Jeb felt it suck toward his skin and almost attach to him. “What the hell?”
“Life system monitor,” Sam explained. “That is connected to somewhere in their camp. If that ceased to send a life signal after a minute, it would alert the others.”
Bishop asked, “Are our anatomical systems that similar?”
“Similar enough,” Sam said. “So it was a wise choice to check him out first.”
Jeb squatted down next to Sam. “He is very human like. Hairy but human.” Jeb reached for the mouth of the Loomis and exposed its teeth. “The incisors are bigger, and overall the other teeth seem bigger as well. I’m thinking we need to take one of these things back to the garage and do an autopsy.”
Tate laughed out a ‘What?’
“Seriously.” Jeb stood up. “This is the enemy. This is what wants our world. Yeah, Sam and Mas can tell us all about them. But I want to know myself just how much like us they really are. I wanna know their weaknesses and how to kill them.”
Tate nodded in agreement.
“All well and fine,” Bishop said. “And I agree. But who the hell is gonna do it? Robi? Doc?”
“Doesn’t matter,” Jeb said. “We know as men what works in us. I think we’re smart enough to open it up and see what it has. In the meantime.” He pointed to the door. “That leads to a long hall. I’m gonna see where it goes, and if it’s clear then we’ll go from there.” After one more look at the Loomis, Jeb went inside.
The hall was exactly as Jeb expected - long, wide, and white.
He could see a service entrance of some kind at the end of another set of doors. Those, however, were open and a burst of daylight made its way through.
That hallway led him to the first level concourse area. It brought back memories of his youth, going weekly to the ballpark in Cleveland, hearing the sounds. Only there were no people coming through the gates, no fans pushing through the concourse to get the refreshments before taking a seat.
But there were other sounds.
Clanking, metal, electronic, and voices. Deep voices that echoed to him through the galleys of the ball park stadium.
They came from one place.
The field.
It was like that one summer when he had worked as an usher and he arrived early at the stadium to hear the players warming up.
The field was large and echoing. Many singers hated to do the National Anthem because the voices would flow back to them causing mistakes.
Those were the reflective sounds that Jeb heard.
Back against the wall, he checked the concourse to see if he could see anything. It was empty, and he darted across the way to gate B, Level 1. He wasn’t going to go into the seating are, but he was able to peek enough from his third base angle to see the activity on the field.
There were four metal structures, like housing, that were positioned on the first base line. A small vehicle moved across the dirt. He spotted what looked like the smaller craft that Sam had mentioned, and, unable to be missed, taking up most of the field was the larger one.
It had to be two stories high, and it left Jeb breathless.
The four Loomis that he could see appeared to be working on something, their hands moving about on what looked like a computer seemingly dangling from mid air.
Having seen enough, Jeb hurried back.
He had it in his mind what he would tell the others, how they would go in and take a sniper position in the stands and take out the Loomis. It looked east enough.
Jeb expected to see Tate, Bishop, and Sam when he emerged, but what he wasn’t expecting to see was a newcomer.
It was a man, in his late twenties, dressed like a soldier in combat gear, less the helmet. He had been crouched over the Loomis and stood when Jeb walked out.
“Who’s this?” Jeb asked.
“Higgs. Sergeant Brandon Higgs. United States Army.” He extended his hand to Jeb.
“Is an arm of the military still up and running?” Jeb asked.
Tate interjected, “I asked the same thing.”
Higgs shook his head. “Not officially. There are some of us that didn’t make it to Andrews Air Force Base. We were going to but the signal stopped, and we were tapping in and listening to a group in Nevada. That signal stopped as well.”
“Both sites are dead,” Jeb told him.
“We figured as much. So we were hanging back plotting our next course of action, maybe the fight against whatever is coming. Join forces with people.”
“I think we’re all on the same thought process,” Jeb told him. “So you have a group of people?”
“A lot,” Higgs answered.
“How many is a lot?”
“One seventy five.”
Jeb exhaled with a breathy whistle. “That’s a lot.”
Bishop added, “They’ve been pretty lucky. They’ve only dealt with the dogs. The Atranda haven’t touched them, and of course they didn’t return the contact.”
Higgs shrugged. “Who knew if someone was listening, right?” He looked down at the Loomis. “So this is what wants our planet. Your scientist guy told me this is just a surveillance Tara team.”
“And we gotta take them down,” Jeb said. “I spotted four inside all cozy on the infield. This one makes five.”
Tate said, “So we’re missing one or more.”
“One is just inside the main gate,” Higgs said. “With one of my guys. That’s how I spotted you. That thing shot him and two more of my people and took our man. I followed.”
Jeb nodded. “We did the same. They took one of ours. A little girl.”
“I’m sorry.”
“So are we. Tate,” Jeb nodded. “Give him one of your tranquilizer guns.”
Higgs gave a surprised look. “Tranquilizer guns? Why don’t we just shoot them?”
“We are, but we are taking them out in a sure fire way.” Jeb handed him the weapon. “The darts are filled with alcohol, which is instant poison to them. That’s why they touch no one that drinks it or smokes tobacco products.”
Higgs nodded as he took the weapon. “Man, you guys know a lot about them. How?”
Jeb pointed to Sam. “He does. You can say he’s not from around here.” He stepped back and checked the hall. “Okay, we’ve wasted enough time. Let’s get in there, get this done. Fast and quiet. Sam, stay with our specimen. You guys …Follow me.” With a wave of his arm, Jeb led the way.
Like Higgs had said, one of the Loomis was by the front gate. They had to get him before they hit the stands. From what Jeb saw, they needed to sneak in just behind home plate and the dugouts to be able to get close enough to hit the Loomis with accuracy.
They couldn’t afford to miss.
One miss would alert their presence. They had to be accurate and synchronized.
The Front Gate Loomis was oblivious to everything. His head moved back and forth as if he were listening to music while standing before the counter of Lou’s Diggity Dog concession stand. Before him, on the metal counter, was a body.
Jeb heard a slight groan come from Higgs when the arm of the man dropped down. He looked back at Higgs, giving him a compassionate look.
The Loomis was doing something to the man. The body shook slightly as the Loomis moved its hands about, but Jeb couldn’t see what it was. He signaled to Bishop. Without speaking, he told him to take aim, shoot, and then Jeb pointed to his own chest conveying he’d handle the rest.
Bishop nodded, took a step forward, and extended his weapon.
Not a sound. Not a peep.
Jeb nodded.
The dart gun ‘popped’, and just as the head of the Loomis cocked at the sound, the dart sailed into the back of his neck.
His hand shot up to it, grabbed hold of the dart, and he turned.
Jeb had anticipated that and was upon the Loomis before the beast could register what was happening. Shoulder first, Jeb rammed into him sending him back and to the ground. He held him there with everything he had, and the Loomis fought and st
ruggled.
‘Why won’t he stop?” Jeb thought. ‘Why isn’t the alcohol kicking in?’
The Loomis swung up, freeing his arm and nailing Jeb in the side of the face. It was stronger than Jeb had expected. The blow hurt and knocked Jeb off balance and task and away from the Loomis.
Front Gate Loomis scurried to his knees, grabbed Jeb, and stopped.
Jeb smiled.
His grip lessened and then finally released just before the Loomis’ eyes rolled back and he fell to the side.
Jeb swing down, grabbing the life signal monitor from it and walking to Bishop. He put it on Bishop’s chest. “Your kill, your trophy. Let’s go.”
Tate asked. “You okay? You’re bleeding.”
Jeb reached up to his eye and to the cut right below it. “I’ll be fine. Let’s go.” He started to lead but stopped when he saw Higgs. Higgs was walking to the body of his friend.
“Hold on,” Jeb said and met up with Higgs. He saw the reason Higgs lowered his head. The chest cavity had been cut open and a tube inserted, draining the blood and fluid into a pouch like an embalming process. “I’m sorry,” Jeb told him. “I am. We won’t leave him here, I promise.”
“I know. I just …” Higgs looked up at Jeb. “I hope they didn’t do this to that little girl.”
Jeb closed his eyes and thought of Eva. More than anything he wanted to hope her body wasn’t desecrated like the man’s, but a part of him knew better because he was seeing what they were dealing with.
With a simple, ‘me, too’, Jeb placed a hand on Higgs’s shoulder, gave one firm squeeze, then led the way into the baseball stadium to finish the job.
Or at least try.
<><><><>
It was far too easy, almost like the calm before the storm. It reminded Jeb of all the alien movies he had ever seen. An unsuspecting scientific team from Earth gets taken out one by one. That was exactly what Jeb and his team did to the Loomis. They were sitting ducks, unaware of anything but their own work.
A synchronized shot from Tate, Bishop, Higgs and Jeb was all it took.
The Loomis didn’t even have time to scurry for weapons.
They descended upon the camp, looking for more Loomis and more never came.
“For right now,” Sam explained, “any Loomis we see will be scientists. Just like the attack came in waves, so will the Loomis. The most dangerous are the next wave. They will be soldiers and builders and waiting to clear the Earth. For them, we have to prepare for war. If we stop them, we stop the colonization.”
“What about taking out all the science teams?” Jeb asked. “Won’t they feel it’s a hostile planet and change their mind?”
“They might,” Sam replied. “Then again, they might increase the next wave.”
“Which could be years,” Jeb said. “Right? We don’t know how far out they are.”
Sam nodded.
They spread out. Jeb couldn’t make heads or tails out of the equipment, although Sam could, and that was fine with Jeb. He only wanted to find Eva.
Pair off, partner up and go. The Baseball field held a few structures, one Land Rover, a large craft, and the smaller one.
Sam immediately went to the larger craft. He assured Jeb that it wasn’t carrying Loomis. All that Loomis they had seen on the field had been a skeleton crew.
Bishop was the one who found Eva, rather, what remained of her. He and Higgs had just finished checking a structure that appeared to be more like a living structure, something that looked like beds and a table. Everything was huge as if Bishop had stepped into a real life version of Goldie Locks and the Three Bears. Only he wasn’t interested in eating their porridge.
Remnants of a meal remained on the table. It was green and brown, covered in gravy. Some sort of unleavened bread was there as well. Bishop didn’t want to smell the contents of the bowls, because he feared what it was.
They had brought clothing, but it was only uniforms. He knew they’d have to quickly wipe out the camp when Mas arrived, taking anything and everything that could be of value.
It was in the second building where they found Eva and the remains of what Bishop guessed were three others.
The long, metal tube building was gray and thick on the outside; the huge sliding door brought him into a clinical and clean environment.
There was a sour smell that permeated the air, and it wasn’t pleasant. Before stepping even a foot into the building, Higgs said, “Bodies. Recently deceased.”
Bishop brought his shirt over his nose and drew back a curtain. It was bitter cold in the building, and Bishop and Higgs crossed the threshold into the main room. His eyes sifted about taking it in, and after only a few moments, Bishop backed up, raced from the building, heaved in one breath of fresh air, and vomited.
Tate saw this. He drew his brother’s attention and raced across the field to Bishop. “Bishop?” Tate called him.
Bishop could barely stand. His legs wobbled, and after moving around in a confused circle, hands to his head, he dropped to the ground and began to sob.
“What the hell?”
Bishop peered to Tate. “We don’t stand a chance.”
“What?” Tate asked confused.
Jeb arrived. “What happened? What’s in there?”
At that moment, Higgs stepped out. He placed a hand to Jeb’s chest, stopping him from going inside the structure. “You … you don’t want to go in there. I’ve seen a lot in combat, but I have never seen this.”
“I appreciate it,” Jeb said. “But one of our people is in there, and I need to see. I need to know what to tell her father.”
“You can’t tell her father this,” Higgs replied.
Jeb reached for the door and stopped. “Are you serious?”
Higgs nodded.
Jeb took a deep breath. “Thank you.”
Tate walked to the door. “I’ll go with you.”
“Me, too.” Higgs followed both Hoyt brothers as they entered the structure.
It was no less than a meat market, a butcher’s freezer at a local meat store.
Torsos that had been cut in two with the internal organs removed hung by hooks, looking more like sides of beef from a cow than humans. Legs and arms dangled without hands or feet. By Jeb’s estimate there were three people.
“How many are you missing?” Jeb asked Higgs.
“Just our one guy. We found him.”
“So there have to be more survivors around Los Angeles than we know of. We have to look for them before we move out. This …” Jeb coughed a gag back. “This and our taking over this camp isn’t going to be well received. We have to move fast as soon as our injured are ready to go.”
“I agree,” Higgs said. “Is one of these your missing girl?”
“I think.” Jeb guessed by the size of one body that it was Eva. He wasn’t sure until he heard that painful groan from Tate. He turned; Tate was across the room, arms on a table. “Tate?”
Without looking, Tate pointed backwards.
Jeb needed only to take a few steps before he saw it. It was a garbage can of sorts and in it were hands, feet, and heads. Severed heads. The heads had been split in two like coconuts, probably to remove the brains. The question of Eva’s fate was answered. Her beautiful face stared out from the can of remains.
“Jeb,” Tate’s voice cracked. “What do we do?”
“We ... we bring her home to her father.”
“What? Like that?” Tate asked. “We can’t tell Parker this happened. He doesn’t deserve this pain.”
“And he doesn’t deserve for us to withhold the truth. He doesn’t need to see, but he needs to know,” Jeb said. “We take her home. We... take them all home. We pay respects and we vow to make sure this doesn’t happen to anyone again.” He laid a firm hand on his brother’s back and lowered close to Tate, whispering, “Get it together, little brother. Get it together. We have a lot of work … and this … this is just the beginning of it all.”
Chapter Fourteen – Back Track
July 22nd - Los Angeles, CA
On the third level of the garage in the far corner, the Corpsman set up his makeshift hospital. He conveyed to Michael how happy he was that Michael was so anal about the supplies. That area of the mall was probably used for small recitals or pageants, maybe even for Santa. The Corpsman used the backstage curtain partition dividers as room dividers. Michael felt well and he emerged from his area. In fact, he had felt well enough an hour earlier, but Doc insisted he wait and rest.
Doc told him all that he knew.
Doc.
After speaking to him, Michael would have never believed it was the same elderly man that he was told months earlier was in the mid to later stages of Alzheimer’s, a condition which had been fixed by Martha. Another thing Michael wouldn’t have believed it he didn’t see it for himself...
He paused at placing on his shirt to look at the two small circular scars on his chest, scars that weren’t there earlier and which now looked years old.
“How are you feeling?” the Corpsman asked, as he was seated at a small table with Doc.
“Fine.” He peeked into the partition to his left. Parker was sound asleep. “Him?”
Doc answered, “The baby worked her magic. He’ll be fine. As soon as Martha rests up, we’ll send her in with Robi.”
“Any word from Jeb and the others?”
Both Doc and the Corpsman shook their heads.
He took a step toward Robi’s partition area and Nick emerged.
“You’re up and about,” Nick said, lacking his usual upbeat nature. “You look good.”
“How’s your mom?”
“She just woke up.”
“Mind if I go see her?” Michael asked.
“No, I’m gonna go get some water.”
In passing Nick, Michael touched Nick’s shoulder and paused at the curtain to look upon Robi. She lay in bed, semi sitting up. Her head was down and she didn’t move.
“Hey,” Michael whispered.
Robi lifted her head. Her face was pale, eyes dark, but more predominate than that was her sadness.
The Last Mile Trilogy Page 62