I glanced at my watch. Just past two o’ clock in the afternoon. I wondered how relevant time would be in our future. Just over a week ago, it ran everyone’s lives; now it seemed like an old passenger that kept ticking along but wouldn’t be noticed if it slipped away.
Jack stooped toward the ground. “Lea, come on—hurry up.”
We looked at each other. I looked through the Chrysler’s windows to the opposite side. Nothing.
He scrambled to the ground and looked underneath. “Shit. I think she’s gone.”
I slid back over the hood. My left ankle twisted on landing, and I nearly lost my balance but managed to stop myself going ass-over-tit by grabbing the wing mirror of a rusting Dodge.
Lea must have gone as soon as our eyes were off her—the reason she wanted to bring up the rear. I searched through windows and along the narrow gaps. “She’s not here, Jack.”
“We need to keep moving.”
I strained to see or hear any movement. The faint sound of barking dogs and distant shouting from the direction of the Range Rovers told me where Lea might have gone. I crawled back to Jack with a resigned looked on my face.
“Do you think she’s given herself up?” he said.
“Looks like it, but I’m not that surprised. You saw how upset she was about Martina.”
If Lea was Superwoman, Martina was her kryptonite. I wondered what kind of person she might be, to have a vicelike grip and weakening effect on such a strong-willed woman.
Jack shook his head. “She could have told us.”
“I think she tried. Didn’t want us risking our lives to help her.”
A voice called out in the distance, “You take the left side.”
I dropped to one knee. “We’ve got no choice—come on.”
Lea could have gone in three different directions. We had little option but to push south. To our north, Genesis Alliance goons were closing in. An area of thinly populated woodland that would be useless for cover stretched along our western flank. The pit lay to our east. The Toyota provided our means of escape and a rifle for defense. By my reckoning, we were only around one hundred yards away.
The downpour increased and battered vehicle roofs. Jack crawled forward with more urgency, wriggling below trucks, squeezing through gaps, and tumbling over twisted wreckage. My arm caught on a jagged piece of windshield that ripped flesh open just below my elbow. I dropped my axe, clasped my hand over the wound to stem the flow of blood, and continued to follow.
Jack rolled over a Nissan, and I heard a loud pop as he reached the other side.
“Are you okay?”
“Nothing to worry about.”
I rolled over the Nissan and saw groceries spilling out of the car’s passenger door. Jack had landed on a large bag of chips and it had burst open around his boots. I took the opportunity to stuff my pockets with chocolate and a small bottle of water.
“Over there,” a voice called out.
We both froze on our hands and knees in an oily puddle. I looked at Jack. “That came from in front of us. They’re covering both ends.”
“We’re trapped,” Jack said and clutched the Ruger to his chest.
He scrambled underneath an SUV and gave me a nervous look.
I leaned toward him. “We’ve only got one option: the last place they’d ever suspect.”
“I know. I was going to suggest it, but…”
I dropped to my belly and crawled eastward, toward the pit.
2
We left the formation of vehicles and moved through a low hedge on the opposite side of the highway. The rain eased off as I crawled across a small grassy area toward the pit’s verge. Hundreds of bodies were stacked close to the brim. Thousands of flies buzzed an incessant drone. A rat, startled by our appearance, disappeared into a hole. Birds perched indifferently on corpses, sporadically pecking at the exposed rotting flesh. A large yellow mechanical backhoe was parked to the left. A pair of blue-and-white-checked golf trousers hung limply from the toothed bucket.
The distant shouting from the road continued. Had they captured Lea? I’d heard no gunshots since she split, so that was at least one positive sign.
Jack grabbed my arm. “Are we going in?”
“We can’t stay here—they’ll spot us immediately. Just in the edge and cover ourselves with clothes. As soon as it’s dark…”
I covered my nose with my sweater and tried to block my mind from the fact that human life had been treated beyond contempt, dumped like last week’s garbage and left to rot. I’d seen a mass grave during a tour of the Balkans and had nightmares about it, but never imagined I’d confront something on this scale. Genesis Alliance’s atrocities even put the Nazis to shame. They were truly evil and had to be stopped. Adrenaline pumped through my body as I braced to descend. I vowed to find a way to effectively fight back and make them pay.
“There’s going to be some scores to settle after this,” Jack said.
I knew he would be thinking along similar lines. Our fight for survival had transformed into a mission for justice and revenge.
I dropped three feet, and my boots landed with a squelch on the back of a large man. I pushed up, aghast at the bouncy bloated feel and smell of him; maggots wriggled around a wound on his temple.
Jack jumped down and retched after his hand went straight through the chest cavity of a lady. He lurched up but couldn’t stop himself from vomiting a little.
He spat to his side and licked his lips. “This is bloody horrible.”
“Just remember, it’s saving our lives. Let’s get covered up.”
I reached toward a body wearing an unbuttoned, short-sleeved shirt and attempted to yank it off his green torso. As my elbow sank into his stomach, a gargle and hiss came from his innards and escaped from his neck and mouth. The noxious gas made me reflexively vomit. I thrust my head up in an attempt to breathe in fresh air.
My mouth filled with watery saliva. I swallowed hard, trying not to breathe in through my nose. Remembering the water in my pocket, I fished it out, carefully unscrewed the lid, and took a few gulps. I passed the bottle to Jack, focused back on the shirt, and managed to rip it free.
The shouting from the road sounded more distant, but we still couldn’t take any chances.
Jack finished the water, cast the bottle to one side, and tugged at a purple blazer. He tried to force the arm of the garment over the owner’s swollen hand.
“For God’s sake, get off,” he muttered.
Jack gritted his teeth, pulled hard, and toppled backward as the blazer came free. He landed back on the exposed chest cavity. The corpse let out a strange yawning sound.
“I’m desperate for dusk,” I said. “The place will be riddled with disease, and I’m not sure how much longer I can take.”
“Me neither. How long till dark?”
“Three or four hours. Get covered and keep still.”
Jack pulled the blazer over his chest and face. I pushed my legs under a body and lay back, covering my head and arms with the mottled shirt. Conscious of my recently acquired wound, and the diseases that would be rife around me, I dragged my arm through my sleeve and protected it against my body.
Our pursuers’ voices had faded to nothing over the last twenty minutes. The only noises I could hear were from in and around the pit: the constant hum of flies and a strange low crackling sound from the corpses as they slowly decayed while maggots, birds, and rats fed. Something scurried onto my chest. I punched it through the shirt, and it quickly fled.
For an hour, I thought about New York and the possibilities of creating a force to take GA down. I hoped Morgan and his group had survived, which would instantly boost our numbers.
Two animals approached the edge of the pit, both rapidly panting. I slowly raised the shirt and peeked through the gap. Two stray dogs surveyed the area. One of them spotted my movement, tilting its head and staring with curiosity. I slowly lowered the shirt and prayed that it wouldn’t bark. They hung around for a few minutes before scampering away.