by David Peters
“They dig like ants. What you see on top isn’t even half of what they have down below. It’s like an iceberg; there is a hell of a lot more underwater than there is on the surface.”
Niccole added “That must be why our hive was able to rebuild so fast. All we did to it was blow the roof off of it. Although not quite to the extent you guys did.”
Cap-Cap nodded, “Exactly. Before winter set in for the Boulder area they were already rebuilding. We tried picking the Workers off with snipers but there response to our pestering was a little more than we could deal with. By mid-winter the stacks were up. Guess we can add radiation to the list of things that they don’t give a crap about. They are like rabid cockroaches. Big, six foot tall, pissed as hell, rabid cockroaches.”
One of the soldiers handing freight down added, “Ya, and big ass teeth, razor sharp claws, and they scream like mother f’n banshees…”
Cap-Cap cut him off, “We get it Jimmy, thanks for the color commentary.”
“So you haven’t found an effective use for the last two?” Niccole asked.
“Oh we have a use. Just don’t have a way to get the damn things deep enough. Even if we had some fool willing to do a suicide mission he wouldn’t get a whole lot further than our ‘bot did. We don’t have any idea what the lower tunnels would be like as far as ‘Rupts go so our entire platoon may not be enough. I’m not about to sacrifice my whole team on a gamble like that. We have reports of nests going several hundred feet down.”
Dylan looked at the large backpack as he rolled the thought of it over in his head, “Daniel and I were able to get pretty far into one and not get attacked. In fact it was quite the opposite. They left us completely alone.”
Niccole was nodding, “Erica said the same thing. If she left them alone they left her alone too.”
Cap-Cap was nodding, “Oh ya. We were fully aware of that. Only thing is there seems to be a certain point as you head deeper where you are no longer ignored. In fact, it is quite the opposite of ignored. Our first team to go in found that out the hard way.”
Dylan shivered a little when he thought back to when he was in the Sumter hive. He knelt down to get a closer look at the pack, “Is this thing safe to be around?”
Niccole continued the question from a short distance away, “Ya, I’m with Dylan on this one? Am I going to grow a third arm or leg being near it? Is it going to decide to go off at some random time?”
“Just think of it as another tool and you will get over any problem you have with it.” Cap-Cap said to Dylan, he met Niccole’s eyes and continued, “I wouldn’t sleep with the thing if that is what you mean. It’s safe short term, the box is meant for long term storage and security. It was designed to be safely carried for forty-eight hours so we are fine. When it is inside the box you wouldn’t even know it was there without some fairly sophisticated tools to detect it. Let’s face the simple fact that it is here now. You want to bring it home or leave it down here by the side of the road for someone else to find?”
Niccole sighed, “I see your point. I’m just not a big fan of nuclear weapons is all.”
Cap-Cap closed the case and snapped the locks back in place, “I’m not crazy about them either Niccole, but one of these is what it will take to kill a hive. We just haven’t figured out how yet.”
Dylan stood and looked at the mid-day sky, “Let’s get one on a sled and see how it rides. I don’t want to be out here after dark if we don’t have to.”
The two heavy cases limited the overall amount of supplies they could take but the trucks weren’t going anywhere and they could get the rest the next day. They were still able to get several heavy weapons along with what seemed like a near endless amount of ammunition for them. They also had a truck full of military grade rations and several duffle bags of heavy camouflaged jackets and pants. Dylan picked up one of the ration boxes, “These things have been pretty darn popular lately. You would be amazed at what these dried peaches are worth in trade now.”
Dylan walked down the line of pack mules and loaded horses checking the various tie downs and making sure the animals weren’t packed too heavy or that the weight wasn’t distributed evenly. Cap-Cap was walking along beside him watching as Dylan inspected the various buckles.
“You have no idea how badly we need ammunition. The first week after we blew up the Sumter hive the guards would put three or four magazines into every random shadow or cracking branch before we could get them to cease fire. People were damn jumpy.”
Dylan and Niccole mounted up. Cap-Cap climbed up on his horse awkwardly and the entire team started making the long slow journey back to Paradise Falls.
Dylan smiled as he watched Cap-Cap try to balance himself in the saddle, “Just relax. You aren’t going to hurt the horse. He barely even knows you are there.”
“Dylan, you may be comfortable on these things, but if it isn’t made out of several tons of solid steel, I don’t trust it. I’d walk it if I was a day younger.”
Dylan smiled as he stopped his horse and let Cap-Cap continue on. He let the whole procession pass as he watched how every load was riding. The two horses pulling the sleds didn’t seem to notice the weight and plodded along behind the others. As the last mule passed, Dylan turned and trotted back up to the front of the line next to the captain.
As they made the slow journey back to Paradise Falls Dylan and Niccole chatted with Cap-Cap. They brought him up to speed on how life in and around Paradise Falls had changed and he did the same with what remained of the US Military.
“We had some heavy hitters go in on Boulder. Watching that big old mushroom cloud go skyward made us cocky as hell.” Cap-Cap said, “We had a pretty sizeable force gathered there. After we had blasted the Boulder hive, well, thought we blasted it, we thought we had what it takes to hit a major hive. So we all packed into our tanks and armored cars and went after the Santa Fe hive. It was simply amazing Dylan. City looked like an alien planet. The hive stretched for miles. You would have to see it to believe it. It was like a three year olds art project from hell.”
They continued on for several more minutes in silence. Dylan waited patiently but it seemed clear that Cap-Cap wasn’t going to go into details right now. Niccole dropped back a few horses and rode next to Jen, also known as Whiskey to the other soldiers, and they were catching up on what was new with them. Both women were ecstatic to see the other was doing well.
“So how is military life treating you?” Niccole asked excitedly.
“I can’t complain. Don’t know if I would call it military life anymore though. About the only complaint I have had is lack of sleep and the fact that not one of these tin heads could boil water if you gave them directions.”
“Did I catch you making googely eyes at the captain?”
“A girl does not kiss and tell. I kissed him, so I ain’t tellin’,” she laughed.
Niccole laughed and caught Dylan looking back at her with a smile, “Guess we need to tone it down a notch.”
“Is that the same horse I saw you on in Pendleton?”
“One and the same, this is Jonas,” she patted the horse on the neck as she said his name, “he’s my baby.”
Niccole saw a dark cloud come over Jen’s face and her smile abruptly faded, “Everything ok?”
“Every now and again it hits me. I think just about the only thing I ever wanted out of life was a family, you know? I wanted to have a kid or three, a solid husband, safe place to live. Kind of kills me to think that will never happen. I had these big plans. I joined up right out of junior college, did the ROTC thing, the whole nine yards. I wanted to get a few turns in, get out with a trade skill, find a man, and start a family.”
“I see,” was all Niccole could really offer. She understood what Jen was saying. The environment they lived in wasn’t exactly family friendly.
After several minutes of silence Jen spoke, “Seems like I have the timing all messed up, I’ve met one man in the past, but the place wasn’t right. I couldn�
��t move there, he couldn’t move here, so it sort of ended.” Jen sighed and continued, “Now I’ve met the man of my dreams and the damn time isn’t right. Go figure, you know?”
Niccole could only nod as they continued on in silence.
Dylan finally broke the silence with Cap-Cap, “The last contrail anyone noticed was in November sometime and we never were able to get any radio contact going with it.”
“Probably military so unless you have the right radio yours won’t be able to talk to them. We had a few straggler aircraft come in but for the most part they were acting alone. Our last working ground attack aircraft lost an engine in a bird strike. Simple bird took it out. Stuff like that used to be nothing but a good story for a pilot but now it can make or break a situation.”
Once again Dylan waited for more but Cap-Cap wouldn’t elaborate. He continued, “Tell me about it,” Dylan added. “We had a guy try to take his hand off with a hatchet not too long ago. If it wasn’t for Doc the guy would have bled out or died of an infection, either way, he is lucky as hell to still have two hands.”
From somewhere ahead of them came multiple shouts of ‘Contact!’ There was a heavy barrage of machine gun fire then the forest fell ominously quiet as the echoes faded into the distance.
As the three spurred on their horses Dylan shouted over his shoulder, “We haven’t seen signs of a single Corrupted in nearly three weeks!”
They entered a large clearing and found several of the Guard team facing outward in defensive positions shouting “Clear!” The two pickets and the point man were at the edge of the clearing facing out while a fourth was standing over the remains of their ‘contact’ with a very sullen and embarrassed look.
Both Dylan and Niccole started laughing as Cap-Cap rubbed his growing chin stubble and sighed, “Now folks, remember, Corrupted, mostly black, humanoid shape, fast as hell. That is, or I should say, was, an elk. You know, tall, four legs, mostly, well, elk like.
Cap-Cap rode past the obliterated animal shaking his head. Niccole looked at Dylan and shrugged. They had seen their fair share of forest animals that were at the wrong place at the wrong time. Dylan passed by and looked down at the destroyed animal. He felt sad that it was so thoroughly shot up that they couldn’t even salvage the hide.
--8--
The sun was just setting behind the far mountains when they could finally see the barricade ahead of them. The long caravan passed through the gate and into the heart of the small town with little fanfare. Erica already had the town square cleared of everything but the watchtower and the small stage they used for meetings. The group started unloading horses and building their small mobile tent city in the center of town. Dylan kept hinting about any others showing up but the captain continued to remain tight lipped about it and if anything he grew more uncomfortable on the ride up the hill.
Many of the folks that lived in the town had slowly come out to help the new arrivals get set up but the tension in the air was almost tangible. Dylan and Cap-Cap took a short walk away from everyone where they could talk in relative privacy and not be overheard.
“There are a couple things we need to understand Cap-Cap. A lot of these people came here in the first place to get away from what you represent, from who you work for. They are going to be scared of what your intentions are. Honestly I’m a little concerned too. They don’t want the government coming in and changing all the rules. We have survived without that help, I would go so far as to say we survived in spite of what the government had done.” Dylan said nervously.
Cap-Cap chuckled a little, “I was wondering why this place felt so wound up and tense. Listen, we are no longer representing any government. We are not here to take over. We are here because of your hopeful hospitality. We are here to live out our lives the best way we can. We will pull our own weight but this is your town and we know it. We are here as people, not a militia. The sooner we get rid of the ‘them and us’ thing the better.”
“I believe you, but a lot of them will not,” Dylan said as he pointed out to the small town. There were small pockets of people here and there whispering among themselves.
“I can see how tense the people are around here. It will probably be this way for a few days but once they start to understand why we are here and get to know us as people and not faceless soldiers I don’t think it will be an issue. It’s not like we didn’t bring gifts after all.” He smiled at Dylan.
“True, amazing how loud gifts speak.”
Niccole and Erica walked around the corner of one of the cabins and made a bee line for the two men.
Niccole smiled wide as she hugged Cap-Cap, “Feel like I’m meeting old friends. I’m glad so many made it here but it sounds like a lot of good people didn’t. Cap-Cap, this is Erica. She is arguably the best clerk I have ever seen and manages all the goods and supplies of the town. If you need anything, she can tell you who you need to talk to or where you need to go or what bush it is hiding behind.”
Erica made a small shy wave at Cap-Cap while he tipped the brim of his camouflaged cap at her, “Glad to meet you ma’am.”
“Dylan and I need to go meet with Doc. Erica can speak to just about anything so we will leave you in her very capable hands.”
“Roger that, thanks again Dylan, Niccole. I’m sure we will speak again soon.” He shook both their hands then started walking towards the large military tents talking to Erica. “So what’s the plan for storing all the MREs we have? Rumor has it those peaches are like gold.”
Dylan waited until Cap-Cap was out of earshot, “I don’t think we need to worry about them wanting to institute martial law or anything.”
“Same story I got from Jen. They are here to live and that was all. She doesn’t even think of herself as being in the military anymore. She said something about them all having been discharged and disbanded.”
Dylan held Niccole’s hand as they turned to walk to Doc’s office. He had been so excited to speak to them earlier in the day that they felt badly for taking this long to get back to him. The doctor’s cabin was attached to the town hall and he did most of his work as of late in the cellar underneath the cabin. They had managed to get him a nearly intact Hunter the previous year and he dissected the thing until it was nothing but jars on his wall. The process wound up creating more questions than answers. He tried to keep the smell from permeating his normal working office. His upper office was used to treat the cuts and scrapes that came with the lifestyle they had now but Doc’s real work was downstairs. His background before coming to Paradise Falls had been in genetics. He had been one of the leading doctors in his field but had gotten disgusted with how focused the industry was profit. One of his final studies had uncovered a gene that could have been a marker for a disease that primarily affected children. When they came to him wanting to know his thoughts on patents and revenue he left in disgust.
Nowadays he spent his free time in the cellar with an ever growing collection of Corrupted samples. When Dylan and Niccole had first arrived they had been able to get an almost fully intact Hunter for examination. He was still learning from it.
Dylan knocked on the large cellar door and heard Doc’s shoes on the wooden stairs. He still insisted on wearing black dress shoes and slacks when he was working, “I have an image to maintain” he had told Niccole one time. He had actually sounded insulted that someone would question his professional attire.
Doc had a smile on his face the likes of which neither of them had seen in several months.
“Great! You made it! I am so excited to show you my latest find.” Doc ushered them in and pointed to two folding metal chairs. “So I’m just going to jump right in here. We know from the research we have done so far that the Corrupted are closer to insects than they are to humans. Kind of a crossbreed if you will. They sit somewhere in the middle. Maybe a new branch of species I don’t know. They aren’t Homo Sapiens but they don’t come from the family Hexapod either. Maybe I should call them Homo Hexapod, or Hexapod Erectus?”
He smiled to himself, “But I digress. Still with me?”
Dylan and Niccole hesitantly nodded their agreement. The Doc usually came across as rather relaxed and old fashioned. This level of giddiness was making the two uncomfortable.
“I found myself wondering how similar they were and did some quick tests.” As he spoke Doc was in the process of putting on extremely thick pair of protective gloves and eye protection.
He walked over to a large steel cylinder in the corner of his office and slowly turned the top. As he swung the lid out of the way the fog from the liquid nitrogen within flowed out and down onto the floor. “I borrowed this from Winston. Something he used when he was breeding the goats before everything went bad.” He removed a very small vial and placed the lid back on the top.
“This is a sample from one of the Hunters we killed just over a month ago.” He placed the tiny sample on a slide and turned on his microscope. He turned the oil lamp down and flipped a switch on his microscope. A projector light now showed on a sheet he had hung on the far wall. They could clearly see the cells that made up the sample. Still and lifeless.