Chapter 15
Thomas
He had found them, watching from a distance as they had made the town dangerous, trapped, and ready for him. It wasn’t enough. He didn’t know all the points but enough to set off a trap to enter the few basements that had been discovered by the hacker from a deep dive into the old records. Some of these houses were used for fallout shelters to see if that made a difference for subjects hit with the radiation from bombs set off through the desert, testing the results before using them against the nation's enemies. He left several grenades, pulling the pins, causing damage randomly, and hiding where he was going. He found which house they had set up camp in, one without a useful basement, but nearby, he just had to make it through the structures' broken remnants to approach the house. The man would leave the house, leaving Clark time to get into the house to kill the woman and set up the house to take out the man before leaving. Neither would survive before Thomas returned to hiding. They knew what he looked like again as the heat had been turning on full blast. He would enjoy a vacation once these two were dead.
He felt the explosions of his grenades, powerful and dangerous, as a new set went off, meaning he hit some of the traps waiting for him around the town. Fewer things he had to watch for on his exit. Crawling through the tunnels, long collapsed upon age and weight, he was able to cross nearly a quarter of the zone without leaving the crawl spaces. He would be close enough to the house to surprise the woman in hiding. She was right in the desert, but she would go quickly with a gun in a small space. He had to worry about the military man given his training, but he had backup plans ready, the thrill of the hunt taking him.
Exiting the dingy house remains, he could make out fires around the town several buildings had caught, kindling for the destruction he was bringing. The flames might help him smoke out the man once Thomas finished with her, the one who started this hunt, an unexpected thrill unwanted and needed but a rush all the same.
Crossing the pass, he left several grenades around for his return. He cut which wires he could make out in the new light blazing the area in feral flames. He snuck past the trap he could make out at the side of the house. Everything here had been boarded up and prepared for him, not leaving many entrances but even fewer exits. He left one of the small mines at the front. In case she ran out, he would take her out and hit the back entrance.
He pulled down the shotgun, blasted through the door handle, and kicked the remains out of the way. He heard noise everywhere, fires and explosions, but he could make out the movements within the house. She knew he was here and started to run. He wanted her to fight, attempt to at the very least, but it sounded like she was going to run instead of trying to defend herself. He thought a pity to enter the house to make his way through a similar layout as the rest of the homes burning around them. The smell of burning clouded his senses, unable to sniff her out through the pitiful house. He searched the small kitchen and living area as the front door unopened. Turning, he found the bedroom doors all closed with wood snapping from within the main bedroom. She was trying to escape through a window. He nearly laughed but resisted the urge, shooting through the door. He could see her, up close and personal. She was taller than he expected, almost six feet of an angry female with odd-colored eyes and fire already blazing around her in the room. The breaking wood came from the woodpile burning within the room, the smoke a dangerous smoky and then floral scent, something he hadn’t smelled before. He leveled the shotgun at her with a smile.
“You gave me many problems, and now this hunt is done,” he spoke casually, not often given a chance to talk to his prey. This one had turned his life upside down, giving him an actual hunt before his new vacation began. He could give her a moment in the room of smoke and fire. She didn’t scream, cry, or even move. She just returned his smile with a brighter, whiter one as she spoke one word.
The room exploded, a fiery ball hitting him in the chest, sending him back into the hallway through the weakened wall into the dining area with a scream. The fire tore into him, burning him from within. He began to roll, attempting to put out the flames she had thrown at him. He screamed as fire licked through him, dancing into his lungs, killing him even as he tried to live. Nothing was putting out the fire. It kept burning through him, dangerous like a white phosphorous grenade or something. He couldn’t stop it. He only saw her look at him from the wall before disappearing out of the back of the house. He felt the fire destroying him, taking everything within him along with it. The explosion of his remaining grenades finished the job before the fire consumed him.