Crashed

by Eric S. Brown

  “Roger that,” Whitiker answered him.

  “So, Sergeant … Do you have a plan for how things are going to go down once we get there?” Lee asked.

  Sergeant Lopez laughed. “Kill ‘em all and send them to Hell.”

  Lee cocked an eyebrow at the sergeant. “I was being serious, sir.”

  “So was I,” Sergeant Lopez snarled.

  “I guess we’re going to have to wait until we get there and see how things are playing out before we really know what to do,” Lee commented. “Lord willing, we’ll be able to get into the base and join up with Major Dixon’s men easily.”

  “I wouldn’t count on that,” Sergeant Lopez warned him. “For the sound of things, they’re in it deep and barely holding on.”

  “Negative waves, man.” Lee shook his head. “You really need to stop it with them, okay?”

  Sergeant Lopez chuckled. “Are you really referencing Hogan’s Heroes?”

  “It’s a great movie, sir,” Lee replied, grinning. “And Sutherland’s character made a good point. If you expect bad things, bad things are going to happen. You have to be more optimistic, Sergeant … for all our sakes.”

  “Our plan crashed, Jim got torn apart in front of our eyes, we’re running low on fuel, stranded in the fragging arctic, and the only place to run to is under attack by monsters that look like they came marching out of a nightmare, and you want me to be optimistic?” Sergeant Lopez stared at Lee. “You’re kidding, right?”

  “Nope,” Lee said, “law of averages. It’s time something finally went our way.”

  “Whatever,” Sergeant Lopez said, shrugging.

  The storm was still raging but visibility had gotten some better even though the snow was falling as hard as it had been a few hours back. Lee eased up on the Snow Beast’s accelerator as Zulu Base came into view up ahead. He almost wished it hadn’t. Lee swallowed hard as he stared at the horrors surrounding the base. The monsters were difficult to see in the snow as their white hair acted like a natural camouflage, but the base’s exterior lights glowed an odd shade of red, making them easier to spot. He counted dozens of the monsters moving about around the base’s trio of buildings. The fact that the exterior lights were glowing red told him that Zulu Base’s main power was offline. Despite the distance between that remained between the Snow Beast and Zulu Base, Lee could see that the base’s main door had been smashed through and torn from its hinges because the monsters were moving in and out of it. For the looks of things, they had arrived too late to help the base’s staff … and the battle was already over. The monsters had won.

  “Lee …” Sergeant Lopez said. “Kill the headlights.”

  Nodding, Lee shut them off, but it was too late. Several of the monsters had seen and heard the heavy vehicle’s approach. The Snow Beast hadn’t exactly been built for stealth. So far, none of the monsters were coming toward it, though they appeared to be watching it closely.

  “Get on the comm. and see if there’s anyone alive left in there,” Sergeant Lopez ordered.

  “This is Snow Beast Alpha calling Zulu Base. We’ve reached your location and need instructions, over,” Lee called over the comm.

  The only thing that answered him was the crackling of static.

  “Try again,” Sergeant Lopez growled.

  “This is Snow Beast Alpha to Zulu Base, I repeat, we’ve reached your location. Please respond if you can hear me,” Lee pleaded.

  Sergeant Lopez shook his head sadly. “They’re all dead. They have to be.”

  “We don’t know that,” Lee protested.

  “We do … whether or not you’re willing to admit it,” Sergeant Lopez assured him gruffly.

  A massive monster came lumbering out of Zulu Base’s main building. It was so large that it had to duck and squeeze its way through the smashed doorway. The creature looked to be close to ten feet tall. Thick muscles bulged and rippled beneath the white hair that covered its body from head to toe. While the eyes of all the other creatures glowed yellow, its glowed a blazing red. From how the other monsters reacted to it as it emerged from the building, Lee knew it had to be the alpha male. The giant monster turned in the direction of the Snow Beast, looking the heavy vehicle over from where it stood. Lee couldn’t hear it, but the thing looked to be grunting instructions at the other monsters.

  “I think we’re about to be in some serious trouble,” Lee said Sergeant Lopez.

  “This thing has rockets, right?” Sergeant Lopez asked.

  “Two, rear-side mounted for forward deployment,” Lee answered.

  “I’m going to go up into the turret and use the .50.” Sergeant Lopez got up from the passenger seat. “I want you to find Zulu Base’s fuel depot and blow it.”

  “What?” Lee stammered.

  “You heard me, Lee,” Sergeant Lopez said. “Find it and do it. That’s an order. It should set this whole place ablaze.”

  “Roger that,” Lee said. There had been no response to his attempts to contact anyone left alive inside Zulu Base. He still wasn’t ready to write them all off as dead but the sergeant sure had. Blowing the base’s fuel depot would likely set off a series of secondary explosions around the trio of buildings that would scorch them all. Lee had his orders though. He kicked the Snow Beast into gear as the monsters came charging at the heavy vehicle. The Snow Beast shot forward, its engine pushed to the limits.

  He heard the clang of Sergeant Lopez throwing the top hatch open. Within seconds, the roof-mounted .50 caliber let loose a continuous roar of thunder. Through the forward window of the vehicle, Lee could see the monsters moving to intercept the Snow Beast start dropping as Sergeant Lopez cut into their ranks with the .50. The high-powered rounds blew one monster apart, nearly vaporizing the thing’s torso. Other monsters lost arms and legs to the .50 caliber’s unrelenting wrath. Still, the monsters came at the Snow Beast.

  Lee swerved hard to the right to dodge a monster that had closed in below the sergeant’s field of fire and was on a path to smash into the front of the Snow Beast. He heard Sergeant Lopez cursing as the sudden shift in the vehicle’s course bounced him around inside the turret. Whitiker was hanging on for dear life in the Snow Beast’s rear. The wounded man was gritting his teeth as the pain from where the stump of his lost hand had smacked against the Snow Beast’s wall.

  “Watch it!” Sergeant Lopez shouted from the turret.

  The Snow Beast zigged and zagged through the monsters, attempting to close on the base as Lee maneuvered it between and through the three buildings that made up Zulu Base. He scanned the base, desperately hoping to spot its fuel depot. There had to be one to gas up the base’s helicopter and other vehicles. It was just a matter of locating where it was at. Finally, Lee spotted a small structure, too small near the main building and the helicopter landing pads. He jerked the wheel of the Snow Beast, bringing the heavy vehicle around to head for it. Lee had no intention of getting close to the fuel depot; he just needed it lined up with the Snow Beast’s front so he could fire the rear side-mounted rockets into it.

  Sergeant Lopez continued to rake the monsters with fire from the Snow Beast’s top-mounted .50 caliber. Corpses of the monsters he had killed were scattered about between the three buildings of the base in every direction. The monsters were losing too many, too fast for the liking of their alpha. The alpha entered the battle, coming at the Snow Beast from behind it. Sergeant Lopez saw the giant creature coming and tried to bring the .50 caliber around in its direction. The giant alpha was too fast though. It leaped onto the rear of the Snow Beast, its claws tearing into the vehicle’s armor as the monster heaved itself up onto the roof. One of its clawed hands caught the barrel of the .50 caliber as the weapon swung toward it. Metal squealed and bent before the monster snapped the barrel in half. Sergeant Lopez struggled to get his automatic shotgun up through the top hatch but before he could, the claws of the alpha’s hands sunk into his shoulders. Sergeant Lopez screamed as the giant monster yanked him up and out of the Snow Beast. It flung
him from the top of the moving vehicle effortlessly. Sergeant Lopez landed hard on his right shoulder, breaking it. He tried to get to his feet but before he could, half a dozen of the monsters swarmed onto him. Their claws tore his flesh and clothes as their teeth bit away entire chunks of meat from his body.

  Lee could hear the alpha moving about on top of the Snow Beast. “Whitiker!” he yelled.

  Far too large to fit through the turret space, the monster on top of the vehicle remained determined to get inside it. The alpha’s claws plunged through the roof of the Snow Beast, peeling it back. Whitiker stared up into the monster’s glowing red eyes. His bladder let loose, drenching him in his own urine where he sat propped against the rear wall. Whitiker raised his M-16 in trembling hands toward the alpha.

  “What are you waiting for?” Lee shouted. “Shoot it, for frag’s sake!”

  Lee heard Whitiker’s M-16 chattering behind him as the wounded soldier aimed for the alpha’s legs. Whitiker could see that his shots were hitting the monster but his rifle just lacked the power to knock it from the top of the Snow Beast. Whitiker’s fire did distract the monster though and Lee used that to their advantage. Lee swerved the Snow Beast to the left in a break-neck turn that sent the alpha flying from its roof. The giant monster crashed onto its back in the snow. The alpha was on its feet again in the span of a heartbeat. With a roar, it came sprinting after the Snow Beast. The heavy vehicle wasn’t built for speed, but Lee was pushing the Snow Beast to its limits and beyond. Lee got the Snow Beast lined back up to take his shot at the base’s fuel depot. He muttered a prayer as he launched its rockets. They streaked from the sides of the Snow Beast, blazing through the air at their target. Lee yanked the steering wheel, bringing the heavy vehicle into a sharp right turn away from the fuel depot as the rockets struck it. The fuel depot went up a blinding blast of white-hot fire and shrapnel that sent pieces of flaming debris all over the buildings of Zulu Base and the area around it.

  The monsters closest to the blast when the fuel depot went up died instantly as the outward rushing flames washed over them. More screeched and howled as shrapnel from the explosion ripped into them. Lee heard pieces of the shrapnel clanging loudly against the Snow Beast’s armor. The shockwave actually tilted the heavy vehicle onto its side for a fraction of a second before it thudded back onto the snow and kept going with Lee’s foot pressing the accelerator to the floor.

  Secondary explosions began to go off from within the base’s main building as the ordnance that had been stored within them for the Snow Beasts’ shakedown run that Colonel Dyvang was to have conducted went up. The final explosion of the main building where it was stored matched that of the fuel depot’s in fury and power. Dozens of the monsters died. Others ran about, their white hair burning on their bodies as they shrieked in pain.

  The Snow Beast continued on its path away from the burning remnants of Zulu Base. The payback Lee had brought upon the monsters made him smile like a manic, but he knew that he and Whitiker weren’t out of the woods yet. The alpha had followed them away from the explosions and was closing fast on them. A piece of shrapnel had hit the alpha in its upper back. Lee could see the tip of the twisted shard of metal protruding through the monster’s right shoulder. Blood soaked the monster’s white hair around the wound. The alpha was coming at the Snow Beast from an angle that put it on a collision course with its driver’s side. Lee was done with the alpha. It was time to kill the thing or die trying. He spun the Snow Beast’s wheel to turn the heavy vehicle straight at the approaching monster, keeping his foot down on the accelerator. The alpha and the Snow Beast were locked in a game of chicken, and Lee had no intention of being the one that turned away. The Snow Beast plowed into the monster at full speed. Metal met bone in a crash that nearly brought the heavy vehicle to a standstill. For all its strength and power, the alpha was still flesh and bone. The monster gave way against the front of the Snow Beast and was knocked backward, landing in the snow. The Snow Beast bounced over its already wounded body. Bones crunched and flesh ripped beneath the Snow Beast … and then it was over. Lee watched the crushed and crumpled corpse of the dead alpha grow smaller in his side mirror.

  Lee knew the Snow Beast had taken heavy damage from the collision with the alpha. It was limping along, but he was managing to keep it moving. The hole the alpha had torn in the roof let the cold and the falling snow into the vehicle, pushing its heating system to its limits. He shivered from the cold and knew that it would fail soon. Even if it didn’t, the Snow Beast barely had any fuel left in its tanks. It was just a matter of time until the vehicle’s power cut out completely.

  Whitiker had dragged himself from the rear of the vehicle and gotten into the passenger seat with Lee’s help. Lee looked over at him.

  “You still hanging in there?” Lee asked.

  “For now,” Whitiker said, grimacing. The painkillers Sergeant Lopez had shot him up with were wearing off.

  After a long second, Whitiker asked, “Where to now? Back to the Hercules?”

  “No. I don’t think so.” Lee laughed and then pointed in the direction of the rising sun. “That way, I guess.”

  “Do you think we’ll run into any more of those monsters?” Whitiker worried.

  “I doubt it,” Lee answered. “With their alpha dead, the few that were left will likely head back to wherever they came from to begin with.”

  “I hope you’re right,” Whitiker said.

  “Have a little faith, man,” Lee said, smiling. “And remember, no negative waves. Got it?”

  “Yes, sir,” Whitiker said with a chuckle, despite his pain.

  The long night was over with and all they had to do now was survive until help came from the U.S.S. Kennedy. Lee knew that eventually the carrier would dispatch someone to check on Zulu Base. Seeing the base destroyed, he hoped they would begin standard search-and-rescue operations in the surrounding area to look for survivors and stumble onto them in the process. The question was, could the two of them stay alive that long in the cold?

  Pulling and shrugging his parka tighter around him, Lee drove the damaged Snow Beast onward toward the rising sun. The storm had finally ended and a new day was about to begin.

  END

  Read on for a free sample of Bigfoot Awakened.

  Author Bio

  Eric S Brown is the author of numerous book series including the Bigfoot War series, the Kaiju Apocalypse series (with Jason Cordova), the Crypto-Squad series (with Jason Brannon), the Jack Bunny Bam Bam series, and the A Pack of Wolves series. Some of his stand alone books include Casper Alamo (with Jason Brannon), The Roaring, Day of the Sasquatch, War of the Worlds plus Blood Guts and Zombies, World War of the Dead, Monsters of the Reich, Beyond Night, Sasquatch Lake, Kaiju Armageddon, Megalodon, Megalodon Apocalypse, Kraken, Alien Battalion, The Last Fleet, and From the Snow They Came to name only a few. His short fiction has been published hundreds of times in the small press in beyond including markets like the Onward Drake and Black Tide Rising anthologies from Baen Books, the Grantville Gazette, the SNAFU Military horror anthology series, and Walmart World magazine. He has done the novelizations for such films as Boggy Creek: The Legend is True (Studio 3 Entertainment) and The Bloody Rage of Bigfoot (Great Lake films). The first book of his Bigfoot War series was adapted into a feature film by Origin Releasing in 2014. Werewolf Massacre at Hell’s Gate was the second of his books to be adapted into film in 2015. Major Japanese publisher, Takeshobo, recently bought the reprint rights to his Kaiju Apocalypse series (with Jason Cordova) and it is slated for 2018 release in Japan. Ring of Fire Press will be releasing a collected edition of his Monster Society stories (set in the New York Times Best-selling world of Eric Flint’s 1632) later this year. In addition to his fiction, Eric also writes an award winning comic book news column entitled “Comics in a Flash.” Eric lives in North Carolina with his wife and two children where he continues to write tales of the hungry dead, blazing guns, and the things that lurk in the woods.

  Chapt
er One

  The scream shattered the silence of the empty house, echoing through the large space, which only served to amplify the girl’s initial terror.

  “What the fuck, you scared the shit out of me,” Jamie cried out as she spun to face her boyfriend, slapping him playfully on the arm.

  “Woah, you kiss your mother with that mouth?” Colin, her boyfriend of four years, said with a wicked grin on his face.

  “Not anymore, but I do kiss other things.” It was her turn to have a mischievous smile as Colin stared at her.

  “What’s gotten into you?” he asked. “Not that I’m complaining.”

  Jamie looked around before answering. The living room was empty. All traces of the memories built up over the past 18 years were gone, the lives lived, and the lessons learned boxed up and loaded into the back of a moving van.

  “I don’t know, it just seems like a good time for a fresh start; find a new me that I can grow into.” She smiled and wrapped her arms around her boyfriend. “I love you.”

  “I love you too,” he replied, his lips meeting hers. He could feel her heat and knew what she wanted. “Babe, we can’t, we’re already late.”

  His argument was weak and his protestations were more for show, but they both knew he was right. Besides, the movers were coming to collect the rest of the garden furniture and the stuff in the garage. They could arrive at any time, and while she was looking for a way to change her character, becoming an exhibitionist was not on the top five things she had considered.

  “Fine, but once we reach the cabin, I’m rocking your world.” She smiled, and her green eyes seemed to glow with naughty intent.

  “You’re on. Now say your goodbyes, and I’ll throw your stuff in the car.” Colin kissed her on the cheek and walked away.

  Alone, the emotions surprised Jamie. There was the realization that she will never step foot in the house again, the house where she grew up, the place where she learned about life and loss. Her grandfather had passed away in the upstairs bedroom; her brother had been born in it the following spring. She turned in a slow circle, looking at the shading on the wall, spots where until that week photos had been plastered, lauding every aspect of her life and her brother’s.