Chapter 33: Tears

Black Forest Airport had been deserted when they landed on the small strip there. Gene and the others hustled off the aircraft carrying their supplies. He carried the small handgun at his waist as they moved off to the fields to the east to put distance between themselves and the stolen plane. They had to work their way through a few blocks of industrial buildings which were silent and dark in the early hours before dawn.

The fields offered no cover and they were forced to skirt along ditches and narrow hedges to avoid being exposed. They huddled together after a couple of hours to rest and take stock of their situation.

“We need a car.” Bendal suggested.

“Agreed. Why didn’t we take one of the ones we saw on the way through the streets?” Gene asked.

“Too close to the airport. Too easy to figure out who took it. For those who know what to look for.”

“Will it really make a difference? If we steal a car a mile down the road, isn’t that just as likely to point to us?”

“Probably,” Marisa offered, “I don’t see why it matters.”

Bendal looked haggard. His stubble had grown in shadowy and ragged, dark circles under his eyes showed his weariness. He’d barely slept on the flight, and Gene had no idea how many hours the man had been awake. “We aren’t going back that way. No chance. We gotta keep moving East.”

“Agreed,” Holly declared. “Regardless. We’ll see what we find soon enough. The maps showed farms clustered about a half-mile ahead. We’ll scout that for wheels. Agreed?”

Heads nodded and after everyone took the opportunity to urinate and eat a bit of dried fruit, they headed off again towards the east.

Marisa hustled ahead to scout the farmhouses in the dark. Silver whipped out his tablet and turned it on night mode, continuing to monitor his analytics program which was actively trying to find anything tangible worth investigating. So far, nothing interesting had turned up.

The woman came back quickly and crouched beside them. “Two vans looked good ahead, but they have logos on them. Too conspicuous. There’s a little black four-door about a few hundred meters down the road. Other than that, not much to choose from. Most of the farms look deserted. Look at these fields.” Gene scanned what little he could see in the darkness. “They haven’t been tended in weeks. Not a good sign for this area. Wonder if there’s been fighting here.”

Holly shrugged. “Four-door. Get on it, Marisa.”

The dark-haired woman nodded and hustled off.

Holly was not in a good mood. She’d tried repeatedly to contact Jesus through back channel communications on the flight, but Silver’s proactive-monitoring software warned that there were listeners on every one. She couldn’t get through to the man without risking giving away her location to whoever had planted those listeners. Whatever was going on with Jesus, he held key information about Anna. “Goddamn I wish I had made more of my Burners, I need to focus!”

“Burners?” Gene asked quietly.

“What I call those pills we took in Africa.”

Gene groaned. “No, thanks. I’ll take my chances without going through that again.”

“Baby.”

He gave her a flat look.

“Whatever.” Holly scanned the darkness. “Where the fuck is that woman? She should be back by now.”

Almost on cue, a small black sedan pulled along the dirt road nearby, lights off and moving cautiously. Gene piled into the back with Silver and Bendal, Holly taking the front passenger seat. “Let’s move, Marisa!”

The car shot forward and kicked up a rain of dust behind them. Gene wondered if this long run was ever going to end.

Minover.

Gene groaned and felt sick as the hidden memory threatened to burn up from deep inside him. Silver looked at him with concern. Gene closed his eyes.

Random images flew through his mind, too fast to focus on for more than a second. He saw Utah laughing, then firing a gun. Poppy was there, or was she? I never met her in person, did I? There was a man arguing with Charles Utah. Motion. More gunfire. He heard a scream. Was that me? Fear. I must escape. Yelling. Men yelling. What is going on? A schematic, diagrams, something tiny. Something dangerous. Something he wanted desperately to remember. Or did he want to forget? Utah laughing again.

Gene pitched forward and blacked out.

“Mr. Henderson?” Logan said as the light was first warming the sky. “Why did we have to leave? I loved it there...”

“I did as well, young man. We left because there is a risk to staying there. For many years, my family has been safe there, and you have been safe there as well. However, someone is looking for your father, and they are willing to pull at anything which might help them find him. That means they’re looking for you, too.”

“So ... is Dad alive?”

Logan could hear Henderson smile as he responded. “Very much so, though I suspect, like you, he is caught up in something he doesn’t fully understand. But yes, he is alive. So is your mother, I believe, though she has been much harder to find. I found evidence that your mother is alive from about a week ago, your father, I know he was still breathing two days ago. I won’t say more, but rest assured, they are still fighting and I’m certain they wish to get back to you, my boy.”

Logan let out a sigh. Lauren smiled at him, the relief in her eyes was palpable. “Ok ... th-thanks Mr. Henderson ... I don’t want them to be dead...”

“Me either, Logan. It took some work, to be sure. I’m not the only one looking for them. It seems they have lucked into to some resourceful companions. Perhaps you have done the same. Where we’re going ... well, let’s just say that the man we go to see is perhaps the best companion I’ve known besides my wife and children.”

“Who is he?” Logan asked.

“A man who has risen from the grave and is seeking help to defeat evil. Just your sort of quest, I presume?”

Logan smiled. “So he’s a hero.”

“Fits as good as any, my boy. Fits as good as any...”

Tamara watched the road from the treeline with Hannigan and Erol for twenty minutes in silence before Hannigan whispered. “They’re moving faster than we can on foot. If people are fleeing west, there must be less fighting that way. We need to go west. Let’s see if we can catch a ride.”

Tamara nodded. “Ok ... so we just try to hitchhike? Would anyone stop for three strangers when they’re trying to get away from Istanbul?”

“Worth a shot.” Hannigan turned to Erol. “You do all the talking. Give us a cover story, something plausible but not too detailed. We’re just trying to get away from the fighting. All we need is a ride.”

Erol nodded, the glow from the morning’s intense sexual experience still showing on his face. “Understood.”

They walked casually out of the trees and onto the side of the road as traffic buzzed by. It was heavy and moving quickly. Erol attempted to flag down drivers for almost an hour before a small white pickup truck pulled off. The teen raced ahead and spoke rapid Turkish to the driver. He waved towards Tamara and Hannigan then jumped in the bed. They joined him quickly.

The truck rolled back into traffic. The cold air rushing past forced them to pull out blankets and huddle together against the cab for warmth. Erol was between them and Tamara couldn’t help wondering if the teen had positioned himself that way intentionally. Hannigan showed no sign of noticing, his eyes closed as he attempted to rest while they were moving west.

Several times, traffic came to a stop as more and more vehicles joined the flight away from Istanbul. Hannigan grumbled at each pause, but thankfully, within moments, traffic moved again and kept them making progress throughout the morning.

Tamara had no idea what they might find when they got to Saray, but she hoped that M1 agents there were not owned by Victor.

“Ditch it here.” Holly’s voice was thin as the car slowed and pulled off into a small wooded area beside the narrow road. “Back behind that copse.”

Marisa did as directed, and once more they were on foot.

“The spot is about three miles to the north, tucked into the woods. Don’t want anyone following that car straight to the place. Marisa, Bendal, scouts out. You know what to do. Gene, Silver, you’re with me.”

Gene followed Holly as Marisa and Bendal set out at opposite angles before moving ahead of them a few hundred meters. “Think anyone else has made the connection to this place?”

Holly shook her head. “Doubtful. It took Silver a great deal of time and effort on top of what he already knew to find it, unlikely anyone else has made it that far. No reason to take chances, though. And we don’t know for sure that we haven’t been followed. I doubt more than a few hours pass before we’re traced back to that plane. Regardless. We get in and get out quickly. Just have to see what’s there, see if it connects to what Silver discovered.”

They walked in silence for a time before they met up with the scouts just inside a dense section of thick trees. “Far as we can go alone, Holly,” Bendal said quietly, “your show from here.”

“Follow me.”

Holly wound through the trees as if she’d lived in them all her life. Despite coming in through the woods, and having years pass since her last visit, she had no problem leading them straight to the overgrown second of briars and brambles which hid a small metal panel covering a hole in the ground.

They cut their way under the foliage, cleared the years of debris which had settled on top of the panel, and Holly used a small brass key to open the one ancient-looking lock securing it in place. She looked resolute as she opened the panel and dropped quickly inside.

Gene watched as Bendal and Marisa followed her, then lowered himself down, finding a thin ladder running down about twenty meters. At the bottom, it looked like abandoned but well constructed bunker with metal walls, course metal planks on the floors, and more metal panels on the ceiling. They followed a narrow passageway lit only by two flashlights held by Holly and Marisa.

The passage opened up into a good-sized room. It was dusty but orderly. Holly found a panel and turned a few knobs. Gene heard a generator fire up somewhere deeper in. In moments, lights warmed and showed them the space.

There was a small couch and a few old, wooden chairs. Board games were stacked in a corner next to a simple wash basin which was somewhere between a sink and and a bath tub. Gene suspected it probably served both purposes. “Toilet’s down that hall. Just a hole in the ground, but it works,” Holly declared. “Don’t touch anything until I have a look around.”

“Doesn’t look like anyone’s been here in ages, Holly.”

“I know.” There was disappointment in her tone. Gene wondered if she had never truly given up hope that she might see her father again. He watched her a moment as Silver and Bendal settled on stools. Marisa moved off towards the toilet. Holly took in the room, clearly reliving memories of a happier, more innocent time.

Holly moved towards the far wall. She looked at a picture of a seascape hanging there, said, “Dad used to hide candy for me in strange places to see if I was clever enough to look beyond the surface. I found a lot of them, including in this frame. I wonder how many are still hidden that I’ll never find...” More sadness.

She froze, pulled out her flashlight. She held it close to the frame, examining the edges. “This has been moved recently!” she exclaimed. “Look! The dust is disturbed.”

Holly pulled the picture from wall and felt along the bottom edge. Gene heard a light click, then the blonde pulled a small hidden drawer out from its spot along the wooden frame. She dumped the contents into her hand.

“What? What is it?” Gene asked, moving beside her.

Holly didn’t respond.

Silver joined them, his mouth open. “That’s your dad’s ring. The one we never found in Armenia ... Holly ... how...”

“And this is Anna’s earpiece,” Holly’s voice was a rasp. “She always had them custom made to fit her ear. I’d know it anywhere. I used to steal them when I was young but they never fit me well...”