Chapter 11
The marine lifted his gun to Marcus’s head and three other men walked around the corner with a variety of weaponry. One man carried a grenade launcher; another held a flame thrower, a shorter soldier carried a sniper rifle, and first man to see him held an M-16 with a missile launcher slung across his back. Each man pointed his weapon at Marcus and none of them seemed as cheerful as they were before they saw the great beast. Marcus looked them over and said, “If you value your lives - as pitiful as they are - you will lower your weapons.”
They looked to their fellow men; none of them seemed to answer Marcus’s demands. He said again, “You will lower your weapons. I’ll give you ten more seconds. You can trust me, which may be a perilous move, or you can fire your weapons, which will grant me more than enough of an incentive to kill you.”
The man with the flame thrower took off his back pack and placed it on the ground before him. The other men did the same and kneeled before him. Marcus was slightly amused, but he did not let it show. He said, “When did I tell you to drop your weapons and kneel?”
The soldiers reached for their weapons and stood with what pride they had not given up. They slung the metal and plastic contraptions across their backs and Liz, who was still sitting on his claw, said, “I’d say get on your knees and pray, but I guess that’s why I’m not a dragon.”
“That is exactly the reason, little one.”
Liz walked over to the soldiers and introduced herself. Thomas, Jason, and Mitch walked around Marcus’s legs and spoke with them as well. The group learned that the undead invasion did in point of fact reach the west coast, but the military was one step ahead of it and took out most of the undead as soon as the incursion began. Most of the civilians did not cooperate with the military’s protocol and as a result, the undead took out almost all of San Francisco over a period of three days. The other two since the invasion began were spent by the military killing off the undead from a distance. The main civilian center was replaced from Alameda to Treasure Island, a small island in the middle of San Pablo Bay. Liz asked about the civilians and the soldiers told them that workers and craftsmen were taken from all across the nation to help rebuild the US after the invasion was over. The military was doing a brilliant job of defending the workers by taking out one of the two bridges leading to the connected Yerba Buena Island. Apparently, the humans were more innovative than Marcus thought possible and built a large wall around the entire island, should the bridge defenses fail.
After the actions of the military were told, Liz asked if she could visit the island and one of the soldiers said, “Sorry, but we have to keep our patrol going, and we still have a few miles to go. I don’t think they’ll just let you in, especially with him.”
He lifted a finger at Marcus, who said, “I agree, my reputation with the military is less than impressive, and I cannot let you go alone.”
“How about this,” Liz said, “You and Mitch continue their patrol while me, Thomas, and Jason go with these guys to their base. You can keep up with their patrol, and they get to show their top brass a war veteran, a politician, and I’ll be a god’s representative.”
“Do I really want you to represent me? I love you with all my heart, little one, but that does not mean I fully trust you to do what you say.”
“Trust me this once. I’ll have these old geezers to look after me anyway.”
Marcus turned to Thomas and Jason. He said, “Can I trust you two to make sure she does as she says?”
Jason said, “I’ll make sure she doesn’t do anything stupid.”
Thomas said, “Don’t worry; I’ll do everything I can to make you as pissed off at her as possible.”
“I would expect no less from either of you. Just be warned, little one, that if you are not back here by sunset, I will come looking for you.”
“What about us,” said Thomas.
Marcus allowed a deep, low chuckle to pass his maw and said, “You can stay there if you want. I suppose I like you enough not to kill you if you come back.”
Some of the men laughed and Mitch asked them for a map. The marine with the flame thrower gave him an old torn up map of the San Francisco area. He marked the path they were supposed to follow. Mitch and Marcus bade them farewell and he turned to their patrol path. Marcus looked back one last time to see Liz disappear behind a building. This was the farthest apart they had been since their separation when Marcus was human. He asked Mitch where to go and he said, “North, over the river. It’s a pretty basic map, so I have no clue which road to turn on.”
“The military expects the undead to go looking for them, so the paths do not have to be exact. This also makes it harder to follow a single group as they cross over one another over the course of a day. The tactic hides their base well.”
“Or they could just be sloppy.”
“That too.”
Marcus and Mitch traveled across the city of San Francisco by land. They encountered many groups of marines, army soldiers, and other branches of the military. Marcus tried to avoid the patrols whenever possible, but it was inevitable that they would see him eventually. When they did, Marcus gave them the same speech as before and no matter what the group leader told them to do, there was always one younger trooper that lost his nerve. When he fired, Marcus ripped the gun out of his hand with his tongue, rolled it around in his mouth, and gave back what looked like a wet piece of new age artwork.
Only a few of them refused to stop firing, and Marcus simply let them run out of ammo and run off. After another few hours of walking, the sun started to set and Marcus picked up his pace. He reached the area where they first met the soldiers, but Liz was not there. He and Mitch waited another hour, but she never arrived. Mitch said, “Should we go looking for her?”
“If I make a promise, I plan to keep it.”
Marcus warned her that if she was not there by sunset, then he would go looking for her. The sun was gone behind the ocean, and Marcus wanted his child back.
They looked to their fellow men; none of them seemed to answer Marcus’s demands. He said again, “You will lower your weapons. I’ll give you ten more seconds. You can trust me, which may be a perilous move, or you can fire your weapons, which will grant me more than enough of an incentive to kill you.”
The man with the flame thrower took off his back pack and placed it on the ground before him. The other men did the same and kneeled before him. Marcus was slightly amused, but he did not let it show. He said, “When did I tell you to drop your weapons and kneel?”
The soldiers reached for their weapons and stood with what pride they had not given up. They slung the metal and plastic contraptions across their backs and Liz, who was still sitting on his claw, said, “I’d say get on your knees and pray, but I guess that’s why I’m not a dragon.”
“That is exactly the reason, little one.”
Liz walked over to the soldiers and introduced herself. Thomas, Jason, and Mitch walked around Marcus’s legs and spoke with them as well. The group learned that the undead invasion did in point of fact reach the west coast, but the military was one step ahead of it and took out most of the undead as soon as the incursion began. Most of the civilians did not cooperate with the military’s protocol and as a result, the undead took out almost all of San Francisco over a period of three days. The other two since the invasion began were spent by the military killing off the undead from a distance. The main civilian center was replaced from Alameda to Treasure Island, a small island in the middle of San Pablo Bay. Liz asked about the civilians and the soldiers told them that workers and craftsmen were taken from all across the nation to help rebuild the US after the invasion was over. The military was doing a brilliant job of defending the workers by taking out one of the two bridges leading to the connected Yerba Buena Island. Apparently, the humans were more innovative than Marcus thought possible and built a large wall around the entire island, should the bridge defenses fail.
After the actions of the military were told, Liz asked if she could visit the island and one of the soldiers said, “Sorry, but we have to keep our patrol going, and we still have a few miles to go. I don’t think they’ll just let you in, especially with him.”
He lifted a finger at Marcus, who said, “I agree, my reputation with the military is less than impressive, and I cannot let you go alone.”
“How about this,” Liz said, “You and Mitch continue their patrol while me, Thomas, and Jason go with these guys to their base. You can keep up with their patrol, and they get to show their top brass a war veteran, a politician, and I’ll be a god’s representative.”
“Do I really want you to represent me? I love you with all my heart, little one, but that does not mean I fully trust you to do what you say.”
“Trust me this once. I’ll have these old geezers to look after me anyway.”
Marcus turned to Thomas and Jason. He said, “Can I trust you two to make sure she does as she says?”
Jason said, “I’ll make sure she doesn’t do anything stupid.”
Thomas said, “Don’t worry; I’ll do everything I can to make you as pissed off at her as possible.”
“I would expect no less from either of you. Just be warned, little one, that if you are not back here by sunset, I will come looking for you.”
“What about us,” said Thomas.
Marcus allowed a deep, low chuckle to pass his maw and said, “You can stay there if you want. I suppose I like you enough not to kill you if you come back.”
Some of the men laughed and Mitch asked them for a map. The marine with the flame thrower gave him an old torn up map of the San Francisco area. He marked the path they were supposed to follow. Mitch and Marcus bade them farewell and he turned to their patrol path. Marcus looked back one last time to see Liz disappear behind a building. This was the farthest apart they had been since their separation when Marcus was human. He asked Mitch where to go and he said, “North, over the river. It’s a pretty basic map, so I have no clue which road to turn on.”
“The military expects the undead to go looking for them, so the paths do not have to be exact. This also makes it harder to follow a single group as they cross over one another over the course of a day. The tactic hides their base well.”
“Or they could just be sloppy.”
“That too.”
Marcus and Mitch traveled across the city of San Francisco by land. They encountered many groups of marines, army soldiers, and other branches of the military. Marcus tried to avoid the patrols whenever possible, but it was inevitable that they would see him eventually. When they did, Marcus gave them the same speech as before and no matter what the group leader told them to do, there was always one younger trooper that lost his nerve. When he fired, Marcus ripped the gun out of his hand with his tongue, rolled it around in his mouth, and gave back what looked like a wet piece of new age artwork.
Only a few of them refused to stop firing, and Marcus simply let them run out of ammo and run off. After another few hours of walking, the sun started to set and Marcus picked up his pace. He reached the area where they first met the soldiers, but Liz was not there. He and Mitch waited another hour, but she never arrived. Mitch said, “Should we go looking for her?”
“If I make a promise, I plan to keep it.”
Marcus warned her that if she was not there by sunset, then he would go looking for her. The sun was gone behind the ocean, and Marcus wanted his child back.