Mega Cataclysm: The Last Survivors Chronicles

by Scott Todd

  But that's tomorrow. Right now I must sleep. I am locking the doors, and leaving a tiny crack in my window. And if any of you find these notes and read them, then please understand why I did what I did. It was to protect us. Life is hell enough already here without having to be forced into submission AGAIN. We need a new path, free from warmongering, greedy cockroaches.

  Chapter 45: Radical Radio

  The morning of day six came for easy for me with a sweet hand rubbing my hair and the smell of fresh brewed coffee permeating the car. I opened my eyes to see the loving stare of Jan looking down upon me with a steaming cup of black gold on the dash.

  "Want a kiss?" she asked playfully. "Then here..."

  She handed me a toothbrush, paste, and a bottle of water. "Up up up, sunshine," she remarked. "We have a busy day ahead."

  "Yes... Yes... We do!" I replied, and immersed myself in the coffee before greeting her with fresh breath, a deep kiss and a hug. "Thanks so much for the coffee... And thanks... For... For... Just being you!" I said, meaning every ounce of it.

  I kissed her again. She smiled back with such a tenderness in her eyes that my eyes watered up a bit. I knew then she had me smitten. Gone. Off the deep end and totally there. Here the world was ending, and what do I do? Fall in love. Great.

  The previous night's closing thoughts resurfaced, and I relayed them to her. They gave her a bit more hope for the others, and she seemed to understand and agree that we should try to get over to the southwestern side and begin radio calls.

  We then went through all of things Gary had packed thoroughly. And aside from all the essentials one could ever hope for, there was also what appeared to be a special laptop type of portable computer packed in a dedicated hard case. But it was locked, and it needed keys to be opened.

  We searched all through everything else, but found no keys. I looked at Jan, perplexed. "What are we supposed to do with this, if we can't even open it?" I asked her.

  "Well didn't Ben hand you some keys when..." she started to say.

  "Yes, good thinking... Wait... Let me see..." I fumbled around in my pockets and dug out all the sets of keys I had. And in checking Ben's SUV keys, I noticed a peculiar set on its own separate ring of a kind I had never seen before. I tried them, and up popped the top of the case, revealing a sophisticated panel face with a large screen. A red light was flashing in the middle of it.

  I looked up at Jan. "Wow, so what do you suppose that light is?" I asked her, and continued looking closely at the screen. Then I realized suddenly what we were looking at. It was a topographical map of the mountain and surrounding area, which was up in the top right of screen. And the blinking light was sure enough southwest of it.

  Examining it more still, I realized it was a touch screen, and was able to zoom in around the blinking red light, which then turned into the shape of a sub. I looked up startled at Jan again.

  "Is that...?" she asked, amazed.

  "I think so... Not sure, but this unit is probably linked in to their onboard systems," I said pensively. "Could be a special forces unit or something. Not sure."

  "That's exactly what it is," a voice suddenly said, coming from the unit.

  "G-- G-- Gary???" Jan exclaimed.

  "You betcha!" the voice replied, and he sounded in good spirits.

  I couldn't believe it. "So you're alive?!" I gasped.

  "Yup. All safe and sound. A little shaken still, but yeah, we're all ok. Just been waiting for you to finally open that lid! We really thought you didn't make it, or the supplies had been swept away."

  Jan seized me in a desperate hug, with tears streaming down her face.

  "Nope," I replied, "We're here, doing ok, and got all the supplies back to the cars. The bears nearly ate us, but the water rush and tremors scared them off just in time."

  "Excellent!" he replied. "I can't wait to tell Ben and Terry. They're at their posts, but I'll tell them immediately. Ok so, we can trade stories later, but we must save power- so this has to be quick. We are formulating a plan to recover you. Is the boat still in one piece and useable?"

  "Yes," I replied. "But it appears you guys are like two or three miles away, down about 1,500 to 2,000 feet of mountain. How's that going to work?"

  "Not sure yet, but we're working on that. Must save power, so please close the lid and open it back up at exactly 1300 hours, or 1 pm today. Got to go... Over and out," he said quickly, and silence ensued.

  I promptly shut the lid and removed the keys, putting them back in my pocket. Jan and I both looked at each with shit eating grins and jumped in the air with utter joy and relief. We had a chance. At what we didn't know, but it was better than no chance. They had made it, miraculously.

  After the news finally sunk in, Jan and I ate some more stew, but this time we heated it on the portable stove, and it tasted much better. Pretty damn good in fact with a little salt and pepper salvaged from the landslide digs.

  It was about 8:30 am when we finished eating.

  "So how are they going to...?" Jan began to say.

  "I know. I'm wondering the same thing," I quickly interrupted. "I have no idea what they're planning. But there has to be some water left over on the southwest side if the sub is there. It must have gotten trapped somehow by the mountains- exactly what I was hoping for."

  "Well don't we need to get the boat down to the new water line if we are going to make it to the sub?" Jan asked pensively.

  "Yes, but that means we have to go through lion territory," I said, looking up at her in hesitation. She grimaced in fear.

  "And if we are trying to drag the boat all the way down there, we could be surprised and ambushed at any time by those things," she added quietly, looking down at the ground.

  "Yeah that's right," I had to agree morbidly. "It's going to take everything we have to get that boat down there, and we will be very distracted... I don't know. Maybe we'd better wait until 1300 and see what plans they have. We've got about four hours until..."

  Suddenly Jan screamed, grabbed her rifle, and pointed over towards the trail. Two painters were pacing around near the edge of the parking lot, and she quickly climbed into the Caddy and shut her window. I grabbed my rifle and did the same.

  We sat there and watched them for a while, and strangely, they didn't want to go beyond their territory. But then all of a sudden another few emerged from the woods, and then a few more- all just pacing back and forth at the edge of the parking lot. They seemed agitated and impatient, as if waiting for something.

  "They probably smell us," she said, trembling.

  "Yeah," I agreed in a shaky voice, pointing to three more that had emerged from the woods. But these three were right behind the car, and much closer. We were getting surrounded. Still, none of them would venture onto the pavement.

  But even that was about to change. They all shared about the same size, and were each big enough on their own to tear us apart, but what we saw next was seriously disturbing.

  Out from the pack over by the trail, an absolutely monstrous beast emerged, and slowly headed onto the pavement towards us, taking his sweet time and sniffing along. The others followed slowly.

  "So THAT'S what they were waiting for..." I said hesitantly.

  "My GOD that thing is huge!" Jan screamed. "Shoot it!" she yelled.

  I started to roll down my window just far enough to get the gun barrel out, when I heard a loud snarl and lion paw strike the glass with a thud. And then I was looking straight into the face of a seriously hungry lion on the other side of the glass, gnashing its teeth and trying to slip its paw through the tight crack in the window.

  I quickly closed it, as several others also tried the same thing. Jan screamed in horror as they tried the same on her side. The biggest one climbed up on the hood, rocking the car, and stared at us through the front windshield. Its sheer size alone was enough to cause heart attacks. And no doubt about it, my heart was racing. Too fast.

  We were trapped. We couldn't shoot through the glass, because th
at that would surely mean death if any glass broke, giving them a way in. Even in full auto mode, the weapons weren't enough, and we knew it. They'd be all over us in an instant.

  "We've got to keep the windows closed, and we can't shoot," I managed to say to Jan, who was now cowering down in terror on the front floorboard. "They get a claw through a crack and they could use it to break and tear a window out."

  "I can't watch," she screamed. I reached out to touch her, but the movement agitated the beasts further. I quickly withdrew my hand and sat still- clutching my now useless rifle. My mind raced in adrenaline, trying to find a solution to our desperate situation. Two more had climbed on the rear trunk, and peered at us with hungry eyes through the back windshield.

  After a while of this terror, although we were desperate, it appeared that for the moment we were in a stalemate. They couldn't get in- but we couldn't get out, either. They kept scratching and gnawing at the car, and hearing that was probably the most terrifying of all.

  Jan finally arose tentatively to look, again agitating them.

  "I guess we can count our lucky stars this wasn't a convertible..." I mused, trying to diffuse some tension.

  She just glared at me, and was not amused. I gave her a hug, but she refused to let go. "This sucks..." she said, trembling. "And what's more, the computer and all the food... It's out there, and most of the food is in the trunk and the SUV. So until they leave, we are screwed."

  "IF they leave," I stressed. "This could take a while." I looked at my watch, and it was 9:30 am. "I sure as hell hope they leave by..."

  "Hey wait... Do you hear that?" Jan interrupted me, looking around. "Sounds like this weird buzzing. Do you hear it? It's faint but... I'm pretty sure that wasn't there a minute ago."

  My heart nearly jumped out of my chest. Any new sound in that situation was terrifying. But I heard it. It could mean something else happened, or more intruders, or... What in the...? And it seemed to be getting slightly louder. But even more perplexing, it seemed to be coming... From above.

  And then it got a lot louder, and it became clear that it WAS coming from above. We even noticed the beasts had become distracted by it, and we saw the monster on the hood look up and stare. It suddenly stood up, and the car rocked again under its tremendous shift of weight.

  Then we heard what sounded like several bursts of gunfire from a distance. And it was larger gunfire, like from large caliber bullets. We heard several growls and snarls, and then all of a sudden there was a huge commotion outside. The big one on the hood, and the ones on the trunk got down to join in the fray.

  As I peered out my window, I saw several dead lions on the ground, with the rest fighting over them and trying to drag off the carcasses in a mad swirl of snarls and growls. And then they were gone, with the usual trails of blood leading off across the pavement in various directions into the woods.

  Chapter 46: Death From Above

  Jan and I stared at each other in amazement, and didn't know what in the world to think at first. We listened for the buzzing, which gradually got fainter and fainter, and then finally disappeared altogether.

  Looking around carefully, we slowly climbed out of the car. There were several large blood splatters all around, with small pieces of meat all over the place. Clearly some of the lions had been hit... But by what?

  Jan looked at me, and I just shrugged my shoulders. But I couldn't help but crack a slight smile.

  "We'd better grab that computer and some food while we have a chance," she said. One minute later we were right back in the car with the windows slightly cracked. But just slightly. And the computer, food, and water on the back seat.

  "I am sure hoping that whatever it was, Gary had something to do with it..." I said. "Because if not, there could be someone else around."

  But before Jan could answer, we heard a series of three quiet beeps coming from the back seat. And then again, and again. I reached and grabbed the computer, got the keys and popped the hood.

  The beeps stopped. "It's an experimental, special ops Unmanned Aerial Vehicle or UAV... With, ahh, cameras, infrared, and.... A little firepower onboard," Gary said. I detected a slight sense of triumph in his voice. "You guys ok?"

  "We are now for the moment," I said. "Thanks. Was worried that might have been someone else."

  "Nope, just me," Gary replied. "We were working to make it quieter. Figured I'd do a test run and locate you before we moved on our plans which we are still finalizing, but are mostly ready. I guess that was right on time, huh?"

  "Yeah, I'll say," Jan replied, somewhat relieved.

  "Ok well, let's shut down to save power and keep our 1300 hour communiqué. Let us finish a plan. Over and out," Gary concluded.

  I shut the lid and looked at Jan, pretty relieved myself. Not only for the dead lions, but to know that it was Gary- and not someone else. The last thing we needed were more greedy, invasive cockroaches- that we would most likely- have to exterminate.

  It was then about 11 am, and we had just a couple of hours to kill before we had the plan. I figured we'd better play it safe and stay in the car. There was no telling if there were more lions about, and God only knows what happened to the bears.

  We kept careful watch, but nothing else showed up to eat us. At 1300 exactly, we heard the beeps.

  "Ok, here's what we've got," Gary said. "In two days, we are going to try and get as close as we can to the water line- and hopefully, close enough that you can spot us from the new shoreline. But that may not be possible- we are not sure yet, until we do more surveying of the bottom. You copy so far?"

  "Copy," I replied. "But why in two days?" Jan looked at me mortified, realizing we would have to endure another two days of avoiding becoming lion or bear food.

  "It will give the ground time to dry more, making your trek a little less dangerous, and also give us more time to map the new bottom," Gary continued. "We have to move very carefully, and so we are creating new maps of the land the receding water has left behind, both under water and what's left above water.

  "That test run of the UAV proved helpful, and we plan to use it to cover you on your way here against more beasts. But it is limited in flight time, and is partly solar powered, as is your computer, so we have to pick the right day. The last known weather forecasts show that two days from now we should have plenty of sun- but that could have changed drastically since the event. We just don't know.

  He continued: "The bottom line is you two are going to need to get that boat down there- a distance of exactly 2.3 miles down the mountain. I can help lead you to the exact spot with the UAV, but we have to do it in three stages, so I can refuel and rearm it by bringing it back to the ship. And I can't really cover you with the UAV if you are under thick trees, so getting out from under them ASAP is vital.

  "Fortunately, almost all the trees are gone once you descend past the top part of the mountain that stayed out of the water. Down below it is more of a barren, wet wasteland- so the going should be easier and I can cover you better."

  "So why couldn't we just swim out to the sub instead of taking the boat?" Jan interrupted, asking Gary.

  "Not to sound arrogant or anything Jan, but we have spent the last two days planning this very carefully, and considering virtually every aspect of this situation best we can," Gary answered in an impartial kind of tone. "We considered that, and if worse came to worse, that's a last resort. But we are really going to need that boat, for one, and for two, the currents are still very strong and dangerous."

  Jan huffed a little bit, but she understood and went quiet.

  Gary continued. "So now back to the plan. In two days from now, at 0800 hours, or 8 am, you two need to be ready to move to the southwest in Stage One of the plan. The goal for this stage is to get you and the boat, and any relevant supplies, down just past the tree line and out from under the trees. You will see the UAV landed in the parking lot at 0800. I will have canvassed the area for an all clear- but remember- and this is important- you will be
most vulnerable while you are hidden by the trees. So you WILL have to protect yourselves. "I will move the UAV just ahead of you and stop it in short periods of about 300 feet. You just have to get to it- I mean under it- each time. And in this way we will progress slowly forward. Then we will stop once you get past the trees, so I can bring it back to recharge. We believe we can complete Stage One and Two the first day if all goes well, but you are going to have spend the night out in the open after Stage Two. By that point you should be well down the mountain.

  "And to help you with that night, I am going to send you some special lights in two stages- the UAV has a special storage compartment that I can release remotely, without having to land it. But initially I will land it in the parking lot to deliver the first two. The compartment will be open once you get to it- so just remove the lights. Later that day I will deliver two more after the recharging- and those I will drop from a low altitude near you. We cannot afford to land it on uneven ground and risk damage.