“I see Nathanial has wised up to you.” Margery pointed to the soldier standing guard to make sure Echo didn’t bolt.
It always made Echo smile when the old woman called her father, the man in command of the whole facility, by his first name. As far as Echo was aware, she was the only person she had ever heard use it.
“Nate will only be a couple more minutes; he’s chewing someone’s ear off at the moment.” She paused to study Echo’s face. “And I have the feeling you may be next,” she joked with a smile.
Echo could hear the one sided shouting coming from the closed door.
Then there was silence. After a few seconds the door swung open and a soldier, who was bright red in the face, marched out.
Echo recognised Hendrick, who worked on the main supply lift.
Hendrick stopped, turned as if on a turntable, and closed the door with a gentle, soft click. He then marched away down the corridor after giving Echo a quick, sly wink, as if to say, all in a days work.
The phone buzzed in front of Margery.
“You can go in now dear,” Margery said as she popped a boiled sweet into her mouth.
Echo stood, and by force of habit, brushed down her uniform, before giving a soft knock, and then entering the office.
Her father was stood over by a cabinet.
“A bit early for a whisky, isn’t it?”
“It’s never too early for a stiff drink.” He didn’t offer his daughter anything.
“Take a seat Corporal.” It always annoyed her that he never used her name, just her rank, ever since she joined, as if reminding her she was in his world now.
The General stayed over by the window, sipping his single malt. It was almost as if he was soaking in the view as much as possible, because soon there will be no view, except looking at other things that are also inside the same underground bunker along with you.
A minute passed.
Echo was used to playing this game. Whenever he was home, on the rare occasions, as she was growing up, she used to sit for hours in his office, on the floor while he worked.
I’m not going to be the one to break the silence. He was the one who ordered me to come to him, let him speak first. I tried to break the ice. Now it’s his turn.
She looked around his office. She noticed his first edition book collection had grown. In fact, there were boxes full of them stacked next to the shelves. It was obvious what he was going to take with him down into the bunker. And she was pretty sure he didn’t have a container to fill up; he probably had rooms dedicated to his precious books.
She remembered one of the only times he ever smacked her as a child. She was seven, and she had drawn inside the cover of his first edition copy of To Kill a Mockingbird by Lee Harper. She had written a little note. The funny thing was; she couldn’t even remember what she had written. She did remember that his nose was always in a book if he wasn’t working at his desk, so she wrote a little note for him in the book he was reading at the time, thinking it would be sweet for him to open it and have a letter from his daughter.
As she scanned the books, she noticed the spine of To Kill a Mockingbird on the shelf.
The General obviously had his fill of the view. He wandered back to his desk and sat in the tall backed green leather studded Tuscan tufted seat.
“I hear you had a scuffle yesterday?” He placed the thick crystal glass on a coaster, then used a finger to brush an imaginary spot off his desk.
“You mean when a mob of about fifty people almost overran our location?”
“I hear you threatened a man?” He picked the glass back up and swirled the contents.
“Strange, that’s not how I remember it. I remember saving his ass.”
“No need to be so crass.”
Echo bit her tongue.
“I’ve removed you from any more away missions, either picking up people or supplies. From now on, you will stay on the base and help with coordinating the supplies.”
“Seriously? And how do you think that’s going to look? I will tell you how it’s going to look; it’s going to look like you’re giving me preferential treatment.”
“I don’t care what people who work under me think about my orders.” He shifted his weight on the chair. “And may I remind you that you are also one of those people,” he stated while looking at her for the first time.
“And may I remind you, that I’m also your fucking daughter,” she said as she stood up and pushed the chair back with her legs while resting her hands on the desk and leaning forward.
“Swearing will not make me change my mind,” he said without flinching at her antics. “As of now you will report to Captain Wyman, and aid him and his squad with bringing down the crates of ammunition and vehicles.”
“This is bullshit and you know it.” She took a step back and crossed her arms.
“Either you do as you’re ordered, or else I will have you put under arrest for disobeying an order and thrown into the brig, where you will spend the remaining time until the bunker is sealed.”
Echo stared daggers at her father. Then without a word, she marched over to his bookcase and pulled out To Kill a Mockingbird. She flicked open the cover. Inside was the message she wrote all those years ago that resulted in her receiving a hard wallop.
It read: Dear daddy I am still here love Alexis.
Echo spun around and lifted the book up, showing the page to her father, even though he couldn’t possibly read it from his location.
Now she remembered the words and why she wrote it. She was young and didn’t understand why he was ignoring her. She remembered thinking; mother has gone, but I’m still here.
Without a word, but with tears forming in the corners of her eyes, she let the book slip from her fingers to the floor, then she turned and left, slamming the door behind her.
15
New Years Eve 2012
Day 16
Echo sat in the rowing boat, looking out over the water, as the perfectly still water stretched out around her like a mirror’s surface.
“This is bloody weird,” Coco announced.
They were out on the water of the vast natural underground freshwater reservoir.
People were encouraged to use the area for socializing and activities. There are large islands created out on the water that had different uses. Only one was really an island, separate from everything around it. The other four were joined with the rest of the bunker by causeways. The true island had ten log cabins built on it that you could request to use for relaxation. The others that were joined by causeways were covered in grass or trees. The only one that wasn’t had an artificial beach.
Echo twitched her rod over the water. The fish that were introduced to the vast reservoir were not biting.
There were lights down under the water, in the sides of the cavern. It was too deep to see the bottom, but what the lights did illuminate was perfectly clear, almost as if the boat was floating upon the air.
Even though it was almost midnight, the lights above blazed down, so the trees, plants, and grass on the islands would continue to create oxygen.
“I just needed to get away from the mainland for a while,” Echo announced as if they had paddled miles out to sea.
Coco laughed. “You’re a crazy woman, do you know that?” He also had hold of a rod. She made him go and request two, so they could relax out on the water. If they caught anything, it had to be taken to the Mess Halls kitchen.
Echo just needed a little time with someone from her old unit. Her new assignment was dull, and the people in it were distant, prim, and proper. Maybe that’s why her father moved her – apart from supposedly keeping her safe – to show her what a real unit was supposed to act like.
For the last six days, she had been moving all the supplies in the colossal warehouses in the prison above, down into the bunker and storing it in the required locations. There were tonnes of dry food, clothing, ammunition, tanks, trucks, and even four twenty metre, Archer Class pat
rol vessels that have been customised and fitted with typhoon weapons systems. The fifty-four ton boats were brought down and placed on the reservoir, with their trailers stored in Zone 7.
Echo could see the four large vessels secured to a dock over on the island that was connected to the military Zone 6.
She was amazed at the vehicles and vessels that were brought down.
Over by Zone 6, near the boats, she could see something bobbing at the surface, with just a small section above the waterline. It was two submersibles. The British navy didn’t have submarines small enough to bring into The Ark, so two were specially made, based on the Russian AS-28. The thirteen-metre long submarine was a small vessel fortified with weaponry.
All told, with the vessels, vehicles, and collection of planes, their army would be a formidable foe when they returned to the surface. Even though billions will be dead, there will still be the other countries with their own bunkers, and once they returned to the surface, they didn’t want any other country getting any ideas about taking their supplies.
Only yesterday, she helped bring down nine F-35 Lightning II fighter jets.
She knew there were more vessels, vehicles, and planes being stored aboveground, sealed away inside military installations all across the country, along with more dried food and other supplies. But just in case, they had some brought down inside the bunker for safekeeping. Also, some new recruits from the offspring of the Adam and Eve finalist could be trained on the apparatus inside the bunker with them.
Echo twitched her line.
Normally only two extra personnel were needed with each transport mission. However, most of the Adam and Eve finalists were inside the hub building, so most of the missions were for munition’s delivery or pickups. Over the last few days, most of her old unit were sent with each helicopter delivery because the streets were full of rioters.
“What’re your orders for tomorrow,” Echo asked to break the silence.
“We have three pickups, and two deliveries.” Coco looked at his watch.
Echo found it strange that her father was sending munitions out to nearby military bases, due to the rioting. She thought he would be selfish and keep everything to himself.
“Almost time!”
“3...2...1... Happy New Year!” he stated.
“Happy New Year,” Echo said back, but without much enthusiasm.
“It’s a little hard to feel like celebrating with everything that’s happening. You Know?” She looked down into the seemingly bottomless water.
“I know,” he muttered in return.
“We could break into the Captains quarters and steal some of his whisky,” she joked with a half-hearted smile.
“Now that I would like to see.”
Echo looked across towards her friend. Coco was always there when she needed someone to talk to, or just sit with – and apparently, sit in a boat for hours with. She had always liked him, and she knew he had feelings for her in return; it was just with everything that was happening, now didn’t seem like the right time to make life even more complicated. Once they were locked below ground she might make a move if he didn’t.
“Well, seems we haven’t got anything to celebrate with, how about we head over to the Mess Hall for a goodnight coco?” Coco said.
“Sounds great.”
After they sat and drank their hot milky drinks, and were about to part to head to their own apartments, Echo leaned forwards and kissed Coco on the cheek.
“Happy New Year Coco,” she muttered before walking off.
16
Friday 5th January 2013
Day 21
Echo was sat on the Merlin helicopter along with her old squad and an extra nine soldiers.
She wasn’t meant to be there, but if she had to spend another day taking supplies down into the bunker, she was going to lose her mind.
She was told about the delivery by Coco from when they ate breakfast together that morning. She had then raced off to get ready, and snuck onto the helipad above the hub building to the waiting helicopter and jumped on just before takeoff.
The Captain smirked at her antics. He would pay to see her father’s reaction when they returned.
No one said a thing to her. A couple nodded and smiled.
The delivery was containers full of munitions to the Britannia Royal Naval College in Dartmouth. Apparently, they were being swamped with mobs of people demanding to be let in and protected. The message stated without munitions, they wouldn’t be able to hold the people back for long.
Echo sat back with her gun held pointing over her shoulder. This was just what she needed, a little excitement after almost a week of staring at crates and checking that the containers were stacked properly in the different zones. Her job was checking consignment numbers against each item taken below ground. After only the first hour of each day, the numbers on the clipboard would swim together, making no sense. She wasn’t a paper pusher; she was a soldier.
The whirr of the blades and the vibration of the hull were like a calming balm.
This was the feeling she missed, being surrounded with her squad, on a mission, making a difference.
In the middle of the hull, strapped to the deck were large bubble containers, full of munitions – enough to start a small war.
Just as Echo was lulled by the sounds and people around her, her attention was drawn to one side. Poe was out of the cockpit, and was now stood next to the Captain, shouting into his ear. Poe spun, and returned to the copilot’s seat.
Echo could feel the helicopter bank; they were changing direction.
“Listen up people,” the Captain hollered over the sound from the engine. “We have a situation. We are being redirected to pick up a civilian doctor from Exeter University. Apparently, this is top priority. We are to grab this individual first before carrying on to drop off the cargo. After, we are to take her back to base.”
There were no murmurs or questions. Orders just changed. That was what being a soldier was all about, following orders.
Picking up a civy passenger, Echo thought. A doctor? I wonder what she’s done to deserve the attention?
Echo glanced sideways at Coco. He had his head lowered, with his body all tense, like a coiled spring. She was going to nudge him in the ribs, but she decided to leave him be.
The Captain grabbed the headset off the unit from Bulls back, possibly to confirm his new orders. After listening for a minute, he returned the headset.
“Lock and load people,” the Captain shouted. “I have just had confirmation that we are going in hot. The university is under attack! Repeat, lock and load, the university is under attack by unknown assailants! Our one and only objective is to find Doctor Melanie Lazaro. She is our only priority. We have permission to use deadly force to retrieve the doctor.”
17
It didn’t take long to reach the university. As the helicopter approached, the sliding door was slung open ready for a quick disembarkment. The cold air was like a slap in the face.
Echo stared out the opening as the helicopter crossed the city of Exeter.
The city looked like a war zone, as if they were looking at a news report from Afghanistan. There were tall columns of dark smoke spiralling from too many areas to count. The sky was darkened by the overhanging grey clouds. There were sirens screeching as they shot over the buildings, mixed with alarm bells, shouting, and screaming.
In merely three weeks the world has changed beyond recognition, she thought. She was amazed that one airborne virus can inflict so much havoc.
The helicopter passed low over the main city centre.
As the wind whipped at Echo’s face, she could see the streets below. Burnt-out cars were everywhere. Rubbish was piled up, with shops smashed up and looted. Buildings burned, pouring dense smoke high into the atmosphere. It was almost like a dance, with the helicopter weaving in and out of the tall plumes.
There was movement all around Echo as soldiers checked their weapon’s magazines,
and that their helmets were secured tight, or to make sure all their equipment was harnessed properly.
The hull was full of eager nervousness. They were about to be dropped into an unknown situation.
What did the Captain mean by under attack? Was it a mob of angry public? If so, do we shoot to kill or maim? When he said deadly force, does he expect us to shoot hungry, desperate civilians? A hundred and one thoughts rushed through Echo’s mind. However, she knew, like every combatant situation, once the shit hit the fan her training kicked in. There was no time to think, muscle memory took over.
They were coming up on the university on the edge of the city. The buildings spread out, and green manicured lawns started to dominate the view.
She forced some hair that had come loose behind her ear.
Below, on the campus grounds, there was what looked like hundreds of naked people running towards the main, largest set of buildings.
Why the hell are they naked? Echo wondered.
However, as she watched, as the helicopter flew over towards the largest building, which looked like some type of large hall, Echo noticed the naked people’s running was strange; it wasn’t the movement of healthy, naked runners – they seemed frantic, almost as if running angry, crazed almost.
The helicopter came to rest in a large car park.
With sweeping arms and a lot of frantic shouting, the Captain separated everyone into four groups of five, placing an individual in command of each, and sent them out to different sections, looking for the doctor.
Franco and Poe were left in the pilot and copilot seats, ready to take off at a moment’s notice.
Trev was left with Jimmy to watch over the transport, and so Jimmy would be in one fixed location if his medical expertise were required.
Now they were on the ground, and the noise from the engine wasn’t so overpowering; they all switched on their personal communication devices.
The Sixth Extinction & The First Three Weeks & The Squads First Three Weeks Omnibus [Books 1-10] Page 52
