“Hopkins, take Sung, Mueller, White and Noon. I want the five of you to get onboard that C-5. There’s a damn good view from up there to see all three hangars and anything going on.” Caleb almost choked on the water he was sipping with the announcement. The others around him laughed softly at his reaction.
“Sung, you take point. Everybody on this base is one big happy family, so you walk out there nice and calm-like. Then I’ll follow with the lieutenant, and then Mueller and Noon. It’s still nice and dark, so I don’t foresee any problems. If they make us and we can’t take them out quietly, we make our way to the buildings to our north, to draw them off the rest of the team and find a new hide.” Hopkins ordered his new detail.
The quiet night was anything but, as the hangar’s side door was opened. The noise of numerous machines and engines was ear splittingly loud. Sung decided the risk was worth it to see what the noises were before heading over to the C-5. An auxiliary power unit was providing power to Hangar 811. Two other giant green units on trailers were running huge hoses into the hangar through freshly cut holes. Sung risked walking closer and could see both Hangar 810 and 818 had the same setup. The buildings also looked like they had seals on the main doors. Sung was taking one last look before retreating when he saw the smaller door on the front of 811 open and a ten foot tall biped in an environmental suit exiting, bent over so it could fit through the door. Sung stopped in amazement. The legs appeared to be backwards, with the knees facing the back and not forward. The pair of arms were so long, it appeared to be dragging its knuckles. If it had them. A helmet that seemed too small for the body hid the alien’s head. They’re not going to believe this! he thought, walking rapidly and turning the corner, out of view, before heading towards the C-5.
Hopkins waited at the window, wondering what happened to Sung, when he finally saw him walking across the flight line to the aircraft. He was pleased to see just how difficult it was to observe him, even though he was walking normally, trying to appear as if he belonged there.
Caleb felt naked, wanting to run as he was forced to walk slowly, next to Hopkins, holding his AR15 pistol tightly to his side, towards the huge plane. The excruciatingly loud noises were only slightly dampened as they walked further away from the hangars. Hopkins motioned for him to go first up the aircraft’s ladder. He looked up and realized it was at least a two story climb to get into the plane. Above the entrance and inside the plane he could see Sung, another two stories higher on the second level of the plane. John’s backpack was not riding well on his back with the hundred plus pounds of gear bouncing all over his back as he climbed.
“Drop your backpack on one of the bunks to the right, then come back to the left here to the cockpit. There’s no power, but be sure not to touch, or step on any switches or buttons.” Sung said.
The rest of the team boarded the aircraft, quickly doffing their gear. “Sung, Mueller, and Noon, find yourself a spot and crash. I’ll wake you in three hours.
Chapter 29
Douglas, Wyoming. April 15, 2029
Peters looked at the metal suitcase he’d carried for the two weeks since the apocalypse had struck. General Tullos had given him the suitcase of codes and specialty equipment after becoming infected and ordering Peters to Wyoming. He used the code 000 to open the case and found what he was looking for. He made himself comfortable before using his satellite phone to call the number near the top of the list. The sound of ring on the other end was strange, but reassuring, are they still operational? He hoped so. The phone was answered, he couldn’t understand a word. He realized he’d not planned what to say and had taken it for granted that they’d speak English. “This is Acting President of the United States, William Peters, calling for Colonel General Sergei Vadimovich Stepashin, Commander of Russian Aerospace Defense Forces.”
“I am here. I am sorry to hear about your General Tullos, he was a true gentleman. I also want to applaud you for removing the madman Richard Etchberger from office. He was very unstable, Mr. President. I do hear good things about you, though.” Peters sat in silence at everything that was just said to him, in an Oxford accent to boot.
“Colonel General, you are very well informed. Perhaps I’m wasting your time by calling.”
“Please, Mr. President, I meant no disrespect. Please call me Serge. Why are you calling me this early in your morning?” Serge asked.
“Serge, I wanted to let you know the cure for the plague, among other things. If you give the infected a shock of electricity, it will partially cure them. They are still infectious, but they can rejoin your population. I also wanted to warn you about aliens that will arrive here in approximately twenty hours to start taking humans to their world or did you already know that?” Peters asked, trying not to sound bitter.
“You surprise me, Mr. President. That is one of your nation’s highest secrets, your communications with The Organization. Are these, the DyB’buk that are coming?” Serge asked, wishing he could see the president’s face.
“Yes, Serge. I was hoping we could coordinate our attack on the DyB’buk, especially since your satellite lasers have a longer range than ours. I was going to propose we strike when they assume orbit, then if either of us have a problem, the other can take them out.”
“Yes, Mr. President, I can seek permission for that. Then we can both fall back on our hypersonic missile batteries in orbit, if needed.” Serge replied.
“Serge, I know you are acting Marshal of the Russian Federation and refused the title of President. I hope to soon be a small clog in our military again, as our elected leaders and military are cured and resume their positions, or better, I think I may retire. So, I can count on your full support to defend the planet?”
“You have my word, Mr. President. Hopefully this will be the beginning of a truly new age of peace not only between our people but truly the entire world, especially when our peoples realize that we are not alone anymore.”
“Thank you. Serge, that sounds like a wonderful world. I will have my people call you when they detect the DyB’buk, approaching the planet.
“Goodbye, Mr. President.” The line was dead, and Peters began to worry about what he had shared with the Russian and suspected that the Russian knew more than him about what was going on.
Sleep continued to elude him, so John Favazza decided it would be best to go to his office at space command and see if he could assist in any way. Major Arnot saw the civilian walking in and walked over.
“Sir, do you have any updates for us? Arnot asked.
“I wish I did, that’d mean I knew more than I do. I just can’t sleep and thought I’d come by and see if I can be useful.”
“Well sir, I could use another scanner. From everything we’ve seen and done earlier, we still have no idea from what direction the DyB’buk will approach. The earlier we can get eyes on them the sooner we can prepare a welcome for them.
“I can help with that. I just need to take care of something important first. Locking the door behind him, Favazza pulled out the cube and waited for Tomi to appear.
“Hello, John Favazza. What do you wish of me today? The gray alien inquired.
“We’re waiting here for the DyB’buk, nearly defenseless. I understand you can’t give us much, but can you tell me the closest system for us to be looking towards when they come, or better yet, just the exact time and the location? We’ve been through a lot. You can help so much and yet do so little, just let me know where to look.” Favazza pleaded.
“John, my friend, I must follow the instructions of the court and not interfere. By your three kings, I will not answer. There should be a judgment soon. Be strong.” The alien disappeared, leaving Favazza frustrated. Nothing like friends in high places that wouldn’t piss on you if you were on fire! He thought while putting the cube away. He could swear he saw the number ten on the top of it and then it faded away. Crap! He left me a message and I missed it! Ten has to be tonight, it matches the approximation given earlier. Now what else did he say?<
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Chapter 30
Travis AFB, California. April 15, 2029
Looking through the far left window, the alien could be seen standing in front of the hangar, observing humans outside the other hangar fueling and working on aerospace ground equipment. Gloria closed her eyes and tried to focus on the alien and could only come away with just a presence. The alien ducked down and returned to the hangar. One of the men that was on the work detail noticed the alien leave and said something to the other, then walked over to the shadows, where it was even darker, next to the hangar. Gloria couldn’t figure out what he was doing, hiding? Then his face was illuminated brightly for a second then it was dark again with only an orange glow in front of his face. “Gotcha!” Hope said softly. “Hofstetter, Eto, I got a target on the south side of 811 on a smoke break. Bring him back now.” Both men hurried out the door and then walked slowly, directly towards their target. He didn’t notice a thing, with his night sight lost to the cigarette. He was totally surprised when, as he exhaled the cigarette smoke, a fist slammed into the side of his face and a rag quickly stuck into his mouth. Hofstetter easily threw him over his shoulder, and then the pair jogged the short distance back to their hide.
The room was pitch black, he could feel his hands were tied to the arms of a chair, something was in his mouth making it hard to breathe. There was motion around him, but it was too dark to see. In the short time he was out they checked him for weapons and confirmed he was actually in the Air Force. Hofstetter was chosen to interrogate the young airman since he was the most physically intimidating of the crew.
“Senior Airman Hussein, can you understand me? I’m going to remove your gag to make you more comfortable. If you do anything stupid you will be very uncomfortable.” He felt the gag removed, leaving a very dry mouth and tongue.
“Senior Airman Hussein, you do realize the punishment for treason during time of war is a hanging offense, correct?”
“Fuck you! You…” The stun gun in the side of his neck was only used for a second, yet the airman bounced around for a couple more seconds before stopping, gasping for air.
“Senior Airman Hussein, you do realize that was not very polite. I could execute you here in the field for your actions. Now I’m going to call you Abdul, and you will call me Sir. Here, let me give you a little water.” The airman tried to gulp down the water and it was removed. “Now Abdul, how many others are helping the aliens?”
“Sir, I honestly don’t know, maybe a couple dozen. After people began to turn into Shriekers, the aliens landed like all hell and were able to get all of the ones who turned into the transient alert facility, north of the tower. They explained to Major Patel that they were going to be on the base for less than a month. At the end of the month, they promised to cure everyone, and then leave. They proved they could cure the Shriekers. Some who tried to fight them were vaporized. They were the lucky ones. They have guard dogs from hell that tore our people apart and then ate them. We had about a hundred of us. They made fifty people join the shriekers because there were too many of us to watch.” Hofstetter gave him another sip of water before continuing.
“What do the aliens look like, Abdul?”
“The fuckers are tall, but skinny as hell. We don’t think they can breathe our air because they stay in space suits. They had us tow a small space ship into each hangar then seal them as airtight as possible. Then we rigged all three hangars for them with electricity and we have two hot air blowers going 24/7 on each hangar. We can’t get it too hot for them. It’s my job to keep the machines fueled and running. One of the guys in the detail with me went AWOL. One of the heaters died when it ran out of fuel. The meat sacks ordered us all to the transient hangar and watched as their devil hounds drove a hundred shriekers out into the sun. They died horribly.”
“How did they communicate with you? The devil hounds, they can breathe our air? But the ‘meat sacks’ can’t? What else can you tell us about the hounds?”
“The meat sacks used a box like a bullhorn, it sounded artificial. Their abominations of God are about ten foot long and five foot in circumference. They have four legs on each side, about two yards long, and can move fast. They don’t have a head or face, just a huge mouth full of teeth. I never saw ears or eyes, but they get around with no trouble. Did I mention they get around fast?” Abdul volunteered again.
“Push him over to the far corner, keep him secured.” Hope ordered, a plan forming in his head. He was almost knocked to the ground as the worst spasm of pain yet hit him. He knew if he didn’t have the mission, he’d have fixed himself permanently by now.
“I want everyone to assemble their DEWs. We’re going to take out the ground support equipment and then I’m going in to negotiate their surrender. Moon, call the team on the top of the hour, when they’re monitoring and have them bring me a smoke mask and oxygen bottle from the C-5 ASAP.” He paused for a moment to collect his thoughts. “Guys, I’m a dead man walking. I know some of you have noticed I’m not fully here, but didn’t say anything. Thank you. After we take out the ground support equipment, turning off their lights and heat, we use the DEWs on any vehicles coming to fix the problem. I will then present myself to them and ask for their surrender. If we fail to come to an agreement, I’m bringing my pack with me with fifty pounds of C4. If my plan screws the pooch, then that gives the rest of you time to come up with a better plan afterwards. I don’t have more than a day left and lying in a bed waiting is not in the equation. Now, let’s get ’er done.” Hope walked out of the office, back into the hangar section, leaving the team to prepare.
“Sgt Hofstetter, what’s the DEW he kept mentioning?” Gloria asked, trying not to think of Hope committing suicide in the line of duty.
“We have direct energy weapons. They send out microwaves that act as an electromagnetic pulse, killing almost anything electronic, depending on their shielding. Our range is limited to about sixty meters so we should be able to easily take out the ground equipment without exposing ourselves.”
“What’s your alternative plan, if he fails?” Gloria asked, trying not to think of failure as an option.”
“If that happens, we retreat back to the farm, move up the strike time, and get the hell out of Dodge.” Hofstetter looked pained with his plan.
“Guys, we have a new wrinkle in the plan. Check the flightline to the east.” Moon hollered as he came through the door carrying a fat yellow metal oxygen bottle and a full face smoke mask in a red bag.
Oh crap, Gloria thought as she could see what looked like easily a thousand or more infected slowly meandering in their direction. She couldn’t sense anger or any other emotion coming from them.
“Pruitt, ya little monkey. I want you to find a way to the roof and report. Be quick, we may have to get the hell out of here fast if they pick up any speed. I’d give us ten minutes max to vacate the premises.” Hope stopped for a minute to gather his thoughts, then grabbed his radio from his harness. “Bravo, Alpha.”
“Go ahead, Alpha” Hopkins radioed back.
“I want you to DEW the hangars, see if that can get us any time. I think you’re safe in your position and should stay put. If they chase us, E and E on your own to a safe distance and head for home. Good luck. Alpha out.”
“How the hell did they find us? We’re too damn good for them to have found us this easily. Alien or not, they’re not that good.” Becker griped, the others ignoring him as he stood up and raced into the main part of the hangar where Abdul still sat tied up in the dark. Becker pulled out his small infrared thumb flashlight and started to examine the prisoner, then swore loud enough to bring the others running.
“The bastard is wired! There’s a small antennae going into his skull behind his ear!” Becker yanked it as hard as he could. The wire that came out was over a foot long and bloody. Abdul shrieked, convulsing violently before collapsing into the chair, dead. Becker stood and stared, realizing he’d just unintentionally killed the young airman.
“Everyone,
we have serious trouble coming our way. The infected to the west of the base just pushed down the fence, and are heading our way. I estimate they could be as many as five thousand. We’re definitely not leaving the way we came in!” Pruitt radioed, ignoring protocol.
“Alpha, Bravo, we turned the lights off. Hangars should start cooling now that we pulled the plug.”
“Everyone, additional infected are coming from the base housing in the north. I’d estimate two thousand.” Pruitt radioed.
“Crap, they’re giving us an out. If we head southeast, we can get out of here easy. Just run straight across a billiard table for ten miles, free and easy. I don’t like it. Stuart, Hofstetter, set up the 240 and pepper the two hangars we can see. I want to see how they respond.” Hope sat down in a chair, not hiding his exhaustion. “Eto and Becker, back up Pruitt on the roof with your grenade launchers. Pop each of the hangars with one grenade only.”
Gloria watched fascinated as the two men pulled out what appeared to be pistol-sized shotguns and attached them under the barrel of their carbines before heading to the main hangar and up to the roof. “What can I do, Sgt Hope?” Gloria asked, feeling out of place.
“I want you to just keep using your zombie powers. Tell me when you feel something like a thousand Zs trying to sneak up on us.”
Gloria didn’t know if he was slamming her, for not sensing the hordes coming or being funny. She elected to try harder to sense what she could. The two short blasts of the M240 machine gun fire took her by surprise, followed by excruciating pain from her sensitive hearing in the small room. She dropped her M4 and covered her ears. She could hear every sound magnified, the brass still bouncing on the floor, even the small links that held the bullets to feed the machine gun, as they hit the floor. She took her hands from her ears just as two explosions went off at almost the same time followed by one more explosion. “They’re mad now! All the infected are royally pissed off.” Gloria announced.
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