He started running after it, firing all the while. The maser pistol was getting hot, steam rising from his wet hands. The alien started to pick up speed and he ran faster.
Ahead of him was a building with its roof half collapsed, slanting down toward him. He jumped up on a mound of rubble, ran up it and jumped up then ran up the slanting roof, dodging between metal boxes and vent pipes, screaming and firing all the way.
Then he heard glass break and the world fell out from beneath his feet. He fell into darkness. Some kind of metal crossbeam hit him in the stomach and the wind was knocked out of him. He doubled over, his head slamming down on another beam then blackness closed in as he continued to fall.
---
Bennett, Population 850,300, On Amular’s Equator
As if the enormous swollen moon filling the sky with the black sphere on it wasn’t enough, what came next actually managed to top it. They’d been watching the whitish-yellow arc growing across the sky all afternoon. It had grown and arced until the horrible apparition stretched from horizon to horizon.
Now Bob and Diana saw the glowing green energy beams start to fall from the bottom of the horrible arc.
They had heard that the alien was following the day/night terminus and so knew that when the sun set, the shit would be right on top of them.
Diana turned and looked west—in the distance was the deserted city, the people all in underground shelters or…wherever. Although her view was blocked by the city skyline, she guessed that the sun must be close to the horizon. From what she could see, it might turn out to be an awesome sunset…for someone, but not for her or Bob.
Turning back, she watched in morbid fascination as the glowing green lines fell. They got longer and moved faster as they descended. Then the first of them, now moving so fast they were just a blur, fell behind the distant purple hills.
“How in the hell are we supposed to fight that?” Bob asked.
“We don’t,” Diana said. “We survive that. And put your goddamn helmet on already.”
They were both marines and they were in full battle gear, their 3KL Laser Cannon between them. A hundred yards to either side were other pairs of marines with their cannons.
The sound reached them and moments later, the ground started shaking. The booming and shaking continued, both getting worse by the second.
In the distance, the purple hills exploded and the curtain of green fire and exploding ground raced across the land toward them.
“Time to rock and roll,” Bob said, and they high-fived each other.
Their company was stationed at the edge of a dry riverbed that ran along the outskirts of the city of Bennett. East of the riverbed, between them and the oncoming battle line, was farmland with scattered houses and barns. This allowed them a good view for miles. Behind them was more of the same, gradually becoming more and more populated until the city proper.
Their com buzzed. Diana answered, “Lythe here.”
It was the CO and with a companywide announcement. “Attention all units. All units are to retreat. I repeat, all units retreat, retreat, retreat. The battlefront is moving at a thousand miles per hour at the equator…”
“We’re at the equator,” Diana said, knowing she couldn’t be heard.
“…and we are to get out of its way ASAP.”
Diana rolled her eyes, “I think it’s a little bit late.”
The ground outgrew shaking and progressed upward to jumping and jerking and the rapid booming sounds became deafening. The shockwaves lifted Diana off the ground and the com unit flew from her hand. The maser cannon toppled over then it, as well as Bob and Diana, literally started bouncing across the ground. Bob caught a shaky view of the oncoming battle line as it flew toward them.
He yelled, “Get ready. Here it…”
Brilliant green surrounded them and they were both thrown into the air along with everything else around them.
“…comes!” Bob said, waving his arms.
Diana, rotating head over heels, caught a glimpse of the falling energy beams racing away from them in the distance.
She and Bob along with their 3KL Laser Cannon, rocks, trees and bits of dirt found themselves slowing and then they seemed to pause suspended in midair.
The skyline of Bennett was in ruins and the green wall was now racing up the foothills beyond the city and up toward the mountains.
Something else had caught Bob’s attention—to his left, two soldiers and the long stainless steel tube of their cannon were also being ungracefully thrown into the air—it was the next gun emplacement over from them. As he watched, two strange squares of green energy traveling so fast he could just make them out, struck each marine. They burst into blood, guts and bits of bone that splattered away.
Immediately, something black shot by him. It slammed into the red gore, transforming it into a pink mist. He only got a vague impression of a colossal black object shaped like a staple.
Then they, as well as all the debris surrounding them, started falling back to the ground.
---
General Whitehall stood looking at the oncoming maelstrom. He held his com unit to his ear. On it, his commanding officer, General Bradbury, was saying, “…and you must hold your ground until…”
Whitehall disconnected with his thumb. He looked toward his second in command and said into the dead com unit, “Understood, General. We’re on it.” He then pocketed the com unit, turning it off as he did so.
“What’s up?” asked his second in command.
“We’re to retreat at once. I want everything packed up and ready to go in twenty.”
“Yes, sir.”
They saluted and his number two hurried off to do his bidding.
He looked back at the green curtain of fire that stretched across the sky. Fuck this shit, he thought.
---
“Adamarus, Grace and their daughter…and two of Adamarus’ crew are missing. It’s been eight hours since we’ve talked.” President Wicker said to Leewood. He had already explained how Grace and Isabella had been left behind, how Adamarus had gone to find them and how they’d been caught in the beginnings of the Slayers’ attack.
The two men talked in the president’s personal office set at the rear of the Dark Mountain control center. The president handed the Admiral the satellite image and said, “Patrick, this is twenty minutes old…someone’s still alive out there.”
The photo was a high-resolution infrared enhanced image. It showed indistinct parts of what looked like a roof. Everything was in dark shades of blue except the upper half of a body that was in red. You could see a head and both arms. The lower part of the body was covered by something that blocked the heat signature. The location coordinates were in the lower left.
“This was all that was found?” Leewood asked.
“We had tasked the satellite to block and quarter the whole damn city attempting to help Adamarus find Grace and Isabella. This was all it found. See if you can get whoever it is.”
“I’m on my way.” Leewood, image in hand, turned to go.
Wicker grabbed his arm—Leewood looked back. “Good luck.”
Leewood nodded once, “And…probability fold in my favor,” he said using the Loud equivalent.
“That too and whatever else it takes…to all of us.”
---
High Valley, Population 1.7 million, Northern Continent
The sight of what was approaching made every cell in his body want to run, find a place to hide and curl up in the fetal position with his eyes tightly closed. Nevertheless, perhaps, Oscar thought with a laugh that was a little too hysterical, there might be a good side to the unbelievable monstrosity stretching across the sky.
The foreboding air raid sirens would have been the embodiment of sheer dread and fear as their doomsday sound echoed through the empty streets of what now seemed like a ghost metropolis. The deserted streets alone would have settled into a person’s gut deeply as utter dread and unreality. However, because o
f what now seemed almost directly overhead, no one gave any of this trivia the slightest thought. Truly a matter of perspective, he thought.
From horizon to horizon stretched a searing streak of whitish-yellow light. It was not quite as bright as the sun, but…it was far too huge, too out of place and it was absolutely terrifying. From this massive streak, dark clouds were being generated and flung toward them. Lightning flickered within them and distant thunder could sometimes be heard above all the noise.
Below the clouds and from the underside of the searing whitish-green streak, there rained a solid wall of green fire. It stretched off in both directions for as far as the eye could see. It dissected the sky, cutting off the view like some glittering curtain falling until the terrain hid its point of impact—for now anyway. The battle line was still miles away.
The grossly swollen moon, the alien and the maelstrom that poured from it to generate this unholy sight were now thankfully hidden behind the whitish-yellow arc and the clouds it was generating.
The incredible alien weapon, if something so huge could be called that, was slowly lining up on the city. Oscar knew that, in fact, the green fiery curtain, the battle line, was moving toward them at an incredible 700 miles per hour.
“All citizens must make their way to their designated shelters immediately,” came the repeated warning from loudspeakers scattered across the city. It was loud enough to be heard over the air raid sirens.
Running, Oscar topped a hill, the two crates he carried biting into his shoulders. From this vantage point, he could see that the sun was still above the horizon. He paused to take a breath. Everyone knew when the sun was halfway below Amular’s horizon that the alien battle line would arrive.
He twisted and looked back. Doug was climbing the hill behind him carrying two crates that were identical to his. Behind him was the edge of the park and the street—a dozen or so cars parked down its length. On the other side of the street were assorted restaurants and shops, all of them closed. Unbelievably, a couple, hand in hand, hurried down the sidewalk.
Fools, he thought in disbelief—everyone should have been in the shelters hours ago.
Beyond all this, in the distance, were the skyscrapers of downtown High Valley. Above them, scattered clouds were turning pink against the darkening sky. A wind was starting to blow, cooling the sweat from his forehead.
Doug caught up. “Go, go,” he shouted. Oscar saw fear in his eyes. He turned and started to run, realizing as he did that his eyes probably looked the same.
They ran down a slight incline toward a public restroom and the thick patch of trees and bushes next to it. This was where their gun emplacement was concealed in a shallow drainage ditch.
To his right were swings, slides and monkey bars. To his left, stone tables, seats and scattered cooking pits…and—he took a double take—a woman and two children running toward them.
“What the shit?” he said with incredulity, and came to a stop just short of entering the trees to wait for them.
A staggered low roar was now coming from the approaching battle line, and with it, a deep vibration could be felt through his boots.
The trio ran up to him and stopped, terror wild in their eyes. The kids were probably around eight years old. The woman in her mid-thirties was thin and probably not bad looking under her disheveled persona. “Please help us. We don’t know where to go.”
“Ma’am, you and your children…why aren’t you in your designated shelter?” The roar and vibration had grown alarmingly. Doug had ran past him and into the vegetation.
The woman gripped her children and fought tears and panic. “It was full. We couldn’t even get in the door. I don’t know where to go.”
Frank, a member of his four-man team, ran out from their camouflaged emplacement and hefted one of the crates from Oscar. The ground was now rocking, the booms deafening.
Frank looked at the civilians, looked at the approaching battle line, then looked at Oscar. “There’s a shelter a couple of blocks over.”
Suddenly all three were knocked off their feet and small bits of rock and dirt rained down on them. The kids, a girl and a boy, started crying. The girl tried to run, but the woman held her.
“Where?” The woman looked fearfully in the direction of the oncoming battle line then screamed hysterically, “We won’t make it.”
Oscar looked around, too. The green wall coming down from the sky and racing toward them had now resolved into individual energy beams. They rained down, boom, boom, boom. Black smoke and flying debris could be seen coming up from the ground where the beams impacted, carving long wide furrows. The earth shuddered constantly and it was an effort for them to stay on their feet.
Making up his mind, Oscar bent down and with his free arm scooped up the little boy. “This way,” he yelled above the booms.
The woman hefted the little girl and followed them into the trees and shrubs. They passed through a chain link fence that had been torn down, then they descended into an old cement drainage ditch. It was dark and hard to see. The ground heaved violently from side to side. They reached the bottom, bushes and small trees pushed up through the cracked cement, tripping and snagging them.
Around the ditch were large trees, their limbs and branches completely enclosing and hiding the old drainage ditch. Green light from the energy beams filtered down through the branches, creating dancing green lines on the cement. The green lines slowly moved down the ditch picking up speed as the beams moved toward them.
They ran down the ditch and after 20 feet, came to the weapon emplacement. A circle about 10 feet in diameter had been cleared. It butted up against the side of the ditch. Inside it, small lights provided just enough light to see and two other soldiers frantically worked. The entire area was tented with thermo-net. In the center, a large laser cannon on a tripod protruded from a hole in the top of the netting, a separate thermo-net covered the gun.
One of the men looked up as they entered. “What the…”
The ground jumped upward throwing all of them to the ground. The crates Oscar and Frank had been carrying crashed to the ground, belts of power cells for the laser cannon spilling out.
Oscar jumped up, grabbed the two children, and guided them and the woman to a rusted drainage pipe extending from the cement side of the ditch. It was about four feet in diameter.
“Get in here,” he hollered. The two children were helped in, then the woman started to enter. Oscar grabbed her arm, “I’m Oscar. What’s your name?”
“Rachel,” she said.
He looked her in the eyes, “Rachel, stay in here no matter what happens.” He grabbed his flashlight, thrust it into her hands and pushed her into the pipe. “You’ll all be safe,” he said, not knowing at all if they would be.
He turned, his goal was the laser cannon, but that’s when the leading edge of the battle line passed over their position and the whole world seemed to explode.
Blinding light.
Blackness.
His mouth was full of dirt. He raised his head and tried to spit it out. He realized his ears were ringing—realized he was lying on the ground and that something was laying across his back, holding him down.
Rocks and dirt were falling from above, hitting the trees before falling and hitting him. The air was full of dust and smoke and a there was a scorched and burning smell.
Through the falling rocks and dirt, he tried to rise and, with supreme effort, did so. What had been laying across his back rolled off and, through falling debris, he saw it was the laser cannon with its tripod—it had been knocked over.
The rocks and dirt sporadically raining down on him was driving him back down to the ground. Someone grabbed his hand and jerked him sideways and he stumbled halfway into the drainage pipe.
In the beam of the flashlight, through the dust pouring in behind him, he saw Rachel struggling to drag him the rest of the way in. He could hear both children crying and choking behind her.
“Are you all right?” he
asked Rachel. She just continued to look at him. Her face was covered with dirt and she looked like she was dazed. She was in shock. He squeezed her hand and let go.
Outside the pipe, the debris had stopped falling and the air was clearing a little. He pushed himself back outside. He ripped off his scarf and used it to breathe through, then stood and looked around.
The air was full of dust and rays of greenish light moved through it as the alien beams moved away. Everything was covered with debris. His ears were still ringing, but he could hear and feel the boom—boom—boom as the battle line moved away.
Through the trees, he could see what looked like red embers flying upward, but then he heard a cough and looked over to see a figure rising from the ground. The figure slowly stood, brushing the dust off.
“Frank?” Oscar called out.
The figure looked over, “Yeah, Oscar?”
“Where’s Doug and Williams?”
They looked around and quickly found the rest of their team. Doug was badly dazed, but was coming around and seemed all right. Williams was dead—a broken neck.
The booms were getting farther away, but now there was a new sound. All three stopped and listened. The new sound was sporadic zinging and it was getting closer.
“Shit,” Oscar said. “You two try to get the laser cannon back up—see what condition it’s in. I’ll go have a look.”
Oscar clambered up the side of the ditch using the limbs of the fallen tree to pull himself up. As he reached the top and the base of the uprooted tree, he turned and looked back across the fallen tree and the ditch.
The sky was dark now, but in the eerie green light of the receding wall of alien beams, he could see what was left of the city—it was shattered and burning. The beams had gorged long, evenly spaced furrows through it, tearing through buildings and roads. Shockwaves from the strikes had destroyed the buildings in between the trenches. From the gorges the beams had dug, clouds filled with burning embers rose up like thousands of fireflies.
That’s when he noticed the heat on the back of his neck and the red flickers of light racing up the fallen tree. He remembered the rising embers he’d seen from the ditch and turned.
Countdown Amageddon (The Spiral Slayers Book 2) Page 40
