The Uprising (The Julianna Rae Chronicles) (3 page)

Daniel squatted on his haunches. ‘How long’s she got?’

Caden pursed his lips. ‘Just be quick.’

‘As quick as can be,’ Daniel said.

Caden was dubious, but it was Daniel’s sister after all. Maybe this one counted for the man. They lingered in each other’s stare, eyeballing the other, until Devo
broke their tension from her call at the narrow gap on the ledge, where the water didn’t flow.

Caden put the bottle to Julianna’s lips but she didn’t drink, and even when Bas tipped her head to help, she refused.

Daniel stopped at the ledge. ‘If we’re not back by morning—’

Caden nodded, his focus rested on Julianna. ‘Can’t afford to screw this up, Danny.’

Devo slipped over the edge. He nodded and jumped the ledge after her. A low rumbling broke through the crashing of the water, filling the cave chambers with the bikes engines speeding along the dirt track to the interstate.

Caden wet her lips with his fingertips; it was enough to coax her to the water again. She drank a dribble, with the rest running against tight lips.

‘What now?’ Bas helped him rub more water over her face and arms.

She stirred.

Caden’s worried eyes met with Bastiaan’s frown. ‘We can only do one thing. We wait.’

3rd May, 2018, 0010 hours.

West side,
in-country

Taris lifted the burnt scrambler from the spent fire. Its tarnished silver still glinted in the brightness of the headlights, but the leather was no longer attached, burnt beyond recognition in the pit he stood near. He kicked at the charcoal dust with his boot, thinking, contemplating, looking out, and searching the rustle of the trees as the breeze curled around them with its frost. It was about to rain.

The camp was lived in, how many he couldn’t tell, but someone was injured too. The blood pooled under the tree was wet, it wasn’t a mere scratch this
person had suffered, and he hoped Julianna was the one injured. This made all good sense to him. They were rushed in leaving, one or more of the camp was bleeding out, they were panicked, and when people panic, they make mistakes.

He basked in the glow of the headlights, cutting through the darkness in yellow streaks, with the thought still
dancing in his mind. The fine spattering of rain swirled, like dust bunnies on the air, trailing the light, until they disappeared again in the black wilderness.  From the corner of his eye, a patrol officer reported the campsite abandoned.

Taris pivoted where he stood, listening, and nodding his head, searching for any trace to contradict the report, knowing the fugitives they hunted were well and truly gone. The IDM had served its purpose though; the tracker had brought them close enough that Julianna’s scent was still fresh.

‘They could head for the next town. It’s empty, a few wild prets out there, but shelter…there’s shelter and—’

Taris dismissed the patrol’s suggestion. ‘No, they’re creatures of habit. They’ll run for the trees.’

Other soldiers huddled around the first of a line of Jeeps single filed along the dirt track. A map was laid out on the bonnet with their torches shining over it. They discussed its patterns, deciding the strategy they would next take.

Taris watched on, as he thought about the bitch. The uncontrollable, back answering, traitor bitch, who he used to call
honey
. He chewed his bottom lip where a small cut stung. He’d given in and healed his own black eye when it started to close up, but he left the cut.

Damn whore-bitch!

He joined his squad; the Jeep’s engine still radiated a little warmth in the bitter night.

‘Give me landmarks,’ Taris demanded. He leaned over the map himself, tracing the main interstate with his finger. ‘Caves,
valleys, small towns, lakes…’

His finger stopped tracing
to start tapping. The grin spread wide across his face.

‘Commander?’ the patrol questioned.

‘Have a team assemble for the township east of here. We’ll set blockades on the highway – one to the east and one to the west of the location surrounding Devils Canyon.’ He tapped the map again. ‘They’re in there, somewhere.’

‘Yes
, Sir.’ The patrol in charge of communications moved away from the wind’s path to radio in their next position.

Taris closed his eyes. The breeze carried the smell of rain across to the east, greeting his senses.

‘Everyone’s on this. I want the
HSD, the drones, every soldier on duty and off. These monsters killed your comrades in cold-blood. Don’t you men fucking forget it.’ He flicked his eyes open to the thunder rolling in the distance, in time to see the sheet of lightening illuminate the night sky.

‘The canine unit, commander?’ the patrol officer held the radio to his ears, listening to the response from base command. ‘They want to know if we need the dogs.’

Taris studied the map. The system of caves, the lake, the river, it was all close to the interstate, but far enough to hide, and only thirty miles from the bloodbath they left behind.

‘Everyone!’ he snapped. ‘Make sure the dogs have collar trackers. Any congregation of the pack can be investigated with the
drones first. I’m not losing more men to these pricks.’

The radio hissed back
at him with storm interference, and the skies opened a deluge of rain over them, dumping it in thick slants of running water. Taris grimaced again, and rolled his eyes. The only thing warming his heart tonight was the thought of Caden out in the open and in the rain too, bleeding, hurting, and hopefully panicking. He reveled in the moment, playing out the scenarios before him, as he walked through the thick mud to the Jeep waiting.

‘Commander?’ the patrol with the radio called him.

The door of the Jeep creaked open. Taris’s boots laden with fresh mud weighed him down as he leveraged himself into the passenger seat. He waited for the radio to stop hissing while he scraped the thick mud from his boots along the edge of the door. Mud dropped off in chunks. The Jeep started, and the maps were being folded away.

He honed into the frequency Julianna was offering, but all he sense
d was a wave of grey that obscured his vision.

Not well are you girl, not well at all. That or you’ve figured out who you are
by now.

His back pocket chirped.

What now?

It chirped again, vibrating through his back pocket, until he left his distraction for the mud on his boots, to stop the disturbance.

The incoming message on the comms was from the general again. He swiped his finger across the panel, clearing his own reflection, for the pissed off face staring back.

‘You have your wish
, Tarisos. The Senate’s agreed to your request. Meet with us at Central Command tomorrow morning before you visit the Gatehouse.’

‘Will do, General.’

The general leaned over his clasped hands, perching himself on the antique, wooden desk in his office.

‘We’re at their last camp.’ Taris replied to the general’s curiosity. ‘Closing in
. I’ve just ordered my troops to rally here for orders. If I find them—’

‘Do as you will with the brothers. Keep them for the trials, for interrogation, kill them, I don’t really care. Julianna and Daniel, however, they’re to be captured alive.’

‘Daniel?
Why Daniel?’

‘He is the Seer’s brother, why not? Do you have a problem with my orders, Tarisos? I can speak with the Senate again, if you wish?’ The general arched his brows. ‘Shall I?’

‘Just questioning your rational, General. Daniel holds no value, in my opinion.’

‘Just questioning my authority, more like it. Don’t forget who gave you your rank, son; and don’t forget who granted your tremendously long reach, as of our morning meeting tomorrow.’

The radio in the background stopped hissing, and the troops awaited his orders patiently. The comms blurred under the rain falling, and he wiped its screen over his pants. He raised it to his
don’t–fuck–with–me
expression.

The general leaned away from the comms. ‘Everyone else is to be killed on sight; and anyone who has a problem with that
, kill them too.’

The patrol officer with the radio widened his
eyes. The unexpected surprise amused Taris.

The general continu
ed, drawing Taris’s attention to the comms, but Taris wanted to continue his stare at the officer. He watched from the corner of his eye, all too aware of his driver stuttering his last order over the radio, for a cleanup crew to attend their location.

‘The Senate’s had enough of this horseshit. When they heard about your suspicions of Caden mentoring the Seer, all hell broke loose here. You can imagine no doubt. The concerns right now are tremendous.’

‘No doubt,’ Taris said.

The patrol officer turned away to clip his radio onto his belt. He ordered everyone to their vehicles, and waited behind the steering wheel. Taris caught his eye again. 

‘Maybe you should have tried harder with Julianna. We wouldn’t have this problem if you were still engaged. Hell, you should be—’

Fuck me!

‘Married? Marry that bitch to appease the Senate? Marry a traitor?’ he stole out of the jeep for privacy. ‘Don’t put that shit on me! I was a fucking mushroom with you remember? You kept me in the dark, kept me fed on bullshit until it hit the fan. Maybe you assholes should have mentioned something earlier about the Seer, but it was all about Caden then, now look at the fine shit it’s gotten us into
– and who the fuck’s cleaning this fucking fine mess up now?’

‘Your men are listening
, Tarisos. Lower your voice, show some respect.’

He thought of the Senate, took a breath and calmed himself. His officers were indeed watching his display of temper.

I’ll lower my tone until tomorrow morning.

‘My apologies, General.’ He sucked the mist hanging on the air in front of him. ‘But this frustrates me, to
o. You need to understand that—’

The comms went dead.

Taris found himself staring at his reflection again and through that to the muddied ground. The rain was steadily growing heavy; the tree he stood under sheltered him from its downpour. Their few hours of communication were gone. The transmitter would shut down until tomorrow.

The sky was a midnight dark, and the clouds masked the stars. He shivered at the
miserable night ahead of them – but the Senate had agreed to his demands. It was a start. Tomorrow, the Senate would grant the same abilities to him, as Caden had been gifted centuries ago. Tomorrow his luck would change, and then Elizbeth crossed his mind with her fair features, and swollen belly. The baby Seer was growing inside her.

If the Senate only knew,
he smiled.
Where would I start once the power is mine for the taking?

His men waited patiently in their trucks, neatly lined along the stretch which led them into the well hidden location. When he slipped the glass plate into his shirt pocket, for exchange of his cigarettes, the patrol officer with the wide eyes stole a quick look in his direction.  He lingered before the struggle to light up against the drizzle of rain and wind forced him to lean into the large tree trunk, away from the stare. There he stayed, raising his sights to scrutinize the men waiting in the pouring rain, waiting for his orders while the cigarette smoke curled around the cold mist.

The patrol officer bothered him. His gaze narrowed as he drew in the first of his addiction for the evening, feeling the fresh rush of adrenalin course through him quickly. 

Another traitor in the ranks, it
’s all I fucking need.

He straightened, feeling
the happiness that came with this knowledge. He propped the cigarette between his lips, so his hands reached his holster freely. The Sig’s grasp slipped in his palm, but as an expert marksman the sights weren’t difficult to align with his target. He raised it slowly and with a calm that centered him. There wasn’t another satisfaction in the world that could grant him the power he was about to wield. He lived for these moments, and a smile curled around his cigarette while he aimed at the objective. He squeezed one eye shut, focused down the sights of his gun, at the face staring back, and admired the wide-mouthed terror across the officer’s face.

Down the hatch, and open wide
, asshole.

Taris pulled the trigger. The bullet wrenched the head back before what was left
from the explosion, slumped over the driver’s wheel in a bloodied mess.

His squad
stopped their incessant chatter to stare at their Commander.

Taris holstered the gun with a casual ease so he could enjoy the last of his cigarette before the night’s hunt began. Mission accomplished, objective destroyed.

Game over man, game over.

For his crew, there was nothing left to whisper about.

3rd May, 2018, 0045 hours.

Devils
Canyon Township, 80 miles west of Camp 2.2.1

‘You hate him don’t ‘cha?’ Devo said.

Daniel watched Devo sling the empty duffle bag over her shoulder, as he pushed his bike behind the large building. It was the only
multi-level one in the main street with a broken Pharmacy neon sign hanging above the back entrance, where they stood.

‘Hopefully this
clinic hasn’t been ransacked.’ Daniel studied the building’s disheveled appearance.

Scanning up to the roof line, the broken brick and smashed in glass was the stand out feature for him. The quiet street, with its trees lining the medium strip, was a contrast to the obvious looting of the building they were scouting.

‘It’s been done over a few times.’

He agreed. The building had seen better days. It looked crooked and
old, hanging precariously on an angle. If he were to kick at a loose brick, he feared the entire building would come down on top of them.

‘Last time there was plenty for taking,’ she nodded for him to follow.

Daniel double checked the street again. He searched every shadow, honing his every sense, for any sound or movement lurking in the darkness which would betray their position. The street was empty, but for the rain throwing itself against the disrepair of the road. The few trees lining the street, bowed to the storm front pushing in from the west.

He lifted the collar of his jacket against the wind; following Devo through the break in the door proved more unsafe than he
’d anticipated. It was narrow, with long shards of glass jutting out, threatening to latch onto his arm with their sharp teeth. He needed to turn side-on, to squeeze through what Devo passed between easily.

The lower level was trashed. Daniel scanned his gaze across the open room, using the streaks of light shining through the windows, as a guide. Devo ambled past him, walking down the
center of the room, when he thought he heard movement coming from the next level. She walked, and he listened, staying close behind her, trying to determine if what he heard was real, or just the wind outside.

‘Devo, wait!’ Daniel grabbed her arm.

She pulled herself free. Her steely gaze cut through him before she turned away, stepping over the broken debris one careful foot at a time.

Daniel reluctantly follo
wed with his instincts paranoid and his eyes squinting in the dark, trying to capture the shadows that lurked. His heart was in his throat, the pharmacy had been turned over all right, and judging from the fresh mud, it had been done in the last few days.

He moved his eyes over the room in
an ordered fashion, left to right, right to left. He scanned every corner, object, anything that offered a hiding place. There wasn’t a thing left between the broken glass and empty boxes strewn across the cluttered room. The place had been looted ten times over, and then trashed some more.

The town was full of wild prets
– renowned as unharnessed, untrained creatures, much like him, except he had Granddaddy Hal to steer him in the right direction. He once had a watcher too; he didn’t consider himself as one of them. He didn’t tear others apart for the sport of it. His crew, back at the Gatehouse, made sure his blood-lust was checked away from those who watched eagerly for him to make a mistake.

From the corner of his eye, she was glancing in his direction
. The open staircase leading to the second level was in front of her and shrouded in the grasp of night. ‘You hate him lots.’

But he could feel the call of the wild prets outside. Beckoning him to join them.

He grabbed her arm, stopping her from moving further into the dark herself.

‘Why’d you leave us? Caden said you went to the Militia again. Is it true? ’

‘We need to move,’ Daniel stepped away from the blood-lust seeping through him. He let her arm go to focus his pistol towards the thick darkness on the wooden staircase. Its gloom was impenetrable past the first landing where the moonlight was unable to reach. Shadows danced on the lower walls, teasing his watcher instincts.

The sweat beaded across his brow.

‘All the good stuff’s up in the back room,’ she grumbled. ‘There’s nothin’ down here.’

He flicked his torch.
His watcher senses were settling down.

The girl was pissed at him, he sense
d that too. His eyes flickered at the shadows dancing on the walls. They were from the trees outside, casting their shadows in the storm winds.

‘Let’s get what we came for, and move the hell out.’ The first step creaked under his cautious weight.

‘Did you leave because of him, or because of us?’

Daniel spun his stance on the first step, to glare down at the girl staring back. ‘Let it go will you
, Sarah? Fuck, I had my reasons. Now, can we just do this? We can’t be wasting time with your silly ramblings.’

Devo went first. Her shoulder
pushed into his chest, as she thumped into the dull glow mapped out with his torch. Daniel huffed, reaching for her arm again and turning the torch off in protest. His fingers sunk into her elbow, screwing his fingernails into her skin to pull her from the step above him.

‘Will you stop for a moment?’

‘You took us to the camp and then you left us.’ she stated. ‘You left us with them, and forgot about us!’ She ripped her arm from his grip.

‘Shit’s sake Devo! W
ait will you?’ He jumped the stairs to follow her. ‘Sarah Deveaux! You’ll wake the living dead!’

Devo disappeared on the angle of the stairs curling around the wall.
Any reason for staying quiet disappeared quickly as she thumped her angry footsteps throughout the building. 

He raised his gun on the second level, searching for her. ‘Devo?’ he called.

The reception area was small. Bent chairs were scattered to his center, broken glass smashed to his right, permitting the icy breeze to curl around his body. The rain pelted down outside, and a stray drizzle carried along the breeze, to land over his arms.

They’re
waiting outside. They’re close.

The
smell of the dirt on their unwashed skin and blood under their pointed nails reached his nose
.

He focused on Devo’s shadow bouncing over the narrow hall
, where rooms sprouted randomly to either side. When he looked up, she looked over her shoulder, oblivious to the shadow standing in front of her, waiting to pounce.

‘Devo!’ he yelled. ‘Get down!’

But she didn’t see the arms stretching out, or the blood stained claws, until they ripped through her skin. His voice didn’t offer enough warning in the midst of her anger, and the wild noc bit down hard, gnawing at her forearm for its feed, until she screamed and hit out, connecting only with the air in her blind panic.

His boots connected well with the wooden floor. He dived onto the creature attacking Devo’s arm, pushing himself and
the noc into her pool of blood and crashing Devo into the wall.

The noc screamed and hissed, calling to Daniel for pardon and to its herd in the storm, as Daniel’s hand tightened around its throat. Devo's scream filled his head. His grip
clenched as the muddied hands scratched at his shirt. Daniel rammed its head against the solid floor –
thud, thud, thud –
until the sickening crack under his strength, was the last thing they heard.

The noc’s protest stopped. Daniel’s violence claimed victory. Its eyes rolled back, and its tongue stuck past its teeth, worn
from mauling its victims, to drool over its bloodied lip one last time.

Devo bent and picked up his Sig, aiming it at the lifeless attacker,
dripping blood from the chunk missing in her arm over its metal. Her hand shook the gun as she stared. The night was quiet again, but for their panicked breathing and the wind moaning outside.

Daniel stared at her wide-eyed with fury. ‘Fuck Devo! Told you, didn’t I?’ Daniel pushed up from the lifeless body and snatched his gun back. He waved it around. ‘Fuck me,
you have no fucking idea! No fucking idea at all! Not a damn clue! Clueless!’

He paced.

‘Clue-fuckin-less!’

They stared down at the dead nocturno lying between them, with its mouth open and tongue leaning out. The last of her blood was drooling from its mouth. Its eyes were
dark; the pupils large on closer inspection, and Daniel kicked it for good measure.

She got lucky,
he thought.
Without me she’d be dead.

He felt the herd calling him to replace their alpha male.

‘How bad’s that arm?’ Daniel took it under his palm. Curling his fingers and pressing down firmly, he radiated his ability through her skin. He ignored her quiet whimpers. He felt no sympathy. The healing process began; her body greedily pulled back any blood left on her skin, into the bite, and the wound sealed up neatly.

The temptation left him; the smell of her blood was gone. She whimpered once more, and the glare he gave Devo shut her up. He turned the arm, studying his work, making sure it was healed completely.

‘Stupid bint.’

The hallway was dark, but for his torch light. The rain pelted down outside, and lightening lit the area up in flashes. There was no one else, he was sure of it. Everyone was outside. The long hallway was their safeguard, too, only one way in and one way out.

He flicked his torch in the direction of the staircase and administration area, and then into Devo’s eyes, before he lit up the door behind him.

The end door of the hallway had SUPPLY ROOM boldly imprinted in black lettering. Its kicked in white panel, hung loosely on its hinges. The imprint of the boot was still cle
ar, and he figured a size thirteen was most likely the culprit of the damage. It wasn’t so far-fetched that it was probably Caden’s on an earlier venture.

Daniel took the lead.

He aimed his torch, crossing his hand cautiously over his pistol, to search the single room. The light bounced from wall to wall, illuminating the rows of shelving, still laden with medical supplies. The shadows cast from the torch stretched over the tiled floor with each dubious footstep, until he reached the end of the long room, to stand before a line of refrigeration units.

He admired the beauty of what he was seeing, everything at his fingertips, and he bent down to ogle
the rows of vials through the glass doors. A smile that he was careful to hide spread across his face.

‘Be quick. Won’t be long before we’re swarmed in wild noc.’

Devo moved to the shelves lined up behind him, with her eyes cast down and the duffle bag open; sliding her arm across each level, guiding everything along them, into the bag quickly and ignoring what dropped to the ground.

Daniel disregarded her raucous. The refrigeration system had long shut down with the power supply cut to the sectors and surrounding areas, but the insulation had done its job. Everything was still cold to touch and safe to take. The rows of morphine vials were shouting out to his stretched fingers. He pocketed some, filling his rucksack with the rest.

He
stretched in, hunting for what they came for, bending his tall body double, and shoving his head halfway into the unit to find the one single vial of white liquid, knocked onto its side.

He curled his fingers around it greedily, and searched for more. Moving from one unit to the next, until he reached the last refrig
erator at the end of his wall – there was nothing left on his side.

‘Anything on your side?’

Devo continued to slide her arm across the shelving.

‘Devo! What the fuck is your problem? Any antibiotics on your side of the world
, or not?’

‘In a minute!’ She snapped and moved to the wall beside her where she picked the flimsy lock with the point
of her knife.

Daniel waited.

The padlock dropped to the floor and the door flung open, hitting the shelving beside it and sending everything crashing to the floor.

‘Devo, shut it will you!’ he snapped.

She bent down and searched under his light. He was about to give up when she pushed two sealed vials full of the thick liquid into his hands. She returned to the medical kits and bandages under his stunned glare.

Just saved your ass and you’re still being a bitch.

‘Right then.’ The vials slipped into his shirt pocket. ‘We need to move out of here. Get these back.’

‘Does Julianna even know who you are?’

He took inventory of the room once more, and noticed Devo staring at him. ‘No, and it’s not for you to be saying anything.’

‘You left us alone
with Caden.’

‘He’s a prick. I know that
, Devo. I’ll never argue that one, but he kept you and Katherine safe.’

‘Safe?’ She lunged at him with the bag in her hand. ‘You call what happened to us
safe?
Kat’s dead because of you!’ She slung the duffle bag over her shoulder. ‘She’s dead because you joined the Militia, and he sent
her
in to find information on
you.
’ She pushed past him, ‘She’s dead because of you, and he’s a predator, asshole.’