“Keep firing!”
James breathed out, then squeezed the trigger. His aim was true. The 5.56 mm round zipped through the air at more than 760 metres a second. It exploded through the monster’s head, leaving a gaping hole as it exited. The beast snapped its mouth shut and its eyes glazed over before it slumped to the deck.
James sneered. As satisfied as he was, they still had a battle to win. He watched a soldier walk up and shoot it through the head.
The radio strapped to his vest crackled to life. “Brigadier on the line.”
“Patch it through, Toye.”
“Mahana. SITREP.”
“All battalions are under attack. Requesting immediate air support. Whatever you have. Over.”
“Damn. That makes three.”
“Three? Over.”
“All mainland operations are under attack. I can spare you a couple of NH-90s.”
“Thank you, whatever you can spare.”
“ETA three hours. Out.”
James sighed and looked to the three NH-90 helicopters and the two Indonesian AS565 Panthers sitting in the middle of the FOB. He had been keeping them in reserve.
Three hours. Can we hold them off?
A chorus of bellows reverberated over the plains. Shrieks and howls joined in. The cacophony reached a peak and fell away. It was replaced by a rumble James couldn’t quite place.
His radio hissed. “Heavy vehicles incoming, sir.”
“Get the NH-90s airborne and ready the ATGMs.”
James, taking two steps at a time, sprinted up the remaining guard tower. He sucked in a breath at the sight of a dozen up-armoured vehicles fanning out as they rumbled towards them.
— 32 —
Dee shivered despite the hot afternoon sun. Dark rain clouds were gathering to the east beyond the Kaimai Ranges. The wind that preceded the clouds carried the sounds of battle from far in the distance, the direction of the FOB. She turned to Yalonda, lying prone, sandbags nestled next to her, with her L96 Sniper rifle resting on a tripod. “What do you rate our chances at?”
“Fair to shit. There’s a crapload of them, and us with how many firearms?”
“You haven’t seen these Maori fight, have you?”
“Oh, I’ve seen Maori fight. Lethal. I’m not doubting their ability or their bravery. Just the fact that we’re outnumbered. Have you found me a target yet?”
Dee peered through the M151 spotting scope. “North north east, 653 metres. Big square head.” Dee smiled as Yalonda put a round through its head. Ben had instructed them to take the biggest Variants down first. The Alphas were the real targets, but wisely they were standing back, out of range.
“Five degrees to the east. Gash on its chest.” Boom. The Variant dropped.
Yalonda took a sip from her Camelbak and gazed at Dee. “Whatever happens today, Dee, I’m proud to have served with you and Jack. Even that cheeky bugger, Boss.”
“Thanks. You too.” Dee looked down. “Before all this happened, did you have any dreams?”
“Dreams? That’s a bit soppy for battle talk.”
“C’mon. You must have.”
“Yeah, I’m just teasing. I don’t know. I guess I just wanted a family, lead a quiet life after the army. I did think of opening a pie shop at Waihi Beach. But this is what I’m good at. I can shoot a fly off a dog’s back at 800 yards.”
Dee shook her head. “And you call us nerds.”
“Hey. Back to the Future is the greatest trilogy of all time.”
“Nerd.” Dee smiled. “I didn’t know you wanted to be a mum.”
“Well, yeah. I need to pass on the family tradition.”
“Tradition?”
“You know. Embarrassing the crap out of your kids. Didn’t your mum?”
Dee cast her mind back to the lab. Back to where they had rescued Katherine Yokoyama all those months ago. Katherine had told her that her mum was possibly still alive.
Dee had spent hours on the radio trying to reach her, but the airwaves had stayed quiet. She glanced up at Yalonda but kept silent.
“Oh yeah, sorry, Dee. I forgot.” Yalonda shifted her torso and adjusted her aim. “I think my mother embarrassed me enough for both of us. Get this, right. My first school disco, my friends and I were nothing short of excited. We spent weeks planning our outfits. What songs were our favourites. What boys to dance with. Or girls, for one of my mates. The night finally arrived and off we went. It was amazing Dee. You never forget that first dance. That first kiss. I remember my heart sinking when the lights came on and the music stopped. Just like in that song ‘Dancing Queen’.
“I had organised with my mum for her to pick me up at 11 pm and yeah, I was late. But I was saying goodbye to my friends and stealing that last kiss when I heard it. Yalonda! Yalonda Caro! Has anyone seen Yalonda Caro! The crowd parted, and there was my mother. In her dressing gown and slippers. Still the most embarrassing moment of my life.”
Dee blinked a few times and looked up from her scope. She caught Yalonda’s eye and burst out laughing. A deep, hearty laugh. Yalonda joined her, chuckling as she dropped another Variant.
“You’re right. That is enough embarrassment for both of us. For the record, I think you’ll make a good mum.”
“You too, Dee.” Yalonda said, whacking her on the arm. “C’mon, sister. Let’s kill these bastards.”
As Dee found targets for Yalonda, she couldn’t help but wonder why the Variants were hanging back. Jack had filled her in on the winged beast that had attacked the chopper.
Is that what they’re waiting for?
Dee heard thumps of boots coming up the wooden steps of the crow’s nest. She turned and smiled as Major Ken Hind’s head came into view.
“Captain asked me to protect you guys so you can focus on taking down the Alphas.”
Dee winked at him and nodded her head in Yalonda’s direction. “Sure. Good to have you up and about.”
“Thanks. Good to be back.” Ken shouldered his M4 and Dee returned to spotting.
An unearthly silence descended over the Pa. It seemed to her that all the warriors were lost in their own thoughts. Dee’s mind raced, running through all the scenarios that could happen. She breathed out and in again, focusing on her breathing. Jack had taught her the technique, and they both tried to live by the philosophy of living in the present.
Wisely, Hone and his iwi had built an escape tunnel that led to the river to the east. For the last half an hour, they had been quietly evacuating the women and the children. The Variants gathering closer to the Pa had prompted Hone to speed up the exodus.
Ben’s plan was simple: hold the Variants off long enough for all of them to escape. Blow the creatures to kingdom come. Sail down the river and back to Mayor Island.
Dee thumbed her radio. “Boss, receiving?” Hissing answered her for several seconds.
“Receiving. Over.”
“Any luck?”
“I just got off the line with the FOB. They’re under attack too. Instructions are to hold tight. Air support incoming. ETA three hours. Mayor Island is safe. Over.”
She sighed and glanced skyward at the approaching rain. “Thanks, Boss. Keep yourself safe, okay? Out.”
“Dee?”
“Yeah.”
“In case we don’t make it, I need to tell you something.”
“I know, Boss. You don’t need to say it. I love you to. I couldn’t have asked for a better friend. You’re going to make a good husband one day.”
“Thanks, Dee. I do love you. Jack’s a lucky guy. Out.”
Sadness tinged her words. Sadness at what had become of the world, sadness that Boss would never lead a peaceful teenage life, and sadness that, like the eighteen-year-olds who had stormed the Normandy beaches, Boss knew the true horror of what man was capable of.
Dee refocused on the gathered Variants and ignored the chuckles from Yalonda and Ken. The humidity in the air thickened with the approaching storm. She wiped the sweat out of her eyes and adju
sted her cap.
“How about a friendly wager?” she said to Yalonda.
“You think you’re going to kill more than me?”
“Well, I’m offering a wager.”
“All right, nerd wife. I’ll take you up on that.”
Dee smiled at the glint in Yalonda’s eye. She was abrasive at times, but Dee couldn’t help but like her. She suspected her teasing was a defence mechanism to deal with the horrors of the apocalypse.
“All right, ladies, there are plenty for the both of you,” Ken said, smiling.
Dee shook her head and chuckled to herself.
We just need to hold them off until the children are safe.
***
It was eerily silent as a strong voice rang out over the Pa, rising in volume as words in te reo were shouted. It was answered by the sound of hundreds of feet stamping the wooden gangways as the Maori warriors answered the call with a “Heh”.
A shiver tingled up Jack’s spine. Every Kiwi knew this war cry. It was the beginning of a haka, the traditional war dance of the Maori.
The leader called again and the hundred or so warriors answered. Jack looked to his left at Hone. His eyes bulged out and he was poking his tongue at the Variants. Ben and Boss thumped their chests and slapped their legs too. Jack pushed aside his normal shyness and glanced at the beasts. He cried with the words and added his voice and movements to the dance. The wall shook under the effort and a flood of adrenaline coursed through his body, amping him up to eleven. He shouted the last words and poked his tongue at the creatures. Then silence fell over the valley for a few seconds before the sounds of weapons being checked echoed around the Pa.
One second the Variants were standing still, like the Terracotta Army, and the next they burst forwards in an incredible eruption of speed, fury and fearlessness. No warning shrieks. Their rotten fruit stench hung in the air. The Maori rang bells, warning the Renegades and warriors, the metallic ringing mixed with the howls and shrieks that now screamed around the valley.
Jack glanced skyward, half expecting to see the dark-winged creature, but any hope of seeing it was obscured by the clouds.
“Make every shot count! And watch the sky,” he cried out, half in encouragement to himself and half to the men and women alongside him.
Jack leaned into his carbine, raking it side to side. He kept his sights centred on the Variants’ chests as they charged. He dropped a creature, blowing a hole in its head above the right eye. Another shot went through a Variants mouth, disintegrated the skull behind in a pulpy mess.
All around him the other warriors fired, hitting the mutated beasts and cutting them down in droves. The spikes did their job of impaling the first wave. The second wave followed close behind, scrambling over their dead kin.
“Boss! To the left. Don’t let them reach the wall.”
Jack swivelled his AR-15 and took down a Variant that had started to climb up the rough palisade. The other warriors adjusted their aim and mowed down the lead creatures. Still the Variants came on, wave after wave. The soldiers and warriors cut them to shreds. A quivering pile of bodies began to pile up against the wall and gate.
“Changing!” Jack warned. Quickly pulling his magazine free, he slammed in a fresh one.
“Bloody hell!” shouted Boss, his eyes wide at the constant onslaught.
As many as they killed, there were ten or more behind. The battle raged on. Jack’s ears became numb to the continuous sounds of gunfire, shouts and growls from the warriors. The pungent smell of cordite mixed with sweat and the rotting fruit stench invaded his nose, making him nauseous.
Jack desperately wanted to check on Dee, but he dared not look away.
The rain that had been threatening began to fall, soaking him in seconds and turning the ground in the pit to mud. The Variants tore at the Pa and clambered over the piles of dead. Jack risked a peek towards the end of the valley and could easily see the Alphas towering over the ranks of dark-skinned Variants. They stood there, silent, like sentinels. Like towers. As Jack watched, they began to move into the centre of the valley. Puzzled, he paused and squinted through his scope.
They were definitely moving towards the Pa now.
The wail of the winged beast, Abezi, was so loud it broke through the sounds of battle. Abezi swooped down and charged the soldiers on the gate.
“Incoming!”
The soldiers had little time to react and Abezi tore at them with his claws, ripping them apart before disappearing back into the clouds.
“We have to keep the bastard away from the wall!” Ben shouted over the radio.
Jack shot a Variant that had reached the top of the outer wall. All along the battlements, Variants were reaching the top. He took a couple of steps back and kept firing. He nudged Boss on the leg, guiding him to move with him.
The Variants began to pour over the wall, crowding into the narrow pit between the two walls. Jack slung his rifle and pulled out his Glock, shooting one through the mouth. He unclipped his machete and fired and hacked his way back to the drawbridge.
“Boss! C’mon.”
Boss was fighting off three Variants. One clawed his leg. Jack hollered and swung his blade, cutting the creature deep in its skull. Black blood oozed from the wound. He smashed his shoulder into the beast, dropping it. Boss grabbed his arm, pulling him.
“Fall back! Retreat!” shouted Ben.
Jack hacked off the arm of another Variant before turning and sprinting across the drawbridge. He ran into the knot of Maori who were holding off the charging beasts. They met the Variants head on.
Jack grimaced at the sound of mere and taiaha hitting the diseased flesh. The Maori lacked firearms, but they made up for the lack with sheer courage and determination, throwing themselves bodily into the melee.
The Variants continued to stream over the now-abandoned outer wall and down into the pit.
Jack spun and shouldered his rifle, shooting down any beast that crossed in front of his sights. Soon the last of the humans had scrambled across the three drawbridges. Once they were across, Ben gave the order.
“Now!”
Simultaneously, using sledgehammers, Maori smashed pins out from under the bridges. As they did so, the Renegades and Hone dropped lit torches into the pit. Earlier, the Maori had soaked the structure in kerosene.
Max yelped as the flames ignited and sent a shockwave across the inner wall as the creatures caught in the pit screamed in agony.
Jack was thankful Hone had taken down the beautiful carved panels and hidden them in the caves.
“Who’s hungry?” Yalonda shouted over the din before shooting a beast through the head.
Jack pulled Max back and hugged him. The fire was only going to hold the monsters off for so long. “Boss. Take Max, get up the stairs. Protect Dee.”
“What about you?”
“I’m going to greet these bastards with the M2.”
Boss grabbed the dog by the collar and nudged him up the stairs.
Jack looked at the dog’s brown eyes as he followed Boss up the stairs. He knew Max hated leaving his side, but he wanted him out of harm’s way.
Jack met Ben at the minigun and turned with him to look out at the mass of monsters still beyond the fire. The rain eased to a drizzle, making the flames spit and turning the ground into mud and ash. Jack wiped his brow and squeezed the water out of his cap.
The ground shook under their feet with such force it knocked him sideways onto the .50 cal. He knew that rumble. He had felt it before. Ben was picking himself up off the gangway when a mole broke through, exiting in the pit. It burst skyward and shrieked.
Jack thumbed his radio. “Dee, baby!”
“I see it!”
The crack of Yalonda’s rifle answered Jack’s plea. The bullet bounced harmlessly off the fur-like exoskeleton. She fired again with perfect timing as the mole opened its mouth to screech. The beast never finished as the bullet lodged deep in its brain.
Jack picked himself up and
stared at the burning outer gate as a deep bellow rumbled through the Pa like a bass drum. The gate smashed inwards, sending splinters of wood, some as large as a labrador, flying through the air.
The Alpha plucked a splinter from the air and in one smooth motion flung it at the defenders. Jack heard the scream but had no time to find who had perished.
The Alpha had broken through, leaving the inner wall open to attack. Hundreds of Variants poured into the pit, screeching for blood.
Here we go!
— 33 —
The Leyak screamed and spewed its acidic bile over the FOB buildings. Unlucky soldiers caught in its path had no chance as the fluid melted the flesh off their bones. They screamed and crumbled to the ground in puddles of tissue, blood and marrow, leaving behind half-melted bones and tatters of clothing.
The cladding on the buildings fared no better. It quickly melted through the metal, singeing the wood.
Mahana kept glancing up at the winged demon as he sprinted for the jeep fifty metres away. An M2 had been mounted in the back. James used his rifle to push the dead soldier off the back.
“Badminton, cover me!”
James held the hand grips and squeezed the trigger. The Leyak, almost preternaturally wise to this barrage, twisted away and climbed higher. He scored a couple of direct hits and grinned, satisfied, as it tumbled and spun. The Leyak tried to right itself, but one of his .50 cal. rounds had blown off one wing at the shoulder. It screamed as it thudded to the ground just outside the fence. He adjusted his aim and held down the trigger.
Fifty cal. rounds tore into the Variants. Blood, gunk, limbs and gore soon coated the land. Hundreds of Variants remained. A knot of them sheltered the Leyak as they hustled it away.
James swore in frustration and unloaded his M2. But for every beast he shredded, another took its place.
The M2 clicked dry and James kicked the empty ammo box. “Where the hell is my air support?”
He looked up at the sky, hoping to see the helicopters. “Badminton. Get our birds in the air. And take out those bloody stupid armoured vehicles!”
Extinction New Zealand Box Set | Books 1-3 Page 59
