The Tide_Dead Ashore

by Anthony J Melchiorri

  Not great.

  “Think we can rile the Skulls up like we did in the Congo? Get them to do the attacking for us?” Jenna offered.

  “If they’re controlling the Skulls somehow, I doubt it,” Glenn said. “Last time, we used a Titan against them. We don’t have one now.”

  “Might be worth a try, though,” Spencer said.

  “Might be,” Dom agreed, “but that’s still a little too noisy. If it comes down to a gunfight, the odds aren’t in our favor.”

  They were silent for a moment. Dom strapped his rifle over his back, done cleaning it, and stood.

  “We’re wasting time,” he said. “Deliberating isn’t going to get us inside. Best thing we can do is head through the medina and set up some observation points. If we don’t see an entrance, then we’ll make a game-time decision: attract the Skulls, or blow our way through.”

  “Maybe both?” Andris asked.

  “If we have to,” Dom said. He didn’t look happy about those options, but what else could they do?

  Meredith racked her brain, searching for alternatives, as she gathered her belongings and readied to leave. Jalil seemed to be trying to help, but the intel he offered was skimpy. Back at the CIA, she never would’ve ordered a team into action based only off what he’d told them. In any other situation, she would have questioned him more thoroughly. Maybe Jalil had the answer and just didn’t know it, but Meredith didn’t have time to find out.

  “Are you sure my fighters cannot come with you?” Jalil asked. “We could be of some assistance.”

  Dom seemed to consider it for a second. Meredith was certain Jalil’s men were good soldiers. But a good soldier did not necessarily translate to a good infiltrator. Their priority for now was stealth.

  “No, I don’t want to risk your people’s lives, too.” Dom seemed to be making an effort to save face on behalf of Jalil. “It may not end well for us, and you have a responsibility to this city and its people.” Dom gestured to one of the nearby rooms where some of the children and women were sleeping.

  Meredith spied Hamid in the other room. His head was on a pillow next to a smaller boy she assumed was his brother, but Hamid wasn’t asleep. His eyes were wide open, glassy and haunted. She turned back toward Jalil.

  “You said that Hamid was trying to get into the port?”

  Jalil nodded.

  “And he’s local? From Tangier?”

  “His father owned a shop in the medina.”

  Meredith beckoned to Hamid. He put a hand to his chest as if to ask, “Me?”

  “Yes,” Meredith said.

  He carefully got out of bed and crept over. She crouched to meet him at eye level. “I have a question for you. It’s very important. You told us you were headed to the port when the Skulls—the Jnun—were chasing you.”

  “My brother and I were scared. We didn’t know where else to turn.”

  “Why did you go to the port, though?”

  “There were people there. We saw the helicopters. I thought there might be some kind of military group out there.”

  “Why not hide somewhere else in the medina? The port is surrounded by walls and barbed wire and monsters.”

  “Because I thought I could get inside.” Hamid made a face as if he thought she was crazy. As though these were the most obvious answers in the world. “There are many hiding spots. I know my way around there. I figured we could find one if the people didn’t help us.”

  “The port doesn’t seem like a safe place to hang out, even before the monsters took over.”

  Hamid looked away sheepishly. “That is what my father always said.”

  “Look,” Meredith said. “We need to get into the port. And as you saw, we can’t just walk our way through the front door. We’ve got to sneak in. Do you know a way?”

  “The sewer.”

  “You got to be kidding,” Miguel said.

  “I am not joking,” Hamid replied. “That’s how we used to get in, back when I was a boy and did not worry about getting into trouble.”

  Jalil, unable to follow the English conversation except for the word “sewer,” said something to Hamid in Arabic, and the two engaged in a back-and-forth for several seconds until Hamid turned back to Meredith and the others.

  “He told me his men had tried to use the sewer recently, but they are blocked,” Hamid said.

  Meredith’s heart sank. So much for that Hail Mary.

  But Hamid wasn’t finished. “They tried the new tunnels. The old ones are empty and no longer used. Most of them were sealed up, but my friends and I found some that weren’t filled in all the way. They lead from the warehouses all the way into the docks, where they dump into the sea.”

  “Can we get through them?” Meredith asked.

  Hamid seemed to consider this, sizing them up with his eyes. He pointed at Glenn. “He will have to take off his pack, but yes, I think you can all fit.”

  “Then the sewers it is,” Dom said.

  “How do we get there?” Meredith asked. “Can you show us on the map?”

  “I can’t really show you on this.” He pointed to the stained, scribbled-upon map.

  “You can’t read it, you mean?” Meredith tried.

  “That is right.”

  “Try describing how we get there. What about street names?”

  Hamid laughed. “Street names? We do not travel like that. I know how to get there, but it is difficult to describe. It’s all here.” He tapped his head. “Do you understand what I mean?”

  “I think I do,” Meredith said. She wished he could just paint them a picture of where they needed to go. Then they could be off and on their way. “Do you think you could show us the way?”

  Hamid’s face went pale. No doubt he was imagining all the horrors he had faced before he and his brother had found Jalil’s people. “I...I...” he stammered as Glenn translated Meredith’s request to Jalil.

  “We do not know the way,” Jalil said through Glenn. “Boys like Hamid, who have explored this city their whole lives, know it better than we do.”

  Dom looked at Hamid reluctantly. Meredith could see the thoughts passing through his mind. He would hate to drag the kid out into the mess that was Tangier. Endangering children wasn’t his MO. But there was so much at stake.

  “Hamid, we could really use your help. Will you take us?” Meredith asked finally.

  Hamid looked back into the room then up at Meredith before he answered. “My brother will stay here, right?”

  “Yes,” Meredith said. “He’ll be safe. We just need you to guide us.”

  “If we don’t make it, I want a promise that he’ll be taken care of. Will you do that?”

  “You’ll come back,” Meredith said. “We’ll be certain of that.”

  “But if I don’t...” The young teen was as stubborn as he was realistic, and Meredith saw maturity in those wide eyes that shouldn’t be there. He should be kicking around a soccer ball, working on homework, or helping his parents at their shop, not helping a group of covert operatives infiltrate an enemy base.

  “Yes,” Dom said, “we’ll make sure your brother is safe. No matter what.”

  Glenn was translating the conversation to Jalil as they spoke. Jalil placed a hand on Hamid’s shoulder. “I will personally go with you to make sure you return safely. My people will watch over Adil until we come back. Is that a deal?”

  Hamid shook Jalil’s hand. “It’s a deal.”

  Jalil turned to Dom. “That is all right with you, isn’t it, Captain?”

  “Sure,” Dom said. He and Meredith would both have preferred to limit the group to experienced Hunters, but he had little choice if they wanted Hamid’s help. “While it’s still dark out, we move.”

  With that, they grabbed their weapons and slipped out of the riad, trusting their safety in the path ahead to a frightened young boy.

  -25-

  Dom had thought Tangier was a maze when they had only been navigating its outskirts, but that experience did
not compare to the medina. Arches and doorways led to unexpected dead ends, while narrow alleys barely wide enough for one man blossomed into thoroughfares that then shrank and splintered like a weed’s roots into the surrounding buildings. There were so many different winding passages that Dom was certain the map they carried could never capture them all.

  He understood why Tangier had once been a hotbed for espionage. If you were after James Bond and you knew the MI6 agent was somewhere in the medina, it would still be hell trying to find the cheeky bastard in the labyrinthine crisscross of cafes, hookah dens, shops, and riads. He was thankful, now more than ever, for the kid guiding them. Hamid might not have been as quiet or careful as the Hunters, but it seemed he had at least learned the rudimentary skills of stealth while surviving in a city filled with Skulls.

  Jalil wasn’t doing too badly in the field, either. Dom had underestimated their covert capabilities, but even more so, he had underestimated just how much time they would save by having a pair of expert guides. This alone was worth every time he had to pause when Jalil crunched over a piece of glass or Hamid gasped at a rotting body just a bit too loudly.

  They flitted through rug shops and stores strewn with teapots and other knickknacks that had once been peddled to tourists. Street carts and glass displays in front of tiny bakeries lay empty, scavenged by survivors and animals. Skeletons lay in piles, ghastly reminders of the people who had once called this place home. But behind these tableaus of death, Dom could imagine the thriving city this had once been, steeped in rich culture and history.

  He had once toyed with the idea of a Moroccan vacation with his ex-wife, Bethany. Back when Kara and Sadie were young, they had decided they needed another honeymoon—to leave the kids with the grandparents and try to reignite the embers of their fading relationship. Thinking of her sent a spike of remorse through his chest. He’d been absent for much of their marriage, and Bethany had never really understood why Dom felt driven to do the work he did. He eyed Meredith as the group gathered in an abandoned third-floor restaurant to take a short break and survey the rest of the medina ahead of them from the restaurant’s open patio.

  “When we get back from this, I owe you a hell of a date,” Dom said. “I’m thinking a candlelit dinner overlooking the ocean.”

  “I take it you’re not talking about Tangier.”

  “Too many Skulls. And it’s smellier than the travel books said. But if that’s what you’re into, fine.”

  “Dom Holland, are you trying to sweet-talk me? Is that how you get all the ladies?”

  “I’ve obviously been very successful.”

  Through the dust and sweat covering her face, Meredith gave him that impish grin of hers. He’d never noticed it properly back when they had been merely friends and coworkers. But now, it made his world light up.

  “We’re going to get through this,” Dom said, allowing himself a moment to picture a life with Meredith and his daughters. “All of us. We’ll save the world and sail off into the sunset.”

  “I can’t wait,” Meredith said. “You’ve also promised me a vacation with the girls on a Skull-free beach.”

  Dom’s good mood evaporated. He wiped a hand across the back of his mouth.

  Meredith’s grin faded, too. “What?”

  “I left my girls at Lajes because I thought it’d be safer.” He started to massage his calf. Resting here while Andris, Jalil, and Hamid argued about the best way through the medina had made the injury cramp up. “I thought for once they’d be out of harm’s way. Somewhere where the Skulls couldn’t touch them. Thank God Thomas was close enough to send the Huntress back to help.”

  “It’s a shit situation, but you know Lauren will take care of the girls.”

  Dom wanted to believe her. “I know,” he said unconvincingly.

  “You going to be all right?” Meredith asked.

  “I have to be,” Dom said.

  Andris returned to the room with Jalil and Hamid. Meredith stood and then started to offer a hand to Dom. She took it back almost immediately when she saw the expression on his face. He didn’t want to need help.

  With a grunt, he made it to his feet. “What’s the word?”

  “We have a route to the port,” Andris said. “Minimal contacts visible from our position. If we are lucky, we may be there in a matter of minutes.”

  “Then no more wasting time,” Dom said. “Move out.”

  The calls of Skulls filtered over the city like the roll of distant thunder. The promise of violence kept Dom on edge as they prowled through the streets. A few Skulls lunged from the shadows, but bullets and blades kept them at bay. The pain in his calf seemed to ignite every time he heard crunching gravel or the scratch of claws against stone, as if his leg were eager to betray him at the last second.

  Miguel led the group through the winding passages and alleys. Dom and Meredith guarded Hamid, while Jalil watched their backs. Hamid whispered instructions, providing them more accurate directions than anything Dom could’ve hoped to achieve with a satellite GPS. When they reached a mound of bricks under a broken stone arch, Miguel paused.

  “How far, kid?” Miguel asked.

  “The entrance is across the street,” Hamid said. “Do you see the shop with the scarves?”

  “I do,” Miguel said. “We’ve got about thirty contacts over there, too.”

  “Contacts?” Hamid asked, his voice tinged with fear. “Does that mean Jnun?”

  Dom crouched by Hamid. “Is there another way in?”

  “The only way into the old sewers is through there,” Hamid said.

  Dom took a breath. Thirty Skulls. The Hunters could take them out. It wouldn’t be so hard.

  “Take firing positions,” Dom whispered to the Hunters. They moved like shadows. Each shouldered their suppressed rifles and took aim.

  “On my count,” Dom said. “Three, two—”

  Something smacked into the ground behind them. The characteristic gurgling sounded before Dom could turn around. The noise erupted into an aggressive roar. Dom knew what that meant. The Drooler was about to attack.

  As he spun aside, the corroded body of the mutated Skull lurched toward them. One eye hung loose from its socket. Both arms were broken and covered in weeping sores. Its jaw loosened, and a pillar of acid surged from its mouth.

  Straight at Hamid.

  Dom needed no time to think. He had made a promise to Hamid, and he wasn’t about to break it. He threw himself between the Drooler and Hamid, and the spray splashed against his fatigues.

  ***

  Andris fired on the Drooler. Its head exploded in a cloud of bone and flesh.

  “Bastard,” he spat.

  The Drooler’s body collapsed. Acid leaked from its devastated skull. He had been quick on the trigger, reacting with the trained impulses ingrained by years of military and mercenary service.

  And yet he had been too slow.

  Another you could not save, Andris thought, staring at Dom in horror. His captain was covered in dripping brown acid.

  “Son of a...” Dom muttered. He stood, acid sluicing harmlessly off him.

  A rush of relief washed through Andris. The polymer coating the med team had developed to protect their clothing had saved the day again. A few specks of acid etched red burn marks on Dom’s face, but it was nothing life threatening. Andris looked around, checking the others for injuries.

  Hamid was cowered in a ball near the arch, pressing himself against the brick pile. “Jnun!”

  A Skull stared back at the Hunters. Shreds of once-white clothes hung off the bone-plate fins jutting from its shoulders. Its red eyes gleamed under scaled brows, and its mouth wrenched open. Andris sent a bullet exploding through its jaw. The monster fell backward in a heap of limbs and bone chips.

  Then a chorus of howls rose among the crowd of monsters. Like a tidal wave of malevolent voices, the cries swelled. Andris knocked out Skull after Skull in quick succession, working with the others to clear the monsters from the sew
er’s entrance. Several of the Skulls, braver or stupider than the rest, charged against the hail of bullets. Their bodies jerked and thrashed with each impact, lead crashing through bone. They were no match for the Hunters’ long-range assault.

  But the noise would attract other Skulls. Already, Andris could hear their voices joining the din.

  “Jalil, you should take Hamid back now,” Dom said.

  Jalil shook his head. “We did not come this far to let you get lost underground.”

  Andris could see hesitation in his eyes. But there was no time for second-guessing.

  At last, Dom said, “Move out. Miguel, on point.”

  Miguel charged across the street. He smashed his boot into a crawling Skull with mangled limbs. Another one reached for Miguel, and Andris fired until it went still. The Hunters moved in formation, with Jalil and Hamid in their midst.

  “Here, here!” Hamid yelled. He pointed to a pile of rubble.

  “I thought it wasn’t closed up!” Spencer said.

  “It wasn’t,” Hamid said. “At least, before the Jnun, it wasn’t, I swear.”

  “You heard him,” Dom said. “Start digging.”

  Glenn and Spencer heaved rocks aside, assisted by Jenna and Meredith. Dom bent down to grab a brick, the movement causing him to wince. Miguel and Jalil helped, and even Hamid was doing his best to lend a hand.

  Andris provided cover fire. He sighted up his MK11. A Skull had just turned a corner down the street. It ran at them with its claws outstretched. The monster was more than one hundred meters away, but Andris wouldn’t let it get a meter closer. He held his breath and fired. The Skull’s head disappeared, and its body, carried by momentum, slid across the dirt, kicking up a trail of dust. A few other Skulls rushed in behind the first. Shot after shot, Andris fired as soon as his aiming reticule fell over the bastards.

  The others worked behind him, tossing stones and moving bricks. Andris prayed the young boy was right about the tunnels.

  The rifle kicked against Andris’s shoulder. Cold adrenaline flowed through him, but he had learned long ago how to control it. How to tame the wild beast lighting up his blood vessels and nerves. Each bullet he fired found its mark in the flesh of a Skull, tearing through soft tissue and hard bone.