The Isles of Elysium

CHAPTER 13

The one that tried to take his head off yesterday, Reese, was a stout man with a bad goatee. He entered the classroom with another man around eight in the morning to collect Keo. Pita and the girl had woken up before Keo opened his eyes, leaving just him, Jordan, and the couple across from the room.

“Rise and shine,” Reese said. Then, in what sounded like an Australian accent, “It’s judgment day.”

“That’s an Australian accent, you idiot,” Jordan said.

“Huh?”

“Arnold Schwarzenegger, who plays the Terminator in T2: Judgment Day, is Austrian.”

“Whatever, close enough,” Reese said, annoyed. “Now get your asses up.”

Keo hadn’t gotten very much sleep last night, most of it spent trying to figure out how he was going to survive the following morning. Jordan had dozed off around midnight and woken up a few minutes before Reese showed up. Morning sun blazed in through the high window and washed over half of the room, making it easy to notice that both Reese and the other man, who kept a safe distance just in case Keo tried anything, were very well armed and alert. He wondered if they had coffee in the cafeteria.

“Where’s Tobias?” Keo asked, rubbing his eyes.

“He’s waiting outside,” Reese said.

“I need to talk to him.”

“Oh, you’re going to get the chance to talk to him, all right. Get up.” Reese put his hand on the butt of his holstered sidearm for effect. “Time to pay the piper.”

Not nearly ominous enough, pal.

Keo stood up, surprised he wasn’t more wobbly on his feet. Being knocked unconscious had, ironically, done him a lot of good and Keo felt refreshed, as if he had been sleeping for days. Jordan had more trouble, the day’s events showing on her face as she tried to fight through the muscle aches and sores.

He gave her a hand. “When was the last time you had a full night’s sleep?”

“Can’t remember,” she said, and gave him a brief smile.

He returned it.

“I must look like you did last night,” she said, running her hands over her face, her palms coming away dirty. “Ugh.”

“You look fine. Better than fine.”

She smirked. “You’re full of crap, but thanks anyway.”

“Let’s go,” Reese said before turning and leaving the room.

Keo and Jordan followed him out into the hallway. Reese walked in front while the second man trailed behind them, still keeping a safe distance. Keo heard voices and activity even before he stepped back into the cafeteria.

The rest of Tobias’s people were packing up their things, everyone moving with purpose. There was an efficiency to the way supplies were being bundled up, despite the fact that they were now working with fewer men. These people had been doing this for a while now, and even still clearly dazed and shell-shocked by yesterday, it didn’t stop them from doing their jobs. Tobias had trained them well.

The man himself stood over a table, looking down at a map. He was talking to a couple of men when he glanced over. Unlike last time, Keo didn’t see Captain America in those eyes-instead, he saw his would-be executioner.

Damn, this better work.

“You come up with a story yet?” Jordan asked, keeping her voice just low enough that only he could hear.

“Yes,” Keo said.

“You better, because I’m not going to be able to get you out of this.”

“Any advice?”

“Just pretend Tobias is one of those women you pick up in bars. If you can get him to drop his pants, you’re home free.”

Keo grinned.

By the time they reached him, Tobias had folded the map and slipped it into his back pocket. He nodded at Reese, then said to Keo, “Let’s talk outside.”

He led them to the same back hallway that Keo and Jordan had come through yesterday, limping noticeably on his wounded leg. There was another guard at the back door, and Tobias pushed the door open for them. They stepped out into the thick backyard jungle, the bright and warm sun hitting them in the face.

Keo breathed in the cool, crisp morning air. He hadn’t realized how thick and musky the interior of the YMCA was until now. Out here, he could almost believe he had a decent chance of surviving the next few minutes.

“Jordan,” Tobias said. He had stopped and turned around. “Step aside.”

Jordan didn’t move. “No.”

“He has a lot to pay for.”

“He didn’t know Miller was using him to draw us out.”

“Bullshit,” Reese said. He stood slightly to the right of Tobias, his hand still resting on the butt of his holstered sidearm, finger tapping anxiously against the walnut grip.

Keo heard the sentries moving around on the rooftop above and behind him and wondered if they were paying attention to what was about to happen down here.

“Ron shot at Keo first,” Jordan said. “Then he called the others in to finish the job. Ron did what you put him up there to do, Tobias.”

“I didn’t know anything about an ambush,” Keo said.

“But you came from T18,” Tobias said. His voice was calm and measured. Compared to Reese, who had a tendency to raise his voice, Tobias could have passed for the Dalai Lama…with an assault rifle.

“Yes, I did.”

“What were you doing there?”

“The same reason everyone else ended up at T18. I was captured at Santa Marie Island.”

Tobias’s eyes moved to Jordan.

“Like I already told you, we know each other from Louisiana,” Jordan said. “My friends and I came to Santa Marie first, and Keo was supposed to follow. It just took him longer than expected.”

“Got held up,” Keo said. “Better late than never, right?”

“But you left T18 with your weapons,” Tobias said. “That’s not possible unless you’ve also put on a black uniform.”

“You see a uniform on me?”

“You don’t need to wear one to be one.”

“Like a spy,” Reese said.

“I’m not a spy,” Keo said. “I’m not very good at sneaking around. I prefer the frontal approach.”

“The fact remains,” Tobias said, “you left T18 with your weapons. That says everything.”

“That’s because Miller gave me a job.”

“Steve?”

“Yeah. Steve Miller.”

Tobias narrowed his eyes. “What kind of job?”

“Find you, and kill you.”

Reese reflexively gripped his weapon but stopped short of pulling it out.

Jordan, meanwhile, had tensed up beside Keo; apparently she hadn’t expected him to use this tack.

For his part, Tobias hadn’t reacted. Either the man had ice water in his veins, or he wasn’t surprised by Keo’s admission.

Cool as a cucumber, this guy.

“Steve sent you here to kill me,” Tobias finally said.

“I had to find you first,” Keo said. “That’s what I was doing when your sniper took a shot at me. What happened after that was out of my hands. I didn’t know Miller was planning an ambush using me as bait. It’s not my fault you converged on one lone target so close to T18. That’s a leadership problem.”

Tobias grunted. There was a heaviness in his face that Keo recognized. He had seen that look in the eyes of commanders who actually cared if he survived a job or not. Those types of men were far and few, but he could always tell them apart from the ones who didn’t give a damn if they lived or died.

“And what do you get in return?” Tobias asked.

“I get to live happily ever after.”

Tobias looked to Jordan, who nodded. “My friend Gillian,” she said. “The one that came with me to the camp. She and Keo are involved.”

“A woman,” Tobias said. Then he chuckled. “It’s always a woman, isn’t it?”

“It’s the truth,” Keo said.

“I believe you. The question is, what do I do with you?”

“That’s the easy part.”

“How so?”

Christ, I hope this works, Keo thought, and said, “Miller expects me to kill you and return to T18. But he didn’t say anything about bringing back your head on a pike. You understand what I’m saying?”

“Steve never asked you to bring back proof.”

“Right. It didn’t occur to me until now why that was. It’s because he didn’t think I was going to survive yesterday’s action. They pointed me up the road and waited for your guys to swoop in and try to kill me. It was win-win for him. I either kill some of your men, or your men get me, then his men get yours. I’m guessing he had people in the woods nearby, waiting for me to walk past like a sucker. I doubt he expected you to send that many to finish me off. That was stupid, by the way. Why the hell did you send so many to kill one man?”

Tobias shook his head, looking very frustrated. “There were only five men backing up Ron, and they weren’t supposed to engage you. I had to send reinforcements when Steve attacked.”

“What did they use, technicals?”

Tobias nodded solemnly. “And ground forces. It looked like he threw everything he had at us. It was overwhelming. We’re lucky we only lost seven men. It could have been much worse. All-of-us-dead-level worst.”

“The point is, Miller doesn’t expect me to come back. So when I do, and with proof that I killed you, he’ll want to see it.”

“Proof?”

“I need to convince him I got the job done.”

“What kind of proof?”

“You tell me. You’ve been fighting him for how long now? What would it take for Miller to believe I killed you?”

Tobias seemed to think about it before he said, “And then what?”

“Then I kill the fucker,” Keo said. “That sound good to you?”

*

“That’s your big plan?” Jordan said. “Convince him to let you double cross Miller?”

“He’s thinking about it,” Keo said.

“Yeah, but…”

“Jordan, it’s not like I had a lot of options. It’s either this or let them execute me. I really don’t want to be executed. I kinda like living.”

They were back in the classroom, except this time they were alone, with a guard outside the door. Everyone was gathering their things into the vehicles parked up front, leaving Keo and Jordan to wait for Tobias’s decision. He would know in a few minutes if he was going to live or die.

If he were a betting man, Keo would guess fifty-fifty.

Jordan leaned her head back against the wall next to him and threw her arms around her bent knees.

“Relax,” Keo said. “Whatever happens, you’ll be fine.”

“Is that what you think this is? That I’m just worried about my own hide?”

“Aren’t you?”

She sighed. “You’re clueless.”

“I don’t understand…”

“Never mind, Keo.”

He looked at her for a moment, not sure where any of this was going. He had never been particularly good at reading women, but-

“They were friends, you know,” she said.

“Who?”

“Miller and Tobias.”

“I figured that one out myself.”

“How?”

“He kept referring to Miller as ‘Steve.’”

“Yeah. They were friends for a long time after everything happened. They were in the camp together. Then one day, they were running things.”

“How did that happen?”

“I don’t know for sure. Tobias never told me, but I’ve heard rumors that they-the creatures-choose leaders. I don’t know how, and frankly it gives me goose bumps to think about communicating with those things.”

“The blue-eyed ones.”

“You’ve heard of them?” she asked, looking over.

He nodded. “The people I knew at Song Island have experience with them. A lot of experience. The ones with blue eyes are like the overseers-the commanders. They can talk, too.”

She stared disbelievingly at him.

Keo shrugged. “That’s what I heard.”

She shivered. “Great, now I’m going to have nightmares. As if the black-eyed ones weren’t bad enough.”

“About Tobias and Miller…”

“They were in charge of T18 back when it was still just Wilmont. Ran the whole place for a while. It was just after the transition to a full-fledged town that they had a falling out and Tobias left, taking some of the men with him.”

“Reese?”

“Uh huh. He was one of them.”

“Why did Tobias leave?”

“It was that whole agreement with the ghouls. Tobias was always uneasy about the daily bloodletting, but I think it was the pregnancies that did it. I know that’s what happened to me. ‘Donating’ wasn’t so bad, but seeing those pregnant girls and knowing what would happen to their babies, to the human race in a year or a decade from now…” She shivered again. “I couldn’t take it. Tobias couldn’t, either. Since then, he’s been trying to help as many people escape from T18 as possible.”

“How’s that working out?”

“Not great.” She leaned her chin against her knees. “We haven’t managed to get any of the pregnant ones out. It’s mostly been the men, with a few women in between, like Pita. She was one of the nurses in the camp. She left with the girl that’s always hanging around her, Shelley. Pita didn’t want her to become like the others, so we managed to help them escape. They’re valuable, you know. Anyone with medical skills, especially the doctors. There are only a few of them in each town, but I hear they’re constantly training nurses. Pita was doing a lot of that when she was there.”

“How does it work? Escaping the town. You said before that you have inside help.”

“Tobias talked a few people into staying.”

“That must have taken some convincing.”

“Well, he does look like Steve Rogers.”

“Who?”

“Steve Rogers. Captain America’s civilian alter ego?”

“Ah. So if Tobias is Capitan America, who’s Reese? Robin?”

“Bucky. Robin is Batman’s sidekick. Bucky is Captain America’s.”

He narrowed his eyes at her. “Are you making this up?”

She smiled. “No. I guess you really didn’t use to read comic books.”

“Too busy chasing girls.”

“Of course,” she said, and rolled her eyes at him.

“How does a jock like you know so much about comic books?”

“My brother had stacks of them. Sometimes I would partake.”

“Ah.”

“Anyway, without the inside guys, we probably wouldn’t even have what little success we’ve managed so far, never mind the M4s and MREs.”

“Where do they get those, anyway? The weapons?”

“I don’t know, but they have crates of military-grade stuff in town. Grenades, handguns, you name it.” She paused for a moment before continuing. “What do you think?”

“About what?”

“The town they’re building. T18.”

“I never got past the marina. Miller gave me the job as soon as I arrived.”

“And he never let you see Gillian?”

He shook his head.

“And yet you took the job anyway,” Jordan said.

“I wouldn’t have if I hadn’t already seen with my own eyes that she was alive.”

“Did you really think he was going to keep his side of the bargain?”

“What can I say? I have too much faith in people.”

Jordan chuckled. “Since when?”

“People change, Jordan.”

She looked over at him and stared for some time before finally nodding. “You really have changed, haven’t you?”

*

“Here,” Tobias said, tossing him something huge and sparkling. “That’ll convince Steve you killed me.”

Keo looked down at a big, gaudy, diamond-encrusted ring that no man with any semblance of taste would be caught dead wearing. Which probably explained why Tobias didn’t have it on him but had been keeping it somewhere else. It was bigger than Keo’s thumb and featured the state of Texas in the center, with the words “State Champ” on top.

“It’s the only thing of value I have from the old world,” Tobias said. “Steve would know I wouldn’t give it up to anyone unless I was dead. It should get you back into T18 in one piece. What happens after that is up to you.”

“You don’t want me to kill Miller?” Keo asked.

“I don’t care one way or another. Steve is just a mouthpiece for the creatures. They’d just replace him with someone else if he was gone. My goal was never to kill Steve or his people; it was always just to save the townspeople.” He sighed, looking at the ring in Keo’s palm. “I don’t know why I held onto it. Maybe it was just a reminder of what used to be. If you’re still alive when we meet again, you can give it back to me.”

There was a line of vehicles filled with people and supplies waiting in the parking lot of the YMCA. Reese was in one of the cars and Wyatt was perched in the back of a truck. The street behind them was empty, and he could see the raised structure of I-45 in the distance. It looked gray and never-ending, but also strangely inviting.

“So this is it?” Jordan asked. “You’re giving up?”

Tobias gave her a pursed smile. “Not by a long shot, Jordan. But for now-right now-it’s time to take a break.” He glanced back at his people. “They’re tired. I’m tired, too. My number one job was always to make sure they stay alive. That means giving them time to get healthy. After that, we’ll reevaluate.”

“What about the people back in T18? They’re going to wonder why you’ve stopped communicating with them.”

“They’re smart, and they’ll get by until we make contact again.”

Jordan shook her head. She wasn’t convinced.

“You’re not coming with us, are you?” Tobias asked her.

“No.”

“About yesterday…”

“It’s not yesterday,” Jordan said. “Keo’s going to need my help to get back to T18 and save Gillian.”

That caught Keo by surprise, and he looked over at her.

She avoided his stare and focused on Tobias instead. “She’s my friend, too. I owe it to her.”

“All right,” Tobias nodded. “It’s not like I could ever make you do anything you didn’t want to, anyway.”

He waved to Reese, who, along with another man, grabbed some weapons and packs out of one of the trucks and jogged over to them. Reese didn’t look happy when he handed them over-including the MP5SD and Keo’s pack-but Keo couldn’t care less. He was too busy clasping the belt back on and beaming as he checked the magazine inside the submachine gun.

Tobias was looking at Keo closely.

“What’s on your mind?” Keo said.

“The Steve I used to know was a good man. We wanted to do what was right for people, but somewhere along the way he went astray. The Steve that sent you out there as bait is the one you’re facing now. If you get the chance, pull the trigger. Not for me or for my people, but for your own sake.”

“I’ve never had much trouble pulling the trigger when it needs to be pulled.”

“I don’t doubt that at all. He sent you out there for a reason. Steve, for all his faults-and God knows he has many-was always a very good judge of character. He always knew how to manipulate people, how to make them do things that would benefit him.”

“I don’t think that was a compliment. To him or to me.”

“Maybe not,” Tobias said. “But I’m guessing it’s pretty accurate.”

Keo shrugged.

Tobias turned to Jordan. “I’m taking everyone to the backup location. You remember where that is?”

Jordan nodded. “I remember.”

“When you get tired of this guy, come find us.”

“No promises.”

“No promises,” he repeated.

Tobias turned around and whirled his hand in the air, and the vehicles fired up. The sudden loud blast of machines scattered birds in nearby trees, and more than a few creatures in the overgrown yards around them, on both sides of the streets, scampered away. Keo wondered how long it would take Steve’s people to track them down to this location by just the noise alone.

Reese pulled up in the truck and Tobias hobbled into the front passenger seat before leaning back out and nodding at the two of them. “Good hunting.”

Then they were gone, the caravan turning into the street and heading toward the interstate. Keo and Jordan watched them go, bright sun shimmering against the roofs of their vehicles, the smell of exhaust filling his nostrils for the first time in a long time.

“Well, that was easy,” Keo said. “I was expecting more screaming and gunplay.”

“There’s a reason we followed him for this long,” Jordan said. “Tobias is a good man.”

Keo held up the gaudy ring. “He’s got bad taste in jewelry though.”

“We better get going. That much noise is going to attract attention, even this far from T18. Just like we have scouts around the woods, Miller does, too.”

Keo put the ring away and looked at her. “What are you still doing here, Jordan?”

“Gillian’s my friend, too,” she said, walking off, “and I’m tired of losing friends. That includes you, Keo.”