E j deen, p.23
E. J. Deen, page 23
Doc stepped to within inches of Zach, his gaze searching, almost challenging. “Let’s bring order out of all this chaos, out of this hell,” he whispered earnestly. “You and me.”
In the face of Doc’s plea, Zach’s ire cooled. But he was still uncertain. It was a big step, a huge commitment, and God knew he was terrified of commitments. All except for those he created for
himself.
Almost sadly, he shook his head. “I don’t know. It seems so impossible.”
Jordan stood up and said, “You won’t be alone. We’ll be backing you. We can do it. We can gather more and more men as we go.”
Zach gazed at the fifty-year-old ex-marine, a man of strength and determination. A man to be trusted, respected, a man who had once challenged his black brothers to respect themselves.
“We can do it, man. Together. Nothing is impossible when people unite,” Jordan said.
“Do you know what you’re asking? Do all you people know what you’re asking?” Zach’s gaze swept over the entire assembly, men who had eagerly volunteered themselves as soldiers in the new army.
They were all watching him, waiting, expectant. He saw something there in all those faces, something he’d almost forgotten existed for men like him. He saw hope. Could he deny them that hope? Could he disappoint these people?
He felt a tug on his sleeve and looked down to find Serena’s tear-streaked face turned up to his.
“For me, Zach. Do it for me.”
Only she could unlock his rigid set of rules and allow him to accept and take hold of the future, the leadership these people were pushing on him. She was a woman-child, intelligent beyond her years, made so by experience, yet fated to die before her time, before she had ever really known what beauty life could offer her. Only she could get under his skin this way. Could he deny her?
Do it for her? For the people?
Yes. And for himself, as well. He’d been yearning for some semblance of his old life. What these people offered him was so much more than what he could have ever hoped to obtain in his former life.
They were offering him the presidency. He would no longer be a one-man army. He would be
commander in chief of the Armed Forces of the New United States of America. His forces. Together they could do it. But only together. It was something they would all have to understand. A unified front, or nothing.
Zach turned to Grady. “You’ll have to make the people love me, Grady. Like they’ve never loved any other president-elect.”
“Don’t worry, Zach. If anyone can do it, I can,” Grady swore, his ebony eyes gleaming with pride, catching the hope and reflecting it.
“You’ll need a vehicle.”
Grady shook his head. “Not yet. Later. It’s too dangerous now. But don’t worry. I’ll get the word around. I have a network of my own. We can get the job done. Later, when things start goin’ in the right direction, we’ll spread out, expand.”
Zach nodded.
“Does that mean you’ll do it?” Doc asked.
“If this is gonna work, we have to agree,” Zach told him, and all of them. “You have to understand the necessity for a certain amount of power. Just look at what happened with the plague. Look at what is happening out there now. This has to be a unanimous decision. Absolute rule stops here. With me.”
An earsplitting howl of agreement went up from the group. Doc simply smiled. Jordan reached out to shake his hand, his teeth gleaming white against his black face as he grinned broadly. All of them were smiling now, even Burgess.
“If we are to succeed, we have to take this country. By force if necessary. It’s the only way,” Zach stated, his voice gaining strength as he stepped into the role. “Do we agree?”
A collective cheer answered his question.
“If I take this job, I will be commander in chief. I will be your president. I will be your leader, your ruler. You must pledge your allegiance to me.”
Another cheer. God, it felt good. He’d never in all his life felt the way he did now. Invigorated, elated, alive like he’d never been before. He was going to do something for this nation. He was going to lead this country back to order. It was an incredible undertaking, and they trusted him to take the helm.
“I’ll start with Grady. You’ll be my press secretary. You’re in charge of media.”
Grady nodded acceptance.
“Mr. Quinn. You will be elevated to the rank of four-star general. You’re my new chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Anyone who does not respect your title will answer to me.”
“Wait just a damn minute!” James burst out, shoving through the crowd to stand in front of Zach.
Contention already. It wasn’t all that surprising, considering the source. The hothead.
“You have a problem, James?”
“I don’t think it’s such a good idea to have an ex-activist as chairman.”
“Because I’m black?” Jordan demanded. “Let me remind you that you are also an activist. Just because your skin is white you think that makes you better qualified for the job.”
James ignored him.
“Grady is black. You didn’t have any objections to his status,” Zach reminded him.
“Quinn is a loose cannon,” James began.
“Look, man. This is my country, too,” Jordan insisted, his eyes bloodshot with anger. “And it is my right to defend it, to fight for it. Whether I’m black, white, Hispanic, or Native American.”
Zach put a restraining hand on his arm, halting his speech. Jordan instantly quieted in deference to his rank.
“He’s in,” Zach said, his eyes daring anyone to defy him. No one did. Not even James.
Jordan gazed into Zach’s face for a long moment and then very slowly smiled. “Yeah. Yeah!”
Zach gave him a hearty slap on the back and then turned to James. “I won’t tolerate any form of division in this army. Unity. We’re together, or we’re nothing. Is that clear?”
Coon-Ass, who’d been standing nearby, jolted the man into addressing Zach with respect by prodding him with the tip of his machine gun.
“I’m in,” James agreed, his eyes glittering with the anger of defeat.
Zach turned his attention to the tall cajun. “You got a name, Coon-Ass?”
The cajun glanced around uncomfortably, and Zach could have sworn he colored just slightly. But then he pulled himself up to his full height and spoke out in a clear, concise voice. “Raymond, sir. Raymond Pierce.”
“Raymond Pierce. You are now the head of the New Intelligence Service,” Zach announced, unable to keep the grin off his face now. Something was happening to him, something exhilarating and
wonderful. He felt alive. For the first time in years, he felt alive.
Suddenly, it hit him. It had begun with Serena. She had planted the seed, and the experience with the alligator had nudged it into growth. He’d started to feel again. When he’d been in the swamp, facing that behemoth, he’d made the decision to live, his first conscious decision to do so after years of searching for innumerable ways to die. That’s what had changed him so on that momentous day. That’s why he was so different. He didn’t just feel alive. He actually wanted to live. It was a great feeling, to embrace life again.
“So, you agree?” Doc prompted.
“There’s a lot of work to be done here.”
Doc lifted his eyebrows, pointedly waiting.
Zach’s gaze was direct as he answered, “Yes. I accept the office of President of the New United States.”
Doc broke into a broad grin. “I knew you’d come through. You won’t regret this, Zach. You’ll never regret it.”
“Damn straight I won’t. Come hell or high water, I’m gonna bring this nation together again.”
Still grinning, Doc reached out to give him a bear hug while the men whooped in victory.
Burgess jumped on top of the table and raised a glass to the crowd. “Let’s get drunk!”
“Not until after our first victory,” Zach commanded. “There’s training to be done.”
“Yes, sir, Mr. President, sir,” she hooted, doing a pretty fair imitation of a soldier’s salute.
“To Subtropolis then,” Zach said simply, looking around at his new command.
“To Subtropolis!” they shouted back to him.
Damn, it felt good.
16
By the time they hit Subtropolis, Zach’s army was well organized. Two hundred and thirty men strong.
It seemed a pitifully small group to be attacking a facility that covered over fifty square miles of underground rooms. Doc’s scout had told them the Pirate stronghold numbered nearly a thousand men, most of which were clustered together in one area. All Zach had going for him was the element of surprise. If they wanted to succeed, they would have to infiltrate the underground labyrinth without detection. That was the tricky part. Getting two hundred men inside, spreading out, and taking out as many Pirates as they could without explosives. It seemed impossible. But clandestine was what Zach did best.
Zach and his men had surreptitiously surrounded the place. There were several entrances to
Subtropolis. Zach planned to seal them all from the outside. Once his men were inside, several of his army personnel would move into position with trucks they’d salvaged and block anyone from getting out again. Zach wanted no escapees this time. Every Pirate inside would die, or he would die trying.
Two guards stood outside the first entrance to the limestone maze. Zach and his army were holed up nearby, spread out and waiting to move. They’d decided to use Burgess as a decoy, but Zach was having some misgivings about the arrangement. The idea was hers. Zach had not approved, but she insisted, and he eventually gave in.
“But if you let those son-of-a-bitches get within a foot of me, I’ll skin your balls,” she warned.
Zach’s flesh quivered just thinking about it. He had no doubt she would make good on her threat.
The army was decked out in charcoal gray and flat black, faces painted in black streaks, army fatigues loaded to the hilt with weapons. Every man carried a heavy personal arsenal. Bows, knives, handguns, semi-automatics, and shrapnel grenades. Cans filled with deadly metal shards and lined with enough powder to blow the container open and send the small missiles in all directions. Radios were clipped to their headgear, tiny little packets of technology that made their task a whole lot easier. Most of his men wore helmets, but Zach had foregone the cumbersome headpiece. It just didn’t feel right. His headset consisted of the wire and nothing more. The wires were an asset, but the men communicated
infrequently. Zach had trained his soldiers to be silent, deadly, and swift.
They waited until midnight to strike. First rush…Burgess. She sauntered out of the darkness, whistling a coy tune, her breasts practically spilling out of a top she’d ripped nearly to shreds, and her long, slender legs left bare nearly to her crotch. She was an eye-catcher, and the two guards didn’t even bother to raise their weapons as she approached. They just catcalled and leered at the morsel the gods had bestowed on them.
As she drew nearer, one shifted and adjusted his dick. Zach watched from his position above, his adrenaline pumping hot and heavy. If Coon-ass didn’t make a move soon, Zach’s balls would be in deep shit.
Just then a shadow emerged from the opposite side of the entrance. Zach relaxed when he recognized Coon-ass’s solid form. The big cajun glided up behind the nearest guard and casually slit his throat. At the gurgling sound of death emanating from his partner, the second guard started to turn, saw Coon-ass, and reached for his weapon. Before he could raise it to his shoulder, Burgess sank a long blade into his chest. The kill was swift and silent.
At Zach’s softly spoken command, two men emerged from the shadows and dragged the Pirates off.
Burgess disappeared with Coon-ass. A few minutes later, the two men reappeared at the entrance, dressed like Pirates. One of them scratched his nose, then spat on the ground. The signal.
“Leader Two is clear to move,” Zach told Quinn through his headset.
Jordan quickly dispatched a dozen men into the yawning mouth of Subtropolis.
On the other side of the complex, two arrows silently felled another set of guards. Leo Halstrom moved into position and motioned a few of his unit inside.
Zach had divided his men into four units, headed by himself and his top men. They intended to spread out in pairs over the complex and try to take out as many Pirates as they could before they were discovered. Like a game of dominoes, each set of guards was quickly and silently decommissioned.
When every tunnel had been taken, Zach’s men quietly filtered inside, and then the trucks were moved into position, armed guards strung out across every entrance, ready for anything that might come their way.
The interior was much darker than Zach had expected, but he could see a dim glow deep in the
distance. Apparently, the Pirates were conserving what fuel they had for the important areas of the complex. Zach adjusted his headset and spoke into the tiny mouthpiece.
“Leaders advise.”
“Leader Two is inside the compound,” came Jordan’s reply.
“Leader Three inside,” Leo said.
“Leader Four in position,” Coon-ass reported.
Zach took a deep breath. “Take it slow and easy, gentlemen. Two at a time.”
“Affirmative,” Coon-ass answered.
Zach motioned two of his own men forward. They crept down the tunnel that led to the inner buildings and were soon swallowed in darkness. He counted to twenty before motioning another pair to follow.
He’d dispatched half his men when he suddenly heard the hum of a vehicle approaching.
“Christ, I was afraid of this,” he muttered.
“Leader One?” Coon-ass’s voice sounded in his ear, small and tinny.
“We have a vehicle approaching.”
“Need help?”
“Not yet. Hold your position and keep the traffic flowing.”
With a flick of his wrist, he commanded the rest of his unit to fan out and line the street. Zach ducked behind a nearby pillar and waited.
“No noise, boys,” he told his unit. “Just hold it nice and steady.”
The engine noise grew steadily closer. Zach’s hand crept to the revolver strapped to his thigh. His fingers brushed the cold steel, then flitted away. The urge to shoot the occupants of the oncoming vehicle was overwhelming, but he didn’t want to risk having his army found out. It was too soon. Any noise so early in the game would jeopardize the mission. But he couldn’t let that Jeep make it all the way up to the entrance. If the enemy alerted the others, this attack would fail, and Zach would never get another chance. The Pirates would see to that.
He tightened his grip on his bow, then leaned forward to peer around the pillar. A set of headlights crept toward them, bobbing slightly as the vehicle moved with the roadway. A small Jeep. Just one. That meant four passengers at the most.
“Leader One to Unit One, we’re about to have company.”
“Unit One advised,” a small voice responded.
Zach glanced across the passageway, caught his partner’s eye and gave him a nod. The man, Tim, returned the nod and disappeared behind his own pillar. Zach waited in the shadows until the Jeep drew alongside. They weren’t more than two hundred feet into the tunnel, but he knew the headlights of the vehicle would eventually find the truck blocking the entrance, and then it would be Katy-barred-the-door for all of them. His job was to get to the passengers before they were able to radio any of the others. The timing had to be perfect.
The Jeep’s headlights sliced across a section of the tunnel near the pillar he hid behind, lighting up the street like high noon. Zach fought the urge to sink farther back. He slipped a throwaway out of his belt and positioned himself for action. But the damn Jeep ended up stopping just short of his line of vision, placing the passengers behind the pillar. Mentally cursing, Zach eased around to the opposite side of the abutment and peered into the roadway.
“What the fuck is that?” a voice queried from the Jeep.
“It looks like a truck,” another voice answered.
“Oh, shit!” the driver cursed.
Zach heard gears grinding and knew the asshole was about to put it in reverse and tear back down the tunnel. Before the goons could get away, he stepped out from behind the slab buttress and stood in full view of the men. Just his damn luck. There were three guys in the Jeep, and they all had army issue automatics. No single shots here.
“Going somewhere, boys?” he asked.
Before the driver’s head had even rotated around in his direction, one of Zach’s throwaways imbedded itself in his neck. The passenger in the rear turned and started to raise his weapon, but a second throwaway met his chest before a shot was fired. Zach stepped closer and peered into the passenger side of the vehicle. The third man was slumped forward in his seat, a dagger sticking out of his back.
Tim emerged from the shadows, grinned, and yanked the dagger out of his victim. Zach relaxed.
“This is Leader One. Problem solved. Tunnel One, dispatch cleanup. Keep the Jeep out of sight. We don’t want anyone to get suspicious.”
“Will do, sir,” came the tinny reply.
Zach stepped closer to the vehicle and motioned for Tim to take a look inside, as well. They found a radio under the dash and just the three rifles. Zach took one and hooked the strap over his shoulder. Tim took the other two and passed them to a few of the men behind him.
“Resume positioning,” Zach advised, sending another pair of men down the tunnel.
“Leader One, Leader Two has gained the west side of the compound. Looks like some of the storefronts have been converted to living quarters.”
“Any goons in sight?”
“About seven.”
“Take it slow,” Zach advised.
“Yes, sir.”
“Leader One, Leader Three has gained the battle field,” Leo reported.
Coon-ass had yet to confirm his entrance. Zach was beginning to wonder about him. He hoped like hell that Coon-ass wasn’t in trouble.
The last set of men had already gone ahead of him down the tunnel, leaving only himself and Tim. He counted to thirty and then motioned for Tim to start forward. Together they started down the dark road.
