“Shit. Not another hole to go through,” Gonzalez said.
Keele knew what the little Marine had endured, crawling through the access pipes in the Forum. He’d never say it to him directly, but Keele was impressed by Gonzalez’s courage. Going through those access tunnels and slithering along the conduits wearing only skivvies and armed with nothing more than a handgun took some serious cajones.
“I hear you, brother,” Keele said respectfully.
“I’m not thrilled about it either, but we’ve got to follow the white rabbit,” Carver said.
“What the hell is the white rabbit?” Gonzalez asked.
“You don’t know Alice in Wonderland?” Kyle asked incredulously. “Follow the white rabbit down the rabbit hole?”
“Hey. I’ll show Alice my wonderland!” Keele said.
“I got a rabbit for her, too!” Gonzalez added, giving Keele a high-five.
Kyle began to giggle.
“Don’t pay attention to those two. Someone sucked their brains out and put shit back in,” Carver said to the young man.
“Semper Fi!” Keele grunted.
“Let’s just follow Shrek,” Carver said, looking up into the sky. “It’s barely past noon. Those things won’t be out in this light, and I haven’t seen anywhere they could be hiding to watch their back trail.”
“ZOEK!” he commanded to Shrek.
“What the hell language is zook?” Keele asked. He’d never worked with a war dog.
“Dutch. It’s where Shrek is from,” Carver said as the Malinois shot forward.
The four started walking quickly, attempting to keep up with Shrek’s fast pace.
“Why don’t they just buy American dogs?” Keele asked Gonzalez.
“No clue,” the diminutive Marine replied. “I don’t ask questions. They feed me and let me shoot shit. That’s all I need to know.”
A half mile more and it looked like Kyle was correct. The straight line they were following led them directly to the dead end of the canyon.
When they were about a quarter of a mile from the edge of the escarpment, Carver called a halt.
“I’m going forward and scout the area,” Carver said. “Give me a radio check.”
After verifying they were communicating, Carver pulled a HAM radio out of his pack and gave it to Kyle.
“When I report back, let the rest of them know where we are and our sit-rep.”
“Yes, sir,” Kyle replied.
Gonzalez nudged him and whispered in his ear.
“Sorry,” Kyle said. “Aye aye, sir.” Then the young man saluted.
Carver smiled and returned the salute.
“Maintain the salute until the senior officer salutes back. But you don’t need to salute me. I’m not an officer, and I never have been,” Carver said when Kyle dropped his arm before Carver had responded.
“So, the only people I need to salute are Lieutenants Donaldson and Everly?” Kyle asked.
“If you salute those two roto-heads, I’ll kill you myself,” Keele joked.
Kyle’s confused look made the other three chuckle.
Carver reached out and hugged the young man. “Let’s go get your mom.”
“Yeah. I’m for that,” Kyle replied.
Carver signaled Shrek to his side, and the pair disappeared over the top of the next escarpment.
Kyle turned on the HAM and sent a radio check back to base.
Shader answered. They were ready to airlift the rest of the adults to their spot, then the Osprey would provide overhead fire support with their rear-mounted SAW.
They were as prepared as they could be. Now, it was up to Carver. With some luck, they’d be able to get his mother back. It was a long-shot. But, as Mr. Carver had said before, at least a long-shot was a chance, and no matter what the odds were, it was better than no chance at all.
Carver crept along the edge of the canyon, staying a few yards back from the edge. He moved them away from the end of the deep gully and stopped when the drop-off started to edge in. He crawled to the ledge and looked back through his binoculars.
A path had been cut into the side of the mountain near the base. It led directly into the mouth of a massive hole at the base of the limestone wall.
Carver was about a half a mile away and several hundred feet above the cave. With the sun directly above, the entrance was a curtain of black since no light was able to angle into the opening. He brought up his binoculars and glassed the entrance.
“Holy shit,” he whispered.
There were scores of Variants standing in a trance-like state just inside the shadow created by the cave’s rocky overhang. They were lined up, only feet apart, from one end of the opening to the other. They were a wall of infected flesh, and there was no way around them.
Carver was crushed. He’d hoped that they would be within the cave and that they might have a chance to sneak in and out without detection. It was an unlikely scenario, but he could only hope. Now, the odds were overwhelmingly against them. If the cave had any volume to it, there could be thousands within.
Carver hurried back to the team and gave them the bad news.
“There are just too many of them to get by,” Carver said dejectedly. “We can’t sneak in and they’re dug in like a tick. The only way to attack them is with a frontal assault, and we don’t have the firepower to do that.”
Carver sat down on a rock and buried his head in his hands. He was frustrated and out of options.
“Mr. Carver. I know it’s a long-shot, but maybe there’s another way in.”
Carver looked up at the boy and shook his head.
“Why would you say that?”
“Well, if there had been people living in there, they would have had at least two entrances. There has to be a cross breeze to bring in fresh air and take out any fire smoke. It only makes sense.”
Carver still looked doubtful.
“All I’m saying is that if humans had inhabited the place, there had to be at least a vent or another opening. It may be a long-shot, but you told me even that is better than no shot at all.”
“Are you throwing my words back at me?” Carver said with a grin.
“I learn fast,” Kyle replied.
“Hey, this kid could make a good Marine,” Gonzalez said.
“I wouldn’t let you guys touch him with a ten-foot pole,” Carver shot back with a smile.
He looked at the map and pointed to some promising spots that were on the other side of the cave. “Let’s go cave hunting.”
They gathered and moved, looking for a needle in a haystack. Carver needed to locate an undiscovered hole in the ground where, with a good deal of luck and the help from a smart, young man, they could find a way to save the woman they both loved.
Several hours of searching had left them frustrated. Every swale proved empty. Each depression in the side of the mountain gave them nothing. Finally, with the afternoon sun halfway to the horizon, they sat down to rest.
“We’ve been up and down this damn mountain,” Keele said. “I don’t think there’s a back door.”
“There had to be, at one time,” Kyle replied.
“Maybe an earthquake closed it off. That would explain why it had been abandoned,” Carver said.
“There are too may ‘ifs’ and not enough answers,” Gonzalez said.
The little Marine unlaced his boots and put his feet into the shadows created by a rock at the base of the hill.
“Man. That feels good on my dogs,” he said, moving his toes around in his socks.
Carver studied the map once again. They were at the northeastern edge of the low mountain range. He could see the flat desert further out, the glitter of the Salton Sea in the distance. It was a sparkling jewel in the middle of a sandy landscape. The sunlight danced off its surface, creating a lightshow on the desert floor. Carver had thought of visiting there when they first took refuge at the camp.
Carver’s concentration began to drift as he thought of these things. He gl
anced around and saw that Keele had imitated Gonzalez. Both of them had their boots off and were enjoying the shade of the rocky escarpment.
Kyle became curious. He watched the two Marines enjoying the shade a little more than he thought was normal. The young scout knelt down next to the rock and put his hands into the shadow.
“You can rub them anytime!” Gonzalez said.
Kyle didn’t respond. His face brightened and he spun to face Carver.
“It’s here!” he exclaimed. “The opening is here!”
Carver ran over and knelt next to Kyle. He put his face down in the shade and felt a cool breeze blowing out from under the rock. “Get your feet out of there!”
The two Marines pulled their boots back on as Carver began to push and pull on the large slab of limestone.
Soon, the four of them were working on dislodging the small boulder. Carver used his entrenching tool and rock to create a lever and fulcrum. They lifted, rocked, and shoved for nearly ten minutes before the boulder began to move. With a Herculean push, they tumbled the limestone away from the embankment and exposed a narrow crevice. Cold air flowed out.
“You found it!” Carver said to Kyle.
“Hey. I found it!” Gonzalez replied.
“Whatever,” Carver said absently.
He measured the opening. It was barely two feet in height. He flattened himself and began to push in, but the ceiling of the tube dropped down. His large frame made it a difficult fit.
He backed out in frustration. “It’s small.”
“What about me?” Gonzalez said.
Carver sized him up but shook his head.
“I don’t think so.”
“He’s a lot smaller than he looks in his battle gear,” Keele said.
“Thanks, compadre,” Gonzalez said sarcastically.
The two Marines began to bicker, when Kyle cut off them off.
“I’ll go!” he said. “It’s my mom and besides, I’m the smallest so I’m the one that should go.”
Carver didn’t like it. The kid didn’t have the training to pull it off. But when there was no alternative short of a direct attack, it came down to the simple fact that it was their only option.
“Take your radio and this.” Carver pulled out his handgun and flashlight. He had a rubber band holding green cellophane over the objective. It reduced the light to a dim, emerald glow.
“Watch your light discipline. If those things see you, any chance of getting your mom will be gone. Do you understand?”
“Aye aye,” he replied without saluting.
“You’re learning,” Carver said approvingly. “Now, we need you to describe what you see when you get there. Watch your voice. You may need to backtrack into the tunnel to avoid being heard. Use your head and report back when it’s safe.”
Kyle nodded and took the gear. He removed his backpack and crawled into the opening, sliding under the overhang without a problem. Then the dim green glow of the flashlight disappeared into the darkness and the kid was gone.
— 40 —
Hope Torrence
Satan’s Gate
“When your time comes to die, be not like those whose hearts are filled with fear of death.
Sing your death song and die like a hero going home.”
–TECUMSEH (Shawnee Warrior and Leader)
Hope woke. Her head throbbed as she regained consciousness. The darkness around her was illuminated by a faint, distant light. She tried to remember where she was as she struggled to move. For some reason, her arms and legs were bound together.
She panicked. Was she paralyzed? Was she tied up? Her head was nearly immobilized as well, but she was able to rotate it slightly. She couldn’t get her bearings.
Then her memories began to emerge. She remembered tackling Kyle, saving him from the infected creature that was attacking him. She remembered an infected Charlie grabbing her. Poor Charlie. His primal scream had frozen her in place. Then he threw her effortlessly over his shoulder and ran off before she blacked out.
She redoubled her efforts to get free, but whatever was holding her in place was unforgiving. She looked to her left. Her eyes adjusted even more and she could make out a figure on the wall next to her. It was one of the mothers from the Yuma campsite. She was glued to the wall with some hard, white crust that entombed her against the stone. She wasn’t moving.
Hope looked more closely at her surroundings. The pinpoint of light was filtering into her area. It was less than a candle in intensity. It showed her enough of the structure around her to realize she was in a cave, and that it was filled with the infected. They clung to the walls of the rocky tube. They were somehow sticking to the limestone and were motionless, like bats hanging from the rafters of a church steeple’s belfry.
Hope began to panic. She was glued to the wall inside of some cave, and the only thing she was able to move was her head.
She tried to escape her bonds. It felt like she struggled for hours, but the only thing she accomplished was to flake off some of the crust that bound her head. By the time she quit trying to break free, she could freely rotate her neck but the rest of her remained glued in place. She was exhausted. She fell asleep.
Time passed and she awoke to the stench of rotting flesh. Hope opened her eyes and found two burning yellow orbs staring back at her. She screamed. It was an infected monster, and its face was pressed against hers.
It shrieked back, and its hot, rancid breath nauseated her. She projectile vomited, hitting it in the face.
The creature screamed at her. She could see it rear its hand back, preparing to strike, when another creature crashed into it. The first monster bounced off the nearby wall and rose, stunned.
The second creature roared and approached Hope. It sniffed her, its breath gagging her as well. If she hadn’t emptied her stomach already, she’d have brought up even more.
The first creature approached and tried to grab Hope, but the second one screamed at it and the first one backed down.
Then in a flash of barbarity she never could have imagined. The second creature leapt onto the woman next to her and bit off her face. The poor mother never had a chance to scream.
Her body was ripped from its cocoon and flung into the darkness. Dozens of hungry eyes leapt at the corpse and tore it apart. The sounds of their feast were unimaginable.
The second monster lumbered back in front of Hope and stood over her. It sniffed her face and croaked. Several answering sounds came from nearby.
“Fuck you!” Hope yelled. She spit at the two eyes, sending the creature back.
It screamed in anger and she braced for, what she hoped, was a quick and merciful death.
But it leapt away and took a human leg from one of the other creatures. Then it scampered down toward the light and was gone.
The remains of the woman were scooped up by a mass of infected and carried away as well. They joined their apparent leader. She wondered if it had been Charlie she’d spit on.
Hope rolled her head away from the sounds. She couldn’t get the smell of the creatures out of head. She looked at the wall nearby and fought back her tears. She decided to die a good death. She wouldn’t beg, and she would do what she could to fight. Even if it was just some spittle in their face.
She lay her head silently against the wall. The sounds of the infected provided a constant background noise of grunts and chirps. But something wasn’t the same. There was a sound that wasn’t so primal. It was familiar. It was human.
She raised her head from the wall and looked about.
There! Is that a green light?
Hope saw a glowing emerald on the wall to her left. It moved in a circular pattern. She looked about and saw no infected nearby.
“Help!” she hissed.
The light stopped moving then disappeared.
Did she dream it? She wasn’t sure. All she knew was she was tired and near death. She didn’t know when she’d be the next meal on the menu.
Maybe, she thought,
I should just give in to the exhaustion.
At least she wouldn’t feel death if she was asleep. The poor woman next to her hadn’t even made a peep. That was the way to go.
She closed her eyes and passed out. Her last thoughts were of her own demise and how it wouldn’t hurt.
Carver
Many minutes went by after Kyle had crawled under the mountain. Carver kept checking his watch, but the time still crept along at its own pace. Gonzalez watched the SEAL pace back and forth. It was driving him crazy.
They were exposed on this side of the canyon, although Shrek was standing guard. The dog could hear a gnat fart from a mile away, so they would have plenty of warning if the Variants came rolling down the hill. Problem was, they weren’t a match for the horde that would show up. They didn’t have enough bullets to win that battle.
“Hey Chief, I can go get the kid, if you want,” Gonzalez offered.
Carver glanced at his watch again. It had been just shy of forty minutes. He should have been back by now.
“Hey!” they heard from the cleft. “Give me a hand.”
Carver helped Kyle worm his way out of the hole, and the boy brushed himself off.
“Well?” Carver said impatiently.
“She’s alive!” Kyle said. “But I didn’t do anything but observe.”
“Good. I’m proud of you.”
“I would have grabbed her, if I had the chance. Mr. Carver, there are too many of them in there. I wouldn’t have had a chance to get her out.”
Carver was afraid of that. Even with Shader and his men, they didn’t have a full fireteam to combat the Variants.
“Tell me what you saw,” Carver said.
“Well, the tunnel widens after you get going. The beginning is the narrowest part.”
Kyle described the journey in and gave them an estimate of the Variant strength. Most importantly, with the path from the opening to the back of the cave being fairly straight, Carver could estimate how much cave there was from the mouth in the canyon to the back of the hole.
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