Hell Divers Series | Book 8 | King of the Wastes

by Smith, Nicholas Sansbury

“What was that all about?” Magnolia asked.

  “No idea,” Ada said. “He’s never liked me, though—always looks at me like I’m the enemy.”

  “Chow’s here,” Edgar said.

  A cook wheeled a cart through the launch-bay doors with two militia guards, and the divers hurried over.

  They carried their rations back to the supply crates and sat on the deck.

  Magnolia sat next to Rodger, who tore into his pack.

  “My God I’m starving,” he said.

  She laughed and sat next to him.

  Tia took a crate by Kade, again asking about her father.

  “I thought when I joined the Hell Divers, you’d finally tell me,” she said. “You always say he died bravely.”

  “And he did,” Kade replied.

  Magnolia had a feeling it was not altogether true; otherwise, he would have told the young woman years ago about her father’s fate.

  Magnolia didn’t blame him for keeping secrets. They all had them. Every veteran diver gathered in the launch bay of the airship Vanguard kept things to her- or himself and always had.

  “Your dad never would have wanted this life for you, kid,” Kade replied. “I will tell you one thing: his final words were to make sure you were okay.”

  “I’m an adult now, and I deserve to know.”

  Magnolia didn’t like to eavesdrop, but she couldn’t help but listen to the conversation. From what she knew, Tia was just eight when the ITC Victory arrived at Kilimanjaro. It was supposed to be a place of salvation but had turned out to be hell.

  At first, it didn’t make sense to Magnolia why the young woman had decided to join up after finally achieving true salvation, in the form of the Vanguard Islands. But now Magnolia could see clearly why she'd volunteered: to follow in her father’s footsteps.

  Kade sighed.

  “You’re right,” he said. “You are grown, and you might be diving when we get to Panama, so I’m going to tell you. I’m going to tell you so you know what’s down there, what killed your father.”

  Tia moved her crate closer.

  “We were on a dive in an old-world city, to a museum—same place I found this,” Kade said, tipping his hat with one forefinger under the brim. “Your dad was lead scout, and he took me and Johnny to a bunker and a map Captain Rolo had learned about from an old broadcast. We didn’t see any evidence of beasts on our way in, but when that bunker opened for the first time in decades, it drew them to us.”

  “Beasts?”

  Magnolia had a feeling they had run into Sirens, but she kept quiet.

  “Feral humans . . . mutated, and . . .” He took off his hat. “Cannibals. Your dad fought bravely, but there were too many of the ugly bastards.”

  Kade bowed his head.

  “I tried to save him,” he said, eyes downcast. “I will never forgive myself for that day.”

  Tia didn’t respond at first, as if digesting the story.

  “I’m sure you did everything you could,” she finally said. “I’ve never blamed you, I hope you realize that.”

  Kade glanced up.

  “I blame myself,” he said. “Your dad—”

  “Died bravely.” She nodded. “And that’s how I will remember him always: brave, strong, and loving.”

  She got up with her food. “Thanks, Kade.”

  Kade stood and breathed out as if a heavy weight had just been lifted off his shoulders. He looked over at Magnolia and caught her staring.

  She offered a nod of support, and he tipped his hat. The teams went on eating and chatting quietly as lightning flashed outside the portholes.

  Magnolia went back to check on Rodger when the PA system came on.

  “All hands, this is a yellow alert,” said Captain Rolo. “Stand by for orders.”

  “Stand by for orders?” Arlo said.

  “Yellow alert?” Gran Jefe said. “¿Qué pasó?”

  “It means we got trouble,” Magnolia said. “Everyone on their feet!”

  The divers gathered near the windows, trying to see what was going on outside, while Magnolia helped Rodger to his feet.

  “I’ve got it,” he said.

  The launch bay was fifty feet off the deck of the Immortal, and with the extra height of the airship mount that secured it to the supercarrier, they had a sprawling view of many miles of ocean. In the glow of lightning, Magnolia saw the Octopus and Raven’s Claw sailing off the carrier’s port wake.

  Magnolia couldn’t see the Ocean Bull, though. She turned for a view of the island—the carrier’s upper bridge. Officers stood at the viewports looking east through binoculars.

  Squinting, she stared in that direction.

  When Magnolia noticed a yellow glow in the water, she thought she was feeling the effects of secondhand marijuana smoke. But judging by the reactions of the other divers, it was real.

  “Holy Siren shit, the ocean is glowing,” Arlo said. “The fuck is that? A submarine or something?”

  Gran Jefe grunted and pinched the end of the joint, putting it out and slipping it into his pocket.

  “I don’t know the English word for this,” he said. “Only monsters.”

  “Those can’t be sea monsters,” Arlo said.

  Gran Jefe shot him a glare. “Estúpido.”

  A second alarm wailed with the steady rise and fall of an emergency siren.

  “That glow is getting closer,” Arlo said.

  He backed away from the window, and Magnolia moved over to look out. Sure enough, a massive patch of ocean glowed a fluorescent yellow.

  “That’s half the length of Raven’s Claw,” Rodger said.

  “Gran Jefe is right,” Arlo said. “That’s no submarine.”

  “Tell Captain Rolo we have to go to sky,” Gran Jefe said. He pointed toward the overhead. “Arriba. We go up, up!”

  Magnolia had never heard the edge of fear in the Cazador’s voice before. She switched to the command channel and said, “Captain, what the hell is going on?”

  Static crackled in response.

  “There are more of them!” shouted Tia.

  The young diver was on the other side of the launch bay, at the portholes.

  Magnolia rushed over and saw two more fluorescent glows farther out, all trailing the Immortal and the airship secured to its deck.

  Whatever it was, it didn’t seem interested in the other ships.

  The alarm wailed louder, and red lights flashed in the corner of the room. The PA system clicked on, crackling with static that finally gave way to a voice.

  “Prepare for flight,” said the friendly voice of Timothy Pepper.

  Captain Rolo followed up with a message. “Everyone, report to their emergency shelters,” he said. “We’re taking off.”

  Kade backed away from the window as the closest glowing shape surged toward the supercarrier’s port side.

  “Brace yourselves!” he shouted.

  Something hit them so hard, every diver fell down on the deck.

  “My arm!” Arlo cried out.

  Gran Jefe helped him to his feet, and Rodger pulled Magnolia up.

  “Everyone to their racks!” Kade yelled. “We have—”

  A deep, long roar sounded in the distance, cutting him off.

  Gran Jefe was right: this was no submarine.

  Another impact rocked the ship, knocking Magnolia to the deck again. Tia went down hard, bouncing her head off the bulkhead by the racks.

  Kade rushed over as Magnolia scrambled to her feet. They found Tia lying unconscious.

  “We need help!” Magnolia yelled.

  Edgar rushed over with a medical kit.

  “What happened?” he said.

  “She fell hard,” Kade said. “Banged her head.”

  Ada was already checking her out.
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  Another deep, low roar rolled over them, louder than a foghorn.

  Gran Jefe was looking out a window.

  “¡Vámonos!” he yelled.

  The airship suddenly jolted, and Magnolia stumbled against the hull. Fetching up against the porthole, she happened to look outside and gasped. Massive limbs rose out of the water, attached to barnacled flesh the color of a tangerine. They reached up over the deck of the supercarrier.

  “To your racks!” Magnolia shouted. “now!”

  She stumbled backward as Rodger grabbed her. Behind them, Edgar finished wrapping a bandage around Tia’s head. She was conscious again, blinking and moaning.

  “We need to get you up, okay?” Kade said.

  She managed a weak nod.

  “Help me with her,” Edgar said.

  Kade picked her up under one arm, and Edgar got her under the other. Together, they carried her over to the racks along the hull.

  Magnolia checked that all the greenhorn divers were secured in their racks, arms locked over their chests.

  “You’re good,” she said, moving down the line.

  Edgar and Kade helped Tia into her rack, and Kade strapped in next to her.

  “You’re going to be okay,” he said. “You just took a bad fall.”

  Magnolia and Rodger got into their racks, and Magnolia looked out the window between them. In the ocean, she could see the outline of another glowing object under the water. It broke through the surface, mutated limbs whipping out.

  This one, she could see perfectly.

  It was a whale, but not like those she had seen in picture books. This beast had a thick, blunt snout—perfect for bashing prey or enemies—and its pectoral fins had elongated into prehensile arms.

  One of the limbs rose over the deck of the Immortal, slithered around a container, and pulled it into the water. Another limb shot up toward the airship, slapping the hull with its tip.

  Magnolia saw muzzle flashes sparking along the deck as warriors fired at the grasping, searching limbs. But they may as well be shooting toothpicks.

  Out the porthole, she spotted two more of the glowing beasts under the surface. This wasn’t just the one whale—it was an entire pod.

  Three gargantuan mutated monsters circled the supercarrier Immortal, taking turns ramming the vessel every few minutes, and using their prehensile limbs to plunder the deck.

  Magnolia leaned closer to the porthole. Something else was in the water. A smaller boat raced away over the waves. She couldn’t see who was piloting it, but there appeared to be a dog on board.

  “Is that who I think it is?” Edgar said.

  “The king,” Arlo said. “What in the wastes is he doing down there?”

  “Preparing to fight,” Magnolia said. “And we have to help him.”

  Twenty-Five

  X climbed the ladder to the command center of the Ocean Bull with Miles. The dog shook the rain from his coat and then followed him past workstations manned by Cazador naval officers.

  Captain Two Skulls stood at the wheel, the death’s-head tattoo grinning back at the rest of the room.

  “I guess the myths are real, Captain,” X said.

  “Monstruos brillantes del mar,” replied Two Skulls.

  X knew that much Spanish. The “Bright monsters of the sea” was right. The glowing behemoths were part giant whale and part giant squid, perhaps something like the biblical Leviathan.

  These abominations from the depths were probably responsible for the loss of the Anaconda and her crew when the Cazadores had sailed to the Panama Canal decades ago. But X had come prepared and wouldn’t let his army suffer the same fate.

  “Pull back Raven’s Claw and the Octopus,” X said. “I want them at a safe distance since they are the most vulnerable.”

  “Understood, sir,” said Captain Two Skulls.

  On the port side of the Immortal, a spout of warm air shot upward as one of the deformed creatures surfaced. Again the bony head slammed into the hull of the supercarrier.

  Soldiers fired from machine-gun turrets. Green tracer rounds zipped into the gray and orange flesh, with no apparent effect.

  A raucous whistling blasted out, forcing everyone in the cabin to cover their ears. Miles barked and jumped wildly.

  “Get everyone off that deck, now!” X yelled.

  A rocket-propelled grenade streaked away from the Immortal, hitting the strangely deformed head. The eye exploded on impact.

  The beast opened a mouth that could swallow a fishing trawler and let out another earsplitting whistle. Meaty limbs lined with barbs peeled away from the strip of flesh under the dorsal ridges. They whipped upward, onto the Immortal, battering the weather deck and the airship.

  “Get us into this fight,” X said, motioning with his prosthesis.

  Captain Two Skulls nodded at another officer.

  X used his binoculars as the Ocean Bull groaned, increasing speed.

  In the sights, he focused on a team of Cazadores with flamethrowers, who were running for shelter on the Immortal. Two of them stopped to unleash streaks of fire at the flailing limbs.

  One of those long arms wrapped around a warrior, crushing his armored body. His tank exploded, and flames raced up the limb, which pulled back, thrashing the air before splashing back down into the water.

  “Pull everyone back!” X shouted.

  “Capitán, hay dos contactos en el sonar,” said an officer behind X.

  The young woman staring at her screen glanced up, terror in her eyes. “The other two monsters are flanking the Immortal,” she said.

  X stepped over to the starboard viewports and trained the binos on the tangerine glow swimming just under the waves.

  Before anyone could react, both bodies slammed into the hull of the Immortal, then deployed mutant arms that slapped and stuck to the side of the airship.

  “Why aren’t they attacking us?” asked Captain Two Skulls. “It’s like they don’t even see us.”

  “It must have something to do with . . .” X paused. It dawned on him then. “That’s it! They must be after the nuclear reactors.”

  Raising his binos, he focused them on another source of nuclear energy: the airship Vanguard.

  X cursed a blue streak as he lowered the binoculars and adjusted his headset.

  “Captain Rolo, do you copy?” X said.

  In the moment that passed before Rolo replied, X’s mind wandered back to the first time he saw Sirens digging up radioactive dirt and eating it. Some creatures in the wastes thrived off nuclear decay in a way that he still didn’t understand.

  “Copy, King Xavier,” said Captain Rolo.

  “Get the airship off that deck and into the sky right now!” X shouted.

  Static crackled, another pause passing.

  “Sir, you want me to fly into the storm?”

  “The alternative is being pulled into the ocean and made into monster shit, if you’d prefer that,” X said. “Stay as low as you can, but get off the Immortal, pronto! That’s an order, Captain.”

  “This is complete and utter—”

  X clicked off the channel and turned to Captain Two Skulls.

  “Activate the battering ram,” he said. “I’m headed to the bow.”

  X motioned for Miles to follow him down to the lower decks and under the bow. A cockpit with viewports was built inside the massive ram he had commissioned before the journey, with exactly this eventuality in mind.

  He took a seat in front of the controls. Miles jumped up, putting his paws on X’s lap.

  “Sorry, boy, but we got to strap you in.”

  Miles jumped up into the other chair, and X buckled him in. Then he buckled into his own chair and looked at the complicated dashboard.

  He thought back to the short tutorial Steve had gone over with him in the cockp
it. He pushed the on button, and as the screen came online, the shutters over the viewports pulled back. He was just twenty feet above the waterline, within range of waves that slapped up the bow.

  Despite the spray, X had a perfect view of the Immortal and the beasts attacking the ship.

  Thick, spiked arms flickered away from the gray flesh of the whale off the port side, striking containers on the deck, and again slapping the hull of the airship.

  “Captain Rolo, what’s your status?” X asked over the command channel.

  “Working on getting in the air, sir, but we’ve got a problem,” replied the captain.

  X leaned closer to the window and zoomed in on the airship. Four of the spiked prehensile limbs had snaked around the airship’s landing gear.

  “Stand by,” X said.

  He took a moment to consider his next order, which would send men and women back into the fray, but they had no choice.

  “General Forge, do you copy?” X said into his headset.

  “Copy, sir.”

  “Get a team out on the deck of the Immortal and free the Vanguard.”

  “Yes, sir. I will see to it myself.”

  X switched back to the command channel with Captain Two Skulls.

  “Time to bash this pile of mutant carrion,” X said into his headset. “Full steam ahead, Captain.”

  A siren wailed, warning the crew.

  The Ocean Bull plowed through the water toward the Immortal, pushing up a wall of water along the bow. X could no longer see Raven’s Claw or the Octopus. That was good—they could ill afford damage to one of their other ships.

  He focused on the controls and rotated the spikes into position with a push of a button. All six blades, each the length of a Cazador spear, jutted from the welded-steel contraption.

  Water splashed the windows as they closed on the monster. X thought about his note to Michael, and the promise he had made to everyone.

  These beasts were just one more threat to their way of life, but as with every other threat facing humanity, X had prepared for this.

  Lightning burst like a star shell over the Immortal, illuminating the scene in one brilliant flash. The whale had latched on to the airship and the supercarrier, which was dragging the colossal beast.

  X tapped the dashboard to raise the spikes a few feet. The Ocean Bull was coming in at a ninety-degree angle, aimed directly for the creature’s exposed dorsal ridges.