Sam nodded, brought up a pair of binoculars to his eyes, and surveyed the woods.
Maclean and Tibeluk walked over and looked over Hayes’s shoulder. “Anything?”
“Regrettably, yes,” said Hayes. He turned the screen so Maclean could get a better view.
A mobile home was being swarmed by at least a dozen birds, all smashing their heads against the flimsy walls and doors of the trailer, trying to break in. The front door buckled, and a bird stuck its head inside, only to fall backward with a hole in the side of its skull. It didn’t matter. Driven by their insatiable desire to feed the rest of the birds saw the opening and charged inside the trailer.
“Reba, why don’t you keep Sam company for a few minutes, while we have a quick chat with Professor Hayes,” said Tibeluk.
The young girl knew she was being sent away to avoid seeing what was happening. She handed the controller to Hayes, stood, and ran to be with her boyfriend.
Thankfully, Johnson’s death was hidden from sight inside his home.
“The bloody fool should have come to the school with the others. He’d still be alive,” said Maclean.
“Some people will never leave their homes, no matter the threat facing them,” said Tibeluk. “If they’re going to die, they’d rather do it in their home.”
“Jim, there are at least two dozen birds in that group,” pointed out Hayes. “I know this is going to sound gruesome, but one man isn’t going to satisfy their hunger. We’ve got minutes before they come our way.”
“I guess we had best get ready for them, then.” Maclean stood and looked over at Reba and Sam. They were holding hands and laughing at something. He envied them. They were able to find a moment of tenderness in a world that had been turned upside down.
“Sergeant, there’s something you should see,” said Hayes, as he got up to his feet. His voice was somber.
“What is it?”
“They’ve split apart. One group has peeled off, and is making its way through the woods to the west side of the school.”
“Those bastards sure do learn fast,” said Tibeluk.
“They want to divide our firepower,” said Maclean. “So they’re going to come at us from two directions at one.”
“What are we going to do?”
“I know you’ve never held a weapon before, but there’s always a first time,” said Maclean, handing him his pistol and his spare magazines. “I’ve removed the safety. All you have to do is point and gently pull back the trigger. Aim for the bird’s chest, and you can’t miss.”
Hayes’ face had blanched. He struggled to speak, but his mouth was dry with fear.
Maclean patted the professor on the shoulder. “I’m going to take the northern wall with Sam, while you and Tracey defend the western wall. Listen to her, and you’ll do okay.”
“What about the people with guns in the gym?” asked Hayes.
“They have to stay where they are, in case one of those bastards manages to sneak in without us seeing it. Someone has to protect the children.”
Hayes placed the UAV controls on the roof, slid the spare pistol magazines in his pockets, and walked beside Tibeluk to the edge of the roof.
“Sam, we’ve got company coming,” said Maclean. “Reba, I want you to keep the drone high in the sky, and if the birds try anything fancy, call out and let us know what they’re doing.”
Reba nodded and kissed her boyfriend on the cheek, before jogging back to pick up the controller.
“How many this time, Jim?” asked Sam.
“Probably thirty birds, split between the northern and western walls.”
“Do you think we can stop them all before they get to the school?”
Maclean nodded. “The way you shoot? Why not?”
“Sir, we’ve got another problem,” cried out Reba.
“What is it?” asked Maclean.
“I’ve got another group of animals coming at us from the south.”
Maclean swore. “Call down below and get Sheriff Black to join Sam on the roof before it’s too late.”
A loud blast from Tibeluk’s shotgun heralded the beginning of the fight. Maclean patted Sam on the shoulder, spun about and sprinted for the southern wall. He came to a sliding halt and brought up his MP7 just as a group of terror birds let out a bone chilling cry and rushed the school. Maclean placed his sights on the bird on the far left of the group and pulled the trigger. He never released the trigger as he moved down the line, trying to stop the charge in its tracks.
Behind him, he could hear his compatriots firing and reloading as fast as they could. The din of battle filled his ears. Although six of the birds had fallen, the rest had split apart to make it harder for him to hit them. Maclean cursed his cunning opponents, ejected his empty magazine, and rushed to place a full one in the housing.
The birds were less than twenty meters from the school and closing fast. Maclean fired off a couple of short bursts and dropped two more. But it was too late, two surviving creatures dove at the glass windows of a classroom, smashing them. His fight on the roof was over. Maclean had to get below to help keep the birds from reaching the people in the gym. He ran to Reba’s side and took a quick look at the fight on the screen. The battle had mostly gone their way; dozens of bodies were strewn across the ground. But one bird, followed by another, made it to the edge of the school and began to force their way inside.
Maclean brought two fingers up to his mouth and let out a loud whistle. “Everyone down the ladder. We’ve got people to protect down below.”
Maclean placed his hands and feet on the outside of the ladder and slid down to the gymnasium floor. He moved aside to let his comrades come down, and nodded when he saw the redoubt Tony had built. The collapsible bleachers were stacked flush, in a corner of the room, making it hard for the birds to climb. Almost all of the people were hiding behind the fortification. On top of the fortification stood three armed men and Officer Harrison. Chairs were strewn across the hardwood floor to impede the birds’ movement.
“Okay, they’ve gotten inside the school again,” called out Maclean. “They’ll be coming for us.”
“Sergeant,” said Tony. “I had the men pile up all of the spare equipment we could find in front of the gym doors. I think that should hold them for a while.”
To Maclean, it looked like anything not nailed down had been thrust against the doors.
“Well done. Let’s hope it holds.”
“Where do you want us?” asked Black.
“On the top of the redoubt with the other armed men.”
“Hey, I can still control the drone from in here,” said Reba, holding the controller in her hands.
“Climb to the top of the redoubt and then bring the UAV around, so it can see the hallways leading to the gym,” Maclean suggested.
Reba scooted off and took a seat on the top of the fortification.
Hayes handed back Maclean’s pistol. His hands were shaking. He avoided eye contact with Maclean. “I’ll help Reba, if that’s all right with you.”
“Yeah, you do that, Doc.”
The far doors rattled. A hushed silence fell on the room.
They were here.
Chapter 52
Grant brought a hand up to block the light coming from his helmet, and froze. He was positive he had heard someone or something moving around, just beyond the bend in the tunnel. He held his breath and listened. Sure enough, Grant could hear someone coming his way. He glanced at the ground and tried to find a weapon. The only thing of use he could find was a broken piece of wood. Still, he reasoned it was better than nothing. Grant brought the wood up behind his head and tensed. Each second that passed, the sound grew louder. He saw a light creep along the floor of the tunnel, getting brighter as it got closer. Grant leaped around the corner and prepared to strike.
“David, no!” cried out Elena, instinctively bringing up her hands to protect her face.
Grant stopped in mid-air and dropped his makeshift bat. “Jesus,
Elena, I nearly bashed your head in. Where the hell did you come from?”
“Thank God you didn’t. We climbed down from above.”
“Where is the general?” asked Nadia.
“I have no idea,” replied Grant. “We got separated when a saber-toothed tiger attacked us. I fell into a hole and ended up in a pool of water. I’ve been wandering around ever since. Some of the tunnels in here are dead ends, and others are blocked due to cave-ins.”
“We had to stop climbing down the elevator shaft when we got to this floor. The way below is inaccessible. It looks like when they abandoned the mine, the owners dumped a lot of the old ore carts down the shaft.”
“Or a bunch of bored kids did over the years.”
“Enough talking,” said Nadia, scanning the tunnel with her handheld device. “This tunnel bends down and eventually joins with the cavern where I left my ship.”
“Nadia, what are we going to do when we reach your ship?” asked Grant.
“If I don’t need your help, I’ll send you on your way, and set my ship for detonation.”
“Aren’t you going to try and make it home?”
“No. I’m dying. I’ll never survive the trip. My mission ends here.”
“You look fine to me.”
“I’m not.” Nadia lowered her light and started to walk down the blackened tunnel.
Elena touched Grant’s arm. “She’s drugged up. Nadia was badly injured when the bear attacked us. If we removed her body armor, I bet we’d see several deep gashes in her lower body. She’s bleeding out, David.”
Grant leaned his head over and whispered, “Let’s just hope when the time comes that she gives us enough time to make our escape. I’d rather not be entombed under thousands of tons of rock.”
They walked along in silence until they came to the bend in the tunnel which led down into the cavern. A strange, green glow came up from the cave.
Grant tapped Nadia on the arm. “What’s giving off the light?”
“That’s coming from my engines. Nagan must have found my ship and is warming up the jump drive.”
“How long until he can leave?”
“Five, maybe ten minutes. It depends on when he started the engines.”
“Okay, now what?”
Nadia held up a slender rectangular device and pressed a series of buttons on it. From the cavern came an enraged cry.
“I’ve just locked him out of my ship’s main computer drive.”
“Will he be able to break your code?”
“Knowing Nagan, yes. But it has at least bought us some time to stop him. Try sneaking around from the right, while I go around from the left.”
“Nadia, you’re the only one of us who has a gun. Make sure you don’t miss.”
“Give this to Elena,” she said, giving Grant her light. “I won’t need this anymore.”
Grant watched Nadia move over to the shadows, before disappearing down into the cave. He turned and looked into Elena’s eyes. “Go back; there’s nothing you can do here. I want you to make a run for the surface. Nadia and I can handle this.”
“David, I can help. I know I can.”
“You can help me by getting the hell out of here and living another day.”
Elena hesitated, unsure what to say. She nodded, reached into a pocket, and pulled out her Taser, which she handed to Grant. “In case you need it.”
He took the device and smiled. “Get going. I’ll see you shortly.”
Elena leaned forward and kissed Grant on the cheek. “For luck.” With that, she picked up the light and began to run back down the tunnel.
Grant placed his helmet on the ground, and slid down the tunnel on his backside. He came out in the cave right next to a tall rock, which he dove behind for cover. Grant took a quick look at Nadia’s craft and was amazed. The ship was no longer than a pick-up truck, but was slender, and looked like a long icicle. In places, it appeared transparent, as he could see the far wall through the ship. Nagan stood next to the craft, with his back to Grant. The general seemed to be focused on affixing something on the side of Nadia’s ship.
“Captain Grant, how nice of you to join me,” said Nagan, turning to look in his direction. “Please don’t pretend you didn’t hear me. I can read your mind, remember?”
Grant swore, as he stood up and came out from behind the rock, waving. “How long have you known I was here?”
“Only a few seconds. My telepathic ability with your species is limited to about thirty meters.”
Grant walked ever so slowly toward Nagan. “I take it you’re trying to hotwire Nadia’s ship so you can jet off back home and tell your friends that your illegal mission was a success.”
“That’s correct. But that traitorous whore has locked me out of all of her computer systems. Not to worry, my own more advanced computer will break her code, and I’ll be out of here shortly.”
Grant saw a black, triangular device attached to the side of the ship. Since it didn’t match anything else on Nadia’s craft, he surmised that was the general’s code-cracking computer.
Nagan brought up his arm and pointed at Grant. “That’s close enough. Now drop the stick you have hidden behind your back.”
Grant stopped and tossed his weapon aside.
“I have to say that you have truly amazed me with your tenacity and your willingness to risk your life for others,” said Nagan. “I honestly hadn’t expected that from your species.”
Grant shrugged. “I guess on both worlds you can’t judge a book by its cover.”
“Evidently not. Now where is that government agent hiding? I can read your mind but not hers.”
A flash of orange light blinded Grant for a second, as Nadia opened fire. The shot missed Nagan’s head by millimeters and hit the wall, blasting a hole in the rock. Nagan ducked down and took cover behind Nadia’s ship.
Grant saw the general’s back to him, scooped up his stick, and charged toward the alien. At the last possible moment, Nagan spun around, drew a knife from his belt, and prepared to slash Grant with it. With a guttural cry, Grant thrust the stick into Nagan’s outstretched arm. The weapon penetrated a weak spot in the general’s armor and came out the other side.
Nagan screamed in pain and smashed his left arm across Grant’s chest, sending him flying back onto the rocky ground. He moaned in pain as he tried to take a breath. This time, Grant was sure he had broken a couple of ribs.
“Don’t move, General,” warned Nadia, as she slid out of the shadows. Her phase pistol was aimed at Nagan’s head.
He stood there, smiling at Nadia. “You may be brave, but you’re as green as they come.”
Nadia stopped moving and looked around. Fear gripped her. What had she missed? All of a sudden, a bright-blue light from a sensor hidden among some rocks at the nose of the ship lit up Nadia. Before she could move, a silver dart shot from the device, easily penetrating her armor.
Grant watched helplessly, as Nadia reached for the dart protruding from her chest. She staggered forward a couple of paces before falling to the ground.
“Now it’s your turn to die,” said Nagan, striding over to pick up Grant. He grabbed the soldier by the collar of his jacket and hauled him to his feet. Nagan bared his teeth. “Goodbye, Captain.”
Grant yanked the Taser from his pocket, switched it on, and jammed it into Nagan’s mouth. In the blink of an eye, 1200 volts shot through Nagan’s head. The general howled in pain, let go of Grant, and reached up for his head with his hands. Grant saw his one opportunity to kill the alien, and took it. He pulled the stick from Nagan’s arm and thrust it into his left eye socket and twisted it. The general’s body shook for a couple of seconds, before falling backward to the ground.
Grant’s heart was racing. He spotted Nagan’s knife and picked it up. He placed the knife against the general’s throat and was about to push it home, when he saw the alien was no longer breathing. He sat back on his rear and shook his head. Grant was physically and emotionally drained. It
hurt just to breathe. He looked around the cavern and saw Nadia struggling to sit upright. He got to his feet and stumbled to her side.
“Take it easy,” said Grant, placing an arm around her shoulders.
“The general?”
“Dead.”
Blood trickled from the corner of Nadia’s mouth. “Thank you. When we first met, I doubted that you and your primitive comrades would be of any value to me. I guess I was wrong.”
“It’s not the first time someone judged me wrong. Now lie down, and I’ll see what I can do for you.”
“Dave, there is nothing you can do. I’ve only got a minute or two left. You have to go now and try to save yourself.”
Grant glanced at the glow coming from the spaceship’s engines. “How long do I have?”
“The ship will soon sense something is wrong when no one climbs into the cockpit and activates its jump engine. You have at best twenty minutes to get as far away from the mine as you can.”
Grant lay Nadia down on the ground. “I’ll never forget you.”
She looked up at him through glassy eyes. “Dave, I did what I had to because it was my job. Your planet is one of several my species has taken a very keen interest in. The next person like me you come across may might not be so friendly. Go now, while you can.”
Grant looked for the way out and started to run. The pain in his side was far worse than before. Each step was followed by a white-hot shooting pain in his ribs. Grant clenched his teeth until his jaw hurt. Pain be damned; he had to get away. Grant came to the elevator shaft and began to climb. He was in a race against the clock, and his life hung in the balance.
Chapter 53
The banging and clawing on the other side of the gymnasium doors was becoming frantic. Behind the makeshift redoubt, families huddled together, and prayed that the doors would hold.
Maclean, sitting atop of the fortification, brought up his MP7 to his shoulder and let off a burst at the door. He heard squawking and clawed feet shuffling about. The attack stopped for a few seconds before fresh animals took over the assault.
Fallen Star (Project Gauntlet Book 1) Page 25