by Michael Todd
Vinders gazed at Tracker and Alvarez, the rest of the team listening. “Seems legit, right? Whatever it is, fire will probably kill it. Fire kills everything.”
Tracker chuckled. “If you can’t shoot it, burn it. The motto of the military. The real military, that is.”
The lieutenant shook his head, trying to convince himself that he was making the right choice. The only problem was, the rest of the team wasn’t answering. He couldn’t take them down, too. He clicked his mic again and spoke into it. “Come back, Strike Team. Strike Team, do you copy?”
He waited a bit longer, checking his comm to make sure it was functional. “Tracker, call the strike team, just in case my comm is fucked up.”
Tracker pressed his button. “Strike Team, do you copy? Over.”
They waited a few moments before the lieutenant pulled his pack off his back and his gun around in front of him. Tracker and Alvarez watched him for a moment. “What you doing, LT? Should we be preparing?”
Vinders shrugged. “Why the hell not? Fuck it. Let’s go inside and figure out what is going on. That’s our job.”
The guys had started to stand when they heard a low rumble from inside the tomb. They all froze, including Vinders, who was getting his gun up and aimed. “Everyone hold. Let’s see who’s coming out of there. Might be the team.”
Tracker sulked, bringing his gun to the ready. “Or, what is that? This shit is getting really creepy, LT. Really creepy, really fast.”
They all squinted at the opening to the tomb as the sound grew closer, and suddenly a leg emerged. The strike team was coming out, but there was definitely something wrong with them. Not only were they stumbling forward with little or no rhythm or understanding of where they were, but they were not carrying their packs or guns. It was an incredibly confusing development.
The lieutenant called to the main guy. “Hopper, report. What happened in there? We’ve been calling you on the comm.”
Hopper didn’t even flinch. He just kept stumbling forward. As the rest of the team emerged, Vinders’ team backed away from the entry with their guns at the ready. They couldn’t see themselves killing their teammates, but were they really in there anymore, or had something taken them over?
The group was mumbling low and slow, and the team outside listened hard. The team that had gone in was chanting, almost. “We. Are. Legion.”
Tracker stood up and shook his head. “Their eyes—they’re purple. And they are like the living fucking dead, with less rotting skin.”
Vinders was Damned, which made him the strongest member of the group. He’d known almost immediately that something wasn’t right, even before the guys went into the cave, which wasn’t well hidden. He raised his gun again, hollering out orders. “Strike team, cease and desist. Again, Strike Team, stop where you are, and we will get you medical attention. You have been exposed to some sort of chemical agent, and we need you to stand still.”
None of them paid a bit of attention to him, continuing to zombie forward without any awareness of the world around them. Vinders growled, lowering his gun and then raising it again. “Strike Team, stop! I will engage!”
The lieutenant looked for Tracker, but he was no longer sitting next to him on the ground. He found him with the rest of the team, their weapons on the ground and their feet shuffling like the inside team’s. After a few more moments, all of the troops stopped. Those walking toward the tomb turned, showing their glowing purple eyes.
Vinders backed up, tripping over a stone and hitting the ground. His finger pressed the trigger of the gun, spraying special metal bullets all over. The group began to advance, their eyes fixated on the lieutenant, looking for revenge of some sort, or maybe just to bring him into the fold. Luckily his demon had been strong enough up to that point to keep whatever was happening at bay.
Suddenly there was a hand on his arm, and he saw Tracker beside him, gripping his arm tightly as his eyes burned a deep purple. On the other side, Alvarez walked up, followed by the rest of the team, grabbing him. Vinders screamed as the team pinned him to the ground, his legs spread and his arms stretched out.
“Oh, God,” he begged. ‘Let me go!’
But it was too late; the mummy had already come through the door to the tomb and was shuffling toward him, tilting his head. He climbed over the soldiers holding down Vinders’ feet and looked down into the leader’s eyes. The lieutenant went quiet when he saw the swirling wildness in the mummy’s eyes. They looked like a Caribbean sea, crystal-clear but hiding secrets beneath. Just looking at him made the lieutenant want to give in to the deep power they held. He could feel it and was fighting it with everything he had.
The mummy leaned farther forward and gripped the lieutenant’s collar. Without moving a muscle, mostly because it no longer had a true form, it whispered close to his cheek, “We are Legion.”
Vinders sneered but dropped the expression. His eyes went wide for just a moment before he began to shake from head to toe. His eyes burned bright red, but the glow began to flicker. Like water running down glass, a purple haze shifted in his pupils until his eyes glowed like the mummy’s. Slowly the mummy let him go, and he sat up, staring at the others. He put his hands on the ground and got to his feet, not concerned with his weapon or his things. The troops began to move out, following the mummy. Vinders, his shoulders slumped, arms crossed, and head tilted to the side, turned around and stared at the people walking past him.
He coughed, then began to whisper with the others, “We are Legion.”
Powell banged the phone down on the table and then put it back to his ear. “Hello? Vinders? I thought we had a deal. You need to answer.”
Xian worked tirelessly trying to use the satellite phone to reach Vinders’ personal cell and then those of his troops. They rang and rang, but no one answered. Powell finally put the receiver down and set his hands on his hips. “What the fuck could they be doing that they can’t talk while they walk?”
Xian groaned, sweating so badly that his hairpiece had tilted to one side and become matted. He looked up at Powell and shook his head. “I don’t know what else to do. None of the team is answering the comm or the phones. I’m not even getting their signal on satellite. It’s like they fucking disappeared into nowhere.”
Powell growled, clenching his hands and pacing in the small space among the ruins of technology. “What can we do? We can’t go there, and no other team has been briefed on this situation.”
Xian grabbed the folder. “Not specifically, but there is a backup group. They understand it’s a top secret/need to know kind of thing, so technically, you could deploy them.”
Powell shook his head, putting out his hand. “Not yet. There has to be something more to this. Do I just leave them, cut ties, and act like none of this ever happened? Do I send in the other team and risk losing them as well? What the ever-loving fuck happened out there?”
Xian stood and then plopped down in the chair again, clasping his fists together out in front of him. “I don’t know what happened. There is no reading on it, and the last thing we heard was them talking to each other, then a couple of seconds later, there was radio silence. There was no warning, and we have an explanation for it. We have to assume that something is out there, quite possibly the Leviathan, and they are either unconscious or dead.”
Powell was getting more anxious as the moments passed. He couldn’t help but feel it all the way up his chest. He gripped his nipples, tweaking them hard. Xian sneered, smacking at Powell’s hands. “Stop that!”
Powell rolled his nipple in his fingers. “I can’t help it, it’s a weird nervous tick.”
Letting out a deep breath, he pulled his hands away and turned toward the monitors. “I am the one who opened this can of worms. I sent them in, so I am going to have to deal with it.”
The chopper started, roaring up to speed. A team of six tough military boys walked out of the hangar toward it carrying guns, ammo, and supplies. It was Strike Force Gamma, the backup team fo
r the Leviathan. Although they had been on call for an important mission, they had only just been briefed on all of its details.
Lieutenant Croner was leading the team and had directed his troops to take everything they could fit into the chopper. They handed the gear down the line, throwing it inside. The lieutenant handed the first soldier, Lennon, a bag, and Lennon shook his head. “A Leviathan! Man, this is fucking amazing.”
“Damn right it is, boy,” the lieutenant barked in his deep, commanding voice. “We’re gonna go out there and save the fucking world from some dipshit alien monster.”
The guys all cheered. Lennon passed that bag and turned back for the next, excitement gleaming in his eyes. “My little boy, when he is born—he’s gonna have a hero as his daddy.”
The lieutenant spat to the side, a string of tobacco-infused drool hanging from his lip. He wiped it off with his shoulder and nodded. “Yes, he is. When is the baby due?”
Lennon grinned. “Just two months, LT. Just two months.”
Lennon passed a box of ammo to his teammate, Crowley. Crowley took it and turned back to Mishler. “That’s right, I bought the ring. All I got to do now is, when we get back, get down on one knee and ask her to marry me. I swear she is the most beautiful woman I have ever met. Just the sweetest little thing.”
Mishler grinned. “I know exactly how you feel, although I’m not buying a ring just yet. It’s only been four months, but I knew when I saw Amy that she was the girl for me. Hell, she looks more like an angel than any of the ones on Earth right now. Just can’t believe my luck. Don’t want to jinx it, not for anything.”
Mishler turned and handed the ammo box to Geiger, who nodded and handed it to Phillips. Geiger took a deep breath and shook his head. “So that’s when I did it. I just signed the papers, and I have my own house. Me. The kid that grew up in the slums, his family barely having enough food to eat, owning a house that was just passed down from generation to generation. I can feel it, I am breaking that cycle, man. I am finally breaking that cycle.”
Phillips tossed the box into the helicopter and wiped the back of his head. “Man, that’s some sweet shit. I am not anywhere near house-buying, but life has been sweet. Stationed out here, easy most days, out having a blast at night, doing what I please. After my marriage ended, I thought I was done for, but life really came back to me, you know?”
The guys talked and laughed, getting ready to load in. They were pumped and didn’t have a care in the world.
7
Pandora wrapped her arms around Sofia and hugged her tightly. She lingered for a moment, whispering in her ear, “I might not have kids, but you stick around for centuries, and you learn quite a bit. As soon as you are one minute overdue, you just jump right on that man and ride him home. That labor will roll right up on you. The elixir of life, bringing life, and bringing the pain.”
Sofia giggled. “Thanks, I’ll remember that.”
Katie walked up. “You’ll remember what?” She looked at Pandora and then at Sofia, rolling her eyes. “Are you giving out advice again? Seriously, leave this woman alone. She does not need to know how to deliver her baby in a sixteenth-century carriage.”
Pandora blinked at Katie. “There you go again, trying to be funny, but it just plummets and explodes on itself.”
Katie shoved Pandora out of the way. “Have a good and restful rest of your pregnancy, and let us know as soon as anything happens. You understand?”
Sofia nodded, kissing Katie on the cheek. “You guys are just headed back to New York, right?”
“Yeah, with Angie and Juntto,” she replied. “Gotta get back. Working on an interesting case with the cops, and hopefully, we will crack it soon.”
Sofia chuckled. “If it’s like anything else you guys do, you’ll have it figured out by the time you get back to New York.”
Pandora came up next to Katie, and they gave each other a side glance before staring inquiringly at Sofia. She ran her hand over her belly and shifted her eyes up, feeling their stare. They gave her matching toothy grins. Sofia sighed and shook her head. “Get out of here. I am not telling you the baby name. You have to wait like everyone else.”
Pandora’s bottom lip came out, and Katie snapped her fingers. “Dammit. We were so close.”
Angie walked up and looked at them all for a second before letting out a small grunt. “They’re trying to get you to tell them the name by being fucking weird, aren’t they?”
Sofia scrunched her nose and held two fingers up a fraction of an inch apart.
Angie shook her head and turned Sofia toward her. “Don’t do too much. Let Calvin wait on you hand and foot. It’s the least he can do when you are going to be pushing his spawn from your lady bits. And I added some extra things to the supply list just for you and the baby.”
Sofia smiled excitedly. “Aw, thank you! And thank you, Katie.”
“Of course,” Angie replied, pulling a piece of paper out. “I would let it be a surprise, but I don’t want you to buy the stuff and have two. So, we got you diapers, duh. And I mean like a pallet of damn diapers. The kid can poop his or her heart out. We also got you a crib for the base, some décor for the room, and a really techie baby monitor. Oh, and some Daddy books for Calvin so he can make himself useful.”
Just then Katie’s phone rang, and she stepped away from the girls to take it. Accepting the call, she put it to her ear. “This is Katie.”
“Katie, it’s Detective Schultz,” he replied. “Sorry if I caught you at a bad time.”
Katie squinted into the sun. “No, not at all. What’s going on? Has there been a break in the case?”
The detective groaned. “Kind of, but not really. I tell you what, something really strange is going on around here. Shit, there is something strange going on all over New York right now. We sure could use your help. I waited as long as I could to call you. There has never been anything like this before.”
Katie glanced back at Pandora. “Are we talking like Ghostbusters, StayPuft Vigo kind of strange, or are we talking regular demons kind of strange?”
Schultz coughed loudly, letting Katie know he was out smoking. “It’s a little bit of both. No slime buildings just yet, but I am not ruling anything out anymore.”
Katie picked up her bag and flung it over her shoulder. “I was actually just about to get on the plane back to New York City. Like, it is literally in front of me right now, and Pandora, Angie, Juntto, and I were headed back as fast as we could get there. Of course, saying our goodbyes always takes three times as long than we think. In any case, we are packed up and ready to come home. I will call you when I get there.’
Detective Schultz was silent for a minute. “I need you to come as quick as you possibly can. This stuff isn’t going to happen, it is happening as we speak and I really need some help from you and Pandora to know what the fuck is up. I’ve been here for three days straight.”
Katie shook her head. “All right, so tell me what kind of hell this is. Sleet and lightning?”
“No. Actually, there is another mass hallucination, and this time, it is at your apartment complex.”
Katie stopped in her tracks, glancing at Pandora to let her know this was not just a routine call from their friendly detective. Pandora came over, looking concerned. Katie repeated what Schultz had said so Pandora could hear. “So, there are a bunch of hallucinating people making their way to the condo. Got it.”
Pandora immediately became pissed. “Oh, hell no. One of those bitches puts one grubby hallucinating finger on my stuff, and we are going to fight to the death.”
Katie shook her head. “Schultz, we’ll be there ASAP.”
She pressed End and tossed her bag to Juntto. “You guys mind taking our luggage back? We are going to portal back because there is something pretty huge going on.”
Juntto shook his head. “Nope, and if you need me just call.”
Katie blew the rest of them a kiss and turned, opening up a portal.
The guys looke
d out the windows of the chopper as it sped along close to the ground, trying to find the other team. They were attempting to be discreet, but the Iraqi government had given them permission to be there, so they were only in minor danger as they soared up and over the hills that led to the tomb. There were storm clouds in the distance, and the mood had gone from playful and talkative to ominous very quickly.
The pilot of the craft came over their headphones. “We’ve got a big group of what looks like soldiers over to your right. They are in a gaggle, but I feel like there is something wrong with the situation. I’m going to circle around and see if we can’t catch their comm. I’ll go quiet until you are done, LT.”
Everyone looked out their windows, staring at the group of soldiers below. They tried to signal, knowing how frustrating it was to be down in the pit with soldiers flying over safe and sound. Unfortunately, they couldn’t get any of them to even look up at the passing chopper.
Geiger narrowed his eyes, peering at them more closely. “Where are their weapons and packs? They are just walking along with no gear like they don’t even hear us.”
The lieutenant shook his head, something in the pit of his stomach not feeling quite right. He looked out the front at the hill ahead. “Land over there. We’ll take a closer look at what’s going on.”
“Roger that,” the pilot said, whipping the chopper around and heading over to the spot.
As they landed, the lieutenant opened his door and looked out in the distance. He stepped out, pulling his binoculars from the belt around his waist. He looked through the lenses and jumped slightly, lifting his head up and lowering it again. Through the binoculars, he could see the lieutenant, as well as the rest of the guys. Their faces sagged, and their arms were lower on one side than the other. They dragged their feet, and their eyes were a sparkling wild purple in color.
He turned and hopped back in the chopper, grabbing his satellite phone. “Everyone sit still for a minute. I gotta call in for an order on this one. Those boys are not in their right mind. Something got to them bad.”