by SD Tanner
“Well, we’re already making our own depleted uranium-tipped hollow point bullets. With the custom guns we’ve built, they push the bullet out at over three thousand feet per second, which is faster than a fifty cal. Our guns use an electrical shock to the bullet to ignite the load. From the footage we’ve seen, the speed of our bullet penetrates and creates an effing big hole in the critter, and then the hollow point deforms on its way in making an even bigger hole inside.” Raising his hands and spreading his fingers wide, he added with glee, “Boom, baby!”
The obvious joy Jenkins took in his job reminded him of Willy Wonka, and he looked around the large hangar space filled with every type of weapon imaginable. Providing they could find the raw materials, he could see the space becoming a production line for custom built weapons and ammunition. It opened up a whole new world of possibilities and he needed to understand their limitations.
“Can you make more guns and bullets?”
Jenkins shrugged. “I don’t see why not. If we spend less time designing new weapons, then we’ll have the skills and resources to spend on production. Raw materials could be an issue, but I assume you don’t want to build tens of thousands of them. We only have one thousand nav suits, and these types of guns and ammo weren’t built for your standard soldier anyway. They’re too heavy, plus they’re…umm…prone to going off when they shouldn’t.”
“Are you saying your weapons are unstable?”
With a wry look, Jenkins shrugged again. “A little, but the navs are armored so there’s more room for error.”
“Do you see this as a drawn out engagement?” Candy asked.
Sighing deeply, he replied, “I don’t see how it can be any other way. Half our population turned into our enemy. They’re hard to kill, they’ve cornered a good proportion of the people left, and now they’re forming their own cities. We’re so on the back foot in this situation, the best we can do is resist their invasion rather than attack, but I want to go to NORAD and check out what missile capability we have left.”
“Are you saying we’ve already lost? That we’re an occupied country now?” Jenkins asked in disbelief.
He’d thought long and hard about their position, and for as much as he’d rather live in denial, he couldn’t develop a viable strategy unless he was prepared to accept the real state of play. “Yeah, we’ve been invaded and the enemy has taken control. Our job is to get it back, but we don’t have an army capable of mounting an attack, so right now the best we can do is resist. It means we need to set up cells and equip them with weapons that don’t need ammo, which is why I’m interested in your laser and sound weapons.”
Jenkins gave him an unhappy look. “I’m not sure we should be considering this kinda tech.” Leaning closer to him, he added, “With all due respect to Candy, her tech is…”
“A joke,” she said, finishing his sentence for him. “Laser and sound based weapons might be something for the future, but they’re not for today. The real grunt power is in the high velocity weapons and anything that goes bang, however large or small.”
He shook his head. “That was true a month ago when we were defending ourselves against people just like us. We have an altogether different enemy now. They need more bang that we’ve got, so we’ve gotta get creative, or when we run low on the high impact ammo we won’t be able to stop them.”
Looking at Candy, Jenkins said, “Maybe we can shuffle around some of the specialists. I mean, we’re working on the nav weapon add-ons, but I could give you some of the more experienced design engineers. If we’re gonna ramp up production of the weapons and ammo then they won’t be working on new designs anyway.” Flicking an amused look his way, he added, “It’ll be a change of direction for us, but as long as Dunk says it’s a go then it’s a go.”
Candy shrugged. “Hey, we won’t pass up any opportunity to accelerate our designs, but what’s the end game here?”
It was a good question and he wasn’t sure how to answer it. He couldn’t see how they could achieve a rapid conclusion to the invasion, they simply didn’t have the skilled resources, and those they did have couldn’t be relied upon. Even if he could assemble an army, there was a risk the people would turn into critters just as the last one had. The best he could do was give people a structure to resist from and advise them to fight like terrorists, which meant small surprise assaults using whatever weapons they had at hand. Building a Navigator army was out of the question. They didn’t have enough people or gear. It was nice to have a squad of Navigators, but in the context of the bigger problem, he didn’t think it would save them. He could only hope NORAD was still operational. If that were the case then they would still have access to their nukes and missiles.
Fixing Candy with a grim look, he replied, “All we can do is give our people weapons that work using less ammo. If we can’t wipe the critters out in a single blow then our only chance is to outlast them, and that means we need weapons we can use indefinitely. Conventional guns are useless without ammo and eventually we’re going to run out of that.”
CHAPTER NINETEEN: Prepped to kill (Jonesy)
Climbing out of Stax’s Jeep, he waved at the camera on the top of the wall surrounding CaliTech and the gates slowly opened. Bill had told him not to bring survivors back, but he no longer gave a damn about what he wanted. He didn’t think the guy was any more equipped to deal with the situation than anyone else was, but whereas before he would have done as he was told, now all he wanted to do was follow his own path. Talking to Stax had crystalized his plan and he knew exactly what he needed to do next.
Stax, Sean and Dean followed him down the stairs to the command center, where Ark was monitoring the Navigator feeds. As he walked into the room with the heavily armed preppers, Ark spun his chair around to face them.
“These guys have a shelter.”
“I thought Bill told you not to bring people back here,” Ark replied amiably.
“Do you follow his orders now?”
Giving him a lopsided and strained grin, Ark replied, “Nope. So, what’s the story here?”
“Miranda and Jas didn’t make it. These guys literally pulled my ass outta the fire.”
Ark’s face grew somber. “Sorry to hear that.”
Stax stuck out his wide, flat hand to Ark. “I’m Stax and these are my boys, Sean and Dean.” After shaking Ark’s badly scarred hand, he flicked his head at him. “Your man here tells us you’ve got tech, and you’re looking to set up cells to fight these fuckers.”
“I’m not looking to do anything, but Bill’s on his way over here from the weapons facility. He’ll fill you in on his master plan.”
“Is Bill your leader?” Stax asked.
Ark gave him a meaningful look before replying to Stax, “No. He was a Colonel in the Army, but there’s no military left now.”
“I was told you have some army guys training to become navs.”
Turning his chair slightly, Ark pointed at one of his screens that was displaying passing scenery he recognized as north Albuquerque. The area mostly contained small industrial sites, and he assumed Jo was following through on her plan to find more information about the installed shelters.
“They’ve been to the nest, to downtown Albuquerque, and now they’re looking for a list of people who bought and installed shelters. They’re on the I-25 heading north.”
Stax gave a sharp laugh. “Preppers don’t look so crazy now, huh?” Before they could reply, he added in a serious tone, “We have a network. Contact was usually made by text and through the web, but a lot of us have radios so we can send out a call to arms.”
With Stax onside, it looked like Jo’s mission was a wasted one, and he asked, “Do we need the list of shelters or will your network do?”
“Why do ya ask?”
Ark replied for him. “Every mission outside the wire is dangerous. If they don’t need to engage then I don’t want them to.”
Bill walked into the room and looked their visitors up and down. “I t
old you not to bring people back here.” Glancing at Stax, he added, “No offense, but this site is critical to our strategy and we can’t afford to compromise it.”
“No offense taken, but your guy told us you were lookin’ for shelters and I assume ya want the preppers that go with ‘em.”
“Do you have a shelter?”
“Yep.”
“And you’re preppers?”
“Yep.”
“Can you contact the other shelters?”
“Some of ‘em. It’s a network. The one’s we know can contact others. Ya know how it goes.”
A satisfied smile spread across Bill’s face. “That’s perfect.”
Nodding in his direction, Stax said, “Your man here tells us you wanna set up resistance cells.”
Bill nodded. “The critters have established an underground city in Pueblo Pintado, plus they’re holding people prisoner in the cities and large suburban areas.”
“Why are they doin’ that?”
“We don’t know, but we do know they’re using them as a food supply, plus they have a gooey substance that can kill and absorb them. It’s made of plastic.”
“Since when can plastic do that?” Stax asked in disbelief.
With a shrug, Bill replied, “The medical team haven’t finished their analysis yet. They say there are molecules in the substance they can’t identify, so they don’t understand its full composition, but it does seem to be intelligent and alive.”
“Where does it come from?”
“The critters spit it.”
“How does it kill people?”
Ark replied for Bill. “The nav squad picked up a survivor who’s been attacked by the goo. According to her brother, the stuff absorbs into the skin, puts the person in a coma for a few hours, and once they’re dead the goo absorbs them.”
“How has anyone survived that?”
“When his sister was attacked a nurse with them put a tourniquet around her arm the moment it happened.”
“And she’s still alive?” When Ark nodded, Stax turned to his sons. “We need to get that message out to our group. They need to know what to do if they’re attacked by the goo.”
“What kind of weapons does your group have?” Bill asked.
Stax sniffed. “AR-15s, shotguns, AK47s, semi-automatics, long-range rifles, and the pistols are usually forty-fives. We generally hold a thousand shotgun rounds, two thousand rounds for the semi-auto, and a thousand for the rifle, plus three thousand for the pistols. Most of us are equipped with survival gear. You know, bug out packs, clothing and the like, so we can move out fast if we need to.”
To prove his father’s point, Sean began to unload his pack. While he tossed the items onto the table, he noted a good-sized knife, metal water bottle, lighters, rehydration powder, cooking kit, dehydrated meals, protein bars, beef jerky, soap, bleach, trapping kit, Mylar blanket, tent, first aid kit, headlamp, duct tape, zip ties, LED flashlight, prescription meds, batteries and a few extra pairs of thick socks. All three men were dressed in similar tactical vests, warm hats, gloves, hardwearing boots and waterproof jackets.
He’d never paid much attention to the prepper culture, but now he would need to make it his own. Knowing how to survive on the road was integral to his plan, and he studied the contents of the pack with interest. Turning to Sean, he asked, “Can you show me what you have and why?”
“Sure. Why?”
“I’m gonna need to know.”
Ark was talking on the radio to the Navigator team. “Leon, you need to head back to the base.”
Leon’s voice came through the speaker. “Why? What’s the problem?”
“There’s no problem. A prepper contact has just arrived at CaliTech. He can talk to the other shelters, so you don’t need to get a list of them.”
“Is Bill okay with us not getting a list of the shelters?” Jo asked.
Leaning into the microphone on Ark’s table, Bill replied, “Yeah, I’m good. Don’t take on anything you don’t have to, plus we need that infected woman back here. The medical team will need to check her out.”
“And save her life, Bill,” Jo said firmly.
“Yeah, of course.”
Leaving them to continue their planning, he walked out of the underground command center, and headed for the training hangar. He had a plan and it didn’t involve wasting his time with Bill.
CHAPTER TWENTY: Stepping up (Jo)
“How did the preppers find CaliTech?” Leon asked.
“Jonesy brought them in,” Ark replied.
Leon gave a sharp snort. “I’ll bet Bill wasn’t too happy about that.”
Until she’d travelled with the squad she hadn’t realized how badly Bill was being received, but she suspected it wasn’t personal to him. With every command structure gone, there was no reason for anyone to listen to anybody. She supposed it hadn’t really been a whole lot different before the world ended so abruptly. People had only listened to authority if they had to. Otherwise, providing they thought they could get away with it, they did as they pleased.
Prior to the past month, her life had been filled with day-to-day problems. Drunks in the tank, drug addicts repeatedly arrested for petty crimes, tracking down drug dealers, endless fines for perceived crimes, and the occasional mysterious murder. Most of the time they knew who killed someone, and the majority of their efforts were spent accruing evidence the DA could agree with. With twenty years on the force, she knew people lived according to their own needs and beliefs. The law was something they either followed by accident or flouted in secret. Even she hadn’t agreed with all the laws she’d been obligated to enforce.
Without a structure and the law, people were doing what they believed was right. Bill might have a rank, but he no longer had the muscle to back it up, and even she wondered whether he was the right person to follow.
Tapping Leon’s helmet, she pulled her earpiece out. Leon nodded at her and said, “My radio’s off. What’s up?”
“Do you think Bill’s doing the right thing with the weapons and preppers?”
Although the trucks were droning noisily, Jenna gave her a sharp look. When she pointedly stared back at Jenna, she merely smirked and returned to monitoring the road ahead of them.
“I dunno. What is he doing?”
“He thinks the only way to win this is through combat.”
“Isn’t that true?”
Unsure whether she was right, she said worriedly, “They’re hard to kill and we don’t have an infinite supply of ammo. I mean, sure, we should aim to kill them, but are conventional military tactics really the way to go?”
“Give me the options.”
The critters had started as human and that made her wonder how they’d changed them. “They did something to us to make us into what they wanted. How did they do that? How did they take a flesh and blood person and turn them into a rubbery monster?”
“I dunno. I guess Dayton and the medical team will work that out.”
“But what are they doing? Why are they holding people prisoner? What’s the endgame?”
She couldn’t see all of Leon’s face, but his tone was one of resignation. “We have no way of getting answers to those questions. We just have to react to what we see.”
Sometimes the military mindset frustrated her, making her glad she’d joined the police force and not the army. The military tended to deal with whatever was in front of them, whereas she’d always been taught to look for the reasons. The police force could have wasted an endless amount of time arresting drug addicts, but they’d tried to spend more time and money dealing with the source of the problem. The drug addicts were victims of the dealers, and they were funded by the cartels. There was no point forever punishing the victim when the source of the crime was with the supply chain.
“I know we can’t get definitive answers, but we could start with listing the options.”
Leon seemed to pause, and then he said, “Put your earpiece back in and get on the grid.
Ark can open a private chat room for the three of us.”
“So, you think I’m right?”
“I think we need to throw more than just muscle we don’t have at this problem.” When Ark announced they had a private chatroom on the grid, Leon said, “Jo wants to brainstorm.”
“Fair enough, but why are you here?” Ark asked amiably.
“To stop you from embarrassing yourself,” Leon replied in an equally friendly tone.
Eager not to waste time, she said, “We need to start thinking more broadly. We might not be able to get answers, but we have to explore reasons for why this is happening, or I think we’ll waste time on the wrong fights in the wrong way.”
“Okay,” Ark and Leon replied in unison.
“First question. What are the creatures doing?”
“Killing people, eating them, and holding some prisoner,” Ark replied.
“How far reaching is this?”
“Country-wide and probably global.”
“How did they change people?” When neither Leon nor Ark replied, she said, “They transformed them from being humans into rubbery creatures that spit a plastic based goo. That’s a completely different DNA structure to what we are, so within a matter of hours they were able to modify people at a cellular level.”
“So?” Leon asked.
“It means they’re clever in some way. They’ve used us as a raw material to create something else.”
“Do you think it was an intentional change?” Ark asked.
“If they had run around like cockroaches then I’d have said no. I’d assume it was some kind of evolutionary screw up, but they’re all doing the same thing. It’s as if they’re following a process. First, they transformed us, then they killed a lot of us, and now they’re holding what’s left prisoner. As far as we know this is happening in more than one place, so they’re working like a team with a single plan.”