The Killin' Fields (Alexa's Travels Book 2) (29 page)

“You should go quickly,” Robert confirmed. “Another ceremony is taking place tonight. You don’t want to be discovered by Roscoe or his men.”

Alexa agreed, though not for the same reasons. She wasn’t afraid, but she did want to keep the element of surprise as long as she could.

Mark and Alexa slipped out the back door without protesting, and they could feel the relief when the cellar shut and the lock turned. The entire town was frightened.

It also stank. Pigs, the new world’s excess food, were used in all three zones, but again, not on Roscoe’s road. The rest of the residents were lined in pens and reeked of swine shit.

Alexa was extremely offended on their behalf.

5

Alexa stopped them near a line of bushes and Mark knew what she intended to do before she did it. It enabled him to be with her when she vanished behind the trees lining the bushes. No one noticed that he could tell and Mark kept his eyes on their rear as Alexa stayed facing the front of the street. They’d been on this signless road after leaving the black side of the city but Alexa clearly wanted an unscripted view of what went on here.

The water rushing alongside the outcast zone was dark and held any number of deadly toxins, including fish. The people here appeared to avoid the water, but from the damage and waterlines on buildings, Alexa was sure it was a battle that Roscoe had hoped would eliminate them. A flooded area was a place where accidents could happen, and then be overlooked.

Mark wasn’t sure what was coming, but he was fine with waiting for it. It was rare for her to have only one fighter with her and the convict savored the moment.

Alexa crouched down lower as voices came from the west of them and Mark did the same, hoping his big shoulders would blend in.

The voices grew loud enough to be recognized as low singing and humming, and the two hidden fighters stayed still and silent as the small crowd came by. Near fifty townspeople were walking sedately toward the front gates of the city, some black, some white, some both, Mark noticed.

The five people in front of this small crowd were older and dressed in long white robes that both fighters recognized, though Mark didn’t make the final, gruesome connection yet. He saw the other people were also dressed up and realized this was a ceremony of some sort.

The singing and humming continued as the group went on and it was still audible even after they were out of sight. Slightly eerie but mostly sad, Mark thought he liked the tune a bit and tried to remember it for later.

Alexa rose and stayed to the tree line as she followed the group. She kept far enough back to avoid being seen by anyone in the parade, but the other residents that she passed gawked at seeing her moving down the street. Alexa didn’t warn them to silence or rush ahead, only concentrating on the group, and Mark understood she believed that’s where she thought the threat would come from.

Alexa spent a minute lingering in the shadows of the alley by the long abandoned bakery and the pair observed the group as it halted at the front gates of the city.

Roscoe appeared in front of the group, carrying a small stack of books under one arm and a lantern in the other. His words didn’t carry to them however, and Alexa crept closer. She had suspicions to confirm.

The gates opened and from the corn beyond the garbage field, a harrowed hag floated toward them, wide and angry red eyes glowing brightly.

The five elderly people were upset by whatever was going on, and Alexa forced herself to stay put as Roscoe shoved the last woman outside the gate. His face was a blurry leer from this distance and Mark wasn’t surprised when Alexa crept closer.

The gates clanged closed as the hag reached the garbage field and the five people cowering along it screamed for mercy, to be let in. Alexa and Mark recognized Avery, then Zachariah and Porter.

The hag didn’t attack them like was expected. She extended a long arm toward the corn and after a minute of useless pleading, all five elderly sacrifices began the long trek.

The hag floated behind them, herding, and the townspeople watching from the gate cried silently at the loss of their loved ones. The others were already drifting away, eager to forget that the same fate waited for them in a few years.

Alexa didn’t wait for the smaller crowd to dissipate completely. She took the middle of the street straight to the gate and shoved it open with a furious glare at the single sentry who stepped forward to stop her. Roscoe had already gone and the guard looked around for him before shrugging, and stepping back. “It’s your funeral with the hag awake.”

Alexa spit at his boots and left the protection of the city with Mark’s clenched fists right behind her.

The sentry quickly closed the gate and then went to tell Roscoe that the rules had been broken.

6

Alexa and Mark had to run. Despite the people dragging their feet, the specter had them a clear mile from the city before Alexa caught up.

Mark expected her to attack, to rescue the people, but Alexa shook her head. “No.”

Mark frowned, not sure how he felt about watching whatever the hag had planned for the older folks, but in the end, he had no time to answer the thoughts.

The specter screeched, coming to a stop, and the area flooded with activity. Undead, all dressed in the same flowing white robes, ran toward the five people with hungry growls of eager delight.

Mark turned his head, unable to watch, but Alexa refused to look away. She’d chosen not to save them, not to give away her advantage yet, and it was only fair that she had to wake screaming later from the view.

The transformation from live to undead was ugly. After being bitten repeatedly and dying screaming, the five people were then revived by the hag. She pointed at several small beetles on the ground and those bugs then crawled up the bodies and scurried inside their mouths. A few seconds later, the corpses began to twitch, bones cracking, shitting, pissing, farting-all the humiliating sounds and actions that only a medical professional used to hear. It was another insult to the betrayal that had already been done to them.

Alexa gestured to Mark, and the pair eased out of the area, neither of them waiting to see the people wake and start the hunt for flesh. What they’d already seen was too much.

“What happens to the kids,” Mark asked emotionally. “I mean we know one was just taken. Maybe we could…”

Alexa silenced him with a hard look, but it hurt her to do it. “If I thought there was time, we would have followed that lead instead of this one. Their transformation is too quick. If we can’t kill the source, we don’t pick the fight.”

Mark wasn’t sure how she knew that, but didn’t argue. He didn’t like the feeling of her displeasure, but more than that, if he couldn’t help them, he didn’t want to know about it. The guilt was simply too heavy to carry on this quest.

“Yes, it is,” Alexa confirmed, leading them back to the city. “We’ve really only just begun.”

7

Alexa and Mark dropped back into the fencing that surrounded the warehouse, and the area lit up with men holding torches.

Alexa put a hand on Mark’s arm as Roscoe came through the glaring guards. “Not yet.”

What they’d seen and heard tonight had sent rage into both their hearts. They wanted Roscoe dead and it almost hurt to wait while he stepped forward.

“I see you took a walk,” Roscoe observed. “And did some visiting. How nice.”

Alexa waited, arms hanging loosely.

Roscoe frowned lightly. “I suppose they’ve convinced you. Seeing all that poverty and dejection would be enough to sway anyone, right?” Roscoe barked a laugh. “Does my side of it matter to you?”

“I’m listening,” Alexa said evenly. “Explain the missing kids and the elderly who sacrifice themselves as food for the monsters in the corn.”

Roscoe winced, but didn’t back down. “It’s the price we pay to keep our city,” he stated gravely. “I don’t like it any more than they do.”

“Why would you ever agree to such a thing?” Mark demanded. “What kind of a Mayor are you?”

“Dad?” Young Roscoe came through the crowd, eyes glassy. “Is everything okay?”

Roscoe looked at Alexa with abject terror. “Not a Mayor anymore, only a father.”

Alexa got the hint and put another piece together. Whatever trance Young Roscoe was in was holding his father hostage to the whims of the master of the house in the corn,

Mark grunted angrily as he put it together too. He scowled at young Roscoe, but the boy didn’t seem to notice.

“Dad?”

Roscoe put an arm around his son’s shoulders, again ignoring the flinch. “It’s fine. The new people went for a walk. We were about to go searching for them, but they’re here now.”

Young Roscoe nodded happily. “Good. Can we have hot chocolate in the morning with the biscuits?”

Hearing they ate the same thing as the people in the black and white zones helped Mark and Alexa to understand that though it looked better, Roscoe Street was indeed a trap.

Roscoe waved off the guards and took his son home without saying anything else to Alexa or to the travelers who had come from the warehouse to listen and help kill him if it was needed.

Alexa and Mark waited until all the residents were gone before sharing what they’d discovered with their group. It took a while.

Paul listened from a distance, still plotting. He almost had a real plan now. What he needed was some luck.

Betrayed and Repaid

1

The sound of struggling and curses brought the travelers awake as the squad of soldiers flooded the warehouse, guns drawn and ready to die.

“Do not resist,” Alexa told her men, not killing the soldier who grabbed her by the hair and forced her to her knees. “Plan C.”

“Shut up!” one soldier growled, slapping her.

Mark, still at her side, used his head to bash the soldier in the face. Blood gushed.

“Don’t touch her!”

The other soldiers rushed forward, beating him with their gun butts and boots until Alexa rolled in front of him and glowered with red orbs.

“That’s enough!”

Roscoe’s voice was whining, scared, and clearly not in control. Sensing weakness, the soldiers abused their authority by tripping bound people as they herded them outside, grabbing female asses and slapping slowly moving men.

Alexa, enraged by the treatment, caught Mark’s eye and directed him to where the mapmaker had his supplies spread out. He’d been working on a quick sketch of Lincoln last night and the smell of paint thinner was still in the air.

Alexa glanced to a pile of clothes next and Mark took the hint. While he inched toward the materials, Alexa stuck her foot out and tripped the nearest soldier.

Those closest responded with kicks and hits that drew Alexa’s other men and the travelers to her defense, and bought Mark time to get the small fire going behind his back.

Busy, none of the soldiers thought it odd that he was just standing there instead of trying to help his boss like the others were doing.

Mark joined Alexa as the soldiers retreated, helping her up as best he could with his hands bound. A few seconds later, the smell of smoke drew notice and the soldiers rushed to stomp out the flames that had quickly grown into a nice blaze.

Alexa muttered and her ropes burst into flames that singed her hands as it burnt through. She quickly shed the remains and untied her men. She was leading them toward the cart with their gear stacked on it when they were noticed.

“How did you get—”

Alexa punched the man in the throat and darted by him to grab her Colts.

The travelers knew to get down and stay there as both sides began to fire at each other. In the chaos, Braids was hit in the stomach and fell down screaming.

Spotting a perfect opportunity, Alexa fired three fast shots and took out the three highest ranking me in the room.

“Get out of here!” she shouted. “No bounty today!”

The soldiers, outgunned in only minutes, did as they were told and because of it, half who had come in were alive to flee.

Alexa waited until they were all out and Mark had locked the door before turning to evaluate the damage.

The slave owner was dying, sounding like a pig, and the mapmaker had no face left to speak of. Other than that, everyone was alive.

Alexa reloaded both guns and holstered before going to the door to call help that wouldn’t be able to save Braids.

2

Braids was dead by the time the town doctor arrived. The haggard looking physician was twenty pound too light and thirty years too young to be in charge of an entire city, but he assured Alexa he was the only legal doctor as they walked outside.

“There are hacks in each zone passing out herbs and such, but when Roscoe catches them, they’re banished. We only want legal medical here.”

Alexa didn’t ask any of her questions. All sorts of crazy formulas had come with the war, and she understood the strict rules, but it wouldn’t help her.

“Was there something else you needed?” the doctor asked suddenly with a knowing scowl. “You’re sick, right?”

Alexa held out the hand where she’d been bitten and tolerated the doctor’s touch while he examined it. The fighter in the doorway watched tensely.

Alexa expected him to tell her a rabies shot would help, or that nothing would, and she was surprised when he sighed and glanced to the east.

“They have better doctors, the government. Maybe you should let yourself be taken long enough to get a cure.”

Alexa pulled her hand away, but not rudely. The doctor wasn’t as bad as many of those she’d found since the war.

“No, thank you.” She handed him a small pouch of dust, which he put reluctantly into his pocket.

“I didn’t earn it.”

Alexa nodded toward the city, the outcast’s side. “I saw some of your work. I assume you shouldn’t let Roscoe know you’ve been slipping into the city to treat the people he wants dead.”

Alexa returned to the warehouse and her men, aware of the doctor staring at her in fear. He was worried she would tell, but the only thing she planned to do about it was keep her mouth shut.

3

The entire city of Lincoln showed up to send them off.

That was how it felt and Alexa’s men kept their eyes on the road and their minds on their lessons. Embarrassing their leader right now wouldn’t be good.

Alexa couldn’t have cared less. All she was concerned with at the moment was getting back to where they’d already been. She did not have patience for the speech that some of residents wanted to make, nor for the gifts that a few of them tried to give her.

“We have it covered. Keep what’s yours.”

Alexa led her men from the warehouse and toward the front gate, not surprised to find they now had no guards.

Roscoe was in front of them, waiting at the gate, and Mark moved to Alexa’s side. “Now?”

“The house first,” Alexa denied.

Mark grunted agreement, though he wanted to pull and fire. Alexa was the boss, even if he didn’t always understand her orders.

“I see you’re leaving,” Roscoe commented, odd eye on the thief and the boy still being held. “And you’ve no plans to leave my property here?”

Alexa looked at Edward. “Cut him free.”

“Hey, wait!” the Mayor cried, but Mark stepped in front of him and Roscoe had to complain from a distance.

Brian took the opportunity and fled the city through the gates.

“You can’t do that!” Roscoe shouted. “I need him!”

“You also need closure. I offer that to you now,” Alexa said, going to the thief. She opened the cell door and let him out.

Roscoe viewed the thief with confused hatred.

“Why?” Roscoe’s voice overflowed with a father’s pain as he faced his daughter’s killer. “How could you do it?”

The thief grinned, uncaring. “She was cute. Offered me her candy bar.”

The crowd gasped in horror and Alexa turned to the thief. “Do you have last words?”

“You can’t hand me over!” the thief shouted, coming towards her with his true face finally showing. It was ugly.

“I’ll teach you, bitch!”

Before Alexa could raise a finger, three guns fired and the thief flew backwards, smacking harshly against the street.

Roscoe screamed again, this time in joyous delirium.

Two of her fighters holstered and everyone stared in shock at Brian. He’d stolen the gun while Alexa and the soldiers were fighting.

Brian tipped the barrel towards Alexa in respect and then turned and walked calmly back into the corn that he’d been watching from.

“Didn’t see that coming,” Edward commented, liking Brian much more than he did Paul.

Alexa stepped to the gate during the chaos.

Confused, her men hurried after, trying not to think about how quickly she’d taken the man’s life.

“Was it because he steals?” Paul asked as the gates clanged shut angrily behind them.

“No,” Alexa answered. “Now be quiet. We’re not done here.”

Any questions the men wanted to ask died on their lips and the group walked toward the corn in dreading silence.

4

As they left Lincoln behind them, a sense of doom settled over the group.

“We won’t see any of them again, will we?” Paul asked. He also felt the gloom.

No one answered him and he didn’t repeat it. That’s why Alexa hadn’t taken their supplies. They needed everything they had and it still wouldn’t be enough.

Am I like that too?
Paul questioned himself.
Are her men right?

Once again not paying attention where he was going, Paul tripped over his own feet and smacked into the ground.

“Yes, you are,” Alexa answered his previous thought in cold tones. “That’s why you’ll stay.” Alexa pointed to a small shack they were passing. “There.”

Instead of the argument everyone expected, Paul turned that way with a curt tone. “I’ll be here.”

“We’ll stop by for you when we bring word of their kids,” Jacob offered, hoping he was right. It didn’t feel okay to leave the helpless scientist out here alone.

“Let’s make time,” Alexa ordered. She increased their pace until she was almost running and Paul was quickly out of sight.

Paul stayed in the doorway of the decaying shelter for a long time.

The small shack had two rooms and a door, with piles of rubble and dirt. Vines grew through the holes in the roof and animal tracks littered the rotting floor.

He watched Alexa and her chosen men as they faded from view and then kept watching, a small part of him believing she would at least glance over her shoulder to check on him.

She didn’t.

Paul stood there, mind a furious blur of thoughts and emotions.  She had left him. He was supposed to wait here like a good boy. When she returned, he would be left again, this time in Lincoln.

“I won’t stand for it,” he muttered, hands clenching into fists. “She can’t leave me behind.”

Paul remained standing, fuming, and the wind growing colder suited his mood. He’d never felt so angry, so in need of revenge. And he would have it.

Paul finally turned to the shack that he now viewed as his temporary holding cell and evaluated it. If he had to be here overnight, there were chores to be done. It was what Alexa would expect and what he needed to do to survive; but instead, he flopped down on the damp ground and continued his fuming. When he decided on a course of action, he would do something. No sense on wasting his time prepping if he wasn’t staying.

5

“Damn it,” Mark swore. “Those guys just won’t quit.”

The fighters came to a stop as Alexa did, all of them scowling at the newest squad of soldiers blocking their path. Positioned between the garbage road and the cornfield, all of the soldiers were pointing guns. The green men were freshly dressed to impress and Alexa didn’t give them a chance to show their virgin skills.

One of them moved toward her, cocky steps saying he wasn’t afraid, and Alexa took personal offense.

“Kill them all!”

Alexa’s men were only a bit surprised and they responded faster than the soldiers, drawing and firing with serious intent. Their mistress had given them license to kill and they were eager.

Alexa drew down on the now running Captain who’d thought she was captured, and pulled the trigger.

The cocky man, Aaron, screamed as the first slug tore through his ear. He jerked down, hands coming up, and her second shot slammed into his hand and through it, taking a finger. Her third shot drilled the back of his ankle and piercing shrieks split the chaos.

Alexa ignored the other soldiers who were stunned into submission by her brutality and fired again, hitting Aaron in the other ankle. He collapsed into a screaming, bleeding ball of remorse.

Alexa stopped with her boots against his face, feeling particularly evil. It was only the steps of her men as they quietly took the soldier’s weapons without further violence that kept her from killing again. No one wanted to draw Alexa’s attention.

Alexa stared down at Aaron, not caring that he’d only been doing his job. “You chose the wrong side,” she judged, pulling the trigger a final time.