The North (#wattys2016)

Chapter 30

I crawled back in the carrier and took a seat in the corner next to the engine panel. Sid climbed in after me and closed the combat lock on the rear door. He glanced at Cruze and said, “Kenny’s dead. They’ve got the chick and they fucking took Jo. That APC we thought we heard … the one that was missing from the coulee. It must have happened when we started our assault.”

“Oh, my God.”

We thought we’d taken every precaution. We were well camouflaged inside our hide and Sunray had to know we were going to take out his people in the coulee. He fucking waited until the sound of our mortars exploding to launch his assault knowing that in the heat of battle, we wouldn’t have heard his guns. And even if we had, there was no way we could have gotten back to the hide in time to stop him.

Mel dropped back down in the crew commander’s hatch as a haze of static belched out of the radio. She was just about to fiddle with the squelch when a trio of loud beeps blared through the speaker followed by a man’s voice.

            “Three-Two Charlie this is Sunray, over.

She stared at the radio, unsure whether to respond or not.

“Three-Two Charlie, this is Sunray, over.”

“Son of a bitch!” Sid snarled as he climbed over the jump seat and snatched the handset.

“This isn’t Three-Two Charlie, you prick!” he spat.

The radio hissed again and then Sunray’s voice filled the interior of the carrier.

“Three-Two Charlie – is the call sign of the Coyote you stole from me. Consider it a gift - or better yet, a fair trade. I admit that tracking you has been a challenge since the day you crossed over into Eden. Clearly you reservists received exceptional training with your unit. I salute your effective use of strategy in finding what the locals refer to as the abattoir. I suspect you think me a monster, but I care little for how others see me. The world must be rebuilt, though there is no possible way to recover all that we have lost. Life in an unthinkable time must be met with unthinkable measures, hence the abattoir. It is just one of numerous methods I have implemented by which order is established as we begin to start over.” 

I grabbed the handset from Sid and motioned for him to calm down. He ground his teeth and climbed back into the turret as I squeezed the PTT button.

“This is David Simmons,” I said, forcing back my rage. “We’re all that’s left of the King’s Own.”

            “I know who you are,” he answered. “The child told us your name. The King’s Own was a fine unit before the end came, wasn’t it? Nevertheless, you are trespassers in Eden. Our intelligence informs us that a resistance movement has taken shape, and that it has elements throughout the disputed territory. I don’t need to remind you of the seriousness of your move into Eden and your unprovoked attack on the few survivors left in Dinsmore – it’s why two of your people are now dead. Three, if you count the defector once we’re done with her. Rest assured, however, that your sister is safe, and will remain so as long as you listen carefully to what I am about to tell you and do precisely as instructed.”

I could feel the bile rising in my throat. I squeezed the handset so hard that my knuckles turned white. “You think you’ve won a victory because you killed two of our people and blasted one of our carriers. Well, from where I’m sitting, your body count is worse than mine. We killed everyone in the coulee.”            “A necessary sacrifice, but that is the nature of battle, isn’t it?” he replied. “Still, I do applaud your efforts. Now, tell me what the infected knew about the resistance.”