Obliteration

by James S. Murray

  “Got you loud and clear, Tom.”

  “Everything okay on the Nimitz?”

  “I’m not sure.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Collingwood is spreading the supersoldiers around to all the other carriers, apparently to protect the fleet from any creatures and to dilute Van Ness’ army.”

  “What?”

  “He’s spooked about what happened on the bridge yesterday and doesn’t want to jeopardize the fleet. I can’t say I blame him, but I don’t like it.”

  “Neither do I,” Cafferty said slowly.

  “They’re keeping the soldiers under armed guard.”

  “Not sure that makes a difference.”

  “Me neither.”

  This was a move he didn’t see coming. He momentarily squeezed his eyes tight, forcing back the lump in his throat. “Make sure you closely watch those supersoldiers and let me know what’s happening.”

  “Will do.”

  “Stay safe, baby.”

  “You, too, cuddle bug.”

  Cafferty winced.

  Munoz stifled a laugh.

  Ellen used this pet name as a joke because they both found it a bit corny. If anything, it was probably to ease his nerves, or, perhaps, to share a final moment of fun with him as the battle for San Francisco had finally turned in humanity’s favor.

  Van Ness headed straight for the chained creatures. His chair bumped over the grass and he brought it to a halt in front of the first one.

  The injured creature bared its teeth and screeched at him. He stared back quizzically, appearing to question its pointless defiance.

  Oddly, there was one spare pole at the end of the tennis court. Van Ness stared at it for a moment while drumming his fingers against the arm of his chair.

  Cafferty’s finger slowly curled around his laser’s trigger. If the tennis court was his chosen execution site, he refused to die this way. Especially as he suspected that Van Ness would force Diego and Sarah to fire the shots.

  The twisted asshole would like nothing better.

  That isn’t happening.

  Maybe, he wondered, his saving grace was the nonappearance of the queen. Van Ness’ victory wasn’t assured until then, and he knew the madman would not stop until he killed her.

  He’s gonna make me watch him win . . . and then end my life . . .

  On the cusp of winning against overwhelming numbers of creatures, Bowcut stood in front of the strangest sight in San Francisco. She watched as Van Ness bizarrely peered along the line of the ten injured creatures, probably contemplating his next moves.

  Roux stood to the right of his wheelchair, awaiting further commands.

  Munoz stepped across to her and whispered out of the side of his mouth, “It’s like he’s choosing from a Red Lobster menu.”

  “Shut up for a minute.”

  She concentrated on Van Ness. The cogs were turning in his brain. He was up to something. More than just lining up creatures for a cold-blooded kill. Something maybe more sinister than the chained-up creatures suggested.

  Van Ness eventually waved Roux over. “Franco, you’ve done a most excellent job.”

  “Thank you, sir. If we continue at our current rate, the soldiers can move to their cleanup operation modes. We’ll hunt the remnants of the creatures through the night.”

  “After we kill the queen.”

  Roux affirmed, “After we kill her.”

  “How many casualties did we receive?”

  “Just over four hundred, sir. We’re in great shape.”

  “Very good, very good. I could not have done it better myself.”

  “What is the plan now, sir?”

  “Simple. We’ll draw out the queen by executing her captured children, one by one, limb by limb. I’ll slice through each of them and give them plenty of time to transmit their cries of distress. That should get her attention. But first, a quick matter to attend to.”

  Van Ness reached into his blazer pocket and pulled out a small Luger pistol. “This belonged to my father, Otto Van Ness. It was his sidearm in the Führerbunker on that last fateful day before Berlin fell. The first day he learned of these creatures. The first day of the Foundation and what would become my lifelong mission, my obsession. Quite a piece of history, isn’t it?”

  Roux shifted uncomfortably. “Yes, sir.”

  Van Ness inspected it, twisting the pistol from side to side. “You know, I gave it as a gift long ago to my former number two, Edwards. I’d like to give it as a gift to you now, Mr. Roux. You’ve earned it.”

  Roux eyed Bowcut for a second. A knowing look. She had seen that look before from her SWAT team when they knew they were in over their heads.

  She tensed.

  In the space of a heartbeat, Van Ness raised the pistol and fired. A bullet slammed squarely into Roux’s chest, knocking him off his feet. His body crashed to the ground, and his head thumped hard against a rock. Blood pooled into the dirt surrounding him.

  Van Ness tossed the weapon aside and wiped his hand with his handkerchief. He wheeled a couple of feet back. “Thank you, Mr. Roux.”

  “No!” Bowcut shouted.

  She went to raise her gun.

  To hell with Van Ness.

  Before she could even level her weapon, a supersoldier surged across and ripped it free from her grip. Two more disarmed Cafferty and Munoz just as fast. All three stood there with a supersoldier breathing down each of their necks.

  Bowcut grunted with anger. Her whole body shook at the injustice and needless act. She went to step forward, regardless of the consequences. At this moment, she was prepared to force her thumbs into Van Ness’ eyes and do what the team should have done in Paris.

  A strong hand clamped around her shoulder, stopping her dead. Unable to move, she peered down at Roux’s motionless body and the blood-drenched rock his head was resting against.

  Van Ness spun his chair toward Cafferty, Munoz, and her. “Don’t be concerned, my friends. You are in no danger at present. Our immediate objective remains the same.”

  His words only increased her fury.

  “Why?” Bowcut asked through gritted teeth.

  “Because he was second in command, of course,” Van Ness said matter-of-factly. He rubbed the stump on the end of his left arm. “You see, I simply won’t be betrayed by my number two ever again.”

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Clouds had rolled in from the sea, and light spits of rain dropped on the park. Van Ness stared at Bowcut, Cafferty, and Munoz in turn, studying their faces, watching their reactions to the events. Unadulterated hatred burned in their eyes. This was an irrelevance. They couldn’t see the big picture, the tough decisions required to win the war of all wars.

  Van Ness’ mind drifted back to Edwards gruesomely slicing off his hand with a creature’s claw over a year ago. A man whom he trusted, whom he was building humanity’s future with.

  Not again.

  I will never be fooled again . . .

  By now, at the dock, his creations would be trouncing their way through the last few thousand creatures that had brazenly colonized San Francisco. This fact alone should’ve told the queen everything she needed to know. That regardless of her vast armies, humanity—led by Albert Van Ness—would continue for the foreseeable future.

  And no one, not Roux, not Cafferty, will stop me this time.

  But only if I eliminate the queen . . .

  Killing her wouldn’t signal the end but the beginning of the end. Barring an unforeseeable disaster today, the human race hadn’t tasted victory against the rise of the creatures until San Francisco. After taking this city and the queen’s destruction, humanity wouldn’t taste defeat again under his stewardship.

  “I don’t know who’s worse,” Cafferty said, glaring down at Roux’s corpse. “You or the creatures.”

  “It’s unwise to test my patience. I’ll deal with you once we’ve gotten the next phase out of the way.”

  “Is there anything you won
’t do?”

  “No!” Van Ness snapped. “No! There is nothing I won’t do. I’m going to make you watch as I destroy the queen. And then I will destroy you, Mr. Mayor, once and for all. You alone caused this. I am the one who will undo your damage.”

  Van Ness rotated his chair away and faced the first creature. It struggled uselessly against the steel chains. The supersoldiers had once again done sterling work. He grabbed a laser pistol from one of the soldiers and fired his beam across the creature’s knees.

  The bottom half of the creature’s legs dropped to the ground. Yellow blood hissed from the stumps. It roared in agony, spraying hot saliva over a few of the supersoldiers. They didn’t move a muscle—a lot more obedient than Roux had ever realized and completely under Van Ness’ ultimate control.

  He waited and listened.

  No sounds came from the breach.

  Van Ness lifted his aim to the creature’s face and fired, splitting its head in two from top to bottom.

  The creature sagged against the chain, lifeless.

  Still nothing from the breach. But he never expected only one would do the job. He had to show the queen this would happen again and again and again, all across the world, until none in her army was left. A callous slaughter to match her own planned destruction of humanity. Two could play at her game.

  Van Ness moved to the second creature in line. He severed its arms with two blasts of the laser beam. The creature let out a piercing, painful screech. Loud. Long. Surely enough to register.

  He waited.

  Once again, nothing came from the depths.

  Van Ness drew his laser beam across the creature’s neck. Its head thudded against the grass. He wheeled to the third creature. This one already had an arm and leg ripped clean from their sockets. The creature seemingly whimpered at him.

  Pathetic. Is it crying? An apex predator behaving like this?

  He shook his head in disgust and killed this one in an instant, carving the beam across its soulless eyes.

  “Nothing yet?” Van Ness shouted in the direction of the breach. “Afraid you’ve met your match?”

  He wheeled to the fourth creature. This one had a gaping wound in its stomach. He fired the laser beam straight through the hole, carving it deeper. The creature howled, desperately struggling against the chains. He fired again, and the creature roared in agony.

  A second later, a low vibration echoed from the breach below.

  The ground began to rumble under his wheels.

  “It’s time for our final act, Mr. Cafferty,” Van Ness exclaimed.

  He tapped the digital interface on the arm of his chair. The supersoldiers behind Cafferty, Munoz, and Bowcut shoved them forward, pushing them all onto their knees, eye-level with his wheelchair.

  Seeing the condescending Cafferty kneeling before him—as he should be—was immensely satisfying. The man who escaped the tunnels of New York, who stumbled his way through London and Paris and brought down everything Van Ness and his father had built, was now at his mercy.

  Make him watch, and then break the man.

  Now that the queen was moments from rising, there was no reason for Van Ness to delay the next phase. He locked eyes with Cafferty. “It gave me no pleasure to kill Mr. Roux. But you, Thomas . . . when I kill a Cafferty, I’m going to enjoy it.”

  Cafferty attempted to lurch forward, but the supersoldier kept a firm grip on his shoulders. “Get it over with, goddamn it!” he yelled. “I’m tired of your games.”

  “That’s precisely what I’m doing.” Van Ness tapped the arm of his chair again. “All done.”

  “What?”

  “When I said ‘a Cafferty,’ who said I was going to kill you first?” Van Ness smiled as his nemesis’ face morphed from anger to sudden fear. “No, no, Mr. Mayor, I’ve got other plans for you. But as we speak, my supersoldiers are about to take over your entire American fleet, the most powerful armada ever assembled, to quote your captain, and unfortunately, your wife is . . . expendable.”

  “You son of a bitch!” Cafferty shouted, struggling to break free from the supersoldier’s grip. “Our deal was between you and me!”

  “I will get to you, Thomas, I promise. First, though, I’m going to hurt you.”

  The failed mayor struggled again. But in all his wriggling, irritatingly, he managed to pull the mic out and pressed the transmitter button down.

  “Ellen!” Cafferty shouted frantically. “Stop the soldiers! It’s a tra—”

  A supersoldier ripped the radio from Cafferty’s body armor. Two others did the same to Munoz and Bowcut.

  “How valiant, Mr. Mayor,” Van Ness said, pressing the execute button on the arm of his wheelchair. “But alas, what’s done is now done.”

  In the darkness of the USS Nimitz’s hold, an electronic pad beeped on the doors of an unmarked Foundation shipping container, the one carrying the vat of liquid that was meant to feed the supersoldiers. Two metal rods clanked down and to the side. Green slime spilled across the ground, and one of the doors creaked open a few inches.

  Guttural breaths came from inside. The screech of claws grinding against steel. Heavy footsteps slapped against the metal floor, crunching on pieces of the vat’s broken plastic body. Slow at first, then faster.

  Both doors banged open and nearly flew off their hinges.

  A massive creature exploded out of the darkness and raced for the exit.

  On the crowded bridge of the Nimitz, Ellen frantically shouted into the microphone. “Tom, are you there? Tom! Can you hear me?”

  The line went dead.

  She exchanged worried glances with Captain Collingwood.

  “Zoom in on the drone footage of their position!” Ellen commanded.

  Collingwood nodded, and a navy tech complied.

  She scrutinized the live footage of the park. The more it focused in, the blurrier it got. But it was obvious Van Ness was now in control and had Cafferty, Munoz, and Bowcut lined up in front of him.

  Ellen looked at the expressionless supersoldier on the bridge, then glanced out the window at the various crafts carrying hundreds more fast approaching the rest of the fleet. It would be moments before the supersoldiers were on board every U.S. aircraft carrier and destroyer in the armada.

  “Captain, it’s a trap,” Ellen shouted. “Van Ness has set you up. His men are about to take over the fleet. You have to stop this!”

  Collingwood studied the drone footage from the field. He then lifted his binoculars to look at the distant transport boats.

  Just then, a faint shriek came from somewhere far below, followed by crashing sounds and the faint crackle of gunfire.

  “What the hell is going on?!” Collingwood shouted.

  The XO jumped on to the comm. “Status report, all decks!”

  The horrifying sound of sailors screaming and the unmistakable sound of a creature screeching came through the speakers, along with more gunfire.

  “Help! There’s a crea—”

  Ellen’s pulse quickened.

  A creature loose on the Nimitz? How?

  The sounds of sailors screaming and being torn to pieces grew louder and closer. Chaos erupted on the bridge as crew members shouted over each other.

  The shrieks of the creature tearing through the ship grew closer still.

  “Lock down the bridge!” the XO shouted. “And secure that door!”

  A dozen navy crewmen took up defensive positions and drew their pistols, aiming them squarely at the heavy steel door at the front of the bridge. One junior officer went over to rotate the wheel to securely lock the heavy door, desperate to do so before the creature was upon them.

  “Captain!” Ellen shouted over the cacophony. “Order the fleet to destroy those ships now before the supersoldiers reach them!”

  Collingwood stood frozen with fear. Finally, he said, “I’m sorry I didn’t listen earlier, Mrs. Cafferty.”

  Ellen grabbed the comm and thrust it into the captain’s hands. “Send out the order before it
’s too late!”

  Collingwood pressed down on the receiver. “Attention all U.S. ships, this is Captain Collingwood of the USS Nimitz. The boats approaching yours are carrying hostiles. Immediately target those vessels and destroy them. Do not let them board, no matter what. And may God hel—”

  The bridge door that the crewman had been trying to seal blasted open and a massive jet-black creature bounded through. A barrage of bullets slammed into the monster, not slowing it down in the slightest. The creature’s tail swept forward and sliced three crew members in half at the waist. Blood sprayed all over the windows, walls, and floor. It leaped through the air and tore through three more crewmen with its razor-sharp claws.

  Ellen stumbled back in shock at the speed of the lightning-fast carnage. The creature had a box with a blinking red light drilled right into its brain. The same control box she saw a year ago on the rooftop of the De Jong Group building in London, attached to a hybrid.

  This is no ordinary creature. This is Van Ness’ genetic monstrosity.

  And he’s controlling it.

  Ellen grabbed the motionless supersoldier by its uniform and screamed in its face. “Do something, goddammit!”

  The supersoldier stood still, with no reaction whatsoever to her, the creature, or anything happening on the bridge.

  The creature seemed to ignore it as well.

  Collingwood grabbed Ellen and dragged her to the blast door on the other side of the bridge. “Come on! It’s no use!”

  The creature tore through sailor after sailor, crushing their skulls in its powerful hands, ripping them limb from limb. Within moments, everyone on the bridge was dead, save for Collingwood and Ellen. The captain frantically opened the back hatch as the creature turned its attention to its final prey.

  “Go!” he shouted.

  Collingwood pushed Ellen through the blast door and slammed it shut, turning the wheel quickly to lock himself inside with the creature.

  Ellen turned back and futilely banged on the door, looking through a small glass window into the bridge. It was no use—the door was sealed and practically impenetrable.

  Through the glass, the creature squared off against the captain. Collingwood desperately drew his gun and fired. Unaffected, the creature swung its tail just far enough to slice off his hands, as if it were teasing him. The useless gun and his severed appendages fell to the ground, soaking the captain in his own blood. He dropped to his knees in agony.