Siege (As the World Dies #3)(161)

“I ain’t as young as you, you long haired hippie,” Calhoun muttered, managing to swing his old leg over the bike.

“I ain’t a hippie, Cal. I’m a biker,” Rune answered. Calhoun’s response was cut off with a shout as the bike lurched forward and roared over the rough terrain toward the fire line.



“Damn smart ass city folk. They should have started bulldozing those mounds in the middle and worked themselves out. Now we got a huge ass “v” with a big ol hole right where we should have our best defenses,” Rune shouted into the wind.

“Nobody listens to me! I said that from the get go! But they wanted a kill zone! I got the inside information! I know how to deal with this stuff. Years and years of planning for the clone uprising.”

“You may be a crazy old shithead, Cal, but you know what’s going on in your own way,” Rune’s voice growled. “You’re a mean old codger.”

“Not as mean as Nerit,” Calhoun pouted. “No one is as mean as Nerit,” Rune admitted as the bike came to standstill.



They were close to the open end of the high walls made of dirt, dead foliage, tree trunks and the remains of houses and buildings. Beyond the opening were the gas tanks half buried into the soil. Beyond that, the hill dipped downward. The wind was moving downhill and away from the fort. The smell was just barely noticeable. The smell of death.

Calhoun fell to his knees and began to dig up the device rigged to explode the fuel tanks. When he had tried to begin the start up sequence, there had been no response from the remote device. He knew the problem had to be right here, where it was set up to transmit and receives. Pulling out the huge metal box, he popped it open and began to examine it closely.

“What’s wrong with it?” Rune asked.

“Don’t know yet,” Calhoun answered. “Cause, you know, it’s almost time,” Rune stared out through the wide opening, arms folded across his chest.

“Yep. I know.” He glared down into the device. “Gawddamn gremlins got into it. I knew it!” Calhoun beat the ground with one fist, then controlled himself and adjusted his satellite dish hat. “Okay, I need Jason.”



“The kid?”

“Yeah, the kid! You know, our future leader. Our John Conner? Our freaking salvation! THAT ONE!” “Take a chill pill, Cal. Calling the fort,” Rune said, then took out his walkie-talkie.

“I don’t need a chill pill,” Calhoun muttered as he began to sort through the wires with his grubby fingers. “I need the freaking gremlins to stay out of my stuff.”

“We need Jason down here, Peggy,” Rune said, then listened to the static for a moment.

“Okay, I let him know,” a voice said that was not Peggy.

“Hey, Yolanda. You pulling double shift?”

“Yeah, things not so good with Peggy.”

“That sucks,” Rune said, and didn’t press it. He didn’t want to know.



Calhoun rubbed his big nose and frowned. “Who’s idea was it to blow up the gawddern fuel tanks?”

“Yours,” Rune answered.

“Gawdammit! Why do people listen to me? I’m freaking nuts!”

“And that, sir, is why they listen to you,” Rune informed him.

Calhoun began to laugh.

Despite the slowly strengthening stench of death, Rune threw back his head and laughed, too.





*

Jason made his way to the makeshift elevator and hoisted his tool bag onto his shoulder. Reggie, a big black guy, nodded to him and helped him onto the pallet platform. Reaching out, Jason took a firm grip on one of the thick cables.

“Ready?”

“Yeah,” Jason answered. Reggie signaled the crane operator and the pallet lifted with a sickening lurch and began to swing toward the edge of the wall.



With a sharp bark, Jack dodged around Reggie and leaped over the empty space between the rooftop and the pallet and landed with a sharp yelp. Jason reached down immediately and grabbed his collar. The pallet swung sharply and Jack slid across the wood. Holding tight, Jason felt the dog’s weight shift back against him. Tucking Jack securely between his legs, Jason looked down at the startled dog.

“Damn dog. You were supposed to stay with the kids,” Jason chided him. Jack gave him a soulful look of apology, then looked out over the wide expanse before the fort. He growled low in his throat and his ears slid back.

“I know, boy, I know. They’re coming,” Jason whispered. “I know.”





*

Rune looked down toward the angrily muttering old man. Calhoun was in a tizzy, obviously trying to figure out what was wrong. Rune leaned over and figured the dim lights on the lid of the metal box was a bad thing. Tilting his head, he looked out toward the gap.

“Smells worse than you now, Calhoun,” he said.

“Soap is ungodly and unnatural. It poisons you slowly,” Calhoun answered.

“Right,” Rune looked back toward the fort to see the kid running down toward him with the big ol’ German Shepherd at his side. “Here comes your help.”

Calhoun glanced up to see Jason drawing close. “Good, cause those damn gremlins screwed this up royally. Worse than when the fairies stole all the wires out of my TV.”