Dark Creations: Dark Ending (Part 6) (6 page)

“North Mountain Drive,
stockade fence” Gabriel repeated.  “Got it.  Thanks, Amber.”

She thought Gabriel was about to hang up so she cried out, “Gabriel!  Be careful!  Terzini’s house is heavily guarded and he is nothing like the Terzini who created you.  Please, watch your back.”

“I will, and you, too.”

She paused a moment and was about to allow the line to go dead when another key piece of information popped into her head, information that could be relevant.

“Gabriel, there’s one more thing I have to tell you,” she began and heard Gabriel bracing himself with a soft groan.  He expected more bad news.  “Terzini is a paranoid man.  He fears two things: failure and rebellion. 

“Okay,” Gabriel said with hesitance. 

“His unending fear and distrust prompted him to create a failsafe insurance policy.”

“
Insurance policy, what do you mean?  Are there more monsters?” Gabriel asked and she could tell he was not joking.

“
No, nothing like that, nothing that simple,” Amber said and took her lower lip between her teeth before continuing.  “Terzini has a way to kill off his own creations should they ever try to revolt.”

“What?” Gabriel asked disbelievingly.  “That does not sound like Terzini!  That sounds like,” he paused a moment then added, “I don’t know what it sounds like.”

Amber could hear the doubt in his voice, the distrust.  But she was not lying.  She had heard the information pass from Terzini’s own revolting lips. 

“It’s true,” she said.  “He told me about it when he had me in his private quarters,” she said and swallowed hard against the lump that had gathered in her throat.  She did not like recalling the brutalities she’d endured at her maker’s hand and was loath to share them with anyone, but Gabriel needed to know.  Her information could save him.  So she continued.  “He bragged
he’d created an ultralow radio frequency.  It transports electromagnetic radiation in a form so concentrated it will kill every member within a certain distance of it.” 

Gabriel was quiet for a long moment then said, “How?  How is it activated?”

“He has this portable device.  It’s not big, only about the size of a laptop computer.  I don’t know much about it, just that he has to punch in a code and a deadly stream of electromagnetic wavelengths transmits from it.”

“
Oh my God,” Gabriel breathed then asked, “Then what happens?  What happens when this remote control is activated?”

Amber
drew in her breath and closed her eyes.  She could see Terzini’s pasty body, nude and beside her in his oversized bed.  He’d bragged at length about what would happen to members unfortunate enough to endure the frequency he’d invented.  She did not know whether he’d hoped she’d share what he’d told her and strike fear in the hearts of his creations.  That seemed unlikely as they were not capable of experiencing fear.  But she was.  He’d known as much because he had created her that way.  Regardless, he’d smiled and narrowed his lizard-like eyes, black, beady and dead, and explained that pain would burrow deep in their brains first.  Agonizing pain, unlike any they had ever felt, would start at the base of their neck and quickly spread to their eyes and ears.  Blood would weep from every orifice of their bodies then they would be beset by seizures until life finally escaped them. 

“Any creation close enough to feel its effects
will die a slow, painful death,” she said as a shiver raced across her skin.  “When this frequency is emitted, all of Terzini’s creations within a five-hundred yard radius will feel as if a hole is being drilled into his or her brain before hemorrhaging, convulsing and dying.”

Gabriel fell silent and Amber believed that if she concentrated hard enough, she would
hear the wheels in his mind turning.  He heaved a sigh then said, “That sounds crazy,” but he did not sound convinced of his own words.  “How do you know all this?”

“Make no mistake about it, Gabriel, Lord Terzini is crazy.  And I know of his plans because,” she began, but choked on her words.  Images of the abuse she’d
withstood at Terzini’s hand flashed in her mind’s eye, but none had been worse than when he’d shown her video footage of a member enduring the frequency.  She’d been forced to watch in horror as a member stood in a wooded area waiting patiently.  He’d greeted Terzini, unsuspecting, then without warning, clutched his head and collapsed to his knees.  Blood poured from his eyes, ears, nose and mouth and he wailed in agony.  This continued for several moments before spasms rippled through his body.  He thrashed and flayed for what seemed like eternity before he died face-down in a pool of his own blood. Terzini had smiled proudly when the video had ended, as if he’d enjoyed it.  He’d turned to her and advised her to never displease him.  Bile burned up the back of her throat, the recollection so gruesome she thought she’d be sick.

“Amber, are you there?” Gabriel asked.

“I’m here,” she whispered and shook her head, trying to clear the image from it.  She squeezed her eyes shut and inhaled, fighting the urge to retch.  She knew that time was running out for both of them, for everyone.  “I know about the frequency and what it does because he showed me a video of him killing a member with it.”

Gabriel
was silent again then asked in a soft voice, “This frequency will kill all of Terzini’s creations, even me?”

Amber wished she had a definitive answer one way or the other, but she did not.  She simply did not know what would happen if he were to activate the frequency.  “I don’t know, Gabriel,” she admitted
and opened her eyes.  “But if you’re thinking about activating it and taking out Terzini’s members, maybe you should consider having your friend, Yoshi, be the one to trigger it and make sure you are a safe enough distance away when he does.”

“My G
od,” Gabriel muttered. 

“Good luck, Gabriel,” Amber said.

“Good luck,” he replied before ending their call. 

Amber stood for a quick moment, clutching her cell phone against her chest.  She’d never prayed before and did not quite understand the meaning behind it, but knew many people felt solace by the act alone.  Standing amid a field littered with the broken bodies and gore, a field that was nothing short of an abomination, Amber Herald found herself turning her eyes skyward and addr
essing a power greater than her or any living person.

“Please help me,” she whispered
, and her plea was swept away by a breeze so gentle it did not stir the treetops.

She r
eplaced her phone to her pocket and jogged toward Jack.  He had rounded up each of his men, as well as Gabriel’s friends.  They’d all gathered around him and listened intently as he spoke.

“Listen up,” his authoritative voice boomed, the voice of a true leader.  “They’re coming for us right now and we have to get the hell out of here.  There is a group headed her
e to kill us, hundreds of drones.  The rest are going to Eldon to take over the town,” his voice faltered for a fraction of a second before he regained his composure and continued.  “I’m pretty sure I know what their plan is,” he said and Amber stepped up behind him and placed her hand on his shoulder.

“I know exactly what their plan is,” she said.

Jack stretched
out his hand to her, a gesture that invited her to finish.  “The plan is to kill off every human being in a three-town radius before they release the plague.  They have two already.  Eldon is the last.”

Gasps and other signs of disgust sounded.

“I have a plan,” Jack redirected everyone’s attention.  “But before I can explain it to you, we need to get out of here.  Get your vehicles and follow me,” he concluded and the group disbanded immediately. 

Jack n
odded to her, a wordless well-wish, and Amber raced to where his Mustang waited.  Kyle and his sisters were already there.  He’d stripped the tarp off the car.  Once the girls had been seated and buckled in safely and Kyle had assumed the role of passenger, Amber started the car and drove off in hopes of saving humankind.

Chapter 5

“No way, Jack!  There’s no way in hell we’re really doing this!” Alexandra huffed as she stalked from one end of the narrow trailer to the next. 

With her brow deeply furrowed and her eyes narrowed, Jack, a man who’d proved himself brave and capable as both a soldier and civilian, began to feel the faintest
hint of intimidation as she spun and marched toward him unexpectedly.  “What you’re suggesting,
your plan
, it’s just batshit crazy, even for you,” she added for good measure.

Jack had grown somewhat accustomed to Alexandra’s profanity-filled and often insulting rants.  Ordinarily, he’d just give her time to cool off.  But time was among the many luxuries he did not have at the moment.

“Alex, you’re going to have to just trust me on this.  I was right about everything else up ‘til now, right?” he said and played the only card he had.
“The farm, the men, Ed O’Malley, they did what they needed to do, just like I said they would, right?”

She opened her mouth to protest.  “Are you fuc –,” she started, but he held up a hand and spoke over her.

“Before you start cursing at me, just listen,” he stopped her then mumbled, “Somebody ought to wash that mouth out with a bar of soap.”

“What did you just say?” she hissed and her eyes narrowed further.

He did not dare utter the comment he’d made under his breath
a second time.  Instead, he focused on the matter at hand.  “I said before you start cursing at me, you need to just listen. You know I’m right, that my plans have been spot-on, and that’s the only reason you’re so pissed.” 

He
r lips crushed one another and formed a firm line as she shook her head and bored holes into his with eyes that hardened to onyx.  He knew that locking horns with her was probably not the smartest move for him to make, especially since he needed her.  Still, he pressed the issue and continued to remind her that he’d been right, and she’d been wrong.

“And then there
were the Hunters.  We said we saw monsters, that a town was being overtaken and that Terzini was likely responsible for all of it.  Stop me when I say something I was wrong about,” he said and tried to sound more arrogant than he felt. 

A vein had begun to protrude at her left temple and her hands rested on her hips. 

“Say whatever you want, I’m not helping you kidnap the sheriff of Eldon.  You’ll have to do it yourself,” she huffed and turned from him.

“You know
it would be easier with your help.  I need you.  We need you to use your feminine wiles and your, uh, assets.”

“I’ll show you assets, asshole,” she spun and charged at him with her fist tightly balled.  He sidestepped her
, narrowly escaped getting punched squarely in the jaw and caught her fist in his hand.  “Asshole,” she spat again, inches from his face.

“Come on, Alex.  Don’t be like this.  You look much better in a tight T shirt and jeans than Joe here does,” he said and nodded to Joe, a retired Navy SEAL with hawk-like features, a military haircut trimmed close to his scalp
that showcased a generous sprinkling of gray touching his temples.  “Can you see him trying to lure a man?”

He watched as Alexandra’s features slowly
relaxed and the hostility in them drained.  She stepped away from Jack and looked over his shoulder at Joe who stood unsmiling near the door.  His posture was perfect, his look rigid.  A reluctant smile tugged both corners of her mouth.

“I see your point,” she said and arched an eyebrow.  “But I still don’t like it.”

“I’m not trying to, you know, use you, or, uh, exploit you or anything.”

Alexandra pursed her lips and folded her arms across her chest. 

“Well, I guess I am, you know, but not in a way that is intended to make you, uh, feel bad or ashamed,” he fumbled.  “Oh hell, Alex, you know what I mean!  I don’t like this any more than you do, but we need you.  Your friends need you.  A whole damn town needs you!  And this is the only way.”

Alexandra’s demeanor softened further. 

Jack hated that he had to involve her in his plan to save Eldon.  But he did not have another choice.  Daniella had agreed to help and would leave with Joe in the coming moments.  Joe, with Daniella’s help, would kidnap the mayor of Eldon.  Both girls were crucial to his plan.  The town of Eldon was going to be annihilated in the next twenty-four hours. 

“Please, Alex, we need to take the sheriff and mayor with us and
force them to see what’s happening,” Jack pleaded.

“We’re kidnapping the mayor, too?” she groaned as she raked
her fingers through her long, black hair.  “Jeez!” 

“We have to,” Jack said softly. 

“Speaking of the mayor,” Joe cleared his throat and said.  “I’ve got to go now.”  He looked to Alexandra then Jack and added, “I’ll see you soon, right?”

Jack rested his eyes on Alexandra, “That depends, doesn’t it, Alex?”

“Shit!  Fine, whatever!  I don’t have much of a choice!” she complained.  “I’m in.  I’ll do it.”

“Thanks, Alex,” Jack said and meant it.