The Death: The Complete Trilogy Page 19

"Not with that!" Tess argued, not letting go of his hand holding the bag.

  "I'm not a user if that is what you think, I found this while scavenging some time ago," Darly said defending his desire to use it.

  "That's even worse, you don't know what it is and what's in it. This shit can kill you!" Tess said snatching the bag from his weakened grip and exited the room.

  "Come on, I need something," Daryl barked.

  "I agree with Tess. The IV will help, you're dehydrated and we'll get you some pain killers. But if you want to go get Hudson you're not going out full of illicit drugs," Devin said.

  Daryl gave in and rested his head back."

  Tess came back in and said, "How is he?"

  Daryl looked at her and rolled his eyes. “My lovely lady, I’m not a drug addict, I just don’t toss anything away I find that might come in handy, and right now, timing is important. My boy is with a group of fucking cannibals, and you’ll need me to get him out. You can sit in judgment all you want. I don’t use that shit, but now that it's not an option go get me some coffee.”

  Tess went to say something, but Devin cut her off. “Tess, he’s right, this is no time to make judgments. You can see he’s banged up. Let’s figure out how we’re getting Hudson; there’s no time to waste.”

  Biting her tongue, she looked at Devin and shifted her gaze to Daryl and said, “Fine.”

  “I imagine you two don’t know how to properly use that .50 cal. Let me show you just how we’re going to deploy that, and let’s go through the other goodies our Raider friends left us with,” Daryl said sitting back up again, a crooked smile stretched across his face.

  Denver International Airport

  Lori stopped just outside the first entrance to Horton’s office suite and smoothed out her shirt and ensured her hair was just right. After what felt like an endless night of tossing, turning and contemplation, she had made her mind up. With no choice but to give in to his demands, she thought it best to come to him and give herself over with no further resistance.

  “I’m here to see Chancellor Horton,” she told the guard.

  “One moment, ma’am,” the guard said, then clicked the handset on his radio. “Ms. Roberts is here to see the chancellor.”

  The minute pause felt like agony to her as she chewed on her lip nervously.

  The radio crackled to life. “Send her through.”

  The guard opened the first door and let her proceed.

  Down the long hallway she slowly walked. At the end stood the second guard standing in front of Horton’s actual office door. The thirty-foot walk from one door to the other felt like she was walking a plank off a ship. Once she walked through his door, she would be immersed in something she knew no way out of. The only thing she knew was her previous approach hadn’t worked, and if there was any escape from what she was about to endure, she’d have to operate differently.

  The second guard, dressed head to toe in black fatigues, checked her out. His cold stare was void of any emotion. Without breaking his stare, he reached down and opened the door and pushed it open.

  When the door fully opened, she looked in and saw Horton sitting at his desk at the far end of the room.

  She stepped in, and the guard closed the door. When it clicked, she cringed.

  Horton stood from his desk, adjusted his pants, smiled broadly and said, “Lori, so nice to see you. Might I say you look…lovely.”

  She walked farther into the office and stopped a few feet from his desk. “Thank you.”

  “I assume you thought about our conversation yesterday?”

  “Yes, and I’m here to tell you…that…” she said, skipping over herself as her thoughts raced, jumbling her words. “I’m here to let you know I’ll do what is needed.”

  He walked out from behind his desk and stood in front of her. Placing his hands on her shoulders, he gripped them firmly and started to rub up and down her upper arms. “I can’t tell you how happy I am to hear you say that. I wish things could have been different, but we really aren’t the bad people you think we are. We mean well, and in time you’ll see that.”

  She had been looking at him, but as he talked, she lowered her head in shame.

  Lifting her head, he said, “I know how you must feel…I know this. This is not what I wanted but what must be. Just give in to me, and you’ll know that this new world order we’re creating is the right path for the human race. For the first time in human history we will get it right. Gone will be war, pestilence, ignorance. We will usher in a new age where everyone around the world will be connected through one language, one system, one government. We will live within our means and respect the world by living sustainably, and never again will we rape the mother earth and desecrate her with our waste and pollution. You are a part of this as you build a new city, the capital city of North America that will be a shining testament for all the citizens of Earth to gaze upon in wonder and awe and know that they have a home, a true home.”

  She fought back the tears that she felt coming but couldn’t stop the trembling that overtook her body. It was her body’s way of signaling that she was in the presence of evil, but she didn’t need this message; she knew it and couldn’t escape its grasp.

  He lowered his head to meet hers and gave her a passionate kiss on the lips. With one-sided passion, he slipped his tongue in her mouth.

  She made a slight jerk to resist but fought her instinctual repulsion and just let him do what he wanted.

  He pulled back, smiled and said, “Welcome home, Lori.”

  Jenks Residence, Reed, Illinois

  “This is a treasure trove; look at what we have here,” Daryl blurted out, the IV, pain killers and coffee had given the boost he needed.

  “I’m not familiar with everything. What do we have?” Devin asked.

  “Good stuff,” Tess said. She began to look over the assortment of weapons and equipment laid out on a tarp in the side yard. “It’s like a grenade salad,” she joked, picking up a canister. “We have smoke, HE and even some 203 rounds for this bad boy right here.”

  “You know your grenades. Why is that, G.I. Jane?” Daryl asked in jest as he elbowed Devin.

  “My fiancé is a jarhead. He keeps me up to date on everything. He’s been prepping and training me since after he graduated OCS years ago.”

  “My kind of man, glad to see the world hadn’t completely gone to shit before. I was beginning to think most guys had grown man-ginas and given up on being men,” Daryl bemoaned.

  Tess looked at Devin.

  “What are you looking at? I don’t and never had a…whatever you called it.”

  “Man-gina.” Tess laughed.

  “Screw you,” Devin snapped.

  “Take a joke, Dev, jeez,” Tess fired back.

  “Besides the vast assortment of grenades, we have two thousand rounds of .50 cal for the Ma Duece, a dozen 203 rounds for our grenade launcher, three thousand rounds of 5.56mm, fifteen hundred rounds of 9mm, two H&K pistols, thank you, eight Claymore mines, and the best thing, an entire crate of C4. This, my friends, is a beautiful thing, the Claymore has been around for decades,” he said, holding up the olive drab curved square device.

  “Why change something when it works, right?” Devin mentioned.

  “You got it. In fact, the ole .50 cal was first introduced in World War One, and we’re still, or I should say, were still using it today.”

  Strewn among the weapons were other useful items: packs, food, water, fuel, maps, radios, batteries, and personal effects from the dead men.

  “What’s the next step?” Tess asked.

  “You know how to use the machine gun, so that’s good. I think we should set these up just in case my new friends show up,” Daryl said, motioning to the Claymores.

  “Then what?” Devin asked.

  “We go get my boy.”

  Daryl hadn’t set up a Claymore in years, but it wasn’t rocket science, and when he had the main access points to his property covered, he laid out a
large map of Reed.

  With a marker he circled several points and said, “This circle is us, this here is my sister’s place, and this is where I was being held.” His finger was on a place right in town.

  “What is it?” Devin asked.

  “Grocery store.”

  “Is that a joke? They’re using a grocery store to process humans?” Tess asked.

  “I wish it was a joke, it’s the real deal. They’ve turned into fucking animals,” Daryl exclaimed.

  “Let’s not insult the animals,” Devin chimed in.

  “Let’s get serious,” Daryl said and continued. “They have what can best be described as a small army.”

  “How did you get out?” Tess asked.

  “That’s not important. He’s not there. I looked, but they’re holding him somewhere else.”

  “How do you know?” Devin asked.

  “One of the guys, his name was…damn, I can’t remember, it’s not important, he told me they had him.”

  “Any clue where?” Tess asked.

  “Oh, his name was Frank; he said that the mayor has a taste for ‘young meat’, his phrasing not mine.”

  Tess shot a look at Devin.

  Daryl caught the look and asked, “What is it?”

  “We went into town and stopped by to see the mayor when we were looking for you. The point is, we saw Frank. Let’s say we know him from Decatur.”

  “So these guys have a far reach,” Daryl said.

  “How do they manage to operate with Turner’s people also running around the countryside?” Devin asked.

  Daryl looked up when he felt a drop of rain hit his arm. The dark gray clouds had been slowly gathering all morning, and now they had morphed into a storm.

  “Shit, rain,” Tess blurted out.

  “No, it’s a good thing. The heavier the better,” Daryl said as he held out his arms in the hopes to have the cool drops hit his arms.

  Devin looked down at the map, small wet drops now covering it, pointed at the courthouse, and asked, “We know where he probably is. How do we get him?”

  “Distraction, my friend, distraction!” Daryl answered.

  Denver International Airport

  Lori lay staring at the ceiling, patiently waiting to hear Horton’s breathing to change signaling that he had drifted off to sleep. When he exhaled out deeply and snored on his inhale, she took this as her cue to get up. She hurried off to the bathroom and closed the door. Inside, she turned on the shower but didn’t wait for it to warm up as that would have meant having his bodily fluids on and in her that much longer. With a bar of soap she lathered her entire body, roughly scrubbing every inch of her skin in the hopes she could just wash everything that had just happened away. But no matter how hard she scrubbed, she wouldn’t ever feel clean again.

  The water warmed up, and soon the shower and bathroom were filled with steam. She finished and walked to the vanity and wiped the mirror. Her reflection was distorted through the moisture that clung to the glass, but this was how she saw herself anyway. She had become a twisted and distorted image of the person she once was before.

  A tap at the door alerted her to his presence.

  She picked up the towel and wrapped it around her tightly.

  A harder tap followed by him jiggling the locked handle.

  “Lori, open the door.”

  All she wanted was to be left alone. She feared he’d want to take her again, and the thought of that made her nauseous.

  “Open the door.”

  She walked to the door and unlocked it.

  He came in and said, “You okay?”

  “Sorry, I was on the toilet, couldn’t come right away.”

  “It’s all right, just don’t lock the door next time,” he said and wrapped his arms around her and squeezed her firmly.

  She clenched her eyes and prayed that he didn’t want to escalate his affections.

  “I’d say we jump back into bed, but I have an important meeting to attend soon.”

  As if her prayers had been answered, she mouthed the words, “Thank you, God.”

  “I’m going to jump in the shower. Hopefully you left me some hot water,” he said. He kissed her and stepped into the shower. “Oh, I’ve let some people know that you’ll be living here now. They’ve already packed your belongings. I hope that’s fine with you.”

  She was back in front of the mirror and thought to herself, Like I have a choice?

  “And I’ll be late tonight. I’ve told my chef to prepare you whatever your heart desires.”

  Still looking in the mirror, she mouthed and mocked his words; it was the only form of defiance she could think of.

  “I have so many things planned for us. I can’t wait to share them with you.”

  This entire situation was so surreal. If she had met him before all of this, she would have been attracted to him; he was an attractive man, not much older than her. He held power, influence, and in many ways he was charming. If things had gone the way they had, she would have found him interesting, but because of her own past, their being together never would have occurred. Now when she looked at him, all she saw was a grotesque caricature of a man, an ugly beast disguised as a man. She had seen the real man he was, his black soul had been exposed, and she was his captive.

  If she were to play this role, she needed to know exactly what the rules were. She walked to the shower, opened the door and asked, “Can I come and go as I please? I assume I’m still on the development team?”

  “Of course you are. You’re a true talent, we need you, and yes, you can come and go as you please within the walls of the DIA.”

  “Great.”

  “However, you’ll be eating your meals here, no more overcrowded cafeteria for you.”

  “Great.”

  “Is that it?”

  “Yes, and I’m going to need to have an appointment with an ob-gyn as soon as you can set that up.”

  “Already done, forgot to tell you.”

  “Aren’t you on top of everything,” she said, her tone subtly sarcastic.

  “That’s why I’m the chancellor. Now can you close the door, it’s chilly.”

  She closed the shower door and stood for a moment staring at it. Again a surreal feeling overcame her; in no one’s imagination except the sick and twisted one of the man who was on the other side of the glass could this reality be happening to her. She accepted the fact that she had no choice but to give in to him, for now, but she was Lori Roberts, someone who when challenged never, ever gave up, and she wouldn’t start today.

  Exiting the bathroom, she made her way to the bed and sat on the edge. She ran the brush through her wet hair and began to plot how she’d survive this new hell she was living in.

  Reed, Illinois

  The day had turned to a black night. The bright full moon that had lit the night just a day before was now hidden behind the storm clouds that were pummeling the ground with heavy rain.

  Using the darkness and rain to shield their movements, they departed the house, all armed and each tasked with very specific jobs.

  Each one would be deposited in a different part of town to carry out a very specific task.

  The first one to get dropped off was Brianna. She was let off a couple blocks from the main road into town. Her job was simple, get to the intersection of Missouri and Jackson Road, hide, and radio all traffic coming into and out of town. No one knew how many people Rivers had, and if more were coming in, they wanted to know. Daryl and Devin also wanted to keep Brianna away from what could be some heavy fighting, and this was a logical job for her to be responsible for.

  The other three drove to several locations to set charges; this was to be the distraction. The main one was outside the grocery store. Outside of it, Tess would stay with the Humvee and man the machine gun. The desired outcome was to draw out and kill as many of Rivers’ men as possible. While she was doing this, Devin and Daryl would make their way to the courthouse. Their hope was that the distr
action of the battle outside the grocery store would draw men from the courthouse to the grocery store. With a depleted number of men, they’d be able to slip in and find Hudson.

  Daryl didn’t know if this strategy would work, but he didn’t know a way into the courthouse covertly. Based on what he’d seen days before and what Devin told him, Rivers had beefed up his defenses of the courthouse. He also didn’t know if his son was there. This entire thing was a huge gamble, but what was his alternative? Attempt to negotiate? He didn’t see that working out. This was his plan, and he was going forward with it.

  With everyone in their places, Daryl and Devin maneuvered through the dark wet streets and set up in an abandoned storefront across from the courthouse entrance. The problem with getting into the courthouse was where it was located. The building sat by itself in the center of a plot of land bordered by a street, once you cleared the street you had to cross over a large yard just to get to the building.

  Rivers had men set up on every side and each entrance guarded. He was like a king in a castle, and the street and lawn were the moat. It was this heavy presence of men that prompted Daryl to go with his plan. He needed to get those men away from the courthouse.

  Daryl pulled a radio from his pocket and depressed the button to transmit. “Tess, let’s get this party started.”

  “Good luck,” she answered.

  The ground shook, and a series of loud booms echoed off the buildings downtown. Seconds later the sounds of screaming and yelling reverberated through the streets but were silenced when the .50 caliber roared to life.

  “Let’s roll,” Daryl said to Devin. They slipped out of the store and jogged across the street.

  Men from the courthouse compound began to run in the direction of the grocery store.

  The number they heard and saw was far greater than they would have guessed. This alarmed Daryl, who didn’t want Tess to get overwhelmed.

  “Sorry, but change of plan, go support Tess. Don’t let these fuckers catch her off guard,” Daryl ordered.

  “No, she’ll be fine.”