Conquest ~ Indian Hill 3 ~ A Michael Talbot Adventure (56 page)

“I’d like that
,” he said
,
grimacing. I think he was more enamored with the thought of having enough time rather than listening to my story
,
but that was fine with me.

“I smell hu-mans
,” Dee said
. “We are close.”

“Dee
,
get behind me
,” I told
him. Dee looked at me funny like what the hell was that going to accomplish. “I know, I know, but I don’t want any trigger happy sentries putting a bullet in you.”

He shrugged
,
but did as I asked.

“Captain
Talbot?”
a
voice came from beyond a small copse of tree
s
.

“One and the same
,” I answered
.

“But you’re dead
,”
t
he same voice said.

“I beg to differ
,” I told
him. Three armed Hillians came out of the foliage, I remembered seeing their
squad
leader around th
e base a few times.

The corporal looked over to Dee
.
I could see his hands tense on his weapon but he made no threatening move.

“Corporal, could you’re men please help with my new friend
,
Vern
,
here?” I asked
.
I was definitely beginning to fatigue.

The corporal made some arm movements into the bushes and two more men came out
,
carrying a stretcher. I thought that was pretty fortuitous and my expression must have given me away.

“The
g
eneral sent a bunch of patrols out in the hopes that there would be some survivors.”

“I’d really hoped I’d never get in one of these things again
,” Vern said
with some dismay. “But
right now it looks like a Sealy Posturepedic.”

“What about him?”
t
he corporal asked pointing to Spindler
.

Dee seemed to forget he was even carrying the slight man. “I would like to stretch my arms. Thank you
,” Dee said
,
holding Spindler out like a loaf of bread.

“I know the going is
tougher
,”
t
he corporal said once Spindler was situated on a stretcher. “But we have to stay within the tree line. There have been enemy fighters patrolling the entire region
.
S
eems that something got them pretty upset
,” he said
,
smiling at me.

“I had nothing to do with it.” I gave him my standard answer usually reserved for the police. “Who else is out here?” I asked the
c
orporal as we got underway again.

“Sir
?” he asked
.

“Someone saved our ass back there
—
who else are you looking for?”

“Major Wagner
, sir
.
H
e’s still unaccounted for
,”
t
he corporal answered. My face fell with worry for my friend. “But that could have changed
, sir
, we’ve been out here for hours and we are under strict radio silence.”

“Corporal
,
do you mind if me and my large friend here go on ahead?”

“Not at all
, sir
.”

“Vern, Gloria
—
I’ll see you both. Boys
,
you be good. If this man tries to escape
,” I said
,
pointing to Spindler. “Shoot him.”

I
thought
the corporal thought I was kidding at first but there was no
mirth on my face.

“Yes
, sir
.”

“You ready to make some time?” I asked Drababan.

Dee snorted. “What makes you think you could keep up?”

I started running before he finished his sentence
.
I was
young and in the best shape of my life, so the running came easily enough but what spurred me on even faster was the sound of giant branches snapping as Dee cut a path behind me. They impeded his progress enough that he was not able to overtake me.

“If I catch you, I will eat you
,”
Dee yelled from a few steps behind.

That’s some scary shit any way you cut it. Growing up
,
I’d had dreams of being chased by zombies, but they weren’t fast, green,
and
huge and they sure didn’t
talk.

As we approached the Hill
,
I held up one hand behind me to let Dee know I was coming to a stop and that he shouldn’t run over me
like a semi over a VW
B
ug. I was winded
,
but I used the excuse that if a sentry saw a Genogerian chasing a human
,
he was likely to end up with a bullet in his hide.

Dee knew it for the ruse it was. “Admit you’re tired
,”
he
demanded.

“Hey
,
I see how wide your mouth is
,” I said
implying that he was cooling himself off
,
a
lthough I was hunched over, hands on knees, taking in large chunks of air, my chest heaving.

“Fair enough. How close are we to this entrance
?
I am wounded and will need some medical attention.”

“What?”

Dee pulled his chest arm
or to the side to reveal a fist-
sized hole in his side. Blood
flowed
from the wound.

“When the hell did that happen
,
Dee?” I asked in alarm.

“I believe it to be part of the Progerian fighter that was blown up.”

“Shit
,
Dee, why didn’t you say something?”

“Have you suddenly become a doctor?”

“No.”

“Would you be able to carry me?”

“No.”

“Th
e
n what was the purpose, other tha
n to waste time like we are now?
”

“Okay, let’s go
.
W
e’re almost there
,” I said
, now worrying for another
friend. Although I was pretty sure he’d be alright, we’d just run at a decent pace for the last three miles and he had been on my heels the whole time. I did not want to think what would have happened had he been completely healthy, he probably would have run me over and not even known it.

***

Another ten minutes and we found ourselves inside one of the
outer Hill tunnels
.
W
e had become the center of attention once it was discovered that we still lived.

Dee was shuttled off to the medical section.

“I’ll come see you later. Don’t eat anyone you’re not supposed to
,” I told
him

“I’ll try
,
but the fat one looks good
,” Dee said
,
looking at a now shivering orderly.

“He’s kidding, I think
,” I told
the man who looked like he was going to
bolt
“Is the
g
eneral in his office?” I asked one of the men trying to take Dee’s vitals but could not get the blood pressure cuff to fit.

“I believe so
, sir
.”

I had to gently push through the throng of folks gawking at Dee and congratulating me on our successful mission.

Tracy was just outside the major part of the
crowd. “You had me worried
,
Talbot
,” she said
,
fully embracing me in her arms which I thankfully returned.
She buried her face in my shoulder.
“They said you were dead
.
”

“I get that a lot
,” I told
her.

“Dennis is still missing
,” she said
,
pushing back from me.

I wiped
a
hand across my face.
“He saved us out there. We would have been dead if he hadn’t shot down an enemy fighter.”

“He left here with a squad of four men, against the
g
eneral’s orders. Paul was pissed, I thought he was going to send out another squad to hunt him down and bring him back. So is it true
?
D
o you have Spindler? We’ve been preparing for a rapid evac.”

“We got him and he didn’t have enough time to give us up. Come on
,
I’ve got to
talk to Paul.” My heart slipped a beat as I saw Beth standing against the wall
,
watching. I didn’t say anything to her as Tracy and I
headed
toward
Paul’s office.

Paul looked haggard, there was no other way to describe it. “It’s good to see you
,
Mike
,” Paul said
,
standing and grasping my hand. “I thought I’d lost you both.”

“Dennis?” I asked.

“Sit
,
please
.
” Paul
sat down heavily. “He’s dead
,
Mike.”

I felt like each word was hammered into my stomach with a baseball bat. I had to ask. “Are you sure?”

“I sent scouts out to see how this whole thing played out
.
T
hey lost sight of you
,
but they were able to witness Dennis’ position overrun by the retreating Genogerians
.
It was an intense firefight but even if he had survived that, the bombs that came down next obliterated the entire region, even killing the Genogerians who had advanced past his position.”

I buried my face in my hands and sobbed. My head
and
stomach ached
,
now my soul was stretched thin
it too ached.

“I can’t even wrap my mind around how much I’m going to miss him
,” I told
Paul, finally extracting my face from my hands.

Tracy grabbed my hand closest to her and squeezed gently
. I looked over to her with red-
rimmed eyes.

“I knew he was going to follow you, I almost put him under house arrest to stop him.”

“He saved my life
,
Paul. We
wouldn’t have made it if not for him and his men
,” I said
.
Paul nodded at all the right times, I knew he already knew
,
but I still had to say it.

“We’ll mourn his passing
,
Mike, but we’ve got other things going on now. The Progerians are amassing a huge landing party. My long range patrols had to get out of there before they were discovere
d
,
but we’re talking upwards of
ten thousand
Genogerians
now a
foot within
twenty
miles of here
.”

I was never good at math, but I didn’t have to be to realize how bad the odds were becoming.
A
t that moment and in the depths of
my
grief, I just wanted to go running straight into thei
r landing with my rifle blazing
.
Even as I write this
,
I see the contradiction for what it is, how ungrateful would I be to go and needlessly get myself killed and negate Dennis’ surrendering of his life?

“Oh!” Tracy exclaimed.

“What?” I asked, half standing
,
thinking
s
ome other emergency was
also
playing out.

“
I would have sworn I felt the baby kick
.”

That thought alone brought a smile to my face, there was hope
for
the continuation of human life. I needed to fight to preserve it
,
not to die in martyrdom.