Building and trucks burned behind the SEALs as they hunkered down and unleashed all they had. The air charged in front of them. Rounds from a railgun fired and killed every Navy SEAL except Petty Officer Deines. The percussion smashed him to the ground. Woozy, he sat up and noticed the mangled body parts of his comrades. No saving them, he knew it … and ran. Still wobbly, he moved toward Woolridge, stumbling as if he was in a bad dream.
A Super Destroyer flipped a vehicle like a toy when it descended next to the BAS.
“Where are the choppers?” Deines shouted in Woolridge’s ear.
“Keep ‘em hidden on the golf course!” Jimmy screamed just as both men jumped out of the way of another railgun shot, aimed for a group of Marines near them.
Men flew through the air in pieces of bone and sinew. Deines and Woolridge landed from the explosion. Other than being deaf, both men were unharmed. “Let’s go!” Deines shouted, getting back to his feet.
Heading for a Hum-Z, they took off running. Making it a quarter mile away from the battle, the two men cautiously approached the vehicle.
“Contact right!” Deines shouted, firing at a Ker.
Several Ker were assigned the task of staying along the borders, just outside the fight. No one was to slip by.
Woolridge finished killing the Ker and watched it topple. Having no clue which way to go, Deines fired the engine. “Which way!” he shouted after putting it in drive. Neither could hear a fucking word each other was saying. Deines pointed, yelling. “Go! That way!”
The lights of gunfire faded dim behind them as the Hum-Z bounced over the terrain.
CHAPTER 45 - GIRAFFE
“If you still believe in magic,
you're subject to enchantment.”
― Toba Beta
Just outside Charlotte North Carolina:
“Jesus, would you look at that Cy.”
“I see it Dr. Marcus.”
“I don’t think we’re going to get through that,” Dr. Pressfield said, holding his chin, thinking as he stared at a mountain of metal automobiles blocking their path.
“My scanners detect that you’re correct Dr. Marcus.”
“Can we cut over? See if there’s another way Cy.”
“We can take this road over to 77 Dr. Marcus and then turn in, and head south,” he confirmed, pointing at their vehicles navigation system.
“Ok… do it,” Dr. Pressfield ordered, looking around nervously.
On the road and towering like a monster fence, a wall of cars was piled high. It looked as though they were dropped on the interstate from a great distance. Vehicles were stacked, packed, and racked. Thirty feet high, hundreds of them sat on top of one another in a metal dam. Cy backed up and spun the steering wheel and then mashed the throttle. “Getting good at this,” Dr. Pressfield said, smiling.
“I do like driving Dr. Marcus, most indeed I do.”
“You don’t say?” Dr. Pressfield queried. “I couldn’t tell.”
“Really Dr. Marcus?” Cy asked as if he’d glitched into a dumb blond. Dr. Pressfield gave his cyborg a look.
“Oh, I get it Dr. Marcus. You were being rhetorical again.”
“Something like that Cy,” Dr. Pressfield said. “Something like that,” he said softer, concentrating on the world around him, as if it’d suddenly changed. He didn’t like being off the main road. Things had changed. The surrounding environment became more foreboding the deeper they went.
“It’s ok Dr. Marcus, my scanners aren’t detecting Ker.”
“This place gives me the creeps,” Dr. Pressfield announced as they drove under the shade of bending trees. Branches hung over the road like grabbing tentacles and scraped over the vehicles surface, squeaking in a high pitch as limbs scratched through the paint.
“I rather enjoy the change of scenery,” Cy confirmed.
“You would… But I don’t… Looks like the haunted forest to me,” Dr. Pressfield shook deliberately and rubbed his hands over his shoulders.
“Don’t worry Dr. Marcus, there’s no such thing as ghosts.”
Dr. Pressfield leaned forward looking up through the windshield. “You sure about that Cy?” he said casually.
“Positive Dr. Marcus.” Cy slammed the brakes as something ran out in front of the Hum-Z.
“Jesus Christ!” Marcus shouted. “Thing scared the shit out of me.”
“I surely hope not Dr. Marcus,” Cy said looking down at the seat.
“Look at the size of them. The neck…” Marcus watched two giraffe skip across the road. As the animals faded into the brush, Cy gently hit the throttle and the vehicle moved forward. Slowly, they drove a few more miles.
The wooded forest abruptly ended, opening into a field. “This I can handle,” Marcus announced. They reached Interstate 77 and climbed onto its runway.
Cy traversed the abandoned vehicles and continued south for the satellite DARPA office, Charlotte NC.
The cityscape looked normal from a distance. Tall buildings still towered in a magnificent skyline of manmade metal and architecture. Charlotte had surpassed all of the southern cities as a thriving metropolis. Long since the banking capital of the southeast, it had become the financial powerhouse of the United States. New York was finally bested as the epicenter of trading and paper stocks.
“It should be close.”
“It’s less than two miles away Dr. Marcus.”
The Hum-Z drove until it reached DARPA. “Guess I was wrong,” Dr. Pressfield stated.
“It’s not hurricane proof, huh Dr. Marcus?”
“Doesn’t look like it,” the scientist affirmed, sticking his head out the window.
“Most of the facility is underground though Dr. Marcus.”
Marcus Pressfield stuck his head back inside and looked at Cy. “Yeah, you’re right. Better get a better look at her before I start a pity party.”
“Her, Dr. Marcus?”
“Yeah, her.”
“Who?”
“The lab Cy… The lab...”
Instantly Cy got the context of Dr. Marcus’s usage of, her. “I thought only ships were given female names or called, her?”
“Usually… but a man can name anything a... her. Should I give you a woman’s name, Cy?”
“No Dr. Marcus. I like being a boy.”
“Man… always say you’re a man, Cy,” Marcus instructed after slapping his cyborg on the shoulder.
“I’m a man,” Cy said in a deep voice.
Dr. Pressfield began to climb out of the vehicle. “Manly, that’s it,” he said with his eyes fixed on the pile of rocks that used to be DARPA.
“My scanners are detecting heavy energy output from underneath,” Cy confirmed as he climbed out of the vehicle.
What a shame. Marcus shook his head looking at the fallen building. “Well that’s good,” he said, turning to Cy. “Can you find us a way in?”
“Working on it Dr. Marcus… There,” Cy pointed to a spot.
Marcus shrugged. “Looks as good as any I guess,” he said following Cy to a pile of rubble.
Squatting down, Cy reached his hands under a boulder-sized chunk of concrete. “Careful Cy,” Marcus said while grimacing at what his cyborg was attempting.
Cy pulled, lifting the massive chunk of concrete and released his grip, toppling over as it shook the ground. He went to the next piece of rock and flung it out of the way, moving it as if he were a power lifter doing a deadlift. “Come on Dr. Marcus,” Cy said like a kid heading into an amusement park.
Dr. Pressfield followed down the revealed staircase. “How we going to get through that?” he asked.
A heavy door sat between them and the facility inside. Hurricane proof, it remained intact. “Stand back Dr. Marcus,” Cy ordered.
“Be careful,” Marcus requested, grimacing again. Cy began kicking the door’s center. It dented with each strike. Cy smashed it with every shot until the door began folding. After a final push kick, it flew inside, landing bent and mangled, sliding across the la
b. Marcus followed Cy inside the high-tech space, more cautious than his cyborg.
“My scanners detect that everything is in working order,” Cy affirmed with a smile. Dr. Pressfield’s eyes roamed the facility, smiling too. Marcus looked down at his cyborg’s feet.
“Cy… you’re bleeding.”
“So I am Dr. Marcus,” Cy said as he looked at his foot. His human flesh had been injured from kicking on the door.
CHAPTER 46 - DEMON ENTRY
“Never trust a demon. He has a hundred motives for anything he does ... Ninety-nine of them, at least, are malevolent.”
― Neil Gaiman, The Sandman
Russ and Clio returned home with the thoughts of the smoldering RMB weighing heavy on their minds. The old woman was difficult for Clio to forget.
“I need to take a nap,” Russ announced, walking toward his room as if pulled by an invisible force.
Clio didn’t answer him. She was tired too, but sleep, Clio knew was impossible. Lapping out of her bowl, the dog sloshed the water over the kitchen floor. “I bet you’re hungry,” the thirteen-year-old announced.
Clio wanted to do something good. Wanting to forget, the girl needed some kind of escape. She wanted to do something useful and feeding a hungry dog was about as good as it was going to get right now. Besides, eating wasn’t a bad idea for her either. If she were to find her mother, she needed to keep her strength up.
Clio had convinced herself that her mother was still alive. She was one of those taken. No other answer could be accepted, although, even at her age, she knew how dangerous such a hope could be. She’d already dealt with the disappointing idea of never finding her. Maybe the hope would drive her mad. People have been known to look for loved ones until it broke their spirit, killing them.
“You hungry girl?” Clio asked. Lady anxiously looked up, wagging her tail.
42 minutes later:
After feeding the dog and herself, the girl fell asleep on the couch. Dreaming of the RMB, disjointed images rummaged through Clio’s mind. Scene after scene, the ruin wasteland of her old home drifted through her subconscious. Now dreaming of flesh eaters, she tossed on the sofa’s coarse material. Lady was barking in her nightmare and the sights and sounds were coming in faintly through invisible walls. She began to wake…
Clio’s eyes opened and she caught the old man’s shape at the front door. Smelling a cake, the thirteen-year-old noticed a small candle flickering on top of its frosting, all of it scrounged together by Russ. She rubbed her lids and saw the old man as a blur, yawning. Russ walked toward the entrance and opened the front door to let Lady inside. Violently crashing inside, the sight of something lunging on the old man snapped her sharply awake.
Russ flew back inside with a demon on top of him, desperately fighting it off. The dog attacked. Lady was biting into the creature’s arms and legs, snapping and flailing her head. Rearing back, the monster smashed the K9’s face, sending her across the living room. Clio could hear the mumbles of the old man, bleeding as a battered mess on the oak floor.
After jumping off the couch, Clio lunged forward and ripped a massive rifle from the wall display. She aimed and pulled the trigger. “Click” Nothing happened. Lady came back, charging. “Ssshhhhaaa!” the monster hissed straddling over the old man. Lady slid to a stop, staying low and growling in a sound as terrifying as the monster’s hisses.
Untrained on the weapon, Clio fumbled with the heavy rifle and found the safety switch. Lady pounced and the creature grabbed her, sending the Husky into orbit. Flying through the air, the dog cleared the counter and smashed into the kitchen. The Husky smashed into the higher doors, breaking porcelain and glass inside the cabinets, yelping.
Suddenly, the monster looked at Clio. The beast stared deep into the child’s eyes, working things out through its yellow sclera, mouth open, hissing, and revealing its blood soaked fangs. The girl aimed… Lady appeared again, limping out of the kitchen, growling - still determined to save her master.
“Move girl,” Clio instructed. “Move!”
Lady was between Clio and the monster and acted as if she didn’t hear a word of the girl’s request. Snarling with her fur standing on end, the dog began to circle, staying low. Russ lay still without a sound. The Husky cleared. Line of sight opened…
“Crack!” Clio fired and the kick sent her reeling back while she heard the creature howl. Stumbling backward into the hall entrance, she tried to keep her footing, unable, and falling on the floor. Her head smacked the wood and she lay dizzy from the impact, looking at the ceiling. Lady barked in loud echoes through the house as Clio sat up. It came into focus. Like a badger to honey, the demon was locked on to her, moving toward the hall entrance. It jumped in the air and stretched its claws out, reaching for girl flesh.
Using pure instinct and watching the monster sail toward her, Clio grabbed the rifle in front of her and pulled it to her lap. The creature closed the distance and brought its foul stench as it descended within inches of the girl. “Crack!” Clio fired at point blank range just as the monster landed on top of the barrel, smashing into her like a ram. Clio’s breath was stolen away from the impact and the demon’s weight pinned her down.
Clio gasped for air. Lady’s tearing bites on the creature’s skin ripped through the hall with violent aggression. Trapped beneath the stench, as if a gorilla was draped on top of her, Clio labored to breathe from its colossal weight.
The monster’s prickly flesh felt primal as she wiggled to free herself from underneath. She looked behind her, almost blacking out from the lack of oxygen, and spotted the rifle that slid down the hall toward the bedrooms. Clio pushed her hands off the narrow walls and turned away from the monster wanting to retrieve the weapon. Lady followed the thirteen-year-old, and suddenly turned, jumping over the creature and returning to Russ, licking him.
Clio aimed the rifle at the demon’s motionless body lying on the floor. She hadn’t felt the pain from the recoil in her shoulder yet. Ready to shoot again, she looked down the barrel, but the beast didn’t move. The girl dizzied. Air slowly came back to her lungs as she kneeled down, putting the rifle’s butt stock on the floor and used the weapon like a walking stick for balance. Energy vibrated through her body as she leaned against the narrow wall. Clio glanced at the old man lying still and bleeding out on the floor. Respirations came hard as she bowed her head. Finally… Clio paused and closed her eyes.
“Ssshhhhaaa.” Clio jumped to her feet aiming. The monster twitched its arm and reached for the wall. It clung to life as Clio ended the ordeal. “Crack! Crack!” Determined to keep hold of the weapon, she fired twice, dropping it after the second shot. Now, she began to feel the pain in her shoulder, grabbing it as she kneeled down, sobbing from the recoil and the trauma of horrific events. She raised her head and kept her teary eyed stare fixed on the creature. Wiping them away, Clio noticed where the first round exploded out of the creature’s back and the other that pierced through the hamstring.
CHAPTER 47 - BUGS AND VULCANS
“The racing bug is never going to go away.
It's like the Mafia.”
-Davy Jones
RMB Pendleton:
The copilots and crew chiefs were already removing the camouflage netting and both Captains were firing the engines when they arrived.
Ready for lift off, both Vulcan Helicopters were twirling their rotors. Deines and Woolridge jumped inside a helicopter as both war-birds lifted off the ground like dragonfly. Shooting skyward, the helicopters banked in opposite directions, sending Lance Cpl. Woolridge tumbling and crashing against the bulkhead.
“Man that cannon Marine!” Deines shouted to the confused door gunner.
The door gunner began strapping himself to the weapon and paused… the Vulcan rose higher. And so too did the fire and lights raging from the warzone, burning up from inside RMB Pendleton as if was the pit of hell. “Get ready Marine!” Deines shouted, prompting the gunner to finish securing himself into position. Focusing on the carna
ge below, jaw dropped, the door gunner finished strapping himself into his harness.
Woolridge rubbed the knot on his skull and ran between the cockpit, shaking the cobwebs out. “Keep your elevation! They’ve got heavy firepower!” Woolridge shouted at both pilots.
“What the hell is going on!” the copilot shouted as the Captain concentrated at the controls. “Ker!” Woolridge screamed. “And… There’s something huge with…” Woolridge didn’t finish his words… the Vulcan pivoted and rose higher in the air. Coming sharply into view, they witnessed bionic insects massacring their brothers on the hallowed ground below them.
The massive Super Destroyers Woolridge was about to explain, now, needed no introduction. Insects a hundred feet below and their bug images spoke thousands of words. In the moment, all were speechless… The mechanical bugs were unspeakable forces of destruction. Let’s see what they got, Deines thought. Ready to engage, the Vulcan helicopters separated and flew into battle formation. “When we circle back around, drop the fucking hammer on them!” Deines shouted in his door gunner’s ear.
The second helo stayed low and circled the battle. “BBRRRRrrrr! BBRRRRrrrr!” Before they could unleash Marine Corps pain, Deines watched from the side door, seeing the other Vulcan get first dibs, firing on a single bug.
Outlining the human’s silhouette in a flickering strobe, the door gunner shot from the side of the helicopter’s dark hole, rocking back and forth like a jackhammer while glowing in canon fire.
The door gunner fired 40mm projectiles and lit up the night sky like a flamethrower. Shredding into the giant bug, rounds sparked and flew off its dented exoskeleton. The Super Destroyer was damaged but not killed. The Vulcan opened up again on the massive insect again, trying to finish it off. “BBRRRRrrrr! BBRRRRrrrr!” the second barrage of rounds separated parts from its bug body as it crawled across the ground, flipping and flopping, now, as a useless piece of junk.
Clio and Cy: The Apocalypse Page 21
