AB (The Blake Reynolds Chronicles Book 1) (8 page)

Don disappeared into his house to
gather a few supplies. Blake crossed the street and briefed Munns on the
details of the conversation just before Don joined them.

Tara heard Kaya
crying softly and wished she could keep sleeping. She wanted to roll over and
shake Blake to tell him to see what was wrong. However, as she tried to move, a
stabbing pain shot through her head. Suddenly, the memory of the day’s events
flashed through her mind, and she opened her eyes. At first, everything was
blurry, but she knew the small figure huddled in the corner was Kaya. She
closed her eyes again until she felt someone shaking her.

“Momma, wake
up!”

Tara rubbed her
eyes until her vision cleared. She pushed herself into a sitting position, held
her head with one hand, and wrapped the other around Kaya.

“Momma, I’m
scared,” Kaya said between sniffles.

“I am too, Baby.
We just need to be brave until Daddy comes to get us. Can you do that?”

Kaya stared into
Tara’s eyes and nodded her head. “I think so.”

Tara stood up,
ignoring the pounding in her head. She picked Kaya up and walked to the cot in
the corner of the room.

“We’re locked
in here…” Kaya said as she stared at the door. “Those scary people put us in
here.”

“Shh, don’t
worry. Everything will be OK.” She cradled Kaya and sang her favorite lullaby.
Soon, Kaya was fast asleep. Tara drifted between sleep and wakefulness, her
head slowly feeling better.

As soon as the
back of her head stopped pounding, she decided to assess the situation. They
were the only ones in the basement. If it hadn’t been for her military training,
they would already be dead. However, she feared that it would only be a matter
of time before they were killed.

“Just stay
alive. I will find you.” Blake’s words echoed in her mind. She laid Kaya on the
cot and walked to the small window in the door. Something down the hall caught
her attention; she noticed two men walking towards the room. They were grunting
and making strange clicking noises to each other. Their stench came into the
room before they did. Tara was reminded of the time she used to ride horses and
how they smelled after they had been ridden all day.

Their yellow
eyes peered through the window in the door. The smaller of the two men opened
the door and threw in two apples and a small bottle of water. “Lord Dameon has
ordered that you eat something. Tonight at sunset you will have the honor of
fighting in the ring of Ballah-ah, to become a chosen warrior. Most believe you
won’t last five minutes. I am also doubtful.” His English was difficult to
decipher, but the subject was even more confusing. “What is Ballah-ah?” she
thought. The two men laughed and walked away, which woke Kaya.

She yawned
sleepily and smiled. Tara couldn’t help but smile back. No matter how terrible
their situation seemed, she knew she needed to be strong for her daughter.

In no time they
had finished eating the apples and drank all the water. “I wonder if this is
the last meal we’ll ever eat…” Tara silently wondered. She clutched Kaya
protectively at the thought.

The sun was
slowly setting outside the window, and she stared at it longingly. Tara
stretched her sore muscles, knowing she would be thrown into combat soon.
Suddenly, the door to their room unlocked, and four men and one woman walked
inside. Two of them carried long ropes.

Tara glanced at
Kaya’s wide eyes and smiled encouragingly. “Remember, be brave. Daddy will be
here soon.”

The men quickly
tied the ropes around their hands and looped them around their necks. Tara
looked at Kaya again and noticed she was crying softly, but she seemed
determined not to let anyone see.

Being a mother
had made Tara more protective than ever, and seeing her baby being treated this
way was devastating. If it hadn’t been for the rope around Kaya’s neck, she
would have broken out of her bonds and killed every last one of them with her
bare hands. But this wasn’t the time or place.

They were both
led out to a large field behind a white church. In the middle of the field was
a large octagon-shaped cage. It looked like that it had recently been erected because
the grass in the center was still lush and green.

Smoke filled
the air and stung her eyes. On each corner, there were fires burning in large
barrels. Next to the arena was a large, raised stage surrounded by hundreds of
the red and yellow-eyed infected. There were men, women, and children around
the edges. They were all shouting and hissing, and a few clicked to each other.

Tara and Kaya were
forced onto the stage. The ends of the ropes around their necks were tied up
high on hooks attached to long poles. Suddenly, the noise of the crowd became silent,
and they stared at the white church. Tara followed their gaze and noticed the
man in the white suit.

After he
climbed onto the stage, he walked towards Tara and smiled. “Good to see you again,
and thank you for joining us in this celebration of Ballah-ah.” He turned
around and stepped to the front of the podium.

“Brothers and sisters,
we can all rejoice in this magnificent gift that has been given to us by the creators.
This gift has given us a new sense of purpose, a new way of living. As part of
this gift, we celebrate the rite of Ballah-ah. This rite has been practiced
through eons of time. We have all been called to be warriors in the new order.
As part of this celebration, we will give an outsider a chance to prove her worthiness
to exist on this planet with us.”

He paused and looked
back at Tara, and the crowd erupted in snarls, taunting her. Lord Dameon
motioned to the men guarding Tara to bring her to the arena.

They unhooked
the rope and pulled her to the center of the cage. Kaya lunged forward and screamed,
“Let my mommy go!”

The large woman
who had been guarding her gave a hard tug on the rope around her neck. Tara
heard Kaya’s scream, and her first impulse was to rush to her and tear apart
the fat woman guarding her. However, she knew that no good would come of that.

She stood in
the center, and the crowd started to cheer. Across the cage, they parted as several
dark figures walked into the space. Tara could vaguely see the shape of six men,
and she assumed they were also infected. Two of them had rods attached to their
necks. On the ends of each rod was an infected, keeping control of them. The beasts
snarled, their faces contorted with rage. Neither of them wore any clothing,
and they all tore at their own flesh anxiously. They thrashed at their handlers
and tried to escape their bonds.

The small group
stopped and waited for Lord Dameon's signal. He raised his hands to quiet the
crowd, and they instantly became silent.

“These two of
our brothers have not made the conversion to perfection as the rest of us have.
They cannot be left to roam the streets free because they pose a danger to us.
But instead of sending them to the eternities to live with the creators, we
will give them the opportunity to have a warrior’s death that each of us hopes
for someday.”

Lord Dameon
nodded to three infected children. They entered the arena, each wearing a
ceremonial robe and carrying a large staff. Two were placed in front of the
beasts on the end of the poles, and the other was placed in front of Tara. Then
they exited the arena.

The man who had
led Tara to the center untied her hands and removed the rope from her neck. He
quickly rushed away and left her alone in the center of the arena. Tara
immediately started stretching and practiced a few shadow punches.

Lord Dameon
raised his hand once again. “Let the rite begin!”

The four men
holding the poles around the beasts’ necks pressed the buttons on the end,
which released the clasps on their collars. The infected immediately leapt out
of the cage and closed the gate behind them. Once the beasts realized they were
free, they both screeched in unison.

As if on cue,
they instantly sprang into action. The one on the left charged straight at Tara,
and the other reached for the staff first. Tara instinctively dove for her
staff, and in one fluid motion, she grabbed it in a roll then was back on her
feet. Her knuckles became white as her grip tightened, waiting for the first
beast to attack. She bent her knees slightly and raised her staff, and as it
approached, time seemed to slow down. She could feel the protective rage swell
inside her as the image of Kaya flashed through her mind. “Come on, you
bastards! Bring it on!” she yelled.

The first beast
was a few steps in front of the other, and as he reached Tara, it lunged at her
head with open arms. She sidestepped the attack, leaving her leg out to trip
her attacker. As the beast stumbled past her, she spun the staff above her head
and brought it down onto the back of its head. It crashed to the ground, and a
small, dark pool of blood started to drain into the soil.

Before she
could even crack a smile at the pile of filth lying on the ground, the second beast
was on her. He was much larger than the first, and he swung the staff at her
head with a swift blow. She barely raised her staff to deflect the majority of the
force, but not all of it. It knocked her off balance, and she stumbled several
steps back and tripped over the dead body on the ground.

The crowd let
out a mighty roar.

Tara barely
regained her balance before the next blow came. This time, it was targeted at
her midsection. She twirled her staff like a windmill with her wrists and
parried the beast’s strike. With the same smooth movement, she brought the
staff around her waist and struck the left knee of her opponent. Immediately,
the beast fell to the ground and yelled.

Tara spun to
finish it off with a thrust to the head. The beast raised a hand and grabbed
the staff before it hit him, and for a minute, they tugged the staff back and
forth in an attempt to rip it from each other’s hands. The beast finally won
the battle of strength as he gave a final yank and thrust the staff straight
ahead. It caught the side of Tara’s head, opening a small cut on her forehead,
and warm blood trickled down the side of her face. The beast raised the staff
high above its head, thinking it had just won a significant victory.

Suddenly, Tara’s
eyes narrowed. She spun and caught the back of the beast’s head with a spinning
back kick. The crack of its skull was loud enough to bring the entire crowd to
silence. She stood over the body, panting and gasping for air. With one quick
motion, she slammed her boot down onto its throat, and some blood bubbled from
its mouth. The body became motionless. Tara was exhausted and fell to the
ground. Slowly, she looked back at the stage and wondered what would happen
next.

The explosion
behind her nearly knocked her to the ground. She turned in the direction of the
explosion just as the bodies were hitting the ground. The entrance had been
cleared. It was no longer guarded.

As Blake, Munns,
and Don approached the church, they were surprised at how few ABs they saw. The
ones they did see could be easily avoided. A couple of the others were quickly
killed by Blake and Munns’ knives. As they crept closer, they could hear a loud
noise coming from a field across from the church.

Blake pulled
out his binoculars. The sun had finished setting, but he could see the crudely
erected cage lit by several fires on the perimeter. On the side nearest the
church was a large stage. There were several people on the stage, but he
couldn’t really see what was going on in the dimming light. Suddenly, the noise
quieted, and Blake noticed a man in a white suit approaching the stage.

“What’s going
on?” Munns asked.

“It’s some kind
of gathering. There is a man in a white suit addressing the crowd,” Blake said.
He didn’t remove the binoculars from his eyes.

As Blake continued
to observe the crowd on the stage, they parted as one of the figures entered
the stand. The golden blond hair on the little girl’s head caught the light of
the fire and illuminated her face.

“Kaya!” Blake
yelled. Munns and Don immediately grabbed him and covered his mouth. Blake rolled
onto his back after they let him go and he breathed deeply. “I saw Kaya on the
stand, and I think I saw Tara in the cage.”

“So what is our
next move?” Munns asked.

“What can we do?
There are hundreds of them out there,” Don whispered shakily.

Blake stood up
and grabbed Munns and Don’s shoulders. “A couple of houses back, I spotted side-by-side
ATVs in a garage. I will go back, hotwire one, and drive it over to those trees
across the street from the field. Munns, I want you to set up a sniper position
next to that big rock by the trees. On my signal, I want you to take out everyone
you can on the stage. Start with the guards on each side of my daughter.”

Munns nodded. “What
will the signal be?”

“Don’t worry; you’re
familiar with this one.”

Munns grinned.

“Don, I want
you to take up a position across the street. Things are going to happen
extremely fast. I want you to cover our retreat.”

Don seemed terrified,
but he hid it with a nod.

As Blake drove
towards the arena, he fired the grenade launcher. He was fifty yards away from
the crowd, and when the grenade exploded, the guards in front of the gate flew
everywhere. Before the bodies had even hit the ground, the guards on the stage
started to drop to the ground with pieces of their heads missing. Blake thought
that Munns was exceptionally skilled at his job. The shock and precision of the
attack stunned the crowd surrounding the arena.

The guards
surrounding Lord Dameon threw him to the ground and covered him with their
bodies. Blake knew that Munns was going to have trouble getting clear shots in
the commotion.

As he pulled up
next to the stage, Blake drew his pistol. He started to yell for Kaya. “Run to Daddy,
Sweetie!” Kaya jumped over two bodies and ran as fast as she could.

Lord Dameon’s
guards were dead and lying on top of him, thanks to Munns’s precision. Dameon
reached out his free hand and grabbed Kaya’s foot as she passed. Kaya screamed,
and Blake’s stomach dropped. He aimed his pistol at Lord Dameon’s arm and fired
a single shot, which grazed the hand just above the wrist. But it was enough to
loosen his grip.

Kaya wriggled
free, ran the final few steps to her dad, and leapt into his arms. Blake’s
embrace was short because he could hear Tara screaming. Several ABs had entered
the other side of the arena and ran at full speed towards her.

The crowd
rushed into the arena, and Blake saw Tara react just as fast. She was on her
feet, sprinting towards the north gate that he has just opened. The crowd was
only thirty feet behind her, and they were gaining ground with every step.
Blake had his handgun up and fired on both sides of his wife, dropping the ABs that
were running after her.

Blake placed Kaya
in the front seat of the ATV and told her to keep her head down. He hit the gas
and steered the ATV with one hand and shot with the other.

The bullets
were whizzing past Tara as Blake slammed on the brakes and slid the back end of
the ATV around. Tara jumped into the back of the bed just as one of the ABs caught
up to them. It grabbed one of her legs that was hanging from the back. She
yelled with all her force and kicked the beast on its nose.

“Go, go, go!”
Tara screamed.

Blake hit the gas,
and Tara almost rolled off the back. She managed to hang on with one hand.

“My M-16 is
back there with you!” Blake yelled over the noise of the machine and roar of
the crowd. Tara grabbed it as it bounced around in the back and pulled the bolt
back. Within seconds, the pursuing crowd littered the ground with their bodies.

As they
approached the front gate, they saw that it was blocked by several bodies
because Munns had been doing his job of keeping the entrance open.

“Hang on.” Blake
yelled. He placed one hand on Kaya and floored the gas pedal. The ATV flew high
in the air as it hit and climbed over the bodies. It took all of Blake’s
strength to keep Kaya from bouncing out. Blake knew that Munns would be running
low on ammunition, but he hoped that he could cover them for a few more seconds
as they made their escape.

Several trucks were
roaring from the back of the church, and it was only seconds before they were
in pursuit of Blake and his family. Blake hurriedly headed back to where he had
left Munns and Don lying in cover.

Blake saw Don shooting
as he laid down cover fire for their retreat. Blake prayed that Don knew what
he was doing and didn’t shoot him or his family.

The two trucks
were gaining ground, and fast. Tara had emptied the only clips of ammo they had
for the M-16 so she hung on tightly to the sides of the ATV. Blake finally reached
Munns and yelled, “Get in!”

Munns jumped
onto the ATV next to Tara, and Blake rushed to Don’s position. The truck was
close enough to them that Munns started to shoot his pistol at the truck. With
all the cover fire happening, either Don or Munns hit the driver of the lead
truck. The truck veered hard to the left and rolled, spilling the cargo of ABs in
the back onto the ground.

By this time,
Blake had reached Don. “Jump in!” he yelled.

“You don’t have
room for me, take off and I’ll cover you!” Don said with fear in his eyes. “I
won’t fail you and your family again,” Don yelled.

“Marines don’t
leave a man behind!” Blake yelled back.

Don smiled.
“Today they do. Now get the hell out of here!”

Blake nodded in
gratitude and sped off. From his rear view mirror, he watched as Don jumped in
front of the remaining truck and opened fire with his last clip of ammunition.
Suddenly, smoke started to spew from the engine as several of Don’s rounds hit
the radiator and the engine block. The truck was close enough for Blake to see the
man in the white suit in the back of the truck, cradling his wounded arm. Blake
watched as the truck was nearly to Don and he pulled the trigger one last time.
Blood spewed from the driver’s mouth.

“Don!” Blake
screamed. The truck hit him on the right side, throwing him through the air. As
Don hit the ground, the truck coasted to a stop. The man in the white suit yelled
out orders, and the ABs ran everywhere. Blake thought this was a good soldier’s
death and thanked Don silently.

Blake closed
his eyes as tears started to fill his eyes. “You were a good man, Don,” he
whispered.

Blake and the small group drove for
a few more miles until it became dark. They pulled behind a large storage
building, and after a few quick hugs and kisses, Blake assessed everyone's
conditions.

“Tara, are you all right?” he asked.

“I’m OK, I promise.”

After he examined her one more time,
he allowed himself to relax. Kaya couldn’t stop smiling and wouldn’t release
the hug she had around Blake’s neck.

“I knew you would come! Mommy said
you would.”

Blake grinned and hugged her back.

“Munns, hop out and see if we are
being followed,” Blake said.

Munns jumped out and ran to the
corner of the building. He took a quick peek around and didn’t see any lights
or hear any engines. He returned to the happy reunion and smiled. “Looks like
Don did his job. No one is out there.”

“In the end, he was a good soldier,”
Blake replied.

“So what do we do now?” Tara asked.

Blake scratched his head. “Well, we
can’t drive in the dark without light, and if we turn them on, we will probably
attract unwanted attention. So we will find a place to hole up for the night
and then head for the clean zone tomorrow morning.”

Munns nodded in agreement, and they
found a nearby house. Quickly they hunkered down for the night, the two
soldiers taking turns keeping watch.