Ringgold looked at Lemke, prompting him to speak first.
“That doesn’t sound like a half-bad idea,” he replied.
“Then let’s make it happen,” Ringgold said.
She gestured at Nelson who took the satellite phone from Cortez to call in the order.
“Prepare for landing,” said one of the pilots.
The bird dipped through the choppy air, preparing to touch down on the sternward helipad of the Zumwalt Class Destroyer. Beckham retreated to his family. Javier latched onto him as the chopper landed.
“It’s okay, bud,” Beckham said. “Everything’s going to be okay.”
A Marine opened the side door, and a cold wind blew inside. The passengers filtered out, starting with the president and vice president. Beckham glimpsed a scene of organized chaos on the decks of the ships flanking the stealth destroyer.
Groups of Marines and soldiers were gathered, waiting to board flights that would take them back to the land for missions around the country.
Several F-22 Raptors took off and rose into the sky from an aircraft carrier, their tails glowing as they tore across the horizon. They would join the bombers to pound the Variant hordes.
Beckham helped his family onto the deck and herded them toward a hatch where Marines were waving people inside.
“Civilians this way!” yelled one of the men.
“Science team follow me!” shouted another.
Kate and Beckham stopped inside the passage with Javier, letting others pass them.
“You have that look, Reed,” Kate said. “What are you thinking?”
Horn paused beside them, stepping out of the flow of people. Tasha and Jenny stood beside him as they held the collars of their German Shepherds, Ginger and Spark.
“Are you going to save Donna, Bo, and Timothy?” Javier asked.
“Please,” Tasha begged. “Please bring them here.”
Beckham and Kate exchanged a look.
“Mom, you’re going back to the lab to save people, right?” Javier asked. “Well, Dad’s a soldier and he’s got to go back to fight to save our friends.”
“Yes, he does.” Kate reached out and hugged Beckham. “I love you, Reed.”
“I love you, too.”
“You aren’t doing this without me, brother,” Horn said. “Plus, Tasha told me that she’ll kick my ass if I don’t get Timothy.”
“I didn’t say it like that.” Tasha’s face warmed, then looked sorrowful. “Please don’t let anything happen to him, Dad.”
“We won’t,” Horn said.
“You promise?”
“I promise.” Horn kissed Tasha on the forehead and bent down to Jenny. “I love you both. When you see me next, I’ll have Timothy, Donna, and Bo.”
The girls joined Kate and Javier while Beckham and Horn took off for the chopper. A team of Marines joined them. A crew chief closed the doors behind them, and Beckham grabbed a handhold with his prosthetic.
Looking out the window, Beckham saw their families in the open. Tasha, Jenny, and Javier waved at them. Kate looked sternly up at the helicopter, her hair dancing about in the wind and rotor wash.
“You ready for this shit, boss?” Horn asked.
Beckham nodded. “It’s about time we got back into this fight.”
***
A man crawled forward over the dirt in the dark chamber, dragging two shredded legs behind him. Blood streaked away from the strands of muscle and grit hanging from where his feet should be. He reached up with a trembling hand for S.M. Fischer.
“Help… me…” the man stuttered through quivering lips.
Fischer recognized the man’s face in the darkness. It was Aaron Galinsky, the former Israeli military soldier that he had hired to track down the Variants on his property.
A hulking Alpha emerged from the shadows beyond Galinsky.
Fischer raised his rifle and aimed.
He pulled the trigger, but the magazine was spent.
The beast grabbed Galinsky by the head and stabbed his eyeballs, popping them with a sickening squelch.
The scream that followed sounded inhuman. More animalistic than from a man.
Fischer pulled out a new magazine, his fingers shaking, and palmed it into the gun, pulling back on the charging handle. Then he aimed and pulled the trigger.
Another click.
The gun wouldn’t fire.
Fischer fumbled to replace the magazine again. But when he looked down, all his magazines were empty.
What in the Sam Hill?
The monstrous Alpha tossed Galinsky aside and reached for Fischer. Claws wrapped around his head, squeezing his skull, pain blinding him.
He woke up in a dark bedroom.
A moment of paralyzing terror gripped him as he tried to remember how he had gotten here. The events over the prior few days surfaced in his mind. Those nightmares weren’t just dreams. They were real. All those memories came crashing down over him: the attacks on his oil fields, the loss of his livestock, and the death of so many of his men.
He snatched his wristwatch off the bedside table. It was the morning after he had climbed out of those tunnels, and the events of the previous day still haunted his mind.
“Shit,” he muttered.
He pulled on a pair of pants, put on a shirt, and grabbed the .357 Magnum he had under his pillow. The M4 he had killed dozens of Variants with rested against the wall. He slung it over his back.
Descending the stairs, he entered the communications hub that had been set up in his living room. A group of soldiers worked at the tables with enough satellite phones and computers for a platoon of soldiers guarding his oilfields. The lieutenant in charge was following orders from General Cornelius to protect the oil fields.
He had effectively turned Fischer’s ranch into a forward operating base (FOB) overnight. All of the soldiers wore normal fatigues and gear but one thing set them apart from the military Fischer was used to working with—blue armbands with the insignia of an Orca whale.
It wasn’t surprising to Fischer that the General had picked the super intelligent predators to represent his army, and frankly, he was damn glad to have them on his property.
“Sir,” came a familiar voice.
Tran waved from a desk. Chase was also there. Both men had on fresh clothes, their faces clean from the blood that had soaked them last night, but neither appeared rested.
“Sir, did you get some sleep?” Tran said.
“A few hours,” Fischer replied. “You two are looking rough. Didn’t you get any?”
Tran nodded. “I slept an hour.”
“How’s that injury?”
A shrug from Tran. “I’ll be fine.”
“And you?” Fischer asked Chase.
“I slept, and I’m fine, but I got to be honest; I’m ready for that private jet ride to a beach.”
Fischer forced a grin, trying to ignore the nightmares still playing across his mind. “You and me both, son.”
Another voice boomed across the room.
Sergeant Ken Sharp made his way through the maze of metal tables and communication equipment with Lieutenant Marcus Dees, the man in charge of the platoon. Dees had a graying mustache that looked similar to Fischer’s.
“Lieutenant,” Fischer said. “Can I have a word?”
“I’ll be with you in a moment,” Dees said. He continued to another table.
Fischer wasn’t used to being brushed off like that. Especially in his own home. But he did appreciate having the military here, finally, to protect his fields.
Sergeant Sharp emerged from another hall. He nodded a greeting at Fischer before joining Dees.
“Sir, it’s worse than we thought out there,” Sharp said. “Variants and collaborators attacked over half of our outposts.”
“Half the outposts?” Fischer said. “I’m surprised General Cornelius sent us a full platoon with those numbers.”
“Your oil is necessary to sustain the war effort,” Sharp said.
War effort…
“So we’re at full-blown war now?” Fischer muttered.
“The diseased freaks have been breeding underground,” Sharp said. “Brass says they have these masterminds controlling the smaller monsters with some sort of network. The science jockeys think they use the webbing we saw in the tunnels like a freakish internet.”
Fischer felt like he had woken from one nightmare into an even more terrifying one. The beasts organizing themselves like that was something he never could have fathomed before.
“We’ve cleared out most of the Variants from this area,” Sharp continued. “They seem to be heading roughly southeast.”
“Toward Outpost Houston?” Tran said.
“That’s a lot of ground to cover,” Fischer said. “Houston should have nearly a week before the Variants reach them.”
“A shit ton of juveniles are already attacking there,” Sharp said. “Not sure the forces can hold them back. Outpost Houston might be long gone before the other monsters even get there.”
“Mr. Fischer,” a female voice called out. Fischer turned to see his maid, Maddie, standing between a few tables in the center of the room, arms wrapped around her chest like she was giving herself a hug. Still, she trembled.
“I’ll be right back,” Fischer said.
He motioned for her to head back into the hallway.
“You okay?” he asked her.
“Mr. Fischer, pardon me, but I heard what you were talking about,” she said. A wet sheen formed over her eyes. “My family is at Outpost Houston.”
Shit that’s right…
“I’d like to go there and be with them,” she said. “Is there any way I can get on a flight?”
Fischer waved Sergeant Sharp over.
“Do you have any birds going to Outpost Houston anytime soon?”
“In the morning, sir,” Sharp said. “Of course that’s assuming it will be there in the morning.”
Maddie put a hand over her mouth, tears flowing freely now.
“Shit, sorry, ma’am, didn’t mean to upset you,” Sharp said.
Fischer put a hand on her shoulder. “It’s going to be okay.”
Dees spoke up. “He’s right, ma’am. We’re evacuating everyone from the worst hit outposts. Chances are good your family is already being relocated. No need for you to go to Houston.”
Maddie managed a slight smile through her tears. “That’s good to know, sir.”
“I’ll try to squeeze out some information through our friends here,” Fischer said. “If we find anything out about your family, I’ll let you know.”
She nodded. “Thank you, Mr. Fischer. I would greatly appreciate that.”
“You bet. Now go get some rest.”
She left to join the rest of the staff in the kitchen cooking meals for the soldiers. The aroma of barbecue drifted down the hall.
It was the last time he would smell it here for a while now that his livestock had all been slaughtered by the monsters.
Fischer returned to Dees. He needed to try a different tack to get the lieutenant to open up to him.
“Thank you for everything you’re doing, sir,” Fischer said. “I’m grateful your platoon showed up when they did.”
“General Cornelius sees this real estate as very important, Mr. Fischer,”
“I certainly agree. This land is my life’s work.”
“Well, you’re going to have to trust your life’s work with me for a little while, then,” Dees said. “General Cornelius has requested your presence at Outpost Galveston.”
Fischer paused before responding.
“All due respect, Lieutenant, but can’t we do a meeting over the phone or radio?” he asked.
“General Cornelius wants to talk to you in person,” the lieutenant said firmly.
“Sir, I don’t think it’s safe for you to be traveling all the way across Texas in the middle of this shit,” Tran said.
Dees arched a brow at Tran before returning his gaze to Fischer. “This isn’t a request, Mr. Fischer. It’s an order from General Cornelius. Remember, he graciously sent me and my boys to protect your oil.”
“My oil for you to use as you see fit,” Fischer said, eyes narrowing.
“I expect you to be on the next flight to Galveston,” Dees said before walking away.
Fischer waited a moment, then gestured for Tran and Chase to join him in his office. He shut the door.
“I don’t like this,” Tran said. “I have a bad feeling about that guy.”
“You don’t succeed in the oil and ranching industry through ignorance,” Fischer said, taking a seat at his desk. “I’ve learned a thing or two over the years. I can handle men like Dees who think they own the place, swinging around their rank and ego like a hammer.”
Fischer stroked his mustache. “To be honest, I’m more worried about the Variants right now than the military taking over my land. Long as they protect it, I can live with them shipping some oil to protect the country. If we’re all dead, doesn’t matter who the oil belongs to.”
“So we’re going to Galveston?” Tran asked.
Fischer nodded.
“Guess this means I’m going to that beach after all,” Chase said.
“I’d settle for a warm shower and a long nap over the beach,” Tran said.
“Screw that, I want my girlie drink and some babes to look at,” Chase said with a shit-eating grin.
Fischer chuckled. He grabbed the whiskey bottle off his desk and poured them all a drink. “This ain’t no margarita but it’s the best I can do for now.”
“Thank you, sir,” Chase said.
The men all took their glasses and raised them toward one another.
“It’s been wilder than a buckin’ bronc’,” Fischer said. “And it’s going to get even wilder still.”
They clanked their glasses together, and Fischer filled his gut with warm whiskey, wondering where this crazy rodeo was going to lead them next.
— 3 —
Dr. Kate Lovato stood at the entrance to a lab on the USS George Johnson. Tasha, Jenny, and Javier were off in their quarters, playing with the dogs and resting. Boxes of lab equipment lay in stacks against the bulkhead. A cylindrical plastic centrifuge tube had somehow gotten loose from one of those boxes. It rolled back and forth over the deck as the ocean swells rocked the ship.
“It’s going to take some work to get up and running,” she said to herself.
She would have liked nothing better than to sit back in their cramped cabin with the children and dogs. Her body demanded it, nearly sapped of energy, especially with her husband and Horn out in the field, and the fate of Donna, Bo, and Timothy uncertain.
Yet just like Beckham and Horn heading back to Portland, she had duties. Obligations to protect the ones they loved and their fellow man. Despite her emotional and physical exhaustion, she had to carry on.
For now, she had to compartmentalize. Focus on one thing at a time. She tried to push thoughts of her family and the war from her mind as she began unpacking lab equipment.
Her muscles and back protested. Maybe it was her exhaustion. Maybe it was something psychosomatic, telling her this was ridiculous to once again be setting up a lab on the high seas hoping that this time they would finally stop the Variants.
She had to wipe away the sheen of wetness forming over her eye.
“Doctor Lovato,” a voice said. “Sorry I’m late. I slept a bit longer than I would have liked.”
Kate straightened and looked at Doctor Carr with his greasy dark hair.
“At least you got some sleep,” she said. “One of us needs to be rested.”
He helped her lift a heavy box onto one of the lab benches. She could feel him studying her from the side.
“What?” she finally asked.
“Nothing, I just hope you’re okay.”
“I’m fine,” she lied. “We’ve got a lot left to figure out. But it’s tough to focus on science when I’m more concerned about all those peop
le we had to leave behind.”
“I know what you mean.”
That surprised Kate. Carr was usually all about science and to hear him express emotions like that caught her off guard.
“Without as many lab techs, we’re going to have more work to do ourselves,” Carr said.
Oh, so is that it? Kate thought. He’s just concerned about not having enough help.
She thought to ask him to clarify his statement but decided it would be better not to have a definitive answer. For now, she would rather assume he actually had concern for people’s well-being.
They began unloading liquid reagents and pieces of equipment.
“I know we still have some work left to do to understand the communication network and the masterminds,” Kate said, “but I’m certain we’re on the right track now.”
“Yes, I’m pretty confident you’re right.” Carr paused, his hand atop a box. “One thing I don’t quite understand is how the Variants were breeding all this time without us knowing.”
“Nature always finds a way,” Kate said. She had a difficult time trying to keep the Jurassic Park line from her mind. But the saying had never felt so appropriate.
“Right you are. Mother Nature can be a, shall we say, stubborn bitch.”
Kate almost smirked.
“The juveniles must’ve been breeding in those tunnels and within the cities right out of reach from our surveillance,” she said. “The masterminds and the collaborators probably took great pains to keep the Variants’ offspring hidden.”
“Most definitely. And if our theories are correct, the Alphas digging those tunnels between masterminds and Variant hives weren’t just creating lines of attack.”
“No,” Kate said. “They’re like an ant-colony. Masterminds as queen ants, and underground chambers for breeding, feeding, and transportation, kind of like what we saw in Europe with the mutations there.”
“Indeed.”
They worked in silence for a while. A knock at the hatch caught Kate’s attention.
A tall, willowy man with a mop of shaggy blond hair held out a hand toward her. “I’m Sean McMasters. I’m one of the new lab techs.”
“Good to meet you, Sean,” Kate said. “We’re just setting up.”
Sean directed a cadre of other lab techs to help place some of the heavier equipment like PCR machines and microscopes in their new homes within the lab.
Extinction Cycle: Dark Age Box Set | Books 1-4 Page 34