Fury of the Six (The Preston Six Book 5) (4 page)

By mid-sun, an open field of swaying grass and saplings appeared, fighting their way to regain the stripped land.

“Thank goodness,” Lucas said. “Another day in there and I’d go crazy. Look at the bow string on Prudence! It already has a few frays from all this jungle air.” Lucas inspected the minimal damage to his precious string. He rarely had a day where he didn’t mention something about Prudence not liking it here. For once, Poly agreed with Prudence.

“You want me to hold her for a while?” Joey offered.

“Sure.” Poly passed Evelyn over and took off the sling. She shook her arms and tried to loosen her muscles, feeling better with her arms free. She could use her blades at will.

Kris ran up to them. “There’s a town not far from here. They are clearing it out as we speak, but I think we can use it for the night. There’s even a hotel.”

“Sounds good, thanks,” Joey said.

The idea of a hotel washed over Poly like a clean, hot shower. She ached for it. But Ryjack was still a crap hole, where nothing worked and the things that remained grasped for their original purposes with the narrowest of holds. Much like the saplings reclaiming the farmed land, they too would reclaim the houses, churches, cars, and roads.

The last pockets of humanity would cling on, but nothing would ever be the same. She wondered what Ryjack would look like in twenty, or even a hundred years. Could those last pockets of humanity repossess the planet? Could the family from Cost Plus move on and start anew? They wanted a child for their daughter, but would they ever find a suitor?

“You ready?” Joey asked.

“Yeah.”

They walked across the field and onto a paved road, if you could call it that. More like patches of pavement. Another mile and they reached the town. A decent sized one as well, which encouraged Poly as much as it terrified her. Larger towns held more grinners. They had only run into a few in the jungle, but each city held its own surprise.

The mutants ran around the town, she saw them darting in and out of buildings and running across the few streets that made up the town. Poly pulled three knives from her side. She kept one in her throwing hand, ready to go as they walked down the main street. The town didn’t look as bad as she thought from far out. The buildings hadn’t collapsed and much of the concrete pavement still held its ground, housing only a few errant weeds in the cracks.

A small group of mutants stood around the front of the only two-story building in town. In black letters, the word
Hotel
was painted near the top. It gave her hope the insides would still be intact, and it gave her greater hope the hotel would be vacant of grinners. Even if the mutants had cleared it, the stench remained strong.

She nodded to two young men as they approached—brothers if she remembered right—Sergio and Juan.

“We cleared it for you, Poly,” Sergio said with a bright smile.

“Thank you. I can’t begin to tell you how much we appreciate it.”

Sergio glanced at Juan as they relished in the accolades.

Joey held Evelyn in the sling with one arm and a gun in the other. He better not even
think
of firing it near Evelyn. She glared from his gun to him, but he didn’t catch the warning. They all entered the hotel lobby.

“Pretty nice,” Lucas said, admiring the wood coffered ceiling. He jumped over the back of a couch and landed on the front, draping his arm over the back.

“I just can’t wait to sit down and put my feet up,” Julie said, holding her ever-growing stomach.

“You want me to take her?” Poly asked and looked at Evelyn and then to Joey’s gun.

“Nah, I got her,” Joey said.

Edith walked in behind them. “There are a couple of rooms up top. Good place for a family to spend the day.”

“Thanks,” Joey said.

Edith walked to Joey and pulled Evelyn from him; he didn’t resist. Walking to the stairs and pointing his gun, he looked back at them.

Poly sighed and walked behind Joey. She was happy to have Evelyn away from his gun, but why did he give her to Edith when he’d denied her a moment ago?

“Poly, you take the left, I’ll take the right,” Joey said.

“You guys need to relax,” Lucas called out. “Our mutant peeps cleared it.”

“Like they cleared the hut yesterday?” Poly spoke up. The incident still freaked her out. They’d just entered the hut, when a grinner came lunging at Joey and Evelyn. Thank goodness Lucas had been there with his Prudence.

Lucas huffed. “Fine.” He got off the couch. “I’ll take lead.” He rushed past Joey and Poly up the stairs.

“What an idiot.” Julie rolled her eyes.

“You married him. He’s your idiot now,” Joey said before running up the stairs after him.

“That he is,” she whispered.

Poly stayed below with Julie. “How are you doing?”

“This sucks. I can’t wait for our plan to be over. I can’t wait for it all to be over.” She looked at the ceiling and followed the sounds of stomping feet. “It’s so stupid what I fantasize about now.”

“Clean sheets?”

“No, nothing material. You know, all I really want is a place to call home again. You remember that feeling when you got home from school, went to your bedroom, and just fell on your own bed? Not a fear in the world?”

“Yes.”

“That’s what I fantasize about. Not for me, but for . . .” Julie pointed to her stomach.

Poly thought about the long-term effects of keeping Evelyn in such a horrible environment. She was just a baby, yet she saw her soaking in everything around her. For Evelyn, running and grinners were the norm. “What do you think, boy or girl?” she asked.

“I don’t know, I have a feeling it’s a boy.”

“Thought of a name yet?” It had become a major discussion point and Lucas played it up with as many ridiculous names as he could think of, from Felalfull to Gerridity. He also announced each of them with a finality that drove Julie crazy.

Julie looked to the ceiling and her bottom lip quivered before she covered it with her hand. “No.” She sniffled and turned from Poly. “Sorry,” she said and broke into a cry.

“Julie, what is it?” Poly rubbed her arm.

“I don’t want to have this child in this world. I want to be at a hospital . . . with an epidural. I want nurses and doctors, and those little juice cups.” She took deep breaths and tried to collect herself. She glanced at Poly and let out a small laugh. “Stupid pregnancy hormones.”

“No matter what, we’ll be here with you.”

“You think what we’re doing is going to work?” Julie asked.

“It has to.”

MINTER LOOKED AT THE NUMBER texted to his phone from an unknown number.
He held it up so Rick could read it.

“Yep, it’s time.” Rick nodded, looking at the numbers on the phone.

Minter cranked over the Mustang and shifted into drive. He peeled out on the dirt shoulder and let the tires grip and squeal on the blacktop. He thought about how much his in-laws hated when he did that down their driveway.

“At least we know everything is still in motion. The kids are alive,” Rick said.

“Yes, but we aren’t to the hard part yet. That text just tells us to move to phase three. There’s still a million things that could go wrong,” Minter said.

“Have a little faith.”

Minter sped up to around eighty miles per hour on the highway. He leaned against the window and rubbed his chin. He hadn’t seen his grandchild since the day she was born. He often thought about what she looked like now and when he’d get the chance to hold her, make her laugh, and spoil her rotten. “I have faith. It’s the only thing I’ve got.”

He watched as they passed a busted car on the side of the road. After the Cough, the whole world had changed. Wars raged in Eastern Europe and Southern Asia. Thankfully, the US was able to contain much of the Cough, keeping the fatalities to a minimum; nothing like the poor countries of the world. Those casualties were in the millions.

All thanks to a man who had plagued Minter for almost twenty years now, Marcus Malliden. A man he had never met had dominated his and his family’s lives, his friend’s lives. He gripped the steering wheel tight.

“What’s wrong?” Rick asked.

“Look at what he did to Earth.” Minter pointed to a burnt car as they passed it.

“As far as everyone else is concerned, he saved the planet. Look at what the man has done in the span of a couple years here,” Rick said.

Minter shifted in his seat and glanced at Rick. The world might be putting Marcus on a pedestal, but if they knew what he put in them with the cure he brought, they might think differently of the man.

Marcus hadn’t wasted a moment of time, taking over ZRB, right behind Zach, proclaiming he’d do everything different and humane. The world ate it up. And why wouldn’t they? He brought back, in short order, the world they had once known. All he wanted in return was controlling interests in their companies. He owned or influenced many major companies now and each new announcement, merger, and ribbon ceremony Minter had to watch on TV made him sick. But the man
did
deliver. ZRB trucks filled the stores with food and medical supplies quicker than anyone thought possible.

“At every turn, he’s been ahead of them . . . us. We tried over a dozen times to get to him over the last year and none of us even got close. I just hope this plan is different,” Minter said.

“This is an all or nothing kind of deal. I’m ready to die for this,” Rick said.

Minter agreed. His life didn’t matter as much as protecting his child and grandchild, but that went without saying. It just felt like, each time anyone had a plan to go against Marcus, it went the exact opposite as planned. How do you prepare for the exact opposite? Harris’s plan did exactly that. Their role would be to do the obvious and hope Marcus did the opposite.

“How far away are we, you think?” Rick asked.

“A hundred miles, give or take a few.”

“We better turn off our phones.”

“We take the batteries out of them at seventy-five miles away. Julie was pretty specific about it.” Minter handed over his phone to Rick.

Rick nodded and took the phone. “You think Alice is watching us right now?”

“No question about it.”

HANK WATCHED GLADIUS SLEEPING IN the morning light. She was a late sleeper and he didn’t want to disturb her; besides, he enjoyed watching her.

She stirred awake and rolled on her back. “You watching me again?”

“Yes.”

“So creepy.”

“You want me to stop?”

“No, I like creepy.” She reached her hands out for him. “Come here.” Hank snuggled up against her in bed. “Today is the first day this gets hard, isn’t it?” Gladius asked.

“Yeah.”

“Our little world-jumping party is over. We had some fun, though, didn’t we?”

“Mostly.” Hank thought of the many times Gladius nearly got them kicked out of cities and the few times she almost got them killed.

“You think he’s still following us?” she asked.

“There is no chance he isn’t.”

She sighed and rolled to kiss him on the cheek, then the mouth, which led to more. It didn’t go unnoticed that she’d crumbled under his charms, failing miserably to keep her lady shop closed until Snackie Cakes met her mouth.

When they left their hotel room later that morning, Hank wondered if the man in the cloak might jump them in the open. He scanned the streets for anyone suspicious. The towering buildings around them didn’t give much cover and Hank suspected the guy would try to stop them on the road. “Ready?”

Gladius tossed her bag in the backseat. “Yup.”

Hank didn’t question her and stepped on the pedal. “Are you pretty sure he is who you think he is?”

“I think so, but I guess we will be finding out soon,” she said.

They left the city and drove onto the countryside. For a while, the suburbs dominated the landscape. Hank spotted the ocean a few times until the trees started in. Soon they drove through a forest with enormous redwood trees. It reminded him of the Arrack world and the brief time they spent walking through a similar forest.

Harris had ruined that world. Hank wanted to go back to it at some point. He wanted to see if the mist was gone, and if maybe a few Arracks held on. Maybe they had even made a comeback, much in the same way Earth and Ryjack had.

“You think your dad will like me?” Gladius asked, cutting into the silence.

“What’s not to like?”

“I don’t know, the few first-time meetings I’ve had haven’t gone well. I’ve even ended up screwing—”

“He’s going to love you.”

She smiled and didn’t say anything for a few minutes. “You know, when I was working at ZRB, they had a vending machine with all kinds of candy bars. I tried them all and many were great, but there was one that stood out for me. I liked it so much, I found myself going back to it each time.”

“Which one?” he asked.

“A Butterfinger.”

“Better not lay a finger on my Butterfinger.”

“What?”

“Nothing, just an old ad.”

“Do you think they are still making those?”

“I’m sure they are, but Marcus owns many of those companies now.” She frowned. “Maybe,” Hank added, “that one is untouched.”

“He better not have laid fingers on my Butterfingers.” She laughed. “That’s so funny.”

Hank saw the marker on the side of the road and pulled the car onto the shoulder. He got out and looked at the mile marker sixty-four. Anyone else wouldn’t have paid attention to the three circles drawn under it, like ripples in water. It was Harris’s mark for a stone nearby. Hank gazed at the tree and thought he heard the ocean in the distance.

He tried to stomp down the ferns and other plants, to make an easier path for Gladius. At least she wore her long pants today. He was sure she had her knives on as well. “You doing okay, baby?”

“Yeah, but I’m not literally a baby . . . I think I can handle some weeds, dude. You don’t need to trample Mother Nature on my account.” She brushed back her hair and walked around a bush.

Hank smiled. He rarely had to guess her mood, and liked it that way. She was easy to read. He understood her. “I see the ocean.”

“Good.”

Hank fought every urge he had to glance back and search for the man following them. He was sure he wouldn’t be too far away. This would be the spot he’d pounce if things were reversed. He slowed down and waited for Gladius to get by his side.

A few feet ahead, a beachside bluff sloped toward the ocean below. The waves crashed and he breathed in the salty mist in the air. The fog covered much of the ocean, but the sun had started burning it away. Soon, the whole sky would be clear.

“It’s down here,” Hank said and took her hand.

She held onto him and took careful steps in her platform shoes. Their feet sunk into the sandy bank and the sand found the small air holes in Hank’s shoes to infiltrate. He walked, trying to stay on top of the sand for the rest of the way down the sandstone cliff butting up against the shore. Walking around the last sandstone wall, he spotted the Alius stone.

He half expected another person waiting there, but it was empty. Some tree branches and a few rocks had fallen into the circle from above. The firm ground in the circle felt good under Hank’s feet; if needed, he could rush the man following them.

“Don’t move.”

Hank and Gladius raised their hands in the air and turned toward the voice. A man with a cloak covering his face, stood at the top of the sandy bank. He pointed a gun at them and took a step down into the sand, heavily favoring one side.

“Marcus?” Hank asked.

“No.”

“Well, before you kill us, why don’t you show yourself?” he asked.

“You won’t like what you see.”

“I sort of have to insist on this one point.”

“Fine, you should bear witness to what your friend did to me.” He pulled back his hood and revealed his face.

Gladius gasped and covered her mouth.

Hank grimaced but didn’t pull his gaze away. Half of the man’s face looked as if it had been crushed in and then healed back over. Hank squinted and tried to find the man in there. “Emmett?”

“What’s left of him,” Emmett said, staggering down the sandy hill. “Neither of you look all that surprised.”

“We had our suspicions,” Hank said.

“How long have you been on our trail?” Gladius asked.

“I caught up with you about two towns back. When you look like I do, people want to tell you whatever it takes for you to leave,” Emmett said. “This,” he pointed to his damaged face, “is because of Joey and I mean to do the same to him. Now, where is he?”

“You’re after
him
?” Gladius clarified.

He kept his gun pointed at Hank, while he limped closer, staying just outside of the circle. “Marcus wants the little one, but I have been given Joey.”

“We aren’t going to give up our friends,” Hank said.

“I didn’t think so.” Emmett sighed and pointed his gun at Gladius.

“No, you can’t shoot me, please,” she cried out.

“I’ll be doing the world a favor, ridding the world of a renowned whore such as yourself,” Emmett said.

“No,” Gladius begged. She held up her hand as if that might protect her. “Please, you don’t need to do this.”

“Hank, tell me where they are and I’ll let her live.”

Hank’s heart pounded in his chest and everything in him wanted to tell Emmett what he knew to save Gladius, but he stuck to the plan. “No.”

“What?” Emmett said. “I will kill her and then use you to get to them. You know this, right?”

“I do. I’m sorry, Gladius, but I can’t give up my friends.”

“You . . . how could you?” She glared at Hank.

“Fine.” Emmett fired three shots into Gladius.

She screamed and grabbed her gut, swaying in a large circle while continuing to yell. “Oh no, you got me.”

Emmett stepped into the circle, confused by Gladius’s strange behavior. He fired three more shots and she fell to the ground.

Hank didn’t watch Gladius as much as he watched Emmett’s feet. Once they were well within the boundary, he jumped to the stone and typed into it.

“What are you doing?” Emmett fired his remaining bullets into Hank’s back.

“Here we go,” he whispered, thinking of Lucas’s catch phrase. They shifted from a cliff-side beach to a partially charred forest on the mend. Hank turned to Emmett.

Emmett staggered backward and pulled the trigger on his empty gun. “You should be dead. What is this?” He jolted in a seizure, his gun falling out of his hands and onto the forest floor. Behind him stood Trip, holding a Taser gun. Trip kicked Emmett’s gun away and tied him up.

“Hey, Dad,” Hank greeted.

“She okay?” Trip motioned to Gladius.

“Sold it a bit heavy, don’t you think?” Hank asked.

Gladius rose up and got to her feet. “I have risen from the grave and now I will feast on your brains.” She held her arms out and staggered toward Hank.

“You have shields?” Emmett said, pulling at his restraints. “You idiots don’t know what you’re doing.”

“Shut up.” Trip kicked him in the gut.

Emmett laughed. “You are all so stupid. Don’t you know you’re only hurting yourselves? You stop us and you all die.”

“What are you talking about?” Hank asked. “How are you even alive?”

Emmett kept laughing. “When I shot myself in the head, my assistant took me away and Marcus found me dead. I should have stayed dead, but he healed me, built me a new face. Do you know the rehab I had to do in order to even walk again?” He rolled with his hands tied behind his back and sat on his butt. “He showed me, he showed me everything. I was so stupid in trying to take over MM, but I didn’t know. I didn’t know they were out there.”

“
Who
is out there?” Hank asked.

“It’s only a matter of time and if we don’t have Marcus and the little one, we are all doomed.”

“What the heck are you talking about?” Hank asked.

Emmett only laughed to himself and shook his head.

“Emmett?” Gladius said. “Hello!”

Emmett didn’t respond.

“Do you have any idea what he’s talking about?” Hank asked Gladius.

“No freaking clue.”

Emmett laughed again. “I had every intention of killing you and then hunting down every last one of the Six.” He lowered his head and spoke to himself. “He must have known about the shields. He knew I’d fail in my pursuit. Don’t you see?” He looked up. “Even someone like me ends up doing exactly what he has intended, even if I had no intention of delivering the message.”

“What message?” Hank asked.

“Marcus wants a meeting. He wants to meet with all of you.”

“That is never going to happen,” Trip said.

“He thinks everything that has happened is a great misunderstanding and he wants to show you what’s at stake, the reason he’s done everything.”

“He showed you everything, did he?” Gladius asked.

“You’re damned right he did. I’ve seen what they do and it’s only a matter of time.” Emmett laughed again. “Personally, I hope you don’t meet him. I hope this whole world burns down around you.”

“It’s just a load of bull,” Trip said.

Hank stared at Emmett. “Where does he want to meet?”

“You can pick the spot and the time. He will not be armed or shielded.”

Hank laughed this time. “You think we’re going to believe that load of bullshit, after what happened to Samantha?”

“I don’t care what you think. I’m not saying another word.” Emmett crossed his arms and lowered his head.

Hank motioned with his head for Gladius to follow him. He walked to the edge of the circle, close enough so Emmett could hear. Trip stayed close to Emmett, pacing behind him. “What do you think?” he asked.

“We stick to the plan. Once we start doing what Marcus wants, we’re screwed.”

“You really think he’d come to us though, unarmed? We could end this very quickly.”

Gladius sighed. “Don’t be dumb. We stick to the plan. Minter and Rick are expecting us and there’s more to it than just killing Marcus, remember?”