Beyond Armageddon: Book 02 - Empire (29 page)

           
The overcast weather hovering over Wilmington for several days had moved off, painting the cityscape in warm, gold rays and giving the air a fresh, almost spring-like flavor but a flavor that—to the little girl’s nose—was drown out by the overriding smell of beef jerky radiating from one of the crates she hid among.

           
Denise Cannon slipped out of the vehicle quietly, crouching near the rear bumper. She wore torn blue jeans, a dirty t-shirt, and one-size-too-big sneakers she had found in an empty motel room two months ago.

           
She prepared to cross to the sidewalk but stopped when voices neared.

Two men dressed in grease-stained overalls approached one of the many trucks parked along the curb. They opened the hood of one and mumbled something about a fuel pump.

As she waited, Denise surveyed her surroundings.

To her left across the street she saw a fancy, modern building about two-stories tall with windows and glass being the primary design element, all of which were now shattered. That modern building warped and sagged to the point that she guessed the next strong wind might cause it to collapse.

           
To her right stood a thin, long building painted white with four tall pillars in front. Scruffy green lawn surrounded the place, as well as decorative trees that had been nearly picked clean of leaves, probably the work of Sloths. She also saw a statue of somebody holding his or her arm aloft.

           
City Hall.

           
She spotted a pair of nasty-looking dogs sitting at the top of the flight of stone stairs leading to the main entrance. She spied two more under a covered porch at the side entrance to the building.

           
She used parked cars—some belonging to the new military force in town, others long-abandoned—as cover to work her way down the street until finding a safe route to cross the sidewalk and slip onto the grounds behind City Hall.

           
There she found a first floor window with a hole in it just large enough for a petite eleven-year-old girl to slip through.

           
Despite serving as the army’s base, few people walked the corridors of City Hall. In fact, Denise saw more dogs than she saw people. She avoided both, although she figured the dogs
must
have caught her scent but because she was human, they did not pay her any particular attention, despite the lingering odor of the beef jerky she had stowed away with.

The musty smell of the place might have helped, too. City Hall looked and felt like a museum with exhibits, memorials, and even a theater.

           
Denise stepped softly as she followed voices echoing through the halls. One of those voices sounded like it belonged to the woman. She eventually tracked the conversation to a small group of soldiers gathered around a table in a large, long room.

           
A sign at the door said that the chamber once hosted press conferences and town hall meetings as called by
Wilmington
’s long-gone city governors. Row upon row of mostly knocked-over chairs lined the rectangular room.

           
The soldiers conversed around a crescent-shaped table at the front of that room on a raised platform covered in red carpet. Three large windows behind the table allowed the sun to streak in.

           
Denise peeked but knew she could not stay at the entrance, so she withdrew and followed a cramped stairwell to a small mezzanine level. A wooden banister offered Denise cover as she crouched low and listened in on the meeting from above.

           
She
was there, the woman with the ponytail. The one who outfought that beastly thing at
Airlie
Gardens
. The one who shouted orders to men and who was not afraid of the nightmares.

           
Her ear caught bits and pieces of the conversation.

           
“…they swept through Pine Valley Estates and killed a bunch of Gremmies…”

           
“…the track out there is operational, just needs…”

           
“…Intelligence places them about a hundred miles northwest of here…”

           
“…HQ says no re-supply on those for the rest of the week…”

           
Another solider dressed in black ran into the meeting hall panting and shouting with a German shepherd on his heels

“Captain!
Captain
Forest
,” the newcomer sounded panicked.

           
“What? Whatchya got?”

           
“Sh—Shadow—”

           
All of the soldiers around the table grew rigid, as if tensing for battle.

           
“Now? Where?”

           
“No,” the man, still out of breath, reported. “Not here, not now. But we found something. Had to be a Shadow. Right down the damn street.”

           
The woman named
Captain
Forest
grabbed a mean-looking rifle from the table.

           
“Show me.”

           
Denise stayed still as the group marched out of the room beneath her. As they moved, the little girl noticed that
Captain
Forest
still possessed the sword she had won from the big-mouthed ugly thing. She carried it in a scabbard strapped to her leg.

           
“Wow,” Denise whispered aloud.

           
She waited until they were out of the room then went downstairs again…

           
…Denise used the smashed, rusted cars lining the streets of
Wilmington
as cover to follow
Captain
Forest
and her group of soldiers in black uniforms. On several occasions,
Forest
turned her head as if sensing a stalker, but each time Denise managed to remain hidden.

           
The group came to a very large intersection littered with more dead cars and buses and trucks. In the center of the intersection sat a big, circular fountain surrounded by shrubs.

           
On one corner of the crossroads stood an impressive brick and stone cathedral. The damage done to that cathedral was equally as impressive and quite strange as well.

Something had removed a chunk of the building.

No, not a chunk; more like a scoop. As if a ball had bounced against the cathedral and every part of the wall it touched disintegrated into nothingness. A surgical and nearly beautiful piece of destruction, leaving a concave wound with no sign of debris.

           
Whatever had removed such a huge piece of brick and stone had to be pretty huge itself. And powerful.

           
“…definitely…”

           
“…radiation readings?”

           
“…we don’t have the firepower to…”

           
“…call Shepherd maybe he can…”

           
Denise heard only fragments as she hid behind a destroyed Mustang at thirty yards, yet she noticed the soldiers fidgeting nervously as they surveyed the unusual damage.

           
The group turned about and retraced their steps toward City Hall, nearly stumbling upon Denise in the process. After they passed, the girl followed once again. About half way to headquarters,
Captain
Forest
separated from the men, heading off on her own.

           
This impressed Denise a great deal. This woman felt confident enough to walk by herself along the streets of
Wilmington
? A few days ago, that would have been a death sentence.

           
Her curiosity piqued even more, Denise followed as the woman left
Fifth Street
behind and traveled an alleyway.

           
Denise crept between those buildings, too, rounding a corner into a courtyard of sorts, surrounded by the backsides of several small shops. She saw employee entrances and dumpsters. Multiple paths led away from the hidden clearing toward larger, primary streets.

           
Her quarry nowhere in sight, Denise stopped and stood straight.

           
“You’re pretty good,” the woman’s voice came.

           
Captain
Forest
emerged from behind a dumpster, smiling but holding an assault weapon ready in her hands.

           
“You forgot one thing though. Your shadow. Not much of one this time of day but just enough to give you away from around the corner. Remember that, next time you’re stalking someone.”

           
“I wasn’t stalking!” Denise nearly shouted.

           
“Hey, easy does it,”
Forest
calmed. “I’m just saying, next time you decide to follow someone you need to think it through a little more.”

           
“I followed you all the way from City Hall,” Denise boasted. “And I was watching you meet with the soldiers in there, too.”

           
Captain
Forest
tilted her head. “Is that a fact? Tell me, what’s a little girl like you doing walking around by yourself in this town?”

           
Denise narrowed her eyes and answered, “I’m not little; I’m eleven. Besides, what are
you
doing walking around this town all by
your
self?”

           
Forest
held her rifle a little higher and asked, “Where’s yours?”

           
Denise said nothing.

           
Captain
Forest
stepped in front of Denise and ordered, “Turn around.”

           
Denise hesitated, not sure what the woman meant until she swiveled her fingers in the air to make the point.

           
Denise then understood what to do, but not why. The Captain examined the back of her neck, lifted her shirt, and—despite a series of protesting grunts from Denise—examined under her arms.

“Just looking, don’t worry.”

           
“Looking or what?” Denise chirped.

           
Forest
completed the examination, stepped off a pace, and said, “Voggoth sucks.”

           
“Huh? Who’s Voog—Boog–Bugg-eth?”

           
“Never mind. That’s good,”
Forest
answered. “You’d be surprised how many of them give themselves away like that. Easy to provoke and all.”

           
“What are you talking about?”

           
Forest
‘s eyes widened and realization swept across her face.

           
“Wait a second. You’re that girl from the chapel. The one who was almost Mutant foo—. I mean the one who was in the chapel.”

           
She straightened her clothes with a look of indignation and replied, “Yeah, well, my name is Denise.”

           
“Hello Denise, I’m Nina. Mind telling me why you were following me?”

           
Denise glanced around, looked at her feet, looked at the sky, and then finally answered, “I don’t know. I was bored. Like,
super
bored. Something to do, I guess.”

           
“I see.”

           
“Hey, I don’t need you to tell me what to do. I can do what I want. I can take care of myself.”

           
Nina said, “I can see that. You move pretty good. Got some real potential.”

           
A smile exploded onto Denise’s face. “Really?” But she quickly suppressed the grin, nearly turning it into a frown, and mumbled, “I mean I know that.”

           
The sound of an explosion rolled in from the distance, passing overhead like the calling card of a distant thunderstorm. Both women shot their eyes to the clear blue sky above.

           
Nina said, “You know, I think we can both take care of ourselves pretty good. What do you think?”

           
“Yeah. I mean,
yes.
Sure we can.”

           
“But you know the first thing that you do to take care of yourself?”

           
“What’s that?” Denise asked Nina.

           
“You’re smart about where you go. You don’t put yourself in bad spots.”

           
“Yeah, sure, I know that, geez,” Denise rolled her eyes.