Chapter 188: Marauders heading to Westbrook.
Linda did better than describing the superhuman, she drew a picture of him for Major Elio. Her picture was very detailed, capturing the smugness of the man and the small black mole in his left eye.
"I could tell that he was enjoying it. Whatever he was doing." She shuddered. "It will be best if you stay away from him. If you cannot make sure he doesn’t touch you. If these fail, someone should just shoot the bastard."
Elio nodded. "That is the plan."
Major Elio did not waste any more time now that he had what he wanted. "Day, Jenner, Jae, offload the supplies we brought and get the people to move. We have no time to waste. Move Move! His voice cracked like a whip through the air.
Corporal Day barked orders, and within moments the people that were still hurdled in the back of the trucks were guided down. Their faces showed confusion and fear all tangled together.
Elio turned back to Linda, his expression hard but respectful. "These are displaced families, ma’am. They’ve got nowhere to go and this is the nearest base. We brought some grain, warm clothes, water and medicine. The food can last for at least five months if rationed well. It can feed up to three hundred people. We apologize for burdening you like this. We had nowhere else to send them."
"This is a government base, and we have some soldiers here and three governors. We still consider ourselves leaders so of course we have to take the people in." She ran her hair through her hands, worry etching in her face. In truth, more people meant more problems, but it also meant more strength.
An empty base was not a base, especially in times when they had to worry about superhumans, mutated animals and marauders.
Elio handed her a radio and a walkie-talkie that could be used to reach the command center of Fortress Four. "Stay indoors starting tomorrow. Reach out in emergencies only."
Sunshine had given him permission to give the person in charge of the base these things. Only if they were trustworthy.
"All clear." Jae yelled from the back.
Elio bid Linda farewell, spun on his heel and vaulted back into the lead vehicle. The rest of the team followed suit with grim determination. Engines roared to life, headlights sweeping across the wrecked camp and the convoy peeled out, leaving survivors behind in a storm of dust.
On the way back, the tension was suffocating in the lead truck. No one spoke. Elio kept his hands tightened on the wheel, eyes never leaving the road. He didn’t need words he only needed his sight to see what was far and beyond, searching every bend, every shadow movement.
If the marauders were within eyesight, he would not leave them alive. They had dragonoids. They would set them on fire, if that was what it took.
The mountain loomed closer. Still nothing. No flicker of suspicious movement with the exception of a few ordinary survivors. His chest tightened with every empty kilometer.
"Damn it!" He slapped the wheel of the car.
O’Toole nearly jumped out of his skin. "Major, breathe before you explode."
"I just want to find those bastards. You heard Linda, they were riding motorcycles. If they decided to head to Westbrook directly, who knows what could happen. I will not let our families be harmed." Elio growled. "You have seen what the world looks like outside. If Fortress Four falls, where are we going to go? None of those other green zones are as well built as our base."
"I know." O’Toole answered calmly. "But you should clam down. If you damage the car, the president will not be happy." He waved his hand, "Look, I am still trying to reach the presidents via radio."
Elio stepped on the brake pedal, and the car skidded. The rest of the trucks stopped abruptly.
"Everything good out there?" A voice asked over a walkie-talkie.
O’Toole exhaled and patted his chest. "We are good. I think a dog crossed the road, but it was moving too fast."
Elio started the car again and his hunt for the marauders continued. As they came closer to the road leading to the base of the mountain, he slowed down and told other drivers to do so as well. The trucks groaned, breaks squealing until they rolled into a crawl.
The headlights washed over the scene that turned his stomach. Three motorbikes lay scattered on the snow filled road, their metal frames twisted and their engines still faintly ticking from recent use.
And beside them....
"Sweet mother of God!" O’Toole muttered, leaning out of the window in the passenger’s seat.
Bodies. Four of them. What remained of their clothes fit the description of the men Linda described. Their death had been horrific and painful, judging from the scene. They were mutilated, arms ripped from sockets, torsos slashed open like paper. One man’s face was barely recognizable, the jaw torn away. The stench of blood was thick in the night air.
Enzo swallowed hard, his voice trembling. "That is no ordinary animal attack, it must have been some kind of mutated animal." He spoke through the walkie-talkie.
O’Toole’s face was grim. "Whatever did this must have been big and merciless."
Elio clenched his jaw, forcing himself not to flinch at the sight. "Whatever it was we do not have time to figure it out. Move faster."
He stepped harder on the gas, swerving around the bikes and the bodies. The trucks picked up speed again, engines straining as they clawed up the road to fortress four. A thought chewed at him, Linda said there were ten marauders. Four were lying dead in the snow.
That meant that six had survived and were out there, maybe still armed and very dangerous.
His knuckles whitened on the steering wheel. "We just have to beat them," he whispered to himself. "We just have to get there first.
If they reached before the marauders, they would just shoot them to death.
The mountain’s shadow fell over them and soon the outline of Fortress four came into view, it’s high walls lit by a glow of torches and flood lights. Relief washed over Elio, but it was sharp and fleeting.
As they entered the first gate, he snatched the walkie-talkie and yelled into it, "Ma’am, step away from the giant for a second. This is an emergency."
O’Toole was confused.
"Yes Major, I am listening." Sunshine replied.
"We have returned safely but we have a problem, marauders are moving to our base, they attacked Camp Pitbull, and we might be their next target. They were attacked while heading up the mountain and their leader is a superhuman."
Static hissed, then a crisp female. "Copy that. Let’s begin activating security measures."
Sunshine did not waste anymore second. First, she informed Hades and Nimo about what was happening. Then she activated the electric system.
The usually smooth outer wall grew barbs and the outer wall hummed as additional defense systems locked into place.
The watchers on the bubble stood up, eyes narrowed and suddenly alert. They could sense a change in the surroundings.
Soldiers on the watch towers adjusted their riffles, eyes narrowing as they scanned the tree line beyond the first wall.