Dext of the Dead (Book 4): We Are The Extinction Read online

  I mean, who knew there were two Las Vegases? Or is it Las Vegas’? Las Vegi? Fuck it.

  Cutty smirked, hefted a machete to his shoulder, and let out a snarky, “Don’t y’all know? Always bet on black,” as he pounded his chest like a boss. He gave me a reassuring wink before laughing to himself.

  Kylee’s signature smack on the back of my head clicked my teeth, as usual, and that was the end of that. I’m still gonna see Las Vegas. That’s a promise.

  It’s been about two days since JC passed away. I guess you can call it that, “passed away.” Lilly seems better, but she’s still kinda mopin’ around. I’ve noticed she’s taken to Cutty in that time, and he’s been all right with her. They sharpened his blades this morning, and she seemed to really enjoy it.

  Our stranger told us which highway to stick to, and we even cut him loose for a little bit. Cutty made him watch as he and Lilly sharpened the machetes, so I’m not surprised that the guy seemed more afraid to be loose than tied up. I know for a fact that Cutty stared that dude right in the eyes almost the entire time as the blades scraped along the stone with that shhhhhht, shhhhhht sound. That’s gotta be pretty intimidating.

  I asked the dude his name, and he told me, “I don’t have a name.”

  When I called bullshit, he explained, “My family is long dead—my children, my wife. Without them, I’m nothing, just another asshole trying to see another day. What the fuck does it matter what my name is or was?”

  Hook jumped in and told him, “Knock it off, kid! You sound like a Goddamn drama queen and yer screechin’ is hurtin’ my damn ears. Quit yer belly-achin’ with that ‘poor pitiful me’ shit.”

  The guy looked at me like, ‘What?’

  I just shrugged like, ‘What can ya do?’

  Hook’s military background had a way of showing up in the oddest places. I could tell he was old school, though. He was right. We’d all lost family, friends, whatever. This guy was being a straight-up bitch.

  The guy told Hook, “Blow it out your ass, old-timer. You people either need to let me go or do whatever it is you’re going to do. I can tell you this much: Bianca and her crew had their shit together, at least. You people are a fuckin’ mess. The only reason I told that dog lover of yours anything about the facility is because I’m pretty sure he’s the nuttiest out of all of you. I’m tellin’ ya, that guy ain’t right in the head. None of ya are.”

  Hook grabbed the guy by the nose, pinching it tightly in his hook-thingy, and stood him up to meet him eye to eye. I’m not sure what he was about to say or do, because we were interrupted by Kylee shouting, “Company!”

  Everyone popped into action, taking no chances. Hook let go of the stranger and roughly spun him around to secure him once more before pushing him forcibly back in the trailer. Murphy slid an arrow from his quiver, and I drew down. It was readily apparent that we’d be missing JC’s bear and the long cover he provided. We’d have to make it happen another way.

  A single vehicle was approaching, but Kylee didn’t seem too stressed out about it. She peeked through her scope with her good eye and added, “There’s two people! Both men! In uniforms!”

  Kylee laid prone and kept her eye to the scope as she updated us from her perch on top of D-Prime. “They’re wearing marine gear! How you wanna play it?”

  I shouted back at her, “Just watch them for now. I’ll make something to flag them down with. Don’t let your guard down. That goes for everyone! There’s only two of them, but we don’t know what their deal is! We’re taking no more chances. If they act shady, I’ll shoot them myself.”

  Lilly smiled at me. I can’t lie; it felt pretty awesome to see her not only smile, but to smile at me of all people. I hefted her up onto the hood of D-Prime, and she scurried to the top of the trailer with Kylee.

  She knelt beside Kylee and patted her on the back, saying, “Don’t worry, Kylee. I got yer back, Jack.”

  Shit, this is gonna have to wait. I’ll explain how it went down later, but right now Murphy needs me to help him and the others move some cars out of the way before that six-pack of bernies we saw back there turns into more.

  Entry 120

  I guess I owe an apology for leaving that last one unfinished. I didn’t have much of a choice. Cutty said, “Dext! Get yo’ punk ass out hurr and help us move dis shit.” Whenever the words ‘punk ass’ leave Cutty’s mouth, it means someone is slackin’ off. I had to do what I had to do.

  Anyway, these two guys were heading our way in a Humvee, all decked out in military uniforms from what Kylee could see, and we needed a plan to handle the inevitable meeting. I asked Kylee from my place on the ground if she still had her uniform with her. She shouted down from atop D-Prime, “Yeah, why? You gonna put it on again? That didn’t exactly work out with Tyler.”

  That was a bullshit statement, and I knew she was just bustin’ balls. I told her, “Um… actually it did work out, just not the way we planned it. Put on your uniform. You’re taking this one.” She scoffed at me a bit and opened her mouth to argue, but I wasn’t really in the mood to hear it. I simply snapped, “Move your ass. You wanted me to lead? Careful what you wish for.”

  She smirked and put her hand on her hip. “Not bad for a beginner.”

  She left Lilly atop the trailer and disappeared down Murphy’s homemade hatch into D-Prime to change. Now, Lilly didn’t know that Kylee’s rifle was just being used for its optics at the moment and it remained unloaded. That would turn out to be the luckiest thing to happen to those marines all day.

  As soon as they were close enough to see with the naked eye, Lilly panicked and screamed, “Noooo! No! Make them leave, Cutty! Please! Don’t let them hurt us! Dext? Murphy? Help!”

  The Hummer came to a halt a few yards from our jeep as everyone scrambled around to see what Lilly was freaking out about. I’d only seen our group armed and ready to kill that fast one or two other times. Everyone had their heads on swivels looking for the threat that Lilly was shouting about, but it looked to us like nothing was wrong.

  The marines exited the vehicle and immediately took aim at Lilly with their sidearms, shouting, “Drop that gun, little girl! Somebody tell her to drop that weapon now!”

  One of the men began assessing us on the ground as targets while the other kept his sights on Lilly. He snapped, “Nobody fuckin’ move! Tell that kid to drop the weapon! Do it now!”

  Hook and Murphy took aim on the men while Cutty and I shouted up to Lilly to calm down and drop the rifle. Lilly was having none of that. She just cried, “I’ll kill you! Cutty, please help!”

  Kylee rushed up from inside the trailer just as Lilly began squeezing the trigger on the rifle. Nothing was happening, but Lilly, still in a panic, was frantically trying to get the gun to discharge at the two marines. Kylee snatched the weapon from Lilly and asked her frustratingly, “Lilly! Calm down! What’s the matter with you?”

  Lilly looked up at Kylee, now in uniform, and began crying even harder. She was scared out of her mind at Kylee, too. She scrambled backwards across the top of the trailer and literally fell off it into Cutty’s waiting arms, where she buried her face.

  Cutty brought her to the ground and took a knee while the marines, along with Hook and Murphy, held their defensive positions. He wiped her hair and tears from her face and asked calmly, “Baby girl, what da problem is? Talk to me?”

  Lilly pointed at the men from the safety of Cutty’s shadow and said, “Pirates.”

  It hit us like a ton of bricks. They were dressed like the ex-marines in Bianca’s group, and Kylee, although in army fatigues, looked similar. Lilly was scared for our lives, and she tried to protect us. Poor girl thought we were gonna go through all that shit again. The actions of those marines, including the one we had tied up in the trailer, had scarred her to a degree that our little Lilly would have tried to kill any potential rescuers. I felt like we failed her. We should’ve explained that those bad men were in no way a reflection of the real marines.

  Murphy tol
d the two men, “Now… I’m gonna lower my weapon, and I expect you men to do the same. Don’t make me regret that decision.”

  Hook smirked around his cigar stub and held his shotgun across his prosthetic, spouting, “Don’t worry, Murph. These two shitbirds ain’t about to do a Goddamn thing.”

  The first guy lowered his gun along with Murphy, but the other one held firm. He kept his gun trained on us and spoke up, asking Hook, “What makes you so sure, old man?”

  Hook took half a step forward, closing the distance between them slightly, and coolly lied, “Because your safety’s on, dipshit.”

  The marine’s eyes widened at the revelation, and he took his finger off the trigger for a split second. He angled the gun slightly to check for himself, and that was when Hook made his move.

  Stepping into the man much like he did with Cutty in the pot field, Hook managed to slip his pincher-thingy into the loop of the gun’s trigger housing. It looked like some shit you’d see from Steven Seagal—like Under Siege Steven Seagal, not fat, sloppy, old Steven Seagal. Hook flung the weapon to the ground, rendering it useless, and simultaneously put his shoulder into the guy, sending him back a few steps and off balance. By the time he was through, our boy Hook had his sawed-off held in his good hand and aimed directly at the other marine’s head, leaving the situation more or less diffused. “Whoo! Semper Fuckin’ Fi, bitches!” he cackled. He turned to the man he disarmed and said, “Old man? Old man? Yer ass!”

  “Enough!” Kylee dismounted D-Prime and hit the ground with a solid thump. She had her serious face on. This sexy bitch went right into military mode and played it up perfectly. “Alex! Stand down. Now! Dext, Cutty, Murphy… everybody, back up!”

  She gave us a cheeky wink as she sauntered past us, approaching the marines. Taking note of the names on their uniforms, she addressed them directly, “Corporal Mason, Corporal Santi, I am Staff Sergeant Kylee Peel. Army. You’ll have to excuse my friends here. Things haven’t exactly been outstanding lately. You think you gentlemen are ready to talk, or are we going to play patty-cake until we’re knee deep in the dead?”

  Mason, the dude that Hook pretty much just punked, picked his gun up off the ground and holstered it. “Yeah, I think we can talk. That little girl almost got herself shot. What the fuck is she doing with a piece like that anyway?”

  Kylee gave him a cold stare with her good eye and laid into him, demanding, “First of all, Corporal, do you see this?” She motioned to the patch on her arm which showed her rank.

  He gave a quick nod and said, “Yeah.”

  She asked him, “You know what it is?”

  He shrugged and answered her with, “Yeah.”

  Right then and there, Kylee stepped up in his face and pressed her nose against his. She seethed, “Then you know that if you say ‘yeah’ to me one more time, I’ll string you up by your fucking balls and gut you while Corporal Santi stands here and watches. Because I don’t give a good God damn about what branch you represent. You will respect my rank, and you will conduct yourself accordingly. Are we clear, Corporal?”

  With an almost audible gulp, he cowered slightly, but quickly regained his composure. I guess he just needed a reminder, because he snapped to attention and answered with, “Yes, Staff Sergeant. Apologies, Staff Sergeant.”

  Kylee nodded her approval and stepped back before continuing. “Good. Then I’ll be asking the questions, red patch. You men are LSS, correct?”

  The other guy, Santi, spoke up, answering, “Yes, Staff Sergeant. MOS 0481 LSS. Landing Specialist Support.”

  Kylee glared over at him and snapped, “Thank you, Corporal Santi, but I was asking Corporal Mason. Where are the rest of your men? What is your mission?”

  Mason was now comically confused as to who Kylee was addressing due to the clever way she asked one of them the question with her eye on the other. These dudes were shaken up, and our girl was showing us exactly how her old man used to treat her as a child.

  Mason took a chance and blurted, “Permission to speak freely?”

  She nodded.

  He told us, “We’re runners.”

  Kylee pressed for more, saying, “Aaaaaand…?”

  Santi chimed in, “Communications have gone to shit with the exception of one comm. We’re running intel and orders from the LZ to Lima Company to the southeast.”

  We know Lima! Or, at least, we know of Lima. So, I butted in and asked, “What about Kilo? You guys know Kilo?”

  Mason looked at Kylee almost for permission to answer me before telling us all, “Kilo, yeah. Them boys ran into some nasty shit and lost a bunch of men. I hear they got some reinforcements, though, and are back on track further west. They’re supposedly heading for the LZ in Sector C.”

  Kylee raised a hand to slow him down and asked, “Where is Sector C? And what are they doing once they get there?”

  Mason smiled. “You mean you haven’t heard?”

  “Heard what?”

  He continued, “We secured Fort Bragg. They’re running boats offshore to our carriers and even some oil rigs, using the Fort as a jump-off point. We’re taking the news to Lima because their job is done for now.”

  Cutty said to him, “Whoa, whoa, whoa… Whatchu mean ‘done’?”

  Mason smiled, almost relieved. “We’re done for now. We’re all being pulled back to regroup at the fort. Our orders for Lima are to pull back and bring any survivors already accounted for. Rescue missions are to cease until further notice.”

  Kylee asked him, “What about other survivors? There are other people out there that need help.”

  Mason’s face showed a genuine disappointment as he told us, “Nothing we can do. We can only hope that once we’re regrouped and restocked that the higher-ups have a new plan—one thing at a time.”

  Murphy finally stepped up and asked him, “We heard about some facility around Albuquerque… some military installation. You fellas know anything about that?”

  Mason and Santi exchanged an uncomfortable glance before he asked Murphy sternly, “How’d you know about that?”

  Kylee snapped, “Is it there or not?”

  Mason answered her, “Yes, Staff Sergeant.”

  She pointed at Santi and Murphy and ordered, “You. Go with Murphy and show him where it is on the map.”

  Santi nodded and pulled Murphy aside to our jeep, where they began spreading the map open and chatting quietly.

  Mason finally said, “With all due respect, Staff Sergeant, we’re up against the clock here. We really need to get going.”

  Kylee nodded her understanding and fibbed, “I’ll see to it your CO knows how helpful you were today.”

  Relief washed over him, and he asked us, “You guys got any extra ammo? We’re running a little low, and we got a long way to go.”

  Sure we did. We had plenty of ammo in the trailer from Bianca’s crew. Alyse heard the request and spun on her heels without a word to fetch some. She stopped in her tracks, however, when I told the guy, “No. We’re fresh out.”

  Kylee backed my play. “He’s right. We’re low, too. Everyone is hurting for ammo.”

  Mason hung his head, slightly disappointed, and asked her, “Will there be anything further, Staff Sergeant?”

  Kylee made a motion to dismiss them, but Hook appeared from the rear of the trailer just in time to say, “One more thing.”

  He was dragging our prisoner behind him as he approached the marines and dropped him with an unceremonious thump.

  Kylee’s eyes lit up, and she quickly brought the prisoner to his feet. She shoved him towards Mason and ordered, “This man is now your prisoner. You will take him with you and have him charged with desertion and treason. He left Kilo Company, joined a band of raiders, and participated in the robbery and murder of innocent American citizens.”

  Mason balked slightly and said, “Staff Sergeant… I… We can’t handle a prisoner right now. We can’t even hold a trial at this point.”

  Kylee pointed to Lilly and said, �
�His group pointed a gun directly at the head of that little girl over there. The reason she flipped out when you showed up is because she watched this man, who wears the same uniform as you, and his people, kill our pet and threaten to kill us. They robbed us and left us for dead!”

  Mason sighed heavily and looked at each of us individually. Then, he pulled the gag from the prisoners mouth and asked him simply, “Is what she says true?”

  Our prisoner stammered, “Yes. It’s true… but, but… it wasn’t like I was going to do it. I was just with those people… I… I’m not like th—”

  Mason replaced the gag on his mouth before he could finish. “I’d say that’s an admission of guilt, wouldn’t you?” he asked Kylee.

  She nodded and answered, “You’re damn right.”

  Mason took the prisoner and escorted him to the rear of the Hummer.

  Boom!

  Bright-red spray misted the air around Mason as the prisoner’s corpse slumped to the ground beside the vehicle. Mason holstered his weapon and wiped his face, telling Kylee, “I have a daughter. By his own admission, he was guilty and sentenced to death. You gonna make that a problem for me?”

  Kylee shook her head and said simply, “You’re dismissed.”

  Mason called Santi over from Murphy and told him, “Help me get that uniform off him. He doesn’t deserve to wear it.”

  That was about ten hours or so ago. The roads around here are pretty jammed up still, so getting D-Prime in and out has been a challenge. Murphy figures we’ll hit this facility by morning. As for Lilly, she’s doing better. Seeing Kylee handle business back there has had quite an impact. She told Cutty to call her “ma’am” from now on and not “baby girl.” That should be pretty funny.

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