Salamander

by Harley Hanna

  Chapter 10

  With our packs overflowing with C4 and assault rifles, we headed back to the cross. We strutted through the forest, now with more confidence and optimism. Thing were looking up, with this many explosives, it looked like we might actually be able to kill this thing.

  We headed through the forest, trying to make the trip in a day this time, not wanting to waste a moment. We trudged through the clutter of the knocked down trees and rotting logs, quickly running over the path the colossal giant left in the middle of the woods.

  Before nightfall, we reached the clearing. The sky was full of the orange glow the sun left, as it said its farewells. The blue sky changed, evolving into black, introducing the moon to the world. Stars started to appear as twilight descended upon the woods.

  We approached the clearing, I saw the cross sitting in the middle as it always had. We walked through the crossing, pushing through the tall grass, and finding the hatch to the bunker. We stopped and crouched beneath the grass as I rapped my knuckles on the metal hatch.

  The hatch popped open, revealing the barrel of a gun in my face. “It’s just us Raul.” I said.

  “Sorry, gotta take precautions. Damn am I glad to see you guys.” He said, lowering his gun and waving us inside.

  We made our way down the ladder, getting Rig, Tim, and Dardian all inside.

  “Well this looks familiar.” Rig said, chuckling as we walked through an alternate version of his home.

  “Don’t mind the clutter.” Tim said.

  “Come on guys, Jack’s going to want to meet Rig.” I said, moving through the narrow tunnels.

  We weaved through the halls, making our way towards Jack’s office. People stared wherever we went, whether it was at me or Rig, I couldn’t tell. The one thing I did know was that people were surprised to see that we made it home.

  We reached Jack’s office, before I could knock on the door, Dardian grabbed my shoulder.

  “I think I’m gonna head back to my room, I could really use a shower.” He said, giving me a look before he walked away.

  I didn’t say anything to him before he left. I only knocked, hoping that Jack was in. After a few seconds of silence, he whipped open the door. He stared at us with his eyes wide open in amazement. He had bags under his eyes, he looked like hadn’t slept or eaten in days.

  “Where’s Dardian?” He said, worry in his voice.

  “He’s fine, he just went to his room to recuperate.” I said, immediately crushing any doubt that our mission failed.

  He gave a sigh of relief and ran his fingers through his hair. He turned around and walked back to his desk, waving us in after him. “Close the door behind you.” He said.

  I sat down beside Rig in front of the desk, Tim stood behind us.

  “So, I’m assuming this is who was in the bunker?” Jack said, taking my nod as an answer. “Well, what might your name be sir.”

  “You can call me Rig. And yours?” He responded.

  “Jack Perry. I’m the head of this place, if you have any questions, you can direct them to me.” He said. “Hopefully my team has already told you about what we have planned?”

  “You’re gonna kill that thing, and I want to help.” Rig responded, sitting up in his chair.

  “That’s the answer I was hoping for.” Jack said, with a smile. He leaned back in his chair and rubbed his forehead. “Now for the question I don’t want to ask. What did you find?”

  I stood up, taking off my pack, and dumping the contents on his desk, before him lay at least ten bricks of C4. Tim stood up after me, dumping his bag as well revealing more guns than we’d be able to use. Jack let out a sigh of relief at the sight of the weapons.

  “So we have a shot.” Jack said, he looked like a weight had been lifted off of his shoulders.

  “We have more than a shot. We have a thousand shots.” Tim said, holding up one of the assault rifles. Jack smiled, standing up from his chair.

  “Rig, it looks like you’re our guardian angel.” He said, putting his hand out.

  Rig stood up and shook his hand, he smiled, he looked happy. He looked like he’d found a place he could belong, where he fit in. I felt great, like I had actually helped someone. In this wasteland, desolate and devoid of hope, that was rare.

  They both sat back down, getting ready to discuss what to do with all this. The tone of the room became serious, and Jack looked to me for answers.

  “Well ‘Head of Assault’. What are we doing with all of this, and when?”

  I didn’t know what to say, I hadn’t thought what would happen when we actually got what we needed. I never thought I would make it this far, but I couldn’t let them know that. I walked across the room, looking around the room, thinking of what to do.

  “We can’t sneak up on him, it’s impossible and too dangerous.” I said, looking away from the group, my arms folded.

  “Why not?” Rig asked.

  “He can hear us too well. He can hear us from a mile away. He can even see us, through the trees. We’re like rats to him, just running around on the ground, ready to be grabbed.” I responded. I’d seen firsthand what happens when he catches one.

  “Well what do we do then?” Tim said, the whole group looking to me.

  “We set a trap. That’s the only way, and then we distract him. We guide him right into the trap and…Boom.” I said. It was a vague remnant of a plan, but it would work for now. We could discuss specifics later.

  “A trap. That could work.” Jack said, looking at me with hope. Or something that looked like hope, something I hadn’t seen in a while.

  “I’m gonna need help on this one though, we’re going to need a lot of people. We’ll discuss specifics tomorrow. Right now, I could use some sleep.” I said, grabbing my pack.

  “Karia’s right, we should take a day and think. Tomorrow night, we can develop a plan and then execute it. For now, you all need to rest. I’ll give Rig here a tour of the facilities.” Jack said. “You all did a great job here. Make sure you pass that on to Dardian as well.” He told us.

  Tim and I exited the room, going our separate ways. I made my way back to my room, empty pack slung over my shoulder.

  When I got to my room, I opened my door, throwing my pack on the floor. I started taking off my clothes, needing the cleansing hot waters of my shower. I started the water and waited for it to get hot, after that, I stepped into the steam.

  I stood under the water, letting it envelope me. For the first time in a long time, I felt hope. Instead of seeing his face, and seeing the destruction of us all, I saw triumph. I could see it now, I felt it everywhere. This was going to work, and all I needed to do, was sleep.