The group hurried through the intersections and forks of the tunnels, the smell of death and decay their constant companion. Hamid led them without hesitation, and Dom found another thing to be thankful for. The kid truly was a godsend down here. He wondered how long he and the others would’ve fumbled around, looking for the right passages.
In a matter of minutes, Hamid had brought them toward a pinprick of light. He paused at the lip of the tunnel, and Dom joined him.
“Thanks,” Dom said. “You’ve done well.”
“We must get rid of the Jnun.”
“We’ll do everything we can.”
Hamid nodded but seemed uncertain. “The way we came is blocked now.”
“It is.”
Hamid blinked rapidly as if trying not to cry. “That was the only way I know to get back. Everything else here just leads to the port. I will not be able to return to my brother.”
“That might be the only way out of the sewers, but that’s not the only way back,” Dom said. He kneeled to look in Hamid’s eyes. “Why don’t you and Jalil wait right here? We’ll be back in no time to get you home.”
“But you’ll die,” Hamid protested.
“We don’t intend to. We’re going to go in, get the bad guys, and come back.”
“But the other Americans—”
“We’re not the other Americans,” Dom said. “I will get you back to your brother.”
Hamid nodded once and then retreated into the shadows, speaking to Jalil. The older man seemed to agree without argument. He leaned against the wall, resting his rifle against his shoulder as the Hunters crept to the edge of the cavernous pipe. It jutted out over the water. Across the way, huge freighters were docked, their upper decks loaded with metal shipping crates. Warehouses stood sentinel next to the docks, most bathed in darkness, and all manner of buildings were strewn between them. Near the ships, four towed anti-aircraft guns had been set up, each of their twin barrels pointed westward.
Dom searched the ships and the docks with his binos but saw very little movement. Lights shone from one of the larger warehouses, and a single crane moved back and forth, loading new shipping containers onto one of the freighters. The constant din of metal scraping against metal sounded over the water.
“What’s making that racket, Chief?” Miguel said.
“Not sure,” Dom said gruffly. “Looks like they’re loading cargo, though.”
“My God,” Meredith said. “You think all those crates are filled with biological weapons?”
“Why would they load them in those containers?” Jenna asked. “Why not just launch them with missiles or something?”
“Maybe this is just the processing plant,” Glenn offered. “They create the batches here, and they’ll load them into missiles somewhere else.”
“Damn,” Spencer said.
“This may just be one small link in the FGL chain,” Meredith said thoughtfully.
“More than likely,” Dom said. He pointed to the warehouse with the lights on. “Look, I’m not sure how much time we have before those ships leave. If they’re as important as we suspect, I want them stopped tonight.”
“And how exactly are the seven of us going to disable three huge freighters like that?” Jenna asked.
“I know how,” Andris said, smiling and patting his pack.
“Even all the explosives in your pack aren’t going to sink a vessel that size,” Glenn said.
“I’m not going to scuttle them,” Andris said. “Just take out the props.”
“Good thinking,” Dom said. He surveyed the docks again. “It doesn’t look like they’re equipped to dry-dock ships that size here. We take out those props, and then the best they can do is unload the ships and replace them. That gives us an extra couple days to figure something else out.”
“It’s not exactly a showstopper,” Meredith said, “but I can get behind that. If we’re lucky, maybe Shepherd and company are already making a connection with Kinsey.”
“And then they’ll send in the cavalry,” Jenna said, smiling. “If we take out the AA guns, they can scorch this place.”
“That’s the plan,” Dom said. “Andris, Meredith, I want you on Bravo. The port looks clear for the most part. You two know how to be quiet. Get those charges on the props, and get back to the tunnels. The rest of you are on me. We’re going to see if we can find out what’s going on in there.” He nodded toward the warehouse, with its lights still shining like beacons in the night.
“Hoo-ah!” Glenn said, rubbing his meaty palms together. “I would love nothing better than to see this place leveled.”
Dom chinned his comm link. “Huntress, this is Alpha. You read?”
“Aye, Captain,” Chao called back. “Lauren and Peter are dealing with the situation at Lajes, but you’ve got our full attention.”
“Good,” Dom said. Now was not the time to ask about his girls, but it took everything in his power not to demand that Chao get Kara and Sadie on the line. “I think you know the drill by now. We’re going to be installing mobile uplinks wherever possible, and we’ll need you to work as fast as you can to crack their systems.”
“I’ve been waiting for something fun to do,” Samantha’s voice chimed in. “You just tell me when.”
“I want to be in and out before sunrise,” Dom said. He turned to the Hunters. “That gives us just under five hours. The one thing I don’t want getting out of this port are those goddamned ships. Understood?”
“Aye, Captain,” the group responded in concert.
“Miguel,” Dom said, “you take point.”
“You got it, Chief.” Miguel squeezed past Dom and crawled out of the pipe. After a few minutes, he called back, “All clear.”
One by one, the Hunters climbed up to join Miguel. Dom went last, looking back at Hamid and Jalil. “We’ll be back.”
Dom prayed he really could keep that promise.
But when the alarms blared from one of the warehouses and spotlights shone over the shipyard, he wasn’t so sure he could.
-28-
Spotlights lanced between the buildings, forcing the Hunters to take cover. Meredith squeezed behind a low-lying stone wall with Andris. They pressed against it as the light washed over the other side. She trained her rifle on the men rushing out of the warehouse several hundred meters to their east. Her finger twitched near the trigger guard. More men spilled from the warehouses, running southward, away from the buildings and toward the wall built around the port.
“Have they spotted us already?” Andris whispered.
Meredith listened for the telltale sign of boot steps to come crashing in their direction. She heard plenty of people running around, but no one was moving toward them.
“The wall,” Dom said over the comm link. “They’re probably dealing with the Skulls that got riled up after we blasted the sewers.”
“Probably right, Chief,” Miguel said. “Those Skulls were wilder than Samantha in a mosh pit.”
“You know I’m still listening, right?” Samantha asked over the comm link.
“That’s why I said it.”
“We don’t know how long these people are going to be on alert,” Dom said. “Our window is closing. Bravo, you’ve got the farthest to go. Get moving.”
Meredith took a final glance at Dom. He met her gaze and gave her the slightest of nods. It was a subtle gesture, hardly anything of note. But to Meredith, it said everything. That single gesture spoke of their connection, of his worry for her, of his need to see her come out of this unhurt and safe. She gave him a slight nod back and then took off with Andris as the spotlights traced over a nearby building.
Her thoughts stayed on Dom even as she ran away from him. She’d seen the change in his gait, the wince and grimace every time he moved. His injury was holding him back, but still he wouldn’t sit this one out. He’d rather die than abandon his team. She feared it might just come to that.
“Meredith,” Andris whispered. “Look. There.”
Keep walking, Meredith thought. We aren’t the spies you’re looking for.
Then came the dreaded pause. Hushed words exchanged between the guards. Cautious steps growing closer, closer. Meredith’s fingers tensed around her rifle.
The first soldier came into her line of sight. He was prowling slowly, his rifle on his shoulder. He paused at the planter Andris had disappeared behind, and Meredith held her breath. The two men circled the planter, but neither seemed to notice anything.
The duo fanned out, still alert. Their rifle barrels still swept the grounds as they searched for whatever it was that had attracted their attention in the first place.
Where the hell was Andris? She scanned the area, hoping to find him before the guards did. There! He was perched behind a short wall of sandbags set around a machine gun. Andris’s legs were tensed beneath him. He looked as if he was about ready to leap over the other side of the sandbags when the two men came around. If he timed it right, he could dodge out of their line of sight, avoiding them completely.
But the two men split up. One stayed on the far side of the sandbags, but the other approached Andris. It would be mere seconds before the man found him and raised the alarm that intruders had breached the port’s defenses.
Meredith’s pulse raced. She had to act. If she pounced at one of the soldiers, the other would have more than enough time to either take her out or call for reinforcements.
She needed a distraction. And in that moment, there was only one surefire, reliable way to do it. It wasn’t sophisticated. Hell, it was more schoolyard tactics than spy craft. She palmed a small rock and then chucked it at a nearby building. It pinged against the glass, and both soldiers immediately turned.
Made you look.
Andris exploded from his position, lunging over the sandbags. He wrapped his arms around one of the guards and pulled him down into the shadows.
Meredith sprang at the soldier nearest her. The man barely had time to yelp in surprise before she yanked his weapon away and kicked the back of his knees. He fell badly, too startled to brace himself. His head cracked against the pavement, and he went still. She pressed two fingers to his neck. No pulse.
Andris dragged the body of the guard he’d taken out to Meredith’s position. “What do we do with them?”
Meredith searched their pockets, pulling out keys, key cards, and radios. She wanted to ignore what they’d just done. Killing Skulls had been hard enough. But these guards...they’d been human. And thirty seconds ago, they’d been alive.
She tried to push the thought aside. They had been helping an organization responsible for the deaths of millions. All logic told her she had done the right thing. It didn’t make her feel any better.
“Toss ’em,” Meredith said, dragging the body to the edge of the concrete path beside the water. She nudged it over the side, and the corpse splashed into the water. The weight of his gear wrapped around him was enough to tug him beneath the surface. A few bubbles popped as the body sank into the murk. Andris dumped the other soldier.
Ten minutes in, and we’re already starting the body count, Meredith thought.
Andris turned from the water. He began gathering up the keys and key cards and then plugged one of the earpieces to the radio into his own ear. “At least we will now have access to the facilities and we can hear what they are saying.”
“That’s looking on the bright side,” Meredith said.
“Thank you,” Andris said unexpectedly.
Meredith looked up at him. “For what?”
“If you had waited any longer, the guards would have found me. You did the right thing.”
“Maybe,” she said, but she felt the burden of guilt lift a little at his words. Meredith gestured at the earpiece. “You hear anything on that?”
Andris nodded. “Plenty of Russian.”
“No surprise there. Can you follow what they’re saying?”
He raised a sardonic brow. “Yes, they mentioned they are now loading more supplies on the freighters. They are also killing the last of the Skulls at the gates.” He paused, his head tilted. “And it would seem that the Skulls they have not killed have settled down. Somehow they gained control over them.” He looked confused. “They said they talked to the Skulls. This does not make any sense.”
“I’ve stopped trying to make sense of things,” Meredith said. “We need to move. Straight to the freighter?”
Andris gave her a sheepish look. “I would not advise it.”
Meredith raised a brow. “What? It’s a clear shot.”
“It is,” Andris agreed, “but I hoped you would help me run an errand first.”
“What the hell, Andris? Did you forget to pick up your dry-cleaning or something?”
“I may have overpromised what I can do,” Andris said. “After our adventure in the sewer, I do not have enough to disable all three ships.”
“And when were you going to tell me?”
“I have just done so.”
“Goddammit. I don’t know how you did things in the French Foreign Legion, but I thought we were on the same page.”
“We are,” Andris said, his Latvian accent growing stronger as she glared at him. “It is all about the sneaking and stealthiness now. We are very much good at it.”
“Stealth won’t help us take down three freighters without any C4.”
“No,” Andris said, “but I am not without a plan.” He gestured toward one of the warehouses.
Meredith sighed. She wanted to say no, to call Dom and let him make the decision, but what were they going to do? Sit around and deliberate over another plan for a couple of hours? By the time they thought of something else, the ships with their dangerous cargo would be long gone. Explosives were still the fastest way to get the job done. “Fine. What did you have in mind?”
“Something that makes boom,” Andris said with a shrug.
“And how do you know which of these buildings is the one with things that go boom?”
Andris pointed. “That one over there.”
Meredith looked through her sights, following his finger. Sure enough, there was an open warehouse with a smattering of military vehicles out front and several men walking in and out with crates and bundles of weapons.
They stood to leave. Andris froze, his head tilted. The look on his face made Meredith think he’d just been shot.
“Oh shit,” Andris said.
“What?” A pit formed in Meredith’s stomach. “What is it, Andris?”
“They just asked those men we killed to sound off.” He bit his lip. “And they did not, of course, sound off. They are about to—”
Klaxons and floodlights exploded over the facility. To Meredith’s horror, several squads of soldiers formed up around the weapons shop they had hoped to retrieve their explosives from.
Things had just gone from difficult to impossible.
-29-
The moment Shepherd had been dreading came far too soon.
Earlier, they’d stumbled upon a gravel road through the woods, sparking hope in Shepherd that they were close to finding civilization—or at least whatever passed for it here. At the end of the road stood a cabin, promising shelter and maybe even supplies. But a cursory search revealed nothing but a couple of bodies and a 12-gauge beside a dozen boxes of shells.
While Shepherd rummaged through the cupboards just in case he’d missed something, one of Costas’s men yelled in bloodcurdling agony. Another Portuguese soldier had bitten into the man’s neck. Hot blood flowed from the wound as Shepherd leapt into action. He tore the attacker off then unholstered his pistol, sending three shots into the man-turned-Skull. The infected man’s body slumped against the wall.
“You...you killed him!” someone yelled.
Divya was already tending to the man who had been bitten. She tried desperately to staunch the bleeding, holding a bloodied cloth against the neck wound. She looked up and met Shepherd’s eyes, giving the tiniest shake of her head.
The bitten man gave a final spasm in Divya’s arms. Navid looked on with a thousand-yard stare. To the young scientist’s credit, he never let go of the stretcher with Terrence on it, and neither did the soldier assigned to help him. Matsumoto gazed at nothing, muttering to himself. A sudden urge to choke the living shit out of the old man took hold of Shepherd. His fingers flexed and curled instinctively, and he forced himself to turn away from the old bastard.
“You killed Salvador,” a woman said. “We could have saved him.”
“I had to,” Shepherd said. “He was a—”
He was cut off by more protesting voices. Curses and accusations were hurled at him. Those who hadn’t been given the Phoenix Compound blamed those who had. One man grabbed another’s collar and punched him in the jaw. Connor whimpered as his parents stood protectively in front of him. Another man with bandages covering where he’d been gouged by a Skull pulled at Divya’s pack, begging her to give him the medicine.
If they kept carrying on like this, it wouldn’t matter who had gotten the treatment. Every single one of these soldiers would be equal in death, disemboweled by the Skulls descending on them from every direction.
“Stop!” Shepherd yelled.
They ignored him.
“Stop!” Shepherd yelled again.
Stupid move, but hell, if the Skulls haven’t already heard us...
He fired his pistol into the air. Everyone fell silent, their eyes searching. They were probably looking to see who else he had shot.
“Look,” Shepherd said, doing his best to sound reasonable. “The only way we stop more people from turning is by finding help from the US military. You’re all trained airmen and -women, for God’s sake, so act like it. We are not animals. We have a mission.” He nodded toward Matsumoto. “We need to deliver this guy to General Kinsey. We need to get Divya and Navid there, too, along with the lab samples to start production of the Phoenix Compound. If we fail in that, every person’s life who has already been lost here, everyone who will lose their lives in the future, will have done so in vain.”
The Tide_Dead Ashore Page 23