A New World: Conspiracy (36 page)

What kind of person can subject people to
this kind of agony?

The soldier holds his sister upright and
feeds her a touch of water from his canteen. He then moistens a
towel and begins cleaning off her face.

“There’s enough time for that later,
soldier. We need to get the fuck out of here. Carry her,” Greg
orders, his voice rough with emotion.

Without replying, the soldier hands his M-4
to his teammate and lifts his sister in his arms. Her face is
turned up to the blue sky and her grungy raven hair hangs in matted
strings. Part of the gruffness directed at the soldier is his anger
and shock at what has been happening. They leave the place of
horror and begin heading back to the Stryker.

As they depart, the stench dissipates and
Greg feels his mind clear. He directs the three other soldiers to
form around Kyle as he carries his sister. Glancing over, Greg sees
Kyle look upon his sister with a mixed expression of warmth and
fear. Diane looks up from time to time and tries to give a smile,
but her swollen lips make it look like a grimace. Exhausted from
her ordeal, her body hangs limply in the arms of her brother.

Upon reaching the vehicle, Kyle makes Diane
as comfortable as he can. Sitting on the bench seat, she slumps
against the back rest. Kyle gives her sips of water and she seems
to draw strength with each sip. Wetting a towel again, he commences
with cleaning her face and hands. Chipped fingernails, bruises on
her face, and her split lips attest to her ordeal.

The lowering sun casts the ravine in shadow.
The mountains to the west silhouette themselves across the
landscape. Shadows and darkness come early near the eastern side of
the Rocky Mountains. The night runners enjoy longer periods of
their nocturnal activity here. With abundant food sources, aside
from those tied to the crosses, and the long nights of hunting,
it’s amazing that anyone is left alive.

Greg has the Stryker retrace its steps back
up the valley as far as they can go. The terrain rises into the
hills and he follows the ravine upwards, wanting to get as far away
from the city as they can. They make their way into the hills until
the steep slopes and trees bar their way. He wishes he could build
a fire to bathe them all in smoke so their odor won’t carry. The
cool air of the evening will carry their scent down the narrow
ravine and give them away to any night runner pack that happens to
come across it. Within the deep shadows filling the high valley, he
takes one of the fuel drums and pours some of their precious diesel
across the gully in front of them. He hopes that the smell of the
fuel will hide their odor.

In the failing light, the soldiers open
packets of food and wolf them down. It’s their last chance to be
out before nightfall and then it will be all elbows and arms as
they try to find some comfort within the cramped Stryker. Kyle sits
inside with his sister, feeding her portions of a meal. Those
outside feel the cool air rushing down from the mountains above.
Birds call from the surrounding trees, singing their farewell to
the sun. Many swoop in the twilight to catch a last meal before
retiring. It’s a contrasting scene of peacefulness compared to what
they just witnessed.

An image from the ghastly scene on the
highway below surfaces, but Greg pushes it down. He has a good idea
about what is going on, but not the reasoning – as if that really
matters. There’s no valid reason for someone to be doing that –
purposely staking others out for night runners to feast on. It
doesn’t really matter what that person did. The number of bodies
alludes to the fact that it’s not done for punishment. Those are
definitely sacrifices. Not wanting to relive the memory and have
sick images flood his mind, he shuts down his train of thought
along those lines.

Greg hears a cricket begin chirping
somewhere higher up in the ravine. He remembers an old trick his
grandmother taught him. To pass the time, he looks at his watch,
marks the second hand, and begins counting the chirps. The second
hand passes the fourteen second mark as he counts his fifteenth
chirp. He adds forty to the count.

Fifty five degrees out. For all the good
that does
, he thinks, wondering who came up with that formula.
Someone had a lot of time on their hands
.

Entering the Stryker and sealing it up for
the night, Greg sees that Diane looks stronger. Her eyes still
betray weariness, but she doesn’t need the back rest for support.
Kyle puts away his meal and tenderly wipes a spot of food away from
Diane’s mouth. Nourishment has helped her recover a more of her
strength. Between long pauses and sips of water, Diane tells some
of her story. She has difficulties speaking at times, and she has a
hard time enunciating some of her words, but she struggles through
it.

She, her mom, and her younger brother held
up in their home as long as they could. Her mom was a strong
believer in keeping a pantry full of her canning endeavors, so they
were able to eat for some time. Their well supplied water. Living
in the hills outside of the city limited any run-ins with the
creatures who roamed the night. They could hear the shrieks at
night and huddled the evening away in their basement. During this
time, they met only one other person who they invited to stay with
them. The man told them of the terrors that roamed the night and
supplied them with information about what happened.

Eventually, they were forced to forage for
supplies. At first they raided nearby houses, but then had to
venture into town. It was during one of these outings that they ran
into trouble. A group of men found them and took them captive. They
remained in captivity for some time with other prisoners. Most
days, one of the guards would select someone and they would
disappear. Others were brought in periodically to replace those
taken. On occasion, their captors would take and beat one of them
in front of the main group. A man would orate for a while and then
the beatings would start.

“Did they…did they…?” Kyle asks,
hesitantly.

“No, they never violated me in that way,”
Diane answers.

“Where did they take you?” Kyle asks.

“To the cave…Kyle, they still have Chris
there,” Diane answers.

“And mom?” Kyle asks, fearful of the
answer.

Diane shakes her head and begins
sobbing.

Tears fill Kyle’s eyes. He wipes them away
and holds his sister carefully to his chest, caressing her head.
“Shhh…Shhh, sis…it’ll be alright. You’re safe and we’ll get
Chris.”

Kyle looks to Greg for affirmation of his
statement. Greg nods, “If there’s any way we can get him, we’ll do
so.”

Diane’s sobbing comes to an end and she
pulls out of Kyle’s embrace, wincing from her injuries.

“Diane, my name is Greg. I know it’s
difficult, but I need to ask you some questions if we’re to get
your brother.”

She takes a deep breath to steady herself
and looks into Greg’s eyes. “If I can. Were you…are you Kyle’s
commander?”

“That’s not really an easy question to
answer so, for the sake of simplicity, let’s just say yes.”

She nods, “Are you really going to get
Chris?”

“If it’s within our means to do so, we will.
I make no promises, though. The most I can say at the moment is
that we’ll try if it’s possible. To be perfectly honest, that will
depend on your answers.”

“I’ll answer as best as I can,” Diane
replies, still struggling to speak.

“First of all, where is this cave?”

“It’s the Cave of Winds. On the other side
of the city,” Diane answers.

“I know it well,” Kyle chimes in.

“Okay, we’ll talk about those details later.
How many men are in this group?”

“I don’t know…a lot,” Diane responds.

“By a lot, do you mean ten? Or forty?”

“I don’t really know how many. When I was
taken in front of the group and beaten, there were a lot in the
cavern. I’d say…thirty…forty…I really don’t know.”

“How many were guarding you at any given
time?”

“I think there were four. We were held near
the Canopy Hall…I think. I’ve only been in the caves a few times,
but I think that’s right,” Diane says.

Greg looks to Kyle to see if he knows of
this place; Kyle nods his affirmative.

“The man that was with you, what happened to
him?” Greg asks.

“He was taken away shortly after we were
captured. I don’t know what happened to him. Well…before today that
is,” Diane answers.

“And they take someone every day?”

“As near as I can tell. It’s hard to know
night from day down there. I don’t know how much time passes
between.”

“How many other prisoners are there?”

“That varies from day to day, but I think
there are only about six right now. At least that was how many were
there when they took me and tied me up,” Diane replies.

“How were you held?”

“There are chains mounted on the walls. They
keep us there.”

“I know this is difficult, and I’m sorry to
grill you like this, but do you know where the men stay at
night,”

“No. I’m sorry. I heard voices from farther
into the caverns, but I really don’t know,” Diane states.

“Sorry to bring up a horrible memory, but
you mentioned a man orated when you were taken and…treated badly.
What did he say?” Greg asks.

“I don’t know. I was so frightened that I
really didn’t hear him. I only remember something about sacrifice
and appeasing demons…or something like that.”

“I see. How many men brought you to be tied
up?”

“Six I think…it could have been four or
five. I’m sorry, I was terrified and didn’t count. I’m sorry I’m
not much help.”

“You’ve been great help. You get some rest
and we’ll see what we see in the morning,” Greg says.

Kyle comforts his sister and, as night sets
fully in, all noise in the Stryker ceases.

Greg works his way through a sea of legs to
the front. He sits on the hard floor looking at a map of the area
with a red-lensed flashlight. The map is unseen though as he
wrestles with his thoughts. It’s the usual dilemma of team safety
versus putting them in danger to rescue others. If it were easy,
then the answer would be as well. But there are forty armed men
situated across the valley. They have but seven; and only five if
he keeps two with the Stryker. They have rescued one family member
which is more than he thought they would find. Should they count
this a victory and move on? In his mind, the right thing to do
would be to attempt to rescue those being held, but the right thing
is also to protect the team.

Delving further, he ponders whether they
should put an end to this abomination or just rescue the hostages.
Taking out forty men would be difficult unless they could get them
in the open and unleash the firepower of the Stryker upon them. If
they just rescued the prisoners, the group would merely branch out
and capture others. The atrocity would continue. Wracking his mind
for the “right” answer doesn’t bring any clarity. He knows what
he’d like to do but doesn’t know if their capabilities can meet
that desire.

In his years of service, he’s encountered
these situations before, but not to this degree. They had orders
and they saw them through. Sure he protected the team as best he
could, but the mission had priority. If a situation became
untenable, he radioed his command and they made the decision to
pull out or continue. He now has an inkling of what Jack goes
through. Delaying an answer, he makes a deal with himself to see
the situation firsthand before making a final decision.

Greg thinks of their amazing timing. One day
on either side and they wouldn’t have been able to help Kyle’s
sister. If they didn’t leave the base when they did, they would
have completely missed finding her. If they did arrive a day
earlier, there’s a chance they would never have known about the
captives. They might have checked out Kyle’s house and, finding no
one, departed without knowing the fates of Kyle’s brother and
sister. If they arrived a day later, stayed on another day with the
people of Lamar, well…that would have be one day too late.

Morning arises without interference from the
predators of the night. The soldiers stir from the uncomfortable
positions and, after a quick check around, disembark from the
locker room atmosphere within. The fresh air after a night in the
Stryker is invigorating. The morning promises another day of blue
skies. A flock of birds crosses the small canyon as their day has
begun as well. Diane looks moderately refreshed and the bruises on
her face are beginning to fade, turning yellow on the edges. There
is an underlying tension with the soldiers knowing that they may
see action before the day is out.

Greg calls Kyle over. “Where can we get the
best view of this place?”

They pour over the map and Kyle outlines
several trails that will take them through the hills south of town
and put them directly on a ridge overlooking the city and the vast
network of caves on the far side.

After a quick meal, they start forward.
Kyle’s selections of trails are narrow, but they accommodate the
bulk of the Stryker. The ridgelines keep the team from view and,
after a very roundabout foray, they find themselves on a dirt road
that climbs the spine of one of the larger ridges. Parking the
Stryker below the crest, Greg and Kyle walk the remaining distance
to the top, careful not to silhouette themselves.

A lone house sits at the very top to their
right. Keeping out of view of the house, the two go prone next to
the road. They have a vista-like view of the city below and the
hills across from them. Kyle points out the cave location almost
directly north of them. Looking through his field glasses, Greg
sees a paved road winding its way up the ridge and terminating at a
collection of buildings a half mile from the highway. The parking
lot serving the facility is filled with a collection of new pickup
trucks and Hummers. He continues looking over the area for a long
period of time with ideas racing through his head – discarding all
of them for one reason or another.