Graybeard looked at the fire now raging in the hole made by the AT-4. Would it spread or go out on its own? The building probably had a fire suppression sprinkler system with its own pressurized water supply, assuming the pipes survived the blast, and there was water in them after all this time. No matter, the creatures would soon be all over it in any event.
Graybeard had no sympathy for the infiltration team. He was more concerned about a raging inferno that might weaken the structure and collapse it and worse possibly melt all that gold. As it was, his crew would have their work cut out locating it. He hoped that it was still in the rig with the Vulcan on top. Icing on the cake.
Graybeard took one last look and motioned for the other members of his Outfit to head below. Both took quick, nervous looks around as they hurried to move down to the safety of the sewer; neither had to be told twice. Graybeard disregarded them and the nearby noises the creatures made.
Graybeard stepped onto the first rung of the ladder. Pausing he gazed into the shadows of a nearby building. The front was blown off, the rubble from it laying in the street. Just inside the space, where the direct light of the flare could not reach, silhouettes paced back and forth in eager anticipation of fresh meat.
“Go get ‘em, boys. Those INFIL-rats are much tastier than the regular kind. You can thank me later.”
Graybeard continued down the hole, pulling it closed above him with a loud clang before locking it. Far above the last of the flares burned itself out. If the creatures now rambling awkwardly from the building heard the big man’s words it’s not likely they would have processed them, they certainly wouldn’t thank him.
Now that the closest fresh meat disappeared into the sewer below and out of reach, their collective focus turned to the building with the gaping hole in it. Thousands of others just like them emerged from the many structures beginning their stiff gait to the Radio Building, faster now anxious for a feast and in response to the calls from the ones already inside.
Chapter Nineteen
Blinded by the flash of the exploding AT-4 round and with his ears ringing from the noise and pressure wave it took a moment for Keith to process what just occurred and then to figure out where he was. It took him another moment to realize that he was laying on the ground, on hard cement, he detected a figure moving next to him getting to his feet.
Rolling over onto his back, Keith processed his surroundings; someone or something tugged at him. The UV lights of the Radio Building no longer were on, only the flares in the distance, and the glow of a fire were visible through the smoke and dust. There was little doubt they were under attack again; fear gripped him as he expected that machine gun fire might soon be directed towards his position. Choking and coughing from the dust and smoke of the blast, Keith got up, helped along by gloved hands lugging at his arms.
Soon adrenaline added itself to the fear; Keith started down the ramp and back into the parking structure, the only place that was safe, pulled along by someone he still could not see. Entering the parking structure things became clearer with the emergency lighting, dim as it was providing some illumination. Looking at the fading lights, he wondered how long that would be the case.
Fearful of the follow-on attack sure to come by either man or monster he only wanted one thing, to get to a rifle. He didn’t know if Andy was running behind him or if he could expect an explosive round in the back any second. He didn’t care, he would go down swinging.
Keith skidded to a stop, his bare feet sliding on the dust and debris that filled the floor. Where the G-90 had been was now a pile of rubble, flames and spraying water from broken pipes. Above it was a massive hole. Keith peered up into it and to the hole above into the next floor, the level housing the control room. Keith couldn’t remember which side that room was on, but hoped that whatever had previously occupied the space wasn’t where they left Logan and his weapons.
As his surroundings came into focus, so did his situational awareness; the realization of how vulnerable he was taking center thought. With the rig buried under all that rubble, the only other weapons available to him were upstairs where he left them, unceremoniously stripped of not just his status with the Voracious Soldiers but nearly everything else he wore or carried, not the least of which was his CAR-50 rifle.
Keith’s eyes shifted upward to the gaping hole where the outside wall had been as well as the first floor. He spied the light from the overhead flares as they first dimmed then extinguished themselves. It was only a matter of time before DEVO’s, or the Outfit hunting them would start flowing through that huge gap. The last thought was cemented in by the silhouettes of people moving stiffly around the opening; only they weren’t people, panic welled deep inside Keith at the sight of what most certainly would be his doom. The battery powered lights that did not give off much UV light would not hold back the creatures for long as the batteries slowly died and would make no difference to the other menace.
The images of David being held down as the creatures ravished him sent a wave of panic over him, paralyzing him. The loud calls and shrieks getting closer added to the fear. He had to find a place to hide, but where? How in the dark? Keith spun around and once again found himself face to face with the guy who up to a half minute or so ago was determined to feed him to the DEVO’s as an appetizer.
Keith recognized him and even though he had just thought of his name, he now couldn’t recall what it was. The man, in his helmet and thick vest and dark uniform, was yelling something, but all Keith heard was the shrieks outside and the ringing that began in his ears and went all the way into his brain. Eventually, words broke through but in slow motion
“This way!”
Keith stood there, not sure what he meant. Andy shoved him and roared.
“Grab the back of my vest. We’re going back upstairs. The electrical is shot. Our only chance is to get to the roof and try to hold them off from there.”
Andy, Keith remembered his name now, grabbed his right hand and put it on the handhold at the top of his vest. Keith, wanting to do something, anything, shuffled awkwardly behind him, holding on for dear life and wincing every time his bare feet stepped onto a piece of rubble or some other sharp object. The direction they were going was dark, but moving somewhere, anywhere away from the outside felt safer than remaining near the hole. Maybe it was just a relative feeling of security as he followed closely behind someone who had a weapon and putting distance between himself and the screeching that now echoed through the building.
***
Logan stood in the doorway of the control room. He looked left and right, making sure the hallway was clear before he focused on the scene across the hall. Flames licked all around the offices across the way. A huge hole opened to the outside partially on that level, but mostly on the floor below, ground level. Logan knew that opening would soon be filling with DEVO’s. Fires and rubble were visible underneath, through another huge opening exposing the parking structure level below it and the hole to the outside. Piles of rubble filled the parking structure from the two floors above it that had collapsed inward. That would slow the DEVO’s down some as they would have to move slowly and in single file to negotiate whatever flooring was left down there.
Logan moved down the hallway to the stairs that he climbed just a few minutes before with Keith. Flinging open the door he was met by a wall of flames that had been the stairwell. He knew it was the one Andy had taken Keith down. Logan last saw both outside, walking up the ramp. Did they survive the explosion? That question was answered by the crackling of the radio in his ears as he slammed the door shut to hold back the inferno.
“Logan! This is Andy.”
“Andy, are you ok, what about Keith?” Logan answered ignoring communication protocol by first establishing that he had a good copy.
“I’ve got him here with me, the rig is buried, the lights are out, and we’ve got holes in the building. The fires and emergency lighting will only keep the DEVO’s out for so long, our only chance is to ge
t to the roof where we can hold them off, light a flare and rappel down then make a run for the water, keeping the building between us and the Outfit out there with the heavy weapons, copy?”
“This is Logan, the stairs are gone on the ramp side of the building.”
“Roger that. Keith and I are already moving to the far end through the basement. Meet me in the stairwell on your level, we’ll go up to the roof together.”
“See you in a few,” Logan answered.
Logan raced to the other end of the building and into the stairwell where he took up position. He wanted to tell Andy that Mia was on the way. There was no point mentioning that or the fact that she was coming more for the gold than them. Now that it was buried with the rig, would she leave them there without it?
“Oh, my God, Mia, the sat phone!” Logan screamed to himself. Piling Keith’s rifle and gear on the landing he started back to the control room, wondering if he could even find it on the floor, under all the wreckage, and overturned workstations and now the smoke filling the area. Logan slowed as the lights dimmed and the loud screeches filled the spaces, emanating from the hole in what had been the offices across from the control room.
DEVO’s were in the building! Slowly Logan backed towards the stairwell opening hoping the footfalls pounding the steps behind and below him were Andy’s and Keith’s. He kept his rifle pointed down the ever-darkening hallway as the batteries powering the emergency lighting system died leaving him in the dark with the monsters nearing.
Chapter Twenty
The peaceful, glass-like surface of the bay racing by just meters below the chin bubble of her VTAL did little to improve Mia’s outlook. Despite several attempts, there was no answer by Andy or Logan on the sat phone. Her earlier falling out with Andy notwithstanding, she just couldn’t leave them there. Hearing from Logan how dire the situation was made her wish she had spun up the VTAL when Andy first called for help, something he would never have done unless he really needed rescuing. After Logan explained they were being hunted not just by the DEVO’s, but by one of the Outfits who employed a game-changing weapon, Mia grew genuinely worried that she might be too late. She would still take one-third of the gold, but now she was flying not just for that but for the guys she had grown to enjoy spending time working with and of course with Andy in the off hours as well.
“Come on, Andy. Answer, please.” She perched on the edge of her seat, waiting for the call to go through.
“Two minutes out,” Edward hollered out their position.
Mia planned on remaining out over the center of the harbor channel at low level until the Radio Building was off her 3 o’clock position. Then she would bank to the right, drop down to nearly wave height and race in, flaring and rising in altitude when she crossed the pier adjacent to the facility. Mia hoped it was lit up like Logan said it would be. If not, she would have to go higher and circle to determine what the situation was below. If she went too high, the authorities would catch her on radar and move assets in. At least over the bay to identify or follow her. She could lose her license, and the VTAL might be impounded.
“What a cluster fuck!”
“Ma’am?”
“Nothing, Edward, just call out the numbers.”
“Roger that, 90 seconds from our turn.”
***
The gunfire bursting through his still ringing ears startled Keith more than Andy. Without a helmet and the ear protection that it provided, the .50 caliber CAR was even louder inside a building. Echoing as it bounced off the walls and his ear drums followed by the explosive rounds, detonating a split second later. Logan wouldn’t be shooting just to keep the DEVO’s at bay, the ammo was too precious and limited, and he was too experienced. There must be DEVO’s in the building and close.
More frightening than the noise, however, was the darkness enveloping them as the emergency lights faded to nothing. Keith gripped the back of Andy’s vest tighter as he followed him up the stairs. Reaching the landing, the outline of Logan crouched in the doorway, his weapon at the ready was a calming site to Keith.
The glow of the fire from the floors and basement underneath backlit him and illuminated the things that one, or two at a time emerged from the right side of the hallway. The fire, rubble, and smoke slowed the onslaught of the creatures but didn’t deter them. The fire was something they feared, like any living, or in this case barely living thing. The light bothered them but didn’t stop them. If anything, it drove them to move out of that area faster and into the darkened hallway.
Logan was taking his time. Waiting until several of the creatures emerged. Then he fired one or two rounds and let the explosive bullets take out the intended target and hopefully any others nearby. The narrow hallway helped in that regard, forcing the monsters together in a confined space where one round could take out several. Even with that ratio, the numbers were on the side of the creatures.
“That you, Andy?” Logan shouted over his right shoulder, his eyes still on three or four of the pale hissing ghouls he had just transformed into a red mist and twitching body parts with two rounds. The carnage was filling up the hallway, further slowing the onslaught of the screeching things.
“On your six!”
Logan nodded in response, not taking his eyes off the hallway.
A shrieking head with a chattering jaw poked from the hole on the right, blasted open by the AT-4 projectile. Logan steadied his sights but conserved his ammo until it could be more efficiently employed.
Andy patted Logan’s shoulder to know he was behind him.
“We’ve got to get to the roof. Mia should be overhead soon.”
“Mia?”
“I don’t have time to explain.” The burst of two more rounds from Logan’s rifle punctuated his last statement as a pile of body parts grew in the hallway just meters in front.
“Keith with you?” Logan’s focus stayed on the corridor.
“He’s right here, a little dazed from the explosion. I think he’s got a concussion, but he is mobile.”
“Good, we’re gonna need the help. Pass these to him.”
Several screeching creatures climbed up the hole where the offices were, advancing towards them. Andy looked down to see Keith’s rifle sliding along the floor towards him by Logan’s right boot, just in front of it and next to Logan’s legs were his helmet and vest. Andy bent forward to retrieve them as his teammate’s rifle fired twice more, ending the shrieks and the things making them.
Andy grabbed the vest and chucked it to Keith, who put it on, then bent down to get the rifle and helmet. A garish call, no doubt communicating that fresh meat was near, erupted from behind Keith still sliding the vest over his shirtless upper body; Andy’s helmeted head snapped up.
Two DEVO’s appeared on the mid-floor landing just below and behind Keith. Hearing them but not able to see them Keith pushed forward into Andy squeezing up against him confining Andy’s rifle between them as Andy tried to swing it toward a creature now just feet behind Keith getting ready to leap onto him with others following close behind.
Andy let his rifle drop. Held by the sling, it slid down between him and Keith, who pushed even harder now in his zeal to move from the things he could not see but could hear closing behind him. Andy’s right hand slid to the Glock handgun secured into the right side of his tac vest. As he broke the quick release of the holster with his thumb, he watched the pale, shirtless thing with its clacking mouth leap up the last few stairs, intent on sinking its teeth into either of them.
What was only a fraction of a second’s time slowed into an eternity for Andy hurrying to bring the weapon up along Keith’s left side as the creature gave a burst of energy, propelling itself up the steps, the bony claw like fingers reached out in front. The thing was already in the air with its mouth open wide getting ready to land on top of Keith’s back, its mouth drooling with anticipation of the treat it was about to have.
The DEVO’s head exploded in a mist of blood, bone, and brain. Its body fell back o
nto the four rushing up the stairs behind it, themselves blown to bits by a barrage of explosive .45 caliber rounds a second later before Andy’s handgun cycled empty, the slide locking back with a thunk.
In his haste, he had flipped the selector to fully automatic. Andy didn’t have time to curse at himself for expending more of the precious ammo than what was needed to get the job done. Instinctively his thumb found the magazine release button and depressed it sending the empty container to the floor. In a flash, his left hand retrieved a full magazine that he fed into the Glock, made more complicated by Keith practically hugging him now. It wasn’t fear, or mostly it wasn’t, the probationary team member wanted only to get around Andy and away from the creatures eager to devour him. Andy hit the slide release, and the handgun’s upper assembly slammed forward stripping off the round at the top of the magazine before seating it into the chamber. Andy searched for a new threat as Keith pressed up against him.
“A few minutes ago, you were going to feed him to the DEVO’s, and now you two are lovers?” Logan, taking his first look to his six since his team arrived, smirked at the sight of the nearly naked Keith hugging Andy.
It elicited a “fuck you” from Keith, who apparently could hear better now. Considering their immediate predicament, humor was about all Logan had left, it was either that or cry at the fate they faced if they remained in that stairwell.
Andy didn’t have time to appreciate the humor. He untangled himself from Keith, holstered the handgun and brought his rifle to bear in the direction of the screeches echoing up the steps from the basement and first-floor stairwell openings.
METAVERSE GAMES: OMNIBUS Page 14