by SD Tanner
Despite knowing the survivors would die, they all agreed the distraction they offered might allow more of them to make it inside of the nest. Standing in a line and watching them pass, the crowd were moving so slowly that they left them to make their way, before moving again. There was nothing they could do to save them once the critters attacked, it would turn into a bloodbath that no one wanted to watch. Well over an hour later, the survivors were close enough to the nest to be spotted by the first of the critters. Just as they’d predicted, the arrival of the survivors sent the critters sprinting towards them, and she could only assume a bloody slaughter was in progress. Choosing not to watch what was happening to the survivors, she focused on her own problem.
Jonesy and Tuck drove towards the nest at breakneck speed, taking a wide circle around the survivors fighting with the critters. Gunfire was erupting and she hoped they took at least some of the critters down before they were all lost. Heading towards the pyramid, no one spoke and the critters were still running towards the large group of people, leaving the nest relatively clear.
Arriving at the base of the pyramid, Ark and Leon both shouted, “Go! Go! Go!”
Their arrival brought more of the critters from inside of the pyramid and they scuttled down its tall walls. Some that had been headed away from the pyramid turned and sprinted towards them. They were surrounded on all sides by a growing number of critters of all types. There was no formation they could fall into, and she found herself tearing at the critters leaping for her, while gunfire erupted all around her. Based on their planning, Jonesy was the most critical of the group and she, along with the others, were pulling away any critter that got too close to him.
Finding herself next to one of the holes in the lowest part of the pyramid, she turned slightly to see Tuck and Trigger standing back-to-back. They were desperately trying to cover their six while Ark and Leon were shooting at the critters still emerging from holes in the walls of the pyramid. Jonesy was slightly ahead of her and already climbing into one of the holes. Standing with one foot in the hole behind him, she heard a loud explosion. Tuck or Trigger were detonating grenades and it was sending shock waves up the pyramid. Slipping in the goo at the entrance to the hole, she threw herself forward, falling head first into the nest.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE: Bugle call (Hood)
Someone was patting his hand and talking. He wasn’t sure if they were speaking to him, but he opened his eyes anyway, only to see Dayton’s worried face staring back at him.
“Welcome back. Do you know your name?”
It struck him as a stupid question and struggling to sit up, his stomach flipped and his head spun. “Yeah, do you?”
“You’re supposed to say your name,” One-of-One said in her typically bland tone of voice.
He didn’t really want to turn his head to face her, but when he did, bile coated the back of his throat. “Hood. We’ve met,” he croaked.
“Do you know where you are?”
Blearily looking around the room, he could honestly say he didn’t have a clue. “No. Should I?”
From behind him, Alice replied chirpily, “Don’t see why. You’ve never been here before.”
Finally managing to sit upright, the nausea and blurriness began to ebb away. Looking around curiously, he was sitting on a camp bed in a gloomy room. At the foot of the bed and against the wall was a group of bedraggled looking people staring back at him. It was then that he realized he was no longer in his gear and only wearing a sensor suit.
Swinging his legs over the edge of the bed, making his stomach lurch again, he asked abruptly, “Where’s my gear?” One question led to the next. “Where’s my battle team?”
Dayton put his hand against his chest, preventing him from trying to stand. “Take it slowly, Hood, you hit the ground pretty hard.”
His body felt slightly numb and he lifted his shoulders, checking to see if anything hurt. “I’m fine, just a bit woozy.”
Alice crouched between his spread knees and she looked up at him almost apologetically. “There was a huge fight between the critters and the cars following us.” Clearly unsure how to explain the rest of her story, she hesitated. “We lost half of the battle team trying to help them escape.”
Closing his eyes briefly, his face fell when he asked, “What happened to the other half?”
“They tried to get into the nest and we haven’t heard from them since.”
“When was that?”
“Twelve hours ago.”
Realizing the battle had gone ahead without him, he leaned back in shock. “How long was I out?”
Dayton replied, “At least twelve hours. We weren’t sure you were going to come back.”
Even though it made him dizzy, he shook his head. “I don’t understand. How did I get here?”
Glancing at the group of people behind her, Alice replied, “When the fight erupted they grabbed you and pulled you underground. I went with you and contacted CaliTech. Dayton got the message.”
Looking in surprise at Dayton, he finally asked, “How did you even get here?”
“We’re using the helicopters from CaliTech to provide medical support.”
It was a lot to absorb. His battle team was lost, and assuming the critters were still around, it meant they’d failed. When he should have been leading his men, he’d been napping and the bedraggled looking group of survivors were the only reason he was alive. Alice had stayed by his side, summoning help from CaliTech, and now they were the only two Navigators left to attack the nest.
Holding back what he suspected was a tidal wave of despair, anger at losing his team flooded through him. Struggling to stand and leaning on Alice and Dayton for support, he asked, “Where’s my gear?”
Holding him under one arm, Alice pointed dumbly at a dirty blanket on the floor. His Navigator hydraulics, armor and weapons were laid out neatly next to several metal boxes of ammo. “I managed to get some of the stuff from the trucks.”
“Where are the bombs?”
“The squad had them, but we’ve got some dynamite.”
He didn’t remember bringing dynamite with them. “Where did we get that?”
Alice flicked her head at the still silent survivors sitting with their backs against the wall. Limping across the small room towards them, he said, “I’m…I was Major James Hood. It sounds like I owe you big time.”
The woman’s face was smudged with grime and her hair was a tangled mess. Despite looking like hell, her eyes were shining brightly in the light from the lamps. “Can you get rid of the thing inside of the nest?”
His body felt stiff and his legs ached as blood began coursing through them. “I don’t know, but I’m gonna try.”
Dayton placed his hand on his shoulder. “Maybe you should come back with us to CaliTech. We can get you scanned and you can resupply before you try again.”
To leave would mean abandoning his mission and he had no intention of doing that. Every inch of him hurt, but that was nothing new or anything he couldn’t deal with. “I’m fine and there’s nothing to go back for. All of the navs are out and dynamite makes a good enough bomb.”
Trying not to limp, he moved across the floor to his gear, slowly crouching down next to the dirty blanket. Alice appeared at his side. “I’ve checked it and it works.”
“What about power?”
She pointed to the pile of power packs neatly stacked one on top of the other. “They have a generator in here so these are fully charged.”
They might not have known one another for very long, but his hellcat knew him well enough. While he’d been unconscious, she’d been busy and scavenged everything he would need to complete his mission. Smiling up at her, he said, “You’ve done good.”
“When are we leaving?”
“We?”
“It’s my mission too,” she replied defiantly.
Hesitating for only a moment, he then nodded. “Help me gear up and we’ll head out now. Have you spoken to command?”
While he pulled on his gear, Alice helped him with the complex zips, buckles and strips of Velcro that held the suits together. As adrenalin began to fuel him, his head was clearing and the stiffness was leaving his body. “How are the other battle teams getting on?”
“Some are still moving into position and others have already gone into the nests.”
“Have any of them succeeded?”
“Not that we know of.”
“That’s not good. It means we’re failing.”
Dayton walked across to him, and using a penlight, he checked his eyes. “I really don’t think you’re up to this.”
Despite how badly his neck and head were aching, he laughed. “Aww, doc, just how healthy do you have to be to die?” When Dayton offered no answer, he picked up the pack containing the dynamite and igniters. “Gotta go.”
The room he’d been inside of was actually a small basement in a house and outside it was dark. Flicking his helmet down, he scanned the area and a few green blobs were roaming around the buildings, but none were nearby. They had been less than half a mile from the nest, and through the darkness, his visor detected the cluster of green blobs surrounding it.
Strapping the pack with the dynamite to his chest, he unshouldered his laser. “You ready?”
Alice batted his back and replied in her usual chirpy way, “Let’s do it.”
Together they set off under the darkness of night, heading straight for the pyramid.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO: A true knight (Stax)
Finding five hundred survivors willing to help them changed their chances of making it inside of the nest, so instead of spending the night in the relative comfort of the bedding store, they’d driven to where the survivors had camped for the night. Carl was right when he’d said they were angry and looking for revenge. Every single man and woman was armed and spoiling for a fight. Having been a prepper all of his life, he appreciated the fury they had for defending what belonged to them, and together they’d planned a cohesive attack on the nest.
Now, his battle team were only a mile from the pyramid with a hundred idling vehicles ahead of them. The rows of cars, trucks and minivans were waiting to be given the order to advance. Their plan was a simple one. The wall of vehicles would mow down anything in their path and his two trucks with the Navigators would follow. All of the Navigators were secured inside of their vehicles, leaving the survivors to take the brunt of the assault by the critters. He’d argued for it to be different, but the survivors insisted on putting down their lives to get as many Navigators as they could into the nest. Their courage had distracted him from his growing worry for his sons. After being held prisoner for months and losing so many, the critters had failed to kill their will to fight. Proud to be fighting by their side reminded him of what they stood to lose. This wasn’t about the loss of a single man, but the potential annihilation of their species. They would die in their millions if it meant even a few of them would survive.
Carl was in command of the survivors and he waited to hear the call to arms. Being behind the wall of vehicles, he never heard it, but they began to surge forward, quickly gathering speed. “Forward!”
In response to his order, their two trucks followed the speeding cars ahead of them. As planned, large trucks and minivans appeared on each side of them and more closed in behind. They were in the middle of a metal guard, keeping pace while they covered the last mile to the nest. Ahead of him, the pyramid was looming and a mass of green began to make its way towards them. Peering through the slits on the armored truck, critters covered the roofs of every vehicle in his line of sight. They were tearing into the thin metal roofs, gaining a foothold while the vehicles maintained their speed. One of the trucks must have lost control and it swerved, hitting the one next to it. The effect was compounded when another driver lost control of a vehicle that was buried under black bodies. Lurching towards them, his own driver pulled sharply to the left, throwing him against the other side of the truck.
Gunfire was coming from all directions and dull thuds could be heard as it hit their armored vehicle. People were shooting wildly, but the convoy kept moving determinedly towards the nest. He and the other Navigators were being thrown in all directions, and had they not been wearing their armor, bones would have been breaking. As it was, he could feel numbness spreading across his hips and shoulders as they took the brunt of the impact.
“Crap!”
“Fuck!”
The swearing intensified as they rocked even more wildly to take bends and corners without slowing down. The driver was silent and he assumed the man was concentrating on not flipping the truck. Managing to grab hold of the sill of the window, he hauled himself forward, peering through the slit again. There were a lot less vehicles next to them and all were smothered in black bodies. Bullets were still spraying wildly from their windows, indicating the occupants were still alive.
“What’s ahead?” He called to anyone who might know.
“Almost on target…and we’ve lost most of the escort,” the driver replied.
Before he could answer, the driver slammed on the brakes and he was thrown to the front of the truck. “Last stop!”
Pushing himself upright again, he called, “Everybody out!”
The heavy metal of the armored vehicle tended to interfere with their visors and he switched his to advanced viewing, hoping to see just how many critters they would have to deal with. As the doors opened, his heart sank. Their escort was now a scattered collection of vehicles and gunfire was coming from less than half of them. The ground had taken on a green glow telling him that the whole region was flooded with critters.
In front of them was the pyramid, but it too was glowing green as critters leapt from the many holes in its sides. Clutching the pack filled with twenty-four blocks of C4 to his chest, he pushed himself out of the truck, firing at the critters leaping onto the roof. The other nine members of his battle team were tumbling out of the back of the trucks and Sean and Dean fought their way to stand on either side of him.
Simply shooting the critters until they ran out of ammo wouldn’t get them anywhere and he roared, “Forward!”
Moving to the base of the pyramid meant they would need to walk through a wall of green and he used his laser to carve out an opening. More guns joined his and critter bodies were falling down, instantly losing their green glow. Every step towards the pyramid was hard won and the ten of them formed two columns, each firing at anything on either side. Wearing the critter suit as camouflage, he was in lead with Sean and Dean slightly behind him. Less than ten yards from the base of the pyramid and firing steadily, he continued to cut down critters in his path. They were appearing out of holes up the two hundred foot tall nest then tumbling down the incline in their haste to attack them.
On either side of them, the green glow was growing and he heard Bill speak through his headset. “Forward. Forward. Do not stop.”
It seemed like a redundant order, but with his attention focused in front of him, he wasn’t entirely sure what his line of Navigators were doing. Ignoring Bill and clenching his teeth, he maintained his rate of fire, only now he aimed upwards, targeting the critters leaving through the higher holes. The crush of critters surrounding them was growing closer and they were failing to hold them back. One moment Sean was on his left and then he was gone.
Bill must have seen what had happened to his son and he shouted, “Keep moving! Do not stop!”
Part of him wanted to turn around and rescue his boy, but he knew it wouldn’t change whatever had happened to him and only result in his own death. He’d finally reached the first of the holes in the base of the pyramid, and as a critter tumbled down onto his helmet, he dove inside. The goo that lined the nest acted as a lubricant, firing him into the nest so quickly that he almost lost his grip on the laser gun. Another body was pushing him from behind and he twisted, trying to get his legs in fron
t of him. Partially succeeding, he found himself falling free of the goo and to the ground. Landing with a crunch of metal, the surface beneath him gave way and he was flying again, only to hit another sodden floor.
Worried whoever had followed him might land in the same place he swiftly rolled, skidding along the gooey surface. His wariness paid off when another body landed next to him and rolled in the opposite direction to his. A third one joined them, making it three Navigators that had made their way into the nest.
Although they had lost signal with central command, their radios still worked between them and he asked, “Who’s with me?”
“Dad?”
Relief flooded through him to know that at least one of his son’s was still with him. “Dean?”
“Where’s Sean?”
Not wanting to tell him that his brother was most likely dead, he replied, “Dunno.” Grabbing for the Navigator who was struggling to climb to their feet, he asked, “Who are you?”
“Andrea.”
He remembered the young woman who’d joined their battle team from another squad. Sean and Dean had flirted with her for the few days they’d been at CaliTech preparing to leave, and he wasn’t sure if one of them hadn’t succeeded. “You okay?”
“I saw Sean go under.”
“Aww, nooo,” Dean howled. “No, no, no…”
Suppressing his own despair, he said sharply, “Cut it out, Dean. He’s gone. We’ve gotta do what we came here for otherwise he’s gone for nothing.” Letting go of Andrea, he grabbed his last remaining son. “Stay frosty. We’re deep in the shit now.”
Andrea said quietly, “They’re coming.”
Scanning the tunnel, there was a wall of green headed towards them from both ends. “Look for the holes!”
The three of them split apart, stamping at the ground, desperately looking for the gap they knew would be inside of the tunnel. It was Dean who found it first. He was there one moment and gone the next. Pushing Andrea towards where Dean had been standing, she too fell through the floor and he immediately followed her. This was the plan, to hunt for the holes that would lead them deeper into the nest until they hit the last chamber, hopefully finding the creature they needed to kill.