Lost Contact (The Bridge Sequence Book One), Nathan Hystad [primary phonics books .TXT] 📗

The rush of the wind finally cleared the low-lying cloud from the vicinity as the helicopter landed, and the two armed soldiers wearing black uniforms walked closer, guns aimed at the four of us. Their faces were obscured with masks, and they meant business.

They motioned with their guns. “Stay put!” one barked over the noise of the helicopter.

It was easier to see with the mist scattered by the rotors. Marcus backed up, raising his hands. The black light shone into the sky.

“What do we do, Rex?” Veronica asked, her voice muddled with fear.

This was the third time in a week we’d faced the Believers, and I was growing sick and tired of it. We were so close, and here they were again, jamming guns in our direction.

“I’ll tell you what we’re going to do!” The voice was confident, but somehow recognizable.

The rotors slowed, and out walked a man. Someone struggled behind him, and I saw another Believer soldier holding a woman inside the helicopter. It was Beverly.

My entire body clenched, like a snake about to strike. That was my sister. “Why is she here?” I shouted, and suddenly, the mountaintop grew silent. With the chopper off, the fog began again, but not as thickly as before.

“Rex, it’s…”

“Fred.” I said the name with disdain, my lips sticking together as they went dry. I charged toward him, uncaring about the guns pointing at me.

“Rex, hand the Bridge over—”

I punched him in the face as hard as I could. My fist stung, but the pain scarcely registered. “What have you done? Where are the kids?”

A solider stepped between us, and Fred shoved the man aside. “The kids? My kids are fine, Rex. They’re at the lovely little retreat you booked, sleeping it off until we retrieve them.”

I stared at the man, blood dripping from his nose. He appeared so different in this light. “Why, Fred? Why the Believers?” I wanted to buy some time. Tripp’s gun had vanished, telling me he’d concealed it when the soldiers had arrived. He was full of tricks. He was either guns blazing or quiet as a mouse, lingering like a shadow.

“Why? Why is it okay for millions of people to have faith in their god, but when we’re absolutely confident the Unknowns exist and are coming home, it’s insane? We’re a cult. A group of fanatics.” He wiped his upper lip, then broke into a smile. “Too bad you won’t see what’s to come, Rexford. When the world learns how deep the Believers go, there will be no turning back.

“We’re everywhere. We control governments, stock markets, and corporations. The Believers are the Earth’s only hope, Rex. That’s what you should understand. When the Unknowns come”—he tapped his watch—“and they’re on the way. They will destroy us unless the Believers are present to greet them. Can’t your doctorate brain comprehend this?” Fred had a gun in his hand, and he tapped it to his temple.

I peered past him at the helicopter. The pilot held Bev, and she was crying with heavy racking sobs. Her husband wasn’t who she’d thought he was, and her world was devastated. “Why the charade?”

“I was told to position myself close to the family. The famous Dirk Walker’s kids. At first I thought about working at your school, becoming friends with you, but I hated the idea of teaching this generation of youth with their fragile egos and self-righteous opinions of everything.” He pointed at Marcus, who was protectively standing beside Veronica. “I happened to meet Beverly one day at her workplace. I asked her to coffee, and a year later, we were engaged. Can you imagine? True love.” He laughed, a delirious sound that cut short in the thickening fog.

“You son of a bitch,” I said, moving for Fred again, but his gun lowered as the laughing ceased.

“One more move and you’re dead.” He said it flatly, without emotion, and it was obvious he wasn’t lying.

“What’s the plan? You take the Case and then what?” I asked.

He motioned to the helicopter, and one of the soldiers ran to it, patting a crate. “We send a surprise to the other side.” Judging by the markings on the surfaces, it was a high-tech bomb, maybe a thermonuclear device. I cringed at the implications. He was banking on the Bridge working, and planned to send a nuclear bomb through the portal.

“Who’s across the Bridge?” Fred and the Believers probably didn’t know for sure, but I had to ask.

“Someone you don’t want to meet,” he said with so much self-assurance, I found myself trusting his word on it.

“Jerry, prepare the device. We’re going in,” Fred called to his soldier.

The only problem was, this wasn’t the entrance to the Bridge. He’d followed us to the wrong location. It gave us an opportunity, albeit a slim one.

“Why don’t you go scope it out, Fred? Let us help you. If what you say is true, I won’t fight you on this. I’ve been tricked by Hunter Madison. He lied about everything.” I hoped my acting classes from the ninth grade were paying off.

Fred stared at me, walking closer. “Cliff, go up the path. Check if there’s an entrance nearby.”

The soldier nearest Tripp jogged off, gun barrel bobbing as his helmet’s light guided his path toward the mountain peak. He was quickly swallowed in the fog.

We didn’t have long. Once Cliff realized there was no cavern, he’d return, and we’d be in trouble. I nudged Marcus with my elbow, and he must have sent a signal to Tripp behind him.

It was three against four, five if you counted my sister, but they were each armed.

Beverly shouted at Fred, cursing him for what he’d done to her and the kids, and he started to turn. I took the chance.

I barreled into Fred and heard the gunshots behind me as Tripp fired at Jerry near the helicopter. Fred’s gun fell to the rocks, and my own wound stretched, a pain tearing through my stomach. I scrambled over him,