Page 42 of Resolution
“Those bastards. We’re not going to let them get away, are we?” Cody asked.
“Want me to crisp them from up here?” Zach asked as he kept the flyer steady.
“Nope, we’re going to take prisoners. Those three know a lot more about how the outbreak unfolded and how this camp came to be. I want the intel. I want them to stand trial for their crimes.” Jeff beckoned to Cody. “We’re going, plan hasn’t changed. Zach, see what you can do to slow down the infected. We’ve got no units positioned to deal with this influx other than you right now.”
“Got it, sir.”
Jeff and Cody stepped out of the flyer into thin air, their antigrav packs keeping them suspended effortlessly. These were combat units, designed for free flight rather than controlled descent, which was all the units he’d had in the city when they originally arrived could do. The current rig was from the supply drop at the ranch. As the flyer moved away to deal with the infected rushing toward the nearest buildings and the people sheltering there, the two men flew effortlessly in the direction the trio of would-be escapees had taken.
Handy to control the skies, Cody said as they raced through the air.
With our two flyers and these antigrav units, Jeff replied with a trace of humor. Not much of an aerial armada but it’s getting the job done.
Quantike and his two minions had reached the edge of the vehicle field and were moving purposefully toward a large groundtruck parked at the far corner, right next to a section of force fence. From his position above, Jeff could see there were only a few infected roaming outside this part of the fence. The rest had evidently been lured away as planned by the bombardment from the combined resources he’d cobbled together into an army. Or a relief column of sorts.
What’s our plan? Cody asked.
Stun blast as soon as we’re in range. Don’t let them reach the truck. Then we’ll land and put them in restraints, stand guard until a team can reach us to take custody.
Jeff was pushing his antigrav unit as fast as he could but a few seconds before he’d was in range to shoot effectively Madrigan stumbled and fell, bumping into Quantike and Jeff’s shot went wild. Cody had better luck, hitting Briskinn midstride. The officer crumpled to the ground. Madrigan got to her feet and took off after Quantike, who never hesitated. He fired over his shoulder at the hovering pair, who easily avoided the blasts. Quantike was at the truck and Jeff switched to his blaster, raking the engine and front wheels with bursts of energy. The general took cover and returned fire. Despite his zigzagging Jeff caught a near miss that singed his sleeve. Cody was pursuing Madrigan, who’d spun around and headed for another groundcar parked close by. When Cody blasted it into a heap of smoking parts, she screamed in raw frustration, spinning on her heel to aim her hand at the force fence.
In the blink of an eye the fence disappeared and the relatively small group of infected outside shambled forward.
Redirect, Jeff ordered. We have to stop them from advancing into the camp.
Cody zipped away to target the infected in the lead. Jeff joined the effort, keeping Quantike in his peripheral vision. If the general gave him an opportunity, Jeff was going to end this.
The hapless Briskinn was overrun by infected and even though Jeff and Cody tried to eliminate the ones closest to him, others surged and fell upon the captain in their typical frenzy. Madrigan broke and ran but in her panic she tripped over something in the grass and fell. Jeff took out three infected moving toward her but then another came around the end of a parked vehicle and caught her by the ankle, biting hard and holding on. At that point Jeff opted to give mercy to the woman and executed her and the infected. Once bitten, there’d been no hope of saving her.
Cody was doing a good job of picking off the infected who’d moved toward the compound itself so Jeff spun in midair and raced to where Quantike had been hiding among the vehicles. He saw the general sneaking past the now silent posts where the force fence had been and gave chase. He still hoped to capture the bastard and make him pay for his crimes.
But Quantike’s luck had finally deserted him as he made a break for the tree line, only to see a group of about ten infected coming toward him. Jeff accelerated, taking long distance shots but more infected were coming. The general shot as many as he could and kept slapping the alien bracelet on his wrist, shouting curses when the protection he’d relied on clearly was gone.
Jeff holstered his blaster and rushed to a spot directly above Quantike, who was now surrounded by moaning infected. “I’ll pull you to safety,” he yelled.
The general reached up and Jeff grabbed his hands, the antigrav unit whining and straining under the double weight. He attempted to rise but two infected had grabbed onto the general’s legs and were clawing at his boots. The antigrav wasn’t rated to handle so much weight and Jeff was unable to ascend. More infected joined the melee, grabbing at their fellows, who refused to let go. Unable to get at his blaster because he was holding onto Quantike, Jeff was helpless as he and the general were dragged lower.
Suddenly one of the clinging infected who had been quite a tall human when alive, reached higher on Quantike’s leg and dragged its claws down his thigh, exposing the bone. The general screamed as his blood gushed from the severed femoral artery and his grip on Jeff’s hands loosened.
There was nothing more to be done so Jeff released his grip and the general and the infected clinging to him fell away to the ground. Realigning himself, Jeff fired a single shot into the general’s head, which was more mercy than he probably deserved but Jeff refused to watch a fellow human suffer further at the hands of the infected.
Cody swooped up to him. “You okay? They didn’t get you, did they?”
“No, I’m fine. Kind of a fitting ending for those three, I guess, but it burns. We were so close to getting our hands on them all.”
Cody clapped him on the shoulder. “We know enough to stop these slimy alien bastards from destroying anyone else’s home the way they did Randal Four. Come on, we need to go help mop up infected stragglers in the compound.”
With one final glance at the bodies of the criminals he’d been trying to capture, Jeff nodded and took off for the center of the compound, following the path of destruction the infected left. There was a lot more work to do before he could declare victory and begin to assess the best way forward. Driscoll was a new, unforeseen player in the situation but might be a valuable ally. Time would tell.
* * *
By nightfall the compound was clear of infected and Cody had re-established the force barriers. The dazed survivors of Glastine were working under glaring floodlights to clean up the piles of infected and their victims.
Jeff sat at a table at the partially intact officers’ mess and waited for his allies to arrive for the next phase of the plan. Perry Norwood sat across from him, nursing a cup of synthcaff, face set in an awesome frown. He was attending under duress, having insisted he was taking his people and his robos and going home now the camp was liberated. Jeff and Norwood’s oldest son had persuaded him of the necessity of remaining. The mayor of Millersville came striding into the room, his security detail on his heels. And Driscoll arrived through the other door at the same time, several armed men at his back.
“I won’t keep you long,” Jeff said as the men approached the table. “Have some synthcaff.”
He’d added Driscoll to his roster of allies, impressed with how well the man had rallied the meager forces of resistance inside Glastine. It was obvious to Jeff that the officer was the acknowledged new leader of the refugee camp and thus a power player going forward.
