Operation Wild Tarpan
Page 7
For now the Astoria Peninsula was safe, and they had food. Meanwhile, engineers struggled to strip out and replace one of the helicopters’ clogged fuel systems before the mob realized there weren’t any airworthy helicopters left to chase them down.
With the Charismatics out of the way, the Infected were unfocussed, but not completely disorganised. Drone overflights of Manhattan and Brooklyn showed mixed groups of military and civilians foraging for food in the streets, hordes pulling down rhino-sized thug-behemoths with a mixture of brute force and firepower. What food they had was shared equally, fairly. But they weren’t sending patrols along the main roads, the attack teams on the bridges had almost melted away in front of Dagger. The siege broke into dozens of separate groups.
Every so often another Charismatic leader would gather a larger mob, and whenever the next one arrived in the area, Miller was certain Cobalt-2 would be called on. For now, Miller was sharing a meal, in this case a can of creamed wheat, with his team.
The power was out. The generators were under repair after the previous day’s damage, and the only light in the break room came from the alcohol lamp they used to heat their food.
Morland cleared his throat. “I can’t believe we...”
One by one, they all stared at him.
He looked around, blinking, and ducked his head to his meal.
They weren’t talking about it.
Shank were, however. Security team Shank had now formally swallowed what remained of Switchblade, along with a chunk of the Rats and as many uninfected ex-Army members as they could find from the refugee population. Miller had thought he might find some kinship with them, but when he’d visited, they were bragging to one another about how many Infected—bug-brains—they’d killed. Laughing, cheering each other on, like something out of a bad war movie.
They’d be collecting ears, next.
Miller hunched in on himself—slurping his soup—not bothering to look up when Lewis made his way into the break room.
The old man instinctively tried the coffee machine, but, without power, it was useless. Miller shuffled over on the couch to make space, and Lewis sat down, leaning forward to select a can from the random selection surrounding the lamp. He picked out some kind of stew, and Miller loaned him his utility knife—he’d never look at the damn thing as a weapon again.
Against the background noise of puncturing metal, Lewis said, “Hard day’s work.”
None of them answered him.
“I was always told,” Lewis said, carrying on anyway, “that after action, heavy action, the best thing to do was to talk about it. Discuss our feelings.” He snorted dismissively.
One by one, they stared at him.
“Never saw the point in pushing anybody, but if any of you need someone to talk to, I’ve done as bad in my time. Maybe worse, maybe not.” Lewis set the open can over the lamp, and sat quietly, waiting for it to steam.
Still, none of them answered him. Not even Morland.
The can made tiny popping sounds over the flame.
Lewis picked up an old rag, and picked the can up with it. He dipped in a spoon, stirred... tasted. Grunted his approval, and got to his prosthetic feet. “You’ll know when the time’s right to talk about it,” he said. “Or not.” Then he left the room.
Miller stared into the flame. It danced. Alive, but not. The flame was blue, a dead colour, not red or yellow.
“They’re attacking civilians now,” Miller said.
“Hm?” Morland looked up.
“Barrett told me when she debriefed me.” He poked his spoon into the bottom of his can. “Brooklyn, New Jersey. Further out on Long Island. The mobs the siege broke up into, they’re killing uninfected civilians that resist.”
“Resist what?” Hsiung asked sharply.
“Infection.” Miller stared at the gelatinous glop at the bottom of the can. “The Parasite’s in their saliva—they’re biting people, spitting in their mouths.”
No one looked up from the lamp.
“Good god,” Hsiung gasped. “Even after all we did? I mean, we did good. Didn’t we?” Her voice sounded soft all of a sudden. “Those Charismatics had to die. I don’t see any other way we could have gotten to them either. But it’s never ending. There’s always going to be more of them than there are of us.”
Du Trieux grunted her agreement as Miller shot her a look.
Hsiung’s spoon stood poised over her can and her mouth sat in a thin, grim line.
It was true. The siege was over. The compound was safe, temporarily—the talk of trying to evacuate by sea had ended. They’d done all they could do.
But it was far from over.
Across the room, Doyle gave no reply. He chewed on whatever drug impregnated that sheet of paper and glanced at the door Lewis had left the room by.
Miller knew he should say something. He should get up. Talk. Encourage them, or something. Ask for help. Shouldn’t he?
He did.
“Doyle?” Miller held out his hand. “Pass me a strip of that stuff.”
The room remained silent, and for a little while, Miller sank back into peace.
ABOUT THE
AUTHORS
Extinction Biome is the creation of jungle warrior, revolutionary, counter-revolutionary and outdoorsperson Addison Gunn. But who is Addison Gunn? Addison’s too damn busy to answer that. Instead Gunn’s wrangled some of the best new talents in the genre to pen this exciting new series...
Malcolm Cross lives in London and enjoys the personal space and privacy that the city is known for. When not misdirecting tourists to nonexistent landmarks, Malcolm is likely to be writing. A member of the furry fandom, he won the 2012 Ursa Major Award for Best Anthropomorphic Short Fiction.
After writing for children’s television, Anne Tibbets found her way to writing novels by following what she loves: books, strong female characters, twisted family dynamics, magic, sword fights, quick moving plots, and ferocious and cuddly animals. Anne divides her time between writing, her family, and two furry creatures that she secretly believes are plotting her assassination.
With Stockman dead and his forces routed, the Astoria Compound’s greatest threats are diminishing food supplies and fractious refugees. The problems are mounting and there are no easy solutions. Then a bomb attack inside the Compound brings an unwelcome discovery: drug-resistant Infected, infiltrating the refugee camp. Miller and his team are co-opted for OPERATION CASPIAN TIGER, an attempt to root out the infiltrators, but is a more extreme solution needed?
Extinction Biome is a new military-SF series about a world overrun by an ancient ecology, awakened from a millennia-long dormancy to destroy the human race; and about the decisions we must make to try and survive.
www.abaddonbooks.com
While collecting a team of Schaefer-Yeager scientists from Infected territory, Alex discovers the Archaeans, a group of Infected with a degree more control over themselves, falling victim less slowly to the Archaeobiome. He also meets their leader: his ex-girlfriend, Samantha.
On returning to the compound, they learn that the nuclear warhead Harris had sent for had arrived in the East River, but the freighter was damaged, its crew lost or incapacitated. Gray sends Miller on OPERATION SEA MINK, a mission to retrieve the warhead before an increasingly paranoid and ambitious Harris gets to it...
Extinction Biome is a new military-SF series about a world overrun by an ancient ecology, awakened from a millennia-long dormancy to destroy the human race; and about the decisions we must make to try and survive.
www.abaddonbooks.com
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