by Jason Keizer
“Clear!” Oliver says while spinning and scanning the area around them.
James orders, “Check in on Henry. I don't hear any shots on his end or through my headset anymore.”
Oliver presses the button on his headset and unmutes it. He says, “Hey, Henry, you all good?”
Henry quickly replies, “Yup. Just waiting on yawl to get done. Also, thanks for having your shit on mute.”
James taps his headset, “Yeah, well, I do what I can. I accidentally hit the mute button. You know I keep telling those assholes the button gets pressed once in a while when I shoot. They really should make a few of these for lefties.”
“Well, I’ll make a note of it on some toilet paper and make sure to send it to someone who gives a shit.”
Oliver gives a small chuckle and says, “Henry, meet us at that train car. I want to check it out and see if there is a clue as to how they got so many to jam in there.”
“Ok. Be there in a few. Just gotta clear these things off the tracks.”
Oliver hops out of the cab and joins James on the tracks. He tosses James a pair of gloves, and they start clearing the dead Arctics off of the rails.
James and Oliver walk up to a dead Arctic and lift it up. James lifts at the shoulders, Oliver at the feet. James asks, “You have any idea what the hell that was? You think that was a trap for us?” They shuffle a few feet and toss the Arctic away from the tracks.
Walking to the next one, Oliver says, “Beats me. It could have been a trap for someone. Doubt it would be for us. Not like anyone knew we were coming. Could have even just been an accident. Someone probably found a way to trap them in there, and we just broke it open when it flipped.” They pick another one up and toss it to the side of the tracks as well.
Henry comes in through the mic, with a strained voice, “Well, I guess we can find out when we get back there and check it out. Looked like a trap to me, but like you said, no one knows we are out here. Probably was meant for someone else if anything.” James and Oliver pick up another one and toss it off the tracks.
Once the Arctics are cleared from the tracks, the team meets back up near the train car and hop out of the trucks. There is a noise coming from inside the flipped over car. “Henry, stand guard. We are gonna see what is still in there,” says James.
Henry nods his head and jumps in his truck into the gunner seat. He scans over the landscape as James and Oliver walk over to the train car, looking at the trees that line the sides of the tracks as far as the eye can see.
Staring at the reefer car, Oliver says, “It's got to be terribly cold in there. So, which one of us is going to have the pleasure of going in?”
James holds out a fist and says, “Loser looks. Rock, paper, scissors.”
Oliver holds his hand out. They both say, “One, two, three.” James holds out two fingers to form scissors. Oliver has his hand flat to show paper.
Seeing the results, Oliver shakes his head and says, “That is the one thing I can never figure out about you. One day you are going to tell me how you win all the time.”
James gives a smile and says, “Well, you can’t have all the brains in this team. Now get your ass up there. Be careful. Sounds like one of them couldn't reach the door. Hey, maybe it doesn't have any legs. That would be funny.”
Oliver grabs onto what is now the top of the car and climbs up. Inside, there is a dead Arctic laying down with a hole where its eye was just a few moments ago. Its head, sitting in a puddle of icy red, is frozen to the car. Standing next to it is another arctic. It is jumping up and down trying to reach the open door of the car.
Oliver starts to laugh a little and looks down to James. He says, “So close. This one doesn't have any arms. It's jumping up and down with nothing to grab with. Its shoulders froze just right, so it looks like an armless Sub Zero.”
James’ eyebrows shoot up, “Oh hold on, I need to see this shit.” He starts to climb up the car.
Oliver pulls out his pistol and shoots the Arctic in the head. He laughs as James just starts to bring his head up to the now top of the car and says, “Well maybe you should have lost for once, and you would have seen it. Maybe next time.”
James jumps back down and says, “You douche nozzle. I'll remember this.”
Oliver drops down through the door, his left foot lands on the first Arctic’s chest, almost causing him to slip and fall. Its chest cracks and breaks open a little bit, exposing its now frozen insides. Oliver quickly removes his foot off of it before the rubber of his boots starts to freeze to it. He kicks over the arm-less Arctic and picks up a small box from under it.
“Got a present coming at you. Watch out!” He yells from the car as he tosses the box out.
Oliver lifts himself out of the car and jumps back down by James. James holds out the box to give it to Oliver. “What is this for?” he asks.
Oliver takes the box from him. “Beats me. Besides the Arctics, it is the only thing in there, so it must be something interesting.” He turns the small box around in his hands, examining it, before looking up and quickly adding, “I'll see what I can do with it in the truck.”
“Well, you can check it out while we eat. This should be a decent spot for lunch now that it's pretty clear,” James says.
He waves over to Henry and says, “Hey, time for food. I'll take lookout.”
James goes to the back of his truck and grabs himself a ration of beef stew and a bottle of water. He then hops into his cab and into the gunner seat. Henry and Oliver each grab a ration and sit by the toppled rail car.
They open their MRE bags, pull out the heater, and add some water and a bag of food to it. As their meal is warming up, Oliver finds a small button on the side of the box.
He presses it, and a melody starts to play. It's the song Moonlight Sonata. Oliver freezes while his face turns pale white as the song echoes in his ears and deep into his mind.
ELEVEN
4 years ago:
It's a warm, sunny day in North Carolina. Spring is just about to end, and the air is filled with the aroma of fresh flowers. The sun is starting to peek back out from a couple of small clouds in the sky, bringing with it a gentle caress of warmth.
Oliver and his family are enjoying the beautiful day at a park just outside of Charlotte. His wife, Sarah, is pushing his daughter, Ellie, short for Elizabeth, on a swing as he reads from a collection of Edgar Allan Poe stories and poems. The song Moonlight Sonata serenades him through his headphones, as he sits alone on a bench, next to a red blanket and picnic basket.
This park is his daughter's favorite place to play. Every Saturday, if the weather was nice enough, they would come to the park and have a picnic. A couple sandwiches and juice, that was on the menu for today. They even had her sixth birthday party here a couple of weeks ago. That was the last time they have been to the park before today.
Lately, Oliver has been worried about the news reports of violence in the area and the horrific calls from Henry and James. His daughter begged him to go today, and with no reports of anything in the area, how could he say no to her.
The park isn't very big. In the center sits a jungle gym, with a swing set to its right. To its left, is a small area of grass for kids to play on. A small group of children plays tag in the patch as their parents sit nearby on short benches. About twenty meters behind the park lies a trailhead in the trees that will take you to a small pond the kids fish in.
Ellie has the biggest smile on her small face as she moves back and forth on the swing. Her long blonde hair that sits in a ponytail and blue eyes match perfectly with her mother's. A few small freckles that highlight the top of her cheeks and her wide smile are purely from Oliver though. She is wearing a pink dress with a white flower over her heart and white pants that James bought her for her birthday.
Sarah, pushing Ellie every time she swings back to her, has a red shirt and blue jeans. The sun shines off of her soft skin as a little bit of sweat starts to build on it. For Oliver, life could never get
better than this.
Just as Oliver finishes with the Poe poem, “The Bells,” he looks up to his lovely wife and daughter and gives them a smile and a wave. They both smile back and Ellie waves for him to come over.
Oliver yells out to them, “Ok princess, I think it's my turn to push you.”
He puts a bookmark in his book and sets it down. As he brings his hand up and removes his silenced earbuds, a scream fills his ears. Oliver looks up and sees something shuffling through the trees.
A man walks out of the woods from behind the swing set. His skin looks dark; like he is bruised all over. His hair is long and terribly thin. One of his ears and part of his nose is missing. The other ear is barely hanging onto his head. His face shows no real expression and his eyes are white as snow. His clothes are torn in some areas. In other areas, they look like they have been glued to his skin.
The man looks over to the swing set. He lets out a loud screech and starts to run towards it. Oliver jumps up and yells to his wife and child, “Get out of the way!”
His wife turns around and sees the man behind her. With incredible speed, the man quickly closes the distance between himself and Sarah. Without stopping or slowing down from his sprint, he slams right into her, knocking her backward and Ellie off of the swing. He raises his arms up and swings down.
As Oliver starts running towards them, he reaches into his waistband and pulls out a small pistol. By the time he gets it out and takes aim it is too late. The man slams down with both of his arms once again. Specks of red fly into the air as he hits his target.
The man, no, the thing gets up and stands over Ellie and Sarah. The fresh blood on its hands and body starts to freeze. It slowly lifts its head as it takes in a long deep breath, almost as if all it really wanted to do was to take in that long whiff of blood in the air.
Oliver takes a shot at it. BAM! He hits it in the shoulder. The thing gets knocked back a step and gets turned around. Almost immediately, it turns back around to face Oliver. Blood is running from the wound, but not for long. It stops bleeding as the hole seems to have plugged itself up. Only a few drops seep out onto its shoulder before the blood freezes over.
Oliver stops and stares at it in horror. The thing pushes its foot back, to get ready to start another sprint towards Oliver. Before it can start its sprint, Oliver pulls the trigger once again. BAM! This time the bullet hits the thing in the mouth. Teeth and blood rip out and into the air as it falls back onto the ground.
Oliver lowers his weapon and runs over to his family. He looks down at them. What seemed like just a second ago, they were alive. They were happy. They were smiling. Now they just lie there. Beaten. Battered. Dead. The smiles wiped from what is left of their faces.
To his right Oliver sees the thing move a little bit. His face turns as red as the blood inching its way to his shoes, as he fills with rage. The thing starts to turn over to get up. Oliver kicks it in the side, making it roll over to its back once again. Oliver points his pistol at the thing's head and shoots the last of his pistol's magazine. BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM!
Looking past the sights and through the smoke coming from the barrel, Oliver stares at the creature's hole filled face. As it lays there, lifeless, a thin white mist spews from the bright blood as it pours out from around the mangled head. The grass quickly turns white and ices over as the blood freezes near it.
Oliver drops his pistol. He turns around and slowly stumbles back to his family. The red in his face drained, leaving his skin a ghostly white. When he gets to them, he drops to his knees next to his daughter and lifts her into his arms. The beautiful blonde hair that once covered her head is now soaked and dripping red. Her lifeless head falls to his shoulder as he holds her across his chest.
He grabs his wife with his other arm and pulls her onto his lap as he sits back. Even as the screams of children and parents fill the air around him, Oliver sits silently with his family one last time. As tears pour down his face, he starts to rock back and forth with them in his arms.
TWELVE
A tear falls from Oliver's eye and slides down his cheek as Henry rips the box from his trembling hands. He tosses it away from Oliver. The music continues to play as it bounces around the ground. “Oh fuck,” Henry says as he quickly stands up.
He pulls out the pistol from his waistband and aims it at the box. BAM! The bullet hits the box, sending wooden shards out and the music slowly stops. Henry slides his pistol back into his holster, sits down next to Oliver, and turns to look at him.
Oliver's face turns pale as he sits there, quietly. His eyes look blank as they stare out into the distance at nothing as the seared memory of his family’s death runs through his head. Henry puts his hand on the nape of Oliver's neck. Still, he doesn't move. His eyes still empty as they look on in the distance. Henry tightens his grip and gives Oliver a small shake. Which makes Oliver turn to face him.
As they look at each other, Henry says, “Hey brother, it's over now.” He pulls Oliver in close to him and says, “I am so sorry, but trust me brother, one day we will kill every single one of those mother fuckers. I wish it would bring them back, but it won’t. But no matter what, you still have family here with you today. Don’t forget that.”
“I know. Just gotta keep going. One day at a time,” Oliver says as he gives a couple nods.
Henry lets him go and trying to lighten the mood, says, “Besides, Dexter's lab, without you, where the hell you think we would be? Sure as hell wouldn't be around to enjoy this tasty shit they call a meal.”
Both men let out a small chuckle as Oliver wipes the last tears from his face. “Here,” Henry says as he tosses a small bag to Oliver. “I don't care for 'em, but I know you like 'em.”
The small bag lands in Oliver's lap. He looks down and picks them up. It's a bag of Reese's Pieces. Oliver gives Henry a slight smile, and says, “Thanks. This is my favorite.” He opens up the bag and grabs a couple pieces. Before tossing them into his mouth, he says, “Besides these, this meal is pretty unpalatable, huh?” The two men give another small chuckle and begin their meal.
James sits in his gunner's chair eating his lunch. On the roof of the truck, next to the M240B, sits his ration. It has a main course of beef stew, a spoon and fork, some crackers with cheese, and a small snack of M&Ms.
He asks the other two men, “Hey, did you guys hear that?”
“Hear what? The music?” asks Henry.
James shakes his head a little and says, “Not the music. It was like this really high pitched sound.” He pauses for a second as he wiggles his pinky finger in his right ear, “Maybe my ears were just ringing. Probably a little bit of tinnitus or something.”
He finishes up with his beef stew and reaches for the M&Ms, as he grabs them, he sees another Arctic running towards them. “Got one visitor,” He yells to the other two.
He drops the bag of candy and grabs the turret-mounted weapon. He takes aim down the iron sights and sends a few rounds out the barrel. BAMBAMBAM! The Arctic falls to the ground before it can make a sound.
“Got ‘em. All good!” He yells back as he picks his candy back up and tosses a couple pieces in his mouth.
When the men finish their food, they meet up in between their two trucks. “Henry, you might as well take point. We will drive until just before sunset. Then we will camp out on the rails and leave early in the morning. Should make it to our destination tomorrow afternoon,” says James.
Henry looks over at Oliver, who is staring at the ground, and says, “Hey Ollie, how about you hop in my truck. We can shoot the shit on the way out. Maybe you can finally convince me that the Die Hard movies are better than the Lethal Weapon movies.”
“Henry, you know very well that Die Hard was a better series.”
“So, I give you Die Hard one and three, but that’s it for the good of the series,” Henry says as he slides into his seat.
James walks back to his truck, hops in, and the team drives off.
Oliver, grabbing the radio recei
ver on the dash, turns it on and says, “Serra City, this is Crowley, do you read?”
He waits for a second, but no reply. He turns his attention to Henry, “Yeah, but those two combined are better than any Lethal Weapon. Plus, the fourth one was pretty good.”
He gets back on the radio, “Serra City, or any sectors of Serra, this is Oliver Crowley, please respond, over.” Still nothing.
Oliver puts down the radio and over his headset, says to James, “Hey, I can't get through to Serra City or any other place for that matter. I will keep trying, but I think anything long range might be useless this far out.”
James replies back to him, “Well, I don't expect any cell towers to be up and running out here either. I will give the sat phone a try. It should work just about anywhere.”
James tries to call out on the sat phone but gets no service. He tries a couple more times but gets nothing on the other end. Over his headset, to the other truck, he says, “Hey, sat phone is down for some reason. I'll try it again before we get some sleep. Oh yeah, don’t forget to plug your headsets in to keep charged while we drive. Never know if something will happen.”
“Sounds good and we already plugged them in,” Oliver responds.
A few miles down the road there is another train car sitting on the tracks. It's a cargo car this time. A thin layer of frost has formed on the outside and is slowly melting and dripping on the ground. The tracks in front of it look clear. Running along with the tracks, about twenty feet to each side are lines of trees.
Henry stops about fifty meters from the car. Oliver taps his headset and says to James, “Another train car up ahead. It looks like the thing is freezing, so I’m guessing it is full of Arctics like the last one. Any thoughts on what to do with it?”
After a couple seconds, James replies, “If you guys want a little fun we can blow the shit out of it. Joe gave us a bunch of bricks of C4 and a few claymores.”
