by R. Malak
Orcs all around him that had long felt the same way cheered and hooted. Soon the mob of Orcs were beating their chests and calling out his name. With the Orc clans in the palm of his hand he twisted round to face Takil and Lorika, who stood watching him with arms folded across their armored chests.
Grinning he raised his arms up to the sky once more. “For Lord Sezrath! Kill the unbelievers! Kill the half-breeds!”
The Orc horde howled to the sky and swept forward like a tidal wave towards the Stone Skin Orc tents.
~ * ~
Takil, her eyes hot with anger and frustration, cursed her brother and his stubbornness. She had warned him time and time again not to underestimate his enemies. Yet, there he was, dead in the pit, killed protecting his weakling son. No matter. She would survive this. Tossing dreadlocks out of her eyes, she whipped out the hidden pistol beneath her armor and fired up into the air, signaling the nearby waiting Orcs she had positioned earlier in case of such an outcome. The gunshot echoed in the air, causing many Orcs to pause. But before they could comprehend what was truly happening, Stone Skin Orcs in full battle raiment roared into the clearing on Humvees with banners attached to their antennas, machine guns blazing to slaughter the Orcs in the pit, before turning to fire into the crowd of Orcs that were surging towards them. Thousands of half breeds in rusted armor streamed in between the vehicles on all fours to charge into the ranks of the Orc war host taking the axe and sword into the enemy. Battles raged left, right and center. With grey skinned Orcs quickly forming up to protect the shamans, who had run away from the ensuing carnage.
Takil, her ears ringing from the gunfire, aimed and fired at Kozan hitting him in the arm and chest, before he threw himself behind one of his warriors, using him as a shield.
With no time to lose, she snapped, “Go get that miserable son of ours.”
Lorika rolled her eyes, but obeyed her older sister ducking her head down and sprinting towards the pit.
The Stone Skin’s, having cleared a path for their Humvees, dismounted and began advancing on foot firing their assault rifles to cut down the front ranks of the Orcish war host. Hundreds of Berserkers awoken from their slumber by the scent of blood in the air ripped off their armor, their mouths frothing white, dropped their weapons and began tearing everything within reach of their claws oblivious to axe cuts and bullets hitting them. With blood raining down to drench the earth with death, many Orcs too lost themselves to the bloodlust their eyes transforming to become a bright red. The noise and stench of battle grew greater and greater as the entire camp was engulfed in battle.
~ * ~
Ka-gan, his senses pummeled by the throbbing sound of heavy machine gunfire, watched in disbelief as Grul Han was knocked off his feet by dozens of bullets hitting his chest. Dazed and confused he lurched backwards and bumped into Lorika who grabbed him by the arm.
“Come on, we have to leave here.”
Nodding his head dumbly, he let her pull him towards the lip of the pit. Takil busily firing her pistol to drive away the Orcs trying to flank her, moved swiftly to help them out of the pit and urge them towards the parked Humvees that were spraying spent bucket loads of casings to either side of them. Together they ran through the mayhem that had broken out all around them and towards one of the waiting Humvees. A still dazed Ka-gan was thrown into the back seat of the Humvee, with Takil and Lorika jumping in to sit beside him. The engine rumbled to life, the wheels spun in the dirt and they were speeding away from the encampment. Their job done the Stone Skin Orcs, peeled back to their Humvees and drove off; leaving behind the half breeds to guard their retreat.
~ * ~
Shaman Berzook, shaken by the sudden turn of events, watched with growing concern as the half breeds used their weight of numbers to press into the Orc ranks that had been shredded apart by machine gun fire. Kozan, wounded and bleeding, dragged himself out of the pit and limped over towards the shamans huddled behind the Iron-skinned Orcs.
Face twisted in a rictus of rage, he screamed, “Stop your groveling cowards! And kill them!”
Gozak leader of the Iron skins a bald-headed giant with bear sized arms glanced over towards Berzook for instructions. Seeing no point in holding them back, Berzook nodded his head and grey skinned giants rushed in to join the battle. With their support and the arrival of thousands of goblin fighters in dusty brown robes the half breeds were driven back, their numbers dwindling fast, before breaking and running. Kozan chivvied them on his hunger for blood still un-sated.
“Hunt them down! Leave none alive!” he bawled.
The war host responded, renewing their chase after the half breeds and killing the few stranded Stone Skin Orcs that had gotten left behind. By the time the battle had truly ended, corpses littered every part of the campsite, Orcs, Goblins and half breeds. Carrion birds flew down to feast upon the banquet of flesh and blood. Berzook clutching his staff raised his eyes to the sky, and wondered if this is what Sezrath Lord of Death had desired all along; Blood and Battle.
~ * ~
Cora stood watching silently from the corner of the chamber as Joseph covered the bodies of the dead rangers with their coats and laid their weapons down beside them. Heads bowed, the rangers listened as Joseph invoked the words that had become so common to them.
“Rest in Peace, my brothers and sisters, your fight is done, but fear not, for we will not be long from your side, we will meet again.”
“We will meet again,” repeated the rangers.
Cora usually able to draw solace from these comforting words, found herself unable to do so today. The very idea of her sister being alone, in the afterlife, waiting for her, made her feel lightheaded and nauseous. Apart of her knew she should be thinking about the soldiers, who had sacrificed their lives, but she couldn’t, she needed to move, she needed to do something, anything to keep her thoughts away from one that possible truth. That her sister was dead and these soldiers had sacrificed their lives for nothing. Shivering at the thought, she walked towards the bodies laid out in a single line and paid her final respects before moving away.
As if sensing her urgency to leave this place, Joseph waved his men forward and scrambled up the ladder with Cora right behind him. Re-emerging into the dying light, she took a deep breath of fresh air and wiped her fingers on her coat to rid herself of the green smelly gunk that had somehow gotten stuck to her hands. Gazing around her at the sight of broken desks and chairs that cluttered what appeared to be a classroom.
She walked past the collapsed walls and lightly touched a faded United Nations poster of a Soldier in the newly designed battle armor fighting an Orc. This must be one of the schools the military had taken over early in the war to protect the civilians from the beast attacks. It seems fortunes hadn’t been so kind to this place, which wasn’t surprising considering the military had been pushed back. These places however, were usually well stocked with military supplies. But with the ceiling caved in and bullet holes covering the walls, she had to assume this place had been picked clean long ago by scavengers and roamers.
Peering outside one of the gaping holes in the wall, she scanned the road for any signs of the Orc horde, and immediately had to duck her head back down. The quiet empty town of Camsby was no longer empty, hundreds of Orcs and goblins were crawling all over the place. Holding her hand up to quieten the rangers, who were settling down inside the room, she inched her head back up. And had to hold back a gasp of surprise, stunted Orcs in oddly shaped armor were being hauled out into the street, where a huge grey skinned Orc stood waiting impassively with a massive Warhammer.
The grey skinned Orc after questioning each of the stunted creatures, raised his Warhammer and brought it down to pulverize the creature’s skull one after the other; leaving brain matter clinging to hammer. Joseph seeing her alarm waved his men down into a crouch and joined her by the gap in the wall. Seeing the strewn bodies of Orcs without any heads outside, Cora heard him curse softly underneath his breath.
Whatever was
going down in the derelict town, it didn’t look good for them. The Orcs were going through each of the building searching for those stunted creatures and dragging them out to be slaughtered by the monster outside. Having seen enough skulls crushed, she moved away from the hole and tried to not throw up. Joseph stayed a few minutes longer before moving to crouch beside her.
“Shit, so what do we do now?” he asked.
Cora sat down and laid her back against the one of the walls unable to answer his question. Feeling a headache coming on, she pressed her fingers to her temples and tried to think. They could try escaping from the town, but their chances of being spotted would increase. The second option was to wait here and hope they didn’t enter the school. And the third option was to go back the way they had come, which meant abandoning their mission.
With all eyes on her she stood back up and stared around the room at the bloodied rangers. “We now have a difficult choice to make, a choice I can’t make for any of you. We can either go back the way we have come or we can try and slip our past the Orcs in the streets.”
Joseph his eyes glued to hers asked, “What will you do?”
Cora rubbed her left cheek furtively and looked down at her feet. “I have to go. Jess…Jess is my sister. I can’t leave her.”
Joseph’s eyebrows shot up in surprise at the word ‘sister’, he then stepped forward and gripped her by the shoulder. “Then I am going with you.”
One by one all the rangers nodded their heads in agreement. None of them wanted to turn back now, not while they were so close to their goal.
With that heavy decision made, the rangers began to prepare for the coming fight, sharpening knives, checking their submachine guns and cleaning their rifles. Wishing she had thought to bring along a submachine gun she moved to look back outside. The Orcs and Goblins were still out on the streets searching through each of the houses. The grey skinned giant however had disappeared from view, leaving behind a stack of carcasses in the middle of the road.
Joseph tapped her arm. “What’s the plan?”
Cora licked her lips before replying, “We need to split up into three groups, one group to secure us a vehicle, one to create a distraction and the third to search the camp.
Joseph grunted nodding his head in approval and turned to face his expectant soldiers. “Greg, I need you to take a team and find us a truck. Kyla get your men over to a defensible position at the end of town and create a distraction. The rest of you will stay on me. We are going to search the camp for Jess, watch your backs and be careful out there.” With well drilled precision the rangers split off into their assigned groups to complete their objectives.
“Cora you’re on point.”
She nodded her head in agreement and double timed it out of the school through one of gaping holes in the concrete wall. Scanning both ways to make sure it was clear she raced across the street into the conjoining alleyways. Hearing nothing, she waved her hand in the air signaling the rest of the rangers to follow her. Not waiting for them arrive, she crept forward along one side of the alleyway her rifle at the ready. With no contacts in the vicinity she sped up, till she arrived at the end of the alleyway. Sneaking a look out, she saw no signs of the Orcs and goblins that were hunting in the streets. Breathing a sigh of relief, she turned to see where the rangers were at and found them creeping along the walls in a single file behind her. They continued this way for many miles, until they reached the edge of town. Hope soaring in her chest, she sprinted towards the grove of trees ahead of her and halted.
Four goblins in bone armor were sniffing the ground ahead of them, their backs exposed to them. She twisted round to face the rangers and touched her rifle, then held up four fingers.
Joseph drew his belt knife and motioned for his men to fan out to either side of him.
Cora drew her own knife and quietly approached the goblin on the far right crouching down a few paces behind it. Pausing for a second to allow the other rangers to get into position she waited, then with a burst of speed, raced forward gripped the goblin roughly by the neck pulled its head back and sliced open its throat to gush warm blood on her hands and coat. She turned to make sure everyone else had done the same and smiled with satisfaction. Clear of the Orcs and Goblins searching the town, they circled back around to the police station, which had been completely demolished by the tank. Seeing black smoke rising into the air, she guessed the Orcs were camped not too far from her. Getting on her belly, she crawled on all fours up the nearby hilltop to get a better vantage point.
Having never come this close to an Orcish Warcamp before, she gaped with astonishment at the incredible sight below her. Hundreds upon hundreds of dark green tents and various Orcish banners flew above a well-entrenched encampment, surrounded by a thick wall of stakes fifteen feet tall. Standing at the corners of the great Warcamp were immense statues of Orcs battling snakes with dozens of military vehicles parked outside. The Orcs appearing to have been in a recent battle were collecting their dead, piling them up in a large pit at the center of camp. While a circle of Orcs in scarlet red robes stood around the pit swaying and chanting.
Red hair flashed within her view and she gasped, her heart leaping into her throat. Her sister was being herded forward with a small group of humans towards the shamans. Heart pumping furiously, she watched with growing horror as the humans were lined up in front of the pit and thrown to their knees. Mouth dry and body frozen, she watched in slow motion as one of the shamans came up behind the humans, drew a long-jagged knife and began slicing their throats open one by one, before kicking them into the pit.
Shaking she tried to stand up, when a strong hand pulled her back down hard. Close to screaming she attacked the hand that held her down punching, kicking and scratching. Arms circled round her waist and pulled her into a bear hug. Blinded by tears, she continued to beat at the imbecile that was stopping her from saving her sister. Screams echoed up from the camp below for hours with no end. Screams that would forever haunt her sleep.
~ * ~
Tommy could not believe his streak of good luck, he had scored a rifle and some ammunition from a bunch of dead rangers in one of the chambers. He had also managed to slip out of tunnels without being seen, and best of all, his plan for vengeance was ripe for the plucking. Hidden amongst a grove of trees, he watched the fools crawl up a hilltop to look down at the Orc Warcamp. Grinning like a child with a new toy, he aimed his rifle at the nearest prone ranger and fired. The weapon cracked loudly in the silence. The shot went well wide and the gun thudded back into his sore shoulder, forcing him to drop the weapon. The rangers whipped their heads around and started firing back, kicking up dust and bark. Almost giggling with glee, he picked up his rifle and raced away without a scratch. The Orcs would take care of that self-righteous bitch. A pity he couldn’t stay behind to watch her writhe in agony as they tore into her flesh.
NINE
--Soft music plays in the background--
“People of world, you’re listening to Charlie Brown at United News Radio. Before I play some tunes, I need to say something; I need to get this weight I‘ve been feeling lately off my chest. People of the world! We have to stop fighting each other! We have to stop looking around for help that ain’t coming! We have to stand up! Yes, I said stand up! This world won’t get better, if you don’t help it. So this is my message to all those listening out there, who believe they can’t do nothin, hear me now! YOU CAN DO SOMETHING! All you need to do is put up your hand and be willing to help. That’s all it takes. Now, let’s listen to some of my all-time favorite classics from the 90’s, hope you enjoy A Dying Planet by Joe Walsh.”
***STATIC***
“Sorry Tal, damn phone keeps messing up and playing music from United Radio…I hate that station, all they play are classics. Never mind, I know you can’t answer, but just know my thoughts are always with you. Stay safe son and know I am coming.”
“Sorry, the person you are calling right now is unavailable, please call back later
or leave a ten second message after the beep……beeeep”
--Soft music plays in the background--
“People of world, you’re listening to Charlie Brown at United News Radio. The latest reports from the battlefront, have brought in devastating news of defeats in Dakar, Memphis, Seattle, Tucson, Freetown and Exeter. If you’re living near or close to these areas, my advice is to get out, while you still can. This Is Charlie Brown bringing you the latest hits from the past…” --Elvis Presley begins to playing in the background singing Hound Dog--
“God, your mother was right music will outlive us all…*Sigh*…listen son I want you to promise me one thing. Don’t trust anyone, not your friends, not the people around you and certainly not any strangers. This world was harsh and cruel before the war, and it has only gotten harsher still. So watch yourself out there and remember don’t trust anyone. Take care my boy. I love you and I’ll see you soon.”
“Sorry, the person you are calling right now is unavailable, please call back later or leave a ten second message after the beep……beeeep”
~ * ~
Location: Beaverton, Year 2053
Jay deep in the grips of another dream about his son felt hands shaking him awake. Groaning in pain, he opened his eyes slowly to see Connor leaning down over him with a worried expression on his face. His eyes strained and red, a sure sign the old man hadn’t slept in a while.
“Oh my boy, I’m so glad you’re awake. I was afraid we’d have to leave without you.”
