Chapter Thirty
Sarah Bowcut and Franco Roux stood at the bow of the leading assault craft, lasers raised toward the shattered remains of the docks. They had a minute before reaching land. The putrid stench of death increased with every second. She had no doubt horrific scenes awaited on the battlefield.
An untold number of young and old, cut down without mercy. Maybe birds pecking at their corpses. Rats over them. Flies. She’d mentally prepared for the sights of the bodies that hadn’t burned. The way Sarah saw it, this simply provided the backdrop for the fight. A real-time snapshot of the horrifying human cost.
She scanned between the flaming buildings for any signs of movement. There’d been sporadic creature sightings throughout San Francisco, but so far, the bulk of the enemy army remained hidden from open view.
Behind her on the boat, fifty supersoldiers packed every available foot. None moved an inch as a wave of sea spray lashed against them. They glared forward with determined stares. All the image of Roux. None probably understood the hope they carried for humanity, or cared.
In the distance, a Chinook helicopter lifted off the Nimitz’s flight deck and thwacked toward a different part of the city. Tom, Diego, and Van Ness’ ride. She knew Ellen had decided to stay back. One of them had to. She hoped it wasn’t the last time she saw her team alive, though. Didn’t give a shit about the megalomaniac’s fate.
Bowcut wiped a sheen of sweat from her brow.
Whatever happens, humanity isn’t going down with a whimper.
Jets screamed through the smoke-filled sky, ready to lend their support. Drones circled over the surrounding neighborhoods of Dogpatch, Visitacion Valley, and Portola. So far, no warnings of an advancing horde had come through her Foundation earpiece.
“You think they’re hiding until we arrive?” she yelled over the craft’s powerful outboard motors. “Or hiding from the missiles?”
“Maybe both,” Roux replied. “It won’t stay like that for long.”
“They’ll be watching.”
“Waiting. Deciding on how to deal with us. They only have one real decision, but they don’t know it just yet.”
His responses made sense. This battle was fairly straightforward. Supersoldiers versus creatures. A vicious struggle at close quarters. That’s how the creatures liked to fight, and that’s how they needed to be taken down. One at a time, until Van Ness and Cafferty could kill the queen.
Bowcut took a calming breath and nodded to herself.
You got this, Sarah.
The craft slowed toward the side of Hunters Point’s mostly empty dock. Debris from the earlier explosions littered the concrete: torn steel from the warehouses, rubble from the craters, smashed pieces of wooden pallets. The port side reached within two feet of dry land. The supersoldiers immediately leaped to the concrete and arranged themselves into a tight defensive semicircle. Roux and Bowcut disembarked and stood behind them, facing a gentle grassy hill that led up to a group of seven low-rise apartment buildings.
Another three crafts reached the dock and disembarked quickly. Their squads moved alongside Roux’s, forming a line between the landing point and the road. It created enough safe space for the entire invading force, if the creatures didn’t breach their defensive line. Bowcut had been impressed with the Foundation coordination in the hangar and in Lima. This was equally impressive, though it seemed inconceivable that the creatures would simply allow them to arrive without attacking.
She nudged Roux. “This seems too good to be—”
A deafening screech rose over the roar of the fighter jets. Chilling. Possibly the loudest she’d heard. And this was aboveground, from behind the hill, without the confines of caverns to amplify the noise.
The supersoldiers collectively tensed.
A second screech erupted. Sharper.
Closer.
But where are they? Surely not right below our feet, about to explode out of the shell craters. That’d create total carnage.
Then nothing immediately followed.
Roux glanced back at the crafts. Several more had successfully landed. He planted his hand against his earpiece. “Get your asses moving, guys. We’ve got enough to hold the bridgehead, but we can’t wait here forever.”
“You sure about that?” Bowcut asked.
“We don’t have a choice.”
She aimed her laser at the top of the hill.
To her front, hundreds of windows in the apartment buildings exploded outward. In the blink of an eye, creatures rocketed out of every level. Thousands of them. Jumping from the higher floors to the road. Clambering down the external walls. Racing out of the entrances.
Did they somehow guess what was unfolding and lay in wait?
Whatever.
This is it.
Sun glinted off the creatures’ black armored skin. Tails whipped from side to side as thousands of the monstrosities stormed down the hill toward the dock. They had the high ground and huge numbers on their side. The creatures moved at breakneck speed, using gravity to their advantage, guaranteeing that they’d reach their target within seconds with nearly unstoppable momentum.
The U.S. forces and Foundation team members who had managed to disembark raced behind the line of supersoldiers and aimed lasers over their sturdy shoulders. Bowcut did the same. She blocked everything out of her mind apart from bringing down as many creatures as possible until her laser lost its charge. She fired, and her weapon’s searing hot beam joined at least thirty others, zipping into the massed front ranks near the bottom of the hill. Hundreds fell, sliced through their legs, chests, and heads.
The laser beams fizzed as they crisscrossed the battlefield, effectively butchering hundreds of creatures. But even as more weapons quickly joined the initial broadside, it was clear to her that this was nowhere near enough to stop the relentless charge. Other creatures instantly replaced the fallen, bounding over their dismembered bodies. They streamed over the road and funneled between the burning warehouses, tearing through the smoky atmosphere.
“Fall back!” Roux screamed.
Others yelled his order.
The supersoldiers stayed in position. More from the landing crafts bolstered their line to roughly a few thousand. They had formed into three ranks. U.S. forces and Foundation team leaders scrambled back thirty yards and aimed over the supersoldiers’ heads for any creature that managed to leap high enough.
Bowcut took a moment to peer through the smoke toward the apartment blocks. During every one of her pounding heartbeats, a steady black flow poured out of the windows and doors with no signs of stopping.
We could be facing millions. Wherever the queen is, she’s sending everything she’s got to the front lines of the battle.
At least, we can hope.
The creatures rapidly closed to twenty feet, baring their rows of teeth, wildly screeching. The first thick cluster leaped into the air.
The front line of supersoldiers thrust upward to meet them.
The all-out war for San Francisco had begun.
Before the creatures had a chance to whip down their tails, most had the ends thrust into their chests. The Foundation’s amazing creations didn’t wait for a second to see if the wounds proved fatal. Every one of them moved on to the next creature, then the next, without yielding an inch of ground.
When a supersoldier fell and got dragged into the attacking throng for a brutal hacking, another sprinted forward to take his place in the front line. In front of them, black corpses piled to a height of six feet high. The soldiers didn’t wait for the next creatures to scale the bodies to have a higher point to leap from. They slowly advanced together, stamping on the injured, fighting as they went with eye-watering, untiring speed.
Missiles rocketed over the bridgehead, targeted precisely at every hellhole the creatures poured out of. They slammed into each of the apartment buildings in quick succession, leveling everything in sight. The ground rumbled. Thick columns of fire shot into the sky.
Mome
nts later, a dozen Sea Hawk helicopters thundered over from the direction of the fleet. Side doors opened. Snipers in each cabin aimed their weapons downward, and a barrage of laser fire rained down on the creatures from above, carving whole swaths of destruction below.
The supersoldiers advanced another few paces, wading between the corpses on the battlefield.
If there is a hell, this is what it looks like.
Creatures began to switch their attack strategy, like they were evolving in real time. Instead of the first wave’s method of leaping with thrashing tails first, which left them vulnerable, they now stayed low and rapidly lunged forward. This had a short-lived effect, increasing their success at tearing limbs off supersoldiers, before the soldiers themselves evolved and countered back effectively.
By now, all crafts had managed to dock and the advance continued.
Boots pounded the ground as landing forces either joined the ranks of the supersoldiers or knelt with their fellow humans, slicing down creature after creature with laser beams.
Three creatures appeared on the top of a burning warehouse, howling at the flames licking their bodies. They threw themselves off the side, over the lines of supersoldiers, using their suicides as an attempt to break through.
Roux and Bowcut rounded on them, aimed, and squeezed. Red-hot lasers sliced through the creatures’ chests instantly. Roux calmly walked to each and fired between their eyes, making sure the job was done.
Bowcut edged across to him while keeping an eye on the warehouse roofs for any other creature stupid enough to try the same thing. “They can’t keep coming forever,” she shouted over the raging war. “How many more do you reckon are heading here?”
“This is only the start,” Roux shouted back.
Chapter Thirty-One
The Chinook powered over Treasure Island toward Fisherman’s Wharf. Tom Cafferty crouched by the open side door with a perfect panorama of the glistening bay.
The view was terrible.
Boats, dead humans, and creatures drifted in the water between the fleet and the land. The city didn’t look much better. No power or movement to reveal a single sign of life. In the distance at Hunters Point, Cafferty could see the battle raging. Two armies—creatures and supersoldiers—engaged in a fight to the death on the dock. Lasers spearing through the smoke from helicopters above. Countless buildings on fire. The warm wind carried the sound of thousands of piercing shrieks with it.
When this is done, there may not be a city left to save . . .
Cafferty couldn’t tell from this vantage point which way the fight was going. He comforted himself with the fact that Ellen was keeping a close eye on the proceedings safely on board the Nimitz. Van Ness clearly wanted Cafferty’s entire team on this mission. So if Ellen staying back screwed up part of his plan, all the better. The same applied to Bowcut.
Munoz knelt next to Cafferty, gripping his tactical beacon case. He stared down wide-eyed at the torn-apart city, silent. The tech expert usually took everything in his stride, no matter how bad. This time his look reflected the events on the ground.
“This shit’s crazier than a soup sandwich,” Munoz said.
Diego always seemed to have the right expression no matter the situation, Cafferty thought.
“It appears as if the creatures have fallen for our diversionary attack,” Van Ness said.
Cafferty spun to face him. “Let’s hope. How do we know the queen will still be near Sterling Park?”
“We don’t, now do we?” Van Ness replied disconcertingly. “But I’m sure one way or another, we’ll root her out.”
Van Ness’ arrogance and presumption grated on Cafferty.
“How do you propose we root her out with only twenty supersoldiers on our side?”
“Oh, I’m sure the rest of my forces will join us soon,” Van Ness replied coolly. “And let’s not forget we have access to the most powerful, most advanced fleet ever assembled in history. I’m sure your mighty U.S. military will serve my purposes well.”
“What do you mean by that?”
The men stared at each other for a lingering moment, Van Ness at ease in his chair—not even the horrors below appeared to rattle him—and Cafferty tense about what the next few hours would bring.
How can he be so certain his plan will work? Even with his soldiers, he’s never actually encountered the queen. And yet he’s sitting there, seemingly without a care in the world.
What the hell am I missing?
The chopper swept over Fisherman’s Wharf and lowered toward the tennis courts in George Sterling Park. Trees lined the perimeter. No creatures were visible around the gaping hole in the grassed area.
They wouldn’t leave her unprotected.
They won’t just let us stroll in for the kill.
The Chinook touched down on the hard court, crushing two tennis nets. The surrounding chain-link fence, sagging and torn, rattled hard.
Eighteen supersoldiers quickly filed out and created a protective circle around the chopper. Two remained at either side of Van Ness’ chair, along with two Foundation team members. Neither of the latter men had spoken a word. They clearly had their instructions, whatever those might be. Cafferty wondered if they were his death squad.
He followed Munoz, jumping to the ground with their pistols raised. Both aimed at the buildings surrounding the park, half expecting to be attacked at any moment. Butterflies danced in his stomach. It seemed odd, after all the devastation and slaughter, to stand in a seemingly deserted part of the city. Once bustling, now a ghost town. Sure, signs of the carnage remained, like the bloodstains on the road.
For Van Ness’ ground zero—the site of the queen’s first emergence—it didn’t really fit what he’d expected to encounter.
The supersoldiers lifted Van Ness’ wheelchair out of the chopper. He pointed over the chunks of earth toward the hole. It was exactly as Karen Green described. It appeared as if something massive had risen and broken through the earth right in the center of the park.
“My friends, it is time to lure our prey,” Van Ness said. “Mr. Cafferty and Mr. Munoz, please accompany my supersoldiers as they inspect the breach.” Van Ness tapped on the armrest of his wheelchair. “I, for obvious reasons, cannot come with you.”
“That’s convenient,” Munoz said, shaking his head.
Van Ness slammed his swagger stick hard against the ground, losing his cool momentarily. “I have hunted and killed more of these creatures than you ever will, Mr. Munoz. Do not presume that I am a coward. I am in this wheelchair because a creature crushed my spine before you were born, and I will be fighting these monsters long after you are dead, sir.”
Munoz swallowed hard and looked away.
“All right, let’s do this,” Cafferty said, finally breaking the tension.
They walked toward the open-air breach, with the eighteen supersoldiers matching their strides in a protective circle. Cafferty closed on the edge and slowed.
The ten-foot-wide hole corkscrewed into darkness. The incline was shallow enough to walk down, maybe thirty degrees. It brought back memories of entering the cavern under the Hudson River with David North and Lucien Flament. That time, he was searching for Ellen, not realizing that the Frenchman was trying to lead them to their deaths.
Munoz flung his arm against Cafferty’s chest to stop him. “You hear that?”
“What?”
“Listen.”
A tapping sound came from below, gradually building up to a clatter.
Heavy footsteps.
Lots of them.
Creatures racing up to meet their challenge.
Cafferty glanced around at the ring of supersoldiers. Only eighteen of them. And two to protect Van Ness.
This is suicide . . .
“Remain calm,” Van Ness shouted. “She’ll have sent her main force to extinguish the threat at Hunters Point.”
“Are you sure about that?” Munoz shouted back, just as dozens of creatures burst out of the hole.
The Chinook’s blades slowly began to rotate.
Munoz leaped to the side of a tree and aimed his laser at the horde. These creatures were smaller than the rest, wilder and faster. The queen’s inner circle. Their screeches echoed through the park. They immediately attacked the ring of supersoldiers.
The sight made Cafferty freeze. He and Munoz were only a few steps from the creatures in every direction as they swarmed the group.
The supersoldiers immediately responded with lethal force, puncturing the tails of creatures through their chests and crashing fists through their skulls. Head stomps crushed the injured. Dozens of creatures lay dead in less than a minute.
Munoz steadily fired his laser across the mouth of the hole, keeping his beam going back and forth, slicing through any creature that followed the first wave. Cafferty followed suit, trying to make sure none made it to open ground. Aiming between their defenders proved difficult, but that was their only option.
It wasn’t quite enough.
A few creatures managed to break out. They circled the group and entered the tennis courts. Cafferty twisted around and fired on them. He cut down several but eased his finger off the trigger when his laser beam neared the helicopter.
He turned to Van Ness. “Send a soldier to save the damned chopper.”
“That is not our priority,” Van Ness shot back.
“Goddammit, Van Ness!”
Cafferty fired again, clearing three creatures from the side door.
Four more creatures leaped on the front of the Chinook as it took to the sky, lifting to a height of around one hundred feet. They battered through the windshield and ripped out the two pilots. Both fell with creatures clutched to them, biting their faces and sinking claws into their bodies as they free fell downward. Their bodies slammed into the tennis court with tremendous force, denting the concrete.
The Chinook lurched to the side and plummeted. The hulking body crashed to the ground, right on top of the creatures and pilots. Its rotors slammed into the pavement.
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