Knight realized he may have overacted a bit at Carter, after all, he was right, there was no way the man should have been able to even stand, “Sorry, I suppose you’re right. I did shoot the man several times, only after I shot him in the head did he finally stop.”
“Something about the man didn’t look right. Did you see his eyes?” asked Carter.
Knight thought back to just a few moments before, when he first laid eyes on the man. It was clear that the infection had run its course through the man. The question still remained, how was he alive? The infection was supposed to kill people, not allow them to receive critical wounds that should result in death.
Carter stood up, “Well before I heard you tell that man to freeze, I had checked the rest of the floor. I didn’t see any more bodies.”
“Well, let’s double check just to be safe,” stated Knight with some skepticism.
Knight checked all the offices on the opposite side of the building, finding that Carter was right. There were no signs that anyone else was on the floor, living or dead. The returned to the rooftop and began grabbing supplies and moving them to the floor below. Knight decided to take over the conference room closest to the door they had entered the floor from to store their supplies in. Smith had begun to move the radio equipment down into the office closest to the door, running cables up to the communications tower on the roof.
It was already late in the night when they decided to do their mission, having arrived about twelve hours late due to rough seas. Now, however, time seemed to go too fast and was already saying two a.m. on Knight’s watch. They still had no contact with their command or any of the other teams. Knight stood up and called Smith and Ramirez over. They had cleared the top floor now, having moved several desks from an office and moved the cots into it instead.
Throughout the time that it took them to clear the floor, the Survivor had stirred but only a few times, muttering some incoherent words. Ramirez began to worry about the Survivor and gave him some sedatives, just in case he woke up and became violent. The last thing they needed was a violent, crazed man to deal with.
Chapter 10
What the world knew
Not even a whisper was heard about what had happened. Sure, the blackout had reached the nightly news and was broadcasted worldwide. The world had turned its eyes towards images of a dead nation, completely silent. The pictures that the news showed were images from satellites that showed a void of blackness where a catacomb of lights should have been. Newscasters reported on a complete quarantine around the country, no ship or airplane was allowed within twenty miles of the island nation. Some people wondered what had happened. Most others thought ‘how terrible,’ but then went back to their lives. As a whole, only the governments cared what had happened to the country of Japan. Even then, their only interests were that of the economic and military kind.
What about all the money American’s had invested in Japan’s overseas markets? What about all military power that we had stationed in Japan? Why hadn’t anyone heard anything from Japan at all, a warning, a cry for help? What about all those resources going to waste over there?
These were the question that the people asked their government. The government didn’t the answers to these questions, however. The best the government could do was say, “We are readying our military to provide help and support to Japan.” That didn’t do much good since they didn’t know what kind of help Japan needed. There had been a media blanket before Japan went dark. In response, America opted to send in a team to recon the capital of Japan, Tokyo.
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Knight sometimes wondered why the government was so eager to help other governments when things were at their worst. Whenever things weren’t at the worst, however, they looked down upon the other countries and governments. It made him wonder how the human race had survived this long. His government had on occasion sent him to do things that he wasn’t proud of. Things that if the public knew about they would call for the heads of many of the politicians they had elected in the first place.
It wasn’t his place though, to question his government. Sometimes he had his doubts like any other soldier about his government and the path it took them all on. He also understood there were worse options, governments that oppressed their people, took their rights in the name of gods and for the betterment of the whole. He like many other Americans enjoyed his freedoms and would fight to keep them. He saw the things he had to do as a necessary tradeoff for those freedoms. Nothing was ever free, especially a person’s freedoms.
Knight relished in the fact that he was one of the few people that could say that he had fought and shed blood for the stars and stripes. That was something very few people could say they had done or, at least, had the guts to do it. Knight, at least, knew what he fought for, and for that, he was grateful. It was a feeling very few in the world knew. Some things, the essential things that gave a person purpose were the greatest feelings in the world. Knight was one of those people that had an important purpose.
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Several hours before the teams were sent to infiltrate the city, they were all huddled together in a briefing room on the command ship. They received more details about the situation of the city; there was no power, and highly unlikely that they were to find only a very few survivors within the city. It had been some time since any functioning society had been in the city, so many people had probably died from starvation or dehydration.
Things in the city sounded grim, thought Knight. He still wondered how the virus devastated the country so quickly. He knew how to get the job done even in the worst circumstances.
During the briefing the men shuffled in anxiety, waiting almost two days to get to where their mission was to begin. They all perked up though when the Officer giving the briefing said there was a slight change in plans. Changes to plans this late in the game were never good. Sometimes it even meant a change in the operation altogether.
“It seems that our attempt to beat the storm front failed, so you will all have to be doing low altitude jumps,” said the officer briefing the men. “For time sake, it seems that the only option available is to have you rappel off a Chinook helicopter. The severe weather won’t allow for the high altitude jumps we had prepared for you.” The Officer said.
The men all cursed silently in their heads; nothing was worse than the weather changing your landing mission.
The Officer continued, “The command ship will reach the distance to send reinforcements within several hours of your landing. You should have your objectives completed by this time. It should only be a simple recon mission. I highly doubt any of you will even have to fire a shot.”
“Remember men, the eyes of the world will be on you after your return. We are going to be the ones that bring the nation of Japan back from collapse. America will be the first to have their name go down in history as the nation that could get it done!” The Officer then left the room, and the men began to get out of their seats.
A few of them started the small talk, bullshitting each other. Knight, however, chuckled to himself at the Officer’s last remark. He laughed at the notion that the world was watching them. Frankly, Knight thought, if the world knew what any of the men in the room did it would be a political nightmare. He felt the less the world knew what he did, the better.
Chapter 11
The Pilots
Smith sat by the radio, flipping through the military frequencies every so often, hoping to reach someone. The receiver, unfortunately, was only meant to be a temporary solution until the cavalry arrived. The standard protocol was to set up a satellite link to the military communications line. That way they had a reliable means to get ahold of anyone they needed to whenever they needed to. Smith, however, was stuck with the radio that only had the range of twenty miles out. That meant that either one of two things, the command ship was delayed, or worse a bad radio. Smith hoped that it wasn’t that latter of the two and that the command ship and its two esco
rt ships were delayed. He took a quick break from switching through the channels, sighing deeply.
Smith’s life as a Communication Technician was never very exciting. Typically, he was left with the gear that was too cumbersome to be continuously carried around. He also assisted on overwatch during missions. Other than that, small duties though he usually just sat around, although that didn’t bother him that much. Smith looked out over the city at night, staring at each monolith, wondering if anyone was in those buildings right now watching him.
The blackness of the city frightened him, but he wasn’t going to tell the others. Military men aren’t supposed to show or say that they were scared. Half the time they didn’t have to, each man knew that in some way or another, they were all scared. Smith remembered times when his parents would tell him, never to be afraid of the dark, and eventually, after a small argument, he would end up in his parent’s bed. That seemed like eons ago, a distant life. The military showed him not to overcome fear, but how to stare it right in the eyes. Maybe that’s why he couldn’t take his eyes off the city. He turned back to the radio after a moment and decided to switch it back over to the main channel they were assigned.
“This is Big Bird two, any call signs copy?” a desperate voice called over the radio.
Smith, who was stretching, lunged forward and quickly held down the button to transmit. “Big Bird two, this is Delta team what is your actual?” Smith said into the microphone. There was a slight crackle of a bad connection. “Bravo, we are about six miles out from the Forward Base position.” The pilot seemed glad to hear another voice. “We were bingo on fuel about two hours ago. So, we might have enough fuel left to get to you Delta team. Big Bird one lost their long-range radio but is reporting the same status on fuel.” The pilot still had a bit of edge in his voice this time.
Smith yelled for Knight, “Quick! I got radio contact!” He turned his focus back to the radio. “Look Big Bird, let’s be frank here. What is the situation out there? We can’t seem to hail the command ship or any of the other teams.”
“Well,” said the pilot, “We found the command ship…
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The pilot of the helicopter, code-named Big Bird two, was already unnerved by the loss of his fellow airmen when the helicopter crashed back at the city. They knew there was nothing they could do when they saw the explosion. They radioed command, getting only static. It had only been three hours since the crew had loaded up and they departed. They had enough fuel for six hours of flight but would only need about four. They chalked up the lack of response from the command ship on lousy connection due to weather.
The pilots had been notified last minute that they were going to be the ones dropping the soldiers into the mission. The previous plan had been to have them flown in to do a high-altitude jump. Which did not include the helicopter pilots in that plan initially, but they were part of it now. It wasn’t an ordinary occurrence that the military quickly changed their plans and held to them like they had this one. Typically, if weather conditions didn’t permit for flying, they would hold off until they knew they had the all clear. This mission apparently held a significant prominence with the men back at Washington. Even with a massive storm front just a few miles behind them, they still gave the ok to launch the mission.
Even the pilots of the Chinook helicopters thought this mission was a bust. It was crazy to have men jump out of helicopters in the first place, with a storm fast approaching. The men in charge were in such a rush though that this was their decision. It would be one of the most insane ops the pilot had flown before. He wanted to protest but thought better of being thrown in the brig for being insubordinate.
The pilot snapped back to the present time, having a sinking feeling that now he should have just protested, and been thrown in the brig. Things weren’t looking too good. Big Bird one had faulty wiring causing their radio to reach a concise range of half a mile. On top of that was the primary problem that both helicopters faced, dwindling fuel. They had reached half tanks about an hour before.
Usually, this wouldn’t be a problem since they did the estimated math for fuel before takeoff. The helicopters should have reached the command ship around, this time, leaving them plenty of fuel. However, nowhere in sight was the command ship. Both pilots agreed to keep along in the path the command ship would have been on to reach their current position.
They again sent out a radio call for the command ship, with no answer. Hoping the storm front directly ahead of the helicopters wouldn’t reach them by the time they found the ship, they went forward. It wasn’t long before they saw the massive ship in the sea.
Drawing in closer, they made it out to be the command ship. Calling to the air control tower; still no answer. The helicopters were now only about a mile away from the ship. The two boats that were supposed to escort were nowhere in sight. The pilots didn’t notice though with their minds on one single thing, getting back to the command ship.
Big Bird one took priority for landing with its malfunctioning radio. Both helicopters approached the ship. Big Bird two hovered several hundred feet above the deck of the command ship. It was a US military aircraft carrier. Capable of holding all sorts of aircraft it was ideal for this mission. It could also boast a respectable amount of souls onboard.
However, not even one of the souls that were supposed to be on the deck was around. No men to lead in the helicopters on their landings.
Big Bird one approached a suitable spot to land its craft slowly hovering closer and closer to the deck. It was only about thirty feet from the flight deck when the pilot of Big Bird two saw men in the command tower. Odd he thought, mainly because no one had answered their calls. It looked like three men were running towards the other side of the command tower control room. Leading to a dead end of control consoles they stopped and turned around. Two of them raised their rifles towards the door they had just entered. Shortly after a few more men entered the room, but with a slow gait, making their way after the three men.
The rifles burst to life, bright flashes one after another. A few of the men entering the room went down.
“Big Bird one, it looks like there is small arms fire coming from the command tower. I don’t know what the hell is going on, but it might not be the best bet to land.”
“Big Bird two, what the hell do you suggest? We are running low on fuel as it is. Maybe we can help the men caught in the firefight.”
The three men looked like they were about to be overwhelmed. That is when the door of the command tower leading out onto the deck burst open. A man and a woman ran out, sprinting for the helicopters, waving their hands attempting to get the pilots attention.
“Big Bird two, I am going to land, we have personnel running from the command tower.”
Big Bird one landed just as the pair made it to the helicopter. The ramp began to lower, with the co-pilot at the back pointing his rifle down the deck of the ship. The man and woman scrambled up onto the ramp and into the helicopter. The ramp slowly ascended.
The pilot of Big Bird one heard the two personnel now aboard the helicopter. The ramp started to close. He turned back seeing both the man and the woman doubled over breathing heavily. The man turned his head towards the pilot, “TAKE OFF! NOW!!!” he screamed.
Something about the way the man said it, the fear in his eyes, told the pilot all he needed to know. Without another thought, the pilot of Big Bird one took off.
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“Well,” said the pilot, “We did find the command ship, but it was derelict with only two personnel retrieved.”
“What?! How is that possible? We just were on the command ship about five hours ago, what could have happened?” Smith said into the microphone. Smith turned back around towards the other tents on the roof. “Knight!”
Knight jogged around the corner of an air-conditioning unit, Ramirez following shortly after him. Both stared at Smith with apprehensive faces. Not knowing what Smith was yelling about.
“Sir, I have the pilot of one of the helicopters on the radio. It isn’t looking good, but the other chopper is fine as well. Both are inbound to our location.” Said Smith.
“So, are they here to recall us? This mission doesn’t have the same parameters that it did when we started. I will…” Knight trailed off at the sight of Smith’s face. It didn’t convey what Knight was hoping for. It slightly frightened him. He knew what the answer was to his question, and it could only mean one thing.
“Sir, the pilots are saying that they found the command ship, but that it was derelict, and they only made off with two survivors.” Smith turned back towards the radio. “What is your eta Big Bird?”
“About, five minutes,” said the pilot. “We will need assistance with landing since its night. Our Night vision goggles should help, though.”
Knight turned back towards Ramirez who had just joined the conversation. “Ramirez, we have two birds about to land on this roof, I need you to go find some flares or something to help them with their landings.”
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The pilot of the helicopter regularly checked his fuel gauge. It was almost empty. He hoped they could make it to the men on the roof in time. He didn’t particularly enjoy the idea of smashing into the ground as his friend had several hours earlier. He just told the man whom he had been in contact with on the roof they had about 5 minutes till they reached them.
Not more than a minute after that, a red light started to flash. The warning light had come on. The helicopter was out of fuel. There was no way they could make it in time. Now the squawk of an alarm sounded. The pilot looked out up at the rotor blades, which were now beginning to slow down. “Shit, Big Bird one I am tapped out on fuel. Warning lights just came on. Um… Yep there go the engines. We are losing altitude.” Telling the other pilot what was happening.
The pilot checked all the gauges on his console. He held the helicopter as best as he could, but it started to sway around regardless. “I am going to have to try to land it on the street!”
What Remains: The Outbreak Page 4