“Clear,” I heard Marko say.
“Clear,” echoed McBride.
Before I could say anything, the stillness was shattered by the sound of distant Shriekers taking up the alarm. I turned and cocked my head to the side. It seemed to be coming from all directions. There wasn’t a clear path, now.
“Go forward or go back?” asked Marko in a worried tone.
“Fuck it,” I replied. “Any direction we go, we fight. Might as well keep moving forward.”
With that, we headed out at a much faster pace. Stealth was a moot point, now. The dead knew we were there and it was much better to move fast than to wait for them to come find us. We continued down the tunnel, slowing only to check the occasional side tunnel. Fortunately, we didn’t find any dead in the immediate area, but we could hear them coming. From the sound of the approaching feet, there were more than a few Sprinters down here with us. We needed to move faster.
As we came to a turn in the tunnel, I could see a set of stairs that led up to our right while the tunnel turned sharply to the left. I could hear a lot more of the dead coming from around the bend. I didn’t know exactly how many there would be, but I was pretty sure that I didn’t want to find out.
“Up the stairs,” said McBride, heading up two at a time.
Marko and I took up positions at the bottom of the stairs and sent the others up. Bergelmir started to stand beside me, but I sent him on.
“I need you up there to get those doors open,” I said, nodding. “You’re the strongest.”
Bergelmir scowled, but complied. He headed up the stairs, with Butcher walking up behind him. Once they were all on the stairs, Marko and I began backing up slowly, keeping our weapons trained on the bend in the tunnel. At the first landing, we paused to take better aim. Behind us, I could hear Bergelmir straining against the steel doors. From the sound of the protesting metal, they might not have been opened since the end of World War Two.
Suddenly, the dead began to pour around the corner. They just seemed to keep coming. They were made up of mostly Sprinters and were eating up the ground between us with frightening speed.
“They’re here!” called Marko. “Get those fucking doors open!”
We began engaging targets with as much accuracy as we could muster. For every one we dropped, three more seemed to take their place. Above us, I could hear the others engaging the dead with their own weapons. Marko and I began falling back, moving as fast as we dared without looking where we were going.
“Changing mags!” called Marko.
“Covering!” I bellowed.
Marko dropped his empty magazine and shoved it into his cargo pocket. Instantly he replaced it with a full one and dropped the bolt. He began firing again, just as my weapon clicked empty and the bolt locked back.
“I’m out!” I called. “Changing mags!”
“Covering,” he replied.
I dropped my empty and shoved a fresh one in, releasing them both all in one swift motion. I opened fire on the dead that were now advancing up the stairs, nearly reaching the first landing. Above us I knew there was one more landing, and then the door was up one final flight of stairs. If they didn’t get those doors open by the time we reached the next landing, we were going to have to hold the line. We couldn’t back up anymore without getting in the way of the other shooters.
Just as we were reaching the second landing, I heard the shrieking of metal and a grunt of effort as Bergelmir shoved the massive steel doors open. Light flooded in from above us. I knew that we had only seconds to get through those doors and get them shut before the dead arrived. We wouldn’t be able to force the doors shut against that many of them if we didn’t get them closed in time.
“We’re through!” called McBride from above us.
“Go!” I shouted to Marko.
Without hesitation, he turned and sprinted up the remaining stairs. I began backing up the remaining stairs as fast as I could go while maintaining my rate of fire. My magazine clicked empty just as I reached the doorway and I could see my shadow on the concrete from the light behind me. I could also see that the dead were nearly on top of us. Despite our best attempts, they were only a few steps behind me.
“Duck!” bellowed Bergelmir.
Without hesitation, I threw myself to the ground and heard a roar as Bergelmir threw something. In the light from above, I could see it was a large wooden crate. It struck the lead Sprinters and took them backwards down the stairs. Then Bergelmir grabbed me roughly by the ankle and dragged me through the doors.
Instantly, the others began shoving the massive steel doors shut. The metal groaned in protest as they fought valiantly to force them closed. Bergelmir threw his might in behind them and the thick steel doors slammed shut. McBride shot the bolts home and we all began piling heavy wooden crates against them.
By the time we had the third crate in place, we could hear the slapping as dozens of hands began beating against the other side of the door. We all stood for a moment and caught our breath, fighting to control our heavy breathing. We were all exhausted, but we were alive. It might not have been the best escape, but we made it. That was good enough.
“Where the fuck are we?” asked Marko, still breathing heavily.
“Primary Supply,” replied McBride. “Uniforms, boots, and shit like that. We searched this building a while back. We took everything we could use and left a ton of old BDU’s and black boots. This is all stuff that was destined for an Army Surplus store.”
I could see the markings on the crates backed up what McBride had said. I could see listings for uniforms, field jackets, boots and sleeping bags. I hated to see all of this go to waste, but we had bigger things on our plate. We had to get inside that facility and set the power plant to overload. I just hoped that it wasn’t nuclear.
“How close are we to the hospital,” I asked, looking around.
“About four blocks,” said McBride. “Down the road past the Commissary and the Main PX[24] and across the street is the Hospital. We’re going to have to get behind it.”
“Just how big is this complex?” asked Marko.
“I’ve never been inside,” explained McBride, “but I am given to understand that it’s massive.”
“Just tell me that the power plant isn’t a nuclear reactor,” I said, glancing around nervously.
“Geothermal,” said McBride. “It should make one hell of a boom when I overload it.”
“How big of a boom?” I asked, turning to face him.
“If it back flushes throughout the system,” he said, frowning, “it should take out the entire facility.”
“Won’t that take out the entire base?” asked Marko.
The lieutenant seemed to consider that for a moment before answering. It was as if he hadn’t considered what the damage would be above ground.
“Well,” he said, shaking his head, “if it gets the fuel tanks by the airport and the vehicle fuel storage depot, then it will be catastrophic. The entire post will go up with it.”
“Son-of-a-bitch,” breathed Butcher. “We need to not be here when it goes then.”
“Agreed,” I said, nodding. “How long of a delay will we have when you set it to overload?”
“Not long,” he said. “Five minutes at the most. Probably less.”
“Well, then we’re going to have to time this closely,” I replied. “We’ll need to advise the others to be ready to roll out as soon as we give the go signal.”
“How are we going to get out?” asked Bridgett.
“I’ll tell them to leave our motorcycles at the hospital,” I said. “We can exit and run for the bikes. If I am right, we should be on the bikes in three minutes or less depending on how much resistance we run into.”
“If we time it right, we can jump on the convoy as it exits the base,” said Marko.
“That’s one ride we don’t want to miss,” said Butcher.
McBride headed away from the group and began relaying instructions over the radio.
When he returned he told me that they were already loading the vehicles and preparing to move. When they had everything packed and ready to roll, we would hit the generator. I wanted us to wait here until they gave us the all clear to move. It wouldn’t be good for us to set off the generator before they were ready.
We sat for almost half an hour, reloading our weapons and double checking equipment. Once all of that was done, we headed for the upper part of the warehouse. I wanted to get a look around and find the clearest path to the hospital as possible. We couldn’t afford to get bogged down in fighting the dead. If we didn’t make it to the vent shaft, everything was lost. Too much hinged on us completing this mission to fail now.
A few minutes later, we got a signal from First Sergeant Masterson that they were loaded and ready to roll. They were keeping a few men on the walls to make it look like they were still ready to defend against the dead. That way, if the Hrimthurssar were watching, they wouldn’t suspect what we were planning. At least I hoped that they wouldn’t. That would change everything, if they did.
We set out from the warehouse and followed a line of buildings that headed roughly in the direction of the hospital. There were a few buildings that looked totally abandoned, but several where we could see movement through the windows. It was undoubtedly the dead.
Curtains fluttered through shattered windows and the only sound we heard was the wind as it whispered through the ghost of what was once one of the most active military posts in the Midwest. Only the dead remained here, now. This was no longer a place for the living. If the Hrimthurssar had their way, there would be no room left for the living anywhere on earth. This had to end here.
I motioned for the others to stay behind me as much as possible, since I was the only one with a suppressed weapon. I would engage first and try to eliminate the targets with as little noise as possible. If they had to engage with their weapons, it would call every undead in the area down on us. It might also alert the Hrimthurssar to our presence. Stealth was now more critical than it had ever been before. We had to get through.
As we crept past the Commissary building, I could see where the windows had been busted out and the place had been thoroughly raided by scavengers. Several vehicles were left behind in the parking lot, looking like burned out echoes of what they had once been. There was so much death and destruction everywhere we looked, it was hard to believe anyone had survived here.
The Main PX wasn’t in any better shape. The front had been smashed open by what looked like someone driving a vehicle through the entrance. I could see a few of the dead milling around inside the building, but we had no need to go in. It was in our best interests to not be seen. Although it would take us out of our way, I decided to go around behind the building rather than risk exposure. I was glad that I did.
As we were creeping around to the back of the building, I could see where the loading dock doors had been ripped open as well. I glanced inside and could see all the way through the store. In the darkened interior, silhouetted against the light coming in from the other side was the movement of dozens of the dead. If we had gone around the front, they would have undoubtedly seen us. At the back, we could crouch beneath the loading dock and sneak past them.
When we reached the street that ran between the PX and the Hospital, I could see a few abandoned cars but no sign of the dead. I briefly considered going across one at a time, but dismissed it. We crouched low and headed off together, moving fast and staying between the cars.
As we passed between two vehicles, I could see one of the dead watching us as we passed. It was seat-belted into the driver’s side of a little pick-up. As it opened its mouth, I wasn’t sure if it was going to screech or not, so I snap fired a single round through the windshield and into its face. It slumped immediately down against the steering wheel and didn’t raise back up. I couldn’t risk it being a Shrieker. Marko nodded at me in approval and we continued on.
We slipped through some shrubs and into a parking lot behind the hospital. I could see movement in some of the open windows in the upper floors, but nothing on the ground. I knew that we had to move slowly and stay low or the dead inside would see us. If they were to scream or attack, we would be in a lot of trouble.
It took us almost fifteen minutes to sneak up to the back of the building. There were several ventilation units back there, so I had to look at McBride to see if he knew which one it was. It was smart to hide it here with all the others. Who would think to look for the ventilation duct for a secret facility in among all the ventilation units for a large hospital?
McBride checked his notes, and then took us over to the farthest unit away from us. We knelt down beside it and hid between the units. McBride leaned close to me and whispered in my ear so our voices wouldn’t carry.
“This is it,” he said, pointing at the unit. “We need to remove the lock and open the deck. I have enough rope in my pack that we can climb down inside.”
Duck-walking over to the locking mechanism, I looked at the lock and shook my head. It was a massive padlock that had long since rusted shut. I knew I didn’t have any bolt cutters and couldn’t risk shooting the lock. We needed a way to either break or open that lock that wouldn’t alert all the dead in the building.
While I was studying the lock, Bergelmir crouched beside me and began looking over my shoulder. He thought about it for a moment before motioning for me to step aside. I wasn’t sure what he was going to do, but I wasn’t coming up with anything else. Stepping out of the way, I watched him remove a long dagger from his belt and slide the blade through the open part of the lock.
With a glance at me, he began turning the knife over and twisting the lock around and around. He gripped the flat of the blade with one hand and the handle with the other, then kept twisting. He kept the pace slow but steady, and in a few minutes had reduced the steel locking mechanism to a broken wreck. When the steel hasp snapped, it didn’t much noise.
We all glanced around anyway; just to make certain that the noise hadn’t attracted any unwanted attention. We sat in silence for a long while, waiting to make certain that nothing was coming. Once we were satisfied, Bergelmir and I stood up and lifted the big steel grating that covered the vent.
We sat it quietly on the ground and then lifted the fan out of the way. Beneath the fan was an airshaft that led straight down. It was wide enough for us all to fit, but it wasn’t going to be a comfortable passage for Bergelmir. He might lose a bit of skin on some of the edges, but I was sure that he would make it.
“Alright,” I said. “McBride, tie off that rope. I’ll go down first and you can all follow behind me. I would leave some of you up here, but I have the feeling we’re going to be fighting our way out of there.”
“I will come last,” said Bergelmir. “I will cover you all.”
With that settled, I threaded the rope around my waist and started to step inside. Just as I was about to step into the shaft, I saw the scared look on Bridgett’s face.
“You ok, kiddo?” I asked.
“I don’t like heights,” she said, glancing down the shaft. “I don’t want to fall.”
“You won’t,” I said smiling. “I’ve seen you dance. You’re too graceful to fall.”
“But that’s dancing,” she replied, shakily.
“So is this,” I said, pointing at the shaft. “Just different footwork. Watch your footing, don’t make a misstep and keep moving down. You’ll be fine.”
“Are you sure?” she asked, trying to smile.
“I’m sure,” I replied. “Besides, I’m going first. If you fall, I’ll catch you. I promise.”
“Ok,” she said, grinning. “I trust you.”
“You come right after me,” I said. “I’ll be waiting for you at the bottom.”
With that, I slipped into the shaft and took up the slack on the rope. Easing into the descent, I let out the rope slowly and watched my movements. I didn’t want to start to twist on the way down. I kept a close eye on the shafts
that I passed on my way, but didn’t see any sign of the dead. After what felt like an hour, I finally felt something solid beneath my feet.
Holding onto the rope with one hand, I pulled my flashlight off of my belt and clicked it on. The plate below my feet was a vent cover that opened into a dark room. It looked like a relay room for the air handlers. There were other shafts that led off of this room with large filters and fans over them all. There was no sign of movement inside.
Holding my breath for the noise I knew was about to come, I kicked downward and knocked the vent open. To my relief it swung downward on a hinge, swinging back and forth. The noise had thankfully been minimal.
Letting out more slack on the rope, I descended to the floor and unhooked myself from it. Then I did a quick search of the room with the light, seeing nothing but a door and a small control console for the air moving equipment. I smiled when I realized I was in a maintenance access way.
Taking out my radio, I activated the set and squelched twice. That was the signal that all was clear. I didn’t want to risk talking out loud until I was sure that there was nothing beyond the door. We couldn’t risk discovery this quickly. I already figured it was going to be a fight to get clear once we set the overload in action.
I waited beneath the shaft and did as promised. When Bridgett’s legs emerged from the shaft, I caught her and lowered her to the ground. She smiled broadly when she saw me, relief evident on her face that the hands that grabbed her didn’t belong to the undead.
“Thanks,” she whispered.
I just nodded and hit the squelch twice more. Taking up station by the door, I knelt down and readied my M-4. I listened for any sound of movement on the other side while I waited for the others to arrive. Once everyone was down, I motioned for everyone to stack up and get ready to move.
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