Cascade box set 2, p.47
Cascade Box Set 2, page 47
“Can we help them?”
“There’s a lot of Cascaders down there, I couldn’t fight that many.” She looked at a nearby path which led further up the hill. “Let’s see what’s up there.”
*****
As the green of the spring forests mingled with other more exotic flashes of color in the setting sun, Hayes in the back of the second Humvee sighed. He had lost count how many packets of cookies he now owed Harper next to him. He dropped his cards onto the seat. “That’s me done. I’m going to have to start baking to give you all that I owe you now.”
“Maybe you can start a baking business?”
“His options are going to be limited without any eggs around,” said Diaz in the passenger’s seat in front of them.
“Have we found any E.L.F’s that lay egg’s yet?” Said Bower driving.
“Hell no am I eating them,” said Harper.
The others laughed.
“Hey, I like eggs, there’s got to be one of these damn creatures that can lay a proper egg!” Said Bower.
His radio then crackled and Zach’s voice came from it. “Think it’s time we found a place to hold up for the night, there’s a town coming up. Over.”
“Sounds good,” replied Bower. He briefly looked to his right. “Play time over, we’ll need to recon a location that won’t have our Cascaders up all night doing their thing.”
Diaz looked out at the multiple lanes of the highway which was moving towards a river crossing. “I hear that. There’s a lot of activity up ahead of us. We’re going to have to move through it, if we want to get into the town.”
Before she had finished talking, the convoy had already started slowing. Pot marks littered the concrete of the bridge along with military vehicles, including crumpled tanks and more than a few Humvee’s in various states of decay.
As the convoy slowly crept forward weaving left and right, squawks and roars echoed all around them.
In the first Humvee Wyatt and Miles concentrated best they could, trying to get a lock on any of the E.L.F’s tens of yards below them that were noticing the vibrations and noise above.
“Almost across,” said Fiona.
Zach went to say something looking back over his shoulder, but stopped the words from coming out of his mouth when seeing the concentration on the faces of those behind him.
They quickly sped up once free from the bridge and warehouses, and office buildings soon appeared on both sides of the highway.
Wyatt and Miles both breathed heavily.
“That was tough, I must be out of practice,” said Miles looking across Michael to Wyatt. “How you find it?”
Wyatt shrugged. “There were a lot of them.”
Zach pointed to the top of slopes to their right. “Let’s take the next turn off and see if we can find somewhere up there.”
Further down the highway a small group of heavy looking creatures lumbered across the road, but Fiona took the turning before and soon they were traveling up a slope towards an industrial park of stores. Weaving around some abandoned vehicles, she pulled the Humvee into a large parking lot, eventually pulling up in front of some monolithic looking buildings.
Zach had a quick look at the skies then looked back at the two Cascaders. “Anything?”
“Nothing we need to be concerned with,” said Miles.
They all started getting out, Bower and the others did the same.
“Good line of sight,” said Bower walking up to Zach. They both looked out over the highway they just traveled up and the forest covered hills in the distance. The tops of a number of the trees could be seen moving in the gloom, despite the lack of wind around them.
Soldiers starting piling out of the truck which Bower walked towards. “Recon the area. Find me some good places to post lookouts.” The soldiers nodded and started fanning out. He then turned and followed Zach who was approaching the nearby building with Harper, Hayes and the others.
A huge handmade sign stretched above the doors. “NO MORE FOOD.” It mostly covered another sign which mentioned being a restaurant of some kind.
Zach pointed towards the building next to it that was even more block-like and three times as high.
Harper and Michael approached the glass doors which seemed undamaged, and pushed on them, they rattled but didn’t open.
“They’re chained from the inside,” said Michael.
“This is the one,” said Zach looking at Bower who nodded.
“Harper, Diaz get around back, find another way in,” said Bower. They nodded and took off.
“I can shoot through the glass?” said Michael.
Zach shook his head. “Too noisy.” He noticed Wyatt was looking uneasy. “What’s wrong?”
“Just lots of E.L.F’s around us,” he noticed Zach’s reaction. “But it’s okay, I… we can handle it.”
“If you can’t, you need to tell us, okay?”
The younger man briefly nodded.
Shadows moved beyond the glass doors and Harper appeared holding her radio up to her mouth. “There’s a way in around back. Over,” came from Bower’s radio.
“Let’s get inside and find somewhere to sleep for the night,” said Zach.
Soon most were walking in the side entrance to the cinema and a guard was posted at the door to go with the others that were already on the roof acting as lookouts.
Zach, Fiona, Bower and the others walked into a grand foyer and swung their flashlight beams over the clean looking walls and movie posters.
“Doesn’t look like this place saw fighting,” said Fiona walking up to the long counter. “Ha, there’s still popcorn back here.”
Michael climbed over the counter and grabbed a paper bag from the shelf and pulled it open, his expression immediately changed and he dropped it to the ground.
Fiona laughed. “Yeah, I wouldn’t eat that.” She looked around. “Try some of the other packets.”
Zach walked into a small room off the foyer. It was packed with arcade machines. He smiled remembering his childhood.
Wyatt enthusiastically walked up to one of the large machines, with a fake gun pointing at a screen. “Man, I loved this one.”
Zach walked to the smaller machine, with the simple screen and controls. “This was my thing when I was a kid. I sunk a whole lot of my weekly allowance into it.” He looked at the other machines and the carpet. “Although when I was a kid, you would see a lot more cigarette and drink stains everywhere!” He laughed, and turned around. Wyatt was moving the plastic gun left and right as if the machine was working. Zach walked to him. “No reason why we can’t get some machines like these up and running again in the camp.”
Wyatt gave a forlorn smile and put the fake gun back in its holding.
As night fell, most found their way to ‘Screen three’, and were sitting in one of the many seats trying to get some rest.
Zach looked across the rows for Fiona, but couldn’t see her. He spotted Michael sitting right at the front. “You seen Fiona?”
“Saw her walking to the back, up top.”
He looked at the people gathered near the topmost seats. “She’s not—” He saw some flickers of light from the projection room window. “Ah, I know where she is.” He went to walk away then stopped, turning back. “How’s…”
“Hannah. Yeah she’s good thanks.”
Zach didn’t know what else to say so smiled and walked away. Soon he was knocking on the projection room door. “Fiona you in there.”
“I am indeed.” Her tone was slightly off Zach thought. On entering, he found her sitting on the floor with a bottle of clear liquid in her hand. The alcoholic fumes filled the air.
“Mind if I join you?”
She nodded, waving the bottle.
He closed the door behind him, and looked at the simple looking office with a desk, filing cabinets, sofa and a modest size box device, which pointed towards the screen outside.
“Yeah, not what you imagined eh…Bet you thought there be this huge—” She opened her arms. “Contrapssion… with reels of film and…”
Zach smiled. “Yeah…”
She briefly closed one eye then opened it. “Technology! Ain’t… I mean, wasn’t it great! Made all this shit possible for us…” She then stopped as if realizing something. “If the world has ended, does that mean that if I invent something, then I would have invented it for the first time?”
Zach sat near to her and she gave him the bottle. He took a small swig, but resisted handing it back. “Umm yeah sure why not.”
She looked about the room then smiled pointing at the bottle. “Then I lay claim to invensing Alcohol!..” She blinked while swaying back and forth. “I’m gonna be so rich.”
Putting the bottle down he got to his feet and helped her up and onto the sofa which she immediately laid down on.
“I don’t feel so good…”
He helped her turn on her side and her eyes fell shut, followed by her breathing deepening.
He looked down at her and sighed. “Get some rest,” he said quietly, then left.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
A house which by any means would have been regarded as a luxury residence, sat near the top of the hill with a back corner missing. Luckily it was the corner without the stairs, which led up to a number of spacious bedrooms.
Abbey looked through the gap between the drapes with her small set of binoculars at the buildings and lights in the middle of town. A light knock came from the door behind her.
“Just come in Raj, I’ll try not to get naked while we are just a mile from homicidal Cascaders.”
The door opened and he walked in with some packets in both hands. “I found these in what was left of the kitchen.” He threw them onto the king sized bed. “Least we’ll sleep more comfortable tonight… if we get any that is. What are they doing?”
“Laughing, dancing… all while their creatures create craters everywhere.”
“So they’re having a party?”
“It would seem so and that’s a good thing.”
Raj looked confused for a second. “Ah, because they have been drinking? Dulls their Cascader abilities?”
“I have no idea, but hopefully.”
He sat on the bed and started tearing a packet of dry roasted nuts open. “How can we help those underground? If they could have defeated the Cascaders above them, they would have done so. How are we going to help?”
Raj didn’t have to say it, but she could tell he wanted to leave the town and head back to the outpost.
“We can’t just leave them.”
“They just left us. We could have done with their help. Even if it was just to know we weren’t the only ones left alive.”
She sighed. He was right, but she still couldn’t leave them to their deaths. “There’s at least a few thousand people down there Raj. We need to do something.”
He got to his feet and walked to her. “Maybe the best thing we can do is go back to the outpost and get reinforcements. More Cascaders to even out the numbers?”
She shook her head.
“I saw what just two of you could do with the creatures around you. How many are down there? Twenty? Thirty? And they can control most of what’s alive around us…” His eyes widened on realizing something. “You want to talk to them don’t you? Because of what Elcher said?”
“Your alien friend made it very clear. I need to find more of my kind. Then we can stop the Cascade. Why not start with those down there?”
“You just said they were lunatics!”
“Homicidal I called them, but maybe that’s just because they were under the influence of Clovis. Maybe I can convince them to change.”
Raj shook his head and moved back to the bed grabbing another packet. “You’re gong to get yourself killed. And what will you do when he returns?”
“That’s why I’m going to have a quick rest then try and make contact.”
Raj shook his head then left the room closing the door behind him.
Abbey looked again through her binoculars. One of the men a few miles off, was keeping away from the others. He also had one of the largest E.L.F’s, a kind of tall four-legged lizard which did not look that dissimilar to pictures of dinosaurs she had seen as a kid. He sat on top of it, watching the others.
He’s the one.
*****
Abbey moved through the passageway to the back of the house, which was open to the world outside. It saved her having to open and close the front door, which Raj might hear. Stepping over pipes and masonry she emerged onto an expensive looking patio, and then moved around the side of the house onto the driveway. She looked up at the house then ran down the road, trying not to make a false step. She had no light, but the moon was providing enough illumination to make out shapes and the path that wound its way between the trees.
Soon she was back on the road. The calls and shrieks of various nocturnal E.L.F’s rang out around her. Remembering best she could where things were, she jogged down the slope towards the main town junction which was a few hundred yards away. Earlier she ate some of what Raj had left with her, then gave herself a few hours of sleep. It was now around 2am by her reckoning and as far as she could tell there wasn’t any movement in the town. Even the E.L.F’s that belonged to the people there had dropped to the ground to rest.
Glows came from the upper floors of the few buildings that were still habitable and those were her target.
Running down the two-lane road, she avoided dark shapes which sat on the concrete, and then moved onto the sidewalk as she neared a parking lot at the back of the buildings. A scratching noise made her turn around. Instantly she froze.
Facing her was a large humanoid cat like E.L.F, standing a foot above her on its rear legs, its eyes shimmering in the moonlight. It growled then just as it was about to lunge forward, she thrust her hand out in front halting its progress. She could feel it wanting to tear her apart and its rage was almost too much for her to control. Straining with all her might, she felt something give in the mind of the creature just a few feet from her, and it turned and sprinted away towards the buildings she was moving towards.
One of theirs.
Her top lip felt wet. Touching her finger to the area made it feel warm and sticky. Her nose was bleeding. Have to be more alert.
She crouched and allowed her mind to scan the space between her and the back of the building. She needed to find the large dinosaur looking E.L.F, that would hopefully help her find its master.
No… No not that one… That could be… nope… ah…
She looked across the decaying cars that littered the street, towards another junction. It’s down there.
She stood then ran as fast as she could trying to keep her mind open to anymore unwanted appearances from the Cascaders creatures. Once she was past the parking lot, she was alongside old stores and office buildings, all of which were smashed and broken in some way. She glanced inside a few of them as she trotted past, but only intense shadows looked back at her.
Soon she was at the junction. With her back against the wall, she peered around the corner, and saw what her mind already sensed. A huge reptilian creature laying in the middle of the street. She really did not want to have to try and fight the imprint on the creature’s mind again, as she could still feel the affects of the last mental battle.
In one of the apartments above the row of stores a dim light glowed. Got to be him. She looked across the road. At the end of the block was a fire escape. She looked around her for any movement, then quickly ran across the junction, and to the side of the building opposite. Pulling the metal ladder down as quietly as she could, she clambered up the steps, past the first and second floors until she came to the third. She had noticed from the ground it was the only one with a window that was partially open. Leaning forward she heaved it upwards, then ducked inside.
She knew the apartments weren’t linked, but she had other plans. She pulled the small flashlight from her pocket and shone its light around the corridor. Dark streaks covered the patterned wallpaper and the carpet was covered in what looked like rags, but on further inspection seemed to contain bones. She swallowed and walked forward until she found what she was looking for. Pushing the door open, she walked up the narrow staircase, then opened another door and came out onto the roof.
Making sure to keep her light pointed at the ground, she walked forward trying to not make noise. Climbing over the dividing walls between the apartments, she was soon near the one where she had seen the light on within.
She walked quickly over to the external wall and looked down to the street. The large E.L.F she wanted to avoid was still sleeping in the middle of the road. She then went to turn.
“You do know it’s not safe to be creeping around rooftops in the dead of night, right?” Said a voice behind her.
She slowly turned. A man who was striking even in the limited light of the moon stood just a few yards away. It’s him.
She went to talk but he continued.
“You’re a Cascader. This is why I’m standing here. Question is though, why are you here?”
“I wanted to see you.”
“I see, and who might you be?”
“Abbey.”
“Abbey…”
“Reisner.”
“And why do you want to see me Abbey Reisner?”
As she went to talk the ground around her became bathed in shadow and she realized something was blocking the light from the moon. She slowly turned her head. The man’s E.L.F was standing on its hind legs, and its long crocodile like head was looking down at her, just beyond the rooftop wall.
“Oh don’t mind Surus, he’s just a little protective of me. But you were saying?”
“Maybe we could go inside to talk?”
He spun around with his arms out. “Why would we want to do that? It’s a beautiful spring night.” He looked at her expectantly.
