Operation Zulu

by Ernest Dempsey

  A couple of the animals looked at the vehicle, almost as if it was intruding on their private time. Zeke could have sworn one of the sheep was looking straight at him as if threatening him to come closer.

  Zeke shifted the gear and stepped on the gas, nudging the truck forward a few feet. The sheep didn’t budge. He honked the horn a couple of times, gently at first and then more aggressively, hoping the irritating and loud sound would drive the animals away.

  Still, the sheep didn’t move.

  “You gotta be kidding me,” he said. He started to get out, but Phoenix grabbed him.

  “Hey, where are you going?”

  “I’m gonna shoo them away,” Zeke said. “What do you think I’m gonna do?”

  “I wouldn’t get out of the truck if I was you. There are other animals up in these mountains, too. Snow leopards live up here. If they’re hungry, they might attack a human. Not to mention those sheep are no ordinary sheep. If they attack you and hit you in the chest or the head with those horns, you might not get up. Ever.”

  “Fine, then,” Zeke said, grabbing his M4 from between the captain’s seats.

  He clutched the gun and stepped down out of the truck. His boots crunched onto the snow, only sinking a few millimeters. He hefted the weapon up to his waist and looped the strap over one shoulder. The sheep gazed at him menacingly, as if giving one final non-verbal threat that this human shouldn’t come any closer.

  “Okay, sheep,” Zeke said, taking a precarious step forward. He was tentative, and concern filled his mind from the warning that Phoenix had issued a moment before. He wished his friend hadn’t said anything about the dangers of interacting with these creatures in the wild. Ignorance is bliss, after all. Of course, he was also glad that his friend gave him a warning. Getting drilled in the skull by a ram’s horn wasn’t his idea of a good time in Afghanistan. Such a blow would be mortal this far away from civilization. The closest help was back at the base in Bagram and that was more than an hour and a half away, although with helicopters they could get here much faster.

  Zeke stopped in his tracks and looked around, wondering what he was going to have to do to get these animals to move out of the way. He didn’t dare get too close to them. That would just piss them off. Then he’d have a stampede on his hands that would add trampling to the already painful thought of being thumped by a pair of horns.

  He looked up the side of the peak to his right where the plateaus rose once more to a higher mountaintop. It was covered in thick blankets of snow with a hard crust over the surface. It shimmered like millions of sparkling diamonds in the early morning sunlight.

  If not for his sunglasses, he’d have been partially blinded by the brightness of the pure white snow.

  He sighed and looked back to the sheep that blocked the road. A few of them had shifted, but they were still in the way. Zeke glanced back into the truck cab. Phoenix raised both hands as if to ask what he was doing.

  Zeke shrugged. As his shoulders moved, he was reminded of the weight in his hands. Then an idea popped into his head. He raised the weapon, aiming it over the edge of the road and off into the distance.

  He didn’t want to kill one of the animals, although some lamb chops sounded pretty good right about then. Killing one of the sheep would result in having to move it off the road. These animals were massive, probably weighing several hundred pounds each, and that number was likely on the higher end. Even with Phoenix helping, getting one of those creatures out of the way once it was dead would be extremely difficult and strenuous. They didn’t have that kind of time. The sooner they got off this road and to Zulu Base, the safer they would be.

  He decided that scaring the sheep would be the best course of action. He raised his weapon and aimed away from the mountain, happy to send the bullet into oblivion. His finger tensed on the trigger and he squeezed. Nothing happened.

  “Oh, right. Idiot. The safety.” He’d forgotten to turn off the safety. He flipped the selector and readied his aim again, this time pushing the buttstock firmly against his shoulder. He didn’t notice how far he’d moved the safety selector.

  He heard something from the cab of the truck, like a voice saying something to him. What was the word? No? He turned and saw Phoenix in the truck, waving his hands wildly and screaming at the top of his lungs.

  Phoenix must’ve thought Zeke was going to kill one of the animals. He had no intention of killing the animals. He was just going to fire a warning shot to startle them and get them out of the way.

  “It’s okay!” he shouted back, overly pronouncing his words to make sure his friend understood. “I got this. I’m not going to kill them.”

  Phoenix reached for the door handle, but it was too late.

  Zeke’s finger twitched on the trigger. The muzzle erupted with a flurry of pops. His ears instantly started ringing and he almost let go of the weapon as seven bullets sailed over the sheep and into the air beyond.

  The animals started at the sudden sound and took off, bounding down the mountain and out of sight. Within seconds they were gone. Zeke grabbed his ears, letting go of the gun. It slumped down, swinging around his shoulder to his hip where it dangled loosely.

  There was a deep rumble from high on the mountain peak to his right. He swallowed hard and looked up. That’s when he saw a long crack appear in the smooth white surface above. He hadn’t intended to fire so many shots, but he must have switched the selector to full auto without realizing it.

  It wouldn’t have mattered if it was a single shot, or if he’d emptied the entire magazine. Either way, the result would’ve been the same. It was a grim realization to finally understand what Phoenix was trying to tell him. He was trying to warn him, not about the sheep, but about the snow up above. He’d just started an avalanche.

  He ran back to the truck as fast as he could even as the ground started shaking under his feet. He’d left the door open, which saved him a spare second or two, and hurriedly climbed up into the cab.

  “I was trying to tell you not to shoot your gun,” Phoenix said loudly. “The snow! It’s an avalanche!” He pointed up at the slope again. It was smothered in roiling white clouds as the avalanche gained momentum, steaming right toward them.

  “Yeah, I see that now,” Zeke said apologetically.

  He shifted the gear and stepped on the gas. The wheels spun for a moment and he realized he was panicking.

  “Zeke…?” Phoenix was still staring at the wall of snow coming right for them. “We need to get out of here!”

  “Do you honestly think I don’t know that? I’m trying! You want to get out and push?”

  “Sorry. It’s just...we’re gonna die if we don’t get out of here asap.”

  “Yeah, I know.” Zeke feathered the gas pedal again, and still, they didn’t move. The avalanche was bearing down quickly. They had less than twenty seconds if that.

  He decided to do something counter-intuitive. He let off the gas and allowed the truck to roll back a few feet. Normally, he would have let the truck keep rolling backward and would’ve found a place to turn around and go back down the mountain the way they came. In this instance, however, there was no other way to Zulu Base. Not that they knew of. This was the only route they could take and if the road was covered with snow from the avalanche, it would be blocked until springtime. They didn’t have that luxury.

  The M35 cargo truck rolled back another foot and then he applied the brakes. He tapped the gas pedal again. This time, the six wheels gripped the snow and moved them forward ever so slightly. Zeke applied more pressure to the pedal and their speed increased a little. They crept forward at first, but he kept pushing more and more on the gas until the hulking vehicle surged forward.

  The avalanche was only seconds away now, blasting toward them with a terrible ferocity. It sounded like a diesel train bearing down on them and they were in the middle of the tracks.

  Zeke hammered the gas pedal now and they rumbled toward the next turn in the road. The bend in the trail pres
ented the next danger. Not only were they running from an avalanche, but he also had to maintain a safe enough speed that he could make the turn.

  As they drew closer, he could see it was a tight curve, a hairpin for a big truck like this. He knew it was going to be tight.

  Phoenix grabbed the handle over the window, gripping it so hard that he thought it might rip out of the door. He stared through the glass at the approaching snow cloud.

  “Zeeeeeeke!” he shouted.

  The driver spun the wheel to the right and stepped down hard on the gas pedal.

  The back end of the cargo truck whipped around to the left, and the momentum would have been enough to send them careening over the edge, but by hitting the accelerator, he caused the heavy tires to bite into the snow and send them plowing forward, away from danger.

  They roared around the curve, only touching the edge of the drop-off with one of the back tires. The other five wheels kept churning snow up behind them as they powered the truck away from danger and down around the other side of the rock outcropping.

  Phoenix looked in the rearview mirror to his right and watched with horrified fascination as the avalanche blasted across the road behind them, narrowly missing their back end by a few yards.

  Zeke kept his foot on the gas until they were two or three hundred yards from the danger and then gradually lifted his toes to take pressure off the pedal. The truck fell into a rhythmic rumble as it bounced and rolled along the road, heading down the other side of the mountain.

  He felt his heart pounding in his chest. He was certain that the steering wheel would have imprints of his fingers in it. It took two or three minutes before he could calm his breathing. Phoenix stared straight ahead with wide, terrified eyes. He didn’t say anything at first. He couldn’t. There was a lump in his throat, and he couldn’t breathe, either.

  Zeke slowed the truck down a little more as they continued down the snow-covered road and neared the first bend.

  “Do me a favor,” Phoenix said, finally cutting through the silence over the dull hum of the engine.

  “Yeah?” Zeke asked. He continued to stare forward, he didn’t dare take his eyes off the road ahead.

  “Don’t shoot your gun like that again, you know, when we’re at the base of a big snow-covered slope!”

  He shook the handle over the door with an angry fist. His eyes bulged in his head and his face reddened.

  “You don’t have to shout,” Zeke said. “Besides, we’re alive. Worst part’s over, buddy. Relax. We’ll be down the mountain before you know it and sitting by a nice warm fire at Zulu Base.” He had no idea if there would be a fire there, but he imagined that there would be something warm. Hopefully central heating and air. That would be nice.

  “I hope you’re right,” Phoenix said as he shifted his gaze to the window next to Zeke. The mountains gave way to deep valleys, and there was no sign of life down there, or up above, but that didn’t mean no one was there, watching them, hunting them for their precious cargo.

  He knew Zeke was right about one thing, the sooner they got to Zulu, the better.

  9

  The giant screen bloomed to life at the other end of the conference room. Madic sat at the head of the long table, staring at the huge television. It split in two, displaying Agent Tisdale on the right and General Ortega on the left.

  This was intended to be a simple update and the director hoped that the two men wouldn’t take up too much of his time. After all, he had other things to attend to, like making sure that whatever Underwood had been investigating was properly tied up. Soon, Phoenix Underwood and his partner would be dead, if they weren’t already. It was highly possible that they’d been killed in an accident.

  Word from intel was that there’d been an avalanche on the road going through the mountains between Bagram and Zulu Base. There’d been a vehicle on the surveillance feed that matched the truck they were supposedly driving, but it was difficult to say if they had made it through the avalanche safely. Once the clouds of snow erupted into the air and crashed over the road, visibility decreased significantly for that particular area, even with the latest and best spy tech aboard United States satellites and spy planes.

  “Good morning, gentlemen,” Madic said with the best fake smile he could offer.

  “Good would be at ten,” Tisdale said.

  “Ah, yes. Good one, sir.”

  Neither of the men on the screen seemed amused.

  “Very well, then,” Madic dispensed with the pleasantries. “Beta Force is en route to the drop off point. Alpha Team is also in place and making their way around to Zulu. With everything we can see on the ground, it looks like there are no enemy forces converging on Alpha.”

  “Does that mean they’re converging on the decoys?” Ortega asked. There was little concern in this voice, only the same matter-of-fact tone he always seemed to use.

  “We aren’t sure yet, sir. There was an avalanche along the route. It’s unclear if they survived, but if they did, they will still be on their way to Zulu, which will put them directly in harm’s way.”

  “You mean terrorists,” Ortega clarified.

  “Yes, sir. As we discussed before, and as you certainly know, there are some cells that operate out of this area. All indications suggest that the larger of the two have intercepted our transmission and will be moving to block the road. When we have a timeframe on that I will update the two of you.”

  “And all things are moving ahead as planned with Alpha?” Tisdale asked.

  “Yes, sir. That’s…that’s what I just said…a moment ago. Alpha is on the ground and en route to Zulu. We anticipate no delays with them.”

  “Wonderful,” Tisdale said. “What about the B-Team? What’s their status?”

  “Seriously? I literally just talked about that a minute ago.”

  “Talked about what?”

  “About Beta. They’re also en route. Did you not hear anything I said about the avalanche?”

  “Avalanche? There was an avalanche? Where?” A genuine look of concern stretched across his face.

  “The one in Afghanistan that blocked the road to Zulu! Honestly, are you two having trouble hearing what I’m saying?”

  They both shook their heads.

  “Loud and clear on this side,” Ortega said.

  “Same here,” Tisdale added. “We hear you fine.”

  “Then what is the trouble?”

  “What trouble?”

  Madic sounded exasperated with this lunacy. “Okay, I’ll say this one more time. Alpha is on the ground and headed to the drop off with the package. Beta is also en route, but there was an avalanche along their road and we don’t know if they made it though. We also suspect there might be terrorists converging on Beta after intercepting our transmission, which is what we planned.”

  “Hold on there a second, Director,” Tisdale said. His accent slipped into one that was a little more Southern than he’d shown before. “Did you just say that our transmission was intercepted by terrorists?”

  “Yes, but that was the—”

  “Are we to understand that terrorists intercepted one of our secured transmissions and now they could use that to locate the package?” Ortega stared straight into the camera at Madic.

  “Guys, listen. This was all part of the plan. Remember? We literally just talked about it yesterday.”

  “So, you’re plan was treason? Is that what I’m hearing?”

  “No…sir, I guess I didn’t make myself clear. I thought you both understood what was going on, but clearly, there was a disconnect.”

  “Well, I for one would love to be enlightened.”

  The director wanted to ask if the other two were messing with him if they were merely joking around at his expense. He didn’t dare ask, though, as a question such as that could have bad consequences if they thought he was being disrespectful.

  “Okay, I’ll start from the top. You two know we sent in a team of decoys to Afghanistan, right?”

&nbs
p; Both men on the screen nodded.

  “Yes, the B-Team.”

  “Good. We’re calling those Beta Force. Understand?”

  The other two nodded but looked at him as if he was crazy.

  “Yes, we discussed that yesterday, Director. Get to the point.”

  Madic was at the end of his rope now. “Okay. For the last time. Beta is on the road to Zulu. They are probably going to be cut off by terrorists, which was part of the plan the three of us came up with yesterday. Meanwhile, Alpha Team, you know, the real special agents with the real cargo of missiles, is heading to Zulu via a different route. They should arrive within the next hour or two, depending on weather conditions. There.” Madic took several quick breaths as he finally ran out of wind at the end of his long rant. He’d not wanted to risk one of these two imbeciles interrupting his flow.

  For a long moment, the other two men on the screen wore the same vapid, lifeless stare. It was a look the director had seen on many faces in the past when something went over their heads. He wanted to put a palm to his forehead. Actually, he wanted to put a pistol to both of their heads and get someone more competent in their positions. That, however, wasn’t an option.

  “Yes, Director,” Ortega said. “We understand all of that.”

  “Then what in the bloody blue blazes do you not get?” Spittle squished through his teeth as he clenched his jaw. He hurt himself by almost yelling. His veins bulged out of his temples, and his face turned bright red.

  “Nothing,” Tisdale said. “Makes sense to us.”

  “Good,” Madic’s voice squeaked. He felt like he was going insane. “Good. Okay, then. That’s all for now. I just needed to give you two the update on our progress.” He started to calm down and ease back into his chair.

  “Thank you,” Tisdale said. “But what update?”

  “Yes,” Ortega chimed in. “You were saying something about an avalanche?”