Extinction Evolution (The Extinction Cycle Book 4)

by Nicholas Sansbury Smith

  The Variant specimen was in the corner of the troop hold, hands and feet bound, with Horn holding a knee to its chest. The thing wasn’t going anywhere. They were thirty minutes out, and the creature showed no sign of waking.

  White noise broke over the comms, pulling Beckham back to the grim reality. Fitz and Apollo were still out there, and Chow was severely injured because Beckham had fucked up. The guilt stabbed at his insides. He had to accept Fitz and Apollo were gone. He had to let them go.

  “Master Sergeant,” Tito said. “We got Lieutenant Davis on the comms. She wants to talk to you.”

  “Patch it through,” Beckham said. Static crackled in his ear.

  “Master Sergeant Beckham,” Davis said.

  “Here, Lieutenant,” Beckham said in a low, deep voice.

  “I’d offer you congratulations, but I’m afraid I have disturbing news. We just heard that Plum Island is under attack.”

  Beckham’s heart thudded his ribcage, and Horn craned his neck to catch his worried gaze.

  “What do you mean under attack?” Beckham asked, his voice cracking.

  “We don’t have many details. Major Smith only sent us an SOS saying that boats had rammed the electric fences and that Variants had made landfall a few minutes ago.”

  Beckham shot out of his seat and worked his way to the cockpit. “Turn this bird around!” he shouted. “We have to get to Plum Island!”

  The pilots both twisted around to look at him.

  “That’s an order!” Beckham shouted.

  Tito glanced back at the controls. “We can’t, sir. We’re low on fuel. We wouldn’t even make it halfway there.”

  Beckham kicked the wall in frustration. “How much farther to the GW?”

  “Fifteen minutes, sir,” the other pilot replied.

  Horn was standing now, his boot clamped down on the monster’s throat. “What the hell is happening?”

  “Davis, how long until you can have birds in the air?” Beckham said into the comm.

  “They’re already in the air, but they won’t get to the island for another hour.”

  “Fuck!” Beckham shouted.

  Garcia had risen to his feet. He put a hand on Beckham’s back. “We’re with you, brother. Once we drop off Chow and this freak, we’ll head back out there.”

  Chow struggled to sit up, but Tank held up a hand. “Don’t move,” Tank said.

  Chow’s eyes flitted to Beckham. There was sadness there, but also resiliency. Despite his injuries, Beckham could see Chow wanted to fight. They exchanged a nod that told Beckham his brother was going to be okay.

  Beckham bowed his head, shaking it from side to side. He put a hand to his vest pocket, his heart beating so hard he could feel it through his vest.

  Mom, please, if you’re watching over me, help Kate and the others.

  -24-

  The explosion woke Tasha and Jenny. They shot up in bed, bursting into tears. Riley looked out Meg’s window at the fiery wreck of the Blackhawk.

  Meg grabbed her knife off the table. “What the hell was that?” She tucked the knife into her belt and limped over to the girls, wrapping her arms around them as they jumped out of bed.

  Riley stared in awe at the flames licking the asphalt. The air raid sirens blared in the hallway of Building 1. He plucked his M9 from his belt, pulled back the slide to chamber a round, and handed Meg the gun. “Take this.”

  “Wh—what? Why?”

  The pop of gunfire sounded in the distance. There was no doubt in his mind now. This was no accident. The island was under attack.

  “Do it,” Riley insisted. He pushed the gun at her and she reluctantly grabbed it. Then he wheeled to the corner of the room and picked up his M4. The horror and exhilaration of pre-combat kicked in, and he felt the chill of adrenaline ripping through his veins.

  “Listen very carefully, Meg. Whatever happens, keep the girls close. Okay?”

  Tasha and Jenny were sobbing uncontrollably. Meg pulled them close, hushing them and telling them it was going to be all right.

  But Riley wasn’t so sure. Automatic gunfire filled the night, but above it he heard the unmistakable shriek of a Variant.

  Meg heard the howls, too. She looked toward the window at the flaming wreckage in the distance. Distorted silhouettes darted past the fire.

  “Alex...I’m scared.”

  “It’s going to be okay, Meg. I won’t let anything happen to you.” Riley grabbed the door. “We have to get to Building 3. Follow me.”

  The halls were a mess of panic, civilians running from their rooms and crowding in the narrow corridor. Riley wheeled through them yelling, “Get to your designated shelters!”

  The distant crack of gunfire and the screech of emergency sirens made it difficult to hear, and most people seemed to ignore him. Meg limped toward the door. She pushed it open and reached back to grab Tasha and Jenny. They moved into the lobby, huddled together.

  Outside the double doors, Plum Island was a war zone. Tracer rounds streaked across the post at Variants clambering across the tarmac. The beasts were running down fleeing Marines and soldiers.

  “My God,” came a voice behind them.

  Red and his wife, Donna, stood in the doorway with their son tucked behind them. Kate emerged behind the family. She pulled her hair back into a ponytail, her eyes wide with panic.

  “What the hell is happening?” she asked.

  “Come with us,” Riley said.

  “I have to warn Ellis!” Kate said, turning away.

  “Where is he?” Riley asked.

  “I left him in the lab.”

  “That’s the safest place if he stays put. I’d go there myself if it weren’t for the contaminants,” Riley said. “We have to get to Building 3.”

  Kate hesitated for a moment, considering her next move.

  “Come on!” Riley said.

  Red ran ahead, carrying a shotgun. He stopped at the door to load the gun with buckshot shells. Several of them fell to the ground as he worked to jam them into the bottom. As he pumped the gun, a stray round shattered the glass in the left door and hit the wall behind them. Red ducked and motioned for everyone else to get down. The high-pitched howls of the Variants filled the room.

  “Hurry!” Riley yelled. He let his rifle sag across his chest and wheeled out onto the landing. The M240 machine gun nest in the center of the lawn was disgorging a stream of fire at the army of Variants coming from the wooded area at the edge of the tarmac. Another Marine fired an M4 from behind the sand bags. Across the lawn, more of the creatures skittered down the concrete path to flank the Marines in the nest.

  “Watch your nine o’clock!” Riley shouted with his hands cupped over his mouth.

  The man with the M4 patted the M240 gunner on the shoulder and pointed. The Marine raked the large machine gun back and forth between the two fronts of advancing Variants. The muzzle flashes illuminated the hardened faces of men that knew they were the final defense against the monsters.

  Questions ping-ponged in Riley’s mind as he watched. How had the Variants made it past the defenses so easily? And how had they destroyed a chopper?

  Shaking away the thoughts, he said, “Help me down the steps.”

  Red and Kate picked Riley up and hoisted him to the walkaway below. Meg, Donna, and the children followed. Red ran back up the steps to grab Riley’s chair.

  In seconds they were moving to Building 3. Two Marines were on the steps, waving at them. Riley craned his neck as Red pushed him down the path. The Variants were darting around the spray of the 7.62 mm rounds in the center of the lawn. Dirt kicked up into the air as the gunner trained his fire on the closest pack. The tracer rounds narrowed in and slammed into the creatures. Body parts exploded in all directions, sending the surviving Variants scattering.

  Another squad of Marines five strong came running from the path behind Building 3. The men fanned out onto the grass, firing on the charging beasts. In the glow of moonlight, the monsters shifted into focus. Sca
rred flesh, long limbs laced with ropy muscle, withered torsos and wild eyes. Maws chopped together, lips popping.

  Riley nearly choked at the sheer number of the monsters. There had to be over fifty of them, and they had already shattered Plum Island’s defenses. The bark of the M240 was silenced a moment later. Screams of agony followed as the Marines were overrun.

  “Come on! Hurry!” Riley shouted. Red pushed him faster, the chair jolting over rocks on the concrete. Even if they made it to Building 3, the monsters would find a way inside. Despair filled Riley as he tried to think of an escape. He knew they wouldn’t survive unless they managed to get air support. But the GW was too far away, and the only remaining Blackhawk sat idle on the tarmac. The other birds still weren’t back from the mission in New York. They had been ordered to stay in the city just in case any survivors from the strike teams crawled out of the sewers.

  Riley’s gaze shifted to a hulking Variant running in the heart of the advancing army. A quilt of skin flapped behind its muscular shoulders, and its extremities were covered with plates of human bones.

  Muzzle flashes fired behind the monster. The rounds tore into the Marines running toward the fight. Riley raised his rifle and zoomed in on soldiers wearing filthy fatigues. The men were firing shotguns and M16s.

  The shocking realization sparked a shot of anger that masked the dread. He held in a breath, and squeezed the trigger. The first shot hit a human collaborator in the face, a geyser of blood bursting from the man’s shattered skull.

  “Stop here!” Riley shouted.

  Red did as instructed, and ushered the children and his wife up the steps to Building 3. The two Marines standing guard hustled onto the lawn. The five-man squad had taken up a position fifty feet behind the overrun machine gun nest. One of the men squirmed on the ground, clutching his stomach where a human collaborator had shot him.

  Meg squeezed next to Riley’s chair. He looked up at her and offered a reassuring nod. She nodded back, raised her M9, squinted, and fired at the monsters. The spent casings hit Riley on the head as they rained down from her gun. She dropped several of the creatures with well-aimed shots. If Riley hadn’t been overwhelmed by the horror of their situation, he might have smiled.

  Squaring his shoulders, Riley did his best to hold his weapon steady. He focused his fire on the human collaborators, hitting one in the neck. The man went down like a bag of bricks in water. Riley struck another man in the shoulder. The ex-soldier took off running back toward the tarmac. Other collaborators followed in retreat. They were cowards, but their Variant masters were relentless and would never stop.

  The Alpha stopped at the machine gun nest and grabbed one of the Marines who was still fighting. The beast hoisted the man into the air, providing Riley a full view of its bony armor and thick, bulging muscles.

  The Marine, kicking and screaming, tried to break free from the monster’s grasp. With a quick twist, it snapped the man’s neck and tossed him aside.

  Riley trained his gun on the beast. The bony plates covering its naked flesh shattered as he hit it again and again, but the muscles below the armor seemed to absorb the rounds, which only slowed the creature down. It passed under an industrial light that illuminated a necklace of flesh trophies hanging from its neck. This beast wasn’t a monster. It was a demon. How could they stop such evil?

  With a bullet to the head.

  Riley squeezed the trigger again, but the beast had melted back into the curtain of monsters surrounding it. The Marines on the lawn cut the lead creatures down, but a dozen more surged across the final stretch of grass and plowed into the men.

  “Get out of here, Meg!” Riley shouted.

  “Oh, hell no!” she yelled back. She changed her magazine and continued firing.

  Riley risked a short glance over his shoulder. Kate, Horn’s girls, Donna, Bo and the other civilians had taken refuge in Building 3. Red slammed the door behind them and ran back to Riley’s side with his shotgun shouldered. He fired a blast that hit a Variant in the side, sending it spinning away from the Marines. Behind them, more Variants skittered out of Building 1, their bloody flesh glowing in the moonlight. Several of them dragged screaming civilians with them.

  Flipping magazines, Riley trained his gun on the Variants that had overwhelmed the squad of Marines. He picked them off, one at a time, but he couldn’t save the men. They died bravely, killing six of the beasts before finally succumbing. Ten feet in front of them, the Alpha Variant stepped out of the mass of smaller creatures and extended a horned nail at the final two Marines that had been guarding Building 3. The men fell back, still squeezing off short bursts.

  The seven surviving creatures were only twenty feet away from Riley’s position, and the only thing standing between him and the beasts were the two Marines. Red ran forward, a final attempt to stop the monsters from reaching Building 3. The Alpha lumbered to the front of the pack, and Red fired a shotgun blast that took off its left arm at the elbow. Pieces of bony armor and flesh exploded. It howled in pain and retreated as the other Variants surged forward. That gave Riley an idea. Maybe if he killed their leader, the others would retreat too. It was the only plan he had left.

  Riley squeezed off a short burst into the Alpha’s armored chest plating as it searched for cover. One of the bullets punched into flesh, jerking the beast to the right. It lowered its skull and puked a stream of white goo onto its riven stump.

  Red and the two Marines continued firing on the six withered Variants. The monsters skittered across the lawn, dodging the gunfire. Two of them fell, but the other four raced forward.

  Riley shot the Alpha again, hitting bones on its back and side. The beast rose to its feet, its left arm covered in white plaster. Roaring, it cracked its head from side to side and focused on Building 3.

  “Red, watch out!” Riley shouted when he saw the men weren’t going to be able to hold back the four Variants. Red managed to back away as the Variants plowed into the two Marines like bowling balls knocking down pins.

  “Riley!” Meg shouted.

  “Get out of here!” he yelled again.

  His heart was racing out of control now, but it wasn’t from fear of his own death. He was prepared to die, and had been for weeks now. Part of him even wanted to—wanted the nightmare to be over. But he wasn’t prepared to lose Meg or his other friends. He thought of his Delta brothers, wishing more than ever to see them running across the lawn, guns blazing.

  Red, Riley, and Meg were all that was left now. They killed two of the four monsters, but the other two abandoned the dead Marines and made a run for Red. Another dozen galloped down the path away from Building 1, dragging human prisoners with them. There was sporadic gunfire from the beach, and for a moment Riley held onto hope that his friends had returned to the island to save them.

  “I’m empty!” Meg shouted. She tossed her gun to the ground and pulled her knife. Riley’s M4 clicked dry at the same moment. Red continued firing his shotgun, crack after crack echoing through the night. He killed the final two Variants, and turned the barrel on the Alpha.

  Riley slammed his final magazine into the M4 and fired at the Variants darting down the sidewalk. They were one hundred feet away now, their talons scratching over the pavement.

  “Run, Meg!” Riley shouted.

  Instead of fleeing, she limped to his side, holding the knife in both hands and pointing it at the creatures. Riley continued firing, watching in his peripheral vision as Red shot the giant beast. It took a blast to the side of its shattered armor chest plating, fragments of bone and chunks of flesh exploding.

  Red pumped the gun again, but the injured monster grabbed it with its good hand and yanked it away, tossing it onto the lawn.

  Riley killed two more of the monsters on the sidewalk before shifting his gun back to the Alpha that had Red. He locked eyes with the man for a second as the Variant grabbed him around the neck and lifted him into the air, blood dripping down its muscular flesh. It snapped Red’s neck with a quick twist and
dropped his limp body to the lawn.

  “No!” Riley shouted. He managed another two shots before the beast dropped to all fours and plowed into his wheelchair. The blow sent Riley crashing to the ground, his left cheek skidding across the pavement. Scrambling, Riley grabbed his rifle and rolled onto his back. Meg screamed and lunged toward the Alpha, plunging the blade deep into its back as it rose to its feet. It swatted her away with ease, sending her crashing onto the steps of Building 3.

  “You son of a fucking bitch!” Riley shouted. He took off the beast’s right ear as it reached down and picked him up by one of his broken legs and tossed him. He sailed through the air for what seemed like several seconds before hitting the concrete headfirst. The impact sent stars racing before his vision. He clawed at the ground, trying to drag his broken body away from the monster, but it grabbed him again and hoisted him into the air.

  No. Not like this. Not like this!

  With his left eye battered shut, Riley had to blink to focus with his right eye. There was a blur of motion to the side and a scream as Meg leapt onto the monster’s back and knifed the beast. It reached back with its stump of an arm and slashed her with the jagged bone.

  “You fucking piece of shit,” Riley choked. He struggled to breathe as the monster clamped its talons around his windpipe. The stars and encroaching red slowly overwhelmed his vision.

  No! Don’t give up!

  Riley tightened his grip on the monster’s hand and pummeled its face with his other fist. He hit it in the eye, again and again, until he felt the soft tissue give beneath his knuckles. The beast shrieked in agony, and clamped its talons tighter, slicing into Riley’s neck and cutting off his breathing completely.

  He choked, fighting desperately for air. Somewhere in the distance, there was a flash of a muzzle. He tried to focus on the figure, but the red was closing in. Blinking and squinting, he concentrated on a man who looked like he was running on stilts. To the man’s right was a dog. Riley thought he was losing it until he realized it was Fitz and Apollo bolting toward him.