The Bones of Valhalla (Purge of Babylon, Book 9) (28 page)

“Yes.”

“Crazy how that works. All that speed and strength and night vision, and all it takes is one bullet to the head to put them down.”

“It’s not as easy as it sounds, Blaine.”

“Right. Because they’re fast.”

“They’re really, really fast.”

“Fast,” Blaine repeated. “Gotcha.”

I hope you never have to find out for yourself
, Gaby thought as she stared into the pitch darkness of the tunnel and wondered if hell was being trapped down here without night vision, and alone.

* * *

T
ime had
a way of slipping by when you were moving through a dark tunnel lit up in a sea of green fluorescent. After a while, she started ignoring the scratches coming from between the cracks to her left and right (and she swore at one point, above her) and the constant stirring of sewage around her ankles. The brief rest had done her legs good, and they walked the next few hours without stopping.

It was difficult to judge if they were making good time without being able to see where they were at any given moment. Even the occasional presence of platforms to their right wasn’t much help since they seemed to show up at almost random intervals. The only upside was the presence of sunlight raiding the tunnel from the manhole coverings above the platforms, so each time they reached one it was an exhilarating reminder that there was a world beyond this hellhole she was currently trapped in.

Will continued to come and go, and once he vanished and didn’t return until almost thirty minutes later, which was about twenty-five minutes more than his longest previous disappearing act. She had spent most of it trying to decide whether to retreat or race ahead in search of him, and each time she thought she had made a decision she had to remind herself that this was his plan, that he knew what he was doing, that
God, I hope he knows what he’s doing or we’re all going to die down here, and I do
not
want to die down here.

But then he would come back, and she would breathe a sigh of relief and was glad the mask hid most of it. Even though, when she thought about it, he probably heard her reaction anyway, given his hypersensitive hearing.

Another time the green colors of her NVG found him standing in front of them. He was so still she thought it was a mannequin at first…until he moved slightly. She had no idea what he was doing—maybe he was listening for something.

Each time he left them, the tunnel seemed to get smaller and more claustrophobic, and the water colder and tougher until it was like fighting through mud. When he was with them, Will kept his position in front the entire time, the bottom half of his coat growing thicker as it sponged up more of the tunnel’s contents. Not that the extra weight slowed him down even a tiny bit. But as his coat became more and more bloated, she was reminded that she was also knee-deep in the same disgusting filth, and no wonder her own pants were starting to feel heavier, and heavier…

Blaine stayed silent for most of the trek, and she only knew he was still back there at all because she could hear him moving around. The big man never lagged too far behind, but he was more active than her, mostly because he wasn’t always walking forward; he occasionally turned and walked backward to make sure nothing was sneaking up on them. She could always tell when he did this because the ripples around her increased noticeably.

Eventually, after what seemed like half a day, Will indicated another platform in front of them before disappearing up ahead into the shadows.

“I think that means we get to rest again,” Gaby said.

“He’s a prince, that guy,” Blaine said.

They climbed up the platform, and this time both she and Blaine had to pull off their masks in order to eat and drink from their rations. She did the best she could to breathe through her mouth the entire time, but that was a tricky thing when she had to bite and swallow, too.

She was gagging by the time she gratefully slipped the breathing apparatus back on, thinking,
Never again. Jesus lord, don’t ever let me do something this ungodly stupid ever again.

Blaine, next to her, let out a large breath as soon as his own mask snapped into place. “Jesus Christ. Let’s make a pact to shoot each other in the head if we ever decide to do something like this a second time.”

“I don’t think we’re going to have to. Either we make this work the first time, or there won’t be a second time.”

“I didn’t say to bum me out, kid.”

She smiled at him before realizing he couldn’t see with the entire lower half of her face covered up. “I’ve been meaning to ask: What did Sarah say when you told her you volunteered?”

“She told me good luck.”

“That’s it?”

He shrugged. “We’re not really seeing each other anymore.”

“You said that before. What happened?”

“We grew apart, that’s all. It happens. We’re both adults, so no point in living in misery if it’s not going to work.”

“I’m sorry, Blaine.”

“Hey, it was a good run. We were good for each other…until we weren’t anymore.” He stared off at nothing in particular for a moment. Then: “What about you and Nate?”

What about me and Nate? Good question, and I wish I had a better answer.

“I don’t know,” she said. “I guess it’ll depend on whether he shoots me on sight for leaving him in the middle of the night when I see him again.”

Blaine chuckled. “The only thing that kid’s going to do when he sees you again is run over and grab you in a big bear hug.”

“You think so?”

“Trust me. I know guys. I’m one of them.”

“I’ve noticed.”

“Yeah, the kid loves you. That’s not the kind of thing that comes every day. You should hold onto it.”

Gaby nodded. She knew about Blaine and his own past. Before Sarah, there had been another woman whom he had found after The Purge, only to lose.

We’ve all lost something. Someone. But we keep going. That’s what makes us survivors.

Next to her, Blaine had stood up and slipped his heavy pack back on. “Anyways, what is this, a mission or a Doctor Phil counseling session?”

“Can’t it be both?” she said, standing up alongside him.

“God, no.”

He climbed down first and she followed.

They hadn’t gone more than a few yards when she spotted Will’s cloaked figure standing up ahead. When he turned around, his eyes were a dull blue-green against her night vision.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, making up the rest of the distance between them.

“We’re almost there,” Will said.

Thank God. I was beginning to think this damn tunnel would never end.

“Already?” she said instead, doing her best to hide her relief.

“Soon.”

She stared at him for a moment. There was something about the way he was looking at her—as if he didn’t even see her at all.

“What’s wrong, Will?” she asked.

“Nothing,” he said, and turned and started forward again.

She hurried after him. “Will. What is it? What aren’t you telling me?”

But he didn’t stop, and kept walking, and soon he had extended his lead without any effort at all.

She gave up trying to catch him, and soon Blaine was walking next to her.

“What was that about?” he asked.

“I don’t know,” Gaby said, trying to remember the look on Will’s face. There was something about it that scared her, because it looked like it scared
him.

“Maybe it’s because we’re getting closer,” Blaine said. “That’s what he said, right?”

She nodded.

“It could be that hive mind thing,” Blaine added. “Lara said he could hear them and vice versa. Maybe the closer he gets to them, the more it’s affecting him.”

“Maybe…”

Up ahead, Will had come to a sudden stop again.

“What now?” Blaine asked.

Will’s head was craned slightly toward the ceiling, and she was about to ask what was happening when she felt it.

Oh.

She couldn’t hear or see the cause of the aftershocks from down here—at least, not yet—but she had no difficulty feeling it through the rippling in the water around her and the slight tremors in the floor underneath her boots. More evidence came from the small layers of dust that broke off and drifted down from the curved ceiling above them.

And then, just like that, it was gone.

“Was that what I think it was?” Blaine asked next to her.

She nodded, then sought out Will’s pulsating blue eyes, now peering back at her from the darkness.

“It’s started,” he said.

“
H
e pulled a Gaby on me
, Lara. That
asshole.
”

Lara had to fight back a smile, but was mostly unsuccessful and hoped her friend didn’t see it. Carly had been saying the same thing since they left the
Trident.
Lara was inclined to blame it on all the coffee they had drank—she’d had two herself, each one packed with as much sugar as she could stomach—but knew better. Carly was angry for a very good reason.

“He Gaby’d me, Lara,” Carly had said as soon as she saw her. “That asshole snuck off while I was still asleep. He
snuck off.
”

“I’m sorry,” she had said, and she was.

If she knew what Danny was planning, she would have tried to stop him, for all the good it would have done. Danny was still tortured about letting Gaby go with Will, essentially taking his place. The news of Bonnie’s death might have been the last straw for him. A child on the way or not, Danny couldn’t stay behind again.

And she knew exactly how he felt. There was something very wrong about being here, safe on the island, while her friends were out there risking their lives. Gaby and Blaine with Will, Danny and Keo with the strike team.

I should be out there with them.

With him…

“What exactly are you going to do out there?” Keo had asked when she brought the topic up last night, while they were in the conference room onboard the
Trident
coming up with, essentially, the battle plan to sell to Rhett’s people.

“Something,” she had said. “I would be doing something.”

“No offense, but you’d just get in the way,” Keo had said, with that seriousness that was rare for him. “This is what I do, Lara. Let me do my job, and you do yours.”

He had said it with such straightforwardness, as if he were telling her the ocean was blue, that she didn’t know whether to be angry or grateful.

And Danny had stood there during their back and forth and hadn’t said a word. Looking back now, she had a feeling she understood why. Keo’s words didn’t just work on her, but it had with Danny too, because like Keo, this was what he did: Danny was a soldier.

I should have known he would do this. I should have seen it coming.

“That shithead,” Carly was saying next to her. “He promised me, Lara. He promised me he wouldn’t go.”

“Did he say anything last night?” Lara asked.

“He didn’t say a damn thing. He came back from your meeting and went straight to sleep.” Carly sighed. “Normally Danny leaving me alone in the early mornings is a good thing, but this time…
That shithead!”

Carly was still fuming as they walked through the facility’s hallway. The place was strangely empty, as if everyone knew what was about to happen today and decided to stay out of it by hiding in their quarters. Except for her and Carly, there was just Jolly behind them, keeping a respectable distance. Lara had grudgingly let the young man follow her to Black Tide, but she was still embarrassed to have an armed escort, even if it was just one man.

“We should just nuke the whole city,” Carly was saying. “Drop a big one and take them all out, King Ghoul and all. That would keep Danny from having to go in there.”

“You have a nuke stashed away you haven’t told me about?” Lara said.

“Well, no.”

“Then there’s that whole radiation fallout mess. We kinda want to reuse Texas after this, Carly.”

“Stop making too much sense. Anyway, Danny deserves to get a little radiation roast for what he did.” Carly narrowed her eyes at her. “And you swear you don’t know anything about it?”

“I swear I didn’t know what he was going to do,” Lara said, looking her friend back in the eyes.

Carly nodded and sighed heavily again. “I hate him so much right now.”

“No you don’t.”

“You’re right, I don’t, and that makes it worse.”

They turned the last corner and approached the Comm Room, which had two guards outside. They both stood a little straighter when they saw her, and the only thing missing was a salute.

I’ll never get used to this. Never.

Lara did her best not to let her discomfort show on her face and gave both men a pursed smile.

“You ready for this?” Carly asked next to her.

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” Lara said.

“I’m not sure I even want to be here. Should I be here?”

“I need a friendly face with me, Carly. Everyone else is out there.”

“Okay, then, let’s do this.”

One of the men opened the door for her, and she stepped inside with Carly. Jolly didn’t follow them in.

Rhett and Riley were already there, along with Jane, the young woman who manned the communications equipment. The two men were standing in front of a wall with a large map of Texas taped in place. The banner was a new addition and was already heavily annotated with colored markers. Houston was circled, as were multiple points along the Texas shoreline.

Riley looked over. “Got a good night’s sleep?”

“No, but I had a lot of coffee,” Lara said.

“That makes three of us.”

“Four,” Carly said.

“We drank about a gallon of the stuff,” Rhett said. “So if I need to call a bathroom break, you’ll know why.”

“You guys have bathrooms in this place?” Carly asked.

“Yes, but you have to look for them.”

“This is Carly,” Lara said. “Danny’s, uh…” She looked over at Carly.

“The mother of his demon spawn,” Carly said, and shook Rhett’s and Riley’s hands.

“I heard he went out with Striker this morning,” Riley said. “That was a surprise. I thought he was sitting this one out.”

Carly grunted, but didn’t say anything.

“That’s what we thought,” Lara said. “But apparently he had other ideas.”

“Gotta say, I’m glad to have him out there,” Rhett said. “You can never have too many Rangers on your side.”

“He’s not going to be on your side for very long, because when he comes back, I’m going to kill him,” Carly said.

“She doesn’t mean that,” Lara said.

“The hell I don’t.”

“Where are we now?” Lara asked the two men.

“We’re on course to hit the target by noon,” Riley said. He pointed out the locations on the map as he talked. “Eagle One and Two are ahead of everyone, as expected. We’re expecting real-time reconnaissance from them very soon. Striker’s getting ready to lift off as we speak, and Rolling Thunder’s already inland and is reporting no troubles so far.”

“No one’s tried to stop them?”

“According to Rolling Thunder, the regular patrols all seem to be MIA. They haven’t run across a single collaborator, on foot or on a technical. Looks like Keo was right, which should make the road to Houston mostly uneventful for the teams.”

“Uneventful is good,” Lara nodded.

“A good news, bad news situation if I’ve ever seen one,” Rhett said. “The teams won’t have to fight their way to the equipment they hid while they were pulling back, but there’s going to be a hell of a lot of personnel waiting at the roadblocks.”

“Have you heard from Willie Boy?” Riley asked.

Lara walked over to the map and looked it over. “I talked to them last night. They were already moving into position while we were all trying to sleep.”

“How will we know when they’ve made it there?”

“Striker will make contact.”

“You have an awful lot of trust in this Frank guy,” Rhett said.

He died and came back for us. For
me.
How do you not
have faith in someone who did that for you?
she thought, but said, “You would too, if you knew him as well as we did.”

Next to her, Riley kept quiet but shuffled his feet slightly.

“Willie Boy will be in position when the time comes,” Lara continued. “Everyone else just has to play their part.”

“They’ll get it done,” Riley said.

“Is it going to be enough?” Carly asked. “The ones that volunteered. Are they enough?”

Lara looked back at her and pursed a smile. “God, I hope so.”

* * *

“
E
agle One to Black Tide
. Over.”

Rhett picked up the microphone and keyed it. “We read you loud and clear, Cole. What’s it look like up there?”

“Empty,” Cole said, his voice piped through the room’s speakers. “I’m confirming the earlier scouting reports that collaborators have stopped their daily patrols around the southeast part of the state and begun to amass around the Houston city limits.”

“How many are we talking about?”

“A few hundred per each defensive position, concentrated around the major arteries into the city.”

“God, that sounds like a lot,” Carly said quietly.

Because it is a lot
,
Lara thought, remembering the size of a city like Houston and all the many ways in and out of it.

“What kind of weapons are you seeing?” Rhett was asking into the mic.

“Technicals, machine guns,” Cole answered. “No heavy firepower from what we can see from up here, but they could be hiding it, waiting to bring them out when Rolling Thunder gets closer.”

“I thought for sure they’d have added some tanks to their arsenal after what we did to them,” Riley said.

“Maybe we gave them too much credit,” Rhett said. Then, back to the mic: “Wheeler. What’s your take?”

Wheeler was the pilot of the second Warthog, codenamed Eagle Two. Cole had been telling the truth last night when he told them he was on the verge of convincing a second pilot to join him.

“Ditto what Cole’s reporting,” a second male voice said through the speakers. “They’ve got perimeters pretty well set up. Roadblocks with cars on the highways, along the feeder roads. Everything into the city. Haven’t taken a shot at us yet, so I don’t know what they’re waiting for.”

“Don’t jinx it, kid,” Cole said.

Wheeler laughed. “Sorry about that, old timer.”

“You got an ETA on Rolling Thunder?” Cole asked.

“Two hours,” Rhett said. “How are you for fuel?”

“We’re good to go. Eagle One out.”

“Eagle Two out,” Wheeler said.

“They know we have planes,” Riley said. “So why no anti-aircraft measures?”

“Maybe Rhett’s right; maybe we give them too much credit,” Lara said. “They’re just civilians, after all. They don’t have the added benefit of Army Rangers helping them prepare for a battle. According to Willie Boy, they weren’t summoned to Houston until two days ago. That’s not a lot of time to hunt down and drag something like anti-aircraft weapons into position.”

God, you’re getting good at lying to people
, Lara thought, marveling at just how calmly and confidently she had said everything.

“There are easier ways to shoot down planes,” Rhett said. “A few of the smarter ones began arming themselves with shoulder-fired missiles after R-Day. Those things are point-and-shoot, and one of them could just as easily lock onto an A-10.”

“Do Cole and Wheeler know that?” Lara asked.

“Cole’s an old pro; I didn’t need to tell him. Wheeler would have done the same thing since they’ll be flying in formation most of the time, and Cole wouldn’t let him make himself an easy target.”

“What about the tanks?”

“Dodging rockets comes with the territory. They’ll deal with it. After R-Day, they have experience doing exactly that.”

“You said they were only two hours away. I didn’t know they could move that fast.”

“The M1 Abrams are faster than you think, especially when they can open up on a highway.”

Lara checked her watch. “What about Striker?”

“They’ll be taking off from the
Erin
soon,” Riley said.

Lara smiled at the name. Rhett’s people had rechristened the
Ocean Star
to
Erin
in honor of the woman who had brought Keo to Black Tide. According to Danny, renaming FOBs after lost heroes was a common thing in the military.

“How good is the pilot that’s going to be flying them in?” Lara asked.

“He’s the best we have,” Rhett said. “He trained the other three helicopter pilots. If anyone can get Striker to where they need to be, it’s him.” Rhett looked over at Carly when he added, “Don’t worry. They’re in good hands.”

Carly didn’t answer, and Lara walked over and put a hand on her friend’s arm and squeezed. She could feel the tension radiating from almost every inch of Carly’s body.

“He’s got Keo with him,” Lara said. “He’ll be fine. They both will.”

“I know,” Carly nodded back before giving Lara a pained smile. “I’m still going to kick him in the balls when he gets back, though.”

Lara couldn’t help but smile. “I’ll hold him for you.”