“Everyone here knows the gravity of the situation. General Daugherty has put forth a plan to eliminate the infected that will quickly gain us the upper hand in this conflict. Tactical nuclear strikes along the West Coast. Please elaborate, General.”
“Yes, sir,” Daugherty stood. He clicked a button on his remote control and a giant map of the United States lit up at the back of the room.
“Gentlemen, our nation hangs by a thread. The enemy has taken strangleholds of both our coastlines, driving us inland and pinching us in the middle of the nation. We’re estimating a ninety-three percent infection rate. Most of our seven percent is sitting in-between the Rockies and the Mississippi which means we are effectively surrounded. We cannot fight on two fronts in this battle. With limited forces at our disposal, we must free up one of our flanks in order to concentrate our forces on the other. As we speak, millions of infected march from cities along the West Coast toward the interior. Countless more reside in the cities themselves and will eventually make their way here. They will not stop.” He glanced down at his notes. “Has everyone been briefed on Operation Just Resolve?”
The officers around the room nodded their heads, affirming yes.
“Good. Let me be brief. Just Resolve is a multitiered approach. We still have access to considerable nuclear assets within our strategic triad. The USS Kentucky and the USS Louisiana are Ohio-class submarines and sitting off the coast of California as we speak, carrying twenty-four thermonuclear warheads each. They are currently eighty-seven days into a ninety-day patrol. They are reaching their capacity to function without resupply. We can hold them for probably an extra week off the coast, but they will be ineffective after that.”
“They can’t resupply in Alaska?” Kinnick asked. Daugherty looked irritated by the interruption. He glared over his glasses but answered the question.
“The USS Kentucky and USS Louisiana will travel to Anchorage after their mission is complete. If we send them now, that puts us over a week behind for any offensive strikes. A week we do not have. We could have millions of infected on our doorstep in a week. Worse yet, we could have them on the move, too spread out for an effective response.” He glared around the table.
“May I continue?” Daugherty asked the group. “Those aren’t our only assets. We have two B2 bomber squadrons able to fly from Peterson as well as a squadron of F-16s that can be outfitted if need be. The problem is our GPS systems. All of our GPS stations, except the one here in Colorado Springs, are offline. As we know, our systems must recalibrate to stay accurate. There hasn’t been recalibration in over a month. Lack of appropriate navigation capabilities will hamper our efforts severely. However, I have faith in my squadrons here that they will find their targets if asked to do it the old fashion way.”
A lieutenant colonel with short brown hair smiled broadly. “My boys are up to the challenge.”
“That’s good, Colonel Hicks. We need them on their A-game for this operation,” Daugherty said.
“We will move the USS Kentucky and the USS Louisiana north and use them to strike San Francisco and San Jose, Seattle, Portland, Sacramento, and Spokane. This will allow them the opportunity to get a head start on their resupply run.
Vice President Brady looked miserable at the end of the table. Kinnick saw him burp under this breath and blow it to the side.
Vice President Brady placed his hands on the edge of the table. “Anybody want a drink?” Vice President Brady said. He looked around at the officers and abruptly stood up. He walked over to the cabinet holding his scotch decanter near the head of the room. “I feel like we could all use one. Can’t have a good ‘let’s nuke the United States,’ conversation without one.” Daugherty watched the vice president with apparent disgust behind his back. The vice president fumbled with the crystal top of the decanter. “I think that was Churchill who said that.”
“No, sir. May I continue the briefing?”
The vice president didn’t say anything but ripped the top off the decanter. The crystal on crystal friction rang around the room.
Daugherty punched a button on his remote and the subs’ attack routes lit up. He clicked another button, bringing up mini-airplanes headed west.
“Colonel Hicks, we will need your squadrons to hit Los Angeles, Phoenix, San Diego, Las Vegas, Tucson, and if we can get it done, Albuquerque and Salt Lake City. I have half a mind to have you hit some targets below the border. General Urban has been screaming about proper air support for weeks. Hitting some targets below Texas may alleviate some pressure on his command, but I’m not sure we’re going to get the go-ahead on that.”
“General Daugherty,” the vice president interrupted. He spoke over his shoulder. The general’s chin lowered to his chest.
“Yes, sir.”
Brady’s words slurred a bit as he spoke. “Can somebody get me some ice?”
General Daugherty glared at a major. “Major Day, can you oblige the Vice President?” The major stood and hurried from the room.
The vice president watched him go. “Wait, Major.” Day stopped looking admonished. The vice president handed him the ice bucket. “Can’t forget this.” Day took the ice bucket and fled the War Room.
The vice president turned back to the table. “You’re sure this is the best plan? What about the ‘Mother of All Bombs’ bomb?” He waved a hand to his side as he spoke. “Wouldn’t that negate any fallout concerns?”
“I’m not sure of any other way to put this clearly. We’re on the brink. Infection rates are through the roof. Here.” Daugherty clicked the map off and pulled up another.
The vice president raised a hand in the air. “I’ve seen it plenty of times.”
Daugherty licked his lips. “The GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast bombs are off the table. We have fifteen in our arsenal and they only have the explosive yield of a small tactical nuclear weapon. We need these infected hotbeds off the table with a certainty that only nuclear weapons can give us.”
The vice president nodded. The door clicked quietly open and Day tried to sneak back into the room, carrying the bucket of ice.
The vice president stared his way and waved him forward. “Hurry up, now,” he said. Day handed it to the vice president, keeping his head low.
“Thanks, Champ.” The major hurried to go take his seat.
“Let’s continue with the brief. Our-,” Daugherty’s voice stopped.
The vice president dug his hand into the ice. The ice loudly crunched and broke, the sound magnified by the bucket. “We are talking about destroying every major city center on the West Coast. I need assurances.” He clinked ice cubes into his crystal glass. He dropped them one at a time, waiting for General Daugherty’s response.
The general frowned as he thought. His nostrils flared. “I will elaborate again. The state of your armed forces is abysmal. We’ve been over the contingency plans. We have only a small fraction of our armed forces operational, and we must stem the tide of the infected. The only radical change to this trend is our nuclear arsenal. I don’t want to do it. By God, it is not what these missiles were made for, but I believe it will get the job done.”
“Mr. Vice President, what if I told you that you didn’t have to drop any nukes?” Kinnick said, calling out across the room.
Vice President Brady spun around. His eyebrows rose on his forehead in attention, and he brought his drink up to the center of his chest. “Colonel Kinnick. I was wondering when you would speak up.” The vice president smiled at him.
Daugherty shot daggers with his eyes at Kinnick. Don’t jump the chain of command if you want to keep your job. Kinnick ignored him. Fuck it. We’ll all be dead soon anyway.
Brady slurped the liquor from his glass as he took his seat again. “Well, what do you have for me? I trust it is a better plan than General Daugherty put forth.” Daugherty chewed his lip barely able to restrain his anger. The general’s eyes blinked rapidly behind his glasses.
The vice president dared him with unafraid eyes. �
��General, do we have an issue?”
Daugherty’s face turned red and he glared at Kinnick.
“I gave the colonel twenty-four hours to come up with an alternative plan. Now, let’s hear it.”
“Thank you, sir,” Kinnick said.
Brady nodded and spread his arms out wide.
“No one will say I didn’t exhaust all my options. All of you men can attest to that.” He pointed at a few of his officers.
Kinnick stood up, clutching his paper map. He rolled the large map of Colorado out across the table. The state was a basic rectangle. Highway arteries stretched across the state in the shape of a cross, spread up and down, left and right, following the edge of the Rocky Mountains. He waved at a Day. “Can you hold that down?”
Day stood and held down a corner of the map.
“Thank you. All right.” Licking his lips, Kinnick started, leaning on the table. “The Rocky Mountains provide a natural barrier between us and the Western cities.”
“That’s exactly why it makes sense for us to nuke them. The fallout will be trapped on the other side of the mountains,” Lieutenant Colonel Gaines said with a reassuring look to Daugherty.
I’m not going to get support from former colleagues here. Kinnick pulled a marker from his pocket and held it up like a professor in class. “You are correct, Colonel, but what if we didn’t need to drop the nukes at all. If we can secure and hold these few passes through the Rockies,” he said, as he circled each pass on the map, “we will be able to stop any large hordes of infected from attacking our rear, buying us time.”
“I would say you are trying to do this the really, really hard way. We would bleed our remaining forces dry trying to hold the passes. How many soldiers would we need to hold those passes? Ten thousand?” said Daugherty.
Dark-blue uniformed General Monroe shifted in his seat. “Without the majority of Fort Carson here, it would be very difficult. I have to agree the drain on manpower will stretch us thin.”
“It won’t. I assure you. Watch.” Kinnick continued to circle the passes. “I have narrowed it down to the major roadways through Colorado.” He drew a large X north and a bit west of the center of Colorado. “We start with the Eisenhower Tunnel. We will need to block that first. This should divert the main body of the infected outwards, pinning them within the canyons of the mountain range. They will eventually funnel toward Dunluce Pass. Here.” He dragged the marker over the map a few inches and tapped the pass with it. Black dots blotted the paper. “I would say a company of men could hold that against tens of thousands of infected for a period of time. A couple of platoons or even a single platoon at South Fork, Mosquito, and Independence Passes. Combined with your combat aviation brigades and A-10s, even the F-16s, we should be able to hold. Give me a battalion, and I will hold Colorado.”
Daugherty shook his head in disbelief. “You’re telling me that you can fend off roughly sixty million infected with five hundred soldiers? You’re insane. We’ve had entire brigade combat teams and divisions decimated by these things.”
Kinnick looked at the General Daugherty. What will you do? Try to ruin my career? I’m retired. No place to go. No asses to kiss. Only an opportunity to get eaten alive on a mountaintop in the middle of nowhere. Kinnick looked at Daugherty and leaned into the table. “I only need to hold until it snows. We’re guaranteed snow by mid-November, which means I only need to hold for about a month. I can do it.”
“This guy has got some big fucking balls,” Monroe said with a laugh.
“Or a death wish,” Daugherty snapped.
Brady laughed, making sure to get some alcohol in his mouth between laughs. His laugh was loud and boisterous as if he were at a college bar instead of the War Room of an acting president.
Daugherty squeezed an eyebrow in-between his fingers. “Strategically, this plan doesn’t make sense.”
“Hold on, Chuck. He’s an amusing fella. I mean this is the colonel who found goddamn Patient Zero.” The vice president drank some more booze, shaking his head. “You have to be a little crazy if you undertook that mission and came out alive. Clever plan, but the answer is, no.”
Kinnick blinked rapidly, digesting his rejection. What? Not even a shot?
“Sir, with all due respect. Give me a battalion and I will protect your flank.” Kinnick stood erect, hands at his sides, chin up, chest out, eyes forward.
“The vice president’s right. It’s too much to risk on the backs of men. We will conduct our nuclear strike and be assured our flank is protected. We will not hope that your plan works. We will rain fire from above and know we are secure,” Daugherty said.
The vice president smiled at Kinnick, who felt like the man might outright laugh at him. The vice president shrugged his shoulders as if he didn’t care anymore. “I’m leaning toward General Daugherty’s plan. Eliminating the cities where most of our population is concentrated will greatly relieve pressure from our battle plan.”
Kinnick put his hands on the table, leaning in. “Give me two hundred soldiers and I will protect your flank. If I can’t hold the flank, you can unleash a hell on our country that has never before been seen in the history of mankind. Let me try. Let me give you the opportunity to say we did everything we could in our darkest hour to prevent a holocaust beyond imagination.”
General Monroe watched him, taking in his words, his chin nodding. He turned to the vice president. “Sir, Colonel Kinnick has a point. We still have options on the table. Hold the nukes in reserve. Let’s see what he can do.”
“You want to waste more lives on this fool’s errand? Those are our boys he’s leading to the slaughter when we’ve already lost so many,” Daugherty said.
“What will happen when you have to look your children in the face and tell them what you’ve done?” Kinnick said, his voice rising.
Daugherty’s mouth clamped shut. An ashamed anger settled over his features. “I will tell them that I helped win an unwinnable war so they could have a future.”
“A future where they will scrape a life out of the ashes. Will you leave out the part where you incinerated half of the country?”
“I will tell them that what was done needed to be done.”
The vice president swirled the ice around in his glass. He lifted a hand partially in the air, calling the debate to a stop.
“Kinnick, you’re crazy, and I like you. General Daugherty, you’re a strategic mastermind, but I would love to have some plausible deniability on this one. Eventually, when this is over, there will be questions,” he said. His eyes stared through Kinnick. “I’m inclined to see if you can work a miracle. I’ll give you four days to secure and close off the routes into Colorado, but General Monroe, do not weaken our perimeter here.”
Kinnick smiled, knowing that he had probably signed his own death warrant, but it gave the nation a chance to hold onto some of its purity.
“Thank you, sir.” He turned to the broad Army general. “General Monroe, would you be willing to donate your 2nd Special Forces battalion? Perhaps a Stryker company.” Visions of the large personnel carriers plowing over infected danced in his mind followed by attack helicopters rocketing the infected into fiery pieces. “We will need to get the attack choppers to loosen them up before we go in.” Kinnick grabbed his map and started to roll it up.
Monroe grimaced. “I would give you an entire division if I could, but I can’t. The most I can spare is a single company of men.”
Kinnick’s heart sank. He would need more than that to stand a chance. He turned to Daugherty.
“We will be hard-pressed, but with heavy air support we will hold.” Kinnick gulped. The look on the general’s face was one of disgust.
“Air support will remain concentrated in the Colorado Springs area. Our resources are not infinite, and we must maintain the integrity of this operating base.”
Kinnick looked back at Monroe, his only real advocate in the room. “Only a hundred and fifty men, sir?” Without air support, we’ll die.
/> Monroe nodded, thick jaw clenching. “Less. Most of our units have been pieced together and reorganized. You will make due, of that I have no doubt. Or the vice president will order the destruction of the entire Western seaboard.”
STEELE
Little Sable Point, MI
Thunder had instructed the volunteers all morning. He cursed and pointed and explained in detail everything he could about firearms. The sun had made an appearance but only enough to dull the chill in the brisk air. The pale yellow circle traveled to the middle of the sky above them.
Steele had listened as Thunder spent hours going over the nomenclature of the weapons. He explained the merits of weapons safety with repetitious focus on not pointing the weapons at one another. It was a foundational rule of gun safety, and people needed a constant reminder. The recruits took apart their weapons piece by piece and put them back together again as Thunder instructed them on familiarization.
In the afternoon, Steele took over. A mild breeze traveled down the beach and through the dunes.
“Leave the weapons and follow me,” Steele instructed. A couple of volunteers set their weapons down. Others looked at him, confused.
“We can’t take them?” Alex asked. The college student had picked up the weapon with some aptitude, enough aptitude for Steele to hope that he may become an asset to the group someday.
“Won’t need them,” Steele said.
“What if infected come around?”
“You can run back. We won’t need to go far.”
“What’s the point in training on these things if we don’t get to use them?”
Steele walked closer to the young man.
“Not until you get more training. I don’t want you shooting me by mistake. Now, let’s move!” Steele shouted. Alex set his gun down slower than Steele would have liked, but they all followed him into the dunes leading to the beach. They lazily made a single file line. Nervous chatter sounded off between them.
Steele drew them to a halt near the washed up bodies of the slain infected. The small waves tossed and rolled them like the carcasses of dead fish. Max looked at him questioningly as they approached the stinking bodies, covering his nose and mouth with the sleeve of his sweatshirt.
The Rising (The End Time Saga Book 3) Page 20