by Chesla, Gary
Mason picked up his rifle and pulled his camouflaged mask down over his face.
“Follow me and let’s do this,” Mason said, then he left the cockpit, opened the side door of the plane and jumped down to the ground.
John and Ed followed and the men began to climb the hillside towards the facility.
Pete grabbed the radio and his rife and jumped out of the plane and took up his command post position under the plane where he could scan the area and be in position to protect the plane during the mission.
Mason led the men to the top of the small rise.
He dropped down on his stomach, raised the scope to his eye and began to study the entrance.
After studying the entrance, he began to scan the areas off to the right and left of the entrance.
Mason held his rife still for a long few seconds as he studied something down over the hillside to his left.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out his walkie talkie.
“Pete,” Mason said.
“What’s up?” Pete asked, trying to keep the communication brief.
“To our left, down over the other hillside is a helicopter rolled over on its side,” Mason said.
“We talked about seeing that on the satellite photos,” Pete replied.
“What we didn’t talk about is the three bodies lying on the hillside about forty yards above the wreckage,” Mason said.
“What do you make of it?” Pete asked.
“I’m not sure,” Mason replied.
“Describe what you see,” Pete said.
“Three dead bodies, all three have dried shriveled dark skin,” Mason began.
“Could they have been walkers?” Pete asked.
“It’s possible, or they could just look like that because they have been lying out in the sun for a long time,” Mason replied. “They could have been severely injured in the crash, crawled out of the helicopter and tried to make it back to the facility but died before being able to get to the entrance.”
“That sounds reasonable,” Pete said. “But why didn’t anyone from inside the facility come out to help them or at least give them a decent burial?”
“No clue,” Mason replied as he continued to scan the dead bodies with his rifle’s scope.
“Do you think we need to go over and examine the wreckage to get more information?” Pete asked.
Mason’s scoped held steady for a moment.
“I don’t think that will be necessary,” Mason replied. “I just got a look at their heads. It looks like the back of their heads have been blown off.”
“Walkers,” Pete said. “That would explain why no one came out to bury them.”
“It also could have been an execution,” Mason replied. “But either way, it could mean whoever is inside the facility had a problem here.”
“Understood,” Pete said. “Proceed to the entrance but proceed with extreme caution. Assume the facility may be hostile and don’t take any unnecessary chances until we can determine what this means.”
“Mason out,” Mason said, then motioned for John and Ed to start moving towards the entrance.
As the men started to move out, Mason rolled onto his side and watched the entrance through his scope.
John and Ed moved cautiously across the clearing, holding their breath because there was little for them to use for cover.
Finally, they reached the opening of the massive structure that went back into the mountain and pressed their backs against the rocky wall next to opening.
Ed pushed his head around the rocks to get a quick glimpse of what was inside the tunnel.
After taking a second look, Ed pulled the walkie talkie out of his pocket.
“Mason, Pete,” Ed said.
“What did you see?” Mason asked. “I’ve been watching your progress.”
“There are two large metal doors built into a large metal barrier about two hundred feet up the tunnel,” Ed replied.
“What kind of doors?” Pete asked.
“They look like large garage doors but much larger than regular garage doors,” Ed replied. “Then there are two regular doors on each side of the metal wall.”
“Did you see anything else?” Mason asked. “Anything like surveillance cameras or any security equipment?”
“It’s hard to tell, the lights aren’t real bright in that far so I can’t say for sure from out here,” Ed replied.
“Did you say there are lights?” Pete asked.
“Yes, there is a light along the top of the cavern about every fifty feet,” Ed replied.
“And they are lit up, they have power?” Pete asked.
“They are lit up, but they are those mercury lights,” Ed replied. “They are giving off a low copper colored glow.”
“The facility still has power,” Mason said. “That could be a good sign.”
“Maybe,” Pete replied.
“What do you want me to do?” Ed asked.
“Mason, what’s your take on this?” Pete asked.
“I would assume that if there is anyone here, since they have power, they would also have surveillance cameras watching the entrance,” Mason replied. “If we try to go in, they should know we are coming.”
“That could be something we can use to our advantage,” Pete said. “Our objective is to make contact. If they can see us coming and they are in a position where they don’t feel threatened by our appearance, we might have a chance to talk to someone without having them shoot at us first.”
“I’m sure they know we are here already,” Mason said. “They may have watched our plane landing and have been watching us work our way to the entrance. It is a good sign that they haven’t tried to stop us in any way, but maybe they haven’t done anything because they have no intention of letting us know they are here.
Another thought, they could just be trying to lure us in closer.”
“Hopefully they are letting us get closer because they are trying to determine what we want. Since no one has taken a shot at us, that means that they aren’t too concerned that we are here,” Pete said. “Ed, this is what I want you to do. Use the sling and shoulder your rifle. Hold a rag or something in your right hand, you know like a white flag of truce, and hold it high in the air. I want you to walk down the tunnel to the door, and if nothing happens by then, knock on the door and see if anyone answers.”
“What if someone tries to shoot me?” Ed asked. “There isn’t any cover once I start down the tunnel.”
“John, you keep an eye on Ed as he goes down the tunnel,” Pete replied. “If anything like that happens, you lay down cover fire until he gets back out.”
“Yeah, but don’t get too trigger happy,” Ed said. “In that rock tunnel, bullets will be ricocheting all over the damn place. I might be better off if you didn’t return fire.”
“Maybe a better idea,” Mason said. “If anything happens, John, pop a smoke grenade down the tunnel. Ed you hug the left side of the tunnel after the grenade goes off and run like hell. Most shooters are right handed and they tend to shoot more to their right than to their left. But I have a feeling that you won’t have to worry about anyone shooting at you.”
“Why not, Mason?” Ed asked.
“I don’t know, just a gut feeling,” Mason replied.
“Then let’s do this,” Ed said. “Mason’s gut is good enough for me. It has never let us down before.”
“OK,” Pete replied. “Mason’s gut is good for me too, but just walk slowly and hold that rag high over your head.”
Ed slid his rifle over his shoulder, pulled his handkerchief out of his pocket and held it high over his head.
He looked at John and when John nodded that he was ready, Ed walked out into the middle of the tunnel and started to slowly walk towards the doors.
Ed was a little nervous at first, but after going half way to the doors without hearing a sound, he began to relax.
He continued to hold the handkerchief high in the air as he looked around, try
ing to locate a surveillance camera.
When he saw what he thought was a camera, he stopped and looked directly at the camera and waved the flag.
After feeling he had spent enough time for someone to see him waving, he began to walk towards the doors again.
After a few minutes, he found himself staring up at the massive metal wall that sealed off Cheyenne Mountain from the rest of the world.
After just standing at the barrier, waiting for something to happen, Ed reached out and knocked on the small door on the right side of the metal wall.
When nothing happened, he knocked on the door again, this time he knocked harder.
The sound of Ed knocking against the metal door echoed down the tunnel.
Still, nothing happened, not even a sound.
Ed figured it was a waste of time, but he still reached out and grabbed the door handle and pushed against the door.
To his surprise, the door moved inward.
For a minute, he just stood and looked at the door, not sure what he should do next, but he finally decided that if the door was unlocked, he should at least take a look inside.
Ed pushed the door open a few more inches and put his face closer to the opening.
Bright light reflected off the interior of the cave and a gust of fresh air blew against his face.
He breathed in the air for a moment, then decided to push the door fully open to see what was inside.
When Ed pushed the door open, what he saw reminded him of Granite Mountain, only by what he could see, this place was much larger, even massive.
He stared down the lighted tunnel and maybe about a quarter mile in, the tunnel seemed to split off into three different directions.
It was then he noticed the humming sound that quietly echoed throughout the tunnel.
As he felt the air rushing by him, he realized the sound he was hearing must be the facility’s ventilation system.
He took another breath, enjoying the cool fresh air, which felt a lot better than the warm humid air outside the tunnel.
Before being tempted to explore any further, Ed pulled out his walkie talkie and decided to call out for instructions.
“Mason, Pete, this place is amazing,” Ed said. “The door was unlocked so I opened the door and looked inside. Do you want me to go inside?”
Ed let go of the transmit button to wait for a response, but all he heard was static and crackling.
“Shit,” Ed said. “Pete said once we went into the tunnel we might not be able to communicate.”
He thought for a minute and decided he better go back outside so he could tell Pete and Mason what he had found.
Ed pulled the door closed, turned and began walking back to the entrance.
“What did you find?” John asked anxiously when Ed walked out of the tunnel.
Ed held up his finger and raised the walkie talkie to his mouth.
“Pete, Mason,” Ed said.
“Ed, what happened?” Pete asked.
“I walked the entire way to the door,” Ed said. “When nothing happened I knocked, but still nothing happened. I didn’t think it would work, but I grabbed the door handle and pushed. The door opened.”
“What did you see?” Mason asked.
“That place is massive,” Ed replied. “It’s bigger than Granite Mountain. Everything is all lit up and the tunnel splits off into three more tunnels inside the mountain.”
“Could you hear anything?” Mason asked.
“All I could hear was the ventilation system running,” Ed replied. “When I opened the door, air rushed out at me.”
“What did it smell like?” Pete asked.
“It smelled like fresh air,” Ed replied. “I was going to go inside, but I thought I better tell you what I found and see what you wanted me to do. I tried to call you from the door but I couldn’t get a signal form there.”
“What do you make of this, Mason,” Pete asked.
“The fact that the air is fresh, I think we need to go inside and see what is there,” Mason replied. “The door being unlocked is puzzling. Of all the mistakes you could make, leaving the door to the facility unlocked is definitely the biggest in my mind. But, it could just be a screw up, but otherwise, I feel we have to go inside and find out if there is anyone there.”
“I agree,” Pete said. “If the place smelled like hell, I’d say that would tell us what happened here. But with the power on and the place having fresh air, there could be someone deeper inside the facility.”
“So what’s you call, Pete?” Mason asked.
“I think I should run this past the Captain,” Pete replied. “If he agrees, we’re going in. Give me a few minutes and I’ll get back to you.”
“Chervy, this is Pete, are you there?” Pete said into the radio.
“This is Smitty,” came the reply over the radio. “Chervy is here too. What can we do for you?”
“I need to speak with the Captain,” Pete said.
“This is Byron,” the Captain replied. “Doc and Tony are here too. We’ve been trying to keep an eye on you. What do you have? Did you make contact?”
“We haven’t made contact, but we have an interesting situation,” Pete said.
“What kind of situation?” Captain Byron asked.
“Let me bring you up to speed first on everything we’ve found to this point,” Pete said. “I want you to have all the information we have before you tell us what you want us to do next.
First, remember the helicopter wreckage that was discovered on the photos of Cheyenne Mountain.”
“I remember,” the Captain replied. “I believe it was Tony that discovered the wreckage. We didn’t know if it was just an accident or if it meant anything that we should be concerned about.”
“We found three bodies on the hillside near the wreckage of the helicopter,” Pete replied. “We weren’t able to see them on the satellite photos because they were camouflaged by the brush and high grass around them.”
“Do you feel the bodies are important?” Doc asked.
“Possibly,” Pete replied. “The bodies were dried out corpses when we found them, so we couldn’t tell if they had been walkers or not, but we feel they might have been walkers because all three of the bodies had the back of their heads blown off.”
“Any other possible explanation?” Doc asked.
“Mason said the only other possible explanation was that they may have been executed,” Pete replied. “But we all feel most likely they had been walkers that had been put down.”
“OK, what else did you find?” the Captain asked.
“The front door to the facility is open,” Pete replied.
“The damn door is open?” Doc exclaimed.
“Unlocked is more accurate,” Pete replied. “When we made it to the front of the tunnel going into the mountain, we decided to send Ed in to the metal doors that were a few hundred feet inside the tunnel. It is like our inner doors at Granite Mountain. We sent him down the tunnel waving a white flag, hoping that by the time he reached the door, someone would see he wasn’t a threat and we could make contact with those inside the facility.
He made it all the way to the main barrier and when nothing happened, he tried knocking on the door. When that didn’t make anything happen, he tried the one small door and it opened.”
“Did he go inside?” the Captain asked.
“No, he just opened the door and looked inside,” Pete replied. “Then he came out to find out what we wanted to do. The walkie talkie doesn’t work once you start into the tunnel, so he had to come out to tell us what he saw.”
“What did he see inside the tunnel?” Doc asked.
“He said the place is massive,” Pete replied. “The power is still on and the place is brightly lit. He was able to see way back into the mountain and said that the tunnel splits into three different tunnels about fifteen hundred feet in.”
“What did it smell like inside the tunnel,” Tony asked. “The smell may tell us what is
in the tunnel.”
“Ed said when he opened the door that fresh air gushed out at him,” Pete replied. “He said he could hear the ventilation system running.”
“Did he hear anything else?” the Captain asked.
“Not from where he was at the door,” Pete replied.
“What’s Mason’s take on this?” Tony asked.
“Mason says we have to go inside and see what we find,” Pete replied. “I’m tending to agree with him. I think we should have Ed and John go in and see what’s there. The environment inside the facility is capable of supporting life. I’m sure the facility is well supplied with everything one would need to survive. From what we can tell, there doesn’t appear to be any warning signs that would make us not want to go any further.”
“Except an open door and the bodies of three walkers,” the Captain said.
“Except for that,” Pete replied.
“Doc, what do you think?” the Captain asked.
“It’s well lighted and the air is fresh,” Doc replied. “It’s a risk but isn’t everything. I would be willing to send them in a little further as long as they don’t encounter the smell of the dead. If they begin to notice that odor, I would say that would be all we need to know and get them out of there.”
“Tony, your opinion?” the Captain asked.
“From what I know about Cheyenne Mountain, the place is huge. The unlocked door could just have been a mistake. The bodies outside could be just that and not have any bearing to what is inside the mountain.
It could be that after all these months, security has become a little lax and the people living there are deep in one of the chambers of the facility.
I feel we need to find out what’s there and agree with Doc, we send in the men, but at the first hint of the smell of rotting flesh, get them out of there. If they detect that smell anywhere inside, we can assume the facility was lost long before we arrived.”