Rise of the Necrotics (Books 1-4) Read online

  Automatic weapons fire erupted from behind us. The boys had made it through my little barricade and by the sound of it were well up the stairs and closing the distance to us rapidly. Now we really had to hurry. If they were on the roof with us when the chopper came, Chen would probably tell it not to land, Holly or not. Or worse, he could just shoot everyone but Holly and fly away.

  “Stay behind me and make sure nothing sneaks up on us.” I moved in front of Holly and started jogging towards the door.

  “We should wait for the others,” Holly said looking back toward the sound of gunfire. “They could need our help,” she implored.

  “I’m sure they could, but there are only two seats on that chopper, and they are reserved for us.” I grabbed her hand, pulling her toward the doors.

  She shook her hand free but kept following me. “You’re telling me Chen is leaving my team here to die?”

  I kept my gaze fixed on the steps going up as we entered the stairwell. “I’m telling you if Chen didn’t want you out, we’d all already be dead. I’m just trying to make the best of this shit sandwich. All I wanted to do was watch a basketball game. I don’t even know if the Suns won.”

  “127-103, the rookie put up forty points and had fifteen rebounds.”

  “Jesus, do you know everything?”

  Holly pretended to think about it as she ran up the stairs. “Not everything, but I do listen to SportsCenter while I work.”

  A crash sounded from above us and my gut clinched just the tiniest bit. The noise came again, and I couldn’t help imagining one of those things slamming a metal bar into something heavy, something like a door. A small part of me was worried about the thing escaping but a much larger part was worried that the necrotic was screwing with our only exit. I put my fears about protecting Holly to the side and started thundering up the stairs. I stumbled on the last step before the corner and it saved my life. The metal pipe slammed into the concrete wall hard enough to rip chunk out of it. A strike like that would have burst my head like a watermelon. My reckless charge almost cost me my life.

  Getting in a fist fight with a necrotic seemed like a really bad idea. Thankfully I had a gun, but that didn’t stop the bastard from taking another swing at me. The pipe came back toward me, but by then I’d ducked and jumped back down three or four stairs. The man stepped into view at the top of the stairs, black froth bubbling at his lips as he stared down at me. He threw the pipe and jumped. A hand grabbed the back of my jacket pulling me towards the corner of the stairwell. The pipe missed, embedding itself into the concrete wall, just as the man landed in front of me.

  He screamed at the top of his lungs, black spittle showering the stairs. His muscles tensed, and just before he charged I shot him in the head. “Still not as smart as a bullet.”

  “That doesn’t even make sense.”

  “Holly, half the shit I say doesn’t make sense. You’re just going to have to deal with it.” I held out my hand to help her over the body. She didn’t need my help, but it felt like the right thing to do.

  “Let’s get the hell out of here,” she said with all seriousness as I wedged open the battered door to the roof.

  I didn’t even want to think about what would have happened if the necrotic had gotten out. One of those things lose on the streets would cause a whole lot of damage in very short amount of time.

  The chopper was already hovering above us, two men repelled down from it and rushed forward.

  “Doctor Bowmont?” one of the agents asked.

  “Yes.”

  “Come with us ma’am,” the second agent said.

  I started forward and the second man brought up his rifle. “Director Chen was very specific, we’re only to retrieve Doctor Bowmont.”

  Karma was a real bitch.

  “I’m not leaving without Max,” Holly shouted defiantly.

  “The director thought you might say that,” the first man quipped as he brought up a pistol and shot it.

  Holly grabbed her stomach and pulled the tranquilizer dart out. She threw the dart on the ground and stared daggers at the man. “You bastard.” She was about to shout again when she collapsed to the ground.

  The second man looked at me over the sight of his M-16. “Are we going to have a problem?”

  I holstered my gun. “Not with me. Not if you leave one of those ropes behind.”

  “We’ll see what we can do.” The agent winked at me.

  That was a big fat no if I ever heard one, but instead of doing something stupid, I took a few steps away from Holly, giving the men room to work. The first man leaned over Holly, and started strapping her into a harness. Once it was in place he hooked her onto one of the lines and waved his hand above his head. Holly’s limp body rose into the air. The other two men were lifted up gently behind her.

  “What about that rope?” I shouted up at them. All I received in response was silence. Going back down the stairs didn’t seem like a good option, not with the people I left stranded on their way up. Out of desperation I activated my comm. “Nandy, is there any way off this goddamned roof?”

  “Max, is that you?” she sounded relieved. “Director Chen told me you were dead.”

  “Not yet, but I need a way off the roof, or I’m going to be really fast.”

  I heard Nandy typing before she responded. “The only way out is back down. They’re doing a retrofit of the emergency stairs on the back of the building. Something to do with people sneaking onto the roof for cigarettes, at least that’s what it says on their permit.”

  “Fuck.” I looked back toward the door. Jumping wasn’t an option, so I had to go back inside. I really didn’t want to fight my way down through a horde of necrotics, but I liked the idea of waiting for them here even less. A few steps into my trip back inside and something heavy hit the roof behind me sending me diving for cover. I looked up in time to see one of the agents give me a quick salute before the helicopter turned away.

  “At least they aren’t all assholes,” I mumbled as I stood up and started moving towards the rope.

  A man burst through the door automatic weapon in hand. His gun pointed directly at my chest. Putting the Desert Eagle back in my holster earlier didn’t seem like such a good idea right now.

  “Where’s our ride? Chief said there’d be a bird waiting.”

  I pointed up in the sky. “Apparently, they aren’t taking any extra passengers.”

  The man’s rifle rose as he sighted the chopper and started firing. I dropped to a knee while pulling my gun free. It thundered three times, and the man was blown off his feet. Turning to see if the chopper made it, I let out a low whistle. Black smoke was coming from the tail, and the helicopter was spinning in circles as it flew toward South Mountain. The pilot kept them in a controlled descent for a few seconds longer, and then the chopper fell from the sky.

  There was no way to tell how high it was when it fell. Higher than the houses below it, but nowhere near the ten stories plus it had started at. The man on the ground started coughing, reminding me that he might not be dead. Turning away from the scene of the crash, I picked up the rope and started walking toward the emergency stairs. I paused just for a moment to shoot the Hilltop agent in the head. I discharged my magazine and replaced it with another. I was down to about a mag and half now, I’d have to be careful.

  I thought about taking the M-16, but running down the street with an automatic rifle slung across my back already seemed like a bad idea. Searching the man for a sidearm didn’t yield any results, and then I saw his nametag. Douglas, the same guy who gave up his sidearm for Holly. I looked back, wondering if Holly had dropped her weapon, but one of the agents must have taken it if she did. There was nothing to do now but get out of here.

  It was easy enough to tie a knot around the metal scaffolding that should have had stairs attached to it. Once it was secure I threw the end of the rope over the tiny retaining wall at the edge of the roof and slipped on my gloves. I had to check on Holly and then get my pa
rents out of here. What I really wanted to do was say screw it and just get my parents and bail before they had a chance to lock down the city, but I might need leverage to get us out, and Holly provided that.

  I hit the ground and started jogging in the direction of the downed helicopter. If Holly was alive, then I was taking her with me. As I ran toward the crash site, I stripped off my comm unit and tossed my cell into the street. There was a real chance I couldn’t trust anyone at the Hilltop anymore, and if that was the case I couldn’t make it easy for them to track me.

  Running had never been my favorite thing, and that hadn’t changed even after I got in shape. As I continued down the road, I grunted to myself between breaths, “Just a few more miles, you got this.” I kept my eyes on the smoke billowing on the horizon and promised myself that if I lived through this, I’d never accept a free courtside seat again.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Holly Bowmont

  My heart was thrumming, and my eyes snapped open almost as if I couldn’t have kept them shut if I wanted to. I wasn’t on the ground where I expected to be but strapped into a seat on the chopper. A man in black combat gear was watching me warily, trying to gauge how I would handle the situation. I wasn’t about to give this man the satisfaction of seeing my fury, I’d try and save it for Director Chen.

  “I’m sorry about using the tranquilizer dart, ma’am. There wasn’t time to argue about if you were coming or not. The air strike was already underway, and we had a ticking clocking hanging over us like the reaper himself.”

  That didn’t make me feel better. If anything it made me feel worse. Max was still on that roof, and my team was trapped inside of the building. Granted, most of them were probably those things by now. I felt guilty about getting out of that disaster, but nothing Chen offered was free. Still, my entire team wasn’t expendable. If we were going to keep working together, he was going to have to do better.

  My eyes locked on the man in front of me, and I didn’t know if I’d actually be able to keep a level head. “Fuck you,” I growled. Keeping cool obviously wasn’t going to happen despite my wishes. My palms were sweaty, and my heart was racing, I was seconds away from completely losing it. Whatever they had given me to counteract the sedative had me ready to go to war.

  “A lot of innocent people are going to die down there.” He might not have a heart, but it was worth trying.

  The soldier sat back, smug grin on his face. “Just following orders.”

  Ah, the scapegoat of all answers. Sorry, I blew that guy’s head off, but the boss told me to. Some of these agents were no better than glory hunting mercenaries. It didn’t make them any less effective, but it did make them dangerous. Who knew where I was being whisked off too now? Chen certainly hadn’t filled me in on the details before he ordered someone to blow up my team.

  “How long has it been since they attacked the hospital?”

  The soldier pointed out the window, and the hospital was still there. “It’s going to be a few more minutes.”

  Not only did I feel stupid for not looking out the window and getting my own damn answer, but I felt dumb for making assumptions. The biggest of which seemed to be how long I had been unconscious. Maybe there was still time to call it off. The Hilltop agent didn’t seem to think so, but if I could just talk to the director, there was a chance I could change his mind, and we could stop this madness.

  “Don’t look so worried, Doctor Bowmont, we’ve got the best seats in the house.” He reached over and hit another man on the chest. They both shouted some kind of cheer, grinning ear to ear and laughing all the while like they were going to watch the fireworks on the fourth.

  The chopper banked, and I could see Max still standing there. He wasn’t looking up at us, though. He must have been talking to someone on his comm trying to find a way off the roof. The door behind him flew open, and one of the Chief’s men stepped out. He had his gun pointed at Max, and I could imagine he wasn’t all too happy after running into Max’s little door stunt in the stairwell. Max pointed at the helicopter, and then the agent’s aim changed.

  Red lights started flashing and an alarm sounded in my headphones as the chopper started banking erratically. My stomach dropped but felt like it was glued to the roof of my mouth all the same. It reminded me of that ride at the fair that spins around really fast, making you basically weightless. The only problem was when this ride was over, no one would be walking away.

  We started spinning in circles. The pilot let out a scream of frustration as he tried to keep us in the air. I probably would have passed out, but the cocktail the soldier injected me with was fighting against it. All at once the spinning stopped, and that was when the falling started. Given the choice, I rather preferred the spinning. I wish I could tell you that everything slowed down at that point and I saw my life flash before my eyes, but the truth was, from the time the pilot started screaming until the time we hit the ground wasn’t long enough for me to do anything but start to panic.

  I’m not sure how much time had passed, but the next thing I knew someone was undoing the buckles holding me in place. There was smoke in the air, and I could see a fire off to my right. Were we inside of someone’s house? Hopefully, no one was home. I felt someone slide their arm under my shoulders, and then I was being half carried half dragged out of the helicopter.

  Everything sounded like it was happening far away. It almost felt like this was happening to someone else. I remembered how excited I’d been when I signed up to work for the Hilltop. The best of everything is what they promised me, and they hadn’t been lying. Not that it seemed worth it now. I had my doubts about what the Hilltop was really up too. Whatever it was, I knew they weren’t omniscient benefactors looking to save the world from terrorism, that much was clear.

  The smoke started to dissipate as the agent carried me outside. The house itself was in total ruins. We hadn’t so much crashed and bounced into it as much as we had just landed right in the middle of someone’s living room. Not that it looked like a living room now. The flames were the only lights on the street, making me wonder if we clipped a power line on the way down.

  Two ambulances screeched to a stop in front of the house. Three men and a woman got out and started running towards us. The Hilltop agent moved in front of me protectively.

  The agent shouted toward the rushing EMTs. “I don’t know if anyone was in the house, make them the priority.” He reached out, grabbing one of the men as the EMTs rushed by. When the man was facing him he pointed at me. “Make sure she’s ok, and don’t let her out of your sight.”

  The EMT smiled like it was some kind of joke. “Whatever you say.” He extended a hand in my direction. “Let’s get you back to the bus and fixed up.”

  “I mean it, she doesn’t go anywhere until I’m back.” The man growled at the EMT as he patted his sidearm. He gave him one last glare and ran back into the ruins of the house.

  “What’s with that guy?” the EMT asked.

  I just shook my head and started walking toward the ambulances. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

  “Probably not. Did you guys really just crash a helicopter into that house?” The EMT stated looking around. His eyes were wide obviously not believing the scope of the destruction around him.

  Shrugging, I climbed up into the back of the ambulance and took a seat. The agent that left me didn’t have to worry. There wasn’t anywhere I could go the Hilltop couldn’t find me. For now I had to be content just being alive. I could worry about how to get free from them once I knew what was really going on. So far all Chen had done was awaken my thirst for knowledge, and when I got to the bottom of his plan, I was going to do everything in my power to ruin it.

  “Looks like this one’s going to need some stitches.” The EMT smiled as he put a pad of gauze up to the side my head. “Just hold this in place while I get out my kit.”

  “Try and make it quick, I don’t think we’re going to be sticking around long.” The agents wou
ldn’t want to stick around and answer questions for local law enforcement if they could avoid it, and I had a feeling that once the hospital blew up the cops were going to have a lot of questions.

  The EMT looked past me and back toward the house. He watched as six Hilltop agents emerged from the smoky ruins of the house fully armed and ready to tangle with anyone that got in their way. I almost laughed at the way his mouth was hanging open, but then I remembered these men weren’t my protectors, they were my kidnappers.

  “Like I said, I think you need to hurry.”

  He ripped open his suture kit and got to work.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Max Meridious

  Running a.k.a. death for the soul. Who seriously wakes up every morning and says I can’t wait to go for a jog? Masochists, that’s who. Yes, my personal bias was showing, and no, I wasn’t going to change my mind. If I ever found myself unlucky enough to end up in hell, I knew exactly where I’d be stuck. Hamster wheel, every goddamned time. It was the worst nightmare I had, being forced to run forever.

  Thankfully this morning was different, I had a goal and a stopping point. I didn’t even have to go uphill. One good thing about metro Phoenix is that it is blissfully flat. If we didn’t have mountains jutting up all over the place, we’d be just as boring as the Midwest. At least they had seasons, though. In Arizona we had blistering hot, thank God it’s not blistering hot, and hey this is pretty nice, as our only seasons. One could even more accurately say once summer was over we were all just hoping the next one wouldn’t come as quick as the last. On the plus side, our hey it’s pretty nice temperature lasted about six months of the year.

  I cut sideways into a neighborhood. There was no way to tell if that was a good choice or not until I went a little further. Streets in Phoenix got a little funny sometimes. Every now and then you go into a neighborhood that might as well have been a giant cul-de-sac, two or three hundred houses and only one way out. Can you say deathtrap? If this ended up being one of those neighborhoods I’d be scrambling over some walls instead of turning around.