Project Terminus (19 page)

Two weeks later a vote was taken on the territorial name. The area, from fifty miles on either side of Fort Terminus to Gateway, and the territory in between, which included Fort Hope, Zion, and Liberty, would be called Olympia
.

Six months after Fort Hope opened its gates, Wade sat in the mess tent at Fort Terminus speaking to the Terminus group. “You’re all family, but as you know, there’s no comparison between a life at Fort Terminus and a life at Fort Hope. With that in mind, anyone who wants to move to Fort Hope not only has my blessing, but of course your family will be provided with living quarters if you want to relocate. By spring, Fort Hope should begin to resemble a small American city, and that’s exciting. I’m not suggesting any of you leave Fort Terminus; I’m merely giving you the opportunity to do so if you wish.”

Cole stood and said, “Sir, I speak for everyone here. We knew you’d make this offer, and we’ve discussed it among ourselves. While we’re all genuinely excited about Fort Hope, and it is nice to visit on occasion, we are residents of Fort Terminus. This is our home. Period.”

Wade looked at the expectant faces. “Okay. Then it’s time we start upgrading Fort-T.”

Later that afternoon, Wade and Bill walked along the banks of the river. Bill was in a reflective mood. “I don’t know, Wade. My gut tells me this has all been too easy. We were able to take out The Light, dispose the little dipshit king, create a new city out of Fort Hope, and unite three little settlements. Maybe it’s just me, but I’ve always believed there’s a price to pay for success.”

Wade chuckled. “I can see you’ve thought about this for a minute, Bill. Maybe even two.”

“Funny. But I’m serious. It’s been a cakewalk, and I know damned well you know what I’m talking about.”

“I do. How would you like to go on an extended patrol, say to Asheville? It would be nice to see what’s happening over there. The fact we never found Nina’s body keeps nagging at me. I’ve tried putting myself in her place—which by the way, is not easy to do—but if I were her, I’d take the remnants of my group and go to Asheville. Then too, that’s where Gator said they were heading.”

“Just for grins, if I find her, can I kill her, or do you want to pull a President Owen and put her ass on trial?”

“You know the answer to that. She’s already been convicted, and the sentence is death.”

The next morning Bill and Sean set out on an extended two-week patrol to Asheville. They returned in fifteen days.

“No sign of Nina in Asheville, Wade, but we came across another five hundred or so survivors. We gave them the info on Fort Hope and invited them to come,” Bill said.

******

A year after Fort Hope opened its gates, they celebrated the first annual
Olympia Days
,
which was patterned after the 4
th
of July. The population of Fort Hope was 2,219, and the villages had a collective population of 944 people.

Fort Terminus had also changed during that year. Highlander built a small but efficient power generating station on the river, and they had unlimited electrical power. He also found functional well drilling equipment near Knoxville, and after repairing the burned out electrical circuits, they were able to drill two wells. A stable was constructed for their twelve horses and a small barn was erected to house the chickens, goats, and rabbits. They also introduced a sow and a boar to their growing menagerie.

“Oh boy, oh boy. Bacon, here I come.” Bill was talking to no one in particular again.

Sean, who was standing next to him asked, “Does that mean you like bacon, Bill?”

“Is a bear Catholic? Does the Pope shit in the woods?”

“The fucking Pope is dead, but I’ll take that as a yes.”

Wade grinned. “I think you’ve been spending too much time with him, Sean. You’re starting to sound just like him.”

They both smiled and Bill said, “Yeah, well, I won’t be around forever and I don’t want you guys to miss my colorful English, so I decided to create a protégé.”

A lot of things were different at Fort Terminus, but there was one thing that would remain the same for the foreseeable future. No one outside of the original occupants and the Northern Groups had ever been to Fort Terminus. And the EOP and the crow’s nest were still manned 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Chapter Sixteen

New Light

Robbinsville had put a bad taste in her mouth, and when the town was in the proverbial rear-view mirror, Nina felt a new vitality and determination. They were going to Asheville, maybe even Charlotte. She knew one thing for certain: she would never spend more than a couple of days in a small town. Nina’s horse was a beautiful black Arabian gelding. He was brought to camp when they were in Chattanooga and Saadeh bestowed the animal as a gift. Now, as Hades pranced regally down the road, she mentally went over her to do list, and decided to add one more item to the top. Her family needed the mobility horses provided. They had ten, but needed a lot more. Horses would allow them to cover more territory in a shorter period of time, carry more gear, and save wear and tear on her people. There was just one small problem. Horses were at a premium. Most of them had been eaten long ago, but she was positive some still existed. She just had to find them. There were a lot of small towns between Robbinsville and Asheville, so food wouldn’t be a problem, and with any luck, they would find more horses. The first stop was Andrews, NC, then up Hwy 19/74 to Bryson City, Waynesville, and finally on to Asheville.

Andrews was much like Robbinsville. Not much there. They found four people and one horse, and Horst spent the two days assessing their capabilities.

Horst told Nina, “I know you love your people, and you want them to be a capable military force, but they’re totally undisciplined. They know nothing. And I mean nothing, about…well, about anything. The only way I can form them into a cohesive unit is to start from scratch. That means we have to start with a form of boot camp.”

“How long will that take, Horst? It’s not like we’re on the clock, but I don’t want to sit around for six months while you teach them how to salute and march.”

“That’s not what I have in mind. I can accelerate the boot camp phase. No problem. We’re looking at three to four weeks. Then we can get into combat tactics, self-defense, shooting, and maybe even bomb making.”

“Bomb making! I
like
that one. We definitely want some people who can make bombs.”

On the way to Bryson City, they picked up an additional five horses, bringing their total to sixteen. Outside Bryson City, they hit the jackpot. Cougar was on patrol and found a group of thirteen people with a herd of thirty-two horses.

They spent nearly a week in the Bryson City area, never staying in the same spot for more than two days. During that week, they accumulated enough firearms and gear to seriously upgrade their capabilities. They also assimilated three males and one female into the family. Cougar found the female sleeping in a boat shed on the Tuckasegee River and, following orders, he took her to Nina for assessment.

Nina’s initial thought was that the girl resembled her, and even more so if she weighed more and was cleaned up. It was obvious Cougar’s appearance frightened her, so Nina thanked him and told him to come back later.

She said to the girl, “Don’t be afraid, no one’s going to hurt you. My name’s Nina. What’s yours?”

“I’m Olivia.”

“Were you living by yourself, or with someone?”

“No. I mean I’m alone. I have been for over a year.”

Olivia went on to explain how her parents died from the plague, and she had been surviving by eating bugs and anything else she could find. She was twenty-three years old, stood five-feet-six, and weighed around eight-five pounds.

“It’s no fun being alone, Olivia. I know. But you’re not alone anymore. We’re a family. We’re a bit different than the
Brady Bunch,
but we’re still a family. You’re welcome to join us.”

The night before they left Bryson City, Nina decided to have a roasting ceremony. They hadn’t held one since the debacle on the football field and she wanted them to get “back in the groove.” Besides,
she
wanted one,
needed
one. She also wanted Heather to experience the thrill of performing a be-heading during a ceremony. She had Mo’s recipe and enough chemicals to make several hundred of the little white pills, so she spent the next day brewing a batch. The gymnasium at the Bryson City high school was large enough to hold the ceremony, plus it had a stage at one end. She told Cougar to set it up for that evening.

Later then night, Nina and Heather stood on the stage dressed in their ceremonial garb. All members of The Light were given a dose of “the juice,” and they danced and yelled as they always had while under its influence. Nina watched and smiled, thinking,
just like old times
.

Horst and Cougar stood on each end of the stage and when Nina nodded, Horst brought out two male captives. Since Cougar knew the drill, he performed the thumbs up/thumbs down ritual, and The Light screamed their approval. He held up his hand for silence, and Nina stepped forward. She looked for Olivia. The girl was standing directly below her, and it was obvious “the juice” was in control. Nina smiled at her, and she smiled back. After beheading one of the captives and Nina’s orgasm subsided, Heather stepped forward and beheaded the second man. Like Nina, she stood lost in the throes of ecstasy for a moment afterward. When she came back to earth, Nina stepped forward, looked at Heather, and just as they rehearsed, they simultaneously raised their swords and screamed, “
LIGHT!
” 

The ceremony was over, but before they left the stage, Nina turned for a last look at Olivia. The girl was dancing insanely and screaming at the top of her lungs.

The ceremony God has definitely smiled on me tonight
, she thought.

The next morning, fifty-nine members of The Light left for the next town up the road. And they all had their own horse. The Light was fully mobile. Two weeks later, they entered Waynesville.

Horst filled Nina and Heather in on training progress as soon as they were settled in to the old armory building on the edge of town. “They’re actually making more progress than I thought they would. In fact, they’ve taken to it a lot better than actual troops would have. I’ve compressed sixteen weeks of boot camp into three weeks. They’re ready for the next phase. I’ve also found three guys and one girl who can assist in training new people.”

“That’s good news, Horst. What
is
the next phase?”

“We’ve seriously upgraded our weaponry, and I’m going to start them dry-firing tomorrow. We’ll do live range work later in the week, then progress to hand to hand combat, knife fighting, combat tactics, and for those that demonstrate the ability, sniper training. We’ll just keep upgrading as they learn. And I gotta tell ya, Nina, Cougar is one hell of a scout and tracker. His little platoon is gonna be badass. That’s a fact.”

“What about bombs?” asked Nina.

“We can make some crude ones, but I really want to locate some C4. When we get our hands on that, you’ll have the real deal. Umm…hey, I was wondering…there’s a little lull in the training right now. I mean, I’ve given them an hour break. Do you think we could…uh?”

“You know what your problem is, Horst? Your dick is bigger than your IQ. We’re busy right now, but if you’re a good boy, we’ll see. Maybe later.”

Horst left the room grinning.

Shuddering, Heather said, “God, Nina, I
hate
having sex with him.”

“I know you do. And you know I do too. Hopefully it won’t be much longer.”

By the time they reached Waynesville, their numbers had swollen to seventy-four. Waynesville was good to them. In fact, it was outstanding. Leaving the little city a month later, their body count was 103. Nina’s to do list was nearing completion. They reached her size limit, and the people they assimilated were reasonably intelligent and versatile. The identification tattoo she designed was on everyone’s inner right thigh, except for on Heather and Olivia.

While meat would always be their main staple, their diet now included fruits, veggies, grains, and occasionally, eggs and milk. She designated the roasting ceremony as an end of week party, held on Saturday nights only. And they had uniforms. One of the patrols found an army/navy used clothing warehouse stocked with hundreds of sets of camouflaged clothing, jackets, and boots. They had no problem finding black dye for the entire stock at an arts and crafts supply store. Horst made amazing progress with the military training, and they were beginning to look and function like a military organization. Their arsenal was upgraded with the addition of an M24 sniper rifle, and Cougar managed to come up with six military radios.

On the way to Asheville, they stopped eighteen miles out, in the old paper mill town of Canton. After their nightly family meeting ritual, Nina noticed Heather was sulking. “Are you going to tell me what’s eating you?”

Heather replied sarcastically, “What makes you think something’s eating me, Nina?”

“I thought we agreed there’d be no games.”

“Okay, you’re right. I…it’s…I mean, what the hell’s going on with you and Olivia?”

Nina got up, put her arms around her, and said, “I can’t believe you’re jealous.”

“I am
not
jealous.”

“Yes you are.” She smiled, and then, caressing Heather’s cheek, said, “The green eyed monster is in control. Admit it.”

Heather was shaking her head. “I’m not jealous, Nina, I’m-I’m—” As the tears started to flow, she said, “Okay. Maybe a little bit.”

“Heather, you are the only thing I never planned. You are the only person on earth I care about. In fact, you are the only person I’ve
ever
cared about. Trust me, please. There is nothing going on with Olivia. But I have
big
plans for her. And you’re going to help me with them.”

Sniffling, she said, “What plans?”

Nina smiled. “I’m sure the fact that she resembles me hasn’t been lost on you.”

“No, it hasn’t. It’s hard not to see the resemblance.”

Nina began pacing. “If we cleaned her up and trained her to walk and act like me, how close do you think the resemblance would be?”

Heather was silent for almost a minute trying to figure out where she was going with this. “I think she would look like your twin.”

“Thank you. That’s the idea.”

“Are you going to explain the idea to me?”

Nina looked deep into Heather’s eyes and said, “I’ve taught you how to control people, especially men, by using sex as a tool. And you know it works.”

“Yes. Obviously it works. At least it works on Horst.”

“Trust me. It works on any man. And it works on most women too.”

“Does that include me?”

“Stop being a baby; we’ve already gone over that. If you don’t know by now, you never will.”

“You’re right. Sorry. Go ahead.”

“We can make Olivia look almost identical to me, right?”

“Yes.”

“And with a little coaching and practice, she could learn to walk like me, stand like me, and even talk like me. Do you agree?”

“Yes, but I don’t understand why you would want her to replicate you. Are you planning on going somewhere?”

“In a sense, yes, I am. Getting revenge on those Special Ops guys won’t be easy, regardless of what anyone thinks. They used to be the best in the world, and now that they’re not shackled by governmental policy, they’re…well, let’s just say they’ve gone from being the best to being unbeatable. I have no illusions about that. Our guys have made a lot of progress, but in a firefight with those guys, we wouldn’t last ten minutes.”

“So how do we beat them? How do we get revenge?”

“We use our secret weapon. Olivia. I’ll explain the details later, but right now we have to prepare the weapon. Olivia has to be willing to do whatever I say with no hesitation, and with no questions asked. How do you think we could get her to feel that way?”

Heather thought about that. Then, with a knowing smile, said, “Well, that actually might be fun. I’d get two for the price of one.”

“No, Heather, there’s only one original. On the other hand, there’s no rule that says we can’t enjoy our work. I’ve been prepping her. She’s ready. Why don’t you go get her?”

Two weeks later, while camped at a Days Inn in Candler, Heather was venting. “It’s been eight months since we left Robbinsville with our tails between our legs. It’s time. We’re as ready as we’ll ever be. I want revenge. I want to kill them. I don’t want to wait any longer. Olivia’s ready for whatever your final plan for her is. I mean, she’d die for you. No questions asked. Just jump right in front of that bullet. Throw her luscious body on the grenade. Whatever you want, she’ll do it for you.”

“Yes, she would. But no, Heather, it is not time. We are not ready yet.”

“But what else do we have to do? We have over a hundred trained people. We have the weapons, we have good night vision equipment, good radios, and more than enough horses. What else do we need?”

“We need C4. That’s what we need. When we get some C4, we’ll go back. Not before. We also need to be blooded. We need to get into a firefight. We have no combat experience. We can’t go up against the ORNL until our people have a taste. Well, I guess we
could,
but I’d rather we received our baptism under fire before we pick a fight with Special Ops troops. I sent Cougar to look for a small group we can assault. We’re running low on meat, so we can do a dry run and get some food at the same time.”