Cascade Box Set [Books 1-8]

by Maxey, Phil

  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 guns 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.

  The warehouse was of medium size, with a ceiling that was at least forty-foot from the ground. Windows high up on both sides allowed light to stream in and light up rectangular areas of the oil-stained floor. Fiona moved her flashlight around the empty space, illuminating walls of graffiti with plaster holes, like it had been the backdrop of a firing squad. Moving into the warehouse their torches darted in different directions trying to verify they were alone. Apart from damp wooden crates the warehouse was empty.

  “I’ll try Bravo camp again. Jacob you got this door covered? Cal and Fiona, best check out that other door,” said Zach, gesturing to the far wall, some eighty yards away.” Cal and Fiona walked forward quickly, guns trained on the far door.

  “You okay, Dee?” said Abbey. Dee was looking scared.

  “I left my chess set in the truck.”

  “That’s okay, we will get it later. For now let’s sit down here and have some water.” Abbey and Dee sat on a damp wooden crate. Michael joined them.

  Ray paced around, but kept looking up at the windows. “If something comes through those windows, we’ve got a problem.”

  “We won’t be here long,” replied Abbey.

  “How do you know? We were warned not to come here! They might not send anyone. We need to get out of here.”

  Dee looked more agitated.

  “Ray, we got an armory with us, we will take care of whatever comes our way,” said Michael. Ray looked exasperated and sat down on a different crate.

  “I can’t get anything on the radio, we might be in a black spot again,” said Zach.

  Fiona and Cal slowed as the approached the far door. It looked like it had already taken a beating, with a few inches of wood at the bottom missing. The sun shone through the gap pushing the grayness back a few feet. Fiona lay flat to the ground, and tried to see through the gap.

  “Hard to see, can’t see anything moving, but I can only see into the parking area,” said Fiona, who got up and wavered slightly on her feet, causing Cal to put his arm out to grab her.

  “I’m good, just a bit light-headed, give me a sec.” Shaking her head slightly, she then put her hand on the rusted handle and slowly turned it. Cal had the M4 raised at the door. She opened the door about a foot and looked through the gap.

  “Oh shit.” The same leafless trees that they saw before were moving and shaking, but this time the reason was obvious. Wet looking dark forms each about the size of a small car, were writhing and pushing amongst the trees. She looked to the left and right, but the tree line ran for miles in both directions. Pulling her head back in, she closed the door quickly but gently. “Fuck.”

  “What did you see?” Cal asked.

  “I don’t know, looked like some kind of frog-like creature, huge, the forest was full of them.”

  “Are they coming in this direction?”

  Just as Fiona was about to answer, a loud deafening deep gravel croaking noise bellowed out from all around them. The sound immediately made everyone cover their ears. Dust fell from the steel beams above their heads and the glass rattled in its frames.

  “We need to secu
re this door!” Fiona shouted to Cal, who started looking around for something to do that with. Grabbing a crate he smashed it on the floor, breaking it into four-foot long planks, and rammed a few into the gap under the door to act as a wedge and another up against the handle.

  Fiona ran back to the others. “There are things out the back, hundreds of them, I think they know we are here.”

  “We can tell.” Shouted Michael as the creatures bellowing continued.

  Zach looked upwards. I need to get higher. He then looked around at the walls. About fourteen-foot off the ground a thin pipe ran along the entire length of one. Probably too high to grab by jumping, but with the crates maybe.

  “Help me stack these crates,” Zach shouted. They started grabbing the splintered wooden crates and pushing them up against the wall. He then took the rope from his backpack and tied a piece of wood to the end of it, also tying it around his waist so he would have both hands free.

  “Try and hold them steady,” shouted Zach as he climbed onto the highest crate, meaning he was about five-foot already off the ground. He then jumped and grabbed the pipe which immediately lagged where his hands held it, but it resisted breaking. The constant droning of the creatures outside made him feel as if his skull was being shaken from the inside. He started to wonder if this was one of the super abilities which Brad talked about. Pulling himself up on the pipe, he got both boots on it, then clinging onto what holes in the bricks he could find, pulled himself upright. Looking up he was still a good seven-foot from one of the steel beams, which stretched across the width of the warehouse. Untying the rope from his waist, he swung it around then let it fly in the direction of the closest beam, looping over it, and falling down the other side. Grabbing the other end of the rope he made a knot and pulled on one end sending the knot up to the beam, to secure the rope. He then let go of the wall and with both hands pulled himself up to the horizontal beam. Trying not to look down, he pulled himself along the beam on his backside, until he was near the windows. It was only at this point that he allowed himself to look down.

  Damn that’s some way down.

  Abbey, Ray, Michael and Dee were frozen watching him climb, but the others were trying their best to secure both doors. Zach gave a little thumb up to the watchers to try and sway their nerves. His view out of the small square window was mostly obscured by the building next door, but in the distance to the far left he could see these creatures moving slowly towards the back of the warehouse. Amphibian E.L.F’s.

  Pulling the transceiver out of his leg pants pocket, he held it up and instantly the sound of voices burst from it. “Roswell group, are you there. Over.”

  Just as he was going to reply, the sound the creatures were making stopped and the sound of silence flooded into his ears instead. He steadied himself. “Yes. The E.L.F’s are close, what do you advise. Over.”

  “Good to hear from you Zach. We’re going to try an air evac. There’s a chopper inbound, ETA. fifteen minutes. Can you hold out until then?” Zach recognized General Trow’s voice.

  “We will try. Over.” His body was starting to ache, holding himself steady on the beam.

  “The chopper will land out front, close to your vehicles, most of the E.L.F’s are attacking from your north, at the back of the warehouse. Over.”

  “How do you know that? Over.”

  “We have a UAV overhead, unfortunately it’s not armed. Try and keep the E.L.F’s at the rear of the building, if they surround you we will have a problem. Over.”

  “Understood. Out.” Zach put the radio back in his leg pocket and looked down. Getting down looked a lot more difficult than what he did to get up. He went to grab the rope, when something heavy and solid slammed against the far door, Cal immediately kneeled, pointing his gun towards the door, Fiona did the same. The door rattled but held. Zach leaned back to have one last look out of the window to the far left, when something flashed past his view.

  “What the…” Zach pulled his head away from the window. It looked like something or someone had thrown a rope or some kind of cord past the window, then it snapped back, all in an instant. He went to lean forward again to try and see what had caused the projectile, when the glass in front of his face shattered as a pink slimy looking cord streaked past his nose missing him by inches. Zach flung himself backwards and lost his balance. Falling from the beam he pushed his hands out in the direction of the rope and managed to grab it with his right. The rope slid through his hand, burning his skin but he managed to hold on then grabbed the rope with his left as well. Dangling on the rope he banged up against the wall.

  He hadn’t heard the yelp from below, but looking down he could now see Abbey and the others looking up at him in horror.

  “I’m okay, but I don’t know what the fuck that was.” He shouted out, lowering himself down from the rope then onto the pipe.

  The back door was slammed again, this time it shook hard enough for the hinges to loosen.

  “This door is not going to last much longer,” shouted Fiona towards the others.

  A loud crash came from above as more windows shattered by the impact of these long pinky looking cords, that instantly snapped back to their source outside. With glass shattering around him, Zach jumped down onto the crates, which partially collapsed sending him falling onto the floor.

  “It’s tongues,” said Ray, not liking the words.

  “What?” said Abbey.

  “Tongues!” Ray pointed to his mouth. “They said they were amphibious right? Well these things have tongues like a chameleon, they flick out.”

  “Yeah, but those windows are fifty-feet from the ground!” said Michael.

  Zach got to his feet. “They’re sending a chopper, maybe thirteen minutes until it’s here.”

  “You’re bleeding,” said Abbey, pointing to his face.

  Zach felt his cheek. It felt sticky and warm. “I’m fine, we need to keep the creatures at the back of the building. They will try and land out front.”

  “Fire,” said Dee quietly.

  “What was that Dee?” said Zach. Ray answered for him.

  “Fire! The kids a genius. Look at all this wood, we pile it up out the front…” Before he could finish his sentence the back door exploded open, and a lumbering dark gray hulk fell through the gap, its feet sliding around underneath its weight. Dark eyes the size of small boulders swiveled around as it tried to understand its surroundings, but before it made another moved multiple rounds of M4 bullets landed in its side making it squeal, and fall backwards.

  “Again!” shouted Fiona, as she joined in with the handgun. This second round of bullets stopped it from moving, its carcass lying in the doorway.

  Fiona and Cal looked past the body of creature and started to walk backwards, almost tripping on their heels. The car park at the back of the building was filled with these creatures, sliding over each other, and most looking in their direction.

  Cal suddenly sprung forward, and kneeled against the body of the fallen creature, placing his M4 on top of it and started firing.

  “I’ve got this! Go,” he shouted. Fiona hesitated. Jacob moved past her, kneeling down doing the same as Cal, and started firing. Multiple squeals filled the air around them.

  “Fiona, we’re going to build a firewall out-front, can you hold the back for a few minutes?” shouted Zach from the other end of the warehouse.

  Fiona looked back and saw the others, arms full of wood, running through the door to the office.

  “Yes! Go!” she shouted. Just as she was turning to see how Cal and Jacob were doing one of the creature’s tongues flew over their heads and past her, but as it snapped back it rolled around her waist, its stickiness burning into her skin causing her to scream. It then yanked her back pulling her off her feet in the direction of the doorway. Fiona grabbed at the air as the creature pulled her backwards, but she couldn’t get a hold on anything.

  Cal dived and grabbed at her, pulling her body to ground with the tongue still trying to pull o
n her. Seeing the pink and purple cord holding her, Jacob fired and severed it. Fiona fell forward and pushed what was left of the creature’s tongue onto the ground.

  More tongues flew past them, making them all duck. Fiona lifted her shirt, her stomach had bruises around it, but no broken skin.

  “We can’t hold this, we need to retreat,” shouted Jacob. Fiona looked back towards the office door, the others were still ferrying wood out of the door.

  “I’m getting low, just one more clip left,” said Cal to Fiona. The bodies of the fallen creatures acted as a makeshift barricade, but more of them continued to slide over and make it to the door.

  “Okay, pull back,” shouted Fiona. Her, Cal and Jacob got to their feet, and ran to the other side of the warehouse, just as they did one of the creatures climbed over the body in the doorway and looked in their direction.

  “They’re inside!” Fiona shouted. The creature leaned back then leaped forward, flying through the air covering the entire length of the warehouse and landed ten-feet from them. Jacob and Cal had already started firing at it as it was airborne, and by the time it landed, it just collapsed on the spot.

  Zach appeared from the office. “Everyone out now!”

  They all ran through the small office. As soon as they appeared back into the sun, the smell of smoke filled their lungs and eyes. A large ring of broken flaming wood arched around the forecourt in front of the loading bay and vehicles. A few of the creatures moved around beyond the flames but most were still at the rear of the building. When the last of them were through the office, Zach threw some lit pieces of wood onto a heap of papers in the office and slammed the door closed.

  The tongues of the creatures out front kept flying forward then snapping back instantly as they felt the heat of the ring of fire. Zach went to try the radio again, but stopped when he heard a low rumbling sound. The all looked at the sky as the sound got louder. “Cal, watch the roof.”

  The chopper descended through the smoke and landed in the center of the available space, thirty-feet from the truck. A soldier jumped out and beckoned in their direction.