by Chris Hechtl
Now this. Out sweeping an apartment complex that they had checked before. All to pull out another layer of stuff. Stuff they needed yes, but not food or weapons or medicine. All that had been pulled in the first sweep.
No, this was for the stuff they had missed the first time. Stuff that had been added to the list afterward. And to think, they got to do this a few more times before it was dozered. If it was dozered. They needed fuel to do that little chore. He sighed and tried to get rid of his bleak thoughts. That was no way to go into combat, with that sort of mindset.
“Roger that,” the radio woman said in reply a moment later. “Stay safe,” she said after a moment.
“Not in the job description,” Hernandez muttered looking around. The fog was thick, they had maybe two or three meters of visibility. It sucked. They needed more visibility. Then again, once they were inside the buildings they had to clear they'd be okay. Fog was outside after all.
“Hey watch it!” a man yelled as a truck pulled up fast. Hernandez and the others spun to see a truck slamming on its brakes and cutting to the left to avoid a pair of people in the street.
“What the hell?”
“Its soup man, you can barely see your hand in front of your face. I'm sweaty from the drive. I thought I'd either get hit or hit something for sure,” Stan said shaking his head.
“Keep cool,” Hernandez grunted. He could hear noises all around them. Perhaps the driver had been right.
“Cool hell man, my brother got in a wreck on the freeway because of fog. Screwed him up but good man,” Stan said just as Hernandez saw something big jump through the fog. It was too far away and fast to get a good look.
“Shit,” he muttered. Hopefully it was an herbivore. He moved away from the trucks, nodding to the teams stacking up on the wall ready to storm the apartment complex. This was going to be their first of two for the day. He wanted to get it over with. Hopefully the fog would burn off soon.
“What was that!” a girl whispered turning.
“What?” another man said. “That?” he asked pointing.
“No, I thought I saw something moving. Big as a dog. It went that way,” she said. She pointed to the edge of the fog. From where they were near the entrance of the apartment complex they could just barely see the trucks three meters away.
“Okay this is not good,” Stan said over and over. “Shit man, anyone remember the predators come out in the dark?” he asked.
“It ain't dark,” the woman said visibly trying to get a hold of herself. Hernandez had a sinking sensation. The Helldeer were big, the size of a horse really. More of a moose or an elk. They also didn't usually hang out in this area and damn it they traveled in herds. There just wasn't enough food here. The thing he'd seen had been smaller, leaner. Meaner.
“I think you're right,” he muttered to Stan. Stan gave a choppy nod.
“You think it was a deer?” her partner asked, looking towards the thing's last known position. Last thing they needed was to be run down or gored by alien hooves and horns.
“Got to be. Jumping at shadows that's all,” she muttered just as someone screamed on the other side of the trucks. They both flinched and looked in the direction.
Hernandez knew it was all coming apart at once. That hadn't been a deer. They were in deep crap. “Shit!” Hernandez said as he keyed his mike. “Red alert! Ambush! Report!”
A voice panted on the team push. “Something got Bert man! Big. Just snagged him and dragged him off back into the fog!” Ernie his partner said frantic. He started to fire at a shadow and then stopped. It was another pair of hunters.
“What the hell man! I nearly wasted you!” he said shaking. They suddenly raised their weapons and pointed them in his direction. He tried to drop and roll, knowing something was behind him but he felt claws dig into his leg. He went flying through the air and hit something hard. After that he had a brief woozy moment of confusion then the final sight of teeth and claws ended his existence.
“What the hell!” Hernandez said coming out and moving away from the trucks. Panic fire was ripping up the area. He could see and hear the muzzle flashes. A bullet whizzed over his head and he ducked. More stitched up the dried up flower bed nearby.
“Check fire! Blue on blue! Watch where you’re firing!” he yelled.
“They're all around us!” a voice screamed. There was a scream and then gurgling. They could hear sobs that were cut off by a wet crunch.
“Pull back to the trucks everyone. Now! Cover your partner!” Hernandez said. A shape lunged out of the fog at him. He raised his arm to ward off an attack at his throat and got clawed. Stan shot the thing in the flank, throwing it off. It seemed to scream a high pitched scream and then tumbled, knocking the private onto his rear.
“Damn it!” he roared looking around. Stan was pumping lead into the thing.
“Hellhound!” Stan yelled.
“Shit that's all we need!” Hernandez said. Hellhounds were lean, smart and vicious, nearly as good as a Gremlin. He keyed his mile. Mall Three to all units in the field RTB. Repeat RTB NOW! Predators are on the move! Mall Three; three down. Repeat THREE down. Possibly more. Retreating now,” he said trying to get control of his voice. He knew that if he sounded like he was losing it his team would come apart.
“Roger,” Wayne said over the link. They piled into the trucks fast. Hernandez winced as a Hellhound chased a woman into a truck. It caught her leg but Stan punched the truck into gear and gunned it. The animal released the girl to dodge but he flipped the high beams on. It seemed to shy away and scream just as he hit it. The truck bumped as they ran over it. Hernandez looked in the rear view to see another truck run over it for good measure.
“Believe me now?” Stan demanded.
“Oh shut up,” Hernandez muttered, left hand covering the wound on his right arm. “Back to base,” he said closing his eyes and rocking a little.
...*...*...*...*...
They returned to base fifteen minutes later. It was ten am but the fog was letting some of the aliens who hadn't fed or were ornery remain out. Orders were passed to not go out when it was foggy or even lightly overcast in the morning or evening.
“A little late,” Stan said as he got out of the truck and slammed the door.
“Better late than never,” Hernandez said shaking his head. “You okay?” he asked.
“Yeah, you're not though,” Stan said waving to a medic. The medic came over.
“Fortunately we were loaded for bear with the new armor piercing rounds Kyle came up with or we'd be toast,” Hernandez said and then took a swig from a water bottle as a medic dabbed at the cuts on his arm.
“Bad?”
“Bad enough. Lost three that I know of. I'm not that bad.”
“You'll need stitches,” the medic said. He hissed as the medic flushed the wound with antiseptic.
“Damn it that hurt!”
“Supposed to. I've got to clean the wound to prevent sepsis,” the medic said as Hernandez winced. “No telling what's in the alien's bite.”
“Claws. I got clawed,” the private said.
“Whatever. Dirt, all sorts of crap,” the medic said cleaning the wound.
“If I've got to have a nurse couldn't I have a double D one with long blond hair?” Hernandez joked.
“I'll get a wig,” the medic riposted. All three men chuckled.
...*...*...*...*...
“We've got four lawyers, six clerks, one typist, one Bailiff, and a dozen paralegals. What do we do with them all?” Jayne asked shaking her head. Most of the teams were under foot until the fog burned off now. Which meant they were generally getting into trouble or mischief. Shane had his own way of causing hate and discontent though. One that usually left her dazed and feeling like she had a migraine and a burning urge to throttle him.
“As I said a couple of days ago, we need to get the courthouse back up and running,” Shane said firmly. She glanced at him.
“You are serious?” she asked.
; He sighed. “Jayne, we're in a feudal society, I admit that. We needed strong leadership,” he rubbed the back of his head, suddenly embarrassed.
“Which you provided,” she said with a nod.
“Not alone though. We've got a ruling council. I may be at the head but I know my limits. I know we each play a part to keep the place functioning. Well, its time we took a further step toward that goal.”
“Courts,” she said grimacing.
“I know lawyers are evil, but they are a necessary evil,” he deadpanned. She wrinkled her nose at him not at all convinced. “Look we'll turn over the minor infractions that have been turning up. Criminal ones I mean. We'll also sick them on precedence for what we've done so far and record things like names and such.”
“Ah,” she said nodding. “We've got another assault. You heard about that?” she asked.
“Sexual assault?” he asked dangerously. As a father of two daughters he was especially prickly about that.
“No,” she said glancing his way and then shaking her head as she looked at the tablet in front of her. “Fracas in the quad. A couple of guards broke it up. People who weren't happy about the status quo.”
“Riot?” he asked.
“No, but it could have been one, if it had escalated. We've got too many people under one roof. Tempers are soaring.”
“So we need this,” he said nodding. “I'm going to push it. And the other theater,” he said.
“The theaters?” she asked. “We've got one,” she said looking down the mall concourse to the cinema. For some reason he'd pushed to have the roof and interior repaired and cleaned.
“No, the one in Towngate. We can reopen it I think. Hope. That will give some people some entertainment as well.”
“During the day. Which is when we need them to work you know,” she said disgusted.
“Not everyone can work every day twelve hours a day,” he said shaking his head. She brightened a little at that.
“Are you suggesting a day off?” she asked. “Now you're talking my language!” she said.
“I'm talking about a holiday,” he said nodding slowly. “A holiday weekend. Carnival if we can pull it off. We've got the stuff in the arcades to use.”
“Oh...” she said slowly, smiling a little. “Tell me more,” she said. “I want to know how much work is involved,” she said sounding suddenly dangerous.
He gave her a sidelong look and then shrugged. “Hopefully we can work it so everyone has at least one of the two days completely off. Nothing at night of course, but well...” he shrugged.
“Barbeque?” she asked. He nodded.
“I'll look into it,” she said with a nod. “We've got some stuff we can use. We'll have to limit the food, but I bet we can come up with diversions for people. Games and stuff,” she said.
“Exactly,” he said with a nod. “The card system can still be used. I'll bring it up at council,” he said.
She flashed a smile and shook her head. “You mean we'll bring it up at council. I'm all for it. It'll piss Bob off, throw his building schedules all to hell, but Jerry's been whining to me about people being over worked.”
“So that's three,” he said with a nod.
“Tamara will get Bob to go along. Grudgingly,” Jayne said making notes. “I'll look into it and come up with a plan by tonight,” she said.
“Okay,” he said nodding as she walked off, fairly strutting. The idea of time off had apparently put some spring in her step.
...*...*...*...*...
Shane came to the nearly full restaurant and tossed his kit down nearby. Jen pursed her lips in annoyance. She started to round on him about it but stopped when she noted the bandage on his face and bicep. “What happened?” she asked, suddenly concerned. She came over and touched his face. He looked away.
“Creepling in the wall,” he said. He turned and brushed dust out of his hair. “Need a shower,” he said gruffly.
“Jerry look at this?” she asked, tracing the bandage. He looked at her and hugged her briefly.
“Just came from there actually. I got a new shirt,” he said.
“So what... where...”
“The apartments. Where else?” he sighed.
She pushed herself away after a moment. “I'm sorry,” she said quietly.
“Not your fault hon,” he sighed, sitting on the edge of the table. “It happens.”
“I was wrong. It's not worth it,” she said, head down. She realized now what it could cost. What it had nearly cost. It was stupid of her to have forgotten that. He lived with the threat daily.
“You were what?” he asked as she looked away. She bit her lip.
“Come on, I want to hear it again,” he teased. She dimpled.
“Don't rub it in,” she growled dangerously.
“I'm not, I'm savoring the moment,” he said chuckling. She turned and popped him right on the good arm.
“Ow!” he said as other people stopped what they were doing to watch. “What was that for?” he asked rubbing his arm. She may not be one hundred percent but she could still throw a mean punch when she wanted. Damn that hurt!
“For being an idiot,” she said. “And rubbing it in.”
“Sure, my fault,” he sighed shaking his head. She scowled a little, reminded of who had put him up to this. He took her in his arms and hugged her briefly. “Better?” he asked.
“A little. I hate it when you get hurt.”
“Unless you're the one who does it of course,” he said amused.
“Well, that goes without saying. If I do it I know you deserved it. And I'm not as rough.”
“Could have fooled me,” he said. A few people nearby smiled. She giggled a little. “Claws are nearly as sharp. Probably as long too,” he said catching a hand and bending her fingers to extend them to make a show of looking at them. She smiled, squirming.
“You're terrible you know that?” she asked.
“Comes with the women I associate with,” he answered right back stroking her hand with his fingers. She blushed a little further and dimpled again.
“You are so riding for a fall,” she growled softly. His eyes flashed in amusement.
“Um...” they looked up ato a couple coming over. “About the apartments, um...”
“What about them?” he asked as Jen straightened in his lap.
“We, ah, we lived there. Before, you know,” the woman said, indicating the sky.
“Before the alien invasion. Yeah gotcha,” Shane said nodding. “At least you didn't have to go all the way across town to get here,” he said.
“There is that,” the man said nodding. He rubbed at the woman's shoulders. “We...” he hesitated.
“You want to volunteer to try to live in them?” Shane asked. The woman was clearly pregnant now that she turned to show a side profile. “Are you sure?” he asked.
“We live on the second floor. We can, I mean its ours...” the man shrugged.
“The apartments are pretty trashed,” Shane warned. “I'm not kidding. Think meth house. Walls are ripped open, wiring, plumbing, carpets and furniture are shredded. Feces and urine everywhere. We're focused on getting the aliens out. Its going to be a while before they can be cleaned.”
“Um...”
“I can help,” the man said. “I'm on Bob's crew. I was, am, a handyman. I've got my truck in the parking lot. If someone didn't grab it. Not that I'm complaining or anything,” he said hastily.
“Okay,” Jen said nodding.
“We're going to set it up so two to four families are in each apartment. The windows will be covered over. Probably bricked up if we can swing it.”
“Food will be through the multipurpose room and kitchen in the clubhouse or here,” Jen said. Shane cocked his head. Apparently the women had started to think about things and had come up with a plan to deal with some of what he had pointed out. Good.
“I thought, with the kitchens...” the woman said.
“We don't have the food to distribute to
everyone. We've got to keep it centralized to ration it,” Shane said. “We also don't have natural gas for the appliances. No hot water, no gas stove.”
“Oh,” the woman said looking around.
“That's bull man,” a guy nearby said.
“No, it’s lemons, Oranges, mushrooms, limes, and avocados,” Shane said.
“What?” The guy asked blinking. He looked thoroughly confused.
Jen rolled her eyes, shaking her head. She sighed. “Don't mind my husband. He can be a nit. What he meant is those are the things we can grow right now. Eric has a room set up to grow mushrooms here. The rest come from trees we've saved.”
“We've also got some tubers, but they take months to grow,” a woman said. “We can cut the tops off and keep growing them,” she said raising a hand. “I work in the farms.”
“Right,” Shane said. “So right now, we're limited on food. You don't see many food trucks coming in do you?” he asked looking around. Everyone shook their heads. “Right and we've got a lot of people to support. That's why we ration everything. Coffee too. Some of this stuff doesn't grow here. Once it’s gone it’s gone forever.”
“Way to boost morale,” Jen said quietly out of one side of her mouth.
“Just wait,” he said back, then looked up. “We're trying to grow more food, and as many of you know we're also starting the farms for food animals. We unfortunately don't have many. Eggs we've got, thanks to all the chickens.”
There were a few who smiled at that. He nodded, letting them digest that. “We're also slowly growing the chickens to use for food. We're getting there but it takes time, resources, and above all patience and investment. Bob was planning on setting up larger greenhouses next. That was side tracked since all of you want to move out,” he said.
“Not all of us,” a man said shaking his head. The crowd looked at him. He wrapped his arm around his wife and kids. “No way am I going out and letting the aliens come and eat me or my family,” he said.
“Which is why we're not letting anyone into the apartments before they are ready. We're setting them up just like the hotel. Four or more to a room. We'll work on things as we can. The people that move in will have to clean and repair them.”