“Or drink icy cold tall boys with a line in the water.” Gunny said. “Let’s run by the camp, I want my ’55 back if it’s still there.”
128
Jessie + Scarlet
Jessie idled the old Mercury into a parking garage a few miles from the Anubis headquarters. They had listened to the news on Radio Lakota about the attacks on Tombstone and the Island. The smaller towns and strongholds had evacuated so the conquering armies found nothing but empty houses and open gates. He’d tried to raise his dad on the ham but the last anyone heard, he and Griz had gone to help people at the Island. He knew that wasn’t right and he managed to get a hold of Cobb on one of custom channels.
“He’s down south.” Cobb rasped, finally telling him plain without all the secrecy and code words. “Him and Griz infiltrated the Raiders camp and they’re trying to take it down from the inside. Last we heard, there was a big battle going on but we haven’t been able to raise them since.”
Jessie sighed and said nothing, just held the mic in his hand. He saw the strange coincidence, the weird twist of chance that put them in the same situation at the same time. Almost like the hand of fate had intervened. He’d really wanted to talk to his old man, kind of tell him goodbye, maybe. He was walking in to something that would probably get him killed but he didn’t know what else to do. He didn’t have any other options. He thought he was the only one dumb enough to walk into an enemy’s camp but apparently not. The old man had done the same thing.
“I wouldn’t worry about it.” Cobb said in the uncomfortable silence. “He can take care of himself. You know that. They’re probably just busy.”
“Right.” Jessie said, bucking up, sounding more like Gunny than Cobb cared to admit. “I’m doing the same thing up at the Anubis headquarters. It’s time to end this. I just wanted to… to…” he broke off and let go of the key. He didn’t know what he wanted. He just wanted to hear the old man’s voice once more, just in case. The last time he fought one on one with an enhanced warrior, he’d had his ass handed to him. He’d only beaten the guy by luck. Now he was walking into their house. He wasn’t feeling real good about his chances but he had no other choice. The idiot doctor at the Tower had only made things worse, Scarlet was covered in black runners now. Doctor Stevens was their last hope. Their only hope.
“That’s probably not a good idea, Jessie.” Cobb said “Maybe you should wait. We’re winning against them, they just lost a thousand men at Tombstone.”
“Can’t wait and can’t explain Cobb.” Jessie said and the old man felt a shiver run up his spine. Like a goose had walked over his grave. Like he was talking to a ghost.
“Tell dad I’ll see him soon.” he said and flipped off the radio.
Cobb held the mic in his hand for a long moment, half convinced he’d been talking to Gunny. Lacy was still in her office doing busy work like everyone else that knew what was happening down in the reservation, nervously waiting to hear news. He should go tell her about the strange conversation but it would only upset her. Especially if she figured out that he thought both of them were already dead or soon would be.
Scarlet had been unusually quiet the last part of their trip. They talked about what to expect at the headquarters, about entrances and exits. The only way in was through the tunnels, the building was completely locked down. There weren’t any escape routes, they were so sure of their strength they weren’t prepared for an attack. The Lord of the Underworld didn’t think anyone knew where they were and didn’t have plans to defend against an assault.
“He sounds like an idiot.” Jessie said, sipping on a warm Mountain Dew as they passed by dancing prairie grass and overgrown corn fields in eastern Minnesota.
“He didn’t used to be.” she’d said quietly and curled back up to sleep.
She’d dozed a lot and only fully awoke when they got close and he needed directions to the Anubis headquarters. He’d killed the lights when they were still twenty miles out and drove into the city completely blacked out. She watched him quietly as he geared up and only spoke when spoken to. He asked for her advice when he was trying to decide between a Molle vest that could hold the extra magazines or his Kevlar leathers which he wore like a second skin.
“If it comes down to guns, you shouldn’t need a lot of ammo.” she said. “There isn’t a central armory, the guards all carry weapons and there are caches of guns and bullets on every floor. You can resupply there.” “We have to get to the labs undetected or we will fail.” she said as she pulled on her jacket. “We have to convince Doctor Stevens not to sound the alarm or we fail. He has to know how to reverse this disease or we fail. We have to kill my father or we fail.”
Jessie tried to say something funny to lighten the grim mood but couldn’t. They were probably going to their death. Both knew it and neither could stop it. It was okay, though. They would be together. He shrugged into his jacket, let his guns find their place and slipped his backup pistols into their holsters. He stared at her and tried to find words but they both knew the truth. Her more so than him.
She was morose and it took immense willpower to keep fighting the insidious spread of the black runners. It made her want to
