Tales of the Forgotten

by W. J. Lundy

  Brad looked over and saw that Brooks had finished his inventory and was starting to pile the broken pieces of concrete into a shelter against the far corner of the roof wall. Hasan had gotten to his feet and was helping Brooks construct the makeshift bunker.

  Brooks, peering through the hole, said it was a clean drop to the floor and he could see the primals in the store were anxious to get at them on the roof. Brad could hear them fighting with each other as rival packs joined together in the cramped space of the store—screaming and clawing, the ripping of clothing and the snapping of jaws—humanity had really been brought to the level of ravenous animals. It had been over forty minutes since the phone call with the colonel, and the primals were still frenzied below them, not giving up easily on their trapped prey.

  Brad finally spoke up. “Sean, what do you think of this high value person the colonel talked about?”

  “Your guess is as good as mine, but they must be pretty desperate to put us on the mission,” Sean answered. “We are pretty well trashed as it is here. For now, I say we take Cloud’s help, then when we are clear of this mess we will look at our options.”

  Brooks was sitting in the corner cleaning his weapon; he looked up and nodded his approval. “I really would like to know who we are dealing with. I have never heard of this Colonel Cloud, and we work in a very small community.”

  “I know what you’re saying, Brooks, I’ve had some of the same concerns about him. But for now, all we got is him and his bombs so let’s keep rolling with it,” Sean said.

  He was intently studying his map and comparing it to what he saw on the ground in front of him. Brad watched Sean stuff everything in his pack and look at his watch. “Okay boys, less than ten mikes; let’s dig in and wait for the rain,” Sean said.

  The men sat huddled in the hastily-made bunker and waited. It had begun to grow quiet as they lay motionless and out of sight of the primals. The sun was still high in the sky and the temperatures still sat close to a hundred degrees. Brad cautiously peeked out over the walls and saw the swarms of primals moving about in tightly packed clusters. Occasionally two groups would merge, but for the most part they stayed independent and fought with each other when the fringes of a group would meet. Brad wondered if the groups had dominant leaders; they would be interesting to study if they weren’t always trying to kill him.

  His thoughts were interrupted by the sudden buzzing of the phone. “Chief here,” Sean answered as he put the phone on speaker.

  “Roger Chief, this is Thunder Turkey, flight commander for today’s mud mission. This is your brief—you will be getting three total passes: one to mark and draw targets; two with lethal drops. We know where you are based on briefed imagery. Please mark your location with an IR strobe if available. These drops will be danger close. We will try and keep you out of the blast zone and the drops as close to the river as possible, but you know how these things work. Keep your heads down; it’s going to get loud for you. These are two thousand pounders. I recommend you keep your mouth open, breathe shallow, and cover your ears. Gentlemen, do you have any questions?” the voice asked.

  “Uhh … I guess not. Just don’t kill us. Strobes are lit,” Sean answered.

  “Very well then. Good luck gentlemen, you have four birds less than ten minutes out. I recommend you get moving right after the second lethal drop. From experience, these bombings stun the primals but not for very long. Thunder Turkey out,” said the voice as the call ended.

  “Well you heard the man, let’s tighten up,” Sean said.

  Brad was pressed against the back wall of the makeshift bunker watching the sky when he saw the first jet screaming in slow and low; it looked like it was floating in the clouds. “Guess there’s no reason for them to make high fast drops on these guys, not like they can shoot back,” he said.

  They heard the thunder and watched the jet fly a tight line along the team’s side of the riverbank as it started launching flares and metallic decoys that burned a bright white and made a whistling sound as they flew.

  “Never seen those before,” Brad said.

  “Me either, but looks like they seem to be doing the whole ‘mark and draw’ trick the pilot talked about,” Brooks replied.

  Brad watched as the primals lost focus on the store; they started walking at first, then running toward the noise near the river’s bank. The jet finished its run and peeled away, banking high into the sky. Brad watched as three more jets dropped in slow over the mountain. They were a lot higher but still gave the impression of floating. He watched them line up with the river, then their ordnance began to drop and scream in. Brad tucked his chin and covered his ears; he left nothing but the heels of his boots facing the river.

  Brad felt the ground thrust under him as the first bombs hit. The blast wave seemed to levitate him off the surface of the roof. Then the shockwave hit the building with a force that rattled everything and dumped pieces of the makeshift bunker on top of the team’s flattened bodies. The low wall that surrounded the building’s roof held, and helped to somewhat direct the blast up and away from the men. The thunder was horrific, and the dark mushroom clouds blocked out the sun. Brad heard the debris rain down all around him. This wasn’t the first time he had seen a bomb run, but it was the first time he had been this close.

  Brad’s teeth were still rattling in his mouth when he heard the scream of the jets lining up for their next run. Again he tucked his chin, covered his ears, and tried to make himself one with the surface of the roof as the next round of bombs hit. Again the roof shook underneath him and the blast wave pounded and heaved at the sides of the building, knocking the air out of him. Brad froze himself in place until he heard the debris stop raining down, then he slowly got to his knee. The air was filled with dark black smoke. Brooks and Sean were already up, rigging a rope to the roof, and preparing to drop into the building.

  Brad saw that Hasan was still curled in a ball next to him; he reached out and slapped his hip. Hasan slowly rolled to his back and asked him if it was over. Brad nodded and extended a hand to help Hasan to his feet, then they made their way to the hole’s edge. Brooks had already dropped in and cleared the room.

  Sean handed the rope to Brad, who quickly dropped into the hole and watched Sean and Hasan slide down behind him. Sean immediately made his way to the rear of the Defender and took up a security position. Brooks was behind the wheel and eagerly working to start the vehicle.

  Brad made his way to the back door and was trying to wedge the gear out of the cargo space when he heard the Defender roar to life. “Everyone on board!” Sean yelled as he squeezed out through the opening and into the street. Brad stopped what he was doing and crawled through the rear window. Once he was in, he reached back and pulled Hasan in behind him. Hasan was visibly rattled from the bomb drops and just sat forward with his rifle between his legs. Sean slapped the back of the truck and yelled that the street was clear. Brooks stomped on the accelerator and the Defender scraped and crunched backwards out of the store front.

  Brooks turned the vehicle hard to the right when he cleared the opening and Sean jumped into the seat next to him. Brooks again gunned the vehicle and it roared as it crunched over the broken glass and debris that filled the street. Brad looked out of the cracked windshield between Sean and Brooks. The streets were filled with rubble and the bloodied bodies of the primals. He was horrified to see some of them in broken and twisted positions still trying to lift themselves to take chase. The closer they got to the river, the worse damage they found. The road was barely passable where the concrete surface had heaved and buckled.

  “We’re not going to get far in this,” Brooks said. “The engine temp is climbing and I have a Christmas tree of warning lights on the dash.”

  “Well, ride her hard as far as it will go,” Sean answered.

  “I always do,” Brooks retorted.

  He dropped the Defender into four wheel drive and carefully eased the vehicle through the broken and twisted concrete.
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br />   “Eyes up back there fellas, I don’t know how long the shock will keep them down,” Sean said.

  Brad looked out his window; this close to the river, there wasn’t much of anything resembling a human. All he could see was crushed buildings and garbage. Smoke was still thick in the air and fires were burning everywhere. This city of primals has been given back to the earth, he thought. Brooks drove as fast as he dared and soon they had cleared the blast area and the streets started to open up. The flares and decoys must have done their job drawing the primals into the danger zones, because there were still none of them in sight.

  Brooks eased the Defender onto the hard-packed highway. He cautiously dropped back into two wheel drive and accelerated. They made it a good two miles into the valley before they started to hear the engine squeal.

  “I’m sure she’s cooking. I think we punctured the oil pan, and the radiator is trashed. We’re running damn hot,” Brooks said.

  “Understood. Try to find Hasan’s trailhead or at least a break in these mountains before you stop,” Sean replied.

  Brooks continued to nurse the vehicle down the road; it was still screeching and had started to leave a trail of blue smoke. He found a deep cut in the rocks that led to a trail, and pulled the Defender over and ahead to the entrance. Brad watched Brooks reach down and turn the key, shutting off the Defender for the last time.

  “Okay boys, dismount and 360 security. Let’s get eyes on this location right quick,” Sean barked.

  Brad tossed his small pack out of the window and crawled out after it. He took up a hasty security position just to the rear of the vehicle. He looked around and saw that the rest of the men had equally spread out and were searching their sectors.

  “Looks clear here, Chief,” Brad said, and heard simultaneous replies of the same from the rest of the team.

  “Okay, break down this vehicle. We need to be moving into these rocks ASAP!” Sean hollered back and he turned to move towards the vehicle.

  “How well do you know this area, Hasan?” Brad asked.

  “I have traveled this road often, and I have had the misfortune of seeking shelter in these hills before to evade your patrols,” Hasan answered.

  “Good! Then you take point,” Sean said, smiling at Hasan.

  It took them several minutes to break down the Defender. Brad felt the weight of his overstuffed pack when he heaved it to his shoulders. They had evenly distributed all of the food, ammo, and water between their packs. Brad was beginning to feel like a pack mule with the crushing weight of his load. He walked to the rear of the Defender and leaned his pack against the rock wall to try and take some of the weight off of his shoulders. He watched as Sean made a quick pass around the vehicle to make sure everything usable had been removed. Brooks took the keys from his pocket and laid them on the seat of the truck. Then Sean pointed to Hasan and signaled for him to lead the way.

  Hasan went forward with his AK47 cradled in his arms. He moved up the large crack in the rocks to a narrow trail that led steeply up and away from the road. Brooks walked directly behind Hasan, and Sean took up the rear. Brad struggled to walk the steep incline and almost fell several times.

  “Do not lose heart, friends, the path will become easier at the top,” Hasan called back to them. They climbed for several minutes longer, carefully stepping over loose boulders. At the top, as Hasan had said, the path dropped over the face of the rock, then flattened and slowly snaked up the mountain on the other side.

  “I want to get as much distance on this place as possible before nightfall,” Sean said.

  “What about the colonel?” Brad asked.

  “Don’t worry about the colonel right now. Our job is survival, and that means getting as far as possible from that valley,” Sean answered. “Let’s try and make that ridge before we look for a campsite, Hasan,” he said, pointing to a high piece of terrain far in the distance.

  Hasan nodded, stepped off on the trail, and set a quick pace. Moving fast, Brad felt the burning in his shoulders where the weight of the pack’s straps cut into him. His feet were swollen and he could feel every stone on the path through his faded and battered boots. It’s going to be a long day, he thought to himself as he concentrated on just putting one foot in front of the other.

  The trail wound in and out of the face of the mountain. The surface was well worn and dusty, made up of mostly packed gravel and stone. As the elevation increased, the air thinned but it was still just as hot. The trail was quiet and they took several breaks where they would take a knee and listen. So far nothing was following them and the colonel’s advice that the primals avoided traveling uphill seemed to be true. Even though they were exhausted, they made good time and pushed each other down the trail. After several hours, they had finally arrived at the approach to the ridge.

  Hasan stopped on the trail and sat on his rear, leaning back against his pack. He pulled a bottle of water from his pocket and took a long drink. “I wanted to warn you, when we pass the top of this ridge you will see the way is packed with hundreds more ridges just like this one. The trail appears to go on forever, but do not be disappointed, friends, it is less than two days’ journey back to the next pass and to the highway. We will see a village on the way,” he added. The men nodded as they lay back on their packs and drank from their own supplies of water.

  After several minutes, Brooks got to his feet and extended a hand to Hasan, pulling him from the ground. They turned and made their way up the path to the top of the ridge. At the top they found the path widened and twisted into a large rock overhang. Under the overhang they could see remnants of an old campfire, evidence that this place had been occupied before. In the distance, the path wound at a slow downslope away from the ridge before it cut out of sight. As Hasan had said, the ridges stacked up and seemed to go on forever. The next couple days are going to suck, Brad thought.

  They made camp in the overhang. The men dropped all of their gear and Hasan went off to gather wood for a cooking fire. Sean made his way to the overhang and sat down heavily.

  “We will stand watch tonight in two-hour shifts. Let’s stay in this hide until long after daylight.” Sean pulled the phone from his pack and turned on the power before resting it on a rock. “We’ll have to be careful with the batteries now that we don’t have the Defender to charge them,” he said, then pulled two cans of slop from his pack and tossed them near the fire pit. “Here guys, let me buy you dinner,” he said before he leaned back against his pack.

  Hasan returned with the wood and built a small fire. Brooks stacked rocks around it to conceal the flames from anyone or thing that might be nearby. Then he pulled the cooking pot from his pack and started the evening meal. They sat without talking and watched the fire, mainly due to exhaustion, not from a loss of words. Brad had little appetite but knew he had to eat if he were to have the energy for tomorrow’s hike. He took his portion of the slop and settled back against his pack and ate in silence.

  Just as he was finishing he heard the phone buzz. Sean let out an exaggerated sigh and pressed the speaker button.

  “Go for Chief,” he said.

  “Good evening, Chief, I trust your egress from the city went well. Could I get a status report?” Cloud said.

  “We are four strong. We are packing heavy ammo and rations; probably enough water for two, maybe three days,” Sean said.

  “Well gentlemen, the satellite shows that the river’s bank was nearly leveled by the bombing runs. What primals there are seem to be dead, or dying, based on thermals,” Cloud said.

  “Would have been nice if you could have cleared the city before we went through,” Sean barked.

  “Once again Chief, we have limited air assets and even less fuel. We are running off the strategic oil reserves right now and we have to be very careful with what we’ve got. Your breaching of the city was a risk we had to take; fortunately things worked out well,” Cloud answered.

  “Screw you sir! We almost died out there and now we are on fo
ot and who knows where the hell we are at,” Sean barked again.

  “Let’s calm down. I can see from the last satellite pass that you have drifted from the road that we recommended you stick to. I’m going to need to you make course corrections back in that direction,” Cloud said.

  “Not going to happen Colonel! We are going to stick to these mountains until we hit the next pass. Our guide on the ground is leading this exhibition and he has been more reliable than you at the moment,” Sean said, nodding to Hasan, who nodded back in recognition.

  “Chief, you do understand that you and your men are still members of the armed forces and obligated to follow orders?” Cloud asked.

  “Understood, Colonel, please send out the MPs to make my arrest; I’m ready to go to the brig,” Sean responded sarcastically.

  “Very well, Chief, have it your way. If you stick to the mountain path you will find some very rough terrain. The trail will break near the village of Shurazar,” Cloud said.

  Sean looked to Hasan, who nodded, indicating the colonel was correct.

  “What intel can you give me on the village, Colonel?” Sean asked.

  “The village is very small, not many details in the record. We don’t know the state of infection, but it is somewhat isolated off the main road so you may get lucky. We will run satellite recon on the site during the next window,” Cloud said.

  “And what is your plan for us beyond this march?” Sean asked.

  “We will talk when you reach Shurazar, Chief,” said Cloud, disconnecting the call.

  “Wow, he sounded pissed,” laughed Brooks.

  “Yes, but we have the leverage right now. He needs us for something, that’s the only reason we have him. Probably the same reason they waited so long to call,” Sean said. “Let’s get some sleep, we have a long walk ahead of us tomorrow.” He rose to his feet and grabbed his rifle to take the first watch.