Flight

by Jason Cheek

  Stepping back inside the building, Alex saw that the CTA agents and SWAT officers had crowded around the room’s exterior walls, leaving only the tables in the center available to sit at. Quickly, the pilots and Rangers sat down behind the women who were already sitting near the front of the small stage. The Chief stood near the stage still in deep discussion with the armored man, while the suit and a short brunette stood nearby, listening intently to the discussion.

  Taking a seat directly behind a female suit that was in the process of setting up a laptop and projector. Alex leaned back to enjoy the view of the young woman’s legs, when he noticed the short brunette, standing near Chief Darden, giving him a dirty look. Caught, he gave the small woman a sheepish grin in apology, before finding someplace else for his eyes to look at, when the projector hummed to life. Looking back towards the stage, Alex saw the suit nod at the woman as he raised his voice, projecting it towards the doorway.

  “If you would dim the lights, Agent Moss, we can begin this briefing.”

  Quickly, a large agent near the door dimmed the lights as Chief Darden began addressing the room.

  “Ladies and gentlemen, for those of you that do not know who I am, I am Riviera Beach Police Chief Timothy Darden. The video you are about to be shown is not a hoax, but live footage taken by a Channel 29 news crew last night around twenty-two thirty.” Nodding to the woman suit with the laptop, the Chief continued. “Cindy, if you would start the first video please.”

  The screen suddenly lit up as a video started playing. “Representatives from the CTA are still not answering our questions as to what terrorist activities were being conducted at the school for the Ukko Healing Method, but.”

  BBBBBRRRRAAAAAAKKKKKK

  “Oh my God, what the hell is that?”

  Everyone in the room sat forward at the sudden sounds of automatic fire and screams that erupted from the room’s speakers as strange nightmarish looking creatures began attacking the CTA agents.

  “Aaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!”

  No one spoke as the camera man focused on the agents being ripped apart. Suddenly, the camera changed focused as another agent made it to one of the armored van’s heavy machine gun.

  BRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAABBBBTTTTTT

  CRASH

  Except for pissing them off, the machine gun had no effect against the creatures! Seeing the impacting rounds not even knocking the creatures back, two of the Cobra pilots began arguing in heated whispers as they gestured angrily at the screen. Before Alex could tell them shut their mouths, a loud explosion from the video caught everyone’s attention.

  BOOM

  “HAAAAwwwwwwooooooollllllllllllll!”

  The howling Werewolf on the screen stopped all conversation in the room!

  BOOM

  The demon looking creature that began ripping apart the Werewolf was surreal enough, that Alex felt like he was watching something out of a late night horror movie. At first, he was seriously questioning the validity of the video they were watching, but looking at the serious faces of the officers and agents standing around the room. He realized they weren’t watching the video as if it were some sort of bad joke. If anything, he would say that several of the agent’s faces watching the screen were filled with stark terror. Alex felt a cold feeling beginning to grow in the pit of his stomach as the reporter started stuttering into the mike.

  “That was Lisa Summers reporting on the scene live. We will have further updates as soon as.” Stopping for a moment with a look of horror on her face, she took spoke in a sudden rush of words, “as soon as we can get another reporter on the scene. For now, we will take a look at the local weather”

  The room was silent as the video came to a stop. Alex could see some of the rangers sitting next to him looking around the room. Obviously, thinking that this had to be some sort of bad joke. But, as he watched, those same rangers’ expression changed into looks of shock. Like him, they’d realized the serious expressions on Chief Darden’s face, and the men standing around the walls of the room could only mean one thing. This was no joke to them! The Chief’s voice brought everyone’s attention back to the front of the room.

  “This next video was taken this morning around zero thirty. Cindy, would you please play the air surveillance video.”

  The screen lit up again as the next video began playing. This time, there was no sound as an overhead view of the Counter Terrorist Agency building’s parking lot suddenly was displayed. It had obviously been taken from a standard surveillance camera onboard one of the EC135 Police helicopters. The camera’s night vision eye made everything appear with white and black highlights, that didn’t show facial details, but still gave a clear enough picture of the action happening below.

  The video started out focused on a group of people standing in front of two APC units and SWAT vans, near the front of the CTA building on Blue Heron. An armored man began striding away from the group, pulling out a sword, when suddenly everything happened at once. The whole group suddenly broke like a football huddle, except everyone was headed in the opposite direction of the lone man. Even from this distance, Alex could clearly identify the armored man standing next to the Chief as the same man on the video. Glancing around, Alex could see others in the room making that same connection. Suddenly, the armored man began charging across the parking lot just as a giant mutant looking alligator, the size of a semi-truck, entered the camera’s view from the top of the screen. The eight legged creature had rows of yard long teeth, in a mouth that was large enough to swallow a tall man with one snap of its jaws.

  The events unfolded in a blast of action as everyone watched the video in shocked silence. Single handedly, the armored man killed the giant mutant alligator with one blow of his glowing sword! Suddenly, another one of those savage demon creatures attacked the armored man from out of nowhere. Unbelievably, the armored man dodged out of the way of the demon’s long claws with a backflip of all things. Three blows later, the creature fell over dead as its head plopped to the ground. After that, the action was hard to follow. The armored man suddenly disappeared in an exploding fireball that appeared from out of nowhere as the video began bouncing around. When the helicopter pilot wrestled control of his chopper once again, the video was focusing on the APC’s racing across the parking lot. The heavy armored vehicles slammed into the strange creatures as SWAT teams began pouring fire into the monsters. A second later, one of the APC units exploded in a giant fireball that rose into the night’s sky. Again, the video bounced around as the pilot struggled to get his bird under control. The video steadied just in time to catch the armored man back on his feet, once again charging into the battle. Unbelievably, he was somehow still alive! As they watched, the man attacked a black robed person in front of the building’s entrance. Just as his glowing blade struck the mysterious figure, another massive explosion erupted from out of nowhere. This time, the camera spun completely out of control as the pilot fought the air turbulence from the massive blast. Suddenly, the ground appeared out of nowhere as the surveillance video came to an abrupt stop.

  Everyone’s eyes turned towards the armored man standing next to the Chief as a loud muttering filled the room. This was the first time most of the people present had seen the actual battle in its entirety. They had either been too focused on their portion of the fight, or had arrived once everything was over. Alex wasn’t sure what was more shocking, seeing the devastation that the armored man had inflicted against those walking nightmares, or the realization that the man had survived two massive fiery explosions apparently unharmed. Oblivious to the stares, the man leaned back against the wall deep in thought. Seeing several hands raise into the air, the Chief held up both of his hands forestalling any immediate questions.

  “Ladies and gentlemen please, I ask that you hold off on your questions until after this last video.” Nodding at the suit next to him, “Agent Foster would you please brief everyone on the current situation.”

  Stepping forward, Agent Foster address
ed the room.

  “For those of you who do not know who I am. My name is Agent Foster, and I am the Director of Investigations for the Counter Terrorist Agency, located in Palm Beach County.”

  Nodding to Cindy sitting in front of her laptop, he continued.

  “This is Agent Cindy Ross who is my Head Computer Analysis.” Addressing Cindy directly “Cindy, has the Miami Office given you access to the most recent satellite images?”

  “Yes Sir.”

  “Good.” Looking at his audience once more, he continued. “After the first attack, we were able to track the creatures back to their current base of operations.”

  At his nod, Cindy brought up a satellite view, displaying it on the screen next to him. Pointing at the top down view, Agent Foster began explaining the events taking place on the screen.

  “The suspects took off north bound on I-95 after the attack.” The satellite continued tracking the creatures. “As you see they left I-95 at the Hope Sound exit heading into the swamp.” The satellite followed the group for several more miles, before coming to a stop in the middle of a small clearing, which held five buildings arranged in a loose circle near the river. As they watched, the creatures met up with another group that had obviously been waiting for them. “At the present time, we estimate there are approximately sixty-five suspects all together. If you will note the site on the satellite image, it is approximately five miles south of our current location.”

  Alex’s head suddenly jerked upright as he made the mental calculation just as Pete shouted out next to him.

  “Holy shit, are you talking about old Trapper Nelson’s place?”

  Agent Foster smiled, looking at the ranger’s name tag. “I doubt, that holy has anything to do with it Ranger Johnson, but, yes, the suspects are currently using Trapper Nelson’s as their base of operations. I believe, that now satisfactorily explains why you gentlemen were placed on alert.”

  Seeing the looks passing between the rangers, Agent Foster waited a moment before continuing. “One last video and I will give the floor back to Chief Darden. Cindy, if you would show us the latest update from the Miami Office.”

  This time when the screen lit up this time, it wasn’t a pre-recorded video, but instead was a live satellite feed. Cindy zoomed in until she had Trapper Nelson’s in the center of the screen. The area was clear, except for a strange blotchy darkness that seemed to be centered only over Trapper Nelson’s. Cindy started reading the notes made by the Miami agency’s staff out loud.

  “This strange smoke showed up within the last half an hour.” Following the notes left by the lead computer analyst, Cindy made an adjustment, switching the satellite image back into archive mode. On the screen, the smoke went away, and they were once again looking at Trapper Nelson’s. “This was the recorded satellite image taken an hour ago, just before the black smoke hid the site from our sentinel satellite.”

  When the satellite image started playing, it showed Trapper Nelson’s with a circle of green flames in the middle of the five buildings. Suddenly, the green flames seemed to shoot into the air as a strange black smoke began to boil up from the center of the fire. For a moment, a monstrous horned head appeared in the center of the smoke, before disappearing once again. As they watched, the smoke immediately began spreading out until it fully covered the entire complex. Stopping the video, Cindy clicked back to the point where the head had suddenly appeared through the smoke, freezing the image on the screen.

  Staring at the screen, Alex could just make out the faint outline of two large horns and glowing red eyes. The rest of the head looked oddly lumpy, but nothing more specific was visible through the smoke, when Agent Foster began addressing the room again.

  “Agent Moss, if you would get the lights.”

  Alex squinted as the lights were flipped back on as Cindy switched the projector off. The sudden tension in the room could have been sliced with a knife.

  “The floor is yours Chief.”

  Walking forward once again, the Chief stood in front of the room. Slowly, he looked from face to face at the men and women before him. He made an obvious show of looking at his wrist watch, before addressing the room once more.

  “The time is now zero four hundred hours,” motioning towards the screen behind him, “and you all have been caught up to date with our current tactical situation.”

  One of the female Cobra pilots raised her hand to speak.

  “Yes Captain Walker.”

  “Sir, what exactly are we facing?”

  “That’s an excellent question Captain. The only explanation I can give is that we have been invaded by aliens. Not from space, but none the less from another world. They have opened some kind of portal at Trapper Nelson’s, which they are currently using to invade Earth.”

  “Does anyone else know about this situation, Sir?”

  “A copy of these videos has already being sent to Tallahassee and Washington DC, along with several of these creature’s corpses as evidence. But, even I am hesitant to call up the Governor of Florida, or the President of the United States screaming that we are being invaded by aliens from another world. I rather would send them the evidence, and let them reach their own determination as to what these creatures are. For now, I have left a message explaining that we are currently battling a large group of heavily armed terrorists, and that we need immediate reinforcements. As of yet, I have not received a response, nor can I say as to when we can expect help to arrive. Even if they sent a strike team out immediately upon receiving my message, the nearest Army base that could send troops is Fort Benning Georgia, and it would take half a day, at the minimum, before any help could arrive in force. Frankly, I do not believe we have the time to wait for reinforcements, which is why we are here.”

  Another Cobra pilot shot to his feet, a Lieutenant Hunter.

  “Sir, then what are we doing still sitting here?”

  Smiling grimly, the Chief continued.

  “That’s an excellent question Lieutenant, which has a complicated answer.”

  Smiling wiry, he met the young Marine’s eyes.

  “The ladies, agents and officers that flew in with me, along with our pilots are all volunteers. Most of us have already battled these creatures within the last four hours, and know what we are facing. So far, our weapons have proven ineffective against these creatures. Even so,” pointing at the armored man next to him, “with Mr. Ironwolf’s help, we plan to drive them back to their own world.” Looking directly at the rangers and marines sitting before him, “we are here to ask your Cobra teams, and that of these local rangers for help. I am not here to order you to take part in this battle, but as a fellow American. I’m asking if you’d all join us in this fight.”

  Without hesitation, the eight Marines sprang to their feet. Coming to attention, they saluted as one. “The Fighting Cobras are at your command, Chief!”

  Alex felt his heart pounding as he rose to his feet. Coming to attention before the Chief, he lifted a shaking hand to his brow. By God, those creatures scared the crap out of him on some primitive level that he couldn’t even begin to explain, but it would be over his dead body if he allowed aliens to invade his country without a fight!

  “You can count me in on that too, Chief!”

  The sounds of chairs being pushed back immediately filled the room as the rest of the rangers came to their feet a moment later, their voices echoing Alex’s own determination.

  “You can count me in on that too, Chief!”

  The Chief looked into the eyes of the men and women standing before him with a fierce pride reflected in his face. Coming slowly to attention, he returned their salutes with tears in his eyes.

  “By God, you all make me proud to be an American!”

  The entire room brought their hand down in unison, in answer to the Chief’s salute as if they had choreographed the response ahead of time, and suddenly the tension seemed to break. Alex couldn’t put his finger on exactly what had changed, but it was something he’d
only felt when he was in the Navy during the Gulf War. The only way he could describe the feeling was that it was a shared bond between people who were willing to put their lives on the line for what they believed in. People, who were willing to fight for their country.

  “If you all would take your seats, we will begin the planning session for the attack.”

  Everyone started sitting down once again as the Chief went over to the armored man standing near the back of the room. Clapping an arm over the large man’s armored shoulders, the Chief brought him forward for introductions.

  “For those of you that have not met him, this is Startüm Ironwolf. As you have seen on the surveillance video, he is highly proficient in fighting these creatures, and will be directing tonight’s offensive.”

  Stepping forward, the man’s intense yellow eyes swept over the men and women in front of him as his deep baritone rang out in the room. Again, Alex felt overwhelmed by the man’s presence.

  “First off, I want to thank each and every one of you for volunteering for this fight. You are fighting for more than just your land or country, but for the defense of your whole world.” The man paused, for a moment, letting his words sink in, before continuing.

  Secondly, the Chief and I have come up with a way to equip the main assault group.” He smiled, slowly, before continuing. “Even though these archaic weapons might not look like much, unlike the high tech weapons you are accustomed to using. The weapons will penetrate these creatures’ natural armor. Out of the rangers we have here, which one of you gentlemen would consider yourselves experienced with shooting compound bows?”

  Over half of the rangers raised their hand hesitatingly, including Alex.

  “Now, how many of you gentlemen would consider yourself a good shot at a fast moving target.”

  Almost half of the rangers with their hand in the air lowered them back down. The man did a quick count before addressing the rangers with their hands raised.