The crew member wore a pained expression. "We'll get her down, but she can’t shoot into them tunnels."
Magnus' eyes flashed with anger. "I know what it can and can't do, asshole. Get it down."
"Besides, we ain’t got but eleven shells left. You can tear hell out of the landscape and scare the shit out of people, but you need a lot more shells than that if you want-."
Magnus pulled his handgun, a Glock nine millimeter, and shot the kid in the face.
The reaction to the single round of gunfire varied. Soldiers threw themselves to the ground and scurried behind rocks, vehicles, and whatever else they could find. Others with better training pointed their weapons in every direction as they searched for the shooter.
Magnus reholstered his handgun as the last of the marchers reached the quarry floor. "Listen up," he roared. "Captains, get control of your crews. If you're not with your captain, then for God's sake move your ass. Get ready for your assignments." He shook his head in exasperation and pointed at the mortar. "If that sonofabitch isn't off its trailer in the next five minutes I'm gonna murder the entire mortar crew. Jesus Christ!"
His commands kicked off a flurry of activity. He watched for a few moments; mollified, he strode back to the Jeep.
Kayla's blue eyes twinkled and she gazed at him with an expectant air. "Did you shoot one of my followers?"
"Just one so far. I would surprise me if that number doesn’t get bigger. Everybody is standing around with their head up their ass, intent on turning this into a clusterfuck."
A volley of shots rang out, throwing the soldiers into a tizzy and causing Kayla to flinch.
Magnus rested a reassuring hand on her forearm. "Don't worry, ma'am; that's just our guys putting down the biters up the road."
She flushed and gave him a hesitant grin. "I must learn to handle that sound better. Can't show any weakness in front of the troops."
"I wouldn't worry about it, ma'am." He cocked his head, gesturing at the soldiers picking themselves up off the ground or coming out from behind rocks with sheepish expressions. “At least you didn’t dive under a truck.â€
Kayla stood, rested her forearms on the windshield frame, and took in the quarry floor. The twinkle returned in her eyes as she pointed out different things. "Look at all the toys they left for us," she said in a delighted voice. "All these trucks and some cars, the trailers over there. And look, down near the other end- a row of bulldozers. They left horses and all those tractors. My goodness, Magnus; it's like Christmas morning."
She chewed on the corner of her lip and peered at him with a pensive expression. It was one of the few times she had ever allowed herself to show vulnerability in his presence. "It makes me wonder, though- if their trucks are still here and their horses are still here, how did they leave?"
"We're not sure they did, ma'am. Nobody's shooting at us and it seems deserted but we will send teams into the tunnels to be sure. As far as how they got out of here? That I can't answer. They might've walked out on foot, or maybe they had a whole fleet of trucks and those are the leftovers."
Her blonde hair bounced as she bobbed her head in agreement. "That makes sense, about the trucks. Although you have to wonder where they found the fuel to operate that many vehicles."
Magnus grew impatient with the conversation, though he was careful not to show it. All the conjecture, the ‘how did they do this’ and ‘how did they do that’ was a waste of time. All that mattered was the here and now and the problem in front of him. "I will see what I can find out for you, ma'am. Right now though, I need to get these guys moving."
She dismissed him with an imperious wave of her hand. "Do your duty. Be sure to tell me when it's safe to investigate the tunnels."
"Will do, ma'am."
"Oh, and Magnus?"
"Ma'am?"
"Be sure they don't shoot that dear boy. I would hate to hold you responsible for his death.â€
42
* * *
Terrence laid flat on his stomach near the edge of the bluff a hundred feet above the quarry road. They had placed two big boulders in a way that looked natural but allowed him to have a good view of the bottom and remain unseen. A transmitter sat on the ground next to him and he watched the activity below through a pair of binoculars.
Or inactivity. He didn’t understand the lack of movement by the enemy troops. It had been fifteen minutes since the last of the column reached the bottom of the hill. They had assembled in groups of fifteen to twenty men and arranged the groups in formation across the middle of the quarry. Each group had a leader to harangue them and strut around. The line formed behind the big shots- their leader, the blonde, sat in a Jeep and six other cars and trucks sat with their engines running in a row behind her.
His forehead wrinkled in confusion when the truck pulling the mortar rolled by. It was an odd weapon to bring to a close-contact fight (that size mortar was best used for flinging shells with pinpoint accuracy on an enemy miles away) and it was useless for tunnel warfare. But it could throw a serious kink in their battle plan and would have to be one of the first things he took out.
He recoiled when they guy who appeared to be in charge shot one of his own men at point-blank range. From Terrence's vantage point, he hadn't warned the man; one second he explained something about the mortar to the soldier and the next second the yuong man was on the ground with his face blown off.
Terrence turned and inspected the soldiers who hadn’t made it to the bottom yet. There were seventy-five or so of them still on the road, fighting a herd of creepers. These fools were gonna mess up his whole day.
He had a narrow window to pull off part one of the counterattack- after all the marchers were on the quarry floor, but before they entered the tunnels. Seventy-five enemy fighters away from the main body was too many- the plan called for the defense to begin when they were together in one place. He had half a mind to take out the dead himself so the troops left to battle them would hurry and join their brethren below. But that might ruin the surprise these assholes have coming, he thought with a grin.
He watched back and forth, tracking the progress of the battle and checking if the main army was moving for the tunnels. The fighters finally gained the advantage and put down the remaining creepers. They joined in pairs and groups, congratulated one another, and laughed and reenacted their favorite kills.
Terrence clenched his teeth and growled under his breath. "Hurry up, motherfuckers. Yeah, you put down a handful creepers. Yay! Now pull your heads out of your asses and get down there with the rest your people."
Almost as if they had heard him the huddles broke up and the fighters continued down the road. They were in no hurry though, moving at a languid pace and chatting and joking as they walked.
Terrence’s emotional state careened back and forth between worried and irritated. "Let’s go, you assholes. Come on come on come on! You fuckers are supposed to be soldiers- now double time your asses back to your unit." He kept one eye on the mass of people still lined on the quarry floor, convinced they would break for the tunnels at any moment.
A light bulb went off over his head and he forgot about the army already on the bottom. He trained his binoculars on the attackers walking down the hill. The ones in front were about to reach a point where a practiced eye might notice the enormous limestone blocks on the side of the road had an unnatural look, like someone had arranged them.
He grinned and picked up the transmitter. He held the binoculars with one hand; in the other, his thumb hovered over a button on the device. "Keep walking assholes, keep walking. We're getting close now. Just a few more of you; come on, just a few more."
The vanguard reached the spot he was waiting for them to get to. He hung the binoculars around his neck, squeezed his body as hard as he could against the limestone, mashed himself against the ground, and covered his head with one hand. He pressed the button on the transmitter with the other.
> 43
* * *
Magnus didn't have a number two man. Didn't have one, didn't want one. He worked best alone or as the leader of a small group. That worked out great when he was murdering some guy on Kayla's bequest or setting up a good extortion. But he was fast learning not having men to delegate to was a detriment when it came to dealing with hundreds of people.
That's how he found himself trying to do a dozen different jobs in a dozen different places and falling behind fast. If Coy and his dad fired BB guns out of the tunnels at that moment Magnus wasn't sure he could mount an effective counterattack.
The gunfire up the hill ended several minutes ago, meaning his men should be rushing down it to join them. But each time he looked at the road it was empty.
Cursing under his breath, he grabbed a no-name out of a unit. He put both his forearms on the no-name's shoulders and leaned in until they were nose-to-nose. "Do you see that hill to your right?" he barked.
The no-name looked to the left.
“Wrong right, asshole!†he palmed the back of the no-name's head and pulled the no-name’s face into his chest. He bent down until his lips almost touched the man’s ear. "Your right! Your right! Your right!"
He released no-name’s head but clasped his hands behind the man's back so he couldn't pull away. His face flushed with anger and embarrassment, the no-name looked in the correct direction.
"I want you to hustle up that hill, find whatever assholes that are still alive, and tell them to tippy-toe on down and join us. Because I'm about to order a mortar dropped on their asses."
The no-name spoke through gritted teeth. "They are coming now."
Magnus turned his head and sure enough, a cluster of men wearing the stupid all-black uniforms Kayla had picked out walked down the hill in dribs and drabs. Magnus gave the no-name his most benevolent smile and adjusted his arms until he had the man's neck in the crook of his elbow. "Well, look at that! I ask you to go find them and there they are they are! You must be a good luck charm. Have you ever been anybody's mascot? Would you like to be mine?"
The no-name swallowed hard and scratched his cheek. He stuttered and stammered, searching for the right answer.
Magnus ruffled the no-name’s hair with his free hand. "That's okay. You don't have to answer. In fact, it would probably be better if you didn't speak at all. Just follow me around and spray me with your good luck rays."
They stood in silence for several moments, watching the soldiers make slow progress. Magnus frowned. "The fuckers sure don't seem to be in a hurry, do they? Hey Mister Good Luck Charm- what say you run over and ask if they would like to pick it up and join our invasion?"
The no-name took off in a full sprint, dodging rocks and weaving around soldiers like a halfback in the final minutes of the big game. Magnus watched him run, so he got a perfect view of the explosion.
He heard a flat, undramatic whump, and the last twenty-five yards of the road first rippled, then erupted into flying chunks of concrete, stone and glistening body parts. The shock wave pelted Magnus and the surrounding soldiers with limestone dust; gritty fragments peppered his exposed skin and made his eyes burn.
Mangled bodies lay bent and broken around the debris pile, their cries and moans filling the air. Magnus felt dull-witted and unaware, not sure what happened. Around him soldiers cursed and yelled as they moved en masse, running to the aid of their downed brethren. Magnus spun around in a slow circle, trying to portend the source of the explosion and what it meant. Kayla shouted for him but her voice sounded faint and unimportant even though her Jeep was close by.
Someone pulled insistently on his arm and repeated his name. He turned and saw Dirty Pete, his face black with anger.
"You said they don't have any weapons!" Pete spat, his tone filled with fury.
Magnus shrugged. He felt like a thick cotton curtain enveloped him. "They don't." Pete's accusation sunk in; Magnus tilted his head and drew his eyebrows together. "You think they did that? They're not even here."
"They may not be here, but brother, I did five two hours in Iraq. I spent six months in Fallujah. That was an IED, man. They set it on purpose. Look! Look what they did." He pointed at the rubble. It filled the gap between the bluff and the retaining wall with a mountain of rock and concrete. "They blocked the road out, Magnus. We're trapped in here."
44
* * *
Danny inspected at the stopwatch in his right hand. Seven minutes. His job began exactly ten minutes to the second after the explosion.
He hid with his team of fifty men and women amid the pine trees on top of the western bluff. Armed with M4s and plenty of magazines, they hunkered down in their hiding spots and waited for Danny to give the order to go.
Like the carefully placed limestone blocks that did so much damage when Terrence detonated the bomb by the road, the rows of pines above the quarry looked odd to anyone who saw them on a regular basis. Before the outbreak, the trees acted as a guardrail for traffic on the nearby road.
The quarry’s limestone blocks lined the rim of the bluff. They were four feet long and three feet high and placed end-to-end from one side of the mine to the other. At some point, as trucks grew larger and cars moved faster, the powers that be decided the blocks alone weren't sufficient to prevent an out-of-control driver from going over the edge and landing with a fiery crash on the mine floor 300 feet below. Their answer was to plant a forest of pines between the road and the blocks. The trees were planted close together with only a few feet separating one trunk from the next.
Now, though, from a distance they resembled an ear of corn with kernels missing. A crew worked hard among the pines for seven days, cutting down particular trees completely and leaving others at various heights. When they finished, the copse remained dense enough to hide people, and they’d cut dozens of sight lines so a shooter could hide behind a tree and still have firing lanes to the quarry floor below.
Danny checked the stopwatch for the hundredth time. His four best men hid nearby and kept a close eye on him. He made sure he had their attention, then held up two fingers on his left hand. "Two minutes, gents. Spread the word."
The message was passed up and down the top of the bluff and the shooters stepped out of the shadows and gathered in a loose half-circle. Some checked their magazines again, others bounced up and down anxiously, and still others just stood and waited.
Danny watched the seconds sweep around the stopwatch for the last time. When it hit zero, he stood. The men huddled nearby, keeping far enough back the enemy couldn't see them. All eyes were on Danny.
"Let me go over it one more time. There's no fire command. After I take the first shot you are free to fire at will. Get off as many shots as you can from the rim, but don't take any chances. We will be hard to hit up here, but I still don't want you out there when they return fire. As soon they shoot back, retreat, find a lane, and pour it on them. Good luck, ladies and gentlemen."
45
* * *
Kayla's tone was shrill. "Magnus, can you explain why half of my army is over there, milling about the rubble?"
His early warning system had redlined and he didn't understand the events happing around him. The last thing he needed right now was a cross-examination from the Queen. He strained to keep his voice civil. "We lost about twenty-five guys in that blast, with another fifteen or so injured, ma'am. The soldiers who weren’t in the blast are trying to help the wounded."
"Whatever for?"
He recoiled and his jaw worked without finding any words for a moment. "I don't understand your question, ma'am."
She crossed her arms over her chest and gave him a scornful look. “Why are my men wasting time on the injured? We don't have a treatment facility to take them to. We don't have the equipment or anyone with the know-how to treat them here. Nothing can be done for them, save to hold their hands and whisper sweet nothings in their ears. The wounded will have to live or die on their own.
Call the men back."
He opened and closed his fist a few times while she spoke, then turned away. He grabbed the four men closest to him. "Go clear those soldiers out and get them back in their units. In two minutes, I’ll have any uninjured men on that rubble pile shot. Tell them that's my order and to hustle back."
Kayla gave him a sarcastic little hand clap. "That's the way to lead, my dear. Now, tell me this- why is the whole army standing in the middle of this godforsaken pit? Why haven't we entered the tunnels? Why haven’t we taken ground? Where my prisoners?"
He rubbed his forehead, a smile that felt like a rictus frozen in place. "I was about to order searchers into the tunnels when the explosion occurred, ma'am. That unexpected event threw us off our game."
"Perhaps I need a general that won’t get thrown off his game by the first unexpected event. Maybe Carl should take over?"
Carl Tetracelli was the captain of the Queen's guard. He was despised as a suck up and a sissy who couldn't lead a goat to cabbage. "Carl's place is guarding you, ma'am. I apologize for the problems we’re having. I promise I'll get things back on track."
A smattering of shouts, warnings, and curses interrupted their conversation. What began as a few voices quickly turned into a cacophony. Many of the fighters shouldered their weapons, pointing them not at the tunnels but high up in the air. They looked like 1200 duck hunters all targeting the same flock.
"Belay your weapons!" He roared, concerned some damn fool would shoot before he had a handle on the situation. His order rippled through the ranks as crew leaders warned their teams not to fire. "Christ's nutsack, what now?" He grumbled, looking to where his army had their weapons trained.
Threat Ascendant Page 13
