by J. A. Scorch
Another minute buzzed by without a word. Before Porter could request another update, the hanger bay doors began to open again. Tritons dropped from their claws and headed for the exit, keen to fight their human counterparts.
"Shit. Doors are opening again. We're behind schedule," Briggs said.
Porter's eyes snapped from his view of the Tritons to the little information he had on Murphy's team. He tried to contact the Marines again and got a response through a messy signal.
"Sosa. This is Murphy. We've got a problem."
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Staring out at the six hybrids as they ransacked the mid-section of the Pendle facility, Teve had no idea how he was going to get his team to the armory in one piece. After a few seconds of thought, he no longer believed in the plan, realizing it was beyond suicidal to attack the Zeal hybrids in the first place.
"Tower," Red said, nudging his bicep. "What should we do. Do we engage?"
"Negative," he said addressing Red and anyone else listening to his authority. "If we hit them now, we're dead. Simple as that."
"Then what's the plan?" Romeo asked.
"We should escape," Bean said.
Teve glanced from one face to another. Without Prescott present to stop them from leaving Pendle, they were free to escape the facility provided there was still a safe exit.
"Okay. That's a good idea. Romeo: how do we get out of here?"
Moving up to the front of the group, a smile covered Romeo's face. She seemed to have a photographic memory of Pendle and knew every way in or out of the building.
"There's the main gate, but I'm guessing that's how the hybrid things got in here."
Teve nodded. "So what other options do you know of?"
She glanced left and right and spoke in a lowered voice. "Pendle is underground. What do all underground buildings need more than anything else for their occupants to survive?"
Teve thought about it for a moment. The answer hit him. "Fresh air."
"Exactly. We should trace one of the supply vents to the surface and travel up one to reach the top. That way, we won't come out at the front of the base and come face to face with a bunch more of these things."
Teve nodded his head faster and faster. "I like it. We just need to find one of these vents."
"Leave that to me," she said.
Teve and the rest of the shrinking group all followed Romeo as she traced a nearby supply duct along a corridor.
"How do you know so much about this place?" Teve asked.
Not taking her eyes off the task, Romeo answered him. "I've been here for two months. I studied most of its layout, but there are large sections on one of the wings I have never been able to see. But everywhere else I remember like the back of my hand." She led the group along to a utility area with a locked door.
"This is it," she said, coming to a stop. "I pictured myself going through this door to freedom about a hundred times."
Teve pushed through. "Come on. We need to do this before it's too late." He tried the handle. Locked. "Of course."
Red stepped over with the butt of his rifle raised. Teve stopped him.
"Hold up a second. We need to be as quiet as possible. If we alert any of the hybrids, they'll come running and kill us all as we try and squeeze our way up to the top."
"What do you suggest we do instead?" Pocket asked.
Teve let out a breath as he shook his head. "I can pick locks. Give me a bit of time, and I will open this door. I already have the tools. Prescott dropped this before when he left."
"What is it?"
"A medkit. Luckily, there are a few pairs of surgical scissors inside. I should be able to jimmy this thing open with them."
No one said a thing as Teve got to work. He swung around for a moment and ordered Red to guard one direction and Romeo to guard the other. He thought about the usual way he would open a bolted door in the field by shooting the lock. As he jiggled about trying to find the tumblers, Pocket asked the question every private was probably thinking.
"How do you know how to do that?"
He shook his head as he looked away from the lock for a moment. "Old skill I picked up before I joined the army."
"Old skill, huh?"
"Yeah, you could say it was from a different time when I was young and stupid and leave it at that."
Pocket raised her hands in defense. "Fair enough. I don't need to know anything else. Just get the door open."
After ten minutes of back and forth with the lock, Teve finally got it open. He let a smile rip across his lips as a sense of achievement washed over him. "Got it. Romeo, after you." He pushed the door ajar and stepped back.
Romeo walked inside and switched on the light. Overhead, the rigid ducting ran to the back of the room and went straight up. A small grate could be seen along the belly of the channel. "Right there," she said. "That's our way out."
A distant growl echoed down the corridor. The hybrids were on the move again, looking for more victims. "Time to go," Teve said. "Everyone inside. I'm shutting the door." He gently closed the door once the last person squeezed in. He stared up at the grille as Romeo jumped up to cling to the structure. She made a bit of noise when her hands connected with the flexible metal. She popped open the grate with one hand, breaking it off its hinge before passing it down to Red.
"Everyone jump up and follow me." Romeo lifted her body up and through the gap and began to crawl to the vertical section of the ducting. Her rifle clanged along as her legs made the structure bob up and down. "I can see daylight up above."
"Make it quick, guys," Teve said. "Who knows how much weight this thing can handle."
Teve ushered the group forward one at a time, leaving him and Bean last to go. Bean offered for Teve to go first, apparently not wanting to jump up into the small, cramped duct.
"Bean," Teve said. "Just focus on escaping and imagine you're in a wide-open field."
The young man closed his eyes for a single breath. "Okay. Wait. How did you know that I'm claustrophobic?"
"Pretty damn obvious," Teve said as he climbed into the duct. "You're sweating like crazy, and your face is as pale as a ghost."
"Dammit. I didn't think it was that noticeable."
Teve poked his head out while the rest of the group climbed ahead. "Come on, Bean. We need to go."
Bean frowned up as he approached the opening. The growling in the distance intensified as it came closer to their location.
"Let's go," Teve said as he lowered his arm and gripped the private's hand. He pulled Bean up into the vent and shuffled around in the tight space to face the right direction. Once he got to the end of the ducting and looked up, all he could see was Pocket's legs as she shimmied her way up.
The entire vertical structure wobbled and cluttered as the group of five slowly made their way up to the surface. They passed by several horizontal sections where the supply gave fresh air to other levels of the facility. Teve was tempted to take a detour when the growling boomed up from below.
"Oh shit," Bean said. "They're in the room."
Teve shot a look up to Romeo and shouted for her and the rest to hurry. He glanced back down and stared into Bean's eyes. "Keep going. We're going to be fine. They shouldn't fit inside these vents, anyway."
"Okay."
After a few moments of slow climbing, Teve glimpsed back down to find Bean in the same position. He was frozen solid. "Bean. Come on. We need to go. You have to climb."
"I can't. I ... I can't."
"Shit," Teve muttered. He tried to think of ways to get him moving. Short of slapping him across the face, there was little to motivate someone up a vent than knowing that death was waiting for them below. All he had was his words.
"Bean. You have to start climbing. Those things might run up here and rip you to pieces. You don't want that. You don't want to end up like Ward, do you?"
"No, I don't. But, I ... "
"You can do this. One foot after the other, Private. Don't make me com
e down there."
For whatever reason, Teve's poor imitation of a pissed off CO did the trick. Bean started to climb. He was at least thirty feet below Teve, while Pocket and the rest were twice as far up.
The growling increased in volume and transformed into a sound no one wanted to hear. The ducting began to wobble beneath them as the hybrids worked out what was going on.
"Keep going, Bean. Ignore them. You can't stop."
With almost no light in the ducting except for the faint glow of the morning sun above, Teve could hardly make out Bean. He didn't need to see his face to understand it would be full of twisted lines and wide eyes.
With no other way to contribute, Teve sped up his climb and continued to encourage Bean to keep rising. He knew his words were giving the hybrids a reason to continue their pursuit, but he figured the noise from the metal ducting had already given away their position.
"We're almost there. Keep moving."
"Okay. I'm starting to get the hang of this."
The bouncing below spiked out of control as one of the hybrids began to climb the shaft rapidly. Teve could feel the sound of its bladed armor scraping cuts into the metal surface of the ducting. The grinding traveled up the shaft and escaped the facility.
Not stopping to look down, Teve saw the others reach the top as Pocket crawled up and out of the vent above. "Keep going, Bean. Don't stop."
"I'm not going to make it. I'm not going to—"
The hybrid shrieked at Bean as it attacked. All Teve could hear was the sound of yelling and blood splattering all over the ducting. "Goddamn it," he whispered as he hurried up. The hybrid pulled Bean's body down to the depths and continued to maul him. Teve didn't stop, forcing the imagery out of his mind.
"Come on, Tower," Pocket yelled as Teve reached the top. She helped pull him through as he fell out of the vent and landed in the dirt. He jumped up to his feet and retrieved his rifle to aim it at the open hole.
"What are you doing? Where's Bean?" Pocket asked.
"He's dead. The bastards got him. They are ripping him apart as we speak."
Small sounds escaped Pocket's lips as she dropped down to the ground. Teve glanced at her with furrowed brows.
"On your feet, soldier. We're not about to give up now. Lift up your weapons, all of you." He shouted at the group some more until they all had their rifles trained on the vent.
"When one of those things climbs through the gap, we shoot them back down. Got it?"
"Yes, sir," they all said without thinking. A growl boomed up and out of the hole as a hybrid came charging up the ducting.
"Get ready."
The hybrid reached the top and stuck its blood covered face up and out of the vent. Teve fired a long burst into its skull. The creature's armor reacted, shifting blades to the point of the gunfire to help deflect the bullets. The rest of the team joined in and blasted the thing back down.
"Don't stop," Teve roared as he reloaded.
The group fired hundreds of rounds into the hybrid and vent until it fell down the gap.
Romeo tugged on his arm. "Come on, Tower. It's time to go before another one comes up."
"No," he shouted. "We need to stay and kill every last one of them."
She stared into his eyes as her brow tightened. "You've lost your mind. We don't have the weapons or ammunition to fight them; you said so yourself. Now let's go." She pulled on his arm.
Teve shrugged her off. "You assholes can leave. I'm not going anywhere." He moved up to the smoldering exhaust with his rifle raised.
"Come on, we go now," Red said as he walked away. Romeo followed with a huff and left Teve and Pocket behind.
Pocket stepped up to Teve. "Tower. What are you doing?"
Trying to ignore his fleeing team, Teve didn't answer her for a few seconds. "What does it look like? I'm getting justice for Bean. It's what he would have wanted."
"No, it's not. He would have wanted us to escape. You are going to die fighting these things. What's the point?"
A growl came from below. The next hybrid had arrived and found the mess of its fallen comrade. It was only a matter of time before it came charging up the ducting.
"The point is we kill these things before they kill anyone else."
"I'm not against killing them, but we have to survive to fight another day."
Teve squeezed his eyes shut trying to force her out of his head. "Just go. I don't need you to stay and watch me die."
"I'm not going anywhere. If you die, so do I." She lowered her rifle as the vent began to shake.
"Dammit, Mish. Just leave me—"
"Mish?" Pocket asked. "That's not my name."
"No, I'm sorry. I got confused." As her words started to sink into his mind, he realized she had won the argument in one way or another. He lowered his rifle.
"Okay. Let's get out of here." He grabbed her by the arm and dragged her away from the vent. The two spun around and moved into a slow jog as they ran away from the base and caught up with Red and Romeo.
"Glad to see you came to your senses, Tower," Romeo said.
"Just shut up and keep running. They still might be after us."
The four continued to run down through what appeared to be the edge of the base. They left Pendle behind not knowing if there were other soldiers like them still inside or not.
After ten minutes of jogging, Red spoke first. "Where should we go?"
They all came to a stop and hid behind a few trees.
"No idea," Romeo said. "I thought about this for so long. Now I don't know what to do."
Teve thought about it for a moment. Only one place came to mind, blocking out all other thoughts. "I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm going to Black Forest. I'm going to pay a particular doctor a visit."
Chapter Thirty-Nine
"What's the problem, Murphy?" Porter asked. "We are bingo time. The doors are open."
"I can see that," Murphy said over the crackling comm. "Trouble is we haven't been able to set a single charge."
"Say again?"
"You heard me. The explosives won't set. Every time we bring one out of a kit to put into position, something fries the electronics in the unit. We won't be able to detonate the bombs like this."
"Jesus Christ," Briggs said over the comm.
"What are our options, Captain?" Porter asked as he kept one eye on the time.
"There isn't much we can do. Does that ship of yours have any missiles?"
"Negative. The X90S is a weaponless system."
"Copy that."
A moment of silence filled the comm until Porter said the only thing on his mind. "Murphy? Talk to me."
"Sorry, Captain. There is one other thing we could do, but it's risky."
"Out with it."
"We place a few grenades by the explosives and pull the pins. Once we're back on the ship, we can shoot the 'nades with a laser pistol and set off the bombs."
Porter tried to scratch his head, but his spacesuit stopped him from doing so. "Do it. There's no other option. How long do you need?"
"Already set it up. Figured you'd agree."
"Smart thinking, Captain. Now get back to the ship, and I'll give your team the clearance they need."
"Wilco," Murphy said. Thirty seconds later, he gave Porter the all clear.
"All right, Briggs. Things are about to get dicey. As soon as the Marines fire that pistol, the Zeal will be ready to fight. I want you to fly out of here now and radio Garcia. We need the extra time."
"Are you sure?" Briggs asked.
"Don't make me change my mind, dammit. Just get out of here now while you can."
"Okay. I'm going. Good luck."
Porter leaned back as Briggs warmed up the engines a touch before flying away from the center of the Cyclone's lower deck.
"Where is he going?" Murphy asked.
"To save our asses, Captain. Our window of opportunity is closing fast. He’s going to buy us some extra time."
"Understood. We are
in position and ready to fire."
"Okay. How far can I place the ship from the spire before the shot becomes too hard?"
"Take us out another 300 meters. I can make the shot."
"Are you sure? As soon as that weapon fires, the Zeal will figure out we're here. I have no idea what will happen next."
"I can do it," Murphy promised.
"I hope so." Porter shifted the ship a little over 300 meters from the spire. "All yours, Captain."
"Just be ready to fly us out of here, Sosa."
Porter braced himself for the unknown as he stared into the rearview screen he had aimed at the spire. He waited in silence for several seconds as Briggs cleared the hanger bay door on a second display. A few more moments flashed by before an encrypted message came to Porter. It read: Stalkers will continue to harass. See you soon.
Not answering Briggs back, Porter shifted his eyes to the spire as Murphy's shot blasted out and hit a grenade, dead center. The explosion was twice as big as he expected, filling his screen with a white-hot flash that radiated out and overwhelmed the spire. The eruption continued up the tentacle-covered column, belching out balls of energy as each section of the support structure deteriorated. The explosion soon dissipated, leaving behind a crippled spire.
"Go, go, go," Murphy shouted over the comm.
With the throttle all the way forward, Porter engaged his e-burners to force the ship up to full speed, sacrificing a decent chunk of fuel in the process. Every single Triton in the lower deck reacted to the sudden disturbance, swaying left and right as they tried to escape their respective claws and attack the responsible party. None of the ships broke free from their stations.
Up ahead, the hanger bay started to close as if the ship realized the intruders were still inside the Cyclone causing trouble.
"Shit," Porter yelled as the single massive door began to shut at an alarming rate. He pressed the e-burner a second time and thrust the X90S to its limits, overheating the engine in the process. "Come on you bastard."
The once open space was soon becoming a thin mailbox slot as Porter centered his Stalker to match the closing gap. The ship barely made it through, missing the thickness of the missile-proof doors by meters.
