by Neal Wooten
The tension was so thick in the command center it could be cut with a knife. Sally looked to Dr. McNair in shock. Thomas was unusually silent.
Dr. McNair broke the stillness. “Hey, we’re on the same team here, guys.”
The colonel stared at Major Strafford as his words sank home. He wondered himself if that might be true. He looked down at his bloody boots. He could only think about what would happen if they pulled out. How far would the aliens go? What was to stop them from killing everyone in North America, or even the world? What if they never stopped?
“Okay,” the major said, as if sensing the colonel’s concerns. “Are we getting any replacements or not?”
The colonel shook his head. “They want to reserve the remaining forces in case the aliens reach our border. They are considering reinstituting the draft. Russia and England have decided to sit this one out unless the aliens come to them. The Canadian Mounties have offered their assistance.”
The major let out a sad, hopeless laugh. “Well, that’s something. When do they expect the shield to rise again?”
“Tomorrow.”
The major stood and saluted. “Then I guess we better get ready, sir.” He turned and walked out.
The colonel sat motionless. He was being torn apart inside. A part of him knew they couldn’t leave, and another part wondered how he could ask men to stay and fight without a chance to win. He pulled out the cross on his necklace and stared at it as if it could provide the answers.
The SATCOM buzzed. “Colonel Jamison? Are you there? Pick up, please?”
The colonel walked over and grabbed the transmitter. “Colonel Jamison here.”
“Colonel, this is General Nickerson. I don’t think there’s any more you can accomplish there, but it’s your call.”
The colonel thought long and hard. He thought about his wife and grown sons. He thought about his friends and their families. He thought about Victoria.
“Benjamin, are you still there?”
“I’m here, General. Give me one more day.”
The general’s voice was calm but urgent. “Okay, Colonel, but then I will order you home. We have to consider the possibility that they will reach the US. We have to prepare for that contingency.”
“Understood, sir.”
“Hold on,” the general said, “there’s someone else here who wants to speak with you.”
That puzzled the colonel as he wondered who it could be. He listened carefully.
“Colonel Jamison? This is President Patterson. Can we stop them or not?”
The colonel smiled. A personal call from the president of the United States was indeed an honor, but hardly practical. “I really don’t know, sir. We’re giving them everything we’ve got, but it doesn’t appear to be enough.”
“What can I do, Colonel?” the president asked.
Colonel Jamison squeezed the transmitter and stared again at the cross still in his hand. “Pray, sir. You can pray.”
The hour was late so the colonel lay down to rest, but the demons wouldn’t make it easy. Every time he drifted off, he could see soldiers being killed by the aliens or female soldiers being carried off like prizes. It was early morning before sound sleep finally embraced him.
“Sir? Sir?”
The colonel finally opened his eyes. His whole body hurt as he tried to focus. The morning light was already flooding the command center, and he realized he had overslept. His view cleared and he saw the person trying to rouse him. It was Francisco.
“Sir, the new spikes have landed.”
The colonel sat straight up and jumped out of bed. They rushed outside. As least now they were clear of the dense forest, and the area in front of them was clear as far as the eye could see.
“Is everyone ready?”
Francisco shrugged. How could they be ready? They had few men and hardly any weapons left. He looked to the colonel as if longing for guidance, or possibly inspiration. None was forthcoming.
The colonel followed Francisco. The other commanders were with their troops, but Darren and the other two scientists—and Thomas—were waiting for him beside a jeep. He noticed a large black box mounted on the roll bar.
“What’s going on?” Colonel Jamison asked.
“We’re going to try something,” Darren said.
“Great. Hit me with it.”
Darren nodded. “I don’t know if it will work, but we’ve rigged several jeeps with these large speakers. I’ve converted the signal the aliens used to manipulate the sea mammals into audio. If we send it back to them, it might confuse them.”
“It can’t hurt,” Thomas said.
“I agree,” the colonel said. “It can’t hurt.”
A soldier rushed up to them. “They’re coming, sir.”
Everyone looked and saw the creatures coming through the line of trees into the clearing. The colonel gave the order to advance. He got in the jeep to drive himself this time. Darren reached over and activated the recording, and the speakers started blaring out the aliens’ own signal. Other speakers could be heard down each direction of the front line as more drivers did the same.
Francisco hopped into the passenger seat with a rocket launcher and nodded to the colonel.
As they sped away, Darren’s group stayed outside the command center this time since, for the first time, they could actually witness the battle. They watched as the distance between the aliens and soldiers narrowed. The aliens stopped running and looked at each other as the audio from the speakers reached them. For a moment it did confuse them, but only for a moment.
The earth erupted with the impacts from the weapons of the aliens and the rockets and grenades from the soldiers. Soon the air was filled with black smoke. Darren and the others watched with horror as jeeps were totally destroyed and soldiers fought to their deaths.
“Oh my God,” Sally said. “I can’t watch this.” She ran back into the command center.
But the men couldn’t turn away. Dr. McNair and Darren had never imagined how horrific war could be. Thomas was a marine and knew what it was like; still, nothing prepared him for this.
The battle raged on. Francisco and the colonel had evolved a strategy of moving as fast as possible to evade the enemy fire. After all, a moving target is harder to hit. It worked better than anything else, and the other military drivers followed the pattern.
Francisco reloaded the rocket launcher and held on to the roll bar beside the speaker. He aimed and fired a direct hit. The alien went down hard.
But as many successful attacks as the soldiers could muster, there were many more losses for each one. The aliens kept the momentum advancing toward the new spikes, which were only a hundred yards from the command center.
Then it all went south. Colonel Jamison’s jeep was hit. Both he and Francisco went flying through the air. They got up and started to run back toward the spike line, but they were soon pursued by two of the aliens, and they were gaining on them.
“Run! Run!” Darren shouted.
Sally stuck her head out the door to see what was happening.
“They’re not going to make it,” Dr. McNair said.
“The hell they’re not,” Thomas said. He jumped in another jeep and started the ignition. Dr. McNair jumped into the passenger’s seat and they sped away.
Suddenly Angel rushed out the door of the command center.
“Oh no!” Sally shouted. “Angel, come back! Please come back.”
Angel ignored her and ran in the direction of the jeep.
Thomas had been paying attention and sped left and right as he drove into the battle zone toward the colonel and Francisco, who were still making a run for it. As they got closer, Thomas realized he was too late; he wouldn’t have time to stop and pick them up before the aliens reached them, so he changed his plan. He got to the colonel about the same time as the first alien.
“Buckle up!” he yelled.
“Oh crap,” Dr. McNair said as he realized what was happening. He quickly fast
ened his seat belt just as Thomas rammed the first alien head on.
The alien went down hard and didn’t move. The jeep flipped several times and came to a stop upright. Francisco and the colonel rushed to help their friends. They managed to free the seat belts and extract Dr. McNair and Thomas, who were relatively unharmed.
As they turned to run, however, the other alien stood between them and their destination. The creature raised his massive arms out to each side in a display of power. He didn’t have his weapon, but he wanted to make it clear that he didn’t need it.
Francisco fumbled around searching for a weapon and brought a switchblade knife out of his pocket.
Thomas stepped in front of him. Looking back at Francisco, he smiled. “Didn’t anyone ever teach you not to bring a knife to an alien fight?”
Francisco laughed. Dr. McNair and the colonel burst into laughter as well.
This seemed to aggravate the alien even more as he ripped off his helmet and roared. Then he advanced.
“He’s mine,” Thomas said, ripping off his shirt and revealing a very muscular upper torso. Thomas was an amazing sight for a human, tall and very well built, but he looked puny next to the alien. Still, he met him face to face.
The alien looked down on Thomas with his shining red eyes and charged.
Thomas stepped aside and threw a punch that landed flush on the alien’s jaw.
“Come on, Thomas, you can do it,” Francisco cheered.
The next punch was not successful, and the creature grabbed Thomas around the throat and easily lifted him high into the air.
And then Angel was there. She bit into the alien’s legs, the back side where there was no protection, and began shaking her head violently. There is a misconception about pit bulls, that they have locking jaws. It isn’t true, but the jaws of a pit bull are extremely strong, as the alien was learning firsthand. The alien dropped Thomas and cried out in pain. He tried to grab Angel but she was too quick. The alien turned to run away but Angel followed, attacking him at will.
Francisco, Dr. McNair, and the colonel picked up Thomas and headed back toward the dye line.
“Come on, Angel!” the colonel yelled.
By now Angel was a long way away, still in hot pursuit, still attacking the alien with ease. She heard the colonel and turned to run back. Other aliens had come running to help the one in distress and fired their weapons at Angel. But she was too fast and their shots landed behind or beside her.
The colonel signaled the retreat, and the orders were passed along via radio to the other commanders. The soldiers made their way back to the north. The alarm sounded and the aliens retreated as well.
By the time the shield activated at the new spikes, everyone was across the line.
Francisco helped the colonel to the command center. “I’ll get you a medic.”
“No,” the colonel said. “There are a lot of soldiers worse than me. Go make sure they’re taken care of.”
“Yes, sir,” Francisco said and left the command center.
Darren and Dr. McNair took a seat in the command center as Thomas went to get a new shirt. A few minutes later, both Thomas and Major Strafford entered the room.
“I heard you boys weren’t satisfied to sit this one out,” the major said with a grin.
Thomas shrugged. “What are you gonna do?’
“Are you all right?” Sally asked, looking at Thomas. She began cleaning a wound on his forehead.
“I’ll live,” he said with a smile.
“You saved all our butts,” Dr. McNair said.
“That’s a fact,” Colonel Jamison agreed. “You’re one brave man.”
Sally smiled at Thomas as she bandaged his head. Then she thought of Angel running out of the command center and felt a pang of guilt. “I’m sorry about Angel,” Sally said to the colonel. “I didn’t mean for her to get out.”
The colonel laughed as he stroked the back of his dog. “Don’t be sorry. She also saved our bacon.”
Thomas stood up. “She did. Did you see how she attacked that alien? He was helpless. Heck, they couldn’t even shoot her.”
“Is that right?” Major Strafford asked.
“That’s true,” said the colonel. “And she’s old. I didn’t even know she could move like that anymore.” The colonel began to look over her body, carefully running his fingers through her short fur. “She doesn’t seem to have any injuries. Amazing.”
“Is that blood around her mouth?” Sally asked.
The colonel nodded. “Yes, but it’s not hers. It’s alien blood. Now we know they bleed like we do, and red blood.”
“She really got the best of one of the alien soldiers?” Darren asked.
“That she did. Didn’t you, girl?” The colonel took a damp cloth and began to wipe the blood from Angel’s mouth area. “I wish we had a thousand of her.”
Dr. McNair jumped to his feet and stood beside Thomas. Everyone looked at him with confusion as he fumbled for his wallet.
“What is it?” Sally asked.
Dr. McNair looked at the colonel. “How long before the next battle?”
“Usually about two weeks while they build their new homes. Why?”
Dr. McNair found what he was looking for. It was the card that Glenda Eagle had given him with her phone number. He turned the card toward the colonel and then toward the major and smiled. “You want a thousand of her? I can get you more than that. That’s right, Colonel, Major, you’ve just gotten your reinforcements.”
Everyone stared with wide-open eyes as Dr. McNair explained about all the shelters just in Southern California alone with thousands of pit bulls.
“It’s the same here in Mexico,” Francisco added. “And I have a friend who can contact them all.”
After listening intently, the colonel was 100 percent behind Dr. McNair’s plan. He went straight to the SATCOM. After a few minutes, he got the person he wanted.
“This is General Nickerson. Is this you, Benjamin? Tell me you have good news.”
Colonel Jamison smiled as he gripped the transmitter. “I’m not sure if it’s good news, but we have a plan.”
“Tell me,” the general said in an eager tone. “What do you need from me?”
The colonel looked around at the others in the command center before answering. “I need every cattle and sheep trailer you can get. I need as many tankers filled with water as you can send. I need a hundred large fans. I need a thousand large plastic containers. And I need as much dog food as the government can afford.”
“Are you serious?” the general asked.
“I’m serious,” the colonel said.
Thomas tapped him on the shoulder and raised his eyebrows.
“Oh,” the colonel added, “and plenty of chew toys.”
“Has the heat finally gotten to you, Benjamin?” the general asked.
The colonel laughed, then explained to the general what had happened during the battle.
“Ah hell, Benjamin, it sounds good to me.”
“All right then,” the colonel said. “Now can you put someone on who can connect us to a phone line?” With that he turned and looked at Dr. McNair. “Now it’s up to you.”
Chapter Eighteen
“I can’t believe I’m here with you on my day off,” Marcus Olazaba said. “I could be fishing. Heck, I’d rather be back at work.”
Glenda Eagle smiled. “Nonsense. This is much more fun than being a cop.”
Marcus shook his head. “You are loco.”
“There she is,” Glenda said. “See her?”
Marcus stared through the openings of the old dilapidated buildings. The wind whistled and tumbleweed blew across the terrain like in an old Western movie. “Okay, I see her.”
A person had phoned the Pit Stop and given them info on a stray pit bull. Sergeant Olazaba was simply visiting Glenda and her dogs when the call came in. She quickly recruited him. She knew him to be a dog lover, especially when it came to pit bulls, and she had already talked h
im into adopting three of hers.
“Come on,” Glenda said and walked slowly toward the dog.
It was a big brown female, and the low-hanging teats meant she probably had a litter around. The pit got more nervous as Glenda and Marcus got closer. When they were only about twenty feet away, the pit bull turned to walk away.
Glenda held her hand behind her back. “Give me a cheeseburger.”
Marcus took one of the fast-food burgers and gave it to her. She unwrapped it and tore off a small piece.
“Here, girl. Look what I got.”
The pit bull stopped and turned around. Glenda tossed the first piece almost all the way to her. The dog quickly swallowed it. Glenda tossed another, but not quite as far. The dog approached them and gulped down the second piece. This continued until the pit was a mere five feet away.
Glenda sat down and motioned for Marcus to do the same. This made them look less threatening. After several more minutes of coaxing the dog and tossing valuable food, the pit got close enough for Glenda to get a leash around her. She didn’t try to run away.
“She wants attention, doesn’t she?” Marcus asked as he ran his hands over the dog’s head and behind her ears. “Okay, let’s take her back.”
“We can’t,” Glenda said.
“What? Why not? I thought that’s what we were doing.”
“It is,” Glenda said, “but she has pups around here somewhere. We need to find them too.”
“How do we do that?”
Glenda smiled at Marcus. “We let her go.”
“Are you serious? After all we went through to catch her?”
“Yep.” Glenda nodded. “If she trusts us, she’ll take us right to her pups.”
Glenda took off the leash, and the big pit bull mom just stayed right there with them. “Let’s walk around,” Glenda said.
So Marcus and Glenda wandered around until the pit bull walked away from them. They followed her, and she led them to a litter of seven fat little pups. Five were brown like their mom, and the other two were black and white. Glenda sat down beside them and picked each one up and caressed it.