The only option available now was to proceed on foot. We slowly made our way through the tangle of cars, and noticed that although some of them had bloodstains on the windows, there were no corpses inside.
As I began to consider where the bodies had been taken, we arrived at the junction. There, next to a mechanical digger in the field opposite, was a large pit. From our position, I could just about see the top of a pile of corpses that had been dumped into it.
I couldn’t speak for a moment, Jack was staring at the pit, Lea wept into her hands. Though it was a gruesome sight, it was simply a logical outcome for the bodies. Nothing surprised me anymore. Our immediate focus was to locate some black clothing; Lea led the way along South Dixie Highway to a retail plaza.
The area was quiet and had obviously been cleared since Friday. It had the look of any other small town pre-Activation, but on closer inspection, that evidence of violence was apparent. Blood smeared areas of the sidewalk and fragments of shattered glass gleamed on the road. We hugged the buildings as we proceeded to the entrance of a large store. Not a soul was in sight, but the fact that someone had actively been working here, and that we were so close to Ron’s house, was enough for us to maintain a very high level of vigilance.
The doors were open and we slipped inside. The shopping area seemed relatively intact, although the checkouts were spattered in blood. Lea led us to a clothing department and we looked around for suitable outfits to fool Genesis Alliance. Jack and I found some well fitting black cargo pants and black turtleneck sweaters. I tucked the hunting knife into the belt of my pants and covered it with the sweater, and then slung the rifle over my shoulder.
“You won’t be having any kids if that slips,” Jack said, pointing at the hunting knife.
He tucked the Ruger into the front of his pants and looked in a full-length mirror.
“How do I look?” He said.
“Not bad at all. I could almost shoot you.”
“Right, let’s get to Ron’s. I want to hear what he has to say about all of this.” Lea said, after appearing from the ladies section, she was also dressed from head to toe in black.
As we approached the glass entrance doors, I saw the edge of a black Range Rover outside in the previously empty car park.
“Get back, against the wall,” I whispered.
We quickly retreated back into the shop to avoid being seen.
“I don’t think they’ve seen us, what shall we do?” Jack asked quietly.
I peered around the wall for another look and saw two men smoking cigarettes, standing by the side of the vehicle. They were dressed in the Genesis Alliance uniforms.
“There’s two of them,” I said, “I’d really like that Range Rover; it would make the approach to Ron’s much easier.”
“We can’t start shooting,” Jack replied.
“Why don’t we try and bluff them?” Lea said. “Remember Jerry saying he didn’t know all of the other members, as anonymity helped protect the organisation?”
“Wouldn’t all of the patrols in the local area know each other?” Jack replied.
“Lea, have a look and see if you recognise either of them,” I said.
I stepped back and Lea took up my position, she quickly peered around the wall.
“One looks vaguely familiar. If he remembers me, we would never get away with pretending we’re part of the team. They might just drive away, we could wait.”
“We could ambush them if they come through the doors,” Jack said.
“Damn,” I said.
“What is it?” Jack asked.
“We’ve left the respirators and ear defenders back in the car. We can’t afford to wait around now in case we get caught by the activation. It’s either straight to Ron’s, or back to the car.”
“Straight to Ron’s it is, then,” Jack said. “I don’t want to go through another three days of dealing with killers.”
“I’ll go and bluff the two outside by saying I want to turn myself in. I doubt they’ll shoot an unarmed woman, especially as I know Ron.”
“What are you going to say?” I asked.
“I’ll say I’ve decided to return to Genesis Alliance and draw them towards the doors.”
Lea was putting herself on the line, but the only other option we had, would be bursting out and shooting the goons.
She readied herself and moved in front of the door, put her hands up, and shouted through the glass, “It’s Lea. I’ve come back to see Ron.”
“Weren’t you supposed to go out?” I whispered.
“They’re right outside the fucking door,” she said through pursed lips.
“Open it up and let them in, we’ll smash them with our rifle butts.” I turned to Jack and said, “As soon as they walk in, move. We can’t afford to give them any time to see us.”
Jack and I both held our rifles like clubs.
“Did you hear me?” Lea said, as she opened the door.
“Ron said we might be getting some visitors,” a voice answered, “are you alone?”
“Yes, come in and search me.”
“No, you come out here.”
“And be searched in the middle of a parking lot?” Lea replied. “I’ll tell Ron you were pointing guns at my face. Come in where no one else will see.”
“Fuck it, have it your way.”
I heard the noise of weapons being slung over shoulders as they entered through the door. Lea instinctively took a couple of steps back.
Two large men appeared, one behind the other, Jack and I moved immediately. I smashed the butt of my rifle against the first man’s temple; he staggered to the side but didn’t go down. I moved to strike again, but the man had already recovered.
“You mother fucker,” he shouted through gritted teeth.
We came together and punched furiously at close range. My initial hit hadn’t been enough to put him down, so now it was a straight fight. Neither of us had time to use our weapons. The same thing must have been happening with Jack, and I could hear scuffling to my left. Where was Lea?
I managed to get a few heavy blows in, but was also taking equal punishment. The man was strong; I went for my knife and lost my balance. He smashed his fist into my ear and a high-pitched tone whistled through my head.
I tried a kick to the groin and knee, but couldn’t connect, the strong arm of my assailant was keeping me at bay. I dropped my head, trying to avoid any more punches to the face and tried to push him backwards with my left arm. He was difficult to move, so I stopped swinging with my right arm and forced my thumb into the corner of the man’s left eye socket. He roared with pain and thrust my shoulders back with both of his arms. I staggered, fell to the ground, and he was immediately on top of me.
Lea appeared to the left of the man and swung the butt of her Beretta at his head. He avoided the blow and connected with a powerful uppercut to her chin. She screamed and fell backwards onto the floor, holding her face. My arms had been pinned by the full weight of his heavy frame on top of me. I turned my face to the left as he hooked me in the jaw and saw Jack still wrestling on the ground.
Two large hands locked around my throat and started choking me. I frantically tried to wriggle my arms free, but couldn’t move them. In desperation, I bit the man’s thigh, but this made his grip tighten from the pain. I was starting to black out as he raised my neck off the floor to get a better grip.
The last thing I remembered was a boot swinging towards my attacker’s face, my head hit the floor and everything went black.
Pain coursed through my body as I opened my eyes, everything was blurred. A duplicated woman was leaning close to my face shouting. I could also hear a man screaming in the background. After a few seconds, I started to come to my senses. The two women merged into one, and I recognised Lea.