Legend of Mace (8 page)

“Tell me about yourself. You weren’t always some nymphomaniac apocalyptic warrior chick, right? You had to be part of the real world at one time.”

Lisa turned her head towards him and felt her head spin. She hadn’t thought about her old life in years. “Why would I want to go back there?” she asked, slightly annoyed. “All that is gone. This is all that’s left.” A part of her couldn't face who'd she become. She kept the past buried under lock and key.

Tom propped himself up on an elbow. “Do you really think things will never change? Don’t you ever dream about a brighter future?”

She thought about it for a second and said, “No, Tom. I don’t. I don’t live in some fairytale world.” She felt her anger start to bubble.

“Neither do I,” Tom said, as he questioned his request for conversation. “But the kids here. They could have more. They could have a better future. They could grow up and have something better to offer the world.”

Lisa’s head spun harder as she realized she’d given up on any type of future for her daughter or any of the kids. They were all so focused on the day-to-day that their only plans for tomorrow revolved around survival.

She calmed down and asked quietly. “What type of future do you see?”

“I don’t know. If I take the time to look at this camp, I see leaders here. I see this as a training ground for what could be. It's all Roger's talked about since we got here.”

For the first time in years, Lisa actually felt her heart stir. It was a faint tap against the stone, but it was there nonetheless. “Go on,” she said, interested in what else he had to say.

“Things are changing already. The dead are dying off. We have the antidote to the plague. I think we have a real shot at surviving and creating a better world.”

Lisa surprised herself by leaning in and kissing Tom on the lips. “I’m glad you’re here,” she said, feeling somewhat confused. She wasn’t sure what she felt, if anything.

As Tom stared in her eyes he felt a connection. “I am, too,” he said as he studied her face. It had been years since he'd had sex, as well, and he felt his body responding. “You’re gonna be gladder in a second.”

Lisa smiled as she felt him beneath the sheets.

The group in San Marcos, Texas was growing. More people with troubling thoughts felt a connection as soon as they arrived. A growing sense of paranoia slowly began to take over the camp.

Alone at his post, Stephen felt uncomfortable. “Something’s not right. You getting that feeling?” He lowered the Walkie-Talkie as he scanned the area around them.

“Yeah I do,” answered Marty quietly from the car.“It feels like a storm is coming. A big one. It feels like it’s headed this way.”

Stephen glanced up at the sky. “The sky is completely clear. What are you talking about?”

“Not that type of storm, you idiot. It feels like a storm of rage. I feel it in the ground. In the air. Everywhere. It’s like it’s out there and it’s just gonna just rip right out of the ground and take us over.”

“Dude, you’re like freaking me out. Shut up.”

“You feel it, though, don’t you?” Marty asked, needing verification of his feelings. He wasn’t sure if he was going crazy or not.

After a few seconds of allowing the words to sink in his head, Stephen couldn’t help but agree. “Holy shit, I think you’re right. At first I was thinking it was more like a bear or something.” His voice held a tinge of fear. “I feel it now. Shit, what do you think it is?” Stephen cocked his weapon. “I ain’t going out like that.”

“We need to go tell the others,” Marty said as he nervously searched the area for savage specters.

“And then what?” Stephen jerked as something moved up ahead behind a car. He lifted the rifle and lined up the scope. He couldn’t see anything, but he could feel the evil-longing in the energy. It didn’t come from the car. It came from somewhere behind it.

Traces of fury shot at him like darts from the source, and he could feel them fight to get inside his skull. 
Feeling the waves grow steadily stronger, he realized they would become unbearable if they stayed where they were. The energy wanted to destroy them.

His heart raced and he fired two holes into the metal. Marty felt the waves near him as well. “We need to leave!” Marty yelled. “We need to leave now! Let’s get everybody out! Now!”

“Where are we going to go!?” Stephen asked as he aimed the rifle all over. The feeling was everywhere. It wouldn’t stop.

“We need to find the source and kill it!”

The crowd roared as Bowie and Crockett raced past them along the obstacle course. Built by Mace over the course of a year, it stretched around the entire compound, surrounded by large rolls of razor wire on its outer edge. Just inside the trench, it was used regularly by the kids to increase their physical and mental aptitude.

The boys were neck and neck as they dove under the netting to army crawl through the latest obstacle. “Give it up, Davey,” Bowie huffed as he dragged himself through on elbows and knees.

“Eat shit,” grinned Crockett as he struggled to keep pace. His head stayed down and he scampered furiously to try to pull ahead.

They emerged out the other end of the net together and briefly made eye contact. As Bowie jumped to his feet he threw a handful of dirt in Crockett’s face. Crockett bent over and tried to blink the dirt out of his eyes.

“You asshole!” he yelled. He shook his head then took off in pursuit. Bowie laughed as he headed for the mud pit next. The crowd all ran ahead, cutting through the Alamo to beat them to the next obstacle. The crowd was a little out of breath as they ran to the vantage point and found Mace and Roger already waiting. At the sight of the kids, Mace knew Bowie would come through any moment.

“Watch this,” Mace said to Roger with a mischievous grin. Bowie picked up speed once he saw the obstacle and was now a good fifteen feet ahead of Crockett as he timed his jump. He leapt for the first rope that hung across the middle of the pit to swing himself across.

As soon as Bowie leapt, Mace yanked on a piece of fishing line tied to the rope. The rope moved to the side and out of Bowie’s range. Bowie yelled as he frantically grasped for the rope and it slipped out of his fingers. He fell face-first into the mud pit with a splunk. The crowd was in hysterics as Crockett came upon the scene. Leaping for the second rope, Crockett easily swung across. He paused on the other side to grin at Bowie, who slowly dragged himself out of the pit.

Crockett flashed a thumbs up to Mace before he took off again, heading for the finish line. Bowie stood up, covered in mud, and yelled, “That is messed up!” to Mace.

“Teach you not to cheat,” Mace said in all seriousness.

“How do you know I cheated?”

“You always cheat. You need to learn it’s not just about you, Bowie, it’s about the camp.”

The boys around him continued to crack up. A few rolled on the ground, holding their bellies as they pointed at Bowie. Roger looked around and was surprised what he felt. They were actually a pretty solid group, he thought. There was a camaraderie to them.

“You do this often?” he asked Mace quietly.

“What, teach them not to cheat?” He showed a hint of a smile.

“No, the races.”

“At least once a month.Keeps them sharp.”

“Are there more?”

“Where you been? Jersey’s racing next.”

“What? How did I not know about this?”

“What can I say. They’re kids. They want to keep secrets.”

“Yeah, but what about Kelly? Why wouldn’t she tell me?”

“She’s trying to fit in. You’ll figure out how to keep tabs. Trust me.” Mace looked quickly around. The boys were all leaving. “We just need to reset this for later.”

“What do you mean?”

“You’ll see.”

Chelsea, Maya and Kelly all gathered at the starting line. “Normally only two people race,” Chelsea said to Kelly, as she pulled her quad back to loosen it up.

“Then why am I here?”

“Because we don’t think you’ll be able to keep up anyway,” replied Maya with a grin.

Kelly smiled back playfully. After the punch, they’d grown closer but still wary of each other.“Hey, I’ve been on the road for months. One thing I can do is run. Besides, I’ve got longer legs.”

Focused on the race, Chelsea dropped into starting position. “Enough talk already. Let’s get this on. You know I’m gonna beat you both.”

“Ha,” Maya said as she waited for one of the Rangers to signal the start.

“Are you tampons ready?” he yelled. They all rolled their eyes and he smiled at their reactions. Kelly and Maya dropped to runner’s formation.

“Ready, set, go!” He dropped his arm to signal the race was on.

Kelly pulled out to an immediate lead and Chelsea yelled, “No way!” as she and Maya ran neck and neck behind.

“We’ve got to make sure she goes for the first rope at the mud pit,” Maya panted as they ran.

“What?” Chelsea asked as she watched Kelly easily scale the first obstacle, the rope-wall. “Dang, she’s good.”

“I saw Mace this morning. He was setting up Bowie. There’s a fishing line tied to the first rope.” Maya slowed down a little as she tried to explain.

“What did you do?” Chelsea asked as she tried to time her jump for the rope-wall up ahead.

Chelsea came to the wall and jumped for the second knot on the rope. Grabbing it, she hoisted herself up and quickly scaled over. Maya scaled the wall right next to her.

“It will be awesome,” Maya said as they dropped to the other side, “but we can’t let her get too far ahead. We’ve got to force her to the first rope.”

“Let’s quit talking then and catch her!” Kelly was ten feet ahead, moving quickly towards the tire run. Kelly’s knees pumped as she reached the gauntlet of tires and started through. Her foot caught on the third tire and she stumbled, falling to one knee.

“Now’s our chance!” Chelsea yelled as they sprinted harder. Kelly righted herself and looked briefly back before starting through the tires again. Maya hit the tires a half-step ahead of Chelsea and tore through them. By the end of the tires she was neck-and-neck with Kelly.

As they approached the mud pit, Maya crowded Kelly on the right side, forcing her to run to the left. Chelsea ran a few steps behind. Travis smiled as soon as he spotted Maya appear. He would do anything to get on her good side. He held the fishing line in his hand.

Mace and Roger stood ten feet back, watching. The crowd of boys yelled as they pulled up and the girls raced towards them.

“Go Maya!”

“Beat Jersey!”

“You can’t let her win!”

“Run!”

Mace bumped Roger and nodded towards Travis. They’d watched a few minutes earlier as Travis climbed carefully into the pit to search for the fishing line. He was muddy all over from the effort. With his bad eyesight it took him a while to locate it.

Kelly pulled a foot ahead of Maya and leapt for the rope as Travis yanked on the string. The first rope didn’t budge. Kelly grabbed it and swung over the mud pit, landing safely on the other side. Maya was mid-air when the second rope suddenly pulled to the left. She squealed as she reached for it and missed. Chelsea, who was right behind her, tried to time her jump behind Maya, but with the rope screwed up she needed to stop. She skidded on the dirt to the edge of the pit where she teetered. Her arms swung wildly as she tried to keep her balance. 
It was too late. She slowly toppled over.

Her hands hit dirt as her face landed solidly in mud. Mace walked up behind Travis, who stood horrified as Maya surfaced. She was not happy. On the edge of the pit, Mace extended his foot and gave Travis a push to the butt. Travis fell straight over into the mud with a splunk.

The boys watching rolled on the ground, laughing in hysterics. Chelsea lifted her head and spit out a wad of wet dirt. Travis looked nervously at Maya. She stood a few inches away. They were both completely brown. He smiled and his teeth stuck out like white Chiclets. “Sorry,” he said weakly.

“Go play with your trucks,” Maya said as she wiped mud off her face. Travis spent his spare time building and tweaking a few remote controlled vehicles. The camp used them for fun and security.

“When will you kids learn?” Mace asked loudly from the edge of the pit.

Kelly returned to the pit once she realized she was all alone on the run. “What happened?” she asked over the roar of laughter.

“Justice,” Mace said. Recognizing that as an outsider Mace’s actions might come back to haunt her, she headed to the edge of the pit and put her hand out for Maya. “C’mon, let’s finish the race together.”

Surprised by the offer, Maya trudged towards her as Chelsea tried to spit the remaining mud out of her mouth. Standing up, Chelsea wobbled and stumbled around. “I can’t see!” She almost fell down. “I can’t see! Somebody help me!” Her face was caked with mud. She held her hands out in front of her as she tried to feel her way around.

Mace walked around the pit. “Just stand still, Chelse. I’ll get it,” he said as he approached. He put his fingers out to wipe the mud out of her eyes. As soon as he was within grasp, though, she grabbed the front of his shirt and smeared her face hard against it.

“Aww shit,” he said quietly as he stared at the brown crud that now covered his shirt. Still coated in mud, Chelsea could at least now open her eyes. “Justice,” she said, smiling up at him.

“Right,” Mace replied, smiling back sarcastically. Reaching out, he grabbed her and tossed her directly into the mud pit. She flew backwards and landed with a splunk.

A gunshot far off in the distance instantly diverted everyone’s attention. Mace’s head whipped in its direction. “Patrol!” he announced loudly as he immediately moved for his weapons and vest. He stopped and pointed at Roger. “You stay here,” then, “I want four with me, the rest secure the perimeter.”

Lisa flew through the gate as Mace rolled the Harley fast behind her. On dirt-bikes, four boys raced through the dirt cloud. Their engines squealed.

At the mud pit, Chelsea slowly dragged herself out, helped by Maya and Kelly. Travis scampered out at the first sound of the gunshot.