by Sikes, A. J.
Jo and Matty moved Reeve down the hall. Dom had the extra pistol tucked into his waistband and was stepping forward with the M4 held out like it could explode at any second. Back at their six, Welch was pumping out rapid fire bursts. He let out a Whoop! and came back pedaling around the corner.
“They’re gone!” he yelled. “Fucking things ran away when I lit ‘em up.”
Jo and the others held up before the final corner that would take them to the back door. Gallegos grabbed Welch’s shoulder as he came even with her in the hall.
“Throw a banger if they come in again, Welch. We don’t have enough ammo left, and the sucker faces probably know it. They’re going to weaken us until we have nothing left to fight with and then they’ll come in for the kill.”
Welch looked at her like she’d spoken gospel. He fished a banger out of his vest pouch and held it up. With a nod, she directed him to stay on their six while she moved up to join the firefighters and Reeve.
“Dom, I need you to open the door, just like on the stairs except you stand back this time while I toss the banger outside. Then it’s you and me first. You take left; I take right. Rah?”
“Yeah. Rah,” he said. “I can do this.”
“Jo, Matty, you need to keep Reeve down and out of harm’s way. You good?”
“We’re good,” Jo said. Matty nodded to confirm. Reeve’s head hung limp on his neck but he managed a thumbs up with his good arm.
“Waiting on you, Dom,” Gallegos said, as she picked the third flash bang out of her vest.
Two more left plus two with Welch. Salve nos Dios.
Dom stepped up to the corner, darted a look around it and came back. He stayed up against the wall, gave Gallegos a nod went around the corner. She stepped fast after him holding the banger against her chest.
The door was solid and made of metal. Bullet holes in it picked out dim glows of light from outside, but the door was whole and closed. Dom gave her a quiet count of three and yanked the door open.
☣
Jed kept the flash bang grenade in his hand and waited for the clap of Sergeant G’s to die down in his ears.
Mahton was right. You get used to it.
Jo and Matty struggled with Reeve to get around the corner. Jed stayed with his eyes on the route back down the hall, pivoting around the corner and finally pocketing the banger so he could hold the SAW with both hands.
An unnerving quiet and dim light greeted the squad as they emerged into the rear drive of the bus depot. No sucker faces raced in from the shadows. No big black trucks roared into the drives spitting death in their direction.
Sergeant G directed Jed to post by the railing across the driveway.
“Cover us from there, Welch. If you see enemy, banger first, then light up anything that moves that isn’t us.”
“Errr,” he said and moved across the space, eyeballing every mound of debris as he went.
☣
“Where the fuck are they?” Jo asked.
“Guess Welch was right. He scared them off back there,” Gallegos said. “Maybe they’re not as clever as I thought.”
“If they’re scared, that means they know better than to try us right now. That means they have fewer numbers than they used to, or they’re trying to trick us into thinking that. I think you’ve been right all along. Those things are learning how to fight against us.”
Reeve mumbled something and Matty chimed in. “Your man’s right, if you ask me. They’re not that intelligent anymore. They have tactics, but they’re pack hunters. They might have some kind of strategy they follow, but they’re not trained fighters like you all are.”
“So what are they doing?” Jo asked. “It’s like we’re getting a reprieve. I don’t like it. They don’t have any compassion to spare. Just hunger. They should be coming after us right here, right now, and ending it.”
“They’re regrouping,” Gallegos said. “Just like we did upstairs. We don’t have time to argue about why we’re not dead yet. Let’s get moving.”
She paced along the wall until she was at the end of the driveway. The wall stopped about a car-length from the street. A brick pillar supported the ceiling there. To her left, the driveway was open and clear, with another pillar at the opposite corner.
“Bring Reeve up behind me,” she said to Jo and Matty. They moved slow to join her, half-carrying the wounded Marine between them.
“Dom, stay at their six. Welch, take that corner,” Gallegos said, aiming a finger at the pillar opposite her position.
He stepped fast, following the railing beneath the windows. Gallegos watched over his head for any movement in the rooms there. All she saw were silent shadows.
“High rise is around the corner from Welch’s position. Jo, Matty, and Reeve, you’re first behind him. Dominic, stay tight with me. We’ll be right behind your people. I got our six. Eyes out everybody. Let’s move.”
☣
Jed pivoted away from the wall and sped across the street to the next corner. He roved the street with the SAW, scanning every shadow, anywhere the sucker faces could hide. But the street and city sent back only silence.
At the next corner, a high iron fence surrounded what used to be a small park at the bottom of the high rise. Jed followed it down 99th, keeping an eye on the depot across the street. If the suckers were going to come from anywhere, he figured they’d be on the roof and scrambling down the wall. And still nothing moved, no hit came out of the darkness.
The slanting afternoon light lit enough of the street for Jed to make out the bodies of suckers killed by the Air Force’s last run.
And one block down there are seven soldiers lying in the street. Pivowitch and his squad. Tucker’s last victims.
Thinking about their mission again put Jed’s mind back where he wanted it. In the game and on point. He cast a quick look back to confirm Jo and Matty were still good. They had Reeve held in a seat carry with his M4 across his lap, held in his good hand. Jo gave a nod and Jed went back to leading them forward to the next objective.
He came around the end of the iron fence into a little patio beside the high rise. The area was clear so he pressed on to the back of the building. He held up beside a chain link fence that surrounded a heating and cooling unit there. A utility door was set into the building above a single low step. It looked like it might be open a few inches, but Jed couldn’t be sure. He waved for Jo and Matty to pull in tight behind him. When they were well off the street and in the shadows, Jed moved closer to the utility door with the SAW up and ready to rock.
☣
Gallegos and Dom swept into the patio and posted by the corner of the iron fence. She scanned the street behind them and looked up the depot wall across the way. Everything was still and quiet.
They’re just taking their time about it, aren’t they? Motherfuckers.
Welch had the others up near a chain link fence. Gallegos waved Dom forward to join them. She took three quick steps and posted by the iron fence that continued on the other side of the patio.
Nothing but the sound that death makes when it comes for you. We gotta get inside and get right.
“Welch, get everyone inside. Flash bang first.”
He grunted an Errr back to her. A second later she heard the telltale ping of the safety pin dropping on the concrete and then the explosive clap of the grenade.
The squad rushed in with Welch leading the way and Dom moving in right after him.
He’s learning. It’s a crash course in Battlefield 101, and he’s learning. We might see tomorrow after all.
☣
Jed went fast through the open door and nearly stumbled over a body. Dom had come in tight on his six and pushed him forward, forcing him to hop over the corpse. Jed had Dom take a position at the flight of steps going up to the next floor, then he bent down to examine the body. It was a woman, but he knew it had to be a col-lab. The body was torn to pieces by the sucker faces, and it was dressed in BDUs.
She’d been carrying
a Ruger Mini-14. The weapon was lying at the base of the steps to Jed’s right. It had an extended magazine and a scope mounted on it.
“Found our sniper,” he said.
“The one that killed Luce?” Dom asked from behind him.
“Yeah man. Probably is. Cover them stairs.”
Dom glared at the dead woman before turning his attention back to the staircase that wound upward into the tower.
Jed crept toward the steps leading down from the landing. Dim shadows greeted him in every direction except above. A slim blade of light leaked into the stairwell from a window on the next landing. Jed wished for a flashlight or something to illuminate the area, and then remembered his mom’s favorite expression.
Wish in one hand and shit in the other, Jed. Tell me which one fills up first.
Jo and Matty carried Reeve in, and Sergeant G was right behind them.
“Sniper dead on the ground there, Sergeant.”
Sergeant G went to the body, knelt, and checked it. She rifled through the pockets before standing up holding three magazines. She picked up the rifle, and took the weapon and ammo to Jo.
“Keep the thumper over your shoulder. Use this until we’re out in the open again.
Reeve groaned and mumbled something about being able to walk.
“He’s bleeding again,” Matty said.
“How bad?” Sergeant G asked.
“Slow, but he needs a new bandage. We need to hole up somewhere so we can clean the wound and wrap it better. That hospital’s sound better every second.”
Reeve grunted at them through gritted teeth. “I said I can fucking walk. Now let me walk.”
“Put him down,” Sergeant G said. The firefighters slowly set Reeve onto his feet. He held his hand out for a weapon and Dom put the spare pistol into it.
“You’re going to pass out if we don’t get that bleeding under control,” Jo said.
“We do that ASAFP,” Sergeant G said. “First we get down those stairs. The col-lab said Tucker had a cache here, so let’s get down there and find it. Might have more first aid we can use. Welch, how many bangers you got left?”
“One, Sergeant.”
A screech split the air outside, resounding up and down the street.
“They’re at it again,” Jo said. “They’ve probably been watching us all along.”
Sergeant G went to the door and brought her weapon up to cover the patio. “Maybe, maybe not. I don’t see them anywhere,” she said.
“What’s this?” Dom asked.
Jed turned to see him holding up a small green box with wires running from it and out the door.
“Looks like a detonator,” Jed said.
More shrieks and cries poured into the landing from outside.
“It’s a distraction!” Dom shouted, and fired a burst at a trio that was slinking down the stairwell above. Jed expected more of the suckers to pour out of the darkness below his position, but the scraping of claws and snapping joints came from outside. Another crack from a pistol added to Dom’s fire and three dead sucker faces landed on the steps in a heap. Reeve stood next to him aiming an M9 up the stairwell.
More small arms fire rattled the air, but this time it came from outside and rounds chipped away at the walls and doorframe. Sergeant G pushed Jo and Dom ahead of her toward Jed.
“Col-labs! Downstairs, people! Move!”
Jed took a step down, and then another, expecting death to come out of the darkness for him as more automatic fire popped from the outside.
A heavy explosion rocked the stairwell, followed by three more blasts. Jed looked back to see Reeve holding the detonator and standing near the door. He sagged against the door frame and was telling Sergeant G to get moving. She was saying the same to him.
A tornado of howls and screeches dropped down the stairwell from above and the whole squad looked up. Clicking joints added to the cacophony and dark shapes bounded across the space between each flight of stairs. The mass of monsters grew with each second until all light was blocked in the stairwell above.
“Run, people! Run!” Sergeant G screamed.
Jed slammed into the door at the bottom of the stairwell, hitting the crash bar and pushing through into a corridor. He came face to face with a man carrying a SAW and lit him up. Shattered glass cascaded down the wall and landed at Jed’s feet. A mirror had been propped against the wall opposite the door. Jed shook off the distraction and moved into the corridor. It was clear to his left and blocked with broken conduits and tangles of telephone line to his right.
Weak light crept into the corridor from up ahead, and it was a sickly pale green.
He felt the squad come down the steps behind him, but he kept his eyes straight ahead, trying to pick out any details he could as he crept deeper into the darkness.
A hiss up ahead made him tense and he squeezed off a burst without thinking.
“You got enemy, Welch?” Sergeant G shouted up to him.
“Sounded like suckers, Sergeant. But I can’t see anything up here!”
Small-arms fire rattled behind him.
“Col-labs aren’t coming in,” Sergeant G said. “They’re keeping us fucking pinned here, and suckers are coming down. Keep going.”
Jed didn’t move. Sergeant G fired twice more and she shouted to him again.
“Move it, Welch!”
He pushed forward, letting his eyes adjust to the weird green light. Shuffling sounds echoed down the tunnel. He couldn’t tell if the sounds were from in front or behind him. He fired a quick burst. No cries or grunts came back to him. He had no idea what he was shooting at, or if he’d hit anything.
The odd green glow was brighter up ahead, but it wasn’t enough to show him any details of the tunnel, much less who or what might be moving in it.
Shit, gotta get up to that light. Whatever it is. Gotta get where I can see.
A shriek came rolling down the tunnel in front of him. He couldn’t tell how far away it was, and felt like he should fire, but he remembered Sergeant’s G’s order to conserve ammo. He kept moving, trusting his instincts, reaching out with everything he had and praying for safety for him and the whole squad. Another shot cracked at the back of their formation.
Is that Sergeant G or Dom? What are they shooting at? Are the sucker faces coming in now?
Jed kept moving, focusing on the path ahead and letting the green light guide him. He had to be under the lawn between the high rises now. He’d taken at least forty steps. Another shriek came toward him, but still he couldn’t place it at a distance. Electrical conduit and water pipes lined the tunnel at eye level. The green glow reflected off the conduit lines.
Where the fuck is the light coming from? How long is this tunnel?
More gunfire popped in the tunnel behind him. Sergeant G was probably picking off sucker faces that tried to get in at the door. They’d be silhouetted at least a little bit. Jed paced forward another two steps and stopped.
“Holding here,” he said to whoever was behind him. “Sound off back there, okay?”
They’d come into the tunnel so fast, he didn’t know if it was Matty or Jo at his six. And he had no idea where Reeve was. Did he even make it to the steps?
Someone back there grunted. It might have been Jo, but he couldn’t be sure. Sergeant G was still popping rounds off at their six.
How long until we’re surrounded at both ends and just fucking killed?
☣
Gallegos covered Jo while she reloaded the Mini-14 they’d picked off the dead col-lab. They stood side by side in the tunnel putting sucker faces down with single shots when they entered the corridor. Matty and Dom were a few yards farther along, carrying Reeve into the darkness behind Welch.
“Close it up,” Gallegos said to Jo.
“They’ll come in and swarm us,” she said.
“I don’t think so. They’re not doing it now, and there’s no reason they shouldn’t. That tells me we’ve got breathing room.”
“Or they’ve figur
ed out how to set traps and they’re going to ambush us from the other end.”
“Could be, but if it is, then it is. Right now it ain’t, and we need more room if we have to use the thump gun. Close it up. I got our six.”
Jo took a slow step backwards, then another. Gallegos aimed down the hall at the doorway where a mound of dead sucker faces blocked the entrance. More of them could easily crawl inside using the walls or ceiling, but they weren’t just rushing forward.
It’s like they’re learning to avoid an obvious kill box.
If so, then they still have the upper hand. Either way, I hope I’m right.
☣
Jed kept his eyes front, using the green glow to pick out shapes in the dark corridor. Footsteps slapped on the floor behind him.
“Who’s back there?”
“Me and Dom,” Matty said.
“You got Reeve with you?”
“Yeah, ya deke. I’m here.”
Jed almost laughed, but the blast of a rifle behind them put him on alert.
“Sergeant G back there still? Why doesn’t she come up? Where’s Jo?”
“They’re both back there,” Dom said. “Let’s keep going.”
“I can’t fucking see, man. This green shit helps, but only a little. What’s it coming from?”
“Looks like the shit on the pipes is doing it,” Matty said.
“Stay frosty, Welch,” Reeve said. “Sergeant G wants us moving in case they need to use the thumper. So pinch it off and get going, rah?”
Jed bit his tongue. Reeve was making jokes when all Jed could think about was the hit he wouldn’t see or hear coming.
He took a step forward and his foot landed in something sticky on the floor. He lifted up and almost stumbled when he had to use twice as much force to free his boot.
“There’s something on the floor here, y’all. It’s sticky as hell.”
Dom and Matty said they’d watch out for it. Jed kept moving, one step at a time, deeper and deeper down the corridor.
A heavy silence wrapped around him as he walked in the darkness, and the green glow finally grew bright enough for him to make out more than the pipes running along the walls. He could see the ceiling better now, and when he did, he almost wished it had stayed dark.
