“Something—coming—east,” said Diaz from his radio.

  He looked ahead across the runway, but trees blocked his view of more than a few hundred yards. He clicked on his radio. “I can’t see—”

  The trees fell like matchsticks and creatures standing twice as high as them, with glossy amphibian like skin piled onto the runway, immediately jumping hundreds of feet up into the air trying to snatch at the flying creatures.

  Zach could see what was about to transpire but was powerless to stop it. The large creature landed back on the runway with one of the winged creatures within it’s jaws, directly in the path of the plane. It turned violently to one side, causing the wing to touch the ground.

  Sparks flew up and the plane started to spin around as the giant newt like creature thrashed it’s head from side to side, trying to render lifeless the winged thing that was still clawing at its attacker.

  Solders started to fire at the large creatures, but quickly gave up and started running.

  One of the planes landing gear crumpled and the planed slammed onto the concrete while spinning relentless across the ground.

  “Give the plane covering fire!” shouted Zach into his radio, as he ran towards the plane that still hadn’t come to a stand still. Diaz and Bower with his squad did the same, as the sky above them became swamped with the flying creatures that started to fight back. Wings with talons attached, swooped down and sliced across the much larger creatures, causing them to swipe at the air around them.

  Solders darted left and right trying to avoid being caught up in the melee around them.

  One of the large creatures fell backwards onto the wing of the plane, snapping it clean off, then fell further back causing the body of the plane to slide backwards. As Zach ran towards the smoking fuselage he saw soldiers being picked up and flown high into the sky, screaming and firing their guns into the creatures above them.

  The two Humvee’s skidded to a halt near the rear exit of the plane which was already open. Both of the main guns started to open fire, at anything that came close. Some of the flying creatures were hit and came tumbling onto the runway, which the larger creatures quickly pounced on and devoured.

  Zach looked at Diaz. Her eyes were closed and her hands were out in front of her. One of the large creatures lifted the winged beast it had in its hands, and immediately started swatting others with it that came near the plane.

  People and equipment started pouring out of the back. The troops that were left and Bowers squad started escorting them into the Humvee's and truck which had now also arrived.

  As soon as the truck was filled to overflowing, it pulled away with a start heading back towards the buildings.

  “Let’s get the hell out of here!” shouted Zach, as roars and screeches filled the air.

  Bower and his squad were back in his Humvee, with the others piling into the back of Zach’s vehicle. They both pulled off with a screech of tires and soon were following the truck on the main road away from the airport. Behind them the E.L.F battle still raged.

  “What’s the damage? Over,” said Zach.

  “Lost three people. Over,” said Bower.

  Zach went to reply it could have been worse, but stopped. It seemed they were always losing people. “Anyone in the back of the truck on this frequency? Over.”

  A voice he immediately recognized came through his radio. “Thanks for getting us out of that. Over.”

  “Are any of you injured? That plane hit the ground pretty hard when the landing gear came away. Over.”

  There was a few seconds of silence.

  “We think a broken arm and maybe a bit of concussion, but other than that we’re good. The equipment seems to have survived as well. Over.”

  Zach nodded before he spoke. “That’s good to hear Captain. The outpost is not far. Over.”

  As Fiona followed the other Humvee, and the small convoy drove the same route they had come along just an hour earlier, Zach looked at the homes and pleasant looking gardens and sighed. It never ends.

  It wasn’t long before they were back at the gate to the outpost. It was already open for them, and they drove straight in, parking not far from the front of the main house.

  Brad and a small group of people were standing arguing near the entrance. They all turned and watched the vehicles arrive, although Zach noticed they were paying particular attention to his Humvee.

  Zach got out and went to walk to the back of the truck, when Brad and the group walked towards him. He changed course to meet them. “What is it?”

  “She’s gone Zach.”

  He went to say who, but the realization of what Brad meant froze his mind mid sentence. He knew who.

  CHAPTER 19

  Abbey wasn’t sure why she knocked on the gloss white pained front door, but it seemed the appropriate thing to do, and you never knew if people were still alive out here.

  “Hello?” she said to the wooden obstruction. There was no answer human or otherwise.

  She looked behind her at the few other buildings nearby. On the ground an American flag lay at the bottom of a shallow crater. It was one of many that formed a path from the nearby field to the front of the property she was standing on, and then off across another field. She turned back to face the front door.

  She hadn’t been able to pack as much supplies as she would have wished, for the simple reason Mo wouldn’t have been able to carry her and it. So scavenging what she could from what looked like safe areas was going to have to be the plan from here to Boston.

  She walked along the deck and peered through the windows. A neat and comfortable looking home looked back at her, but there was still no sign of life. She continued following the deck around the house until she stepped off and walked over the grass to a side gate. It occurred to her she could just break a front window, but the whole place looked so pretty with its copious amount of white painted decking and arched windows, she thought better of it.

  She pushed the gate open, revealing a large garden which had become overgrown, but she could tell at some point in the past it was someone’s pride and joy. Some spring flowers were just beginning to bloom, arranged in sections around the outside of grass that was now a few feet high.

  She walked to the back of the house and looked through a window, immediately jumping back. An elderly couple were lying dead, slowly wasting away on a bed.

  She could feel tears start to well in her eyes, but shook her head. She was not going to get through this journey if she broke down at every sight of death, even if it was so poignant. That room in the house she would stay out of, that was there room.

  She walked up to the rear door and tried opening it, but it was closed. A sound made her look up. It was Mo landing on the roof. He had grown. Even crouching he was almost as tall as her, and his wings when fully extended were easily ten feet across. He carried her in short bursts of a few miles, then she could feel him tiring, so they descended and he rested for a bit. It also gave her a chance to explore where they landed. This was one such stop.

  She stepped back and kicked as hard as she could with her good leg, the wood splintered a small amount but the door still held. She sighed, and repeated the act. Each time her other leg ached, but after the forth attempt the door gave way and swung back into a kitchen.

  The faint smell of death wafted past her and she moved her head to the side, trying to catch some of the fresher air.

  The kitchen was what you would expect from a country residence. Wall to wall wooden cupboards and a central worktop, all covered in a lifetime of pots, pans and pottery. She immediately walked inside and started opening the cupboards. She wasn’t surprised when she found them mostly full. The world ended so abruptly that most hadn’t had a chance to ransack the millions of homes that covered the continent.

  Tins of meat and jars that contained fillings for pies, filled the shelves in front of her.

  A thud came from outside. She turned around. Mo was peering through the open door.

  “Yeah yeah, there’s plenty here for you as well.”

  She pulled out a tin of meat, opened it with a can opener she found in a drawer, then emptied it out on the stones outside the back door. Mo whooped in delight and devoured it in just a few mouthfuls.

  “Good eh? The more you can carry, the more you can have!”

  He looked at her with a non-plussed expression.

  She smiled, then put a hand to her temple. E.L.F’s were heading towards them. They were still far out, but she didn’t want to be around when they passed by. There were still a few hours of daylight left and she wanted to make headway.

  She looked at Mo, who was looking back at her. “Water, good point.”

  She opened the fridge and pulled back as soon as she did. It clearly hadn’t been opened for many months. Blackened mush covered in fur which must have originally been something home made, sat on rows inside. Luckily there were also some plastic bottles, containing what she hoped was water.

  She pulled the bottles out, opened one and sniffed. Water. She pushed them into her pack, and then set about choosing which of the canned food she thought hadn’t gone completely off.

  * * * * *

  Zach stood in the kitchen of the large house watching the sun head for the horizon. It had been a long day. After getting back from the airfield and learning about Abbey he immediately set out in the Humvee alone trying to find her. An hour later traveling the various country lanes, he realized it was a task which might take days, if not weeks. Who knew how far she could travel with her E.L.F carrying her, maybe they were already half way to Boston?

  He returned to the outpost with a plan to get better equipped then head out again, this time not coming back until he found her.

  He looked down at the hastily written note in his hand, looking at it one last time.

  “I’m sorry. I know that won’t mean much but I have to say it anyway. I also know if I tell you not to come after me you’re going to anyway, but this is a journey I have to do alone. I think I’m responsible for the Cascade. I don’t know how exactly but I think I am. That’s what I’m hoping I will find out in Boston. You know I love you.

  Abbey.”

  Folding it back up, he put it in his top pocket, picked up his pack, then turned and walked to the front door. He could see Bower and Brad standing outside talking. They turned to him as he approached.

  “What’s going on?” said Zach.

  “I’m coming with you, well me and my squad,” said Bower.

  Zach shook his head. “This is not your problem, and you’re needed here—”

  “There’s plenty of wise heads here now, and we also got a full medical team,” said Brad, smiling. “I’ve no doubt there will be more, by time we meet again.”

  “But you will be needed back at Bravo—” Zach said again to Bower.

  “I’ve cleared it with the General, she wants to know what’s the situation up in north-east anyway, said this is as good as opportunity as any,” said Bower who then looked at the Humvee’s. “Both are stocked with supplies and ammo.”

  Zach also realized Fiona was sitting in her usual drivers position in one of them. Even though each of them had their own reasons, he knew they were doing it for himself and Abbey and he wasn’t sure how he would repay that.

  “So, sir, you got a route in mind, any idea where she’s gone?” said Bower.

  “She’s heading to Boston, so we head that way too, hopefully we will pick up her trail at some point.”

  Bower nodded.

  “I’ve given Captain Bower a location of the most north-east outpost I used to communicate with. It went dark some months back, but it might be worth checking out, if you’re in the area.” He patted Zach on the shoulder. “One of these day’s you and Abbey will have all of this behind you.”

  Zach gave a forlorn smile.

  Bower looked at Brad. “Try and get a bar built for when I return.”

  Brad smiled. “It’s top of my list.”

  Bower turned and got into his Humvee.

  “Stay safe,” said Zach to Brad, then turned and got in the Humvee alongside Fiona. “You don’t have to do this, you know?”

  “Which direction you want me to head in?”

  Zach looked at the sky, the shadows stretched across the ground, and fires started to be lit in the grounds around them. “North.”

  CHAPTER 20

  Abbey stretched out on the large bed. Considering she was by herself in the middle of who knows where, she slept well. She thought back to the same time just twenty-four hours earlier. Her head was splitting and she only partially remembered some of the things she said to Zach. As the morning wore on a pressure was building inside her which wasn’t drink related. She had set out with Zach to go to Boston because she felt answers were there. But it seemed that was on hold. Brad was building the outpost and she could tell Zach liked being part of it. Why should he have to be dragged half way across the country, for what? Some dreams? A hunch? Her guilty conscience ?

  She knew what she had to do. She had to leave, and she had to do it before he returned. Even though she felt she had to go, she knew she was betraying him. Betraying everything that they had gone through together, and she hated herself for that. But she still had to go.

  She sat up in the bed and grabbed the water bottle that had rested on the blankets next to her. Just next to it was a paperback book. Its pages were worn at the edges, but there was a scary looking church on the front of it and it had been longer than she could remember, that she had the thrill of something scary that wasn’t actually real.

  She wondered how far she and Mo would travel today. By their last stop, she could tell he was getting used to carrying her. Instead of just beating his wings as hard as he could to stay loft for as long as he could, he was seeking out eddies and warm currents that he could glide on, at least for a short while before he had to put effort into keeping them off the ground again.

  She leaned over the side of the bed and pulled the map of the northeastern states out of her pack. From where she was to Boston it was roughly eight hundred miles.

  She had no intention of flying anywhere near the major cities or any national forests. Her finger traced the route she wanted to take. It was pretty straight.

  She put the map down and looked at her radio on the nightstand. It was turned off, partly to conserve battery and partly because she knew she would be hearing Zach’s voice asking her to come back, and she didn’t need a seed of doubt put in her mind.

  She gathered up the book and water, put it in the back, and walked to the window. It was a gray overcast day. She then walked down the stairs to the hallway. The bookshelf that she strained with and eventually managed to slide to the block the front door was still there, and the armchair behind her was doing the same job against the kitchen door. She walked to it, and heaved it out of the way, then walked into the kitchen. The people that lived here before were obviously not short of money for their pantry was stocked from floor to ceiling with food. Being back at Camp Bravo, most of the homes within a hundred miles were picked clean so even though she knew the reasons why, it still felt like her birthday on seeing all the edible presents.

  She avoided looking at the pictures of the children that were still stuck to the outside of the fridge door, and made herself a breakfast of canned fruit. She could have also heated up some water and had coffee, but she wanted to be back on the ‘road’ so to speak as soon as possible, so bottled water would suffice.

  She closed her eyes and briefly got a lock on where Mo was. Her senses told her that he was about a mile away, to the south. She could also sense other E.L.F’s around her, but none that worried her.

  Soon she was full and standing in the large rear garden. Her pack was on her back, and her rifle was on her shoulder. Wrapped around her mouth was a red scarf. She had learned that breathing was easier with something across her mouth as there were times when the force of the wind made it difficult to breath.

  She closed her eyes and summoned Mo. It wasn’t long before she could feel the updraft of his wings above her. She held her arms aloft and his human like hands gripped her lower arms and up she rose. With each flap of his powerful wings she could see further. First over the back fence surrounding the property, then over the trees, and then over the nearby fields, all while flying northwards.

  This would have never happened if she had stayed with Zach, although it was seeing Mo catching him that first gave her the idea that perhaps her pets abilities could be put to good use.

  A few drops of rain hit her face. She looked up at the sky, ominous dark gray clouds hung together. They were heading into a storm. She looked down, they had just passed a small town and were now heading for a larger one.

  A gust of wind hit Mo from the east making him tilt and veer suddenly. Her legs swung making it harder for him to keep flying straight, and they started dropping rapidly.

  Abbey looked at the ground approaching and braced for impact, but he flapped harder and the descending slowed and then stopped, but they weren’t gaining any height.

  They were now barely at fifty feet above the ground, with the wind and rain buffeting them from seemingly all directions.

  A small pop sound made her look upwards. Thunder? Then another came, this one making Mo veer violently to the side. Abbey looked down and just caught the glimpse of a human form beside a building. She then realized they were being shot at.

  CHAPTER 21

  A chugging came from the engine of the yellow pickup, causing it to slow.

  Bryan Teller pumped the gas pedal but it wasn’t having any effect.

  “Why we slowing,” growled Clovis in the back seats.

  Bryan pointed at the digital screen on the dashboard. “We’re out of gas.” Silence came from behind him. That was worse than if Clovis had exploded in rage. Being a doctor he knew Clovis needed him, but he didn’t want to push his luck.