The Sixth Level (Secret Apocalypse Book 2)

by James Harden

  The soldiers nodded their heads, visualizing the mission in their minds eye.

  "Anymore questions?"

  "When do we get paid?" Smitty asked.

  "Yeah, are we getting overtime for this or what?" Griffin added.

  "Knock it off you two. I don't need to remind you guys that this mission is black ops. We screw up. We're on our own."

  "Wouldn't have it any other way, Major."

  "All right team," Ethan said. "I want the Ospreys prepped and ready for takeoff immediately. Weather reports for the east coast indicate the dust storm is still intensifying. But as soon as the storm settles, we're moving out."

  Chapter 8

  Daniel and Ramirez had finished prepping both Ospreys. Apparently one was to be left here as a backup. And Ramirez was to remain here at camp and pilot the backup if anything happened to the first one. Or if anything happened to us and we needed help.

  Ramirez told me they have a saying. "One is none. Two is one."

  Having a back up and a contingency plan was crucial. I could not have agreed more.

  Daniel let me know I had my own footlocker, so I could store my bag. I decided to keep the letter from Kenji there as well. I didn’t want to risk losing it or ruining the ink or whatever. I promised myself I would read it when we got back. No matter what.

  Daniel was worried about leaving the X-wing outside the perimeter while we were gone. So he parked it inside. The noise was amazingly loud when he fired up the engines. I wonder how much fuel he used up just to move it that short distance.

  Once it was safely parked inside, the guys started checking their weapons and their packs, making sure they had enough ammo and enough supplies for the mission. It was nearly time to go. We were about to leave and I was getting nervous. My hands were sweating profusely and my heart was beating like a drum.

  But then Ramirez informed us that the dust storm over Sydney had intensified so we had to wait some more.

  The waiting was hard. It was mentally and emotionally draining. Having our adrenalin levels so high was exhausting. Minutes turned into hours. But we still had to wait for the all clear.

  I remember once I had a fight with Kenji. Back before I moved to Sydney, back before everything went to hell. It was our first ever fight. I can't even remember what it was over. I think it was something stupid about how I didn't want to spend the night at his place because it might make things more complicated. After the fight I was just so exhausted. I was mentally and emotionally drained and tired. All I wanted to do was sleep. And I didn’t care if it was in his bed or mine.

  I wish I could have a fight like that now. It was such a normal thing. And I’m quickly realizing just how much I miss normal.

  I remember we had just finished watching a movie. ‘The Dark Knight’. I think it was the third movie in a row we had watched. We were talking about how it didn’t win the Oscar award for best picture. Kenji was of the opinion it was one of the best movies ever made. And definitely the best comic book movie ever made.

  "Really?" I asked. "What about Spiderman?"

  "No way," Kenji said. "Sure, Spiderman was good. But the Dark Knight is great. And Heath Ledger is brilliant. The best ever Batman villain ever."

  "So you're not a fan of Jack's version of the joker?"

  "Jack was good. I mean really good. But they’re such different interpretations. It’s like comparing apples and oranges. It shouldn’t be done. But Heath was brilliant. The dude was on another level of insane awesomeness. The movie was robbed at the Oscars."

  "What won best picture that year?" I asked.

  "Slumdog Millionaire."

  "That’s a pretty damn good movie," I said.

  "Yeah but again, nowhere near as good as The Dark Knight."

  "Sounds like you've got the hots for Christian Bale."

  "Yeah, maybe I do."

  At this point I figured there was no point in arguing with Kenji about this so I started putting my shoes on and getting ready to go back to my place.

  "Where are you going?" Kenji asked.

  "Home."

  "I thought you were sleeping over?"

  "I can't."

  "Come on you always spend the night."

  "Not tonight."

  "Why not?"

  I’d finished putting on my shoes but I pretended I was still tying my laces so I didn't have to make eye contact with him. "I just don't think it's a good idea for me to sleep over anymore, you know? And besides you're dad absolutely hates me."

  Kenji sat up and turned the TV off. "He doesn't hate you. And you've slept over plenty of times before. It's Saturday night. It's not like you've got an early start tomorrow or anything. And your mom is working the night shift."

  "Maybe I do have an early start. Maybe things have changed"

  "What the hell are you talking about?"

  "Sleeping in the same bed and camping out in your backyard was fine before. But I'm fifteen now."

  "Yeah."

  "And you’re seventeen."

  "Yeah, so?"

  "Do the math."

  "What?"

  "Don't play dumb. Freshmen don’t go out with Juniors."

  "I'm not playing dumb. And I don’t even go to your school. I'm just genuinely confused as to what the hell you're talking about."

  "Throbbing biological urges." I blurted out, trying to explain myself. I quickly realized how stupid it must’ve sounded.

  Kenji laughed, "Throbbing? Like, right now?"

  I could feel my face turn bright red. "I gotta go."

  "Wait a second. I'm gonna need an explanation. One that makes sense."

  I could feel my palms begin to sweat so I rubbed them on my jeans. "I just think our age and spending some much time together may possibly get in the way of this friendship. And I don't want that to happen."

  "You afraid you can't control your throbbing biological urges?" Kenji said with a smile on his face.

  "No. I'm just saying you're the boy next door and I'm the girl next door. It's the oldest cliché in the book."

  "So what's the problem?"

  "The problem is; I don't want to gamble on our friendship. I don’t want to risk our friendship. If I lose you as a friend I could lose you for good."

  "I don’t want to risk our friendship either. I don’t ever want to lose you. But right now you sound like you have a superhero complex."

  "A what?"

  "A super hero complex. You know, it’s like how the hero can never be with the one they love because they’re afraid of hurting them. Like Spiderman and Mary Jane."

  "This isn't some stupid movie or comic book romantic subplot."

  "Spiderman is not stupid. He's one of the most introspective and thoughtful and sensitive superheroes of all time. He loves Mary Jane but he doesn’t want to hurt her. So he makes a sacrifice. With great power comes great responsibility."

  "Now you're being stupid. This is serious. And who said anything about love."

  Now it was Kenji’s turn to blush. He hesitated, unsure of himself. He’d let the ‘L word’ slip out and he hadn’t meant to.

  "I... I was talking about Spiderman," he said trying to recover. "But I'm being totally serious. We can remain friends, and we can stay up late and watch movies and camp out and nothing has to change. Our friendship is not in any danger. We’re not gambling with it. We’re not risking anything."

  "I don't think it works that way. Nothing ever stays the same."

  "What else are you gonna do on a Saturday night?" he asked.

  "I could play online scrabble?"

  "We're friends okay?" Kenji reinforced. "No matter how big our throbbing biological urges get? Deal?"

  I nodded my head. "Deal. Wait. Are you making some kind sick joke?"

  "Nope. Not at all. Now can we never ever talk about this again? It’s just too damn awkward."

  "Deal."

  "OK, sweet."

  "Yep. Sweet."

  We climbed underneath his covers and he turned his bedside lamp
off.

  I could feel Kenji roll over, tucking his hands under his head. "Goodnight, Bec."

  "Goodnight. Kenji."

  I remembered I tried to get to sleep that night but I couldn’t. And I knew Kenji was wide awake as well. I could tell by his breathing. And I know it was a stupid little fight and it wasn’t even really that serious but it was exhausting and confusing.

  And he’d said the ‘L word’. He said it in a roundabout way but he still said it.

  A couple of weeks later he left without saying goodbye. I’ve always wondered if he already knew he was leaving. I wonder if that’s why he wanted me to sleep over. So we could spend what little time he had left at home together.

  Daniel tapped me on the shoulder bringing me back to reality. "Hey, I almost forgot. I thought we would have to do this on the flight into Sydney but we’ve got time now."

  "Time for what?"

  "To introduce you to the Nuclear Biological Chemical suit. NBC suit for short. As the name suggests, it protects against nuclear, biological and chemical threats."

  Daniel moved over to a foot locker. He removed a blackish grey one piece suit. It kind of resembled a full length wet suit with armor plates built into it.

  He held it up. "It’s made from a combination of Kevlar and carbon fiber and some other things that I won’t go into right now."

  "In English please."

  "It’s bulletproof."

  "Gotcha"

  "Basically, it’s extremely strong, light as a feather and most importantly, it’s comfortable. But when it’s powered up, that’s when it gets interesting," he said with an excited smile on his face.

  Boys and their toys, I thought.

  He handed the suit to me. "Here, try it on."

  "Um, do I need to strip down?"

  "Nope, just put it on over your clothes."

  I slid the suit on but it felt like it was maybe five sizes too big. I looked like the Michelin man. "Do you have a smaller size?"

  "Press the button on the inside of the left wrist."

  I pressed the button and the suit instantly shrunk and contoured to my body. It did wonders for my butt.

  "It’s infused with a type of nano-technology which gives the wearer of the suit increased strength and power," Daniel said. "It’s got a battery life of about a week. Depending on what functions you use and how often you use them."

  "So what functions does it have? What can it do?"

  "Its weather proof, fire proof, blast proof. It’s got an inbuilt defibrillator so this baby can restart your heart if needed. It can even convert urine into water."

  "Now that is just gross."

  "Trust me, when you’re days away from water and you have a choice between drinking your own urine and dying, urine starts to taste pretty good."

  "Does it?"

  "No, it still tastes disgusting. But if you have a choice between dying, drinking urine, or drinking urine that has been converted into recycled and purified water, the recycled water is the just greatest thing in the world."

  I could see his point.

  "The suit also comes with a detachable smart helmet," he continued. "With built in comms and video. The helmet has a retractable face mask and breathing apparatus. We know the Oz virus is transmitted through blood and saliva but these will come in handy if the dust storm intensifies. Or if the weather patterns change and we need to protect ourselves against nuclear fallout."

  "So there’s no fallout in Sydney at the moment?"

  "Not according to our intelligence."

  "And how do we know that’s accurate."

  "Well, the truth is we don’t. So that’s why we’ve got the NBC suits."

  I guess it was better to be prepared for the worst.

  "So, what are the other features?" I asked.

  "The coolest feature is the cloaking device."

  "Cloaking device? You mean like, it can turn invisible?"

  "Yeah. It’s the perfect camouflage. It has tiny, microscopic cameras built into the fabric of the suit. They take images of the surrounding area and display those images on even tinier screens that are also built into the suit. So it gives the overall impression of its surroundings. It gives the illusion of invisibility. The only down side is that it chews through the battery. So use it sparingly."

  "Can we try it out now?"

  "No. You need to save the battery. It’s almost go time."

  "How do I know when it’s powered up?" I asked.

  "It’s got a battery life reading there on your left wrist. That display panel is the main control center for the whole suit."

  The display was about the size of a smart phone screen. In the top right hand corner was the battery reading. At the moment it said one hundred percent. In the middle of the screen were a number of pictures or symbols. I guess each one activated or controlled a different feature.

  "What happens when the battery dies?" I asked.

  "You lose power. You won't be able to use the cloaking device or the other life support systems."

  "Is it still good to protect against radiation or biological threats?" I asked. "Is it still bullet proof?"

  "Yeah it’s still bullet proof but all the other cool stuff needs power. But as long as there is oxygen reserves you can still use the smart helmet with the breathing apparatus."

  I nodded as I checked myself out. I was starting to like the look and feel of it.

  "One of the other cool functions of the NBC suit is the GPS."

  "What’s that?" I asked as he took my left hand and pointed to the inside of my forearm.

  "This is it here. It’s a Global Positioning System," he explained as he pointed to the display screen and pressed the little symbol that looked like a globe.

  "Just in case something happens or you get lost or run off or whatever. You can find your way. And it’ll tell me where you are and you’ll know where we are at all times. So I’ll be able to keep tabs on you."

  "Thanks," I said because I didn't know what else to say and I could feel myself blush as he touched my hand.

  "Or you can turn it off, you know. If you want some alone time."

  I laughed nervously. "No, that’s really OK. I don’t think I’d ever want to be alone here."

  Daniel was about to say something but just then the laptops beeped and flashed to life.

  Griffin and Smitty who had been keeping watch and walking the perimeter outside rushed back into the tent. "Something’s going on out there, man," Griffin said. "Lot of movement, lot of activity,"

  "We can hear them howling," Smitty added. "Sounds like there’s more than last time."

  Ethan moved over to the table and looked at the laptop monitors.

  "What is it?" Ramirez asked.

  Ethan swore under his breath. "They’re coming."

  Chapter 9

  Machine gun fire erupted outside. I looked around and did a head count. We were all here. Was someone else outside? Was someone shooting at us?

  Ethan typed in a few commands on the small keypad. "Sentinels are running hot. Guns three and four tracking and firing on multiple targets."

  "Jesus. How many are out there?" Griffin asked.

  "Don’t know," Ethan replied

  "Only guns three and four?" Ramirez asked.

  "Yeah. They seem to be concentrating their attack."

  The sentinels were firing on full automatic, unleashing their ammunition at anything and everything that moved. According to the readout on the computer monitors, each sentinel had a capacity of six hundred bullets. The counter display was rapidly approaching zero.

  We were all standing around the laptops, mesmerized by the numbers and the grainy images of the surveillance cameras mounted on the guns.

  It was hard to see anything clearly but every now and then an image of what looked like a large wolf became visible through the dust and smoke as the flash of the gunfire lit up the dark desert night.

  "Targets twenty meters and closing. Guns three and four down fifty percent." Eth
an said.

  "They’re still coming!" Ramirez shouted.

  The ammo counters continued to whirl downwards to zero. The howling of the wild dogs was clearly audible. I didn’t realize it at the time but I’d put my hands over my ears to block out the sound.

  "God, would you listen to that? Griffin said. "How many are there?" he asked again.

  "Too many," Ethan said. "Gun three is dry."

  And according to the counter on the laptop, gun four was down to fifty rounds.

  Thirty rounds.

  Twenty.

  Ten.

  The gun was chewing threw ten rounds a second.

  Griffin and Smitty grabbed their rifles. They were about to head out and provide covering fire. But then the firing from the remaining gun stopped abruptly. The grainy video image was a swirling wall of red dust and gun smoke. There were dark and twisted shapes, bones, and teeth and claws scattered throughout the image. But nothing was moving.

  "Wait," Ramirez said. "They’ve stopped."

  "Yeah, but look," Griffin said as he pointed to the laptop screen. "Gun four is down to ten rounds. Gun three is empty. If they attacked again in this spot, from this direction, they’ll break right through."

  "They won’t attack the same place," Ethan said. "They’re testing the perimeter. They haven’t attacked the same place twice yet."

  "How do you know that?"

  "The last attack came from the south-west. This attack came from the north-west. They’re testing the perimeter. They’re trying to find a way in."

  "They seem to be attacking in waves," Ramirez pointed out.

  "How many do you think there are?" Smitty asked.

  "Yeah this is goddamn ridiculous," Griffin said. "We only got so much ammo."

  "We’ve still got the fence. It’s got plenty of juice running through it."

  "Yeah but what happens when the generator runs out?"

  "We’ll be long gone by then."

  I swallowed hard as I remembered Daniel’s story about the target practice he used to do at the training facility. Shooting kangaroos and wild dogs and wild buffalo and wild boar. There must be millions of them out here. No one would know for sure. I tried to imagine what an infected buffalo would look like and whether or not a machine gun would be able to stop a whole herd if they charged at us. I wondered if the fence would be enough to stop something like that. Sure it was electrified but what if they could jump it? Or charge right through? What if the wild dogs could dig underneath it?