Love Bug (22 page)

-51-

The mud was cold. It should have been warm or at least tepid with the amount of blood mixed in, but it was just cold. Xander lay still, unmoving. He had been so close, so close to going home. But that rotten Emo terrorist, one that his sister seemed to
love
, had thrown him to the ground, accidentally discharging his last shot. He had no more leverage, had lost his one bargaining chip. It was over. It was time give up. What would Xander do now? He pushed his fingers through the mud, as if grasping for an answer. Suddenly, it was there.

Something heavy brushed against the tips of Xander’s fingers. At
first, he had thought that it was nothing more than a rock, but no rock was shaped like this. His fingers closed around the grip of Captain Ortiz’s pistol.

Cora ran towards Remmy, his arms wrapped around Jessica’s waist. The Red had shown some mercy on Remmy, perhaps remembering something from when they were once childhood friends, but Cora guessed that those memories would go only so far. As Cora p
aused by Xander, who was face down in the mud, Remmy put Jessica down, as if realizing that he couldn’t really stop her from being what she was. Some piece of Cora screamed for her to stomp Xander into the ground for threatening to kill Remmy. Xander was her brother, but that seemed to matter little to him, so why should Cora value their blood bond? She took a deep breath, releasing the anger and walked past Xander.

Jessica
crept toward Ortiz, a hungry, feline smile stretched across her face.

The gunshot
cracked and split the air, shocking everyone, even Jessica. It wasn’t the fact that it was a gunshot. No, there were plenty of those surrounding them. It was the fact that it so close, almost right behind them.

Xander stalked forward, gun held straight out in front of him. His face was streaked with mud, but his eyes glared from behind with an intensity Cora had only ever witnessed in her father.

“Don’t move,” Xander spat through gnashed teeth. He swept the gun back and forth.

Cora wished that she had retrieved her wrist gun from the ground. The decision whether or not to kill Xander suddenly seemed much clearer.

“Xander!” Samuel’s voice boomed. “Stop this immediately.” He spoke with a tone reserved only for indignant grandparents, a tone that superseded even that of mothers and fathers.

Xander spun to face Samuel.

“You’re first,” he said coldly and squeezed the trigger.

-52-

Samuel didn’t want to hurt Xander. The boy was confused, disabled emotionally by his Em-Pak, and Samuel couldn’t help but feel the responsibility of that resting upon his shoulders. But Samuel was also a pragmatist and
Xander was a danger to Cora and Remmy. They had a right to live, to be free, and to be together. Xander couldn’t be allowed to rob them of that. Samuel would do what was needed to keep his granddaughter safe. More so, he would do what was needed to give her the chance to live the life she had only just begun to enjoy.

It was too late for Xander he had made his choice, but
Samuel had a choice to make as well. He had lived a long life, granted one riddled with mistakes and regret, but his mistakes were made in an honest attempt to do what was right. That counted for something, gave his life some meaning. Cora and Remmy deserved the same chance. Samuel remained fixed in place, his eyes locked with Xander’s. The boy fully intended to pull the trigger, even if it was his grandfather on the other side of the barrel.

The gunshot
cracked
the ferocity of a small thunderclap. Even Xander appeared slightly surprised by the deafening roar. Captain Ortiz’s muscled, trained arms easily controlled the pistol, handling the considerable and powerful kick of each discharged round. But Xander was young, had no experience with firearms and didn’t anticipate the force of the gunpowder combusting within the small chamber. The pistol bucked back, slamming into Xander’s face and splitting his lips. Blood gushed from the ragged zigzag that cut across his lips.

Samuel cried out in pain, spun in a half circle
by the force of the bullet and collapsed to the ground. Cora rushed forward, but Xander twisted around, thrusting the gun into his sister’s face.

“Next?” Xander grinned,
intentionally popping the
T
at the end of the word and speckling Cora’s face with his blood. He kept smiling, his teeth stained bright red and his Em-Pak chirping wildly. Xander moved cautiously around Cora and Remmy, keeping the gun trained on them. He made his way over to Captain Ortiz, who still sat on the ground stunned and bleeding. Jessica stopped when she heard the gunshot, but her muscles rippled with the desire to tear Xander apart. Her fingers clenched and unclenched as if in preparation for the violence she was about to visit upon Xander.

“Please,” Xander scoffed looking at Jessica. “You may
be some sort of infected, wild psychopath, but none of that means anything to a bullet. I just shot my own grandfather. Do you really think I’ll hesitate to kill a piece of trash like you?”

Jessica laughed. “Bullets run out. Our numbers won’t. At least not before your bullets
do.” She motioned over Xander’s shoulder.

Xander turned to see
a large group of Reds working around the sides of him, slowly closing in.

Jessica laughed again. “The only reason they haven’t torn you apart is because I haven’t given the
m permission to. You’re mine to kill and all of this has gotten old. What I said before was true. I do miss my old life, sometimes, but I feel hungry
ALL
the time.” Jessica stood up to full height. She was only slightly taller than Cora, but her presence emanated a threat, an unseen shadow that towered over her and promised violence well beyond her size.

Jessica held
the severed piece of Captain Ortiz’s arm in her hand. She laughed a good deep laugh, tore a chunk of flesh from the bone and tossed the rest of the meat to a nearby group of Reds. They fell on the limb in a feeding frenzy, devouring flesh and bone alike. The other Reds, as if spurred on by Jessica’s offering loped forward, row upon row of pointed teeth bared.

“Remmy?” Cora asked
.

“Get Samuel,” Remmy said out the side of his mouth. “Go slow, okay? No sudden movements.” Remmy knew or at least hoped that Jessica wouldn’t hurt him or Cora, but the other Reds were
a completely different story. They were hungry, enraged and smelled blood. Instinct and infection were calling the shots.

Cora
backed towards Samuel, desperately searching the ground for her wrist gun, but it was lost in the thick mud. Samuel groaned loudly and rolled over. He was still alive, but his blood was doing little to calm the Reds. They appeared to have less self-control, or perhaps the desire to exert it.

The Reds slavered for meat, their jaws yawning and flexing. Long strings of saliva trailed from their mouths. Only Jessica appeared to have any semblance of control, which appeared to be quickly fading.

“Any time now, Captain,” Xander snapped impatiently. “Any time you decide to be a soldier again would be convenient.”

Ortiz fumbled with a small pocket on the shoulder of his uniform. Xander grew more and more im
patient with Ortiz’s clumsy movements and wasted time. The man was a soldier and blood loss or not, he needed to start acting like one.

“Ortiz!” Xander shouted. “Get your head in this. Right now! Soldier
up, damn it! Right now, Captain Ortiz, or so help me, I’ll shoot you myself!”

Ortiz
shook his head like a dog emerging from the water and pulled a small silver packet from his shoulder pocket. He tore it open with his teeth and spat the ragged strip aside before pouring the contents of the packet over the stump at the end of his other arm. The caustic hiss of chemicals and smell of burning flesh filled the air. He winced, but fought through the pain. Ortiz examined the wound, content that it was cauterized and no longer bleeding. He climbed to his feet.

“My apologies,” Ortiz said weakly. Touching the transmit
button, Ortiz spoke into his helmet’s radio. The pain he felt was pushed down, ignored. Ortiz, the man would have time for pain later, but Ortiz, the soldier had no such luxury. “This is Captain Ortiz calling the pilots of ERC gunships D6, H12 and J3. We are going scorched earth. Load all friendly Em-Pak signatures, including Xander Eldritch, into your targeting systems. All other heat signatures are fair game. Good hunting, gentlemen.”

The three ERC helicopters swu
ng back to the edges of the Reds’ clearing, hovering like black clouds.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh
. The helicopters began releasing small missiles, targeting the areas where no friendly Em-Pak signals were shown.

The Reds frantically scattered, trying in vain to avoid the explosions. Remmy watched, his heart aching, as a small Red girl, perhaps only five or six, vanished in a pillar of greasy fire.

“Jessica, get them out of here!” Remmy yelled.

“Reds don’t run,” Jessica growled.

“You’re their leader now!” Remmy argued. “Now lead them! They are going to die! Get them out of here!”

“But…” Jessica protested.

“Now!” Remmy screamed as he ran to help Cora pull Samuel up from the ground.

Jessica nodded and sprinted towards the woods and the safety of the trees. The other Reds pulled back and melted into the trees.

Cora pulled Samuel’s arm around her shoulder as Remmy steadied his back. They needed to get to the woods. With the Reds gone, they were easy targets for the ERC soldiers.

Pain blossomed at the base of Remmy’s nec
k, his stomach flip-flopped and threatened to empty its contents as stars and black spots exploded in his field of vision. On all fours, Remmy fought the urge to vomit and lost.

Xander sto
od over Remmy. The pistol he smashed into the back of Remmy’s head was now trained on his sister and grandfather. Blood covered Xander’s mouth and chin. A malevolent grin was carved into his young face.

“Go,” Xander motioned with the gun. “You two serve no purpose, not any more. You’re just embarrassments.
I’m leaving you for the Reds to finish off. But Remmy? Remmy still has a purpose to serve, even if it’s just to help me cause you pain. I’m taking him, Cora…or killing him. Either one works for me. You deicide.”

“Xander,” Cora growled. Xander was no longer her brother,
maybe he never was. Xander held no affection for his sister. He was only her brother through blood and nothing more. He was a monster. He
is
a monster Cora corrected herself. A monster created by her father and fashioned in his image. Xander was everything that her father had wanted Cora to be and nothing that she wanted for herself.

“Save you idle
threats,
sister
,” Xander used the word mockingly. “You really thought you could keep me prisoner in some terrorist camp and there would be no recourse? You are seriously stupid, Cora, even more than I had given you credit for. This is the price for betraying your family.”

“You’re not my family!” Cora yelled. Xander laughed.

“Leave,” Remmy coughed, long strings of vomit and drool hanging from his mouth. “Get Samuel out of here, Cora!” Xander once again wrapped his arm around Remmy’s neck and yanked him up from the ground. The barrel of the gun remained focused on Cora and Samuel.

“But Remmy,” Cora pleaded, “I
just got you back. I can’t lose you again, not after all of this.”

“You won’t,” Remmy said. “Please
, Cora, if there’s any hope of fixing this, you need to get Samuel out of here now.” As if to reinforce Remmy’s point, the explosions began getting closer, picking off a handful of errant Reds that still remained, feasting upon the fallen ERC soldiers.

Tears streamed down Cora’s face, but were quickly lost to the heat of the fires that raged on all sides of her. She pulled Samuel, semi-conscious, towards the woods. Her grandfather’s steps were clumsy, but he had only been shot in the shoulder. He would be okay. Cora doubted that she ever would. Why would she come so close to saving Remmy only
to have him snatched away from her by her own brother?

On the edge of the
woods, Cora turned back towards the clearing. Only ERC soldiers moved, the Reds either dead or gone. One of the helicopters touched down and Cora watched as Captain Ortiz helped Xander into the cabin. Remmy, his hands bound together behind his back, was loaded in next. Ortiz finally climbed in and the helicopter lifted off the ground, tilted towards the Stele and disappeared over the horizon.

The clearing was silent, save for the crackle of a few fires. The only noise that could be heard was the pained sobs of Cora.

In that moment, Cora realized that a heart was little more than muscle and blood. It was an organ that lacked true purpose, functioning with no thought, only automatic impulse. That is, until it found a reason to beat. Her reason was gone, a black dot on the horizon that shrank with each passing second. Remmy was gone. There was no saving him this time.

-53-

Assemblyman Eldritch clicked off his video monitor. All and all, the day had been a good one. He had successfully shown the citizens that his control was absolute. Not only that, but he had retrieved Xander. Cora would have been ideal, having already been made known to the public and prepared, but did it really matter at this point? Eldritch could name a rabid chimpanzee as his successor and the citizens would go along with it. Xander would be acceptable. The boy had shown some real potential, real promise. Perhaps Eldritch had wrongfully assumed Cora was the best choice of successor.

“Report
, Captain Ortiz,” Eldritch barked into his radio.

“In transit back to the
Stele, sir,” Ortiz yelled over the deafening hum of the helicopter’s rotors. “Unfortunately, sir, we were unable to recover your daughter or father, Mr. Eldritch.”

“Yes,” Eldritch snapped, “that was…regrettable, but I guess no more concern should be given to those two traitors. The Reds will finish what you couldn’t.”

“Yes, sir,” Ortiz answered. “I concur, regrettable, but not a total loss, other than my arm of course.”

“Put Xander on the radio
, Captain,” Eldritch demanded, ignoring Captain Ortiz’s words and injury alike.

“Yes sir,” Ortiz handed the headset to Xander.

“Father?” Xander answered.

“Yes
, Xander,” Eldritch said, his voice slightly softer than it had been for Ortiz. “How are you, son?”

“Much better now
, Father,” Xander responded. “Cora is such a disappointment. She removed her Em-Pak. She’s an Emo, a terrorist.”

“I know
, Xander, but let’s not focus on those things,” Eldritch cut in. “We need to focus on the future, on your future.”

An odd feeling bloomed in Xander’s chest. It felt warm and hopeful – pride. As soon as the feeling
arose, it was gone, another casualty of Xander’s Em-Pak. Nonetheless, Xander’s mind raced. Father was planning his future now, not Cora’s. This was how it should have been from the beginning. Xander was always the better choice.

“I took an Emo prisoner,” Xander added.

“Yes, I saw that
, Xander,” Eldritch responded. “We’ll put him into a work camp or something of that nature as soon as we can. Eventually, he’ll turn and have to be sanitized, but until then, he can dig holes or sort garbage.”

“There may be a better use of him, Father,” Xander said.
“And what might that be?” Eldritch asked.

“Father, he has knowledge of the Emos and the Reds. There is much to be learned from
this Emo,” Xander answered.

“I’m sure there is
, Xander, but he won’t talk. They never do,” Eldritch said dismissively. “Once someone removes their Em-Pak, it makes them noncompliant, somewhat obstinate and petulant. We have tried numerous interrogation techniques and they are all
dead ends
.” Xander and his father might have laughed at the morbid joke, if their Em-Paks hadn’t been implanted, but since they were, the words were meant as nothing more than words.

“That’s the best part, Fa
ther,” Xander said, his voice rising slightly. “This one has never been implanted with an Em-Pak.” The words hung between the two.

“Xander?” Eldritch said.

“Yes?” Xander answered, unsure of what to expect in response from his father.

“You have made me proud
, son,” Eldritch continued. “Very proud, indeed, Xander.”

The odd feeling surged once again in Xander, though this time even slightly stronger.
Then it was gone.