Military Fiction: THE MAC WALKER COLLECTION: A special ops military fiction collection...

by D. W. Ulsterman

  Cooper gave a brief nod, indicating he was satisfied with Mac’s response.

  “Ok then, I have all the supplies packed up and ready to go. We have enough food and water to last us a few days, which is more than enough to get us to the drop cabin. I would prefer we don’t go near a city or town on the way – the less interaction we have with people the better.”

  Mac pointed off in the direction of the hills they were to be travelling through momentarily.

  “What’s the deal with Canada, Coop? I’ve heard a few things here and there over the years, how it’s been a place for…well, kind of anything goes. But is it really that dangerous? Any more dangerous than say, the Lower 48 and all its compliance officers?”

  “Different kind of danger, Mac, but just as deadly if you’re not careful. I haven’t gone too far into Canada’s interior. Mainly just to the drop cabin I share with my supplier that’s about a full days ride from here. He’s the one who tells me what things are really like in the urban areas. And it’s not good. The Muslims took it over almost entirely about ten years ago. Almost every city, they were dumped into the country by the tens of thousands for several years and were allowed to go after anyone and anything that opposed them. Bloody and brutal. Thousands of beheadings, tens of thousands of women raped. Familes, children…killed during what they called infidel trials.”

  Bear gave a nod toward Cooper.

  “I heard some of that too. Last year a trapper, nice old guy, he said he spent a couple years about twenty miles outside Dawson Creek working several trap lines. He went into the city for supplies one day and saw a woman get her throat cut from ear to ear right in the middle of the street. Her body was left there for the rest of the day as some kind of symbolic gesture to everyone else to not step out of line. They had Sharia Law postings on every street, in every business and there would be a group of twenty or thirty thugs with machetes roaming the streets day and night just looking to go after someone. And Dawson Creek is kind of in the middle of nowhere, right? He said he wouldn’t get caught in some of the bigger cities like Vancouver or Toronto for anything. If Dawson Creek was that scary, those other places have to be total terrors, especially for someone with white skin, or God forbid – openly Christian.”

  “So how much of a chance do we have of actually making it all the way to the priest?”

  Reese’s question remained unanswered for several seconds as Mac looked to Cooper Wyse, who in turn, simply shrugged back at Reese. Finally Mac issued a reply.

  “We make our way carefully. Avoid the urban areas. It’ll take some time, but it can be done. No drones to worry about – at least not that many. No compliance officers, just a whole lot of land and some asshole Muslim fanatics running the cities. That makes it no different than say, Somalia about thirty years ago. I used to go in and out of there regularly. It was never done easy, but it was done. Besides, like was said before – if there’s a weapon out there that can bring down the New United Nations, I’m willing to take that risk. Take any risk if I have to.”

  Cooper looked down at a gold pocket watch that hung from his leather vest and then returned his gaze back to the group.

  “We need to be gettin’. The next drone should be passing over those hills in about an hour. I want us well away and on the other side by then. We need to get to the cabin, and then we can review our route from there. There’s a loaded rifle strapped to the right side of each of your saddles, and a canteen of water. In the pouch right by the horn is one of those handheld short waves you saw in the barn yesterday. Each one is set with an already programmed default frequency. If anyone gets lost, just press the little button on the side and we’ll be able to communicate with each other.

  So, let’s saddle up then and be on our way.”

  Cooper Wyse placed his left foot into a stirrup and swung himself gracefully into the saddle atop his horse – a medium sized chocolate colored mare he called Licorice. He looked back to see Mac doing the same, though with a bit more effort and considerably less grace than Cooper. Reese too struggled just a bit, while Dublin turned to help Bear, who had broken out into a noticeable sweat as he stared at the saddle stirrup.

  “It’s ok, Bear, just put your foot in there, grab the saddle horn and pull yourself up.”

  Bear’s jaw clenched and unclenched as he put his large left foot into the stirrup and grasped the saddle horn tightly with his right hand. After pausing yet again, he closed his eyes and pulled himself up, the considerable weight of his body landing into the saddle causing Bear’s horse to let out a grunt.

  His eyes opened again and Bear looked down at the ground below him, the knuckles of his right hand whitening as his grip on the saddle horn tightened even further. Dublin looked up at Bear and smiled, and then turned and mounted her own horse almost as effortlessly as Cooper Wyse had done his.

  Cooper scanned the property before putting his fingers to his mouth and whistling loudly. Within seconds Brando came running from behind the barn to sit motionless no more than twenty feet from the group, the dog’s eyes looking intently at Cooper for further instructions.

  “Brando! Go! Trail! Trail!”

  Cooper pointed toward the hills behind his property as Brando turned and ran at full speed in the same direction, his red coloring appearing and then disappearing inside the tall grass of the fields.

  Mac smiled at Brando’s impressive display of speed.

  “That is one fast dog there, Coop. What do you have him doing?”

  Cooper looked back at Mac.

  “Brando runs ahead of me to make sure the way is clear, watches for bears and such. He’s made the trip enough times now he knows exactly where we’re going.”

  “So he’s doing recon work for you, that it?”

  Cooper Wyse gave another of his now familiar shrugs.

  “Yeah, guess that’s a way of putting it.”

  Mac shook his head as he continued to watch Brando speed across the field.

  “Hell of a dog.”

  Cooper gave a soft kick to the side of his horse Licorice and began following the path Brando had just made, motioning the other four to follow him.

  “Just let your horse follow me and Licorice. We’ll start off slow, and then once you all are more comfortable, we can pick up the pace. Once we hit the hills, we’ll slow up again – the trail gets steep in some places and there may still be a bit of snow up there in places. We’ll be going northeast for a while to avoid having to cross a river, and then once we are inside Canada, we’ll start to go more directly east. If we make good time, we’ll be at the cabin before nightfall.”

  Mac followed behind Cooper, and behind him rode Reese and Dublin. The last to follow was Bear, who leaned forward and whispered quietly into the right ear of his horse Ben.

  “How about we make a deal Ben? You don’t let me fall off and I don’t turn you into glue?”

  At the entrance to the Wyse ranch, some two miles away, a lone human-like figure was crawling atop the ground. It wore no clothing, its sinewy dark body devoid of any indications of it being male or female. Its thick hairless skin was mottled and dark, almost leather like. Long fingered hands tapered off into curved, claw like nails - nails that now dug into the pebbled ground that was the narrow drive leading to Cooper Wyse’s home. It emitted a high pitched, whining growl, growing more excited as it continued to inhale the scent of the four humans who had stopped to rest at this very location just yesterday.

  The creature’s face was incredibly narrow, though its mouth was large enough that its thin, black-purple lips nearly touched the lower portions of each of its ears. The nose that continued to inhale and exhale loudly was short and flat, with massive nostrils flaring outward just above the freakishly wide mouth. Two large eyes were filled almost completely by massive dilated, midnight black pupils.

  Having satisfied itself with confirming the scent of the four humans, the thing stood up to survey the area around it. Its back was severely humped causing the creature to stoop forward as
it attempted to raise its nose into the slight breeze that blew around it. The humped portion of its back stretched and pulled under its dark skin as it moved toward the fence Mac had leaned on the day before.

  The wide mouth grew even wider as the thing seemed to grin, exposing two rows of jagged, deadly-looking teeth that would have been more at home in the mouth of a bat than that of anything remotely human. Again it began to issue that high pitched, whining growl as it suddenly squatted down against one of the fence posts and loudly regurgitated a black tar like substance that smelled of rotting flesh. The thing’s head moved quickly from side to side as it inhaled the contents of what it had just thrown up.

  The creature returned to its semi-standing crouch position and looked in the direction of the Wyse ranch, its clawed fingers clicking against each other as the thing processed the signals being sent into it by the small electronic transmission device implanted around its brain stem. Thousands of miles away inside the genetic drone information annex of the New United Nations Military Response Center in Maryland, the scent and visual information being transmitted by the creature was already being reviewed by data operatives to determine the creature’s next response, while yet another set of eyes was watching from within the seeker’s vision as well.

  Finally the thing began to run toward the Wyse home with an odd, sideways bent gait where its arms hung loosely in front of it while its legs carried it across the ground with surprising speed that would have proven difficult for even the fastest man to outrun.

  As it sped down the long drive, the seeker’s sharp toothed smile and high pitched growl returned.

  VII.

  After ten minutes of the horses walking through the high grass fields behind the Wyse ranch, Cooper glanced back to see how the other four were acclimating to being in their respective saddles. Each one of them appeared more comfortable than they had been just moments before. Even Bear was no long perspiring heavily, his natural athleticism now moving him in rhythm to the walking of his horse.

  “Ok, everyone, gonna pick up the pace just a bit now. An easy trot for the next fifteen minutes or so. Try not to bounce in your saddle, just move along with the horse. Here we go…”

  Cooper Wyse gently nudged the flanks of his horse Licorice, who in turn began to trot across the field, doubling their speed. The other four horses did exactly the same in order to keep up with the lead horse. The ranch house was disappearing behind them as the large hills they were heading for now loomed ahead.

  Dublin was grinning happily as she watched the ground pass more quickly below her. Reese, whose horse remained just slightly behind Dublin’s, was looking intently into the hills trying to figure out the path Cooper intended to take them through. Bear, trailing some ten yards behind Reese, was bouncing uncomfortably in his saddle, but otherwise appeared reasonably determined to continue the ride without further complaint.

  With less than a half mile to go before the ground began to rise rapidly into the hills, Cooper brought his horse to a stop.

  “Gonna let them gallop a bit now, okay? Just let your horse keep pace with mine. Again, just move with the horse, and try to remain as relaxed as possible. We won’t be going all out, just a nice easy pace. Bear, you’re doing great.”

  Cooper Wyse turned his horse back toward the hills and let out a brief shout, this time kicking Licorice’s flanks with a bit more force than before. Licorice set off with a gentle gallop that was soon matched by the other four horses. Now it was Mac’s turn to smile as he closed his eyes for a brief moment and took in a deep breath as the wind whipped into his face.

  Reese was startled to see Bear pulling up beside him and then passing both he and Dublin, his jaw set with determination as he lowered himself just over the back of Ben’s neck and let out his own shout of encouragement for his horse to increase its speed. Soon he was alongside Mac whose smile widened even further as he gave Bear a thumbs up.

  Bear passed Mac and was soon just behind Cooper Wyse who glanced over to see Bear pulling up alongside him. With a tip of his hat, Cooper pressed the heels of his boots into Licorice’s flanks again while lowering his chest directly against the horse’s neck. The mare responded instantly, lengthening her stride to pull away from Bear. The speed at which Licorice galloped while Cooper Wyse remained atop her shocked the other four. Within seconds Cooper was nearly fifty yards ahead of the others before he slowed down and allowed them to catch up. Just a few minutes more and they reached the base of the hills where Cooper again pulled up to stop. The horses, though breathing somewhat heavily now, appeared quite capable and anxious for more travel.

  Cooper pointed a hand toward a row of evergreens nearly a hundred yards to their left.

  “We make our way to that line of trees, and a bit past them, we’ll come to the trail. It’s a bit narrow, so stay in line. I’ll have the horses going at a quick walk. Again, just have your horse follow my lead. We should reach the top in about thirty minutes. That should give us a good ten minutes to get deep into the trees on the other side before the surveillance drone is back this way again.”

  Once past the row of evergreens a mass of boulders could be seen. Cooper headed directly for the big rocks, disappearing momentarily behind the largest of them. The other four followed and soon found Cooper and Licorice heading upward, following the trail Cooper had just spoken of. As described, the trail was narrow, and at times, uncomfortably steep. The horses appeared to know the way well though, as the four former residents of Dominatus made no attempt to steer them, but rather just sat in the saddle and allowed their horse to follow Cooper Wyse. Mac found himself glancing up into the sky, growing more concerned at the possibility of a New United Nations drone approaching them.

  As Cooper said, it took nearly thirty minutes to reach the top of the large hill. At the bottom of the other side, no more than a few hundred yards away, was an expanse of trees that stretched off toward a massive, ice and snow covered mountain range to the northeast. Far to the south of them could be seen a number of rivers emptying into a much larger body of water that the locals still called Gastineau Channel.

  Reese was attempting to figure out the actual location of the old border between Canada and Alaska.

  “Cooper, you said these hills marked where we would be crossing over into the Canada, right?”

  Cooper looked back and gave a short nod.

  “Yeah, that’s right. The surveillance drones fly right over this point. Never goes inside of it on either side.”

  Reese’s face communicated his confusion.

  “I know Juneau was close to Canada, but not this close. The border should be another couple hundred miles east shouldn’t it?”

  Cooper answered this time without bothering to look back.

  “That was a different world Reese. The border is whatever the New United Nations makes it. So if the drones are flying over these hills to monitor anyone going back and forth from here, then this is what I’m calling the border. So let’s hurry up and get well into those trees before that next drone arrives.”

  Without waiting to see if Reese had another question, Cooper Wyse nudged his horse downward toward the trees and the other four horses immediately began to follow. Less than halfway down the other side, Dublin pointed into the sky to the south of them and uttered a single word that chilled them all.

  “Drone.”

  Bear quickly added to Dublin’s brief description with an even more frightening assessment.

  “Two of them. I can see at least two of them and they’re making their way to us. Fast.”

  Without looking to confirm what Dublin and Bear were seeing, Cooper Wyse yelled out for all of them to keep up. Licorice began bounding down the narrow hillside trail as Cooper leaned as far back in his saddle as was possible to prevent himself from falling. The other four quickly copied Cooper’s example as their horses struggled to keep up.

  Though it took no more than a few minutes for the horses to reach the bottom of the hill, it felt far longer for the fi
ve Alaskans who desperately pushed their horses to gallop as fast as possible toward the tree line. Cooper looked back toward the top of the hill and saw the two drones. One was noticeably larger than the other – a type of drone he had never seen before. Mac noted Cooper’s stare and attempted to look back as well, though he almost fell from his saddle as he did so. The second time he managed to maintain his balance and saw the two drones for himself, including the larger one.

  Mac knew then, they were all in very serious trouble.

  “Go! Go!”

  The horses responded to Mac’s shouts, managing to race toward the trees even faster than before as if they too sensed how serious the urgency now was. The trees were less than a hundred yards away.

  Cooper looked back again to yell instructions at the other four.

  “There’s a trail inside there – follow me. Stay low on your horse and don’t slow down!”