by Jason Keizer
Henry and the Captain quickly raise their hands before Oliver. “Aww, better luck next time Ollie,” Henry says as he steps to James and grabs the two gauntlet guns. He turns around and tosses one to Captain Hammer.
James sits on the back of the left ATV and puts his hand in the air, waving a finger around in a circle. “Let’s get the show on the road.” He points at the bags on the other ATV. “Make sure those are strapped down first.”
Jessica quickly and excitedly yells out, “Driver,” as she jumps into the front seat of the left ATV. She slides her rifle around to her back and starts it up. Oliver, following suit with the second one, pushes past Henry and does the same.
Henry shakes his head and checks the straps securing their gear. Captain Hammer slides behind Jessica and keeps his rifle at the low ready across his chest. After Henry pulls on the last strap for the gear, he hops on behind Oliver.
Jessica looks at Oliver and says, “I’ll take point if you don’t mind.”
Oliver shakes his head and says, “Help yourself. Take the left side of the tunnel, and I’ll trail behind on the right.”
Jessica nods her head as she slowly reverses out of the parking spot. She turns on the headlights, puts it in drive, and start to head down the tunnel.
TWENTY NINE
About a quarter mile down the tunnel, Jessica slows down to a stop and lets Oliver pull up next to her. “Looks like we made it to the end,” she says as she points to two large doors about fifty feet in front of them.
Oliver tilts his head as he stares at the doors for a couple seconds. He pulls out in front of her and starts to turn around. After turning around, he pulls up to Jessica’s right side again and says, “Turn around and park here. That way if shit is on the other side of the door, we can hop on and roll back. If it is clear, we can always come back and get them.”
Jessica nods her head and moves up to turn around. She parks next to Oliver and everyone gets off of their ATVs. James hops off the back and tells the others, “Stack on me.”
Everyone quickly shuffles behind James and lines up. Jessica and Oliver grab the rifles strapped to their backs and bring them back to their chests. James pulls out a flashlight from his pocket and turns it on. He holds the light up in front of his chest with his right arm and places the handguard of his rifle on his right wrist to keep it steady. As he stares into the light sprawling across the tunnel from his flashlight, he starts walking forward.
As he approaches the door, James stops. He waits for a few seconds, listening if any noise can be heard from the other side. After hearing nothing, he slowly makes the last few paces and presses up against the right door, facing the left. As the rest of the team stacks up behind him, Henry, the last one of the group, steps aside and moves towards the front by James. James, scanning the crack where the two doors meet, turns his gaze to the large door handle on the left door. He points and nods to it.
Henry quickly moves and grabs it. He looks back at James and waits for a signal to open the doors. James slightly leans back, pushing against Jessica, letting her know to get ready. After going down the others and back, James gives a nod.
Henry pulls on the lever, releasing the locks on the doors, and pushes it open just enough for the team to get through the opening. James rushes into the new building to see a hangar. A plane sits in the further of the two bays.
He turns left, weapon up and ready, and walks towards the bay doors in front of him, scanning to the right to make sure nothing is in his area of fire. He notices a door in the corner to his left as he turns right and moves across the bay, still scanning the area until he reaches the far wall.
Jessica moves into the hangar and turns right. She takes a few steps until just before she gets to the back wall, lined with tools and benches for working. She turns left and moves towards the next wall, also scanning to her left.
After the first bench, she passes a couple large containers holding different fluids for the planes. She stops before she reaches the plane, seeing that its cargo door is open. She scans between the back of it and a closed door in front of her.
Oliver follows a few paces behind James but stops short of the first corner. Captain Hammer, behind Jessica, does the same. Henry steps through the door and moves just two paces and stops, scanning the center of the room and around the plane.
“One up,” James says into his headset for everyone to hear. Followed quickly by Jessica, “Two up,” and Oliver, “Three up,” and so on.
Once Henry says he is up, Jessica says, “Open area. Plane rear.”
James starts moving towards Jessica, clearing through the right side of the aircraft. Lining the wall is a bunch of metal cabinets. “Everyone but Oliver, stack on Jess. Oliver, keep eye on the bay doors.”
Oliver runs forward to the center of the hangar and turns to face the bay doors, making sure to keep his aim scanning across the whole wall.
James reaches the back of the plane, on the other side of the cargo door from Jessica, who is standing with Henry and the Captain. James puts his right hand up with three fingers in the air. As he gives a small shake of his hand, he lowers a finger. He does it twice more and steps out from the side of the plane. Jessica and the others quickly walk towards the plane and step inside, James taking up the spot in the rear after they pass him.
They step into the cargo bay of the plane, walking over a small cargo net attached to the floor. As they walk through the cargo area of the plane, two sets of bones lay on the floor, surrounded by a stain of dried blood. Cargo nets line the walls, except for a couple small fold out chairs built into the plane. They walk past them, and past one exit door on the right until they reach the open door of the cockpit.
Jessica moves to the side of the door, and the others follow right behind her. James gets out of line and moves up to Jessica. He nods his head and says, “You go low.”
Jessica responds by nodding her head.
“Go,” James says as he steps in the doorway, standing straight. Jessica drops down to a knee as she turns into the door. They both quickly scan the small cockpit and then lower their weapons.
“Clear,” James says as he let's go of his rifle and lets it falls to his chest, hanging from its sling on his shoulder.
Everyone lowers their weapons and casually walk out of the back of the plane. James tells Oliver to join them over the headset. When Oliver makes his way to them, everyone is just staring at the plane.
“So, any of you know how to fly something like this?” James asks the group.
As everyone else shakes their heads, Henry nods and says, “Maybe. Never flew anything this big while training. Did take a couple classes for the smaller ones, but only got a few test flights in before all this shit happened.”
Oliver softly laughs and asks, “A few? And just how many would that be?”
Henry shrugs his shoulders and replies, “I don’t know. Probably ten or so. That was also back in 2014, before all this fuckedry happened.”
James pats Henry on the shoulder and says, “Looks like you are up then. If this thing even works. If it does, just make sure you fly low. Crashing at 1,000 feet is better than 5,000 you know.”
Henry nods his head again and starts walking to the plane. “I will see if this thing even works and give it a little checkup from what I can remember. You guys can load up and get rid of our two friends skull fucking each other in the cargo bay.”
“Two friends?” asks Oliver.
Before anyone can answer, Jessica yells out, “Not it. I’ll load an ATV.” Captain Hammer quickly responds with the same.
James looks at Oliver and says, “I’ll help you move the bones, once we find a decent place to store them.”
He pauses for a second and looks around the room. “We can’t give them an honorable burial, but we can at least place them somewhere with a little dignity.”
Oliver looks around and sees a box on the workbench closest to them. “That should do,” he says as he starts to walk towards it.
&n
bsp; James makes his way into the plane and stops by the two piles of bones. There are still a few scraps of clothes under them. He pulls out a large piece from under the rib cage of the skeleton lying on its back. As he pulls it, the two skeletons move, and the one on top breaks at the spine and falls to the floor, collapsing on the other and scattering its bones. He stares at the blood-stained cloth, trying to find any sort of marks on it, but can’t.
Oliver walks up with the box and sets it down. “It’s not the best, but it will do,” he says as he bends down and they start to pick up the bones and place them in the box.
Henry, sitting in the cockpit, flips a few switches, turning the power on. Lights turn on, and a few beeps come through the speakers. He looks over the various gauges and screens. “Looks like this thing might be able to move. Shows power is good and fuel is at three-quarters full,” he says into his headset.
Over the headset, Captain Hammer sighs and excitedly says, “Nice. About time something good happens to us.”
Henry turns the power off in the cabin and walks out and into the cargo hold. As he passes by James and Oliver, he says, “Hey, I’m gonna do a look-see of the outside and top of this thing. Make sure no panels are cracked or will break off in the air.”
He walks out of the plane and starts to inspect the side and undercarriage. By the time he makes it to the rear wheels, Jessica and the Captain pull up behind the aircraft.
Over the headset, Jessica says, “Once you guys get done, we will pull in and park these.”
James steps out of the plane holding the box of bones. “Just put them in all the way to the end and line them nut to butt. That way they aren’t on the cargo net on the floor. I’ll go find some ratchet straps to tie them down.”
He walks past Jessica on the ATV. Jessica slowly moves forward, climbing on the door and into the cargo hold, followed by the Captain.
James sets the box down on the workbench, turns around and walks to the side of the plane by the wall. He stops at a metal cabinet and starts to look through it for ratchet straps or anything useful. There are mostly spare parts, filters, and nuts and bolts in the cabinets as he makes his way down the wall. A few doors from the end, he finds a couple of straps. He grabs them and makes his way back to the plane.
“Here you go,” James says as he tosses a strap to Captain Hammer. “There are only two so make sure you put it diagonally and tighten the hell out of it.”
Captain Hammer nods his head as he unravels the strap. He hands Oliver the hook from one end, and Oliver slowly moves to the back right corner of the ATV. He bends down and grabs a tie-down bolted into the plane. He lifts one end up and clips the hook onto it. “Got it,” he says as he stands up.
Captain Hammer clips his side in and takes the loose end to make a knot just over the ratchet, keeping it from accidentally opening. “All good,” he says as he gets up.
Henry, now on top of the plane, is slowly walking from the back to the front, checking for damage or anything out of the ordinary. As he makes his way to the front, he stops and looks out of the windows that sit above the bay doors.
“I hope it doesn’t rain the whole time we fly,” he says as he stares at the gray sky out the window. He turns around and double checks the top of the plane.
Oliver walks out of the plane and starts to walk to the door next to the bay doors. “Gonna take a small peek outside and see what we are dealing with out there. Don’t want to open the doors and be bombarded by Arctics.”
He makes it to the door and opens it just enough for him to peek outside. Nothing is in front of the bay doors, so he decides to open it a little bit more. It opens a couple more inches and stops. He listens for any noise and looks for any signs of Arctics. Still nothing. He gets the door open far enough for him to peek his whole head out.
He looks out and around the door. Nothing. He opens the door all the way and steps out. Looking to his left, he sees all of the Arctics surrounding the building they were just in. He quickly pushes his back against the wall, as to not be seen. The Arctics aren’t just standing around anymore. They are slowly shuffling around, almost as if they know the building is empty now. Oliver slowly slips back into the hangar and closes the door behind him.
“We are clear near the bays, but the group around the building is starting to shuffle around. As soon as they hear the plane start, I’m pretty sure they will make their way here,” he says on his way back to the plane.
Over the headset, Henry says, “We will have to keep them back for a little bit so we can take off.”
James, standing on the cargo door, asks, “Can we move with this door open?”
Henry replies, “Yeah, that shouldn’t be much of an issue I think. Only one way to find out. We just can’t let them get to the propellers. If those things freeze up, we are fucked.”
James steps off the door and walks towards Oliver, meeting him in the middle of the first bay. “Are we all set to go? If so we will open up the bay,” James asks into his mic.
“Yeah, I think we are good,” Henry says, followed by a couple beeps from inside the cabin. James nods his head to Oliver, and they both walk over to the bay door.
James stops in front of the door and pulls down on a handle, releasing the lock. “Jess, Captain, secure yourselves into the cargo nets and prepare to fire once we get moving,” orders James.
After a couple seconds, the Captain says, “We are both set. Ready to fire at will.”
James looks at Oliver, who is next to him, ready to open the right side of the bay. “Start it up,” James says as he starts to open the door, Oliver pulling alongside him.
As the doors slowly open, the plane’s engines start to roar, filling the hangar. Over the sound of the engines, the screams of the Arctics can slightly be heard. James and Oliver run to the back of the plane as the propellers speed up. They reach the back and leap over the door, sliding onto the cargo nets.
Oliver quickly puts his legs through the holes of the net, placing himself in between the Captain and Jessica. Jessica, lying down on the floor, and Captain Hammer, hanging off the right side cargo net. He pulls his rifle from his back and tosses it in front of him. He slides his arms through the net and grabs his rifle, pulling back a little, allowing the net to help him keep it tight on his shoulder.
James jumps up and runs towards the rear ATV. He quickly turns around when he gets to it and takes aim over the others and out the door. He leans forward a little bit as the plane starts to move out of the hangar. Slowly, the plane makes its way out of the hangar and turns slightly to the right, to push onto the runway.
As soon as they make their way out the hangar, the Arctics turn to them. They take off at full speed towards the plane, quickly making up the lost ground between them. James yells into his mic, “You might want to get this thing going Henry. They are closing in quickly.”
Henry, pushing buttons and flipping a couple switches, yells back, “I am going as fast as I can. I can’t just turn this on and take off. We will be up in two minutes.”
James replies, “Shit, we won’t have that long. Everyone, fire at will.”
Everyone in the back of the plane starts to shoot. The sound of the gunfire barely makes it over the sounds of the engines coming to speed. A few Arctics fall to the ground, quickly being trampled by the ones behind them. The falling Arctics barely seem to make a dent in the swarm.
Oliver drops an empty magazine, he pulls a full one from his pocket and loads it in. Quickly he slaps the bolt stop, sending the bolt forward, and starts to fire again.
The plane starts to pick up speed as it moves down the runway. As James reloads, he yells into his mic, “They are closing in. We can’t hold them off much longer.”
Henry replies with a thrust of the plane. As it speeds up, the Arctics try their best to keep up with it. They make it a few feet from them as sparks fly from the cargo door. Slowly, the plane tries to lift off from the ground, but can’t.
It slams back into the ground, making everyone
stop shooting as they bounce with it. As everyone tries to gain their bearings back, three Arctics jump onto the cargo door. Oliver quickly shoots one in the chest, unable to steady his aim.
It stumbles back but is barely phased by the bullet in the right side of his chest as it quickly freezes over, sealing the wound. James shoots one of the Arctics in the head, sending it flying backward and off the plane.
As he tries to take aim on one in front of Jessica, it jumps in the air, ready to slam down. Jessica rolls to her side and extends out her right arm. She presses the red button on her “guntlet” and squeezes the trigger.
The shotgun round blasts it in the jaw, ripping it off, and through the top of its skull. It falls lifelessly back through the air and bounces off the cargo door, and onto the runway. She rolls back over and starts to shoot at the Arctics gaining on the plane.
The last Arctic, the one with the now frozen chest wound, puts his arms up in the air and clenches his fist. Before anyone can take a shot, Captain Hammer, holding on to the cargo net with one hand, jumps feet first towards it. His feet hit the chest of it in the middle of it, as it swings down towards Oliver. They slam into Hammer’s legs as it starts to fly backward through the air. He yells as his body snaps to a stop and falls to the floor.
The Arctic soars over the cargo door and into two more Arctics about to jump on, slamming them all to the ground, only to be ran over by the ones behind them.
Once again, sparks fly from the cargo door as the plane starts to lift off again. This time it does not come back down, and slowly ascends. The sparks stop as the door lifts from the ground.
James runs forward to the side of the door opening and presses a red button. As the door closes, he watches the Arctics below him, still trying to give chase, become smaller and smaller. He presses the button once again, stopping the door from closing all the way, allowing him to still see outside. He turns to see Oliver kneeling over Captain Hammer, who is holding his right leg.