“Did Shelley get you brought up to speed?”
Colt didn’t know where to begin. “I guess. It’s kind of a lot to take in.”
“That’s gonna have to do. Walk with me.”
Colt was following on the heels of his brother, when someone shouted from behind. “Jake Maddox?”
Colt looked at the soldier, then to his brother. He wondered if he knew who the random man was.
“That’s me.” Jake held is hand up and walked toward the man at the end of the hall.
“Secretary Armstrong sent me to get you. They’re set up in the meeting room. The president is ready to see you now.”
Colt beamed with pride for his little brother and said, “Look at you, stud. It may have taken the end of the world, but somehow you became important.”
Jake didn’t return with a comment to Colt, but said to the man, “I’ll follow you.”
As they walked, Colt leaned over and said, “What did you want to talk about?”
Without breaking his stride, Jake spoke out of the side of his mouth. “How’s your aim these days?”
“With my rifle?” Colt chuckled. “Better than yours.”
Jake grinned. “Unlikely, but okay. Still good from a distance?”
Colt had missed this brotherly banter. He loved it. Always had in the past, but now it was especially welcome. “I can still take down a buck from half a mile if that’s what you mean. Why? We going hunting?”
“Sort of,” Jake said. There’s a supply truck coming up the mountain shortly.”
Colt remembered what Shelley had said.
Jake continued. “You think you can head topside and keep some of the infected off them as they come in? Or do you need some rest?”
Instantly, Colt saw the image of Dylan’s soulless eyes. Rest was the last thing he needed. “I’m ready to help get our country back any way I can,” Colt said, though he didn’t feel like telling his brother about the dream. “I’ll rest when it happens.”
At that, Jake stopped walking and faced Colt. “I’ll send someone to get you when it’s here. You’ll need to find the best angle you can get from the roof to look over the road. We have no idea how the infected surrounding the buildings will react to human movement. Hopefully, they’ll just stand there like they did when we helicoptered in.”
“But be ready to shoot if they don’t?” Colt filled in the rest.
“Exactly.”
Colt sighed, then thought of Bald. He knew he could shoot, almost as well as he could. He could help. And would be willing to after all they’d been through. “I’ve got a man that I think can help us. Should I bring him along?”
“I don’t see why not. And now that you know we are going to try to start turning these things back to humans, think about how we can best make that work.”
The idea of turning the aliens back made memories of Anna flash to the forefront of his brain. “You think that’s a good idea? Turning them back? You think it will actually stick?”
“So far the two Emily has turned are still human. They are really sick right now, but they aren’t trying to eat people.”
“Silver linings, I guess,” Colt said flippantly.
Jake could tell Colt had more behind his original question. “What is it?”
“It’s Anna. I’m just thinking about her. And what this means.”
“Do the boys know yet?”
“About Anna?”
Jake nodded. Colt followed with a nod of his own. But then his head fell. Jake put his hand on Colt’s shoulder. “We’re going to get her back, I promise.”
Jake had to move on, and Colt knew it. The soldier who came for him was starting to fidget in angst, nearly jumping in place. Colt broke away from his brother and said, “I’m going to go get, Bald. He’ll be good company on the roof.”
But before Colt could even begin his search, Bald called out. “Maddox. How the hell are you? How are the boys? Dylan okay? Did he go and see the doc yet?”
“Not yet.” Colt walked to meet him. “He fell asleep before I could even get the chance to find a doctor. How about the colonel? You guys get squared away with the president? Get some more answers?”
“That’s above my pay grade.” Bald grinned. “That’s why I’m out here, walking aimlessly, trying not to get turned around in this maze.”
“I hear that.”
Getting back to his original point, Bald said, “That’s probably best about Dylan, and Wesley for that matter. I assume they didn’t sleep much last night.”
“The last few nights are more like it,” Colt said.
“Yeah, I guess so.”
Colt changed the subject. From the way Jake had talked about the route of the supply truck, Colt needed to ask Bald and get on the roof ASAP. “Look, my brother gave me an order. Asked me to find you actually. You up for some sniper detail?” Colt asked.
“Hoorah, Maddox. Damn straight. What’s the mission?”
“It’s a protection detail. There’s a supply truck coming in from somewhere. Apparently, it’s bringing the cure here.”
“The cure? Really? There’s a cure?”
Colt was shocked he hadn’t heard. “I guess so. One of the scientists told me they’ve turned two people back already.”
“Seriously? How?”
“Carfentanil and Beritrix.”
“Carfentanil? You mean like horse tranquilizers?”
“That’s precisely what I mean. Apparently, they put the infected to sleep. Then the Beritrix kills the alien.”
“Alien? You mean these things are from outer space?”
“Shelley didn’t say that exactly, but I don’t think it’s really like that. More like the alien has taken control over the human brain and it’s telling it what to do. How to act.”
Bald paused. “That’s why they’ve adapted so quickly then, isn’t it?” Bald said.
Colt didn’t have that answer, but of course, Bald’s theory held water. “Could be.”
Both were interrupted when a shout erupted from the opposite end of the hall. Near the elevator to the roof. “Colt Maddox!”
Colt spun at the call. Bryan was standing there. He and Bald sprinted toward him. “Are you ready?” Bryan looked them over. Obviously, both were without their rifles. “We need to get topside ASAP. The supply truck will be here any minute. And I imagine we’ll need to carve out a path for them.”
“Let me grab my rifle.” Colt turned around and was about to sprint back to his room.
“Me too,” Bald said.
“I’ll be up top. But here . . .” Bald handed both a handheld radio. “Take these.”
“We’ll need ammo too,” Bald said.
“That we have plenty of,” Bryan said. “The ammo is already on the roof. Just get your weapons and get topside.”
Colt nodded, then sprinted to get his Browning, excited to help Jake on a sanctioned mission—and one that came directly from the president.
It’s about time I get to fight for my country. You and me, Jacob. Not that he would be shooting alongside his brother, but still, this felt like they were doing what they set out to do just days ago. Let’s take these bastards down. Every last one of them.
7
Colt and Bald stood silently in the confined space of the elevator. Holding his rifle and looking at Bald’s reflection, Colt spoke. “What do you think we’ll see out there?”
“From the rooftop? Bald looked at him plainly.
Colt nodded. “Yeah.”
“I mean, you saw flying in. There’s a shit ton of infected down there,” Bald said.
“Right, that’s why I’m asking . . . Do you think the supply truck will be able to make it through?”
Before Bald could answer, the door dinged and swung open into the elements. Colt turned away from him and stared outside. There was an uprising vibration—a humming from the opposite end of the roof. Colt and Bald caught eyes for a transitory moment, then sprinted toward the sound. When they reached the edge, Colt peered ov
er.
“Damn.” Bald pointed, but he wasn’t looking where Colt was. He was staring in the distance. “Look.”
A truck was driving up the roadway directly toward the facility. The path of the truck was unyielding, even as the infected began to rush and attack.
Colt bent to a knee and rested his rifle on the edge of the rooftop. He sucked in a deep breath, put his cheek to the stock of his Browning, and took aim. Then he let out a deep breath slowly and squeezed off the first round. He didn’t even wait for the bullet to strike its intended target before he found another. He shot again and again.
Bald mirrored Colt’s movements until each had emptied his first magazine. As they began to reload, the handheld radio they brought with them sparked to life.
“How’s it going up there? Over. We’re hearing gunfire,” a voice said.
Colt looked to the ground where his radio lay, but he couldn’t pick it up. Jake had given him a mission. And he was going to protect the supply truck at all costs.
Bald grabbed the radio and spoke into the microphone. “There’s too many infected to take out. The truck’s being overrun! We need more ammo! There’s not enough!” He set the radio down to continue shoot as both waited for a response.
“Where is the truck now? We’ve lost communication with the driver and passenger. Are they okay?”
Colt found another target and laid him out just as Bald squeezed off a shot of his own. “Tough to say,” Bald said. “We can’t see them. Only the infected swarming the truck. It’s stopped now. If you can’t get someone to them, they’ll be dead in a minute.”
There was a pause, then the voice came back on. “Okay, we’ll be sending backup shortly.” Then there was more dead air. Until: “And I know this might sound crazy but try to limit your casualties. Those are people out there. Ones we can bring back from their current state.”
Colt and Bald shared a look of concern. What the hell are they talking about? Colt thought.
Then Bald came back. “That’s good in theory, but we’re talking about real live humans here. Who’s more important? The infected who may or may not turn after the injections, or the driver and passenger of that truck?” Bald thought his question was rhetorical, but it didn’t seem like the people on the other end felt the same, because they didn’t return comment until he probed again. “Are you there? What’s our course of action here?”
“Do what you have to do to keep the driver and passenger alive.”
“Roger that,” Bald said. “And if that’s the case, you need to send that ammo up here now! I just blew through my second magazine, and I’m onto the third.”
“10-4. Someone will be up shortly.”
“Roger that. Bald out.” He chucked the radio against the roof and found his sight one more time.
But then Colt and Bald lifted their faces away from their rifles to witness the infected breaking through the glass of the driver’s side door. The driver of the truck unloaded a few rounds but couldn’t control the onslaught. Both he and the passenger were ripped from their positions inside the truck.
“Better call down again,” Colt said.
Bald grabbed the radio and said, “Hey, whoever this is, the driver and the passenger have just been ripped from the truck.”
“Are they still alive?”
“What the hell kind of question is that?” Bald murmured only to Colt, then pushed the button the on the radio. “What do you think? Of course not, you moron.”
“What if that was the president?” Colt interjected.
“No way he makes his own calls.” Bald grinned.
“Are they getting into the cargo hold?” the person spoke.
Both looked out to see. “Affirmative,” Bald said, then paused. As did the infected. They stopped moving again, just like before.
Colt took aim and fired another round, striking the man who came the closest to the back doors.
“I just received confirmation. There will be men up to you in moments. They will have the ammo you need.”
“That we know. What about the infected?” Bald watched the frozen aliens wait.
“Do what you must to secure the truck.”
Bald’s mouth hung open, but before he could answer, the infected lifted their chins to the sky and shrieked just as two men came sprinting across the rooftop with ammo in their hands. They set the boxes down, saluted, then sprinted for the elevator to ride it back down.
Bald and Colt stood stunned.
“Out,” Bald said out of instinct, then dropped the radio to the ground.
Peculiarity aside, Colt clicked open the ammo box and checked the contents. Not enough, he thought, but couldn’t dwell on it.
He didn’t notice his brother and Bryan approaching from behind, not until he shoved in another magazine.
Jake! Colt thought, then said. “They didn’t even hesitate. As soon as the truck made it to the top of the road, it was like . . . like some kind of command was given to attack. All moved in. Those men never stood a chance.”
Jake’s face was sad, but his expression was unrelenting as he stared at the mass in front of them. “How long have they been like this?”
“Not long. Right before your boys brought us the ammo box,” Colt said. “I’ve seen them do this . . . We both have. The first time was right before we walked into a trap in an airplane hangar in Colorado Springs. But they weren’t making sounds then, just looking up with their mouths open.”
“Why haven’t they taken the truck?” Bryan said. “They know how to drive. What do you think they’re waiting for?”
As they all waited on his answer, another radio communication rang through the speaker. “Jake,” a woman said. “Jake, I know you’re busy, but I need you down here right now. Amy is on the floor, and there is blood everywhere.”
Amy? Colt thought. Instantly his mind took him back to the night he had a dream about Anna speaking the name “Amy” to him. Dylan had had the same dream too.
Before Colt could ask, Bryan said, “There’s your answer.”
Colt stood now, waiting on what was next.
“On my way,” Jake said. “Whatever you do, don’t stop her. She’s the only reason we still have a shot at keeping those supplies safe.”
“Just hurry!” the woman said.
Colt stared at his brother. Who’s Amy? He needed to ask, he needed to find out, but he held his tongue because Jake was in a hurry.
“Keep your radios on. I’m going to see if I can have Amy give us a chance at getting those supplies.”
“You mean go out there with them?” Bald asked.
“Wouldn’t be his first time.” Bryan nudged Jake.
Jake fell back toward the elevator and said, “I have a feeling it won’t be the last time either. Not if we hope to start getting some people back.”
After Jake entered the elevator and disappeared, Colt looked to Bald and Bryan and said, “Now what?”
Bald didn’t have the answer, but it seemed Bryan did. “Now, we wait for Amy.”
Colt didn’t even have a chance to ask, Bald did instead. “That’s great but . . . who’s Amy?”
8
Bryan had a disconcerted stare on his face. “How do you guys not know about Amy? Didn’t anyone tell you about her? About what she’s done for us?”
Colt and Bald looked to each other. They shared a confused look as well. “No!” Colt answered Bryan. “I mean, I got some information about the infected and the scientists being able to turn them back human, but . . .” Colt trailed off. He wanted to say more, truly he did. But he needed more information first before he let Bryan and Bald in on his ‘secret dreams.’ “Nothing about Amy.”
“She’s the reason we’re all still alive. Why your brother is privy to the alien mission to take over the world. She can communicate with them. With the aliens.”
“Communicate with them how?” Bald said.
“I don’t know exactly. I don’t think any of us truly know. But she’s stopped them from attack
ing us before.”
“What do you mean, she’s stopped them?” Bald said.
“I mean, like the infected were bearing down on us and the only way we survived was because Amy called them off.”
Colt held his hand to his mouth. He couldn’t believe his ears. The name Amy was beginning to make more sense. But why? Why did his wife speak her name in the dream he had days prior? Maybe Anna wasn’t warning him about Amy, but telling him she was the avenue to a cure.
“Oh, and she isn’t on Beritrix?” Bryan added.
“Like . . . at all?” Bald said.
Bryan shook his head no. Colt and Bald shared another look of concern. “How is she still alive?” Now it was Colt’s turn to ask the question.
“We don’t know. She’s quite the enigma,” Bryan said.
Colt shook his head in disbelief. Now he had to meet this woman. “Is she here?”
“Who? Amy?” Bryan said.
“No, the pope. Yes, the woman, Amy, is she here?”
“She’s hardly a woman. I mean she’s barely a teenager.”
“What? She’s a child?” Colt said.
“Yeah, thirteen, I think.”
“Thirteen?” Colt’s mouth hung open. That’s Dylan’s age.
Before Colt could respond with more, Bryan’s radio crackled to life. “Bryan, what’s going on up there?” It was Jake. “They still frozen?”
Bryan lifted the radio to his mouth and looked back at the group of infected, then put the microphone to his mouth and spoke. “Still frozen. But they quit making noise. How’s Amy?”
“If you feel like taking a shot at this with me, meet me on the ground floor. I’m going for that truck.”
What? Jake, no, that’s suicide. Delta operator or not, Jake was still Colt’s little brother.
Colt was about to speak, but Bryan did first. “Do something crazy with Jake Maddox? What else is new? On my way.”
Then Jake came across the radio again, “Colt!”
“You’re not really going out there, are you, brother?”
“I really don’t have a choice. You two watch our backs.”
Colt paused and looked to the swarm of infected below. “We’ll do what we can, but if they turn, you’re both dead.”
Uncivil War (Book 6): Awakening Page 4