Page 39 of Marked for Execution
“Eliseo, in this world, who knows what else is out there? I don’t make the rules, I only learn to play with what I got, discovering weaknesses where there are some, so that we as a human race still have a good leg in this game of war.”
Crazy Otis went back to opening and closing bottles on his shelves, sniffing them one at a time and mumbling to himself, essentially dismissing our presence.
My mind was swirling with all this new intel as I dragged Fitri through the dark tunnel and back up the stairs to exit the bunker. Two houses down I saw Reed and Gunner standing on the street, talking to one another. I whistled to get their attention. Their heads snapped toward me and then to the items I had in my hand.
“Crazy Otis has got a mission for us,” I told them.
“Fuck, what the hell does he want us to do to requirethat?” Gunner shot back.
“You wouldn’t believe it even if I told you. Find Samuel. I don’t trust anyone else on this but us.”
Reed nodded, looking over Fitri before turning to do as I asked. That was another problem I would have to take care of.
Fitri handed over a gas mask to Gunner who turned it over to check out. “This shit looks like it’s older than me. What the hell is this supposed to do?”
“Let’s head back to my place and I’ll tell you what the good doc told me, yeah? I don’t need anyone eavesdropping on us.”
Gunner’s eyes sharpened, understanding what I was not saying. It was not good news and rumors flying in the community might cause panic. There had been enough excitement going around with them finding Fitri was a girl.
By the time we made it to my front porch at the farthest southwest corner of Ashborne, the men were already there. This mission would only be between the five of us, and we would probably have to sneak out during the cover of darkness to reduce the likelihood of witnesses.
Unlocking the front door, I pushed Fitri in first, then followed after her. She headed to the living room and sat on the couch, deciding on a meeting spot for us.
“Alright, what’s going on Eliseo? What the hell is up with these masks?” Samuel asked.
“Crazy Otis told me some shit I didn’t want to believe myself. I don’t know what the hell he does down there and how he even gets his intel, but the possibility of things going to shit bynotbelieving him makes me take his word as the gospel until proven otherwise.”
“Spit it out, already,” Reed growled, sitting beside Fitri.
My temper flared not only from his attitude, but from the fact that he chose that spot, knowing what was going on between us. He stared right back, knowing full well what he riled up, challenging me.
First things first.I dropped the initial bomb. “Clan Corrus from the far north is rumored to be able to clone.”
The guys’ eyes bulged out before they all started firing their questions at the same time.
“That’s not all. There are other rumors that say some of these bloodsuckers can fly withwings.”
“Fucking hell. Does the world just want to eliminate the human race? How can they have all these advantages over us? What kind of evolutionary bullshit is this?” Samuel leaned back in the chair and ran his hand over his face, staring at the ceiling.
“I feel you, brother. The last thing Crazy Otis told me is his theory that all this shit possibly started from an airborne virus instead of bloodsucking, like we thought.”
“Are you shitting me? How do we fight something we can’t even see and probably already breathed in?” Gunner said with exasperation.
Tossing masks to the rest of them, I tilted my head to the item in hand. “Seems this is the only protection we’re afforded, men. Crazy Otis wants us to get a sample of the decayed wings if they exist at all. Says he’s close to a cure.”
“I don’t believe that old fool. He’s out of his damn mind on good days. Who’s to say this isn’t going to get us all killed? Fucking crazy doctor and his crazy ass requests. Why us?” As much as I hated to agree with Reed right now, I felt the same. But what if the doctorwasright?
I leaned back with my arm behind the couch and stared at them all. “So, what are you guys proposing? You want to skip this shit, or complete the mission handed to us?”
“Why us? Why not any other group that’s been out scavenging? We’re not the only guys capable of this job.”
I looked to Samuel who had his elbows on his knees, looking at me with eyes full of questions. Many days, I wondered the same thing. At the same time, I saw howincapablethese groups could be. It was why we started breaking into teams with each one of us leading. The death count decreased dramatically since we took over strategy and planning.
“I don’t know, man. I’m just the messenger. He called me down to his bunker and told me all this shit. Handed me the masks, and that was that.”
Silifidgeted next to me. Yeah, I didn’t forget the strange sounds coming from the tunnel either.
“Fucking fishy as heck. His bunker has more secrets than everyone here combined. You know that shit goes under this entire place?”