“I have an idea,” Carver said. “But it’s going to take good timing.”
They quickly made plans and radioed back to the camp. If everything went according to plan, the fireworks would start soon, and they could get Hope out.
Porky Shader
Aboard the V-22 Osprey
Porky had heard of worse plans. Like Operation Liberty that cost them the fleet and most of the country’s remaining fighting force.
Potoski was in his normal position, strapped to the bulkhead of the tilt-rotor aircraft, scanning out of the open rear ramp. Behind him was the team they’d rescued from the harbor. The three master-at-arms had enough experience that he trusted them. At least, mostly. But their job was simple, so he didn’t worry that they could screw things up if they failed to perform.
The Osprey settled down about half a mile from the canyon, and Shader jumped out along with the three Navy shore patrolmen. The Osprey quickly lifted off and banked to the south, waiting for Carver to give the word. Hopefully, everything would work out.
The four quickly found the canyon and took up position on the ledge above and a quarter of a mile down. They stacked over a dozen full magazines on the ground near each of their positions, and Porky loaded the MK 153 rocket launcher they’d scored from the Roosevelt. It was one of the prizes he’d asked to have loaded onto the Osprey the night they made their escape.
He estimated the distance and loaded a tracer round into the attached rifle. He’d shoot the bullet to verify the range to the target then blast the cave opening and bring the mountain down. He’d destroy the opening only after they’d gotten confirmation that the prisoners had been rescued or confirmed dead. Hopefully, that would seal the creatures in a tomb permanently. Then, Lost Valley would become a safe haven once again.
Shader confirmed that the other three were locked and loaded, then radioed Carver that they were ready. Now all they had to do was wait for the fireworks to start.
Carver
Keele and Gonzalez had widened the cave’s opening while waiting for Shader to get into position. When the time finally came, Kyle began crawling into the dark hole, followed by Gonzalez. The boy had confirmed that there was enough room to maneuver inside, so both had been outfitted with their firearms. Kyle had his shotgun, while Gonzalez had his M4 battle rifle.
The pair disappeared. Now, Carver just had to wait for confirmation that they’d rescued Hope. The alternative, that they were too late, was not something he could entertain. For him, it was just a matter of time before they were reunited.
About ten minutes after the two entered the cave, Carver looked at Keele. “You’re up!”
“I hate this shit,” Keele said.
He’d stripped down to a t-shirt and pants. He crawled into the mouth of the cave and squeezed past the overhanging rock. He was their radio relay man. Kyle had tried to contact them on his way out, but the limestone prevented communication.
Keele found the going a bit easier than he thought it would be. In fact, the cool, moist air felt rather refreshing. He flipped his NV monocular down and turned on the IR intensifier. The tunnel did widen, just like Kyle had said. It was tall enough for Keele to sit up and extend his legs. It was, after all, rather comfortable.
Keele waited. It wasn’t long.
“We’re five minutes out,” Gonzalez whispered into his radio.
Both Kyle and he each had their monocular down. So far, the kid had been correct.
They went straight and down. Gonzalez could see a black opening at the base of the descending ramp of stone. It was the back entrance into the cave. They were almost there.
About fifty feet from the hole, a woman screamed. Kyle looked back at Gonzalez in terror.
“It’s my mom!” Kyle said before he scrambled toward the hole.
Gonzalez grasped at the kid’s leg, trying to keep him from rushing into danger, but he missed.
“NOW!” Gonzalez yelled into his mic. “GO! GO! GO!”
Keele was sitting back against the stone wall, luxuriating in the cool air, when he heard Gonzalez’s panicked message.
He crawled back to a bend in the tunnel and transmitted to Carver.
“The shit’s hit the fan,” Keele said. “It’s a go! They sound like they’re in trouble.”
“Shit!” Carver yelled. Then he got the HAM radio and broadcast to a second portable HAM on the Osprey.
“This is Eagle One. EXECUTE. EXECUTE. EXECUTE. NOW!”
Carver dove into the opening and crawled like his life depended on it. He passed a stunned Keele and bear-crawled down the slope. He could hear Keele struggle behind him, trying to keep pace. Up ahead, he could hear a shotgun blasting away. As he got closer to the opening, it sounded like the mountain itself had come alive as thousands of voices all roared in a primal, hate-filled scream. It had started, and their fate rested in the hands of a single Osprey and Porky’s portable rocket.
All Carver could do now was keep going and pray. As he scrambled toward the sound of battle, the words he’d used many times in preparing his squads for their upcoming missions came rolling into his mind. Press the fight and keep moving. Because in battle, when you stand still, you die.
“Keep moving,” he grunted to himself. “Keep moving.”
He didn’t have time to think anymore. Just get to the fight.
Would they make it? Was Hope alive? He would find out soon enough.
— 41 —
Hope
Under the Mountain
Satan’s Gate
No costly sacrifice nor offerings given
Can change the purpose of the powers of Heaven;
Whatever Fate ordains, danger or hurt,
Our death predestined; nothing can avert.
THEOGNIS
(Greek poet – 6TH Century B.C.)
Hope could smell them coming. She woke from a nightmarish sleep, only to find her worse dreams come true. It was Charlie, of that, she was sure. He had come for her. She was the last of the three still alive.
He stalked around her calcified tomb, snapping his tongue and gnashing his teeth. Around him, dozens of infected hovered and chirped. It reminded her of a religious ceremony, with Charlie as the high priest.
She had no illusions about her fate as the creature, that had once been her friend, stalked around her. She was a totem of their victory, a prize to be had and the high priest was the one to finish her off.
Like the last victim they’d eaten, the monster performed a ceremonial dance. It bent and popped its joints. It raised its deformed arms above its head and snapped its claws down next to Hope’s face. It was a killing ritual, but Hope wasn’t having any of it.
“Go ahead, you deformed bastards!” Hope yelled.
Her screams of anger and defiance brought screams and chirps from the assemblage. They weren’t used to their dinner talking back.
They began to bark in unison. Their bodies swaying back and forth as the Charlie creature smacked its hands on the ground and screamed its demented chant.
Suddenly, there was a collective cry from down at the front of the cave.
The infected monster screamed, and the collective that had been surrounding Hope, rushed down to the entrance of the cave. All but Charlie. It stayed behind and hovered near her, refusing to abandon its meal.
Hope watched as it snapped its tongue back and forth. It bared its teeth in some macabre smile and squatted to launch.
She screamed.
“NO!” came a man’s voice.
A shotgun blasted from her left, striking the monster, sending it tumbling into the nearby wall.
She couldn’t see who was there, as the fiery blast from the gun’s tube temporarily blinded her. She could just make out a figure, a goggle strapped to their head. They rushed by, pumping and firing shots from their gun.
“John!” she yelled.
The figure didn’t answer.
A second person appeared.
“Stay still, Hope. We’re here to get you out.”<
br />
“Who are you?” she sobbed, her emotions flooding out.
“Name’s Gonzalez, ma’am. United States Marines. Carver sent me and Kyle to get you.”
“That’s Kyle? Get him out of here!”
“Can’t do that, ma’am. He’s part of our team.”
Hope felt the crust break away as the man ripped the calcifications. She quickly felt her arms unbind then she helped Gonzalez break her out of the lower half.
She was free.
Kyle stepped up to her and hugged her tightly. She couldn’t believe he’d come for her. Two more men crawled out of the hole. It was John with another man.
“Hope!” he cried. “LOOK OUT!”
A single-eyed beast flung itself from the ceiling. A lone, yellow orb radiating hate and anger. It was barreling toward Kyle, fangs gnashing and tongue snapping. Carver and the two Marines tried to bring up their rifles, but it was too late. Cyclops was going to get another victim.
A flash leapt over Carver’s shoulder. It collided with the infected coyote and knocked it back. It was Shrek. He’d followed them into the cave.
Carver watched as the war dog rebounded from the collision and latched onto the creature’s hind leg. Shrek whipped his neck around, smashing Cyclops into the wall.
“No,” Carver whispered. One drop of infected blood in the Mal’s mouth, and that would be the end of the him.
Keele looked down to the entrance of the cave. He could hear the sound of the Osprey’s machine gun rattling outside. He gasped as thousands of creatures poured into the opening. There were far more of them than they had thought.
“We have to go!” Keele said. “There’s thousands of them trying to get out. We have to clear the cave.”
Carver looked at the two combatants. Keele was right. They had to go. Their radios wouldn’t work in here.
Carver looked back at Shrek. He was in a fight for his life. He watched as the Mal dodged and weaved, just staying out of the fangs of the infected creature.
“Let’s go!” he heard Gonzalez say.
They’d all jumped up into the hole. Carver was the last one. He tried to take a shot at Cyclops. His laser darted around with the combatants, but there was never a good shot that didn’t risk Shrek.
He forced himself to climb into the wall and crawl away. The survivors needed Shader to bring down the mountain on top of the horde. All their lives were at stake if they didn’t seal the creatures inside.
A few minutes later, Carver was helped out of the hole.
“Where’s your dog?” Keele asked.
Carver just shook his head.
“This is Eagle One. Mission accomplished. We’re clear. Send it!” Keele said into the HAM.
In the distance, they heard a whump! as the rocket impacted above the cave.
“It’s done,” Carver said.
“We need to seal this end as well,” Gonzalez said, pulling out a couple of frag grenades.
They had backup C4 explosive, if their M67s didn’t do the job.
“Say again?” Keele asked, listening to the HAM.
“What is it?” Carver asked.
“The rocket didn’t work,” Keele said. “Shader said that we’re fucked.”
Hope flung her arms around Carver. She began to cry.
After all that, they were still going to be overrun. It didn’t seem fair.
Shrek
Cyclops is fast. Faster than any enemy I’ve killed before.
I latch onto his leg and rip it, but the thick armor prevents me from tearing it away. This isn’t going to work.
He leaps at me with a speed I can barely avoid. His mouth is full of sharp teeth. He smells of acid. He is poison, and I have no defense.
I see Carver escape into the hole. That’s good. At least one of us will live.
I will see this through. Cyclops is to be defeated. It is to be destroyed. I must kill the beast.
An explosion shakes the ground just as Cyclops is about to leap. He falls to the side, and this is my chance. I know I will die from the poison, but I have to kill him. His neck is exposed as he flails for balance. It is mine.
I latch onto his nape and bite as hard as I can. I will grip down harder than I ever have before. I will cut his flesh. I will rip his veins. I will tear his throat. I will kill him.
But his flesh is too thick. It is like leather, too hard to penetrate.
Cyclops screams as he tries to knock me off his back. But I won’t let go. I brace the ground and lift his body in the air. I shake my head hard, back and forth, whipping Cyclops from one side to the other.
Still, he screams.
I bash his body against the wall and grip his spine deeper into my jaw.
It reaches up with its sharp back paws to rake me off, but I lift it up once again.
I am tiring.
I have one more thing I can do.
I pin it down on the ground. I re-grip its neck. My front teeth ride over its throat. I leap for the opening that we had used to crawl in here. I land just inside, Cyclops still in my mouth.
I turn back and clench with all my might.
My back teeth find a seam in its spine. I raise it up one last time and snap it down onto the edge of the hole.
I hear its neck crack. It stops moving.
The other creatures are just outside the hole now.
I drag Cyclops with me because I never let go until Carver tells me to.
I am Shrek.
I am the ghost that kills in the night.
I always win.
I won.
Porky Shader
Outside Satan’s Gate
The blast from the rocket dislodged a large chunk of the escarpment. It fell at the entrance of the cave, but the rest of the mountain remained. The hole wasn’t closed, and the Variants were scampering out.
Potoski rained down lead onto the creatures. Some avoided his fire. The three MOAs poured rifle fire at the climbing Variants, hitting some while others scattered on the wall.
“Eagle One, this is Shader. We’re fucked. The entrance is still open. Emergency evac. I say again, emergency evac!”
The Osprey began to turn toward the four of them. They were to be pulled from the edge, then they’d pick up Carver and his men and plan on the defense of the camp.
At least they recovered Hope.
Shader dropped the rocket tube to the ground and gathered a handful of magazines. The four rushed to a flat spot nearby, where Donaldson would pick them up.
The Osprey banked hard overhead and rushed past their pickup.
“What the hell?” Shader yelled.
“Get to cover!” Donaldson yelled into the radio.
Shader had barely hit the ground when a whoosh flew by, followed by an SH-60 Seahawk helicopter. Four explosions erupted in the canyon, followed by the unmistakable sound of the door gunner’s M134 Minigun. It was spraying the canyon walls at thousands of rounds per minute.
Shader leapt back into his firing position and began to take shots at the surviving Variants. There weren’t that many left. The Osprey joined the action, roaming along the cliff-line, taking out anything that escaped Satan’s Gate.
Shader looked at the cave’s opening. Two Hellfire missiles had brought the mountain down. The Variants were no more.
A few minutes later, Donaldson settled down onto the flat. Shader and the three MOAs boarded, smiles and grins on each man.
The Seahawk maintained overwatch as Donaldson rose and turned to get Carver and his men.
“What the hell happened?” Shader asked.
“Remember the U.S.S. Spruance? That was the surviving helicopter.”
“That was hours ago. Where were they?”
“I’m not sure where they were, but they found an abandoned airfield and refueled. They spent the night buttoned up, then flew here.”
Shader was glad that something had finally gone right. He fell back into a canvas seat and tilted his head back. Finally, things were going their way.
; Carver
“We’ve got to blow the opening,” Gonzalez said to Carver. “I can hear the Osprey now.”
Carver refused to close off Shrek’s point of escape, but with the aircraft inbound, it was time.
Gonzalez grabbed two grenades and bent down. He gripped the handle with one hand, and the pin’s ring with the other.
“Sorry, man. That was one good dog,” Gonzalez said somberly.
He ripped the arming pin out, keeping his hand grasped around the grenade’s handle. The fuse wouldn’t light until he let the safety handle pop off. Then he had just seconds to get rid of the explosive.
Carver bent down one more time and stared into the black opening. The cool air had stopped flowing when the cave’s entrance was destroyed. Now, it felt like a tomb, with stagnant air and buried bodies.
“SHREK!” he cried out pitifully.
Everyone was moved. Hope began to sob.
“Yip!” echoed out of the hole.
“Holy shit!” Gonzalez said. “Keele, get over here. Help Carver with the dog.”
Shrek was backing out of the cave, his hind legs pumping against the sand-covered rock. His butt came out first, followed by his head. Attached to his mouth was the limp body of the infected coyote. It was Cyclops, its lone eye still moving side to side and its tongue wiggling weakly. Shrek had snapped its spine, giving it a high neck break.
“LOS!” Carver yelled to the dog.
Shrek dropped the creature and moved next to his leg.
Carver bent down and inspected Shrek, looking for any cuts or blood. Miraculously, he appeared unhurt and his mouth was clear of fluid.
He looked down at Cyclops. Its brain was still functioning, but its body wouldn’t respond. Carver took his KA-BAR and drove it into its eye. He buried it to the ground and twisted it around and around, scrambling any remaining functional brain matter. It stopped its movement. It was dead.
The Osprey began to settle down nearby. Carver left the knife in the creature’s skull. It wasn’t worth the risk.
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