by Sawyer, JT
Matias got out of his seat and grabbed Phillip by the shirt collar. “You knew all along that she could be tracked and we could locate them, you chingada!”
Phillip raised his hands, looking at the two other soldiers sitting across from him for help. “It wouldn’t have changed anything,” Phillip muttered. “Eliza is the mission objective. Carlie, whatever I thought of her relative skills, knew she was expendable from the moment she signed the dotted line on her application. Besides, do you think the president would have welcomed her with open arms after she abandoned his daughter back there?”
“Shut up, Phillip,” said Eliza, who was gripping her knees. “I’ve had it with everybody putting me ahead of the others. If Carlie’s down there, then we need to get her out.”
Matias shoved Phillip back against his seat and turned to the front, inserting himself between the pilot and the second-in-command. “Chief, those are my people down there, one DEA and the other Secret Service, whose signal you’re picking up. They’ve probably got a dozen college kids with ’em too.”
Phillip shouted from the rear. “Chief, you have your orders and this grunt—” He paused, looking at the other soldiers. “No offense to you fellows. Matias here can’t make command decisions. He’s just a DEA officer.”
“Chief, as someone who has been in the shit before, I know you’d never leave your people behind to die. As one operator to another, I’m asking you to disregard orders and veer to the southeast to extract my fellow teammates. Any fallout from this will be on my shoulders. You can even say I had a gun to your head.”
Chapter 41
As Jared drove the pastry truck along the abandoned highway, Carlie scanned the road ahead while watching the creatures behind them fade in the distance. “It seems odd that in the past mile since we left the storm drain back there we haven’t come across any abandoned vehicles going this way east,” she said.
“Maybe they all got out in time and are safely tucked away in the rancherias to the south,” said Shane, who was standing between the two front seats.
“Yeah, or maybe they all got munched on by those broccoli-faced freaks back there,” said Jared. “Maybe we’re it—all that’s left in the world. The new masters of our planet,” he said, smiling at Carlie, who sneered and shook her head.
“You don’t strike me as a master—more like a court jester,” said Shane.
Jared clamped his hands tighter on the steering wheel until they were white. “You know, Deputy Dawg, the town of Tombstone is just a few miles to the south if you’re in need of a street where you can strut your bow-legged walk.”
“Yeah, maybe you should go there and apply for the job of town drunk. I hear they’re looking for disheveled two-bit losers for their cowboy shootouts. Maybe you can even find a blacksmith there to remove that bracelet of yours.”
“Alright, enough, you two,” said Carlie, who was squinting into the distance straight ahead. The van moved up a hill and then descended, which revealed a stretch of road ahead. “Hmm, I think I just figured out why this route has had so little traffic.”
Shane hunched forward over Carlie’s shoulder. “Damn, are you kidding me?”
The three of them gazed in shock at the sight ahead as the rest of the group in the back of the van pushed forward to see. Jared slowed the vehicle until they were nearly at the edge of a massive canyon whose bridge was choked with a tipped-over eighteen wheeler that had evidently caught on fire. Its smoldering bulk blocked the entire width of the two-lane bridge.
Jared stopped the van as everyone climbed out to look at the burnt wreckage. Chrome and metal fragments were spread out along the small bridge. One half of a charred corpse was splayed out on the yellow centerline a few feet from the driver’s door.
Carlie walked over and stared down into the sheer two-hundred-foot walls of the redrock canyon then back out along the direction they had just come from. Miles of open sand dunes interspersed with the occasional Saguaro cactus rolled out on either side of the highway. Only a distant mountain peak to the northeast provided any visual relief from the monotonous terrain.
“Well, as I see it we have two options. We go back the way we came and find another way around the city or we locate a foot trail down into this canyon and trek up the other side. Then we can push on to a ranch and hope we find one that’s still intact.”
She wiped the sweat from her brow with a shirt sleeve. The humidity from the recent storm had turned their surroundings into a tropical furnace. “I’m going to look in the van and see if there’s any water. That’ll be a major factor in what we do from here.”
“We need to get on the move fast,” said Shane. “Those things weren’t very far behind us and if they pick up our scent, this is going to be our Alamo.”
“Why don’t you take a few people with you to the top of the hill we just descended and keep an eye out for movement while I gather up any supplies in the van,” said Carlie.
Shane went back over to the group. “Jared and Amy, come with me up the hill and bring any weapons you can find.”
“Why, the good sheriff wants us to accompany him on a nature walk,” said Jared.
“Shut up already,” replied Amy, who was rolling down her shirt sleeves to provide protection from the sun.
As the three of them walked up the road, Carlie gathered the others around her. “I want each of you to go through all the compartments inside the van and pull out any food, water, tools—anything that we can use, should we have to leave here in a hurry.”
The students got busy and formed a fire line to pass items out of the rig. Carlie walked back to the edge of the canyon and began studying the sandstone walls for any sign of a faint animal trail that led down. She paused along the gravel edge, and then she tilted her head up to the north, listening to a faint droning sound that resembled a helicopter. “Can’t be,” she whispered while placing one hand above her eyes to cut the sunlight.
The noise grew louder and she could see two black shapes along the horizon, flying low over the sand dunes. “It is—they’re coming for us, finally!”
She yelled towards the van. “Our search team has arrived. Grab any belongings and let’s get the hell out of here.”
Carlie started yelling up the road to Shane but he was too far away to hear. As she started walking towards the three of them, they abruptly turned from their squatting position on the highway and began bounding downhill, with Shane waving his hands frantically.
“Ugh…that can’t be good,” she muttered. “There are no breaks in today’s schedule.”
Chapter 42
“I’ve got a white van on the road ahead just before that bridge,” said the chief.
“I see it,” Matias said. “Looks like there’s a cluster of people gathered around the canyon.”
“And there’s an army of tangos headed along the highway to the west, about five hundred meters out,” said the second-in-command.
Matias peered to his right and could see what resembled a swarm of fire ants moving along the blacktop in the direction of the van.
“How long until we’re there?” he said.
“Barely in time to stow and go,” replied the chief. “This is gonna be down to the wire,” he called over to the AH-6 attack helicopter flying parallel to them. “I need you to lay down cover fire over that mob of creatures pouring in from the west, do you copy?”
The attack helo beside them began veering off to the right. “Roger that, sir. We’re on it,” replied a voice over the speaker.
As the Chinook began descending, the lean soldier sitting next to Matias slid open the side door and stood with his rifle at low-ready. They were about three hundred yards away from the van when Matias spotted Shane running down the road with two other people following him.
When the helo set down amidst a swirl of beige sand, Carlie ran up to the entrance and began helping people inside. “I thought you might be tired of the scenery out here,” said Matias.
She looked up at him, her mou
th widening as she tore off her sunglasses. “Que bueno verte, amigo. Now that’s a face I never thought I’d see again,” she yelled out above the rotor wash.
Matias smiled and then shot his gaze over Carlie’s shoulder. He nodded towards Shane, who was now in a full sprint with Jared behind him and Amy trailing last. The attack helicopter flew to the rear of the fleeing trio and began unleashing rounds from its two mini-guns.
Most of the lead creatures were cut in half by the firepower but some managed to get through the hail of bullets and continued their pursuit. Shane was at the lead when his right ankle hit a small depression in the road and he crumpled, rolling forward along the pavement and scraping his head. He continued to somersault until he came to a halt before a clump of cacti. Jared was directly behind him and ran past him but then stopped and turned around. Jared yanked both of his dormant Glocks from his belt and began shooting wildly at the oncoming attackers. Out of twenty-four rounds, only two hit their intended target—the head of a limping cowboy with a bent ankle that was nearly upon Shane. Jared threw down the smoking Glocks and grabbed Shane’s vest, yanking him up. Amy came up alongside them and threw her arm around Shane’s waist as the three of them hobbled forward. Nine creatures were quickly closing in behind them.
The two soldiers back at the helo began firing. Carlie grabbed an M4 from the cabin and kneeled down beside the landing bar while Matias hopped out alongside her. They both commenced sniping the crazed assailants who were within inches of reaching Jared. Carlie shot the last one, causing a mist of blood to spray over Jared’s neck.
The swirling sand from the helo rotors created a mini dust storm that encapsulated the area, making it difficult to discern if there were more creatures coming. As the exhausted trio approached, Carlie lowered her rifle and ran forward to help Shane. His right temple had a patch of road rash that was bleeding heavily and both his palms were lacerated. She reached out and helped him get on board the helo while Matias and the two soldiers kneeled beside each other with their weapons fixed on the veil of brown before them.
After Shane was inside, Amy climbed on board and collapsed on the bench next to Nadine. As Jared climbed into the cabin, Carlie extended her hand. “There just might be a decent guy inside of you after all,” she said, helping him on board.
“Sorry, but I can’t hear you over the sound of how awesome I am,” Jared said, smiling like a jack-o-lantern.
“Ah, yeah, never mind,” she replied.
Jared sat down, dropping his leather daypack between his legs. He was sitting across from Amy and gave her a crooked smile, which caused his large dimple to show. Jared grabbed a bottle of water and poured it over his head while gleefully shaking himself, spraying Phillip in the process.
With Matias and the two soldiers inside, the helo lifted off and veered to the north. Carlie peered out the window and saw close to a thousand mangled bodies littering the highway below, with more creatures still pouring in from the west. How could there be that many of them?
As they continued north, Carlie tore open the first-aid kit mounted on the cabin wall behind her and leaned forward to clean up Shane, who was leaning his head back onto the bench. She grasped his hand while rubbing an alcohol pad over his head abrasion. In between grimaces, he managed a half-smile and stuttered out, “Is this what it takes to get a beautiful Secret Service agent to go soft on me?”
She shook her head while dabbing the wound. “Just be quiet.”
Carlie leaned back to reach for the gauze and felt someone place it in her hand. She looked up and saw Eliza beside her. “Carlie…I’m sorry for the way I’ve always acted towards you and the other agents—you are a total badass.”
Before she could respond, Carlie heard Jared’s shrill voice cut in. “Hey, you two ladies, can one of you sisters patch up my boo-boos as well?”
Carlie and Eliza both turned and glared at Jared, who began withdrawing his toothy grin. “Just funning, y’all. No worries here. I can manage on my own.”
“You’ll get used to him after a while…” said Amy, who sat with her arms folded while scowling at Jared. “…like a dog gets used to a tick in its ear.”
As the helos continued across the rocky expanse of desert, the chief leaned back. “We’ll be at the White Sands Missile Range in two hours, so settle in and get some rest.”
“We are in your debt, Chief,” said Shane.
“You can thank Agent Matias. He nearly put a gun to my head,” the chief said, nodding to Matias, who tried to contain a chuckle.
Carlie looked at the tired faces around her and thought of how the morning before she had just finished the shooting match with all her colleagues and had been so intent on plotting her next career move. She settled into the seat beside Shane and pressed her head back into the wall, letting out a constricted breath that was searing her chest.
She didn’t know what disciplinary action, if any, would be waiting for her upon arrival at White Sands. Frankly, she didn’t care. Everything she had built her life upon in the last seven years felt like it had been swept away with the coming of dawn. Carlie just wanted to curl up alone in a quiet room. She didn’t want to waste any more of her life’s precious energy watching over one single person because they were deemed bureaucratically important, or in maintaining the façade of another unsavory politician’s media image for posterity.
Now all that mattered were the handful of friends in her midst and the hope of reuniting with her family along the difficult road ahead. She felt directionless and stared at the empty desert. Her tense shoulder muscles unfurled and she found herself being drawn into the monotonous hum of the rotors. Her eyes grew heavy. She exhaled and drifted off into a deep rest as the helicopter flew over the serrated contours of the landscape below.
Volume Two in the Carlie Simmons Post-Apocalyptic Series is Now Available on Kindle.
In Too Deep is the nailbiting sequel to Until Morning Comes and picks up immediately after the first novel. Approximately 198 pages.
Thank you for reading this book. You can get updates on future releases and my free, non-fiction survival eBooks by signing up at the JTSawyer website.
About the Author
JT Sawyer is the pen name for Tony Nester. Tony is a fulltime survival instructor and the author of numerous non-fiction books and DVDs on survival. His training school is the primary provider for the Military Special Operations community and he has served as a consultant for the NTSB, FAA, Travel Channel, New York Times, Outside Magazine, and the film Into the Wild. For more information, visit apathways.com.
Post-Apocalyptic Fiction by JT Sawyer
First Wave
The Longest Day
No Place to Hide
Hell Week
Non-Fiction Survival Books by Tony Nester
Survival Gear You Can Live With
A Vehicle Survival Kit You Can Live With
Bug-Out Gear for Travelers
When the Grid Goes Down: Disaster Gear and Survival Preparations for Making Your Home Self-Reliant
The Modern Hunter-Gatherer: A Practical Guide to Living Off the Land
Bushcraft Tips & Tools