by Phil Maxey
“So I guess this is it then,” said Brad. “Me and Fiona, got these backpacks ready for each of you last night. Each one contains a few days of food, a bottle of water, a few medical supplies, compass, small flashlight, rope, lighters and a few rounds of ammo for whatever gun you chose. There’s a small label on each so you know which one is yours.” The group started looking through and picking up the backpacks. “They weigh a bit, but might save your life. With comms, I’ve given Zach and Fiona a mobile transceiver each, you could have also used the CB, but what you have now has greater range. You have also all got Walkie-Talkies, some that Ray found and others I already had, the range is limited, maybe two miles in flat terrain, but it’s something.” The group stood holding their backpacks, nobody being sure what to say next.
“Definitely a flying visit,” said Abbey, forcing a smile, she then moved forward and hugged Brad. “Thank you for everything you have done for us.”
Brad smiled. “Well it’s been good to have company in this old house.” He keyed in the code to the outside door and pulled it open. The sun was only just coming up and a chill wind from the outside rushed in making everyone brace themselves.
“The M4s you have, together with the other weapons should allow you to get to where you need to be and the radios will allow us to stay in contact for about two-thirds of your journey,” said Brad. The group started to file past him, when Dee was close Brad picked up a small wooden box with the words ‘Chess set’ on the side and offered it to Dee. “Sorry I didn’t get a chance to see your games, but you can have this for when your tablets battery is flat.”
Dee’s glum expression changed to one of a large smile as he took the wooden box from Brad. “Thank you,” he said looking at his new treasure, his smile continuing as he walked up the steps. Finally only Zach was left, who held out his hand, but Brad ignored it and pulled him in for a hug.
“Stay safe,” said Zach, smiling then leaving the basement.
Brad watched him walk up the steps and followed a little to see them get in the vehicles. He waved and disappeared back down the basement steps pulling the dirt-covered fence on top of the entrance then closing the steel door.
“Brad says there’s no activity south of here as of five minutes ago. We all ready?” said Zach to the others behind him. An assortment of affirmatives came back. He then picked up his new mobile transceiver and talked into it at an agreed frequency.
“Fiona you ready? Over.”
“Sure am,” said Fiona, then continued. “Over.”
Zach fired up the truck’s engine and pulled off, Fiona following a few car lengths behind. They were soon onto the 285 which ran south past Roswell airport, moving at a good pace. Single-story dusty looking buildings on both sides raced past, along with the occasional retail sign standing high and reflecting the morning sun as it rose. Zach kept checking in with Brad to make sure there was no activity as far as he could check, but soon they were beyond his grid of microphones.
“Stay alert, we’re blind out here,” said Zach to his passengers and to Fiona on the radio. The main difference with this journey compared to the long trip from White Sands was this time they were armed with M4 assault rifles, as well as a few grenades from Brads extensive stock, and a few Glocks. This should have made them feel more secure but because of what they had learned the previous night, they all felt on edge.
“On the way in to Roswell I got to the point I couldn’t stand to see any more flat featureless desert, but now that’s what I want so I can see what’s coming,” said Fiona. “I also know now you’re a sniper.” She smiled at Cal, who smiled back.
Cal had his window down with the M4’s barrel resting just outside. Every now and again he would look down the scope which Brad had put on especially for him, at a shadow only to lower the gun when it was nothing of concern. As the road flashed by he was taken back in his mind to one of his previous tours, and how he seemed to be back there again, back in a war. Something about that felt comforting, but in almost equal amounts terrifying. He leaned his head out of the window and let the rushing desert air cool his face.
This time it was Jacobs’s turn to sit in the passenger seat, mostly because it was decided he would be a better shot with the M4 than Abbey. Ray, Abbey, Michael and Dee sat in the cabin. Ray was busy writing in his small notebook, while Abbey and Dee were playing chess on the set that Brad had given Dee. Michael sat with his back up against the back of the cabin, reading ‘War of the Worlds’ by H.G. Wells.
“It’s not aliens dumbass,” said Ray, looking at Michael, “You heard Brad.”
“Do people still say ‘Dumbass’? Must be an old-timer thing,” replied Michael. Abbey looked at Dee and they both smiled.
“How far until we get onto the highway?” said Abbey stretching.
“Another twenty minutes maybe, not far,” said Zach. “How’s it looking back there, Fiona? Over.”
“Nothing on our six. Over.”
“The airport is on our right in a few minutes. Brad said there was a lot of activity there when it all went down. Keep alert. Over,” Zach said.
The ground became flatter on both sides of the highway, which made the multiple cars and other assorted vehicles even more obvious in the morning sun.
“Holy… you seeing this?” said Fiona to Zach forgetting to say ‘Over’.
“We are. Keep looking around us. Over.” Hundreds of vehicles, some twisted like they had been plucked from a junkyard, lay across fields and ditches. Way off in the distance, what looked like birds, but were too big to be so, fluttered around.
“You see them? Over,” said Fiona, while Cal looked down his scope. “What are they?” Fiona said to Cal, who pulled the scope down from his eye, and put his hand over this mouth then moved it to his chin.
“Honestly I don’t know what to call them, not something we have seen before. They don’t seem to have noticed us yet.”
“We see them, what does Cal make of them with the scope. Over,” said Zach.
“They’re not what we have seen before. Over,” said Fiona.
Beyond the civilian vehicles broken shells of large planes sat at wrong angles on the runway. Everyone in the cabin of the truck was leaning forward to get a better look, no one was talking and a silence hung in the air.
“You should be at the airport around now. Over.” Brads voice burst out of the transceiver making them all jump. “What do you see? Over.”
“Lots of carnage, hundreds of vehicles, some planes. It seems lots of people tried to evacuate through here but never made it. Over,” replied Zach.
“Any sign of E.L.F’s? Over,” said Brad.
“There’s some about two miles off, near the runway, Cal says they are nothing we have seen before. Over.” Zach turned to Jacob who had a map folded over in his hand. “How far for the turn off.”
“Should be the next one coming up on the left.”
“Any chance of giving me their descriptions, I try to keep track of them if I can. Over,” said Brad.
“We are already moving away from them, don’t want to attract their attention. Over,” said Zach, turning the truck in a large arc onto a smaller road and off the highway. He was glad to be leaving the scene of ruin behind him.
“Cal said they were winged and big as a small truck maybe, but hard to tell size from this distance. Over,” said Fiona.
“That’s helpful anyway. Thanks. Out,” said Brad.
Up until now it felt like they were in a bad B-movie complete with nightmarish monsters, but seeing the cars, the dropped children’s dolls and remains of clothes made them all feel like they were waking up for the first time.
After a short distance they moved over some railway tracks and through a small town. In the distance, some E.L.F’s were drinking at a river where the road crossed over a small wooden bridge. Zach brought the truck to a stop.
“Harmadillos!” pronounced Michael not hiding his excitement. A large herd of the creature they ran into in the desert on their first nigh
t of freedom, stood arranged in a row lasting a few hundred yards, most of them drinking from the river. Brad had warned them to avoid large cities and any natural source of water because that’s where the E.L.F’s were likely to be, this river however was one they thought was worth taking the risk for to allow them a more direct route to their destination. The Harmadillo’s seemed oblivious to the vehicles.
“Look at them,” said Abbey, “it’s like going back in time and watching dinosaurs.”
“What’s the plan? Over,” said Fiona.
Just as Zach was about to reply a large dark form burst from the river, grabbing one of the Harmadillo’s with huge pincers. Everyone watching jumped back or cowered down slightly.
“What the fuck was that?” said Ray.
A creature looking like a giant centipede struggled with its new meal and quickly sunk back into the river. The other Harmadillo’s let loose a high octave roar, turned and stampeded off away from the river, causing a huge cloud of dust to rise up.
Zach put the truck in gear and rolled forward. “This is our chance, stay close behind. Over.”
“Let’s cross this river quickly,” said Michael.
The truck pickup passed over the small bridge. Everybody inside looked out the side windows for any sign of what ended one of the Harmadillo’s, but there was no sign beneath the green froth of the river.
“Your turn. Over,” said Zach.
Fiona drove across at a good pace. Not too fast, but not too slow.
Cal watched the river closely as they drove over the wooden planks. “What’s that?” he shouted as a dark shape formed under the bridge. Wooden planks and splinters flew up in the air as a huge insectoid type creature crashed upwards through the bridge grabbing the back of the pickup with its pincers. The front wheels rose off the ground as Fiona tried flooring the accelerator. Zach and the others looked on in horror as the pickup strained against the grip of the creature. Zach grabbed the M4 from Jacob and jumped out of the truck.
“My foot’s all the way to the floor!” shouted Fiona. Smoke and the smell of burning rubber rose up from the back of the pickup. Cal leaned out of the window and fired off five rounds from his gun, the bullets bouncing off the things leathery plates of armor. Zach ran onto the bridge which was now in the process of collapsing from the end they came from, and walked forward gun raised firing into the creature at the same time as Cal. One of the bullets hit something soft and the creature momentarily loosened its grip and the pickup roared forward across the bridge. Fiona pulled up behind the truck, and as Zach ran up behind them he inspected the back of the pickup. Its bumper was hanging off so Zach pulled it completely off and threw it in the back.
“Had to pull that bumper off, think it’s time we got out of here,” said Zach.
As they drove off they looked behind them half expecting the creature to come tumbling after them but the river’s water soon returned to stillness.
Soon they were on a long straight piece of road, which Ray, Michael and Dee took advantage of to get some sleep.
“It’s hard to believe it’s all gone,” said Jacob.
Zach wasn’t sure if it was a question or statement. “The world?”
“No more governments, no more military-industrial-complex, no more NGOs,” replied Jacob in a way again making it hard for Zach to engage with.
“We are still here, and from what we heard there are millions still in the camp near Austin,” said Zach. For the first time Jacob turned and looked at Zach, and smiled.
“God has hit the reset button and it’s a time for new kings,” said Jacob who started laughing but quickly lowered his voice.
Zach smiled. “Let’s hope they do a better job this time.”
Jacob returned to scouring the barren landscape ahead of them once again. “I’m sure they will.”
Monotone landscape passed by only interspersed by the occasional oil drill and refinery. At one point Zach informed them all that they were traveling south for the next few hours, before turning onto another dust covered tarmac road. After almost three hours, Jacob told Zach they had just entered Texas. After four hours, Zach turned the truck onto the 190, and informed everyone that they were on the main route to their destination and they just have another two hours to go.
Everyone but Jacob was still asleep, who seemed as eagle eyed as ever. The landscape now was less flat with the occasional rocky outcrop and bush-covered hill. Brad told them that this was close to when they would lose contact with him, so Zach got on the transceiver and had one last chat with Brad, before informing Camp Bravo that they were two hours out from the rendezvous point.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Fifteen minutes out from the small town of Crow Lake the river found its way not that far from the road. Zach had discussed with Brad that this was going to be a dangerous way into the town due to the locality of water, but they agreed it was worth the risk. Zach slowed the truck to try and get a better view of their surroundings but unfortunately the river couldn’t be seen from the road.
“We’re almost there everyone, time to clear your heads,” said Zach over his left shoulder. “The rivers to our right. Stay alert. We’re fifteen minutes from Crow Lake. Over.”
“Copy that. Over,” replied Fiona.
“Going to see if our welcoming party is ready, so I’m changing the frequency for a bit. Over.”
“No problem. Over,” said Fiona.
Zach hit a small button on the transceiver and it automatically found the agreed frequency to talk to the small group that had been sent to Crow Lake to bring them into the camp.
“This is Zach from Roswell. Are you are the pickup point? Over.” Only a quiet hissing sound came from the black molded box. Zach tried again with the same no-reply result. Where the hell are they? He changed the frequency back to talk to Fiona.
“No response from them, I’m going to try the camp itself. Over.” Zach switched frequencies once again.
“This is Zach from the Roswell group, we are not getting any reply from your people, are they at the meeting point. Over.” Only white noise responded.
“We’re in a black spot,” said Abbey.
Zach looked frustrated. “Okay well it looks clear around us so let’s keep going into the town.”
The early afternoon sun shone above as they moved into the outskirts. Small leafless trees covered the landscape on both sides.
“I don’t like this, our visibility just went from miles to yards,” Fiona said to Cal, who now had his scope permanently at his eyes.
“Nothing so far,” he replied.
Pulling up to a junction they looked across to a large brick built building, which was their meeting point.
Suddenly the transceiver in the truck sprung into life. “Camp Bravo to Roswell group, do not go to Crow Lake! Town has high concentration of amphibious based E.L.F. New pickup point will be given shortly. Please respond. Over.” Zach and Jacob looked around them, but there was no sign of any movement. He then picked up the transceiver.
“This is the Roswell group, we are at the pickup point. No sign…” Zach saw something move in the trees about one hundred yards left of the truck. He then switched frequencies. “Fiona, on our left. Over.” Zach looked in the mirror and saw Cal jump out and back into the flatbed.
“Also on our right, Cal’s jumped in the back to give him better line of sight. We can’t stay here, they could be about to ambush us. Over.”
“That building in front of us, the original pickup point, park in front of it, then we will see if we can get inside. Over,” replied Zach.
“Why don’t we just keep going?” said Ray.
“We don’t know what’s in front of us or if we are being tracked by those things, we need to get inside then figure it out.” Zach then revved the engine and tore off moving across the small humps to separate the roads and swung the truck around so it was close to a small loading bay area in front of the building. The pickup pulled in close behind.
“Grab your gun
s and your bags, we are going into this building. There are things in the woods, could be what Bravo is warning us about, but we need to lay low until we know what’s what,” said Zach to the occupants behind him. He and Jacob then jumped out. Looking across the road he could see trees moving, but no clear sign of what was causing it.
Fiona ran up to the small door to the building and with some effort pushed it open. “Over here!” she said in a raised voice but being careful not to shout.
Cal kneeled, looking down the scope of his M4, while Jacob standing did the same standing, the others ran inside. Cal was the last in, before closing the door.
Even with the sun almost directly overhead, the small office to the company they had just entered was blanketed in shadows. Fiona moved ahead slowly, her handgun raised while her other hand held a small flashlight. Cal secured the door behind them best he could by sliding a rusty bolt across, then pointed his gun in the same direction that Fiona was going. At the end of the confined office was a closed door, with the sign, “Warehouse” on it. Nobody talked and when Fiona got close to the door, she pressed her ear up against it in the hope of getting fair warning of anything that might be on the other side. Dee appeared to be shaking slightly so Abbey put her hand on his shoulder and the shaking stopped. Fiona raised her hand for everyone to stand back from the door, then slowly clenched the chrome handle and turned. The door squeaked as she pulled it open, making her cringe slightly, but she quickly focused her flashlight’s beam into the gloom behind.
