by C A Bird
Mark had been examining the sensor readings, only vaguely listening to Micah’s narrative. “The radiation in that Dragon cave is very low. Do you think it’s possible the radiation level in the western valley is also that low?”
“I don’t know,” Will said “But if the cave is open to the outside it’s certainly encouraging.”
“As soon as we can I’d like to retrieve Rick’s body for burial. Doesn’t seem right to leave him like that,” Mark said.
“I’ll hold another meeting to announce Rick’s death and let everyone who wants to, get started on training.” Will told him. “As soon as we’re ready we’ll go after the animal in the cave. Then we’ll retrieve Rick’s body.” Will activated the intercom and announced the meeting. He turned and left the Crow’s Nest.
Mark checked the sensors for radiation and tremors. There were more tremors and less radiation.
“Micah, can you let me know if you get any news? I’m going to weapons class.”
“Sure Boss Two.” Micah answered.
Mark headed below.
May 7, 9:10 a.m.
The cave he slumbered in was dark but Jaime awoke when his body told him it was morning. He was hungry and the sound behind the back wall of his lair interested him. He scraped at the wall and the soft dirt crumbled easily beneath his claw-like fingers. He continued to dig, faster and faster, his two inch long sharp nails serving as tools to speed the job to its conclusion, a gap in the wall leading into a similar tunnel on the other side. He widened the gap and pushed his massive body into the opening until he succeeded in wedging through to the next tunnel. Even in almost absolute darkness he could see enough to move around in the tunnel, past a few boxes, to a crack of light at the end.
Frustrated at this barrier he went back to the reservoir cave and quenched his thirst. He pounded on the entrance to the tunnel holding his grisly kill not knowing his old comrades had eaten the remains. Throughout the morning he prowled the cave and the new tunnel he’d discovered. Late that afternoon, and entirely by accident, while punching at and around the crack of light in the door, he hit the button. The roaring noise becoming a crescendo, and he entered the next cave immediately in front of the covered waterfall exiting the power plant.
His elongated, hairy feet stood in an inch of water covering the bare rock floor. He followed the path to the left, drawn to the brighter lighting in that direction, around the end of the wall that isolated the contaminated waste water from the power plant. Water flowed from a crack in the concrete wall, flowing over debris to the floor. Movement upstairs in the second story of the plant drew his attention and Jaime slipped up the steps, saliva drooling over his pendulous lips at the prospect of making a kill.
May 7, 11:00 a.m.
“You pull back on the slide to cock the weapon, let it loose and you’re ready to fire.” Lenny had his arm around Lori explaining the procedure for cocking and firing a handgun. Approximately twenty people were in attendance with Lori being among the first to arrive. She showed an interest in the more exotic weapons and Lenny was instructing her in the care and use of an automatic Uzi in addition to a .45 caliber semi-automatic pistol. The Uzi was a fully automatic weapon that was banned in the United States. Lenny wondered where Will had gotten some of these guns. They had disassembled the weapons for cleaning.
“After you’re each comfortable with handling your weapon you can move to the machine shop,” Lenny told them as he moved to the next person in line. “David’s setting up a firing range to allow you to practice with live rounds.”
Mark put his .357 Magnum back together, pulled the slide and released it. Lori was confidently reassembling the Uzi. “Let’s go Lori. I’m ready to fire.”
“Me too. That bear’s in serious trouble after what it did to Rick.” Will had made the announcement about Rick’s death that morning. Many residents wanted to go after his killer immediately but Will insisted on weapons training first.
Lori gathered her ammo and they left the room.
David had commandeered one end of the machine shop and fashioned a makeshift firing range. One end was lined with batting to absorb the shots and there were make-shift partitions between the shooters. Targets were suspended from wires. All the supplies for the range had been stored at the rear of the armory. Four people could use the range simultaneously. By that afternoon it was already in use, two men outfitted with earmuffs and firing their hand guns at the targets. Lori would only be firing the Glock, not expecting to ever have any use for the Uzi and not wanting to chance hitting someone with a ricochet if she were unable to handle unexpected recoil.
David gave them each a set of earmuffs and a quick lesson in firing range etiquette.
“Keep that thing pointed toward the target.” Mark cracked.
“Yeah, let’s see who’s the sharpshooter here,” she replied and fired several shots in rapid succession each one coming further down the wall, as she compensated for the recoil, the third hitting the paper target in the center of the head. “Oops, that was cool! I didn’t expect the trigger to be so sensitive!” she exclaimed.
“The Glock has a double pull trigger instead of a standard safety,” David explained. “After the initial hard pull it becomes very easy to fire off successive shots. You need to watch it.” Mark fired off a shot and was surprised at the recoil of the large caliber hand gun. “Whoa, it really kicks!” He said as the bullet hit several feet above the target. Firing again, this time expecting the kick, he nailed his target in the head as well.
“The problem is”, David told them both, “You don’t want to go for the head. Try for mid-chest, it gives you more room to shoot wide and still hit the target.”
Mark and Lori broke for a late lunch and met Will for a strategy session. They wanted everyone to have practice with the weapons but, on the other hand, didn’t want to wait too long to retrieve Rick’s body, for obvious reasons. Quite a few of the shelter’s residents were already fairly proficient with weapons so Mark felt they could go after the animal first thing in the morning since it was already late-afternoon. That is, if it was even still in the caves. Will agreed and told them he would call for a meeting that evening to brief everyone and call for volunteers.
After lunch Mark and Lori went back to get some additional target practice. They were gaining familiarity with the weapons and Lori even got off a few shots with the Uzi.
They both were doing a creditable job considering they had never fired weapons before. David was helping Mark replace his clip when the intercom summoned Mark to the Crow’s Nest. “Lori, keep practicing, I’ll see what they want and return ASAP.” He slapped the clip home, flipped the safety on, stuck the gun in his waistband holster at the small of his back and headed up the stairs. He felt like such a cowboy!
When he entered the Crow’s nest he knew immediately something was wrong. Even Micah had the look of a dead man walking.
“What’s going on?” he asked.
“We have another man missing.” Will told him glumly. “Bud Nagle. He and his wife took a nap this afternoon and when she awoke he wasn’t there. She says it was about three-thirty. Being concerned about whatever killed Rick she paged him and he didn’t respond.”
“When did anyone see him last?” Mark flopped down in a chair forgetting about the gun until it stabbed him in the back. Reaching back he retrieved it and laid it on the desk feeling a lot less macho than he did a few minutes ago.
“Tyler Forbes says he went to the plant around 3:15 to check out some power fluctuations. Says he thought the tremors might be causing some problems. Just as he left the plant Bud entered. Tyler said he didn’t see anything unusual.”
“None of my alarms have gone off. There’s no way the animal got into the power plant,” said Micah.
“Shit!” exclaimed Washington from his computer console. “Take a look at this.” They gathered around the screen. “This is a list of the dragon doors. There’s more of them on the list than we have lights for on the monitor panel. What’
s with that?”
“There were some areas that had no access at all to the outside,” said Will. “It wasn’t necessary to have visible alarms on those doors, since we were primarily concerned with radioactive contamination. I had forgotton about them, but the only way anything could get into those tunnels would be by opening a door, which a bear couldn’t do, or possibly digging through from another tunnel. A few had very thin walls from one tunnel to another.”
“Or if the tremors had caused a cave-in, opening up one of the tunnels.” said Mark.
“Shit!” Washington repeated.
Mark barely knew Richard Kreig. He was one of the younger guys. But Bud was one of their inner circle and Mark felt a stab of grief at the thought that something may have happened to him. “Maybe he can’t hear the page. Those turbines are deafening and he might have on his earmuffs. I’m going to the plant to look for him.”
“No you’re not! Not until we find out what the hell is happening!” Will said angrily.
“We can’t just sit here and wait for someone else to get killed!” Mark remarked jumping to his feet. He and Will locked eyes, they had never raised their voices in all the time they had known each other.
“Sorry Mark,” Will said. “Let’s just take this slow. Get a group of armed folks together for a search party. You can go tonight instead of waiting until tomorrow.”
“Now you’re talking.” Mark picked up his weapon and left to carry out Will’s instructions.
He entered the machine shop and saw four new shooters firing weapons at their targets. Lori was off to the side cleaning her gun. He walked over to David. “How many people have you checked out?”
“About a dozen this afternoon but we have a lot of folks that already had experience either with rifles or hand guns or both.”
“Give me some names. Our timetable’s been moved up. I need to put together another search party.”
“Why, what’s up?” Lenny came over to see what was going on.
“Bud Nagle’s missing.”
“Count me in!” Lenny and David said simultaneously. They went off to gather the weapons together and get Mark a list of competent marksmen.
“Oh no, Mark.” Lori overheard and came to stand by his side. “I’m going with you.”
“Like hell you are!” Mark said.
“I am. I can use this thing and Bud’s my friend too.”
He could tell by the determined look on her face he was going to be unsuccessful at dissuading her. “Yeah, yeah. Let’s round up the rest of the posse.”
Mark made a general announcement over the intercom for anyone interested in the hunt to rendezvous in the auditorium at 7:00 p.m. When he and Lori arrived they found over forty people ready to rock and roll.
Mark chose ten of those present to form two groups to go inside, with he and Lori making it a dozen. David and Lenny would each lead a group, the remainder of the people staying outside the power plant door in case they needed reinforcements.
“Bud may be fine, but no one’s heard from him and he doesn’t answer any pages. Considering what happened to Rick, we have to assume the worst and be very careful. I don’t know what’s holed up in those tunnels but it must be big and strong. Meet me back here in about an hour so we can issue weapons and ammo.” Mark instructed.
They left the auditorium. “I want to check in at the Crow’s Nest to see if there’s been any news.” Mark said to Lori. “I’ll see you back here. You sure you want to do this?”
“Yes, I need to stand up and be counted for once.”
He placed his hands on her shoulders looking down into her eyes and trying to fathom the mystery behind them.
“Lori, I don’t know what happened to you, but this may not be the best way to prove yourself.”
“It’s a start,” she said, meeting his gaze head on. “Go on and reconnoiter. I’ll see you back at the auditorium.”
She went to the daycare center to check on the kids. Barbara and Sandi, along with several teenage girls, were babysitting the children for movie night. She pulled them to the side and told them about Bud Nagle.
“Why on Earth would you consider going with them?” asked Barbara, flabbergasted that Lori would think of going after that thing with a gun.
“My reasons are playing over there,” she pointed toward the kids. She hesitated, unsure of what to say. “Before the war, my wonderful husband used to beat us, me and Kevin, not so much Ashley. I stood by like a coward and let it happen, over and over, too scared to fight back or stick up for myself or my children, believing that somehow, it was my fault. What kind of role model was I for my little girl? I just stood there and took it! I’m through letting people I love get hurt!” She wanted desperately for these friends to know she was no longer that coward, no longer a woman that would let anyone, or anything, ever again hurt her children.
“Besides, I’ll be with Mark. I’m not going to let this thing hurt him, either. Barbara, if anything happens, take care of my kids, okay?”
“Sure, but nothing’s going to happen. You guys watch each other’s back.”
Lori had never let anyone know how she felt about Mark. She knew, though, her remarks made it clear to the others that she loved him, and she no longer cared who knew, regardless of the fact that he didn’t feel the same way. She went over to where the kids were sitting on the floor before the T.V. and knelt down. “You guys be good and do everything Mrs. Thompson tells you, okay?” She kissed each of them on top their head.
“Where are you going, Mommy? When will you get back?” Ashley asked.
Lori thought, “I hope to God I come back.” She stood. “I have to take care of something. I’ll be back soon, baby,” she told Ashley and left for the auditorium.
Mark, David and Lenny loaded weapons and ammunition into the cart and delivered them to the auditorium. Then Mark returned to the Crow’s Nest. “Any news on Bud?” he asked Micah.
“No word from him at all. And still no alarms have gone off. I hope you guys blow its brains out!”
“We’ll get it. You can bet on it.” Mark said.
“Hey, Mark. Jeez, I almost forgot. I intercepted another message but this one was from someone else! They were attempting to communicate with the government shelter we talked to earlier. It sounded like an Australian accent. Can you believe it? I’ve been busy with the bear thing, but as soon as you guys finish it off, I’ll concentrate on making contact again. Isn’t it great?”
“Good work, Micah. We’ll exterminate this thing so we can all get back to work. See you later.”
Mark exited the narrow staircase and ran into Will just coming out of the elevator.
“Hi Mark, I just came from Chris. She says ‘good luck’.”
“Thanks. Don’t worry, we’ll get it before it hurts anybody else.”
“Mark, be careful.” He came over and put his hands on Mark’s shoulders. Mark could feel them shaking. Will paused, at a loss for words. “I’ve lost one son. I don’t want to lose you too.”
Mark didn’t know how to answer, touched by Will’s comment, he reached out and hugged the man that had been a father to him all his life. “I’ll be careful.” He noticed tears in the older man’s eyes as he entered the elevator.
May 7, 9:00 p.m.
A large group of men and women stood outside the power plant door staring at it, trying to fathom what lay beyond. The door slid aside and the dozen heavily armed men and women jumped through quickly, guns held with both hands, sweeping left to right. Lenny instructed them to never point the weapons away from where they were looking. Moving farther into the cave they split into two prearranged groups, the first, led by Lenny would search the lower level; the tunnels, water outlet areas and first floor of the plant including the areas around and behind the turbines. The other group, led by David, would go to the second floor computer room and on through to the oil storage caves farther back in the mountain. Mark and Lori were in David’s group.
“Hey, what’s going on? There’s wa
ter all over the place.” said Lenny.
“I hope it’s not contaminated.” Mark answered. “Where do you think it’s coming from?”
“Looks like the wall sprung a leak. Look over there!” Lenny pointed to the concrete aqueduct wall where it connected to the side of the building.
“Damn! The tremors must have caused some damage. We’ll need a repair crew in here as soon as we get this thing.” Mark said.
They moved forward farther into the cave and Lenny motioned to David. He, in turn, signaled to his group to start up the stairs. Mark smiled over at Lori, hoping she would stay behind them and not take any unnecessary chances. David led the way, moving slowly up the stairs, his weapon extended before him and the others following close behind.
They reached the huge open door of the plant, the vibration of the turbines setting Mark’s teeth on edge. Reconnoitering at the top of the staircase, they peered into the well-lighted area beyond the door trying to see around corners. The computer room was rectangular, with a central island jammed full of 21 inch monitors that depicted the water level in the reservoir above, the acre feet of water entering the lake, turbine RPM’s, kilowatts of power generated and other pertinent parameters. The equipment blocked their view of the aisle on the other side of the island.
David motioned to Mark to check out the back aisle. Mark gulped at being chosen and quickly moved around the end of the island, jumping into the open space with his weapon outstretched before him.
It was empty.
Mark let out the breath he’d been holding. He wasn’t cut out for this green-beret stuff. They moved forward into the cavernous main floor of the plant, spreading into an arc, weapons pointing straight ahead. Again, there were no signs of the animal. A staircase descended through the floor to the lower level and Mark noticed the sign that cautioned “ear protection is necessary,” was missing. He saw it smashed against the far wall. He pointed it out to David and the others.