Mac nodded.
"How can I help?" Emily asked.
"If you're up for it, help guide the rest of the survivors to the main tunnel."
"Will do," said Emily, squeezing her husband's hand. She moved off along the wall, her eyes roving constantly over the walls, floor, ceiling, looking for any threat, unable to shake a sense that something momentous had been set in motion, and that time was growing shorter with every passing second.
•••
"Keep moving. That's it." Emily urged the line of frightened humans snaking along the edge of the wall to pick up their pace. She ushered the survivors to where Petter and a handful of his and Mac's soldiers defended the mouth of the main tunnel, the only exit they were aware of back to the surface. Constructs hit the ground all around, then began to squeal and fall as they were cut down. Emily, blasted one from the wall just above the fleeing humans, screaming a warning as the body fell to the ground, narrowly missing a man who was just fast enough to dodge away.
The cavern was filled with thunder, adding to the confusion and chaos. Humans screamed in fear and panic, some ran blindly in the opposite direction to where they needed to go, and Emily found herself grabbing the fleeing humans by whatever appendage or piece of clothing she could lay her hand on, shoving them back toward the main stream of survivors and the exit.
The remaining constructs screeched and ululated, calling to each other in that strange trilling language. The constant bam, bam, bam of automatic weapon fire and the thud of Emily's shotgun against her unprotected ears would surely leave those who made it out of this madness alive with permanent hearing damage. But the constructs were dropping like proverbial flies, and that was what mattered. She fired at a construct that was already missing two of its legs, limping across the floor toward the line of escaping humans, dropping it mid-stride as it tried to climb over the body of another of its kin. The ground was littered with alien bodies, and for a moment, Emily thought how terrible what she was doing was: the systematic destruction of these creatures. But then she remembered the survivors huddled in that cave, desperate and deprived. Terrified. How the constructs, cold and emotionless, had ignored their victims’ pleas for mercy. And she remembered the world that had existed before this one, a world that despite all its faults had been beautiful. And she mourned for the world that could have been, if the Caretakers' true purpose had been fulfilled, a purpose that would have helped turn the Earth into a paradise, instead of this blood-red planet. A planet corrupted by the Locusts to assuage the constant unquenchable greed of these creatures that took everything for themselves and left nothing. Emily felt the cold bitterness at the very center of her being. She pulled more shells from her pocket and pushed them into the shotgun, then one after the other she took aim at the constructs and fired until her weapon was empty again. She reached into her pocket and found only four shells remaining, loaded them, then forced herself to mentally step away from the murderous rage that had gripped her. There was still the .45 strapped to her waist, she reminded herself, but that was a far less effective way to dispatch these creatures than the shotgun. She slung the shotgun and pulled out the pistol.
"Move faster," she yelled at the line of humans, urging them onward.
The echo of gunfire gradually began to die away. Minutes later, it ceased entirely.
Emily took a moment to scan the huge dome of the cavern, assessing the situation. There were no more constructs alive up there. All their bodies lay broken and shattered across the expanse of the cavern. If there were other caverns like this and more of the constructs made their way here, it would be impossible to defend themselves given the potential numbers, so time, now more than ever, was of the essence. They had to get out. She had done as Adam had instructed her, delivering the cube to the heart of the energy stream, now they needed to get well clear of this place so Adam could do whatever it was he had planned. What that was exactly was still a mystery to her, but Adam had assured her that it would be effective in eradicating this scourge from the universe, once and for all. Whatever it was he had planned, she didn't want to stick around and see it in action. They needed to get as far away as possible in whatever time remained. She saw Mac about twenty meters back from where she stood, guiding the line of people in her direction.
He caught her eye and yelled, "We're getting close to the last of them."
Emily gave Mac a thumbs up and a quick smile then turned her attention back to the people streaming past her.
"This is all that's left," said Mac a few minutes later, jogging to join Emily. He pointed back over his shoulder as the tail-end of the line of survivors emerged from the tunnel. Bishop and Cleaver stood at the tunnel's exit covering their retreat.
Emily stepped forward and caught an exhausted man as he stumbled over his own feet, his eyes focused on some distant point, moving by instinct rather than purpose. She eased him back into the line and watched him move away, ready to catch him again if he stumbled. There were maybe thirty or so people left between where she stood and where Bishop and Cleaver watched over the last few stragglers.
"Time to leave," Mac said, touching Emily lightly on an elbow.
Emily nodded, and began walking alongside Mac toward the main tunnel. She had taken just a few steps when, from behind her, she heard a yell of warning quickly followed by a scream of pain. She and Mac swung around in time to see Cleaver's body flying into the air, then drop again head first, his arms windmilling before hitting the ground with a sickening, wet crunch. Cleaver did not move.
Bishop stepped away from the mouth of the tunnel, his rifle raised and aimed back into it. He began firing on full auto, the empty shell cases raining onto the ground around him. Whatever Bishop was aiming at was coming down the tunnel. Emily looked at Mac, her stomach lurched at the sickening realization at what they both knew was heading their way.
"Get them out of here," Mac yelled at Petter, who was busy trying to herd the last of the survivors toward the tunnel that would take them to the surface. Mac turned back to Bishop and yelled at him to join them.
Bishop ejected the magazine from his weapon and was in the process of reloading it when two shapes bolted from the tunnel's mouth, hitting the man simultaneously, bowling him over and knocking his rifle away. They were on him again in a second. He screamed as the two mutant-humans began tearing and biting at him. Mac raised his rifle and shot one, giving Bishop the chance he needed to pull his sidearm and empty his magazine into the remaining mutant before it could do any more damage to him. Bishop fumbled a fresh magazine from his tunic's pocket, slipped it into his pistol and slammed it home. He turned and began to limp toward the exit where Emily, Mac, and the rest of the team waited, covering his retreat.
Emily gasped.
A shape, huge and terrifying, rose behind Bishop, towering over the man. The soldier barely had time to react before the arms of the Locust enveloped him and pulled him close. Smoke rose from the man's body as he disintegrated before Emily's eyes, dissolving into the Locust's chest, his screams shattering the silence that had fallen over the chamber like a shroud. Then Bishop was gone, nothing but a wisp of acrid smoke and a pool of liquid to evidence he had ever existed at all. The second, then the third Locust pulled themselves erect from around the concavity and joined the first. A deafening howl, deep and throbbing emanated from all three creatures, a thunder that echoed around the cathedral-like cavern.
"Holy shit," Mac hissed. He raised his weapon to shoot, then lowered it again as, from the mouth of the tunnel, a wave of mutant-humans and constructs crashed into the chamber.
•••
Emily and Mac ran for their lives.
A barrage of gunfire buzzed over their heads as they sprinted toward the tunnel and their comrades. Emily dared not look behind her, but the urgency in Petter's voice as he yelled that they should "Run! Run!" and the fear on his team's faces told her both she and Mac were only marginally ahead of their pursuers.
Petter's group parted as they approached; M
ac and Emily bolted through the gap. Mac immediately turned and began firing. Emily slid to a stop, pulled her pistol, and started shooting too.
The constant rat-tat-tat and boom of gunfire, mixing with the snarls and screeches of the mutant-humans, and the high-pitched trilling shrieks of the constructs created a symphony that only the Devil himself could have found pleasure in. But above this cacophony of chaos, the deep throbbing ululation of the three awoken Locusts dominated. Whether the Locusts were communicating with each other or commanding the swarm of constructs and former-humans was beyond Emily's understanding, but the overall effect it had on her was not; it was bloodcurdling.
"Fuck! There are hundreds of them," Emily yelled, hearing the panic in her own voice.
Petter shouted back, "We've got to hold them off long enough for the survivors to get to the surface."
Emily grabbed Mac's forearm. "If we pull them into the tunnel we'll at least be able to slow them down," she said. While the tunnel was huge in size, it would funnel the aliens into a more manageable area. Hopefully.
Mac must have thought so too, because he ordered, "Back into the tunnel, everyone," yelling to be heard over the thud of gunfire.
"Getting low on ammo," a Jegertroppen yelled.
"Then pick your targets; single shot where you can. Now, move." Mac grabbed Emily by the shoulder and pulled her away from the mouth of the tunnel. They sprinted about twenty meters farther in. Ahead of them, the tail-end of the rescued Point Loma survivors was disappearing around the first corner. Petter and his group joined Emily and Mac, then as one they turned back in the direction of the cavern and trained their weapons on the tunnel's entrance.
The first construct skidded into view and was instantly cut down. Another, and another followed behind it, all were quickly dispatched until there was a pile of twitching bodies eight deep lying on the smooth floor of the tunnel, creating a natural barrier that the other aliens had to scramble over.
As if to prove Emily's earlier theory wrong, a group of mutant-humans darted into the tunnel, then leaped onto the walls, the claws that had replaced hands and feet sending chunks of the tunnel's glass coating spraying away as they found imperfect purchase.
"Fuck!" someone yelled as two of the mutants managed to evade the gunfire that cut down the rest of their group. One scuttled along the wall, the other over the ceiling, zig-zagging to avoid the team's bullets.
Emily expected the creatures to launch themselves at the line of defenders as soon as they were in range, instead they kept running, then leaped to the ground several meters behind the group. As one, the entire group, turned to track the mutants, opening fire at the two mutants, that, rather than attack, seemed more intent on dodging the bullets. One lasted for all of five seconds. The second was more skillful than its deceased brother, leaping left and right in mighty bounds that took it from one side of the tunnel to the other.
"What the fu—" Emily's words froze in her mouth as she realized they had been duped. It had been too easy to think of these creatures as dumb thralls of the constructs or the Locusts. They had forgotten that there was a terrible intelligence behind their actions. She had almost managed to turn back to face in the direction of the cavern when the Jegertroppen beside her was yanked from her feet.
The soldier—her name was Marit according to the badge sewn onto her tunic—began to scream as the Locust that had maneuvered itself into the tunnel pulled her to its chest and began to absorb her.
"Nei!" another Jegertroppen yelled and ran at the alien to help her comrade.
The Locust grabbed the woman with its second pair of arms around the neck with such force it almost severed her head from her body. It pulled the dead soldier to its chest and began to absorb her body too. It had taken less than seven seconds for all this horror to unfold and in that time, Emily had been rooted to the spot as the Locust loomed over her. Not a shot fired. She leveled her pistol at the Locust's head and pulled the trigger.
Click! Her pistol was empty.
The Locust, finished with the second soldier, returned their attention to the remaining humans. To Emily in particular.
"Mac!" Emily screamed, diving to the floor as the creature's hands clawed through the air she had just occupied.
Mac turned, yelled an expletive and ran the few meters to where Emily lay sprawled on the floor, sliding to his knees, his weapon trained on the underbelly of the Locust that towered over them. The alien was so large it was almost impossible for the thing to do anything other than move backward or forward. That was enough of an advantage for Mac. He put twenty rounds into the alien, gouging pieces of flesh from its body. The Locust staggered backward, orange liquid dripping from the bullet wounds. Emily tried to scramble out of range, but the smooth surface of the floor slowed her, her feet slipping on the blood and liquid that covered the floor. Mac grabbed Emily by the shoulder of her jacket and jumped to his feet. He pulled her with him as he backpedaled to where the rest of the defenders brought their own weapons to bear on the Locust, the mutant-human that had distracted them so easily finally dead.
Shot after shot rang out, riddling the Locust. It screeched and screamed in defiance, its single eye flitting from one human to the next, as if it was memorizing their faces, taking mental notes for revenge it would exact later, or in its next life.
Emily climbed to her feet. She pulled a fresh magazine from her jacket, trying to ignore how empty that pocket now felt, slammed it into her .45 and started firing at the alien's head. The Locust continued to stagger back, then sank to its knees. One of Emily's rounds struck its eye, exploding it and spilling liquid over its chest and the ground. The Locust gave a final screech of pain or defiance, it was impossible to tell, then it collapsed and was still, its crumpled body creating a natural barrier across the tunnel floor.
Emily continued to fire until her pistol again clicked on an empty chamber. She reached into her pockets searching for another magazine but came up empty. "I'm out," she yelled at Mac, swinging the shotgun from her shoulder. She only had the four rounds left in it and for the first time in a very long while, she was truly afraid.
"I'm down to my last magazine," yelled Petter.
"Me too," said Silje, the Jegertroppen who had escorted Emily earlier.
Mac dropped the magazine from his assault-rifle and checked it. "Ten rounds. Shit! We're going to have to make a run for it," he said, firing another round that tore into a mutant-human that had once been a woman as it tried to clamber over the body of the downed Locust.
Emily grabbed Mac's arm. "Do you have any more of that C4?"
Mac's hand went to his breast-pocket and pulled out another slab of the explosive.
"Blow the tunnel," said Emily, an urgency in her voice.
Mac looked torn. "If I set this off down here it might take the whole damn tunnel down all the way to the surface. It could kill everyone."
"If you don't do something, we're all dead anyway," Emily said as two more constructs climbed over the dead Locust's body. She raised her shotgun but both of them disappeared as the two soldiers to her left fired. Another appeared and Mac shot it down.
"God damn it," Mac said through gritted teeth. "Okay, but you all need to get the hell out of here while I set the explosives. That's the only way I'm going to do this."
Emily looked at him. "I'm not going to—"
"I'm not going to bloody argue with you, Emily. Run now, or we all die here. Your choice."
"I am not leaving without you," Emily said, matter-of-factly.
"Look!" said Petter. He pointed past the body of the dead Locust to the mouth of the tunnel where the shape of a second Locust had appeared. Its single eye seemed focused on its fallen comrade. It stepped up to the body and took hold of it with all four hands and began to drag it away.
Emily was sure this second Locust was simply removing the obstruction the dead Locust presented, instead, it continued to drag the body closer the center of the tunnel. The Locust lifted the bullet riddled body into the stream
of energy and almost instantly the dead alien's wounds began to heal.
It was then that Emily remembered what Adam had told her: that the Locusts were comprised entirely of energy. That they moved from constructed body to constructed body. It made absolute sense now: these things could not die, not in a normal, human way at least. The body would probably have to be completely consumed before whatever connection that existed between it and the—well, she thought, might as well call it by what it was—the spirit of the Locust, could be considered severed.
"You have got to be shitting me," Mac said as the top set of arms on the 'dead' Locust began to twitch. He leaned in close to Emily and kissed his wife on the lips. "Sorry, love," he said, then turned his attention to the two soldiers standing slack-jawed and exhausted beside him. "West. Mooney. Get Emily to the surface."
West and Mooney looked at Mac for a second then at Emily.
"Well, snap to it. That's an order," Mac growled. "Petter, you and your people get out of here, too."
West and Mooney each grabbed Emily by an arm and began to pull her up the tunnel in the direction of the surface.
"No!" Emily screamed, struggling to free herself of the men's grip, but they were too strong for her.
Petter hesitated, then nodded, and he and the two remaining Jegertroppen began to run after Emily and her two kidnappers.
"No!" Emily screamed again. She tried to dig her feet in and slow them down, but the glass-smooth surface was just too slippery.
The last she saw of Mac he was placing the C4 explosive on the wall, then she was dragged around the corner and all sight of her husband was lost.
CHAPTER 20
"Let go of me, or I swear to God..." Emily screamed at the two soldiers for what could have been the hundredth time. Grim-faced, they ignored her threats and continued to drag her along the tunnel, while Emily cursed and elaborated on the pain she was going to inflict on them when she was finally free. She kept trying to look back over her shoulder, but the small glances she managed as the soldiers carried her away showed only an empty tunnel behind them, empty of any sign of Mac.
Extinction Point: Kings (Extinction Point Series (5 book series)) Page 20
