“They’ve set up a FEMA camp near the Legacy Emmanuel Medical Center, but Josie said they were organizing a laboratory for her inside the center. Those Rabids out there weren’t meant to be. Her job was to figure out why.”
“Okay, good. We need her. Let’s deal with this tower first – at least save this part of Portland from the second wave.” Lisa pulled two duffel bags from the crawlspace. “Get the others and grab some food. We need to leave.”
Two minutes later, they were crawling their way through the suburban streets of Hillsdale, heading for Marquam Nature Park. At its summit was a small cell phone tower. Zanzi remembered the behemoth towers that used to be around, eyesores in the beautiful scenery. Nowadays, cellular network technology had shrunk. The towers could be smaller, tucked away out of sight, barely noticed by passing runners and hikers.
Jacqui crawled along Terwilliger Boulevard, keeping the minivan to the middle of the road. Even here, people had been driving. Some cars had rolled to a stop on the side of the road in the absence of a guiding hand, while others had spun off the road and into the shrubs and trees. Several times Jacqui had to stop so that Lisa and Zanzi could push vehicles out of the way. She brought the minivan to a stop next to the trail head.
Lisa pulled them into a huddle beside the van. “Zanzi, you have point. Stay off the trail. Watch for hostiles – human and otherwise. Reid and I blew up a tower north of here. There’s a strong possibility the Black Skulls have sent men to guard this one. We go in, set the charges, and get out. Nothing more. Am I clear?”
“Got it,” Zanzi said.
“Tilly, Jacqui. You’re our extra eyes. Don’t take any risks. If I say run, run. Once we blow this tower, it’s back to the safe house. If we get separated, go there. Okay?”
The two women nodded. Zanzi detected fear in their eyes and body language, in the way they shuffled their feet and continuously flicked their eyes about. She didn’t blame them. She and Lisa had a distinct advantage – training. Ryan had said to her many times that sheer will went a long way.
Zanzi spent a few seconds adjusting her weapons, then darted into the forest. Apart from the odd hoot from owls, there was no other noise. What had really surprised her since their escape from the motorcycle gang was the lack of civilians. There either were none, or everyone was wisely staying out of sight, which seemed unlikely.
The trail steepened and soon Zanzi’s tired muscles were burning. She first led the small team of women south, then west, to where several trails intersected before heading to the summit.
Lisa let out a low whistle and halted the group where the track finally split in two. “There’s something I need to tell you. I think you should all know, and I won’t think any less of you if you decide to go back to the minivan.”
She looked at each of the women before carrying on. “Sergeant Reid and I saw something strange a few nights ago, and again last night. The Rabids, or whatever you want to call them, congregate around cell phone towers at night. Reid and I were tracking them, trying to figure out the reason. That was before we knew about the transmissions. I don’t know if this tower is any different, but if those suckers get a whiff of us, they’ll charge en masse. You can’t hesitate for one second. Keep shooting until they fall. Understood?”
“I’ve never killed anyone before,” Jacqui said. “But I guess they aren’t people anymore. Unless we can switch off the nanites, make them human again?”
“I’m not sure if it works like that, but I’m no expert. All I know is that we need to destroy the tower on this hill. If we save one person, then we’ve done our jobs,” Lisa said.
Tilly stayed silent. She gazed at the horizon. Zanzi nudged her gently. “Understand, Tilly?”
“It’s getting lighter. Sun’s coming up,” Tilly said.
“Understand?” Zanzi repeated. She had to make sure Tilly comprehended what she was getting herself into.
“No hesitating. I get it.”
Zanzi stared at Tilly for several seconds before she was satisfied.
“All right. If you guys are sure, we’ll carry on. Zanzi, you take Tilly and approach from the south. Jacqui and I will come in from the north,” Lisa said.
The four women separated and crept slowly up the hiking track. Zanzi glanced over her shoulder to check Tilly was following closely. The summit was a few hundred yards away now, the tip of the cell tower peeking above the trees. She turned to Tilly.
“Don’t be afraid to run, okay? If it gets to be too much, go. You’re not a soldier. No one would think any less of you.”
“I want to help,” Tilly said. “I’m scared, but I’m always scared. Before you came to The Eyrie, I was afraid of everyone there. I’d seen a few of my friends die. Others just vanished. But then you came, and everything changed. So I want to help too, though I have no idea how we’re going to do this.”
“Tilly, I’m glad you’re here. Remember how I showed you. Point and squeeze the trigger, watch the recoil. Just keep aiming for here.” Zanzi pointed at her chest.
It was the stench that alerted her to their presence. A musty pong, like dirty socks. Zanzi crouched behind a fir tree and looked at the tower. At least a dozen Rabids milled around as if awaiting instructions from their boss. Was that it? Did the cellular network broadcast some kind of signal to them? That didn’t make sense. Maybe they had malfunctioned during the combusting event and were now attracted to the tower. Zanzi surmised that was why they wanted cerebral fluid too. She ran through her options and tried to judge which Rabid would be the fastest. From what she had witnessed so far, they all ran about the same speed, as if hampered by an injury.
She nudged her radio. “Beta team in position.”
“Alpha team in position,” Lisa said. “Numbers?”
“Fifteen that I can see.”
“Twenty-four here. On three… two…”
Zanzi flicked off her safety and gripped the MP5 tighter.
“…One.”
Gunfire erupted from the north. Immediately, the Rabids snapped their heads around. A few jolted forward as those closest to Lisa began to fall. Zanzi squeezed the trigger, letting go a three-round burst that hit the nearest creature in the neck and chest. Down it went, gurgling blood from its mouth and a gaping hole in its neck. She didn’t have time to feel sorry for the woman it had been as the creatures spun toward her. She adjusted her aim and dropped two more, and a third.
Tilly shrieked as two of the Rabids charged from their left. She raised her Glock. Her hands shook as she pulled the trigger, and she missed with each shot. Zanzi swiveled and shot one in the gut. It lurched closer, howling.
“Breathe, Tilly!”
Zanzi went into a sort of trance. Aim, shoot, aim, shoot. Reload and repeat. In the back of her mind, the numbers nagged her. She had personally killed ten, and still they came, as if they were melting out of the forest, the trees giving birth to the sightless beasts.
“Zanzi!” Tilly screamed. Two Rabids had crawled over the bodies of the dead and howled as they pulled on her legs. Tilly was pulling the trigger, but instead of bullets, the firearm clicked.
“Reload!” Zanzi shouted. She shot another creature, ran, and kicked the Rabids in the head in turn. They snapped back and groaned, rolling over the blood-soaked earth, heads twitching as they sniffed the air. With their cloudy eyes, it was difficult to tell if they were looking at her or not. Zanzi shot them both in the head and pulled Tilly behind her.
“Watch our backs and this side. I’ll watch front and my side.”
“I can’t reload.”
Zanzi whipped out her P229 and flicked off the safety. “Use this,” she said, handing it to Tilly, then quick as a flash she took a fresh magazine from her vest and jammed it in the Glock.
Zanzi saw Lisa and Jacqui were making progress from the north. They had made a dent in the Rabids’ numbers now that no new creatures flowed out of the trees. Zanzi methodically killed the rest of the creatures in her target area and scanned for any new hostiles.
The clearing fell into silence as Lisa shot the last Rabid. She gestured for Zanzi and Tilly to protect their escape route. They had planned it out. Up by minivan. Blow the tower. Back down via the steep track leading to the river. Disappear into the cluttered suburban streets and make their way back to the safe house.
“Explosives set. Move out,” Lisa said over the radio.
Zanzi took one last look at the carnage, at the motionless Rabids. Some were still alive, somehow, pulling themselves over the grass on useless legs. It seemed cruel to leave them to suffer, but Zanzi knew there was no alternative.
Down she and Tilly raced through the trees, over logs and stumps. Leaves scattered as they ran, sometimes sliding down the steep banks. They hit the road and hurtled straight across and into the trees. If Black Skulls responded, the road was the most likely route they would use.
Kaboom! Kaboom!
The explosions cracked through the still night air, rumbling over the hills and the city. If anyone was alive in the houses and apartments nearby, they would be gawking in fright.
Lisa and Jacqui caught up to them at the bottom of another steep ravine.
“Good work, everyone,” Lisa said.
Jacqui was breathing hard, hands on her knees. “And to think, last week I was happy reading and cuddling my cats. Now I’m running around with crazy people, blowing the bejesus out of stuff.”
Zanzi took the moment to rest too. She had been on the go for days now, barely sleeping. Out of one dire situation and into another. What she wouldn’t do for a warm bed and a hot shower.
The thumping of a helicopter sounded. Lisa jolted her head up.
“That’s not good. Shit. An oversight on my part. Of course they would have choppers.”
“Remember after headquarters? That soldier said they had thermal cameras too.”
Lisa unfolded a city map from her combat vest. “Here, there’s a mall. Go! Now! We can’t afford for them to spot us.”
Zanzi sighed and took off along the bottom of the ravine. She wondered if she’d ever rest again.
Thirty-Five
Makushin Bay, Aleutian Islands
Cal and Sofia talked between themselves and tapped away at the console, attempting to sacrifice LK3 satellites by purposely smashing them into a cluster of weather and sports channel satellites, putting those on a collision course with OPIS. If they succeeded, the second wave would not hit North America, sparing the continent from more horror, more chaos. Give it a chance at survival.
The camera feed was crystal clear, showing both the area outside the station and inside the weather-monitoring building. White-capped waves pounded the jagged rocks lining the shore below, and the wind whipped flurries of snow about the rounded hills.
Booth, Allie, and Ryan watched two Seahawk helicopters land in the buffeting winds. Ryan had to admire the fearless pilots. In that storm, they guided the choppers to the ground and disgorged two companies of Black Skulls, just as expected. One investigated the damaged helicopter while the other headed toward the weather station.
“Cross your fingers they buy our ruse,” Ryan said.
“They’re just grunts,” Booth laughed. “Above their pay grade to wonder why.”
The Black Skulls inside the weather station crouched down next to the dead soldiers. One poked at the intestines with his rifle. He shrugged his shoulders and moved on to the living quarters. Ryan flicked his eyes to the monitor displaying the second company. They were sweeping the outside, darting through the downed equipment. Ryan wished he could tap into their comms system, to hear what they said – anything to give him a better idea as to why they were here. He could guess. Dudek would have reported in with his superiors once he’d made contact and found out where they were flying. It dawned on him then that Dudek’s orders were to not only murder The Nameless but to destroy the station.
The agents inside had been unable to contact the outside world after they became trapped by the Siphons. It all made sense now. When neither Dudek nor his men reported in again, whoever was in charge had sent teams to investigate. Sofia and Avondale had assured him that unless someone had a code or heavy-duty cutting equipment, there was no way they could gain access down here.
“They’ve finished their sweep,” Booth said.
“Outside too,” Ryan said. “But they’re hesitating by our makeshift satellite dish.”
“Do you think they bought it?” Allie asked.
“We can only hope. I figure that they don’t know we’re down here. They’ll see the dish strapped down and figure it’s from a previous storm. What worries me is the damage from the explosives, but it should be obvious it was the pilots.”
“Let’s assume they take the bait. Figure Dudek got caught off guard – it happens to everyone. What then?” Allie asked.
“Then we carry on with our mission,” Ryan said. “If, and it’s a big if, we succeed at this, we carry on. Destroying their communication center at The Eyrie is first on the list. I know I’m making a ton of assumptions, but that’s all we’ve got. Assume they see the carnage and figure the soldiers died after a shootout with the agents and fighting the Siphons. I suppose it depends on how curious they are. Did we leave any trace upstairs?”
“No way. I cleaned up everything,” Booth said.
Three Black Skulls broke away from the rest and walked back inside. They had no indication of rank. From the way they walked, Ryan could guess at staff sergeants and a lieutenant, or equivalent. They pointed to the man Ryan had gutted, and at the agent-turned-Siphon. Anyone with half a brain could see that the man’s stomach had been sliced, not torn open. His ruse had been for the quick look, not closer inspection. He turned and looked at the countdown above the monitor. They had a little over twenty minutes before the scheduled second wave.
“Sofia, Cal. How are we doing?”
“Calculating trajectories now. This must be precise. One millisecond out and the satellite will miss. That’s even if it’s the right one,” Cal said. “I need at least ten more minutes. Can you distract them?”
Ryan glanced at the armed men climbing over the dome. One of the soldiers was testing the tie-down straps. He shrugged and slid back to the ground.
“If it comes to that, yes. Sofia?”
“I’m trying. All those codes I took off the general are useless so far. They’re just spy satellites. Most pass over the Middle East, a few over Africa, and one over Indonesia. I’m making notes; they’ll be handy later. Nothing to indicate that they have other satellites, other than what’s registered. If only I could access their data core, I could tell you which ones fired the data stream at each of the towers.”
“Keep at it. I know you guys can do it. We believe in you.”
“If you believe, then you’re halfway there.” Sofia grinned. She was giving Ryan a hard time. She’d visited the Connors in New Zealand a few years back and had laughed at Ryan’s mother’s house, filled with inspirational quotes. She had them everywhere, printed out on colored paper and stuck to the walls.
“Any luck getting hold of Keiko and Ebony?”
“Safe and well. Holed up in a back office at the airport terminal.” Sofia met Ryan’s eyes. He saw her worry. The anguish. It was natural to feel that way; any parent would. But he knew Sofia was focused. She understood what was at stake and trusted Ebony to keep Keiko safe.
Ryan stood and stretched his neck. He glanced over at the radar station and frowned. He could clearly locate the USS Nimitz. It had passed the headland and was now entering Dutch Harbor. Farther out to the west were two other ships. From their signatures, two destroyers.
“We got more ships incoming. What’s the range of this radar?”
“Five hundred nautical miles, give or take,” Allie said. “More US Navy?” She clicked the mouse and switched on a couple of blank monitors. One showed the GPS locations of all vessels in the area, while the other showed their
transponders. The NSA station had a fully operational VTS – Vessel Traffic Service – like that used in busy ports around the world to track everything coming in and going out.
Allie furrowed her brow. “One helicopter carrier and a destroyer. Could be US. I’m not sure.”
“It doesn’t make sense to be US. Maybe Black Skulls. Cal, where was that ship you saw?” Ryan said.
“West, right on the edge of the radar.”
“That explains it. Black Skulls.”
Ryan paced back and forth, periodically looking at the screens and the cameras showing the soldiers.
“Cal, Sofia. How close are we?”
“We’re making the final adjustments to our satellite. Avondale has done the math. Sofia is double-checking it. Two minutes. That’s all we need,” Cal said.
They could hear muted gunfire and small explosions.
“Connors. You need to see this. The Black Skulls are shooting up the weather station,” Booth said.
Ryan groaned. Every step. Every step of the way, they were thwarted. They caught a break for a few hours and then blam! Something else.
The second company walked through the station, firing haphazardly at the computer equipment. As they left one room, they threw grenades to finish the job. None of it made sense. Was their superior cleaning house?
Ryan wasn’t worried about the damage. Downstairs ran separately. Only the cables running to the dishes and comms ran through the top of the building. If the cables remained unharmed, they might just do it.
The Black Skulls halted their destruction and filed out. As the last soldier left, he placed small bricks of C4 in each room, switched on the detonators, and joined his men. Why waste all the ammo if they were just going to blow it up anyway?
Ryan thumped his fist on the desk. “They know we’re here.”
“No way. How?”
“They have to know. Look, they destroyed all the computers. Everything electronic. All of it. They know they can’t get to us. So what’s the next best option?
Shadows of Ash (The Nameless Book 2) Page 26