The Fourth Phase

NINETEEN

Thick smoke hung in the air, swirling around like fog on a winter’s day. Dee stared at the scene unfolding before her as the chopper jolted onto the ground.

The husk of a large boat, still burning, was moored to the jetty. Dozens of Variant bodies lay scattered around, their rotten fruit smell overpowering the stench of death that hung in the air.

Dee shook her head. She prayed that Boss and George had made it to the bunker and were safe. She jumped out of the chopper. Crouching low, she crab-crawled away from the wash of the blades. Once the Renegades had exited, the engines hummed and the chopper lifted off, banking away out over the bay.

Jack came up and nudged her arm. “Let’s go find the boys.”

Dee nodded her head. “Please. Oh God, I hope they’re okay, Jack.”

She lifted her head to scan the far side of the bay, looking for the villa they had made their home. She could see its white paint gleaming in the early afternoon sun, like a lighthouse guiding ships to safe passage. Dee hoped that this day would end well.

A man dressed in Army fatigues walked briskly over and saluted Ben. Ben saluted back, and Dee heard them exchange some words. She wasn’t listening, though, as she could see bodies lying in rows on the boardwalk near the old hotel. She gasped, holding her hand to her mouth. Jack had spotted them too and stood with her, his head lowered. She estimated at least fifty to seventy bodies. Army personnel were making their way between them, making notes on clipboards. Dee adjusted her rifle on her shoulder and made to walk over to them.

Ben saw her moving off and held up his hand. “Dee, Jack. Wait.”

She turned and waited for him.

Ben came over, a grim look on his face. “They haven’t found Boss and George amongst the dead. At this point they are MIA. The Sergeant here counts seventy-eight dead so far, many more wounded. The Doctor is attending now. Thankfully, most of the kids made it to the bunker. It looks like Sgt. Haere and his men died protecting it.”

Dee glanced over to the bodies. “Beth? Six? What about Max? Has anyone seen him?”

Ben brought his hand up and grasped her shoulder. “Beth is MIA too. Six is wounded. He’s in the hospital now. No one has seen Max either.”

Ben looked over at Jack. “You guys go search the villa for the boys. I have to attend to things here, and sort Eric out. Stay frosty. We don’t know how many Variants, if any, are still on the island. Keep me updated via two-way, especially if you see any Variants. Don’t be heroes. We’ve already lost too many.”

Dee pulled him into a hug. His long beard tickled her face. “Okay. Thanks Ben.”

“Be back by 1800 hours.”

She nodded and turned. Grabbing Jack’s arm, she pulled him over towards the hospital.

They walked along the boardwalk, passing the bodies. Some had sheets covering them, others were lying open. She recognised a few faces. Erin, whom she’d had dinner with a few times. Henry, who had a boy around George’s age. She turned her head, looking out to sea, not wanting to see any more. The guilt threatened to overwhelm her. It gnawed at her, taunting, whispering, You should’ve been here, you should’ve been protecting the children.

The stench of blood mixed with disinfectant made Dee retch as she entered the hospital. The Doctor was furiously trying to save someone in one corner, with a couple of nurses handing him instruments. Bloody rags lay scattered around. All ten of the beds held someone. More people lay on the floor, blankets and pillows trying to keep them comfortable.

Dee spotted Six lying on the far bed. A woman wearing Army fatigues and with brunette hair was wiping his brow. She smiled at them as Dee and Jack approached.

“How’s he doing?”

“It’s touch and go. Doc stitched him up as best he could and pumped him full of antibiotics. It’s a waiting game now.”

“Can he talk?”

Six’s eyes fluttered open. He saw Jack and Dee and smiled. “Yeah, I can talk.”

Dee sat down opposite the Army woman, the bed creaking with her added weight. “Hey, Six. Still trying it with the ladies, eh?”

Six chortled. He tried to raise himself up, grimacing with the effort. “Don’t make me laugh. You’ll pop my stitches.” He pulled back the covers, revealing his heavily-bandaged side.

Jack leant over and helped pull them back up. “What happened, Six?”

“I got a call on the radio around 1800 hours. Flotilla approaching. Said they saw our lights. I reported it to the Sarg, and he okayed it. I watched out the window as they cruised in, this huge luxury boat leading. It had just tied up at the jetty when those Variant bastards swarmed out. It was chaos. They caught us totally by surprise.” Six stopped and looked away, looking out the small window. He turned back, searching out Jack’s eyes. Six lowered his voice. “I saw it… th… the big one.”

Jack exchanged a look with Dee. “The big one?”

“The one you guys talk about, the Alpha. With three heads.”

Dee scrunched up the blanket in her hand. Could it be? She’d thought they’d left that horror behind.

“Are you sure, Six?” Dee queried.

“I think so, yeah. I couldn’t see too many details, but I saw the heads. It was so chaotic, and there was this huge Variant leading them. Bullets just bounced off him.”

Dee felt Jack’s soothing touch on her hand. She looked up, meeting his gaze. Tears filled his eyes. Her worry for the boys amped up, and her heart pounded in her chest. She forced herself to take some deep breaths. She needed to remain strong and clear-headed. Nothing was achieved angry and foggy-brained.

Letting out a breath, Dee reached over and grasped Six’s hand. “Boss? George? Beth?”

Six smiled, looking at Dee. “Boss, he’s a hero, Dee. Both him and Beth led a bunch of kids to the bunker. They got cut off from the bunker by a group of Variants. I’m sorry Dee. The last I saw of them, they were running up the hill towards your place.”

Jack nudged her shoulder. “They could still be alive out there, hiding somewhere.”

Dee gave Six’s hand a squeeze. “Thanks, Six. You get better, okay?” She pushed off the bed and stood next to Jack.

Six waved his hand. “When you find Boss, tell him he owes me a game?”

Dee smiled. “All right, but I think you should tell him yourself.”

The shell-strewn path crunched under their feet as they strode up to the villa. The Walsh Villa, as Jack called it. Jack and his movies. She smiled at him, catching his eye. He would have likened the scene that confronted them as they approached the village to something out of Saving Private Ryan. All that smoke, bodies, and chaos. The smell of the burning flesh and cordite hanging in the air would stay with her for a long time, if not forever. In truth, the events of the last few weeks would be on a continual loop in her mind. Dee moved closer to Jack. She doubted if they would ever find peace, some sort of normal. It was only going to get worse as the Variants grew stronger and more desperate. She feared that this attack was the first of many.

Dee bounded up the steps and onto the verandah they shared with their new family. A Variant body lay slumped on the deck, its brains blown out. She glanced to her right. Two more bodies lay on the bank. Boss?

She turned to Jack. “Looks like they put up a fight.”

“He did well. Let’s check in the house. You ready?”

Dee sighed “Yeah.”

Dee and Jack moved inside. The first thing she saw was the open gun cage, with a rifle and shotgun missing. Half a dozen boxes of ammo were missing, too. She glanced over to the coat rack where they kept their go-bags. She was thankful to see the pegs empty.

She ran up the stairs, calling, “Boss! George!”

She ran into their rooms, calling, searching. Her calls became desperate.

Jack caught up to her in their bedroom. “Dee, they’re not here. Boss must have fled into the bush with George.”

Dee slumped onto the bed and held her head in her hands. She took a couple of deep breaths, trying to control her growing anxiety. She felt the bed depress as Jack sat next to her.

“Shall we go?”

Dee sniffed and poked out her tongue. “God, I need a shower first. We reek.”

Jack looked at her, confused. “A shower, now? Shouldn’t we go look for the boys?”

“I want to go find them too, Jack, but I need to get some of this stench off me. We’ve been on the go for days, with little to no sleep. I just need this to centre myself.”

“But what if we’re too late. Wasting precious time on showers?”

“I’ll be quick. Jack, I need this. I know it’s weird. I want to find them as much as you.”

She could see Jack searching her face, looking for a reason to deny her. He wouldn’t come up with one. Dee knew she was right; they needed a breather. Showers had a bizarre way off washing away bad feelings as well as dirt.

“Okay Dee.”

Dee punched him on the arm, whacking him a couple of times. “Go use the downstairs shower, I bag this one. Ten minutes?”

“Okay, see you in ten.”

Dee watched him leave. Sighing, she started stripping off her sweat- and gore-soaked clothes. Just taking them off felt heavenly. She stepped under the warm water, washing away the sludge coating her hair and skin.

Dee met Jack down in the kitchen. He handed her a protein bar before tearing off the wrapping of his own. He raised an eyebrow at her. “Better?”

“So much. Let’s go find the boys.”

Jack nodded his head and shuffled into his pack. Dee held the door open for him. He was still searching around.

“What are you doing?”

“My machete. I can’t find it.”

“The rusty one?”

“Yeah.”

“Leave it. Let’s go.” She watched him look around one last time. “C’mon!”

“All right.”

Dee searched up the bank behind the house, looking at the bush. If she was Boss, where would she go? Did he flee in panic, or did he have a plan? There were a few broken branches directly to their left. She pointed. “It has to be them. C’mon.”

Jack pushed himself up the bank and held his hand out for her.

Dee took his hand and, using the extra momentum, pushed herself up the hill, following Jack as he bashed his way through the bush. Branches scratched at her face and tangled in her hair, but she didn’t care. She could see indicators that Boss and George had fled this way: scuffs in the soil here, a broken branch there.

Up and up they climbed. Dee grunted with each step, and the sweat trickled down her back. Only her desire to see the boys again fueled her exhausted body farther up the hill. After forty minutes of exertion, they broke out of the bush and stepped onto one of the tracks that circumnavigated the island. Dee glanced left and right, searching for more signs. She looked down at the path in front of her. Seeing footprints, Dee furrowed her brow. There was a different print, human-like. Variants, she realised. “Jack, look!”

Jack came over, and grunted to himself. “Yeah. And look.”

She glanced farther up the path. Pawprints! Max! Her heart soared, and a new batch of adrenalin surged through her veins. Dee looked out to sea. It shone back turquoise, sunlight dancing off the breaking waves. She looked back up the mountain. “Jack! What about those caves George found?”

He turned to look up the mountain too. “Yes! Good idea. It’s worth a try.”

Dee pushed past him and broke into a jog. She could hear Jack’s boots thudding on the ground as he caught up to her and fell in step beside her. Dee rounded a corner and saw the cave opening ahead. She ran up to it and ducked inside. Then she heard Jack laugh.

Turning back to him, she saw he was holding up his rusty red-handled machete. “Look! Good old Boss.”

Dee couldn’t help but smile. Good old Boss indeed. Smart kid, leaving them a huge clue as to his path. She reached into her bag, grabbed her torch, and clicked it on, illuminating the lava tube cave twisting away. She was just about to head into the cave when she caught a whiff of rotten fruit.

Jack stopped, clearly smelling it too. He raised his rifle and lowered his voice. “You smell that, right?”

Dee nodded her head. “We should radio Ben.”

“Let’s check out that lake first. Carefully.” Jack smiled, and led her into the darkness of the cave.

Sometime later, Dee stared across the crater lake to the small island on the far side, a lone pohutukawa tree standing sentry over it. She would have admired the scene if it wasn’t for her growing fear for the boys’ safety. A screech sounded out, moments before movement to her left flicked through her peripheral vision. Half a dozen Variants scampered down the crater walls, howling as they ran.

We should have radioed Ben.

Dee let out a frustrated exclamation and, bringing up her rifle, let loose with a barrage of hot leaded death. She quickly dropped two. Jack shot another one. Their bodies splashed into the lake. The other three dropped onto the sandy beach in front of them and charged in a sudden burst of speed. Dee squeezed off another burst, hitting one in the neck. Black gunk sprayed out. It stumbled and rolled before lying still. Jack hit the other one in the head with a quick burst from his AR.

The last Variant leapt off the ground, claws extended, howling as it flew through the air. Dee yelled a warning to Jack. He pivoted, bringing his rifle up in front of him, which saved him from the gnashing mouth of the Variant. It dug its claws into his legs instead, and Jack screamed in agony.

Dee dropped her rifle onto the sand and drew her Katana. All the pent-up anger she had about what the world had become and these man-made abominations coursed through her veins. Screaming, she ran forward and swung her blade like a skilled assassin. Bringing it up in an arc, she sliced the creature’s head off with a clean cut. It spun away and landed with a thump on the obsidian-laced beach, a snarl forever etched on its face.

She stared at the decapitated head. These creatures disgusted her. The thought of what they could have done to the boys pained her. She wanted to make a statement. Memories of the Variants tied up and decomposing on the trees flashed through her mind. Yes. A statement. Dee glanced around the lake and smiled.

She stalked over to the head and speared it with tip of her Katana. Then she walked over to an old fence post and slammed it down on top, spiking it.

There’s your statement!

Dee returned to Jack and helped him to his feet. “You okay, baby?”

Jack took a couple of small steps forward. “I can walk. Bloody Variants. Thank you.”

Dee nodded and looked out to the island. “I’m going to check the island. Wait here.”

“Okay, be careful. I’ll radio Ben. Let him know we found Variants.”

Dee swam the last few strokes to the island and pulled herself up, pricking herself on the sharp obsidian as she did so. There were a couple of Variant bodies, but no sign of the boys. Then a glint caught her eye. She knelt down on the ground, and found a makeshift prosthetic leg. She smiled. Boss! Clever boy.

Turning, she waved at Jack while holding up the leg. “Jack! Look!”

Jack waved back.

Dee jumped back into the lake, shivering as the cold water enveloped her.

When she reached the far side, Jack reached down and helped her out of the water. She handed him the leg. He turned it over in his hands and looked up at her. “What are you thinking?”

Dee rubbed her hands over her face. “I think they’ve been taken. It’s the only logical outcome.”

Jack nodded and pulled her into a hug. Dee heard him choke down a sob. “Oh God, Dee. You don’t think the Trophy King took them, do you?”

Dee nestled her head into his shoulder and let the tears flow. Her head swam at the thought of Boss and George being taken away to be consumed, or worse. She had seen inside one of those nests. Seen what they did to people. Once was enough.

Composing herself, Dee pulled away, breaking the embrace. She stared back over towards the island. A barely audible whimper reached her ears. She pricked her ears, straining. There! Another whimper, clearer this time. She scanned the island, looking for the source. There was a small patch of black and white fur amongst the flax bushes. Max! How did I miss him?

Dee ran back into the water, splashing towards the island.