Final dawn season 2, p.19
Final Dawn: Season 2, page 19
part #2 of Final Dawn Series
Between the text and photographs, Marcus quickly realized that the office he was in was that of some sort of analyst, charged with reviewing aerial photographs of some sort. Extremely high resolution photos were accompanied with handwritten notes in permanent marker with circles around license plates, buildings and even individual people. What astonished Marcus the most was not the fact that the photographs existed, but that they were of such high quality.
Lost in his rifling through the papers on the desk, Marcus didn't notice when the hairs on the back of Sam's neck began to bristle. Sam stood and walked to the door, staring at it as he tilted his head, his ears perked as he listened to some noise far off in the hall. Several minutes ticked past before Marcus looked up from the paperwork and noticed Sam still standing at the door. Picking up his pistol from the desk next to him, Marcus switched off the EL light and moved to the door next to Sam. Though the EL light had been fully extinguished, the room was still partially lit, though now it was from light with a bluish tinge instead of white.
Somewhere in South Dakota
The roar of an engine stirs the man from his light slumber. He blinks several times as he awakens, not realizing that he fell asleep in the moments after setting up his rifle. Though the roar is still far off in the distance, the man can hear it quite clearly, and there is no mistake: it is the intruders. The sound of the engine has been lodged in the man's head since the night the intruders came to him under the cover of darkness, brought in by one of his flock to help lead the village to victory over the demon hordes.
The man sneers as he remembers the first moment he realized the truth, when the wool was lifted from his eyes and he saw the intruders for what they were: demons in human clothing. Instead of working with the villagers, the intruders had betrayed them, helping to weaken the defenses and faith of the small community. "My community," the man thinks, "The one that I built through ceaseless toil and work, has been torn away.
"Never mind, though. I will bring down the wrath of the Almighty above upon their heads and smite them from this earth."
The roar of the engine grows louder and the man settles on the gun, sliding his face closer to the scope to get a clear view. With a magnification of over nineteen power, objects in the distance spring forward as he sweeps the area, looking for the source of the sound. Finally, after a moment of searching, he spots it. Riding in through a field and back onto the highway, a squat rectangular vehicle painted in a camouflage pattern swings wide past a collection of cars sitting on the road.
At its current distance, the APC is well within range of the powerful rifle, though the man hesitated to shoot while it was still moving for fear of not being able to kill them before they drove away. Knowing that their supplies are limited, the man holds his fire, hoping they will stop at one of the stores nearby. A cold smile spreads across his face as the APC slows down, turning into a parking lot across the highway from the electronics store he is hidden in.
The APC turns around to the side of the building, hidden from sight, but the engine cuts off immediately afterward, signaling that the occupants are disembarking to enter the store. With the APC protected, the man immediately jumps up and takes the gun outside, crouching low behind a row of hedges as he runs to the side, looking for a better position from which to shoot. A hundred feet along, he stops as the APC and loading docks of the back of the store come into view.
The man places the gun's bipod on the hood of a parked car and steadies his aim, recalculating the new range to his target. Scanning the APC and loading dock, he sees no signs of the intruders, so he runs back to his previous position for a clear view of the front windows of the store. The interior is dark, but light streams in from behind him, illuminating the store aisles enough for him to look for the intruders.
Movement catches his eye and he spots one of the intruders, the husband, the one who slugged him in the jaw. Still pained by the injury, the man doesn't hesitate. His finger squeezes the trigger, sending a round rocketing out of the muzzle of the rifle at nearly three thousand feet per second, smashing through the store window and exploding near the target inside. The man's shot is close, but not dead on, and the intruders immediately start scrambling for cover. Firing a few more shots, the man loses sight of the intruders as they escape through the back, frantically trying to flee back to their vehicle.
Swinging the rifle onto his shoulder, the man runs back to where he can see the loading dock and sets his aim on the vehicle, preparing to shoot out the rear tire. A flurry of movement on the loading dock catches his eye, making him pause for a few seconds. Both intruders are present, working to get into their vehicle without losing the shopping cart load of food that they are carrying with them. As the female intruder flees into the vehicle, the man takes shots at her husband, coming closer to hitting on target with each subsequent shot.
Seconds later, though, both intruders are safely inside their vehicle along with their supplies, and the man wastes no time in expending the last of his rounds at them. The armored vehicle tears through the parking lot, making it difficult to track, but one round finally impacts on the side of the car, though it quickly speeds away before the man can tell whether or not he did any serious damage. As he listens to the sound of the APC's engine grow faint in the distance, the man grits his teeth, closing his eyes at the pain in his jaw.
Picking the heavy gun up and balancing it on his shoulder, he walks back to his vehicle and packs his gear up, undaunted by the failure of his first attempt at killing the intruders. Confident that more attempts will present themselves, he says a quick prayer before climbing into the vehicle, looking for guidance on his mission of revenge.
Leonard McComb | Nancy Sims
9:41 AM, April 12, 2038
Running through the back of the store, Leonard and Nancy received a final few shots from the unknown assailant before disappearing through the door into the employees-only section. Dragging the shopping cart behind him, Leonard nearly tipped it over on more than one occasion. Together with Nancy, Leonard propelled the cart out onto the loading dock, running down to the area closest to the APC.
"Hold the cart!" Leonard jumped down off the loading dock as he shouted at Nancy, running toward the APC to get it started up. Only a trickle of fuel was left running through the plastic tubing, so Leonard jerked it up and flung it under the driver's seat, ignoring the splash of diesel that landed in the APC and on his clothing. After quickly screwing the cap back on the fuel tank, Leonard hopped into the driver's seat and started the engine, noting that the fuel gauge was now just below the halfway point.
Not bothering to put his harness on, Leonard put the APC into reverse and drove back toward the loading dock, trying to move as quickly as possible before the unknown shooter changed position to get a clean shot at them. Stopping just a few feet from the loading dock, Leonard parked the APC and jumped out, not bothering to turn off the engine as he ran around to the back of the vehicle. Nancy was already down off of the loading dock and had opened the doors to the APC, preparing to load in the supplies from the grocery cart.
A spray of concrete from the loading dock made Nancy scream in surprise, and she and Leonard covered their heads as a small fire erupted just a few yards away. Glancing at the cart and then back at the open back of the APC, Leonard pushed Nancy around to the passenger's side. "Get in! I've got this!"
Leonard pulled himself up onto the loading dock, rolling to the side as another spray of concrete and fire erupted, this time only a few feet away. Standing up, Leonard pulled the cart back a few feet and launched it forward, aiming for the back of the APC. The loading dock was only a few feet high, and Leonard guessed that it was only six to twelve inches higher than the back of the APC parked just a few feet away. The heavy load in the cart made it impossible to get down off of the loading dock onto the ground without spilling its contents, especially with someone firing a high-caliber rifle close by.
To his surprise, Leonard's attempt at launching the cart into the back of the APC actually worked. Sailing through the air, the top of the cart clipped the upper portion of the APC's interior, shattering the plastic as it slid forward and came to a halt fully inside the vehicle. A third eruption of concrete and heat came hot on Leonard's heels as he jumped off of the loading dock and quickly closed the rear doors on the vehicle.
Without hesitation, Leonard hustled back around to the front and climbed in behind the wheel, slamming his door shut and pressed his foot down on the accelerator. The APC lurched forward and Leonard struggled with the wheel as a deafening clanging came from a bullet impact on the heavy armor plating.
"Drive! Faster!" Nancy exclaimed, holding tight to her seat as Leonard snaked through the parking lot, seeking the entrance they had come through. Car windows shattered around them as more rounds were fired, though thankfully no more of them actually connected with the APC itself. The seconds it took for Leonard to find his way out of the parking lot seemed to stretch into an agonizing infinity until Nancy raised her hand, pointing off to one side.
"There's the highway!"
Not wanting to bother with any more of the parking lot, Leonard pushed the APC harder, riding it up and over a high curb that separated the lot from the highway. The thick knobbed wheels of the armored transport took the minor obstacle in stride, and a moment later Leonard and Nancy were on the highway, using the APC's heavy bulk to plow through any disabled vehicles that they couldn't maneuver around. The distant echo of shots being fired disappeared behind them and Leonard and Nancy began to catch their breath as their racing hearts slowed down.
"Who the hell was shooting at us?" Nancy's voice was a mixture of terror and rage as she brushed bits of pulverized concrete from her clothing.
"I have no idea." Leonard shook his head. "But whoever it was, they weren't half bad with whatever they were shooting." Reaching down, Leonard felt the still-warm rear of his shoe, poking at the rubber that had partially melted from the heat of an incendiary round that impacted where he was standing right after he leapt off the loading dock.
"So are we safe now?"
"Absolutely not. Whatever they were shooting, it sounded big, and it's probably got a huge range. Plus, we have no idea if they're mobile or not, so it's no use poking around here anymore. We need to get back on the road for a few hours before we try to stop again."
Nancy looked back, seeing the metal bars of the shopping cart pressed up against the passage between the front seats and the back of the APC. "Hey, at least we got food and water, right?"
Leonard gave Nancy a half-hearted smile before focusing his full attention back on the road. While he didn't say anything directly to her, a sinking feeling had been settling in his gut ever since the first shot was fired at them inside the store. Though Leonard had no evidence to support his feeling, a nagging voice at the back of his head told him exactly who was after them.
It's got to be Samuel. He had enough weapons to do this kind of damage, and I didn't exactly put a bullet through this head. But how could he have made it out of there without the muties ripping him apart?
While it seemed inconceivable that Samuel could have followed Nancy and Leonard to Sioux Falls, the more Leonard thought about it, the more he realized how possible it really was. If any of the horses at the village had survived the creatures' attack, then Samuel could have easily made better time to the city than the APC, particularly if he guessed where they were going. It was the largest city to the west of the village, after all, and while the APC had stuck to the roads, Leonard could imagine a more direct path from the village to Sioux Falls that would have shaved a few hours off of the trip.
"What is it, Leonard?"
Startled from his thoughts, Leonard realized that his grip on the steering wheel had tightened until his hands were white while he had been thinking about Samuel. Relaxing his hands, Leonard tried to force a smile, wanting desperately to lie to Nancy about his suspicions so that he wouldn't have to put her through more than she had already been through. Not one to be easily fooled by such a poor attempt at lying, Nancy wasn't put off her line of questioning so easily.
"Oh, it's nothing. Just thinking about whoever was shooting at us."
"That's not the whole story and you know it. Out with it, Leonard; what's wrong?"
Leonard sighed heavily. "The person shooting at us... I just get the strangest feeling that it's Samuel."
Nancy was quiet and Leonard glanced over at her, seeing her stare out the front window after hearing his response. When she finally spoke, she was quiet and reserved, and Leonard could sense the anger that threatened to spill out after every utterance of Samuel's name.
"I'm not surprised. I think it's him, too." Nancy turned to Leonard. "But how could Samuel have survived? The creatures would have torn apart every living thing. Even if they somehow missed him, how could he have gotten out here? I never saw any working vehicles at the village, and the muties that attacked that...." Nancy sputtered, nearly spitting out the word as she was reminded of the treachery of the youth that led to their capture. "That... boy's horse. Do you really think anything at the village was left with a pulse after those things passed through?"
"I'm not sure, but it's the best theory I've been able to come up with."
Nancy shifted in her seat, looking around at the buildings that they were flying past. "Well then, screw running. The next place you see with guns, we need to load up and kill this bastard."
"I agree, but we can't delay getting to Alaska any longer."
Nancy stared at Leonard, and he gulped involuntarily, almost feeling sorry for the man who her rage was directed toward. "I don't mean we go hunt him down. But the next time he finds us--and I'm sure he'll try again--we kill him. Agreed?"
"Agreed."
Rachel Walsh | Marcus Warden | David Landry
9:43 AM, April 12, 2038
"Oh shit!" Marcus hissed, ducking below the window on the door as the source of blue light drew closer. Coming from the opposite end of the hall that Marcus had arrived from, the source was advancing in the general direction of Rachel and David, who were unaware of its presence.
Marcus glanced down at Sam, who hadn't moved or grown more aggressive. He was still standing in front of the door with the hairs on his back raised, sensing that something was outside. Marcus thought back to the initial encounter he and Rachel had had when they'd descended into the complex, and how Sam had barely reacted to the half-mutated man who shuffled toward them, begging them to kill him. Sam's behavior was noticeably more aggressive, but he wasn't acting like he usually did when one of the creatures was around.
Taking a deep breath, Marcus steeled himself to burst into the hall and fire, fully expecting to face multiple creatures at the same time. He threw the door open and slid into the hall, lifting his pistol to aim at the source of the blue light. The look of determination across Marcus's face quickly changed to a mixture of confusion and horror as he finally saw the thing standing before him.
Not dissimilar in appearance to the poor soul that Rachel had put out of its misery, the figure in front of Marcus was emaciated, glowing blue and shuffling down the hall. The figure's eyes--Marcus couldn't tell if it was a man or a woman--were completely gone, replaced by the same silver metal that dotted the figure's entire body. Despite the fact that the figure had the facial features of a fully transformed creature, it did not react in any aggressive way to Marcus or Sam when they stepped out into the hall.
"Hello?"
The creature's voice betrayed it as a young woman, who spoke in a terrified whisper as she stopped, her still-functional ears operating in the corridor even while her eyes had been taken from her. Marcus froze at the sound, hesitant to shoot her. This was the second person to speak to him while still looking like one of the mutant creatures, and Marcus could hear her humanity behind her metallic face.
Turning her head, the woman spoke again, a little louder than before.
"I can hear you... please... please help me. I don't know where I am. It's so dark. I can't see anything."
Desperation clawed from the edges of the young woman's voice; it reached out to Marcus and, against his better judgment, he lowered his pistol. While he wanted to shoot the woman, she wasn't advancing toward him like the man before had done. Maybe she's still in control of her body? But how? She looks worse than he did; her whole face is gone!
"What's your name?" Marcus unconsciously spoke louder than he meant to. The woman's head snapped around and she stared at him with the remnants of her eye sockets as she finally located where he was.
"Oh thank God!" Sounds of sobbing came from the woman as she spoke, shuffling forward and reaching out with her hands to feel in front of her. "I'm...." The woman hesitated, unsure. "I don't know. I can't seem to remember."
Marcus stepped back as the woman continued forward, still wary of her intentions. If she can't remember her name and she's not hostile, what on earth happened to her? The blue glow given off by her outstretched arms was pale, and Marcus thought he could detect an imperceptible flicker in the light. Maybe the nanobots in her body didn't reach critical mass?
