by Chris Lowry
A heavy hand fell on his shoulder, and he cringed, waiting for the blow that followed.
When it didn’t, he saw a giant man, bone thin, with hollowed out cheeks and dark circles under his eyes standing behind him.
“Come,” the man whispered and let go of his shoulder.
Lutz almost said no.
But it was the first person to speak to him since he heard the girl’s voice.
And he was curious.
The tall man topped six foot six, towering a head above the rest of the prisoners.
He walked in a slumped over stoop, as if working to disguise his height. He shuffled with purpose, leading Lutz on a meandering path through the building.
“Pick up,” he instructed Lutz as they reached a stack of boxes, and took one into his own large hands.
Lutz did as he was told.
They continued through the building to what Lutz thought looked like a food prep area on the other side, and left the boxes by a back door.
The giant opened the door and ushered Lutz through.
If they were in a city, it would have passed for an alleyway. A long narrow path between two structures, lined with doors over small concrete pads.
Lutz stepped into the narrow slice of sunshine that cut a line of shadows on the far wall and stopped.
A woman waited for him there.
The door behind him clanged shut.
“Persistent,” she said, her raspy voice carrying to him across the row.
Lutz stepped down and approached her.
“I’ve been searching, I’ve been seeking,” he said in a sing song voice.
“And you found.”
“Who was the squarecrow?”
“That’s Bob,” she said. “Bob works for me.”
“And you are?”
She flipped her greasy hair back from her face, almond eyes sparkling with humor.
“I’m the boss of this here joint.”
“Is that supposed to impress me?”
“It is if you want to bust out.”
He studied her smooth skin, could see the outline of the bones in her skull too.
She was younger than him by a couple of years.
“You’re just a kid,” he smirked. “How’s a kid a boss.”
“Maybe I’m just the boss of you,” she smirked back.
“And Bob,” Lutz added.
“And Bob,” she agreed.
“I’m Lutz,” he said.
“Call me Kiko.”
“You’re Kiko.”
Lutz looked up and down the alley. They were alone, but he could hear the Licks and the people around them.
“Relax,” she said. “The acoustics work to our advantage here. We’ll be able to hear them coming from either end before they see us.”
Lutz nodded, but still ducked into the shadow.
“Busting out,” he said. “What did you have in mind?”
She tilted her head to one side and watched him with her dark eyes.
“What every good jailbreak needs,” she told him. “A distraction.”
CHAPTER
Lt stepped into the corridor to a crowd of people watching them. Babe and Waldo stood with Jake and Steph off to one side. Weber and Renard were by each other a little apart from the rest of the group.
The crowd didn’t clap this time, and he appreciated their restraint.
There was work to be done.
“Burmage,” he called out and watched the small man scurry from behind the people.
“You’re in charge out here,” said Lt. “We got you weapons to take care of your people, keep ‘em fed and safe.”
Burmage nodded.
“It’s working,” he said. “We’re still hungry, but not starving.”
“It’s a start alright. And a start is all we got. Teach a man to fish and all that bullshit. You keep folks in the woods running circles around this place on a hunt, and you’ll do fine. Now these two men,” he pointed to the duo by the door. “And two more I’m gonna pick, they work for Doc.”
Burmage shot a look over Lt’s shoulder at the opening in the wall.
“Doc is in charge inside that wall, but he’s gonna help you, got it.”
Burmage frowned. Lt snapped his fingers to get his attention.
“When I say Doc is in charge, I mean me, got it.”
The leader of the survivors nodded, his jowls jiggling.
“He may ask you for help,” Lt continued. “It’s like me asking for help.”
“I understand.”
“You take care of your people out here. Doc is going to take care of me and my people from in there.”
“You’re leaving again?” Burmages hands started rubbing together in small circles, fingers caressing the back of his palm.
“That’s the plan.”
“But you’ll be back?”
“Also part of the plan.”
Burmage nodded.
Lt turned to his squad. He kept his visor up so they could see his face, but all he could see of theirs was his own reflection.
“I told you when we started, we were going to be a Lick killing bushwhacking army. Well,” he amended. “I told you three that.”
He pointed to Babe, Waldo and Crockett.
“I told you some of us would die. I told you we were going to make an accounting for our lives. I think we made a difference. I damn sure know we made a difference in these people’s lives.”
He pointed at the strip of LED’s that ran the length of the corridor.
“We brought light back into their lives. And with these suits, we’re bringing hope.”
“Is it enough?” Weber asked.
“It’s going to have to be,” Lt answered. “But there’s more than just these folks out there. We got a thousand more encampments and hidey holes were people are hunkered down. High Command had a list, and if the Lick was smart, they grabbed it. That means a whole lot of people are in for a world of hurt, unless we can stop them.”
“Are we shifting into the people saving business?” Waldo asked.
Lt considered for a moment.
“The way I see it Waldo, Lick killing and people saving is the same business. Two sides of the same coin. We have us weapons now and you still owe me. You owe me for the contract you signed when you signed up with this here outfit. You owe me for the men who ain’t here no more.”
“I didn’t sign anything,” said Jake.
“And you two owe me for your freedom. The price is-”
“All of them,” Babe shouted. “All of their heads.”
“Babe, you have got the soul of the queen of hearts. He’s right. I want to double our business. Hell, I want to triple it. But we’ve got to be careful.”
“You need more men,” said Renard. “We’re not enough.”
Lt nodded.
“You know who else thought they weren’t enough? The three hundred Spartans who held off the Immortal Persian Army at Thermopylae.”
“Didn’t they all die?” said Jake.
“Cause they had doubt, Chief. Doubt that they could do it. You can have fear in your heart. You can have concerns about the obstacles we’re gonna come across. But ain’t no room for doubt.”
“Is that supposed to inspire us?” Jake said.
“I ain’t in the inspiring business. This ain’t a rah-rah speech. This is a telling it like it is talk.”
He moved among them and motioned them closer.
“There’s seven of us. Seven’s a powerful number. That’s seven thousand Licks if we do our job right. How many you think they keep on a base?”
Weber’s helmet moved.
“Ten thousand. Maybe more.”
“That’s a lot of Lick heads to chop, Lt,” said Babe.
“No room for doubt, Babe.”
“I’m not doubting, sir. I just think we need more men.”
Steph coughed.
“Or women.”
Lt grinned, watched his teeth flash in
the
faces around him.
“Then it’s our lucky day, cause I know where we can get the first one.”
The End
AUTHORS NOTE:
Argh! I know, you want to know what happens next. I’ve seen your emails about how the story ends. It’s not a cliff hanger, it’s a loop. You knew they were going to go save Lutz, even as Lutz tries to save himself.
Let’s see if it works in book 3, LODGEMENT, coming out on 11 December.
Some questions will get answered, some people might die. It is war after all. But, this story was planned as a trilogy, and you saw that two men from PHALANX joined up with them.
After Lodgement, another story decided to happen, and we’re going to see THULE as the next book in the series.
So don’t worry, they’re gonna keep coming.
Let me tell you, Lick Commander has some stuff up his sleeve, Lt’s gonna do some cussing, and there’s plenty of alien ass busting to go around.
I want to thank you for reading these.
BEACHHEAD (a military term for establishing a position) (PS. Correct me if I’m wrong) is about the human race starting to fight back.
BRIDGEHEAD (enlarging the established position) is about taking the small fight into a battle for the survival of the human race.
LODGEMENT (establishing a permanent perimeter for an occupation) carries the fight a step further.
What does THULE mean? It’s a Viking (Norwegian?) term for beyond. I found it in a book called ULTIMA THULE by a six foot seven inch wild man who explored the artic, wore a polar bear fur coat, and once chopped off his own toes and leg when he got frostbite, then used a peg leg he carved himself! (talk about a bad ass.)
So beyond might go beyond the atmosphere. We might find space ships.
Again, I just want to say thank you. I appreciate your emails, comments and reviews. But most of all, thanks for sharing this adventure with me. I hope you enjoy it.
C-
PS. If you grabbed this on pre-order, send me an email to [email protected] and I’ll send you PHYYRIC (sequel to PHALANX) free in a few weeks.)
WANT STAY IN THE FIGHT?
GRAB LODGEMENT
It’s pre-order for $2.99, but I am going to do a .99 deal for one day on DAY OF LAUNCH.
You can grab it now and be the first to read it if you don’t mind paying just a little more to support a coffee and craft beer habit.
Get your copy now
Battlefield Z
Children's Brigade
Sweet Home Zombie
Zombie Blues Highway
Mardi Gras Zombie
Bluegrass Zombie
Outcast Zombie
Renegade Zombie
Flyover Zombie - the Battlefield Z series
Headshots - the Battlefield Z series
Overland Zombie
Lunar Hustle- Prequel to The Dipole Shield
The Dipole Shield - The Dipole Series
Planet 9 - The Dipole Series
Moon Men
Epoch - The Future Templar
Eon- The Future Templar
Era - The Future Templar
Super Secret Space Mission
The Herd Shot Round the World
Conscripted - the Shadowboxer files
Mission One - the Shadowboxer files
Shadowboxer - the Shadowboxer files
Decreed - the Shadowboxer files
Suspect - the Shadowboxer files
Nazi Nukes - a Shadowboxer story
Phalanx - Invasion Earth
Pyrrhic - Invasion Earth
Beachhead - Invasion Earth
Bridgehead - Invasion Earth
Witchmas - a Marshal of Magic story
Witchmas Eve - a Marshal of Magic story
The Holy War
Evasion - Destruction Earth
