Fortitude, page 2
The small guy looked at Mike, shock across his face. “He’s… he’s one of them, an al—” The spray from the exit wound on the back of the small guy’s head hit Mike at the same time as the boom echoed around the artificial walls. Casey spun around shooting instinctively in the direction of fire, then stood, like a statue, not understanding why the man that worked for her, Conway had shot her second in command, Felix.
Conway’s face lacked any emotion as he swung his gun in her direction and fired again, but not before Mike had careered into her, bringing them both heavily to the ground. More bullets pinged off the card table they were crouched behind.
“Untie me!”
The desperation in Mike’s voice didn’t convince her as wooden splinters flew from another two shots. “He’s going to kill—”
She pushed the hard barrel into his stomach. “What the fuck did you do to him!” The slot machines ran again, ending on another message which he couldn’t fully see. ‘She will die like your…’
A number of options ran through Mike’s mind in a split second. “Nothing! He’s an alien and if you kill me, he will kill you!”
Confusion and frustrated anger flowed across the woman’s face, and she peeked above the edge of the wood, just ducking in time to avoid the same fate as the dead guy nearby. The sound of reloading came from a few yards away.
“Screw this,” said Mike, climbing to his feet and ran at the larger man catching him off guard. He slammed into his side, knocking him against the machines, but before Mike could charge again, Conway raised his gun in a blur. Mike’s brain said he should dive, but before his muscles could react, a gunshot rang out. He waited for the burning sensation of a bullet wound, but instead there was only the pressure of the blood pulsing in his temple.
Conway fell back against the seats in front of the machine, then moved to raise his gun once more.
“Shoot him in the—” Before Mike could finish the thought, Conway’s head jolted back and he fell in a slump to the carpet.
*****
Mike pulled on the ropes that bound his wrists once again. He had tried convincing the two that had locked him in a storage closest, that something terrifying had tracked him all the way from the States, and now it knew of them, they were in danger too.
Muffled hushed voices filled with tension vibrated through the flimsy looking door. The woman and the younger man called Dale were arguing.
“He was… shoot you!” said the man.
“Conway was loyal to your father… years!”
“What was… meant… kill you?”
There was silence. Mike reasoned that the ‘mess down south’ had not made its way across the border yet, in fact it sounded as if Casey was looking to cash in on the new influx of customers. He still didn’t know what Aaron was smuggling for the woman.
The young man continued, Mike missing the first part of his question. “… With him?”
There was another pause before the door opened and they both looked at Mike.
“Before Max’s brains left his head, he said you were an alien?” she said. “And the machines were acting crazy. I’ve never seen them do that before. You a hacker? Sent to investigate the casino?”
Dale answered before Mike could. “Ma, that don’t explain—”
She held her hand up to her son, without looking away from their captor.
Mike took a long sigh, looking down then back up to her. “If I told you the truth, you wouldn’t believe me.”
“Try me.”
“There are no aliens. What I told you before, that was a lie. The US military are fighting and losing against an advanced…” He searched for the best way to explain. “Machine—”
“The thing that follows you?”
“Yeah. It was created by the US deep state. A cult. That’s how all this shit started. I found—”
The door slammed closed. Mike caught the word ‘Crazy’ before the rest of the pair’s conversation faded.
CHAPTER THREE
A boom somewhere distant jolted Mike awake which instantly made his head throb. He had drunk more than he thought in the hotel lounge, and his dry mouth confirmed it.
He had been trying to resist sleep, but it claimed him eventually. Luckily, the mom and son criminal team hadn’t come back. Maybe they had forgotten about him, but either way he needed to break out. Try and escape his inevitable meeting with a bullet, or the AI now it knew where he was. He had no doubt he would already be dead if it had more AI human drones north of the border, but now one had located him, it was only a matter of when not if, more showed up.
The single bulb above him, dimmed then brightened. Looking at the shelves on first glance produced no prospect of anything useful to help break the rope around his wrists and legs, but then he noticed behind the white glossy surface of a pot was the unmistakable shape of a box cutter.
Perfect.
He had no doubt that the next time he saw someone they would be dragging him out back and putting a bullet between his eyes.
Not going out like that.
He had a quick listen to make sure there was no sound from outside, then started shifting his weight left and right. Sure enough, on the third swing the chair hopped to his right an inch or two and pain pulsed through his temples. He listened again. No reaction. He repeated the maneuver, this time not stopping and made it all the way to the wall. The next bit would be trickier. He needed to rotate around so his hands, which were behind him and the chair, would be able to clench the handle of a mop.
He braced then hopped the chair again, each of its four legs moving awkwardly and swiveling just enough so his back now faced the wooden pole leaning up against the door frame.
All he needed to do was hop back a few inches and the long stick would be his. He pushed down and up, the chair moving as required, but on the next push the legs caught on a rut in the floor and instead of jumping the whole chair and Mike tilted back, and then crashed to the floor, two of the legs breaking off while the mop fell on top of him.
He froze, not daring to move, trying to listen for anyone coming his way but only silence came from the gap beneath the door, which he could now see through. The other good news was there was slack in the rope around his ankles. He rolled on his front, bringing the back and seat of the chair with him, then pulled back to his knees, and with a lot of effort, stood.
Almost there.
Quickly turning around, he backed up against the shelf, pushed the paint out of the way and felt for the cutter. Stretching a little, he found it, then slid the blade out, turned it around and set about cutting the—
The door swung open, smashing up against the wall behind it. Casey, her hair stuck to her sweat covered face and without her winter jacket, ran inside and closed the door behind her. For a moment Mike even questioned whether she had seen him. But then her wild eyes turned on his, and she ran forward grabbing the box cutter from his hand and tore away at the ropes.
“What’s going on? What happened?” said Mike. He stepped free of the remains of the chair, letting the other ropes fall to the floor.
She ignored his question, moving back to the door, where she placed her ear against the wood.
“Hey, what’s going on?”
“The aliens are here,” she whispered. “More people, like what happened to Conway. I was with Dale, but we got split up.” Mike went to move forward, but she whipped around stopping him in his tracks. “You did this! They’re looking for you, right?”
“It’s not aliens…”
She looked back to the door. “Yeah, it’s a magical machine. I remember you trying to sell me on that last night.”
“We can’t stay here. We need to get to a vehicle and leave.”
“I ain’t leaving anything. You’re going to help me kill these things.” She whirled around again, this time with a gun in her hand. “Because if you don’t, I’ll kill you for—” A clunk sound came from the corridor outside. She slowly moved back to face the door, daring not to speak or breathe too loudly.
“Give me the gun,” whispered Mike. She ignored his request. “You want to trust your skill with that thing over my decades of training?” It had been a while since he had training, but it was a strong sounding pitch. He tried again. “I know how to kill these things!”
She thrust her hand out. “Here. Take it!”
He did, checking the magazine which was mostly full. He moved to the handle of the door. “Stay close to me. You got a vehicle nearby?”
“I’m not leaving Dale!”
Mike hid his sigh. “Fine. I’ll go first, but you point me in the—”
The sound repeated, not louder or quieter. He placed his hand on the handle, pulling it down… the bulb above pinged, plunging them into darkness.
“I think there’s a flashlight in here…” said Casey. “Yeah, got it.” A cone of light illuminated a swathe of dust filled air.
Mike’s hand was still on the handle, which he now pulled inwards. Outside it was similarly dark and the light from the flashlight crept along the wall as they both moved outside.
“Which way,” said Mike.
“Right. We gotta cross the gaming floor, back to the entrance.”
Mike moved slowly forward, his Glock’s barrel leading the way towards the next door, listening as best he could. Casey stayed close. Slowly he pulled the door open, the flashlight behind illuminating the edge of a nearby blackjack table, and then rows of slot machines, all bathed in darkness. His mind flicked back to when they all displayed a message, solely for him. He walked out onto the carpeted floor. Casey tugged his arm to move left, and they quickly moved along the wall being careful not to touch anything, to cause any sound.
Between the tops of a bank of screens and levers Mike spotted the entrance being lit from the moon. He changed direction moving between gambling machines and associated chairs, emerging into a clear space with a good view of the double glass doors beyond the lobby.
Just as they quickened their pace they were blinded by a fury of light and sound. Every machine and light burned bright, with thunderous music pounding their eardrums.
Mike flipped around. “Run!” he shouted.
Staggering forward, they both ran up two small steps and crashed out through the doors into the cold night. “Where?” he shouted again, then scanned the parking lot.
She started to reply, then stopped when she saw what he was looking at. The dark shadowy forms of a group of people were standing on the road which led to the lot.
“I don’t suppose you’re expecting a group of people?”
She ran towards the hotel. “No, I’m not. This way!”
Mike ran with her, looking over his shoulder. The group were also running. In their direction.
She barged the hotel door open. “Dale?” she shouted, then quickly ran into the lounge where Mike was before. “Dale!” she shouted again.
Mike was watching the group of people that were now at the end of the parking lot. “We have to go! Twenty seconds and they’re on us!”
She ran back into the lobby. “Then shoot them! I’m not—”
Lights illuminated the hotel entrance as a sedan skidded to a halt just outside. “Get in!” shouted Dale from his driver’s side.
Mike ran and got into the front passenger’s, with Casey jumping in the back, the car’s wheels spinning before her door was fully closed. They surged forward along the far side of the lot, then bumped over a curb and back down onto the wider deserted highway. Mike looked back. The group had stopped running and were now just standing, watching their prey escape into the night.
*****
For the past twenty minutes Mike had been pondering just how far he would need to go to lose the AI’s ability to track him. Perhaps it was a good idea to have a little detour to throw it off the scent. He had no intention of leading it directly to Alexis.
Maybe that’s what it wants…
A wall of trees and branches passed by as the sedan he was in bumped and scraped along a track it was not designed for. “How much further?” he said.
Casey behind him dropped her hand with the cell phone to her lap. “I can’t reach Greg. He should be answering!” she said to the driver, ignoring Mike’s question.
Dale looked in the rear mirror, catching his mother’s eyes. “I’m sure he’ll be at the ranch.”
“You should ditch your phone, it will lead—”
She learned forward between the seats. “Can you see lights on? I can’t see any lights.”
“That don’t mean anything,” said Dale.
The sedan slowed as they approached an open gate.
“Why’s it open…”
They turned in, the terrain becoming even more uneven, and drove up a slight incline. On a hill half a mile ahead was a dark silhouette of a large single story property nestled amongst the forest. For the home of a crime family, the place was surprisingly low-key. These people obviously knew how to stay under the radar.
Mike scanned the landscape. A chicken coop reflected the sedan’s headlights, and then a series of barns, with quad bikes and a weathered looking pickup.
“His truck’s here,” said Casey.
They parked outside of the wide front deck, the building stretching a good forty feet in both directions. But the two other occupants were correct. The place looked dead.
Dale pushed his door open and got out. Mike went to follow.
“Uh uh,” said the woman behind him. “I’ll take the Glock, if you don’t mind.”
“Seriously? I could have used it to argue for my escape at any point I wanted.”
“Over there!” shouted Dale from outside, as he stood on the deck looking to the grounds beyond the property which Mike and Casey couldn’t see. The woman frowned, then pushed her door open and stood with one foot on the sodden leaf covered earth. “What you see?”
“Lights in the woods out back. Coming up from the creek.” He set off, running.
This time Mike did make it out of the car. “Hey, slow down. You don’t know…” The younger man had moved into the darkness and out of sight.
Casey looked at Mike. “Follow me.” He did, around the side of the ranch style building. The outbuildings appeared in good order, but all had secure locks and chains covering their entrances.
Casey turned on her flashlight and shone it in the direction her son had run. Human forms were visible behind the bobbing lights, which Dale had just joined.
Mike watched Casey run forward as the group came up the hill, past piles of logs and a gazebo, until an older man, with a white beard and a rifle stood alongside Casey, Dale and four others. They all approached Mike.
“So you know what happened at the casino?” said the older man, with a gravely voice.
“My name’s special agent Mike Richter. And I have some idea, yes.”
“It’s connected with what’s happening down south,” said Casey. She looked between both men. “This is Greg Boothe. He takes care of everything on the ranch. Has done for over thirty years. The others are—” She looked at the younger individuals. “— Jared, Shayne, Bryce and Paige.” Three out of the four looked at Mike with a sneer. The young woman just remained emotionless to the presence of an FBI agent in their midst.
“You reckon what happened to Conway, happened to the others that chased you?” said Greg.
“Yes. They were infected. Many more will be over the coming days.”
“And they will come for you?” said the youngest of the lot. Shayne. An older teen that looked as if his clothes were two sizes too big for him.
“They have seen Casey and Dale. The AI will come for them as well.”
“Pff,” said the girl. “This is all bullshit. Can I go back to the house now?”
“This is serious stuff, Paige,” said Dale. “Conway’s dead. He tried to kill—”
She turned and walked off towards the back entrance to the property.
Mike nodded towards Casey’s hand, which was still holding the phone. “The AI is probably looking and listening to everything we are doing right now, through that thing.”
She held it up. “This thing? It’s not even working anymore. The network is down!”
“That won’t stop it.”
She turned the device around in her hand, studying it. “Really?”
“Yup.”
Greg sighed. “So you’re saying this AI thing is coming here?”
Mike looked back into the shadows surrounding the property. “Probably on its way as we stand here.”
“Why can’t we just give you to it? Would that stop it?”
Mike could tell the old man was being deadly serious. “It’s already seen Casey and Dale. It won’t just stop at me.”
Lights came on within the second floor of the house. Casey frowned then looked at Greg. “Whatever this thing is. If it comes here, we need to stop it. Got that?”
He nodded and she walked away. He then looked to Mike. “How about you tell me exactly what we’re up against?”
CHAPTER FOUR
Alexis looked up at another four bland walls with modest lighting. Just the latest cell she had been in since her body was used to kill several of the most important commanders in the country. During the last few hours since she was deposited inside the confined space, she had wanted to sleep, but despite a few moments of loss of consciousness, her brain wouldn’t let her memories of the past few days dissolve. Instead, what happened with Folsom and deep beneath the mountain kept playing on an endless loop. Her mental AI passenger had tried to distract her on a few occasions, but that just made her feel worse, so he kept quiet.
I’ll never regain my freedom…
Travis, who was leaning on the wall opposite, looked up. “You can’t think like that. My father—”
Even if Mike makes it all the way here, how will he convince them to let us help? He will probably end up in a room next to mine.
She shook her head.
“God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference…” she whispered.
