“Under attack. Under attack,” screamed someone through the loudspeakers.
“Shit, why didn’t we use Humvees,” the commander said.
Summers’ eyes danced around the screens. The Pyramid looked like an illusionist’s magic trick, with bursts of lightning rolling down from the protruding antennae over the surface.
“What the hell is that?” Summers said, and pointed to the screen.
“Never mind that,” said the commander, “what’s going down at the entrance.”
All Summers could see was a cam shot facing away from the gate. Dogs were leaping about, ragging the necks of the trapped soldiers, then moving on. The camera shot started to rotate as if their team leader had lost his helmet. He could see the team leader, poking his rifle in the direction of the camera. His leg was trapped with a boulder, and with his face mashed and bleeding, his breaths short and rapid.
‘FBC to C-one, black hawk team, can you take out the dogs? Over.”
“Sir, if we do, it’ll be blue on blue. There are some of our guys still fighting them off down there. The troops in the transport are ready to abseil, what should we do?”
“Get them in there and have them flank the entrance, but take out their communication mast at the top of the pyramid first, over and out.”
“Affirmative. C-one, out.”
A voice groaned over the loudspeaker, with no attempt at call signs.
“I’m done for, my… my rifle is jammed,” said the blue team leader. His eyes widened. “Oh, fuck.”
The cam shot danced around the scene, then pointed away from the team leader. The face of what appeared to be a rabid dog stared into the screen. It was as if the creature had control of the helmet and placed it to one side on a boulder. It was a creature alright, the head of a dog, but with the body of a human. It looked over at blue team leader and roared, its body trembling then it transformed fully into a dog, charging at his pray. Blue team leader limply lifted his pistol, automatic rounds hitting the dog and it fell on him.
“Sir, they’re abseiling now.”
“Yeah, I see, but what’s that happening with the pyramid.”
The streaks of lightning emanating from the antennae gave way to a translucent dome covering the entirety of the pyramid. First one and then the second soldier hit the dome, disintegrating in puffs of smoke.
“FBC. Transport, abort, abort.”
“It was too late for the third abseiling soldier as the dome devoured him, then the transport peeled away.
Summers grabbed the commander by the shoulder.
“You may want to see this.”
The body of the dog trembled, shedding its coat. Its body transformed to half-human with the head of a dog, than rose to its feet. Stooping it picked up blue team leader’s pistol, putting a bullet in his head. Then it turned to the camera. Bullet wounds in his chest faded, then disappeared altogether. The thing rattled its chest like a gorilla and roared.
“Jesus, is that what we’re up against?” said Summers.
“Right, that’s it, FBC to all batteries, blow the entire quarry to kingdom come until you’ve no rounds left. Damn it, where the hell is the drone?”
“ETA, twenty five minutes, sir.”
Chapter 58
THE ground shook in the tunnel to the sound of dull explosions. It was looking like they may be too late to save anyone.
“You’d better be quick with this improvisation, whatever it is.”
“Come on, everyone back a safe distance,” said Frank. “Time to get the toys out.”
Shaw followed the men halfway back toward the entrance.
Frank called out. “That’s far enough. Jack, pass the rocket grenade launcher.”
“I thought I said…. Oh, never mind. They’ll hear that. They could start killing the women and children.”
“Just get down, there’s no other option. Whatever they’re pounding them with up there ’ill mask the noise… I hope.”
Shaw hit the dirt, covering his head with his hands.
“Fire in the hole.”
All he heard was a whoosh, then a massive explosion. Shaw lifted his head. Debris showered him from the roof of the tunnel. A cloud of dust headed his way, pierced by rays of light, and he turned his back. Coughing and spluttering, he covered his mouth.
“Come on, it’s only dust. Chop, chop. We have light,” Frank said.
Shaw charged on down the tunnel. The grenade had done its work. Cox tugged on his jacket.
“Don’t go rushing through, we’re trained for this.”
Shaw stepped out of the way. His heart pounded as apprehension struck. All he could hope was that Amy was alive, and he could get her the hell out of there, even if it meant him losing his own life.
Cox and Carla set a crouching stance, then inched out into the corridor, both covering left and right. Cox signaled Shaw with a sway of her hand, pointing her fingers to her eyes and then down the corridor to her right. Shaw stepped out behind her.
“It’s a dead end to the left. We need to make our way to that door.”
Shaw signaled to Frank.
“Get everyone in the corridor. I’ll go through the door with Cox and Carla. If it’s all clear, follow us through.”
Shaw stared at the door, and took a deep breath.
“Dad!”
He snatched his head in the direction of her voice.
“Amy?”
“I’m in here with Ted.”
“Ted!”
Amy stepped out through a door, a young woman beside her. Ted was behind them, a pistol in his hand.”
Shaw snatched his gun arm in their direction, with Cox and Carla covering them from either side of him.
“Drop the gun now. Step away from Amy, ya slime ball.”
“Whoa, I can explain.”
Amy stepped back, her arms out as if protecting Ted. The young woman threw her arms round Ted’s neck.
“Dad, don’t be stupid. Put your gun down. He’s with us.”
“She’s right. I knew you’d get my message,” Ted said.
“What message?”
“The one I left on my phone for your goons to find. I knew they were following.”
Shaw slipped his fingers inside his pocket and teased out Ted’s cell phone, not taking his eyes off of him.
“The GPS coordinates on the map, remember? I just stuck it in there approximately. When I got to my cabin, I saw you’d installed a GPS app. When I punched in the numbers, it led me here. I knew you’d follow if I left the coordinates as a message.”
Shaw fumbled to bring up his messages.
“He’s telling the truth. He’s told me about the virus. There are stacks of boxes in here with the antidote.” Amy said, and pointed back into the room.
“Yeah, then why the suit and tie, and the gun.”
“Some woman called Cat gave it to me and said to protect Amy. She was with a bunch of big cats. Scared the crap outta me. She said to tell you to rescue the women and kids while they tried to destroy the power source for some dome. The suit, yeah, that was a stupid idea. I thought I could talk my way through the gate and pretend to be a mine inspector.”
Amy huffed, grabbed a hold of Ted’s gun and snatched it from his grasp, then pointed it at her dad.
“What the…?”
“We’re wasting time. Ted’s not the enemy,” said Amy, and stamping her feet. The ground shook all around them. “We need to rescue the women and children now, before whoever is attacking blows us all to hell.”
Frank grabbed Shaw’s arm, forcing his gun arm to his side.
“She’s right, we’ve got other business.”
Shaw glanced at the message on Ted’s cell phone.
He pointed to Abi. “Who is this?”
“My sister, Gail.”
With her hair cropped short, and those extra years, he’d not recognized her. As he studied her, the image of Gail flashed through his mind. He made the judgment call.
“Amy, give Ted his gun
back,” said Shaw, “we’ll talk later.” He turned to Frank. “Escort them out of here. Don’t take them to the buses. I don’t trust Fuller. Make a circle around him and get them to the horses.”
“I’m not going anywhere. My children are through there,” Abi said, and pointed to the door.
“And I’m not leaving any of my kin,” said Ted.
“I go where Ted and you go,” said Amy.
“Damn it, stay behind us all. If we get in a gun fight, get Amy and your sister outta here.”
“Yes, sir.”
They arrived at the door. Abi stepped forward.
“I’ll go through first. If there’s any danger, I’ll signal.”
She didn’t wait for a reply, pulling the door open and walked on through. Cox trapped the door with her foot. Shaw watched two young girls run up to Abi and she knelt, embracing them both.
“Abi turned her head, “It’s clear.”
Cox and Carla entered first. Shaw followed. It soon became apparent there was no resistance. The militia fanned out in the chamber. The thunder above them was relentless. Over in one corner, Shaw saw women and children huddled together.
“Get the women and children out of here.”
One of the women rose to her feet and stepped forward.
“I’m not going anywhere. We’ll never be reunited with our boys.”
Her act of defiance had the rest of their women nodding in agreement. Shaw turned to Abi.
“What’s all this about boys?”
“They’re taken from us at birth. It’s what has kept us here and compliant.”
Shaw walked over and addressed the women. “Listen,” he said and looked at his watch. “In twenty-five minutes, this entire facility is going to be blown to oblivion, to include you, and your kids. Our security services found you, so I am confident they’ll find your boys.”
The women talked between themselves.
One of them faced Shaw.
“We’re not going. Our leader assures us we will all have everlasting life, so your bombs can’t hurt us.”
Abi stepped forward.
“It’s all a lie. There’s no such thing as everlasting life for us or our children. Look at yourselves. I’ve just witnessed them killing Ammon, and he killed one of their guards. Just think about who you are. You’re flesh and blood. I’m not Abayomi. I’m Gail Harvey. I was borne in Beverly Hills. I had my future taken from me, same as you all. I have parents and a brother, and a sister I’ve never seen. I’ve been stuck here for six years, and I want my life back. He’s right. They found us and they’ll find our boys.”
The women glanced at each other, then one stepped forward with her three girls.
“We’ll go, I’m Maria Hernandez from Sacramento, and I want my life back.”
Shaw took of his Stetson as they all stepped forward.
“Dad, where’s Gyp? He was with Cat when they arrived.”
Abi stepped forward and talked to one of the women, then returned.
“Your dog went with the women and the cats in the elevator to the second level. Maria heard them say that they going to try and take out the dome power source.”
“What dome?”
“Ammon told me it’s a shield to protect us from attack. Your bombs won’t penetrate the dome. He said that your arms were primitive and nothing on Earth could destroy it.”
Cox tugged at Shaw’s sleeve.
“I need a word in private.”
Shaw stepped away from Abi, leaned over to Cox, and she whispered.
“I didn’t want to say this, but we need to get the hell away from here, either that or help Cleo’s girls to destroy the power source.”
“Why’s that?”
She looked at her watch. “Because when I listened in on CONOPs frequency, I heard that we’ve got more than the bunker bombs to think about in twenty-five minutes. If they’re not successful, in one hour, they have executive orders to drop nuclear warheads.”
“What! Why didn’t you say?”
“Because I didn’t think it would come to that, and I’d not heard about this dome. Carla and me have already decided to go to the second level to help Cleo’s girls.”
“Holy crap.”
Shaw was stunned into silence as his mind tried to get his head around what she had said. He hurried over to Frank. He was talking to Amy and Ted. Shaw pulled him out of earshot.
“Get your militia to get these women and kids out to the buses. Tell them to each grab a box of the antidote from that room. Have some of the women carry them if they can’t handle them all. Tell your boys to get the boxes to the medical center and to all get shots.”
“What about you?”
“Never mind me. I’ll get out soon. Get Amy, Ted, and Gail to the horses and do as I said earlier. Like I said, I don’t trust Fuller. He could be working with Cleo to find her a host, and Amy could be the conduit.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I’m going to the second level with Cox and Carla. We’ve got to destroy their power source. Besides Gyp’s up there. Whatever you do, don’t tell Amy. Does any of your guys have explosives.”
“Yeah, Greg has some.”
“Send him to me.”
Frank scowled, but shuffled off and did as ordered. Shaw called Ted over to him, leaving Amy talking to Gail.
“Ted, I need you to do something. I want you to go with Frank to the horses and to avoid the school buses. Get Amy and your sister with her kids into hiding. Don’t contact me for a couple of weeks until everything has died down.”
“I won’t ask why. Look, just a suggestion. Give me the password to your e-mail.
“Why?”
“It’s how I contact my dad. When you both have access to the same e-mail address, you can write a draft without sending, then delete it after the other confirms it is read.”
“Got it. Amy has my e-mail. The password is Catherine. Listen, Ted, I don’t have to say…”
“I know, sir. I’ll look after her.”
Cox was already at the elevator with Carla as the chamber emptied. It took forever for the cage to arrive. The door sucked open.
“We have to wait for Greg. He has some explosives.”
None of them spoke a word as they waited. Greg walked through the door and then Frank.
“I thought I told you to go with Ted and Amy?”
Frank hutched the strap of a rocket grenade launcher on his shoulder.
“I did. Tom is guiding them to the horses. His sister has gone to the buses. Said one of her kids was running a fever, so she thought it better to go with the rest of them so they could check out her daughter.”
“Okay, I’ll just take the explosives and you two can get away from here.”
“The hell we will. I’m not dumb. There’s no way you’d be going up there just to save Gyp. Anyways, whatever, what do you know about explosives?”
“For God’s sake, Get in the cage. The clock’s ticking,” said Cox.
Chapter 59
SHAW was still stunned that Amy had grabbed Ted’s gun and that she had pointed it in his direction. At the time it was like a stab in his heart. But then he tried to reconcile that with the fact that he had read Ted wrong.
“We’re nearly there,” Carla said.
Carla and Cox knelt down, covering the cage door with their rifles. Standing at their rear, Frank, Greg and Shaw, shouldered their rifles and prepared to shoot their way out. Shaw feathered his trigger as the indicator flashed to signal they had arrived at the second level. The elevator door sucked open. Cox and Carla edged out through the door, then signaled for them to follow. Shaw’s heart beat pounded in anticipation of the unknown. The fluorescent lights in the corridor flashed to the sound of thunder from above, the ground shaking beneath their feet. Cox signaled them to stop at a junction. Gun shots echoed in the corridor.
“Gyps here,” said Cox.
Gyp ran up to Shaw, then tugged at his pants.
“I think he’s telling us
to go left.”
The lights failed. Cox and Shaw had flashlights on their rifles and lit the way.
“Holy crap,” said Carla. “Be careful, we’ve got bodies ahead.”
Shaw slipped his flashlight from his belt. In his beam, he caught sight of a black panther, its head severed from its body. A lance with a scimitar blade lay at the panther’s side. Cat and Kitten must have been that way with their toys. Two dogs and a guy dressed like an ancient Egyptian lay nearby, their heads severed, and their bodies showing signs of being riddled with bullets. There wasn’t any blood on the neck wounds or severed heads, as if the flesh had been cauterized with whatever had decapitated them.
Rounds of automatic gunfire erupted ahead. Cat appeared, running toward them, then stopped, bending over to catch her breath.
“They’re holding us back at an entrance to a chamber. We’re almost out of ammo. We have to get inside the chamber. I can hear the hum of their power source. Access to their power plant has to be in the chamber. Did you get everyone out?”
“Yeah. We’re good,” Shaw said.
Frank sighed, pulled at the straps on his backpack and lowered it to the ground.
“I’d have thought you’d have had some sort of ray guns, we’ll try these,” he said, and handed Greg two hand grenades. “Come on, let’s take these suckers out like we did in Nam. No offence Amanda, but I think Greg and me ’ll take the lead on this one. Here’s how it works. Count to three as soon as you hear the explosion, not a second earlier, or the shrapnel ’ll tear you to shreds. We’ll go in to each side of the entrance, guns blazing on auto and drop to the floor to give them a small target. You all do the same, fanning out left and right, got it?”
“Yes, sir,” said Cox, tipping him a salute, and set him a wry smile.
At the door, Frank and Greg wasted no time, each pressing their backs to the wall either side of the large double doors. Rounds hit the wall opposite from inside the chamber. Each of them held two grenades and pulled the pins. Frank counted three, then they tossed them inside in unison. The explosions deafened in the confines of the chamber. Gyp broke rank, charging in first, with the five remaining panthers following. In the confusion, Shaw tripped and fell at the side of Frank, fumbling to take control of his rifle at to the sound of gunfire all around. The panthers were ripping into the defenders, caught off guard with the explosions. Gyp raced toward a raised area, with a curtain between two columns. Shaw noticed one of the guards take aim at Gyp. He lined up his rifle sight on the guard, but a panther obscured his aim, the big cat taking the bullets meant for Gyp. Shaw’s eyes popped, as Gyp ran up a stairway, changing to the human form of a young man he’d seen leaving Cleo’s lounge. The one with long blond flowing hair.
The Killers Amongst Us: Chimera Dawn Chronicles Page 34
