by Phil Maxey
“You have a plan?”
“As much of one as we can think up, yeah.”
Michael let out a sigh, a puff of white mist bellowed out from his mouth. “I’ll see what the plan is.”
Zach’s radio came to life with Fiona’s voice. “We’re be there soon there’s something I need to take care of. Over.”
Zach and the group took the elevator down and were soon standing in the Central Operations hall. General Trow, Major General Garland and the stout woman who Zach recognized as one of the council members were standing discussing something. As Zach entered, General Trow waved them over.
“This is Amanda Holland, she’s in charge of logistics in the camp. I believe you have already met Major General Garland.”
“That was some nice work bringing the Brownstoner’s back, but now you have to bring a whole lot more people into our camp, you think you can do it Captain?” said Ms. Holland. Before Zach could reply she continued. “Because we are risking a lot of vehicles and fuel for this rescue mission.”
“And my solders Amanda,” said General Trow cutting in.
“Of course General, and the fine fighting men and woman of General Trow’s forces to rescue these people, you have to be damn sure you can pull it off.”
“I wouldn’t be standing here now if I didn’t think I could…ma’am,” Zach said with a not so subtle false smile. Ms. Holland smiled the same false smile back.
Breaking the silence Garland spoke. “Shall we go over the plan?” She then talked to one of the officers sitting at a nearby desk and a map of the United States and specifically Texas came up on the large screens. “The route we have planned out for you is not the most direct, but it should be the safest, largely avoiding areas of known E.L.F’s habitats, until you get to the national forests of Oregon. If you keep to a schedule of roughly six-hours driving each day you should get to the Portland camp in six days. By then we calculate they would have lost a further seventy-two people. Each day longer it takes you to get to Portland they will probably lose another twelve people. So don’t detour unless you absolutely have too.” The door behind opened and Cal and Fiona entered the hall, Fiona trying to hide her breathlessness. “As I was saying, each day you should make it to the next staging point, where hopefully you will meet up with people we have been in contact with. These locals should provide you with supplies or at least tell you where you can obtain them. Sergeant Bass will be your second in command, he’s already with the men and vehicles at east gate three. I also understand that you have requested that some civilians go with you? I hope you have made it clear to them the nature of this mission.”
“It’s because of the nature of this mission that I have asked for them.”
“Dr. Joshi, one of our chief scientists has asked to join you as well.”
“He’s going to get himself killed,” said Ms. Holland her hands tightening around the top of the chair she was holding “And we don’t have many with his expertize.”
“We will take good care of him.”
“I believe you already have a map General Trow gave you last night?” Zach nodded.
“Okay then, we will check on your status every two hours. I wish you all the best of luck.” Zach and his team shook hands with their commanding officers and took the short journey back up to the parking area outside.
“So we’re really doing this then,” said Fiona as they were walking back to the pickup.
“Looks that way.”
“Would have been nice to have more than thirty minutes planning to go on a sixteen-hundred mile rescue mission.”
Zach smiled. “When was anything we did easy?”
The ride to number three east gate would have been a pleasant one if it weren’t for the unknowns that were piled up in front of them. As they approached the wall, the back of convoy could already be seen, with a Humvee being the rear-most vehicle. A soldier waved them down to the front of the convoy past the buses and coaches, until they stopped near a group of soldiers. Sergeant Bass walked up to them as soon as Zach got out of the pickup, and saluted.
“No need for that Sergeant, or calling me Sir, just call me Zach. What’s our status?”
The Sergeant wasn’t sure how to continue. “The…all vehicles apart from the old school bus are in good shape. There’s a civilian working on it now.” Zach knew who the ‘civilian’ would be.
“Good, and are we on track to leave at ten-hundred hours?”
“If the civilian gets the bus fixed yes… s… yes.”
“Good, how are the men and women, have they seen action against E.L.F’s before?”
“Most have. But everyone’s ready to get the Portland people back here.”
Zach looked across to some troops who stood looking anxiously near the first few vehicles. “Get them all over here, I want to talk to them.” The Sergeant waved the troops over, and they stood in a small huddle in front of Zach, with his team close behind.
“I don’t know what most of you here know about myself and my friends behind me, maybe you’ve heard rumors, well let me tell you the truth. Just over a week ago we were in a military prison in new Mexico.” The sound of astonishment rippled through the young faces in front of Zach. Sergeant Bass noticed the rise in emotion.
“Settle down everyone, listen to what your commanding officer has to say.”
Zach could also feel the discomfort in his comrades behind him, but continued. “I know, the fact that I’m here today, about to take all of you across the country to rescue a bunch of folks in Portland is pretty crazy. But I don’t have to tell all of you how crazy the world is that we live in. But something that is not crazy is helping those people get to this camp. That’s the most normal, human thing any of us can do. And we’re going to do our best to make that happen.” Zach stepped back a little.
“You heard the man, everyone to their vehicles.”
“Nice speech,” said Fiona smiling, Michael patted Zach on the back.
Zach turned to Abbey who had a big proud grin on her face, and smiled back at her. He then turned and addressed the Sergeant. “Myself, Abbey, Michael and Jacob will be in the first Humvee,” The Sergeant went to protest but Zach continued. “I need to be up front, Sergeant. Fiona and Cal will be in one of the rear Humvees.” The Sergeant nodded.
Fiona approached Zach and said something in his ear. Zach looked along the convoy and rubbed his chin. “All our supplies are in that truck?” he said to the Sergeant.
“Yes…”
“If it makes you feel better, you can use Sir.” The Sergeant visibly relaxed.
“Okay, I’m going to need fifty percent of those supplies, food, water, fuel whatever’s in there to be disseminated between the buses and coaches.”
The Sergeant looked unsure but then a realization passed over his face. “Yes, Sir.”
Even with the limited number of vehicles they had at their disposal the convoy was an impressive sight. Two Humvees at the front, then six buses, mostly school buses and a few city buses as well, then another Humvee, then a military supply truck, then more buses and the two coaches. The final vehicle was another Humvee. Zach spotted Rob standing next to the old school bus and walked over to him. As he got closer he spotted Tyler and Earl sitting in the bus.
“Rob, why are they here?” Zach then lowered his voice. “Tyler’s still a kid.”
“Morning to you too Zach… they’re my family and they go where I go.”
Zach breathed in heavily, then moved closer to Rob. “This is a dangerous mission, there will be casualties. They will be safer here.”
Rob straightened his posture. “They go, where I go.”
Zach paused before replying. “Okay, if that’s what you want. Where are we with getting this thing running, we move out in thirty minutes.”
Rob looked up to Earl who was sitting in the drivers seat. “Turn her over Earl.” The Buses engine fired up and sat idling, sounding smooth. “If I were a betting man I’ll bet ya that she’ll make it all the way to Po
rtland and back, outlast any of these others.”
Zach smiled. “Let’s hope so.”
The sound of a vehicle pulling up behind made Zach turn around. Major McCain was driving, Jacks was in the passenger’s seat and Dr. Joshi was in the rear seat.
“Looks like you were about to leave without me,” said Jacks, pulling his gun and backpack from the car. “Where you want me?”
“Middle Humvee.” As Jacks walked away Dr. Joshi struggled with pulling a suitcase out of the back of the car and Major McCain approached Zach.
“How you managed to get this mission, is a mystery to me, the general must really have a thing for you Captain.”
Zach felt anger start to swell up inside, but resisted letting it show. “Just right time, right place kind of thing… Sir.”
“Yeah well, it’s basically a suicide mission, so maybe she doesn’t like you that much after all,” McCain said with a lopped sided smile, then turned and returned to his car.
“Who’s that asshole?” said Rob.
“Someone we don’t have to deal with again for a long time. Have you got supplies on board? Food, water?”
“Yeah we got a decent stash back there, I know I look like I eat a lot...” Rob laughed.
“I’m sure we will find supplies on the way,” said Zach smiling.
McCain pulled off spinning the wheels in the mud. Dr. Joshi staggered over to Zach, only managing to lift his suitcase a few inches off the ground.
“Morning. Dr.”
“Please, Raj.”
“Okay, Raj, what is in that suitcase of yours that is so important that it’s worth bringing with you?”
“Lab equipment. If we can get blood samples from enough E.L.F’s I might be able… well it might help us understand how they came about. What vehicle should I ride in?” Zach looked at Rob, who instantly understood why he was being looked at and sighed.
“How’s this fine, vintage bus suit you?” said Zach.
“Will suit me fine,” said Raj smiling. Rather than seeing the Dr. struggle anymore with his suitcase, Rob took it from him like it weighed half as much and placed it on one of the back seats. Raj then got on, introducing himself to Tyler and Earl.
As the time approached 10 am, the vehicles engines fired up. Zach sat in the lead Humvee, staring at the massive steel gates in front of him and planning out the journey ahead. “Are we ready Sergeant? Over.”
“All ready, Sir.” Replied Bass who was in the middle Humvee with Jacks and another soldier.
Abbey sat in the passenger’s seat, her mind kept going back to Rays notebook about the man sat behind her. Ever since she read Ray’s words she felt nervous around Jacob, and even more nervous that he knew that. Either way she was not going to let her guard down and if possible was going to get to the bottom of what Ray’s suspicions were, she owed him that much. She also wondered what use she would be on this mission, her expertize was computers and not even computer hardware, but software. Maybe just being here and supporting Zach would be enough.
Michael stood in the confinement of the Humvee’s gun position rubbing his hands together. He never loved the cold and was usually ill with some kind of ailment when he was home in San Francisco. He wondered what his old haunts looked like now. Maybe they were reclaimed by nature with trees and vines growing everywhere. He smiled when he thought about his parents. The idea that they would survive the Cascade was so impossible it never entered his mind before, and when he did see them less than a week ago, he felt shame for writing them off so easily. He placed his hand on the 50. Cal gun, and swung it left and right slightly. He wasn’t eager to use it.
Jacob sat back in the Humvee’s semi comfortable seats and looked out at the wall. From his position he couldn’t see the top, but it was still easy to marvel at the achievement of building it. His gaze moved to the side mirror and the view of the convoy of vehicles stretching out behind them. In his mind the math’s of the situation played out, number of vehicles times the people they had to rescue, times the chance of finding more, equations formed and faded. Eventually they all gave the same result. A suicide mission indeed he thought.
Fiona sat tapping the steering wheel. “Hate being at the back, we can’t see what the hell we are moving into”
“That’s why Zach’s at the front, we just gotta make sure nothing comes up on our six,” said Cal, sitting in the passenger’s seat. A young solder stood behind him on the main gun. “You okay back there private?” shouted Fiona.
“I’m fine thank you ma’am,” said the soldier.
“What’s your name, son?”
“Private Teller, ma’am.”
“Stay sharp.”
“Will do, ma’am.”
*****
The Heath household was well prepared for Christmas by this point in December, and smoke bellowed from their single chimney. Sarah Heath had asked Stephanie to go to the local market and get some vegetables for their upcoming Christmas dinner, but this was actually just an excuse to get her out of the house so they could wrap presents. Stephanie put her coat on and opened the door. Walking forward her foot touched something making her stop. On the doorstep was a small hastily wrapped parcel, with a small note. “Happy Christmas, Stephanie, love Fiona.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
As they drove through the gate a scene looking not that dislike the killing fields from a warzone, stretched out for miles north and south. Rotting unrecognizable carcasses, the remains of hundreds of creatures lay scattered mixed with the scared landscape. The smell made most in the convoy cover their noises as they drove past, and onto the highway taking them to the northwest.
The first few miles were filled with featureless green-brown fields glistening with frost, only broken up by the occasional empty single storied home and barn. At one point Sergeant Bass warned of an upcoming creak they were passing over, and that there could be E.L.F activity, but it had dried up.
“Back to the desert,” said Abbey despairingly.
“Luckily for us the more arid the land, the less E.L.F’s there are, but we will be in forest and mountain country soon enough,” said Zach.
As more monotone landscape passed by Zach’s radio came to life.
“We spotted some land based E.L.F’s about two hundred yards south. Shall we engage? Over,” said Sergeant Bass.
Zach strained his eyes to see the creatures in the distance. Beyond an old cemetery the horse like creatures they met their first night in the desert where grazing. “No, leave them be. Over.”
“We have standing orders to kill all E.L.F’s we come across. Over.”
“Not anymore. Over.”
Dr. Joshi looked at the grazing creatures in the distance with some small binoculars and an exited look on his face.
“You seem to have a thing for these things,” said Tyler.
“Equpods.”
“What?”
“That’s their name, it’s a mash up of the Latin name for horse and armadillo. I named it myself. Never seen them in the wild before. Here, take a look.” Raj handed the binoculars to Tyler, who looked and smiled. “See, they don’t look so fierce do they?”
“Stay alert, Tyler,” Rob shouted out from the front of the bus. Tyler gave Raj the binoculars back.
Soon the convoy came within a few miles of the first town on their route.
“We’re about to go through a small town, keep up a good pace, don’t slow down unless you have too. Once we get through it we will be passing a large body of water to our south, it’s likely to have E.L.F’s in its vicinity so stay alert, and report what you see. Over,” said Zach.
The road widened to four lanes and large wooden signs appeared on the side of the road. As gas stations and warehouses flashed by a large sign for a supermarket stood proudly on the side of the road.
“I know it’s not the plan, but this supermarket is pretty remote, has lots of space for us to park up and might have more food and water for us. We might not get another opportunity like this. Over,” sa
id Fiona. A few seconds passed before Zach responded.
“We keep moving. Over,” responded Zach.
The warehouses and factories became shops, as they made their way into the center of the town.
“Shit,” said Zach. Ahead of them at the junction they were rapidly approaching, cars at wrong angles littered all lanes. “There are cars blocking the route up ahead, we need to stop. Over.” The convoy slowed then stopped. Zach pulled out the map and examined the streets around their location.
“Can’t we just go round?” said Abbey.
“This is the way to the main road, all the other routes take us closer to the reservoir. Or we go another much longer route, which will probably add another hour.” Zach scratched his head.
“We’re going to take a closer look, everyone else hang back. Over.” Zach slowly drove the Humvee up to the first car and stopped. He then got out and climbed onto the hood of the Humvee. “If we…” Before Zach could continue, the ground shook, making him spread his arms out to keep his balance. Zach looked around him but there was no sign of anything suspicious. “Do they get earthquakes…” Again the ground shook, but this time so violently that Zach lost his footing and fell side wards landing with a clump on the asphalt road. He quickly got to his feet and looked around. Abbey went to get out, but he put his hand up stopping her. The sound of crunching and scraping metal in the distance came from beyond the building directly in front of him.
Zach ran past the cars, jumping over the hoods of some. When he got to the junction, he kept on running, over the grass of the town square and down the side of the large historic building in the center. As soon as he got to the opposite side he could see the source of the noise and rumbling. About four hundred yards away, smashing and tangling with power lines and vehicles were the centipede type creatures they had seen on their way out of Roswell. But this wasn’t just one of them, this was a pack. Six or seven of them, each one of them as big as a semi-truck and armored like a tank. Zach turned and started running back from where he came. As he crossed the square he looked to his right towards their planned route and it looked pretty clear.