Fury Rising (32 page)

A man in a windbreaker rushed past her, almost kicking her in the process. She looked up to see more people rushing blindly towards her. Clementine swore and crawled under the table. A moment later, Aries joined her.

“I told them to stay in the tent and not come out for anything,” Aries said. “Hopefully that’s enough.”

“They’ll listen to Janey,” Clementine said. “That girl has the magic touch of an eighty-year-old grandmother with cookies. Braver than any kid I’ve ever met too.”

Squatting together with the dog between them, they watched the windbreaker man race across the yard to grab a Bagger who had wrapped his arms around a woman’s throat. Clementine recognized the man. Mason had introduced him earlier. Chaplin, like the actor. She only remembered the name because her grandmother used to make her and Heath watch all the movies when they were younger.

Chaplin managed to set the girl free, but took a blow to the back of the head that would have knocked out a moose. The girl ran off towards the chain link fence. She got about halfway up before they dragged her back down. She didn’t even scream when they shocked her with a Taser. A bald monster of a Bagger picked her up and threw her across his shoulder. As he walked towards the Casino, he glanced back and spotted Aries and her.

“Yeah, that’s not good,” Aries said. “He’s got a grudge against me.”

“Really?”

“I made him bawl like a newborn calf.”

“Must have been quite the show.”

Over at the front gate, more Baggers had arrived. They opened the fence, only to have a flood of people try and force their way out. Someone fired a gun into the air, several loud bangs that made everyone panic even more. The Baggers closest to the gate began to swing baseball bats and police batons.

“I think Leon’s called our bluff,” Aries said. “He’s got no intention of working with us against the ferals.”

“I think you’re right,” Clementine said. “But why take everyone inside?”

“Mason said when they take people into the casino, they almost never come back out. I don’t know about you, but I have no intention of going in there. Out here we still have a chance. In there, I think it might be over.”

Clementine nodded. It still didn’t make much sense. Why take everyone inside? Why not just start killing in the open. Unless Leon was planning one last show. A spectacular event that would end everything at once. Either way, Aries was right. The last place they wanted to be was inside those doors.

              “We need weapons.”

              “Think you can change one of them if we get close enough?”

              “It won’t,” Aries said. “It takes time. I can’t just zap someone and have them drop like that. I need to concentrate.”

              “Then I guess we need to do it the old fashioned way.”

              They crawled out from beneath the table and surveyed the area. A Bagger rushed towards them, not paying attention. She was too busy dragging an unconscious child. Clementine lurched forward, pain bursting through her shoulder as she threw herself on top of the Bagger. Ignoring the stars that burst across her vision, Clementine wrapped her hands around the Bagger’s face and dug in. As the Bagger dropped her victim and started to fight back, Aries jumped in, punching the monster right in the neck and reaching for the gun sticking out of the waistband of her jeans.

              It took the Bagger a few seconds to fully understand her plight. It wasn’t difficult to shove Clementine off. The pain in her body was more than enough to keep her from fighting. The Bagger pulled herself to her feet and kicked at the unconscious child on the ground. Hunching over, she growled at Clementine and readied herself for attack.

              Aries stepped between them, raising the gun towards the Bagger’s face.

              “You won’t shoot me.”

              The gun fired. Clementine saw Aries’ body jerk from the recoil, but the bullet still found its target. The Bagger dropped to the ground.

              It wasn’t a victorious moment. All they did was draw more attention to themselves. Several of the Baggers turned and started coming. And they had a lot more weapons than one small handgun. 

              “Come on,” Aries said. “We’ll lose them in the crowd.”

              Clementine turned and saw Andrew running towards them with Janey right on his heels. She swore under her breath. She tried grabbing Andrew’s arm, but he shook her off with childlike ferocity. Diving under the table, he grabbed hold of the dog and tried picking Cleopuptra up.

              “He won’t listen to me,” Janey said.

              But the dog
was
listening to Andrew. He crawled back out from under the table with the pup glued to his heels. Whimpering, tale between her legs, but finally out from her hiding spot.

              “Come on,” Aries said. They ran back to the tent. Thankfully, with all the people running about in all directions, the Baggers were too busy to pay the children any attention. Or maybe that wasn’t it. Clementine noticed twice that the Baggers simply ignored Janey and Andrew, choosing instead to go after adults.

             
They don’t want the kids inside the Casino, Heath. That’s got to be a good thing. Or maybe they’re saving them until the end. The big finale. Either way, I’m not letting them get their chance. We’ve got one gun. We can get another. And I’ll kill anyone who tries to touch Janey or the others. Look at me. I’ve turned all Momma Bear on these Bagger’s asses.

              They reached the tent a second time. Andrew didn’t have to be told. He coaxed the dog inside and sat down to join Casey as if he hadn’t just done something incredibly stupid like risk his life. Of course, for a small child, a dog would be worth it. So might a favorite toy or a sippy cup.

              “Keep them inside,” Aries said.

              “I’ll guard them with my life,” Janey said.

              Okay, a little over the top, but good to know the girl had their backs.

              Over by the front gate, the Baggers were beginning to get everyone under control. The yard was thinning out as more people disappeared willingly or forcefully into the Casino. The remaining few were still putting up a fight, but their numbers were not in their favor. Clementine noticed they’d finally managed to get Chaplin down. Two female Baggers each grabbed one of his arms and started dragging him off.

              “Hey. You. Aries.”

              A girl raced towards them. She couldn’t be more than a few years older. She stopped a few feet away, panting heavily, wiping sweat and blood off her forehead with the sleeve on her jacket.

              “I’m Karen. I’m friends with Mason. He made me promise I’d help if this happened. Come with me. I know the perfect place.”

              “Mason thought this might happen?” Aries said. “Why didn’t he say anything to me?”

              “I don’t know,” Karen said. “Maybe he thought you’d do something stupid.” She glanced down. “Like trying to hide a bunch of children in a tent.”

              “Seriously?” Clementine snapped. “I’d like to see you do better.”

              Karen sighed overdramatically. “Didn’t I just say I have the perfect place? So yeah, I can do better.”

              The three girls stared each other down. Clementine noticed that the girl held a baseball bat in her hands and it had blood and bits of flesh stuck to the tip. Whoever this girl was, she was adept enough to hold her own. And time was running out. They’d have to take a chance on her.

              “Where do we go?” Clementine asked, ignoring the glare Aries gave her.

              “Over by the fence,” Karen said. “No. Not the gate. Too many of them. But your friend cut a hole. Big enough to get through. Look over there.” She pointed out towards False Creek. “No. Not there. The boat.”

              It took Clementine a moment before her eyes found the gigantic Princess Yacht moored to the right of the Plaza. There were several ships stuck in the False Creek harbor, most of which had been there since the earthquakes hit. Others had simply floated their way in on the tide. But this one stuck out, not because it was probably worth millions at one point in time, but because of how shiny and clean it was.

              “It’s Leon’s personal toy,” Karen said. “And I happen to know where he keeps the keys.”

              “And I suppose you know how to drive it too?”

              Karen shrugged. “Nope, but how hard can it be? Come on, millionaires buy this crap all the time. If they can steer them, so can I. Just like driving a car.”

              Clementine didn’t think so, but there weren’t exactly a lot of options available to argue. It wasn’t overly a terrible idea; it would get the children out of sight. If worse came to worse, they could even allow the boat to float out into the middle of the harbor until the fighting was over.

Aries turned to Clementine. “Let’s get the kids on board. I’ll get the keys.”

              “They’re inside the casino in his private room,” Karen said. “I’ll tell you how to get there, but I’m not going. I’m not that level of crazy. I’ll stay with the kids.”

              “I said I’d do it.”

              “You’re not going into the casino alone,” Clementine said. “I’m coming with you.”

              “You can barely walk. Don’t look at me like that Clem. You’re injured. I’m not going to lead you in to die. I’m not making that mistake again.”

              Clementine wanted to argue more, but she didn’t get the chance. Gunshots exploded in the distance and they weren’t coming from the commotion inside the Plaza of Nations. No, they were coming from down the street. A slow rumble shook through the early evening air. A war cry, mixed in with the sounds of a large amount of people tearing down the Vancouver streets.

              The plaza exploded into confusion. Even the Baggers stopped fighting to pause and turn towards the sounds coming from outside the gates.

              “Oh god,” Aries said. “They’re here.”

              The ferals.

Mason

              He spotted the guns the moment they opened the loading bay doors and tried getting back in the car. Two other cars had driven around to the back to block them in. It wasn’t ferals lined up to face them.

They’d been followed.

Mason’s first instinct was to go back inside the building, but when he turned, he saw flashlight beams heading towards them. They must have snuck around while Raj and Daniel argued, waiting for the perfect moment to launch their ambush.

              “Hand over your weapons.” One of the Baggers stepped forward and away from his pack. He was the only one who wasn’t properly armed, and it gave Mason the impression that he was in charge. The rest carried a variety of handguns and rifles, all of which were pointed at Mason and the others. Beside him, he could feel Daniel hesitate, unsure whether to listen or start fighting. Daniel might be good, but Mason didn’t think he’d win. The odds were kinda crappy.

              The other Baggers came through the loading door. In total, there were eight of them. Mason recognized a few from the Plaza, mostly lower end men who’d been in charge of guarding the gate. But the head one, he was one of Leon’s prized monsters and he went by the name of Shintz. Higher up on the pecking order, he’d spent a lot of time inside the Casino. Rumor had it he wasn’t beyond doing despicable things even Leon didn’t have the stomach for. Because of this, Shintz was also primarily in charge of deciding who lived or died when new prisoners came in. He had a reputation around the Plaza as being one of the Baggers not to mess with. Even his own kind went out of their way to avoid him.

              “I thought there were four of them.”

              It was only then that Mason realized Jordan wasn’t there. Without trying to be overly obvious, he glanced between Raj and Daniel. Raj looked shocked and wide-eyed, but Daniel was keeping his poker face. Somehow Jordan had managed to give everyone the slip. Mason decided to play it dumb and not answer.

              “One of the little birdies has tried to escape its cage,” Shintz said. “No matter. We’ll find the runt. I can’t say I’m particularly concerned. No, I’m more interested in both of you.” Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a tin of mints and popped one into his mouth. “I’m not going to tell you again. Hand over your weapons.”

              “We don’t have any,” Mason growled. “You should know that. We had one gun. As you can see, it’s not here.” He held up his empty hands.

              “You wouldn’t be lying to me now, would you? For all I knows, you might have picked something up along the road.”

              “Search me for all I care.”

              One of the Baggers stepped forward, but Shintz casually waved him back. “No need. Let’s have ourselves a talk before we get down to business. I’ve got a few things to discuss. Things you ought to be knowing.”

              “Business?” Daniel smiled. “Is that what this is?”

              “Sure is,” Shintz said. He walked back and forth between Mason and Raj, looking them up and down. “See. You made yourself a deal with Leon. Said you was going to fight with him against the ferals. Said you needed to come back here to check things out and get your dead friend. Leon, being a man of the people, agreed to let you go. See, he’s thinking you’re honest. Figures you both be boys of your word.”

              “Yeah. We sat down and had tea and muffins like real civilized beings,” Daniel said. “Made friends. It’s not like he never tortured and tried to kill us. But hey, it’s all good. We’ve forgiven him and moved on.”

              Shintz snorted. “Leon doesn’t like being played for a fool.”

              “Then he shouldn’t try playing with us in the first place.”

              “There are no ferals here.”

              Mason felt Daniel press up against his side. Something hard touched his hand. A knife. Opening his fingers, he allowed Daniel to secretly pass over the weapon. Carefully, never taking his eyes off of the Baggers, he slipped the knife into his back pocket. It wasn’t very large and it wouldn’t give him any advantage if they started shooting, but it was better than nothing. He casually glanced up and searched the parking lot. Where was Jordan? Had the kid decided to jump ship? Or was he out there somewhere with that miraculous aim?