by James Hunt
“What the hell was that?” the young sentry asked, his voice rife with panic, staring back at his fallen brother in arms. The sentry’s answer was another volley of bullets that ripped through the hazy gas that continued to spread.
“We have gunfire! I repeat, we have gunfire!” Alex radioed. The rest of the squad provided a blanket of blind cover fire at whatever lay beyond the brush. Just before Alex made it behind the barrier, he felt the pinpoint accuracy of a bullet collide into his upper back with the force of a freight train and he face planted into the ground.
Alex tried moving his right arm to push himself up, but everything felt numb. Even wiggling his fingers was too much of an effort. His left hand clawed into the earth, a slight sting burning his face. The gas mask had cracked from the force of the blow, leaking tear gas residue inside. He ripped it off, coughing and hacking from the lingering vapor. A stab of pain knifed his forehead. He dabbed his fingertips at the point of pain and when he pulled his fingers back, they were covered in blood. Alex quickly turned around to grab the sentry that had fallen, but what he found in his place were dozens of masked individuals wielding bats, knives, and guns.
The distinct rag of a Molotov cocktail caught fire and was hurled over the fence toward the sentries. Alex covered his head as the makeshift firebomb exploded twenty feet from where he lay, covering him in a blanket of heat. Alex planted the toe of his right foot firmly in the dirt and pushed himself forward. “Fire!” Alex said, pivoting to shoot behind him as he ran for safety.
Shells ejected from the rifles spitting hot lead into the hungry flesh bent on destroying whatever was in front of them. The rioters split their group in two along the fence line to try and evade the gunfire. Bullets whizzed back and forth from both sides as every man refused to give up their position.
The tear gas was beginning to clear, but Alex’s eyes, nose, and throat still burned from the chemical reaction. The brush of leaves and branches where the extremists had emerged prior flickered to life. The movements grew more violent until an armored truck flattened one of the bushes and headed straight for the fence. Alex aimed his rifle at the truck’s windshield and fired, but the .223 ammo did little but thump against the bulletproof glass.
The chain-linked fence crumpled from the force of the truck, creating a gaping hole that was immediately flooded with the armed extremists funneling in behind the cover of the truck. Another flame-tipped cocktail flew through the air and erupted in a fireball just in front of the barrier where Alex and his men ducked to protect themselves from the scorching heat.
Alex waved his arms, grabbing the attention of his men. “Fall back into the silo!” He jumped from behind the barrier, aiming his rifle at the advancing mob. His crosshairs fell onto random limbs not protected by the truck’s armor. He fired, sending a bullet through an arm and a thigh. The sentries scrambled behind him, rushing into the silo’s entrance. Alex provided cover until every single one of his men was inside. Once they were clear, he joined them.
Inside, the sentries had clustered into a small group, slowly retreating deeper into the silo. Alex locked the door behind him. “Hey! We need to barricade this door. Now!” The booming authority in Alex’s voice snapped the group out of their cowardice and they shoved desks, filing cabinets, any heavy material they could find to stack against the door.
One of the researchers came rushing up from inside. He gripped Alex’s arm in panic. “What’s going on out there?”
“Tell everyone to head out the back. My men will escort you. Evacuate everyone!” Alex answered.
The lab didn’t have many windows, but it didn’t take long for the extremists to find and shatter the ones it did. Alex ordered two of his men to stay behind with him. The rest herded the scientists and researchers out the back to safety.
The concrete wall of the front of the silo vibrated with every bullet and explosion from the other side. The two sentries that Alex had ordered to stay behind looked at the shaking wall with hopeless expressions. Alex grabbed the two by the collar, only intensifying their fears. “We keep the militants busy and make sure they don’t head around back. Once we receive word the building has been evacuated, we’ll get the hell out,” Alex said, then pointed at the corners of the room where two windows had been shot out. “You two take the right side and concentrate fire on funneling them back behind the truck. I’ll take the left over here. I don’t think that truck will make it past the barricades to ram the door, but if it does, retreat with the others to the back of the building.”
Alex crunched the window’s broken glass under his boots that had littered the floor. He peeked his head around the corner of the opening and was greeted with a barrage of lead. He quickly ducked back behind the wall until there was a lull in the firing. He took a deep breath and then returned fire. He concentrated his fire on the edges, either killing the assailants on the spot or sending them back behind the cover of the armored truck. After squeezing off six shots, he ducked back down and the rapid thump of more bullets peppered the wall between him and the extremists. From what Alex could see, the armored truck had already made a few attempts at ramming the concrete barricades, but it lacked the power to completely run them down, so a small group had made their way to the door and rammed it with the butts of their rifles and shoulders.
Another cascade of hot shells smacked against the floor as Alex fired at the group advancing on the door, killing two, with the rest limping back behind the cover of the truck.
With the assailants dropping like flies or hiding behind the safety of the truck, Alex concentrated his fire on the tires. The bullets plunked against the wheel well but failed to puncture the thick rubber. The next squeeze of his trigger sounded the click of the firing pin. He ejected the magazine and ducked under the window to reload. He rose to the sight of a grenade being chucked at the front entrance.
“Fire in the hole!” Alex said, ducking below the window and covering his head with his hands. The explosion shattered the makeshift barricade of office furniture into splinters. The vibration of the blast rippled through Alex’s bones. He rolled to his side, his ears filled with a high-pitched ringing that voided everything else. He looked over to the corner to see the two sentries rolling around in similar condition.
Both of the sentries’ rifles were on the floor in front of them, but they weren’t able to reach for them fast enough as two extremists penetrated the silo. Alex squeezed off six shots, sending bullets into their ribs, legs, and necks before they had a chance to fire. He motioned to the other two sentries, waving them to retreat. “C’mon!” The three of them sprinted to the back, leaving the shouts and gunfire behind them.
When Alex made it to the rear of the facility, most of the staff had already been escorted out of the area. The sentries were loading up the last vehicle by the time Alex arrived. The researcher Alex had ordered to evacuate everyone was in the passenger seat. “Did we get everyone out?”
“I think so.”
“Think so?”
Before Alex could get anything else out of him, the van took off. One vehicle remained, and Alex’s men started piling in. Alex had one foot on the door frame and was about to pull himself inside when he stopped himself. “You hear that?”
“Sir, we need to get out of here.”
“Shh. Listen.” The van rocked slightly as Alex took his foot off the bottom of the doorframe and walked closer to the building, positioning his left ear to try and make out the sound. A few seconds passed and then he heard it again. The faint, distinct cry of help. “C’mon!” Alex sprinted back into the building where the yells grew louder along with gunshots and the crash of glass and equipment.
“Over there,” Alex said, pointing to one of the rooms on the left.
“Sir!” one of the sentries yelled.
But Alex could already smell it. Smoke wafted across his nose and the faint glow of fire danced along the walls. The extremists had graduated from vandalism to arson. “Go!” Alex said. “I’ll grab whoever's left and
meet you out back.” The sentries didn’t waste any time evacuating, and Alex burst through the door from where the cries emanated.
Alex kept his rifle up, quickly scanning the entryways of opened doors and hallways before passing and entering. The smoke thickened the deeper he moved into the building, continuing its assault on his eyes, blurring his vision and burning his lungs and throat with every breath.
One of the extremists appeared from around the corner at the end of the hallway. The two saw each other at the same time, but Alex beat him to the draw. One quick squeeze of the trigger and Alex’s shot sent a bullet slicing through the rioter, dropping him to the floor where he was devoured by the advancing fire.
Alex finally traced the cries to a door halfway between the back and front entrances. He jiggled the handle. Locked. “Hang on! I’m almost there!” A deep, throaty cough interrupted him and Alex collapsed to the floor, paralyzed by the inability to breathe. The room felt like it was shifting, spinning. The fire had completely turned the corner of the hallway now, bringing intense heat and darker smoke. The ceiling was consumed in bright oranges and reds.
Alex grabbed the handle and forced himself up. He smacked the butt of his rifle against the door. Each violent blow sent vibrations through his arms and shoulders. His fingers clung to the grips of the rifle with what strength he had left. He lowered the rifle and sent the heel of his boot into the door. The frame splintered slightly. He kicked it again. The crack in the frame grew wider. Another forceful kick and the door burst open.
The source of the voice was a man trapped underneath a large cabinet. “Help! I’m stuck!” Alex stumbled to the man, bent over, coughing and hacking as his insides continued to burn to a crisp. The carnivorous roar of the flames barreling down upon him and the cries of the trapped man deafened his ears.
The blaze had made its way into the room, spreading across the ceiling. The smoke inhalation overwhelmed Alex and he fell to the floor. He crawled forward, dragging himself across the tile until he had the coordination to force his feet under him. He shuffled forward with his back in a curved hunch, still choking on the smoke. By the time Alex made it to the man who had been crying for help, he was unconscious.
Alex’s fingers fumbled for the Kevlar around his chest and peeled it off. He tossed the heavy material over the man’s torso to protect him from any falling debris. He lifted the cabinet up and used his foot to slide the man’s legs out from underneath. With the man almost clear, a piece of molten hot ceiling disintegrated from above and landed on his shoulder, burning through his uniform. With his right shoulder on fire, Alex gave one final push against the man’s legs and he was free. The edge of the cabinet slipped from Alex’s fingers and smacked to the floor. Alex extinguished the fire searing his flesh and cauterizing his nerve endings. Smoke rose from the blackened stump that was his shoulder. Alex stood up, threw the unconscious man over his good shoulder, keeping the Kevlar on him, and carried him out.
The walls and ceiling of the hallway were completely consumed by flames. Drops of liquid fire rained down and Alex did his best to avoid the deadly drizzle. The flesh on his face felt like it was melting as he navigated the smoky corridors until he finally saw the sunlight coming from the opened door in the back.
Once outside, Alex collapsed to the ground and the man fell with him. Vicious spouts of coughing erupted from Alex’s raw throat as he rolled from side to side, trying to clean his lungs with massive gulps of fresh air around him.
Alex flipped to his back and through his bloodshot eyes he could see thick plumes of smoke twisting and forcing their way upwards. One of the other sentries came to check on him, but Alex waved him off. “We need to get out of here. The rioters could come around back.”
“They all left,” the sentry said. “Once they set the building on fire, they disappeared.”
The thump of helicopter blades vibrated in Alex’s ears and was immediately followed up with a gust of wind as the chopper landed just outside the fence’s perimeter. The first person out of the chopper was the newly appointed commissioner of the Soil Coalition, Gordon Reath.
“What the hell happened here?” Gordon asked, marching right past the unconscious man Alex had rescued.
Alex rolled himself to a sitting position and caught a whiff of the burnt flesh on his shoulder. He gagged, almost vomiting into his own lap.
“Grives!” Gordon said. “I said what the hell happened here?”
“The protests turned violent. I sent a radio call hours ago stating that we needed more resources here, but no one responded,” Alex answered.
“So you just let them burn down the entire seed bank along with all of the soil research?”
“Sir, I understand you’re upset, but-”
“It’s fucking gone!”
Gordon’s face had the same reddish tinge as the flames consuming the building behind them. Alex pushed himself off the ground, and when his knee buckled, the sentry next to him helped steady him. “Then you should have gotten here sooner.”
The man that Alex had dragged from the building awoke in a fit of coughing, breaking the tension between Alex and Gordon. Gordon immediately bombarded the man with questions.
“Were you able to salvage anything?” Gordon asked.
“No,” the man said, covering his mouth and trying not to choke. “I tried to grab some of the backup files, but the fire... It came out of nowhere.”
“The group that attacked us were heavily armed,” Alex said. “They bulldozed the fence with an armored truck, then shot at us with assault rifles and grenades.”
Gordon gritted his teeth, his face almost turning purple from rage. “I don’t give a shit who they were! Do you know what this place was? What we were trying to do? This was one of the last research facilities in the country capable of fixing this crisis, and now it’s gone!”
The scientist on the ground looked up at the both of them, the expression on his face unable to comprehend everything that had happened. “Why would they do that? Why would they burn everything down? We’re trying to help.”
“Well, whoever did this,” Alex said, turning back to the burning building, “definitely didn’t think we were helping.”
“You sniveling little shit!” Gordon said, then smacked the scientist across the face. Gordon raised his hand again, but the scientist cowered into a small ball on the ground. “Kill him.” Gordon turned to Alex, pointing at the scientist trembling on the ground.
“What?” Alex asked.
“It was his job to secure the research, and he failed to accomplish it. I can’t allow this type of insubordination to happen. Kill. Him.”
“No.”
“Then I’ll do it myself.” Gordon snatched one of the rifles from the sentries, but before he could aim it at the scientist holding his hands up like he’d be able to stop one of the bullets himself, a caravan of vehicles that had followed the helicopter arrived and a mixture of military soldiers and sentries piled out.
Out of all the uniformed men that exited the vehicles, a giant of a man, with meticulously combed hair and a clean shaven face, buttoned the suit of his jacket as one of the military soldiers opened his door. Alex recognized him from the newspapers: Jared Farnes. He was the founder of one of the largest weapons manufacturers in the world and had secured a contract with the Defense department six months ago to become the main supplier of weapons to the United States military.
“Is this how you run your department, Gordon?” Jared asked, slamming the Humvee door behind him.
“This isn’t your jurisdiction, Jared. My men are handling it.”
“Clearly,” Jared responded, glancing at the flame-engulfed building. He looked down at the ash-covered scientist and frowned. The scientist lowered his head and Jared’s face remained a solid granite of stone. “Get in the car. We’ll talk about this at home.” The scientist quickly scurried to one of the vehicles with his tail between his legs.
“You see what happens when I don’t get the requested resourc
es I need to solve this? Here’s your message to the President,” Gordon said, pointing at the flames consuming the silo behind him. “I need more men to stop things like this from happening. I need more of the Army’s soldiers enrolled in the sentry program. And I need them now.”
Jared adjusted his cufflinks. “I’ll be sure to pass along the message.” Jared turned to leave and when one of the soldiers opened the door, Alex could see the scientist curled up in a ball in the far back seat.
“And remind that son of yours who he works for!” Gordon snapped.
Jared paused before entering the car, but didn’t turn around. Once the caravan of vehicles had disappeared, Gordon turned around to the tattered and fire-scorched sentries around him. “Where did you send the other scientists?”
“Junction City,” Alex answered.
Gordon leaned in close to Alex and wrenched his collar. Despite Alex’s senses still being filled with smoke, he could smell the overbearing cologne on Gordon that only worsened the sickening pit in his stomach. “I want them vetted. Do you understand? I don’t care how hard you have to beat them. You find out what they know about this attack.”
Alex placed his hand over Gordon’s wrist and squeezed. The thin pieces of bone gave a slight bend under the amount of pressure Alex applied, and it didn’t take long for Gordon to relinquish his grip. Alex shoved Gordon’s chest and then ripped the Class 2 sentry badge from his uniform. He tossed it to Gordon, who caught it. “This isn’t what I signed up for.”
Gordon laughed. “You think I won’t find someone else to take your place? There are millions of starving men out there that would kill to be in the position you’re in! I have the power to feed them. I have the power to ease their suffering.”