by Maxey, Phil
She looked confused. “Nothing’s come through on the radio about that.”
Bass opened the passenger’s door. “Yeah, well things are kind of upside down in command, but we need to get this done now.”
She frowned and beckoned to another soldier behind her, a private, then got in the driver’s seat, while he got in behind.
The gate was raised and they pulled off along the wide four-lane road. Bass hid his relief of having made it out.
“I’m Willis. Behind me is Payton, and on the .50 cal is Greene. Where we heading?”
He nodded towards the east. “Stay on this road then take the first right onto the freeway, and stay on that until I say otherwise.”
Willis briefly looked over her shoulder. “You see any E.L.F’s ahead of us Greene.”
“Looks clear so far, Sarg.”
They took the off ramp and were soon on an eight-lane stretch of road, with not a vehicle in sight. “Why can’t these people get to the HQ?” said Willis.
“They’re surrounded.” He held his radio to his mouth. “Sofia, can you hear me? Over.”
Only static came back from the speaker. He frowned.
“We’re surrounded by hills and buildings, won’t get a signal that far out yet,” said Payton from the rear seats.
Deserted warehouses, gas stations and apartment complexes flashed by on both sides of the freeway, then Willis hit the brakes.
“Sarg…”
“I see them, Greene.”
Hundreds of yards ahead, under an overpass were a group of creatures. Four legs sat upon a lean body, which from the distance they were at, appeared to be orange and red. Dog like heads covered in horns looked in the Humvee’s direction.
“Any other way we can get to these people?” said Willis.
Bass pulled a piece of paper from his pocket with the rough pencil map he had drawn. There was one route to Sofia and they were on it. “I… don’t know. Anyone got a roadmap?”
“Shit,” said Greene, “they’re coming at us!”
“Screw it,” said Willis, pushing down on the gas. “Everyone grab something solid! Clear us a path private!”
Greene opened up with the big gun. One of the creatures got caught by the hail of bullets tearing its leg from it, but the others deftly jumped to the side and kept on coming.
Bass pulled the window down on the right, while Payton did the same on the left, and both began firing. Payton hit one of the creatures as did Bass, but the thing on the right still jumped forward and slammed into the right side door, shunting the Humvee to the left while Willis quickly pulled on the wheel keeping them from careering into the wall in the middle of the highway. Bass moved back to the broken window, but the creatures were already being left behind as Willis increased their speed.
After a few minutes, he looked down at his map. “Slow down, we’re taking the next exit.”
She did so and took the off ramp, which curved around and down to a junction. The Humvee sat, the engine gently rumbling, each occupant taking in what was on the opposite corner. An apartment block, three stories high, was smothered in things. Hundreds of them, each three or four feet across, with wings and long insect like bodies.
“Should I fire?” said Greene.
“No!” said Willis, not wanting to raise her voice too loud. She pushed slowly down on the gas and they trundled forward and then around to the right, moving closer, then further away from the things clinging to the building’s walls and windows. She increased her speed slowly, and they all sighed in relief when the creatures were out of sight.
The scenery around them was becoming more green, and the buildings more spaced out.
Base gestured towards the landscape they were moving towards. “Head into those…”
The road suddenly filled with shadows and Willis slowed almost not wanting to drive over them. They all stretched their necks to look up. The sky was filled with E.L.F’s. Huge wings momentarily blocked the sun as they sailed across the sky seemingly uninterested in the vehicle hundreds of feet below them.
“How far is the location?” said Willis flicking her eyes between the blue sky and the road.
“Five minutes away,” said Bass.
Willis’s radio burst into life. “Where the fuck are you Sergeant Willis? Over,” said an angry male voice.
She lifted her radio to her mouth. “On a mission to rescue civilians in the hills sir, as the orders given to Sergeant Bass, sir. Over.” She glanced at Bass, who was doing his best not to look back at her.
“I don’t give a rat’s ass, what you think you had to do. Get your ass back to the main gate! The last fleet of Chinooks are leaving at zero sixteen hundred hours. Or do you not want to leave this shit hole? Over.”
Bass looked at the time on his own radio.
15:12 pm.
Willis looked at Bass. “I hear you sir. Coming right back. Over.”
Bass looked back at her, waiting for her to slow, but instead she looked back to the road. “We get these people then we hightail it back to HQ.”
He resisted making his relief too obvious. He clicked on the talk button of his own radio. “Sofia? We’re almost—”
“Daniel?”
He ignored the eyes of the other occupants that were now on him.
“What’s your status? Over.”
“I don’t know how you’re going to get us out. From what we can see of the hills around us, they are full of movement. Over.”
“Let me worry about that. We’ll be there within a few minutes. Over.”
He knew Sofia referring to him by his first name gave the game away, but hoped they were now so close his driver wouldn’t turn around.
Soon they were driving up an incline, a two-lane road with high banks, covered in rocks and sand, with the occasional splash of green. They slowed to move around a fallen telephone pole, then continued.
“Damn, you can hear them!” said Greene. And they could, for all around were squawks, screeches and roars, as if they had wondered into a safari park.
“Stay alert!” Willis shouted back to him.
Rocks tumbled onto the road from a nearby bank and she swerved to the left to avoid them, but kept on going a few more yards, before she stopped.
They all looked upon the reason. To their left, as the ground fell away to a valley, were fields and fields, separated by what used to be boundary fences but were now trampled splintered wood, littered with E.L.F’s. They all thought the same of the scene in front of them, that they had been transplanted to another continent. One where wild animals were part of the landscape, except the creatures in front of them were completely new to the earth.
“That’s a whole lot of badness…” said Payton.
“I vote we get the hell out of here!” said Greene.
Willis looked at Bass. His eyes were wide. She knew the look. The look of someone that had a lot to lose. “We ain’t chickening out,” she said. “We’re rescuing these people and if anything moves towards us, let them have it.”
She pushed down on the gas and they moved slowly up the hill.
Bass’s radio came to life. “I see you!” said Sofia. “Look at the top of the hill, can you see a house? Over.”
He did and could. “I see the house. Are you ready to leave? Over.”
“Yes, but there’s a number of creatures just outside. Over.”
“Be ready. Over.”
A four-legged creature, which looked like a rhino, but instead was covered in feathers and had a birdlike head galloped towards the Humvee across the field.
“Steady…” said Bass to Willis.
She continued at a constant slow rate up the hill and the road veered to the right, moving the Rhino-bird out of sight. They arrived at the top and the start of a long drive which ended at a large ranch. Bass immediately saw the E.L.F’s Sofia had been referring too. At first he thought they were spiders. Arachnids the size of the vehicle he was sitting in, but then he saw from their insect like bodies was a long ne
ck and at the end of it a mouth, which yawned and snapped at the air around it.
“Yup, really don’t like those things,” said Greene.
One of the mouths turned and faced them, its body then rotating with it, like it was a tank of some kind.
“Fuck! The time!” said Payton.
Willis looked at her radio.
15:46 pm.
“We’re never making it back in fifteen minutes!” He continued.
“So how you want to do this,” said Willis to Bass. “Charge up the drive, try and get everyone in their vehicle and ours, then race out of here before a thousand different species descend on us?”
Bass sighed. She was right. Even if they made it passed the things sitting a hundred yards from them, the chances of not drawing the attention of everything else in a few miles radius was slim. But leaving wasn’t an option.
“What are we doing, Sarg,” said Greene.
“You can drop me here. If you floor it, you might get back in time,” said Bass. He could tell Payton was ready to do just that, but the woman to his left smiled. “Try again.”
Payton swore under his breath.
An idea came to Bass but it was a reach. He held his radio to his mouth. “This is Sergeant Daniel Bass. I’m with Sergeant Willis and two other soldiers. We have five civilians with us and we are in the eastern hills. Is there any chance of an evac? Over.”
They all sat watching the creatures around the house, and listening to the static on the radio. He wasn’t even sure he was in range of the HQ anymore.
“This is Captain Butler. It’s your lucky day Sergeant, we’re three clicks from you and looking for stragglers to take back to the last train leaving town. You ready to go, Bass? Over.”
Bass smiled at Willis, then looked down to the names on his map. “We’re about a mile along Three Peak trail. There’s a ranch right at the top of the highest hill in the area, should be easy to spot. Land in the space out front. We’re be ready! Over.”
Willis looked at the four E.L.F’s near the house. “Now we just got to take care of those things…” She looked over her shoulder. “Greene. When we’re in range, you start shooting and don’t stop until those things are no longer moving.”
“That’s an affirmative, ma’am.”
She looked at Bass and Payton. “Same goes for the two of you. I’m going to pull up outside the main entrance.”
Bass held his radio to his mouth. “Sofia, there’s a chopper on the way. A minute out max. It’s going to land in the paddock out front. Be ready to move! Over.”
“We’re ready! Over,” said Sofia.
The Humvee jolted forward and then picked up speed. The creatures’ heads, if that’s what they were, all turned towards the vehicle speeding along the track to the house and the things immediately stormed forward, their multiple legs leaving ruts in the dry ground and dust in the air. Greene opened fire at the closest one, the bullets smashing the legs of the creature. It crumpled to the ground, crashing into the small boulders which lined the road to the house. Greene then switched to the other spider-thing that was now almost on them.
The Humvee skidded to a halt outside the front door, which was already open. Bass jumped out and immediately laid his M4 on the hood and started firing at the creature which was only yards away. Payton did the same from the back of the vehicle. The E.L.F reared up on its spindly legs, the mouth on the end of its stalk-like neck opening and closing as bullets ripped into its dark body.
“Yeah, die!” shouted Greene.
“Look out! shouted Sofia.
Bass spun around to his left, to the back of the vehicle, and started firing but it couldn’t stop the creature bound across the driveway and leap to the top of the turret where it tore into Greene. A scream from him was followed by a gargling noise as blood sprayed through the air. Bullets slammed into the third creature, but not before what was left of Greene slumped forward over the large gun. The creature fell off the back of the Humvee and to the concrete slabs.
Willis shook her head, then jumped up upon the side of the Humvee, examining the private. Her swearing was lost in the thunder of helicopter blades. The twin engine helicopter roared over a nearby ridge and immediately lowered to the dirt of the paddock.
Bass turned towards the house, but was hit instead by an embrace. Sofia hugged him tight and kissed his lips, then pulled back, waving the others outside.
“They’re coming!” shouted Payton.
Everyone looked towards the end of the driveway. A creature, this one with far fewer legs than the things they had just fought, skidded to a halt on the road. The mouth in its angular head opened wide and let out a roar in their direction. The hatch at the back of the helicopter was already lowered.
“Get on the big gun!” shouted Willis to Payton, who stood moving Greene out of the way, and rotated the turret towards the creature that was slowly walking towards them. Willis looked back to Bass. “Get everyone onboard.”
Before he could respond she had jumped back in the driver’s seat and the Humvee reversed, bumping over the creature, then surged forward down the drive, the gun immediately opening up on the approaching thing.
Bass looked at the young man and two elderly. “Everyone get on the helicopter!”
Sofia ran to Connie while she nodded towards the young man. “Help Vince!” she shouted to Bass.
They jogged and walked as best as they could through an open gate to the paddock and across the dirt, keeping their heads down and eyes partially closed to avoid the storm of dust that was being blown up. Bass looked at the Humvee. Its gun was still firing. The first creature had been beaten back, but it was now replaced with ten more. Things that were snapping at each other, but were steadily moving towards the helicopter.
“We gotta go, buddy!” shouted an airman near the open back of the chopper.
“I’m not leaving them!” shouted Bass, but watching the Humvee as the creatures grew closer.
The creatures, large and small then all surged forward. Most went for the Humvee, which instead of reversing, moved forward with equal speed.
“No…” was all Bass could say as a hand grabbed him and pulled him into the darkness of the cargo hold. He struggled, fighting to get back to his feet, but the ramp was rising and the ground was falling. He scrambled to his feet just as the gap to the outside world closed.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Grant rapidly slowed, then stopped the pickup. A lone telephone pole sat across the two-lane road, which was also covered in branches and trails of dirt. Around them sat green hills and rocky peaks, and to their right some cabins and rusting oil drums, scattered across the grounds of a property.
“We could pull it out of the way,” said Carrie, sitting next to him.
He had rope and chains in the back, either would suffice. He looked at the pale blue buildings, and larger warehouses further back, separated by dusty concrete. Nothing appeared alive out there, not human or E.L.F. Since they left the camp going had been slow. They kept to the back roads and away from towns. The obstruction that lay in front of them wasn’t the first they had to find a way around. So far though apart from distant plumes of dust or tiny dark shapes in the blue sky above, they had not seen any monsters in the wilderness. The new exotic creatures appeared to be concentrating their efforts on the last areas of mass human habitat, the camps.
He held his radio up. “Ethan, keep an eye on those buildings to our right. Jay, could do with a hand moving this pole out of the way. Over.” Ethan acknowledged.
Grant pushed his door open then looked at Carrie. “Keep watch.” He then looked back to Ben, who looked pale. “Travel sickness?”
“Yeah…”
Grant took another look around. The wind rustled the nearby trees. “Okay. You can open your door and stand near the pickup. But do not move any further away. Got it?”
Ben nodded, then looked outside pushing his door open slowly and got out. He nervously scanned the landscape around the vehicles, while Grant wal
ked to the bed at the back, and pulled out some rope.
Jay smirked, pulling his cap off and wiping his hand across his forehead. “Beautiful day.”
Grant smiled. “Yeah.” He looked the fifty yards down the road to the wooden pole. “We’ll tie it to the base. Other end to the front of the pickup, and pull it just enough—”
A clattering of metal came behind the buildings to their right.
“Get in the pickup!” said Grant to Ben, which he did.
Grant and Jay stood, watching the long building behind which the noise came from. Carrie had her M4 leaning on the open window seal, pointing in the same direction as did Ethan.
“I was going to say it’s probably a coyote,” said Jay, his eyes meeting Grants.
Something heavy snorted and the tops of a group of trees behind the cabin shuddered.
Grant looked to the telephone pole. It wasn’t that far, and they had not passed another road to take for at least twenty minutes.
The trees steadied.
Grant passed one end of the rope to Jay. “Tie it to the front of the pickup.”
Jay went to speak, but Grant had already jogged off, unraveling the rope as he went and watching the area near the cabins like a hawk. The further forward he moved the more he could see around the back of the building, until eventually he arrived at the wooden pole, and could see what was making the noise.
A black mass almost the size of the cabin itself was a hundred yards from him. On being parallel with it, it quivered. It’s leathery skin seeming to be moist, reflecting the light. He reached down slowly, and set about looping the rope around the post, not wanting to remove his eyes from the thing, but not being able to shake the feeling that it too was looking at him.
He looked back to Jay, who raised his thumb. The rope was attached at both ends. He then walked away, being relieved he was moving out of the view of whatever eyes the thing had. “Get back in your pickup, we’re leaving—”
Something burst from the bushes to his left. A flurry of feathered limbs and claws flashed by his vision, moved across the road and landed on the other side, making a direct line for the creature behind the cabin. He turned and ran back to the pickup, where Jay was crouched with his M4 pointing towards the E.L.F, but it was already gone from view, having moved around the other side of building. “You okay?” he said.
