It’s sinking in. We’re heading into the abyss again… to do what? Not to avoid tropes… oh no… but to fucking recruit them, gather them. We must be crazy, these people are desperate. Desperate times, desperate measures. We’re at the sharp end, Barnes is at the sharp end, Brody’s at the sharp end… there’s no slackers in his outfit. Well, we might as well go out in a blaze of glory. The success of this mission is probably less than 50:50—
“Twenty-four hours,” Flynn said. “A lot can happen in twenty-four hours. Here’s hoping—” Flynn held Mercy tight and whispered in her ear, “I love you girl, let’s do this once and do it right. We’ll get out together… on the other side—”
Mercy said nothing, she returned Flynn’s embrace. She nodded, her hair spilling across her eyes. She squeezed Flynn’s arms and kissed him on the lips.
“Saddle up, all aboard, let’s get this crazy train on the road,” Sledge called out.
Mercy mounted her horse and fell in behind Sledge.
I wonder how Barnes is getting on with Dimitri and the others. At least he seemed happy with the people he got. He’s under a lot of pressure but that’s what he’s trained for so it’ll work out. Just like it’ll have to work out for us too—
Sledge took them down the mountain to Mission Home, then Boonesville. They continued on through the evening, passing Free Union and Inglecress. Four hours later they passed the outskirts of Charlottesville, negotiated a large shopping centre, and then entered the inner suburbs.
OK Sledge, when are you gonna cut us loose? It’s getting pretty spooky here, maybe you should think about making yourself scarce right about now. No, take it easy on him, he knows what he’s doing—
A few minutes later Sledge stopped in the middle of the road and held a hand up. He sat still for a few seconds, his head raised.
What’s he doing? Is he… smelling the air? He’s smelling the air—
Sledge turned his horse around and pressed a finger to his lips. “You’re two klicks from the centre of town. Just follow the stink, this is Barracks Road, it’ll take you to Preston Avenue, which will take you downtown. That’s where the smell is coming from. Lie low for the night, stay in radio contact. Your friend Barnes will keep us updated on his progress at the airport. Once you get the green light just make a ton of noise… believe me, you’ll get some trope interest pretty quick. You’ve got the map and directions to the prison, it’s about two klicks southwest from the centre of town, just off Interstate 64. There’s signs, you can’t miss it—”
Mercy dismounted and handed the reins to Sledge. He collected the horses from the others and watched as they unhitched their packs. Mercy glanced up at the sky, the light was fading. Sledge waved and headed back the way they had come, he rounded a corner and disappeared. Mercy looked at the others around her.
Flynn, Tawny, Rose, Annalise and me. Five of us with this “gift”—
“Are you OK Mercy?” Tawny asked.
I’m surrounded by these people, these friends, so how come I feel so alone—? Snap out of it. Get real, focus—
Mercy nodded, “Yeah Tawny, I’m peachy. Let’s get into the city centre while we’ve still got light left. We’ll find some place to lie low… remember, keep it quiet and watch out for alphas—”
Mercy led the way, her silenced Glock 17 drawn, her eyes roving the streets ahead. They continued along Preston Avenue, then High Street, and 7th Street Northeast. They passed through old road blocks and negotiated old battlegrounds. Bullet-ridden cars and vans littered the way. They came across a downed aeroplane, embedded in the side of a building, an upside down fire truck, and a row of rusting artillery pieces.
Same old shit repeated across every city and town across the land. All the fire power in the world couldn’t stop the advance of this invisible virus. David and Goliath, shit never changes, there’s nothing new under the sun—
The last rays of sunlight bounced off the windows of the City Hall. Mercy stopped in her tracks.
Sledge was right, follow the stench. Well, here’s pretty goddamn awful. What better place to hunker down than the City Hall? The fire escape to the roof and a night under the stars sounds like a reasonable plan—
Mercy pointed the City Hall out to the others and they fell into step behind her. Twenty minutes later they were on its roof, looking out over the dead city. Rose, Flynn and Annalise did a sweep, checking the dark corners. Tawny and Mercy looked for escape routes, they found a ladder to a lower level overlooking a side street.
“There’s a fire escape there too, we can get down to the street. Not bad,” Tawny said. “As good as it gets—”
“It’ll do us. A one night stand on the roof of City Hall in Charlottesville. Who would’ve thought—?” Mercy said.
Tawny smiled, “Who would’ve thought indeed—”
“Sounds like a title for a country and western song,” Rose commented, sitting down.
“Yeah, in another time, another place,” Flynn said.
“So, is this where we get to tell ghost stories and toast marshmallows?” Rose said.
“I wish,” Mercy replied.
Annalise pulled out a six pack of beer from her back pack. “No marshmallows, but I thought I’d smuggle this into dead central for a bit of light relief. Seeing as I had a horse to carry it, it seemed like a good idea until we started walking, then I regretted it a bit—”
“Oh, you beauty,” Rose’s eyes lit up. “Here, throw me one of those bad boys—”
Nice one Annalise, it’s difficult to get to know a new crew. You just earned a major stripe… at least in Rose’s books—
“Outstanding,” Flynn said, taking a beer from Annalise.
Mercy opened her can and sipped the foam from the top. She held it in the air, “Let’s toast Barnes and his team: to their efforts tomorrow morning.
