“Holmes,” Reyes said, “keep an eye on him, yeah?”
“Sure,” Holmes said back.
After clearing her throat, her voice still tight with fear, Reyes addressed the others as she set off again. “We’re doing this. Keep moving, keep slow, and keep your wits.”
Chapter 18
Ten hours ago. Eleven dead.
Reyes saw some of the troops were losing their heads. Patel looked on the edge. He hadn’t said much for the past few hours and had chewed his fingernails to the point where they bled. No one had offered a comment on her plan other than the WO. No one else had rejected it though.
Silence hung in the shuttle almost as heavily as the thick heat. Restless, muted frustration radiated from the Commandos. Maybe they saw Reyes’ logic and were behind her plan. Surely they would have backed the WO up otherwise. Besides, they had to try something. It didn’t take a genius to see they were running out of time.
Reyes continued to look outside. To understand the monsters could be the thing that got them out of there. The temperature had risen to forty-three degrees Celsius and the sun continued to rise in the sky. They had about an hour before their final two-minute window opened up. If they went with her plan, that is.
When Reyes looked at the WO, he returned the gesture with one of his long stares. She’d been nothing but trouble for him. While continuing to glare at her, he shook his head and picked up the radio mic.
The collective attention turned on him.
“Crimson Destroyer,” he said, his normally thick voice weak with fatigue. His pain had clearly chipped away at him over the past few days. “This is Shuttle Eight Seven Four.” Another look at Reyes as if giving her a chance to change her mind. When she didn’t, he said, “We have a plan. Over.”
The other Commandos shifted in their seats. Finally, they could take action. Even if that action resulted in death. At worst, they’d only be speeding up the inevitable.
“Go ahead, Eight Seven Four. Over,” the crackly female voice replied.
“We’ve run out of water, I’ve hurt my leg and need medical assistance, and you can’t wait forever, right? Over.”
“Correct. Over.”
“So it would seem we have to do something. We have to make this play at some point; otherwise we’re all going to die in this sardine can. Over.”
Reyes turned to the creatures outside again and watched them walk around the sandy space. An already dry throat turned even dryer with her nerves. But she couldn’t think about everyone dying because of her. No one else had offered a solution. Her course of action would be better than the alternative, regardless of the consequences.
“Okay, what do you need from us? Over,” the radio operator said.
“The creatures will go into their shells shortly like they always do at the brightest point in the day. We’re going to collect as many torches as we can from the fallen Commandos. Over.”
“Torches? Over.”
“We …” the WO paused.
When Reyes turned to him, she saw his heavy frown fixed on her.
“Reyes thinks the creatures pull into their shells when it gets too bright. Our torches should be bright enough to trigger that reaction. We’ve seen it happen already.”
The hiss of static came back at the WO.
“So we’re going to get the torches and then leave this shuttle at twenty-two hundred hours. Over.”
“The darkest part of the night? Over.”
“It’ll make the torches more effective.” The WO sighed. “We hope it will make the torches more effective. Over.”
Everyone stared at Reyes.
“But we’ve been watching the creatures,” the radio operator said. “They go nuts in the night. Over.”
After a long sigh, the WO ran a hand over his thick head of grey hair. It had turned greasy with the sweat of the last few days. “It’s the best we’ve got. Can you just make sure someone’s ready to meet us? Over.”
“No problem. We can wait for you to try this. Over.”
“Thank you. Hopefully see you soon. Over and out.”
Once the conversation ended, the WO looked at Reyes. She nodded at him and then looked at the outside temperature again. Forty-four degrees Celsius. A glance at the sun and she saw it had climbed higher in the sky.
Chapter 19
Now. Thirteen dead.
The moon shone down on Reyes and the others as they moved slowly into the cold night. Every step forward pulled them away from the sanctuary of the crashed shuttle. The sanctuary and prison of the crashed shuttle.
They had to keep moving forward. “We need to pick up our pace a little,” Reyes called. They’d told the Crimson Destroyer they’d be five to eight minutes; hopefully, they’d live up to that promise.
Reyes led the line with her torches raised. They still had a perimeter of about three metres. If they worked as a team, they should be able to get out of there like she’d hoped.
The cold bite in the air sank its teeth into Reyes, combining with the adrenaline in her blood and sending a heavy shake through her. It turned her stuttered breaths into condensation.
Although she glanced behind once or twice, Reyes fought to keep her attention in front of her. Especially with how the WO scowled at the blinding light of her head torch each time she did it. She looked at the beasts. She looked at the unknown darkness beyond them. Everything seemed farther away at night.
The slow thudding march of the creatures’ heavy footsteps kept in time with the Commandos. When the beasts breathed, their throats rattled as if they had a loose flap in them. Every time they moved their heads—sweeping them side to side like they had during the day—their blood-red eyes caught the light from the torches. Deep detached pits, they contained the hunger to destroy and nothing else.
“Is everyone okay?” Reyes said, watching the creatures increase in number around them.
The group continued to shuffle forward, but no one replied. And how could they? How could anyone be okay with their current situation?
“WO?” Reyes asked.
“Just focus on you,” came the grizzled reply from the wounded man in the middle of them. His pain rode his words, the walk clearly a great strain for him.
Where Henry had been a team member, and a colourful one at that, he now served as no more than a marker for Reyes. Their dead brother—the Marine closest to the shuttle—they moved past him as they plunged farther into the cove. They were finding their rhythm and picking up the pace a little. Good job. Maybe they would get out of there in time.
More creatures appeared around the Commandos the deeper they walked into the cove. Now thirty of the things at least, more were coming all the time. The darkness made it hard to tell exact numbers. All of them clearly waited for their one chance to tear what remained of the platoon to shreds.
Reyes kept her eyes up when they passed Huat, Carlile, and McTavish. Bodies without heads and heads without bodies. At least their deaths had been quick. On some planets, against other creatures, they would have suffered more. Apparently on Manixed, they had a tiny parasite that ate away beneath the skin until it fell off like an oversized epidermal suit. It was rumoured to be the most painful death in the known universe. Not that it helped her feel any less sad about her dead friends.
The moon lit up the narrow pass at the end of the cove and ran a silver highlight over the landscape. It showed the moving beasts as more of the creatures streamed in and joined those already around them. A steady stampede of the things, they’d all turned up in the hope the Commandos would falter.
“There’s hundreds of them,” Patel said, panic rising in his voice.
“Keep your head,” Reyes shot back. “They’re not getting any closer because they can’t. As long as we keep this up, we’ll be okay. It doesn’t matter how many arrive. Everyone just needs to stay calm.” It took all she had to keep the warble from her voice.
They finally passed the lump of sand where Adoteng had been laid to rest. It felt like a l
ifetime ago since they’d ventured out of the shuttle for the first time to bury her. The exhaustion in Reyes’ bones trebled to think of the past few days.
Once they’d passed Jones’ body, Reyes nodded to herself. It served as a landmark to show them they’d made it farther out than anyone else.
Reyes looked at the creatures. Still pressed back by the light, she nodded again. “We’re doing this, guys. We’re going to get out of here.” Hopefully all the grenades had gone off around them. They didn’t need to stand on one like the last team had.
The narrow pass stretched less than ten metres wide. When the Commandos entered it, their torchlight hit the walls on either side. It left no space for the creatures, who had to walk in front of and behind them until they stepped out of the other end.
With the walls lit up, the glow brighter than before, the effect seemed more obvious. It started as just a flicker and Reyes turned to see which Commando had lowered their beam. It came from Patel’s direction. Again! “Patel, what the hell are you doing?”
Before he could reply, his torch blinked out.
“Patel?” Reyes said again. “What’s happening?”
The crack of Patel hitting his torch snapped through the tight passage. “It’s stopped working,” he said.
“What do you mean?”
“I dunno. It’s like the charge has run out.”
Reyes freed the third torch from her helmet and passed it back to him. “Here, use this one.”
The WO spoke up next. “Did you not think about the solar charge?”
A look at Patel and Reyes saw him discard the torch attached to his gun. He replaced it with the one she’d sent back. She then looked at the WO. “Many of the torches have been outside for hours, if not days. And we’ve not used the ones inside. I figured they’d all be fully charged.”
“The ones we had inside might still be okay, although the heat might have gotten to them. And you know some suns give off a different solar power, right?”
“And you’re telling me this now?”
“I didn’t think about it before.”
Before Reyes could snipe back at the WO, another torch flickered against the wall of the narrow pass. The creatures in front of and behind them became more animated, their rattling breaths speeding up.
“Shit,” Reyes said.
Chapter 20
Now. Thirteen dead.
By the time they’d travelled the length of the twenty-metre-long pass, they were six torches down. Reyes kept two at the front and Austin—who’d swapped places with Patel—kept two at the back. The WO had handed over both of his torches already.
The strong beam in front of and behind the group kept the creatures about three metres away. Although, they’d have to step out of the narrow pass at some point. When they did that, the light wouldn’t be as strong on either side of them. It could prove fatal.
However, if they waited in the tight passage, they’d run out of light completely. “We need to keep moving,” Reyes said. “Keep all of your torches raised and keep shining them at the approaching creatures. Hopefully we’ll have enough light to get us to the LZ.”
“Hopefully?” the WO said, but Reyes ignored him.
First out of the narrow pass, Reyes’ heartbeat shook her entire frame. As the others followed her, she slipped her finger over the trigger of her gun and watched the slathering beasts in front.
The creatures pushed in much tighter on either side of the group. What had been about thirty to fifty of them before they’d entered the pass had now doubled at least. More were arriving all the time. They towered over the troops, waiting for more light to fail.
Where they’d had three metres, they only had one on either side now. The Commandos became more active with their torches, shining them in the faces of the creatures. It drove back the ones that got too close, the occasional sound of rushing rock as they turned to stone.
“That’s it,” Reyes said. “We can keep them at bay.”
The stink of the monsters intensified the closer they got. Their slathering breaths rattled all around the group, the reek of their halitosis thick because of the density of the crowd. It smelled like they’d eaten meat for their entire lives and never washed their mouths.
Another torch went out. The monsters on that side roared, lunged forwards, and were driven back by Singh, who thrust her torchlight at the closest one. It turned to a pile of rocks and the beasts beside it stepped back while sending frustrated and sharp snaps of their jaws at the Commandos.
Three more torches went in quick succession.
“What the hell are we going to do, Reyes?” Platt said as they redistributed the lights. One each now and none for the WO.
“Are we at the LZ?” Reyes asked.
The WO said, “I don’t know. They said when we get out of the passageway, they should be able to land.”
The moonlight showed Reyes they were in a wide-open space. It should be large enough for the Crimson Destroyer to touch down. But with such poor visibility because of the thick press of beasts, she couldn’t be sure.
The creatures at the front and back moved in closer. A metre clearance all around, Reyes kept jabbing her torch out to hold them back. Her finger tensed on the trigger of her gun, but she couldn’t shoot. If she fired, the others would too. “Don’t use your weapons,” she said to the group. Although she said it more to remind herself than the others. “The second we fight, we lose our torchlight and they’ll tear us apart.”
The team stopped so Simpson, Platt, and Patel could pull into the middle with the WO. They handed their torches to the ones on the outside. Reyes, Singh, Holmes, and Austin formed a circle around them and kept their torches flashing in the faces of the monsters.
Two more torches went out. Back down to one each. One more and they were done for.
The beast closest to Reyes lurched forwards. She drove it back with her torch on the end of her gun. Then the beam flickered.
Chapter 21
Now. Thirteen dead.
The flicker seemed to last an age, taunting Reyes before her torch finally blinked off. She flinched, closed her eyes, and waited for a large hand to clamp over the top of her head.
Instead, she heard a loud whoom. Bright light came close to blinding her, even through her closed eyelids.
When Reyes opened her eyes, she saw even less, the stark white glare flooding her vision.
After she’d recovered her sight, Reyes looked up to see the vast illuminated ring of a giant ship coming down on top of them. It lit up the landscape as if it were daytime and showed her the extent of the creatures around them.
Hundreds upon hundreds of rock formations littered the ground as far out as Reyes could see. They were milliseconds away from being torn to shreds.
Before Reyes could say anything, a voice boomed down on them through a loudspeaker. “Good work, Shuttle Eight Seven Four, we’re coming down now.”
The huge ship lowered towards them, the ground shaking with the vibration of its large engines. It made sense why they needed a more appropriate LZ now. The Crimson Destroyer might have fitted in the cove, but the needle-like rocks would have made it impossible to land without taking damage.
The ship whipped up the air around them, tossing Reyes’ hair and creating a sandstorm. She hugged herself for warmth and flinched against the blasting from the tiny grains as she waited for the vessel to land.
The Crimson Destroyer touched down with a loud thud. A hatch opened and a ramp extended from it.
Reyes stood to one side and ushered the other Commandos on before her. She watched the rocks around them, her finger still on the trigger of her gun. The beasts probably wouldn’t come to life, but she couldn’t risk it.
One by one, the Commandos patted her shoulder before jumping onto the ship.
The WO took up the rear, and when he got there, he nodded into the Crimson Destroyer. “After you, rookie.”
A shake of her head and Reyes smiled at him. “I led this mission. I g
o last.”
The WO smiled back. She hadn’t seen him do that in months. The slight glaze of tears covered his steel-grey eyes and he stared at her for a moment, taking her in like he used to when she was a kid. “You know I had to go hard on you, right?”
Reyes nodded.
“Well done.” His voice wavered from his emotions threatening to disarm him. He cleared his throat. “We would have all died were it not for you.”
Reyes smiled back, resisting the urge to hug him. They’d lost too many people already, but they hadn’t lost them all. She’d grieve when she got home. For now, she needed to be thankful. “Thanks, Dad. I like to think I learned from the best.” She winked at him. “Now get your old arse on that ship.”
Ends.
Thank you for reading 120-Seconds - A Shadow Order Story.
This book is set in The Shadow Order universe (Reyes appears in book four). For more stories in this world, download book one for FREE here:
THE SHADOW ORDER
Praise for The Shadow Order:
5 Stars *****
Great story and great characters . Science fiction in the grand tradition. I can't get enough! - Amazon Customer
5 Stars ******
If I could give him 6 stars I would. - Amazon Customer.
5 Stars *****
The best space opera I have read in a long time. Fits with the best of sci fi writers. - Amazon Customer
Would you like to get the first two books in The Shadow Order and several other books in my catalogue for FREE? If so, join my spam-free mailing list HERE
The Alpha Plague - Books 1 - 8: A Post-Apocalyptic Action Thriller Page 165