The Dark Rift: Redemption (30 page)

Jodie felt like crying or screaming or beating her fists into something. To come all this way and lose Mei now seemed like such a cruel turn of events. But, right now, she had to worry about her father. Nothing else could be done.

Chuck jogged back to her side. “Okay, I found something for us to use. There’s a small truck on the other side of that overhead door. The keys are in it.”

Jodie’s dad groaned. He was starting to regain consciousness and Jodie knew he’d be in a lot of pain. She almost wished he’d stayed out until she got him in the truck. “We better move him, quick,” Jodie said.

“Fester, can you bring the first aid supplies?” Chuck asked.

Fester trotted over by them. “Sure,” he said, bending down to grab the kit.

About to stand, Jodie looked up, seeing a man crouching across the room from her, his yellow suit splattered with blood, a deep red stain growing on his chest. Her eyes moved down, seeing the gun pointed at her. Before she could form a word, the shot rang out.

She found herself not believing it when the bullet tore into her side, blasting a hole in her abdomen. White-hot pain gripped her and she grabbed at the wound, trying to stop her lifeblood from leaving her. She fell to the ramp as Chuck jumped up, leaping across the wide expanse of room in one bound, landing on the shooter, smashing his head flat against the floor.

Jodie heard him running back to her, breathless and crying. He tore into the first aid kit, Fester helping to steady his hands as he plastered gauze and tape over her wound. She felt herself pass out. When she came to, Chuck was gently placing her on a blanket on the floor in the back of the truck.

“I can do it, really, I can,” Fester said.

“You have to be careful,” Chuck said. “Take the route Evan tells you to and don’t stop for anybody. I’m counting on you, Fester.”

Jodie looked around, seeing her father sitting next to her. Pain was written all over his face.

“Chuck, you should come with us,” her father said. “We’ve dealt them a blow.”

“And now, I’m going to end them for good,” Chuck said. “You’re going to be okay, hear me, Jodie? Fester and your dad are taking you to meet Nick. He’ll help both of you.”

Jodie found herself unable to speak. She wanted to tell Chuck to come with them, that they would finish this battle later, but could do nothing but remain silent and try to keep breathing. She felt Chuck kiss her on the cheek as darkness took over once again.

* * *

Chuck had felt Jodie’s pain as if it were his own. He’d held back all he could, knowing his anger was the real weapon that could defeat Gypsum. Since Jodie had been shot, his skeleton had started glowing brightly; gradually working up to the intensity of a red-hot flare by the time he entered the chemical storage wing. He walked in, finding a vast warehouse of containers labeled as hazardous materials. Continuing on, he came upon an entire row of barrels covered with flammable stickers. This looked like as good a place as any.

Chuck stopped, looking at his reflection in an aluminum can on the shelf across from where he stood. He could see he’d lost most of the skin on his face. He’d never be anything but a freak. Jodie would feel sorry for him, but she’d never have the kind of love for him he’d always wanted.

He pictured her laying her head on his chest and closed his eyes. He could almost feel her there with him, her touch, her scent, that musky, sandalwood aroma he’d once smelled in her cabin. So much had happened since then. He found himself laughing at the irony. It seemed as if he hadn’t really lived until he’d died on the train that day. Now, he'd been given a chance to do the most important thing he could ever do. His redemption would come from the only thing he had left to offer.

Chuck stripped off the burning hazmat suit and brushed wasted skin from his metal skeleton. He slipped the singed Hello Kitty bag over his head and took out his last Three Musketeers bar, biting through the wrapper again, tasting the liquefied chocolate and feeling it flowing through his body. Something slipped out of the bag and hit the floor, making a metallic clang. Chuck bent down to pick it up, finding the badge he’d taken from the officer a few days ago.

Swallowing the last of his candy bar, he thought of Jodie, the bullet tearing into her side. He prayed she would make it to Nick in time. Fester had promised him he’d get her there and he trusted the boy more than anyone, other than Jodie. Fester had come back to help him. Chuck thought he was like the son he'd never had.

His mind went back to Jodie again and, the more he thought about her, the hotter his skeleton became, until his remaining skin burst into flame. His body was a furnace now. He closed his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest, willing all his might into one powerhouse bundle deep inside his core.

All around him, bottles burst, spewing liquid into the air, creating an acrid smoke that billowed up to the ceiling. The barrels were burning, their paint ignited by Chuck's love and hatred, all wrapped up together in a furious ball of energy.

Chuck thought of high school, watching Jodie run around the track, admiring her from a distance he knew he could never traverse. He remembered her coming home to Mountain City recently, the pain of seeing her almost unbearable at first. Then, he recalled how she’d become his friend. He’d told her he loved her and she hadn’t laughed or made fun of him. She’d told him she loved him back.

Tears boiled down his cheeks as Chuck’s body began to vibrate violently. He’d never let Gypsum hurt Jodie or anyone else, ever again. It was time.

Holding the badge up to his face, he read the inscription. “To protect and serve,” he said in his firm, authoritative voice, throwing his arms open wide, releasing a terrific superheated shock wave across the room.

* * *

Fester drove as fast as he could down the desert highway. He’d only driven a tractor before and he was feeling dizzy from the speed. The truck slid sideways as he turned off the highway onto a road Evan directed him to. He slowed the vehicle, thinking he'd better take it easier. Glancing in the side mirror, he could see a bright light flash across the landscape. Fester pulled over and shut the engine off.

“What’s wrong?” Evan asked. “Why are you stopping?”

Fester turned toward Evan, but found himself unable to speak. He knew anything he said would be choked out in sobs. Jodie was awake, lying next to her father. He turned the truck off, jumped out, walked to the back and pulled up the overhead door. Crawling in, he sat next to Jodie, grabbing her hand as they watched a huge mushroom cloud enveloping the desert at Area 51, now miles away. “Chuck did it,” Fester said, his voice shaking. “He ended it.”

Tears streamed from Jodie’s eyes. She gripped Fester’s hand tightly and they cried together, watching multiple explosions blasting into the dusky sky, filling it with plumes of smoke and debris.

“It hasn’t ended for Mei yet,” Evan said, patting Jodie on the back. “Don't you give up."

Jodie closed her eyes, her expression vacant, the color in her face waning.

"Fester, let’s go," Evan said. "We don’t have far to travel now.  Nick’s waiting just ahead.”

Two months had passed since Christy’s expose was carried in one form or another by every major news station and paper in the country. Her account, having been translated into over fifty languages, circled the globe at breakneck speed. Each day, Jodie read the news related to the Gypsum Corporation and their failed plan. She saw her name mentioned repeatedly.

On the television, a newscaster described how Jodie and her father had been awarded Congressional Medals of Honor, something that meant nothing to her, given how deeply Gypsum had infiltrated the U.S. government. She thought it hypocritical that anyone associated with Gypsum could be so bold as to deny their involvement, while publicly supporting the people that were responsible for the undoing of their own plan.

Bob, Isaiah and Chuck were awarded, posthumously, with law enforcement medals of honor. Their families killed in the earthquakes, Jodie found herself in the uncomfortable position of being requested to accept the awards on their behalves. She refused, sending her father to the ceremony in her place. When he returned home with the awards, he sat next to her on the porch, overlooking the lake.

“Well, I saw some of the big guns at the ceremony,” her father said. “Acting FBI Director, Jennings, I think is his name. Military, you know.”

“Did you talk to him?” Jodie asked.

Her father shook his head. “I didn’t talk to anyone, really. I didn’t want to give them anything . . . didn’t want to play their game.” He lowered his head and stared at his feet.

Jodie knew he was sad. Chuck, Isaiah and Bob had been great friends and their deaths were a terrible loss to everyone. Thinking about them, an idea worked its way into her head. “Dad, why don’t we put our friends to rest out here, in the forest?” Jodie pulled a plaque out of the box her father had brought back with him. Bob’s name was inscribed on it.
For heroism
, she read below his name before her eyes began to burn. She set it back in the box. “Let’s bury these in a quiet place in the woods. We know they were heroes. These government-issued awards seem like a slap in the face, more than an honor.”

“That’s a wonderful idea, Jodie,” her father said, bringing out his handkerchief and wiping the tears off her cheeks. “A wonderful idea, indeed.”

In the weeks that followed, Jodie found herself unfulfilled by the news accounts. No one seemed to really understand just how plausible Gypsum’s plan was. In fact, factions within the government tried to discredit the story, but still, the news was out and couldn’t be swept under the rug anymore.

Las Vegas had been evacuated before the horde reached the city limits. By the time the infected were rounded up and executed by the military, over ten thousand people had been lost. After about two weeks, the military declared the city safe and business resumed as usual. Jodie wasn’t so sure that was a good idea. After all, no one had any idea exactly how many people were working in Area 51 when the horde entered and no one knew how many got past the fence once it was knocked down. The investigation was on-going, but thousands had yet to be accounted for. The desert remained filled with helicopters patrolling, searching for the infected through binoculars by day and infrared glasses by night.

Her heart weary, Jodie spent many hours on the porch, staring at the lake. She knew she should be grateful for some things. The cabin was virtually untouched by the earthquake, even though Christy’s house was severely damaged. When Nick had suggested that he, Christy, the boys and Hunter stay with her while the house was repaired, she jumped at the chance to have them. Besides the fact that she needed help, there was no way she wanted to be all alone with her thoughts. When her father had been released from the hospital, Jodie had asked him to join them, too. Now that she had him in her life, she intended to keep him in it.

The FBI had been reorganized and reformed and Jodie found herself wanting to get back to work so she could keep up with the latest news. Walking back from a hike to the lake one afternoon, she spied a long, black limo parked in front of the cabin. Her father stood next to a man in a black suit, talking.

“What’s going on?” Jodie asked as she approached her father.

A man she didn’t know stepped toward her and extended his hand. “My name is Mark Trainor. I’m an assistant to the President. He’s asked me to deliver this to you,” the man said, handing her a thick manila envelope. “He asked that you get back to him as soon as possible.”

Jodie took the envelope and stared at it, not knowing if she wanted anything to do with it. It was either a condemnation or an appointment. She wasn’t sure which was worse. “Okay. Thank you,” she said, turning and walking into the cabin. 

Jodie sat at the table and opened the package. On top was a letter from the President of the United States, claiming no knowledge of the Gypsum plan or the international coordination that had been undertaken. The letter went on to say that he had launched a massive inquiry from his office, now located in Chicago. He further stated that the information contained in the packet she had in her possession had been retrieved from several different sources and was known only to him. At the end of the letter, he asked Jodie to head the inquiry task force.

She flipped the letter over and looked at the other contents of the package. The first page was stamped as classified, top secret. In it were photos that she hadn’t seen before. Pictures of bodies strewn on the ground at Area 51, and a map showing the locations where mutants had been captured to date. She gasped, seeing the markers on the map, located on the outskirts of Las Vegas. The next page showed a tally, with a highlighted total at the bottom. 1,561 people unaccounted for. Maybe they were mutants now, roaming the desert, waiting for an opportunity to attack. Jodie wondered if she’d fended off one apocalypse, only to replace it with another.

The last document in the stack of papers had her name on it and the genetic code she’d seen in the Gypsum installation. Chuck’s code was listed directly under hers, looking identical, save an extra set of chromosomes. So, the President probably knew what her mother had created and that the super soldier Chuck had become was likely the only thing that could combat an infestation of hybrids.

She was so engrossed by what was in front of her that Jodie didn’t notice that her father had come in the house and had sat in a chair across from her. She looked up, startled to see him sitting there.

“I take it the President has a job for you?” he said.

“Uh … yeah. It seems that way,” she said, wondering if what she really should do was to burn the information in the fireplace and run. But, in her heart, she knew she wouldn’t be safe anywhere if she couldn’t find anyone to trust. She knew she’d have to take a chance on this president, sooner or later.

“What will you do, Jodie? I mean, aren’t you tired of it all?”

She nodded. “That’s quite the understatement. I need some time, but I do want answers. I need to find Mei … and, I want to know that this is done, that Gypsum is in the past, gone, never to rear its ugly head again.”

“Well, you’ll have time to think about it. Didn’t your doctor say you needed to be sedentary for at least the next several weeks?”

“Yeah, I’m not going anywhere anytime soon,” she said.

“Well, if you want to talk, I’ll be here,” her dad said, as he stood. “For now, though, I think I’ll go take a nap. Those government types tend to wear me out.”

“Okay, Dad. I’ll wake you for dinner.” Jodie watched him retreat to his room. Her mind went back to the task force and she thought about a timetable. A few weeks, her doctor had said. She hoped she could heal that fast. The bullet had entered her abdomen, tearing through muscle and bone, eventually lodging near her spine. It was only luck and a very good surgeon that kept her from being paralyzed by the injury.

But she felt constant pain in her side, rivaled only by the pain in her heart. She’d lost so many friends. No one would ever replace Bob, she knew. Mei’s whereabouts were unknown and Chuck had given his life to save all of humanity. Jodie cried for them in solitude, realizing that, besides Bob, Chuck was probably the best friend she’d ever had. Certainly, he was the most heroic person she’d likely ever encounter. She’d only known Mei for a short time, but they were some of the best days of her life, apocalypse notwithstanding. She wasn't about to abandon her to a perpetual existence in a cryotube, or worse. Jodie shuddered as she thought of what could be happening to Mei.

After dinner, needing supplies for their growing household, Jodie rode into town with Nick. She watched out the car window as they passed by the houses and businesses. It was odd, what the quakes took and what they spared. The east coast had been devastated, resulting in the loss of millions of people instantaneously and millions more as they migrated west, trying to escape the flooding, as well as the dispersing radioactive cloud that hovered over what used to be New York. Every bit of coast from Florida to Maine affected, it would likely take decades before the United States would even begin to recover.

On the west coast, most of San Francisco was lost, but portions of northern California, including most of Mountain City, remained intact, as if nothing had ever happened. Passing by the farm produce stands along the roadside, it seemed to Jodie as if the people who lived simply before the earthquakes fared the best after them. People who lived off the land, growing their own food, harvesting what they needed to survive, those were the people who were least affected by the devastation Gypsum had brought about.

Ahead, Jodie could see the lights of the all night diner glowing in the dusk of the early evening. “Nick, do you mind if we stop for some coffee?" Jodie asked. "Dad said they were expecting a shipment today.”

“Sure, no problem,” he said, pulling into the lot and parking.

Jodie slowly lowered herself out of Nick’s truck, wincing at the ever-present pain in her side. They made their way inside and sat in a corner booth, the only seats left in the diner. She felt comfortable there, tucked away in the corner, out of view.

“Well, hi there, my favorite heroes,” Debi said, sauntering up to the booth. She reached down and hugged Jodie. “How’re you doing? Pain getting better?”

“Every day is a gift, Debi,” Jodie said, smiling.

Debi let out her usual gravelly laugh. “Oh, hey, speaking of gifts, someone left you one,” Debi said. “Let me go grab it. Want some coffee here, too? We finally got ours today.”

Jodie and Nick nodded. “Please,” Nick said.

Debi came back with the coffee pot and flipped over their mugs, filling them. "Straight from Columbia," she said. "It's nice to have coffee again. Didn't seem like a diner without it." She set the pot down on the table and pulled a small package from her pocket. “Came in the mail day before yesterday. I was gonna drop it off, but I forgot all about it. Sorry about that.”

Jodie took the package. “No worries, Debi,” she said, flipping the package over in her hand. There was no return address on it or postage. “Are you sure this came in the mail or did someone drop it off?”

“You know, I can’t remember. I just saw it here a couple of days ago, lying on top of the mail pile. I grabbed it because I thought it’d get lost, otherwise."

A customer waved from the other side of the room. "You'll have to excuse me for a minute. Coffee's popular around here today," Debi said, heading over to another table.

“You're sure you should open that?” Nick asked.

“No, I’m not,” Jodie said. “But what the hell? What can it do to me that hasn’t already been done?”

Nick laughed. “Very true. Still --”

Jodie tore the paper away from the small box. “Too late now.” She set the box on the table and slid the lid off. Sitting on top of a wad of cotton was a badge, badly charred and melted in spots. Jodie felt herself holding her breath as she looked up at Nick.

“It couldn’t be, could it?” he asked.

Jodie felt herself smile for the first time in almost two months. "It could," she said.