Authors: Nicholas Sansbury Smith
Extinction Age (26 page)
“A lab you helped run, isn’t that right?” Kate asked in a
sharp voice.
Wood shot her a venomous glare. “Cooper, Berg, escort the
doctor back to her quarters. If she tries to resist, take her to a holding cell
instead.”
“Lay a hand on her and it’s the last thing you do,” Beckham
growled.
Jensen shook his head. “This is all wrong. We’re supposed to
be saving people, not serving our own interests. When did you forget that,
Wood? When did you become a monster?”
“I’m giving you a direct order,” Wood said, his blue eyes
like chips of ice. “Load those choppers or you will be arrested and dealt with
accordingly.”
Jensen didn’t budge. He spat a wad of tobacco on the ground
and folded his arms across his chest. “You don’t get to decide who lives and
who dies.”
“Wrong,” Wood said. In a swift motion, he drew his pistol and
fired two shots into Jensen’s chest.
“No!” Beckham shouted. He pulled the strap of his rifle from
his back and swung the muzzle toward Wood as Jensen crashed to the ground.
Major Smith dropped to his knees, yelling, “Jesus Christ! You
shot him! You fucking shot him!”
Horn and Chow centered their guns on Berg and Cooper. The
Medical Corps soldiers were taken off guard but recovered quickly and aimed
their own weapons at the operators. Between Valentine, Wood, and the twins,
Beckham and his men were outnumbered.
“You son of a fucking bitch,” Beckham said. He shifted
his gaze from Wood to Jensen. The lieutenant colonel was bleeding out, blood
gushing from his chest as Smith tried to apply pressure on the wounds.
“I would think very carefully about what you’re doing right
now, son,” Wood said.
“I’m not your ‘son,’” Beckham snarled. “Step down, Wood. Step
down before we take you down.”
Kate cupped her hand over her mouth as Berg and Cooper
circled in. Four more Medical Corps soldiers came running from the post.
“Beckham, lower your weapon,” Valentine said. “You don’t want
to do this.”
“You’re on the wrong side,” Beckham said. “And I will give no
quarter when the bullets start flying.”
Jensen choked on his own blood, his chest heaving as he took
in raspy, gurgling breaths. Kate wasn’t an expert, but it sounded like he had a
collapsed lung. If they didn’t help him in the next few minutes, there was no
way he’d make it.
“Get him a medic!” Beckham shouted.
Major Smith raised fingers slimy with blood and reached for
his radio.
“You will do no such thing,” Wood said. “Smith, you’ve done
admirable work here, but your loyalty to your former CO will earn you nothing
but a court martial at this point. Make the right choice now, and I can promise
you’ll go far. With Central gone, we need men like you in the upper ranks.”
Smith froze, his eyes dancing from Beckham to Wood. For a
moment, he seemed to consider Wood’s offer, but then he lifted the radio.
Before he could speak, Valentine and the other six medical
corps soldiers closed in. Kate watched in horror as they pointed their weapons
at Smith and Beckham. The sudden crack of a rifle shot made them all flinch.
Wood’s face disappeared in a spray of bone, blood, and teeth.
Beckham pushed Kate to the ground and dropped to a knee as
Wood’s body slumped to the asphalt. He fired at Berg in a blink of an eye. The
rounds pierced Berg’s neck, and he slumped to the ground, clutching the holes.
Scarlet poured through his fingers like a waterfall.
Kate’s world slowed to an agonizing pace as all hell broke
loose. Two more distant cracks sounded, and two more of Wood’s men fell limply
to the pavement. Screams of panic broke out from the crowd as the civilians ran
for cover.
Valentine was firing wildly, not seeming to care where he
aimed. Two shots snagged Horn, sending him flying backward. Chow let out a
scream and fired a volley of rounds into Valentine’s gut. The sergeant fell to
his knees, clutching his stomach and staring at Chow incredulously.
“You shot Horn, you son of a bitch!” Chow yelled as he put a
bullet in Valentine’s skull.
Another crack sounded in the distance and Cooper dropped,
leaving only two of Wood’s henchmen. One of them had centered his gun on
Beckham before he was knocked to the ground by a blur of black and tan fur.
Apollo ripped out the man’s jugular vein and then turned on
the final guard. Chow took the man out with a shot between the eyes before the
dog could get to him.
In less than twenty seconds, it was over. Kate rose to her
feet, trembling as she surveyed the damage. Wood and all seven of his men lay
in puddles of their own blood. The only one still twitching was the man Apollo
had attacked.
Chow fired a three-round burst into the fallen man’s body
armor, painting the asphalt with crimson.
“
Medic!
I need a fucking medic,” Smith yelled
over and over again into the radio. He pushed down on Jensen’s chest. “Lovato,
you’re a doctor! Get over here and help him.”
Kate didn’t know how to explain that unless they got him to
an emergency room, he wasn’t going to make it. She could build weapons to take
a billion lives, but she couldn’t do anything to save Jensen from bleeding out
in front of her. She rushed to his side nonetheless and did the only thing she
could—she grabbed his hand to comfort him.
Distantly, she heard Reed shouting her name. She turned to
see him fall to his knees beside Horn. Chow was already there, gripping the
huge operator’s hand. Blood blossomed across his right bicep, but he seemed
more shocked than hurt.
“I’m fine,” he grunted, struggling to sit up. He patted his
flak jacket and then pressed a paw over the wound on his arm. Chow helped Horn
up as Beckham hustled over and knelt by Jensen’s side. He squeezed next to Kate
and took over compression from Major Smith, who slumped back onto the asphalt,
his uniform stained up to the elbows with his commanding officer’s blood.
“Hang in there, sir. We’re going to get you help,” Beckham
said.
“Beckham,” Jensen choked.
“I’m here.”
“You have to…” Jensen coughed, blood gurgling at his lips.
“Sir, just hang on,” Beckham said. He glanced up and yelled,
“Where the fuck is that medic?”
Jensen fumbled with his holster and pulled a revolver. He
didn’t have the strength to lift it, and his hand flopped back onto the ground.
“I want…I want you to have this.”
Beckham looked down at the gun, and after a second of
hesitation, he took it.
“I told you…she’s my girl,” Jensen said. “Take her. Defend
the island. And make sure…” He gasped, choking as blood filled his lungs. When
he spoke again, his once-powerful voice was barely a whisper. “Make sure
Kryptonite gets deployed worldwide. Do the right thing. I know you will.”
“I will, sir. I promise you,” Beckham said.
By the time Doctor Hill arrived, Jensen was already dead, his
dark eyes staring blankly at the sky.
Beckham slowly placed Jensen’s empty
hand on his chest and then stood. Apollo, his snout still bloody, pressed his
side against Beckham’s leg. The dog let out a low, melancholy whine like he
understood what they had all just lost.
Beckham wanted to scream. He wanted to take Jensen’s gun and
unload it into Wood’s corpse, but even that wouldn’t make him feel better.
Jensen hadn’t just been a friend; he had been one of the only good officers
left. Now they were leaderless, and for the first time in his life, Beckham
wasn’t sure what to do.
The sound of raised voices pulled Beckham’s attention to the
concrete barriers where the rest of Wood’s men had gathered. The remaining
Marines from Bragg were already disarming the Medical Corps soldiers. Riley had
his pistol aimed at a man on the ground. Meg was by his side, her knife drawn
and one of her crutches pushed down on the fallen soldier’s neck. The only
member of Beckham’s team missing was Fitz.
He realized then it was the Marine who had saved their lives.
Only he could have nailed those headshots. He saw Fitz rushing over to aid
Riley and the other men that had been loyal to Jensen.
Beckham bent down and closed Jensen’s eyes. “Dr. Hill, get us
a stretcher. I don’t want to leave him out here like this.”
“My God,” Hill said, looking at the other bodies. “What do we
do with them?”
“For now, we leave Wood and his men here. I’ll bury the
bastard in an unmarked grave next to Gibson. They can spend the rest of
eternity rotting together,” Beckham said.
Hill nodded, radioed for a stretcher, and then ran toward the
buildings with Smith. Beckham rose to his feet and looked for Kate. She was
checking Horn’s arm.
“Keep pressure on the wound,” Kate said.
“I know the routine,” Horn said. “I better get to my girls.”
“I’ll go too,” Chow said.
The men took off at a trot, leaving Beckham alone with Kate.
He grabbed her hand and pulled her away from the death.
“I’m sorry,” Kate said. “I’m so sorry, Reed.”
Beckham shook his head and looked toward the horizon. He’d
gotten his revenge on Wood and his men, but it did nothing to relieve the pain
of losing Jensen.
They stood there in silence, Kate’s hand in his. Seconds
turned into minutes as neither of them moved.
“What happens now?” Kate finally whispered.
Beckham stared into the dark sky, watching a cloud drift
across an ocean of flickering stars. “We get Kryptonite ready and send it over
every corner of the goddamn earth.”
Kate rested her head on his shoulder. “And after that?”
“We keep fighting,” he said. “And we never stop.”
The End of Book 3
Look for Book 4,
Extinction Evolution,
coming fall of
2015! For updates on the series, information on new releases, and exclusive
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Thank you for reading
Extinction Age
! I hope you
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Nicholas Sansbury Smith is the author of several
post-apocalyptic books and short stories. He worked for the State of Iowa for
nearly 10 years before switching careers to focus on his one true
passion—writing. When he isn’t daydreaming about the apocalypse he’s likely
racing in triathlons around the Midwest. He lives in Des Moines, Iowa with his
family and several rescued animals.
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