____Crossing the bridge, the group finally entered Kentucky territory and continued through the city from there. Troops and engineers had combed through the buildings in force to clear the way, ensuring a much quicker passage compared to the previous venture through the Ohio side. Zombies were too sparse here against such numbers and armor, and the Apostles present in the city had been scattered and kept at bay from here. Still, despite it all, the feeling of being watched did not depart.
____Although the tension persisted, no attack came as the convoy moved through the city. It remained too strong, moving at a faster speed as the IFVs led the way. Like the Rikers’ attack trucks the foremost vehicle had a large train-like plow mounted to the front, flipping all debris on the road aside with ease and forging a clear way forward on the street. Not even wrecked cars could halt the chugging military engine as it carved its path. They moved quickly.
____The convoy made it out of the city in a little over an hour. As the buildings dwindled away the main body of the line of vehicles stretched out across the opened-up road beyond, finally permitted space now that the city was behind them. Lt. Oakerley gave the command to fan out, a number of the tanks veering to the right in a wing of armor. Behind them, Sgt. Londel’s smaller number turned that way also and ducked out off the main road on their own. Header followed and their number quietly diverted from the body of the convoy. Anyone spying the army’s movements from at least two angles wouldn’t have seen them slip off. It was their best hope of being covert.
____Thorn watched Oakerley’s force head off on its own path. He hoped them success, knowing a survivor’s group of that size was dreadfully vulnerable. But they’d have to worry about themselves for the time being. He glanced to Stacey, who sat next to him—subconsciously leaning on him—permitting worry to show on his face, “On our own again.”
____“On our own.” she repeated, “Back into danger, as always.”
____The Corporal slumped a little in his seat, feeling strangely exhausted from the weight of all his equipment for the first time in a very long while. Maybe it was because he had nothing to do, or maybe it was because for once he longed to be free of it. Whatever the case, he leaned a little on her, and the two sat there waiting and riding on.
____The convoy escaped the shadow of Oakerley’s escort and the horde of civilians moving onward, dipping more south than east and departing down the lesser roads of the Kentucky countryside. Large zombie sightings had been reported over the radio, congregating across nearby highways in what felt like a deliberate blocking attempt. With that in mind, Londel and Header navigated their way locally, with frequent turns and reduced speed. The skies gradually cleared as they ventured: permitting beams of sunlight to finally give life to what was left of green upon the earth around them. Fields and hills again became rolling in the livening light against the bitter cold that had strangled much of the group’s journey, and for a short time one could see the colors again and breathe freely again and perhaps even forget the evil circumstances of all that had happened: if it all could only be seen through anything but the thick window of an armored military vehicle. But after a while the clouds returned, and the light faded under their passing.
____They rode on, confined to their dense metal transports as essential cargo: doing and serving nothing other than just sitting there with their own heavy thoughts.
____For a long while nothing occurred, the side route successful in its stealth. It of course had to end, and with a shouting and signaling the convoy came to a halt. Sgt. Londel left the lead vehicle and called her fellow Sergeant out. Header walked over.
____Their road had taken them through an underpass tunnel, and it was caved in completely. No IFV would squeeze its way through in a million years. Header grimaced and examined the rubble.
____“Terribly dusty collapse. Ain’t no way this occurred naturally.” he summarized, rising to his feet and wiping the powder from his gloved hands.
____“What do you make of it?” Londel asked him.
____“We got stuck in the city, blocked off from behind. This don’t look much different to me. Not necessarily by the Reaper, but deliberately performed nonetheless.”
____“Go back?”
____“Huh! Back, as directed by this? Yer young!” Header said with a smirk, “Naw, we go around.”
____“Where to, sir?”
____“I know a place. Here, let me take the lead.” The two Sergeants hopped into the AVs, and Header directed a new route from there. The pilgrimage resumed, under his discretion, veering down impromptu roads. Still they remained unassailed as the hours passed, though the unease of the blocked passage persisted even into the dark-clouded evening. The watching feeling too did not wane.
____At last as the day waned Header reached his destination, ordering the vehicles to grind to a halt and stop for the time being. Again Londel dismounted to confer with him. “Are you sure we’re still heading the right way?” she asked, “We’re losing daylight now.”
____“I’m aware.” he gruffly answered, surveying his surroundings. They had made their way off the grid, parked on a long road with few houses on both sides. It could hardly be called a neighborhood. He faced her, “What’s another day wasted takin’ this route? I know a place where we can stay.”
____Londel nodded, “We can’t all sleep in the AVs. Sure some of these houses might do?”
____“That one.” Sgt. Header nodded, glancing back to the civvies he knew were watching curiously, “Git out and stretch yer legs! We’re stayin’ here for the night!”
____“There’s still some sun left.” Londel told him, “Why here specifically?”
____Header smirked at her, “I used to live here.”
____There was something surreal about revisiting the house of someone known only through the disaster. It was a flat single-story residence with painted white walls lathered with the chips and fading of age, sat before a vast field of now overgrown grass. Inside the colors of the wallpapers and wooden cabinets and drawers were no less desaturated, but the curtainless windows permitted it to at least be lit well while there was still sinking sunlight. It glinted orange off the silverware still lying set on the table to the immediate right. It might have once been nice.
____Stacey glanced from one framed picture to another, “You lived in a house, Sarge?”
____Header shouldered his way in as the group entered and fanned out to make space. He frowned at the pictures, “Where else should I be livin’?”
____“I dunno, I thought you dwelt in a tank or something.”
____“‘Dwelt?’ Huh!” Header walked on ahead, “There oughta be three couches an’ two beds. Don’t know if the beds’re still good to sleep on, but even if it’s the floor the place is still insulated.”
____“It’s a nice place, sir.” Thorn told him, but he was already gone. The Corporal rubbed the back of his head at the awkward silence, glancing to the others, “Uh, well, everyone settle in.”
____Londel was less lenient to her own, gesturing to her soldiers, “Make a perimeter! Nothing gets in, understood?”
____Header left them to their business, ducking off into the kitchen and glancing around. All as he left it. That wasn’t terribly surprising, given that the house would more likely be abandoned before it was attacked. A fair distance from the city. But just not distant enough.
____He opened a mini fridge he knew hid under one of the cupboards, taking out a room-temperature beer and cracking it open. The can only hissed slightly, probably just shy of expiration in the months that had passed since the outbreak, and it tasted like sh*t. The hops were long gone. But it was a drink, and one of home. The fact that it was still unexpired at all meant that Colleen had probably just bought it for him before it all happened, in preparation for his returning stateside. He took it and left, exiting out onto the back porch and sitting on the peeled-paint step with his army boots in the yard’s unkempt grass.
____The distant hills glowed orange in the setting sun, looking like sleeping cats on the horizon. Header sighed and lifted his visor, rubbing his weary eyes, just sitting there fatigued letting the cool open air and old memories wash over him. He’d come back here far too late, and even now he returned on detail: still clocked in as ever.
____Sipping his beer and lighting up a cigarette, the Sergeant reached into one of the many pockets dotting his uniform and slipped out a paper, unfolding it and staring at the family photo printed in faded ink upon it:
____“THEY DIDN’T MAKE IT”
____Header exhaled grimly and just glared at it, dwelling on regrets in silence and smoke. Only the sun moved, descending slowly.
____“Sir?” Header startled and looked back. It was Sgt. Londel, “We’ve wired a connection to Nazar. If you’d like to report in.”
____Work. He nodded, noting how much his cigarette had withered unused, “Yeah, I’d better.”
____Londel’s men had swept the house and its surroundings quickly, securing a safe perimeter, before setting up a secure connection to VACC-102. A thick rugged laptop was opened up on the table awaiting encryption as Header entered, waited and watched. All the internet security concerned him, still not liking the idea of needing to hide from their own side’s ears. He could see Thomas and some of the other civvies peeking into the room, not liking their presence here either for what they might say or do.
____At last the screen snapped to life, projecting an impatient-looking Nazar drumming his fingers on an office table.
____“Report: where are you, Sergeant?” he asked immediately.
____“There was a li’l detour.” Header answered truthfully, “We’re crashing at my place for the night.”
____“Another delay, then?”
____“It was unavoidable, sir. We’ll be there tomorrow for certain.”
____“Tomorrow, Sergeant. For certain.”
____Thomas stepped forward, “We’re handling ourselves fine, Nazar. Do we have any assurance that Brooke’ll be in safe hands at this place of yours?”
____Header subdued the urge to shoo him out of the room. Thomas had a way of making his own plans, after all.
____“You. The actor who so shallowly turned on me at VACC. What assurance are you owed?” Nazar smirked, cupping his hands together with fingers intertwined, “Brave, brave Thomas Santeri. It was bad enough that you had to take these people on your mission of self-importance to Joetex’s doomed lab, for all the good that did you. Now you want to claim ownership of Brooke and her vital blood, and so insist that you be included in my mission. Your only qualifications being that you care about her—or at least you think you do. Aren’t you the hero of your own little play? Your love for her is undoubtedly so strong that no man, nor society, nor nature, nor machine, nor self or even God can hope to stop it.”
____Thomas frowned at him, “You’re prophetic, doubtlessly.”
____“Doubtlessly. But to be brief: stay out of the way and don’t muck up my mission. I know you’re more quixotic than you appear. Do try to stay on the tracks this time so I can do my work unhindered. Can you do that much?”
____“If you play nicely, I suppose. I’m familiar enough with your insidious nature to be wary, is all.”
____Sgt. Londel looked impatient with the exchange, “Sir, are these hostilities necessary? Let us continue.”
____Nazar nodded, “Forgive me, I’ve seen love lead plans astray and into disaster too many times to
not look at it with suspicion now. The enemy is counting on human nature to thwart us. But as long as we all march to the same tune we’ll come out on top.”
____“Your tune, of course.” Thomas assumed.
____“Of course.”
____Header shook his head, “Listen, it ain’t gonna be long, sir. We’ve cleared the bridge, we oughta be okay from here.”
____“You’d better. My patience was thin days ago. Tomorrow, Sergeant. For certain.” With that, Nazar cut the connection and the screen went blank.
____Header sighed and shut the laptop, taking a deep breath before standing. He faced all the other troops, “All right, you heard the man. I wanna be secure tonight. We got only one last chance to throw now; I want quiet and uneventful.”
____The soldiers nodded and dispersed. Londel too took her leave. Alone now with the Sergeant, Thomas sighed and shook his head, “I just have this feeling, Header.”
____“No, no feeling. Don’t feel, jus’ focus on the task at hand. Think you can do that little?”
____Thomas shrugged, “Sure.”
____The civilians divvied up space among the rooms and couches for the night, taking the indoor shelter for what it was worth in the cold. Thomas stayed by Brooke’s side, while she remained by Stacey on one of the couches. Thorn hadn’t really left her, always minding her health and comfort—they were still honeymooning it seemed. Gauge and Gene sat alone in the corner.
____“Tomorrow…” Brooke mused as they all sat around the lounge in the quiet glow of what little orange was permitted, “How am I going to get any rest knowing that?”
____“It’s like Christmas Eve.” Stacey told her, “The anticipation makes it too hard to sleep.”
____Thomas was still musing on what Nazar and Header had instructed, “All we have to do is stay out of trouble for however many hours. Then the rest is up to the doctors. It’s going to be very serious business there.” His words seemed to make Brooke look a little dour, for some reason he couldn’t guess, so he picked one of the little pillows off the couch and lightly threw it at her, “That makes tonight our last chance to have fun.”
____It harmlessly struck her face and she laughed at how unexpected it was, “Ow! Hey! How old are you?”
____Even Gauge smirked, “Older than me.” He too picked up a small cushion off the easy chair he occupied and threw it at her.
____She laughed and shielded her face, earning only a third: Stacey lobbing one of her pillows to join in the fun. It struck the back of Brooke’s head, thrown a little hard, and she whirled and stared in surprise, “Ow! Thorn!!”
____The Corporal seemed stricken with genuine surprise, “Me? Wait, but I—” But Brooke was on her feet and over to him, hitting him repeatedly with the pillow not knowing his innocence. Thorn accepted it, just shielding himself, “Man down, man down!”
____Sgt. Header peered in, “Hey! Y’all keep it down. People is tryin’ to sleep!”
____“Sure thing Dad.” Brooke giggled, “This is like a sleepover.”
____The Sergeant was unamused but everyone else found it a charming analogy. He slunk out grumpily, and Gene smirked at it, “I’ve never seen him defeated so quickly, Brooke. Just, uh, never ever call him Dad again, if you could.”
____“Ha, sorry about that, Gene…”
____At that moment, something very unexpected happened: the landline phone sat in the corner of the room began ringing. Surprised, Thorn rose and answered it, his greeting still carrying some of the laughter with it, expecting one of the others in the house, “Hello! How on earth did you manage this?”
____The reply rid that jovialness, a flat gravelly voice he didn’t recognize at all coming through the line, “Hello Corporal. I would like to speak with Brooke Arnakis, please.”
____Thorn snapped to attention, standing up straight and immediately glancing across the room at all of the windows. He didn’t see anyone, “I don’t know who that is.”
____“Now don’t be absurd, Cpl. Thorn. I know she’s there with you.”
____The grave change in mood about him caught the others’ attention, Stacey starting to rise, “Christian…?”
____Header beat her to it, having peered back in and seeing what was happening. He would have remembered a phone on that table had it been there before, barking at his comrade, “Hang it up!”
____The one on the other line must’ve heard this, quickly adding: “I would strongly advise against doing this, Corporal. It could have dire consequences for an innocent life you swore to protect. Listen here.”
____Thorn gripped the phone tightly, hearing a shouting yelp on the other side, a young voice: “Stop it! Let me go!
Stop!!”
____This he recognized, clicking in his mind.
Henry…! How did he? How does he know?
____“Kid!!” Header snapped again, “Hang it up, now!!”
____“I shall end his life painfully if I am not satisfied with this call.” the mystery voice said, “Now, I should like to speak with Brooke, please.”
____The Corporal turned back, looking pale-faced at Header before finally acting and holding the phone out to Brooke, “It’s for you.”
____She stood, slowly accepting the phone and speaking shakily, “Hello?”
____“Hello Brooke. We meet again.” the voice replied. It was dry and hoarse, like she would expect a serial killer to sound like, and she shivered in recognition of it, “There wasn’t time for an introduction at the hospital. I am codename Voyeur, one of King’s Apostles. And you are the girl Elias is looking for… Nazar’s little pet project: the immune one, yes…”
____“I…” she said, finding it hard not to stumble over her words.
____The voice interrupted sharply: “Speak truthfully, whatever you do.”
____“Yes. I’m her.”
____“Elias has tasked me with apprehending you.”
____“How did you find me? How are you doing this?”
____The voice chortled, “I take my tasks very seriously, Brooke, very seriously indeed… Getting you here was a simple measure, as you all explained clearly to me in Cincinnati.”
____She heard other voices coming through the line then, a recorded copy of Thomas and Header’s own words: grainy with increased distance and volume to compensate: “
‘Don’t tell me you’re from around here too, Sergeant?’”…“‘6601 Hayden Blvd, KY. Since ’05, son. Not the same side of the river but it counts.’”
____Voyeur returned, continuing, “Which faceless soldier suggested this route to the Lieutenant, and who blocked the tunnel which led to this detour? You would come this way if redirected, however subtly. And now you’re here. While all the others have been scrambling and fighting I have been studiously watching you. I’ve come to understand you.”
____Brooke breathed deeply and tried to gain some composure, speaking clearly, “Get to the point. What do you want?”
____“I want to test you, Brooke. You, as I see it, are a terribly altruistic person. I’ve observed as much from your words and deeds on this little trip of yours. You could say I’ve been moved by it. But I prefer love at a distance—to be near is to be duped and exposed. Up close the flaws become apparent. Who you
say you are could always be a falsehood. Do you think I haven’t seen it before? I do not like blemishes. Blemishes are disorderly.” He paused for a moment before continuing, “Now, many people… they think they are selfless, but it is only because they are untested. I want to see you in action. I have here this child, who I watched and waited for.”
____Again Henry’s voice could be heard, “Brooke! Help! Make him stop!”
____“Henry!!” Brooke shouted, “Don’t you dare harm that child! You let him go now!”
____Voyeur cackled, “Ah, but only you can make me. Would you stake the fate of mankind on saving a single child? Would you really?”
____“Yes!” she shouted, “Just let him go. Don’t hurt him!”
____“I haven’t done anything egregious, not yet.” he said, “You answered without hesitation: that is a good sign. I will leave him for you, but you must come and collect him. Alone. There will be many undead there, and I will kill the child immediately if they are stirred up by the presence of your friends.”
____“Okay, fine.” she huffed, “But you can’t hurt Henry. Don’t do anything to him, please.”
____“I see no reason to do anything more than what I’ve done. I’m not one to do harm out of mere restlessness. But I fear for his fate if you do not come and collect him, Brooke. I’ve stowed him in a dump west of Sutton Lake, not far from your current location. Approximately forty miles, thirty minutes by car. Therefore I shall expect you promptly in that time. Just follow the flames from there for direction. I’ll see you then. But you won’t see me.”
____Brooke heard the line close. She dropped the phone and slumped down to her knees, letting out an exhausted sigh. Everyone stared, all drawn to the shouting.
____“I have to go.” she said, “He took Henry.”
____“How?” Gene asked.
____“I don’t know. He said he was watching… he must’ve known we’d become friends. I never should’ve let him leave.” She started to her feet again, “I have to go. He wants me there alone. It’s the only way to get him back!”
____“Hell no!” Header shouted, “We are
this close! There ain’t no way we’re lettin’ you go off on your own again, certainly not into what is absolutely a death trap!”
____“It’s that or Henry will die!” Brooke snapped at him, “I have to try to save him! I won’t just let him be killed like that!”
____“I’ve gotta side with the Sergeant.” James said, “There’s no certainty of anything but death in this scenario. You don’t even know if you’d get the kid back. It’s Evil 101.”
____“What do you know? I’m leaving.”
____“Really by yourself?” Gene asked.
____“Gauge can come with me.”
____He simply nodded at the mention, standing up quickly and ready to help her without a word. Brooke turned to leave, stopped only by Header grabbing her by the arm. For the first time she felt his genuine strength, and she was yanked back to face him. The Sergeant glared down at her, “You cannot do this, ma’am.”
____She stared up at the man, standing there gauntly towering over her, “Why not? And let go of me.”
____“Jus’ think of everyone depending on us getting that cure outta you. Jus’ take a moment and dwell on the gravity of the situation.”
____“Header, Henry’s only a child. I won’t let him die.”
____His grave expression didn’t change, “Think of how many children’ve died already ‘cause of this virus. We can’t throw it away over jus’ one.”
____“Says who?” Brooke tore her arm out of his grip, “I don’t coldly measure things like Nazar does, arrogantly thinking he knows the value of everyone’s lives. We do things differently. We can’t assume to know anything about the significance or insignificance of a person. I don’t care if I’m ‘important’; I refuse to let anyone die because of my own life.”
____“It’s your death I’m worried about.”
____“My life, my death: either way it’s me so we do things my way. As long as that’s the case, we don’t turn our backs on anyone. Certainly not children. I’m going. Let’s go, Gauge.” With that, she turned to leave, the ex-Apostle following her right out the door without a second thought.
____The Sergeant turned his attention to Thomas, “She’s gonna git herself killed within the hour. Can’t you talk some sense into your woman, boy?”
____“I don’t know if I can.” he said with no small amount of uncertainty. Her words of comfort at the hospital were nearer to him now, but the more distant memory of the visage hovering over her rung harder. Brooke’s certainty hadn’t rid that fear from him entirely. But what could he do? Could he even stop her if he wanted to?
____Header looked displeased with his short blunt answer, shaking his head, “Well damn! Perhaps you could follow Gauge out there and help her out. Paint a nice big target on her, in case the bad guys have trouble seein’ her right away.”
____Thomas dismissed the critique and rose, leaving the house and walking out into the dark outside. Only the dim glow of the meek lights escaping the windows provided any sight out here, where Brooke and Gauge stood by one of the cars. Getting ready to leave already. Thomas walked after them, feeling the brisk cold on his ears only seconds spent out of the building.
____“Brooke.” he said, “You’re leaving already?”
____“He only gave me half an hour to get there.” she replied, facing him, “Which means you don’t have the time to try and talk me out of this.”
____“You’re really going through with it? After all the work everyone put in getting you through the city safely?”
____“We don’t have time to think of a clever workaround.” Brooke said, “And we went through the city to let all those people through to the other side. That’s what was important to me. And this is important to me too.”
____“But you act like you’re not important.”
____“In the grandest scheme of things, I don’t think I am.” she said, “I know this looks like a bad trade to all those ‘big picture’ thinkers, but trust me Thomas: in the biggest picture it’s the littlest things that are the most looked at. Some of the most essential instruments aren’t noticed until they’re gone.”
____He didn’t like this notion: that she would die attempting an insignificant good so that some inspector in the next life would examine it and nod with approval. She would then get an extra jewel in her crown and it would all be worth it, despite how many more people would perish if she died too soon in this vital conflict. And of course none of it would occur anyway, rendering it all the more moot. Their enemies could thrive off of this mode of thinking.
____No, no. Thomas shook himself out of it, refusing to dismiss her so easily. If he didn’t trust Brooke then he didn’t respect her, didn’t believe in her. He had to believe in her, despite the logic, despite the vision. If he didn’t then there was too little separating him and men like Nazar.
____“I love you.” he concluded aloud, “And so of course I trust you.”
____Brooke smiled, “Even when things are this dark, one small thing can brighten up the world. I will get Henry back, and no matter what happens I know I’ll be okay because I have people like you looking after me.”
____“Okay. I believe you.”
____“I’ll make sure she’s safe.” Gauge assured Thomas, “They won’t detect me.”
____He nodded, albeit a bit shakily, and backed away as they both got in the car. Watching them leave, telling himself that he believed.
ii
____Brooke and Gauge did not leave unaccompanied. Despite his protests, Sgt. Header played along with the charade and permitted the two to leave, but he still wanted to follow them as close as he could while he could. Sgt. Londel and her men were similarly dissatisfied with the scenario, having worked their asses off to secure that bridge for her, so as soon as Brooke had left most of the remaining group and soldiers had piled into the two IFVs and followed along, rumbling down the vacant back roads in the dark.
____They had stopped once reaching the town outside Sutton Lake, where Brooke had been instructed to go. As promised numerous fires had been lit, a path of large flames directing the car to its destination. Through the night-vision sights of the IFV Header watched the lonely little vehicle go on ahead on its own, lost between the blinding pyres, still grumbling to himself bitterly.
____“Off they go.” he said to the others in the cramped red-lit metal vehicle with him, sliding back and permitting Thorn to look through the sights next, “All we can do now is wait for commotion and hope to git there fast enough.”
____Reed scoffed loudly, “Yeah, fast enough!” He aimed and bolted an invisible rifle, “
Boom! Dead.”
____“Well, we’re as close as we can get.” Thorn assured the Sergeant, “Try your best to relax, old man. We’re doing everything in our power.”
____Thomas just sat there, trying not to wring his hands in worry, “We have to trust in Brooke. Trust that she’ll be okay, that she knows what she’s doing.”
____“Hah!” Header balked at the idea, “How many tours does she got under her belt? She has no idea what she’s doing. Apostle’s got us by the balls with her callin’ the shots. All this guy needs is a clear view, which she’ll be gladly providin’ momentarily. ‘Trust that it works out’, ‘Hope we can get there in time’, these are bad things to be hearin’ at the height of war.”
____Thorn shook his head, “Well, we’ve got one trump card in Gauge. He’ll be much closer to Brooke, without riling any undead nearby.” He paused for a second, “Was that two Well’s back-to-back? Damn, Gene’s rubbing off on me.”
____Thomas watched him leave the sights and then moved up himself to take a look. The camera was grainy and dark, flecked with static and the blurred blaring lights of the fires out there in the night. He could barely see but it was all there was to work with at the moment. Somewhere Brooke and Gauge were out there, approaching the site where they would allegedly collect Henry. He could feel the tension in his gut, being so far, being so unable to intervene. He hated having something of such importance out of his control, but then when did he ever have control before? Rarely if ever. Feeling no less sickened, he just watched and waited. Waited for the disaster to strike.
____The winged moon was hovering fully close overhead as Brooke finally reached the site. It had been nerve-wracking just driving here through the dark, too dangerous to even use headlights on the way through the winding country roads. Gauge had accompanied her closely thus far, only now beginning to hang back as it came into view, not wanting to be seen and ruin the deal with the enemy. The others had come as well, albeit at a far distance long out of sight. Header would be watching, she knew, even if he had to stay so far away as to not be able to immediately help if things went wrong.
____A vast dump site opened up as they neared, the glow of flames below having guided them here, carved low into the ground like a quarry and littered with vast piles of trash. Much of the refuse had been lit and burnt brightly in the night, lighting the place like an arena. A small army of zombies swam about down there, kept partially entrapped by the deep dip in terrain: a vast flat pit. Their cries and hisses filled the night like the buzzing of insects.
____“All lit up like Christmas…” Gauge muttered to Brooke, hanging around close behind one of the garbage piles where he hoped to remain out of sight, “It can’t have been burning for too long. He knows you’ll be here tonight.”
____“He’s probably still watching from somewhere…” she said grimly, looking about but unable to see any signs of this spy, “Stay here. I’m going in.”
____“Be careful. If I see him I’ll shoot him.”
____“That’s the trouble—you won’t see him.”
____With that they parted, Brooke carefully climbing down into the shallow quarry. Rocks tumbled about her feet as she went, Brooke paling at the noise and again looking around her. Never knowing when a killing slug might fly through the air and end her life in an instant. So far, nothing.
____Zombies paced around her as she went onwards, still ignoring her outright and going about their business. Brooke still kept her distance from them out of habit, trying not to retch at their rotting-meat smell. The smoke and the burning trash did little to aid this, and the whole area reeked of blood.
____Blood: oh, she was stepping in it everywhere she went here. There were sharp sticks and spears all over this place, she recognized now: with countless limp bodies pinned upon them, or them through the bodies in an ugly display of impalement. They were all dripping with the blood staining the ground, and all masked with burlap or tape wrapped all about their heads: making it impossible to tell if they were killed humans or zombies or fakes. How did these corpse-scarecrows get this way? It could only be the disgusting work of her mysterious host. Covering her mouth, Brooke hurried past it all.
____Almost a hundred feet into this dreadful place she finally heard Henry’s voice, shouting for her, “Brooke?! Someone help! Anyone!!”
____“Henry!” she called back, “Henry, it’s me! I’m coming!”
____Now she pressed her way through the filthy throng of undead as they crowded around the center, fighting her way through until at last she could see him. Here in the very heart of the quarry an ugly rudimentary cage stood: made from branches and long beams of metal all stitched together. Inside this was Henry, fastened with rope to a pole in the middle. He was struggling and panicking, but he was kept still right in the center where the stretched, grasping arms of the hungry zombies between the bars couldn’t reach him.
____“I’m here!” she cried, forcing her way through and over to him.
____He saw her, lighting up, “Brooke! Help me! The door!” He nodded to the cage wall on his right, “But don’t let them in!”
____“I won’t.” Brooke walked over, making her way through the frenzied horde with the ease or even casualness only an immune person could have. The door possessed an extremely simple latch, only complex enough to stop the zombies, which she opened and slipped inside. Instantly the horde surged, Brooke closing it quick behind her and locking it again. She moved to Henry’s side without hesitation and began untying the ropes around him, “I’m here. Don’t panic.”
____He gawked at the zombies surrounding them, “Yeah. No reason to panic…!”
____Brooke quickly freed him and held him tight, looking around her now for a way out. She heard ringing again and whirled, seeing a tiny little table sat in the corner. It was round and tall like a stool, and looked both fancy and ugly in a way that the furniture at a grandparent’s house might. Upon the out-of-place eyesore sat another landline phone, its wires running out of the cage and out of sight under the countless undead feet flooding the area.
____There that phone was, just ringing and ringing. Brooke took a deep breath, leaning out while trying to keep Henry both close to her and out of the reach of the zombies clawing between the bars.
____She answered the call, “What do you want?!”
____Voyeur’s voice replied calmly, difficult to hear amidst the zombies’ groans and shouts, “Hello again, Brooke. I see you’ve found your way here; how do you like my handiwork?”
____“It’s sickening!” Brooke answered sternly, looking around her at all the undead, all the blood and fire and bodies and filth. No sign of Voyeur that she could see.
____“I thought it might be a fitting arena. The survivors you see skewered around this place were toiling to dig it out themselves. I imagine they wanted to use the quarry as an execution pit. As I killed them, I thought of how well it might serve me. Their bodies make for haunting decorations, do they not—though you couldn’t now tell which were human and which were undead, which were good and which were evil. They’re just the same now. Those stories are lost, and we remaining can only speculate.”
____“Get to the point!”
____“Ha ha…! Very well: I see you came for the boy as promised. Another mark in favor of your purity.”
____“How dare you put him through this just to get to me!” Brooke said, “Why are you doing this?!”
____“Why…?” Voyeur paused for a moment, “When I was young, I saw a dead bird. I wondered how her hatchlings would possibly survive without her, and knew that they simply would not. And then I thought to myself, ‘If these creatures are not permitted to live, then what gives any of us the right to do so? This is an imbalance, and if I cannot have perfection then I will have nothing.’”
____“Over a bird?!” Brooke shouted with disbelief.
____“Hahahaha!!” Laughter rattled from the phone, “Did you expect a greater sob story to justify all this? You should hear Elias’ reasons for his joining Apostle! But I don’t believe there is any excuse that would satisfy you in regards to our actions. Nonetheless I have witnessed imbalance, and the imbalance must have its due. King understood this, and so I have been given a way to achieve what I desire. It began with the outbreak, and concludes with you. No cure, no recovery, and the disease becomes terminal. No more imbalance, Brooke.”
____She breathed out sharply in exasperation, furious that this man’s so-called reasoning might kill her, “Imbalance! It’s no excuse at all! You’re just doing what you want to do! I swear to you that bird’s fine up in birdie heaven!”
____“Then certainly you won’t mind if we send everyone up to human heaven; to get it over and done with, like ripping off a band-aid.”
____“You know that’s not how it works!”
____“I know only what you believe, Brooke. Coping mechanism: religion, Christianity. Denomination unspecified. Tell me earnestly, is that sufficient enough to satisfy your doubts about this world, that there will be some kind of perfect paradise for your kind afterwards?”
____“It has to be!”
____“But not for me: even in your heaven it would not be enough for my tastes, because there would still be empty seats at that table. Would there still be hot and cold, sun or rain, left and right—all against my preference or with someone else’s? I will not be satisfied. No, only King can offer what balance I desire: that of absolute zero.”
____Brooke lowered the phone, having no time for this, feeling Henry clutching her. She looked all around her. The zombies had only thronged in closer, pressed tight against the cage from all sides. Its shoddy make only just held them all at bay: bending in its weakest spots, creaking under their force. If it gave in even one bar they would come spilling in, and she would be as helpless to defend Henry as she was to get him out right at this moment. She swallowed and again held the phone close, “Let us go!”
____The gravelly voice only laughed, “You are free to go at any time, Brooke. They can’t stop you. Of course, it will be difficult to get the boy out with you. I told you there would be zombies. I don’t suppose you had any plan to deal with this?”
____She turned, looking for any gaps in the undead and seeing none. She scowled, “That’s not fair! I thought the whole point of this was for him to go free. You have me here just like you wanted, so find some way to let him go!”
____“You misunderstand me, Brooke.” Voyeur said, “This was an exercise in your altruism. The others only want to take you, but they have attempted thus without knowing you. I, on the other hand, have been watching for some time: with ever-increasing interest. You must know the value of your own life, especially to Apostle, yet you offered to trade it away to save a single meaningless soul. Such intoxicating purity. And I knew you would do it without a second thought. Surely, thought I, this would fly in the face of all that King says about mankind. He who gives so very little credit to the human spirit. You and him, sacrifice and misanthropy, good and evil… who will win?
____“I must have these answers myself, so I’ve taken a little detour from my orders as Elias gave them to me. You’ve proven too interesting for me to let go that easily. You poor thing. Of course the immune one had to be a young girl of such spirit. No doubt Nazar is furious at that! If only it could’ve been one of the soldiers, he must curse every single night!”
____Brooke scoffed, “Well that’s all fine and dandy, but if I’ve proved myself then I should be allowed to go. You can’t sit there philosophizing about me and King only to help Apostle’s side anyway!”
____“I’m not finished with you yet! I said that most altruists are fakes because they are untested. Even some who are tested are only boastful martyrs. Certainly you knew the logic of coming here: it would be naïve to do so and expect to leave alive. Perhaps you think you’ll get to have it both ways. Or you are happy to trade your own life for another… but that’s only a simple barter. There’s nothing impressive about that. Let me make it clear that nothing of that sort is going to happen here!”
____A quick series of quiet bursts could be heard, explosions masked only by their great distance. Brooke turned east, facing that direction and staring out into the vast dark beyond the quarry.
____“I’ve just destroyed the Sutton Lake reservoir.” Voyeur explained, “In approximately seventy seconds the torrent of water—average eleven degrees Celsius in this weather—will come smashing down on your current position, with volume still sufficient across the distance to flood this pit in seconds. I don’t believe that permits much time for you to escape. And it permits no time at all for you to kill all the undead and clear a path for the boy, or for anyone else to barge in and save you.”
____She paled, the phone partially slipping from her palm, seeing nothing in the dark but hearing the rushing waters: only faint at first but growing ever louder. Henry grasped at her, “Brooke…?”
____“Now face the
actual test.” Voyeur said, “Save yourself and let him perish all alone, or stay and grant him this meager comfort: to die in someone’s arms. I of course already know what you will choose, and you know it too. Farewell!”
____“Brooke?” Henry repeated, not knowing what was going on.
____She dropped the phone and held him tight, “Everything’s going to be okay.”
____There was no room for hesitation in her mind, only a brief flicker of despair as she realized that she couldn’t do anything to help Henry: not anymore. He was always going to be killed: the monster only wanted to see if she would abandon him when faced with the certainty of his death. He knew she wouldn’t. And so that was that.
____The water roared closer. She held him and closed her eyes.
iii
____SPLOOSH!!!
____A rolling wave of water came from the darkness and crashed down into the quarry, instantly outing the blazing fires and smothering the entire area: rendered crushed and invisible beneath the shining surface above. The spent remnants of the released reservoir washed up only to Gauge’s boots as he watched in horror.
____“
Brooke! BROOKE!!” he shouted, sloshing about the perimeter of where he knew the sharp incline down lay, looking for signs of life. The cage he’d seen her go into probably wouldn’t have survived to trap her, but that meant she and the boy could’ve been thrown anywhere in this now-makeshift lake.
____That was another one gone, then. Gauge trudged this way and that, cursing the fact that he’d ever helped Apostle with anything: they who had toiled so hard to take everything good in the world and destroy it forever. He hastily began unstrapping his armor, casting off anything that’d weigh him down too much.
____Donning his Apostle mask and turning his carbine’s underbarrel flashlight on, Gauge dove in. Instantly the cold of the water rushed his senses: all frigid, all black down here. It could kill, but Gauge smothered the urge to flee the chilling freeze and swam deeper. He’d die looking for her.
____All the water was filled with junk: tires and pipes and boxes and plastics floating about like debris around a wrecked satellite. Gauge shone his light and squinted to see, struggling to even swim his way through let alone find the two lives lost in this sunken haystack. His own breaths came quickly, his mask offering only a gasp or two of extra air and trickling water in. There was no time, no time for anything.
____Gauge swam, shone his light about, swam deeper, repeated. The quarry was too vast. There was too much, they could be anywhere. As his own breath dwindled the ex-Apostle hunted ever more desperately, knowing if he had to surface for air then he would be too late to mount a second search.
____Where are you? Brooke! This can’t be how it ends for you!
____The debris was no less dense the deeper he was, and Gauge looked and looked endlessly through it, trying to find their bodies. It was too much to sift through. Then as his own stamina depleted he turned with his weapon and saw a glint in the murky distance. Mirror-like glass reflecting off his flashlight.
____Gauge faced it.
The band around the kid’s wrist!
____Furiously he swam over, forcing his way through the waves of junk. There Henry and Brooke both were: her arms still limply wrapped around him. Instantly Gauge grasped them both, swimming as fast as he could, shoving refuse out of the way and racing to surface even as his own breath gave out.
____Moonlight glinted off the rippling water above. Gauge surfaced.
____“Ah!” He ripped off his mask the second he breached the top, gasping for breath and yanking hard on both the bodies to pull them from the deeper water. He trudged hard, weighed down by the waterlogged equipment hemorrhaging big droplets with his every move. He heard fierce hissing: Gauge whirling and startling at the sight of zombies clawing their way out after him. Snatching up his rifle, he sprayed them back down with gunfire:
BANGBANGBANGBANG!!!
____Again it was quiet, Gauge panting and dropping his weapon as he fell to his knees. The damn things were persistent even when drowned. But wait, they were still giving chase. He snapped to attention, realizing that in their supernatural sense the zombies had signaled that Henry at least was still alive. They wouldn’t react to Brooke or Gauge himself after all.
____“…Alive!” he breathed to himself, immediately stooping to the boy to begin CPR, pausing only to glance over at Brooke’s body lying there beside him, unable to tell if she was dead or not, “But… No, she came here for him, she’d want it to be him before herself!”
____It hadn’t been long, but he found Henry to be dreadfully cold and still. Brooke had shielded him with herself, but it wouldn’t halt the water or its freezing temperature. Gauge ripped open the kid’s shirt and began forcefully pumping his chest with both palms, then giving mouth-to-mouth and repeating the process.
____“Come on, kid… come on…”
____At last one final push of air into Henry sent him into sudden movement, convulsing upright as if shocked and spitting out water in violent coughs. He rolled over onto his hands and knees, retching and hacking before finally managing one word, “…Cold…!”
____Gauge breathed a sigh of relief, noting his own visible breath in doing so, “I’ll get you back to the others. They’ll be on their way. But first I have to save her!”
____He crawled over to where Brooke—pallid as a corpse already—lay, but was prematurely halted, for in that moment one of the erect scarecrow-like bodies mounted all about unexpectedly moved. It hadn’t been there when Gauge had thrown himself into the water, but he hadn’t kept track enough to notice. It drew its hood to only reveal a second mask: a black balaclava with an Apostle insignia crudely sewn across the face in thick red thread. This figure moved: one step forward, and a sudden flash of silver in the moonlight as its hand darted. Gauge shouted and fell back, two knives suddenly planted in his vest.
____Henry recoiled, not even knowing Gauge’s name to shout out. He whirled to the newcomer, “You!”
____“So you weren’t alone at all, lying little girl…!” Voyeur said, speaking down to Brooke’s body as he quickly waded over, “Up close the flaws reveal themselves. Would this make King correct? The penalty for this treachery is death!” He drew another knife as he neared.
____Henry dipped his hands into the water, knowing that they trembled violently more by sight than by feel in their numbness. As he saw the Apostle approach, he grasped Gauge’s submerged gun and pulled it up, finding it terribly difficult to keep it trained on his enemy, “D—Don’t you touch her!”
____Voyeur laughed loudly at this, then reached and tore open his black jacket. Underneath lay a fully-armed suicide vest: blocks of claylike explosives wreathed in wires, red lights flashing. Having revealed this, he fearlessly came closer, “Careful! This keeps track of my health and is terribly sensitive, provided I don’t push the button myself. I wouldn’t want you to kill us all after such a close brush with death. They both gave their lives to save yours. Would you render that all in vain?”
____“I…!” Henry started, furious at his inability to fight back. Voyeur walked over, freely lashing out one leg to kick the boy across the face and back down into the water.
Thwack! Splash!
____The Apostle then strode over to Brooke, “Sweet thing… much too sweet. You have affected me, but to be close is to be vulnerable, and I know by this helper of yours that you are ultimately a liar. Forgive me Elias, but I can’t have that affecting me.” He surveyed her still body and dreadfully pale skin, musing, “You should by rights be dead by now, but best to be certain. Always best to be certain…” He stooped and raised his knife into the air, “To absolute zero!”
____Just then Gauge burst back up, grasping Voyeur and fiercely grappling with him. The blades had been blocked somewhat by his armor—lightened as it had been—lessening the damage and leaving him with more fight left than expected, though his torso was still soaked in blood. He had pulled one knife from himself, wrestling his way close and trying desperately to cut the wires connecting all the explosives latched to his enemy. His other hand gripped Voyeur’s own, doing all in his power to keep the Apostle’s thumb off the button sewn into the palm.
____“Don’t you dare…!” Gauge muttered as the two thrashed around, kicking up water. Slowly he dragged the Apostle away from Brooke, and they fought and wrestled gradually up one of the piled hills of junk that still surrounded the drowned quarry.
____“Our own little Judas! Cheater!” Voyeur grasped his foe’s knife hand and held it at bay, his remaining charges still armed. The two grappled there for a moment without result, though one gradually overcame the other. Slowly the ascent away from Brooke halted as Voyeur mastered their struggle. Gauge paled, too frozen and too light with bloodloss to keep up the fight for this long. They weren’t nearly far enough away to spare her and the boy. He could practically hear the grin in Voyeur’s voice as this thumb fought its way to the trigger, “What you fear will come to pass, Gauge: to die without making a big enough difference! Insufficient!”
____The splashing of water around heavy spinning wheels came to his rescue: the IFV that had shadowed them here racing to the scene. Header at the weapons saw what was happening and barked a single order at maximum volume over the speakers, “
Gauge! Drop!”
____Seeing the IFV’s cannon swivel in the moonlight, Gauge obeyed. He released Voyeur and fell limp like a corpse, knowing he might perish right that second. His foe whirled to meet the new guests, free to detonate himself and take them all. But Header was faster on the trigger. Squeezing the controls, he fired the cannon point-blank straight into the Apostle.
____The IFV’s heavy shot punched Voyeur square in the chest: too close to detonate and instead acting more like a baseball launched at impossible speed. From the low angle of the Sergeant’s gun fired up the hill it knocked him back and up—right into the air screaming where his vest exploded in a bloodied, blazing firework above them all. Bits of flesh rained into the water as all those nearby reeled and struggled to sit back up.
____The wake of the explosion’s subsequent silence took a few moments too long to shake off, a very dazed Henry managing to stifle out a shout as he pointed, “Brooke!”
____Thomas was already out of the armored vehicle and hurriedly sloshed through the water to where she lay, finding her still as death. The comfort of all her words and promises seemed lost in the dark now, only terror to replace it, and he now wondered why he had ever agreed to let her do this thing at all. Hands to her chest, he began pressing her, trying in vain to do anything at all, “Brooke! BROOKE!!”
____Header furiously waded over.
____“Out the way, you idiot!” he roared, shoving Thomas aside and stooping low. Without a second’s hesitation he drew his knife and remorselessly cut Brooke’s top open. Using only the very tip of the blade he then punched it into her before flipping her over to grip and heave as if he were performing the Heimlich maneuver. Water leapt out from her puncture wound and then her throat as she snapped back into motion, violently convulsing and coughing.
____Thomas tried to rush to her side, “Brooke!—”
____“Out of the way!!” Header shouted again, scooping Brooke up and rising to his feet. She wasn’t out of the woods yet. He shouldered his way past them all, hurrying back to their ride, “I need warmth and dryness ASAP, Corporal! Now, now, now, now, now!!”
____“What about these two?” Abbey protested, pointing to Gauge and Henry.
____“I’m on it.” Thomas told her, knowing that he could do no more for Brooke at the moment, and that the other two hadn’t escaped Header’s sight. But he knew the Sergeant’s logic perfectly well: Gauge and Henry weren’t Brooke. She was the essential one, she had to be the one to survive. All the others—even the child—were flying economy class.
____Brooke was rushed back to higher ground where the flooding couldn’t cause more harm, taken into the first standing shelter that could be found. Header swept through the house, clearing it quickly and returning to the fireplace and piling it high with anything that could even remotely burn. A splashing of gasoline and a spark from his lighter later and a large fire began roaring within the mantle.
____“Towels, blankets!” he’d snapped at Thorn as he toiled, returning to Brooke and finding her still pale and limp. He grimaced, stuffing a cigarette in his mouth before stooping and forcibly undressing her. Wet clothes would do her no good right now.
____As the Corporal returned carrying stiff towels left behind in the home for months Header rose again, snatching them without a word and working to dry Brooke quickly. Thorn left again to find any blankets that might still be around, returning soon and providing some to his comrade. Header wrapped Brooke in them and ushered her close to the blazing fire, giving instructions as he did so: “Rub your chest, not your arms.”
____She seemed to be conscious but reacted to his orders very slowly, saying nothing.
____“I think she’s delirious, sir.” Thorn said.
____“We’ll hafta wait and see if she’s suffered any permanent damage.” Header said, exhaling smoke before shouting: “Stay back all o’ you! Don’t come crowd her!”
____It was directed at everyone behind him at the doorframe, peering in with morbid curiosity. Only now had it seemed safe enough to come in. Miles frowned and muttered, “Has he got eyes on the back of his helmet?”
____Header sighed, seeing Brooke slump a bit and reaching to manually correct her. He took out a second cigarette and put it in her lips. Then he turned back to the others, “She was under over a minute longer than the boy, jus’ lyin’ there while Gauge and the assassin duked it out. Even nevermindin’ the hypothermia, we could be talkin’ serious brain damage. It’s a miracle she’s still alive.”
____“Told you…” Brooke breathed out the words.
____“Brooke!” Thomas shouted, squirming his way through the crowd and stooping to her side. She turned slightly to face him, barely managing a smile, unlit cigarette hanging limply between her lips.
____“I said don’t crowd her!” Header told him, but now everyone was in the room, Thomas having proven that it was possible.
____“She needs us.” Stacey said, crouching to Brooke’s right and hugging her, “Body heat goes a long way, you know!”
____Abbey was behind her, ushering Henry close as well, “He needs the warmth too.”
____Only Gauge stayed behind, still standing at the doorway dripping and bleeding. Seeing this, Oriel grabbed him and pulled him over too, “Come on, sensitive sad boy. Group hug time.”
____“Thank you all.” Brooke whispered, sitting there in the middle of all these people hugging her, “Thank you…”
____“You…” Henry told her, seeing her still smiling despite her sorry pallid, battered appearance, “How could you do this? All to save me? You went right into his trap, just for me…? I’m not important, I’m not…”
____She could see him wiping his eyes in sorry disbelief, reaching out to pull him closer and hugging him tight. “Because,” she said, “it doesn’t matter who they say is important or not. To me, one small thing can change the world. One act of selflessness can brighten everything.”
____“One small thing…” Thomas murmured at her words. She wasn’t concerned with what everyone else said or thought, about what should or shouldn’t be done with the war against Apostle. Maybe that didn’t matter as much as people thought it did. Her war was against the despair that had come with all the destruction. Henry didn’t matter in the big picture, he knew, but that meant nothing to her. She had almost died, but that too meant nothing to her. He held her tighter, not wanting that light to go out.
____“Hmm.” Header concluded at this, rising to his feet and walking out of the room. Thorn followed him.
____“What’s the matter?” he asked the Sergeant as they stood alone in the hall, his superior puffing out smoke as he rapidly went through the cigarette.
____“Things aren’t good, kid.” Header said simply.
____Thorn shrugged, “She survived, didn’t she? That’s more than we expected.”
____“It almost don’t matter. She went in there expectin’ a miracle and she got it in her eyes.”
____“So? What difference does it make what she believes?”
____“So.” Header faced him, “She gits to be the special one. She thinks it’s divinely inspired. As a result, she thinks she’s invincible.”
____Thorn glanced back to the room behind, seeing everyone there huddled together by the fire. He frowned, “Maybe she is, Sarge.”
____“Bah.” Header waved the suggestion away in dismissal, “She got them all thinkin’ it now. God didn’t save her back there, I did. Damn, my hands’re still shakin’ with that close a call. She’s not takin’ this seriously, an’ I’m the one what’s got to see us to the destination in one piece. The rest of them is just a bunch of kids.”
____“They’re only trying to do what’s right, sir.”
____Smoke. “Nazar was right: you are just in love.”
____Thorn was taken by surprise, “What’s that got to do with it?”
____Header was looking past him, seeing Brooke and Stacey together, dark hair leaned against her wavy red. He frowned harder, “Maybe not in love… infatuation more like. It makes it harder to focus on the mission, don’t it?”
____“You’re the one who told me not to be like you.”
____The Sergeant laughed, “Ha! Well you’ve got me there. Jus’ remember what we’re tryin’ to accomplish here. Everyone else has forgotten.” He reached down and felt his own pulse, exhaling a hard sigh, “Damn that’s tense! We’re so close now, jus’ wait an’ see what she might try to do next before we can git there.”
____“Yes sir… I’m sorry sir.” Thorn told him, glancing back to the room where everyone else sat and wishing he was there. But he knew he couldn’t be, not just yet.