Emperor of a Dead World (35 page)

“Whoa, hold on,” the man exclaimed. He suddenly realized he had said way too much. “I can still help.”

“How,” Brad asked incredulously.

“I can introduce you to my uncle.”

“What good would that do?”

“Maybe we can band together.”

“Why would we trust you?”

“What choice do you have?”

“The other guy will introduce us.”

“He is nobody,” the man laughed. “We found him and his wife wandering around and told them a bunch of lies. We only used him to help us fight you. We thought he would die during the battle and if he happened to live then we would kill him and keep his wife. She is a fine woman.”

Brad turned to Tyrone. “I think I will just beat this guy to death and be done with it.”

“You are just like me,” the man laughed.

Brad knocked him out.

“Some people just don’t know when to shut their stupid mouth,” Tyrone chuckled.

“Let’s lock him up and talk to the other one,” Brad said.

They locked him in one of the empty cages they had made for the creatures then went to see the other man. When they walked in, Brad asked who was in charge at the lake.

“The other man’s uncle,” he replied. “The man with me is just a fool that likes to hurt people. I could tell he was no good but I had no choice but to follow his orders. My wife and I have nowhere to go.”

“How many people are still up there,” Brad asked.

“Only about forty now, unless some others made it back.” the man informed him.

“Are they heavily armed?”

“Yes, they sure are. They have a lot of assault rifles, a dozen RPGs, some regular grenades and lots of smaller weapons.”

Brad drew a sketch of the compound. “Where do they keep the weapons and where does the head honcho live?”

The man looked at the sketch then at Brad. “You
are
spying on us.”

“They have given me no choice.”

“They said a lot of things about you and you said a lot of things about them. I do not know whom to trust. All I know is my wife is still at the lake.”

“I will lock you up tonight but tomorrow I will let you talk to the people. You can make your own choice. If you side with us and I believe you are a good person, I will help you get your wife back.”

“That sounds fair, what about the other guy?”

“You better worry about yourself,” Tyrone said.

Brad held up his hand. “I don’t know what I will do with him. You know him better than I do. What would you do?”

The man shrugged.

“Do you trust him?”

“No, but I don’t know if I can trust you either.”

“Tomorrow maybe we will both be able to make a more informed decision.”  Brad locked him up then walked out with Tyrone.

In the morning, Brad had a guard escort the man around and he could easily see the difference between these people and the men from the lake. He also had a good feeling about Tom and the people at Sunny Park Estates. By lunchtime, he was ready to side with Brad. He promised to supply him with any assistance he could as long as Brad helped him get his wife back. He also apologized for his attitude during the interrogation and told Rudy he would respect his orders.

That afternoon Brad held a general assembly with all the citizens and allowed the man to plead his case. After he told his story, Brad, Tyrone and Rudy said they were willing to give him a chance. Brad then called for a vote and all the citizens agreed to accept the man.

Once this was resolved, Brad brought forth the other man and read the charges against him. He then allowed him to tell his lies. After this, he told the first man to tell everything he knew about the accused. Once he was finished, Tyrone related everything the man had said while in custardy. Finally, Lisa stepped forward and told her recount of the incident in Goleta. Several times during her testimony, she broke down and wept and when she finished there was not a dry eye in the crowd. At last, Brad called for a verdict and the people unanimously shouted out, “Guilty.” Before he could even ask what the sentence should be, everyone called for the man’s execution.

While the citizens chanted for death, Brad reflected. He had shot at men during battles, he had burned walls allowing the creatures to get at people, he had dropped bombs, which had assuredly caused the death of others, he had even stood by and allowed the creatures to tear men apart without warning them but he had never killed a man in cold blood. His focus returned to the people and their chants for death gave him a chill. At last, he held up his hand and the people fell silent. “I hear you and I agree,” he shouted.

The people cheered and the guilty man shuddered.

“However,” he added, “I am not that kind of man.”

A murmuring ensued while the guilty man held his breath and listened.

“Though this man truly deservers the sentence you request,” Brad stressed, “I feel in my heart that you are a merciful people. Deep down inside, I know you do not seek vengeance and I am sure you all agree there is already enough death and violence in the world. There is already too much killing.”

“Tell that to him,” someone shouted. “He is the one killing innocent people.”

Someone else began to say something but Tyrone stepped forward and glared at the crowd. No one else said a word.

  Brad continued. “The world in which we live is a violent place but I hope to change that. I hope to restore humanity to Mankind. I hope to guide you to a better, safer place that we can all proudly call our home. To kill this man,” he said as he pointed without looking, “may be justice. You may even argue that we have the right to kill him. However, having the right to do something does not make it the right thing to do.” He now glanced at Lisa and thought of the things this man had done. He thought of how this man would have raped and killed the girl he loved. As he considered this, his rage consumed him and he felt that he could walk over and beat the man to death in front of everyone and everyone would cheer and applaud. He looked back at the crowd. “If you want,” he said through clenched teeth, “I can kill this man right now.”

Many people gasped and the man grew pale.

“But I am not that kind of man and you are not that kind of people,” he forced himself to say. He gazed at the man for a moment then turned back to the people. “I will wait a few days before I ask again for his sentence. If you still seek death then I will abide. In the meantime, I ask you all to look into your hearts and as you look into your hearts and think of the person we have to deal with, I ask as well for you to think of the kind of people we are and the kind of world in which you want to live.” He turned and walked off.

Tyrone faced a guard. “Lock him up and watch him. I do not want him to escape.”

The guard hauled the prisoner away.

Mickey walked up to the other man. “Do you feel better about us now?”

“Yes, you seek justice but I can see you are fair and good people. That man and his friends,” he said as he gestured toward his former accomplice, “are the scum of the earth.”

“Before this is over you will have your wife back and those that threaten our existence will be no more.”

“Are you with us,” Tyrone asked the man as he came over.

“One hundred percent,” the man replied with no hesitation.

“Good, come with me.”

They both followed Tyrone to the control room where Brad was sitting at a table studying a printed photo.

When they entered, Brad looked up. “Do you recognize this place?” he asked the man as he showed him the photo.

“Yes.”

Brad handed him a pencil. “Label everything as you know it to be.”

The man sat and began to write as the others watched. When he finished he pushed the photo back over to Brad.

Brad studied it then asked, “You said there are forty men up there?”

“Forty people but only fifteen of those are bad men. The others are people like me. Of course, most of those are women and children that cannot fight. They keep them around to do chores and I believe a few of the women are their sex slaves. If I do not get back soon I am afraid my wife will suffer the same fate.”

“Not if I have anything to say about it,” Brad replied. He turned to Rudy. “How many men do we need at Sunny Park and how many do we need here to protect everyone from the creatures?” Before Rudy answered, Brad added, “I am trying to determine how many men I can take with us.”

“If we take twenty men on a surprise attack in the night that would be more than we need,” Tyrone said.

“I want to know the maximum number I can take.”

Tyrone looked at him askance. “Are you going to the lake to fight these men or are you planning your conquest of California?”

Brad did not answer.

“First we build a wall to protect the people,” Tyrone insisted. “Then you can plan your noble mission.”

Brad sat back and chewed his thumbnail. “Get everything ready,” he said to Rudy. “We will take twenty men. My strategy will be prepared by morning.”

Rudy nodded and started for the door.

“Rudy,” Brad called. “Tell the engineer and the other construction men to draw up a list of everything they need. I want to start on that wall.”

Chapter 29

For several hours, Brad stared at his computer and studied videos of the lake. He knew his greatest challenge would be killing his enemies without harming any of the innocent people living with them. In order to do this, he would send in the man that had lived there before he began his attack. This would be dangerous because it relied on him trusting the man but he had no choice. He had to make sure these people stayed out of harm’s way. To be safe, he would not tell his spy the entire plan.

After considering his options, Brad decided to use the canoes that were at the boat ramp and come at his enemies from the water. He would position some men outside the gate to watch for his signal then have them take out any guards that may be a threat to the mission. He did not expect to have any problems with the raid since there were only about fifteen men he needed to kill and all these were in buildings at the point of the peninsula. He would hit them after dark and they would never see him coming. Killing these men, he determined, was not murder. This was war and by eliminating his enemies, he was making the world a safer place for all.

With a sigh, he sat back and rubbed his eyes. To put this mission out of his mind he focused on building the wall that Tyrone wanted. He knew it would be a daunting task and he needed help. With this in mind, he sent Danny a text, via the drone, requesting that Dr. Moreau send some people to assist with the project. He also asked for any livestock they could spare so he could feed his people. After this, he went to get a few hours’ rest.

In the morning, he instructed some men to prepare ten SUVs so he could transport the innocent people back from the lake. Of the men he chose to bring along, he selected twenty men that could either shoot straight, handle a canoe or were good at hand-to-hand combat. He also brought Mickey in case he needed a doctor. Tyrone, of course, would accompany him as well. Rudy would remain at the racetrack to protect Lisa and the other citizens while they were gone.

They spent the day preparing then set out three hours before sunset. Leading the way in a Dodge Charger were Brad, Tyrone and Mickey. This way they could discuss their strategy and make any last minute changes. Bound and gagged in the trunk was the villain from Goleta. They brought him in case things went badly and they needed a bargaining chip.

The spy traveled alone in an old Mustang. He was to go on ahead and tell the uncle about their raid on the racetrack. It was impossible to know if anyone else had made it back so his story had to be close to the truth. He would give all the details of the raid and explain how the creatures had driven everyone off. He would then tell them he had been inside both the estate and the racetrack and give a few details of the two places. As far as the other man was concerned, he would tell them the man had sent him back and was waiting for them inside the racetrack. After he told his story, he was to go back to his wife and friends but he was not to tell anyone anything until the shooting started.

It was just after dark when they got to the peninsula. Their enemies were all the way down at the tip so they should be able to arrive unseen. After killing their lights, they headed to the boat ramp where they stopped and Brad repeated his instructions. He wanted to look his spy in the eyes one last time to make sure he could trust him. He asked again how many men they kept on guard and the spy said they rarely kept more than one and he was usually fast asleep by dark. Brad told him to keep watch of this man and to open the gate if given an opportunity. He now sent the spy ahead. As soon as he left, Brad sent four men behind him to watch the proceedings and signal when all was clear. He then told the others to gather the canoes.

When the spy drove up to the gate, the four lookouts were watching through binoculars. He had a short conversation with the guard then drove inside. After he parked, he went into the enemy’s headquarters. The lookouts now sent the all-clear signal and Brad set out with his two friends and fourteen other men in nine canoes. Two men remained behind to guard the vehicles. Once the shooting started, they were to join the attack from the front.