Cascade Box Set [Books 1-8]

by Maxey, Phil

  One of the candles flickered and died making the light in the room even dimmer. Brad got up grabbed another candle from a box, lit it and sat back down again. “Then came the dumbest idea in our history, and when I say ‘our’ I mean mankind’s. The decision was taken to create huge camps all around the world, which would defend as much of humanity as possible. Like you mentioned, there were five created in the United States, two in the UK, twelve across mainland Europe etc. It varied but each one could hold around fourteen million people. And covered forty or so miles square…” Brad went to continue but could see Zach was about to say something.

  “My math’s has never been that great, but last I heard the population of this country was around three hundred million, five times…”

  Brad interrupted. “Meant a whole lot of people were left outside the camps.”

  “Jesus,” said Ray.

  Abbey looked anxious. “How did they decide who got into a camp and who was left outside?”

  “They supposedly used a lottery system, random selection and all that, but the rich and powerful all somehow managed to ‘win’ and get in, not that it helped them any,” said Brad.

  “What do you mean?” said Abbey.

  “That brings me back to the ‘dumb’ part, I mentioned some of this to Zach earlier, all the E.L.F’s, at least the ones I’m aware of are carnivores, they go to where the most meat is. By putting everyone in one place, they just put up a huge sign saying…”

  “Yeah we get it,” said Fiona.

  “But you said these areas were well defended?” said Zach.

  “They were, latest state of the art weaponry, each camp had its own runway, underground storage facility, factories, and a hundred and ten-foot high wall running the entire length of the perimeter, with manned and automated machine gun posts. Some were even built into mountains. Wait I’ll show you…” said Brad standing and walking down to the basement and returning with a few pieces of paper with faded images on them. “This one is Portland.” Brad handed Zach an aerial image of a huge complex, made up of newly built multistory houses laid out in a grid formation, intermingled with larger buildings. There were also rows and rows of tanks and other military vehicles. Zach found it hard to believe it was only forty miles square in size, as the grid seemed to run on forever. Lower down in the image was a huge concrete wall with pill boxes two-thirds of the height, roughly every fifty yards. In front of the wall was a ditch similar in depth as the wall was high. The whole scene to Zach looked like a futuristic medieval castle.

  “And that wasn’t enough defense?” Zach handed the images to Cal.

  “The problem was they had no idea what they were up against, all of this weaponry was designed to fight humans, not creatures that had evolved million years in a few months.”

  “Yeah but we put those canines down with the M4s,” said Zach.

  “That we did, but that was one type of E.L.F. and maybe ten we were up against. Don’t get me wrong, I watched those canine fucks take out… well kill a lot of the people in this town, but these camps attracted thousands of E.L.F’s, made up of hundreds of different types of creature, with many kinds of capabilities,” said Brad.

  “Capabilities?” said Jacob.

  “Ultimately this is what did for those camps. Or at least that’s what I’ve been told by the guys holding out in the other camps. Think of all the abilities that some animals had, for example echolocation in bats, these critters could find objects roughly seventeen meters ahead of them, now make that a hundred meters, and make the bat itself the size of a man with a twenty-foot wingspan. then there’s the other stuff…” Brad looked down, looking every bit his fifty-three years.

  “More?” said Fiona.

  “I have multiple reports, of E.L.F’s showing signs of advanced thinking. Some of the attacks on the camps by more than one E.L.F. showed strategic planning. There have also been signs of these things forming social groups, I’ve not seen any hard evidence of that myself but it has to be a possibility. It’s one thing if the nine-foot high creature with claws is a mindless beast, it’s a whole other kind of scary if it looks you in the eye and knows who you are,” said Brad.

  Different members of the group shook their heads, lost in their own thoughts, and everyone seemed to sigh at almost the same time.

  “So basically it’s the end of the world. I knew it would happen,” said Ray.

  “You said you had contact with the remaining two camps? They are surviving?” Zach asked.

  “Barely, Portland is in a worse state than Austin. They’re down to maybe twenty thousand people. I give them maybe a few weeks. If it wasn’t for the nukes I doubt there would be any humans left alive on this planet, and that even includes all of you.”

  “We heard they were dropped on hotspots?” said Abbey.

  “’Hotspots’ meant camps, unfortunately. Those particular camps were overrun, then the E.L.F’s attracted more of their kind, it couldn’t have been an easy decision but it might have saved the human race, at least given us all some more time,” said Brad.

  Abbey noticed Dee’s head was down, with his knees up against his face, she put her arm on his shoulder.

  “Question is, what do we do now?” said Cal.

  Before anyone could answer Abbey interjected. “Dee, you must be tired, maybe now’s a good time to get some rest?” He solemnly nodded, slowly got up and walked upstairs.

  Zach’s expression was one of deep thought. “Can’t the Portland people get to Austin?”

  “Twenty thousand people across the country? Even without the E.L.F’s that wouldn’t work. It’s just bad luck that the two remaining camps are the furthest apart.”

  “An airlift?”

  “They don’t have the fuel anymore.”

  “Did they try chemical or biological weapons against the E.L.F’s?” said Fiona the words rushing out of her mouth.

  “They tried both at various locations across the planet, sometimes it worked, sometimes it had no effect, there were just too many E.L.F’s to take out.”

  Silence enveloped the living room once again, the candles almost making their own noise.

  “Austin is surviving?” said Abbey, but before Brad could answer Zach spoke.

  “What about people who were left outside the camps, do you have any contact with anyone?”

  Brad looked at Abbey first. “Austin is holding its own, they started with the lowest population, that might have helped their cause, and they have a large underground complex, also for some reason they haven’t been attacked by huge numbers of E.L.F’s like the other camps were. As for people outside, well there are small pockets of survivors dotted around, mostly keeping their heads down, that’s pretty much how I’ve survived, I used to be off the government’s grid, now I’m off the E.L.F’s grid.”

  He smiled at these last few words then turned to Cal. “Cal, is it?” Cal nodded. “You asked what do we do now? Well that’s up to you and your friends, I’m doing okay here, I’ve got supplies to last a few years. If you’re thinking of fighting back? There is no fighting back, there’s just not being one of those bastards meal today, or tomorrow or the day after.” Brad got up, “Anyone want a drink? I’ve got some whiskey and spirits around here somewhere. I don’t usually drink, but then I don’t usually have guests.”

  “I’ll have a shot,” said Ray. Brad indicated to the others.

  “Sure, whatever spirits you got,” said Fiona.

  “Same here,” said Abbey.

  “Yup,” said Michael. Zach, Cal and Jacob shook their heads. Brad picked up a candle and disappeared into the gloom of the other half of the house.

  “So what’s the plan?” said Jacob in a steady tone of voice. Brad could be heard opening and closing cupboards, muttering to himself.

  “You mean apart from stay alive in this world that no longer wants us?” said Michael.

  “Yes,” replied Jacob.

  “We have seen maybe four types of these things, and yet there are hundreds more
out there?” said Fiona.

  Brad reappeared with a bottle under his arm and another in his non-candle holding hand. “This is all I got.” He put the bottles and candle down on the coffee table. He then went to a cupboard along the wall and pulled down some glasses and poured out the drinks. “You folks must be a bit bewildered even being pretty tough sons-a-bitches.” Brad smiled, handing out everyone’s drink.

  “We were just wondering what our options are,” said Cal.

  “I guess there’s no point any of us trying to find our families.” Abbey’s words came out more as a statement than a question.

  Brad, took a small sip of whiskey. “Unless your family made it to the Texas camp, probably not.”

  “If there’s nothing that can be done for the Portland camp, then that just leaves Austin,” said Zach.

  “I’m sure Trow would be happy to have you, regardless of your pasts.”

  “We were in a military prison, maximum security,” said Zach.

  “I see, well still, beggars can’t be choosers as they say, I can talk to Trow on your behalf if you want, see what she wants to do, but I suspect she doesn’t care what you did before the Cascade happened.”

  “We keep hearing that word ‘Cascade’, what does it mean?” said Fiona.

  “It was the term the scientists came up with, an evolutionary event which happens exponentially, basically run-away evolution,” said Brad. “Looks like some of you need to hit the sack.” Michael was slumped in the armchair, head on a pillow behind him.

  “Yeah maybe we should pick this conversation up in the morning,” said Zach.

  Brad stood. “I’ll be up for some hours yet, if anyone wants to have a chat you know where to find me.” He then walked into the hallway.

  Cal went to nudge Michael, but noticed Zach motioning to leave him where he was. Fiona finished the rest of her drink in one gulp.

  “You up for sharing?” said Fiona to Abbey. “That means you should all have a single bed to your own, unless of course you want to share with each other as well.” Zach smiled. Ray grumbled.

  “Sure,” said Abbey.

  Everyone but Zach walked up the stairs. He sat looking at the pictures of the camp in Portland, then picked up the bottle of drink and walked down to the basement.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  “Crenshaw you there? Over.” A stern but concerned female voice interspersed with crackling, emerged from a paint chipped green metal speaker box. Brad woke with a start, not quite being aware of his surroundings. Sitting up he grabbed at his bedside lamp, almost knocking it off the small wooden table it sat on. Turning the lamp on, he pushed his glasses onto his face and looked towards his work desk and radios. “Crenshaw, come in. Over.” The old glow-in-the-dark UFO clock that hung on his wall displayed 7:45 am.

  “Damn.” He stood up and ran across to the desk, sat down and picked up a silver metallic looking mike. “I’m here. Sorry was bit of a late one. Over.”

  “Did you make contact with them? Over,” said General Trow.

  “Yes, yesterday. They’re all here. Over.”

  “Will they be useful? Over.”

  “Yes, I believe so, they are all… well they are all your colleagues so to speak. Over.”

  “Military? Over.”

  “It’s a bit of a story, which I’m sure you don’t have time for me to tell you. They were all in a military prison in New Mexico, got out a few days ago and made their way here, they had no idea of what happened, were completely cut off.” Brad paused trying to shake the sleep from his mind, then continued, “Over.”

  No response came from the speaker then, “Which branches?”

  “I don’t know all of them, but one’s Military Police, one EOD, one computer systems, another a sniper, not sure about the others, although I think one of the girls is intelligence services of some kind, maybe CIA.” Again there was a pause on the other end of the transmission.

  “Tell them that if they come to Austin I will reinstate them at their previous ranks, with a full pardons.”

  “Even without knowing what they did before? What if they are psychos? Over.”

  “You have been watching them for the past few days. Do you think they are psychos? Anyway I’ll take what I can get.”

  “They’re not the most trusting of the military.”

  “Can you pass message on to them. Over.”

  “No problem, I will do that. How are things there? I’ve not heard from Portland now for over twenty-four hours. Over.”

  “We had a transmission from them last night, there’s less of them now… so the supplies they have will last longer, if they can survive the attacks. If things get worse I will send a rescue mission to see if we can grab any of them and bring them here. Over.”

  “That’s quite some way to try a rescue mission. Over.”

  “We have to try… Over.”

  “And in Austin? Over.”

  A muffled knock came from the door to the upstairs.

  “Come in,” said Brad over his shoulder.

  “Sorry to interrupt, do you want some coffee?” said Abbey, peering around the door.

  “Sure.”

  Abbey closed the door quietly.

  “Had a few that made it over the walls last night, but nothing we couldn’t take care of. Over,” said Trow.

  “Good to hear, well you take care and I’ll let you know what they say. Out.”

  Brad put the mike down, and sat in his technological cave still trying to wake up. Realizing he was sitting there in his underwear, he laughed to himself. The sound of muffled chat and knocks emanating through the ceiling above was as alien to him as the sounds the E.L.F’s made, but these noises were comforting. He had always been happy with his life as a loner and even after his wife Marie died he preferred his solitude and never felt lonely in all the empty space the house offered. But the cascade changed that, for the first time in years he had felt alone. The sounds above his head reminded him it was possible for life to continue. He heard someone start to walk down the stairs to the basement and quickly ran back to his bed and jumped into some pants. A knock similar to before came from the door.

  “Come in,” said Brad.

  “Sorry I forgot to ask if you wanted milk or sugar,” said Abbey, offering Brad the mug.

  “First time in fourteen years anyone has made coffee for me in this house, I’m sure it’s fine,” said Brad smiling, the coffee fragrance somehow more rich than when he made his own. “Who else is awake?”

  “Fiona, Michael, Cal and Jacob, I think Ray is still sleeping and Zach is just getting up.”

  “Me and Zach were up to the early hours exchanging war stories. He might have a heavy head this morning.”

  Abbey smiled. “Was that one of the camps, I heard you talking to someone?”

  “That was General Trow, at the Austin camp, we keep in touch usually around this time.” Abbey looked impressed. “Me and Catherine go back a-ways.”

  “What’s the situation there?”

  “Considering everything, Austin is doing okay, thank God, Portland though…” His voice trailed off. “General Trow said she’s willing to attempt a kind of rescue mission if things get to the point of no return. She also gave me a message to pass on, but I think it’s better I explain to all of you at the same time. I’ll be up in a bit.”

  “Okay,” said Abbey, turning, and starting to close the basement door.

  “Abbey?”

  “Yes?” said Abbey with one foot on the bottom step.

  “How’s the kid? All what he heard last night must have been a lot for someone so young.”

  “I had a quick chat with him this morning, he seemed okay, was busy playing a game on his tablet.”

  “Good,” said Brad his mind seemingly elsewhere for a moment. “Okay thanks, I’ll be right up.” Abbey closed the door and continued up the stairs.

  Brad smelled the coffee then took a small sip knowing it was probably too hot, but not caring. From across the room he could
see the computer monitor with his microphone grid across Roswell displayed in simple neon lines with numbers next to each node showing the level of noise the microphones were picking up. The node near the office building showed a small amount of noise but nothing to get bothered about. He would spend hours looking at that grid, watching the numbers rise and fall, plotting the movement of creatures around the city but not knowing exactly what they were. He’d programmed his software to alert him to speech, incase a human was near the mike but had never received such an alert until a few days ago. Putting his coffee down he put on a flannel shirt, tucking it into his light khaki combat pants, then picked up his coffee, opened the basement door and walked up stairs.

  “Morning,” Brad said to Ray as Ray walked through the hallway to the living room. Ray grumbled something back, which Brad didn’t pick up.

  Zach came out of the kitchen with a coffee. “Hey, any communication with the camps?”

  “That’s what I want to talk to everyone about, Trow has given me a message for all of you.” Brad looked into the living room to see who was in there. Cal and Michael were on one of the sofas, Ray was in the armchair, but nobody else. “Where are the others?”

  “Abbey’s in the kitchen with Jacob, Fiona I’m not sure,” said Zach.

  Fiona had crept past Brad after Zach told her he was in a deep sleep, and escaped up the outside stairs and into the back garden just before sunrise. Following the cables from the wind turbine she made her way to the back of the area and with a pocket knife managed to shimmy the lock open to Brads large workshop area. Exploring the workshop with a key ring torch she discovered large amounts of canned goods, plastic bottles of water and two gasoline generators, but beyond that nothing that Brad had not already told them about. She returned to the house and made it through the basement without Brad even moving in his sleep.

  “Did I hear my name?” said Fiona walking down the stairs.

  “Brads got a message for all of us from Trow in Austin,” said Zach.

  “Can we all gather in the living room for a moment,” Brad said, raising his voice in the direction of the kitchen. Abbey appeared, Jacob was still nowhere to be seen but Brad thought this was just for the rest of them anyway. They all stood and sat around the mahogany coffee table facing Brad who was at one end of it.