Retaliation: The Mortis Desolation, Book Two (12 page)

D
aniel got
into the front seat of the truck and started it up. The engine roared to life, and a Taylor Swift album started playing. Daniel turned the CD player off.

“Jorge’s what my niece would call a ‘Swiftie,’” Ron said from the passenger’s seat with a chuckle.

“You can’t deny her mass appeal,” Mike said, leaning into the front seat from his position in the back.

Daniel said nothing. He put the car in drive and drove out of Riven. The three of them drove in silence for a few miles before Ron spoke up.

“So, Daniel. Mike and I…well we’re just, uh,” Ron began.

“We’re really sorry, man,” Mike said. “We didn’t mean to leave you behind.”

“Yeah, we didn’t, honest,” Ron said, nodded in agreement. “We thought you’d be right behind us. We didn’t think you’d stay behind either. We tried to get Jorge to wait, but those Roves stuck around, so we just couldn’t.”

“Don’t worry about it, guys,” Daniel said. “I’m cool with you two. It’s Jorge I have a problem with.”

“Oh, us too, man,” Ron said.

“ We never trusted Jorge, no sir,” Mike said in agreement.

“Yeah, always something off about him. Something in his head not wired right or something.”

“You guys ever find out anything about what he’s hiding?” Daniel asked.

“You think he’s hiding something?” Mike asked.

“Of course he is, Mike,” Ron said.

Daniel sighed. He was already getting annoyed by Ron and Mike’s banter. “I don’t know. Just seems like he is. But I guess we all have our secrets, right?”

“Nah, Ron and I know everything about each other,” Mike said.

Daniel had to fight hard to hold back a groan. It was going to be a long ride to Jefferson Memorial.

* * *

Daniel drove along. Everyone in the car was silent. They all kept their eyes on the road, having quickly grown tired of conversation. Daniel forgot how much he enjoyed driving. He cruised down the road, almost in a trance. He was deep in thought, the hum of the truck relaxing him.

He almost didn’t see the large truck up ahead, stopped in the middle of the road.

Daniel slammed on his brakes, causing everything in the truck to fly forward. The tires skidded across the road, and the truck eventually came to a screeching halt.

The hood of the truck was open, and standing all around it were the people Daniel saw the day before at Brinn. They were all Roves.

In a split-second, Daniel found himself looking down the barrels of six guns.

“Get out of the truck right now!” one of the Roves screamed.

“Dammit,” Daniel said beneath his breath. He raised his hands.

“What are you doing?” Ron asked in a frenzy.

“You see all them out there? You see those guns? We’re outnumbered. Just do way they say and keep quiet. I’ll try and handle this,” Daniel told him.

Daniel opened the door of the truck and got out.

“Walk toward us slowly,” the Rove said.

Daniel, Mike, and Ron did just that. Daniel looked behind the Roves with the guns and saw other Roves gathering their hard covered cases that Daniel assumed were filled with some sort of equipment.

“Hey! Eyes over here,” the main Rove said.

Daniel’s eyes met his, and he stared into them, unblinking, as he walked forward.

“That’s close enough,” the Rove said once Daniel was fifteen feet away.

“What do you want?” Daniel asked.

“We’re taking your truck,” the Rove said. “Gotta catch a ride home.”

The Rove to his right snickered. “Yeah, you guys can have ours.”

The other Roves laughed at their comrade’s joke.

The lead Rove smirked. “Yeah, you don’t mind, do you? That sound like a fair trade to me.”

“Well, I think we can negotiate something else,” Daniel said, feeling the confidence that he had when he confronted Rocco rise up within him.

“I don’t think so,” the main Rove said. “That’s not how this works.”

Daniel opened his mouth to say something else but was met with a blow from the butt of a gun to his chin. Pain shot through him, and Daniel fell to the ground. He felt dizzy and was having trouble getting his bearings. He tasted something metallic in his mouth and spit out some blood.

He felt someone grab the back of his shirt and begin to pull him up. Daniel reached down and grabbed the small revolver, pulling it from the holster around his ankle. He pushed himself from his captor’s grasp, swung around, and aimed the revolver just inches away from the main Rove’s face.

“As I was saying, I think we can negotiate something else.”

D
aniel kept
the revolver pointing at the main Rove’s face. “Why don’t you tell your men to put their guns down.”

The Rove scoffed. “You really think that’s going to work? You’re outnumbered.”

Daniel pulled back the hammer on the revolver. The
click
it made struck fear in the main Rove.

“Lower your weapons, but
don’t
put them on the ground.”

That would have to be good enough for Daniel. He was already pushing his luck; he wasn’t about to push it even more.

“Why don’t we make things a little more fair, huh?” Daniel said. “Ron, Mike, go get your weapons from the truck.”

Daniel heard their footsteps run back, followed by the opening and subsequent slamming of the truck door.

“I’m getting tired of your games,” the Rove said.

“What’s your name?” Daniel asked.

“Maddox,” the head Rove said. “Do me a favor and remember that name, will you?”

Daniel smirked. “That’d be easier to do if it was just a little more weird,” Daniel said trying to be as sarcastic as possible.

“I think it’ll be easy enough for you. Do you know why, Daniel? Because it’s the name of the guy who’s going to kill you.”

Daniel’s heart skipped a beat. He looked at Maddox, confused. “Wait a second, I never told you my na—”

“Go, Mike!”

Daniel started to turn to see what was going on, but before he could, there was a blinding flash and a loud bang.

Daniel became disoriented, unable to see or hear anything for a few moments. He felt arms grab him, and someone was leading him somewhere. He ran along with the person, the pops of gunfire going off behind him.

Daniel began to get his bearings and realized Mike was leading him to the woods at the edge of the road. He looked behind him and saw Ron running close behind. There was a large cloud of smoke where they just had been on the road, providing cover, allowing them to escape.

Daniel and Mike entered the woods and kept on running. Daniel turned and saw the Roves weren’t following.

“Wait, wait, wait,” he said, stopping Mike.

“We gotta get out of here, Daniel,” he said.

“Wait, stop!” Daniel all but shouted.

Daniel watched through the trees. He could see the Roves on the road, moving equipment from their truck to Daniel’s.

“They aren’t following us,” Ron said.

Daniel shook his head. “They’re more worried about getting out of there with our truck.”

They watched the Roves from their spot a hundred feet or so in the woods. The Roves moved their equipment from one truck to the other in record speed.

Maddox stood at the edge of the road, looking out into the woods, scanning for any sign of Daniel. He couldn’t see them thanks to their cover.

One of the more scientific-looking Roves came up behind him, telling him they had to leave. Maddox gave one last look across the trees, and once he was satisfied, turned and climbed into the driver’s seat of the truck.

Daniel’s truck was a lot smaller than the Roves’, so some of them had to ride in the bed. They sped off.

Daniel ran back through the trees as fast as he could. He ran out onto the road and watched the truck speed off, trying to see which direction it was going. It went a hundred yards or so and turned right down another road.

“Come on,” Mike said as he began running down the road. “Let’s try and follow them!”

“Wait!” Daniel said.

Mike stopped and turned to him. “Come on, Daniel! They’re going back to Jefferson Memorial, anyway! That’s their only outpost this far out, right? Let’s go!” Mike started off running again.

“Mike, wait!” Daniel shouted. “Yes, we’re going to Jefferson Memorial. But that’s not how you get there.”

“What are you saying, Daniel?” Ron asked.

Daniel was still trying to process everything. He wasn’t even a hundred percent sure what he was seeing. “You don’t turn right on that road up there to get to Jefferson Memorial. They’re going somewhere else. Maddox said ‘we gotta catch a ride home.’ Jefferson Memorial? Dallas? You gotta stay straight on this road to get there.”

Ron and Mike looked at each other. They were beginning to understand what Daniel was saying.

“So if Jefferson Memorial, Dallas, and the rest of the Roves are that way,” Ron said, pointing straight down the road, “then what’s down there?” he asked, pointing to the right.

“It looks like the Roves are expanding their borders faster than we thought.”

I
ra supported
her head on her hand as she stared at the door to the vault. She and Andrew had been in there for hours, just waiting. Listening. Looking for any sign that the ink-creature was still out there.

The creature had given up fast. After the initial hit and roar, they hadn’t heard anything from the other side of the vault doors in hours. Still, they weren’t going to risk opening it and letting the creature kill them. But at the same time, Ira knew that they couldn’t stay in the vault forever, even though she would’ve been perfectly fine with that.

“I think we should take a peek outside,” Andrew said, standing up from his spot in the corner.

“Are you crazy?” Ira said, giving him a look.

“We’ve been in here for hours, Ira. If that thing is out there, it has given up on us by now.”

“Yeah, but that thing will still be out there,” Ira said as she stood as well.

Andrew sighed. “I can’t just sit in here. That thing…I just need to take a look around.” Andrew turned to walk toward the vault door.

Ira crossed the room, grabbed Andrew’s arm, and turned him around. “Andrew, listen to me. You can’t go out there. It’s not safe.”

“Ira, I need to look around, all right? I need to see if I can get answers. I can’t do this again.”

“Answers? What do you mean answers? Do what again?”

Andrew sighed. He shrugged, and sat down on the ground. “Last time one of those things were here, I just hid in the vault. Meanwhile, all the people I’ve known for the past few years—my
family
—were out there being killed by those things.”

Ira sat down next to Andrew. “What do you mean? All those people are still out there.”

“You don’t believe that,” Andrew said.

“Of course I do,” Ira said, aghast.

“If you do, then why aren’t you all beat up over the fact that Darren killed Bethany?”

Ira tried to say something, but she couldn’t find the words. She just sighed.

“Exactly. You know as well as I do that those things out there are just that:
things.
They aren’t my friends. They aren’t my family. And it’s all because of that creature.”

“You don’t know that for sure, Andrew,” Ira said.

Andrew shook his head and stood. “This is my decision. I’m going to go out there. I’m going to try and figure out what’s going on.”

Andrew walked toward the vault door. Ira searched for mind for something to say to try and stop him, but was coming up short. But then something hit her. “Why, Andrew?”

Andrew turned around, frustration growing on his face. “Why what?”

“Why are you going to try and figure out what’s going on?” she asked taking a step forward. “Why don’t you just leave? If all your friends are gone like you say they are, why are you still here?”

Andrew looked down at the ground to try and hide his tears from Ira. “Because I’m lying to myself.” He looked up at Ira, making no effort to hide the tears anymore. “I want them to be who they look like. I want them to be who they think they are. I think that maybe I’ll wake up, and they’ll be back to normal. That everything will be back to normal.” Andrew’s voice cracked. “I don’t deserve this. I don’t deserve to be the one who made it out alive. The only reason I’m still here and not one of those empty shells is because I was a coward who hid inside of a vault.” The tears were really flowing now, and Andrew began to raise his voice. “I just hid in a stupid vault like a stupid coward! I have to help them! I have to figure out how to bring them back! I don’t know how I can keep going on if I don’t do
something
.”

Ira grabbed him. She wrapped her arms around him, and pulled him into a strong embrace. She just held him, not saying anything. She did exactly to him what she wished someone would’ve done for her when all her friends died. She listened, and she comforted. She squeezed him tight as Andrew cried into her shoulder.

They stood there for a moment, holding each other. Little did Andrew know that Ira was getting just as much comfort from him as he was getting from her. They let go of each other and took a step back. Ira wiped her tears and Andrew did the same. The two of them laughed awkwardly before taking a deep breath.

“Okay, Andrew. I’m ready. Let’s go see what we can find out, shall we?”

I
ra followed
Andrew out the vault door. They were met with an eerie silence. Nobody was talking or going about their day. There was only total dead silence.

“Let’s check the commons,” Andrew whispered to Ira. His whispers carried around the room so he might as well have shouted.

The two of them snuck down the hallway, trying to stay as quiet as they could. Ira looked over her shoulder, making sure the vault door was still open. The two of them could make a break there if they needed to.

They rounded the corner and walked down the main hallway that led to the commons. From what she could see at the end of the hallway, something strange was happening in the commons. Ira and Andrew snuck further down the hallway, trying to get a closer look.

They reached the end of the hallway and were having a hard time processing what they were seeing. Everybody stood in the main common room, lined up in single file lines across multiple rows. Everybody had their backs to Ira and Andrew, so the two of them couldn’t get a good look at what was going on.

Ira had a feeling that even if she did get a good look, she still wouldn’t be able to figure out what was happening.

“Vitals on subject zero-two-seven are abnormal,” a muffled male voice said.

Ira looked up and saw that a person wearing a hazmat suit and gas mask was examining someone in the back row of the lineup. More people in suits came to see what he was talking about. Ira realized the person in question was Darren.

Andrew pulled her back deeper into the hallway, away from the common room.

“Who are those people?” Ira whispered as quietly as she could.

Andrew shrugged, his eyes wide with fear.

Ira backed further into the hallway. “We need to get out of here, Andrew.” Ira’s heart beat faster. Whatever was going on, there was nothing the two of them could do about it. She needed to get out and tell Ashley what was happening. She’d know what to do.

“Ira, you know I can’t,” Andrew said.

“Andrew, listen, I know someone who can help us. I’m not saying abandon them. I’m saying we’ll leave and come back.”

Ira could tell that Andrew wanted to protest. There was no way the two of them could stay there, not when there were those humans around doing whatever they were doing.

“Hey, we got something over here!” a voice shouted from behind them.

Ira turned and saw one of the people in hazmat suits standing at the end of the hallway pointing at the two of them.

“Run!” Ira shouted.

She and Andrew ran down the long hallway. Ira looked behind her and saw people in hazmat suits running after them. They weren’t shooting at them, which Ira was thankful for, but she didn’t want to find out what they’d do if they caught up with the two of them.

Andrew reached the back door and barreled through it, Ira right on his heels. The two of them ran down the back side of the bank.

Ira could hear the people shouting and running behind them. She looked behind, and the suits and heavy equipment they were wearing slowed them down just enough to keep Ira and Andrew a little more than arm’s length away.

They had reached the edge of the building when a person in a suit appeared around the corner, cutting them off. Ira didn’t slow, and neither did Andrew.

Andrew slammed his fist into the persons face, sending them to the ground. They ran to the front, and this time, Ira thought for a second that they were finished.

Standing in the front of the bank were twenty Roves with guns ready. They didn’t see the two of them, but the people in the hazmat suits shouted at them to cut them off.

The Roves started to block the exit, pointing their guns at the two of them and yelling at them to stop.

Andrew shifted his course, and Ira followed. He ran to the corner, where a set of stairs led up to the Wall’s platform. They bounded up the stairs, the hazmat people right behind.

They reached the top of the platform and ran as fast as they could. The Hazmats were slowed by the stairs, putting some distance between them.

“We’re going to have to jump down,” Andrew said back to Ira.

Ira didn’t like the sound of that. They were probably two stories up. That would be a long fall. But it’s not like she had another choice. It was either that or give themselves up to the Hazmats and the Roves.

She gritted her teeth and ran as fast as she could to the corner of the Wall. Andrew reached it first, jumping up onto the top, sitting down on the edge dangling his feet off. He put a hand down and helped Ira climb up there as well.

The two of them sat side-by-side, dangling over the edge of the Wall.

“Try and roll when you hit the ground,” Andrew said.

Ira nodded and looked over her shoulder. The Hazmats were just twenty feet away. “Jump!” she shouted.

The two of them slid off the top of the Wall. Ira’s heart dropped to her feet, and she braced herself for impact. As soon as she felt the ground beneath her feet, she rolled forward. She rolled across the ground, unscathed. On the ground next to her, Andrew was lying unharmed, catching his breath.

Ira jumped up and helped Andrew stand. “We gotta hide somewhere, then we can find Ashley.”

“Okay. Wait, did you just say Ashl—never mind, let’s just get out of here.”

The two of them took off running as fast as they could, toward the town surrounding the Jefferson Memorial Bank.