before returning the bottle to his coat. She was certain that Marco saw
her, but as Thomas hid his face to swallow the medication, she flashed the
suspicious cousin a wink. The way he smirked back at her made her feel dirty,
but she knew he wouldn’t interrupt her now.

     “Those
three were the best. They were the only ones who weren’t concerned about me
being hurt. They never worried about anything, not even the zombies. Always
happy, always positive. They were so sure we were going to make it to the
military’s camp together.” Whatever memory Thomas was reliving brought out
another smile, and he did his best to stifle a whimper. The medication was
going to take a while to kick in, and until then even simple expressions were a
mistake.

    The
thought of someone who was always carefree, especially in the situation they
found themselves in, was something that raised a red flag. Unfortunately,
Natalie didn’t have a chance to deduce if her suspicions were well-founded or
simply pessimistic; the camp had come into sight ahead, and the time for questions
was drawing to a close.

    Briefly,
Natalie pondered trying to dig out just a little bit more before they were
inside, but there were pressing matters to attend to first. Namely, how they
were going to handle the next several minutes of conversing with the guards.

    Rather
than allowing Thomas to continue on with his story, Natalie raised a hand for
him to stop. In keeping with her false image, she softened her features in a
compassionate show of support, silently willing him to rest. While he returned
her kind gesture with a sigh of appreciation, Natalie drifted back to the
problems ahead.

    Knowing
that there was a new threat out in the world was all fine and well, but they
possessed no immediate proof of the fact. Electricity was a precious commodity,
and without it, Natalie had no means of photography for visual evidence. The
only proof they had was the word of a seriously injured stranger, backed up by
further testimony from a group of people that had already been reprimanded for
falling out of line. It wasn’t exactly the best situation they could have hoped
for.

    While
BJ exchanged orders with the guards in charge, Natalie took a minute to
carefully observe the wall itself. When she had first arrived, it had been dark
and she had been under a great deal of stress. With all of the work at the
medical ward keeping her busy throughout her stay, this was the first time she
had been given an opportunity to study the fortifications up close.

    By
and large, it appeared to be a patchwork of metal paneling and concrete woven
together and then secured into the buildings on either side of the street. Any
material that could suit the purpose was used, save for the gate itself, which
was comprised of two heavily reinforced metal doors.

    Heaving
the metal slabs open was a process, and they were manually operated by a group
of three people apiece. As the formidable doorway was opened to her, Natalie
noticed an additional series of three deadbolts designed to lock the metal into
the ground, each needing to be hand-released before the door would move even an
inch. Re-entering the outpost, Natalie felt a small wisp of relief; this place
was built to take a hit.

    Looming
above them now, the soldiers stationed at the top of the gate didn’t appear to
show any concern over BJ’s quick return as the crew approached the security
checkpoint. Natalie couldn’t tell, but she estimated they had only been gone
for an hour at most, which she would have thought to be strange, if not
worrisome. Instead, everyone looked as disinterested as usual, a fact that
seemed to back up BJ’s claims that the military was growing lax. That attitude
changed when BJ met with the security officer.

    There
was no dramatic outburst, no passionate call-to-arms; BJ shook hands with the
woman, who was obviously familiar with him, and calmly whispered something in
her ear. Natalie tried to squash a feeling of grim satisfaction as the
officer’s face noticeably paled.
That’s a good start. Maybe we can get some
support behind us after all.

    
A flurry of activity erupted as the lady
in charge took BJ’s words to heart, barking orders in a deluge that went
completely over Natalie’s head. All around her, soldiers were readying
themselves for an outing and making calls into their radios, a very confused
and obviously concerned Thomas standing perfectly still in the middle of it
all.

    In
truth, Natalie had completely forgotten about Thomas. When two dour looking men
flanked him at either side and began to pull him away, she felt a twinge of
pity. He was likely being brought in for questioning, but even so, it felt like
more abuse was being heaped on the man. She took solace in knowing he’d at
least be able to receive decent care for his burns now that he was inside the
camp, and resolved to let her feelings on the matter pass.

    Marco
tapped at Natalie’s elbow and motioned for her to follow him aside. BJ and Rico
were already waiting for them, though the exact specifics of what they would be
doing next hadn’t been made clear to her. Once the group had gathered, BJ
informed them of what lay ahead.

    “We’re
being sent out with a handful of soldiers and a transport truck. Our goal is to
load the digger into the back as quickly as possible, turn around, and come
back home. Simple.” BJ’s face betrayed no expression, but his tone suggested he
was less than pleased with this “simple” operation.

    “They
insist we’re going to be free-and-clear for retrieval, but I’m not counting on
it. Be ready for a fight.” There was the problem. The prospect of a new enemy
was enough to get the outpost mobilized superficially, but they remained
certain that the undead didn’t pose a real threat. Strange, considering the
soldiers that surrounded Natalie now all seemed appropriately leery of the job.

    Maybe
more people agree with BJ than I thought. Hell, that’s probably why they’re
forced to work in the refugee camp, instead of the inner ring. All one big game
of politics in the middle of a warzone.

    
Natalie and the others didn’t need to wait
long before their vehicle arrived. She had expected it to be military grade,
but instead, she got a ramshackle flatbed that looked like it had seen better
days.

    The
driver hopped out, made a snide remark about the truck just being a loan along
with how he expected it to be returned immediately and free of gore, before
promptly disappearing into a nearby tent. The man had clearly been capable, but
Natalie couldn’t understand why he wasn’t driving the truck himself. Instead, a
different young man who looked as though he had barely completed training
stepped in to take his place.

    Natalie’s
skin prickled. With the truck’s arrival, their fellow soldiers had collected at
the back to prepare for their mission. Four recruits, not counting the driver,
and not a single one of them looked remotely experienced. They had been given
the bottom of the barrel to use in their outing.

    Either
the outpost really was supremely confident that they wouldn’t be attacked, or
they were counting on it and didn’t want to expend valuable resources. They
were just going to have to make the best of it that they could. Silently,
Natalie reviewed everything she knew about operating her shotgun.

    Without
a word, BJ squeezed into the passenger’s seat at the front, refusing to show
any hint of his feelings on the matter. Rico and Marco accompanied Natalie to
the back, and while Rico was trying to follow BJ’s silent lead, Marco spoke as
plainly as ever.

    “Fucking
newbies. We tell them about a monster that could probably rip this place apart,
and they send rookies to bring it back. Do they think this is a joke?” For the
first time she could remember, Natalie was in complete agreement with the man.
Rico remained quiet, jumping onto the back alongside the other recruits and
offering a hand for her to do the same.

    Once
they were in position, the gates were open and their short ride began. In sync
with one another, Marco and Rico put on their protective gear and turned their
sound dampening headgear on, clearly preparing for a gunfight. Natalie followed
suit, noticing dully that she had begun to sweat.

    The
truck was unreasonably loud in the empty streets, and it was rattling Natalie’s
nerves to the core. This was different from anything else she’d done before.
All of the careful, tactical approaches she had seen and used, that had kept
her alive, were out the window. Instead, they’d been replaced with something as
far in the opposite spectrum as could be possible. Feeling similarly anxious,
Rico quietly ordered the others to be prepared, and soon the truck was filled
with an air of tense readiness.

    
Our
destination is close by. We’ll get out, load the body, get back in and go home.
Ten minutes, tops. Just keep your cool, Natalie. Stay calm.
It became a
mantra in her head, her eyes darting constantly from building to building,
always waiting for the sudden burst of screaming dead that she had become so
familiar with.

    Instead,
they came to a sudden halt, and Natalie heard a loud curse from the driver’s
cab. It was BJ, but the cause of his frustration was unclear. From what she
could see, they had arrived, but the sound coming from the front of the vehicle
told her that something had gone wrong.

    In
unison, both Natalie and Marco jumped off of the back and into the street,
followed quickly by the rest of their team. With her shotgun pressed deep into
her shoulder, she swung around the side of the transport to get a better view
of their target.

    Natalie
understood why BJ had been upset now, and a flood of rage welled up inside of
her to match. The building was gone. Where there had been a giant corpse in the
middle of a smashed in store, now there was only rubble. Both neighboring
buildings had collapsed inward toward where the tunnel had been, completely
burying it under tons of brick.

    
That’s
impossible.
Natalie was so dumbfounded that she barely registered BJ
standing beside her now. This time he was making no attempt to hide the anger
he was feeling. One of the new soldiers opened their mouth to say something,
but a piercing glare from the furious veteran was enough to silence any
complaint.

    “...the
fuck is this? No, no fucking way, this place was standing not even a half hour
ago. We were just here! We were just fucking here!” Again, Marco was saying
exactly what Natalie was thinking. They had been here. This was the place, and
they had been standing inside minutes prior.
How? How did this happen? We
were here twenty minutes ago, and somehow the whole place just falls apart?
Bullshit. This is bullshit.