by Mark Lingane
The grenade exploded, and flora and dirt rained down on them.
“Go!” Thomas shouted.
They all leaped up and ran. There was another shot. The Charger next to Will tripped and fell to the ground. Will spun around, slung his arm under the man’s shoulder, and helped him up.
“Get off me,” the Charger shouted.
Tyler took over from Will and the two made off as quickly as the circumstances allowed.
There was another shot. It lodged in a tree next to Will. Bark exploded over him, cutting into his skin.
“Damn him!” Will shouted, ducking behind the tree.
Several large-caliber bullets thumped into the other side of the trunk. Another bullet whistled past his ear, cutting through his pack. Will spun around, calming his breath and scanning the trees. Wait. He focused on his breathing, slowing and regulating it. Wait. Breathe. His eyes darted around, looking for any movement. Breathe.
Track. Breathe. Lock hands together. Breathe.
Time slowed and he caught a glimpse of a leg. Aim. Fire. His bullet pinned the leg and Will saw the target fall. He tracked back and scouted the area. He found plenty of blood on the ground. He smiled. The trail of blood led away in the trees. Dom was retreating.
Will ran back to the rest of the fleeing team. “I got him,” he shouted.
A couple of the men cheered.
“Well done,” Tyler said.
They regrouped and took stock. Several men went back and buried the fallen soldiers. The injured Charger sat down, and Clint tended to the wound.
Tyler took the chance to talk to Will. “Sorry about the attitude,” the Charger tackle said. “Some of the younger guys are going to be a little slow to change.” He held out his hand.
Will ignored it and shrugged indifferently. Obviously a younger guy who was struggling with change, Tyler surmised. He patted Will’s back and left him to his success.
Brad turned to Thomas. “I think we should probably forget the no-weapons rule.”
Thomas smiled. “You want me to organize the men?”
Brad nodded. “The rest of us can bed in, probably safely for the first time in days.” He called to Will. “Will, get one of our men and a couple of Chargers, and track back to get the weapons.”
“All of them? Including all of theirs?” Will indicated the Chargers with a quick glance.
Brad looked over at them, and hesitated. “We have to trust them. Yes, get all the weapons.”
“Yes, sir.” Will saluted, but his thoughts on the idea were apparent. He searched through the Chargers’ ranks for two men he could trust.
That evening, Will returned with his small team, each man overloaded with weaponry.
“You don’t know how good this makes me feel,” he said, as he dumped the weapons on the ground.
The men jumped on them, and a sigh of relief rolled out from the group. Several of the men clutched the rifles to their chests.
“Bet they don’t treat their women like that,” Memphis muttered. She looked at Sebastian, who was lying beside her, staring up at the sky. He had a puzzled expression on his face.
“What’s up?” she said.
“I’ve been trying to figure it out. How did you sneak those explosives out?”
“They didn’t look too closely at the lumps and curves.”
He gave her a puzzled look. She just shook her head and smiled.
Rain rolled in overnight, and a thick mist descended from the mountains. The water glistened as it tumbled down the sides of the small tents.
28
IN THE MORNING, visibility was only a few yards. Eerie sounds echoed out of the forest, and the soldiers kept their weapons close at hand. Silently, they finished their breakfast and made their way out. The cinders spat and sizzled in the cold air, and the camp became a ghost town.
There was a heavy stomping of feet. A huge creature, part bear, part gorilla, and part reptile, but with intelligent eyes, thumped into the abandoned camp. It wore heavy armor that barely covered its bloated body, and was herding two large wolves that snuffled around, digging in the mud.
The creatures sniffed around the spot where Sebastian had slept. They growled and started to dig furiously.
The beast took out a small cloth, green with a white stripe across it, and wiped its brow. It followed the tracks out of camp. It smiled, and its reptilian tongue slid over its lips when it saw them heading off in the direction of the mountain. Like lambs to the slaughter.
The team trekked onwards and upwards, with their emotions in turmoil. The incline increased and the convoy slowed down. Brad continued to improve, but he still needed support. A cold rain fell, cutting through their clothing and turning the mountain approach into a mudslide. Rain combined with mist to conceal jagged tree branches and thorns that grabbed at them as they passed. They scrabbled and fought their way up the mountain with only the occasional pause, when they huddled together against the elements.
Even though Dom, the Charger traitor, was injured and retreating, he was still out there, and no one could see what was around the next tree trunk. And a drugged-up soldier could get some very bad ideas into his head.
Eventually, the ascent eased off to a more manageable climb. The mist began to thin as the day warmed. A distant roaring sound began to get louder. Brad explained it was the dam overflow. The roaring continued to increase in volume as they continued their ascent.
Will, at the head of the team, signaled for them to stop. The land had flattened out and a hundred yards away was the control room, a gloomy concrete building that seemed to twist itself into the mountainside. It looked deserted. Behind it towered the ancient dam, water tumbling down into the rivers below. The spray rained down over them, washing away the mud. They had made it.
A muddy road twisted in from the north, leading to a gate that was partially open. The battered yellow frame had been bent and derailed. The men slowly advanced toward the gate with weapons drawn, on the lookout for any danger, which meant they had to cover every direction.
“There’s no power here at all,” Sebastian said. “It’s totally dead.” The others looked at him. “It’s one of the things I can do. Sense electricity.”
“Are you saying the multiple backups are dead?” Brad said.
“If they’re near here, then yes.”
“The only way that can happen is through sabotage.” Brad looked at Thomas. “Did your Chargers do this?”
Thomas shook his head.
“That wasn’t the answer I was hoping for. Are you aware of any other Charger details sent here to do this?”
“We were told to come and attack the city. We were told the gates would be open by the time we got there.”
Brad looked grim. “That means there are more enemies—sorry, Chargers—running around out there.”
“Wait,” Sebastian said. He looked at Thomas. “Why would they send you and not tell you if another team was going to be here? The other unit would be support if you got into trouble, or you could join forces and be twice as strong.”
The two centers looked at each other.
“Unless the other team weren’t Chargers,” Thomas said.
They all turned slowly and stared at the control building.
“Look sharp, men,” Brad said. Although he was still pale, his command aura was back with a vengeance. “There may be an unknown enemy inside. We’re looking for a clean secure.”
Rain started to fall again, heavily. Brad took out his binoculars and scanned the inner compound.
“Tyler,” he said to the tackle standing next to him, “take a hex formation. You’re the first party. Watch out for your rear.”
The Charger tackle chose his team from both sides. “Hashtax and Jameson will take point. Will, Edward, Trigger, you too. Let’s move.”
Tyler led his team through the pouring rain to the left. Several men from both armies, under Thomas’s orders, took up defensive positions behind stacked barrels. Brad and Thomas remained behind in def
ensive positions, and watched the forward team approach the building.
Jameson and Hashtax ran up to the main door of the control building and aimed their rifles. The doors were sealed tight. Tyler signaled for Memphis to come over. She ran through the rain with her head down.
“Run a bypass, Memphis,” Tyler said. “Or blow it open, if you can.”
She looked at the heavy locks and shook her head. “Bypass is the only way.”
She stepped forward and flipped open the panel. Rain washed the mud from the casing into the circuitry, which was dead. The locks wouldn’t be moving for anyone unless they could source power. She’d need a more old-fashioned solution.
“Hurry, Memphis,” Tyler said, “I’m feeling vulnerable.”
She examined the large bolts holding the doors in place. They were symmetrical. She placed small detonations on each bolt and stepped back. They sizzled, then imploded, knocking the bolts free.
Brad turned to the men. “Flanking formations.”
The men took up defensive positions on either side of the compound, ready to sweep in on command. Their boots slapping in the mud was the only sound in the eerie silence.
Jameson and Hashtax grabbed a door each and wrenched them open. They stood to one side of the open doors, weapons ready, and looked inside.
“What was that?” Hashtax said.
“What?” Jameson said.
“I thought I heard something.”
“Only one way to find out.”
The two men ran into the dark building, their laser sights sweeping over the gloom. Tyler and his three-man team followed. Memphis took her leave and went out into the open air. An anteroom had several shelves on the right wall, but other than that, it was empty. On the shelves was a collection of flashlights. Hashtax lowered his rifle and tried one. It worked, but the beam was weak.
On the left were two sliding doors jammed together. The other men holstered a flashlight each, and pulled the doors apart, grinding metal on metal. The flashlight beams illuminated a corridor that was a scene of devastation. Wiring had been ripped out of the ceiling and was hanging down, along with torn-apart air-conditioning ducts. Water flowed over the floor, pooling to several inches in places. Panels had been wrenched off the walls and hung in pieces.
The six-strong team moved slowly along the corridor. They sidestepped the wreckage and swept their weapons over the area. Tyler indicated something to the right. Jameson swung his flashlight around and the beam showed a deep gouge in a metal panel: five claw marks and a lot of blood. The light followed the trail of blood down the panel and onto the floor, and then along the corridor ahead of them into the darkness.
The flashlight lit up an exit on the right. Tyler stepped through a doorway into a small room. Papers were scattered over the floor. A half-eaten sandwich lay on a small table in one corner. He picked it up. It was stale.
He heard a scraping sound in the corridor, which snapped his attention back to the team. He stepped out of the room and saw they had hit a dead end. There were double doors, similar to the ones at the other end of the corridor, but they were closed.
“Explain,” Tyler said to Jameson.
“These doors are solid,” Jameson explained, “and they’ve been sealed. From the other side.”
“That raises a lot of questions.”
“How much do we want to open them?”
“Get Memphis here to blast them open.”
Jameson followed his flashlight beam back through the darkness toward the entrance, and moments later returned with a worried Memphis in his grip, followed by an equally concerned Sebastian.
She shook him off. “I’m not a soldier.”
“That’s why I had to drag you here,” Jameson said. “You want to help, you have to learn to obey orders.”
She stared at the doors. There were no handles; it was obvious from the metal splinters that they had been sheared off. She looked around. There were no overrides. She exhaled. Her eyes roamed over the doors and their surrounds.
Tyler opened his mouth to speak, but she raised her hand. She stepped up to the doors and examined the floor directly in front of them. The doors had been jammed together, and had come off their rails. She crouched down to see if there was a gap underneath them. There wasn’t much, but there was enough space for her to squeeze her thin fingers under.
“Did you try to open these?” she asked Jameson.
“Yeah, we tried to slide them,” he said.
“You didn’t try to pull them?”
“Holding onto what exactly?”
She looked around. “Who’s carrying the heaviest firepower here?”
“Me,” Jameson said. “Thirty millimeter.”
“Okay, I’ve got an idea,” Memphis said, pointing down the corridor. “That sheet metal that’s hanging off the wall, bring it here.”
“Changed your mind about orders now?” Jameson said.
“Only when I’m giving them.”
Jameson returned quickly with a small sheet of metal two feet square. She slid the metal through the tiny gap under one of the doors. A few of the men levered the bottom edge of the door upward, opening up enough space for Memphis to pin several explosives under the sheet metal.
They all hustled into the small room. Jameson leaned around the doorway and set his rifle sight on the explosives. Memphis stuck her fingers in her ears and closed her eyes. He pulled the trigger and the explosives erupted, sending a cloud of debris and soot back down the corridor.
Once the smoke had cleared, they cautiously made their way back to examine either success or failure. The base of the left-hand door was buckled and the door was twisted.
“Now we have something to grab hold of,” Jameson said.
The men heaved, and eventually they were able to unhook the door and twist it sideways, making a narrow gap big enough for one man at a time. Tyler slowly made his way through. One by one, the rest of the team followed. Sebastian followed closely behind Will and Edward, a very reluctant last man.
Inside the doors was a dark open chamber. Immediately to their right was a wall of cupboards and metal shelving. Water could be heard running below. In front, Tyler crept forward. His flashlight beam illuminated a large multistory room that went down rather than up, and dropped away into the darkness below. The flashlight beam couldn’t reach the lowest floor. A metal walkway extended out over the open space. Apart from the running water, there was no sound or movement.
They searched through the cupboards. The exploration revealed several large lanterns, some knives, radio packs, and basic tools. The lanterns were fully charged and shed a soft glow, but did little to illuminate more than a few feet.
“It’s so dark in here,” Edward said.
Tyler checked his weapon. It was already in the red. There might be enough power if he kept it on basic features, but that meant he had to rely on pure skill rather than technical assistance. “All you men check to make sure you’ve got enough power in your weapons,” he called out.
Everyone checked their levels.
“Your center not joining us?” Jameson said to Will.
“Our injured leader’s securing the external perimeter,” Will replied.
Edward snickered at the overblown, yet not totally inaccurate, description.
“Anyone else smell burning?” Jameson asked.
Memphis looked at the locks on the inside of the doors. They had been burned out. Whoever did it had made sure they were permanently secured. Nothing short of a small task force and some well-placed explosives would break those locks.
“If the doors were secured from the inside,” she said, “where is everyone?”
“Don’t say stuff like that,” one soldier said.
She chuckled. “Here’s another one for you. There was no sign of anyone or anything outside. So why would you lock yourself inside with something scary?”
The soldiers shuffled uneasily.
“Shut up, soldier,” someone said.
“
Just saying. Also, I’m not a soldier.”
Will divided the team into pairs and they spread out through the chamber, searching down the corridors for whatever they could find.
Tyler stepped out onto the metal walkway. After a dozen yards, it led to a wide, solid landing that extended over the precipitous drop. He let out a sigh of relief when he got off the walkway. Dials covered the far wall of the landing. In the center was a large switch. A large sign reading LAFAYETTE HYDRO CONTROL hung above the instrumentation.
He swept the beam over the small area and caught the outline of an arm lying on the landing. It hadn’t taken him long to find the first person. The victim had taken a shot to the head, self-administered. The biggest surprise was the uniform.
29
WILL MADE HIS way down the dark corridor. It narrowed into a small passage before broadening out into a landing that stretched across the empty space below. He felt his boot sticking to the metal flooring. He shone the flashlight down. The light reflected off sticky tendrils that sprouted out of a mixture of green and red goo that covered the metal.
He followed the trail of goo, which was leaking from an obviously dead body. A rank smell coiled upward, making him pull back in disgust.
“Hey, Sebastian, get up here.” He tried to keep his voice steady, but his nerves kept it oscillating.
Sebastian appeared on the landing, carrying one of the lanterns. “What?” he whispered as he came up next to Will. The glow from the lantern radiated upward, throwing ominous shadows over their faces.
“Those infected you talk about,” Will said, “do they look like this?” He shone the flashlight onto the metal. “Where’s it gone?” There was nothing but a pool of red and green sludge.
“Where’s what gone?”
“There was a body, definitely dead, just lying here. Had a big hole in its chest. It was like a really thin body. Greenish skin. Smelled pretty bad. Could it have been one of those infected?”
“Yes. The big giveaway is you thought it was dead, but it wasn’t.”
