Afraid of the Dark

by Chris Hechtl

  “Oh. That's... not good.”

  “Yes.”

  “Some of the foreign governments have resorted to nuclear weapons to clear large areas.”

  “Ouch?” Shane asked. “Radiation?” He really didn't want to feed his kids something that would glow in the dark.

  “A problem. Apparently more for us than the aliens. Word is it clears an area but the aliens pretty much ignore the fallout. At least they aren't dropping like flies like they should.”

  “Great,” Shane sighed.

  “Yeah.”

  ...*...*...*...*...

  “I'm serious about RCC and the people over there. They need to evac. If they can.”

  “They can try. Towards Perris is their best bet. By day of course. For some reason they are stubbornly holding out. They've abandoned the school next door and have retreated to the main campus.”

  “Too scared to go anywhere,” Bob said.

  “Probably.”

  “Can we get in there?” Shane asked.

  “You want more mouths to feed?” Bob asked.

  “I want to save as many people as we can. Anyone we can. Scientists who might figure out how to beat them are a plus. Hell, anyone who's willing to fight is a plus as well. Engineers, I don't give a shit. The kids deserve a chance. They didn't choose to be there.”

  “I think you'll get your wish,” Gabe said. “We're only getting word about them because some of the people are leaving each day. Usually about a dozen or so, maybe half that survive to get to an enclave before night falls.”

  “Shit.”

  “Yeah.”

  “From what I've heard they are about out of weapons and food. They cleaned out the stores nearby but the houses and condos are totally no go. The fire department is there but, well...”

  “What are they going to do?” Ross asked in disgust.

  “Exactly.” Shane said. “I'll be surprised if they live out the week. Can we use that chopper to get in and out? Get as many out as we can?”

  “We can try.”

  “Do it. Alert the pilot. Hank or whatever his name is. Dave brought in some fuel yesterday. Tell them to fuel the chopper and get Jesse to rig the pylon things that she has been working on.” He was talking about the stretcher pods they had rigged to be mounted on each skid of the chopper. That way it could carry additional people in each pylon pod.

  “MASH,” Gabe said. “Gotta love a classic.”

  “Whatever. Get them out. Women and children and wounded first.”

  “Gotcha.”

  “The rest of us will focus on the base. Tell them to try to get to it and we'll funnel them to the mall or Cactus if they will take them.”

  Chapter 36

  Shane had to shake off girls hitting on him. Jen was amused. “He's taken ladies,” she informed them, pointing to her wedding ring. The girls melted away murmuring apologies.

  “Thanks honey,” he said, hugging and kissing her. She smiled. “I never thought I'd be fighting off women with a stick.”

  She looked up at him and then patted his cheek. She was dimpling though. “My hero,” she said.

  “Damn tootin',” he said with feeling. She chuckled and then gasped as he tightened his grip briefly. She slapped one ass cheek firmly and then clenched it as he went on his toes. She chuckled as he grunted and squeezed her again. “Want to skip dinner?” he asked amused. “I think the truck is available...”

  “Shut up,” she half laughed, half sighed in exasperation. She shook her head as they walked to the food court together.

  ...*...*...*...*...

  Bob looked up at the familiar thump of rotors. He looked around until someone pointed towards Riverside. Shading his eyes he watched as a helicopter wobbled in the air over the 215, hesitated and then orbited the mall.

  “Someone want to tell me what the hell's going on?” he asked looking around. It wasn't their helicopter, that was for sure. Great, he really didn't want to have to go through another hospital Evac again. He sighed. The work crew around him shrugged. “Fine, get back to work,” he growled pulling his radio out. “Mall um... Mall whatever to base. Someone want to call that orbiting chopper and find out what gives?” he asked.

  “Mall whatever?” a voice sputtered over the radio. “Uh, roger mall two. We're ah, looking into that now,” the radio operator said. “Mall out.”

  “Whatever,” Bob said shaking his head. He turned at the beeping sound and nodded.

  “Mall to Mall two come in over,” the voice said. He didn't hear it the first and second time it came on the radio until one of his guys shook his arm and pointed to the radio.

  “Oh,” he said holding it to his mouth. “Mall two go.”

  “Mall two we need you to clear a field for an LZ,” Hernandez said over the radio. “I'm coming now. They need a Y shape on the ground with the bottom of the Y pointing in the direction of the wind.”

  “Um...” They had done it before with the chopper come to think of it. He waved to Miguel.

  “The chopper's low on fuel. Better get a move on,” Hernandez said. “I'm ten nineteen your position now. Eta five.”

  “Okay,” Bob said. “Anyone know what the hell he's saying?” he asked. He waved a cut off sign to the loader nearby. The driver didn't see it but a spotter did. He made the same sign to the driver who stopped and cut the engine.

  “He wants an LZ?” Laura said looking around. “Shit,” she said. After a moment she pointed to an area nearby.

  “LZ?”

  “Landing zone.”

  “Why can't they just land at the mall?” Bob asked as Laura trotted to the truck. She pulled out a couple of cans of spray paint, a stake and a ribbon. “What are you doing?” He asked as she shook the cans.

  “Staking it out. My dad told me about it. I did it once for an emergency rescue team,” she said. She moved off to an empty field, tested the wind and then started marking the ground.

  “What's up man?” Diego asked, coming over. Diego was the foreman on this part of the job.

  “Helicopter landing,” Bob said, looking up to the mechanical bird flying around them. He turned to see a pair of SUVs and an ambulance coming in.

  “What the hell happened?” he asked as the chopper came down and bounced on its landing gear. Laura gave a thumbs up as the ship's engine started to spool down to a whine. Dust was flying everywhere. He turned and covered his face with his bandanna.

  The pilots got out and patted the damaged bird. One even bent and kissed the ground. A few more people got out. Bob shook his head as the ambulance passed the SUVs and pulled up. A pair of people were unloaded from the chopper straight into the ambulance.

  Diego's crew were milling around uncertainly. He looked at them but didn't say anything. He couldn't blame them. He shaded his eyes for a moment, looking to see who on his side was there.

  Hernandez got out of the lead SUV and came over to shake hands with the pilot. The pilot was a woman, he noted, Asian woman. Thin, with sunken cheeks. She obviously hadn't been eating much lately. He could see her collar bones. Probably her ribs too if her flight jacket had been off. Bob went over to find out what was going on.

  “Bob,” Hernandez said waving to him. “This is Terri Nagomi, a chopper pilot I ran into the other day. Terri this is Bob the builder,” he said waving to the big man.

  “Can they fix it?” Terri asked smiling as she shook his hand.

  “More like can we build it. The answer is yes we can,” Bob deadpanned. Her smile widened as they shook hands. He was gentle; he didn't want to overpower the little lady. She was like fine china. “What's up?” he asked.

  “We had to abandon the airport,” she said shaking her head. “Overrun during the night. I got my crew in last night and we were orbiting all night. I'm out of go-go juice,” she said indicating her bird. Her shaky co-pilot was with Laura drinking from her sports bottle.

  “Damn,” Hernandez said shaking his head. “So that's it?” he asked.

  “I think there is a bird at th
e hospital. Maybe a police bird in Hemet. I know there is a news chopper like this one in Riverside. They were using it to get people to the hospital before it was overrun,” she said.

  “Damn.”

  “So since we've got Hank and the other chopper we're the best game in town,” Hernandez said nodding. Nagomi nodded. She didn't look at all happy about that. “Bob,” Hernandez asked, looking at him.

  “Oh hell. Let me guess, you want a hangar and chopper port? Gas?” Bob asked annoyed. “Shit man,” he sighed. He'd already planned on it, but not so fast. Right now the chopped they had was under a tent at the mall. When it wasn't in use.

  Nagomi perked up and smiled. He caught it and took of his hard hat to rub his sweaty brow with his bandanna. “Let me think about it okay?” he said.

  “Sure Bob,” Hernandez smiled. “I think you found a new home Nagomi, you and your crew,” he said resting a hand on her shoulder. She flashed him a small smile and bobbed a nod. She bowed to Bob and then got into the truck with Hernandez.

  Bob watched them pull out and then turned to the bird. The rotors were still turning slowly, though that could be the light afternoon breeze they currently had. He sighed. He knew it was important, but he couldn't see why they needed another helicopter right now. But he knew the others would want one. He mentally threw his hands up in the air and went to find a map. Time to try to figure out where to shoe horn an airport into all this mess.

  ...*...*...*...*...

  “Can we get into RCC?” Shane asked, climbing into his truck. He'd heard it was bad there. Hank had reported in that it didn't look good for the people there. He still had crews working the base but he didn't want to abandon the brain trust RCC represented.

  “Seriously?” Bobby asked from the back seat. “Dude, its suicide!”

  “I'm guessing that is a no?”

  “NO!” Bobby shook his head and then pulled a map out and pushed forward between the front seats. “Look.” He flipped the paper over to show the RCC area. “That area is on a hill right? Well, there is this artificial lake on one side that curls around. Its backed by the steep hills that circle Lake Perris. That means the only way in is either air, which we're doing, or take the side streets here,” he pointed to an area past the base. The problem is its heavily blocked off and there are some major animals in that area now.”

  “I know.”

  “There's no point boss,” Tom said coming over. He leaned over the truck to look in. “We just got word. RCC was overrun in the night. There aren't any sign of survivors. The chopper radioed back a minute ago.”

  “Shit.” Shane closed his eyes and rested his head against the back rest.

  “Yeah,” Bobby sighed.

  “We got a couple of dozen out. The women and children like you said. They were the only ones who would come. The rest ran out of time,” Tom said. He turned and waved to an impatient Torres. “Yeah, yeah, I'm coming,” he muttered under his breath.

  He turned back to Shane. “Look boss I've got to go. Sorry man,” he said awkwardly. He patted the window sill and the turned and walked off shaking his head.

  “Damn,” Shane sighed. “Well, that sucked.”

  “Yeah. You still want to...”

  “I want to head South yes. In that direction. We'll run into more animals probably. I'm in such a good mood right now,” he growled. “I need something to take it out on.”

  “Figures,” Bobby said sitting back. The rest of the team climbed into the truck. Bobby stood up out the sun roof. “Come on people! Daylight's wasting!”

  ...*...*...*...*...

  The next day he got a report of activity around the Valley View High school campus. Jayne had sent a crew in during the first week but they had turned back when the road blocks had proven too much of a hassle. Apparently Jayne hadn't given up on getting to the super stores on that end of town. He wasn't sure why, he was pretty sure most of them were occupied or picked clean by now.

  “Boss, point reports shots fired,” Bobby said, one hand on his ear wig.

  “Shit,” he growled, switching his radio on. He clicked the mike. “Mall six report.”

  “Mall six this is Point we've got a situation. Shot fired, warning shot. Repeat, warning shot. We're at a barricade. Human built. We've been warned off.”

  “Roger,” he said. “Be there in five,” he said, hanging onto the oh shit bar as Horatio his new driver took them up over a curb to get around some shattered concrete.

  ...*...*...*...*...

  He studied the barricade and the situation as he pulled up. It wasn't much, a pair of school buses parked end to end across the broad four lane road. The side facing them had metal plates welded to it with crude signs to go away scrawled on them with spray paint.

  “For this they went to school?” Bobby asked as they pulled up.

  “Apparently,” he said studying the positions. There were guns sticking out the windows, and more on the hills on either side of the road. Natural bottleneck. Lovely. His people were in a kill box.

  “Mall six to teams, all teams stand back at last intersection. Stay cool, stay frosty,” he ordered and unbuckled his belt.

  “Dude, you're not serious about going out there,” Bobby said.

  “These are people, we've got to talk. We're not the enemy, the aliens are.”

  “Yeah well, try telling them that,” Bobby said doubtfully.

  “I plan on doing just that. Coming?”

  Bobby snorted. “Why the hell not,” he sighed climbing out.

  “I'm going to leave my mike open,” Shane said over the radio. Just listen and stay cool. No comments unless it goes shitty. Trigger word is Jericho. Repeat Jericho. If you hear me say it, all hell better break loose,” he said.

  “Roger,” Bobby said quietly.

  They met the point team at a respectful ten meters from the barricade. He nodded to the redhead, Mick, on his motorcycle. Mick looked a bit nervous but settled down when Shane approached looking casual. “That's far enough pig,” a kid snarled from the bus.

  “Watch your mouth Wex or I'll kick your ass up between your ears,” another voice snarled.

  “Want to kiss your fellow porkies? Love to see this,” the first voice, Wex said.

  “I'm not a cop. I was. Now I'm leader of the mall contingent,” Shane called out. “Can you send someone out to talk?” he asked.

  “Take a walk fag, we don't need no crap,” another voice called. Others started in with cat calls and various insults. Shane just stood there, arms crossed over his rifle.

  When they finally wound down he pulled his glasses off and rubbed at them with the tail of his shirt nonchalantly. “You done?” he asked. “Or should I just point out sticks and stones and crap like that? We done with the kiddy shit? Can we start acting like adults?”

  “Fuck you gringo,” a voice called.

  “I'll talk to him,” a guy said. He climbed out of the bus and stepped through a gap between it and the curb wall. He was a heavy set male wearing a battered and filthy sheriff's uniform. He had body armor on and a riot helmet. He came over and looked at Shane and his team. “What do you want?”

  “Trade. Intel, coordination. Advice,” Shane said.

  “Trade?” the guy grunted. “You've got to speak with the council about that.”

  “Yo man, you ain't doing shit behind my back pig!” Wex yelled, and then he too came out and sauntered over to them. Shane hid a snort as the guy fairly strutted. The cop turned and watched the guy taking his time strutting with a tired weary air.

  “Deputy Sheriff?” he asked. He had tried to see the guy's name tag but it was hanging vertical.

  “Harris.”

  “Harris. We've got Deputy's Torres, Wayne, and a few other correctional officers in our group.”

  “Really?” Harris asked turning back to him. “That supposed to mean something?”

  “They are a bit busy with their sectors. Would you like me to call them over to consult?” Shane asked. Harris looked unsure.

 
“Nah,” Wex said. “We ain't tolerating your kind here.”

  “I think the council can decide for itself,” Harris said turning on Wex with a glare.

  “Go ahead man, I'm on the council remember?” Wex smiled as he nodded to a few of his crew. He had a purple bandana on his head and a red one around his neck. A white one was sticking out of his pocket. Even now he had baggy clothes, a baseball jersey shirt and baggy pants that were belted around the guy's knees. Really stupid to be dressed like that.

  He circled Shane and then made a tisk sound. “Homes thinks this is call of duty man,” he said, turning and spreading his hands toward the bus. He made a hand motion like he was jacking off. The crew in the bus jeered.

  Shane realized right away that the guy was posturing and posing for his crew to show who's boss. That he can stand up to the man. He looked at Harris. Harris was obviously worn out; he just didn't give a shit anymore. He had a shot gun tucked under his arm but from the look of it and the Sig on his hip both were in bad need of cleaning.

  “Fine,” he said, unstrapping his rifle and handing it over to Mick. He pulled off his extra ammo but stopped at his Beretta and machete knife. “Weapons?” he asked.

  “You are good,” Harris said. Wex looked like he was going to argue but then stopped. “Just you though, the rest can stay put,” he said. Harris turned and led the way.

  Shane nodded to the group as walked. “Stay cool and stay sharp. Be back in thirty,” he said.

  “Roger,” Mick said quietly.

  On the other side of the buses he was stopped. Harris shook his head as the gang bangers jumped out of the bus and pointed guns at Shane.

  “Not funny,” Shane said raising his hands. “I'm not the enemy here. The aliens are.”

  “Could have fooled me,” Wex said reaching around him to take the pistol and then his machete. He did a quick pat search, pulling his bush knife back up pistol and spare clips.