Winter's Warrior: Mark of the Monarch (Winter's Saga 4) (33 page)

“Oh, here,” he said and tossed a small handgun back onto the dirt floor.  “Just in case he’s dying for a hug, you may need to stop his advances with that.  Remember, it’s either kill or be killed Meg.  The nanoweapon lodged in your heart and his won’t care if you’re
trying
not to get close to one another.  One bullet is all you get.”

Meg’s eyes saw the gun glint off the dim light from overhead.  She wasn’t sure, but it could be closer to the coyote than seven feet.  She tried to estimate, but her mind was playing tricks on her.  Who c
ould guess exactly how far away seven feet is—especially when lives depended on it?

She didn’t move to get the gun.  Instead, she stood thinking about her sweet Maze and how she found him all those years ago.  Here, lying on the dirt floor, Maze looked a little like he did when he was a puppy. He was on his side, legs and face twitching occasionally in his sleep.  But it was the puddles of blood soaking into the putrid, hard dirt from his ripped feet and nose that tore the image of him as a puppy from her mind.  Now all she saw was how badly she let her best friend and family down.  Tears of anger and fear slipped down Meg’s dirty cheeks.

“Can I get you something from inside?”  Farrow asked.

“No, thanks.  I’ll get some stuff myself after I’m done pumping the gas.”  Alik smiled at the girl who’d driven all night with him, forcing him to stop tracking ever
y hour so he wouldn’t get retro-cog sick.  At nearly five in the morning they stopped to use the restrooms and fill the gas tank.

Farrow nodded, her short, dark hair falling adorably into her eyes, turned and hurried to use the station’s facilities.  Not wanting Farrow to feel dependent on him, Alik had given her fifteen hundred dollars in cash.  As far as he was concerned, it was only fair. 

With the gas pumped, Alik locked the car and ran inside the building to get a few snacks.  His arms were full of turkey sticks, peanuts, protein bars and vitamin-packed energy drinks when Farrow found him. 

“You know, they do have little baskets,” she teased.

“I almost have everything I need.  Just one more thing.”

“Well, tell me what it is so I can get it for you.  If you put one more thing in your arms, the whole lot is going to topple.”

“I just need about ten packs of those white powdered doughnuts.”

Farrow raised her eyebrows.  “Seriously?”

“Yeah.”

“Ten packs of those sugar and fat-based, processed pastries?”

“They’re for my sister.  She loves white powdered doughnuts.”  Alik looked down at Farrow with red-rimmed eyes.

“Ten packs, you said?” Farrow hurriedly started grabbing them by the fistful.

“Thanks Farrow,” Alik managed with emotion cracking his voice only once.

“No problem,” she said trying to offer an encouraging smile.

After they paid for their items, they carried their sacks back to the car in silence.

“We need to talk about a plan, Alik.”

“I know, I’ve been mulling a few ideas over, but none of them are ready to be shared yet.”

Farrow watched Alik’s eyes begin to glow.  He was already tracking.  She pulled out of the lot and got back on highway I40 East and headed toward Nashville.  They were already halfway there and had only been driving for four hours. 

They were cruising along at ninety miles per hour as the sun was coming up over the horizon.  Farrow was thinking how beautiful Alik’s natural blond highlights looked in the morning light when he yelled,
“TRAP!”

Farrow immediately slowed the car to the posted speed limit of seventy miles per hour.  Both breathed a sigh of relief when they saw the patrol car half hidden behind the cement of an overpass. 

“Don’t speed up.  He’s with two other cops on motorcycles over the next ten miles or so.”

“Wow, am I glad you’re able to do that tracking thing,” Farrow mumbled thinking about how ridiculously awful it would be to have to open the
back of the SUV for an officer.

“
I’m going to call Mom to check in.  Knowing her, she’s already wide awake and sipping coffee by now…at least, that’s what she used to do before she was in a wheelchair.” Alik frowned as he pulled his cell phone from the front pocket of his jeans.  He slipped his finger across the screen to wake it, and dialed his mother’s cell phone directly.  He was thinking that would probably be easier for her to get to than one of the house phones. 

Margo, who had been making chocolate chip cookies with Theo and Danny, picked up on the second ring.

“Hello, Alik?”

“Hey,
Mom.  How are you feeling?”

“I’m fine.  Where are you?” 

Alik could hear Theo talking in the background.

“We’re just west of Nashville.”

“What? Where are you going?  Did you find them?”  Margo held her breath waiting for Alik’s response.

“Yes, I tracked them to that private airfield near the house.  You know, Kittyhawk?  I used my new—skill to figure out where the flight was headed.”  The vein in his forehead started pulsing angrily.  “They were taken to Louisville, Kentucky,
Mom.”

“Louisville, Kentucky!” Margo repeated for Theo’s sake.  “Are you flying there?”

“Sorta,” Alik didn’t want to lie.

“Alik Winter, are you flying on an airplane or are you driving like a bat out of hell?”  Margo was staring at the wilted peace lily she’d brought home from the hospital—a gift from the children to their mother in hopes of brightening her room.

“No flights were leaving immediately from either DFW or Love Field to Louisville, Mom.  So,” Alik sighed heavily and rubbed his eyes bracing himself for the fit his mother was about to pitch.  “I’m using my tracking ability to keep tabs on speed traps and the police in general so Farrow can drive a little faster than we ordinarily would.”

“WHAT?”

“Mom, we’re being very safe.”  Alik cringed at the expression he was sure was on his mother’s face.  He’d memorized her years ago.  “We just have to get there as soon as possible and this was the only idea I could come up with.”

“Ali, you know we just got Cole out of the hospital after being in a horrible car accident.  I just don’t want to lose you or Farrow.  Do you understand?”

Danny, who had been adding chocolate chips to the dough one at a time, stopped and watched Margo as she talked.  He seemed to take in everything she was saying as though he completely understood the gravity of the conversation.

“Yes,
Mom.”

“Don’t you ‘yes,
Mom’ me like you’re placating an idiot.  I understand your need to get to the others quickly.  I’d probably be driving as if I were in the Indy 500 if I was in the car with you, but I’m still your mom, and I still worry.”

“I know you do,
Mom.  We’re being safe, honest we are.”

“Tell Farrow I want her to be very cautious driving so fast and not to be afraid to slow down anytime too many other cars are around or if there are sharp turns.  God will only help those who help themselves.”

“Mom, we’re driving through Tennessee.  How many sharp turns do you think there are?”

“Alik Winter
.” In her voice was a stern warning not to back talk.

“Okay
Mom,” he sighed.

“Okay, nothing.  Tell her right now.”  Danny had hopped down from his chair at the kitchen table and was licking the stirring spoon with relish.  Margo thought quickly of salmonella poisoning, but decided to let it go for a while.

Raw egg is the least of this little boy’s worries
, she thought.

Alik turned to Farrow, trying hard not to roll his eyes as he repeated his mother’s directions verbatim.

Understanding the tone of the conversation from hearing Alik’s side, Farrow yelled back, “Yes, ma’am.  I’ll be very careful.”

“Now, Alik, what is your plan once you arrive at Arkdone’s asylum?”

“My plan is to get my family back.”

“
How
do you plan to do that?” Margo prompted.

“Mom, I love you, but no matter what I say right now, it’s going to freak you out and you’ll worry like crazy.  Just know that Farrow and I do have a plan and we will get everyone out.   You’re just going to have to trust me.”

“Why won’t you tell me your plan, Alik?”

“Mom, listen to you.  You just freaked out at hearing we’re speeding.  How are you going to wrap your head around us marching into that asylum with guns blazing?”

“Is that your plan?” Margo gasped.

“No, but do you see my point?” 

Margo was silent for a moment.  “Do you promise you’ll be as safe as you can and that you’ll call me as soon as you have rescued the family?”

“Of course,
Mom.  Look, lady,” Alik forced his voice into a softer pitch, knowing it would soothe her troubled nerves, “You trained me very well.  I don’t just fight, I fight intelligently.  I know how to take care of myself in battle, and it is all because I learned from you.  Trust yourself that you prepared me for this, okay?  Besides, Farrow’s got my back,” Alik winked over at Farrow’s smirk.  “And we all know how kick-butt she is.”

“Okay, Ali.  I love you so much,” Margo was trying very hard to be strong for her son.

“I love you too, Mom.”

“Tell Farrow thank you for helping our family.”

Alik turned to Farrow, “Mom says, ‘Thank you for helping our family’.”

“It’s my family, too,” Farrow spoke loud enough for Margo to hear.  “I’m all in, Dr. Winter.”

“Would you please get that girl to start calling me ‘Margo,’ or better yet, ‘Mom’?”

“I’ll work on it,” Alik chuckled.  “Hey, how’s my littlest brother?”

“He’s precious,” Margo sighed.  “He had us up before dawn this morning.  He’d crawled into our bed and was holding our hands in each of his own.”

“He’s a pretty great kid,” Alik smiled, genuinely happy to hear Danny was all right.

“He’s a blessing—thank God you all were able to rescue him.”

“Like I said,
Mom; you trained us well.”

“I love you,
Son.”

“Love you more, Mom.  Bye.”

Alik pressed “End Call” on his cell’s screen and sat quietly thinking for a moment before he spoke.

“Maybe now’s a good time to throw around some plans.”  Alik looked over at Farrow earnestly before opening the glove box and retrieving a tablet and a pencil. 

***

Margo heard the phone click indicting the call had been disconnected.  Slowly, with worry adding to the already permanent creases in her brow, she put her phone back in her pocket and looked up, still deep in thought.  That’s when she noticed Danny sitting on the kitchen floor sucking the spoon and opening the cabinets to get at the pots and pans.  Just above him, on the countertop was the peace lily. 

“Theo?” she called to the sweet man pulling out a tray of hot cookies from the oven.  “With everything we have going on, I don’t know how you think to do little things like water the plant.”

“What was that?”  Theo said over the clatter he made putting the
metal cookie sheet on the stovetop.

“Thanks for watering the lilies.”

Bang, bang, bang!

Danny was using his now
thoroughly licked spoon to play drums on the pots and pans.

“Come here you little monkey,” Theo said to the toddler as he tucked the pots back into the cabinet and scooped him up.  “You get to help do the dishes,” Theo said with exaggerated excitement.

To his surprise, Danny clapped happily and leaned toward the sink, anxious to get started.

“Now that you’ve seen the asylum and have gotten a feel for the inner workings of the creation of my Monarch slaves, I wonder if you have any questions for me, Dr. Bjorn.”

The two men were walking side-by-side toward the administrative offices at the hub of the compound.  The
Senator oozed pride and confidence with every step.  Dr. Bjorn moved with his typical shuffle, eyes down and deep in thought.

“Yes,
Senator.  First, I noticed on some of your—candidates, I believe is how you referred to them?”

“Yes, yes.  ‘Monarch Slaves’ seems so boorish, so we refer to them as ‘Candidates’ or ‘Monarchs’.”

Nodding, the doctor continued, “I noticed some candidates were branded with an altered infinite symbol.”

“Well, since Williams and I have worked together all these years, and he likes to brand the survivors of his serum, I adapted that symbol to suit my MetaMonarchs by adding an ‘M’ inside each loop. 
All candidates are marked so we can easily identify their status as either Monarch or MetaMonarch.  The difference, as I’m sure you can imagine, is profound in terms of how they are programmed.  As we use any number of means to create the trauma-based mind control we seek, a MetaMonarch needs everything to be taken up several notches as their strength and intellect have already been heightened.”