The Tide: Breakwater (Tide Series Book 2)

by Melchiorri, Anthony J

  The Tide:

  Breakwater

  (The Tide Series Volume 2)

  Anthony J Melchiorri

  December, 2015

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  The Tide: Breakwater

  Copyright © 2015 by Anthony J. Melchiorri. All rights reserved.

  First Edition: December 2015

  http://AnthonyJMelchiorri.com

  Cover Design: Eloise Knapp Design

  No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to locales, events, business establishments, or actual persons—living or dead—is entirely coincidental.

  10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  -1-

  -2-

  -3-

  -4-

  -5-

  -6-

  -7-

  -8-

  -9-

  -10-

  -11-

  -12-

  -13-

  -14-

  -15-

  -16-

  -17-

  -18-

  -19-

  -20-

  -21-

  -22-

  -23-

  -24-

  -25-

  -26-

  -27-

  -28-

  -29-

  -30-

  -31-

  -32-

  -33-

  -34

  -35-

  -36-

  -37-

  -38-

  -Epilogue-

  Also by Anthony J Melchiorri

  About the Author

  -1-

  A cool wind lifted Meredith Webb’s hair and tickled her skin. The crispness in the air reminded her of autumn days in decades past, when she would run along the Potomac River after her shift at the CIA headquarters in Langley. She had always thought the trees along the path looked the most beautiful when their branches were draped in the orange and red hues of a sunset. Running under the fiery colors beside the river had given her mind time to wander and her body a physical outlet to unload the day’s challenges and frustrations.

  That urge to run sprang up in her now—an almost imperceptible dribble slowly growing into a flood.

  She needed to move. But she had nowhere to go.

  Meredith touched the bandage across her forehead, the patches along her cheeks, and the gauze on her arm. Painful memories of the bus crashing and her head slamming into the wheel surged through her. All because of the Skulls. They had surrounded the bus; they’d caused the crash.

  And they’d done more than that. In a matter of days, they’d brought the world to its knees. They’d left humanity begging for answers on how to stop the spread of the Oni Agent.

  The wounds beneath her bandages ached. She tried to ignore the sensation and leaned up against the gymnasium at Fort Detrick that had been converted into a temporary shelter. Within it, the military had organized a civilian triage, quarantine, and medical station in addition to the sleeping quarters.

  Gunfire erupted in the distance, and she flinched. She regained her composure, and four soldiers rushed toward a gate along the north wall of the Army’s medical research complex. A low explosion echoed between the buildings, and the gunfire ceased.

  Across the base, the pounding of hammers against sheets of metal and planks of wood sounded. Two yellow bucket loaders toiled at one end, filling the wire-wrapped HESCO bastions with dirt to reinforce the fences around Fort Detrick’s perimeter.

  Meredith shook her head. The world’s strongest military was resorting to makeshift privacy fences and HESCOs to barricade the base against the creatures swarming the streets outside.

  From her work in biodefense, she knew Fort Detrick didn’t have a mass of ordnance like some other Army installations. The base served as the center for the United States Army Medical Command and hosted civilian, federal, and military employees pursuing medical, biodefense, and health-related work, research, and training. She guessed most of the weapons and the Black Hawks sitting in the parking lots were on loan, possibly from Fort Bragg. How long would Detrick’s borrowed ammunition and defenses last against the hordes of Skulls outside?

  A distant howl echoed nearby. Another breeze curled past her, and the smell of smoke stung her nostrils. The lingering scent of burned flesh and decay came with it. The soldiers might be able to construct a barrier around Fort Detrick to help protect against the Skulls, but they couldn’t prevent the harsh reminders of their nightmarish reality from sifting in with the wind.

  A door clicked open to Meredith’s right. A young woman with auburn hair stepped out, and a golden retriever followed her.

  “Kara,” Meredith said. “How are you?”

  “All right, I think. How about you?” Kara asked as the dog circled around the grass. It favored its front leg, and Kara’s makeshift splint covered the retriever’s broken limb.

  “I’m not even sure how to answer that question anymore.” Meredith offered Kara a sympathetic smile. The golden retriever, Maggie, made her mark on the grass. She sauntered back to Kara and then lay down at her feet with a grunt. “Maggie getting by okay?”

  “I don’t think she has a clue what’s going on. It didn’t even take her long to learn how to walk with that leg.” Kara folded her arms across her chest. “I wish I was like that.”

  A ghastly wail rose up, followed by a chorus of others outside the gates. More gunfire exploded at one end of the facility. Maggie pushed herself up with her good leg and stood protectively in front of Kara.

  Kara didn’t so much as flinch. The young woman had faced the Skulls, saved her neighbors, and even rescued Meredith from the beasts. And she hadn’t even finished her first year at college yet. Now Meredith questioned if the girl ever would have a chance to go back to school.

  The howls of the Skulls once again dissipated, and Meredith and Kara stood in silence for a while.

  Kara pointed to the soldiers marching around the perimeter with rifles. One barked orders at a half-dozen men reinforcing the fence around the eastern side of the fort. “They really think that’s going to keep those creatures out? If the razor wire and chain-links aren’t enough, how’s that going to help?”

  “I think the idea is to at least provide a visual obstruction. From what your father and I learned, the Skulls hunt primarily by sight and sound.”

  “Guess that’s true,” Kara said. “So now we have a buffer against those things?”

  “Right. If we’re lucky, that’ll keep us hidden from them.” Meredith hated relying on luck, but what choice did they have?

  Kara patted Maggie on the head and squinted into the distance, where smoke still billowed from downtown Frederick, Maryland. “I wonder how many normal people are still out there. What’s going to happen to them?”

  “I’m sure the government is planning something.”

  “I hope you’re right.”

  They both stood in silence for a few moments before Meredith spoke. “I need to meet with your father soon. Do you know where he is?”

  Kara hung her head low and scratched the back of her neck. “He’s tell
ing Nina about Joe’s death.” She met Meredith’s gaze. “I couldn’t be there when he broke the news. It was too much.”

  Meredith had been unconscious at the time, but Dom had told her about Joe’s death after the bus crash. Kara’s neighbor had been a kind, courageous man, and he’d made the ultimate sacrifice to protect his family. Now his wife, Nina, and their two children would have to continue the struggle for survival without him.

  “I should’ve been on the bus with you all,” Kara continued. “Not Joe. The guy didn’t even know how to work a gun until yesterday. I did.”

  “No, Kara, he didn’t, but it wasn’t your fault. Don’t let yourself get wrapped up in the ‘what ifs.’ You gave him and his family a chance. You went into their home and got to them before the Skulls did. Without you, none of them would be here. Nina, her children...”

  Kara didn’t seem convinced. “Maybe. But now we’re all stuck here, and I don’t want to sit on one of those cots all day, waiting for someone to magically save the world. I can’t do that.”

  “I’ve noticed.” Meredith scrunched her nose. Another waft of burning Skulls drifted past. “But right now, you’ve got a little sister who’s probably scared out of her mind.”

  “That’s not what I meant when I said I want to be useful. I want to actually do something.”

  “I know,” Meredith said. “But that’s a start. If we’re going to reclaim this world from the Skulls, we’ve got to do it one step at time, one person at a time.”

  Kara’s brow furrowed.

  “And after that, I have a feeling there will be enough going on around here that we can find something to keep you busy. Sound reasonable?”

  Kara nodded.

  “So for now, do you mind taking me to your father? I think he and I need to have a long-overdue conversation with the Commander.”

  ***

  His SCAR-H still slung over his shoulder, Dominic Holland nodded solemnly to Nina Weaver and her children, trying to convey his sympathy for their loss in his chiseled features. The woman hugged her young son and daughter tightly as the three absorbed the news of Joe’s death. Dom hated to leave them grieving, but he struggled to say anything more than the weak condolences he’d already offered.

  “I’m truly sorry,” he said once more before standing. He left the family amid the masses of others milling about the rows of green cots in the gymnasium. As he exited into the hall, the scene of Joe’s death replayed in his mind, the Skull pouncing at him, stabbing him with its serrated claws. He’d never forget Joe’s last moments. And now the haunting image of Nina’s sorrowful expression was permanently etched onto his mind’s eye.

  Dom wondered how many other families had received news like the Weavers. And how many other families might never hear anything because there was simply no one left to hear it? How many families ate dinner together last week and were now prowling the streets as Skulls in a perpetual hunt for live flesh?

  A shiver crept down his spine. They needed to act fast; they needed a vaccine, a cure, anything to stop the spread of this bioweapon.

  He’d postponed his meeting with Acting Commander Shepherd so he could deliver the morbid news to Nina. Now he could focus on moving forward, and he hoped Shepherd would offer a clear path toward eradicating the Oni Agent.

  His boots clicked on the tile floor as two medics rushed past with a man on a stretcher. A thick layer of gauze, already stained crimson, ringed the man’s arm. His pained groans carried down the hall, and they hurried around a corner.

  A door opened to the outside, and sunlight flooded through the corridor. Maggie bounded through, tail wagging, and ran to Dom. Kara chased after the dog with Meredith following.

  “How’d it go?” Kara asked.

  “About as hard as I thought it’d be,” Dom said. “Nina’s going to need some help with the kids. I’ll do the best I can, but do you mind keeping an eye on them?”

  “Aye, aye, Captain,” Kara said, mimicking his Hunters. She led Maggie back to the makeshift civilian shelter.

  Dom watched her until she left, then turned back to Meredith. He eyed her bandages but knew it was no use asking if she should be up and running about. She would go with him no matter how much he protested.

  He stepped past her and opened the door to the complex. “That’s the Network Enterprise Center.” He gestured toward a building about a hundred yards away. “Shepherd said to meet there. Said he was also going to reestablish communications with the outside world, including the Huntress, from the NEC.”

  He and Meredith strode side by side along the sidewalk. The NEC building lay at the end of the path. Broken windows and pocks marred the side of the structure, evidence of small arms fire. Shepherd had mentioned that several of their own men and women had been victims of the Oni Agent. He had led his forces in retaking the base while preventing more Skulls from pouring into Detrick.

  They neared the NEC, and the unmistakable smell of death hit Dom. Several Humvees idled in front of the building. Rifles and other weapons leaned against the brick wall. Beside them, green canvas sheets were draped over dozens of bodies laid out in the parking lot. Soldiers moved between the corpses. Some spoke into radios. Others dashed in and out of the NEC. A contingent of men and women brought empty stretchers through the front door and came back out with a body on their stretcher. Dom and Meredith moved aside when two soldiers carried one of their fallen brethren past.

  A man with a dark complexion and short-cropped black hair stepped forward and offered his hand. “Dominic Holland and Meredith Webb, I presume.”

  Dom and Meredith shook his hand in turn.

  “I’m Commander Sergeant Major Jackson.” He held the door open and ushered them in. “Acting Commander Shepherd is in the middle of talks with Fort Bragg and told me to watch for you. Your comm specialist, Adam Galloway, is already here. Are we waiting on anyone else?”

  “No, I don’t believe so.” Dom considered his crew members at the shelter. Renee had been attacked by a Skull and was still being given the chelation and antibiotic therapy that his medical team had claimed would eliminate the Oni Agent. Miguel and Hector had stayed with her and were helping the medical personnel as best they could with the other patients. And their pilot, Frank, was tending to their chopper for a return trip to the Huntress.

  As Meredith followed Dom inside, the rattle of gunfire burst about two hundred yards away at another gate. It sounded far more substantial than the sporadic small arms fire that had thus far punctuated their time at the base.

  Meredith paused at the entryway. “What the hell’s going on?”

  Jackson held his radio up. “South gate, Command. What’s your status?”

  Dom squinted at the scene as soldiers ran to the gate. The structure hadn’t yet been reinforced with the current construction efforts.

  Static crackled over the radio, followed by a panicked voice. “Command, we’ve got contacts...breaking...overrun!”

  “Shit.” Jackson stepped out and called to the soldiers working around the NEC. “Stop what you’re doing and head to the southern gates!”

  Without delay, the men and women piled into the Humvees. The vehicles tore off across the grass between the buildings. Even from this distance, Dom could see Skulls climbing through the razor wire to get inside Detrick. The breach was only a few blocks from the gymnasium and fitness facility with the civilian shelter where Dom’s Hunters and family were. He grabbed his rifle. “Let’s get the hell down there!”

  -2-

  Dom readjusted his grip on his rifle, anxious to get to the civilian shelter—and to his daughters.

  “Private!” Jackson called into the interior corridor of the NEC. A lanky young man rushed to his side. “Let’s move!”

  “Yes, sir!” The private sprinted toward a jeep across the lot. He hopped inside it, and the engine revved.

  Jackson picked up one of the M16s sitting outside the NEC. He offered a second to Meredith, and she accepted it. She and Dom slid in the back of the vehicle
. The private punched the accelerator, and they took off.

  Ahead, soldiers retreated to the cover of buildings. More Skulls poured through the breached gate. Some, freshly turned, appeared no different from normal humans. Others exhibited all the outward symptoms Dom had seen on the IBSL: arms ended in long claws, gnarled skeletal protrusions burst from their shoulder blades, spikes jutted out from their joints, and bony cages formed around their chests. Horns graced a few of their heads like morbid crowns, and fins stuck out from the spines of others. Their voices carried up in a thunderous roar of snarls and guttural screams.

  A single Skull led the pack, running low with its arms outstretched. Soldiers fired frantically at the monster, and bone fragments chipped off from its organic body armor as it charged. A round finally caught the beast in its face. It crumpled forward and slid across the grass. Others jumped over its body, eager to take its place and lead the hunt.

  Dom eyed the commissary near the Provost Marshall’s office. The building was the only structure standing between the Skulls and the gym-turned-shelter. The beasts were closing in on it.

  The jeep hit a rut, and the private struggled with the steering wheel. The vehicle bounced and twisted to the side, almost spilling Dom and Meredith. Dom tightened his grip around a rail, his knuckles turning white, and clenched his jaw. He kept his eyes on the surging wave of Skulls.

  “Put us at their flank,” Jackson said.

  Already, more soldiers were retreating to the Provost Marshall’s office. The Skulls continued to heave themselves over the gate. Some caught their legs or arms in the razor wire surrounding the entrance, but they lashed forward relentlessly. Their flesh tore and peeled as they persisted, and soon they flopped onto the grass within the fort.

  “What the hell set off this attack?” Meredith asked as the jeep skidded to a stop.

  “Don’t know,” Dom said, jumping over the side. “All it takes is one of them to get riled up.” He turned to Jackson as the man leapt out. “You need to make sure your men understand that, Sergeant Major. Staying out of sight is key to survival.”

  “Our people are aware,” Jackson said. “And when we kick these bastards out of here again, I’ll make sure every goddamn enlisted and civvy behind our walls understands how serious this shit is.”