by John O'Brien
It takes her mind a while to recognize the sound. She looks upward in the dark toward where she assumes the 130 is, the sound of which doesn’t fade nor does it get any louder. That means it could be circling. Could they have found her? The presence of the 130 also means that Jack is back, but she already knew that, didn’t she?
The noise fades after a period of time; leaving her alone once more. A muted shriek from somewhere beyond the door causes her to lift her head again. She’s heard the cacophony of shrieks as the night runners have left on the evening hunts a few times and, for her, that is the only real mark of time she has. This one, though, isn’t followed by the usual chorus. She senses tension emanate from the darkened shape of the night runners. They stop and then shuffle in an agitated manner, emitting very low growls. Another scream penetrates the blackness that is her room. This seems to calm the ones near her and they resume their panting and sniffing.
* * *
The droning wakes Sandra, jolting her upright. That hum instills fear in every night runner hearing it. It’s the sound they’ve heard at night just before it started raining down fire upon the hunting packs…it’s the sound of death from above. She visited the large lair she shared with Michael after the two-legged ones destroyed it. If they had been inside, none would have survived. She fears that the two-legged ones, knowing her position, won’t try to rescue the female but destroy the lair instead. Perhaps she should move the pack tonight, providing they make it until then, and come up with an alternate plan.
The droning fades and she relaxes. There weren’t the loud bangs or buzzing sound that indicated the packs were under attack from the thing in the sky. The two-legged ones have to know where she is…she sent that image of the female to the two-legged one. Perhaps they were just looking the place over. That means they will be here soon. The thought of the two-legged one coming to her causes a sensation in her stomach that can be associated with pleasure.
The image of a group of two-legged ones entering the lair causes her to turn her head sharply. She hadn’t expected them to come so soon. Sending a message to her pack, she wakes them and tells them to get into position, telling the one on the first level to keep watch. If the two-legged ones proceed, they know they are to take the one alive but, as for the rest, they can do as they please. Her pack will overwhelm whoever shows up in the narrow hallways.
Expecting to hear news of the two-legged one’s attacking and of her own pack responding, she waits. Nothing. The pack member downstairs sends an image of the two-legged ones kneeling in the light near the outside portal.
They’re afraid to leave the light, she thinks.
Soon, a signal is sent that the two-legged ones are leaving. Sandra doesn’t know what to make of that but believes they’ll be back.
* * *
We load up and head back. I get with Robert, Bri, and Frank to begin the monotony of watching the videos. The thermal videos are next to worthless so I concentrate on the others, taking in every detail as I cycle through them. I have the building diagrams laid out and put the outside images together with the interior plans until I have the place fixed in my mind.
“So, what do you think?” Robert asks after spending hours watching video and diagramming.
“Let’s gather the others and go through this together,” I answer.
I gather the group and give the details and impressions about our trip to the hospital — from both the air and ground.
“Jack, have you thought that this could be a trap?” Frank asks.
“Yeah, I’ve thought about it. Trap or not, I…we have to get her out. If the night runners are capable of setting a trap like this, the only thing I can think of is that they want to lure our teams in to destroy them. Lynn may have just happened to be the one they caught. It could have been anyone. So, with that thought in mind, we won’t be launching with the teams,” I answer.
That creates an uproar with Taylor once again pleading that Black Team be allowed to go. I understand his desire. It was, after all, his team leader that was taken.
Frank waves the discussions down. “Jack, I have several thoughts about that. How would the night runners know to send a message like that? I mean, they communicate in that manner, but how would they know we could…specifically you. And there is the aspect that they specifically sent you Lynn’s image. Have you thought about that?”
“I guess that they could have found that out before I gained some control over it. Again, it could have been anyone who was captured and they sent the image to the one they know could receive it,” I answer.
“That’s too much of a coincidence for me,” Frank states. “Let’s go with the reasoning that they found out somehow, perhaps as you say, that you can communicate in that manner. It still strikes me as too much of a coincidence that Lynn was the one captured.”
“Are you saying that Lynn was targeted?” I ask.
“That’s exactly what I’m thinking,” Frank responds.
“That sends chills up my spine,” Horace states.
“So they may have pulled her image from my mind and targeted her. I don’t like the ramifications of that any more than the rest of you, but, it could be that they wanted to be sure that the trap would succeed so they targeted someone they knew we’d go get. They might not understand that we would go get anyone that was taken. While their reasoning may matter, we can discuss that at a later time. The fact is that Lynn has been taken and I’m going to get her. And, in thinking about it more, if they are doing this to set a trap, that’s all the more reason why we shouldn’t take the teams in. They may not think of or be alert for only one of us going in,” I say.
The mere fact that I use night runners and thinking on this level in the same sentence is scary. They are faster, stronger, more agile, and far more numerous than we are. We have the day and they have the night which makes us even in that regards. If they can think at the high level we are discussing, to the point of kidnapping and setting traps like this, our troubles just multiplied exponentially. If they achieve the level of thinking we have, or heaven forbid, learn to use tools and weapons, then we are truly fucked. The only reason we have lasted as long as we have is because we have weapons and our cognitive ability.
“So you’re planning to go in alone?” Drescoll asks.
“That’s exactly what I’m planning. You saw the building, we won’t stand a chance entering with teams,” I answer.
“Jack, you won’t stand a chance. If they have planned something, then they know we’re coming. It’s not like the CDC. You had the surprise factor then and still barely made it out by the skin of your teeth,” Frank says.
“We have learned a lot more since then. I stand a better chance because I can tell where they are.”
“But can’t they tell where you are as well?” Drescoll asks.
“True, but I don’t plan to be there when they arrive,” I answer.
“Well, it seems like you have a plan. So what is it?” Drescoll says.
“I was thinking of heading inside the front entrance lobby and opening up to let them think we’re infiltrating from downstairs. We position two teams in the light of the foyer and that’s where they stay, making noise and acting like we’re going to come through that way. Not too much but enough to keep their attention focused. Let the night runners gather there and set whatever trap they have planned,” I say.
“Why two teams?” Frank asks.
“Well, I figure if that one night runner was a guard and not some sleep walker, then we’ll need to be in numbers that will draw and keep their attention. If we put in too few and don’t move, they may think we’re putting in others elsewhere.”
“Where will you be entering then?” Robert asks.
“After opening up with the teams downstairs, I’ll access the building via the roof through the maintenance door here,” I answer, pointing to a rectangular building on the roof itself.
“Okay. How are you going to get on the roof?” Robert asks.
“You…and the helicopter,” I reply.
“Me!”
“Yeah. As long as you don’t smash us into the side or drag me along the rooftop. Think you can do that?” I ask, teasingly.
“No promises,” Robert answers with a tremor in his voice. “Okay, assuming I can get you up there. How are you going to get out? The same way…I pick you and Lynn up?”
“That’s the primary solution with the secondary one being that I get to an outside office and rappel down.”
“Fair enough. How are you going to find Lynn in that building? That’s a lot of space to cover,” Drescoll says.
“That’s where it might get a little tricky,” I state.
“By tricky, I assume you mean time consuming and running into night runners,” Frank says.
“Yeah, something like that. I’d like Black and Red Teams downstairs. Horace, take Blue Team and I may need you to shoot out some windows as a distraction if things start getting a little sporty. Charlie and Bravo Teams will stay in the compound here to provide security. Drescoll, I want you to take Watkins and Bravo Team and hold a short distance away. I don’t want to leave the sanctuary defenseless so I want you to be in a position to respond quickly to either site,” I respond.
“Are we leaving at first light, sir?” Horace asks.
“Close to it. I plan to take the Spectre aloft before dark and park in a high orbit away from the hospital. We’ll use the thermal imaging to see if a large group of night runners leave on their nightly hunt. So far, we only know for sure that one night runner is inside. We’ll land after confirmation and rest in the aircraft, going back up before dawn to see if they return.”
Red Team rests as best as they can for the remainder of the day. The evening and next day won’t allow for much sleep so it’s best to get what we can during the day. There’s not much else we can do. The plans have been made — our gear organized and ready to go. As for myself, there are too many thoughts racing through my head to permit any sleep.
First, Greg comes to mind. While he’s not expecting us to meet him at any specific time, he is expecting us to rendezvous at some point. We can’t leave him stranded out there on the road. I quickly meet with Frank and arrange for him to have Robert and Craig fly out to pick up Greg should anything unfortunate happen to me.
Then there’s the thing with Robert. Although he says he’s fine, the experience I had, and those I’ve heard about and witnessed, leaves me concerned about him. Pestering him about it doesn’t help much and only serves to aggravate him. I feel torn between getting Lynn and staying to monitor my son, however much that would irritate him. I wonder if there will ever be a time when I’m not faced with situations like this.
Following the meeting, I must have looked at him with obvious worry, because he approached and said, “Look, if you’re worried about me and it’s interfering with your thoughts, don’t. It’s healing and I feel fine…truly.”
There is something else bothering me that I need to sort out. I feel like I’ve lost an edge with this whole leadership thing. Previously, I would have felt more confident about going into a place like the hospital. Well, maybe not a place with hundreds, if not thousands of night runners, but I would have centered better. I’ve noticed a change come in that I’m not sure I like. I feel like I’ve lost some my ability to center deeply in a tactical sense, trading some of that away to focus on more strategic matters — the focused calm becoming more chaotic. I am different, and I now understand why others who took on a greater leadership role changed — they had to. I actually felt better about my skills early on in this downfall of humankind. I need to gather that confidence back and do it quickly. Lynn’s life depends on it. With that thought, I feel a settling take place.
I head up to the rooftop to contemplate in silence. I think over my plan for infiltrating and searching the large facility for Lynn. Scenarios play out in my mind, and I cover my actions and reactions. The hard part will be actually finding where she is without running into a nest of night runners. That means eliminating any smells and taping down all of my equipment. She’ll most likely be in the dark, so I’ll have to bring a set of NVGs. I only need the one pair as I’ll be able to see just fine, and I don’t need to pretend otherwise anymore. She’ll more than likely be surrounded by night runners so I’ll have to eliminate them quickly and we’ll need to make our way quickly toward the nearest escape. I’ll bring several flash grenades. That will buy me some time if I encounter any night runners in the halls and for those around Lynn. A hundred different possibilities surface, and I mentally tick off equipment needed for each of them. I’ll need to be able to move fast, so I can’t be too encumbered.
Concentrating on the mission brings some of my old confidence back. The intense emotions I felt over the past couple of days tamp down into a cold, centered flame. I’m able to push other thoughts to the side and focus on the immediate action ahead. Confidence builds. I don’t know how many more times I can do this, but I have at least one more in me.
I glimpse the roof door opening out of the corner of my eye. Robert and Bri tentatively step out and I wave them over. I miss the late afternoons we once spent up here — just them and me talking about nothing in particular. I miss our little training sessions that I have had with them. They’ve learned a lot in the past few months and there may not be much more I can teach them. Most of what they have yet to learn can only be picked up through their own experience.
“Do you mind if we join you, Dad?” Bri asks.
“Not at all. In fact, I welcome it,” I reply.
“If you wanted to be alone, we understand,” Bri continues. Robert nods in agreement.
“No, I want you here. I was just running through various scenarios.”
“Why do you need to go alone? I don’t want you to do this,” Bri says.
“Because I think it’s the best way to get Lynn out. And I won’t be alone, there will be teams downstairs,” I respond.
“You know what I mean, Dad.”
“Yeah, I do. Look, there comes a time and place when a person has to make a hard decision. It is based on something outside of yourself and you have to ask if you’re willing to sacrifice everything for it. In the past, I answered yes to that with every mission. I haven’t told you a lot about those times, and I won’t now. That’s all in the past. However, you have to be willing to sacrifice everything for the things that are important to you…throw it all on the line. In that way, you are able to push fear aside. By doing that, you have the potential to gain so much more in return. You have to think on what goals…what ideas…what things you will sacrifice everything for. In answering that, you will find what is important to you deep down. For me, it’s all about you two and Lynn.”
“What about the entire group as a whole? Aren’t they important?” Robert asks.
“Yes, they are. I have to admit that there would be a lot of hesitation on my part going into a lair of waiting night runners for them, but, if I knew that it would save them, then I would. Losing Nic really hit me hard, and I find myself second-guessing things I never would have in the past. I feel like I’ve lost my edge dealing with all of the endless details that leading a group like ours entails.”
“Aren’t you scared?” Bri asks.
“Not really…at least not anymore. I’m worried, yes, but not really scared. I worry that I’ll make a mistake that will jeopardize Lynn. My one true fear is losing either of you or not being there when you need me. That would be too much to bear. You’ve both come a long way, and I feel comfortable that you can take care of yourselves, but it’s that parental thing and a worry that will never go away.”
“Are you going in alone because you’re worried about making a mistake that will jeopardize the teams?” Robert asks.
“No. I’m going in alone because I think it’s the best chance of getting Lynn out alive. If we go in with teams, we’ll have to orchestrate it as a combat clearing scenario and there’s no way we stand a chance going in there like that.
We wouldn’t last very long at all. One person, or a small team for that matter, can vanish if it needs to. That’s hard to do with a group,” I answer.
“Dad, I hate to say it, but isn’t there a time when you have to sacrifice the one to save the many?” Bri asks.
I look up sharply.
“I’m not saying we give up on Lynn, but…” Bri continues, backpedaling some with my look but still asking her question.
“I know what you mean. And yes, there is a time when that has to be done. But you have to be very careful with that thinking. If you show people that you’re willing to sacrifice them for what you determine to be the greater good, how much loyalty are those same people going to give you? How far do you think they’ll go for you? Show them that you’ll go to the limit for them, and they’ll do the same for you. Look at the doctrine that the Air Force had regarding downed pilots. They would send in rescue teams behind lines and into the heart of the enemy, possibly losing some of those teams in order to rescue a single pilot. What did that do? It made the pilots push harder to accomplish their mission knowing that heaven and earth would be moved in order to pull them out. That doesn’t mean you rush blindly into enemy fire in order to rescue someone, but it does mean that you do everything in your power to get them safely out. That single action brings hope to everyone else.”
“I get that. So this whole thing is to bring hope to the group?” Robert says.
“In a way, yes. For me, it’s all about getting Lynn out, but, it has that side effect for the group. Our sanctuary has been challenged and we need to respond. Look around. There’s a fracture amongst those here that is fueled by fear. You can feel it in the very air. We need to close that and give reason for hope once again…hope that we can survive this thing. There is a decreased energy. It feels like some have lost their hope and it’s just a matter of time before we fall. Survival is a mindset. Yes, skills are important…but, without the mindset that you can survive, you won’t, no matter what skillsets you may possess. Most of everything you do is mental. If you believe, and I mean truly believe, then you will overcome any obstacle in your life. We need something concrete to hold onto. We need to tell ourselves that, no matter what happens, we’ll come out alright in the end. If we are able to get Lynn out, to retrieve that which was taken from us, then that may restore the hope that we can defeat the night runners and survive.”
