by J. G. Martin
“How many of those things are in here?” He asked Rora as he grabbed several additional boxes of ammo.
“Hundreds, maybe thousands. There was a whole other level below the one I saw, and I think it was just containment rooms.” She told him as she grabbed clips from a box.
“Seriously? Are they insane?”
“As I told you, they are conducting experiments on them.” Rora explained. “It looks like they are trying to make them more aggressive and breed faster. They are using testing some sort of virus on the Drinkers to make that happen.”
“That is sick, why would you do that?” Derek asked in horror.
“From what I could see they plan to release them inside the U.S.T.G. to create chaos so they can launch a coup and have a traitor in the government take over.” Rora informed him.
“I wasn’t even aware the DHS still existed and now they suddenly show up with a master plan? This is crazy.” He said, shaking his head in amazement. “What did they want with me?”
“I think they wanted to use your genetic enhancements on the Drinkers.” Rora told him. “They took blood to try to reverse engineer the process used on you.”
“How did you find all this out?”
“Augie has a lot more resources than we realized.” She told him. “He must have been some sort of spy before the Collapse. He tracked you to this facility.”
“How did you get in?” Derek asked.
“We watched the facility for a while until we discovered they left at regular intervals to collect specimens. We ambushed one of the details and took their places. I used the laptop in the vehicle to hack into their system and changed the ID photos and memorized the layout. I also gave myself full access. Then we just walked right in.” Rora explained.
“Impressive.” Derek replied, genuinely impressed.
“Thanks.” Rora said with a smile.
“I would say we need to stop them, but I think they are getting karmic justice in the form of your ‘diversion’ so let’s just get out of here.” Derek said with emphasis.
She laughed. “Agreed.”
Rora stripped off the lab coat and pulled a tactical vest over her scrubs. They both checked their weapons to make sure they were ready and Derek grabbed the last couple of flash bang grenades in the armory. He nodded towards the door and she put her hand on the handle. After a deep breath she pulled it open and Derek readied himself to fire; but no Drinkers swarmed in.
“You lead.” Derek ordered her. “I know you memorized the way out.”
“I was thinking you should go first…” She said hesitatingly. “You know, with your fast healing and all. Just follow my directions as we go.”
“Doesn’t matter to me; I’m going to kill everything in our path. Remember to duck if I turn around and start shooting.” He warned with a laugh.
They headed out into the now empty hallway and starting making their way out of the complex. Derek took point, keeping the large machine gun pointed in front of him and maintaining an alert readiness. The Drinkers or gunmen could threaten them at any time. Rora called out directions and they progressed rapidly through the eerily quiet hallways. Bodies lay strewn everywhere, Drinker and human. Black garbed gunmen and lab coat wearing scientists were intertwined with the leathery brown bodies of the Drinkers. There were bloody drag marks smeared on the floor at various points where the creatures had dragged away their victims.
“Did you see any Alphas in the holding area?” Derek said in a brief moment of panic.
“Thank goodness no.” Rora replied. “They only seem to be collecting the regular Drinkers.”
“That’s something at least.” He muttered with a small shiver as he remembered the desperate fight in the old bank with the gigantic Alpha.
Rora guided them through two levels before they encountered anything. They were forced to go around several blocked doors and up the stairwells since the elevators weren’t working. Twice they hid in a side room as Drinkers stalked by. Finally they came to a broad hallway that seemed like the main hallway for the complex. It ended in steel double doors with small reinforced glass windows. Bloody tracks led right through the doorway and through the doors they could hear howling, screaming, and gunfire. Derek turned to go down another corridor, but she stopped him.
“That’s the way out.” She said with resignation.
“Of course.” He responded as he readied the machine gun.
Looking through the windows they could see a cavernous, wide open room with a raised ceiling. Support pylons appeared at regular intervals throughout the room. At the far side, multiple steel rolling doors sat closed preventing any escape. Along the walls were wheeled mechanics tool boxes and several pumping devices, which he assumed were to gas up vehicles. Derek could tell it was the main garage for the facility.
In front of the rolling doors; four vehicles, an MRAP and three Humvees, created a makeshift blockade. Gunners on top of the vehicles fired continuously into the swarming horde of Drinkers that surrounded them. More gunmen stood behind the shelter of the vehicles and fired their carbines desperately into the writhing mass of beasts. Bodies of the monsters were piled up in bloody heaps in front of them. The surviving monsters, and there were still hundreds, were clawing their way over the bodies of the fallen beasts to get at the remaining gunmen.
The gunmen were slowly losing the battle as the semicircle of monsters slowly closed in on them. In the brief pause as they all reloaded, some of the beasts got to the barricade and dragged away a few frantically screaming gunmen. They disappeared into the snarling mass of teeth and claws and were lost. The remaining gunmen reloaded and redoubled their efforts, but Derek could tell they were running low on ammo and they would run out before the Drinkers ran out of bodies.
Derek started to open one of the double doors and enter the garage, but Rora grabbed his arm and stopped him. “What are you doing?” She hissed.
“We need to go help them.” He whispered back.
“Why in the world would we do that?” She questioned angrily.
“Because if they are overrun, we will never get out.” He insisted. “We need them to help finish off that horde out there which is blocking our escape. We don’t have enough ammo to kill all of those monsters.”
“They are going to be overrun anyway.” Rora argued. “Why risk getting killed for them?”
“If we attack the Drinkers from behind on the next reload, we should be able to create enough confusion that the Drinker assault will falter. That ought to give the gunners enough time to continue firing and break the horde.” Derek insisted.
“That still leaves the DHS gunmen blocking our escape.”
“Better them than the monsters. At least we can reason with a human.” Derek said firmly.
“I don’t like this, what about Rule #2?” Rora asked with concern. “They are certainly not our friends.”
“There is a corollary to Rule #2, the enemy of my enemy is my friend.” He said with a hint of humor.
Rora shook her head. “I’m not going to win this argument am I?”
“Let’s go kill some monsters.” Derek replied simply as the gunfire faded.
They burst through the doors and opened fire on full automatic into the backs of the slavering monsters. The machine gun burst to life with a loud roar and spent brass clattered to the floor around him. The rounds tore into the mass of brown leathery flesh; there were so many targets they couldn’t miss. Derek concentrated his fire on the Drinkers that were closest to the Humvees. It took a few seconds for the monsters to realize they were being attacked from behind and dozens fell before they reacted.
The assault faltered as the beasts tried to decide which target to attack. They were close to the gunmen that they had been fighting to reach for the last few minutes, but the two humans alone presented an easier target. The gunners used the momentary lull to reload and renewed their attack with increased fury. Caught between the two sources of blazing bullets, the majority of the horde was cut to pi
eces. The surviving creatures turned tail and ran, disappearing back into the complex with howls and screams of anger and fear.
Once the monsters were gone, the gunfire stopped and a pregnant silence fell. Derek and Rora took cover behind two of the support pylons and kept their guns trained on the four DHS vehicles blocking their escape. A quick glance revealed that while the gunners and gunmen were keeping their weapons at the ready, they were making no move to attack.
“Major Storm.” A voice called out from the gunmen. “Can we talk?”
“Are you suggesting a truce?” Derek yelled back.
“We aren’t your enemy Major.” The voice replied.
“Then why did you taser him and hold him prisoner?” Rora yelled out.
“That was perhaps a mistake, but we desperately needed his blood and didn’t have time to debate the issue.” The man yelled back. “I’m coming out. I am unarmed. Let’s talk face to face.”
Derek risked a quick look, and was encouraged when no one fired on him. He could see a tall distinguished looking older gentleman wearing the same black uniform walking out from behind the MRAP. The man had his hands raised and Derek couldn’t see any weapons. The man was different from the other gunmen in that he did not have a helmet or face mask on. Looking closely Derek could see that he did indeed know the man. He was older, and his hair was graying; but it was Martin Conroy, the last official Director of the Department of Homeland Security prior to the U.S.T.G. coup.
Conroy had refused to accept the takeover and had disappeared on the run from U.S.T.G. assassins. He hadn’t been seen since, and had been assumed dead. Apparently he had been hiding out here the entire time. He looked tired and Derek could see the toll that the intervening years had taken on the man. But he still had an air of command about him. Derek remembered that Conroy had been well thought of and had been considered a very good Director. Most importantly he had been non-partisan and a true patriot. Maybe he needed to hear what the man had to say.
“Have your men drop their weapons and get off the guns and I will come out and talk.” Derek yelled in response.
Conroy made a gesture and his men reluctantly lowered their weapons. They slowly placed their M4 carbines on the ground and moved away from the armored vehicles. Derek was sure there were a few gunmen still concealed behind the vehicles, but there was no obvious movement. He waited until everyone was disarmed and unslung his own weapon. He placed it carefully on the ground and came out from behind his pylon.
“Cover me.” He whispered to Rora as he moved forward.
He saw her nod and grip the carbine tightly to her shoulder. She seemed laser focused on Conroy and his escort. So Derek hoped she didn’t get too anxious and accidentally shoot someone. He really wanted to get out of here without any more bloodshed and the DHS was a possible ally. He was very curious what they had been up to for the last fifteen years and what their agenda was. Still, they had kidnapped him and used him for experiments.
“Don’t believe anything he says.” Rora called softly as he moved forward.
Derek walked towards the DHS Director and his men and Conroy came forward to meet him halfway. They stood face to face studying each other. Derek could see the lines on the Director’s face and the bags under his eyes now. The man looked exhausted and worn. He was also exceedingly pale, probably from spending so much time down in this hole.
Conroy spoke first. “Let me just apologize for how we handled our first meeting with you. Based on your alliances we were very concerned you were working with the enemy.”
“I gave up on the U.S.T.G. when they tried to have me executed for treason for refusing to murder innocents.” Derek informed him coldly.
“The U.S.T.G.?” Conroy said in confusion. “No, they aren’t the true enemy...”
“I agree.” Derek interrupted. “At least they aren’t experimenting with creating super Drinkers to unleash on an innocent population like you are.”
“What?” Conroy replied in alarm. “You have it all wrong; we aren’t trying to create a better mutant. We are trying to…”
A single shot rang out and Conroy’s face exploded. He tumbled over backward in slow motion as Derek instinctively reached for him. The Director’s escort scrambled for their discarded weapons as Rora opened fire on them. Derek cast a brief glance backwards at her and saw her determinedly firing on the now rearmed gunmen. It was too far back for him to go to retrieve his machine gun; so he went the only direction he could, forward.
He rushed the nearest gunman and tackled him back into a Humvee. They collided with vehicle with a loud, meaty crunch that shook the vehicle. Derek head butted the man square in the nose and knocked him out cold. He seized the man’s weapon and fired at the gunner popping up on the MRAP’s heavy machine gun. The man slumped over the gun, dead. The others tried to regroup behind the other vehicles, but Derek threw the two flash bang grenades he had grabbed from the armory. The grenades landed right in their midst and sent them scattering.
Stunned and blinded by the grenades the remaining gunmen were easy targets for Derek and Rora. They made short work of the disorganized and now leaderless gunmen. Derek stalked around the vehicles methodically putting short bursts into the desperately scrambling gunmen. A couple managed to shoot him, but they were minor wounds. Rora picked off the ones that tried to flee as they ran. In a few bullet filled minutes they cleared the entrance.
He scavenged some more ammo as Rora came running over to the vehicles. She jumped into one of the Humvees and called for Derek to get in. He hustled over and jumped in as she started the vehicle. She pushed a button on the dashboard and one of the steel doors rolled up. Throwing the vehicle into gear she raced out of the garage and into the bright sunlight.
As they drove away from the mountain Derek turned to Rora. “Why did you kill him?” He demanded angrily.
“I thought I saw one of them reach for a gun and I instinctively squeezed the trigger. “ She replied apologetically.
“We lost any chance to find out what was really going on when you killed him.” He insisted, still angry.
“I know what they were doing.” Rora said anxiously. “They were conducting horrible experiments on the Drinkers and you. It’s a good thing that we ended them. Now we just need to get to our pickup.”
Derek let it go. He was sure there was more to the story, but they would never know now. They had kidnapped him and kept him sedated for months, and the complex had been full of Drinkers. None of those things indicated that they were the good guys, but you never knew. Suddenly the ground shook violently knocking Derek out of his thoughts.
“What was that?” He asked in surprise.
“The base had a self-destruct system. They must have activated it when the Director fell.”
“What happened to the others who were with you?” Derek asked as he realized she hadn’t been alone.
Chapter 11
September 2, 2029
Stone Mountain Park, Georgia
The pickup was in the parking lot of what had once been a luxury shopping area near the park. A double rotor Chinook transport helicopter waited for them there. Several soldiers stood guard nearby, alertly scanning the area. They took up combat positions as the Humvee approached, but relaxed when they saw Rora. Ditching the Humvee, Derek and Rora ran to the chopper and climbed on board. There was only one other soldier in the cargo area when they got on, but the other soldiers followed them in and the chopper’s engines began to rev up.
“Where are the others?” Rora asked the soldier who had originally been in the chopper alone.
“They didn’t make it.” He groaned. “The Drinkers got them.”
He shifted slightly and Derek could see a large bandage wrapped around the soldier’s midsection. Blood was already soaking through it. Rora noticed as well and moved over to check on the man’s wound. She was checking on him when he passed out. Derek could see the look of concern on her face as she cut off the bandage. She said something to one of the other soldiers
and the helicopter took off almost immediately.
Once they were in the air Derek tried to talk to Rora but she was busy trying to keep the wounded soldier alive. So he sat back and enjoyed the ride. There would be plenty of time to talk when they got back to NASA. It seemed as though a lot had changed while he was unconscious. Rora had become more assertive and confident, and that made him very curious how they had gotten back from California.
As they lifted off and turned towards NASA, they heard a loud rumble. Derek looked back to the mountain just in time to see flames burst out of several holes. Thick, black smoke began to rise up from various points on the mountain. He assumed them to be the locations of the secret entrances. The self-destruct would render the entire place unusable and destroy any evidence of what the D.H.S. had been doing.
The flight was short and they landed abruptly at the same helipad at NASA they had used before. A medical team was waiting for them and quickly bundled the wounded soldier on to a stretcher. Rora watched with concern as they whisked him away to surgery. Derek hoped he made it. He didn’t want yet another life lost on his account. Exiting the chopper, he found Augie waiting for him with a frown on his face.
“You keep costing me more men Storm.” Augie growled.
“I was on a mission for you when I got grabbed.” Derek argued.
“That may be, but we lost two men to get you out, maybe three.”
“I appreciate the rescue, but it wouldn’t have happened in the first place if we hadn’t been forced to land in California.”
“I don’t have a lot of people to waste Storm, you owe me.” Augie insisted.
Now Derek saw where this was going. They had yet another mission they wanted him to perform and Augie was trying to get leverage to convince Derek to do it. They did rescue him and men had died doing it so he did owe them something, but how much was in question. He would have to see what they wanted before he made a commitment.