The Ark Series (Book 2): The Ark of Attrition
Page 19
“Uncle John, snap out of it. What’s wrong with you?” Maggie said.
He squeezes his eye and shakes his head, then opens them as wide as he can. “Sorry, I—sometimes get panic attacks that—” He stops himself and refocuses. “You don’t need to hear about my personal issues.” He looks around at everyone looking at him for leadership, and knows he’s letting them down. “Alright, I want everyone willing and able to be on guard at each gun port, while those who can’t need to either help the sick and wounded or resupply those who are fighting. I need someone on the fifty cal because it’s only going to work in manual mode now, so I need someone fully capable of operating that thing on a high level, as that will be our main line of defense.”
One of the crew members doesn’t even say a word before climbing up and getting into the fifty cal turret. John looks at everyone else and they all disperse and take positions around the cabin. Those unsure of what to do eventually just fill in where needed by following someone’s lead.
John goes to his chair and grabs his comms and puts them on. He catches the last of the conversation between the two vehicles about getting along side of each other, but then come to the conclusion that it would only slow them down and they should stay in single file. John doesn’t say anything because he knows they are the experts, and he doesn’t want to interfere with something he doesn’t know anything about, but feels like it’s the right call.
He walks back to the rear door and Kelly moves over to let him look out. He gives a quick nod to Peter before looking out the port and sees a number of infected not too far behind. He again looks at Peter and then down at Dusty sitting next to his master and whining, almost like he knows what’s out there. He leans against the door just like Peter and stares out the gun port as he grips his rifle tighter and tighter with every passing minute.
With every hour that passes and with each infected that gets closer, John can feel the perspiration form on his brow that soon begins to drip from his forehead. They’ve gotten closer and closer and are now within at least fifty yards from their vehicle. The cabin is dead silent and the radio chatter is minimal and without any news from the Ark.
Suddenly a loud crash from in front of them is heard followed by the Havoc stopping and an announcement over the radio informs everyone that the Piercer has died and Havoc One has crashed into it. John face blanches when he hears the bad news, and he looks back out the port at the infected now closer than ever. He hears that the crew from the Piercer has abandoned the vehicle and have made their way to Havoc One that is now trying to power past the wrecked Piercer but is having trouble. He can feel the Havoc start moving again and then it hit the front Havoc and almost comes to a complete stop again. He hears his crew say that they are indeed moving it, but it’s not completely out of the way yet.
And just like that, the infected are practically on top of them. The fifty cal fires up along with multiple rifles from within the Havoc. The dog is going berserk jumping up and down and barking. John points his rifle out the gun port and fires at the mass of infected that have slowly started to surround them. He can no longer hear what’s being said over the radio as the gunfire and screaming from within the cabin is overpowering the yelling coming from the radio.
He can feel the Havoc pick up a little speed again and hopes they’ve gotten past the Piercer. That’s soon confirmed with the sound of metal scrapping together and then the Piercer coming into view from his gun port. As they slowly move past the Piercer, it distracts some of the infected, but not nearly enough. The gunfire continues its onslaught upon the infected and their dropping bodies that are quickly replaced by more of them stumbling over each other as they try to get by. They’ve put a little distance between the pack and so the fifty cal stops firing. As they pull away from the pack, the gunfire from within the cabin eventually stops as does the screaming.
John looks back at the crew who mostly look scared to death and shaking uncontrollably while others concentrate on reloading their weapons. But not Maggie, Peter, Kelly, or Nate, who look wide eyed and ready for a fight. He knows they’ve been through a lot, and they aren’t ready to back down anytime soon. He looks proudly upon their faces, like a group a hardened soldiers ready for battle, ready to take on the world. He gives those looking at him a quick smile and slight nod before turning back and looking out the port at the slow dimming light. His facial expression drops as he bolts up to the front of the vehicle and looks out the window. The sight of the sun setting forces him to drop his rifle and almost collapse. The hair on the back of his neck stands up, and a sick feeling in his gut makes him want to puke.
The driver glances back at him but doesn’t say anything, just takes a deep breath followed by a loud exhale. He grips the steering wheel and squirms in his seat while obviously trying to appear calm. John drops his head as his legs shake and his knees feel like they are about to buckle, so he grips the back of the seats trying to hold himself up.
Just as he braces himself for a collapse, he sees the driver and passenger put their hands to their headsets and then he hears what they’re hearing. It’s a transmission from Havoc Three on its way toward them. He instantly perks up with a surge of energy like an adrenaline shot straight to the heart. They soon get confirmation from Havoc One that Havoc Three is in sight and has already notified them that they need to immediately stop and turn around because it could take a while. John looks at the driver confused at what he’s just heard and hopes he can clarify why they were given that order.
But just as John goes to say something over the radio, he hears the next part of the plan. They are told that once they are turned around and in position, they are to wait for both Havoc’s to pass and then they are to get behind Havoc Two so they can start the link procedure for the handoff and distribution of fuel blocks.
John waits anxiously for the conformation that soon comes. Havoc Three has successfully turned around, and they will be passing it momentarily. He soon sees it on their left, and just as they pass by John runs to the back and looks out of the gun port. He sees it start moving just as they pass, and soon gets right up behind them. But just as it bumps into their Havoc, the sound of heavy weapons fire in the distance it heard. Radio transmission confirms that what they are hearing is gunfire coming from behind them and from an unknown source. They confirm the situation and concur to go ahead with the plan since the potential threat is out of sight.
John looks out the port and can barely see that a hatch has opened on Havoc Three’s roof, followed by men exiting the hatch carrying something on their backs. The men walk along the roof and eventually get to their vehicle and climb on top. John looks up at the roof but Peter has already reached up and unlocked the hatch and just as it opens, a block drops in. Peter catches the block and throws it to John just as another one is dropped in. He rushes over to the side of the vehicle with the refuel slot and quickly unwraps the hemp block. He pulls the door open and inserts the hemp block and waits for Maggie to unwrap the other one. Once Maggie hands him the unwrapped block, John drops it in and waits.
He can hear over the radio that Havoc One has received two hemp block as well, but they have to wait for another drop off before they can pick up speed. John and Maggie go back to the gun ports and watch while the two men jump back into their hatch, but then soon emerge again carrying more blocks on their backs. They make their way back to their vehicle and drop two more blocks into the hatch, and John and Maggie again insert them into the refueling port. They follow the same procedure a few more times and eventually get enough hemp blocks they think should get them back to the Ark.
An announcement comes over the loudspeaker for everyone to sit tight and brace themselves. Seconds later, John can feel the Havoc pick up speed and everyone erupts in cheer. He sits back in his chair and looks at the relief on everyone’s faces that puts John’s mind at ease, and he finally feels like he can relax, even if it’s brief. And as the gunfire in the distance gets louder and closer, that brief feeling of relaxation en
ds more quickly then expected.
Once the sun goes down and the darkness takes over, a radio call from Havoc Three confirms that tracer rounds are visible about a mile out, and that there is a lot of them. John leans forward and drops his head in his hand and just listens to the radio conversation between Havocs, but he doesn’t like what he‘s hearing. Even though he knows they are getting close to the Ark, not knowing what is following them has him on edge; not to mention the thought of what he knows is following them . . . more infected.
He stays up the entire night along with mostly everyone else onboard, all waiting for the inevitable—confirmation of what’s following them. As light from the rising sun slowly begins to illuminate the cabin, that confirmation comes with the description of what appears to be a convoy of military vehicles closing in on them. Something that should be obvious by the heavy weapons fire that sounds closer then ever, still makes John get anxious. He cycles though camera feeds from the rear of Havoc Three, but he can’t make out what he’s looking at. He can see what appears to be large military vehicles plowing their way through the herd of infected that doesn’t seem to be slowing them down much.
He cycles through all the camera feeds from all three vehicles and gets to one where he recognizes the scenery, and he knows they are close. The voice on the radio confirms what he already knows—they are very close to the Ark. He can tell they are about a mile out, and he starts to get excited. He cycles back to the rear camera and sees that the vehicles following them are getting dangerously close and have moved out in front of the mob of infected. He cycles back to the front camera and he can soon see the gates. The radio call goes out to the Ark that they are approaching and to open the gates.
Just as the Havoc slows and then stops just outside the gates, a distress call from Havoc Three confirms that they have been fired upon and they have returned fire. John flips back to the rear camera feed and can see a crossfire of bullets coming to and from Havoc Three. He flips back to the front camera feed just as the gates slowly open followed by them moving again. They drive into the compound and the gates slowly close behind the last Havoc, but the gunfire continues.
An unfamiliar voice is heard over the radio and announces that they have attacked a military convoy, which is an act of war. They are to stand down immediately and surrender or they will continue to be fired upon.
The voice abruptly cuts off and is soon followed by an internal radio transmission: what appears to be a massive cloud has moved into the area and is completely covering the sun and has cast an even larger shadow over the entire area.
John immediately reaches for the roof and pops open the hatch and is instantly met with a blinding light emanating from the sky that forces him to fall backward and onto his back. He covers his eyes with his hand in an attempt to look up just as the light flashes, and the Havoc shuts down and loses all power.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29