Fury Rising (37 page)

              “You seem to think you know me really well,” Aries said.

              “You’re not a killer,” Leon said. “I can see it in your eyes. Bagger or human, you won’t take that chance. You still believe that we can come back from all of this. So by that logic, if you kill me, you’re not taking the life of the monster, but that of the human I once was.”

              “I’ve killed plenty of Baggers,” she said.

              “No, you haven’t.” Leon paused a few inches away from the gun. He cocked his head to the side and gave her a sly smile. “Daniel, yes. He’s got no problem trying to destroy what he’s meant to be. Mason, too. He’s got the instinct and plenty of psychological damage to justify it. But you, no. You’ve spent too much time hiding. A lost little mouse. Praying for a better tomorrow. When I look at you, I see hope. Innocence. A desire to right all the wrongs in the world.”

              She shook her head. “You don’t know me at all.”

              “It’s a pity the world wasn’t full of more people like you,” Leon said. “If it had been, maybe the earthquakes wouldn’t have happened.”

              She paused, hating the way her hands trembled under the weight of the gun. Leon noticed too, a smirk came over his face. But he was wrong, assuming she was a frightened little sheep. No, the shaking wasn’t from doubt. It was from anger. Months and months of hate building up into a single moment.

              “I saw the bomb,” she said. “I know what you’re planning. You’re going to kill everyone.”

              If Leon was surprised, he kept it well hidden. “Is that your master plan? Your excuse for not pulling the trigger? You think you can convince me to disarm it?”

              She shook her head. “I want to know why.”

              “There is no why.”

              “There has to be. You spent all this time collecting them. Why kill them now after working so hard to get them? You’ve been keeping them alive for a reason.”

              Leon appeared to think it over. “They are useful, yes. But not necessary. There are always more.”

              “So you’d let them die just like that?”

              Leon chuckled. “Do you not remember what I am?” He reached out his arm and she stepped back, banging her hip against the desk. In her haste to get away, she nearly dropped her weapon.

              “I haven’t forgotten,” she muttered.

              “Come on then,” Leon said, his arm still suspended in the air. “Touch me. Go on. Find out who I truly am.”

              It had to be a trap. She paused, her brain working furiously to try and figure it out. He’d knock the gun out of her hand the second she reached out to him. Or he had a weapon concealed somewhere, waiting for the moment to use it.

              “No tricks,” Leon said. He put his other arm behind his back. “Come on. I’m curious, aren’t you? Let’s find out who I used to be.”

              She grabbed his hand and held on tightly, waiting for his attack. Leon didn’t make a move. He stood there, his hand limp in hers. They stared each other down. Precious time ticked by. Then it happened. Leon closed his eyes, his mouth curled up and he whimpered. Bending towards her, his knees started to give. As he wobbled against her, Aries leaned back to try and keep them both from toppling to the floor.

              Suddenly his fingers tightened around hers, yanking her forward. Aries yelped in surprise and brought the gun up, but Leon knocked it to the floor. With his free hand, he grabbed her throat, shoving her back and towards the wall. She slammed into the partition, her head bouncing off a painting of the Vancouver skyline and cracking the frame.

              His hand tightened, cutting off the air in her lungs. Aries tried shoving him away, but he was far too strong. Leon leaned in, his mouth pressed against her ear.

              “Your magic trick doesn’t work with me,” he said. “You know why? I didn’t have to be made aware. You can’t use my conscience against me because I never had one. I was already like this.”

              He pulled her back and slammed her against the wall again, effectively knocking out the last bit of air in her body. Gasping, she tried clawing at his face with her fingers, but she was already growing weak.

              “I have no soul. No weakness. A natural born psychopath. I was destroying lives way before I became a Bagger. And I’m going to be here long after you’re dead.”

              She dropped her hands and reached into her hoodie pocket. Hands grasped the spare gun. Already black spots appeared at the corner of her vision and Leon’s face was growing fuzzy. Aries didn’t even try and pull the weapon free. Using both hands, she pulled the trigger.

              Leon’s eyes widened and he dropped away, hands leaving her throat and reaching out to press against his stomach. A red circle of blood spread out across his clean white dress shirt.

              They both dropped to the floor in unison. Leon clutching his wound, Aries rubbing her throat. Worried that he still might have enough strength to attack, she started crawling towards the desk. Using it as leverage, she pulled herself to her feet. Leon didn’t move. He sat on the ground, legs spread out awkwardly, a surprised look still on his face.

              “I told you, you don’t know me,” she whispered.

              Leon chuckled. “It doesn’t matter,” he said as he looked at his watch. “You’re still going to die. You’ll never get everyone out of here in time. I still win. And someone will take my place. There’s always going to be another just like me to take the throne.”

              “But it won’t be you.” Aries pushed herself away from the desk, hoping her leg would continue to hold her. They did. She started moving towards the door, keeping the gun aimed at Leon.

              “They will hunt you down. You will never be free. No place you can run. We are everywhere.”

              “I can live with that. Like I said, it won’t be you.” She pointed the gun at him one last time, but she didn’t pull the trigger.

              “I don’t fear death,” Leon said. “On the contrary, I welcome it.”

              “Good. Cause it’s coming for you.”

              She reached the door. Reaching her fingers around the boat keys in her pocket, she gave him one last look.

              Leon wouldn’t be going anywhere any time soon. His time was more numbered than hers.

              Aries ran.              

Mason

              They headed back to the downtown core as fast as Mason dared to drive. The security truck was heavy, Mason had to slam his foot down hard on the gas pedal to pick up speed. But Jordan had been right. It definitely helped them maneuver through the wasteland of abandoned cars and debris left over from the earthquake. Mason simply drove straight through everything. After crashing past the first parked car, he began to thoroughly enjoy himself. The crunch of metal was nothing short of entertaining.

              They made it to Main Street in record time and without seeing a single person—feral or human. Daniel remained slumped down on the seat, his head pressed against the bulletproof glass, with Jordan carefully monitoring his every move. Hopefully he’d be back to his old self by the time he came around, or at least until after they managed to find Aries.

              If she was still alive.

              No, Mason wasn’t going to think about that. He would remain positive.

              But that ended as they approached the casino.

              He knew things were bad before they even reached GM Place. In the distance he could see smoke rising from the Plaza of Nations. Rolling down the window, several gunshots filled the air. Turning left, he started down the final stretch of road.

              A person ran out in front of them, forcing Mason to swerve the van straight into the curb. He hit a parked moped and nearly lost control. Slamming the brakes, he slid to a halt, scratching the side of his vehicle against the brick wall of a collapsed building.

              There were others running towards him. He couldn’t tell if they were Baggers or human.

              “Ferals,” Jordan whispered.

              They weren’t just attacking the Plaza. No, they were looting the entire block. One of them climbed out from a broken window of a coffee shop, carrying an espresso maker. He held it over his head and smashed it to the ground.

              Mason put the gear into reverse and pulled away from the curb. The van jerked and nearly died, but he slammed his foot on the gas pedal, determined not to let it stall. A feral jumped in front of them, banging his fists against the hood of the car. Another appeared beside him, yanking at the locked door, trying to get inside. They were quickly being surrounded.

              That didn’t stop him in the slightest. Mason pulled back out onto the street and sped forward, knocking the feral over, feeling the thump as the body went under the tires. Beside him, Jordan made a sound like a cross between a groan and a hysterical laugh. The feral banged on Mason’s window, screaming at him in a language that Mason was positive he’d never heard before.

              “Jesus, Tourist Boy. Where did you learn to drive?”

              Jordan squeaked as Daniel raised his head. He went to raise his rifle, but Daniel waved his hand.

              “Relax. I’m cool.”

              “How do we know?” Jordan asked.

              “Look at his eyes,” Mason said.

              Daniel blinked several times as if trying to refocus. It was too dark inside the van to actually tell if the black veins were still there. Not that it mattered. Mason could tell that Daniel was back to normal. He moved differently. Slower. As Daniel reached up to touch the side of his head, he winced.

              “What happened?”

              “You got shot.”

              “Really? Cool.” Daniel felt around his entire head. “Why do I have a lump the size of Wisconsin? Did I fall?

              “You went all Bagger on us,” Jordan said. “I knocked you out.”

              “All in a day’s work, right?” Daniel winced again. “I feel like I’ve been hit by a truck. I don’t remember anything.” He paused, looking between Mason and Jordan. “Where’s Raj? I didn’t…why isn’t he here? Oh, God, tell me I didn’t.”

              “You didn’t,” Mason said. “He’s dead, but it wasn’t you.”

              Daniel didn’t say anything. He watched as a feral banged on the bulletproof glass by the passenger door. Another tried climbing up on the hood. A third one picked up the broken espresso machine and hurled it at them.

              “Security van,” Daniel said with a grin. “Good call.” He looked around, spotting the Plaza of Nations in the distance. “We’re too late.”

              “Maybe not,” Mason said. He put the van in reverse and backed up; silently enjoying the look on the feral’s face as it toppled off the hood in surprise. “But getting out of the car might be a problem. We’ve got almost no weapons and they’ve got us outnumbered.”

              Daniel shrugged. “Since when did you care about the odds?”

              Mason hit the gas, but the van sputtered and stalled again. Well, that was it. They weren’t going to get any closer under the bulletproof protection. Sighing, Mason thought Daniel was wrong. He did care about the odds. And they weren’t looking very good. More ferals were coming towards them, attracted to the vehicle and the people inside. Aside from Jordan’s rifle and the knife in Mason’s back pocket, they had nothing to fight with. Daniel could barely move and Mason doubted he’d be able to defend himself properly with all the blood loss.

              “We can make it,” Mason said. “If we’re careful.”

              “Since when do you care about…”

              “Give it a rest, will you. Enough with the jokes. Aries is out there. Don’t you care about that?”

              Daniel stopped talking.

              “I’m not giving up on her.” Mason pulled the knife out of his back pocket and handed it back to Daniel. “You take it. You’re hurt worse than me.”

              “And what if I go all crazy again?”

              “You won’t.”

              They looked solemnly at each other. Mason couldn’t shake the feeling that this was going to be their final battle together.

              “What’s the plan, then?” Jordan asked. He pointed towards the Plaza. “I mean, what do we do?”

              “Save as many as we can. Find Aries and the others. Save them too.”

              Daniel grinned. “Sounds like a great plan.”

              “You got better?”

              “Nope. Let’s go be heroes.”

              Jordan checked his pockets and pulled out a few rounds of ammo. As he reloaded the rifle, he whispered a prayer beneath his breath. Mason was glad to see that Daniel didn’t make a comment. If the kid wanted to talk to his maker before he died, he had every right. If Mason had faith, he’d probably be doing the exact same thing.

              And if someone was watching over them, hopefully they were on the same side.

              They waited for a moment longer, watching the growing number of ferals approaching the van. They had to move now while they still could.

              “We’re standing at the edge of existence,” Daniel said. “Funny. I always thought I’d be doing this alone. I’m glad you’re here with me, Dowell. Wouldn’t want it any other way.”

              “Me too. Let’s make it count.”

              “Always.”

              Daniel opened the passenger door quickly, smacking a feral in the face. The girl stumbled backwards into a middle aged feral with no teeth. Mason jumped out behind him, pausing to punch a guy whose hair was full of dead leaves. Instead of wasting his few remaining bullets, Jordan used his rifle as a club to knock the girl unconscious as she tried crawling up from the gutter.

              “Get to the Plaza,” Daniel yelled. “The ones here aren’t worth it.”