The Tide: Breakwater (Tide Series Book 2)

by Melchiorri, Anthony J

  “Copy, Chief.”

  The Hunters ran down the halls and followed the signs for Bancroft posted on the walls. Their feet pounded against the marble floors. When an ornate, engraved placard announced they’d made it to Bancroft, they took a corner toward a flight of stairs.

  The gunfire started to sound closer. It echoed throughout the building.

  “We’re almost there!” Dom said.

  Other sounds started to permeate through the din of the resisting survivors and the chorus of Skulls outside. A high-pitched screaming. This was no cry of pain, though. It was one of fear or hunger, maybe. It was a baby.

  “This way!” Renee yelled back to the group and then turned down a hallway. Dom sprinted to catch up and almost ran into her.

  She’d stopped, her gun lowered to her side. All along the hallway, doors cracked open. Scared faces peered out. The cry of the baby sounded from one of those dorms.

  “Mama, Mama, the soldiers are here to help!” a young boy said and rushed out. He ran to Renee and Dom. His mother chased after. The boy smiled and tugged on Dom’s sleeve.

  Dom flashed the child a quick, reassuring smile, but there was no time to waste. “Bravo, start rounding people up. Find out if there are other floors with survivors and get them on those boats!”

  “Aye, aye!” Renee responded.

  The mother of the young boy grabbed her son and pressed herself flat against the wall to make room for the Hunters.

  “Where are the midshipmen? The gunners?” Dom asked her.

  The woman pointed further down the hall. “That way.”

  “Thanks.” Dom started to jog between the curious and frightened people now starting to fill the halls. “Alpha, on me. Civilians, out of our way. Move, move!”

  Several shell-shocked people still stood frozen in place. Dom shouldered his way through the crowd. He thought these people were practically acting like zombies themselves. They’d lost their homes, maybe the people they loved. And now he was about to tell them they needed to move again, that they needed to make one final run for freedom to escape the monsters banging down their doors.

  Dom ran toward another intersection and took a left toward the sound of gunfire. He tore open a door and barreled through. A young woman in a sweat-stained white t-shirt and jeans spun, surprised, and almost brought her MP5 around to bear on him. A line of men and women around the same age aimed a menagerie of weapons out the windows to fire at the onslaught of Skulls.

  “Whoa!” Dom held up a hand and pointed his rifle toward the floor. “We’re on your side.”

  Sweat matted the young woman’s dark hair down over her face. She lowered the MP5. “Who are you?”

  “Dominic Holland, captain of the Huntress, a private covert contracting ship.”

  “Guns for hire?”

  “Something like that. Who’s in charge here?”

  The young woman laughed hysterically. “Who’s in charge? I don’t have a damn clue.”

  “Hunters, take positions and reinforce these men and women,” Dom said. “Is no one organizing your defenses?”

  “Right now?” the woman looked at him, her blue eyes wide, an almost crazed grin on her face. “I hold rank. Midshipman First Class Rachel Kaufman.”

  “No officers?”

  She shook her head. “Most died when the field house got attacked. Those monsters, those, those...”

  “Skulls,” Dom offered.

  “Sure, we tried to rescue the civilians, shelter them, but they started turning into those Skulls, and then, pardon my bluntness, Captain, but we were fucked.”

  “Understood,” Dom said. “Are there other survivors anywhere else on campus?”

  “That’s a negative,” Kaufman said. “We’re it.”

  The gunfire became almost deafening. Skulls were making it farther up the side of Bancroft before falling under the hail of bullets.

  “Round up your men and women,” Dom said, “because we’re getting out of here. We’ve secured the basin and plan to ferry everyone out. Can you all handle that?”

  “There are no more of these...Skulls...at the basin?”

  Dom shook his head. “We took care of ‘em. The only ones we’ve got left on campus are the ones trying to get through the fucking windows.”

  “Understood.” Kaufman turned to her fellow midshipmen. “These people are getting us out of here, so be ready to move!”

  A few midshipmen, covered in sweat, dirt, and blood, gave assenting nods. Most still fired at the Skulls. One reloaded, and a Hunter covered for the cadet.

  “Bravo, are the survivors ready to go?” Dom asked over the comm link.

  “Affirmative,” Renee said. “We’re good to go when you are.”

  “Charlie, let’s hear that music!”

  “Roger,” Miguel replied. “Here’s a little AC/DC for you!”

  The chapel bells began to make a clashing din, ringing across the campus. The disharmonious clang of the bells drowned out the sounds of the Skulls. Many of the creatures began sprinting toward the source of the sound.

  Yet those that had already started climbing the wall continued their ascent. One of the midshipmen shot a spray of bullets that knocked a Skull to the grass. Dom estimated a little under a hundred of the beasts still focused on Bancroft and were determined to get to their besieged prey.

  “Bravo team, go!” Dom called. “Midshipmen, Alpha, hold your positions!”

  The civilians, burdened by children, would move slower than the trained Hunters and midshipmen. Dom wanted them to get on their way while his team held off the Skulls as long as possible.

  “We’re moving!” Renee called back.

  The Skulls reinitiated their attack in earnest, climbing like spiders up the wall of Bancroft. One smaller Skull, barely five feet tall, dodged the incoming rounds. It climbed over the windowsill and lashed out with one clawed hand at a midshipman. The claws connected with the young man and stabbed into his side.

  Kaufman whipped her MP5 around and let loose a burst that caught the side of the Skull. But each bullet pinged off the bony armor harmlessly, serving only to knock the creature back a bit. The Skull’s mouth tore open, and it let loose a blood-curdling scream. Its bloodshot eyes locked on Kaufman.

  Dom aimed at the Skull still holding on to the now-dead midshipman. He squeezed the trigger once, and the Skull’s hateful face exploded in a spray of red and white. It fell back out the window, and its bodyweight dragged the midshipman out with it.

  “Oh, God,” Kaufman said. Her face blanched, and she stared at the spot where the other midshipman used to be. Dom thought for a moment that she was going to freeze. But she shuddered and then turned back to her own post. “Bastards!”

  “Bravo, give me your location,” Dom said, desperate to fall back.

  “We’re in McDonough, almost to Luce.”

  “Copy. Alpha, midshipmen, let’s move! Close every fucking door behind you, make it hard for them to follow us!”

  The midshipmen hopped up from their positions and filed down the hall toward Dom and Kaufman. The Hunters brought up the rear, guarding the cadets. A sudden crash of glass caught their attention, and a Skull plunged through another window. It barreled toward the group and pounced before anyone could get a clear shot.

  Sounds of ripping flesh and spilling blood filled the hall along with the yells and screams of the other midshipman. Dom kicked the Skull off a fallen cadet and smashed its face with the heel of his boot. “Move, move, move!”

  More broken glass clattered against the floor as Skulls poured into the hallway. The click of their claws on the floor chased after the Hunters. Dom fired a spray of bullets into the mass of creatures. “Jenna, take point, lead them out. The rest of you, stay back with me and cover the midshipmen.”

  Their volleys brought down the monsters leading the pack. Skeletal bodies crumpled, blood pouring out of gunshot wounds. Frenzied by the hunt, more climbed over the dead ones.

  Dom slammed a door shut behind them when they
rounded another corner. The Skulls threw themselves at the obstacle until it burst from its frame. One broke its arm in the attempt, yet the injured limb did nothing to distract it from its singular mission to kill and devour.

  “Reloading!” Dom called. Jenna and Owen laid down covering fire. Three more Skulls went down, and their bodies were quickly trampled by their brethren.

  A bellow echoed down the hall, louder than the others, louder than the gunfire. The floor shook. A Skull, its muscles swollen and bulging, towered above the rest. It threw the normal-sized creatures out of its way like a child tossing aside dolls. The smaller beasts splattered against the walls as the giant Skull rushed toward Dom. Somehow, it was even bigger than the mutated monster he’d fought aboard the Queen of the Bay.

  “A Goliath!” he called. “Go, go, go!”

  “Goliath?” Jenna asked, turned around, and then caught sight of the gargantuan abomination. “Holy shit!”

  Dom sprayed gunfire into the creature’s chest, its neck, and its face. Nothing perturbed it. The creature’s cheekbones jutted out. Overgrown fangs stuck out from beneath its lips. Even its nose was shielded by a cage of bone. Squeezing the trigger again, Dom hoped to see a bullet pierce one of the giant’s beady eyes, the only weak spot he could catch in his sights.

  The beast continued onward, the skeletal plates on its shoulder blades scraping against the walls and ceiling. Dom unclipped a grenade from his vest. Not a choice he liked to make in an enclosed space like this. But the Goliath gave him few options.

  Dom caught sight of a small sign saying they’d made it to McDonough. They were almost there, almost out. He couldn’t let this creature stop them.

  He lobbed the grenade when the midshipmen and his rescue party turned another corner. “Frag out!”

  The grenade hit the Skull on its chest. The beast paid about as much attention to it as a charging rhino does to a pebble thrown at its thick hide. The grenade exploded, a flash of light and heat overwhelming Dom. The blast sent him sprawling, his ears ringing and pain lancing up his side. He scrambled to his feet, reaching to recover his rifle.

  Behind him, the roof caved in. Dust, pipes, and tiles fell across the body of the Goliath. The only benefit of the enormous Skull was its ability to block the hallway.

  Dom exhaled slowly then continued jogging after the Hunters guarding the midshipmen’s rear. The frustrated cries of the Skulls could be heard behind the wall of broken cinder blocks and fallen rafters. They weren’t going to get through.

  The rubble shook. Debris shifted as the body of the Goliath moved. Not just moved—stood up. The gargantuan monster was covered in gray dust. Its chest, caved in and mangled, wept blood. Several ribs were busted and torn outward, pointing at Dom. The Goliath’s head snapped back, and it let out another fearsome bellow.

  It began to charge.

  -28-

  Lauren watched Peter make the first incision in Kara’s abdomen. Sean and Divya waited in the OR, patiently making themselves available in case things took a turn for the worse.

  A million worries burned through Lauren as she watched the scalpel cut into the bruised flesh. In her mind’s eye, she saw Dom landing in Annapolis and then ushering the survivors onto boats in which they would sail off to Kent. A surge of guilt flooded her. Dom had left Kara in her team’s hands twice already while he risked his life fighting Skulls. Now it looked like she might have failed in her duty to protect the captain’s daughter.

  Dom would never forgive her if Kara died on her watch.

  “Be ready with the hemostat,” Peter said, his voice measured and calm. He cut into a small space beneath Kara’s ribcage.

  “Got it,” Lauren said. She might’ve been the lead on the medical team, but Peter’s specialty was surgery. She had no problem letting him take charge when the stakes were as high as they were now.

  “Through the peritoneum now,” Peter said. The scalpel sliced the thin membrane. “Divya, clean it up for me.”

  Divya took a plastic hose used to suction the excess blood and inserted it where Peter pointed. The blood drained, but more pooled in its place.

  “You were right,” Peter said, pointing to another small, purplish organ. “She’s got renal hemorrhaging.” He indicated another vessel. “Internal bleeding. Hemostat.”

  Lauren clipped the hemostat in place. She’d recognized the shadows she’d seen on the ultrasound. And given the location, she’d guessed it was a combination of kidney damage and internal bleeding caused by the chelation therapy to combat the Oni Agent in Kara’s body. She couldn’t shake the fact that she’d been the one to develop the therapy. She’d even argued with Peter and Sean that the side effects of the therapy were definitely no worse than letting someone suffer from the Oni Agent. But now Kara was bleeding out, and it was all Lauren’s fault.

  She desperately wanted to fix her mistake, but it was up to Peter now. His fingers worked, delicately suturing a torn vessel. “Suction.”

  Divya responded by placing the suction tube back into Kara’s abdominal cavity. This time it took longer for the blood to fill the volume. The bleeding was slowing.

  “Hemostatic gel,” Peter said.

  Sean tore open the sterile packaging. He handed the open packet to Peter. The surgeon sprinkled the small, clear particles from within it over the ruptured vessels and kidney. Blood around these particles immediately coagulated in response to the chemical factors within the gel.

  “Suction.”

  Again, Divya removed the blood. Far less flowed in. Peter probed the site of Kara’s internal injuries with a laparoscope. He exhaled slowly behind his surgical mask. “I think we got it.”

  Lauren watched Kara’s blood pressure rise to a normal level. The EKG reported her pulse had returned to an acceptable rhythm. Peter began to stitch the wound with precise, small loops. When he finished, he laid his tools on a surgical tray and caught Lauren’s eye.

  She waited for him to say, I told you so. I told you the therapy was dangerous.

  Instead, the expression in his eyes turned warm. “I think she’s going to be fine. We caught the bleed in time.”

  “Right,” Lauren said. “We’ll need to watch if there’s any permanent renal damage.”

  “Definitely, but with your quick thinking, we identified the problem soon enough that I think her kidneys are going to be okay.”

  Lauren nodded. All at once the physical and emotional toll of the past few days seemed to catch up to her as Divya and Sean wheeled Kara out of the OR and back to the patient room. Lauren followed Peter out of the OR, and they removed their masks and gloves.

  Peter looked hard at her while he washed his hands. “You think you’re responsible for what just happened, don’t you?”

  “Of course,” Lauren replied. “It was my therapy. You warned us about the side effects, and Kara proved you right.”

  “I know what I said, but you were the one that was right. If we wasted our time and never tried the chelation treatment, Glenn would be a Skull right now. Divya would be a Skull right now. Kara would be a Skull.” Peter started to dry off his hands. “Lauren, you were right. We didn’t lose Kara, and we won’t lose her. And it’s because of your work. It’s because you convinced me.”

  Lauren stood, silent for a moment, and then said, “Thanks, Peter. I appreciate it.”

  “You got it, boss.”

  Lauren shook her head. She peeked into the patient room to see Divya holding back Maggie as Sean told Sadie that her sister would be okay. She knew her presence wasn’t needed there, so she went to see a former patient she’d neglected over the past few days.

  She made her way to the crew quarters. She should have been checking with Chao to see their progress in identifying viable neuro research labs. But she also needed to take care of herself; she needed a breather, a respite from the demands of helping save the world.

  The door she was looking for was ajar. She knocked on the frame and nudged the door open.

  Sitting on his bed, Glenn look
ed at her from behind a thick textbook. His lips cracked in a wide smile. “Howdy, Doc.” His grin evaporated. “You look like you’ve come to deliver bad news. Got something to tell me?”

  “No, you’re doing fine.” Lauren sat at the foot of his bed. “I’m betting you’ll be fully recovered from the chelation treatment and good to go on your next mission.”

  “And is that what the glum face is about?” He swung his legs over the side of the bed and sidled up next to her with the textbook in his lap.

  “Not exactly.” Lauren brushed a hand through her hair before catching sight of the book. “Molecular bio? Where did you get that, and why are you reading it?”

  Lauren thought she detected the former Green Beret’s dark skin turn a hushed shade of red. He was always full of surprises, always thirsting to learn something new. It was one of the reasons she admired him—why she’d always enjoyed his company.

  “The book’s from the medical library,” Glenn said.

  “Didn’t realize you had joined my team.”

  Glenn grinned again. “Lauren, you know I’ve always been on your team.”

  “Too much, Glenn, too much.” Lauren patted his knee. It was corny, but she admitted she liked hearing him say it. She left her hand on his knee. “But what are you really doing with it?”

  “I wasn’t sure how long I’d be out of commission as a Hunter. I wanted to make myself useful, so I was trying to see if I could learn anything to help you out in the lab. Maybe I could just wash petri dishes.” He put his hand on hers. “If there’s anything I can do, I want to be there for you.”

  Lauren knew she should pull away. After all, they’d agreed not to pursue a relationship. They worked in too close of quarters on the Huntress. Neither wanted their mutual feelings to get in the way of their professional duties.

  But did any of that matter? Skulls roaming landside, governments falling, science turned upside down. Screw convention and professionalism. Tomorrow was no longer a guarantee. All they had, all that was certain in their lives, was this moment. This now.