by Maxey, Phil
“There’s also less E.L.F’s around than there used to be…”
“Yeah it’s a funny thing. These monsters killed… well everyone and now I have this feeling like we need to protect them—”
“Like they’re still part of the planet.”
Brad removed his cap, scratched his head then put it back on. “Yeah. Without the Cascaders we’re still be screwed though. If the aliens kidnap or whatever it is they want to do to them, then humans go back to being on the menu again.”
“That’s why I need to get back to the camp, try and stop that from being the outcome.”
Brad briefly looked around like he was looking for someone. “How’s Fiona? I’ve not really had a chance to talk to her about what happened to Cal…”
“She’s—” Zach sighed. “—Doing as well as can be expected. I think going back to the camp will be hard for her, but necessary.”
Brad patted Zach on the shoulder. “Let’s get things ready for that trip—” He briefly looked at where the sun was in sky. “Reckon we got another hour before the planes due in.”
CHAPTER FORTY
Abbey’s hands gripped the cold metal of the ladder to the surface and pulled herself up and out onto the concrete to the street.
A cool wind brushed past her making her shiver. She looked at the ruins around her and quickly spotted the object that was out of place. Hovering some fifty feet from the ground was a cuboid dark box, covered in veins that glowed. Spanning some forty feet square on its top and bottom sides it looked like a small structure just hanging in the sky.
Elcher was standing beneath it while a shaft of light from the craft above lit the ground in front of him. Some way back sitting around a small fire that nestled amongst some ruins, four soldiers talked and laughed.
Wrapping her arms around herself to keep warm, she walked over the loose bricks and debris until she was alongside the alien. From this new perspective she could see he was tapping away at the wall of light, as if he was operating a computer.
“What you doing?” she said.
“Working.”
“I can see that. On what?”
“Trying to shield my signature here, so not to draw more Hulathen to this location.”
She bent her neck and looked up at the daunting looking ship looming above them. “That your…ship?”
“In a manner of speaking.”
“The general was right, you do talk in riddles.”
Elcher stopped what he was doing and looked down at her. “The less your species know of what is beyond your planet the better.”
Abbey looked about her, finding a small piece of wall and sat on it.
Elcher went to start his work again, but stopped. “It is not your fault.”
“What isn’t?” As the words left her mouth she wondered why she bothered talking them, she knew perfectly well what he was referring too.
“The Cascade. You believe because of an insertion of a computer program into your country’s satellite system, that then caused the devastation of your planet.”
She looked down. “If I hadn’t—”
“When it’s true to say that your action did lead the Hulathen to this region of space, it is not true to state that what you did then caused what happened next. It did not. The genes that triggered the Cascade virus were planted in your species many millennia ago by the ancestors of the Hulathen and the probabilities that the virus would be triggered with or without the actions of an outside species were still quite high. I hope that allays your fears of the role you think you played.” He went back to tapping and swiping.
Abbey just looked and stared at the back of his head. She wasn’t sure if she felt better or not. She had answers and maybe that was enough.
“So what are the chances—”
She stopped, seeing that Elcher was intently watching a part of the screen made of light that was flashing. “What is it?”
“I was too late.”
Abbey stood. “Too late? What do you mean?”
“They are coming.”
Abbey anxiously looked up at the sky. Some of the soldiers started getting to their feet. “When? Here? How long—”
“No, not here.”
*****
High above the fields and forests of northeastern Texas Zach, Fiona and the others sat inside a steel tube, strapped into their seats and trying to ignore the turbulence and roar of the plane’s engines.
Each occupant was lost in their own memories of the last time they were at the camp, and what had transpired since.
Zach tried not to think about how once again he was separated from Abbey, and instead focused his thoughts on how he was going to start a program to expand the bunkers under the metropolis. He was also curious how the E.L.F’s were being used for work purposes.
Fiona looked out of the side window of the transport plane at the beige and brown fields beneath them, and thought about the man she still loved. For most of the past few weeks she had been able to crush any memories of Cal, but now, knowing she was just thirty minutes out from the camp’s airport, images of him kept forcing their way into her mind. A tear began to run down her cheek which she quickly wiped away hoping no one else had seen.
The plane’s cabin bumped making everyone grip their harnesses.
“Man, I hate—”
Before Michael could finish the world inside the plane tilted violently to the left. A beeping noise started playing out around them together with the white lights that were on, switching to red. The cabin then returned to level.
“What the hell’s going on?” Shouted Miles.
Fiona’s attention was drawn back to her window. “No…” Sparkles of white were just visible on the horizon. “Look out of the windows!” She shouted to the others.
Zach undid his harness and walked up the steps and knocked on the pilot’s cabin door. “What’s going on?” he shouted through the door, which promptly opened. One of pilots quickly returned back to their seats.
Zach staggered forward as the turbulence buffeted the plane and was about to ask what the issue was, when he saw it for himself. A few miles ahead of them the sky was full of streams of neon red swiping across the sky, while cones of intense light, plainly visible against the clouds, shone down to the ground. The camps silver walls which they were passing over lit up with explosions, and even from the altitude they were at, he could make out blue-purple points of light which he knew to be the Hulathen on the ground.
All while he watched what was unfolding at their destination, the captain was trying to reach the control tower.
“They’re here…” said Fiona just behind Zach.
The captain briefly looked over his shoulder. “You should all go back and strap in, I don’t know what the integrity of the landing strip is going to be—”
A streak of light zipped past them moving in the same direction they were, and an instant after a bright flash lit up the cabin, followed by a pressure wave which knocked Zach and Fiona into the cabins walls. Warning sounds filled the air.
They looked out of the side window to see flames billowing out of the left engine.
“Strap in! We’re going down!”
The End.
BOOK EIGHT
CHAPTER ONE
Sam Coleman ducked down behind a tree and clicked on his radio. “We can see the smoke, you on fourteenth Street yet? Over.”
Other members of the camp’s justice force stayed close to the ground nearby, eyeing the streets of the downtown area around them suspiciously. The sound of explosions and gunfire rang out in the distance.
No response came from Sam’s radio.
“Isaiah? Your team there yet? Over.”
The sound of battle burst from his radio, causing him to fumble for the volume, quickly turning it down.
“Yeah, just on fourteenth! We’re taking heavy fire from one of those purple fucks, we might have to fall back. Over!”
“Just distract them, long enough for us to—”
“Shit, it’s moving towards the smoke,” said a grime faced woman with her light brown hair in a ponytail.
They watched the alien sky machine seemingly unaffected by wind or air resistance relentlessly move towards the site of the crashed military plane. They all wished it would change course and then in a blink of an eye it did, speeding off to the west.
Everyone let out a breath.
Sam stood. “That’s our cue, lets get moving.” He glanced at his M4 rifle, then at the newly opened shops around him. They were built into the bottom of the numerous skyscrapers that had been constructed, and already contained goods that only the elite of the camp could afford.
He and his six person squad, were one of six teams who were the closest to the plane when it careered along Main street, eventually coming to a stop in one of the city’s green plaza’s.
Initially the Hulathen who were attacking the camp seemed uninterested in the plane, but that now seemed to be changing, and only his and Isaiah’s squad were finding it possible to make any progress towards saving those that might still be alive onboard.
Sam’s squad ran to one of the many four way junctions in the built up part of the city. A loud smash made them all point their guns to their left. A small group of young men were kicking in a glass shop front, and grabbing the items of clothing that were on display.
“Should I go over and give them a talking to Cap?” said a burly looking man to Sam.
He shook his head. “Bigger fish and all that.” He looked down the length of the street at the wreckage of the plane, one of its wings sheared off and the fuselage sitting at a tilt. One of the engines was still burning.
They ran forward moving around a haphazardly parked car and continued along the sidewalk.
“Look!” said the ponytailed woman, looking above them. One of the gun towers, the size of a bus was hanging off the side of its pillar, eighteen floors up.
They kept running towards the plane.
“Eye on the prize, Baxter,” said Sam.
Skipping over restaurant chairs and tables laying scattered Sam tried to concentrate on rescuing whoever he could from the burning wreck two hundred yards from him and pushed the thoughts of Mary and the kids out of his mind.
I checked on them thirty minutes ago, they’re fine.
They came to a shuddering halt at the final junction, which allowed a complete view of the devastation. Trees laid splintered and broken and flames burned on patches of aircraft fuel across the furrowed grass. A wing lay in the road, with a pile of masonry on top of it, and in the center of the small park sat the rest of the plane, almost obscured by the black bellowing smoke that was floating skywards from the other wings engine.
Sam looked at two of his squad. “Jenkins and Flores, each take a different side of the park, and see if there are any survivors that have made their way in those directions, and keep an eye on the street where you are.” He then switched to the tallest of the group. “Fisher, get up in one of these buildings and give me overwatch.” Finally he turned to the two who were left, Boe and Joan. “Let’s see who’s still alive, and watch out for the burning fuel.”
They all ran across the junction, jumping over pieces of plane and park benches. A loud distant explosion made them all flick their heads to west, then back to the fuselage. One of the passengers was lying on the ground. Even though they were face down, Sam instantly recognized it as Zach. The ponytailed woman ran to him, and carefully turned him over. Boe continued running to the back of the plane.
“Is he…” said Sam not wanting an answer.
Joan Baxter felt for Zach’s pulse. “He’s alive, strong pulse—” She undid the strap of Zach’s helmet and pulled it off, as she did, he started to move, then suddenly his arms flailed around.
“What? Where—”
Sam kneeled. “Zach’s it’s me, Sam.”
Zach looked at the woman and man next to him, without recognizing them for a moment, then looked back at the plane. He then tried to get to his feet.
“Easy there General,” said Joan applying a small amount of pressure on Zach’s shoulder to keep him on the ground.
Zach looked desperately at her, then Sam. “They’re injured! You need to get help!”
Sam went to reply, when Boe appeared from the back of the plane and ran a short distance to him. “Cap, looks like we got some casualties.”
*****
General Trow looked at the feeds on the large screens at the front of the main operations chamber and tried to calm her mind to the fury of noise around her. Since Zach had been gone, things had been going pretty well in the camp. The power station at the dam was running at full power, and most of the destruction caused by the Hell Fire gang had been cleared and reconstruction started. As she watched the beings from somewhere else, scything down her troops and tanks alike she wondered if she had had enough.
Should I call for evacuation? But to where? There are still—
“General, Captain Coleman of the justice force says they have made it to the crash site, and there are casualties,” said a soldier who looked barely older than her grandson.
Have to focus. We need to survive…
“How far are they from the nearest bunker?”
The young man scrambled to calculate the distance.
“Just a few streets,” said Elijah calmly standing nearby, while looking down at the screen with a map of the camp on it.
The word ‘casualties’ finally landed in Trow’s mind. “Who are the casualties?” she said stopping the soldier from disappearing back into the throng.
“Looks like the pilots, although some of the others are injured.”
“What about the general?” She strained to quell the anxiety in her voice.
“I…”
A young woman with a headset on a nearby desk looked up. “He’s concussed, but alive, ma’am.”
Trow let out a deep breath. “Can we get them anymore help?” She looked around to whoever could give an answer.
“The closest unit is the fifth, but they are under heavy fire,” said Daniel Bass leaning on a nearby desk.
Elijah stepped closer to the general. “We’re fighting a far superior enemy, that have caught us by surprise, we—”.
She nodded before replying. “I know.” She looked at Bass. “Tell all commanders that their mission now is to get all civilians to the bunkers—” He went to reply. “Yes, I know there’s not enough space for everyone, tell them to find whatever secure buildings there are for the rest, and we will take in as many here as we can.”
He nodded then started speaking into his headset.
Back in the park in the downtown area, Joan pushed her glasses back up her noise and looked down at the wrong orientation of Wyatt’s leg. “You got—”
“My names… Wyatt,” he said, grimacing.
“—Right, good to know. Well you won’t be walking on your right leg for a while, looks like a compound structure.” She looked behind her. “Going to need something to carry him on!”
Michael held his left arm across his body and uneasily got to his feet. “I’ll see what there is outside.”
Zach slung his rifle over his back, then slowly lifted Fiona’s head while trying to shake the dizziness from his own. “Fiona, can you hear me?”
She sluggishly opened her eyes. “We landed yet?”
Zach smiled but before he could reply a loud roar echoed around the buildings outside and the cabin shook, making everyone grab whatever they could to stop from falling. He looked back at the others, and then at the open hatch at the back of the plane. “What the hell was that?”
A high pitch sheering sound pierced the air, together with a flash of orange light.
Sam’s radio came to life with an urgent voice. “Cap! Troubles right on top of you!” He and Zach
ran down the ramp and back into the trench where the grass used to be. Zach’s mouth fell open, for a lizard like creature with legs as thick as a Californian Redwood and standing just as high was rising even higher into the air with the clear intent to come crashing down on a Hulathen that was firing its particle beam at it.
“I think the dinosaur needs some help!” Said Zach running towards the alien.
Sam clicked on his radio. “Fisher, bring some heat down on that Hulathen, try and draw its fire. Over.”
The creature’s huge hoofs slammed down into the concrete of the road, instantly cratering it, and causing a mini-earth quake as all around rattled and shook. The Hulathen neatly avoided the impact by springing out of the way and raised the weapon built into its arm when a stream of shots slammed into the back of its helmet.
Sam and Zach kneeled behind a van that was turned over on its side. “They’re pretty agile for their size. But you can take them out if you wear down their armor!” said Zach. He went to continue when he spotted a young girl about thirty yards behind the scaly leviathan, clutching a teddy bear in her arms. “There’s a kid out there!” He immediately stood. “I’m going to—”
“That’s… Emily!” said Sam getting to his feet and straining to see the child standing in the middle of the street.
“Uh?”
“And that’s Mr. Teeth. A lots changed since you have been gone.” He went to move forward.
“You cover me, I’ll get her,” said Zach.
Sam nodded then looked back at the alien.
Zach sprang forward as more bullets bounced off the back of the Hulathen that whipped around, and fired an intense beam at one of the upper floors of the corner building. Masonry, dust, glass and parts of an apartment exploded into the air.
As Zach neared the girl he could see her muttering to herself, and then another roar rang out across the plaza and Mr. Teeth smashed its front-clawed hoof across the alien, pounding it into the ground and instantly killing it.
The girl with pigtails, looked up at Zach with a toothy grin, and then held her hand out. “My name’s Emily. Nice to meet you.”
