Just as the Ferox began to panic, Rivers’ voice came over the comms, “East side team, open fire.”
At the top tier of the artificial staircase, the side panels of the cargo containers facing the carrier’s decks fell open to reveal the rest of Rivers’ team. Behind cages of Borealis steel, they leveled M-60 machine guns connected to backpacks carrying alien steel bullets.
Just as the Ferox began turning to the safety of true ground, they ran into a virtual wall of bullets erupting out of the containers. The horde suddenly found itself pinned between water and gunfire. Watching in horror as bullets shredded through the biological armor of those who had boarded the cargo carrier last.
None had paid any attention when they were lured this far from downtown. They left the protection of the WX gas, they were now in air that had not yet been touched by the green cloud expanding from the city’s center.
Their rear flank was caught by surprise and riddled with bullets as the forward flank saw they were being pulled out into the water and further from shore.
Panic took them.
Some of the Ferox made desperate leaps for the wall of cargo containers. Those that made it through the bullets only crashed into the cage of Borealis steel. They became easy targets.
“Olivia, let em have it,” Rivers said.
“Confirmed. Detonation in three . . . two . . .”
Every man held his breath, and finally the side of the carrier facing the water erupted. Fire swelled up around the Ferox, as the carrier began to take on water and lean dangerously sideways. The creatures scrambled for anything to hold onto as the precarious angle grew steep beneath their feet. Those who found nothing to hold onto slid in terror into the water.
Finally, the deck came crashing down into the center of the waterway. Only the few who had managed to cling to something substantial were able to keep from going into the water. They clawed their way up the deck only to face the gunmen firing down on them from above.
Bodhi gleamed across the water to the west side, giving Sam a hand after he did the same. They watched the carnage they had orchestrated.
After a while, the cargo ship sank below the surface and the gunfire came to an end. The absence of the guttural growls of the Ferox horde made the night feel peaceful and quiet despite all the fighting going on nearby.
Some of the Ferox—those lucky enough to fall far enough behind that they never boarded the cargo carrier or came into worthwhile range of the gunners—stood and watched with horror from the east shoreline.
“Well, folks,” Bodhi said, opening a channel to Jonathan and the rest of the team. “DiCaprio is in the water, and Rose ain’t sharing her door.”
CHAPTER NINETY-SEVEN
JONATHAN HADN’T BEEN worried that the Ferox would come through the conduit and spread themselves thin trying to invade every possible direction. Malkier had already assured no escape would be possible as long as the Ferox had the numbers to keep sending in waves. The prophet’s priority was killing every last soldier in Jonathan’s army.
The Ferox wouldn’t spread far from the conduit unless Jonathan’s men ran.
If things went poorly enough, running might come to look like a good idea to some. Fortunately, he and his men had an understanding. Fleeing the fight wouldn’t save any of them—it would only lower their collective chances of survival. It didn’t matter if the Ferox took a day or a year chasing them deeper into The Never to kill them. And for those on Earth, win or lose, it would all still be over in an instant.
Still, Jonathan had to plan for the worst—if he and his men fell inside The Never, then Malkier would eventually lead the Ferox through another portal into the real world. So, while most of his perimeters weren’t likely to be factored in the war he and his men fought—they would become the first line of defense in the war that followed if they failed.
On a map, the city of Seattle is just a long narrow strip of land pinched to the east and west by two large bodies of water. Now, say one were a Ferox, and you’ve just stepped out of a portal into the middle of downtown.
On any normal day, if that Ferox were to go north or south, they could get to the greater state of Washington without having to cross a body of water large enough to give them second thoughts. But today was not a normal day, and if that same Ferox tried to go north or south without bringing a substantial number of friends and a massive supply of WX gas—they weren’t going anywhere.
The Ferox who took the north option would first encounter a line of Anthony’s Mechs. If they slipped through or fought their way through that, they would come to Olivia’s northern perimeter. There, they would find the Washington 523 highway, which spanned the shortest stretch of land between the two bodies of water. Olivia’s soldiers had seized control of the entire highway.
The south had more complicated geography. There was no equivalent line of pavement already in place to stage forces and move supplies after most of mankind’s technology was taken out of the equation. To the south, the Duwamish Waterway split the land in half, and would keep a Ferox from crossing unless highly motivated. However, there were two bridges that would allow large numbers of Ferox to cross—they had been rigged with explosives in preparation for that contingency.
Going west from the conduit was a non-starter. There were no bridges across the Puget sound. The locals used ferries to get across or drove fifty miles south.
This left the east. Even though the Ferox would run into Lake Washington, there was no way to keep them from noticing two very wide freeways connected the land on the other side. Many in the army thought the Ferox wouldn’t cross these freeways unless the prophet himself ordered it.
But this was Jonathan’s home turf, his personal battlefield. He knew from experience that those freeways were large enough that the Ferox would barely hesitate to chase him onto them.
Lincoln stood sentinel on the east side of the I-90 Bridge, Anthony and a few other men and women alongside him. The weather may have been cool, but inside the Wallace, he was sweating. He released the face guard to drink from a bottle of water, then poured the rest of the bottle down his face.
“It’s good to keep hydrated,” Anthony said.
He turned to the man with water still running down his face. “Really cut corners on the ventilation system.”
Hoult shrugged but didn’t argue. “Priority was combat effectiveness on a deadline. Just be happy you’ve got a functional waste disposal system.”
“And a good thing,” Lincoln smirked. “Given all the hydrating.”
Anthony chuckled and turned back to the bridge, his Thor gesturing vaguely with one hammer in the direction of the city. “You know, I used to actually like green.”
Lincoln nodded.
From this bridge they could no longer see Seattle, at least not very well. The city was cloaked in a dense cloud of WX gas that rose above the skyscrapers. The cloud was always growing—not so fast that he felt the need to flee lest he be cooked alive inside his Mech, but nevertheless, every time he looked away for a few minutes and looked back the sight was ominously larger.
If Jonathan and the Ferox weren’t done killing one another in the next day—the WX gas was going to force him and anyone else operating a Mech to retreat further back.
They’d hardly seen any action.
Littered on the bridge in front of them were the bodies of a few dozen Ferox who had emerged from the tunnels and tried to cross the water. Sydney and the rest of the Gunners had taken them down long before they got to close quarters. Those like Anthony and Lincoln were really only important once the numbers became overwhelming enough to break through the long-ranged weapons.
That all changed when a communication came over the comm.
“I-90 team,” Rivers said. “You may want to brace yourself, got a stampede of them heading into the tunnel. Nothing is distracting them . . . they got two Alphas keeping them on course.”
“Strange,” Lincoln said. “Why would they care about taking the bridge?”
>
“Cut off any easy retreat,” Anthony said.
Lincoln cocked an eye.
“They know the longer this goes on, Jonathan eventually loses the city. These two freeways are great points of retreat. Jonathan’s armies could cross and destroy them as they do so.”
“But Jonathan told us we couldn’t retreat.”
Anthony nodded. “They don’t know that.”
They didn’t have long to discuss much more. Within minutes the Ferox began trickling out onto the bridge. From where they were on the other side of the tunnel this first wave resembled ants swarming out of their anthill.
As they drew into range, Sydney and the rest of the gunners opened fire; Lincoln heard Anthony on the comm. “There must be over a hundred of them.”
“Yeah, and they’re still coming,” Lincoln said.
The front line of the charging Ferox horde went down hard, the beasts absorbing bullets like sponges before being trampled. For a while, the massive amount of firepower the Mechs were capable of throwing at them made the creatures pay for every inch in lives.
That was until spurts of green began shooting up from within the encroaching numbers. The Ferox were carrying smaller pouches of WX gas. It was going off in more and more frequent spurts as the creatures who carried the substance on their backs massed inside the rushing horde. Soon, they realized the spray of bullets into the throng was actually accelerating the problem. Releasing more and more of the stuff onto the bridge.
At first, the problem was a looming future. Then the winds began to change.
Suddenly, the front line of the creatures wasn’t inching but gaining yards at a time. The Ferox got wise, let the gas protect them as they moved forward. Then, pouches began dropping like tear gas from behind the thickening green cloud.
“Olivia,” Anthony said. “It’s not looking good here. We may need to drop this bridge sooner than we planned.”
“Received,” Olivia’s voice said. “The team on the 520 Bridge says the same. This is a coordinated attack.”
“We need to start pulling back before that gas reaches us,” Lincoln said.
“What . . . what is that?” Sydney asked.
Lincoln and Anthony turned their attention to a dark shape emerging, becoming more visible as it neared the edge where gas met air. They each had to switch to thermal imaging to make out what looked like a row of large rectangles coming toward them.
“Shields,” Anthony said. “We need to pull out, let Olivia down the bridges.”
As though his words had just been spoken right into the ear of the Ferox leader, their optics picked up a strange movement inside the cloud. Almost as though . . .
It came bursting out of the gas, shooting over them in a wide arc. Its black and grey skin a warning in and of itself.
Some of the Gunners reacted immediately, their targeting systems following the Alpha as it flew toward them. For those split seconds, the creature looked like a sparkler as bullets hit its skin harmlessly. Then it cleared them. Not coming to a landing in front or amongst them, but behind the Gunners’ line.
Sydney whirled, targeting the beast again as it stood from its crouched landing.
“You’re not getting penetration,” Anthony said.
“Then we’re up,” Lincoln replied, already headed to intercept the monster before it tore through their line and let the swarm through.
“Get the situation under control and get off the bridge,” Olivia said, a hardness to her voice.
“Our retreat just got cut off,” Sydney said, “and that gas isn’t slowing down.”
“Deal with it now, you know I won’t let them across,” Olivia said.
She didn’t have to say it. They all knew she wouldn’t hesitate to drop the bridge with them on it if that swarm looked like it was going to make it across.
As Anthony’s Thor and Lincoln’s Wallace raced to put themselves between the Alpha and the Gunners, the creature stopped its approach and roared in challenge.
Anthony drew its attention first, leaping into the air to bring down a massive hammer while Lincoln ran in, unsheathing his molecular blades.
The Alpha stepped clear as the hammer of Anthony’s Thor put a dent in the street. The creature moved fast, ducking under the first swipe of Lincoln’s blade and catching Anthony with a backhand before he could rise up from his crouch. The Thor shot into the bridge’s guardrails. The alien steel of the armor held against the collision with the rebar-reinforced cement. The Thor narrowly avoided dropping into Lake Washington before rolling back from the wall.
“Jesus,” Anthony’s voice came in gasps. “Hits. Like a. Tank.”
That was the Mech’s biggest problem. The armor absorbed the worst, but there was still a human inside, and even the laziest of swipes from an Alpha could knock the sense out of a man.
Lincoln backpedaled as the creature’s attention turned entirely to him. It stood to its full height, and even in the Mech, it was a full head taller than him. He stopped to stand his ground, and the Alpha eyed the blades of the Wallace. There was something in its gaze, not fear exactly, but caution.
“Get off my bridge,” Lincoln yelled.
The Alpha let out a long heavy breath, its shoulders hunching low as it came toward him. He swiped at it again, not committing to the strike, but testing its courage. The Alpha stepped back to let the blade sail past, then came in fast, but not fast enough. Lincoln brought the second blade up and under, the Alpha grunted before pulling back with a jolt.
A long cut ran across its chest. Its hand went to the wound, ostensibly not from surprise, but a morbid curiosity. Black blood dripped off its fingers as it growled and lowered back into a ready stance.
The Alpha began to move fast and unpredictably, coming in with feints and quick changes to its direction, daring Lincoln to take a swing he’d regret.
Eventually, he made his mistake.
He took a swipe at the beast just wide enough to leave his shoulder unprotected when the blade didn’t make contact. The Ferox came in fast, not going for a punch, but pushing him in the same direction as his swing with enough force to spin the Mech. The split second was all it took, the Alpha rushing forward before he could get a blade back between them and grabbing hold of the backside of the Wallace’s chassis.
A second later, the Alpha had the Wallace in a military press. Lincoln looked up at the sky, helpless to get at the beast with his blades as he felt it lurch to throw.
Anthony got to his feet to just in time to see the Wallace pulled off his feet. There was no time. He shot from the ground just as the Ferox pulled back to throw the Mech from the bridge. The hammer came down before the Alpha managed it, right on the back of its leg.
The creature toppled forward, forced down onto one knee with a wail of surprise. It still followed through with throwing the Wallace, but knocked off balance, it didn’t go as planned. Lincoln released the Wallace’s molecular blades just before it hit ground and rolled across the freeway.
While the armor would keep Lincoln from broken bones, he might as well have been in a high-speed car accident. In the Wallace, he crashed across four lanes of freeway before finally hitting the opposite guardrail.
Caught off guard, Anthony managed to nail it with a wild desperate hay-maker from the hammer as the Alpha was turning to face him.
The beast was driven down face first into the pavement, breaking a hole in the street as it did so, and yet it hardly seemed fazed, barely shaking its head a moment before pulling itself out of the crumpled cement.
Lincoln lay on the ground in the Wallace, seemingly unable to rise. Alone against the Alpha, Anthony had seconds at best.
Lincoln pushed up onto hands and knees, the Wallace doing most of the work to drag him up. He got to his feet only to lose his balance and fall back to a knee as he came forward. He lurched, pushing himself back to his feet, his arms reaching out to each side as new molecular blades slid into place.
Anthony got in another blow as the Ferox rose to its
feet, bringing the sledgehammer of a fist up hard to catch the Alpha under the chin. It staggered backward, before planting a foot into the pavement to stop itself.
Anthony, trying to capitalize, came forward with a hard strike aimed for its center of gravity.
He jolted painfully to a halt, looked on with dread as the Alpha caught the hammer with one massive hand. It growled in triumph as it bent the arm back, the machinery no match for its strength, forcing Anthony to kneel. Desperate, he threw another fist only to have the Alpha slap it away like a buzzing mosquito.
Its free hand reached for him, grabbing hold of him by the chassis and driving Anthony straight down into the street in front of them. As Anthony looked up at the face of the growling Alpha, it raised its massive foot to stomp down on him. He began to lose consciousness, but he could have sworn, at that last moment, its jaw had fallen limp, its eyes lifeless.
Lincoln staggered to his knees as the Alpha’s skull flopped to the ground and rolled a few paces. The body fell limp beside him, black blood pouring onto the street from its severed neck. He could feel his entire body like one big bruise. As he knelt there trying to regain his faculties, Lincoln raised the Wallace’s head. He looked up to see the 520 Bridge across the water. From here, it looked even more overrun with Ferox, the WX gas having nearly engulfed its entirety.
Then, without any warning, the bridge exploded. Charges going off in series from the east shore to the west. The entire structure falling into the lake as fire bloomed up around it.
He watched it all with the surreal sense that he was in a dream and turned his head to the line of Gunners on his own bridge. Finally, he heard Sydney’s voice hailing him and realized that she must have been trying to reach him for some time now. “Lincoln we have to retreat. Do you read me? Lincoln! Olivia will not wait.”
The Gunners were stepping back, the speed at which they abandoned their lines rapidly increasing.
The Never Army Page 76
