Dee didn’t know what happened when you died. Did you really go to heaven? Was it just blackness? If she did die and go to heaven, would her father be waiting for her? Dee reached down inside her, brushed away her doubts and questions and drew on the strength that she knew lay within. She had drawn on it, waiting in the basement for Jack. Now she needed it once more. She squeezed Jack’s hand, eager for his touch. She and Jack had had many late-night discussions on topics such as death. She had always admired his measured and considered responses. Jack acted all fun and joked around, but when he dropped the wall surrounding him, he could get very serious, and had an intelligent outlook on life. Dee let out a sigh. Yes, she was scared. Scared of losing it all.
Dee watched the view out the small window on the door as the chopper flew over the grey ocean. It stayed low as it swept over the beaches of Papamoa and continued inland, reaching the thick bush of the Mamaku ranges that surrounded the twin lakes of Rotorua. The blue lakes stood out, gleaming, surrounded by the city. Parts of the city were smoking. Dee didn’t know if it was from fires or from the geothermal vents dotting the land. She grabbed her seat as the chopper rose sharply, rising over the hills. Dee checked her watch: 11:20. She looked around for the Waikato River; it should be snaking its way below them. They rounded another pine-clad hill and the chopper dropped down the other side, keeping close to the ground. Jack squeezed her hand. The chopper banked again, sweeping down so they skimmed over the river.
Ben’s voice crackled over the headset. “ETA five minutes. Eric, get the explosives ready. Jack. Alan. Man the guns. Give them hell, people.”
Dee looked over at the soldier she didn’t know. Alan, apparently. He secured his rifle next to him and moved over to one of the 50 cal guns at the door.
Well, you’re not wearing a red shirt.
Eric moved over to her and handed her a couple of green brick shapes. Timers stuck into them read 2.00 minutes. Eric reached down and plugged two wires hanging loose into the tops of the bricks. “Press the red button before you chuck it out. That starts the timer.”
She nodded. Turning, she watched as Arapuni Dam came into view.
Ben’s voice crackled over the headset. “Drop the explosives on the roof of the turbine building. Jack, Alan, when the Variants come out, kill as many as you can.”
Dee looked up at Jack, meeting his gaze. It was time; time to end this.
The pilot banked around the dam, and the chopper descended down the concrete face. Steep limestone cliffs, with bushes clinging to every available nook, plunged down into the swirling river. Dee waited until the flat roof of the largest building came within view. She pushed down the red button and, checking to see the timer had started, hurled the explosive out, watching as it tumbled through the air and bounced along the roof, stopping against a large vent.
Variants started to pour out of the building, their shrieks just audible above the thumping of the chopper. Dee hated that sound. She pressed the button on her second explosive and tossed it out. It too flipped through the air and bounced off the lip of the vent, falling down inside. She grinned, satisfied.
The chopper lifted and banked away from the dam. Jack and Alan started firing the 50 cals, peppering the emerging Variants with leaded death. Dee watched, mesmerised, as the rounds tore into them, shredding their diseased flesh from their bones. They may be tough, but not enough for these guns. The brroootttt of the guns echoed around the cabin as the pilot pulled back, raising the chopper higher above the dam and the screeching Variants. Jack stopped firing his 50 cal and held on. The chopper hovered 100 metres above the river, downstream from the dam. A succession of explosions thundered out, first two close together, then two more quickly followed. The chopper rocked wildly as concrete, wood, steel, glass, and hunks of Variants flew out in a huge kaboom! Dee smiled as a blue metal shape flew out of the destroyed building, splashing down into the river.
Jack walked over and sat back down next to her. Touching her shoulder, he was grinning from ear to ear. “Did you see that? That blue thing was one of the turbines!”
“Is that what it was?”
“Yeah, it looked like it.”
“Your friend in Ohio would have loved that explosion.”
Jack cast his eyes downward before looking back at her. “Yeah, he would have. I hope he made it out.”
Dee reached out, taking Jack’s hand in hers. “I’m sure he has, Jack. Let’s hope the world gets back to normal and we can go visit all our friends one day.”
“I never thought I would live to see such times, Dee.”
“Me neither. I guess no one did. Do you remember that guy we met, who had spent his childhood in bomb shelters?”
“Yeah. He loved movies as much as I do.”
Dee kissed Jack on the cheek. “That’s right. I remember you two talking for hours, ignoring us girls. His girlfriend was so boring.”
Jack laughed, his laughter sounding weird as it echoed off the metal walls.
“I remember him telling us about that, Jack. He said he hoped he would never see such times again.”
Jack nodded his head, lost in thought.
Dee turned away and looked back out the window.
The chopper whined as it banked around Maungatautari Mountain. Dee’s thoughts drifted back a few weeks to that terrifying flight up the mountain, away from the Trophy King. She reached for her rifle and checked it was locked and loaded. She drew her Katana out from her pack, admiring how it felt in her hands. She slid it back into the webbing and watched as Lake Karapiro stretched out in a long thin shape. She could just make out the rowing club and the dam in the distance.
Ben’s voice came over her headset. “Lock and load, Renegades. ETA two minutes. Whatever happens today, thank you for making this old soldier proud. Proud to call you fellow soldiers. Proud to call you friends. Let’s go kill these bastards!”
Dee glanced up at Ben. His long grey beard hung over his combat vest. She nodded.
Let’s kill these bastards!
TWENTY-SEVEN
The thumping of the approaching choppers thundered up the river as Maggie pressed herself into the ground. Quickly she positioned herself and sighted one of the guards through her scope. She glanced down river as two grey military choppers swung around the bend of the river, making directly for the hydroelectric station. Using the distraction, Maggie breathed out and gently squeezed the trigger. The guard’s head snapped back, and blood and brains coated the concrete wall behind him. She swung her rifle to the right, and dropped two more guards as they stared, stunned, as the choppers buzzed over the dam and attacked the village behind her.
Maggie’s stolen radio sprang to life, and desperate cries rang out. She ignored the radio and shot two more of the guards, wounding one and killing the other. That left two more, higher up. Maggie panned the rifle around, searching for the last two guards. One had begun to climb the ladder on the opposite side of the dam. Maggie shot him in the torso, then watched as his body tumbled down the ladder, bouncing off the metal rungs before smacking onto the roof. Maggie searched around for the last guard. Seeing no one, she jumped up and headed for the ladder closest to her.