III - Ultimatum
-One Week Later-
"Push on," said Sergeant Hoover, chewing gum once again. "Don't forget where the Mills is at."
"I'm heading to Monticello," said Captain Moss, through a radio. "Pretty sure we got a squad at Green Road and Ludlow."
"Plan's working out then," said Hoover. "Charlie Squad might meet me at the rally point."
"Copy that," said Moss. "Foxtrot, you copy?"
"Copy that, sir," said Lead. "Destination ain't too far. Wait, hold up. What the hell?"
A stop sign in the middle of the road prevented Lead and his squad from moving forward. Below the stop sign was a post-it note, saying: IF YOU CAN READ THIS, ITS TOO LATE FOR YOU.
Lead walked up to the sign and gasped. He quickly threw himself to the ground and dodged the incoming bullets. Two soldiers were shot in the head and dropped to the road. Lead dragged himself to a nearby car and hid behind it, looking around the once quiet town.
One side of the road, where three low buildings stood in a rising road, George led a small group of militia fighters. They were all inside the buildings, using the windows to attack the rogues.
"Foxtrot, what's going on?" asked Hoover. "Foxtrot, you–?"
Hoover's truck was gunned down by another group, led by Lori. They remained hidden in the crops, their backs facing a farmhouse. As the vehicles came to a stop, the group moved within the crops, heading to an empty field and eventually, the farmhouse.
"Damn, this ain't good," said Moss. "Alpha Squad, you guys better watch out. I have a bad feeling about this."
"Copy that," said Brick. "What's that ahead?"
A mine exploded in the middle of the road by a diner. The main truck in which the rogues in Alpha Squad traveled in blew into a giant fireball. The two surrounding Humvees came to a brake and Brick was forced to lead his rogues.
Sergei and his group then rose from the inside of the diner and shot at the visible rogues.
"Alright, that's it," said Moss. "Everyone, out! We're going into the woods."
Captain Moss led his rogues into the woods, abandoning their vehicles and their supplies. They looked around, paranoia causing them to turn at every second. The woods seemed too empty, but Moss took this as a sign that he made the correct choice.
Next thing they knew, a C4 explosive blew up a rogue and flung body parts and dirt into the air. Becky shot at the rogues from the top of a tree before dropping down, landing on all four. Three more fighters shot the rogues from the trees, all leaping down and running away from the area. In the confusion, the rogues shot at multiple branches above them, making it safe for the fighters to reveal themselves from behind the trees. They shot their rifles at the rogues, killing three of them as the others leaped for cover.
George and his group remained in the building, shooting at the wheels of the Humvees. One of the rogues climbed onto the turret and aimed it at the building. He fired onto the windows and caused the group to crouch from where they were standing. The dust flew off the bricks in the building as the bullets tore at the walls.
"Keep at it!" yelled Lead as he dashed out from his cover. "This way, boys!"
Lead and his squad made it behind the buildings in the other side of George's group, and they used it to escape the attacking group. The machine gunner kept firing the turret at the window area before a fighter opened one of the entrance doors to his building. The gunner pointed downwards and unleashed the turret at him, killing him. Then, George aimed at the gunner carefully from a small crack in the building. He pulled the trigger from his pistol and hit him in the neck. The rogue leaned back, hit with another stray bullet, ending his life.
The rogues by the field ran to the farmhouse. Lori and the others hid behind the house, giving a couple shots at the rogues. Lynn popped out from behind the chimney and shot her rifle at one of the rogues in the plain open. She shot her rifle again and hit another rogue. Then, she aimed at the rogues by the gunned truck.
A bullet struck the corporal by Hoover's side, dropping the rogue to the ground.
"Move!" yelled Hoover. "In the Humvee! Go!"
Benny fired his carbine at the rogues in the empty field, though he was unable to hit any of them. Lori and Lynn then stepped ahead and shot their guns at the last three rogues in the field.
"They're leaving!" yelled Benny.
Lori ran to the road, finishing off each rogue in the ground as she passed by them. She snapped the cylinder from her revolver and placed new bullets in as she watched the Humvees drive away.
Luna sniped the escaping rogues from the top of the diner. Sam stood next to her, shooting the rogues that were running to the diner.
Brick grabbed the shrapnel in his arm and pulled it off, yelling as blood gushed out of his sleeves. He dropped to the ground and dragged himself to the burning truck. Hearing the gunshots around him, he decided to place his arm on the fire, using the firefight to mask his screams. Then, he– groaning in a soft voice– crawled under the truck and sighed.
After a few minutes the firefight was silent, and the rogues lied dead on the road. Sergei reloaded his weapon and looked around the messy diner.
Meanwhile, in the woods, many of the rogues lied on the ground with bullets in them. One of the rogues, a young private, tried to run away from the group. He dropped his weapons and his helmet, only focusing on getting away. He panted and panted, knowing whoever was chasing him was catching up.
Suddenly, his pants were sliced and he dropped to the ground.
"No, no, wait!" begged the young private.
Hana thrusted her sword into his chest, then his head. He took the dog tags off his neck and looked around.
Becky chased Moss until she encountered a swarm ahead. Moss ran into the swarm, fighting them off with a pistol.
Becky aimed her sidearm carefully at Moss and shot him in the leg. He groaned as he fell down. Before the rogues piled up on him, he was able to lift himself up and limp away.
Some of the roamers followed Becky's gunshot and found her in the woods. She walked away, knowing Moss wouldn't get far with a wounded leg.
She regrouped with her fellow fighters and they all headed into the road. Sergei and the others grabbed the unused Humvees, proud that they killed all their rogues. George and his group took the truck, disappointed that they let Lead get away. Lori and the others sighed, knowing Hoover and his squad were still out there. They had to walk back to Houlton to tell the town about their results.
Lori and her group returned to Houlton, finding the others already inside the fences. She slowly marched with her group inside the town before Sergei stopped her.
"How did it go for you?" he asked. "Becky say she did very well. George- not so much. But I- my group eliminated everyone."
"Some of them escaped," said Lori. "It doesn't matter. What matters is that there are less of them and more of us."
Haley walked to up to Lori and tapped her on the shoulders. She looked visibly distressed as she scratched her hair.
"What's up?" said Lori.
"Some of the General's men came here. They, uhh, took Dr. White. I don't know why but they said they needed him!"
"Do you know where they took him?" asked Lori.
Haley shook her head. Lori walked away to look for Lisa.
Near a lake about a dozen miles south of Houlton stood Black's backup military base. Being a large field of riverbank granite and mesh fences with vehicles scattered around, it sat hidden from any passerby in the road. In the middle of the field was a Chinook, with the rogues passing by it.
Donovan whistled as he patched up the now-promoted Sergeant Brick. He replaced Brick's bandages with fresh ones, unmoved by the wounds he saw. He picked Brick up from the bed and patted his back. Brick then stood up and saluted.
"Donovan, I need to talk to you," said Black.
The medic nodded softly and followed him to his office.
"What is this about, sir?"
Black looked at him, pacing back and forth. He cleared his throat.
"You're gonna have a lotta work to do in a week. Some of our boys don't know it yet, but we're gonna stop laying siege and enact the final step to our plan. And I can trust you with this information, so I don't want you scaring the privates."
Donovan nodded with his hands behind his back.
"We're gonna conquer the place. Now, it's not going to be easy. I expect the subjects to rebel against us- hell they already did. And I know they're going to hurt some of our men. So I need you to come with us and try to save as many lives as you can."
"Where am i going to be positioned?" asked Donovan.
"Near the front gates with Captain Moss if he returns. If he doesn't- well Lead will be there too. Most of our men will be concentrated near the entrance, but we're going to have them come in through the north gates as well. I'll tell you more about it in the following days. Got it?"
"When is it going to occur?"
"A week from now. Prepare some supplies. I know you'll do good work. You're dismissed."
Black walked out of his office and headed towards the tent behind his office. He opened up the tent and walked inside, finding Dr. White quivering next to Lt. Lead.
"Hello, doctor," greeted Black with a glum smile.
"W-What am I doing here? Did I do something wrong?"
"Depends. Are you still working on the cure?"
"Believe me, sir, I'm trying my hardest."
"No, don't rush! I don't mind that. I realize how hard biochemistry and medicine and all this science jargon is. But what shouldn't be hard is remaining loyal."
Black removed Desert Eagle from his holster. Donovan gulped as he peeked inside the tent through a small opening.
"Please don't kill me…" said Dr. White. "You gotta understand, it's not me out there, it's Lori."
"I know, I know," said Black, waving his gun. "This is not for you. This is for the infant."
"Zoey?"
"Yeah. I know how valuable she is to our studies, but, Steven, you are invaluable! That's why the next thing something like this happens again, I'll shoot the baby's heart out… and you'll watch. Understand?"
Dr. White nodded. Black chuckled and nodded with him before grabbing his shoulders. As he headed out the tent, Donovan quickly rushed back to his office, opening a bag. After a few seconds, Black and Dr. White walked into the tent.
"Work with him until I bring him back home tomorrow," said Black, patting Dr. White's shoulders.
The doctor and the medic were now alone in the office with each other. When the coast was clear, Donovan cleared his throat and spoke up.
"I got terrible news for you," he said. "Black is going to conquer Houlton in a week. He'll bring our entire army… and there's nothing you could do to stop it."
"What do you mean by conquer?" asked Dr. White.
"Can't talk here… let's get you into a car first."
The sun fell and darkness took over the base. Donovan drove a Humvee with Dr. White hidden in the back seats. They left the base, after the guards approved Donovan's request to leave. He might've not been a "real" soldier, but the rogues respected him.
In the road, Donovan talked to Dr. White, revealing a lot of details in the conquer plan.
"We'll inhabit the place again… and if your friends aren't out when we arrive, then expect a hell of a battle."
"You know Lori isn't going down without a fight. She's a fearless individual."
"And that'll cost her. What I need you to do is pack up everything you need to create the cure and leave Houlton. The siege will be put back to place tomorrow noon. After that, you won't be able to leave or return."
"And go where?"
"The only place where the good-hearted soldiers defend. I'm talking about D.C. If there is any place where the government is still intact, it should be the capital."
"I don't know… it'll be difficult to convince Lori to get her group to come. They love it so much in Houlton and I can't be out here in the road by myself."
"You guys better come up with something good then. You'll have to fight Black's entire army and then maybe even risk going against Ivanovich's forces. Hell, Krissen herself might show up."
Dr. White stared at Donovan, knowing what and who he was talking about. Indeed, the forces of the K.H.A.N. weren't forces to reckon with.
"Consider your choices," said Donovan. "There ain't any wrong ones. Just some more difficult than the others."
Dr. White nodded his head somberly.
"Thank you. I can drive myself the rest of the way."
"Alright. We were just at Spednic Lake. Take a left at Fosterville, the next town, and then a right at Orient, the town right after. Go straight, then you'll be home."
Donovan left the Humvee and walked back to the military base. Dr. White drove the vehicle and pondered on the options he was given. Donovan awaited the week that would yield results. He knew he wasn't going to like it.
Suddenly, he saw someone ahead.
"Captain?" he gasped.
"Donovan Bree," groaned Moss. "Bring me to Black. These fuckers aren't getting away with this."
The brisk feeling of air joined the spring aroma that filled the night of uncertainty. Lori knew that this would be the calm before the storm.
Pike held Dana's trench knife and placed his hands against the wooden platform. He stabbed between his fingers, slipping up and cutting the side of his thumbs. He shook his hands before spotting headlights from the distance. He turned on his walkie-talkie.
"Lori? We got a situation."
Dr. White stopped the vehicle before the front gates and stepped outside. Lori sighed in relief.
"We thought something terrible happened to you," she said.
"No, something terrible is gonna happen to US," he replied.
The candles were lit in Lori's dinner table. Almost everyone who traveled with David to the town they resided in now stood in the kitchen and living room. Lori and Dr. White sat across each other. Vonda lied on George's arm while wearing a neck brace. Benny and Luan stood next to Becky and Leni.
"They'll bring their whole army with them. They're ready for a fight– they're expecting one. But at the same time, he wants to keep as many townspeople as he can alive. Know what that means?"
George spoke up.
"He's gonna go after your family. A classic this-or-that situation."
"And if he wants to stay true to his corrupted philosophy…" murmured Lori, "...he's gonna go after the ones he think won't live in this world."
Lana rubbed her arm and looked at Lily. She saw her eyes move towards Leni.
"Not only that," warned Dr. White, "Black is going to kill Carol's child if you guys fight against him."
Lori clenched her fists. Becky and Luan looked at each other.
"We should tell her…" whispered Becky. "Carol's baby did nothing wrong! David sort of got himself in this situation!"
"No, we're not doing that!" Luan whispered back.
"We could seek his help, though!"
"Donovan Bree, the medic, had a great idea," said Dr. White. "He suggested that we leave to D.C. The Army might be there– the non-rogue type. And if there is one place I could make a cure that would be spread worldwide… it would be D.C. But we only have a small window of time before the General enacts the siege again."
"Do you have any idea how much we went through to get here?" stated Lori. "We can't take the entire town with us to D.C. We can't abandon them here. We have to stay and take on the army."
"And what if you do? The K.H.A.N. will come after you!"
"The medic said they wouldn't."
"Well, the medic is wrong!" yelled Dr. White.
An awkward silence remained in the room. Becky tapped on Luan's shoulder. They both nodded.
"Lori…" called Luan.
"We know where David is," revealed Becky. "He's in Augusta, where we holed up– the subway station."
"He told us not to tell you where he was," said Luan. "But… we need him."
"We're not asking you to sell him out," said Becky. "We're just giving you more choices."
"You are giving me more choices," said Lori, "but giving him up to Black isn't one of them. Not even a possibility."
"So what do we do?" asked Bobby. "We could use David in our fight against Black's army."
"We could do it without him," said Lori. "And then if we lose… Black won't have his sadistic pleasure of executing him. We're not going to Augusta. We can do this."
"How?" asked Dr. White.
"I think we have an idea," said Lincoln, standing next to Sergei. "We have a week to prepare? Good. We're gonna do some pretty risky stuff, so we might give you warnings about the things we might do."
"We going to use all the firepower we have against Black," said Sergei. "And then some more."
Lori faced Dr. White.
"I trust my brother and Sergei. It's getting late. Please get some rest."
The brisk wind blew the leaves against the window of the room where one of the survivors and her child slept. The baby slept peacefully as the mother walked out of the room carefully. Now, out of the room, she was able to answer the door.
"Lori?" yawned Carol. "Hey, what's up?"
Lori took out a black .22 Magnum revolver that belonged to Teri. She held it out for Carol, along with a small box of cartridges.
"What's this?" gasped Carol.
"Just in case trouble finds some way to get into your life… or Zoey's life. Use it to make sure she lives longer."
Carol grabbed the revolver before receiving a hug from Lori. In the middle of the warm embrace, she noticed that Lori was trembling the entire time. She sighed and sought her best to relax her worries of the looming threat that the town faced in a week.