Lycan Fallout (Book 2): Fall of Man (23 page)

Chapter Fifteen – Mike Journal Entry 9

“Oh, Oggie, where are you?” I asked as I looked out onto the expanse of a field being cleared for the oncoming invasion. I was walking along the battlements looking for obvious weak points when I sent my message out. For the briefest of moments, I thought I felt a connection, and I did not like the terror that slithered along that tenuous link. My face must have flustered or paled because Bailey moved close to steady me.

“Are you okay?” she asked as she wrapped a powerful hand around my arm to keep me from toppling off the parapet.

As suddenly as the feeling came on, it went away. It departed so quickly and with no lingering residue that I thought perhaps I had imagined the whole thing. With Bailey to steady me, I recovered quickly.

“How do I look?” I asked her.

“Better.”

“I think I know what having a stroke feels like. I would have sworn I heard from Oggie and he’s in trouble.”

A pained expression came across Bailey’s features.

“I’ve told you for the tenth time, Bailey, it’s not your fault. He would have found a way to get away from you no matter what you did to try and keep him restrained.”

“I hope your feeling was wrong.”

“As do I.”

I was silent as I traversed my mind trying to make sense of what I felt. No answers were forthcoming. Although that did little to ease the rising trepidation I felt. I could only hope that what I felt was wrong because, if not, what Oggie was feeling was not only terrifying…it was imminent. I would be able to do little unless he was by my side and that was something he was not.

“Dammit!”

Bailey looked over to me when I shouted. This was Tommy’s fault. If he hadn’t gotten the dog for me, I wouldn’t have to be going through this emotional ringer. We were twenty-four or so hours out from being attacked. Gount had “miraculously” come across hundreds more rounds which he handed out. This could potentially be a slaughter if the people attacking employed a ‘straight on’ attack. There was no good outcome here. Man was already falling off the top of the shit heap he’d created, barely grasping at soft-rooted plants in a desperate bid to keep from tumbling down the entire precipice. What happened here was not going to help the cause; either Talboton was victorious and hundreds of Talboton, Ft. Lufkin, New Georgia, and Denarth citizens were dead, or the even worse alternative, Talboton lost and still hundreds would be dead. When I had looked upon all those rounds, Gount’s words had made perfect sense. But would giving up the ammunition now be worth preventing an impending war, for one that would be on the horizon later?

There was no easy answer. Every death tomorrow meant the Lycan just got stronger. The flip side was that, if all the townships were armed and ready, we stood a much better chance of defeating the Lycan. Then, inevitably, when that threat was over, we would come full circle and that war would cause the deaths of thousands. It is much easier to wage war on an enemy from a distance. If you never have to look them in the eyes, it does not become nearly as personal. Something almost intimate about sliding the blade of a knife in between the ribs of a man and piercing his heart. You get to know his deepest fears and truest loves in those final fleeting seconds he has left on the planet. A bullet carries with it no such attachment and can be dispatched without a second thought for what dreams it may crush. I do not enjoy dealing death to others, nor am I afraid of receiving its cold embrace from my enemies. Death just is, and like everything else in life, it serves a purpose.

Bailey had gone to check on some of the guard stations to make sure her men were adequately supplied. She’d asked if I wished to join her; I had declined. I had other things I was keeping an eye on.

“Perhaps, and hopefully, this is all for naught.” Gount had come up the stairs. He pulled his jacket closed tight as a brisk cold wind blew across us, heralding the change of seasons from the end of summer to the upcoming fall. I could see the red of leaves from the forest that was being pushed back but that was not what held my interest. It was the black shadows weaving in between the boughs of those branches.

“Your optimism is welcome, Gount, as is your personage, but it is your hope that is for naught.”

“And you know this how?” His question had an edge to it; and why shouldn’t it? “Have the scouts already returned? Why wasn’t I notified?”

I couldn’t tell him about the Watchers, he’d think I’d lost more of my mind. “They’re not back but they will be soon, and the news will not be welcome.”

“Well, that may be the case, but I would rather hold on tightly to my hope.” He walked away.

Again, I couldn’t blame him. I was fairly certain the aura I was emanating was much colder than the wind which was stirring. I looked up to see the swirling mass of approaching storm clouds.

“Perfect, just fucking perfect.”

***

I hadn’t moved much in the ensuing hours, even with the dumping of torrential rain. Soldiers had come and gone once their guard shift was over. I was starting to be ignored as if I were a fixture of the rampart. Had to be two or three in the morning. I couldn’t see the Watchers anymore, but I could tell more had amassed. I don’t know how I knew this. I just did, like maybe they had an effect on atmospheric pressure. 

“Are you coming to bed?”

I was so deep down in my own mind that I had not at first realized the words were directed at me.

“Michael?” I was startled when a hand touched my arm.

“Tracy?”

It took me a moment to get my bearings, both in reference to where I was, and when. In my head it just as easily could have been 2010, and my wife was telling me to come in and have some dinner. I would sit with my kids, and we would talk about the day. A lot of laughing mixed with some good-natured barbs and some serious conversation about the things that needed to be accomplished the next day.

Azile’s face became illuminated by some means I was not privy too. My mind scrambled as I tried to attach a name and memories to what my eyes were taking in. She did not say a word as she must have seen the confusion and possibly fear on my face as I struggled to come up from whatever depths I had plunged to. Like a man that has fallen through the ice and cannot find the opening, I swam. My hands extended, looking for that break, the cold, enough to take my breath away and sap the strength from my limbs. My heart was beating hard with the exertion of attempting to keep me warm.

“What? Where am I?” My eyes lost focus as I kept trying to slam the name Tracy onto the face in front of me. Like I was fucking three years old and attempting to get the square peg into the round hole. If I’d had a hammer I could have gotten it to work. Might not be the best response for this situation, though. I did one final mental lunge up through the blackness. The haze dissipated and I was left with a mild fog. I’d been less befuddled after an all-night party.

“Azile?”

“Good to have you back.” She never did say anything about me calling her Tracy even if it had hurt her, if the pained expression she had gotten was any indication. She’d known me long enough to realize that it would be far from the last time I would cause her heartache.

I wanted to say it was good to be back, but I wasn’t so sure how convincing I’d be. Instead, I said, “Thanks.”

“Come on, they’ll still be there in the morning.”

“You see them, too?”

“I was talking about the trees. What are you talking about?”

I almost said trees as well, but she would have seen through that. “Watchers.”

I heard Azile suck in a breath. “A lot?”

“Hundreds. They’re all congregated by the tree line.”

“Even more reason to come in from the cold and wet. There is life in our room and only death out here.”

I almost told her I felt more comfortable in the presence of death. We were long time partners and I’d shared his cold embrace for a lot longer than the loving arms of life. Two minutes, two friggin’ minutes and I’d already held back a fair amount from Azile. Soon she was going to figure out that the man in front of her was damaged. Who knows, maybe she’s one of those women who are into fixer-uppers. This was more of a full-time project rather than a weekend warrior type of thing. I turned my back to the forest, feeling the piercing stares as hundreds watched my departure. I tossed a middle finger over my shoulder.

“That’ll show them.”

“You saw that?”

“I see just about everything.”

“Are you Santa?”

“Well, if that were the case, we both know you’d be receiving coal for a very long time.”

***

The sun poked its intrusive light through the drawn shades landing squarely on my tightly shut eyes. It was like someone was purposely blasting me with a flashlight.

“Can’t you cast a spell or something and block out the light?” I reached my arm behind me to awaken Azile. At first, I thought she was dodging my attempts to make contact. I turned so I could see, but she was already gone. I may have thought the whole night was a dream, except I was in her room not mine. Pretty sure she would have kicked me out if I hadn’t been invited.

“I’m going back to sleep.” The sun was now blazing across the back of my head. As long as it didn’t figure out how to shine around corners I should be fine.

I’d just started to doze off, a parade of familiar faces dancing in and out of dreams, a myriad of events as well, some were completely senseless, some real life events, when a heavy rapping pulled me from my dream.

“What’s a zombie ape doing here?” I shouted as I sat up, my breath quickened by the beginning of a nightmare.

“Michael, you are needed in the war council!” Bailey shouted through the door.

“Why? What’s so hard about it? You kill them before they kill you. Couldn’t be any more simple than that.”

“I will break this door down.”

“I’ll be right there.”

“Now, Michael.”

“Fine.” I threw the covers off and walked across the room to open the door.

“You’re naked,” she said as I brushed past her and began to walk down the corridor. “Not this again. Do you not believe in clothes? Perhaps they can wait an extra minute.”

“No, no. I’d hate to be the reason for a delay.”

“I insist!” she shouted before I could round the corner and head downstairs.

“Just like a woman. Can’t make up their minds.” She may have growled at me as I brushed past her again. “Do you mind?” I asked as I tried to shut the door. “I have my modesty to think of.”

“Modesty? I do not believe there is any part of you I have not seen.”

I grabbed the chamber pot. I didn’t really have to go, but it was funnier than hell to watch the shocked expression on her face as she fumbled to pull that door closed as fast as she could.

“Stay close, you’ll probably be able to hear me go,” I called out.

I heard her footsteps retreating down the hallway. “I’ll tell them you are on your way,” her voice trailed back. I looked longingly at the bed and thought momentarily of returning to its warm folds. Then I remembered the damned zombie ape and decided that was something I did not wish to revisit. I grabbed my clothes up off the floor and dressed.

When I got downstairs the usual suspects were there although most of them looked a lot more tired than normal. Gount looked gaunt, normally I would pat myself on the back for my pun, but he was drawn. The impending war had him completely stressed out; whereas Merrings actually had a gleam in his eye like this is what he had been secretly hoping for the whole time. I would keep it in the back of my head that he quite possibly should be someone I kept an eye on.

Azile was there, as was Bailey, who surprisingly would not look me in the eye. I smiled.

“Thank you for joining us, Michael.” I tried to detect some note of sarcasm from Gount, there wasn’t any.

I nodded at him.

“Well, let’s get started.” He clasped his hands on top of the table. “We have heard from two of our scouting teams that Saltinda does indeed have a force less than a day’s forced march from here. He was seen meeting up with them and a contingent from New Georgia. As of now we have not located the Ft. Lufkin militants, if they are indeed out there. The weapons and the rounds were handed out.”