by Jake Bible
“Nothing,” General Azoul says. “The ash cloud is denser than before, and the chemical makeup is actually reflecting all attempts to scan through. We’re truly blind.”
“Which is why we need the Russians now more than ever,” President Nance says. “If they even have a glimpse of what’s happening, then they are our most important ally at the moment.”
“We still need those Chinese ships, sir,” Bonnie says. “I know everyone here is worried about the military and defense issues, but as Secretary of the Interior, I have to worry about our citizens and getting them to safety.”
“Our citizens,my citizens, are my number one priority, Bonnie,” President Nance snaps. “Do not ever think I have forgotten about them.”
“I didn’t say that, Mr. President,” Bonnie replies. “Nor would I ever think you have forgotten them. I am merely stating that we need to not lose sight of why we are seeking assistance from other countries. Our goal is not to defeat these monsters, but to escape them. Once our people are safe, then we can change the focus on offense.”
President Nance seethes as he glares down the table at the woman. His hands shake with anger, and he’s about to explode when Joan reaches out and grips his arm.
“We hear what you are saying, Bonnie,” Joan says. “Trust me, the people of the United States are our only priority. But we are where we are. If we cannot defend against the monsters if we don’t evenknow what kind of monsters we are defending against, then our people are lost. Trust me, Bonnie, everything we are discussing is aimed at one goal.”
“Where are we with Dr. Hall?” President Nance snaps. “Has anyone heard from the Secret Service teams?”
“Nothing yet, sir,” Joan says. “I have instructed guards that he is a priority and needs to be sent down here the second he arrives.”
“A priority,” Bonnie scoffs. “One man.”
“Enough!” President Nance shouts, his fists hammering the table. “You all have jobs to do, so do them! I don’t want to hear another word from anyone unless it is new information! Am I clear?”
The looks on everyone’s faces say it is all very clear.
***
A glimpse of movement catches Alvarez’s attention, and he ducks back behind the cover of the dumpster he had just decided to leave. Waves of ooze creatures have blocked his progress through Alexandria to the Potomac River, and he’s itching to get moving. Originally, he had intended to go north and try to rendezvous with Zakarian as planned, but the way was continuously blocked, and he found going east was easier.
For the most part.
Alvarez leans away from the dumpster and studies the street at the end of the alleyway. No mobs of ooze creatures, no movement at all.
Then he hears a clang and loud curse, followed by loud whispering.
A person.
Alvarez pulls his pistol, carefully, quietly checks the chamber, picks up his shovel, and then moves to the end of the alleyway. He pauses and peeks around, then ducks back quick as he sees a man stumble through the bushes across the street. A good-sized park stretches from the street to the Potomac River, which Alvarez can just make out through the trees and outbuildings.
The stumbling man gets caught on one of the bushes and tries to pull his coat free, but the bush is winning, and the man grows more and more frustrated. Alvarez starts to move away from the alleyway when the man yanks hard enough to get free, but so hard that his momentum carries him into an overturned trash can. Another clang and more cursing.
Then the hisses and screeches start up, and Alvarez’s attention is drawn to the far end of the park, way down the street. Several human sized ooze creatures, as well as a throng of smaller, varmint and pet sized ones, shuffle along, their “eyes” pointed towards the fumbling, stumbling man that is currently draped backwards over a park trash can.
“Get up,” Alvarez hisses. “You need to move.”
The fallen man shoves himself off the trash can and spins about, his manic eyes searching the area for the source of Alvarez’s voice. He has a pistol in his hand and he lifts it up, waving it wildly around as he keeps spinning about.
“I’ll shoot! Don’t test me!” the man shouts.
“Jesus, shut up,” Alvarez says. “They see you, idiot!”
The man spins and faces Alvarez, the pistol shaking like a single leaf on the end of a bare branch. Alvarez can finally see the man’s face clearly, and he almost shouts in jubilation, but instead he cries out in fear and dives to the ground as Dr. Hall pulls the trigger.
“What the hell?” Alvarez yells. “I’m Agent Paulo Alvarez with the Secret Service, Dr. Hall! I have been sent by the President of the United States to find you and bring you back to the White House!”
“How do I know that?” Dr. Hall yells. “How do I know you don’t just want to rob me?”
Is this guy kidding?Alvarez thinks.
“Are you kidding?” he actually voices. “How the hell would I know who you are if I was just some guy trying to rob you? You’re Dr. Blane Hall, specialist in the field of cryptozoology.”
“I have more degrees than just that one!” Dr. Hall shouts.
“Okay, good for you!” Alvarez replies. “Now, can I stand up, or will you try to shoot me again?”
“How do I know you are for real? I need to see a badge!” Dr. Hall shouts.
“Jesus,” Alvarez mutters as he fishes his badge from his pocket and holds it up in the air.
“I can’t see it!” Dr. Hall yells.
“I’ll stand up and come over there if you promise not to shoot me!” Alvarez yells. “But you better decide now since those things will pick up speed as they get closer to you! They get really wound up when you yell!”
“What? What things?” Dr. Hall shouts. “Oh… oh, God, not more. Are there pigeons? Do you see pigeons?”
“Pigeons?” Alvarez asks. “Who fucking cares about pigeons?”
Alvarez decides to risk it and stands up. He holsters his pistol, grabs his shovel, and then hustles across the street. Dr. Hall’s attention is on the ooze creatures that are moving faster and faster towards him just like Alvarez said, but when he catches sight of Alvarez coming at him, Dr. Hall swings his pistol around and takes aim.
Reaching him before he can pull the trigger, Alvarez swings the shovel, bringing down part of the handle on Dr. Hall’s wrist. The pistol falls into the dirt and discharges, causing the ooze creatures to reply with loud hisses and even louder snarls. Dr. Hall screams at the gunshot and jumps back, his other hand wrapped around his wounded wrist.
“I think you broke something!” Dr. Hall cries.
“No, I didn’t,” Alvarez says, picking up the fallen pistol and tucking it into the waistband of his pants at the small of his back. “I hit your radial nerve. It’s going to sting for a few minutes then be sore for a few days.”
“I’m right handed,” Dr. Hall complains. “I need this hand!”
“Not if you’re going to shoot at people sent to protect you,” Alvarez says as he grabs Dr. Hall’s arm and steers him towards the river. “Come on. We need to get out of here.”
“But the White House is that way,” Dr. Hall says, trying to resist, but failing miserably. “We need to go north.”
“North is blocked,” Alvarez replies, nearly dragging the Doctor along. “I’ve been heading east for a couple hours now.”
“Why?” Dr. Hall says. “We can’t swim. It’s too cold. We’ll die of hypothermia in minutes!”
“That’s what boats were made for,” Alvarez says. “See that outbuilding? It’s where the Parks and Rec department keeps the canoes. Have you ever paddled a canoe before, doctor?”
“I’m a zoologist, ethnobotonist, anthropologist, as well as a cryptozoologist, xenoarcheologist, and senior researcher and fellow at SETI,” Dr. Hall puffs up. “I have spent many months in the field. From the Amazon to the….”
“Can you paddle a canoe?” Alvarez snaps.
“Yes,” Dr. Hall replies.
“Good,�
� Alvarez sighs. “That’s all I needed to know. Next time I ask a yes or no question, just answer yes or no. I don’t need you to read off your resume to me.”
“CV,” Dr. Hall says. “Curriculum vitae. In academic and scientific circles, one does not have a resume, one has a CV.”
“Does one also have a size ten shoe shoved up one’s ass by a Secret Service agent that doesn’t give two shits?” Alvarez grumbles, his eyes moving from the outbuilding they are hurrying to and the mob of ooze creatures cutting across the park towards them.
“One does not,” Dr. Hall says. “I’ll be quiet now.”
“Good call, Doctor,” Alvarez says.
They reach the outbuilding, and Alvarez doesn’t waste any time. He brings the shovel blade down on the padlock securing the sliding doors. It splits and falls away without a problem.
“Hold this,” Alvarez says as he hands Dr. Hall the shovel.
Dr. Hall takes the shovel and studies the pocked and scarred surface.
“What happened to this thing?” he asks Alvarez.
“What do you think?” Alvarez replies as he shoves open the doors and smiles at what he sees inside. “It’s way more effective than bullets when it comes to stopping those things. Only problem is when you chop a piece off, it grows into a new thing. I try to smash and not chop.”
Alvarez holds his hand out.
“What?” Dr. Hall asks.
“The shovel, please,” Alvarez says, pointing at the locks and chains that secure the bright blue canoes to the racks in the outbuilding. Dr. Hall hands it over and turns to watch the ooze creatures get closer.
“You should hurry,” Dr. Hall says.
“You think?” Alvarez says as he hacks away at a lock again and again. “Son of a bitch. They should have put this lock on the outside.”
“Agent Alvarez?” Dr. Hall whines. “We should forget the canoes and run.”
“Running is not a viable option,” Alvarez says. “Too much of a chance of getting separated, and I didn’t fight this hard to just lose you again.”
“But the things are getting closer,” Dr. Hall argues. “And I see pigeons. The pigeons are the worst.”
Alvarez takes a precious second he can’t afford and glances at Dr. Hall. “Keep it together, Dr. Hall. I don’t know what you’ve been through, or why pigeons freak you out, but right now your only job is to not lose your shit, okay? Can you do that for me? Just keep it together until I get us a canoe and into the water?”
“I’ll try,” Dr. Hall replies, then takes a deep breath. “Yes. I can do that.”
“Good,” Alvarez says as he gives the lock one last whack before it breaks and falls free. Unfortunately, it cracks the shovel’s blade right off the handle. “Shit. Here.”
Alvarez hands Dr. Hall the broken handle then grabs onto a canoe and pulls it off its rack. He finds two paddles, throws them inside, and then starts shoving the canoe out of the outbuilding and towards a put in along the riverbank. He glances over and is not surprised that the ooze creatures are almost on them.
“Now is when we run,” Alvarez says, shoving the canoe along the winter wilted, ash covered grass. “Move ass, Doctor.”
Dr. Hall grunts in acknowledgement and runs alongside Alvarez and the canoe. When they get to the put in, Dr. Hall grabs an end and helps get the boat down to the water, both men soaking their feet as they wade into the Potomac.
“You first,” Alvarez says as he steadies the canoe and allows Dr. Hall to climb in. His eyes watch the approaching ooze creature mob, and he calculates the distance between them and the riverbank. “Ready?”
Dr. Hall, in the canoe and picking up an oar, nods to Alvarez.
“Don’t move, please,” Alvarez says as he carefully hops inside the canoe just as the first ooze creatures reach the water. He doesn’t bother taking a seat, grabs the other paddle, and sticks it in the river until it hits the bottom. He shoves as hard as he can, and the canoe slowly floats out farther into the water. “Paddle, Doctor. Paddle your ass off.”
Dr. Hall splashes with the first couple of strokes, then finds his rhythm and starts paddling with a strength and confidence of a pro. Alvarez notices this immediately and says a silent prayer. Dr. Hall mutters something as Alvarez gets settled into his seat and joins in the paddling.
“What was that?” Alvarez asks.
“Pigeons,” Dr. Hall replies. “Pigeons are the worst.”
“Yeah, you said that,” Alvarez says as he looks back over the shoulder at the ooze creatures that splash their way into the shallows.
He sees several small creatures hop from the riverbank and into the slight waves coming from the canoe’s wake. They swim for a second then slowly sink out of sight. Alvarez shivers slightly, not just because the sun is slowly setting over the Potomac. He returns his attention to Dr. Hall and smiles at the man.
“I don’t think the pigeons can swim,” Alvarez says.
“I sure hope not,” Dr. Hall says. “Dear God, I sure hope not.”
***
The eyes of the dead National Guard soldier stare straight ahead, but Linda swears they are looking at her. She gets up from the bunk she is lying on, walks over to the man, reaches up, and closes the private’s eyes.
“Thank you,” Terrie whispers from her own bunk. “I’d have asked you to do that earlier, but I didn’t want to wake you.”
“I wasn’t sleeping,” Linda whispers back as she crosses the barracks and returns to her bunk next to Terrie’s. Biscuit lifts his head from his spot on the floor between them, snorts, then lowers his head again and goes back to sleep.
“Then you snore when you are awake,” Terrie smiles. She shifts on the bunk and grimaces. “Damn. I need to pee.”
“I’ll help you to the latrine,” Linda says.
Terrie starts to argue, then nods.
Linda gets back up and helps Terrie from her bunk and down the center of the barracks. The two women move slowly between the rows of bunks until they reach a door at the end. They brace themselves as Linda opens the door.
Inside, a row of toilets line one wall with a row of open shower stalls along the other. The far end has a set of lockers with many of the doors wide open, the contents having been rifled through and tossed onto the white tiled floor, right next to four bodies.
The bodies, each lying in pools of their own congealed blood, their arms and legs akimbo, are missing most of their heads which are splattered across the floor. Carbines either lie next to them or stay gripped in cold, dead hands.
“Cowards,” Terrie says quietly.
“Some things are too much for people to handle,” Linda says. “I’ve seen my share of trauma during war.”
“Suicide is not the answer,” Terrie says. “It’s a sin. And a waste. They could have just ran. Grabbed some gear and taken off out of the fence. They could have fought. They had options.”
“Did they?” Linda asks as she steps past the bodies and to the lockers. She starts to open them, one by one, and go through the contents as well. “It seems options are few and far between these days.”
“What are you doing?” Terrie asks. “Pilfering from the dead?”
Linda turns and gives Terrie a long, hard look. “You made it from Montana to here on what? The charity of strangers? No, you took what you needed and did what you had to.”
“Except for the family with the RV, that’s true,” Terrie says as she drops her pants and takes a seat on one of the toilets. “Toss me a roll.”
Linda looks about, finds a roll of toilet paper on top of the lockers, and throws it at Terrie. Terrie catches it, takes care of business, and stands back up. She pulls up her pants then closes her eyes and takes a couple of deep breaths.
“Did you tear a suture?” Linda asks.
“No,” Terrie says.
“You’re lying,” Linda sighs. “Come on. Let’s get you to a bunk. I found a med kit in one of the lockers. We’ll check the footlockers for heavy coats and other clothing. Then we leave.”
/> Terrie eyes Linda for a moment then shakes her head. “What were you before you were a nurse?”
“Excuse me?” Linda asks.
“What were you before you were a nurse?” Terrie repeats. “You have steel in you.”
“Lots of nurses have steel,” Linda says. “It’s not a job for the weak.”
“No, you have something else,” Terrie says. “I can see it. It reminds me a lot of my daughter. Was it a man? Is that why you joined the Navy?”
“Why does it have to be a man?” Linda asks. “Why is it that people think men are the only monsters in this world?”
A roar and a crash from across the base makes both women jump, and Linda hurries over to Terrie and starts helping her walk back into the bunk room. Another roar, and then another, followed by a small explosion and several more crashes. Biscuit gets up and runs over to Terrie, pressing his side against her leg.
“Easy, boy,” Terrie says. “You’re big enough to knock us both over.”
Linda gets Terrie to her bunk and eases her down into it.
“Let’s have a look,” Linda says as she untucks and lifts Terrie’s shirt. “Okay, it’s not bad. I can tape it up and redress the wound. You’ll be fine.”
“I know I’ll be fine,” Terrie says, putting her hand on Linda’s shoulder. “Will you?”
“I can get through this,” Linda says. “I’ve been through worse.”
“Your father?” Terrie asks, and Linda laughs. “Mother?”
“You wouldn’t understand,” Linda says.
Terrie winces as Linda places several strips of medical tape across the sutures in the front.
“There,” Linda says. “All done. Now we should get going.”
“It’s night,” Terrie says.
“And those things are getting closer,” Linda says.
“True, but they don’t know we’re in here,” Terrie says.
“I don’t think they care,” Linda says as a huge explosion rocks the barracks, cracking a few of the windows up by the ceiling. “And this base isn’t going to last much longer.”
“Also true,” Terrie says. “But I don’t think you understand what happens once we leave here. There’s nothing out there, Linda. This country is gone. The monsters have it now.”