Darkness Falls (Book 1): Rise of the Fallen (15 page)

“Wait something isn’t right.”

“What do you mean?”

“The headlights are on.”

As we watched Jessie’s S.U.V. spun its tires taking off from the end of the block. It flew right by the store doing about sixty. Twenty seconds later an armored camouflage Humvee flew by heading in the same direction.

“Shite! We have to make our own way back. I see a few
Fallen
out there in the shadows across the street. We had better take the back way out.”

“Let me grab something real quick”

I followed him down one of the aisles. He picked up a handful of small personal alarms. They were the kind that emitted a loud noise when you clicked a button. You had to click them again to turn them off.

“Not bad. Those might come in handy. Stick close to me once we get outside. Let’s try to find a car with keys.”

“And that has gas!”

“Yes, that would be nice too.”

We exited through the window lowering ourselves down onto the roof of the car in the alley. Sadly it had no keys we could find. Jumping a couple fences from the alley we made our way one block over. I spotted a small gray car parked nearby. Looking inside I didn’t see any keys. As I started to walk away David called out for me to wait. He hopped into the driver seat reaching over to grab a tiny plastic box with magnets from the under the glove box. He opened it producing a key.

“Nice find. Scoot over. I’m driving. I’ll teach you how another day.”

“I’ll remember you said that!”

Automatic headlights came on when I started up the car. I was reaching down to figure out how to shut them off when David called out my name. Glancing over I saw he was pointing in front of us. I turned finding an extremely large
Fallen
lumbering at a great rate of speed towards us only a few feet away. It looked like a three hundred pounds linebacker that would have no trouble coming right through the front windshield. Throwing the car in reverse I backed down the block spinning the car around. I took back streets after figuring out how to turn off the lights. For at least thirty minutes I drove fifty mph to make sure we lost any assailants. Back in the neighborhood I got halfway down the block before seven people swarmed in from different directions with guns pointed at the car. I put the car in park raising my hands. David followed my lead. Flashlights came on a moment later.

“It Rye and David,” a man’s voice called out.

“About time! You had me worried sick!” This voice I immediately recognized as Jessie’s.

“You’re one to be talking with the high speed chases Jess.”

Stepping out of the car we were greeted with hugs and pats on the back. Sam hopped in the car pulling it into one of the empty garages. Everyone convened to headquarters. 

“Did you get a look at the guys who were chasing after you?”

“Unfortunately not. I was driving around killing time not paying as much attention as I should have been. The next thing I know I’m on the opposite side of town near the airport. Floodlights came on and that APV came out of nowhere. I lost them near the casinos barely making it past a horde of
Fallen
. Ran over a couple while weaving around the large groups.

“They sure didn’t seem friendly. Sooner you get that scanner running David the sooner we can get some Intel on our newest neighbors. If they are dangerous then they are going to be out in full force looking for us. I’m afraid we are going to have to make some hard choices.”

“Option one is we pack up, leave town, and don’t look back right?”

“Exactly, Jess. That is the only for sure way we can guarantee there are no causalities on our side. That means we would be leaving behind everything we have put our efforts and hard work into building here. However, it’s not like we can’t do it all over again. The second option is making contact which could be a good thing or a very bad thing. The last option is reconnaissance followed by digging our hills in for a long fight. We will likely lose lives. I won’t sugar coat it we all might lose our lives.”

“You failed to mention one thing. If we take option one what guarantee is there that others won’t come along that are a danger. Do we simply keep running, keep rebuilding, and hope that eventually we will find a place that no one will bother us? And what about the
Fallen
? They are just as dangerous if not more. If we leave then we are going to have to deal with that danger all over to secure a safe haven.”

“You’re absolutely right. There’s a fair assumption that if we take that route we could just as easily lose lives. Whatever choice we make is going to be a difficult one to follow.”

It started as everyone voicing their opinions, but quickly turned into raised voices arguing over what the best choice would be. I stepped in before things got to out of hand.

“Everyone please! Fighting amongst ourselves is not going to solve anything. We will decide as we have always done with a vote. However, this time around if you don’t agree with the majority then you have the choice to go your own separate way if you choose to. Agreed?”

There was a little more grumbling, but they calmed down considerably. We commenced to voting by raising our hands. There were five hands for leaving, two for making contact, and five for the last option.

“Since we have a tie vote I am let me make a compromise. First option we leave. Second we stay. If we stay then we monitor, do recon, send one volunteer to meet with them, and if that ends badly then whoever wants to leave can. Those that want to fight will stay.”

After rephrasing the options everyone appeared to be in deep thought. When asked to vote a second time it was unanimous eleven to one to stay. Although the new way allowed everyone to leave at some point I was doubtful that anyone would freely volunteer to be the one that met with the other group. In all likelihood we would end up leaving after doing reconnaissance.

Over the next couple days we pinpointed two different channel they used for communication. Anyone monitoring had to write down the details because they definitely had someone with military experience doing the talking in code. Jessie was able to decode most of what they were saying so that the rest of us could understand. On the fourth day Jessie asked me to call another meeting after nightfall.

“We are running low on food in our household,” Todd said.

“Not a problem. I have some that we can spare.” Jessie glanced in my direction knowing as well as I did that it wouldn’t be long before everyone was running short on food including us.

Kurt asked, “So what does Intel say about the other group?”

“From everything that I have overheard they are searching for something that an individual was working on for the government. Sounds like some kind of weapon they plan to use on the
Fallen
. Not sure of the specifics of the weapon itself. Chances are that it is something biological which would also harm any humans in the fallout area dispersed. How big of an area the fallout will be is a huge unknown factor. If they complete the project it could potentially kill all of us. They have also mentioned containment of any survivors that are found. That may sound like a good thing but I promise it is not. They will poke and prod with needles and questions for as long as they choose to. What they will do when they are done is questionable. This group has a lot of military or law enforcement experience, but not all of them. Some of them are likely mercenaries for hire supplied by foreign powers. That being said we are looking at a much bigger group located elsewhere which sent them here.”

Jessie downed a bottle of water after her long debriefing. I stood up from the table we sat around to stretch. I looked over the group before choosing my words carefully.

“Things are not looking in favor of staying for any reason. This is a force we don’t have the manpower to fight against. It is also apparent that meeting with them is not advisable. However, we will stick with the plan for reconnaissance as agreed before we make a final decision. We need to access their numbers, fire power, and anything else we can as quickly as possible. It will have to be a small team. Getting to a safe location near the airport will be difficult, potentially life threatening with all the
Fallen
about. Now is the time to decide who is going. Are there any volunteers?”

“You know I’m the best choice Rye. Anyone that wants to tag along will need to learn a few things. Hand signs, some stealth training, and a little defensive training. All of which I will happily provide the lessons. It would be preferable that they are good with a gun. Also, able to handle intense situations if they arise.”

“Most of us fit that description which is why we have survived. Our best shooter are Jerod, Rye, and Kurt in that order excluding yourself of course.” Dan stated what had been obvious to the rest of us.

“That narrows it down. Any of those three who wish to volunteer are more than welcome. If not then I will go by myself.”

“You know I’m with you love. Can’t let you have all the fun.”

“I’m in! I know some of the hand signs as you’re aware. Defensive training should be a breeze. I can handle my own. Stealth has become second nature to most of us with the Fallen around. This should be a cake walk,” Kurt flexed his muscles grinning.

“Don’t get cocky big guy. I’m pretty sure there is a thing or two I can still teach you. Just so we are clear I can put you on your backside every time if you want to test that theory. You need to remember that they have military training too. It’s best if you had some perception of exactly what that means.”

Kurt laughed. “You’re probably right. I would like to see how awesome your skills really are to be honest.”

“Challenge accepted! What about you Jerod?”

“Since you already have two of the best shooters going might be in our best interest if I stayed to protect the home front.  Plus I’m getting on in years. Probably couldn’t keep up with you young folk.”

“That being said, I am leaving Jerod and Dan in charge while we are away, if no one has any objections?”

Everyone was in agreement to my suggestion. We departed shortly after to get some rest. The following few days went by in a blur. Kurt and I learned important hand signs until they were memorized. Jessie explained the importance of stealth while showing us on short outings the various methods. She discussed different ways to camouflage with our surroundings. The best part was defensive training when she was sparring with Kurt. She used him like a rag doll to teach various martial art maneuvers. His respect grew for Jessie, but he still had his doubts about others with military training. She had to physically beat into him the fact that most of what she knew had been learned while being part of the military. It wasn’t as fun when I was the rag doll. Communications from the scanner informed us that the other group had cleared a large area around the airport of
Fallen
which was a small encouragement. The fact that they were able to take an airport probably packed with
Fallen
meant they likely had large numbers or an unlimited supply of ammunition while picking them off over a long period of time. Looking over a few maps of the area we decided the best place for a stake out would be either the nearby car rental building or the storage unit facility. Since the storage unit likely had high fences; possibly even barb wire; we decided it would provide better protection even if it was a little further away. During stealth training we made a quick trip to access the storage units from afar with binoculars. Afterword, Jessie had us go shopping to acquire a set of completely white clothing including ski masks to match the color of the units at the storage facility. During our excursions we grabbed any food that was still edible we came across. Most of which was dehydrated supplies among camping gear.

A week after volunteering for reconnaissance we headed out during the night.  We took the black S.U.V. making our way through the least populated areas making sure not to be followed by
Fallen
. The few that did try to follow were quickly dealt with. Parking the S.U.V. among the many other various vehicles at the car rental place we hoofed it over to the storage units. We cut through the fence with heavy duty wire cutters just enough to crawl through. Inside we secured the fence with a small roll of wire we had brought specifically for that purpose. Making our way to one of the large units we cut off a lock to look inside. There was a large open space among the stacked boxes and furniture. Closing ourselves inside we rearranged a little after removing our gear. Kurt went to a nearby unlocked small unit with a small bag. He came back dressed all in white including the ski mask. He took first watch. Jessie and I rolled out a sleeping bag. Crawling inside it together we snuggled up to get some rest.

Several hours later Kurt quietly woke me around to relieve him.

“Anything interesting?”

“Not really. Had to roll off the roof of a storage unit because that damn helicopter flew over with its searchlights on. Barely took cover in time. There hasn’t been any movement at the airport other than a cargo truck that left about an hour ago.”

“Okay, get some rest.”

“Yep.”

I changed into my white apparel before sneaking around to find the best view point. On the far south side of the facility facing the airport I found a small dresser pressed up next to one of the units. I assumed that Kurt had used it to climb up on top of the metal storage. Once on top, I laid down flat on my stomach looking through a pair of night vision binoculars. The binoculars I had borrowed from David had a digital camera built in. The SD card could be transferred to other devices to view the pictures taken at a later time.