THE ALPHAS Box Set (12 page)

VII.

Clouds blew in late in the afternoon and by the time Damian, Ryan, Sean, Matt, and three others walked out to the gate to take over the watch it was darker than it should have been for the time of day and they could smell the rain on the air. “If you need an extra layer, grab it now,” Damian said. Everyone pulled their hoods up and nodded.

“Ryan and Sean you’re on the gate, Matt I want you to help patrol the front mile here, corner to corner.” He proceeded to send the other three to the north, south, and west sides. “Just walk from corner to corner. It’ll make for a long night, I know, but those walls aren’t finished. I’ll be making the full circuit and I’ll check in with each of you as we pass each other.”

Everyone nodded and headed off as Evan and his half dozen guards came straggling in. “Nothing,” Evan said. “I don’t envy you one bit. Those clouds look mean.”

“Not the first time we’ve stood watch in the rain. Get some sleep. Tomorrow these …” He almost said ‘Alphas’ but caught himself since he wasn’t yet ready to reveal that he knew more about them. “People will be on their way and we can go back to normal. Don’t sleep in though; we need to talk in the morning. All of us.”

“Yeah, I guess now would be a good time to get some emergency procedures into place. Good-night. Hope your watch is quiet.”

“So do I.”

VIII.

It started raining early in the evening. Anne and Pauline made two large pots of coffee and poured them into water bottles. It wasn’t ideal but they didn’t have a lot of thermoses. They carried the bottles up to the gate.

Matt happened to be checking in with Damian, Ryan, and Sean as they came up.

“We thought you could use these,” Anne said as they handed them around.

“I’m just heading out again. I’ll take the extras and save you girls the walk,” Damian said.

“I need to head out again too, thanks for this,” Matt said and retreated before everyone could start with their warm-up smooches.

Anne, Pauline, and the seven guards weren’t the only ones out in the rain that evening.

Atlanta moved fast and silent through the rain and the trees. Like the other Alphas she had forsaken her birth name and claimed a name equal to her birthright. With speed like a gazelle Atlanta, the mortal hero of Greek mythology, had been the perfect choice. She had been assigned the task of infiltrating the village and seeking out their lost one.

Gaining access was easy. Even the wall on either side of the gate would have posed no problem but back here there was only a fence. In the dark and rain she was invisible and was soon moving across the village.

At every house it was the same, the slow and gentle sounds of humans sleeping, barely audible over the rain, even for her gifted ears.
‘Khan should have sent one of the listeners to do this job,’
she thought as she moved on to the next house.

Atlanta found herself all the way at the front of the village before finding any trace of the Alpha they sought. Instead she came across a young man standing at the corner, muttering.

“I can’t believe I’m stuck here in the rain guarding that backstabbing piece of shit. We never should have let him in.”

Atlanta took a deep breath, she was taking a huge risk, one Khan would not have sanctioned, but she could hear the raw anger in this man’s voice and instinct told her that the person he was mad at and the person she sought were one in the same. She stepped out of the shadows.

“No, you should not have let him in,” she said gently.

He spun, his gun drawn and aimed at her chest. “Who are you?”

“What is he calling himself? A young man, a little taller than you, with very short dark hair and dark haunted eyes, he came here, didn’t he?”

Matt swallowed hard and nodded. “Eddie, he calls himself Eddie.”

She snorted. “What a weak, pathetic name. Who are you?”

“Matt.”

“Now there’s a strong name.” She sidled up closer. “You were right about Eddie all along and I bet no one listened to you, did they?”

He shook his head, mesmerized by her smooth, graceful movements.

“Where is he?” she asked.

“One of the houses near the center of the village. 42005. Are you taking him tonight?”

“No, I was only sent to confirm he was here. We will leave in the morning to avoid suspicion. Your leader knows what he is?”

“Most likely.”

“You could make it easy and tell everyone, they will be frightened, they will force him to leave and then we will leave your little village in peace. I will linger in the woods near the crossroads. Come and find me and tell me if he is exiled or not.”

Matt nodded and the stranger disappeared over the wall like smoke in the breeze. He shivered and resumed his walk.

IX.

With the dawn came the end of the rain and a hot breakfast presented by Anne and Pauline. They sat, the nine of them, in front of the gate, drying their hair and faces, and enjoying the hot but plain food.

Slowly the rest of the villagers began to gather as word of the morning meeting spread. Damian nodded to Eddie who had come with Violet and their housemates.  Once it looked like almost everyone was present Damian stood to speak.

“You’ve all heard by now that …”

“Hey! Anyone home?” came a voice from the road.

Damian frowned but Anne softly said, “Water,” and he nodded.

“Get some barrels; bring up some water from the tower. Ryan, come with me.” They jogged up the wall to find the nearly middle-aged man waiting on the road with a pile of empty containers and no weapons.

“Good morning friend,” Damian called down. “We have people bringing water right now.”

“Sorry for coming so early,” he called back. “We want to keep moving. We hope to find our friend before something bad happens to him.”

The exchange of water took longer than Damian had hoped but finally the strangers were, supposedly, on their way. Damian returned to the gathered villagers.

“Well, now I know you all know that we had people arrive here yesterday. They were looking for someone they claim to have lost but that may not be all of the truth. Now that they’re gone we need to discuss this as a village. Eddie, will you come and share what you told me with the group.”

Eddie came forward, shaking a little. “These people were affected by nuclear radiation which caused spontaneous genetic mutations. They may look like large, strong people, but they aren’t, not anymore. They’re stronger than Olympic weight lifters and faster than Olympic runners. They have heightened senses. Each one has these strengths to different levels but they are like paranormal creatures, or mutants. I know this sounds strange, unbelievable, but I’ve seen it with my own eyes.

“Worse than that, they have little respect for normal people. They feel they are the next step in human evolution and that they are destined to bring the world out of this period of destruction. They aren’t looking to make things better; they’re interested in ruling the world. You think they’re gone but chances are they haven’t gone far. If you can’t help them they’ll destroy you.”

Before Damian could regain control of the meeting Matt pressed forward. “How do you know all this? How could you possibly know what they are capable of and what their plans are?”

Eddie was shaking now but he knew now that the questions had been asked no one would be happy until they were answered. “I was trapped with them with the bombs dropped; I was exposed to the radiation, just like they were. I know what they are physically capable of because I’m stronger and faster too. But I’m not one of them. I don’t agree with them. I wish I could be normal again. I came here because I was looking for a safe place to live, not to bring them down on you. I didn’t know they would follow me.”

“But they did!” Matt shouted. “They followed you here and now they’re going to tear apart everything we built just so you could bury your head in the sand!”

“Matt, that’s enough!” Damian said. “Eddie has done nothing wrong and I don’t see any reason to think he’s lying. We’ll keep watch but they don’t know Eddie is here. As long as they believe that they will hopefully leave us be. Even if they do have some plan for world domination they need people to serve them. It wouldn’t do them any good to kill everyone they meet and dismantle the villages that they are trying to rebuild.”

“I’m sorry I lied,” Eddie said, “But I didn’t know how you would react, how any of you would react. I was hiding, being very careful, but now that all of you know I can really help you. I can lift heavier things than any of you, I can work faster, I’ll help you finish the wall, and I can help you get supplies, whatever you need.”

X.

At first everyone seemed to keep their distance, but at the same time everyone had some excuse to walk past the place where Eddie was working. Now free of his secrets he was able to work at a comfortable pace, for him that was still faster than anyone else in the village could work. By lunch he had completed two days’ worth of wall and the nervousness and fear in the eyes of the other villagers was replaced with admiration.

Marianne and her posse of girls took it upon themselves to bring Eddie lunch and water and hung around smiling and flirting until Violet sent them packing.

Marianne shot Violet a nasty glare and stormed off with her girls close behind.

“I can’t wait until they’re eighteen and we can start looking for trades,” Violet said.

“Trades?”

“Oh, there is no one here in the right age bracket to marry them so we’re hoping we can send some people from our village, those who want a change of scenery, to other villages and take some of their singles in here so that more people can find spouses. Guess it’s all about getting the world back up to eight billion again.”

“Maybe we should get to work on that.”

Her dry smile told him she didn’t find him funny at all, and the way she hugged herself screamed insecurity.

“Hey, I was joking. Come here.” He dropped his hammer and wrapped his arms around her. “You’ve got time to make that decision; I won’t make it for you. I’m just happy that you love me even after I kept such a big secret from you.”

“You’re my own personal superman, how could I turn you away.”

“I’m not super anyone,” he said. “But I love you.”

Matt had been watching the steady but random string of curious villagers come and go, each one leaving with a smile. They were accepting him like he was some sort of miracle sent among them.
‘They think he’s a sign of prosperity but he’s only going to bring ruin on all of us.’
As Eddie and Violet embraced he turned away, heading out back to where the wall was still only a fence.

Matt stood at the crossroads and looked down each of the roads. The village was only half a mile or so behind him so he stayed under the cover of the trees but he could see no one in any direction. And then someone took a big crunching bite out of an apple and he jumped.

She was standing beside and behind, close enough to touch his shoulder. She was unarmed, as far as he could tell, and seemed to be looking out at the road. “What are you looking for?”

“He’s still there,” Matt said bitterly. “He didn’t leave. They didn’t make him leave. I accused him of lying, I said he was dangerous, no one listens to me.”

“That’s because you’re a weak, pathetic, human. Khan is right, you all need to be ruled.”

“What are you going …” but she was already gone. He shivered and started back to the village.

XI.

“There’s someone on the road!”

Seven people came running and one of them even had the sense to run to Damian and Anne’s house and bang on the door. Soon there were four armed men, plus Anne who, though her hands were empty, had her hand gun belted on, standing on the wall and a small army of onlookers gathered on the road on the village side of the gate.

Ryan had the binoculars and he handed them to Damian. “It looks like Matt, but when did he leave? And why?”

“I don’t know,” Damian said. He accepted the binoculars and did a scan of the trees on either side of the road before zeroing in on the approaching figure. “It’s Matt all right. Lower your weapons but stay alert.”

When Matt reached the gate he glanced up and squinted. “Are you going to open the gate or do I have to go around to the back fence?”

“What are you doing out there?” Damian said.

“Doing what no one else thought to do! I did a full perimeter sweep about a quarter mile out from our wall, and I went out to their camp at the crossroads to make sure they really had gone. There’s no sign of them. The whole area is secure. I did startle a few deer though so we could go hunting in the next few days, if we need to. It’s getting late and I sure could use a meal. Are you going to open the gates?”

“Yeah, we’re opening the gates.” Damian met Matt as he came in. “You should have told me where you were going, I could have sent you with some back up.”

“I was able to move fast and quiet and I didn’t run into trouble, but I will let you know next time, if there is a next time.”

“Thank-you for going out there. If they had been waiting, well, we could have been caught unawares.”

Matt nodded. Part of him was preening and gloating at the attention but there was a knot deep in his stomach that was making him feel sick. “I’m going to eat and lie down for a bit. Did we sort out the watch rotation?”

“Back to normal duties.”

“Good, then I’m not on until tomorrow.” He gave a curt nod. As he walked away he could feel everyone watching him.

The next morning Matt rolled out of bed early. He left his rifle in the closet but grabbed the old hand gun he had scavenged from a farm house and hidden in his pack. He skipped breakfast and was jogging out the door just as Stan was coming in from watch.

“Where are you off to?”

Matt smiled wide. “There’s work to do. The wall needs to be finished, and quickly.”

“Boy aren’t you Mister Johnny-on-the-spot lately.” He yawned. “Did you eat?”

“Just finished. Sorry, I didn’t think to make you something.”

“It’s okay.” He yawned again. “Not sure I could eat right now. Think I’ll grab a few hours shut eye. When are you on?”

“Lunch shift.” He waved. “I’ll catch up with you later.”

The shift switch on the wall had just happened so Stan’s watch partner had already headed for home and the morning guards were already on the wall. For the most part the rest of the village was asleep, or if they were awake they weren’t out and about yet. For the most part it looked just like it did before the war – a quiet cluster of houses on a gravel road with well-maintained yards and prospering gardens. Of course before the war the people who lived here would have gotten up every day and driven to the nearest city or town, only twenty or thirty minutes down the highway by car, to work. Now, everyone worked right here building and gardening.  It was a strange combination of modern and old-fashioned.

Matt kept his pace to a casual amble even though he knew exactly where he was going and wanted to get this errand over and done with. It was almost a mile to his destination, another reason he didn’t want to rush; he knew he couldn’t afford to be out of breath or tired when he arrived.

He paused at the end of the driveway, which was longer than his by fifty feet or so, and stared at the neat white house.  He took a deep breath.
‘No turning back. This is for the good of the whole village now. These people, these Alphas, they aren’t playing games, they aren’t bluffing. Damian won’t kick him out so it’s up to you now. Once Damian and the others know what I did they’ll realize that I saved everyone. I’ll be a hero, just like I was this morning. I’ll be a hero and then Violet will finally see me, she’ll finally see that I’m somebody important. She’ll see I don’t have to be a mutant freak to be somebody, to save her, to love her.’

He knocked politely on the door and Violet answered. She stiffened when she saw him. “What do you want?”

“I’m supposed to help Eddie with the wall today.”

“I didn’t know about this.” She glanced over her shoulder and called, “Eddie, are you on building duty today?”

Eddie came to the door and frowned. “Why don’t you go finish your breakfast?” He kissed her forehead. “I’ll talk to Matt and be right back, okay?”

Violet nodded but he kept looking back at them. Eddie stepped out onto the porch and closed the door. “So you’re supposed to be helping me build today?”

“That’s what I was told.”

“I wonder who told you since Damian is taking me target shooting this morning.”

The amiable look dropped from Matt’s face. “Damian’s going to let a fucking wolf in sheep’s clothing help guard this place? Sure, why not make it even easier for you to open the gate and let your friends in here.”

“I’m not a traitor. I get it, you hate me, but I’m not going to do anything  to put the village at risk.”

“YOU ARE THE RISK!” Matt shouted. “You aren’t even human. You should be shot before you hurt someone. You’re probably radioactive. You’re probably infecting us all. You got lucky, you’re big and strong because you got zapped but you’ll just give the rest of us cancer!”

“Get out of here, Matt.”

“No, you get out. Get out of our fucking village!”

“I said go away!” Eddie gave Matt a shove, hands on the other man’s shoulders, and Matt flew off the deck, skidding twenty feet down the driveway before he stopped.

Eddie stared at his hands, and then at Matt, the horror plain on his face. And then he looked up and saw Damian standing at the end of the driveway.