Tumultus (19 page)

“Oh no…”

XVII.

Both Dublin and Imran followed Mac’s gaze into the sky above the trees.  The drone was approaching from the south.  Even from this distance they could tell it was one of the larger armed drones, not a smaller surveillance drone.  They had no more than a minute, possibly less, before the drone would be in range to strike at them.

Mac opened the truck’s passenger door and hopped outside, making his way to the back of the vehicle.  The creatures from the woods continued to shriek excitedly at one another.

Mac uttered one brief comment to Cooper Wyse while pointing into the sky with his right hand.

“Drone gun.”

Without even bothering to confirm the presence of the drone, Cooper shifted his position in the truck bed to locate the laser guided anti drone rifle.  Once he found it, he yelled out for Imran to join them outside the truck.

Smoothly hopping from the back of the truck with the drone rifle in his left hand, Cooper Wyse handed the gun to Imran and pointed into the sky where the drone was now less than a mile from their position.

“He know how to use that?”

Cooper nodded in response to Mac’s question.

“He’s the one who gave it to me.  He’s the one who showed me how it works.  Yeah, of any of us here, Imran’s the one who we want using it.”

Imran moved a small toggle switch toward him and then unlocked what appeared to be some kind of safety device.  The small metallic box connected to the bottom of the rifle began to emit a low, steady humming noise.

“Gonna need a few seconds to power up.”

Nobody said anything.  Even Brando had grown silent.

Imran raised the rifle’s scope to his right eye and peered through it while aiming at the approaching drone.  Mac noted the small man’s hands were shaking slightly.  

“Take a deep breath and just focus Imran.  You’re doing fine.”

Imran smiled slightly as he the shaking diminished.

“Sight system is tabulating speed of approach.  Locked in.  Almost ready…”

Imran fired the anti-drone rifle.  The low humming noise suddenly changed pitch, becoming both considerably louder and a much higher, piercing tone.  The rifle didn’t move back against Imran though as a conventional weapon would have done.  There was no repercussive force.  No sound of firing ammunition - just a single pinkish-blue line of light that instantly rose upward toward the quickly approaching drone.

Then…nothing.

Imran continued to stare through the site.

“System indicates target hit.”

The drone, near enough to be more clearly seen, appeared unharmed.  It was descending toward them no more than a thousand yards away.

“Hope that thing is telling you the right information, Imran.”

Mac’s voice betrayed the strain of the approaching drone, though he remained unmoving.

Imran opened his mouth to respond, but before the words could be formed the sky lit up with a massive explosion.  Seconds later, the sound of that explosion travelled over them and into the trees where the shrieking creatures then went silent.

As remnants of the drone slowly fell from the sky, Bear’s face broke out into what was for him, a very rare thing.  He was smiling.

“That was awesome.”

Cooper Wyse winked at Imran as he clapped him on the shoulder.

“Thanks, Imran.  You done good.”

A single pained howl arose from within the trees where the creatures had gathered, followed by silence.

Peering toward the forest, Mac turned back toward the truck, which Imran had wisely left running.

“Ok, time to go - NOW.”

Brando began to bark again, his eyes focused on whatever things remained hidden just inside the woods.  As the truck began to slowly drive down a gently sloping hillside, Reese positioned himself at the back of the truck bed with a rifle pointed at the tree line, ready to shoot anything that might follow them.

Nothing emerged from those trees though, and as minutes passed, and the forest grew smaller, everyone inside Imran’s truck began to relax.  Even Brando lay down with his head on his front paws and appeared to go to sleep.

Cooper looked at the resting Doberman and then leaned back, buttoned up his jacket, and pulled his hat down toward his eyes.

“Brando’s got the right idea.  Rest up when you get the chance.”

Bear slowly moved his hand to reach out and pet the Doberman.  Brando raised his head from his paws and gave Bear a look that seemed to question what the big man’s intentions were.  Bear scratched just under the dog’s chin as a kind of peace offering between the two, which Brando appeared to accept with great appreciation, lifting his head to allow Bear full access to the area.

Opening his eyes slightly, Cooper Wyse voiced his approval.

“Well look at that, who says a dog and a bear can’t be the best of friends?”

Inside the truck’s cabin, Imran was talking excitedly to both Mac and Dublin about how amazing Camp Wilfrid was.  While Dublin appeared nearly as energetic and engaged in the conversation as Imran, Mac leaned his face against the window of the vehicle and struggled to not drift away into yet more sleep.  His breathing was not such a struggle today, thought the burning sensation in his lungs remained and now he felt a throbbing pain from his lower back.  He tried to tell himself that sleeping on the cabin floor had simply aggravated something, but he knew that this new pain was more likely related to the cancer.

After nearly two hours of driving, very few trees grew up from the rocky terrain, and the temperature outside had fallen to just below freezing.  Areas of ice and snow were becoming more common.

“We will be at the glacial area soon.  I must stop and prepare the tires for the crossing.  You two can stay in here and rest…won’t be long.”

Imran brought the vehicle to a stop and hopped outside while Mac and Dublin sat inside the cabin with the heater turned on.  Dublin was somewhat surprised Mac had not offered to help Imran with the tires as he was normally not one to allow others to work while he rested.

“You feeling ok, Mac?”

Mac kept his eyes closed behind his glasses but managed to give Dublin a small smile.

“Yeah, just a little tired.  Nice to rest for a bit.”

Dublin noted Mac had grown more gaunt in recent days.  The lines around his mouth were deeper, the cheekbones more pronounced.  His short cropped hair had gone from salt and pepper gray to nearly all white since the last days of Dominatus.  In the twenty-two years Dublin Meyer had known Mackenzie Walker, she had never thought of him as old.  He had always proven himself as tough as the task required, and Dublin recalled her grandfather remarking more than once that Mac was likely the most dangerous and capable human being he had ever known.  She realized sitting so close to him in the cabin of Imran’s truck though, that old age had finally arrived for Mac Walker, and Dublin feared the journey that lay ahead of them to reach the priest in Churchill, Manitoba would prove too much for him. 

Dublin reached down and took Mac’s left hand into her right hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.

“Mac?”

“Yeah – what?”

“I just want you to know…to know how much I appreciate what you’ve done for me and so many other people.  All of those years you helped keep us safe in Dominatus, and the friendship with my grandfather.  How you saved so many of us when the drones came.  Just…just want you to know that I think you’re an amazing man, Mac.”

Mac was silent as Dublin paused.

“And…and I want you to know how much you are loved.  By me, by Reese, by everyone who knows you.  We all love you, Mac.”

Mac remained silent, his eyes looking out the window as Imran went around the truck releasing some of the air from each tire.  Finally he turned to look at Dublin and squeezed her hand that was still holding his own.

Dublin was surprised to see tears moistening the corners of Mac’s eyes as he struggled to tell her something.  She couldn’t recall ever seeing him cry before.

Mac looked back toward the window, whispering a response as he did so.

“Thank you, Dublin.  Thank you.”

XVIII.

After releasing some of the air out of each of the tires, Imran happily hopped back into the transport vehicle and continued driving slowly across the large valley they had been travelling through for the last hour.  In the process, he explained his purpose for removing air from his tires.

“You see, the less air, the more of the rubber can grip the ice.  So when I approach the glacial area, I lower the pressure.  Once I am past the glacial area, I use a portable compressor and re-inflate the tires to allow us to travel faster and get better mileage.  Simple!”

Dublin was the only one who heard Imran’s response as Mac was sleeping deeply.  She glanced out the back window of the truck and saw Reese, Bear and Cooper also sleeping in the truck bed.  She smiled to herself as she saw Bear’s arm draped over Brando.

Imran’s conversation with Dublin continued as the miles slowly passed beneath the wheels of the truck.

“I’ve been back and forth across this glacial field, oh goodness, at least thirty times!  At least!  One time I did it during a terrible storm.  Ice storm!  Froze my windshield wipers.  Couldn’t see!  Even with the heater on, I was cold!  That trip took forever!  Hour after hour driving in that storm.  And then – it was gone!  The sun came out like the storm had never been there!  And I made my delivery.  I always make my delivery!”

Dublin couldn’t help but be amused by Imran’s enthusiasm for his business.

“Do you have family, Imran?  In Wilfrid?”

Imran hesitated for a moment before answering.

“No…no family.  I have friends though.  Many friends.  Business associates.  It is a good life, considering.”

“Considering what?”

Again Imran paused before replying to Dublin.

“Considering that…that we all must live in a world that makes so little sense.  A world that killed my parents, that separated me from my brothers and sisters.  A world that tried to destroy your former home in Dominatus.  Considering all of that, I consider what life I do have is blessed.  To get to know others like yourself and Mac, and Reese and Bear and Cooper, I am blessed.”

Even though his name had been spoken, Mac remained sleeping, his breathing somewhat uneven.

“Well, you certainly have a positive attitude about things, Imran.”

As Dublin gave her compliment to Imran, the truck was jolted hard by a large rock that the right front tire drove over.  This jolt was followed by yet another and another.  The ground was growing increasingly uneven, and even the large transport truck was having difficulty crossing over it.

Mac awoke when his head banged up against the side window as yet another hard bump passed through the truck’s cabin.  He winced as a shot of pain gripped his lower back.

“We gonna be getting a lot of this shit, Imran?”

Imran was looking intently in front of him, trying to navigate around the worst of the terrain.

“I apologize, Mac.  We are about thirty minutes from the glacier.  It will get worse… before it gets worse.”

Mac scowled as another hard jolt was felt in his lower spine.