The afternoon passed quickly as we enjoyed the down time. We prepared our gear and rested as much as we could. Spec-4 and I joined White Bear on the deck and he showed us his map. It was an old US Forestry map from the fifties and it had gravel roads marked on it. Newer maps rarely, if ever, marked unpaved roads. This map showed us how to get from the lake to Bennett Springs and bypass almost every town along the way. It would be very helpful to us.
Just before sundown, we all headed inside and secured the doors and windows. White Bear had an ingenious system set up that would allow him to open them during the day, but lock them securely at night. It operated like oversized shutters, but they were heavily constructed out of oak timbers locked together with heavy steel bolts. The Stalkers would need heavy equipment to get through them. At least we knew he’d be safe until we returned.
I didn’t tell anyone about White Bear’s warning. I saw no reason to scare everyone with portents of my demise. Besides that, I had no intention of letting it come true. If that was Odin’s will, then so be it, but don’t expect me to go down without a fight. I don’t believe in surrendering to my fate. I once read a Star Trek novel called “The Final Reflection” by John M. Ford. It was about Klingons and summed up my philosophy. There was a quote in it that said something like this:
“Yet if I should die, I die with my name on my enemies lips. Yet if I should die, I die with my hands on my enemies throat. And in the next world, I shall kill the foe a thousand times. Laughing. Undefeated.”
What else could I ask for?
Chapter Twenty-Four
Something Wicked This Way Comes
“When you dig my grave
Could you make it shallow
So that I can feel the rain.”
- Gravedigger
- Dave Matthews Band
The night passed more restlessly than the previous night. Partly because we were nervous about the journey that was ahead of us. Mostly it was because, without the rain it was much easier to hear the Stalkers as they searched for a way inside. It still bothered me that despite not seeing us inside, they somehow sensed we were there. Without any noise to draw them, they were just looking for us. It was eerie.
I eventually fell into a fitful sleep. I don’t know how long I slept, but it was still dark in the room when I was shaken awake by someone grabbing my shoulders. I opened my eyes to see Spec-4 leaning over me in the dim light from the lantern. Before I could say anything that might make noise, she put her hand over my mouth and shook her head.
After a moment to gather my thoughts, I nodded once and she removed her hand. I could see her wide-eyed expression and knew something had to be wrong. She stood up and motioned for me to follow her. All around us, the others were sound asleep. I could hear their soft breathing and light snores. It took me a moment to realize what I wasn’t hearing.
“They’re gone,” she whispered, motioning for me to follow her towards the stairs that led into the basement.
Being very careful about where I stepped so I wouldn’t step on anyone, I followed her across the room. Taking out a small flashlight, I turned it on to give us just enough light to walk by, without being too bright. They might not be gone, after all. They might just be smart enough to try to trick us into revealing ourselves. We couldn’t afford to take any chances.
When we reached the bottom of the stairs, we were in a large room with doors leading off of the main room. The main room had a reloading station for ammunition, a pool table and several chairs. There were sliding glass doors that led to the outside, but they were covered with heavy beams to prevent the dead from getting in. The first door we went to was a bathroom, but the second led to a store room. She shut the door behind us and turned towards me.
“This room has no windows and no outside access,” she whispered, gesturing around her.
“OK,” I replied, softly. “What about it?”
I glanced around the store room and could see that it was well stocked with mason jars of fruit, vegetables and other things that had been canned in the old fashioned way. White Bear had been busy preparing his food for quite some time. He must have been doing his own canning and preparing, years before the apocalypse struck us. I would guess that White Bear had been ready to go “off the grid” long before any of the rest of us had considered it.
“I think it’s safe for us to risk talking in here,” she explained.
“Alright,” I said, “what’s so important?”
“I stopped hearing the Stalkers about an hour ago,” she said, glancing around her. “It took me a few minutes to notice, but when I did I couldn’t quit thinking about it.”
“I noticed it, too,” I said. “I realized it right after you woke me up.”
“Well, I was awake when it happened,” she said. “I never heard them move off. They just suddenly got quiet.”
“Maybe they moved off without you hearing them,” I said, shrugging.
“No, I don’t think so,” she said, shaking her head. “I think they’re still there. I think they’re trying to make us think they left.”
“That would mean they’re smarter than we thought,” I said, frowning.
“I know,” she replied. “So, just to be sure, I crept down here before I woke you up and peeked out through a crack in the sliding glass doors. Do you know what I saw?”
“What’s that?”
“It’s a full-moon out there,” she explained. “They’re still out there, crouching down and silent. It’s like they’re waiting for something to happen.”
“Or, they’re trying to fool us into thinking that they left,” I said, shaking my head. “Trying to get us to reveal ourselves.”
“I don’t think that’s it,” she said, frowning. “They’re not moving, at all. They’re not even looking up. They’re just crouched down on their heels, with their hands on the ground and their heads down.”
“Show me,” I said, turning towards the door.
“Turn off your flashlight,” she cautioned. “We don’t want them to see any sign of us.”
I clicked off the light and followed her back out into the main room. There was dim light filtering into the room from cracks between the beams. Walking over as quietly as I could, I pressed my face against the glass and closed one eye, straining to see between the boards.
At first, all I could see was glimpses of the outside. The trees, the sky and the light of the full moon. Soon, I found the right spot and began to get my first glimpses of a Stalker without having to fight it. In the pale moonlight, they were more terrifying than I had previously thought. That’s when I started noticing details about them that I had never seen before.
They weren’t anywhere near as decayed as the other dead. In fact, they looked more or less intact. Only the occasional wound could be seen. They all had the characteristic extended fingernails, but they weren’t actual claws. It was more like their own natural fingernails had grown out considerably and had somehow gotten as hard as an animal's claws.
“Notice it, yet?” whispered Spec-4.
Something was jumping out at my brain, but it was slow to form into a cohesive thought. I had to move around to different cracks in the windows to see for certain that there was indeed a common detail that I hadn’t noticed before. Then it struck me like a mallet and anger flashed through my veins.
“Son-of-a-bitch,” I breathed. “They’re all wearing dog-tags.”
“Bingo,” whispered Spec-4. “Every one of them that I can see, is wearing them.”
“That’s no coincidence,” I added softly, backing away from the window.
“What do you think it means?” she asked, keeping her voice almost inaudible.
“Nothing good,” I replied. “I think the nearest military base is Fort Leonard Wood, but it’s not close to the lake.”
“Those are Army uniforms,” she added. “The Air Force wears something similar, but I’m sure that those are army.”
“That’s what it looks like to me, too,” I said, m
oving towards the store room again.
Once we were back inside, I clicked my light back on and whispered a little louder. Spec-4 looked as upset as I felt. Whatever was going on outside, it wasn’t just the dead. There was more going on here that we knew.
“Did you see the patch on their sleeves?” she asked.
“No,” I replied, shaking my head. “I was concentrating on the dog-tags.”
“They’re all the same as that M.I.[28] Colonel we met at the church, back when this all started.”
“Oh, shit,” I muttered. “That can’t be good.”
“Isn’t there a Rec Center or something like that at the lake?” she asked, frowning. “A place for the soldiers from Fort Leonard Wood?”
“Yeah, I think so,” I said, trying to remember. “I know it’s there, but it’s more secure than the base is. No one in or out but military personnel.”
“Sound suspicious to you?” asked Spec-4.
“Well, it didn’t until now,” I said, shaking my head.
“Sounds like the perfect place to hide an M.I. operation,” she said, grinning. “It would explain the security.”
“It would also explain why the Stalkers seem to originate from around the lake.”
“Does this change our plans?” she asked, smiling.
“Yes, it does,” I said, nodding. “I still want to take out the floodgates on the dam, but I want to check out the Army facility on the lake before we do it.”
“What do we tell the others?” she asked, concerned.
“Everything,” I said, after a moment. “Maybe the First Sergeant knows something that might be helpful.”
“Are you going to try to go back to sleep?” she asked.
“I don’t think so,” I replied. “ I think I want to watch the Stalkers and see what they do next.”
I turned off my flashlight and returned to the window. I didn’t have to wait for long. They had to be more light sensitive than I had previously thought. As soon as the moon went behind the clouds, they immediately looked up and resumed their movement around the building, searching for a way inside.
After about another half an hour, they all turned and headed off for the trees. There wasn’t any communication between them and it didn’t look like they were following the sound of prey. They just seemed to turn as a group and head for the trees, in the direction of the lake. It was as if they had been called. I could tell by the color of the sky that the sun would be coming up soon. Whoever called them wanted them underwater or back inside somewhere, before the sun came up. The question was, who or what had called them?
Chapter Twenty-Five
A Dangerous Experiment
“Never was anything great achieved without danger.”
- Niccolo Machiavelli
I briefed everyone over what we had learned about the Stalkers during our breakfast. Even White Bear was surprised by the new revelation about them. Not only was it possible that someone was controlling them, it was conceivable that someone had created them, as well. That thought bothered everyone.
First Sergeant Gregory had nothing to add about the Army center on the lake. In all his years in the military, this was the first time he’d been assigned anywhere in Missouri. Even though he had no direct knowledge of the facility, it didn’t surprise him to learn that it was there. That was exactly the kind of thing that the Intelligence agencies did all the time, hiding a covert operation in or beneath a public facility.
By the time we had loaded the boat with our gear, the sun was cresting the horizon. We had begun before the sun was completely up. The sounds of the birds and other animals told us that the Stalkers were no longer in the area. It didn’t stop us from going out the door of the house in tactical formation, just to be on the safe side. No sense tempting fate.
Getting our gear back to the boat was much easier than it had been taking it up to the house. Instead of carrying it, we just loaded it in the back of White Bear’s pickup and drove it down to the boat. It would have been nice to have had it for the trip up there. Then, we might not have lost Gunny.
We all waved at White Bear as we backed out into the current. Moments later, the force of the river caught us and we were swept downstream. Only the power of the big outboard engines brought us around and allowed us to maintain control. It was only a matter of seconds before White Bear vanished from our view. I wondered if we would ever see him again. I hoped his prophecy about me was wrong.
The height of the river and the force of the current propelled us along towards the lake much faster than I had expected. It was still before noon when I saw the lake come into view between the trees. We had made fantastic time, putting us hours ahead of where I expected to be when we reached the lake.
“We made it, folks,” I said, pointing at the lake.
“That was quick,” said First Sergeant Gregory.
“Let’s blow that dam and get the fuck outta here,” said Snake, glancing around nervously.
He didn’t seem to like being back here anymore than I did. Spec-4 even looked nervous as she tightened her grip on her M-4. I noticed Heather got up and moved away from the edge of the boat. Despite it being a bright morning, I still couldn’t help but remember that the Stalkers were probably beneath us at this very moment, hiding in the darkness of the deepest parts of the lake.
“We’re not going directly to the dam,” I said, looking around at each person to gauge their reaction.
“Why the fuck not?” demanded Snake.
“I want to investigate that Army center and see what we can discover,” I replied. “Maybe we can find out where the Stalkers came from.”
“How far out of the way is it?” asked Ramirez.
“Actually,” said Heather, “the military center is on the Grand Glaize Arm of the lake. It’s on the way to the dam.”
“Outstanding,” said the First Sergeant. “We can check it out and move on to the dam. If we’re lucky, we’ll be on our way back to home base before nightfall.”
“That’s the plan,” I agreed.
Once we cleared the mouth of the river, I throttled up and headed down the lake. It was much brighter once we were no longer beneath the sheltering trees, so I reached into my pocket and took out my sunglasses. I was glad I did, since the glare off of the water was almost blinding. I noticed the others were following suit, putting on their own eyewear.
It was still quite a distance to the facility, but I was confident that we could make it by lunch time. For being “landlocked,” Lake of the Ozarks was massive. It was the largest man-made lake in the world. It had more coastline than the entire state of California. It was a good thing that we didn’t have to walk around it. That could have taken weeks.
As we moved farther down the lake, I started noticing that we weren’t seeing any roaming dead. I knew that the Stalkers preyed on them as well as the living, but I had no idea that they had been so effective around the lake. It was disturbing to see how much they had done. So much for my thought that there were only a small number of the Stalkers.
Without the mobile dead, I was starting to see a surprising amount of wildlife. There were ducks and geese on the lake and I saw the occasional deer that bolted for the deep woods as soon as they heard our motor. I guess I’d be pretty easily spooked too, if I had to live out there with the dead. I filed that away for future reference. If we ever found ourselves able to hunt deer for food again, they would be damned hard to get close to.
We ate a cold lunch of jerky and cheese, washing it down with bottles of water. It tasted like plastic after we had gotten used to the fresh spring water at White Bear’s house. I was right about the jerky, too. He had done a terrific job of seasoning it. The piece I was chewing was flavored with mesquite.
When the Highway 54 bridges that spanned the lake came into view, I knew we were close to the Army Center. The Grand Glaize Arm was just beyond the bridges. It was only a couple of miles off of the beaten path until we reached the center. I throttled back as we got close to
the bridge and reached for my rucksack.
“What’s going on, Wylie?” asked Spec-4.
“I thought I saw something,” I replied, bringing up the binoculars.
I began panning the lake ahead of us and realized that Sergeant McDonald was doing the same thing with his rifle.
“What are we looking at?” asked McDonald.
“What do you see?” I asked, by way of answer.
“Water and trees,” was the reply. “Should I be seeing something else?”
“See those ripples moving across the water?” I asked, gesturing off to the right.
“Yeah,” said McDonald. “What about them?”
“Those aren’t just random waves,” I replied. “That’s a boat wake. We just missed seeing another boat.”
“Are you sure it’s from a boat?” asked Spec-4.
“Well, there are two other options,” I said, smiling.
“Which are?” asked Heather.
“Well, the first is the Navy has a submarine patrolling this lake and we’re seeing the wake left by the periscope,” I said, with a smirk.
“And the second?” asked Ramirez.
“A duck doing about thirty knots,” I said, chuckling.
“That’s one fast duck,” said Sanders.
“So, basically,” said First Sergeant Gregory, “it has to be a boat.”
“Yeah,” I confirmed. “The wake is too big to be anything else. Whoever it was, they were moving pretty fast.”
“Why didn’t we hear them?” asked Heather.
“Because our own engines make too much noise,” I explained. “I’m sure that they either saw us and took off, or heard us coming. Either way, the only way to find out is to follow them. Fortunately, they seem to be heading to the same place we are. The Army Center.”
“Somehow, I doubt that’s a coincidence,” said Spec-4.
“Yeah, me either,” agreed Snake.
“Lock and load, people,” I said, checking my own weapons. “I doubt that they would have run from us if they wanted to talk. For now, we have to assume that they’re hostile.”
Ragnarok Rising: The Crossing (The Ragnarok Rising Saga) Page 38