“Because there are landmines all around us!” I replied.
“Did you just say landmines?” said Marko, alarm in his tone.
“Yeah,” I said. “Don’t let anyone get in the grass.”
“Copy,” he said.
Climbing down from the barrier, I headed back to the others at a brisk pace. Bergelmir followed along beside me, easily matching my pace with his much longer legs. I noticed that he kept glancing in the direction of the base with a nervous look on his face. This was unusual in and of itself since the big warrior didn’t rattle easily. There was something he wasn’t telling me and I thought it was time to find out.
“What’s bothering you?” I asked, stopping and turning towards him.
“This place,” he said. “I sense something. I’m not sure what, but there is something strange going on here. I cannot figure out what it is.”
“How strange?” I asked. “Like something that bothers you or something we should run from?”
“Maybe neither,” he replied. “Maybe both. I am uncertain. All I know for sure is that I sense something that feels familiar to me. It is close by, but not in the immediate area. Maybe two or three miles that way.”
He pointed directly at the base. I also knew that two or three miles would be squarely in the middle of post. Now I was starting to get a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach, too. The only difference was that I had felt this feeling before. I knew exactly what it meant. My senses were warning me of impending danger.
“Whatever the Hel it is,” I muttered, “it’s dangerous.”
“Agreed,” Bergelmir rumbled.
“Let’s see if we can find a way to get the fuck out of here,” I said, heading back towards the others.
Butcher’s men were busy putting the gear we had found in the back of the Bison. I noticed that a few of the others had joined the crowd of observers since I had gone over the wall. Bridgett Ulrich as well as Richard and Christina Wilder had come out to see what was going on. They were all waiting for us when we walked back up to the group.
“Find anything interesting?” asked Christina.
“Not really,” I replied guardedly. “Just a few odd weapons and some gear.”
“Now what are you not telling us?” asked Bridgett.
She was surprisingly perceptive for a kid. I took a deep breath and sighed before answering.
“It looks like whoever was on the other side of that barrier was overrun by the dead,” I replied, shaking my head. “There were signs of a big firefight and a hasty retreat.”
“And something disturbing troubles us from the direction of the military base,” added Bergelmir tactlessly.
Surprisingly, no one seemed at all surprised by this revelation. If anything, they only nodded in agreement.
“I felt it, too,” said Bridgett. “It’s just like something is very wrong about that place.”
“Or more to the point,” said Marko, “something just feels wrong. I can’t put a better description to it than that.”
“I thought it was just me,” said Butcher, scratching his beard thoughtfully.
“I just feel like we need to get out of here,” said Christina.
“What if we headed around the barrier?” asked Richard. “Surely it can’t go all that far.”
“Well, there is the small matter of the landmines,” rumbled Bergelmir. “I, for one, do not wish to see if I can survive one.”
“Me either,” I added. “I’ll see if I can scout us a way around.”
“Don’t go alone,” said Christina, concern in her voice.
“I’ll take Bergelmir,” I replied. “Between the two of us, there isn’t much we can’t handle.”
“Agreed,” said Bergelmir, nodding.
“And watch-out for the mines,” added Bridgett. “Otherwise we’ll be taking you with us in a doggy bag.”
“Good point,” I said, smiling at her. “We’ll be careful. Besides, I have a plan.”
“Uh oh,” muttered Marko. “Now we’re in trouble.”
“Har dee har har,” I replied in mock laugher. “You’re a riot.”
“Just don’t get yourself blown up,” he said, patting me on the back.
“I’ll do my best,” I said and turned to head back towards the barrier.
I figured that the safest way to check the viability of going around the barrier would be to walk along the top and see where it went. If it looked clear, I could see if it was feasible to try to clear a path through the mines. If not, we needed to consider backtracking and going around the entire area. That needed to be our last resort, since it would take us hours out of our way and probably put us at Bennett Springs after sundown. If there were still any Stalkers in the area, not only would we have to deal with them but the base would be locked secure and I didn’t have a SINCGARS radio to try to contact them with.
Climbing back up on top of the barrier, I decided to try going in the direction that led away from the army base. I really didn’t want to get any closer to it than I absolutely had to. It would be better all the way around if we could avoid it entirely. Not to mention the closer we got to the base, the better the chance that who or whatever it was that was giving us all the heebie-jeebies would notice us. Yeah, going this way was what you call a win-win situation.
Unfortunately, my luck ran true to form. We hadn’t gone more than fifty yards when I saw something that ruled that direction out. Towards the end of the barrier, the ground was heavily wooded and climbed sharply with lots of exposed large rocks. The Bison and the bikes could probably get through this way, but the bus and panel truck didn’t stand a chance. We were going to have to try the other way.
“Fuck,” I hissed as we turned and headed back.
I waved and shook my head when we passed by the others. They didn’t look happy that way was a no-go. I don’t think any of us was looking forward to getting any closer to the base. Whatever it was, it had pretty much all of us on edge. In fact, just heading that way was making the feeling worse. The little alarm klaxon in the back of my head started blaring out a warning. I had to force myself to ignore it to proceed. Whatever it was, it must be pretty bad.
We hadn’t made it more than another seventy-five yards when I stopped dead in my tracks and crouched down. Bergelmir looked at me quizzically, but did the same. We crouched in silence for several moments before he turned to me and cupped his hand over his mouth to muffle the sounds.
“What did you see?” he asked, as softly as he could.
“I’m not sure,” I replied in a hushed whisper. “It looked like a glint of light off of glass, but it was only there for a second.”
“Could it have been from a vehicle?” he asked, glancing in the direction that I was staring.
“Unlikely,” I said, shaking my head. “I think it was from either a set of binoculars or a rifle scope. Either way, I think someone is watching us.”
“That is not good,” he said, trying to crouch lower.
“It gets worse,” I added, turning to face him.
“How is that possible?” he asked, narrowing his eyes.
“I think we can get through this way, if we’re careful.”
“Hmm,” he rumbled. “We will have to proceed with extreme caution, then.”
“Yes we will,” I agreed. “Let’s get back and tell the others. If we’re going to go through this way, we need to get it over with quickly and get our asses back on the road.”
Just as we were getting ready to head back, I looked down on the inside of the wall and saw where more soldiers had fallen to the dead. There appeared to be a few more weapons and an unexpected treasure trove. They were gathered around a Humvee that had to have been overrun when the dead took the area from the living. Suddenly, I really wanted to check that vehicle out.
“Hey,” I said, pointing to the Humvee. “Let’s do a quick scavenger run on that.”
“Alright,” he agreed, “but let us be quick about it.”
Nodding my agreement, I be
gan climbing down the inside of the barrier. Bergelmir covered me until I was down, and then started down after me. I brought my weapon up and covered the area until he was beside me and ready to proceed. There was no sense in taking too many chances, I suppose. We were already taking a big one in checking the vehicle.
Heading towards it, I paused only long enough to scoop up the fallen weapons and sling them over my shoulder. As we approached, I noticed that the driver’s side door was open on the Humvee and four bodies that had to have been zombies lay crumpled just outside it. Despite the fact that they all looked desiccated, I kept my weapon trained on them just in case. I could clearly see the ragged holes in their forehead, so I swept past them and started scanning the interior of the vehicle.
Sprawled over the center console was the body of a soldier. Although the uniform was tattered, I could still make out the rank insignia, name and the unit patch. The poor bastard’s name was Sergeant First Class Reynolds and unless I was wrong, the unit patch was a Military Police battalion. Clutched in his hand was an M-9 pistol with the slide locked back. There was a ragged chunk missing from the side of his face and a large exit wound near the temple.
“I think this guy shot himself before he could turn,” I said, grimly. “Can’t say I blame him, either.”
“Indeed,” rumbled Bergelmir.
Nudging the body with the barrel of my rifle, I made sure that he was not going to move before I touched him. It took me a few seconds to pry the pistol out of his fingers, but I finally got it. Tucking it in my cargo pocket, I rifled through his gear. His interceptor vest was in good shape, so I stripped it off of him. I could tell by the weight that it had the trauma plate inserts in it.
Attached to the vest in one of the molle pouches was a true treasure. It was one of the handset portable SINCGARS radios. Unfortunately, it had been on when he died so the batteries were completely dead. I would either have to find a charger for it or rig one once we made it back to base. Either way, it was a valuable find. It would give me the versatility of the SINCGARS without being tied to one of the Humvees.
“Score,” I muttered, unclipping the molle pouch and hooking it to my own vest.
“Is it functional?” inquired Bergelmir.
“Dead battery,” I replied. “It can be recharged, though.”
Mounted on top of the Humvee in the turret was an M-240 Bravo. It fired a heavier round than the SAW that Bergelmir was carrying. Instead of the 5.56mm, it fired the heavier 7.62mm. Other than that, it was very similar to the M-249 SAW. So much so, that they operated in almost the same fashion. It was locked and loaded, but would need to be thoroughly cleaned before I would risk shooting it.
Glancing in the back, I saw extra ammunition crates for both the M-240 and the M-4’s. This was a good find. I decided that instead of trying to carry this windfall, we would be better off just taking the entire vehicle if we could get it to start. So long as it hadn’t been out here much longer than I estimated, there should still be enough charge to the battery to fire up the engine.
Yanking the body of the Sergeant out of the vehicle, I removed my pack and set it in the center console. I had to take my sword off as well, laying it against the seat. Then I climbed inside and put my hands on the steering wheel.
“Come on baby,” I said gently. “Make daddy proud.”
“Why are you talking to this vehicle?” asked Bergelmir, shaking his head.
“Just coaxing her into doing what I want?” I said, smiling.
Flipping the switch to start, it coughed and sputtered before catching and rumbling to life. Bergelmir looked at me with a surprised look on his face and shook his head.
“It appears that it has listened to you,” he said in mock disbelief.
“That’s my girl,” I said, patting the steering wheel affectionately.
Bergelmir tossed all of the gear into the back seat then headed around to the passenger side. He had to lean down low to get inside and had to stay scrunched down in the seat to keep from hitting his head on the roof. One he was inside, I put it in gear and started turning around. I followed the barrier until it ended in a small stand of trees. None of them were very big so I figured I’d see if the Humvee could smash through.
“Hang on to your butt,” I said and started to edge into the trees.
Bergelmir looked at me quizzically, but said nothing. Instead, he just shook his head and watched as the powerful Humvee either crushed or uprooted every tree in its path. The stand of trees was only about twenty yards wide and I braked to a halt just at the edge of the median to the interstate. I could see the Bison was almost directly across from me.
Butcher and the others took up a defensive stance and aimed at the emerging Humvee, undoubtedly expecting it to be an attack. Their looks of alarm were replaced with looks of surprise when I got out of the door and waved at them. They returned the wave and lowered their weapons.
“Look what I found,” I called to them.
“Not so loud,” rumbled Bergelmir. “We are far too close to the military base for my comfort.”
“Yeah,” I replied. “That’s true.”
Heading around to the front of the vehicle, I knelt down and began to inspect the ground for any signs that might reveal any of the landmines. Removing my knife from my belt, I began probing the ground, listening for any noise other than the blade passing through dirt or a feeling of resistance. I wasn’t an explosives removal specialist, but I knew that if we were going to get through, the mines had to be cleared out of the way first.
Every inch that I moved was agonizingly painful. I kept probing and moving about an inch, then probing again. Each time I felt resistance; I would stop and probe around the area to see how large the object was. Each time, it turned out to be a rock or in a couple of instances a shard of glass. It took me almost an hour to clear a path wide enough for the vehicles to traverse.
When I reached the edge of this side of the road without finding anything, I began to wonder if it had been a minefield at all. I could not afford to make that assumption, though. If I was wrong, the results would be tragic. If we lost the Bison, we would have to find another way to get to Lebanon. No other vehicle could clear the obstructions from the road and survive the impacts.
Moving up to the median, I started again at the edge of the road. My knees felt like they were on fire before I had reached halfway across. Marking my place with my knife, I stood up and backed slowly away. I needed to move around for a bit to get some circulation back into my legs. While stretching out the sore muscles, I glanced towards the western horizon. The sun was starting to sink low in the sky.
I held up my hand and could fit three fingers between the sun and the edge of the horizon. That meant we had about three hours until sunset. Knowing that Lebanon was only about thirty miles from Fort Leonard Wood, we still had time. We didn’t have much to waste, but we could make it if we got back on the road soon. So long as we got clear of Fort Leonard Wood without engaging whatever or whoever was lurking there, we had a good shot.
Just as I was heading back to finish the last of the median, I saw Pete kneeling near the far side of the road. He was well away from everyone else and seemed to be inspecting one of the spots where it looked like a mine had gone off. I was getting ready to say something to him when he turned and looked back over his shoulder at the rest of the group.
“Hey,” he yelled. “I think this is from a grenade, not a landmine.”
“How do you know?” yelled Butcher. “Are you some kind of explosives expert or something?”
“No, but I’ve watched a lot of war movies in my day,” he yelled back as he stood up. “I think it’s safe.”
Before I could yell a warning, he stepped off into the grass and started walking around.
“See,” he called back to us. “There’s nothing to…”
The explosion sent pieces of him flying in every direction, raining body parts down on the road and spraying a bloody mist high into the air. The echoing boom of t
he explosion rolled off into the distance. I knew that whatever chance of getting past the army base without alerting them to our presence was now completely gone. There was no way that they hadn’t heard it.
“No!” screamed Christina.
She fell to her knees and began sobbing, nearly hysterical. I wondered why it was affecting her so badly. Then it hit me, it was unlikely that she had seen anything remotely like that before. She’d been inside the stadium since all of this began. Violent death on that scale was something she had no experience with. I guess it was more of a statement about me that it didn’t bother me the way it would a normal person.
Sure, I was sorry that Pete was gone. I was also angry with him for being an idiot and tripping an explosive charge that would undoubtedly get us all caught by whatever was lurking on the old army base. Suddenly, our time had run out. We either got moving now, or we were going to have to fight our way clear.
“Damn it,” I hissed and headed for the spot where I had left off.
I knew that I had very little time to finish, but it was our only hope. Moving as fast as I dared, I kept probing and searching for anything unusual. I found one, just a couple of feet short of the road. Probing around it with my knife, I found the edges and began to slowly scrape away the dirt that covered it.
With agonizingly slow movements, I cleared the mine and began to gently lift it free of its hole. Once it was clear enough for me to slip my fingers beneath it, I gently lifted it out and checked beneath it. There were no attached trip wires, so I lifted it clear and stood up carefully. I was sweating profusely by that time and my hands were starting to shake. My heartbeat felt like the beat of a base drum in my chest.
Backing up with a slow deliberate pace, I waited until I was on the road to turn and move out of the path that I had cleared. I carried it almost twenty yards out of the way and began to gently place it flat on the ground. Sweat was running off my nose in steady drips and my mouth felt as dry as the Arizona desert. I still had another foot to go to finish clearing the path.
Behind me, I heard the motor of the Humvee come to life. Turning quickly, I saw Bergelmir behind the wheel and he began to cross the grass on the path I had made. He stayed between the sticks that I had used to mark the edges and emerged safely out onto the highway. I assumed he was going to stop, but almost screamed when he didn’t. Through the open window, I heard him call to me.
Ragnarok Rising Page 38
