by Jake Bible
“Fools?” Luke asks, moving closer to Gil. “You think those that believe the Lord’s word are fools?”
Gil sighs and hangs his head. “I always knew you’d be a weak link, Luke. I should have locked you out of here a long time ago.”
Luke stomps over to Gil and grabs the man by the chin.
“You’re the weak one,” he spits. “You believed the devil’s lies and now his minions roam the earth looking for the righteous and just!”
He steps back and pulls a pistol from his hip, cocks the hammer and places it to Gil’s temple.
“I do this in the name of God and his son, Jesus Christ,” Luke calls out.
“You hear that?” one of the men in the group asks.
Luke pauses and turns his head as a low rumbling is heard.
“What is that?” Luke asks. “Someone go see.”
Two men run off into the darkness, their candles sputtering and then lost from sight as they round a corner.
“Sounds like the backdoor,” Gil says. “You think the devil would use the backdoor, Luke?”
“I knew there was a backdoor,” Dr. Probst says.
“Shut up!” Luke shouts.
“I’m guessing the government has come to get its precious doctor,” Gil continues. “And whatever this kid is to them. That’s not demons coming for us, you idiot. That’s the US military! Let me go and I can help get us out of here!”
“You aren’t going nowhere, liar,” Luke says He steps forward and pulls the trigger.
Gil’s brains splatter across Dr. Probst and Kyle, causing both of them to yell. Luke wipes a spot of grey matter from his cheek and then crouches in front of the gore covered prisoners.
“Tell me the truth and you’ll be set free,” Luke says.
“I have been telling you the truth,” Kyle says. “It is your duty to believe. You must show faith in His will. Shoot us and that faith will be lost.”
Luke eyes Kyle for a second, and then nods. He looks over his shoulder at the others.
“Bring them with,” Luke says. “Let’s take them to meet the demons that are coming for us. When a demon sees a demon, they can’t help but show it. Everyone knows that.”
He looks back at Kyle and taps him on the forehead with the pistol.
“If you are filled with truth, then the demons will not know you,” Luke says. “They will cower from your belief and reveal their true selves.” He taps Kyle again. “But if they do know you, then that proves you are as much a liar as Gil and are here only to test my faith.” He slides the pistol down Kyle’s face, tracing a pattern in the blood and brains. “And you know what happens to liars.”
***
“Missiles will reach the target in twenty minutes, Mr. President,” General Tulane says. “They are armed and will detonate on impact.”
All eyes turn to the main monitor and watch as the chasm is filled by the ash cloud, completely obscuring the view of the wriggling mass. The image is grainy and filled with static and then blinks out completely.
“Satellites are out of range, sir,” a tech announces. “They will have to complete their orbit before we can retask them and regain visuals.”
“Your man better be able to tell us what is going on, General,” President Nance says, his eyes on General Azoul.
“He will,” General Azoul replies.
“If his man can’t, then my men can,” Admiral Quigley states. “We will see this to the end, Mr. President.”
“Yes, gentlemen, we will,” President Nance says.
***
“This place is huge, sir,” Kreigel says, his eyes locked onto a small tablet showing him the schematics of the bunker. “It’s not just a munitions dump, sir, like we were told. This place has several levels to it.” He looks up from the tablet and at the lieutenant. “Sir, I don’t think the brass knows where they sent us. I can access the top two levels, we being on the upper one, but the bottom four are classified. I have no idea what’s below us.”
Taylor looks over at the sergeant and frowns, his face nothing but shadows and rage as the beams of the soldiers’ flashlights bounce around the corridor.
“We’ll deal with that later, Sergeant,” Taylor says. “Just get us somewhere safe. When those nukes hit, we want to be behind several layers of steel and concrete and nowhere near that open door back there.”
“This way, sir,” Kreigel says and nods towards a large door at the end of the corridor.
“Holt, you’re on point,” Taylor orders. “Lead the way.”
Holt moves to the front of the group, the flashlight on his carbine illuminating the dust filled, dank corridor. He leads them to the end and waits by the door until the team, as well as Lu, Bolton, and Lowell, are in position on each side of the door.
Holt holds up a hand and shows three fingers then two then one. He grabs the door’s handle, twists it and pulls on the door, struggling against the rusty hinges. Then he waits.
Taylor nods and points for Holt to move out. The man rushes through the doorway and instantly gunfire erupts. He dives back through and rolls to the side, flattening himself against the wall.
“This is Lieutenant Mallory Taylor of the United States Navy!” Taylor yells. “Hold your fire!”
The gunfire intensifies and everyone ducks their heads away from the doorway. Kreigel cries out as a ricochet hits him in the chest, but he gives a thumbs up and slaps the spot where he’s hit, indicating that his body armor kept the round from ripping open his lungs.
In seconds, the gunfire stops and the sound of magazines hitting the concrete tells the team it’s their turn.
Without saying a word, Rogue Team rushes through the doorway, leaving Bolton in the corridor with an M-4 to cover Lu and Lowell. Gunshots pop in quick succession then it’s quiet.
“Clear!”
“Clear!”
“Clear!”
“Come on,” Taylor says, poking his head back through the door. “We’ve secured this section.”
***
“Five minutes, Mr. President,” General Tulane announces.
Everyone in the situation room still stares at the main monitor despite the fact it sits there blank, the satellite feed long gone.
“Sir, as much as I oppose this course of action, I support your strength to make the decision that needed to be made,” Borland says. “And that’s not a suck up, that’s just the truth.”
“Thank you, Jeremy,” President Nance says, his face tired and haggard. “I’ll take all the support I can get right now. In five minutes, we find out if I have made the right choice or the biggest mistake in history.”
All eyes turn from the man as his words sink in. They too, every last one of them in the situation room, will be part of saving their country from an imminent threat or condemning the world to a slow death. Quite possibly both.
***
“Clear,” Holt says as they turn a corner onto yet another concrete corridor. “Jesus, this place is nuts.”
“Where to now, Sergeant?” Taylor asks Kreigel.
“There are what I think are administrative offices this way,” Kreigel says. “Three more corridors ahead, close to one of the storage bays and secondary entrance.”
They take a few steps when the door at the far end of the corridor is thrown open and several men and women hurry through, rifles of various types up and aimed at the team.
“Hold your fire!” Taylor calls as he sees Luke step through with a gun to Kyle’s head and Tiff right behind him with a gun to Dr. Probst’s head.
“State your business, demons!” Luke shouts.
“Uh...what?” Taylor asks. “Did you just call us...demons?”
“You wear the skin of soldiers, but we know you have devoured their souls and been sent by your master to try to take ours,” Luke spits. “You will not take us!”
“Dr. Probst?” Taylor asks. “Is that you?”
“They know her! They recognize this one as part of their brood!” Luke hisses.
“No
, they have been sent to take her,” Kyle says quickly. “She is valuable to the truth and they want her for their own ends.”
Luke looks at the boy, then over at Dr. Probst. “How do I know that? You have not proven yourself to me yet, boy.”
Lu looks around Bolton and gasps as a beam of light hits Kyle right in the face.
“Kyle?” she whispers.
“What?” Bolton asks, looking over his shoulder at her. “Did you say Kyle?”
He looks back quickly and sees Luke’s eyes go wide. The man presses his gun harder against Kyle’s head just as Lu shouts, “Kyle!”
“They know you too, boy!” Luke yells.
Bolton squeezes the trigger and Luke’s head rocks back. The gun in his hand goes off and Kyle falls to the floor. Rogue Team drops to their knees and opens fire as Lowell hits the ground, grabbing Lu and yanking her down with him.
The gunfire stops and the flashlights pierce the smoke that fills the corridor, showing Dr. Probst as the only person standing, her arms crossed in front of her face.
“Am I dead?” she asks.
“No, Doctor, you are not,” Taylor says.
Dr. Probst lowers her arms and then looks at Kyle lying on the ground. “Oh, crap.”
Lu shoves men this way and that as she sprints down the corridor to her son. She throws herself onto the ground and her hands hover just above the boy, afraid to touch him and do more damage than there already is.
“Is he okay?” Bolton asks as he hurries up to Lu. “Tell me he’s alright!”
“I don’t know!” Lu shouts. “Oh, God there’s blood everywhere!”
“Move,” Toloski says. “I’ll check him.”
He pushes Lu out of the way and Bolton has to grab her shoulders to keep her from going after the man. Toloski pulls out a med kit from his pack and starts wiping the blood from Kyle’s face. He pours antiseptic across a deep gouge on Kyle’s forehead then takes a deep breath.
“He’s fine,” he says, looking back at Lu and Bolton. “The bullet grazed his forehead. He’s unconscious, but his pulse is strong.” He looks up at Dr. Probst. “Is there someplace we can take him a little more comfortable than this hallway?”
Dr. Probst just keeps staring at Kyle.
“Doctor?” Taylor barks, getting Dr. Probst’s attention quickly. “Where can we take him?”
“Uh, this way,” she says. “There’s some administrative offices they’ve turned into lounges. We can put him on one of the couches.”
“Will that be deep enough for us, Sergeant?” Taylor asks Kreigel.
The man pulls out his tablet and checks the schematic. “Should be. Let’s just hope this place holds up when the blasts hit.”
“It looks like it held up during the first eruption,” Bolton says. “Should be good for what’s coming.”
“Blasts?” Dr. Probst asks. “What’s coming?”
“The president has ordered a nuclear strike on ground zero,” Taylor states. “In less than a minute, we’re going to be standing here or we aren’t.”
“Nuclear strike?” Dr. Probst gasps. “Dear God…”
“No shit, lady,” Lowell says. “Welcome to the apocalypse.”
***
The situation room is silent then, “Sir, the warheads have detonated.”
President Nance takes a deep breath and stands up. “Right now, we are witness to the first nuclear strike on United States soil. And it was ordered by me, the person trusted to prevent such an occurrence. In the next few hours, we will know whether or not it was the right choice. Until then, I ask that you bow your heads for a moment and pray that all will be well and we have ended this nightmare for good.”
Fourteen
“Secondary entrance is demolished,” Kreigel says as he walks into the lounge and plops down into a chair. “That leaves the way we came in.”
“Which has either caved in or is still blocked by those things,” Taylor says. He stands up and sighs. “Only one way to find out. You coming?”
“Yeah,” Bolton says as he zips up the front of his hot suit. “Let’s do this.”
“How are we going to get past the monsters if the entrance is still intact?” Holt asks.
“I told you I know how to kill the things,” Lowell says, standing up and grabbing a hot suit from Toloski’s hands. “I’m coming with you.”
“Just tell us,” Taylor says. “No need for you to tag along.”
“Yeah, well, if I’m wrong and it doesn’t work, I think I may go for a stroll outside,” Lowell says. “Radiation may kill me, monsters might eat me, or I could fall off the mountain and break my neck.” He shrugs. “Better than staying in here. I’ve lived behind concrete walls enough in my life and made a promise to myself to enjoy the sunshine more.”
“You okay with this?” Bolton asks Lu as the woman crouches next to her unconscious son who is laid out on one of the couches.
“With Lowell leaving or with you leaving?” Lu asks, her eyes locking onto Bolton’s.
“Both,” Bolton replies.
“Yeah,” Lu says. “Just be sure to come back.”
“You mean him, right?” Lowell says, pointing at Bolton.
“Yes, I mean him,” Lu says. “But if you want to come back too, that’s cool.”
“I’m touched,” Lowell says. “But not making any promises.”
“Suit up and let’s move,” Taylor says. “I’ll make the call.”
***
“Sir?” Admiral Quigley says, smiling at the president. “Just received word from Lieutenant Taylor. They survived the blasts and are attempting to leave the bunker.”
“Attempting?” President Nance asks. “What does that mean?”
The smile leaves Admiral Quigley’s face. “Their way out is blocked by hostiles, sir. Taylor says they have a plan, but won’t elaborate until he knows it will work.”
“It better,” President Nance says. “If I don’t have confirmation that this strike worked then I will have to call in another to be sure.”
Everyone seated at the table stops what they are doing and looks to the president.
“You don’t mean that, Mr. President,” Borland states. “I know you don’t.”
“I do mean it, Jeremy,” President Nance says. “We cannot take the chance that more of those monsters will be unleashed on our country. I will order another strike unless I hear positive results from our men on the ground.”
***
“You’re joking, right?” Taylor says, his voice muffled by the face mask in his hot suit. “You want to feed people to them?”
“No,” Lowell says, his voice muffled as well. “I want to soak the body parts in diesel, strap some ammo to the parts, and then let the things chow down. Trust me on this. I’ve watched it work.”
“You think it’s the diesel and the gunpowder that caused that reaction?” Bolton asks, looking at Lowell. “Like that thing at the gas station? It drank a ton of diesel then ate my carbine.”
“I don’t think the diesel has anything to do with it,” Lowell says. “The flying thing ate that arm with the pistol and in seconds it burst open with that foam.”
“Then why bother with the diesel?” Holt asks.
“Bait,” Kreigel says. “The things like diesel.”
“Yep,” Lowell nods. “We toss them the treats and they do all the work.”
Taylor watches Lowell for a moment then looks over at Bolton. “You know this guy better than we do. Can we trust him?”
“No,” Bolton says. “I don’t trust him at all, but I know he wants to stay alive and get out of here. That I can trust.”
“And here I thought we’d bonded,” Lowell laughs. “Team ready? Let’s move out!”
No one moves.
Taylor sighs and turns to his men.
“Find fire axes,” he says. “We have some corpses to dismember.”
***
“Mom?” Kyle whispers as his eyes flutter open and he sees Lu’s head resting on the couch cushion next to
his as she sits on the floor. “Mom, is that you?”
“Oh, God, Kyle,” Lu exclaims and starts covering his face in kisses.
“Ow. Stop,” he says and pushes her away weakly. “My head hurts.”
“You took a bullet across the forehead, kid,” Dr. Probst says, getting up from her chair and walking over to the couch. “Your dad shot Luke and saved your life.”
“What?” Kyle says, trying to shove himself up from the couch. “Linder is here? He’s alive?”
“You said Linder wasn’t your dad,” Dr. Probst says, looking at Lu. “I give up.”
“Wait, why do you think Linder is your father?” Lu asks.
“Grandma told me,” Kyle says.
“Did she?” Lu frowns. “I’ll have to speak to her about that crap.” Then she sees the look on Kyle’s face. “Oh...no.”
“Linder killed her,” Kyle says. “When he found us, he shot her. I tried to get away, but he caught up to me.” He breaks down into heavy sobs and Lu wraps him in her arms.
“It’s okay, baby,” she soothes. “Let it out.”
Kyle wails for a couple of minutes, and then pulls himself together enough to tell his mother what happened. Lu sits there quietly, listening to every word; every description of the violence and horror Kyle went through. When he’s finally done, she is crying with him.
“So who’s the real dad then? Linder or Bolton?” Dr. Probst asks then shrinks back at the look of anger she receives from Lu. “Oh, sorry. I probably should have let you say that.”
“What?” Kyle says. “Bolton? You mean Connor? He’s my dad?”
“Yes,” Lu says. “He is. I never told you because it would have put him in danger and I just couldn’t afford that.”
“Holy crap,” Kyle whispers.
“He’s here, you know,” Dr. Probst says. “Well, sort of.”
“Do you mind?” Lu snaps.
“He’s here? Where?” Kyle asks and looks around then winces from the movement.
