A New World:

RECKONING

A Novel by John O’Brien

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

There are so many people to thank for these books that it’s difficult to mention them all. I know you may be tired of hearing it, but my mother spends countless hours trying to make sense of the hieroglyphs that I slam down randomly on the paper. She manages to turn my gibberish into something readable and I’m thankful for her. She has a highly enjoyable series out, The Blue Child Series, and encourage you to read the two books already published: On the Mountain and The North Road.

Once again, I owe my thanks to the beta readers. Thank you for catching my many mistakes and your input is so appreciated.

And to you, the readers, thank you so much! I continue to be humbled by your support and kind messages. I truly feel that we are just one extended family. Through the years it has taken for this story to be told to this point, you have taken the journey with me. You have brought the characters alive. Again, thank you so very much for your support!

If you do happen to enjoy the story, feel free to leave a review. Reviews are important for two reasons. One is that’s how the books get up in the listing which of course means more sales. But more importantly, it lets me get a look at everyone’s perception. Looking though the online reviews, I feel that I become a better writer.

John O’Brien

AUTHOR’S NOTE

What started off as a simple off as a simple story of survival in a post-apocalyptic world has grown, and has far exceeded any expectations I had. Not that I had any to be honest, so I guess exceeding that wasn’t all that difficult, but it’s more than I could ever have imagined. I enjoy telling the tale and having the characters talk to me, telling me their tale. They have become an intimate part of me. I feel their anxieties, their joys, their sorrows. I hear their shouts, their thoughts, live the events with them. They give me hints about what is about to happen but I’m never sure until I sit down and start typing.

I won’t give any spoilers away but I took a little literary license in some parts. I had to simplify some parts to keep the story flowing without dragging it down with details. Perhaps I’ll explain where I did that with the next book. Okay, there’s a spoiler.

Also, there is some scenes that are written about from different perspectives. While it may not have advanced the story much or told for character development, it just felt right to tell it from different angles. I like going into this mode at times as it shows parts that aren’t observed from the other participants and, to me, I feel that it gives a deeper feel for the scene. So, I will offer my apologies for that in advance.

The part of the tale in this book ran away from me. There was to be more in the story line but the characters tell the tale how they want it told. I have little to say in what gets put down. I try to slow it down at times, or speed it up, but it’s to no avail. It comes out how it does. So, the parts that were initially in mind when I started out on this ninth book will have to be told in the next one. With that said, what do you say we get on with the story? If you happen to enjoy the book, if you would head back afterward and leave a review, I would be eternally grateful.

John O’Brien

Prologue

The equipment bag slams into the rear of the Humvee, filling the last available free space. In a jumble, crammed into the rest of the cargo area, a physical sign of the rush to load the gear, lay crates of ammo, several cardboard boxes of canned food, water bottles, and other sundries that were quickly gathered. With the sound of far off machinery drifting through the afternoon air, Drescoll slams the rear door down and looks around.

Several small groups of people are transiting the parking lot on their way to fulfill their tasks. Soft murmurs of conversation filter across the lot, interrupted only by a short burst of laughter from one group. Bringing the chill of fall with it, a breeze carries clouds across the early afternoon sky. Drescoll eyes the crowds to see if the noise of the rear door shutting has brought any attention to himself. The others continue on their way as if he didn’t exist.

With his hands resting on the closed door, the chill of the metal penetrating his gloves, he looks over to Cabela’s, which has been his home for the past few months. The building represents both joys and hardships. To Drescoll’s mind, it seems to project those remembrances outward. It holds the memories of his friends and his team. A flash of images sequence through his mind: rushing to the tactical operations center when this all began, finding Lynn alive, her opening the door with night runners hard on his heels. The memories continue with the deaths and close calls, the constant fear.

Staring at the compound, he realizes that what he did was a mistake, but it’s too late. There’s no going back now, and he can’t undo the actions he took…and continues to take. He thought he would feel better, but killing the shooter has only left him feeling empty. The grief and anger still reside within, but the emptiness stems from knowing he has to leave his friends, and knowing that he has disappointed them… disappointed himself.

The pressure, the built-up anxiety, the sheer weight of grief made it too much. He had to do something before he exploded. He watched, almost as a spectator outside of himself, as he made his way down the escalator and into the warehouse where the prisoner was held. The guards admitted him without question. Opening the steel door, its metal hinges screeching throughout the interior, Drescoll stared inside.

Large floodlights lit up the storage container, their stark white lights illuminating the shooter. He had been hanging from the chains overhead, his head sagging down with his chin almost to his chest. Drescoll remembers the man lifting his eyes to look at him, the sickly grin that crossed his face. Without a word or expression, Drescoll closed the door and crossed the distance between them.

Squatting in front of the prisoner, with emotions of anger and grief coursing through him, Drescoll stared into the man’s eyes. Attached was the fear of what he was about to do, but that was overridden by the other feelings.

The shooter stared back expressionless, but the light in his eyes changed and became a look of questioning. Then Drescoll saw fear enter, and the shooter’s sick smile vanished. With the prisoner looking on, Drescoll stood and withdrew his Beretta, screwing on the suppressor. Stepping behind the man, he placed the barrel close to the back of the man’s head. Knowing what was about to happen, the shooter hung his head.

“Do it,” Drescoll heard the man whisper.

“See you in hell,” Drescoll replied… and pulled the trigger.

The front of the man’s head exploded as the round punched through his skull. Blood and gore sprayed outward into the bright light. The bullet hit the floor of the steel container with a heavy sound. There was no ricochet as the round had already expended most of its energy. Blood, mixed with chunks of brain and flecks of bone, fell in streams from the ruined face of the shooter and pooled on the cold metal under him.

Drescoll, without feeling any remorse, unscrewed the suppressor with the same emotion as if he was peeling an apple, and holstered his handgun. Exiting the container, careful not to allow the guards to view the inside, he closed the door. He remembers telling the guards that Jack had ordered the prisoner not to be disturbed in any way, not even to keep him awake by tossing buckets of water. They weren’t to open the door until Jack said otherwise. The guards had agreed readily as they had no reason for distrust. Finding his team, he told them that he was stepping out for a while and began quickly gathering supplies.

Shaking himself out of the memory, Drescoll pushes off the vehicle with a heavy sigh. There’s nothing he can do now. He can’t go back and face his friends. He’s made his choice but it’s one he regrets. Jack and the crew of the AC-130 left earlier so there’s a good chance that no one will discover his actions for some time. With luck, they won’t find the body for hours yet and he plans to be miles away before that happens.

Starting the Humvee, Drescoll proceeds down the road leading to the exit with an unsettled feeling in his gut, an uneasiness, like what he is doing is wrong, compounding the mistake he has already made.

The guards posted at the entrance wave as he drives through. Returning the wave, he passes through the gates. He’s not sure where he’ll go now; he really doesn’t have a plan. Earlier, he had only thought to hurt those who had taken Allie from him, but now, with sanity returning, he knows that isn’t true. He proceeds to the interstate; sorrow and grief filling his heart. He’ll never see his friends again.

At the intersection, he halts to decide his next move. Looking north, with the reports of the increased number of night runners filtering down from Seattle, he knows that isn’t the way to go. That direction holds nothing for him, although a part of him wants to fade into oblivion…to die. Self-preservation still tips the scales in his favor. He knows that this isn’t what Allie would have wanted for him, but it’s too late now. He can’t turn back the clock and undo what he did.

Looking back to the concrete wall surrounding the compound, his vision blurs as tears form. He already misses his friends and comrades…he misses Allie. Grief engulfs him. Leaning his forehead on the steering wheel, he lets out his anguish. Sobs wrack his body, salty tears streaming down his cheeks. The sorrow is unbearable. Folding his arms across his stomach, as if that will help contain the pain, he rocks back and forth.

Allie?! Why did you have to leave? Why did I do what I did?

Slowly, the tears dry and he pulls back from the agony. Sniffling to clear his nose, he focuses. East or south is really his only option. He has no destination in mind but merely wants to get clear of the compound. It only holds grief for him now. His thought is to find a remote place in which to heal. He’ll determine his course as whims dictate. Putting the Humvee in gear, he turns and accelerates down the ramp and enters the freeway heading south.

As the miles pass, the feelings of remorse and sorrow ease. The emptiness doesn’t leave, but he’s made his choice and he will have to live with it. He still carries the regret of those choices, but what’s done is done and he knows that he’ll have to move on. Leaving the group in this manner doesn’t sit well with him and he can feel mental blocks building, shutting off that portion of his mind.

Coming to a small town south of Olympia, Drescoll notices an outdoor outlet store situated in a small strip mall. He had to hastily grab gear from Cabela’s and knows he needs more if he is to survive. The fact that he wants to survive surprises him. Turning off the interstate, he pulls into the parking lot serving the location.

Most of the windows are opaque from the dirt covering them and conceal the darkness behind. The store names, posters denoting one-of-a-kind sales, and public service announcements are only shadows behind the grime.

Leaving the engine running in case he needs to make a hasty departure, Drescoll steps from the Humvee and approaches the outdoor store. The front is cast in shadows from the afternoon sun. The windows of the double door entryway are broken with only a few shards remaining on the upper edges of the doors. Well-defined trails lead out through the accumulated dirt on the sidewalk, a sure sign of night runners within. He doesn’t care anymore. If this is his fate, then so be it. He steps inside.

Through the opaque windows, a small amount of light leaks in casting the entryway and front part of the store in gloom. Darkness covers the areas deeper within. From what he can see, the store hasn’t been ransacked like many of the others he’s encountered. Gear lies stacked on shelves with clothing hanging on their stands, some turned over and lying on the floor. A musty smell, speaking of age, permeates the interior. A faint, rotting reek rides on top, reminding him of a locker room toward the end of a week.

Drescoll checks his M-4, ensuring that a round is chambered and that the safety is off. Dropping his NVGs into place, he walks farther into the store. He’d like to take the entirety of the store’s contents but will settle for what he can grab. A cold-weather sleeping bag, a tent, batteries, flashlights, ammo, weapons, and any MREs or freeze-dried food are at the top of his list.

Clothing sections are off to the right with shelves to his front and left. Several kayaks hang from hooks near the back with mountain bikes hanging from others. On structural poles, heads from trophy animals are suspended.

Passing two cash registers near the front, shrieks erupt from within the darkness. Although the sound sends shivers up his spine and causes his breath to catch in his throat, he doesn’t care. Any great fear of night runners is buried beneath his pain. He almost welcomes action as if that will burn the emptiness from his soul. That doesn’t mean he’ll just lie down and let them ravage him, but there is a desire to charge into their midst. He already feels lost to his friends, and almost lost to himself. There’s nothing inside him except for pain, and if that’s the only thing he has, he’ll live for that.

“Fuck you! Come and get me, assholes,” Drescoll shouts, bringing his M-4 to bear.

More screams echo in the darkness, seeming to come from everywhere at once. From the back of the darkened building, something falls to the ground with a heavy thump. A shelf falls with a crash, the items on it clattering across the linoleum floor.

Nothing materializes in the glow of his goggles, but he knows night runners have been awakened. The trace of fear within combines with the grief, twisting into overwhelming anger. Without uttering a sound, Drescoll shoulders his carbine and begins striding briskly farther into the store.

The interior fills with an increased volume of shrieks, filling the small outdoor outlet. Undaunted, or really not giving much of a damn about what happens, Drescoll drives onward. The barrel of his carbine dances left and right, following the direction of his eyes as he scouts the area around him.

To his right, the sound of bare feet slapping on the hard floor—barely heard above the screams—comes from one of the aisles. He shifts his aim where the aisles empty into an open space. On the run, two night runners emerge a few aisles away. With a speed rivaling time itself, they alter their path and turn toward him. Their pale faces glow in his night vision, eyes shining with brilliant intensity, mouths open in screams. The night runners streak in his direction, seeking to rend his flesh.

Anticipating their entrance into the opening, Drescoll fires a short burst into the closest night runner. Quick flashes of light, emanating from the end of his barrel, illuminate the night runners and nearby shelves. High-velocity rounds streak outward and impact the first creature, stitching it from the center of its chest upward. A tattered T-shirt, really just rags barely clinging to its upper body, absorbs some of the blood that leaks from the wounds. The exiting rounds spray blood against an array of fishing lures arranged at the end of one aisle. The night runner’s legs sweep out from under it; it falls on its back, hitting the floor with a heavy thump.

Drescoll calmly switches his aim and eases back on the trigger, sending another burst of bullets after the second night runner. The rounds hit, sending it crashing into the end of one of the shelves. Items fall from the rack and hit the floor moments before the night runner joins them. Drescoll walks toward them, putting a round into each of their heads before venturing across the open space in front of the aisles.

A flurry of motion erupts off to the side. Turning, he sees a night runner vault from the top of a shelving unit. Stepping to the side, he catches the leaping figure in mid-air with his carbine. Turning the night runner to the side, he slams it into the floor and fires a burst directly into the creature’s chest. The body jars as it absorbs the projectiles. Thick bubbles of blood slowly leak out from the open chest wounds, popping as the blood thins. Each gasping intake of breath is strained until the night runner collapses fully, exhaling its last.

Expressionless, Drescoll stares at the dead figure for moments before continuing on. With three night runners fallen, the din of shrieks has diminished, but he hears others scurrying in his direction. Rounding the corner of one aisle, he sees four racing toward him.

Any remaining fear leaves; he flat out doesn’t care what happens. The thought of retreating has no room in his frame of mind. His thoughts narrow down to getting the gear. The part of his world where fear of night runners existed has been pushed away. Raising the barrel of his M-4, he sends bursts down the narrow aisle. The four night runners are tossed into the shelves from rounds impacting into their torsos, chests, and heads.

The falling bodies knock sundries off the shelves and shake items from their hooks. The clatter of tumbling gear and night runners creates a small thunder of noise. Sliding down one of the shelves, taking the entire structure along with it, the fourth night runner slumps to the ground.

The last of the packaged gear rattles across the hard floor and comes to a halt, bringing silence with it. Drescoll looks at the ruin in the aisle, blood gathering in pools among the bodies and spilled items, and running in streams across the uneven floor. He calmly ejects the almost spent mag from his carbine and replaces it and places it in a pouch on his vest.

He stands for a few moments, listening to the quiet for any sound that may signify a night runner approaching. Although he is lost in his current state of mind, that doesn’t mean that he isn’t aware of what the creatures can do. He knows they are wily and can switch tactics in a heartbeat. Glancing at the rafters overhead, he assures himself that they aren’t moving in for an aerial assault. Satisfied that the store is truly clear, Drescoll begins gathering items from the shelves and stows them in the rear seats of the Humvee.

Loaded with supplies, he stands next to the vehicle and gazes at the afternoon sky. The adrenaline from the fight and the effort of carting supplies leaves a sheen of sweat across his face, which is chilled by the afternoon breeze. As clouds drift lazily across the sky, Drescoll experiences a feeling of disassociation, like he is just an observer to his actions. The deep-seated anger he felt a short time ago has turned into a feeling of numbness. Only if he consciously thinks about things, pulls inside of himself, does he feel the emotions return.

Looking north toward where the compound lies, he sighs. Opening the Humvee, he climbs in. The closing door echoes forlornly off the façades of the nearby buildings, mimicking the fading echoes of emotion within his mind.

Farther south, Drescoll takes an exit to a highway that leads to one of the mountains passes. The road meanders past man-made lakes and over bridges with tall fir and cedar trees lining the road, growing right up to the edge. They present a calmness that eventually pushes through some of the mental blocks that Drescoll created.

The route begins a gentle climb as he enters the foothills, and then ascends in earnest a short time later. Steep cliffs rise above a river that tumbles over boulders and around fallen trees, the turbulent stream making its way out of the mountains on its journey to the sea. Atop the cliffs, trees are bathed in sunlight.

Near the top of the pass, a low rumble penetrates the cab of the Humvee, overriding the sound of the diesel engine. Recognizing the sound, he pulls over at the next exit; a dirt road used for logging. Making sure he doesn’t leave a dust rail, he drives in amongst the trees, exits the vehicle, and begins looking for the 130, its sound drawing closer.

Surely they can’t be looking for him already.

He knows Jack and the crew of the aircraft went out on a scouting mission, but that doesn’t preclude that someone could have already found the body and radioed. It wouldn’t take a genius to figure out who did it.

Beams of sunlight penetrate through breaks in the forest, lighting patches of ground, shining upon insects as they pass through the rays. There isn’t much sky to be seen as he gazes through the tops of the trees, but he observes the shape of a 130 in the distance as it passes through the gaps. Drescoll hopes they aren’t using thermal imaging or he’ll readily show up on their screens and they’ll fly over to investigate.

The aircraft drones by, the rumble of its engines slowly fading until there is only the sound of his idling Humvee. Allowing some time to pass to ensure that the 130 doesn’t return, he climbs back in.

From the vantage point of where Drescoll was parked, the Humvee enters the road. The sound of shifting gears accentuates the acceleration as the vehicle gains speed. It grows smaller by the second, taking the driver with it.

Rounding a curve in the road, both vehicle and driver vanish from view, leaving an empty road lined with trees, their tall tops reaching for the sunlight, swaying as strong breezes blow through.

Uninvited Guests

Greg watches the streamers of smoke rising in the air. As he continues to observe from his elevated platform, another dark, oily plume appears, its dark smoke climbing rapidly. Then another… and another. He knows this sight, having seen it numerous times during his deployments overseas. It is vehicles being set alight by heavy caliber fire. Another dark cloud of smoke rises in the afternoon sky. The latest plumes are larger… whoever is causing them is heading his way and drawing closer.

“Driver…. go! Everyone hang on,” Greg yells into the interior. To the two standing by the side of the road, he shouts, “Follow us if you want, but I wouldn’t advise being here in about ten minutes.”

The Stryker lurches as it surges forward, throwing Greg backward. Glancing to the rear, he notes the two men they just encountered scurry to the doors of their vehicle. With a screech of tires and flinging gravel in its wake, the truck turns a one-eighty and follows. Satisfied that they are trailing, Greg shoves the two men from his mind and concentrates on the scene behind.

He doesn’t see any vehicles or airborne equipment, but the indication that they are around is unmistakable. It could be that they are friendly, but with only one armored vehicle and a single team, Greg isn’t sticking around to find out. Whoever is out there has more firepower than he can bring to bear…and they are using it.

“Where are we heading?” the driver shouts.

“Away from that,” Greg replies, pointing in the direction of the rising plumes.

“South it is.”

Greg is hoping that they can get clear of the area before they are discovered. Sensing that he is witnessing a battle between two opposing groups, one of which apparently raided Fort Carson and ‘liberated’ some of the vehicles, Greg has no desire to get caught up in it. He and his team could very easily be viewed as an enemy by either side and fired upon. Therefore, he wants to get some distance away from the forces that are carrying their battle in his direction.

As the Stryker gains speed, another dark, oily smoke plume blossoms skyward in the near distance. Whoever is out there is heavily armed. Greg stands in the cupola, focusing on the column of smoke with his binoculars. The jostling of the Stryker prevents a clear picture from forming; he can’t see any vehicles, though a dust cloud drifting upward indicates that someone is heading their way and coming at high speed.

Looking toward the mountains to the west, their eastern slopes rising sharply and hidden in shadow from the lowering sun, Greg thinks to gain some height in order to get a clearer picture of what is happening behind them. Looking at the map fluttering in his hand as a chill wind blows past, he sees that there aren’t any immediate roads leading west. Glancing to the rear once again, he notes that there aren’t any further plumes but the size of the dust cloud indicates that someone is still charging hard in their direction.

Nearing the northern outskirts of Pueblo, Greg orders the Stryker onto a highway heading west. The road advances into the heart of the Rocky Mountains through a gap between two monstrously tall ridgelines.

The pickup follows close behind and offset in the other lane to keep clear of the dust being kicked up by the large vehicle. The group quickly leaves behind any semblance of built-up areas. Industrial yards and large housing developments abruptly give way to wide-open, light brown barren plains, their starkness broken by a gullies and waterways streaming from the mountains to the west. Before long, the road begins to ascend, slightly at first and then steepening.

Ahead, a side road leads up one of the only hills rising above the plains. With Greg still unable to make out the type of vehicles behind, he orders the driver to take the road so that they can get a better look at what they’re facing.

“Sir, if we can see them, they’ll be able to see us,” the driver replies, slowing the Stryker.

“I’m aware of that but we need to know what we may be up against,” Greg states.

The large vehicle leaves the highway and immediately begins a climb up the side of the hill with the pickup following in their dust. Gaining a measure of elevation above the flats, Greg has the Stryker halted.

Standing atop the vehicle, his back chilled from cold air sweeping out of the mountains, he looks to the plain below through his binoculars. As he adjusts the focus, vibrations from the idling Stryker rise through the soles of his boots. Two faint dust clouds rise in the direction of Pueblo, a short distance to the east. One of the clouds continues south along the interstate, passing through the northern sections of the large city. The other, however, takes the same highway that he and the others turned onto.

Working the zoom level, Greg brings the approaching vehicles into clearer view. His heart jumps into his throat at what the sight brings; multiple columns of vehicles on the highway approaching at high speed; four Strykers and ten Humvees, with an accompanying tanker truck that is partially hidden. They are spread across all lanes of the road, their tires stirring the dust which drifts into the air behind them.

Looking closer at the larger armored vehicles, Greg notes the long barrels jutting in front.

Fuck me. That’s not good. They have 105mm cannons, Greg thinks as he looks to the other group heading south.

From what he is able to see of the second group, they appear to be made up of roughly the same number and types of vehicles. Quickly putting away the binoculars and clambering back inside, Greg gets the feeling that his small team was spotted some time ago. He hopes the two groups split because they don’t know where he is and are searching for him. He has no idea why they might be chasing him, but that’s not important at the moment. The fact is, there are a significant number of armored vehicles rapidly approaching and he’s not about to stick around to find out what their intentions may be.

“Get us the fuck out of here…and yesterday!” Greg tells the driver.

Greg glances at the others crammed together within the limited space of the interior. All eyes are on him; the ones they rescued wide open with fear, the soldiers waiting to hear what is happening. Shouting over the sound of the Stryker’s revving engine as it makes its way off the hill, Greg informs them of what he saw.

“We’re heading west into the mountains in order to create some distance from the nearest group and hopefully lose them. If we can gain enough space, we should be able to lose them when it becomes dark, which will be in a couple of hours,” Greg says, finishing his brief.

“We’re going to need fuel soon, sir,” the driver reports.

“Do we have enough to make it until dark?” Greg asks.

“We should have enough, sir. But we’ll need it shortly thereafter.”

“Very well. We’ll deal with that when it comes. We have a few full canisters that we can use if we need to,” Greg states.

Greg hopes that, if they can create a margin of distance between them and the armored vehicles to their rear, the group will give up the chase. After all, they won’t want to venture very far from their encampment just to chase down a lone Stryker. At the very least, if they can survive until darkness arrives, they’ll be able to lose the others on side roads. With these thoughts in mind as they enter the valley between the tall ridges, Greg has the Stryker pushed to full speed, sacrificing fuel consumption in order to gain some distance.

They cross several bridges spanning deep ravines created from the runoff of the surrounding peaks. The sun sinks behind the lofty mountaintops, sending flares of light streaking through the gaps. Rounding a corner in the road as it ascends into the higher terrain, a darkened outline of a city appears. Hidden in the shadows of a valley and nestled up against the sharply rising mountains to the west, the town spreads out on both sides of the highway.

“Sir?” the driver queries, slowing the Stryker.

Before, they had approached towns cautiously and circumvented them if possible.

“Push through it,” Greg orders. “We’re dealing with a certainty behind us compared with an unknown ahead.”

The Stryker lurches forward as the driver throttles up. Gaining momentum, they enter the outskirts of the city. Shadowy outlines of schools and shopping centers roll by on either side as the armored vehicle races along the split, multi-laned highway. Greg considers turning down one of the side streets leading farther into town, but a glance at the map shows that there is only one road leading in and out of the town. Gullies and ravines that surround the city will prevent any other escape. If the group behind notices their tracks leading off the main road, which they no doubt would, they can easily block off the city and corner them in the streets.

They pass several gas stations and small industrial complexes with semis parked in the lots. Greg notes these with a sigh, wanting to exit and drain their tanks of fuel. However, he doesn’t know if those behind are still chasing them or how close they might be.

Streets branch off the highway; the deep shadows of dusk covering the town prevent any clear view down them. On the far side of the city, the road makes a sharp ninety-degree turn and begins a steep climb up the side of a ridge. Standing in the open cupola, Greg feels the rush of cold air past his cheeks. With the sun disappearing behind the mountains, casting the land in shadow, the air quickly chills. As they gain altitude, he is able to see over the city to the east.

The gloom of the early evening prevents a clear view, but he sees unmistakable signs of the armored group entering the city on the far side. They have their blackout lights running which cast thin beams of light on the road just in front of them. At least one question has been answered, whoever is after them is still charging hard. And, with the Stryker climbing along the ridgeline, if they weren’t spotted earlier, they surely will be now.

Greg still doesn’t have the faintest idea why anyone would be chasing them or how they were spotted earlier. The worry he had upon leaving the base with such a small team is now coming to a reality. They can’t hope to stand up to a force such as the one rushing after them. Perhaps if their Stryker was one with a 105mm cannon instead of the .50 cal, the narrow valleys of the mountains would offer them the smallest of chances. They could lie in wait and take out the lead vehicle, effectively blocking the route until it could be cleared off to the side. In this way, they could conduct hit-and-run operations but, with only the .50 cal on top, there’s no hope of accomplishing anything except run.

Greg has no way of knowing what the status is of the two men following. For now, they’ll have to fend for themselves with regards to gathering fuel. Any delay will allow the ones behind to close in on them. Another hour will bring total darkness. They’ll have to stop soon after night falls to refuel their own tanks and then, hopefully lose their pursuers. The road ahead consists of two lanes leading through a mountain pass. It won’t be hard to guess which way they went, but there are a few choices farther along. That may slow down or lose their pursuers altogether, and they can opt to turn off onto one of the dirt roads leading into the hills. Greg is hesitant about that option as there is only one way in or out.

Angling farther up the ridge, Greg eventually loses sight of the town and of those chasing them. As they finally scale the climb and turn due west, the deepening shadows slow their ability to advance due to the diminishing sight distance. Not wanting to turn on their own black-out driving lights, they use the day-night thermal imaging in order to stay on the road, which is difficult to keep track of as the dirt covering the surface blends with the surrounding terrain.

Cresting the ridge, the road levels and crosses an upper plateau which allows the Stryker to pick up speed. At the end of the tableland, Greg comes face-to-face with his first big decision. The road splits; one road continuing west through rough terrain, the other heading to the northwest. It’s not a matter of whether to abandon the mission or not, that is no longer a factor. It’s a matter of which direction will help them the most.

If they turn to the northwest, they’ll be on a route back to the compound. Even though that trip will take days to accomplish, every mile will bring them that much closer. The route to the west will allow them to eventually make their way back to the south, which will put them closer to the route given to Jack.

Greg knows that Jack is a man of his word. He will be returning to pick them up as soon as he can. That could be any time now and may mean getting their butts out of the fire more quickly. Even though it’s the more obvious route, being part of the major highway, Greg decides to continue their flight west. If they need to, they can pick up a road farther on that will take them to the northwest.

Greg brings the Stryker to a quick halt and hops down. The two men in the truck pull up next to him. Without wasting words, Greg explains their situation to the two bearded men. He points up the road leading to the northwest and gives directions to the compound at Cabela’s. He can’t take the time to shepherd the two and directs them to take the road that will eventually lead them to the northwest.

With a word of thanks, the men take the suggested fork. Climbing quickly back in the Stryker, Greg orders the driver through the intersection. They will be heading west where the road begins a winding climb into yet another mountain pass. With the engine laboring up the incline, Greg looks back to see very faint lights emerge over the crest of the ridgeline behind. Although the other group hasn’t closed any distance, the team hasn’t gained any either.

The winding road traverses a ridgeline. A steep embankment on one side of the road drops off into a ravine, its depths hidden in darkness. On the other side, the land climbs sharply to the top of the ridge where stunted firs are only a shade darker than the surroundings. If they had more firepower, this would be the ideal location for an ambush. Situated on a corner, they would be able to hold this stretch of road indefinitely.

Instead, they must pass one ideal location after another. Their only measure of safety at this point is distance. Greg has no doubt at this point that the group following them is hostile. There is no other reason that he can think of for them to have followed for so long and so far.

Coming out of a ridgeline, they transit another small valley and enter into the mountains in earnest. Sheer, darkened mountainsides rise directly from both sides of the road. The result is that the ravine through which they are traveling is cast in darkness. Only the deep blue of the twilight sky above gives any indication that the sun hasn’t sunk below the horizon.

Just before entering into the pass, Greg stands in the frigid air to get a look behind. Sure enough, he is able to make out very faint lights from the hostile group to the rear as they drive along the meandering highway. Looking at their pursuers, Greg, for the first time, wonders if the choice to follow along this road in pursuit of him and his team is coincidental or if there is something else going on.

The highway follows the path of a river flowing adjacent to the road. The twists and turns as the stream follows the low points—the road following each change of direction—blocks any further view of their pursuers. The constant curves don’t allow the Stryker to get up to full speed. Greg hopes that the speed they are maintaining is faster than that of those following them. Traveling in a convoy generally lends to a slower pace which alleviates Greg’s apprehension to a degree. However, without anything to verify this, a gut-wrenching anxiety remains.

The small team, along with those they rescued, is all alone and traveling through an unknown mountain pass, far from home. If the ones behind them manage to catch up, it will be over in minutes except for the bleeding, screaming, and pain. They will just be bodies lying in or near a burnt-out hulk in the middle of the mountainous terrain. Perhaps never seen again, or become a place that kids come to explore and play on the wreckage.

Looking inside to see how everyone is doing, he observes that a couple of soldiers are napping with their heads tilted back against equipment behind them. The people they rescued are doing what they can to get comfortable within the cramped quarters, shifting to new positions frequently. Lacking is the normal murmur of whispered conversations when any group of people gathers.

The one thing Greg notes with satisfaction is the absence of panic in the eyes of those awake. There’s a measure of trepidation for sure. Not being able to see the entire picture outside as well as Greg, they are placing their faith in his ability to see them through this. Looking at them, he feels a tremendous weight. Having rescued them, he is responsible for their safety and he isn’t sure that he can provide that for them. That adds to the anxiety of the present situation. There isn’t any surprise tactical card he can play nor take any action that will turn the tables. They can only run and hope it’s enough.

Night finally falls in full force near a widening of the road at a place called Texas Creek. It’s really nothing more than a bump in the road with streams coming out of the mountains on both sides of the town to join with the river.

Having to rely on the day-night thermal imaging camera hampers their ability to progress quickly. Greg is apprehensive about using their lights to navigate with even though it will be just as easy to spot them should the group behind catch up.

No use making it easier for them, Greg thinks as they drive through the small opening in the terrain.

The highway is desolate with only an occasional small settlement breaking the starkness. Single gas stations with family-style restaurants next to them, their dirt and gravel parking lots empty, slide to the rear as the Stryker motors past them in the dark. These are towns which are likely to hold a few survivors but Greg has no time to stop and find out.

The group pursuing them appeared to have brought their own fuel supply and, even though they’ll have to stop in order to refuel, they’ll be able to accomplish this faster than the team. Greg hopes that they’ll have to do this soon, giving him time, which means distance, to do the same. That is the one thing that he’ll have to put into the hands of luck. It’ll either work out or it won’t. The choice of refueling or not isn’t an option. The control he does have over it is when they’ll do it, and even with that, he doesn’t have all that much.

Greg hasn’t spied any sign of their pursuers by the time the crowded slopes open up into another, larger valley. He hopes the others have reached the margins of their pursuit range and have turned back but he has the feeling that they are still following.

The road leads to a town nestled in the “V” of a triangular-shaped valley, the slopes opening to the left and right. The main road turns left and proceeds along the base of the surrounding hills with the city situated along the northern edge of the freeway. Quickly looking at the map, Greg notes another main road heading northwest around the eastern part of the town, intersecting another north-south highway a few miles away.

Greg has the driver turn onto a secondary road. He hopes to throw off the pursuit that may still be behind and to look for a hidden place to refuel. A couple of blocks along the road, a small industrial facility opens on the right with several semis parked in the rear. To the left, across the road from the complex, huddled underneath trees, the outlines of trailer houses are visible through the day-night camera.

Several vehicles sit in open-sided garages attached to the mobile homes with other cars parked in front. The branches of tall trees spread across the roofs as if protecting the structures, but the abodes themselves have an aura of abandonment.

Ordering the Stryker into the lot, Greg decides to take the risk of refueling. The armored vehicle turns into the dusty lot, taking care to proceed slowly so as to not create a dust cloud. Maneuvering to the back, Greg has the Stryker park behind the tractor trailers in order to hide their outline from view. From their vantage point, they’ll be able to see the lights of anyone emerging from the mountain pass before they reach the city limits.

“Okay, folks, this has to be quick. We’re going to refuel here as we may not get a chance farther down the road. I want three with the Stryker refueling from the canisters. The rest will siphon fuel from the semis, filling the empty canisters and carrying them back. We’re going to need everyone who can move to help with this. I want it to look like a NASCAR pit stop. I’ll keep watch on the road. At the first sign of our pursuers, we’ll drop what we’re doing and beat cheeks out of here,” Greg says as the Stryker lurches to a halt.

“A final word of caution. There may be night runners in the area. We can’t help that. I want someone with me to watch for them. If they appear, drop what you’re doing and make for the vehicle. They move faster than us, so no hesitating,” Greg states, finishing as the ramp lowers with a clang.

With chilled air rushing into the compartment, feet pound down the steel surface. The anxiety of being out at night takes hold as the group frees the fuel canisters and begins the siphoning and refueling process. Three begin pouring diesel into the half-full tanks as the others race to start draining fuel from the large tanks hanging from the sides of the semis. More than one head glances over a shoulder, nervous that night runners might be racing toward them. That fear is stronger than the group chasing them.

The clanking of the metal cans, the idling Stryker, and the scurry of movement carry across the dirt lot, echoing off the metal prefab buildings. Beams from flashlights waver from place to place as the group carries out their tasks. Greg wanted to keep the lights to a minimum but didn’t have enough NVGs to go around. It’s a risk they have to take in order to refuel. Given that they don’t have a choice about that, their only hope is to accomplish what they need to do quickly.

Several shrieks punctuate the night air, carrying over the adjacent roofs, and pass through the lot. Every movement halts and all eyes dart toward the sound before turning back to Greg. Greg turns from observing the pass entrance, a shiver running up his spine. Looking quickly to where the highway emerges from the tall peaks, he sees dim lights materialize in the magnified view of his binoculars. It’s time to go, in more ways than one.

“Okay, everyone, that’s our signal. Pack up what you’re doing and get inside,” Greg says, his voice only loud enough to be heard by those in the lot.

A bustle of noise ensues as the group scurries to carry their gear to the Stryker. One by one, the flashlights wink off. Shrieks carry in the darkness, closer this time. Gear is quickly stowed and feet once again pound on the steel ramp. Greg glances again at the approaching vehicles to find them already drawing near to the outskirts of the town.

Shrieks gain intensity and volume. Greg sees several night runners emerge from between the mobile homes across the street streaking in his direction, with more pouring into view behind those, their faces seeming to glow even in the darkness. The last of those with him scramble inside the Stryker. Greg hurries up the ramp as the first of the night runners enters the lot, their screams filling the night. The ramp closes and the latches are sealed as the first night runner hammers against the vehicle.

Greg rushes across the tangle of legs and bodies to close the cupola against the sudden assault. The Stryker rocks as the night runners throw themselves against the sides and clamber on top.

“Get us the fuck out of here!” Greg tells the driver. “And keep us out of view of the main highway.”

The vehicle surges forward, throwing the occupants against each other. Exiting the lot on a side street, Greg turns the camera to the rear. Behind, night runners are giving chase. Residential houses pass as the Stryker gains speed, creating a separation from the night runners. Greg briefly wonders, as the creatures fall farther behind, how the night runners will survive in this high-mountain town once winter arrives in full force. Looking past the horde chasing them, he doesn’t see any sign of the Strykers and Humvees that must have, by now, entered the town. Hopefully turning off the main road and keeping out of sight has helped lose that pursuit.

The secondary road turns to the northwest, angling through more of the town. A pack of night runners races out in front from a side street a block away. Not missing a stride, they turn as one, coming head on.

“Go through them,” Greg orders the driver.

Mom-and-pop store fronts pass along the sides as the Stryker rapidly closes the distance. At the last moment, the night runners dart to the sides, barely avoiding being taken under the wheels. Rapidly changing directions, the creatures turn to give chase but give up after a couple of blocks as the Stryker outdistances them.

Racing past the small downtown area, they enter another residential neighborhood. House after house, block after block, slides by until they leave the town and enter the surrounding countryside. The road passes once cultivated fields as it heads toward the north-south highway a few miles ahead.

As the high country road angles closer to the highway, which intersects the main east-west highway from which they entered the town, Greg focuses on the ever-nearing road.

“Fuck!” he shouts in frustration. “Driver, turn us around and be quick about it.”

On the other highway, the one they are endeavoring to get to, the one Greg hoped was an escape route, he sees dim lights from several vehicles that are racing across its surface.

People are thrown together as the brakes are applied. The Stryker leans from centrifugal forces as the driver turns the large, heavy vehicle on the narrow road. They exit the road, traveling down into a ditch before doing a one-eighty, climbing back onto the harder surface. As they work their way through the turn, Greg focuses on the number of vehicles traveling at high speed on the other road.

He counts their numbers and comes up short from the initial tally he made near Pueblo. That means some have turned back, are refueling at some location, or are coming through the town, where he and the others are now headed back toward. If that is the case, they could be trapped between the two forces.

Keeping an eye toward the vehicles on the road, he sees one of the Strykers slow. A bright flash lights up the night. A roaring, concussive noise engulfs Greg’s Stryker, jarring the vehicle and lifting it momentarily to the side. Pings and thuds from shrapnel bounce off the metallic skin, causing those inside to duck instinctively. If there was any thought that the pursuing vehicles might be friendly, that is erased by the shell exploding on the embankment next to the Stryker. The only positive note is that, if there were any night runners clinging to the top, they aren’t anymore.

The other vehicles along the road halt. Another bright flash from a Stryker leads to an eruption of dirt and smoke ahead, on the other side of the road from Greg and the racing Stryker. The range had obviously been adjusted with the shell passing just in front of the vehicle. Seeing the blast through the thermal camera, Greg is thankful that the Strykers firing on them aren’t equipped with TOW missiles.

Red streaks erupt from the roadway. At first, they seem to travel slowly across the dark landscape before suddenly picking up speed. The tracers lag and pass behind Greg’s vehicle. As the aim is corrected, the streaks of light begin impacting into the surrounding fields, falling short of their intended target. The road Greg is on angles away from the other vehicles and each second increases the distance between them. Moments after starting, the firing from the .50 cals mounted on the Humvees and Strykers cease.

With the stoppage of the .50 cals, the two Strykers accompanying the convoy increase their rate of cannon fire. Near misses jolt Greg’s Stryker as it careens down the highway. Turning his view toward the town in the distance, the thermal imaging shows several Humvees arriving at the edge of the city where they then come to a stop. Moments later, they are joined by two Strykers who emerge onto the highway leading out of the city.

“Off the road, now!” Greg commands the driver. “To the southwest.”

The Stryker veers to the right, canting heavily as it makes the high-speed turn. It jolts as it heads down an embankment and reaches level ground. Crashing through a fence and entering a field, the Stryker plows through the tall grass of whatever agricultural product was planted last.

The second group from the vicinity of the city adds its fire to those of their comrades. Explosions blast dirt and grass up and outward around the Stryker. Those inside hear metal shards ring off the hull from near misses. One piece slices through the metal skin just above the heads of those sitting on the benches, imbedding itself into the opposite wall with a solid thwack.

“Everyone down,” Greg calls. To the driver, he adds, “Keep it floored and be damned about what lies ahead.”

Attempting to throw off the aim of those firing on them, the driver weaves randomly as they race through the field, jostling everyone inside. The Stryker lifts off the ground, becoming momentarily weightless before slamming back down. Several screams fill the interior. Greg is thrown against the forward bulkhead, smashing his head against it. As the vehicle stabilizes following the too-near miss, he feels a painful, burning sensation on his forehead. A warm trickle makes its way down between his eyes and the bridge of his nose. Wiping his head with the back of his hand, he sees a red smear of blood on his glove.

“Motherfuck,” he mutters.

His ringing ears mute the noise of the thundering explosions outside. However, it’s not enough for him to miss the driver shout, “Hang on.”

Entering a thin screen of trees, the Stryker encounters an embankment lining a large stream. The nose drops sharply and the vehicle hits the water with a tremendous splash. Greg is thrown forward, hitting his head once again. Momentarily stunned, he can only think that they’ve taken a direct hit.

The wheels gain purchase on the rocky bottom and the Stryker heaves forward, gaining the far embankment. Straining up the bank, the vehicle slams down, finding level ground once again. Regaining his senses, Greg sees that they’ve entered another thin line of trees. The Stryker accelerates through adjoining farming fields. Looking toward the two groups assailing them, he notices that the trees along embankment are blocking any direct line of sight. The explosions, which ceased when they entered the first tree line, don’t resume.

Having left their field of vision, Greg can envision the two groups desperately racing down the roads to block him before he can gain either highway. The narrow, steeply embanked road that the first group is on will hinder their reversal. The second group will have to navigate the streets of the town to get back to the highway. Providing nothing interferes with their progress, Greg has the most direct angle to the crossroads, perhaps gaining them a little time and space. The race is on.

Into the Night

As the Stryker speeds across the darkened landscape, running through fence lines as if they didn’t exist, Greg wonders what damage the Stryker has taken. So far it appears to be running as it should and he hopes that will continue. The near misses have surely stripped everything off the top. They had managed to almost fill their tanks, so they have some mileage available to them, but Greg hopes they were also able to retain some of their fuel canisters.

“Make for the crossroads,” Greg tells the driver. “And don’t let off on the throttle.”

The engine strains as the Stryker powers up a small hill. As they top the rise, they find themselves on a small airfield and speed across a narrow, paved runway. Greg thinks of how perfectly set up the two groups were. It’s as if they knew exactly where he was and, more importantly, where he was heading. He hopes they don’t have a drone aloft, or worse, a direct satellite feed. He and his group are already at a disadvantage. If he’s not able to maneuver tactically, if his position is constantly known, then it is only a matter of time.

Fuel, a breakdown, bad timing; any of these will eventually lead to them coming within range of the large caliber guns again and wiped from the face of the earth within minutes. For now, the only thing they can do is run and hope they make it to the crossroads first. After that, it’s a crap shoot, and they’ll just have to take it as it comes.

The few buildings comprising the airfield facilities vanish from view as the Stryker races down a runway covered with a fine layer of dirt, piled in small drifts in some places. Reaching the end, they descend the hill where the airstrip is located and enter more fields. Not too far ahead, past a couple of fenced-in fields, are the buildings which surround the crossroads. From there, highways stretch north, south, east, and west.

In the distance, to the north and east, along their respective roads, Greg spots the dim lights of the two other groups as they make rapidly for the same crossroad. He gives a sigh of relief when he sees the distance of the other vehicles. Greg’s decision to head cross country and make directly for the intersection, coupled with the difficulties the other groups had, have given him an advantage. Barring anything unforeseen happening in the next few moments, Greg and the others will reach the crossroads first with enough distance separating them from their pursuers.

Slamming up and over a small dirt lane, the Stryker crashes through a chain link fence that surrounds an industrial lot. Powering across the dusty lot and exiting from an entryway, they enter the highway. At the intersection, Greg engages the smoke generator. A thick cloud erupts from the vehicle, billowing outward and filling the cold air. Mixed with IR defeating particles, the smoke cloud will hide the thermal image of the Stryker from those making their way rapidly toward them. It may not hide their path, as there are only two to choose from, but it’s the only thing Greg has at his disposal. The highway south immediately enters into a pass. There is an off chance that they can be hidden by the time the other group works their way through the smoke. That may give Greg and the others some additional time…and distance.

Turning south, they enter between steep mountain walls rising directly from the highway. The hills aren’t as tall as those they came through earlier, but it’s still rough terrain. Snow hasn’t settled on any of the peaks as yet, but if the cold mountain air is any indication, that time isn’t far away. As the mammoth tires of the Stryker roll over the pavement, Greg is thankful they don’t have to deal with icy conditions in addition to being pursued by an armored force.

The crossroads behind are quickly lost from sight as the road meanders through the gap in the highlands. Before rounding a corner in the highway, which pushed the intersection out of sight, Greg wasn’t able to verify if the pursuit continued in their direction. For now, he can only assume that it does and continue their flight.

His plan is to run south through the night toward Santa Fe and Albuquerque. If they haven’t heard from Jack by that time, they will turn west, fleeing to the northwest and safety. He regrets not turning to the northwest when they had the initial choice. Every mile they drive south is taking them farther away from the compound. Greg knows there is only a small chance of linking up with Jack in the morning. And even then, the odds are remote that they’ll be able to create enough separation so that the 130 can land and pick them up. And that’s if there is a good place to land should they come into contact with Jack.

Yeah, I should have turned north, Greg thinks as they race between the hills.

The fuel situation will have to work itself out. Those behind will have to stop and refuel as well. Having more vehicles, it will take them longer to accomplish which is one advantage Greg and the others have. They escaped the trap with almost a full load of fuel, so they won’t have to worry about that until somewhere near Santa Fe. The others, having the same type of vehicle, will have to stop before then. Stopping for fuel where they did has given him the advantage fuel-wise.

Greg feels his head drooping and his eyes involuntarily closing as weariness sets in. They are all tired and he tells the others to rest as well as they can. They’re going to need it in the coming days. Greg knows the driver has to be exhausted and the last thing they need is to run off the road. He has another soldier switch places with the driver. The things they can control, they will.

“Sir?” one solider says, getting Greg’s attention.

Having almost fallen asleep, Greg snaps his head up. “Yeah, what is it?”

“Do you have any idea what’s going on?” the soldier asks.

Others in the compartment nod, the same question running through their minds. Hearing the question, Greg can’t imagine how the ones they rescued must be feeling. To be rescued from the caves, and almost certain death, only to be thrown into this wild chase must be traumatic for them.

“No…no, I do not,” Greg answers wearily.

“Any guesses, sir?”

“Well, we obviously pissed someone off pretty bad. If I didn’t know better, I’d say it was my ex. In lieu of that, your guess is as good as mine.”

“How long do you think they’ll come after us?” another soldier asks.

“They don’t seem to like us much, so I’m thinking they mean to chase us to the ends of the earth. If they were merely safeguarding a base camp, they would have stopped their pursuit long ago. The fact that they’ve chased us so hard and for so long gives me the impression that they’ll continue to do so. Sorry, but that’s the straight skinny as far as I see it.”

“What are we going to do, sir?”

“We’ll run south, to Albuquerque if necessary, then turn west and make our way back to the compound. We’ll fuel up whenever the opportunity arises. They’ll have to do the same, so we’re at least even with that. If Jack makes contact with us, we’ll find a place for him to land and haul our sorry asses out of here. Until then, we keep our heads on our shoulders and conduct a strategic withdrawal…at high speed,” Greg replies.

The last draws a few chuckles from the soldiers. Strategic withdrawal means retreat. It’s the military vernacular for ‘get the fuck out of Dodge’. The expressions of those they rescued ease to a degree. There are still lines of tension etched around the eyes, but there is some relaxation knowing there is at least a semblance of a plan, and that Greg isn’t entirely making it up as they go. Of course, there really isn’t anything to plan, or make up for that matter. It’s just run and try to stay far enough ahead. Kind of like a deadly form of tag…but in this game, there are no tag backs.

There is one thing that Greg has kept in a corner of his mind, which he doesn’t mention and has him worried. There is the second group that split off from their pursuers, the one that went south at Pueblo. They are unaccounted for, and he hopes they took that direction to cover the possible avenues Greg could have taken. If there is communication between those behind and that group, well, that wouldn’t bode well.

After the initial twists and turns, the mountain pass levels out and they are able to make good speed, even with having to drive on thermal imaging. The trip through the passage is a short one and they soon find themselves driving past lower hills, eventually spilling out into a long, gradually widening valley. So far, Greg hasn’t seen any sign of their pursuit, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t there as the winding road prevents any distant view.

They drive out onto the flat plain of the valley and the road runs straight for miles. Greg looks back and is dismayed to see their pursuit emerge from behind the hills. The chase so far hasn’t enabled him to gain any separation, but the others still haven’t been able to close the distance either. Greg reasons that the armored column following them must have had to refuel by this time.

Perhaps they’re doing it in a series, refueling some while the others pursue, Greg thinks, feeling his eyes begin to close again. That way they can leap frog each other and continue the chase.

Greg, knowing he’ll need his wits with the coming day, trades places with a soldier. With instructions to wake him should the situation change, he gets as comfortable as possible and closes his eyes. He is soon fast asleep.

Carrying its crew of very tired people, the Stryker continues its journey south. Any apprehensions they have about the dangers are lost in the blur of exhaustion, especially among those who were rescued. They’ve been through a lot…and it shows.

Through the night, the Stryker maintains its flight toward Santa Fe, passing through the small townships of Villa Grove, Moffat, Hooper, Alamosa, and others that flash by in the blink of an eye, barely noticed before they fade from view. The tall peaks edging the long valley are darker shades against the night sky. The seemingly abandoned small towns, the twinkling stars above, and the faint lights sporadically visible behind are the only company as they race under the velvet of the nighttime sky.

The eastern sky above the peaks lightens with the impending arrival of the dawn, gradually turning a lighter shade of blue, outlining the dark shapes of the mountain tops. Somewhere in their run through the night, they passed the sign welcoming them to New Mexico.

Greg feels his shoulder being shaken and, as if from a distance, he hears someone calling him. He opens his eyes as consciousness slowly rises from the depths of his exhausted sleep. Across from him, on the opposite bench seat, soldiers and those rescued rest their heads on each other, trying to sleep while constantly being jostled from the motion of the Stryker.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m awake. What is it?” Greg asks, gazing blurry-eyed at the soldier who awakened him.

“Sir, we’re approaching a large city. It’s nearly dawn,” the soldier responds.

“How’s our fuel?” Greg asks, rubbing his hand across his face in an attempt to banish the fatigue.

“We’re getting low, just under a third of a tank.”

“Anything on our pursuit?”

“They’re still behind us, sir. We haven’t gained or lost any distance from them.”

“Okay, good job. Get some rest,” Greg says, rising.

He wakes the driver and has him replace the soldier currently manning the position. Clambering over and around a tangle of legs, Greg resumes his position in the commander’s station. Looking at the map, he orients himself to their location and what they are facing ahead.

Sunlight illuminates the very tops of the mountaintops to the west as the team enters the beginnings of a once-inhabited town. It may still be populated, but whether that is by any remnants of humankind, night runners, or a combination thereof is unknown. The map shows several towns built next to each other. They surround the confluence of several streams, the waters having originated from the surrounding elevations.

Pursuit isn’t too far behind. Greg has few choices. They’ll need fuel within the next one hundred miles, and this may be the last chance prior to Santa Fe. If they don’t refuel now, they’ll be running on fumes by the time they reach the large metropolis, at which point, any choices will be taken away from them.

They are on the outskirts of a city large enough that they could possibly lose their pursuers within the myriad of streets. The last time didn’t work out very well, but there’s a better chance within the larger urban sprawl. If the armor behind passes them by, Greg can wait until they’re out of sight and flee to the north. To do that, he’ll have to make sure they all pass and aren’t operating in a leap-frog fashion as they refuel…and that they don’t have airborne surveillance.

The third option is to continue driving south in the hopes that they outrun those behind. He’s not comfortable continuing a chase of this manner in addition to running low on fuel.

Pondering the choices, Greg knows that the immediate priority is fuel. If they are to make a run back to the compound and safety, they will have to stay on top of the fuel situation.

The trick is how to accomplish that feat. It will have to be out from sight from the main thoroughfare with ready access to an escape route. They can’t use a gas station; that will take too long to set up. That leaves siphoning fuel from a semi-tractor or other large, diesel-driven piece of equipment.

Turning to the group, most of whom are now awake, he tells them, “Okay, folks. We’re going to need to fuel up here. Hopefully we still have some fuel canisters. If so, then we’re going to do it the same way we did it last time, three pouring fuel and the rest siphoning.”

Previously, on entering or approaching any town, they exhibited a tremendous amount of caution. Now, with the danger on their back trail, they can’t afford that luxury. Driving through the city, Greg looks down streets shadowed in the early morning light. Observing one such street, he sees a flash of yellow sticking out from the edge of a building.

“Driver, take the next right,” Greg orders.

A block past a major intersection, the Stryker turns into a dusty lot, entering a back street on the other side. Greg knows their tracks through the lot may be found but hopes that the group behind will turn down the highway rather than drive onward.

A few turns later, just as he hoped, Greg sees a school. The buildings surround a central courtyard with entrances to the middle at each corner. The Stryker, barely fitting between two of the buildings, enters the enclosure. Near one of the encircling wooden buildings sit four school buses. Classroom windows look out over the square which is filled with swirls of dirt mixed with debris. Grime covers the panes of the classrooms and buses alike, rendering them opaque.

Greg has the Stryker pulled up next to the main building, effectively hiding the armored vehicle from view. It’s really the perfect setup and he can’t think of anything he would improve, other than the diesel instantaneously moving itself from the bus tanks to his own.

Chill air rushes in as the ramp lowers, the metallic clang echoing off the buildings enclosing the courtyard. Through the dust swirls, there are faint lines showing where small feet once played hopscotch and others where mighty games of four square reigned. To the side, a lone metal pole stands with an ochre ball still attached to a thin cord.

The inside empties quickly as everyone rushes out, their warm exhalations producing small clouds of vapor in the motionless, cold air. The exhaust from the idling Stryker emits the same, dissipating quickly as the fumes reach the same temperature as the surrounding atmosphere.

Soldiers scramble to remove a couple of fuel canisters that survived the near misses. With the exception of a tattered tarp and a few tools, the rest of the top has been swept clear of their supplies. Luckily, they still have a few cartons of MREs and bottled water inside.

Greg stations two soldiers at either end of the main building looking out toward the road. He warns everyone to stay out of sight of the highway. While the refueling operation begins, he walks around the Stryker looking for damage. Bright metal shows where shrapnel impacted and dented the sides. The large tires have some of the rubber missing but they are, for the most part, intact. The damage that worries Greg the most is that the antennas have been severed. Should Jack fly into the area, there is no way they will be able to communicate. Jack could fly mere miles away and not even know Greg’s team is in the area. If he sees the 130, he’ll try using a signal mirror to contact them.

Noting the exhaust plumes of the Stryker, he looks to make sure that their heat signature is kept within the confines of the square and doesn’t rise above the single-story school. Satisfied that they are in as good of a position as they possibly can be, Greg helps carry full fuel canisters from the buses.

As the seconds tick by, Greg keeps expecting to hear from the scouts that they’ve been spotted and that armored units are closing in. Each minute means more fuel. Tension fills him knowing their vulnerability, mixed with the hope that the others will pass them by. He notes the same anxiety with the others. They are carrying out their tasks quickly and quietly. Plumes of breath follow each person as they lug the heavy canisters to the Stryker. The only sound is the idling engine and occasional ringing as the metal cans contact the ground or vehicle.

Ten minutes… fifteen minutes. The first rays of sunlight begin penetrating the valley floor. Greg begins to relax in the hope that they might have given the other units the slip. If that’s the case, they’ll wait a while and slip back out to the main road and strike north, retracing their route and continuing toward the northwest, hoping to eventually arrive back at Cabela’s. Any thought of continuing their mission is long gone.

“Sir, two Humvees are heading in our direction. Four Strykers and a lot of other Humvees just passed on the main highway heading south,” the northernmost lookout calls.

“Fuck. Everyone inside, now!” Greg calls.

As he runs for the ramp, Greg again wonders how they were found. They didn’t travel down the road on which the two Humvees are approaching so there’s no way the others saw their tracks, yet they are making a beeline right at them. The only way that could be is if they have some form of airborne surveillance. And that makes anything they do a straight out fight for survival. In a way, it makes decisions about what they have to do easier. There’s no second-guessing about how to lose their tail, they won’t. They just have to finish this race in first place. First though, they have to extricate themselves.

Two soldiers are lugging a heavy canister laden with fuel across the lot. Knowing the importance of the fuel, they aren’t giving up their load. They make it up the ramp and it closes as the first Humvee barrels into the north opening opposite the one Greg’s Stryker entered. With a squeal of breaks, it partially slides to a halt. Another fills the second opening on the north side seconds later.

Greg opens up with the .50 cal before the gunner of the first vehicle can fire. Sparks strike off the roof as the heavy rounds pound into the Humvee. Torn metal flies around the gunner as the rounds find their mark. Blood and metal fill the turbulent air.

“Go, now! Into the corner of the building,” Greg shouts as he shifts his aim point.

A flurry of .50 cal rounds punch into the windshield of the Humvee, tearing holes in the thick glass and sending splintered shards into the vehicle. Blood splatters on the inside of the glass remaining within the frame, coating it red.

The Stryker launches forward as the gunner from the other Humvee opens up point blank. Heavy thuds pound against the armor, sparks flying as the rounds ricochet off. One of the heavy caliber rounds finds its way through the thick armor. It careens through a piece of equipment on the wall sending sparks into the interior. Slowed, but still packing a punch, it collides with the shoulder of the boy they rescued from the crosses the other night, severing his arm from his shoulder. His arm falls limply into the lap of the soldier next to him and splatters those across from him with blood. Several screams punctuate the interior.

The soldier stares mutely at the arm in his lap, not knowing exactly what it means. An arm just landed in his lap and the shock of not understanding the implications causes him to just gaze at it for split-seconds. He lifts it and looks to the boy next to him. The realization hits with full force as he sees the mutilated remnants of the boy’s shoulder. Splinters of bone are all that remain of the arm with blood streaming from the wound. The soldier only heard the boy give a compressed sigh and slump to the side.

Dropping the arm to the floor, the soldier rips off his shirt and stuffs it into the wound, holding it tightly against the injury as others scramble to help.

Greg turns the turret to the second Humvee but, with their surge ahead, its gunner is lost from view. Instead, he sends high-speed, heavy projectiles into the front of the vehicle. Steam billows upward from the punctured radiator. Rounds punch into the hood sending a spray of oil upward as a line is severed. The windscreen shatters as the rounds continue arcing across the Humvee.

The rest is lost from view as the Stryker collides with the wooden sides of the school building. A clamor of boards and glass breaking covers all other sounds as the heavy vehicle punches through the wall. The Stryker tilts as it barrels its way through what once was a classroom filled with the town’s youth.

Portions of the roof collapse as the heavily armored vehicle thunders through the side walls. The Stryker emerges from the other side, leaving a trail of timbers, siding, insulation, and pipes. As it exits, the entire part of the damaged building falls in on itself with a crash.

Turning down the street toward the main highway, with broken boards sliding off the sides, the Stryker accelerates past the disabled Humvee. The shredded remains of the Humvee’s gunner lies half out of the open gunner’s position, draped across the roof. Streams of blood flow down what is left of the windshield and side window.

Passing the road in front of the main school building, Greg sees the core of the opposing armored column about to enter into the courtyard he just exited. Led by one of the other Strykers, he sees the turret swing in his direction.

“Punch it,” Greg bellows.

Making it past the street opening, Greg hears a thunderous roar. A house on the corner erupts in a billowing column of smoke and flame. The snapshot made by the opposing Stryker narrowly missed. Boards and siding are thrown high into the air and tossed outward, fanning across the dead lawn and the road.

They must have had a high explosive round loaded rather than an anti-armor Sabot round, Greg thinks.

The rounds may not penetrate the armored side of the Stryker, but it could tip it on its side. That’s something Greg would very much like to avoid. The column disappears from view as the Stryker continues down the street, picking up speed. Greg has the driver turn down several streets in order to keep them from a direct line-of-sight.

Reaching the intersection of highways, Greg discharges another smoke cloud. The Stryker soon crosses over a bridge spanning a river that divides the connecting townships. Again, Greg wishes for more firepower. Not for holding out against their antagonists, as he knows they wouldn’t last long in a slugging match, but more so that they could damage the bridge enough to slow down the pursuit. Highly suspecting that they are now fighting against an enemy that has airborne surveillance capabilities, he knows that they won’t lose their tail for long. All he can hope for is to create some separation.

While not getting the fuel load he wanted, Greg is at least satisfied that they have enough to make Albuquerque and to maneuver should the need arise. The road connects with another highway and, after motoring through an industrial area on the outskirts of San Pedro, it swings southeast and then south toward Santa Fe.

As the sun continues its upward trek, the shadows from the mountains slowly edge their way across the valley floor. Standing in one of the open hatches, Greg focuses his binoculars behind. Not able to see far because of intervening buildings, he does make out occasional glimpses of armor crossing the bridges. Not knowing how or why they were able to gain any separation, he is thankful. They aren’t out of the fire by a long shot, and picking up fuel down the road will be perilous if the last two instances are any indication.

Back inside, Greg notes a group of soldiers crowding around one of the passengers. With shock, he sees the splatter of blood on the equipment across from them. Blood drips off the bench seat to a gathering pool on the metal floor. So intent was he on the escape, he had no idea they had sustained an injury. One of the soldiers has an IV bag held high. Positions shift as they are administering first aid and, through a gap of bodies, Greg sees the head of the boy they rescued leaning to the side, his eyes closed. Gathering the attention of one of the soldiers, Greg raises an eyebrow asking after the boy’s well-being. The soldier shakes his head and continues with his treatment.

Rolling toward Santa Fe, the valley narrows as the mountain chains on either side close in. Hundreds of thin ridgelines reach out into the valley looking like fingers trying to take root or pull the valley in toward the mighty peaks. Ravines cut deeply into the ridges, created during the massive runoff from the spring thaws.

More worried about keeping the distance from the armored forces behind than about fuel consumption, Greg has the Stryker racing as fast as the road will allow. In some areas, only a slight rise of the ground denotes where the road is. The dirt of the plains, covered only with scant scrub brush and the occasional stunted tree, has swept over large portions of the pavement. As they speed toward Santa Fe, Greg wonders just how long it will be until the highway completely vanishes.

It won’t be much longer, he thinks as the northern approaches to the city become visible.

Just before entering the massive residential district that covers the northern part of the metropolis, Greg orders the Stryker onto a highway that fully skirts the town to the west. Passing the airport serving the town, the team connects with the interstate leading toward Albuquerque. The vast chain of mountains they were following ends as they enter the flatter terrain.

To the rear, Greg sees a dust cloud from their pursuers rising into the thin air. With them so close, he ponders how they are going to refuel the Stryker as they approach Albuquerque. They’ll be running short by the time they arrive.

Maybe it’s time we abandon the Stryker and find vehicles that will give us more speed, he thinks, knowing the firepower they are carrying is useless and the distance they can keep is their only defense. We’ll save on gas and have to refuel less often.

Several miles down the road, as he is going through a plan to quickly transfer to working vehicles, a glimmer catches his attention. He increases the zoom level on the camera for a better look.

Ahead, stretched across the road and out to the sides, armored vehicles are spread in a line. Greg instantly recognizes the distinct outlines of several Strykers and Humvees. He’s found the second group, and the distance between him and this second group is closing quickly.

“Driver, off the road, now! Head northwest,” Greg shouts.

Slowing only a touch, the Stryker turns. Pulled from their focus on the boy, all heads turn toward Greg. Concentrating on the situation, Greg ignores the looks of anxiety, telling them that an armored column is on the road ahead.

Their only escape is to make for the hills. If they can gain the terrain which lies to the northwest, land which will invalidate the use of armor, they may stand a minimal chance on foot. He’ll worry about where they’ll go afterward, but right now, they have to extricate themselves from the killing ground they’ve stumbled into. Greg should have guessed the other force would come against them like this. In the back of his mind, he thought this might be a possibility once he determined the others had the use of airborne surveillance. He just hoped he could outrun it.

The Stryker jostles as it races across undulations in the land. On this section of the plateau, there isn’t a single bush to hide behind. Their only chance is to keep their speed up and, with the angle of their flight, hope that will throw the gunner’s aim off. A thunderous roar lifts the Stryker, canting it sideways and throwing everyone inside against each other. It settles back with a hard bounce. The wheels grip the soft soil and the armored vehicle surges forward once again.

“Fuck!” Greg hears through the ringing in his ears.

He wants to see what the shout was about, but the dire situation they are in commands his full attention. Greg looks for a gully or some large crease in the terrain which will give them a measure of cover. There’s nothing he can see in the immediate area. Their only hope is what appears to be a drop off in the distance.

Another near miss rocks the Stryker. This is followed immediately by a loud clang which throws the heavy vehicle to the side. Violently tossed against the interior wall, Greg feels like his ears are bleeding from the concussive blast. Stunned, he retains enough consciousness to know the vehicle is still mobile.

Another blast crashes into the side, slewing the Stryker. As the vehicle slams back down, Greg feels it settle lower than normal.

“That does it for us, sir,” the driver calls. “The Stryker is done for.”

“Everyone out!” Greg orders. “There’s a drop off to our front. Make for it.”

Greg clambers across a tilted deck strewn with equipment. One of the soldiers is standing next to the wounded boy. With the others clear, Greg can now see the extent of his injury. He is slumped over the bench seat, his face pale and clammy. Bloodied bandages litter the seat and floor. The boy’s arm lies on the seat next to his hip.

Knowing the answer already by the lack of blood flowing from the wound, Greg asks anyway, “How is he?”

“He died a few minutes ago, sir.”

“Leave him,” Greg states, knowing that it’s only a matter of seconds before another shell slams into the Stryker to finish them off.

They hustle out, setting foot on the dusty plain. Turning toward the drop off, the others are running across the flats, the soldiers in the back with the rest ahead. Greg and the soldier run after them, looking to get as much distance from the disabled vehicle as possible. The chatter of heavy machine gun fire erupts in the distance.

Turning toward the sound, Greg sees tracers reach out across barren land. The red streaks converge around the others racing ahead. Heavy slugs rip into the ground sending showers of dirt into the air, obliterating any view of the rest of his team and those they rescued. The dust slowly settles to the ground, allowing Greg the ability to see through the maelstrom. Of the nine who were running for the drop off, there’s not a single one standing. Greg skids to a stop as the tracers halt momentarily and then, start firing in his direction.

“Back to the Stryker!” Greg yells, fear sending a jolt of electricity through his body. The armor of the vehicle will give them more cover from the heavy slugs ripping through the air.

Greg can feel the large caliber rounds slam into the soil as he runs through the soft dirt. The air is filled with dust thrown up by the impacts, obscuring his vision. As he and his teammate race down the side of the Stryker, sparks flash off the sides accompanied by heavy, metallic thuds. In the noise, confusion, and fear, Greg’s thoughts have been reduced down to a single one, get into the cover afforded by the Stryker.

He feels several tugs against his pant legs and vest as some of the rounds narrowly miss. A burning sensation across his back makes its way to his consciousness. As he nears the rear of the vehicle, surrounding by swirling dust and the close impact of rounds, Greg observes, with a form of disassociation, as if he is a mere spectator, a splash of blood wash across the side of the Stryker. He knows, with the same disassociation, that his teammate has been hit. Rounding the corner of the vehicle, he throws himself into the opening.

Landing amongst a clutter of objects lying on the floor, he hears heavy impacts slamming into the sides. Breathing hard, his heart thudding, he looks up. The boy they rescued stares blankly only inches away from Greg. He’s been in a lot of tricky situations, but he has no idea how he’ll extricate himself from this one. The ones firing seem intent on eliminating every last one of them.

A crashing explosion rocks the Stryker. Greg is lifted and thrown against the far wall. He only registers the hard impact before darkness descends.

Bird of Prey

Having met with Leonard and relaying what we have found out, I feel better and am glad for the arrangement of working together should there be the need. He still has his search to do, and it may be a while before we see each other again. Although we came to an understanding, I don’t get the feeling that he will be joining our compound soon. After all, he has a fuel supply that will last him for years and, provided he doesn’t experience any severe mechanical breakdowns, he’ll be able to travel anywhere with a degree of safety. All in all, he may be better off than we are up north.

However relieved I feel about our working together, there is still a tremendous amount of anxiety. One, Greg is out there and we need to locate him. There is also this other group and the issue of how we are going to deal with them. Then, there are the night runners that are moving out of Seattle and appear to be approaching our sanctuary.

It’s almost too much, I think, as the gear settles into the wheel well with a clunk.

Gaining altitude, we turn east, heading to locate and pick up Greg. Our first stop will be Cannon AFB to pick up another Spooky given that the other one might be damaged. Other than our own minds and teamwork, the aircraft remains our greatest asset as we try to survive. We’ll need to be a lot farther along than we are now if we’re to make it once the Spooky is grounded. We may be able to keep the other vehicles running if Bannerman has some success with the bio-fuels, but as far as flying goes, that will come to an end.

As we climb, the dirty brown line we saw before hangs on the horizon to the south. My first thought is that it’s an inversion but, reaching an altitude level with the top, I don’t see the linear line of separation that is usually prevalent with that kind of weather system. The color is reminiscent of smog, the look and kind that used to be a constant fixture over Los Angeles. That, however, has since cleared out without any further poisons being introduced into the atmosphere. It’s entirely possible that the smog has merely shifted and some atmospheric phenomenon is holding it. It could also be from fires, either from a city or from brush fires burning out of control. Whatever its source, it stretches for some distance to the east. We don’t have time to investigate, for whatever good that might do, since I want to hurry to Cannon AFB. I want to have both aircraft prepped and refueled for an early morning flight. Getting Greg back into the fold is the highest priority.

The line of smog packs against the mountains to the east, but the top drifts over the peaks. As we fly almost due east, the smog thins and finally ends near the California border at Yuma. Transiting a line between Flagstaff and Phoenix, I begin making calls hoping to reach Greg. If we can locate him on our flight to Cannon AFB, we’ll arrange for a pickup and continue on with getting another Spooky and conducting our flyover of the opposing bunker complex.

By the time we descend and line up for runway at Cannon AFB, I haven’t heard a word from Greg responding to our calls. That adds to my already extensive list of worries. We have transited a major portion of the route that Greg was to follow. He should have heard us.

After circling to be relatively sure that no one has settled into the area since our last visit, we touch down on the grit-covered main runway. A thin line of dust billows toward the front when we bring the engines into reverse thrust and we use the throttles to stay in front of it. Exiting the runway, we pull onto the ramp and park in the same location that we did before. We remain in place with the engines turning, waiting to see if someone we missed on our overflight shows up. Seeing no one arrive, we shut down.

Reasonably assured that no one else is around, I assign some of Red Team to start the tedious task of refueling. Taking the others, we look over one of the Spookys sitting on the ramp nearby. Opening the crew door, stale air pours out. A check of the maintenance records and cursory pre-flight check shows the aircraft to be airworthy. It’s been sitting on the ramp for a while so we’ll run the engines to check for any fuel contamination. A run-up shows that the decontamination filters in place are still functioning. The others systems check out and we shut it down.

With the late afternoon sun drifting toward the horizon and both aircraft refueled, Red Team locates a transportation vehicle near the ramp. Gathering several batteries from other vehicles and hooking them up in a relay, it takes a few attempts to get it started. When it is successfully running, the team heads over to the bunker complex and begins emptying it of ammo for the Spooky. We fill the ammunition storage on board and crate what we can, filling the remaining space around the Stryker in the 130.

The task is finished by the time twilight settles in. I’m worried that we weren’t able to contact Greg on the flight over. That weighs on me as all of us, Red Team, Lynn, and the ammunition handlers have a bite to eat on the ramp near the back of the 130. We sit on the hard surface, watching the last of the day’s light fade toward nighttime. A chilly breeze picks up, swirling sand across the wide path we cleared as we taxied across the tarmac. Without a word spoken, we finish our MREs and gather inside, closing the ramp and crew doors, sealing them against the night. We’ll stay the night in the 130.

With the blackout panels placed on the windows, I turn on the red interior light. The others gather around as I unfold several maps showing Greg’s proposed route.

“What’s the plan?” Lynn asks, looking over my shoulder.

“Greg should have been somewhere near Luke AFB according the plan we came up with,” I say, pointing to the location on one of the maps. “He should have been able to hear our radio calls and that has me worried.”

“I agree that’s a cause for concern, but that didn’t really answer shit,” Lynn states.

“Well, we all know how plans go, so I figure we’ll head north to Albuquerque and backtrack to Petersen AFB, making calls along the way. If we don’t find him along that route, we’ll head east toward McConnell AFB,” I reply, tracing the routes with my finger.

“And if we don’t find him there?”

“Then we’ll make for Luke and search outward. Unless something drastic has happened, he’ll be somewhere along that route. Even if he had to take a different course, our radios will reach a far distance from the air. We should be able to get into communication, determine his location, rendezvous, and pick him up.”

“Are we taking both aircraft?” Robert asks.

“I’m undecided on that. I was thinking we could. Craig can fly this one. Seeing Gonzalez has handled the flight engineer position before, she could go with him. I’ll fly the Spooky with everyone else aboard,” I answer.

I would send Bri with Craig seeing how she has more experience in the flight engineer seat. Craig has a few hours in the aircraft, and even more in total. However, he doesn’t have that many in the 130, and Bri’s experience would offset his inexperience to a degree. But that would be placing her, my daughter, in an undermanned aircraft with someone with only a few hours of 130 flight time. That may not be fair, but there it is. I could also send Robert to fly the other one with Craig as a co-pilot and Bri as the engineer. I’d be more comfortable with that arrangement, but I want Robert in command of the control center in the back of the Spooky. Not only do we need good footage of the bunker surroundings as we fly over, but the lack of communication with Greg has brought my anxiety meter up a notch. There’s an off chance we’ll need the firepower that the Spooky affords us.

“What about just taking the Spooky and leaving this one here? We have plenty of Strykers and we can pick up another 130 from the Portland guard base,” Robert says.

“I’ve thought about that. We still have the fake mission to accomplish afterward and will need the Stryker for that. It may be moot as I’m sure they’ll figure out we overflew them on purpose, but there’s the off chance they won’t,” I reply.

“It’ll be daylight, so we won’t need all of the stations monitored. Gonzalez can run things in my place and I can fly this one with Craig and Bri,” Robert says.

“If we do that, I’ll need her to be the flight engineer on the Spooky,” I state.

“Then I guess she’ll have to multitask,” Robert says.

Lynn, still standing over my shoulder, chuckles in my ear. Patting me on the shoulder, she says, “How does that feel, Jack? Being put in your place, I mean.”

“Okay fine, we’ll do it that way. Have I told you lately just how much of a pain in my ass you all are?”

“You love it, Jack. You know you do,” Lynn says.

“Pain…in…my…ass,” I say, glaring at each of those in the formed circle.

Muted shrieks penetrate the fuselage, causing every head to turn in the direction of the sound. The screams indicate that we may be in for another of those nights, the all-night shrieks and slamming against the fuselage. We each have ear plugs, but they do little to shut out a night runner assault; and the slams are felt in addition to being heard.

With a plan formed, we settle into positions as comfortable as can be had. Some crawl into the Stryker to take advantage of the padded bench seats within. Once everyone has settled, I climb into the cockpit and turn off the power. The interior is at once plunged into darkness. Hooding a flashlight, I settle in on the lower bunk next to Lynn. In the chilled, darkened cockpit, as I finally manage to settle into my sleeping bag, the first thud is felt as a night runner slams into the side of the aircraft. In times past, I would have gone to the window to watch them, perhaps experimenting with the abilities I gained after being bitten. Tonight, I’m tired and other worries occupy my mind.

The increasing brightness within the cockpit brings me out of a restless sleep. The night runners kept at us for some of the night, the sounds of their screams and attempts to gain entry fading after a few hours. Peeling back the top of my sleeping bag, cold air immediately replaces the warmth I had accumulated. Fighting the urge to throw the top back over me, I crawl out and sit on the edge of the bunk, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes and kneading my forehead in an attempt to fully waken.

Cold rises through my socks from the metal floor. Lynn stirs next to me as I pull on my boots and rise. Standing, I hit my head on the upper bunk railing.

“Dammit! I do that every fucking time.”

Lynn rolls over and sleepily asks me if I’m alright. I mutter some vague response and, rubbing the top of my head, go down the stairs to locate some water in the cargo compartment.

With the sun just peaking above the horizon, the ramp door is opened, exposing everyone to the even colder air outside. Any prevailing tiredness is quickly vanquished as we step out of the aircraft. It will warm up as the sun works its way across the clear sky, but the night has brought the temperature down to nearly zero. That’s the desert environment, freezing at night and a furnace during the day. Winter will see one cold weather system after another as Arctic winds sweep across the central plains, unimpeded by any mountains.

Robert and I accomplish our walk-arounds for the aircraft. It’s a clear day so we shouldn’t have problems keeping each other in sight. We cover routes, emergencies, frequencies, and a hundred other things that he is patient enough to let me go through. I’ll be leading with him following. Making sure he has the route and plan down, I give him and Bri hugs before we head to our respective aircraft.

We check in over the radio. A short time later, down the ramp, I see the propeller on Robert’s number three engine begin rotating. I’m behind on the checklist with my having to do the co-pilot’s actions as well, but it’s not too long before I press the start button. At that point though, he is already starting the last engine, number one. I manage to catch up and we taxi out. I roll down the runway, which is still mostly swept clean from our landing the day prior. Cleaning up the aircraft, I hear Robert call “rolling” on the radio and bank the Spooky to the west-northwest toward Albuquerque.

As we climb, I have Gonzalez head into the back to make sure the equipment is readied there, leaving me alone in the cockpit. We should arrive over Albuquerque soon, as the flight is only about two hundred miles. Gonzalez reports that they are ready in the back. I have her remain as there really isn’t that much to do in flight except monitor the gauges and periodically switch the fuel tanks.

About ten minutes later, I level off at fifteen thousand feet. This will give us a medium altitude to visually surveil the ground and provide good distance for the radio. Keeping my airspeed down, I check in with Robert to find that he’s closed to a seven o’clock position about two thousand feet behind.

With everything seemingly in order, I begin making radio calls, alternating between the guard frequency and the one we had arranged. There isn’t a response to any of my queries by the time we draw near to Albuquerque.

As the southeastern outskirts of the city fades out of view, I notify Robert and bank the aircraft to the northeast, making for the southern end of a large range of peaks as they spill out onto the upper plateau we’ve been flying across. Once we round the vast ridgeline, we’ll turn north toward Colorado Springs. Albuquerque slides under, then past the wing. The worry I had from not reaching Greg the previous day multiplies. We should have been able to reach him even if he was hundreds of miles away.

Sunlight partially fills a large valley that heads north between two monstrous ridgelines. Ahead and to the side, I make out the city of Santa Fe, which brings Leonard to mind. I hope he is able to find family members well and whole in their home port.

“Sir?” I hear Gonzalez call.

“Go ahead,” I reply.

“I’m not sure what I’m seeing, but I’m picking up a heat signature on thermal,” she states.

“Which direction and how far?” I ask.

There is a moment of silence. “It’s off our left wing and looks to be about fifteen miles away, sir.”

I glance out of the window to our nine o’clock position. I don’t see anything, but the mileage she indicated would put whatever she is seeing near an interstate leading from Albuquerque to Santa Fe. The road itself isn’t very distinguishable from the surrounding terrain, but the shadows from the raised surface make it easy to locate.

“Zoom in,” I say, turning my monitor to what she is seeing.

Glancing at the monitor, I see the warm spot Gonzalez indicated sitting just off what I think is the interstate.

“Robert, set up a holding pattern here and maintain fifteen thousand feet. We’re picking something up on thermal to the north and I’m heading down for a closer look,” I radio.

“Copy that. We’ll be here at fifteen thousand,” he replies.

I notify Gonzalez that we’re descending and going to take a closer look. Pulling the throttles back, I lower the nose and turn toward the sighting.

As we draw closer, both in distance and altitude, I note a single, thin line of smoke wafting in the air. It soon becomes apparent that the plume is emanating from a Stryker sitting on the plain.

Thinking the worst, I call on the radio for Greg once again. No reply. A fear surfaces, thinking that we’ve found Greg and have arrived too late. I feel a lump in my throat. I sent him without adequate support and I dread that I may be staring at the result of that mistake. A measure of guilt fills me knowing that it was done because I was distraught over my son.

“Gonzalez, zoom in on the Stryker. Tell me what you see,” I call.

There’s a pause as we continue to close the distance. “I can’t tell much, sir. It appears to have some battle damage and I see a body lying beside it.”

“Look outward and see if you can spot what caused this,” I say, looking in the sky around for any indication of aircraft in the area.

If that is Greg’s Stryker below, I can only assume, yes, that word, that the other group who targeted us is responsible. Although we found details of the facility and their capabilities, those are only words in a database and may or may not reflect reality. I am marginally set at ease thinking that, if they had aircraft capable of this, they wouldn’t have sent a team halfway across the country to take us out.

“There are a few more bodies west of the vehicle, but I don’t see anything else in the vicinity,” Gonzalez reports.

Closing the distance, I see the situation in greater detail. Black streaks appear along the side of the Stryker where it has been hit hard. I circle, looking for any signs of life or movement but I don’t see anything except the slowly rising column of thin smoke. The fact that the vehicle is still smoking indicates that it may have happened recently. Looking farther outward for any tell-tales signs of whoever did this, I don’t see anything other than the brown dirt terrain with rising peaks to the northeast and northwest.

* * *

Gav watches the large screen with interest. The live feed shows one group of her armored vehicles as they speed down a valley, chasing a lone Stryker a few miles ahead of it. A short while ago, waking early, she gathered the video feeds from the night prior and watched the pursuit. She observed the squad she had sent her company against narrowly escape a trap in a remote mountain town; watched as the chase continued to the south. All the while, a second group raced to get ahead and trap the squad in the valley.

Now, with the trap set, she observes the formed blockade and the single Stryker being herded toward it. The video blurs momentarily as the camera on the satellite, orbiting two hundred miles above, adjusts the zoom level. The feed catches the one armored vehicle as it turns off the raised embankment of the freeway and speeds across the flatland.

Her face remains blank, but inwardly, she is pleased as she watches the successive blows against the Stryker, bringing it to a halt. The high-resolution camera catches the emergence of survivors and their race toward the edge of a deep ravine.

The camera pulls back quickly, giving the ones watching a slight feeling of vertigo. As it settles to present a wider area, Gav watches her two armored groups close in on the gathered squad.

Tracers race out from the southernmost column, reaching toward the fleeing survivors. Dirt flies up and, upon clearing, shows bodies lying in ruin on the ground. The fire shifts toward two who were behind the larger group and are now fleeing back toward the disabled vehicle. Heavy fire erupts around the two, impacting the ground and the metallic sides of the Stryker. Although the view is obscured to some degree by the amount of fire pouring in, Gav watches one of the running figures fall to the ground. The other dives in the open hatch. A column of smoke blossoms against the lone Stryker as it absorbs another 105mm shell.

“Nahmer, we have two aircraft lifting off from Cannon AFB. A C-130 and an AC-130. Both aircraft have turned to the northwest and are heading toward the conflict,” reports a shift supervisor standing beside her.

“Was there any communication?” Gav asks.

“Not that we can determine,” the supervisor replies.

The large screen dominating the room flickers and, as it settles on a new image, Gav sees two 130s flying in formation.

“How long until they are on station?” Gav asks.

“At their current heading and speed, and assuming they are heading for the area where our units are, they’ll arrive in approximately forty minutes.”

“Recall the company. Have them exfil northward,” Gav orders.

She turns and leaves the control room feeling a measure of satisfaction.

* * *

Captain Trey Galvers sees the quarry approach on the road ahead. He had driven through the night, pressing his company hard in order to arrive in a position ahead of the Stryker and the small squad he has been ordered to take out. Splitting his forces, he has kept in communication with the platoon-plus-sized force he sent after the lone vehicle, led by one of his commanders. It was a classic hammer and anvil operation; chase the enemy into a prepared position and hit them from two sides. He watched on the live satellite feed as the Stryker barreled down the interstate directly toward his blocking force.

Their target veers off the main road, making a high speed run across the plain. Ordering the others in his group to open fire, volley after volley is sent outward. Seeing the hits and the Stryker slew to a halt, with faint tendrils of smoke rising, he orders the vehicles from both groups to close in. His orders are to eradicate the opposing squad with extreme prejudice but, if they can capture some of them, they are to take the opportunity. However, his orders state, and he agrees with them wholeheartedly, he isn’t to risk any of his company.

Watching as those escaping from the disabled vehicle run across the plateau toward an escarpment, and not knowing what their capabilities still might be, he orders his unit to open fire. A minute later, they are all down.

The order comes telling them to vacate the area, informing them of a possible inbound gunship. Quickly gathering his unit, he streaks north to put as many miles between him and the possible inbound. Thirty minutes later, with the two aircraft still ten minutes from the site of the fight, and with him almost thirty miles north, Trey slows his unit so that they don’t give themselves away by kicking up a dust cloud.

* * *

I fly low over the plain, hoping to see something, or someone. Seeing the bodies Gonzalez indicated lying strewn on the ground west of the smoldering Stryker, I know we need to set down and investigate. I need to know. With a feeling of dread, I notify Robert that we are on our way to join him, briefing him on what we observed. Looking at the scene below as we climb, I feel in my gut that this has something to do with the group who sent the sniper against us.

Leveling off at thirteen thousand feet, two thousand feet below Robert’s altitude, it isn’t long before I see a dark speck drifting against a background of blue sky.

“Robert, I’m at your seven o’clock low and have you in sight. Slow to 180 and maintain a thirty degree bank to the left,” I call.

“Roger that. I have you in sight,” he responds.

Seeing the other 130 bank, I turn to place myself inside of their track. Maintaining a higher airspeed, I climb and, using my shorter turn radius, close the distance. Robert’s 130 slowly increases in size until I park myself in his eight o’clock position a couple of hundred feet away.

“Okay, level off and drift back into a chase position. I’m going to land and check things. I want you to circle and keep an eye out,” I state.

“Copy that,” he replies as his 130 slowly slides to the rear.

“Okay, I have the lead. Follow me in,” I say. Two clicks on the radio affirms his acknowledgment.

Pulling the throttles back, I begin a descent and turn back toward the lone, smoldering Stryker. Approaching the plains, I separate Robert off to circle the area without getting in the way of our low approach and subsequent landing. Lining up with a straight section of the highway near the wreckage, I do a low approach checking for obstructions. Coming back around, I set the aircraft down. Billows of dust stream forward as I apply the reverse thrust. Bringing the engines back to normal idle, we taxi clear of the dust cloud and come to a stop, the stricken vehicle only a short distance across the flats. I leave the engines in idle, playing with the reverse thrust to avoid creating a wind storm to the rear of the aircraft, and notify Lynn that we are good. With Robert providing a top lookout, Lynn will lead Gonzalez, Henderson, and Denton to check out the Stryker and bodies.

* * *

Gathering weapons and ammo, Lynn steps down the ramp with the three others of Red Team. Amid the roar of the four idling engines, she adjusts her M-4 and, with a nod to the others, walks across the highway and down the embankment toward the Stryker smoking in the near distance. With a heavy heart, thinking they are too late to save Greg and his team, she walks across the soft dirt of the high plain, dust puffing up with each step.

Tall mountains to the northeast and northwest look over the steppe, completely oblivious to what has transpired, and not caring one bit. It may be that they do care, but their time is measured so vastly differently and this is only a brief moment in their seemingly eternal lifespan.

With Gonzalez, Henderson, and Denton spread to the sides, Lynn, still feeling ill at what she may find, skirts around the vehicle as she cautiously makes her way toward the bodies. She’ll come back and check the Stryker once she has taken a look at the bodies and identified them.

Approaching the scene, she comes across the first body. The ground has been chewed up and the figure mutilated by multiple bullet strikes. Lying inert with splotches of blood that has soaked into the ground, the body is missing part of its arm from the elbow down. Lynn can’t identify whether it’s part of Greg’s team as a round has taken off most of the face. With nausea rising in her throat, she kneels and reaches down to see if there is a dog tag present. Peeling back the collar, stiff with blood, she sees a chain around the neck. Pulling it clear, she wipes drying blood from the connected tag.

Walking to other mutilated bodies that have been torn apart by heavy caliber rounds, she pulls more dog tags from five others. Along with the soldiers, there are also four civilians among the dead.

With a sick feeling, she rises and keys her mic, “Jack, this is part of the team that went with Greg.”

“Are you sure? Never mind, of course you are,” Jack responds. “Have you found any alive?”

“Negative. I’m pulling dog tags now. I can only account for five of them at the moment and there were four others with them. I’m working toward the Stryker now.”

“Copy that.”

Lynn hears the dejected note in Jack’s voice. Backtracking to the armored vehicle, she gathers an additional dog tag from a body lying alongside it. An acrid odor surrounds the Stryker from a small stream of smoke escaping from it.

Rounding the corner of the vehicle, she looks inside. Equipment and gear is strewn about the interior. On one bench, a young boy lies staring blankly to the side, his face pale from blood loss. Discarded, bloodied bandages, wrappings, used IV bags, and other medical supplies are scattered throughout and, underneath all of the debris, pools of blood are drying on the floor. Looking to the other side, she gasps as she sees Greg’s body lying on the opposite bench, one arm and leg draping to the floor.

Tears well in her eyes, not only from seeing Greg like this, but from the loss of the others as well. They’ve arrived too late. Staring mutely at the carnage, her stomach threatens to upend itself. She can’t pull her eyes away nor make the radio call to Jack.

From all appearances, it looks like Greg was spared the mutilation of the others. They were so badly decimated that she didn’t need to check for pulses. She just pulled dog tags, stuck them in her pocket, and moved on.

Ducking her head, Lynn steps in, kicking some of the wreckage aside to make room for her footing. Bending over the still from of Greg, she places her fingers on his large wrist. She leans closer and tilts her head, as if that will allow her fingers to ‘hear’ better. A shot of adrenaline courses through her. Beneath her fingers beats a very faint, thready pulse.

“Get a poncho and see if you can find more IVs,” Lynn orders, turning to Gonzalez who is standing in the open hatch.

Gonzalez sifts through some of the gear lying on the floor and pulls out a poncho. Henderson crawls through the wreckage to crouch near Lynn. With Lynn and Henderson on one side, and Gonzalez and Denton on the other, they manage to roll Greg onto his back, taking care to keep his neck stabilized. Gonzalez finds a single IV bag and needle and succeeds in getting it inserted.

“Jack, we’ve found the remaining team. All of them are dead. We’ve located Greg in the Stryker. He’s unconscious and barely holding on, but we’ve managed to get an IV hooked up. We’re going to need some help moving him.”

“Okay, hold on. I’m sending the rest of the crew to you,” Jack replies.

* * *

I feel horrible about the loss of the team, which is only made marginally better by Lynn finding Greg still alive. From the urgency in her voice, I know he has a precarious hold on life. Moving him might upset that shaky hold, but we don’t really have much choice. He needs us to get him to a doctor, and the sooner we can make that happen, the better.

“Robert, do you see anything in the area?” I radio.

“Negative.”

“Do you feel comfortable flying back home without a flight engineer?” I ask.

“I think so.”

“Alright, I want you to set down behind me and send Bri over. We’re going to load Greg into your aircraft with a couple of handlers to keep him as stable as possible. Make a beeline for home and watch switching those fuel tanks. You’re going to have to monitor them yourself,” I state.

“Okay, Dad. We’re coming in now.”

Robert sets down on the road as Lynn and the others slowly carry Greg from the Stryker. They set him up in Robert’s 130, detailing a couple of our ammo handlers to remain with him along with extra IV bags and instructions on how to replace them. I turn as Bri settles into the seat behind me.

“Hey, Dad,” she says, clicking into the intercom system.

“Hey there, Bri.”

With Lynn and the others having secured Greg aboard Robert’s aircraft, they set out across the plain to gather the bodies of our comrades. As they are going about their gruesome task, I raise the ramp and apply the throttles, soon lifting off the highway. I would have just raised the ramp to its level position and taxied forward to give Robert room to take off, but it’s not the safest thing being in front like that. If anything went wrong and he needed to abort, he’d plow right into the back end. That’s a bad thing. Something like that makes for a really bad day.

Circling around to land again, I see dust blowing from the rear of Robert’s aircraft as he powers up and the 130 begins rolling. A short distance later, he lifts off and banks to the northwest, clawing for altitude. I’m nervous about him flying alone like that, but the weather looked clear all of the way home and Greg needs immediate medical attention.

I would have called our mission short and flown back with him, but I know in my gut that this other group had something to do with this. It’s obvious they aren’t going to relent, although I’m still not sure why. If we put our mission off, that will only give them more time in which to come at us. We need information and we need a plan. The smoldering Stryker below and the shots fired have pretty much eliminated any chance of dialogue that we might have had. As I roll onto final, my grip on the control wheel tightens. The guilt and what they’ve done to us builds into a deep-set anger. I know part of that is me feeling responsible for sending Greg out like I did, but fuck it, I’m pissed.

We’ve lost a whole team, McCafferty, possibly Greg—and, indirectly, Drescoll—to these fucks. I want retribution. I want to walk into their place and just start shooting every last one of them in the face. Feeling the wheels contact the surface of the road, I take a deep breath. I know we need to do this right, and letting anger take control will only lead to doing something rash. While calming a little, I still feel a deep, red rage slowly simmering.

Knowing it’s going to take a while to recover the bodies, I shut down two of the engines to conserve fuel. The bodies are eventually recovered and placed in the back wrapped in ponchos. It took considerable time marching across the plain and carrying them back. The sun has passed its zenith and is heading into afternoon by the time we are ready to proceed. It’s a very melancholy group that settles back into their positions.

With our fallen comrades in the back, and those they had picked up somewhere along the way, the Spooky lifts off the highway. I turn toward the north northeast, eager to conduct our flyover before the day gets too far down the road. It will be nice to capture the video with shadows present so objects will show up clearer and we can discern their heights. With only a slight change in heading, our route will take us over the coordinates of the underground facility as we head toward the town of Greeley. It’s there that we’ll conduct our fake rescue operation.

Without the use of the Stryker, which is now on its way back to Cabela’s in the back of Robert’s aircraft, we’ll have to find another method of transportation. That shouldn’t be too much of a problem, but that’s something we’ll have to cover once we arrive at Greeley.

The long valley that spreads north from where we found Greg and the others give way to a range of mountains that extends past Denver. There are a few gaps in which roads pass through the rough terrain of the Rocky Mountains. Our route parallels this vast ridgeline to a degree, angling slightly toward the upper Colorado plains.

The mountains will eventually give way to the flat farmlands of the upper plateau, with the three hundred-plus mile flight to the facility taking us just under an hour. In the back, Gonzalez makes sure the recording equipment is ready. We’ll gather footage in every available spectrum that we can and analyze it later.

With the mountainous terrain drifting under our nose as we drone onward, Gonzalez calls, “Sir, I’m picking up a line of thermal images. They’re at…about our ten o’clock position and twenty miles.”

“Give me a heading,” I reply.

“Uh…turn left to, well, about 300 degrees, sir.”

I bank the aircraft, hoping that we’ve found some indication of those who attacked Greg and his team. They couldn’t have traveled very far as the Stryker had still been smoldering and the blood on the dog tags was still in the process of drying. I feel the simmering anger begin to stir.

A few minutes takes me closer, and I eventually make out a line of vehicles moving along a road leading through one of the mountain passes. Steep slopes on both sides of the highway rise almost from road’s edge. An initial glance shows a long column of Strykers and Humvees.

Turning parallel to the column, I radio, “Gonzalez, I want an accurate count and type of vehicles. We’re looking for anything that looks like it has anti-air capabilities.”

“Will do, sir.”

We fly north along the convoy at altitude to get a clear picture of what we are dealing with.

“Sir, I count twenty Humvees with eight Strykers. All of the Humvees have turret-mounted weapons and the Strykers with long guns. I don’t see anything that might have anti-air, but I can’t be positive about that,” Gonzalez calls as we pass the northern end of the formation.

“Copy. We’re going to maneuver east and descend coming at them from the north. We’re going to try and block them in that pass. Your first target will be the northernmost vehicle,” I state.

“We’ll be ready.”

Pulling the throttles back, I begin a turning descent over the ridgeline, planning it so we roll out over a valley to the north that the pass opens into. Leveling off at what I judge to be about four thousand above the ground, we turn toward the pass and the head of the column.

Setting up an orbit, I see an eruption of dirt next to the lead vehicle. A few seconds later, a cloud of smoke obscures the vehicle, one of the Strykers. Moments go by. Then the nose, followed by the rest of the armored vehicle, emerges from under the billowing cloud of dark smoke.

“Direct hit. Re-engaging,” Gonzalez calls.

Another explosion boils up from the target. This time the Stryker doesn’t emerge and, as the smoke clears, it becomes obvious that it’s disabled. Dark, oily smoke rises from the engine compartment, mixing with that already towering from the impact.

“Direct hit. Kill,” Gonzalez says, the satisfaction obvious in her voice.

With taking out the Stryker, the vehicles on the ground react. At first, the reaction is slow and only a few tracers begin arcing up in our direction. Then, others join in. Red tracers reach upward, seeming slow at first as if crawling inches at a time, then speeding up dramatically as they streak behind. It won’t be too long before they find the correct lead and those streaks of red begin getting closer. Seeing those red lines as they whiz by to the rear reminds me of another time…

* * *

The mission was to accompany a two-ship of helicopters into someone’s back yard. One helicopter carried a team that was to be dropped off to observe a crossroads during times when satellite coverage was unavailable. It was fairly common knowledge when surveillance satellites rose and set below the horizon. Movement was conducted during the blackout periods, so teams on the ground were necessary to gain insight into what was actually going on.

The second helicopter was there in case something went wrong and a pickup became necessary. We were there to refuel the helicopters as the insertion was deep within that back yard.

We planned our route based on known radar coverage, utilizing gaps and terrain to mask our flight. It was to be a night flight, avoiding roads and settlements, and using saddles between peaks to cross over ridgelines.

We crossed the border, flying low and using the ridges to mask us. FLIR (Forward-Looking Infrared Imaging) assisted with our low-level night flight. We flew along one side of a ridge and crossed over at a low point, shoving the nose down on the other side. Any valleys were crossed on the deck at right angles, away from intersections and any settlements.

The flight was going well; us flying with our flaps lowered to accommodate the slower speed of the helicopters. Crossing a saddle of a particular ridgeline, the aircraft became hung on an updraft coming from the other side. With the control wheel pushed over, we remained suspended, the altitude hanging. The threat systems illuminated as radars became aware of our presence.

Moments later, the sky lit up with tracers from mobile gun platforms situated in the hills, most angling in our direction but not directly at us as the radars hadn’t achieved a very good lock. However, the Fourth of July was occurring, and it was obvious that someone didn’t like us being there. Most of the tracers slid behind or to the side as we flew through the updraft and dove for the deck.

One tracer stayed in the same location in the windshield. It didn’t appear to have any movement, only grew larger by slow degrees. If something in your view is moving but doesn’t change in relation, if it remains in the same spot and is growing larger, you are on a collision course.

I became fascinated and locked onto the tracer. It was almost hypnotizing. Thoughts raced. Robert was still young, and the thought that I wouldn’t see him again ran through my mind. I was looking at my imminent demise approaching and I was going to witness it in slow motion. It was happening so fast that I couldn’t react, but so slow at the same time.

The tracer continued to grow, seeming to fill my entire consciousness. At the last moment, it picked up speed at a dizzying rate, flashing in front of the windscreen and rocketing overhead into the night sky.

“Holy shit,” I heard my co-pilot exclaim.

Real time then took hold of my senses. The mission was aborted, only to be flown without a problem two nights later. Yeah, I became a little wary of tracers following that experience.

* * *

I bank the aircraft away and begin a climb. We can only engage one vehicle at a time. It isn’t that Gonzalez is slow with the systems, it’s that we sent all but one of our ammo loaders with Robert to help with Greg. The remaining one will have his hands full as we work over the convoy below. There is no doubt in my mind that it’s these vehicles that killed our team, and I intend to make them pay.

“Gonzalez, I’m turning away. We’ll come at them from different altitudes and directions. I want you to mark the vehicles and we’ll hit and run. We have the northern end blocked but that won’t last long. Concentrate on the southern end on the next pass. Once we have them blocked on both sides, we’ll hit the ends at random,” I say, leveling off and maneuvering for a run.

I would like to say we dart in, hit them, and flash away. However, there is no ‘darting’ or ‘flashing away’ in a 130. As we begin each run, tracers rise from the multitude of vehicles, trying to intersect with our flight path. I adjust our altitude with each run based on where the tracers fell from the previous one. If the tracers fell behind, I climb to throw off any adjustments that the ones below make. By ascending, it will increase the distance and they’ll continue to fall behind. If they begin leading more, I descend so that the rounds will continue to pass in front. This game lasts for as long as we hit them.

Several vehicles throw smoke as they leave the road and try to work around the burning vehicles to their front and rear. Ignoring the sheer magnitude of the masses below, we pick our targets deliberately and engage, hitting them and turning to strike at more.

We continue hitting them, making multiple passes over the column. The pass becomes clogged with smoke from the devastation. Dark plumes rise from each vehicle until the road itself seems on fire. Tracers cease to rise as we fly over.

The last vehicle is hit. The scene below is one of complete destruction. Smoke rolls upward in the chill air with flames visible at times through the dark smoke. Each plume combines with the others until it becomes one continuous line. This pass will be closed for some time to come.

* * *

Picking up speed as they cross the flatland, Trey and his column enter one of the mountain passes that they chased their quarry through the night before. Knowing they are vulnerable in the pass, especially with a gunship to the rear, he notifies the vehicle commanders to maintain their spacing but keep their speed up. So far, according to the satellite footage, which has become spotty in the mountainous terrain, the gunship is still on the ground miles to the south. However, the sooner they can get through, the more relieved he’ll be.

With the end of the pass nearly in sight, he calls for the column to split with half taking another pass to the east, and the other half continuing north. This way, they’ll be harder to hit.

No sooner has he transmitted the words when a blast rocks his vehicle. It rolls to the side and then stabilizes. The next moment, it dives downward as if punched. A concussive explosion rolls through the interior. The instant compression of air within makes him feel like he’s been suddenly submersed in the deep end of a pool. The interior lights blink out momentarily, returning a second later. He knows instantly that he was mistaken about the gunship still being on the ground.

“Driver, floor it!” Trey yells.

He feels his armored vehicle stagger, its momentum stopping suddenly as it is driven heavily downward once again. He barely registers the change as everything goes dark.

* * *

We send several rounds of 40mm along the smoke. Finally, with our dead in the back and feeling a measure of satisfaction that we have exacted a measure of revenge, we bank away from the carnage, turning once again toward the facility coordinates.

Approximately twenty minutes later, the metropolis of Denver becomes visible ahead and to the side, its mass covering a large area. While the population of Denver was only a little over six-hundred thousand people, the outlying urban sprawl brought those numbers to over two and a half million. Those numbers, along with the percentages gleaned from the CDC reports, means that there must be close to a million night runners, at least initially.

Looking at the city as we fly approximately twenty miles away from the outer edges, it’s hard to fathom a million night runners pouring through the streets of the city at night. With those kinds of numbers, I wonder if some haven’t already pushed out of the city as Frank suggested they must do at some point. All of the major cities will have a substantial outflow of night runners as the food supplies within the towns shrink.

As the food supplies diminish, so will the night runner population, and if they push out from the cities, they’ll have to find lairs. That probably means that the smaller townships will see night runners swarm into them. The final population of night runners in any given area will depend upon the food sources. At some point, it will stabilize, with far fewer than there are now. However small that happens to get, it will still far outnumber any remnants of humankind.

The weather will also take its toll. Places like the one we are passing over will more than likely see a drastic reduction in their population as the cold claims lives. I imagine there will be turf wars or the inclusion of smaller packs into larger ones as nature attempts to stabilize itself. Regardless of what the future may be like for them, the important thing is whether we’ll be around long enough for it to matter.

So far, we’ve done okay. We’ve made a lot of mistakes, including the one of sending Greg off on his own, and we will make others, but we’ve made it this far. Tomorrow is another day, but we’re alive today. If only we, humankind, could actually band together against this greater nemesis. We seem to want to do away with ourselves. This fighting between groups doesn’t make sense. It is a form of suicide. There’s no reason why we should be flying over some other group’s base to gather information, with the possibility that we’ll take it out somehow. We should be working together to ensure our mutual survival instead of attacking each other. Yet, here we are, having to do something against our own kind for the sake of our own survival. I just don’t understand it.

The plains below look the same, mile after mile of farmland, the outlines of their rectangles still visible, yet our nav instruments indicate that we are approaching the boundaries of the facility.

“Start the cameras rolling,” I call to Gonzalez.

“Just started them, sir,” she replies.

I watch the landscape below, looking for tracers or tell-tale signs of a missile launch. I’m ready with the counter-measures should the threat receiver light up. So far, though, all indications are that we might as well be flying over Farmer Smith’s aging and rusting tractor.

It doesn’t take us long to pass over. Gonzalez leaves the cameras on for a few moments longer so that we’ll get a look at the surrounding terrain. However, it isn’t long before the third part of our mission has been accomplished. Now we need to land, carry out the subterfuge, and get home. I don’t want to linger in the area, being this close to the supposed facility. It would only take them a little over an hour to get to our location, so we’ll have to make it quick. I don’t expect any trouble seeing we have the Spooky, but they might try to come in fast while we’re on the ground. I would loiter over the area to keep watch, but we just don’t have the fuel for that and Greeley doesn’t carry the type we need. So, it’s fly in, unload, drive to a nearby location, make it look like we’re checking the place out, reload, and take off. Again, with the deep suspicion that the ones who hit Greg are somehow associated with the facility, they won’t be too happy that we made marshmallow cookers out of their armored columns. We can’t give them an open invitation to strike back. In and out.

Having finished with our overflight, and hoping we were able to gather some good information, I begin a descent. I didn’t see anything out of the ordinary and hope the high-definition video will provide some information.

Tempered Steel

The airport lies to the northeast just outside of the city limits. As we approach, the plains give way to brown crop circles, their shapes still barely visible. Calling Gonzalez to the front to assist, I fly over the city and then the airfield itself.

The town looks like any other we’ve flown over or passed through; mostly residential neighborhoods with brown fields spread throughout. After a couple of passes over the metropolis without seeing any signs of survivors, I turn toward the airport.

I see the outlines of two runways, one north-south, and, just off the southern approach, an east-west one. Two small ramps serve the small fixed-base operations on the field. Surrounding the ramps are the burnt-out remains of hangars. Blackened sheets of steel lie twisted in amongst the wreckage of several aircraft, with everything having been burned to the ground.

On the airfield grounds next to the destroyed hangars, a small fenced-in compound sits to the southwest. Several warehouse-type buildings have most of their roofs caved in, as does a large administration building. A number of flatbed tractor-trailers are parked around the outer edges of the complex. There’s obviously a story here that we’ll most likely never learn.

“What do you think?” I ask Gonzalez.

“It looks like all of the buildings have been burned, sir,” she answers.

“Thank you for that deep and insightful answer, Corporal Obvious,” I reply.

I glance to see her grinning underneath her helmet, taking what I said as the joke it was intended to be. We circle the airfield, looking for indications that anyone is around, or anything that might cause us trouble upon landing.

Gonzalez comments, “It could be that someone was clearing the area out, or a fire started on its own. With no one to put it out, it could have just burned everything.”

“I suppose. That’s a lot of distance between some of those buildings,” I state.

“There’s also a lot of fuel down there. It could have ignited and ran. There could have been strong winds,” she replies, shrugging.

“I guess.” Over the intercom, I call to the control center, “Do you have anything on thermal?”

“No, sir. We’re not picking up anything out of the ordinary.”

I bring the Spooky into an orbit over the airfield. After several minutes of watching to ensure that it seems safe, I bring the aircraft in and park, leaving the engines idling for a few minutes before shutting down.

As the propellers wind down to a halt, I open the rear ramp and exit. My pant legs whip from a strong breeze that brings a chill from the mountains miles to the west. This is a far cry from the hammock swinging, umbrella drink sipping, white sand beach watching that I should be doing.

“So, what’s the plan?” Lynn asks, standing next to me.

“Find a vehicle and finish with our business here, fly home, and look at the video. We’ll plan our next action based on what we see. For whatever reason, we’ve been targeted…so they obviously don’t mean to ease up on us. We need to come up with a plan to deal with them, but frankly, I haven’t the foggiest idea what that will entail.”

There’s a farmhouse with a few outlying buildings in the distance, nestled in the “V” created by the intersecting runways. Lynn will take the rest of Red Team out with the exception of Bri. We’ll be staying behind to set the return flight home in the nav computer. Even though one of lessons learned was not sending single teams out, the place where they’ll conduct the fake rescue mission is close and they won’t be out of sight. Locating a pickup and managing to get it started, Lynn and the others set off across the runways, bouncing across fields on their way to the farm house.

After finishing with inputting the coordinates, to kill time waiting for Lynn and the others to return, Bri and I walk to the nearest line of hangars. Charred sheet metal lies in twisted heaps where the buildings collapsed in on themselves. There is a lingering smell of burnt rubber and plastic. Several of the sheets rustle as a flurry of wind gusts blow through. Underneath the debris, there are recognizable aircraft parts that survived the fire: a wheel strut, a tire rim with the rubber melted and burned away, part of a wing lying under a section of sheet metal.

Bri and I silently look over the wreckage, each of us lost in our thoughts. Bri bends down, moves a section of steel to the side, and picks up a charred altimeter. The outer casing is brittle and covered with soot. The hands are bent from the heat they encountered.

Turning it in her hand, she asks, “Dad, why are they doing this? The other group, I mean.”

“I don’t know, Bri. They must think that we’re a threat to them somehow. Given what they planned to do, that’s the only thing I can come up with,” I answer.

“Can’t we just, I don’t know, talk with them somehow?” she asks, still looking at the instrument in her hand.

“I wish it were that easy. If they had come and talked with us in the beginning, perhaps something might have been worked out. However, with what they’ve done, in the beginning… and to us recently… I doubt they would have been interested in any form of compromise. Of course, there is also the question of whether we would, considering what they did… or tried to do. They take what they want without caring much with how they go about it.”

“Do you think we’re going to make it? I mean, survive?”

I look over the burnt remains of the hangars and across the flat landscape with the wind rippling my clothing. In the distance, purplish peaks of the mountain range rise above the horizon. Being far away from home, with all that has occurred, this place seems remote and the view has a very forlorn feeling attached to it. For all intents and purposes, Bri and I are the only ones around. It seems like we are the last two people on earth poking through rubble from the past. I want nothing more than to encircle her with my arms and hold her tight…keep her safe.

“I’d like to think so, if I have anything to say about it anyway.”

“But we’ve lost so many people lately. Nic, Allie, Drescoll, the team today, and maybe Greg… and we aren’t gaining anyone.”

And therein lies the crux of the whole thing. We can’t afford to lose anyone as we can’t replace them. We just don’t have the numbers to lose people and be able to survive. It takes time to replace any we do lose, whether through natural causes or otherwise. If we allow ourselves to be whittled down, we’ll soon run out of people. The last vestiges of humankind will fade away, vanishing from the face of the earth forever.

“We’ll make it somehow, Bri. I don’t know how other than to keep the faith that we will.” I put my arm around her shoulders and hold her close.

Lynn calls in that they are returning. Bri looks over the altimeter once more and then tosses it back onto the pile of rubble. Looking to the southwest toward the fenced-in complex, I pull out my binoculars and zoom in on the buildings. Focusing on the three-story central office building, I note the roof and part of the brick walls have toppled inward. Windows are set into the structure at even intervals on all floors, but very little of the glass remains. Through the openings, I see a mix of light pouring in from the collapsed sections of roof and shadowed darkness. Panning across the side of the building, I glimpse a flash of movement from behind one of the windows.

Startled, I look again, squinting to penetrate the depths. Nothing. Something was there and flashed away in an instant, but not before I caught what looked like someone standing at the window looking in our direction.

“Did you see that?” I ask Bri, moving to where a portion of a hangar corner still stands to gain a measure of cover.

“No…what?” she answers.

“I swear there was someone at the window. The lower one on the left corner facing us.”

“I don’t see anything.” I hand her the binoculars. “I still don’t see anything, at any of the windows. Are you sure you saw something?” she asks, turning from the raised binoculars to look at me.

“I wouldn’t stake my life on it. I might yours, but not mine. But, yeah, I’m pretty sure I saw someone there, and I’m doubly sure I saw movement.”

I turn to see the pickup crossing the east-west runway and call Lynn, asking her to join us by the hangar and filling her in on what I saw. Even though it’s already been an eventful day, I decide to investigate further. I would think that any survivor would show themselves, although perhaps not with the way that the world is now. I don’t want to stick around much longer, but I’m curious now and want to help if someone needs it; we start forward.

With Lynn driving and the others in the bed, the truck creeps forward. Bri and I walk alongside, staying behind the cover it affords. A portion of the fence has been pushed inward, toppling a large section of it to the ground. Lynn drives the truck over the top. Bri and I step over the chain links trying to do our very best to keep from getting snagged by the barbed wire that once lined the top.

Walking between a couple of outlying buildings near the fence, each gutted by fire, we cross a drive that circles the main structure. The pickup halts and Red Team exits. With the team providing cover and my M-4 at the ready, I cautiously approach the window, walking toward it from the side to provide the best cover.

As I approach, I note the trails of smoke rising up the sides of the building from each of the windows, partially faded from rains that must have swept through the area. The breeze carries a hint of smoke, like a faint lingering odor of burning brakes. As I noticed earlier, there is very little glass remaining in the windows. What is left has turned opaque and is melted along the edges, the sharp corners rounded.

Stacked next to the window, I call out. My voice echoes inside and is quickly carried away on the strong wind. Receiving no response, I take my signal mirror and edge it around the corner, turning it back and forth to view the entire inside. There are only piles of debris. Feeling the thud of my heartbeat, I round on the window with my carbine pointing inward. Checking the sides, up and down, I only see a mix of shadows and light. Nothing moves.

Looking to the floor just inside the window to see if I can spot any tracks, I’m startled by the sight of a skeletal body. Strips of desiccated sinew cling to parts of the skull with remnants of long brown hair still attached. Tattered clothing hangs to the body in places with more strewn throughout the room. The rest of the body has been stripped clean.

It’s lying under the window on a pile of bricks, concrete slabs, and pieces of lumber that escaped the flames. The fact that it’s on the debris and the bones aren’t burnt means that this person died here after the fire. The condition of the body makes it obvious that night runners were here…or still are.

I open up my senses and feel the presence of several night runners nearby. They appear to be almost directly below and are definitely within the confines of the building. There must be a basement that they are using as a lair. I motion the others forward and relate my perceptions.

The wind blows through the open windows, creating a low, moan-like howl through the building, much like the sound of blowing across an empty Coke bottle. The movement—and I want to say person—I saw definitely came from this window. However, there aren’t any tracks or sounds. If there was, I should be able to hear and smell them even through the lingering odor of the smoke. There isn’t a sign that anyone is here, other than a pack of night runners below.

The sound of the wind moaning through the building, the destruction within, and the body below where I saw the ‘person’ contributes to an eerie feeling that sends chills racing up my spine.

“Are you seeing ghosts again, Jack?” Lynn asks.

“Apparently,” I answer, peering into the building.

I call inside once again. No answer. We walk around the building, keeping a sharp eye and our weapons on the open windows as we pass.

The front of the building has double, full-paned entry doors that have been twisted out of shape. Like the windows, the glass is missing from the entrance. Peering inside, debris covers a lobby that served as an entryway, with still more strewn in the hallways beyond. Light shows brightly through the collapsed roof. Several slabs of concrete hang from above, attached only by strings of rebar. The upper floors have been entirely burned away leaving an unobstructed view of the sky and what remains of the roof. Many of the concrete structural support walls have fallen, creating large debris fields spanning across hallways and rooms. Once more, I call inside without hearing a response.

“Are you sure you saw someone?” Lynn asks.

“I don’t know. I suppose it could have been a trick of the light, but I swear someone, or something, was there,” I answer.

“Are we going in, Dad?” Bri asks.

“I don’t know. Surely if there was someone in there, they would have responded. The smoke masks some of the scent, but I’m pretty sure I would smell something, or at least hear if someone was inside. Also, the floor may have been damaged. The debris can be covering weaknesses or holes,” I reply. “Plus, I really don’t want to dawdle here for long.”

Bri shrugs and turns to descend the steps leading to the entrance. The rest of us turn to follow. Deep within the building, from one of the upper levels, I hear the sound of a large rock rolling and bouncing down the debris. My heart beats with a solid thump as adrenaline shoots through my body. We all turn to the noise, going to our knees and bringing our M-4s to bear. There’s a muffled scurrying sound from somewhere in the back and above before everything goes quiet once again.

It takes a few seconds for us to recover from the initial shock of the sound. Our fingers shy away from the triggers but keep them close.

“Well?” Lynn whispers.

“Could have been from anything?” I respond, still hesitant to enter the building.

“That was a big ass rock that moved. And something heavy was moving afterwards,” Lynn states.

“Be that as it may, if anyone is in there and they were interested in talking to us, they would have done so already. Anything could have dislodged the rock. I think we find trouble enough without having to actively go looking for it,” I state.

“Alright, Jack. For once we happen to agree. We’ll just leave your mystery as is.”

We rise and turn to go. As I put my boot down on the first step, I hear what sounds like a muffled cough. It’s so faint that I doubt anyone else heard it. Spinning around, I see startled faces reacting to my abrupt turn. I stare past them to the inside of the building.

“What is it, Jack?” Lynn asks.

“Shhhh…”

I strain, listening to see if I can hear something else. There, the same sound. It definitely seems like something is trying to conceal the noise.

“Do you hear that?” I ask, whispering.

“No, Jack, I don’t hear a thing except the wind blowing. What do you hear?” Lynn answers.

“Anyone else?” I ask, putting off Lynn’s question for the moment.

Each of the others shakes their head.

“I swear there’s someone in there. I heard them try to cover up a cough, twice.”

“What do you think?” Lynn asks.

“Fuck it, let’s take a look, but we’re not going far,” I say. “Spread out once we get inside. Keep in sight of each other and watch your footing.”

Entering through one of the glassless entry doors, I step over a small pile of bricks. Most of the interior has fallen in on itself, creating large open areas surrounded by the partial remains of concrete support walls and the outer brick ones. Several large beams, scorched by the fire yet not completely burned through, lean at angles against the remaining walls or stick out from deep piles of wreckage. To me, it resembles a bombed out building. The feel of the place is like walking into an abandoned factory …one of those places that seem to carry the ghosts of activity, hidden from sight but still present within the emptiness, as if there is a thin line separating this time from then, that any moment you might see the outline of workers crossing the floor.

One of my initial steps disturbs a brick, shifting it against another one. A flock of pigeons takes wing from high above, startling the shit out of me. I flinch and crouch down, close to feeling a warm trickle flow down my leg.

“Fuck me,” I breathe, feeling my heart thud against the walls of my chest.

The flock flies through the open roof, disappearing from view.

“Remember, there’s no going downstairs or into any dark areas. I don’t sense any night runners up here, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t. There is, however, definitely a pack under our feet. Although I don’t like this, we need to be quick. We can’t forget that we’re only an hour’s drive away from the other encampment,” I whisper, my heart beginning to recover from the fright.

Once inside, we spread out. Lynn and Gonzalez are on my left with Henderson and Denton to my right. Bri walks just behind my right shoulder. We slowly traverse what once was a lobby but is now covered with piles of brick and slabs of concrete with fingers of rebar poking out. Inside, the wind blowing through the open windows moans with an increased intensity.

Our carbines move in unison with our eyes as we search the upper levels and dark corners for anyone in the building. The footing is tricky. With each step, bricks shift under our boots. We slowly work our way across the lobby.

Entering a hallway, two charred and twisted fire doors lie slanted across an opening to the left. Peering past the doors, I see a flight of steps leading down. They are covered in debris but there’s an obvious pathway leading through the center. At the bottom, another warped fire door stands open. A hall stretches past the entry, leading farther into the basement. The hallway quickly fades into a dark gloom as very little light, from the collapsed roof and floors above, penetrates it. And upward flight of stairs has fallen, leaving only five steps, and part of a sixth one, intact.

Near to the stairwell entrance, a large debris pile angles down from the third story, filling a large part of the interior and crossing the hallway. Lynn and Gonzalez head through an opening to circumvent the pile while Bri and I go around it to the other side.

As I step on a large, concrete slab near the edge of the rubble, it tilts and I feel myself go weightless. It’s not that gravity failed, but there is suddenly nothing under my feet. In fact, gravity works only too well as I fall through a hole in the floor that was hidden under the slab. My mind registers a thin beam of light from the opening shining into darkness below. The contrast of looking from light into darkness hampers my ability to see.

Time slows. The debris field begins sliding down toward me and into the hole as the section caves in. Letting go of my M-4, I turn toward Bri to push her out of the way. I’m too late and see her falling with me, surprise registering on her face. I reach out and feel her hand for a brief second before the falling debris forces us apart.

Riding on top of the slide as it falls, I hit the ground hard. The crashing of falling debris roars into the space I’ve fallen into. A few moments later, there is only the sound of an occasional brick or rock sliding down the surface of the rubble. The immense field groans once as it shifts and then it is silent. Tons of rock, brick, and concrete have fallen within seconds, sealing off the basement from above. No light penetrates. The underground tunnel or hallway where I am has been completely shut off.

It’s complete darkness but, with my vision, I’m able to see. I rise, my arms and legs sore from being hit many times on the way down. I shake loose fragments from my hair and feel particles fall under my collar and down my back. My fear for Bri is immediate and I turn to the pile, looking for any sign of her. I call for her as I start digging through, tossing loose debris behind me.

“Dad? Dad?” I hear Bri call faintly.

She’s either trapped in a pocket or has been tossed clear on the other side, just as I have been.

“Are you okay?” I shout, continuing to throw objects behind me.

“I think so but my leg is stuck,” she calls back.

“Where are you?”

“I’m at the edge of a pile. I can’t see the hole or past the rocks. There’s a hallway that I can see from here,” she answers.

I try to raise Lynn or any of the others on the radio but hear no response. It must have been damaged in the fall.

I am relieved to hear Bri’s voice and to know that she’s okay but frustrated as each piece of rubble I remove is replaced by another from the pile above. I need to get to my daughter. This was a fucking foolish thing to do and I should have known better. Now, my daughter is paying for my stupidity. I haven’t forgotten what else lies down here.

Shrieks reverberate, as if in answer to my fear-filled thought. They’re faint and coming from the other side of the pile, where Bri lies trapped. My hands become a blur of motion. I know that there must be scrapes and tears on my fingers, but those go unnoticed as I move rubble, trying to scrape a way through. I race to clear a path but only succeed in bringing more debris down.

“Dad… Dad, help me!” Bri shouts.

Panic fills me.

* * *

The fall comes as a complete surprise. She feels what she thinks is her dad’s outstretched fingers for a brief moment before the tumbling debris carries her away. Objects slam into her arms, legs, and sides as she falls. She is pushed to the side as she tumbles. The roar of crashing debris is all she hears as objects pummel her and she is tossed about in a storm of falling rubble.

Bri finally comes to rest, fear filling her. She tastes grit inside of her mouth, making her feel like she ate a handful of dirt. Coughing, she tries to force the dust from her lungs. Dirt covers her, falling from her hair onto her face and down the back of her fatigue top. Her body aches from being tossed about. Cautiously, she sits up. Darkness surrounds her and, except for the sound of a small piece of rubble rolling down, all is quiet.

Reaching up, she finds that her NVGs are still attached and she lowers them, turning them on. Darkness recedes and becomes images presented in a greenish glow. To one side, a huge pile of rubble rises upward, blocking the hole she fell through. To the other side, a hallway extends for a distance with open doorways on both sides.

Sitting mostly on the hard floor, with her heartbeat pounding quickly, she looks herself over, checking for injuries. Brushing off dust and small pieces of concrete, she moves her fingers. Her arms are sore but nothing appears to be broken. Feeling a weight on one of her legs, she continues her check and finds that a large slab of concrete is lying on it. She tries to pull her leg free it but it’s firmly pinned under the block. She wiggles her toes and is relieved to feel them move.

She remembers her dad falling with her. Fear, momentarily forgotten while checking herself over, rises again.

“Dad? Dad?” she calls.

“Are you okay?” Bri hears her dad reply.

Her dad’s voice is faint but she can hear him clearly.

“I think so but my leg is stuck,” she answers.

“Where are you?”

“I’m at the edge of a pile. I can’t see the hole or past the rocks. There’s a hallway that I can see from here,” she answers.

A sudden chorus of shrieks reverberates down the hall, filling it. Bri whips her head toward the sound, her mouth going even drier as adrenaline is dumped into her system. Her heart jump starts with a thud. She pulls frantically at her leg, trying to free it. It doesn’t budge.

“Dad…Dad, help me!” Bri shouts.

More screams fill the hall and Bri sees a night runner enter from one of the side doors. It stops in the hall, looking first away and then, directly at her. Without hesitation, it begins racing down the hallway as more enter from the doorway.

Without taking her eyes from the night runners streaking toward her, Bri desperately reaches to her side, feeling for her M-4. It was attached to a woven paracord lanyard so, unless the clip broke or the lanyard snapped, it should be at her side. She feels the hard metal through her gloves and fumbles to bring it around. It only gives a little and she isn’t able to raise it.

She only has a few moments until the night runners are upon her. Fighting back tears and the fear choking her, she risks a glance to her side. The end of the barrel is under several bricks and a chunk of concrete. She pulls the carbine backward, slipping the end out from under the pile, and rolls onto her side, bringing the M-4 to bear.

The night runners are scant yards away and closing quickly. She thumbs the selector to ‘fire’, hoping the barrel isn’t clogged with debris. Lining her red dot up on the nearest night runner, the racing figure filling her field of view, she pulls the trigger, squeezing off a burst.

All other sound is lost beneath the screams emanating from the night runners. Bri sees their pale faces seeming to glow brightly in her goggles, their eyes shining eerily with a silver light. Flashes of light bounce off the walls, illuminating tattered clothing that is barely hanging onto the night runner.

The ragged shirt, unidentifiable as to what it once was, puffs from bullets striking the chest. They pass through the cloth and impact with flesh and bone, glancing off ribs and tearing into meat, penetrating to smash through the lungs and heart muscle beneath.

As the rounds pound into the night runner, it emits a forced, explosive exhalation. It falls forward, hitting its knees and face, tripping one night runner behind and exposing the others to view.

Bri, although fearful, doesn’t notice that she has pushed the fear down. It has become part of her subconscious. Lying on her side, holding her carbine in an awkward position, she lines her red dot up with the next closest night runner. Fear suppressed, with senses highly tuned and time slowed, everything is blotted from her mind. She is only shooting at targets.

More flashes illuminate the corridor as Bri sends another burst of projectiles outward. Another night runner falls, but those behind are closing in quickly. With each night runner she brings down, the ones behind close a couple more feet, crowding closer. The next creature she riddles with rounds falls to the hard basement floor not more than a few feet away.

If I go down, I’m going to go down fighting, she thinks, switching to ‘semi’ to conserve the ammo in her mag. She won’t have time to change it. She’ll be essentially out of rounds when the bolt on her carbine locks back, the mag empty.

One other thought works its way into her focused mind…I love you, Dad.

* * *

Taking a deep breath, I know that staying within the grip of panic will not help me, or Bri. It’s hard to suppress it with the shrieks emanating on the other side of the pile and it remains just below the surface. I quickly verify that my M-4 is still at my side, attached via the lanyard.

Climbing off the pile filling the hall, barely noticing the scrapes and bruises, I look down the section of hall behind. Immediately ahead, another hall opens to the right. Across from it is a closed door. Hoping the door will lead to a room that will allow me to circumvent the blocked hall, I run toward it. Muffled shrieks from Bri’s side increases, driving me to move quicker. The panic lingering just below is threatening to break free.

Not wanting to even take the time to see if it’s locked, I send a burst of fire into the latch. I slam into it with my shoulder. The door crashes open and hits the interior wall with a bang. Splinters from the shattered jamb fly inside. Stumbling into the room, I look to the far side thinking this is a way that will connect with the hall past the blockade…and Bri. I come up short seeing I am wrong.

From all appearances, I’ve stumbled into a storage room. Boxes are stacked along the walls and on shelves which fill the entirety of one side. As with the walls of the corridor, the ones enclosing the room are made of concrete.

My heart sinks. I don’t know how to get to Bri and there are night runners. My throat fills with a huge lump and my heart threatens to rip apart. I want to just fall to my knees on the floor and sink into oblivion.

The only thing I can think to do is open up. I send to the night runners. Through a complicated series of images, I send that death awaits them if they run any farther. The image I send is that of the sun shining brightly, along with the intense, burning pain of dying. Anything to slow them down and give me more time.

With tightness gripping my insides, I glance frantically around the room. Looking for something…anything…some way to get to Bri before it’s too late. The back wall catches my attention as I fight the rising panic. It’s painted a similar gray to the concrete walls, but its texture shows that it’s made of drywall.

Without hesitating, I remove three grenades hooked into my vest. There were four, but I guess one is now buried in the rubble. Back at the door, I quickly pull the pins and toss the grenades against the back wall, one after the other.

Overriding the muffled shrieks coming from the other side of the barrier, I hear the sound of footfalls. I hurriedly turn around, going to one knee, and bring my carbine up. Lynn is running down a short hall across from the door with the others behind. I assume they made their way down from the stairs. I lower my M-4 thinking it’s a good thing that I am able to see in the dark. If I only saw shapes moving quickly for me, considering there is a night runner presence in the basement, I might have added to the mistake I’ve already made.

Seeing me through her NVGs, Lynn comes to a halt. “Don’t you answer your radio anymore?”

“It doesn’t work,” I say, pushing her back from the door.

“Wher” Lynn starts.

A rolling explosion rocks the basement, deafening with its intensity. My ears begin ringing and a roil of smoke thrusts out of the open doorway. Leaving Lynn and the others startled in the hallway, recovering from the unexpected explosion, I turn and bolt into the room without giving them an explanation.

Smoke fills the room. Most of the boxes along the walls are shredded from shrapnel that was flung at high speed. Two of the shelves have fallen over, throwing their contents across the floor. Particles of cardboard and paper slowly drift down.

I race to the back end of the room to see a large hole has been torn in the wall. I tear several electrical wires to the side and step through shattered beams. It’s a larger room, yet similar to the one I was just in. Pieces of the drywall and boards are strewn across the floor; the remains of a wooden desk, ripped apart from the explosion, lies at an angle in the middle.

I notice, with a deep-set fear—my mind numbed with it—that the shrieks have stopped. My ears are ringing from the explosion, but I’d hear them if they were present. I race to the door on the far side of the room, ready to take down anything that might be between me and my girl. Fearing the worst, I send a burst into the door and throw it open.

The door slams against the inside wall and I look out. The smell of gunpowder is the first thing I notice, mixed with the odor of age-old sweat, bowels, and blood. The second thing I notice is the end of a barrel whipping in my direction. I throw myself backward as rounds stitch up the jamb holding the door’s hinges, destroying the upper one. The door, unable to support its weight, topples, shearing the bottom hinge loose. Continuing its fall, it hits me on the head.

Shoving the door away from me, my heart soars from the fact that bullets tore into the wood. My sweet Bri is alive. In my panicked haste, I didn’t call out and damn near paid the price for it.

“Bri, it’s me, hold your fire,” I call.

“Okay, Dad,” she returns.

Peering back into the corridor, with the mixture of smells wafting past my nose, each making itself known, feces, sweat, blood, then gunpowder, I notice night runner bodies covering almost the entire hallway floor. They begin a few yards past the door opposite the blockage, with the last lying almost on top of Bri. Some lie singly while others are stacked on top of each other. It looks like someone hastily stacked them like dominos, not paying attention to alignment, and tipped them over.

Stepping over the bodies, I hurriedly walk over to Bri and kneel. She’s covered with dust and splotches of night runner blood.

“Are you okay, Bri? Did they get you anywhere?” I ask, concerned that the blood might be hers.

“I’m fine, Dad. I just can’t get up,” she states.

“I love you so much.” I pull her tight against me, hugging her, not ever wanting to let go.

My relief so thoroughly takes hold of me that tears run down my cheek, unbidden. Hearing that first shriek, I thought I had lost my little girl.

“I love you too, Dad.”

Releasing her and looking down the hall at the numerous dead, I realize that ‘little girl’ may not fit her very well. However, she will always be that to me. I open up to see if there are any more night runners about and don’t sense any.

“Jack, are we clear?” Lynn calls from within the room.

“Yeah, we’re good,” I answer.

Lynn and the others enter the hall, staring at the bodies. I hear Henderson give a low whistle as he looks at the scene. I see Gonzalez look from Bri, to the bodies, and then back again, slowly shaking her head.

Recovering from disbelief and shock, the others emerge into the present. Henderson and Denton kneel in the hall, covering its length. Gonzalez, with a final look at Bri, turns and covers the room we entered from. Lynn weaves her way through the bodies toward Bri and me.

I move to the concrete slab pinning Bri’s leg as Lynn kneels beside her, asking if she’s okay. I grab the block and pull. It doesn’t move. Getting a firmer grip, I lift will all of my strength. The slab lifts mere inches.

“Can you pull your leg out?” I ask, straining.

Bri pulls and her leg slides out. Once she’s clear, I let go of the block and it falls back into place, grinding several bricks beneath it. I quickly check her leg to find that nothing feels broken.

Bri rolls from her sideways position and rises. Brushing herself off, she stoops to pick up an empty mag and places it in one of her vest pouches. She then bends to the night runner that was almost on top of her. Rolling it over, she retrieves a knife, its hilt protruding from just under the sternum. With a casual motion, she wipes it on the night runner’s clothing and slips into a sheath at her side. I watch this whole thing, along with Lynn, stunned.

“Let’s get the fuck out of here,” I say.

Finished, Bri rises and we begin making our way through the bodies to the door leading to the room. At the door, Bri looks over the bodies and down the hall, seeming to come out of some state of mind. Her face prior to this seemed devoid of any expression. Looking around, that changes to one of surprise.

“Holy shit! I did this?” she asks, dumbfounded.

“Yes you did, my little warrior princess,” Gonzalez says, turning toward Bri.

We make our way through the short hall and up the stairs. Entering into the daylight filling the building on the first level, we leave this nightmare behind. However, the lesson stays with me. Anything can happen at any time and I almost lost my daughter through carelessness. There was no need to go into a building only to satisfy a curiosity. I feel sick to my stomach thinking what might have been. And I’m still in a state of shock and awe over Bri’s handling of it. It’s just not real and feels as though I read the story in a book.

Careful with our footfalls, we arrive back at the front entrance. Glancing over my shoulder inside the building, I see the difference in the large field of debris. It has shifted, becoming lower and covers the hole we fell through as if it didn’t exist. I look toward the upper levels, hoping to catch a glimpse of whoever, or whatever, is or was in there. I neither see nor hear anything.

Entering the sunshine, the breeze blowing strong, still moaning as it gusts through the building, the tension and extreme emotions I carried through our ordeal, diminish. The lesson stays with me though. I put my arm around Bri once again and pull her close. She looks up and, through the grit still covering her face, and entangled in her hair, she smiles.

“So, what happened in there?” Gonzalez asks, brushing some of the grit from Bri’s hair after I reluctantly release her.

Bri tells about her becoming disoriented during the fall and not really knowing what was going on.

“I don’t really remember much. It just sort of happened. I remember being scared and then, I just sort of reacted without thinking about it, like I was watching someone else doing it,” Bri says.

“And the knife?” Lynn asks.

“Well, I remember running out of ammo. I couldn’t get to my handgun so I pulled out my knife. This one night runner tripped and fell down next to me. It smelled really bad. Anyway, it was struggling to get up. I remember feeling it paw at me so I stabbed it. It screamed in my ear and went limp. I tried to push it away thinking there were other night runners coming, but there was only silence.”

Hearing her story horrifies me and makes me sick to my stomach. I’m so happy that she’s okay, but I can’t shake the terror inside that I was the reason she had to go through that. And my daughter doing that, well, once again, it just seems like someone else is telling the story.

Retracing our steps across the airfield, we arrive back at the ramp. Walking toward the aircraft, passing by the wreckage that was once the mechanic hangar attached to the FBO, I notice something out of place underneath several twisted girders that have fallen. Detouring only slightly, I reach down and pluck a journal-sized notebook that is near a small pile of ash and place it in one of my cargo pockets.

We load up. We’ve been here considerably longer than I wanted, so I’m eager to be off. The sun is starting to cast long shadows, and I’d like to be back at Cabela’s before dark. It’s a lot different landing on a short, narrow dirt strip than having a wide, two mile length of pavement. And doing that at night adds an additional pucker factor. Plus, I’m worried about Robert and Greg. I know he’s capable of making it back but, as I well know, anything can happen at any time.

As I taxi out, while making sure to keep us on the pavement, I also keep an eye on the flat plains surrounding the airfield. While we were on the ground, it would have been easy for a motorized group to race to our position. I’m sure the other group knows what we did to their column, assuming it was theirs, and where we are.

With the gear tucked into the wheel wells and the flaps up, I turn us west. It’s about a three hour flight home and we climb to clear the peaks rising above forested ridgelines. Robert should be close to landing back at the compound or has already done so. It’s comforting to note that there isn’t an emergency locator beacon going off over the radio. That’s an automatic signal generated in the event of an aircraft accident, and the fact that I don’t hear one is a good indication that he made it.

Leveling off, I set the auto pilot. With the amount of adrenaline that coursed through her, Bri is looking a little tired. She has that faraway stare that isn’t focusing on anything in this reality.

“Bri, go lie down. I have this,” I say.

Her eyes refocus on the here and now. “What, Dad?”

“I said go lie down. I can take care of things here.”

Without saying anything, she unplugs from the console and removes her helmet. Small particles of grit fall out of her hair, some landing in her lap while others float gently in the air. She leaves to find a bunk.

Turning back to the flight controls, in my pocket I feel the hard shape of the journal that I picked up. With us chasing the sun west, I pull it out and look at it. The edges are scorched and the cover blackened. There isn’t any name or title that I can identify but that could easily have been burned away. Opening the cover with care, I see that several pages in the front have been charred, some of them completely gone. Leafing through the journal, most of the remaining pages have differing degrees of scorch marks. However, some writing is still visible.

Checking the gauges and our flight path, I settle into my seat and turn to the first legible writing.

…writing this. It’s probably a waste of time, but I have to do something to keep myself occupied. There are long moments between scavenging and nightfall and I’ll go crazy if I don’t do something…

…was in the USAF. No biggy. It’s…

…canned goods are running out. I’ll have to start looking through the neighbor’s houses soon. That’s a hell of a walk though. I suppose I’ll have to fire up the old truck. I’m not…

I heard those things closer last night. Their screams are as annoying as fuck and kept me up. I hope they don’t make it all of the way out here. I’ve seen what they can do. When I went to see…

It’s been a while since writing here. The food ran out and I made some runs to Tom’s and Sam’s. Cleaned them out and running low again. Worked on barricading the old place as those things seem to be spreading out. I haven’t seen any near here yet, but they seem to be getting closer each night. I’m going to have to run into town and get some supplies there. The well is holding up so I just need food. I’ll start with the houses on the outskirts. I hope th…

That didn’t work out so well. Pulled a few items from some houses and ran into a group of people in the area. I guess they didn’t appreciate me taking stuff from ‘their territory’. By heading through backyards, I managed to eventually lose them. This fucking leg of mine made it hard. Broke my fucking knee when a Humvee clipped it while in the sandbox during Desert Storm and it’s never been the same. Of all the luck, in a war zone and I get hit by our own security. Fuckin…

…the group driving around during the day. They haven’t found my place yet, but I need to do something soon. It’s them during the day and those fucking shrieking things by night. It’s pretty obvious they don’t come out during the day. I’m beginning to wonder if there isn’t something about daylight they don’t like. Maybe UV rays? I have a couple UV lights, but I don’t know if that will work. Thought about going out to scavenge at night and using those but I am reluctant to try. If I’m wrong, well, I only get one chance considering what I saw them do to Tom and his family. I may ha…

…going to have to figure out something else. Those creatures found the house and damn near got in last night. Pulled the boards right off the walls. Had to hold them off on the stairs with my shotgun. What a fucking mess. I should have had those UV lights with me. Not sure they would have worked though. Those motherfuckers are fast. Heard them on the roof too. And those other scumbags drove too close for comfort about an hour ago. I’m gathering my shit and heading to the maintenance hangar where I have worked since leaving the AF. That will be a more secur…

Set up shop. It took some doing, but I’m settling here in the hangar. It’s a little better than the house. It will be harder scavenging but hopefully I’ll be left alone out here. I fucking hate crowds and it seems even more crowded since this shit went down. I don’t even know why I continue writing in this thing. Keeps me sane I guess. Tomorrow I’ll se…

…lost this thing. It’s been several days. I suppose I should keep track of them but couldn’t really be bothered. Ran out of supplies and emptied the vending machine. Damn they make those tough to get into. The pipe wrench I used damn near hit me in the head when I swung at the Plexiglas. Luckily there’s a well with a hand pump close by. Those fucking things keep trying to get in every night. So far I’ve been able to keep them out, but they are persistent motherfuckers. They have to be in one of the buildings on the airfield. They keep me up all night and I’m starting to feel the lack of sleep. I’m going to have to do someth…

This idea didn’t work out so well. I set fire to the hangars on the west side hoping to get rid of any place that those things can hide out in. Earlier I burned the guard base buildings and had no problems there. I was going to burn each hangar individually but the fucking wind shifted. Now the whole place is going up. Explosions and streams of fire from the fuel are pouring across the taxiways. It’s only a matter of time before it reaches here. Going to have to get some shit together and take one of the aircraft out of here. I have no idea where I’ll go, but I need to leave.

That’s the last thing written. Whoever it was apparently dropped it in their haste to get out of there. At least the story of why the airfield was burned is known. Not that it will do any good but it’s always nice to find out what happened when confronted with a mystery. Closing the journal and sticking it back in my pocket, I wonder where the person who wrote it went.

The flight back is an uneventful one. The sun seems to be winning the race west, drawing ever closer to the horizon as we drone along in the clear, afternoon sky. It will be a close one to see whether we make it to the compound before the sun vanishes below the horizon.

A fair distance out, with the bottom edge of the sun resting on the horizon, I call the compound, getting a reply on the first attempt.

“Did Robert arrive?” I ask.

“Yes. He landed several hours ago.”

“How is Greg?” I ask, worried to hear the answer that he didn’t make it. From what Lynn had said, he had been in pretty bad shape.

“The doc is with him but he hasn’t regained consciousness yet. I don’t have word if he’s stabilized or not.”

“Anything else I should know about?”

“Not that I know of, Jack. Frank’s here. Would you like for me to get him?”

“No, that’s okay. We’ll be there in about an hour,” I say.

“See you then.”

The western sky transitions from yellows to deep oranges. Droning along with the forming sunset ahead, with the blue overhead deepening toward twilight, lends itself to a very peaceful scene. It’ll get busy in a short bit as I set up for the descent and landing, but that is still a few minutes away. Even with all that has transpired and all that is pressing, I lean back in the seat and relax, taking in the moment, worries diminished for the time being.

With the sun just sinking below the mountains to the west, casting the land in twilight, I bank the aircraft and line up on final. The runway carved out within the compound walls is a lighter shade than the surrounding field but barely visible in the fading light. With the gear and flaps lowered, I descend toward the narrow strip.

Off to the side of the runway, I make out the dark outline of Robert’s 130 parked on a makeshift ramp. The outer walls of the compound flash under my nose, briefly illuminated from the intensity of the landing lights. The guard towers, standing at the corners and at intervals along the walls, are no more than dark shapes that pass by quickly. The inner wall, meant to enclose the compound and provide for a secondary defense, flashes underneath. Easing the power back, I flare and feel the aircraft settle onto the narrow, dirt strip. We’re home.

Shutting down, I just sit in the seat, utterly exhausted. It’s been a hell of a day, and past few days. Although we can’t totally relax within the compound walls, we can at least feel a measure of safety. Now, with us being targeted by a group that has access to far greater technologies, even being within the walls carries a certain tension. While we may have a basic understanding of their capabilities, we don’t know for sure. The fact that they attacked Greg’s team with only an armored column gives credence to the info Harold found, with regards to what they have available for use anyways.

Looking out of the window into the gathering darkness, there are headlights from several Humvees that have come to pick us up. With effort, I unbuckle and make my way outside. Robert, Bannerman, and several others are waiting for us.

“Made it okay, eh?” I ask Robert.

“Yeah, it was a pretty uneventful flight really,” he answers.

“How is Greg?”

“He was still unconscious when we landed. I think the doc is with him, but I haven’t seen him since we arrived,” Robert says.

“Why didn’t you wake me for landing, Dad?” Bri asks, walking up and stifling a yawn.

“You needed your rest, Bri. It’s all good.”

“What in the hell happened to you?” Robert asks, seeing remnants of grime on Bri’s face and in her hair.

Bri starts to tell her story, her voice fading as her and Robert walk away, heading toward one of the Humvees. Gathering our gear together, we trudge wearily to the waiting rides. I don’t say much. Returning to Cabela’s brings back the full extent of what we’re facing.

Inside the building, with night fully upon us, Robert heads up the stairs. Bri and the others of Red Team grab a bite to eat before heading to wash away the grime accumulated from two days in the field. Lynn and I head upstairs to see the doc and check on Greg.

Walking into a partition set up for the doc, I see Greg lying on a bed. There’s a lot of swelling on one cheek and his closed eyes look sunken. His breathing appears shallow but with normal repetitions. A mask connected to a green oxygen tank covers his mouth and nose. Turning to the doc, who is standing next to the bed, I ask how Greg is doing.

“He’s stable for now and is doing well from what I see. His vitals are close to normal. I thought at first there might be some swelling on the brain but there aren’t any indications of that. This is really the best I can do for him considering,” the doc says, sweeping his arm to indicate the oxygen and IV setup. “We just don’t have the equipment and, to be honest, even if we did, I only have the vaguest notion of how to operate them. We’ll keep him monitored and the IVs going for hydration. The concern will be if he remains unconscious for a period of time. He’ll need sustenance beyond what the IVs will provide. But, we’ll let him rest and see if he recovers on his own. I won’t be concerned unless several days have passed without a change in his condition. After that, we’ll have to come up with something different.”

“Thanks, Doc. Let me know if I can help or if there’s anything you need. And I know this goes without saying, but let me know if there’s any change,” I say.

The horrible feeling returns as I see Greg lying on the bed. I really should have known better than to send a single team out—Stryker or no. I was trying to alleviate any guilt that I would have felt by cutting short the search for families because I wanted to get my son back. Perhaps there was some justification for that, I mean, for me, it was what I was going to do, and would again, but I should have delayed the mission and not spread us so thin. Now those soldiers who were seeking to find out about their families will be buried with the coming day. It may have been their choice to continue looking, but it was my responsibility to say no and to come back out in strength at a later date.

I’ve made my share of mistakes in my life, but they seem to be coming in droves as of late: Robert getting bitten, Greg’s team, all dead but one, and today, coming close to losing Bri. Besides that, there are the night runners increasing in numbers north of us and this other group targeting us. It’s just becoming too much. While I may have asked for this, I’m ready for someone else to take the reins. The peaceful feeling I had during those scant few minutes of flight, watching the sky paint its glorious sunset on a canvas of blue, is gone and forgotten.

Even though I want to sit at Greg’s side, I nevertheless turn and leave with Lynn. We won’t be having a meeting as it’s late and I’m tired. Lynn and I make our way to our cubicle. Inside, it feels tiny and cramped. I’m looking forward to having the quarters built so we can have more room. I’m sure everyone else is feeling the same way.

Mom comes by and we talk for a while. With worry, she mentions that I’m looking ‘stretched thin’. I, of course, tell her not to worry, “I’m a little tired, that’s all.”

I ask how she is doing, attempting to turn the conversation.

“I’m fine. I’m worried about you taking Robert and Bri out with you all of the time. I know you can take care of yourself, but I heard what happened today.”

I notice Lynn nod her head and stare harder at me. This is so not the time to be mentioning that. I feel bad enough already. Even though I fucked up, I still feel the same way about them gaining experience. I’m not going to be around forever. This world we now live in is going to be this way for a lot longer than I’m going to be around, and my kids need to gain the knowledge and skills to survive in it. Yeah, I don’t need to make foolish decisions like I did today, going into that building when there was no need, but they need tools to survive. I just don’t know how to both give them that and keep them safe at the same time. I am still at constant odds within myself, trying to come to terms with those two opposing concepts. I relate that to mom as best I can.

“Well, Jack, you know best. You always do,” she says, patting my knee and rising to leave.

“That is such a mom thing to say,” I reply, giving her a hug. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

She smiles and, parting the curtain at the entryway, leaves.

“She’s right, you know,” Lynn says after the curtain closes.

“Not now. I’m too tired. I know I fucked up today and I already feel bad enough.”

“It’s not about today, Jack. All of us went in, even after you said it wasn’t safe. The point is—” she starts.

“You’re really going to do this now, aren’t you?” I say.

“Yep.”

“The truth of the matter is, I’m tired. I’m tired and I don’t want to do this anymore. Let someone else take charge and do it. With what happened to Nic, to Robert, and almost happened to Bri, I just don’t feel like I’m able to lead effectively anymore. I know my decisions will be biased based on Robert’s and Bri’s safety. And yours,” I state.

“Who would you have take over?”

“You, Frank…fuck…anybody. Even Bannerman,” I answer, looking down at my boots.

“And you’d listen to them, and do as they say. I know you wouldn’t with me. You haven’t yet, so why would you start all of a sudden, so let’s not even go there.”

I look up and stare at her. She knows me all too well. “Don’t even begin to bring logic into this.”

“The point I was going to make wasn’t about Robert or Bri. It’s that we’re all tired. Yeah, mistakes will be made and people will get hurt. It’s the world we live in. But you are pushing too hard and worrying about shit that you can’t help. That’s a good and bad thing, Jack, but your mom’s right, you are getting stretched thin.”

“I know, and I feel my decisions are getting affected by it. I don’t know what to do, and maybe it’s time someone else had a chance.”

“Again, you’d follow someone else’s decisions if you didn’t like them?”

“Stop that.”

“Like it or not, you’re what we have. Most people see you and the others in the decision group as their best chance at survival.”

“I just don’t fucking want to do this anymore.”

“Be that as it may, you’re it. I know this will only be blowing hot air, but don’t push yourself so hard. There are others here that can help.”

I only sigh, feeling the stress of our situation still gripping me. In all honesty, I know what’s coming and don’t want to make the decision. I don’t want to make a wrong one that will bring down the fragile hope of survival that we are clinging to. I have a huge fear of failure and that potential is looming large. My not wanting to be the one in charge is because I don’t want to be the one who fails. But, on the other hand, passing that off will amount to the same thing. I’m basically feeling sorry for myself and not wanting to take responsibility right now.

The thing with Bri really shook me up. One—that I put her in that situation; and two—that she was able to do what she did. Hearing the night runners scream, Bri calling for help on the other side of the debris, my panic from not being able to help, the fear that I was going to lose her, and then arriving with the scene of dead night runners littering the hall. Bri rising after freeing her trapped leg and casually retrieving her knife, wiping it on the night runner lying dead next to her. If I had doubts about her being able to take care of herself, those are greatly diminished. I just can’t believe that was my daughter who did that. There is a feeling of disassociation between what happened and the fact that it was Bri.

The image surfaces of her surprise when she glanced down the hall and her response, ‘I did that?’ It became readily apparent that she goes into a ‘zone’ when confronted with her fears like that. I just worry that her zone may block out too much and that she may focus in on one aspect of her surroundings while missing others. I asked her about it but she doesn’t really seem to remember much. Truthfully, I don’t know what to think about what she did, but I’m glad that she’s okay and, deeper down, although feeling like shit about putting her in that situation, there is a part of me that feels better about her abilities.

“So, I know you didn’t hear a word I said, and even if you did, you won’t listen. We’re going to need you in the coming days. And by that, I mean that we need you clear-headed and with it. I don’t know about the night runners up north or if they’ll be a threat. They may just settle in there and move when the food has been cleared out. Or they may move past. There’s not much here for them as we’ve cleared the land around us. But this group, they’re a real threat and we’re going to need you. So, if you’re done with your pity party?” Lynn asks.

“I hear what you’re saying. It’s just hard for me to let go of things sometimes. I have a hard time letting someone else go in my place. Especially with seeing Greg lying there and with those graves we have to dig tomorrow. But, yeah, I’m all partied out,” I reply.

The next morning on my way out, I check in on Greg to find that he’s still unconscious. A woman I don’t recognize is sitting on a chair near his bed reading a book. Bannerman had mentioned that he had gathered a few books from a library nearby. I remember him saying we needed to provide something for people to do when they have some downtime, ‘otherwise they’ll find something to do. They need something to lose themselves in.’ I nod at the woman and head outside.

We’ve taken the day off to say farewell to our friends and comrades. The bodies have been recovered from the aircraft and a few are busy preparing their resting places in our cemetery that is becoming too crowded. After the arrangements are complete, we gather under clear skies with a cold wind whipping around us. The teams bring out the caskets carrying our fallen, and the others that were with them, setting them gently in place. Lynn leads the ceremony on this occasion. I don’t hear much of what she says; instead, I’m focusing on the caskets and the burial markers, lost in my thoughts.

Staring at the crosses, each one indicating someone we’ve lost, I wonder just how many more times we’ll have to do this. Our graveyard is getting bigger, and seemingly more so by the week. Under those markers is the team we lost taking Cabela’s, Allie and Allie’s dad, with Nic being buried in the hills. And then there’s Drescoll, somewhere. Now we are adding six more of our own plus the others that were with them. If we keep this up, there won’t be anyone left.

The report of gunshots startles me out of my thoughts. Then, the bugle blows Taps over our group, the wind carrying the forlorn notes across the compound. As the last note drifts over us, the remnants of our group begin slowly drifting apart with most heading back into the compound. Although this day is starting on a sorrowful note, we’ll take the rest of day off and set up a BBQ. At least most of us will. There is still work to be done.

I linger for a while longer as the coffins are lowered into the graves. When the first scoops of dirt are shoveled in, I realize that I’m the only one remaining. Turning, I head back to the building. BBQs are being wheeled out in preparation, with tables being set up as I arrive. Inside, Frank is setting himself up at a table to look over the video footage we gathered. With everyone seeming to have something to do, I feel out of place and, to be honest, kind of lost. Robert, Michelle, Bri, Gonzalez, Henderson, and Denton walk outside, lost in conversation.

I know I should probably rest some as we’ll be taking the Spooky out tonight to see what our neighbors are up to. I don’t feel tired and know that I’d just lay there with thoughts spinning in my mind, becoming frustrated that they won’t shut up.

Back outside, I walk over to one of the Humvees. There’s a quiet murmur of conversation drifting across the lot as people get ready for the barbecue. People seem to be recovering from the sadness of burying our comrades. It’s still there but, here and there, I see smiles arising from something said. Bri emits a burst of laughter that momentarily rises above the hum of other conversations.

Still feeling lost and outside of everything going on, I climb into the vehicle and drive out to our airfield. The 130 and Spooky are parked next to each other, their hulks sitting patiently waiting until they are called for again. The rear ramps of both are open. One crew is offloading crates of ammo that we picked up while another is stocking up the Spooky. I park and climb out, walking to the gunship. I get a few nods from those who are working.

“The barbecue is about to start. Why don’t you guys go enjoy it for a while,” I say, passing one of them.

“We’re about done here, sir. There are some burgers with our name on it. There better be anyway or there’ll be hell to pay.”

“Let me help, then. What do you want me to do?” I ask.

“We have this, sir. We’re almost done anyway.”

I nod and return to the Humvee, sit on the hood and watch them work. In a way, it’s relaxing. True to their word, they finish up, close up the aircraft, and drive back, a few giving waves and nods. I hop off the hood and open the rear ramp of the Spooky. It’s quiet out except for the wind blowing in and around the aircraft, swishing softly through tall grass lining the edges of our small airfield.

Walking inside, my boots ring on the metal decking. The quiet inside holds echoes of the action yesterday. I can almost hear the shouts and commands, the rounds being fired and the clang of shells being reloaded, see the actions of rounds being taken from their storage compartments, manhandled to the waiting breeches and mag receptacles. In the prevailing silence of the interior, all they are now are just ghosts.

I remove the overhead hatch and climb up. Sitting on top, I let the breeze wash over me, doing nothing but enjoying the silence. The brute power of the aircraft seems to flow upward, at rest for the moment but ready to unleash its fury on command.

It really is too bad that the fuel will go bad. If we do ever reach a point where we’re actually safe and secure, it would be nice to be able to go fly just for the sheer fun of it, I think, resting my hand on the metal surface.

I look over and see the green roof of Cabela’s sticking up over the inner wall in the distance. It’s only been a short few months since things went to shit, but it seems like years. This is our new life, one that we have to carve out with dangers seemingly besieging us from all directions. Seeing the water tower standing in the distance, I’m reminded that we’ve come a long ways in that short period of time. The flip side is that the dangers have increased along with that progress.

It’s like being in an eternal race that will never end and only gets harder as you go along. Any stumble or fall and the things chasing you will catch up. We’ve managed to overcome the challenges we’ve faced only to be presented with more difficult ones. And we’ve paid for it with our blood at times. Now we’re up against probably the hardest one we’ve had to face as a group and I don’t have the slightest notion of how to solve it. We have to do something about it soon though as I doubt the other group is sitting idly by waiting for us to make a move.

At a bare minimum, we have to hit them before spring, and during winter will make that even more difficult. If they are truly trying to take us out, for whatever reason, when we lose our ability to fly, we will be out-matched in every category and the gig will be up. We must do something before then, and really much sooner, before they strike again.

And then there’s the night runners flowing south out of Seattle. The best we can do there is to make sure our defenses are strong and hit them nightly when we can. Maybe we need to clear out a larger area around Tacoma, but that would be quite an undertaking. I remember Frank saying something about the numbers, but if I have it right, there were almost two and half million in the surrounding Seattle area before the shit went down. That would mean there were nearly two million night runners. If even half of those survived until now, that’s a fucking lot of them. Even if they spread out evenly heading north, east, and south, that leaves the potential of six hundred thousand night runners heading our way.

There’s no way we can deal with that amount. We may have to rethink our strategy; maybe burning large tracts to turn them away. However, for now, we have a more pressing matter with this hostile group outside of Denver. As I told Bri, with Greg lying unconscious, his team dead, and Allie taken from us, the time for talking is way past. We need to figure out a way to eliminate this immediate threat to our survival.

Putting those thoughts aside for the moment, I lay back on the top of the Spooky, staring up at the blue sky, watching the occasional cloud slowly float across, flowing from one shape to another, the breeze blowing across me. Even chilled as it is, it feels refreshing. My mind drifts and I let images swirl through. A relaxed feeling, like the one flying the evening prior, comes over me. My thoughts flash from memory to memory, some bringing a smile to my face while others bring sorrow.

After a time, I come out of my reverie, feeling more refreshed and confident. We’ve come through a lot and we’ll get through this somehow. Whatever the future may hold, we’re here and alive today. And each day we’ll strive to continue.

I climb down and drive back. I needed those moments alone and come back feeling like a different person than the one who left. The one who left felt already defeated. Now, although it won’t be a walk in the park, I feel ready to meet the challenge.

Walking back into the building, I see Frank going over several pictures with a magnifying glass, stopping at times to make an annotation. I walk past and check on Greg. The swelling of his cheek looks to have gone down and his respirations seem deeper. However, he is still unconscious.

There really isn’t much to do until we meet in the afternoon. I don’t feel much like resting so I join the others gathering outside. The smell of burgers and hot dogs cooking wafts across the lot. A line has formed next to the BBQs with some finding seats at tables with plates full of food. Other mill about in small groups, taking bites between snippets of conversation. The sorrow of laying our brethren to rest is slowly being replaced by an atmosphere of gaiety. The idea of setting a day aside to barbeque, which we took from Tim and the others we brought with us from McConnell AFB, seems to be having its desired effect. I make a plate and take it to Frank, who nods his thanks and turns back to his pictures.

I spend most of the day and early afternoon mingling before heading upstairs to grab a nap before the meeting in the afternoon and the flight afterwards.

Waking after a short while, I make sure the kitchen will save some food for the Spooky crew. Thankfully, we won’t have to make the drive north, into night runner-infested territory, to get to the aircraft so I can linger a little longer. I want to be in the air and on station before dark. If Frank is ready with his analysis of the facility, the meeting will be a long one so we’ll need to start it earlier than normal. We may not get a lot of planning time and it may be that we spend our time ‘eliminating water’. That really means that we will identify the things that won’t work and remove them from our planning process. That way, we’ll know what we have to work with and come up with something.

We meet in the mid-afternoon, some bringing plates of food from the barbeque. I bring everyone up to speed on the events we encountered on our flight out and then turn it over to Frank. We all know why we’re here so he doesn’t waste any time with preliminaries and he hands out packets. They contain the information on the bunker as supplied by Harold and high-resolution photographs pulled from the video on our fly-by.

“What you have with regards to photographs are still images I’ve taken from the video. You’ll notice on the pictures that the entire complex is surrounded by a chain-link fence with what I’ve determined to be razor wire along the top. Judging from the shadows and time of day that the video was taken, I estimate the fence height to be ten feet.

“You’ll note that there are two sets of buildings spread apart from each other, which I’ve circled and designated as #1 and #2. The structures are one-story buildings and made to appear as if they are old, dilapidated tin constructions. However, looking closer, I noticed that the structural roof beams poking out from the sides seem newer than the siding and the steel sheets covering the roof. This may or may not mean anything…but just something I spotted. It could be the structures were rebuilt with the old siding.

“Each set of structures has a dirt road leading to them. There are close up pictures of each set of buildings and the roads. Note the tracks on that road leading to building set designated #1. It appears to have been traveled on recently, whereas the dirt road leading to buildings #2 is trackless.

“I’ve super-imposed a diagram of the facility, trying to match the scale to the photographs. I oriented it with the cardinal points as that seemed to be the logical method of construction. It took some time but, once completed, you’ll see how the buildings and facility diagram match up. The buildings denoted as #1 approximately correspond with what looks like the equipment storage on the facility diagram. The offset could be because some form of ramp system has been built to allow the vehicles to drive out. I’m concluding that the exit is hidden by the large shed in group #1 and could be where the armored column originated from. The tracks certainly correspond to an armored column passing over it.

“You’ll notice on the picture showing a wider overhead view, to the northeast, another fenced-in area within the overall compound. Those black rectangular objects are a vast array of solar panels.”

“So we can hit them there?” Robert questions.

“Let’s let Frank finish before we start speculating on any plans,” I state.

Frank continues, “There are other smaller buildings scattered throughout the compound. They could be storage or perhaps hiding air intakes. I really can’t tell. We have to assume there is some sort of high-weight lift capabilities. Somewhere in this is also a main entrance with both elevator and stair access. If I had to guess, I’d put them with the buildings denoted as #2. One last thing, all of the other buildings, including #2, have roads leading to them but without tracks that I can see. As a matter of fact, those roads are partially overgrown.”

“So, they may not be checking on those with any regularity,” I comment.

“At least not by land, and the diagrams don’t show any connecting tunnels,” Frank says.

“Any ideas about them foraging in the outlying areas?” I ask.

“I don’t have any idea on that. There are fresh tracks leading out from #1, so it’s possible. I would guess that they have a large cache of supplies with them underground, but I have no idea how much or how long that would last.”

“Okay, fair enough. How about radar? Is there anything to indicate they have that capability?” I ask.

“I don’t know, Jack. I don’t see any sign of it, but that doesn’t mean it’s not there. Some of those lone buildings are large, wooden structures capable of housing a Doppler radar system. However, I would doubt it based on their location. That would give them a limited field of view. If they had that capability, they would place it on a hill and the nearest one is miles away. I don’t want to say that they don’t have it, but based on what I’m seeing, I’m placing the odds toward them having it as fairly low.”

“What about water storage? Where is that?” Lynn asks.

“There isn’t any sign of above-ground storage so it would have be underground. The diagram shows the holding tanks but there’s no corresponding building associated with it so I have to assume that they are underground, along with their pumping apparatus. A site of this size would require several wells, but I don’t see any indication of those on the video,” Frank replies.

“And this lone building here?” I ask, pointing on one of the pictures in hand. “I assume that’s an escape exit judging by the long tunnel leading to it.”

“That’s what I’d guess as that building is one of the few built of some kind of concrete cinder block or brick,” Frank says.

I rummage through the packet Frank presented, looking for something specific that I can’t locate.

“Can we get closer view of the outer fencing?” I ask.

“Yes. Is there anything you’re looking for in particular?”

“Three things. Tracks around the perimeter and/or pathways on the inside or outside of the fencing. I want to see if they conduct regular patrols. Let’s see if they have mounted cameras along the tops of the fencing poles. And, see if there is any disturbance on the ground outside of the fence, something that looks different than the surrounding ground,” I state.

“Sure, Jack. I’ll get some additional close-up images. I do know they have cameras mounted at intervals along the fencing, but I’ll take a look and see what I can come up with for the others,” Frank says.

As he rises and leaves to make additional photographs, there’s a discreet cough from behind me.

Lynn turns to the sound. “Yeah, Doc, come on over.”

“Excuse the interruption but you asked to be notified if there were any changes,” the doc expresses.

“Of course,” Lynn says.

“Greg has regained consciousness. He’s still groggy and in some pain, but he’s awake,” the doc states.

“Can we see him?” I ask, quickly rising from my chair.

“If you make it quick and don’t put him under any stress. He needs rest if he’s going to fully recover.”

I can tell the others are eager to go see how Greg is doing but I have them wait for Frank’s return and promise to give Greg their good wishes. Too many people descending on him, although nice to see that he’s well thought of, might overwhelm him having just awakened.

Lynn and I hurry to him with the doc in tow. Greg is lying on the bed with the IVs still stuck in him but with the oxygen mask removed. He opens his eyes and tries to smile but it comes across as a grimace.

“How are you?” I ask, feeling foolish for asking such a stupid question.

“My head feels like someone beat it with a hammer,” Greg says, his voice croaking.

The doc walks to him and gently tilts a small cup of water for Greg to drink. Greg nods his thanks but blinks tightly as the motion causes pain to shoot through his head. I sit next to him so that he won’t have to talk loudly.

“Sorry, my friend,” I say.

Greg tries smiling again but with the same result. “We both knew the risks.”

“I shouldn’t have sent you out.”

“I could have said no,” he responds. “Did you find the rest of the team?”

I just nod my reply. He knows what that nod means. Turning his head to the side, he is silent for a moment.

“And the others?” he eventually asks.

I again give him a nod.

“I failed them,” he eventually says.

“No, that’s on me and my fault. I should never have sent you out with so few,” I say.

“I feel bad for those we had with us. It ended up that I didn’t save them from shit,” Greg comments.

“It’s not your fault,” I reply.

“Did you happen to find out why?” Greg asks.

Wanting to keep it brief, I outline what we found out and what we did to the armored column.

“Good, I’m glad those bastards got what they deserved,” Greg states. “Jack, there’s something I want to talk with you about. I met these people—” Greg begins.

The doc interrupts, coughing lightly into his hand, signaling that it’s enough.

“We’ll talk about it later,” I say, patting Greg lightly on the shoulder.

“You get some rest now. It’s good to have you back with us,” Lynn remarks.

“Yeah, if my head would quit trying to crack open,” Greg says, trying to grin.

With that, Lynn and I leave, making our way back to the meeting. Frank has the pictures by the time Lynn and I arrive. I look over the new ones.

“Jack, as you can see, there aren’t any paths through the grass stubble around the fencing. There isn’t any indication that anyone moves through there with any regularity,” Frank says.

“Meaning they don’t have any patrols,” I state.

“Not that can be seen in the pictures. You can see the cameras better in these though and I would hazard a guess that they have multi-spectrum capabilities. It’s hard to tell about the surrounding ground though given the time since everything went down. They could have put in a mine field at the outset and just left it. If that happened, it would be hard to spot,” Frank explains.

“Okay, now we have a better picture of what we’re up against. Thank you, Frank. It looks to be a high-security facility. That means the possibility of a mine field surrounding the perimeter with low-light and infrared cameras covering. There will more than likely be the same type of cameras at the entrances and a manned security center with professionals monitoring. This won’t be like the prison. The outer doors and those leading to secure rooms will be key-coded with strong magnetic locks. And we have no idea about interior patrols,” I state.

“If it’s so secure, how come they don’t have patrols on the outside?” Robert asks.

“Good question. And the answer is that I don’t know. The reason we invent that kind of technology is to conserve manpower. While it’s extremely useful, those who have it sometimes rely on it too much. Although difficult, it can be fooled. It’s only a machine and technology can be circumvented. Those who use them tend to forget that. People are unpredictable and you can’t bypass them the way you can equipment. That’s why you use both. I don’t know why they aren’t doing this and it may be our way in,” I answer.

“That’s all fine and dandy, and great in theory, but what are we going to do?” Lynn asks.

“Good question. The way I see it, we have two basic options. We can either draw them out and use the Spooky, or we go in and get them,” I state.

“Do we really need to go in? Or do anything for that matter? We have aerial patrols and will see them coming. Couldn’t we just ride it out?” Bannerman queries.

“They hold all of the cards with regards to surveillance and information. They’d find a way to take us out for sure. And, come spring, we’ll have lost any advantage we have with regards to the Spooky. We’ll be grounded and they could just walk right in,” I answer.

“That may be true, I just thought it had to be mentioned,” Bannerman comments.

“What about like Robert said, take out the solar panels? That will kill their power, won’t it, I mean, like eventually? Then, won’t they have to come out?” Bri asks.

“If I read the diagrams accurately, and Frank, correct me if I’m wrong, they have a couple of underground generators with what I’m assuming is enough fuel to run them for some time. Destroying the panels won’t have the desired effect,” I respond.

Frank nods his concurrence.

The discussion becomes an open-ended one with ideas tossed about and refuted. I listen to what is said while studying the diagrams.

Poisoning the water supplies is mentioned, but then rejected as being too difficult to access. Even if we could get to it, there has to be a water filtration system present that might prevent contamination. The conversation then goes to disrupting or poisoning the air.

“They’ll have MOPP gear and sensors. The filters would block the attempt and all they’d have to do is replace the filters,” Frank says. “And I don’t know if we could find all of the inlets in order to block them. Even if we did, they’ll have air scrubbers similar to those on a sub. Remember, this facility was originally designed to withstand a nuclear, biological, or chemical attack and survive.”

“What if we present a juicy target? Maybe that would draw them out and we could hit them then,” Roberts says.

“If they see the Spooky, and they do have the means to track it, they’ll see that a mile off,” Lynn replies.

The dialog continues. There’s talk of fast-acting poisons, launching cruise missiles from Leonard’s sub, options presented and discarded. I listen to the conversation, putting in my two cents on occasion, but most of my concentration is focused on the pictures and diagrams provided by Frank. I put together my own options, running through scenarios, discarding some and making alterations to others as I run into problems.

“Look,” I say, interrupting the ongoing discussion, which had died down some, “we’re going about this the wrong way. All of the suggestions so far have been about forcing them out and defeating them with the Spooky.”

“And what do you suggest?” Frank asks.

“We need to hit them from the inside. Anything else and they can just retire inside and wait us out,” I answer.

“And how can we do that?” Lynn questions.

“If all they are using is technology to safeguard the entrances, it can be defeated. The only thing I can’t figure out is how we can get the teams on the ground undetected.”

That statement throws the group into silence.

“At least you mentioned teams, Jack. I’m assuming you don’t mean your usual ‘go in by yourself’ tactic?” Lynn says.

“Well, initially it will be me and maybe one other person. I need to get to the security room here,” I say, pointing to one of the rooms just past the long escape tunnel. “After that is secured, then we’re going to need everyone on this one. Lynn, we have to bring those that are in training up to speed quickly. We have to replace the team members we lost and we’re going to need to add more. Those we bring up to speed will remain behind as security for the compound. I know that may sound callous with us having lost the team sent with Greg, but that’s just the way it is. Also, Lynn, I want you to take all of the teams and work on coordination, team movements, and communication. Do that in the equipment hangars so it’s not picked up on satellite.”

“You obviously have a plan, Jack. Would you care to let the rest of us in on it?” Lynn asks.

“Well, I don’t really have it all worked out, but let’s run through what I have in my head so far, starting on the ground. I haven’t figured how to get there yet. I see it coming in stages. The first will be getting through the fence and entering the tunnel building. That will require working through the outlying ground and, if one exists, marking a path through the minefield. Frank, I’ll need close-ups as clear as you can make them to study the terrain in detail to see if there are small gullies that will enable me to keep a lower profile. There are the cameras to deal with as well. I’m assuming they do a sweep on low-light and then infrared or some combination thereof. A dry suit will work best but that isn’t foolproof. The only foolproof method would be to use a large pane of glass as it blocks infrared for a period of time. But, that’s not really feasible so I’ll have to go slow and not heat myself up. Once through the fence, you’ll note that the building entrance is facing away from the fence line. The assumption is that they have a camera covering the entrance and approaches from the front. Frank, can we get a closer view of the building to make sure of this?”

“Sure thing, Jack. I’ll see how much I can zoom in and still keep the clarity,” Frank answers.

“The next phase will be gaining access to the exit tunnel. I’ll need to fool the camera, assuming there is only one. For that I’ll need several four-port coaxial switches with a main output port and a few short coax cables with quick connect ends. Bannerman, there are electronic outlets in town that will have those. I’ll show you where they are on the map when we’re finished. With the distances involved, the outer cameras can only be running coax or single-mode fiber. I’ll need several coax to fiber converters just in case. I’ll also need small video recorders with playback and continuous loop capability which can be hooked into the network. Most have USB connections so we’ll need USB to coax converters. You can find those just about anywhere. Harold, can you configure a middle-man program to spoof the system and feed our own looped video into the network?”

Harold pauses and thinks for a moment. “The problem is fooling the network into thinking the recording is coming from the camera. I should be able to reconfigure a network sniffer to do that. The basic idea will be to have the sniffer, with the programming, clone itself to mimic the camera settings. Then, I can have the program insert the looped video into the packet and it will look like it’s being sent from the camera. It’s called an ARP spoof, which will gather information about the network and mimic a certain device as programmed. That will give both the network the correct address but with the looped video. We’ll also have to configure the ports on the small switches.”

Harold pauses once again, lost in thought before continuing. “We’ll have to put the switch in a bypass mode which will act as a hub but will have the abilities of a switch. One port will be set to mirror port one which the camera will have to be hooked up to. Put the modified sniffer on the mirrored port and it will configure itself with the IP and MAC address along with the subnet mask. That port won’t send any traffic so there won’t be a problem with the network seeing multiple machines with the same address. Once that’s done, the recorder will have to be set to the mirrored port to capture the video. Then, move the camera to port two, a normal port, and plug in the sniffer to port three while simultaneously unhooking the camera cable. That can then be set to the mirrored port to make it look like it’s hooked up. The program will intercept the video feed and insert it into a protocol packet that will be accepted on the network. Yeah, I think that can be done.”

“How about the size? Won’t something that large be seen?” Robert asks.

“Most of the equipment is small and not bulky. It will look like part of the camera system to an untrained eye,” Harold answers.

“Okay, I want you in the aircraft with us in case we need your expertise. Now, once there, I’ll gain entrance and proceed to the security room. As shown, there is a stairwell down connecting with a longish hallway to another door, which is the actual entrance into the facility. The security room is past the door and down another long hallway, the exit tunnel. This door will be a secure one, most likely having some sort of keypad or keycard entryway with another camera. Getting there will be more difficult but, as you can see on the maintenance diagrams, there are large conduits along the hall which can hopefully be utilized. The camera, if there is one, I’ll bypass in the same manner as the first,” I say.

“If you’re talking about a secure entrance like that, how are you going to bypass the encryption? I mean, aren’t those kind of doors magnetically locked?” Frank asks.

“More than likely. However, high heat will break down magnets. I won’t go into the how but I’ve found that magnesium strips work quite well for this. We can find those in just about any school science lab. Just wedge a small strip in the door and light it. The only drawback is that it creates an intense light but, with an inward opening door, that won’t be seen on the other side,” I respond.

I continue, “Once past that, the worry will be any roving patrols that they might have. Luckily, it’s only a short distance. The security room looks small so I’m guessing there are only a couple, three at the most, in there. I’ll gain entrance, take them out, set the fence cameras on playback, and signal for the teams. Robert will be parked in an orbit away from the complex with Lynn and the teams. Once I give the signal, he’ll land nearby and the teams will disembark, heading through the fence and inside, eventually meeting me at the security room. Then we’re onto the next phase.”

“Jack, what about if they have a duplicate security room or a duplicate monitoring location?” Frank asks.

“This has to be the main security room, assuming the diagrams are accurate, and I’ll have control of the cameras. All of the entrances we’ll be using will be running a loop and therefore show nothing. And I’ll figure out the playback system once I’m there. It won’t be that difficult as I’m sure they made the system easy to use along those lines. After all, they’ll need some way to quickly play back something that catches their notice,” I reply. “If, at any point we run against a snag that we can’t circumvent, we’ll pull back. At this point, that won’t be too difficult. That will change though once we get the teams inside. Those will be led by Lynn.”

“Okay, although I’m a little leery of this, I’m with you so far. What do we do next, assuming we get the teams inside?” Lynn asks.

“Here’s the kind of ‘play it by ear’ part,” I say.

“I knew it. I knew there had to be some part of the plan that involved that. You aren’t capable of planning something without it,” Lynn states.

“Well, there has to be a quick response force located somewhere. I’m guessing it has to be either in one of the rooms close to the security room, or near the control center, perhaps even within it. If they’re by the security room, we need to take them out quietly if possible. One of the good things about secure bunkers is their thick walls which will keep any sound from traveling far. If they have interior cameras set up, once we take over the security shop, we’ll be able to identify where they are. So, the next step will be locating this force and eliminating them. We’ll then move en masse to the large vehicle storage bay. You can see, according to the diagram, that everything is centered around that bay. From there we’ll fan out. There are exits on all four sides. There are three halls leading to the south which looks like they are the quarters for the security forces. Lynn, you’ll lead four teams to cover those exits, setting a series of claymores inside the hallways if possible. We’ll be going in at night so most of them will likely be there. There is another hallway which leads to what appears to be maintenance areas, the generators and such. We’ll need this covered as well. Horace, you’ll take your Blue Team and take over the control room which is off the bay on the western side. Watkins, you’ll cover the entrance tunnel we emerge from and provide a reserve force. I’ll take Red Team and cover the wide northern corridor leading from the bay. We’ll neutralize the security forces, or at least hold them in place, take over the control room, and sweep the rest of the facility,” I brief.

“And you thought of this while we were sitting here?” Lynn asks.

“Well, it needs some fine tuning but, yes,” I reply.

“Seems kind of risky to me. I mean, the teams will all be trapped inside if something goes wrong,” Frank states. “This plan makes a few assumptions which may or may not be true. What if they run into any patrols?”

“Once we’re on the move, anyone we see goes down. We move quickly and flow into positions before they can react. The hallway providing the entrance to the security forces will provide for a narrow enfilade in which we can hold them. They won’t be able to come out due to our overwhelming fire into those exits,” I state. “Anyone in the bay itself we take down before they know we’re there.”

“What about the eastern exit?” Watkins asks.

“That looks to be a large one for the vehicles to exit so I doubt we’ll see anyone coming from there. I don’t see any other exits from the bay other than a lift and possibly the main entrance elevator and stairwell on the western side. Watkins will cover those as well seeing they are adjacent to the escape tunnel entrance.”

“I honestly don’t know, Jack. Like I said, it seems awful risky. If the teams get trapped in that bay, it will be the end of them,” Frank says.

“Look, it is risky. But if we don’t do something, it will be the end of us anyway. Like I mentioned, come spring, without the Spooky, we’ll be done for. And that’s not counting what else may happen between now and then. We may not last that long. We’ll effectively be trapped in this compound and reacting to whatever they may try,” I counter.

“You know, for once, I’m with Jack on this. Even though his ‘plans’ give me a gut ache, this one at least seems feasible. There are a lot of ‘ifs’ and we can pull out before committing the teams if something goes wrong.” Turning to me, Lynn asks, “Jack, is it possible that you can truly circumvent the security like you say?”

I look at Lynn and shrug. “It’s not impossible.”

“Okay, so how do we get the teams on the ground?” Lynn asks.

“Well, there’s the tricky part and one I don’t have an answer for as yet,” I reply. “Frank, how many have had the vaccine?”

“Counting Julie, there are twelve that have had it,” he answers.

“Are there any of them on the teams?”

“No, I’ve double-checked that.”

“Okay, good, then let’s see how we can get us on the ground unobserved,” I say.

After some discussion, we decide to use one of the 130s stationed at the Portland guard base. We know our compound is being monitored, and if we stage the 130 from Cabela’s, it will raise flags with the other group. We’ll use semis to transport the teams down and make it look like a supply run, loading the teams into the trailers in our vehicle hangar and disembark into one of the aircraft hangars at the guard base. Extra crews will go along in order to gather supplies and load them into the trailers, furthering the impression that it’s merely a scavenging run. Supplies will also be removed from one of the 130s stationed in Portland and the rear ramp left open. After they are finished, the crews, leaving the teams behind, will return to the compound. With any luck, the other group won’t know that anyone has been left behind and therefore, they won’t be monitoring the site and know that we’re on the way. The plan is for the teams to remain in the Portland hangar for two days, providing it’s secure enough to hold the night runners out. If it isn’t, then the teams will leave that evening. If all goes well, the teams will then leave the hangar two days later at dusk and make their way to the 130.

The best situation would be if we have a cloud cover, with the ideal being if it’s raining. We talk about creeping slowly to the aircraft under opaque shower doors to defeat IR, but, seeing it will be hard to disguise the 130 starting or taking off anyway, we discard that idea. We will just hastily make our way to the aircraft and hope that any interest the other group may have taken in us will be lost after a day thinking it was just a run.

Our whole plan relies on us getting to the bunker facility undetected. With that in mind, we’ll stay low and use the mountainous terrain to conceal us. I’m hoping the guard 130 will have FLIR capability and I am reasonably sure that they do. Providing we get off undetected, the terrain will keep us hidden until we break out onto the Colorado Plains. At that point, we’ll drop down to a hundred feet and proceed in.

Much discussion is had regarding inserting the teams. Initially, we talk about doing a HALO drop like Greg and I did into the prison at Lubbock. However, given that the experience level of the teams with that, or any time under silk is zero, that idea is quickly thrown to the side of the road.

I’ll go in via a LALO (Low Altitude-Low Open) drop. That will require us popping up for a quick drop allowing radar, if they have it, a better chance at painting us; but it will only be for a moment and it may be taken for a ghost blip. Robert will then proceed north to Greeley and circle until called for. Once I have taken out the security room, he’ll bring the aircraft in and land in a nearby field. The teams will disembark and make their way to me.

“Jack, that will leave you exposed for a long time,” Lynn states.

“That can’t be helped. I can’t see any other way that this will work,” I reply.

“Will they discover our communications?” Robert asks.

“We’ll use distinct clicks to communicate,” I answer.

We then set the communication system up. Two clicks will signal a message to follow. A corresponding two clicks will signal that the one receiving has understood and is ready to receive. We cover the signals for when the teams arrive at various checkpoints. If something goes wrong and I have to exfil before the teams set foot on the ground, we cover different scenarios. Some involve landing and picking me up, others to fly and land at either Greeley or Denver International, and I’ll make my way to them. If it goes very wrong, Robert and the teams are to abort and fly back to Cabela’s.

“Under no circumstances are you to enact a rescue if I’m found and taken,” I state, finishing.

I’ll be flying the en route portion and hand it over to Robert when it’s time for me to get ready for the drop. There is a lot that Robert and Craig will require regarding flying low level, and the drop itself, so we’ll spend the next several days training. This training will be conducted during the day to start off with to get them accustomed to low-level flying and then transition to night. I’m sure the other group is monitoring us so we’ll make these flights look like normal ones so we don’t give them a clue that something is up.

In total, the flight will take three hours. With us leaving near sunset, once we arrive near the underground bunker, we’ll have nine hours of darkness remaining with which to work. Dropping me approximately three miles from the facility should give us enough time to get inside and enact our plan.

“Jack, even though I understand our need to do something, I still have reservations about this plan. However, throughout this discussion, I haven’t heard one mention of night runners. This whole thing is going to be conducted at night, with long periods being spent outside during darkness. How do we do this and take them into account?” Frank asks.

“Believe me, I’ve thought about them. My thinking is that they won’t be a factor seeing the bunker is so far away from any build-up. The facility is almost twenty miles out from the outskirts of Denver, and that’s the closest town. I know that’s a risk but it’s one we’ll have to take if we’re to do this. There’s no way we can do anything against them during the day. We’ll just have to take the risk that there is the odd one or two out there. I’ll open up just prior to the drop. If there’s any around, we’ll abort and come up with some other game plan. I just don’t see any way around it,” I answer.

“I will admit the odds of any out that far, at least in any numbers, are remote given that there isn’t much cover for them during the day. However, we are seeing these branching out from Seattle, so it could be the same there,” Frank says.

“True, but it’s different there than here. Here, they appear to be following a path of urban areas. If they are branching out from Denver, they would most likely be heading north and south where there are places for them to take refuge during the day,” I respond.

”I guess I’m just not liking the fact that we’re going to put our most experienced teams into basically a do-or-die situation. If we roll the dice and lose, we’ll lose the entire compound,” Frank states.

“I agree it’s risky, but if we don’t roll the dice at all, we’ll also lose. Honestly, this plan carries a lot of risk and needs fine-tuning, and I’ll entertain another if anyone has one,” I counter.

No one responds.

“Okay…so, for now, let’s run with this one and continue our discussions. Lynn, bring the teams in training up to speed and start training with the teams going in. I’ll work with Robert and Craig. Bannerman, we’ll need a dry suit, the switches, small video capture systems with playback and loop capabilities, several thin magnets, a small spray bottle, and a roll of magnesium strips.”

With the plates of food that were brought now long empty, and the day heading into late afternoon, the meeting breaks up. I show Bannerman where I know several large electronic warehouses are located and meet with Frank to begin planning for tonight’s flight. It’s been a few days since we’ve been north during the night and we are both anxious to see what our neighbors have been up to. If Frank’s estimation of what the night runners are doing is correct, we should see increased numbers emerging at night in the areas just north of us.

The mostly clear day should continue into the night so we’ll have a good chance to cover a lot of area. This is going to be mostly a recon of the urban areas up to Seattle but, if the weather holds, we’ll have time to deal some damage to those that we find. If the numbers coming out of Seattle are correct, there’s no way we’ll be able to take them all out, but any we can whittle down will be fewer that can come into our area.

The compound is covered in shadow from the lowering sun as we pull up the gear and fly over the outer wall. Even though our original Spooky checked out okay after we rode out the propane farm explosion, we take the one we recently obtained from Cannon AFB. Banking to the north, with the huge propellers taking large bites out of the air and the engines droning at full power, the Spooky claws for altitude.

We are soon traversing the Nisqually Valley through which flows the narrow but deep Nisqually River. There is still time before the sun fully sets behind the mountains and plunges the landscape below into darkness. The time of the night runners is drawing nigh but we have a few moments of twilight left.

“Robert, I’m going to make a run along the river. Have the low-light video running. I want to capture the bridges as we pass over,” I call.

“Copy. Give me a sec,” he replies.

Once he gives me the call that he’s ready, I descend and turn the aircraft south, offsetting the Nisqually River. Flying down the river, I note four bridges spanning its narrow width. Two are the side-by-side interstate bridges, each with three lanes of freeway crossing with a metallic superstructure arching over them. Another is a two-lane bridge of the Old Pacific Highway a little over a mile to the south. Approximately a half mile south of that one, a twin-track, wooden railway trestle bridge crosses. Other than those four bridges, there isn’t another one for about twenty miles.

Finishing with our run down the river, I call Frank and inform him.

“Funny, I was just thinking of something along those lines,” he states. “If we managed to take down those bridges, I was thinking it might force the night runners to circumvent us or halt them altogether.”

“That will also mean that we are cut off from the north. We’ll lose our supply runs to the distribution center and the bases,” I comment.

“That’s true. We’ll have to pull everything we think we’re going to need onto our side before we do anything. I’ll talk it over with Bannerman,” he says. “Do you think we can take them out with the Spooky, or will we have to bring them down with planted explosives?”

“I think we can drop them with the 105,” I answer.

“Are there any shallow places?” Frank asks.

“There wasn’t a lot of light to see by, but it looked like there were a couple south of the railroad bridge. In any case, we’ve taken video of the entire river which you can look over,” I say.

With our little detour complete, we climb back and proceed with our primary mission for the night; to see what the night runner population and area of spread is. Across the valley, beginning at the southern fringes of Fort Lewis, the urban sprawl spreads out from the edge of the Puget Sound to about fifteen miles inland. This continues all of the way up to the Seattle area and beyond, providing more than enough locations to shelter the number of night runners pouring out of Seattle.

The land below is bathed in darkness as we begin our run. As if on cue, against a gray background, our screens light up with white figures emerging from buildings. I can only imagine the noise below with thousands of night runners screaming as they pour out into the night. Looking at the multitude of small to mid-size packs on the screen, it immediately becomes obvious that Frank was right, the night runners are flowing south in great numbers. As before, the number of packs increases as we fly north, but they have definitely come farther south since the last time we flew over.

As we drone northward, watching the whitish figures running in packs, I begin wondering which is really the greater threat; the group targeting us or the infiltration of night runners toward our compound. The bridges begin to take on a greater significance.

“You’re getting this, right?” I call to Robert.

“Yeah, Dad. That’s a shitload of night runners and we’re not even to Federal Way yet.”

He’s right, and that’s the understatement of the year. It definitely looks like our neighbors have been busy since we’ve been gone, and we’ll be hard-pressed to keep up with the Joneses. We fly a crisscrossing pattern up to Seattle and press farther north, observing the same pattern of night runners. They are definitely fanning out from the city into the surrounding areas. The same thing is seen to the east, only marginally so as the urban area falls off quickly due to the foothills leading to the Cascade Mountains.

Hours after taking off, we finish our surveillance of the urban areas to our north. Large numbers of night runners are spreading out; mostly to the north and south of Seattle. The area around the big city is still dense with packs but they’re moving.

“Robert, you can stop the recordings. We’re moving south. I want to target packs and buildings to the west, north, and east of McChord,” I call.

The sheer numbers that we’ve observed is disconcerting. Although the vast majority is still far north of us, their movement south is cause for alarm. I admit their timing could have been better; but when have they ever taken our needs into consideration? And that’s not to mention the numbers on our side of the river that we haven’t been able to locate yet.

Heading back south, we fly over the area of devastation caused by hitting the propane storage facility. Everything for a half-mile around the central crater has been completely obliterated. It’s almost too bad we couldn’t drop those kinds of facilities in the middle of the large night runner build-ups.

Orbiting just to the west of the airfield at McChord, Robert begins the systematic targeting of night runner packs running down the residential streets. Bright flashes appear on our screens as 40mm rounds pepper the larger packs. White figures running together are thrown to the sides as the explosive rounds burst in their midst. Several vehicles parked along the curbs ignite as white-hot shrapnel penetrates the thin skins of the fuel tanks. In others, glass is blown inward and the car bodies peppered. Night runners are thrown with force into them, snapping bones with the impact.

We orbit street after street, leaving dead or dying night runners lying on the hard, cold pavement. Streamers of red light leave the Spooky and intersect the avenues, sparking as 25mm shells slam into the hard surfaces. Ricochets stream upward into the night as the rounds walk through the packs. Night runners are torn apart from the high-speed impacts; and soon, the streets in our orbit go dark.

Robert then goes to work on marked locations with the 105mm howitzer, destroying house after house. When one area is clear, we move on to the next. It’s like watching a looped playback video only with a slightly different background.

“Okay, let’s call it a night and go home,” I say after we begin running low on ammo.

We land and are met with rides to haul us across the compound to Cabela’s. I’m tired from the flight and ongoing stress. My gear bag feels like someone stuffed an elephant in it while I wasn’t looking and it’s the best I can do to drag it along with me. Entering the building, I turn to say goodnight to the crew and tell them that we’ll debrief in the morning.

Just inside the now closed inner door, Robert is staring at his boots and holding one hand to his head. He drops his bag and, with a look of agony, brings his other hand up. Holding his head tightly between his hands, he sinks to his knees with a groan. Dropping my own bag, I rush over to him. On his knees, he drops his forehead to the floor and begins moaning as he rolls it back and forth.

I drop to my knees beside him, putting my arm around him. I’m about to ask what’s wrong and send for the doc when he lifts his head and shouts something unintelligible. On his hands and knees, with his eyes clenched shut, he throws up.

Diamond in the Rough

In a state of shock, Leonard stares through the viewfinder toward the shore just a few miles to the east. Moments ago, he took in the whole scene, a smoke pall covering the wreckage of what used to be San Diego. Skeletal remains of several buildings rising among piles of rubble are barely visible. With the cameras recording but not being presented on any of the monitors, he concentrates on the shoreline where the fleet, based at the southern California city, would dock.

The strip of sand that linked the mainland to the Navy depot, creating the inner bay, has been obliterated giving a clearer view of the wrecked docking facilities. The submarine tenders and docking facilities are hidden by a headland but Leonard knows, should he be able to see them, that they will look the same. Panning the inner shoreline, he looks for any sign of the fleet, but finds none. The only indication that there was any Navy presence is the overturned hulls of the old aircraft carriers that were on display or being systematically taken apart for scrap metal.

Looking across the ruins, thoughts circulate through his mind. There is still a shred of hope that the families, and some naval presence, made it due to the lack of navy ships present. At any one time, several are always in port, either for crew rotations or repairs. However, other than the wrecks, there isn’t a one to be seen. He holds a hint of optimism, perhaps a wish more than hope, that the fleet took to sea with survivors before the city was hit. The lack of communication doesn’t lend any credence to this desire, but it doesn’t mean that it’s impossible.

Other thoughts circulate regarding the fate of the families and what to do about his crew. Leonard holds onto the slim hope but doesn’t know how to tell the crew and still keep their spirits up. He doesn’t see any way that he can actually do that. Leonard knows they will all be crestfallen, and the ones who had families with them will fall into a depression. He and the officers will need to redirect their attention and focus on a new task, one that will keep some semblance of hope alive. That will lie in finding the fleet, or at least searching for it. If they aren’t able to find it, the finality that the crew has lost their loved ones will slowly set in and they’ll have to deal with it as it does.

Not having any family located near the devastated city, he knows nonetheless that the chances of him finding his mom and sister are low. For all intents and purposes, they are already lost to him. During brief moments, when he has lain awake in his cabin, his thoughts have gone to them and he’s felt the deep sadness of their loss. Leonard knows all too well the despair and pain of not knowing, so has an inkling of how the crew will react. He also knows they already suspect that something is up, considering the continued holding of their position outside of the port. He’ll meet with the officers, give them the news, and they’ll come up with a game plan.

Rotating the periscope, he turns his gaze to the west, hoping to catch a glimpse of the fleet but only sees the Pacific stretching to the horizon.

“Chief, give me one sweep of the radar,” Leonard orders, his eyes still glued to the eyepiece.

“One sweep, aye, sir.”

Moments later, “There isn’t any sign of traffic, sir.”

“Very well. Hold our position and have the officers meet me in the officer’s mess,” Leonard orders.

A short time later, having grabbed the recording of the San Diego ruins, Leonard walks into the crowded mess. Nodding at the officers present, he takes a seat at the end of the table.

“Gentlemen, as you may or may not know, we have halted at periscope depth a few miles offshore. The reason for the halt is the high levels of radiation emanating from the city. At first, I thought it might be from a leaking nuke facility, but, as I’m going to show in a moment, that’s not the case. What I’m about to tell you isn’t pretty, but there isn’t any other way to say it. San Diego was hit by a nuclear device and lies in ruins.”

The reaction is about what Leonard expected, stunned silence. Everyone turns to look at him, staring with glazed eyes, expecting for him to tell them it’s a joke. He meets those shocked stares with silence of his own and the reality of his statement sinks in. In some, tears well as the ramifications regarding their loved ones penetrate their shock. With others, their expressions intensify as they fold into their thoughts.

“Now, I know most of you are thinking of loved ones…so let me say this before your thoughts sink too deep. There are several things that may have happened. One, they may have evacuated the town prior to it getting hit and they may be somewhere safe, somewhere inland. Also, there isn’t any sign of the fleet boats so there is a chance that they gathered survivors and put to sea,” Leonard states.

He notes several changes of expression as they absorb this new hope.

“The bottom line is that current radiation levels won’t allow us to get any closer. I’m going to show you the recording of the city with the warning that it’s not pretty, and then we need to discuss two things; how are we going to handle this with the crew…and what our next step is.”

Leonard then shows his gathered officers the video. They stare at the screen with morbid, shocked fascination. When the recording finishes, most of them continue to stare at the now blank screen.

“Any thoughts about what happened?” the XO asks after a few moments, interrupting the silence.

“I don’t know,” Leonard answers. “My guess is that it may have been hit by one of our own, possibly from a nuke boat.”

“How do we know that? Couldn’t it have been hit by someone else, I mean from someone taking advantage of the situation?” one of the officers asks.

It’s fairly obvious who the officer is talking about. There are only a few nations that have nuclear weapons capable of hitting the western seaboard.

“It could be. However, if that were the case, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Seattle would more than likely have been hit before San Diego. At the very least, Seattle and the surrounding naval bases would have been. So, I’m guessing that one of our own nuke boats hit it in an attempt to stem the tide of night runners that must have been running amok in the city,” Leonard replies.

He continues, “I want you to take notice that there isn’t an indication in the video of any fleet boats in the wreckage. The fleet is gone and only the wreckage of the old boats remains. That means they may still be out there somewhere.”

“If that’s true, wouldn’t we have heard from them?” the XO asks.

“I would assume so, and I don’t have an answer for that. The ships are missing, though, and have to be somewhere. Even if they were at sea when everything went down, there would be a few of the fleet boats docked. There isn’t a one of them to be seen,” Leonard responds.

“Does that mean we are going to search for them?” another officer asks.

“That’s what I’m thinking. I’m also surmising that at least one missile boat survived along with the fleet. They would have to sail west, possibly heading for Hawaii or Guam.”

“Sir, you mentioned that any survivors might have headed inland before the city was hit. What about conducting a search for them?” an officer asks, hopeful that the answer will be yes.

“I think our best bet is to locate the fleet boats, or at least the missile boat. If we can find them, they’ll be able to tell us what happened. Besides, we don’t have the capability to search inland. We only have Chief Krandle and his team for security and, from what we’ve experienced recently, that wouldn’t be a safe option. Our first priority is for the crew’s security. We must stay together. If we put ashore, some of the crew will decide to proceed on their own despite anything we say.”

Even though there is a strong desire among some of the officers, mostly those with families that accompanied them to San Diego, to strike inland, all present nod at the truth of the statements. The loss of hope that many had of finding their home port intact, and, along with that, their families, causes a depressed atmosphere within the crowded mess. However, they hold onto the thin line of hope that their families are safe at sea with the fleet.

“What about the crew, sir?” the XO asks.

“I’ll make a general announcement detailing our situation and plan. This will cause a lot of depression amongst the crew, so it’s up to us to watch for and deal with your individual sections. It will be your jobs to keep everyone focused on the new mission, which may inspire a measure of hope. Most had families and loved ones ashore so we’ll have to provide an example by our actions and words. So, before we leave here, gentlemen, I need to know that each of you is capable of doing this. If you feel you can’t continue in your position, it will be understood and no negative consequences will follow. Because this is vitally important, without peer pressure, I want you to take a piece of paper, write your name on it with a ‘yes’ to indicate you can and are willing to continue, or ‘no’, and pass it to me.”

The officers write on small sheets and pass them to Leonard. He unfolds each one without expression or looking at the ones whose names he reads. Each piece of paper he opens has the name of the officer and a ‘yes’ indicated.

With a smile, Leonard states, “Very well, gentlemen, thank you. I’ll make the announcement and we’ll prepare to strike west.”

The announcement causes the reaction that Leonard anticipated. Hope, which had been riding high as they proceeded south, falls as his words echo throughout the sub. The mood among the crew is somber and subdued. They go about their tasks, but there is a distinct lack of enthusiasm.

Striking west, the Santa Fe glides under the Pacific swells. Leonard periodically alters their course in a zigzag fashion to cover a wider area. The sub creeps quietly, listening for any sounds that might indicate the fleet’s location. The main body will most likely be surrounded by escorts with subs farther out silently patrolling the waters.

Leonard isn’t positive that the destruction of San Diego was from one of their own and proceeds cautiously. Even if it was—and he thinks that is the most likely scenario—the sheer fact that they nuked the city is a testament that tensions are running high. It may be that, if the Santa Fe was discovered, they would be fired upon before the fleet, or anyone else for that matter, ascertained if they were friend or foe.

Keeping the radar off, Leonard sporadically has the boat brought to periscope depth to sweep the area. This puts them at a greater risk but he has to walk a fine line between keeping secure under the depths and locating the fleet, if it’s even at sea. They very well could be in Guam, or Hawaii, or anywhere else for that matter. Steering at intervals to the northwest and southeast, they slowly crawl westward.

“Sir, transient noises on a bearing of 260 degrees,” a sonarman calls.

“Distance and type?” Leonard asks upon reaching the small room.

“Unknown at this time, sir. It’s faint and sounds like metal against metal coming at almost regular intervals,” the sailor answers.

“Screws noises?”

“Not that I can hear, sir.”

“Put it on the speaker,” Leonard orders.

The small overhead speaker comes to life. Filters have removed the normal sounds of the ocean so the noise comes in clear; a faint booming metallic clang comes through the speaker every few seconds. At intervals, there is a screeching sound of metal dragging against metal.

“What do you think?” Leonard asks the operator.

“It’s hard to say, sir, but if I had to hazard a guess, I would say it’s two ships rubbing against each other with the swells. It has too much reverberation to be break-up sounds and two pieces of metal, no matter how large, wouldn’t cause that kind of echo.”

“Very well. Keep a close ear for screws. If it’s the fleet, someone has to be moving,” Leonard states.

“Aye, sir. I’ve listed the noise as contact Sierra One.”

Entering the control room, Leonard orders the boat deep, rigs for silent running, and sets a course slightly offset from the noise. Soon, they’ll be able to gauge distance from the change in bearing. If they have found the fleet, there will escorts, and Leonard will have to signal them at some point. Until then, he has to assume the noise is being generated from an unfriendly source and proceed accordingly. He needs screw noises in order to ascertain who is out there.

The bearing changes indicate that the transient noise is just less than twenty miles out. Leonard closes to fifteen miles and pauses, listening. They should easily hear the screw noises of the escorts from this distance. They wouldn’t be able to hear the patrolling subs unless they were within three miles, but there should be destroyers on the perimeter. The sub’s position should place them close to or inside the outer screen and near the inner screen of ships. He and his officers are without answer as to why they can’t hear any active escorts.

“Perhaps it’s not the fleet, but two ships that happened to sail into each other,” the XO offers.

“That’s one possibility,” Leonard replies.

Only using their controls to keep their position in the current, Leonard has the Santa Fe lay quiet, listening for the screen of escorts that should be out there. He feels confident that he’s found the fleet’s location, but it is only a gut feeling. It could very well be that the XO is correct and they’ve only found a couple of drifting ships that have collided with each other. All of the signs point to that scenario, but Leonard still isn’t sure. For that reason, he’ll work with the assumption that the sound they hear is the fleet parked fifteen miles to the west of them.

Any sub escort will be assigned a sector to patrol, based on perceived threats. Leonard has the sub stay in position, hoping to hear any indication of an escort crossing their path or venturing into their passive detection range. Hearing nothing after an hour of monitoring, Leonard orders the Santa Fe on a quiet ascent to periscope depth.

He has the sonar team listen for a few more minutes to see if they’ve drawn any attention. Even though they don’t hear any screw revolutions churning the water, that doesn’t mean whoever is up there isn’t paying attention. They could have ASW helicopters out and, with the boat being this close to the surface, it would be easy for the aircraft to pick out the sub’s magnetic anomaly.

The operator gives a negative regarding any sounds. Leonard contemplates an active ping from the sonar, but the transient sounds are on the edge of detection in ideal conditions. It would only serve to give away their position. He has the periscope raised and does a quick three-hundred sixty degree sweep to clear the area. There is nothing in view except the gentle rolling Pacific swells as they wallow across the vast ocean.

“One sweep on the radar and prepare to dive deep,” Leonard orders.

The radar beam radiates from the Santa Fe, carrying outward and fading where nothing is found and returning an echo when it comes into contact with a solid object. The single sweep fills the radar screen with numerous blips. There isn’t any recognizable formation to the returned echoes and all appear to be placed at random.

No sound is heard from the towed array. Leonard waits just below the surface for a few moments, the tension palpable within the control room. All eyes dart from Leonard, to the sonar room, to their instruments, and back to Leonard, waiting for any word of contact and the order to dive.

“Another sweep if you please,” Leonard requests.

There is no rapid escalation of noise as escorts push their turbines up to full speed to pursue a radar contact. Instead, the radar returns the same blips, all in the same position. Leonard notes the smaller blips that would be escort ships, several medium-sized objects that would be support ships, and one large one that can only be the return of a carrier. There seems to be little rhyme or reason to the placement of the vessels, but Leonard knows he’s just verified his gut feeling, they’ve found the fleet that was docked at San Diego.

Normally, being painted from an unknown radar this close would spur the ships into action. However, nothing changes. There isn’t any increase in screw sounds of ships steaming out to locate and identify them. As a matter of fact, there aren’t any screw sounds to be heard at all. Without seeing a response to their radar sweeps, Leonard holds the sub in its current position.

“Send a flash message on the fleet frequency identifying ourselves and requesting contact,” Leonard orders.

The message is sent and long minutes drag by without a reply. An uneasy feeling begins to stir within Leonard, threatening to sink into his very core. If they have found the fleet but no one is home, that means families and loved ones are gone as well. If that turns out to be the case, it will become difficult to hold the crew together, or at least keep them focused toward a common goal. Some will want to go inland to see if they can find any of their family members. The common breakages that normally occur toward the end of a cruise—the crew breaking things in order to put toward port earlier—will begin happening with regularity.

Without a response to their message, Leonard orders the boat to remain at its current depth and sets a course for the ships that are apparently drifting randomly. He has the Santa Fe creep through the waters. He and the crew are heading toward an unknown and caution is the keyword. They have taken several risks during the search for the fleet, but nothing that they couldn’t dive to the safety of the depths and lose their pursuers. Now, with each mile that the distance closes, the danger grows.

Leonard closes to within visual range and raises the periscope. Water drips momentarily from the lens and then clears. Panning around the area, he makes out the distinct shapes of cruisers, frigates, patrol boats, support vessels…and, in the distance, a single carrier.

Having closed to within a couple of miles, there are ships floating in all quadrants. Zooming in, Leonard looks on the decks of those closest. There isn’t any sign of movement. Sunlight glitters off glass panes from the bridges of the nearest warships. He directs the Santa Fe to a frigate nearby that is drifting aimlessly. Well aware of the firepower that even a small ship like that can pack, especially as they are geared toward anti-submarine warfare, he remains cautious about his approach. However, he well knows there is no way he would be able to get this close if any of the systems were manned.

Closing in on the drifting hull, he becomes aware of dark smears along the bottom of the superstructure where it meets the main deck. The blotches seem to be thicker where hatches, many of them standing open, lead deeper into the ship. Seeing the dark blemishes seemingly coming out of the hatches, Leonard wonders if a fire hasn’t gutted the ship. Upon closer inspection, he notes that the smears don’t extend to the top of the hatches, as would be the case if fire had broken out and smoke poured from the openings.

Keeping the periscope up for this period of time will make their location easily identifiable, even more so because they are underway and the periscope will be leaving a wake. Although worried about the possibility of being discovered, Leonard wants to unravel the mystery of the discolorations along the haze gray of the vessel they are nearing. With that in mind, he opts to leave the mast extended.

Zooming in, he focuses on the dark splotches. It becomes immediately apparent what they are and the unsettled feeling Leonard felt earlier deepens. In places, thick streaks stream downward. Leonard quickly pans up to the bridge. Although it’s hard to see through some of the glare, he sees what seem to be dark smears plastered on the inside of the glass panes. It’s fairly apparent that he’s looking at a ghost ship, or at least a lifeless one.

The other ships he observes exhibit the same dark streaks with no one moving about the decks. Staring at the flotilla, Leonard wonders about any subs that must have accompanied the fleet. A morbid thought enters about them floating lifelessly in the depths, perhaps still under power and motoring in whatever direction they were headed when the crew succumbed.

Finishing his search of the frigate, Leonard steers toward several other ships floating nearby, discovering the same dark streaks and without seeing anyone aboard.

Lowering the periscope, Leonard orders the Santa Fe to head toward the carrier floating a few miles away. Trying to keep from overtly staring, all eyes within the control room turn toward Leonard nonetheless as he steps away. As a result of Leonard’s actions and the risks he is taking, the crew is aware that something is going on. Tension hangs heavily in the control room. The crew knows that they are in a disadvantageous position. They also realize that, if they have found the fleet, there will be word of their families. The fact that their messages have gone unanswered and that Leonard hasn’t said anything weighs deeply.

Understanding that the crew needs some word, even if they might not like what they hear, Leonard grabs the mic. He makes a general announcement informing everyone that they have found the fleet but that he hasn’t seen any sign of anyone as yet. He also tells them that they haven’t received any response to their radio messages, sent in code and in the clear, but they are heading toward a carrier observed several miles away.

The pressure created from the hanging tension leaves as if the sub underwent a rapid depressurization. Many hang their heads realizing what the announcement means. Several of those sitting at the consoles experience blurred vision as tears form. Leonard hangs up the mic and notes several of the crew wiping their hands across their eyes. There is still a faint hope that some survivors might be on the carrier but, seeing what he has, Leonard knows that the odds are slim. The last chance of finding anyone alive lies inland.

Leonard feels deep down that they won’t find anyone. With that, he knows a big decision is looming: What will they do if they don’t find anyone? Where will they go? The boat needs a refitting, so Leonard is initially thinking that they will make their way to Bangor, refit, and go from there. They can contact Walker and see if he would be willing to check out the areas surrounding San Diego, radiation levels permitting. Leonard remembers Walker talking about their own search for families of the soldiers with him, so he might be willing to conduct the same for the crew of the Santa Fe.

Leonard doesn’t want to give his crew any false hope as that isn’t the way he operates. But, if there is any hope, regardless of the odds, he’ll take it. The trip down the western seaboard has shown him that anything is possible. It has also shown him that there might be very few places they can go and live with any amount of security. At some point, they’ll have to put ashore and he only has Krandle’s team to provide that for them. A part of him wants to check out Hawaii and other parts of the Pacific, but there would be no help should something happen to the sub while at sea. They would be at the mercy of the waves much like the fleet they are slowly motoring through.

Leonard raises the periscope as the sub draws near the carrier. The massive bulk of steel and cabling appears to be adrift like the rest of the ships they’ve passed. Looking closer, Leonard notices the carrier is wallowing in the ocean swells with a slight list. Several cables, unnoticed on the escort vessels, trail down the giant hull in places. He can’t see over the immense height of the hull to observe the decks and superstructure, but Leonard can only assume that there are the same dark smears staining the outside walls.

Circling the carrier, Leonard finds the source of the noise that drew them to this ghost yard. Parallel to the carrier, riding the same swells, a support ship rides alongside. As the waves lift each ship, the support vessel bumps into the carrier, at times, remaining in contact and grinding along the side. Leonard notifies the crew that they’ve drawn alongside the carrier and of his intent to surface.

Parking the sub a short distance from the support ship, Leonard surfaces the sub. It rises slowly, emerging from the ocean like a monster ascending from the depths. The conning tower pierces the surface and rises, water rushing from the bridge to cascade down to the blue waters. Soon, the body breaks through, the wavelets on the swells slapping against the hull.

Once the lookout crew have ascended and reported all clear, Leonard climbs to the bridge. The large, gray, steel hulls lay a couple of hundred yards off to the side. Across the intervening water, the clanging boom of the two ships colliding is amplified. A high-pitched screech of grinding metal drifts to Leonard and the sailors posted on watch.

Leonard hails the vessels over the loudspeaker. Still holding the microphone, he looks up to the carrier deck high overhead half-expecting to see a crowd of people appear, silhouetted by the blue sky behind. There is neither a response nor a sighting, only the grinding sound of metal on metal and the slap of waves.

Staring across the distance, Leonard thinks about sending someone aboard.

Maybe one of the smaller escorts, he thinks.

He quickly discards the idea as images enter his thoughts of the darkened interiors that Krandle’s team would face. Plus, if there was anyone onboard, they would have responded to his hail regardless of whether they could operate the systems or not. A particularly loud groan from the two ships reaches across the waters as Leonard comes to the conclusion that he is looking upon another empty vessel.

“Sir, transient noises, bearing 210 degrees, range 2,500 yards,” a call comes through to the bridge.

Leonard initiates orders for an emergency dive.

The deck is already tilting with the hull submerging below the waves as Leonard closes the hatch and descends to the control room. His heart is racing with adrenaline. He knows there was a risk bringing his boat to the surface and now, there’s the possibility that they’ve been caught.

“What’s the source?” Leonard asks, bracing himself against the steepening angle of the deck.

“Sounds like another sub blowing their tanks and surfacing, sir.”

“Surfacing? Are you sure?” Leonard queries, expecting the response to be the sound of screws or a torpedo door opening.

“Aye, sir.”

“Belay the dive,” Leonard orders.

Only a friendly sub would be surfacing under these circumstances. With few other ways of communicating, this was the quickest way of letting the Santa Fe know of their presence and friendly intentions. The deck levels as the dive is halted and they make their short way to the surface once again.

Once they broach the surface, Leonard eagerly scales the ladder, anxious to see other survivors. And not only survivors but, more than likely, fellow bubble heads. Besides the excitement, which Leonard holds close, they may have the story of what happened to the fleet and San Diego. He knows his boat is safe with the other vessel surfacing but, having had the crew set up a firing solution as part of the emergency dive, he directs that they retain that just in case. They only need to open the doors and send a series of homing torpedoes on their way.

Scrambling to the top, Leonard immediately turns his binoculars to the bearing given. Sitting on top of the surface, riding the swells, is the distinct outline of an Ohio-class submarine. Aft of the conning tower, the long deck of the hull containing the silos housing the SLBM’s (Sea-launched ballistic missiles) floats above the waves. To Leonard’s sharp eyes, the missile boat seems to be riding higher than he remembers seeing previously.

“Sir, periscope in the water, 3,000 yards bearing 280 degrees,” one of the lookouts calls.

Before Leonard can issue the order to lock onto this new target and start another emergency dive, the hydrophone operator calls, “Transient noises, bearing 280 degrees, another sub blowing its tanks, sir.”

Whipping around to the new bearing, Leonard observes the surface of the ocean bulge slightly and another conning tower emerges from the depths. Water sprays outward as the sleek outline of another LA-class fast attack submarine broaches the surface. Turning back to the missile boat, Leonard observes flashes of light emanating from the top of the conning tower.

“Signalman to the bridge,” Leonard orders.

Leonard makes way for the signalman as he climbs up. Messages are passed back and forth between the missile boat, the attack boat, and Leonard. The LA-class sub is the Jefferson City based out of Point Loma, San Diego, and the missile boat is the Maine based out of Bangor. Leonard’s boat was only recently reassigned to Point Loma from Hawaii and he has never met either captain. Rather than keep the lights flashing, and perhaps overwhelming the poor sailors trying to read and relay messages, the captain of the Maine suggests that they meet on his boat. Both boats have a means of conveyance so Leonard and the other captain agree to motor over.

Water sprays outward as the rubber craft pounds across the water. Lifting over the swells and descending into troughs, the raft jars over the wavelets like motoring over a washboard-rutted road. Occasionally, catching a wavelet just right, sea water splashes over the bow, showering the faces of those aboard. Leonard, along with Krandle and another member of the SEAL Team, wipe the salt water from their goggles.

They make their way to the Maine, its dark shape lying low on the surface. The raft bumps against the almost black anechoic-coated hull with the smaller waves slapping against the sides. Shouts echo from above as sailors toss a rope ladder and other lines down. Leonard and the others climb to the sub as the sailors hoist the rubber craft to the deck. Another such raft, carrying the captain of the Jefferson City and some of the crew, is loitering nearby to await their turn to board.

Dried off and seated in the large mess room, Leonard gratefully takes a cup of coffee. With Krandle seated at the table as well, Leonard is introduced to Captain Castagne of the Jefferson City and Captain Jorgenson of the Maine. Although outranking the other two via their dates of rank, Leonard still feels like the newcomer. The other two have had some association with the military since the downfall of civilization whereas Leonard has basically been on his own.

Feeling the outsider, Leonard relates his story in detail between sips and refills of coffee with Krandle sharing his experiences.

“Why didn’t you reply to the radio calls?” Leonard asks, finishing his story.

“We received several previous messages using an older code which we didn’t trust so opted to see how events would transpire. Trust has been hard to come by,” Jorgenson relates, casting an eye toward Castagne.

“I guess that’s understandable,” Leonard answers, knowing his own distrust and caution during his sojourn down the seaboard.

“We received the flash and open-air messages and waited. We saw your scope and silently maneuvered until we could pick up your screws on the passive array. That took some time and wasn’t easy, but once we identified your acoustics and heard you surface, we did the same hoping you’d take it as a non-aggressive sign and not fire on us. Jefferson City was standing by and ready just in case,” Jorgenson states.

Even though all know that Leonard is the ranking officer present, the conversation is spoken as equals. Each has domain over their boats and Leonard is fine with keeping it that way.

“So, what’s the story here?” Leonard asks with a nod of his head toward the carrier outside.

With a heavy sigh, Jorgenson responds, “That is a long, interesting, and ultimately sad story.”

“Although based at Bangor, we were to report to Point Loma following our patrol. We arrived offshore and were ordered to hold our position. Things seemed to be frantic onshore and we were seemingly forgotten. On the night after our arrival, we received a message to call command. I was transferred directly to Admiral Casey who filled me in on what was transpiring. It was a mess and hard to take it all in. You know by now what’s happened so I won’t go into that detail, but the admiral told us that they were in the process of gathering family and staff aboard the fleet boats currently in port.

“He had lost contact with PACOM and PACFLT, in addition to any other commands and bases, and had taken temporary command until communications could be restored. The admiral let us know that most of San Diego had been lost to the infected, although I like your night runner term better. Although we aren’t geared for escort duties, we were ordered to accompany the fleet when it sortied. The next morning, Jefferson City arrived and was issued the same orders.

“I have to say that it was rather strange seeing the city by day. It just didn’t match what we were being told. There wasn’t any smoke rising or anything else that you’d associate with a disaster of that magnitude. It seemed, well, normal. At any rate, the fleet sailed out, ship after ship emerging from around the headlands. Jefferson City was put in the vanguard to provide a semblance of outer security. We accompanied them. Behind us, a seemingly endless stream of ships poured out of the port.

“I don’t think there was any game plan other than to get survivors out of the city. It may have been that they were going to loiter in the Pacific and wait for things to calm down ashore. Or, they may have stopped to get take a breath and head to Hawaii or Guam. However, they didn’t have a chance to do anything as outbreaks started occurring on all of the surface boats. That’s when we received our orders from Admiral Casey.”

Jorgenson pauses in his story as if unable to continue. Or maybe it’s that he doesn’t want to.

“The admiral, fighting the outbreak on his ships, decided San Diego was lost and ordered us to target it. He didn’t stipulate his reasons for launching, but I believe he was trying to stop the infected from branching out. Seeing he was fighting a losing battle aboard, it could have been a retaliatory strike, but I prefer my opinion. We weren’t far offshore…but out of sight of land. We separated from the group…” Jorgenson pauses again, “…and launched.”

Leonard, who didn’t notice that he was holding his breath, lets it out with a sigh. He knows the thoughts, fears, and doubts that must have circulated through the captain’s mind. That’s one question asked of most everyone put in control of nuclear weapons, ‘Would you fire on the United States if so ordered?’ That’s a tricky question and, knowing the odds of being sent such an order were low, most would answer ‘yes’ in order to get or keep their position. No, Leonard knows that order wasn’t an easy one to keep.

Jorgenson’s eyes take on a faraway look. “We surfaced immediately after the launch and were surprised to see the Jefferson City surface a short distance from us. The smoke trail was still visible, arcing into the sky until lost from view and slowly being blown apart by the winds aloft. We had the timer going and everyone on top was silent. There was only the sound of waves against the hull. The open tube and smoke trail were the only signs of what just transpired. Minutes upon minutes passed with only the breeze against our faces as we kept our eyes to the east. Our timers wound down to zero. Then, over the horizon, a bright flash. I felt sick watching the rapidly rising mushroom cloud leap into the sky, clawing its way upward.

“No one said anything. There was nothing to say. Most of those on top felt the same way, but we were unable to turn our eyes away for a long time. I remember the message from the admiral congratulating the entire crew of the Maine. Attached were further orders targeting the entire western seaboard. I crumpled the message and threw it overboard. That’s when I signaled Jefferson City via signal lamp.

“We both thought the situation hopeless. It must be the same as San Diego in other cities, but the orders to nuke them seemed ludicrous. Of course, we hadn’t been ashore, but it still seemed an act of desperation and, well, it just didn’t seem to be the right solution. Seeing the mushroom cloud on the horizon seemed to be a testament to the folly of those further orders. Castagne felt the same way. We came to the conclusion that it was only a matter of time for those on the ships anyway.

“Even though families were aboard, there wasn’t anything we could do. We didn’t dare take any aboard or we’d be in the same straits. That was a harder decision than launching, the one to do nothing. The crew of Jefferson City took it hard, but Castagne was able to present a clear picture of what was happening. We decided to separate from the fleet and wait. If they survived, we could apologize and more than likely be court-martialed.

“We ignored further communications from fleet and dove deep thinking the admiral would send the ASW escorts against us. I guess they had their own hands full as we never heard them working against us. The ships had gathered close together for whatever reason and we loitered on the fringes. We surfaced the first night after breaking from the fleet but didn’t stay for long. Screams from the ships drifted across the water and it was just too much to take. The next morning, none of the ships were underway and we saw a few people on the decks. We discussed closing and taking on the survivors, but we didn’t dare lest we become like the drifting boats.

“The next day, we didn’t see anyone. The only things on the surface were the ships slowly drifting apart on the swells. We stayed in the area for a while before we headed to Hawaii. We only arrived back here the day prior.”

“What did you see in Hawaii?” Leonard asks.

Jorgenson and Castagne give each other a meaningful look. “It’s gone,” Jorgenson states emphatically.

“So, you obviously never fired on the other cities, but I noticed you riding a little high. Do you still have the missiles aboard?” Leonard asks.

With a sigh, Jorgenson answers, “No. We safetied the missiles and fired them into the ocean. Seeing that mushroom cloud rising over one of our own towns, destroyed without good reason… well… I just didn’t want that kind of temptation to surface. I get the admiral’s reasoning to keep the infected from spreading, but if we had fired on the western cities, the entire country would have been laid to ruin from the radiation.”

Leonard nods his understanding. “What’s your plan from here?”

“We were in the midst of discussing that when you showed up. We thought about Guam or possibly Australia, but after seeing Hawaii, we thought we’d just run into the same thing. If there was someone around, we would have received some form of communication, well, valid ones that is,” Castagne says.

Having related the information that Walker provided, they know the previous ones were fake.

“We need outfitting, though. Seeing how we weren’t admitted into the port, we are both in need of supplies,” Jorgenson states.

“We need outfitting as well,” Leonard says. “The only place I know for sure where we can do that is at Bangor.”

“Did you happen to find any families around the base?” Jorgenson asks. “The crew will be anxious for any word.”

“We didn’t see anyone there, but that doesn’t mean anything as we didn’t leave the dock. It’s possible Walker will know something, but we’ll have to wait until we get closer to get into contact as we’ve lost satellite communications,” Leonard replies. “Plus, it will give us something to focus on. The crew isn’t going to take the news of their families well.”

“We each had our problems at first. There are still some who are upset, but we’ve gone through the hardest phase. Just give it time and let them grieve,” Castagne states.

With the captains back in their respective subs, they all sink below the Pacific swells and turn north.

Revelations

On my knees next to Robert, with my arm draped across his back, I send Gonzalez after the doc. Robert, after throwing up, remains on his hands and knees. All of sudden, I feel a pressure in my head. It’s not overpowering or anything like a headache. It’s just, well, something else. Almost like a breath blowing through if that makes any sense. Robert turns his head abruptly and shoots a look at me. As soon as his eyes lock on mine, the pressure changes, shifts, and I can sense Robert.

“Dad?” That was in my head.

“Yeah,” I reply back mentally.

“What the fuck is going on?” he asks.

“I don’t know. Are you okay?” I ask, still stunned beyond compare.

“I…I think so. My head felt like it was coming apart a minute ago, but I feel fine now.”

What I feel is similar to the way I can sense the night runners and understand them. There are some deep, fundamental differences though. The first and possibly the most significant one is that I can not only sense his physical presence, meaning exactly where he is located, but I can feel how he is physically. It’s so precise that I know he is telling me the truth and I can even read his emotions to a certain extent. Another aspect is that we are communicating in a speech pattern rather than in images like the night runners do.

Still in shock, I try blocking him out in the same fashion as I do the night runners. He vanishes from my mind. It’s like the opening and closing with the night runners, but this feels like it’s in a different part of my mind; like it’s in a different compartment. I open up to the night runners and don’t sense Robert.

“What just happened?” Robert says out loud, still looking intently at me.

I open up to him and sense both him and the night runners, each in their different compartments, yet presenting a whole within my reality.

“I closed up and shut you off,” I say with my mind. “Can you sense the night runners?”

“Is that what those pictures are?” he asks.

“Yes.”

Being easier to show rather than say, I use night runner imagery to show Robert how to open and close his sense of them and me. Several tries and explanations later, I can feel him fade but not quite vanish. With work, he’ll get it.

Robert begins to rise from the floor as the doc arrives with Gonzalez following just behind. Looking at the mess on the floor, the doc takes Robert by the wrist and starts him toward the escalator.

“I’m fine,” Robert says, attempting to pull his arm free.

“Go with him,” I say.

“But really, I’m feeling fine. You know that, Dad,” Robert states.

“I know, son, but go with him anyway. Let him check you out,” I say, still shocked about what happened to Robert.

“We’ll take care of this, sir,” Henderson says, motioning his arm over the mess.

“Nonsense. I’ll get it. You go rest,” I respond.

“Sir, go see to him. This is nothing. We got it,” Gonzalez states.

Although my sense of Robert told me he was fine, this is so new that doubt creeps in. He has partially shut down and it’s hard to read anything from him at the moment. Better to let the doc see to him. The determination and peace I felt earlier is shaken a little as I watch Robert walk away, being led by the doc. I gather up his gear on the floor and follow.

A strange feeling descends over me as I climb the stairs. In my mind, I know I should be frantically worried about Robert. A part of me feels that anxiousness. It’s what I should be feeling, and I hold onto that because…well… it’s what I would normally feel. The odd thing is, I am truly not all that concerned. Well, that’s not exactly true. I am worried, but I also know deep down that he’s okay. That is, if what I sensed is true and I would stop second-guessing myself. What I’m more concerned about is how he might do in the future. I’ve been alright since I was scratched and the night runner blood mingled with my own, except for that minor incident of going into a coma for a couple of weeks.

I’m worried that this may not have run its course and Robert could do the same. It could be that his youthfulness was able to handle the infection better, or it could just be beginning. I’ll have to ask him how long he’s had headaches. I know that he’s had to have them but has perhaps kept silent about them. Or maybe he hasn’t. I just feel tired as I reach the top of the escalator and make my way to where the doc has taken Robert.

Looking tired from having been wakened, the doc gives him a complete physical, finding nothing wrong other than a slightly higher than normal heart and respiratory rates.

“That’s to be expected and they are within norms,” the doctor states, “but I’d like to keep him here and monitored for the rest of the night.”

With a heavy sigh of exasperation, Robert removes his outer clothing and climbs onto a bed set up for him. Pulling up a chair next to the bed, I pat him on the shoulder and sit down.

“I’m fine, Dad, really,” Robert says with a hint of dejection in his tone. “You don’t have to stay.”

“I know. I’ll just camp here for a bit. So…how long have you had the headaches?”

Robert looks sharply at me out of the corner of his eyes. “How did you know?”

“Don’t forget I went through this as well, so I’m guessing you’ve had them for a while now.”

“Just a week or so. They never really got too bad, more of an annoyance. Well, until tonight that is,” he responds.

“Do you feel them now?”

He is still partially blocked so, even though I am opened up to him, I can’t sense anything.

“No. There was just this sudden onset and then, with a flash, it was gone and I could see you,” Robert answers. “Sorry about the mess on the floor.”

“It’s all good. You can owe it to the team later. Open up like I taught you,” I say.

I suddenly sense him fully in my mind and delve into his physical being, searching. His presence is fully open to me and I can feel, with absolute confidence that he is, in fact, doing well like he says.

“That kind of tingles,” he says, mentally.

“You do the same,” I say, showing him what I just did.

I feel a slight vibration inside, and like he said, there is a faint tingle. I close off that portion and feel his exploration vanish, at least as far as his ability to sense me in that fashion. There is a faint pressure as he continues his probe.

“What happened?” he asks.

“I closed that part off. Apparently we can do that and still communicate,” I answer.

As interesting as these possibilities are, we both need our rest. The next several days are going to be busy ones. Near the cubicle door, I hear stirring. Turning, I see Lynn and several others poking their heads through the doorway. I give a nod letting them know that Robert is okay. With satisfied nods, most leave while Lynn enters and pulls up a chair.

“What happened? Are you sick?” Lynn asks Robert.

He shoots me a look that says he’s not sure what to say.

“Same thing that happened to me,” I answer her.

“What, so now he can hear and talk to night runners as well?”

“Yeah, that and we can talk with each other,” I say.

“You’re kidding! You mean, like mentally? Like with these images you say you can see from the night runners?”

“Well, It’s actually regular speech, but we can use the imagery as well,” I reply.

She shakes her head. I don’t blame her. This is rather new and I’m still feeling a little numb from the shock of it. The implications and possible use could be far-reaching. Of course, it’s not like we’d just pump night runner blood into anyone. We’ve also seen the other side of being bitten by them. And there is still the possibility that the changes within Robert are not finished. Although I sense that he is fine, I’m still worried that something else could happen.

“What else can you two supposedly do?” Lynn asks, facetiously.

“Well, Robert can cast lightning bolts from his fingers,” I say.

The look that she shoots at me lets me know that was just about the exact wrong thing to say. Backpedaling furiously, I tell her what I know so far.

“What about the others that were bitten that we brought in? Can you sense them?” Lynn asks.

“I haven’t tried as of yet but I plan to see if it’s the same. It could be that they closed themselves off early on without knowing what they were doing. I remember the one guy saying it was driving them crazy. Of course, they would have had to shut themselves off or they would have been found. I really don’t know,” I answer.

In the dim lighting, Greg, in an adjacent bed, rolls over with a groan and opens one bleary eye. The swelling on Greg’s cheek has receded remarkably and the white bandage across his scalp stands out starkly against his dark hair and skin.

“What’s up?” he asks thickly.

“Robert is staying the night to be monitored. He’s fine. It’s just a precaution,” I say.

Greg’s one eye rolls over to Robert. “Good, then I’ll have company.”

With that, he promptly closes his eye and drifts back to sleep. Another stirring at the door draws my attention. Michelle is standing in the doorway, her hair disheveled from sleep and her eyes filled with worry at seeing Robert on the bed.

I take that as my cue and rise as she hurries to Robert’s bedside. Lynn and I exit to the sound of Robert attempting to reassure Michelle.

In the morning, I rise and hurry to the cubicle where Robert spent the rest of the night. Seeing him lying on the bed, I open up and reach out. He immediately opens one eye, and peers over to me.

“Quit it, Dad. I’m fine,” he says drowsily.

“Okay, okay.” I then mutter upon leaving, ”Damn, a little sensitive.”

I know he’s doing fine if not a little tired from the brief perception I had. He’s catching on about how to block that out as I lost sense of him moments after I delved into him. The days are going to be busy with training—both for the teams and for Robert and Craig, assuming the doc is satisfied with Robert’s status. I know he’ll find Robert in good shape, but I’ll need to keep an eye on him. And he’ll need to be honest with me regarding how he feels if he doesn’t want me digging into him every five minutes.

Out in the parking lot, Lynn has gathered the teams and is going over a training schedule. I sit on a curb and watch as she details their plan for the day. Soon, they are walking across the compound to the vehicle storage hangars, leaving me alone with the chill of the morning. It won’t be long until these cold, clear days give way to the rain and clouds that the Northwest is noted for.

I’m glad for the clear days as that will make our initial training flights easier. For a couple of days, it will be low-levels during the day and hitting the night runners during the evening. We’ll have to get our rest periodically as time allows. Sitting in the shadow of Cabela’s, feeling the chill seep through my fatigues, and the day getting lighter as the sun works its way over the Cascades, I feel the calm, yet determined, feeling from yesterday settle inside.

My peaceful time alone is soon interrupted as others emerge from the building. The quiet parking lot is filled with murmurs of conversation followed shortly thereafter by the sounds of vehicles starting. The semis are left idling to warm up, emitting plumes of exhaust that climb into the still air. We had our day off and now it’s time to get on with things. I can sense the determination in the crews that will soon be off gathering supplies or working on our housing.

Robert, Bri, and Craig soon emerge with others that are coming out of the doors in both large and small groups. On seeing Robert, I open up and do a quick sensing of him. He gives me a look and I shrug, sending him, “It’s going to happen. Deal with it.”

Before we head out for our training mission, I gather the others we found that were bitten and survived. I want to see whether there is the same sensory perception that Robert and I share. After some explanation, I open up but don’t seem to sense any of them. I talk them through how to mentally open, to find that compartment that seems to be part of the mind, yet separate. In the parking lot, we experiment and, at first, I can vaguely sense one of them. With practice on their part, I am finally able to sense them in the fashion that I can Robert.

With Bri and Craig looking on, we spend some time working on opening up and shutting down. The crazy old man is wary but goes along with it until he becomes a believer as well. He was always wont to think it was him going crazy, but he eventually comes around. I show them the difference between us and the night runners; that we can shut that, or any part, down.

I send Robert and the others over to the outer gate and we test it over distance. I can sense their presence, meaning their exact location, but the ability to sense their nature, emotionally and physically, appears to be limited by distance. They are about a mile away, and I can only vaguely pick out their feelings and physical state. I push farther outward to see if this makes a difference, but the vagueness remains. We can, however, communicate clearly.

I have them drive to the edge of the Nisqually Valley several miles distant. The hints that I felt of their physical and emotional nature vanishes altogether but we can still communicate clearly. With the others, it’s not as distinct as with Robert, but it’s clear nonetheless. Perhaps it has something to do with the genetics or the bond we share. Who the hell knows?

With no teams available to provide security, that’s as far as I feel comfortable with them traveling. Perhaps after our training flights, I can ask Lynn to spare a couple and continue testing. Robert and the others return, their eyes filled with wonder and amazement. I have one other test that I’m not particularly looking forward to.

I ask Robert to go see if his mother, Julie, would mind helping us out. She’s the only one I know that may have actually been a night runner and changed back. There is still some debate on that, but I know what I saw and heard. The experiences I’ve had since then only seem to validate it. Robert hesitates and then goes to see. I can pretty much picture that conversation now.

“Um, Mom, Dad wants your help to see if he can see into your mind.”

Yeah, that’s pretty much not going to happen. I feel Robert make his way through the building.

“Robert. Better yet, you show her how to open up and see if you can sense her. I’m pretty sure she isn’t going to be fond of me doing that,” I send.

I can hear his mental chuckle. “I think that’s a better plan.”

The others gathered near me, with the exception of Bri and Craig, chuckle.

Awesome, I’m in a group conversation. Good to know, I think facetiously, shutting them out.

As Robert tries to locate his mom, I experiment to see if I can shut the others out and communicate only with Robert. Within the overall compartment in my mind, I can sense smaller ones that are the others. I work on shutting individual ones out while keeping the one I sense as Robert open.

“Can you hear me?” I send to him.

“Yeah, Dad,” he replies.

This is going to take some getting used to, and I’ll have to be careful. We’ll all have to be. The implications of what we can do are large, but there is no way I want to broadcast my thoughts. No one would want to hear those. If they did, I’d be committed immediately, and more than likely shot.

Robert returns after a long while, to the point that I was about to go and fetch him. There is a lot to do and, with the days growing shorter, we don’t have as much time available to us. He brings the news that he wasn’t able to sense his mother at all. I figure the amount of time was spent with his mom asking him a multitude of questions and Robert hemming and hawing his way through them.

I ask him if he tried to open up in the way you’d sense night runners; was he open in that manner when he was telling her how to open up? He looks at me, shocked.

“No, I…uh, didn’t think of that. Really? As a night runner?” he asks.

I shrug as I sense how uncomfortable the question made him. I may have him try again with her, but not in that way. I’ll open up without him knowing and see if I can sense her in the manner of the night runners. It could be that she wasn’t one at all. Or, it could be that, with the transformation, the ability was lost. I’m pretty sure we’d know by now if she was able to sense the night runners. She would have exhibited, in some form, that she thought she was going crazy. As it is, we’ll just work on what we have and continue experimenting when time allows. For now, there’s a crash course in low-level flying to do.

Thanking the others for their time, and with the promise to continue at some point, I shut out everyone. Gathering Robert, Bri, and Craig, we adjourn inside to go over low-level route planning. I teach them how to pick update and turn points, ones that will be easily identifiable, the methods for correcting course and speed for wind, and other things that are mostly just academic. The important factor, considering we really won’t be doing time-on-target flights, is to study the terrain along the route of flight and to identify landmarks that will help keep the aircraft on track.

We spend some time developing a low-level route and going over the details. Close to noon, we pack up and head to the 130. While the original plan was to make it look like supply runs, we will now attempt to make the flight look like we’re scouting the area and then drop into our low-level. It may or may not fool anyone, but we’ll give it our best shot. In succeeding days, we’ll set patrols in different sectors with other low-level routes planned.

There isn’t much of the flight itself other than acquainting both Robert and Craig to the subtle differences of low-level flying. The first thing they quickly learn is that it’s a lot more difficult to keep track of their position with the line of sight distance being drastically reduced. I teach them to rely on their heading and speed, backing it up with the coordinates in the computer. We could set up the entire route in the computer and fly it with our nav instruments but it’s important to be able to fly it by hand. So that’s the way we do it. On our actual mission, we’ll be using the nav computer, but it’s vital to know how to manually fly a route in case the computer malfunctions. Another thing they find out about is the turbulence. Wind is affected by terrain and only with altitude does it smooth out. On hot days, thermals will affect the amount of chop but we won’t have to worry about that for some time, if ever again.

We return after a few hours, tired and in need of rest. There is a meeting to attend and then another night of trying to keep the night runners at bay. Robert seems to be fine, which he repeatedly tells me as he catches my questioning looks toward him. As we are shutting down, I try to sense him again. I feel nothing, not even the partial openness I felt previously. With the props winding down, he looks over at me and smiles, having felt my attempt.

Lynn and the teams are still training, so I’ll have to put off any further experimentation until the next day. Besides, the lack of sleep is beginning to catch up with me and I’d much rather find my pillow than play a long-distance game of cans and string.

Later, Lynn wakes me from a deep slumber telling me that the group is ready to meet. Initially, I just moan something and roll over.

“Oh no you don’t, Jack,” she says, shaking me again.

It takes her a few tries before I understand what she is trying to tell me, but it eventually penetrates my fog-filled mind. I stumble to the meeting, trying to erase the last vestiges of sleepiness.

Lynn begins the meeting by telling everyone that the team training went moderately well for the first day but more is needed. They spent the greater part of the morning setting up part of the hangar to mimic the other group’s equipment bay layout, only on a smaller scale. She then gives a brief summary on the Phase One and Phase Two training programs currently underway.

“When will the people in Phase Two be ready to be molded into teams?” I ask.

“Three days,” Lynn answers.

“And how long do you think until the current teams will be ready to go?”

“Five days, minimum,” Lynn replies.

“Okay, if that’s true, and if no one has any objections, then let’s set a departure date for Portland six days hence,” I say.

Frank talks more about his concerns but concedes that he can’t think of a better option. He admits that it’s not the plan that he’s worried about, it’s just that we seem to be throwing a lot on a long shot. He comments that he’s onboard, that he knows what the end result will be if we do nothing, but that he’s just anxious. We spend the next little while going over the plan again, talking about scenarios that we may encounter and how to deal with them. Specifics of the plan are talked about in greater detail with some fine-tuning. Bannerman reports that he has some of the supplies and will send crews out to find the others over the next couple of days.

“Lynn, I’d like to borrow a couple of teams for a few hours in the morning if you can spare them,” I request after we finish with the mission planning.

“What for?” Lynn asks.

I tell her that I’d like to conduct several tests with Robert, myself, and the others we found who had been bitten. Seeing the confusion on everyone’s face, I detail what happened to Robert. Silence engulfs the group as they all, with the exception of Lynn, Bri, and Robert, look on with shock registering on their faces. It takes a few moments for them to recover and I go over the experimentation with the others we brought back.

“What about Julie?” Frank asks.

“Robert tried with her and felt nothing,” I respond.

I leave it at that, wanting to test that farther if possible. The late afternoon is heading into evening and, frankly, I’m tired of sitting in the chair, but we still have the night runners up north to cover. Our latest foray there didn’t show us anything comforting. That’s a threat we’ll have to deal with as well.

“What about the bridges?” I direct my question to Frank.

“I looked over the footage earlier, and it does appear that the four you identified are the only ways across the river for twenty miles. The railroad and old highway bridges look like they can easily be taken out with the Spooky’s 105s. The interstate bridges may prove to be a bigger challenge with their superstructure. You’ll have to blast through that first before you can hit the spans themselves. And, with their size, it’s hard to tell if the river is deep enough that the spans will sink. We could just be creating a footpath for the night runners to cross,” Frank briefs.

“If that happens, we could just blast the debris,” I state.

“True, and we have enough ammo. There is no doubt in my mind that we should do this, but the real question is when. If we blow the bridges, we’ll lose access to anything in the north. That means the distribution centers and bases,” Frank says. “What do you think, Bannerman?”

“There are other distribution centers to the south of us. We can bring in more storage containers and pull everything from the northern DC and the bases. We’ll have to make doubly sure we bring everything we want before blowing our only access to them. The one worry I have is the fuel. We can still get to it if we cross the bridges twenty miles to the east, but that will add almost two hours for each fuel run. However, with that said, it’s doable,” Bannerman answers.

“Frank, in your estimation, how long do we have?” Lynn asks.

“That’s a tricky question. I can only hazard a wild guess as we’ve yet to see any pattern that the groups of night runners hold to,” Frank states.

“You predicted they would eventually leave the big cities, and that’s what is happening,” Lynn counters.

“Well… yes… but that’s a no-brainer. So, from what we’ve gathered so far, my best guess is that we may have a couple of weeks before they start wandering out of Tacoma and the urban areas north of there. Given that their migrations, concentrations, and honestly, most of their observed activities, seem to be focused around food, they’ll stay where they are as long as the area can support them. I’m guessing there should be plenty for a while. After that, they’ll more than likely begin heading south again.

“Another factor is them leaving an urban area. It could be that they’ll hesitate coming too far south without knowing whether they’ll have shelter during the day. I don’t pretend to know their thought processes regarding this, but the valley between us and the southern end of Tacoma may hold them up for a while. Eventually, though, I see them pushing south in search of food, with a few remaining depending on the renewal of food sources. If we blow the bridges, there’s a big chance that they’ll swing east and go around us,” Frank comments.

“Do you think they’ll fight for the resources north of us? Meaning, will their number deplete as they compete for a dwindling food supply?” I ask.

“That’s hard to say. I suppose if we were dealing with normal predators in the wild, then yes. However, we can see by the numbers coming out of Seattle, this may not be the case. With that in mind, I don’t think we’ll see much of a decrease in their population. If the pattern holds true, I think we’ll see them push outward rather than compete,” Frank says.

“What will happen if they reach us?” Robert asks.

“Again, that’s hard to say. As I said, anything I mention is a wild-ass guess. It could be that they push past us seeing we’ve cleared the area. If there’s not any food to be found, they should move on. That will take a considerable period of time in order for all of those we saw on the video from last night to move through, meaning, it could be harder for us here. They’ll smell the livestock if not us. I’m sure, at a minimum, we could see several packs make a concerted effort to get over the walls,” Frank expresses. “The chances of them getting inside will be low depending on how many make the attempt. I don’t see them getting over the walls, and we have the perimeter mined, so it could be that they circle the walls trying to find a way in and give up.”

“They got over the walls around the hospital,” I comment.

“Well, that was different. Unless they bring chairs and tables all of the way from Tacoma, or downtown Olympia, I don’t see that kind of thing happening. It’s possible, but not likely. At any rate, our best strategy is to detour them by blowing the bridges,” Frank states.

“Good point,” I say.

“What if we—” Bri starts to say and clears her throat. “What if we dropped food? I mean, if we were to push some out from the back of the 130, would that delay them?”

I look to Bannerman. He thinks over Bri’s suggestion for a few moments before replying.

“We could do that but, one, it will deplete our stores, at least until we are set up with the other distribution centers, and two, given their numbers, I seriously doubt that we could drop enough to keep them there for long. That’s a lot of night runners to feed. We’ll definitely run out of food for ourselves if we attempt that.”

“Okay, what about if we drop some in a line leading to the east. That is, after we drop the bridges. Would that help guide them around us?” Bri inquires.

“That could work, or it might not. If we understand the night runners at all, or if they thought like us, I’d say that would have a small chance of working. If you ask me, I’d say the odds are slim and we should keep the supplies for ourselves, especially as we are most likely losing the DCs to the north. However, what do I know? We could try something to see if it works after we blow the bridges and after we establish a supply line with the DCs to the south,” Bannerman says.

“Okay, let’s look at what we need to do in the immediate future. During the day, we’ll gather as much as we can from Lewis and the DC with the timeline set for completion being ten days. By that time, we’ll be back from hitting the compound and we’ll hit the bridges. Bannerman, if we can spare the crews, we’ll have more teams available in three days. They can escort crews down to locate and begin establishing what supplies the southern DCs have. Also, see if we can set up a safe fuel farm here with pumps to stir the fuel. I know there are at least large fuel bladders for remote refueling at McChord. If we can’t set up a fuel farm within the allocated time, then load up what we can with the bladders and we’ll just have to make the extended trip around for more fuel. For security, we’ll be relying on the ones coming out of Phase Two, of which I believe Tim and his group are a part. We can also ask Miguel if he and his group can help.

“Another option, if we have the people to spare, is to begin burning as much as we can between the night runners and us. At night, we’ll hit the southern fringes in the hopes that it will delay any further advances south. That and our ongoing preparation for hitting the bunker is going to keep us pretty busy with little rest. We have to make sure we get some, though, as we can’t hit the bunker tired. We’re going to need every faculty we can bring to bear. When we return, we’ll see where we sit and blow the bridges,” I say, attempting to bring all that we’ve said into a larger plan.

“You’re pretty confident about us taking out the bunker,” Lynn states.

“Is there any other way to be?”

The next morning, before the teams head off to their training, and before we head to conduct another low-level, Robert and the others who were bitten drive away with two teams providing security. Lynn and the remaining teams stand nearby on the edge of the parking lot, making it look like some stunt or circus show. I feel a little uneasy with so many around watching, but most of this will be done in silence which eases my self-consciousness some.

When the group stops about ten miles out, they radio that they are in position. We open up, and I can immediately sense their direction and distance. The physical and emotional intuition of their presence is gone, but I can pinpoint them and we are able to communicate mentally. At twenty miles, I have to push farther outward but eventually sense them.

They drive to thirty miles and I only have a vague impression of their direction. However, oddly enough, we can still communicate. Robert comes in more clearly than the others, but I can mentally send and receive messages. The mental effort is tiring after a period of time, especially trying to sense their physical presence, but it’s doable for short periods. I imagine it will become easier with time and experience. This sort of communication seems only marginally affected by distance, at least the distance we are working with at the moment. At some point, we’ll have to test what the limit is, but for now, we have a busy few days ahead of us and I call them back.

Once they return, Lynn takes the teams and they proceed to our equipment hangar for their day of training. I have one last thing to try before we leave. I ask Robert to try with Julie once again. This time, I open up both the night runner side and the one I share with Robert and the others. I stay open until Robert returns, shaking his head. I didn’t sense anything coming from his mom. A thought runs through my mind wondering if I would have been able to sense Alan before he let the night runner horde in. That falls too far into the ‘what if’ so I let go of that train of thought. With that, we plan the day’s flight and depart.

That evening, I study the new photographs that Frank provided of the exit tunnel building and surrounding fields. There is, in fact, only one camera over the door guarding the approaches. I spot numerous undulations, shown by the shadows, which I will be able to use on the fence approach. I prepare the camera systems that Bannerman has supplied and practice, both with the fiber leads and coaxial.

Over the next several days, Phase Two training ends and we assign them into teams. More supplies arrive, Lynn spends the day training with the teams, and I continue to orient Robert and Craig to flying low level at night, complete with them doing numerous night approaches and landings into our little field. Lynn also spends time with Tim as he’ll be in charge of base security with five additional teams. The nights are spent hitting the night runners on the southern fringes and commencing night low-level training. It is days of endless training filled with periods of rest only to start again the next day. At the end of the fifth day, we are ready.

We opt to take an extra day in order to rest and recuperate. We go through the same motions as the previous days so as to not interrupt our routine, which is most assuredly being watched. However, it’s only motions, and most of the day is spent relaxing. The afternoon is spent loading the gear that we’ll need into the trucks housed in the vehicle hangar, including a copious amount of ammo. Bannerman, in all of his genius and magic, has managed to acquire all of the supplies I asked for, which will make my task much easier.

We spend part of the evening going over the plan with the teams again; covering scenarios, signals, and other ‘when shit goes wrong’ eventualities. We forgo the meeting, and the others drop by at times to wish us well. At first light, we’ll be on our way to Portland where hopefully, the hangars will provide enough security that we can hole up for a couple of days before we embark. That will give us more time to train and run through the scenarios as a whole.

Morning arrives. As I lace my boots, I feel that familiar pre-mission anxiety take over. All of our gear is already loaded. The only thing we need to do is grab a quick bite to eat and be on our way. While addressing our small group of survivors the night prior, I pressed that we needed to keep the morning activities as they were the previous days so, there wasn’t to be any farewells or waving of hankies. We needed to keep it business as usual.

With my boots laced, I meet the other teams gathered in the cafeteria dining room. The smell of bacon, eggs, and toast waft from the large kitchen area. Oddly, as I fork eggs into my mouth, I find myself staring at the floor where I killed the female night runner when we took this facility. I remember vividly the look of her eyes as she gazed upward. Severely injured and wracked with pain, she stared at me with eyes filled with agony. I see clearly the look of welcome relief that flooded through them just before I fired.

Lynn nudges me in the ribs, shaking me from my remembrance. She merely looks at me before returning to her plate. Our early morning breakfast is conducted in almost complete silence as each team member is lost in their thoughts. There is only the sound of forks scraping across plates or a glass being set down. It’s not a solemn atmosphere, nor a depressed one. It’s more one of serious intent.

Finishing with our meal, we make our way downstairs. Despite my saying something to the contrary, most of the group has gathered downstairs to see us off. There isn’t any cheering or heroic speech. There are just a few pats on the back as teams members file past, with a few words of quiet encouragement thrown in. I walk past Robert and Michelle embracing near the front doors and out into the early morning light.

Cold air sweeps across the lot, and the light of the dawn touches the pavement. I was never one to look back and wonder if it was the last time I was going to see a certain place, but that thought momentarily enters my mind. This isn’t going to be a walk in the park and, when we return, we’ll still have thousands upon thousands of night runners north of us to deal with. Mostly, my mind is on the teams and feeling nervous for their safety. I know I have a couple of days before we set out in the 130 from Portland, so the cold nature of an impending mission doesn’t fully descend upon me as yet. I just hope we’ve done our homework and the assumptions we had to make prove to be true ones.

The light of the dawn grows as we walk across the field toward the vehicle hangar. The silence we experienced in the dining facility matches the quiet with which we march through the brown grass. The only sound is the stalks as they rub against the pants of almost a hundred legs and the sound of that many boots marching across the hard soil. We gather in the hangar and loiter for a while, trying to simulate the same thing the teams have done every day for the past six days. It will be difficult to conceal the trucks leaving but hopefully, if the other group is watching, they will see that it is only a supply run when the trucks return this afternoon. The hope is that they will miss that the seven teams marching into the hangar don’t return.

After an hour, we load into the covered supply trucks. Three of the trucks will be taking two teams apiece with a fourth taking myself, Red Team, Robert, Bri, and Craig. Red Team will be going in light on this with Robert and Bri having to fly the 130.

The truck lurches forward out of the hangar. Even though we have a couple of days before heading east, the jostle signals that the game is on. Up until I first put my boots on the ground, we aren’t necessarily committed and can pull back, but, once that happens, we’ll have no choice but to move forward—or at least I won’t. With the exception of a few shared words, we maintain our silence during the trip down, our bodies only occasionally jostled while our thoughts tumble incessantly.

In the back of the truck, as we make our way south, I can feel the nervous energy emanating from those riding with me. Of course, it could just be mine.

Will the hangar provide enough security for us to stay two days, or will we have to embark when dusk arrives?

If we have to leave this day, then it is what it is, but it will feel rushed. From the moment our wheels leave the ground, we’ll be continuously engaging from one phase to the next. It would be nice if we had a little break before we set out. That will enable us to have more training and gear the mind better toward what we are propelling ourselves into.

Part of me worries about my end of things; whether I’ll be able to circumvent the security measures that I run into. I have an idea of what I may encounter within the facility; I’m drawing from previous experiences, but it’s only a knowledge of usual security measures. This could easily end in one giant clusterfuck.

Being stuck in the enclosed back end, it’s difficult to gauge our location. We have the back panels closed so I can’t see any of the familiar landmarks. The drive seems to be taking forever. I’m surprised when we finally pull to a stop and I hear the crews riding in front hop out. Soon after, I hear the sound of what I assume are heavy hangar doors opening on their metal rollers. The truck doors shut and we start forward once again, driving into the hangar.

Once we’re given the all clear, we quickly scramble out, quick being relative as my knees don’t seem to want to straighten again, and unload our gear. Quickly looking around, the hangar seems like it will provide a secure location for us to hole up in. There are only the large doors and one other exit leading into the building. Thick paned-glass windows rest high across the main doors and along the upper sides of the hangar. They are out of reach of any night runners, unless they’ve developed the ability to fly, which I wouldn’t put past them at this point.

The crews that drove us turn the trucks around in the immense open area of the hangar and park them in open view just outside. They begin grabbing anything they can find and start loading it into the back of the vehicles. While they are doing this, we gather at the rear of the hangar in order that we won’t be seen at an angle from above.

In order to simulate a supply run, the crews take a couple of hours to load the trucks. It’s mostly for show, but they do their best to make it look like a supply run. Finishing with the hangar, they close the large doors and drive over to the only remaining 130 that was stationed at the guard base, open it up, and begin offloading anything they can find. With the afternoon setting in, they climb back into their trucks, leaving the rear ramp of the 130 open, and drive away. I hear them leave the ramp, fading until they are gone completely, leaving us alone in the hangar.

We gather our gear and secure the one door leading in. Lynn sets a watch schedule and we find places to settle into. There is only the light gray painted concrete floor which will make for some uncomfortable sleep times. Through the windows set in the doors, I see clouds gathering to the west in the afternoon sky. That’s a good sign, and I hope they bring rain with them. I also hope whatever system seems to be trying to make its way to us, that it stretches far to the east when it does. It would be nice to have cloud cover all of the way, as long as the ceiling isn’t too low.

We are now in the ‘wait’ portion of the ‘hurry up and wait’ mode that we all know and love. We have the night and two more days before our planned departure. In the afternoon glow seeping in through the windows, the soldiers break out several decks of cards and more than one backgammon board can be seen as we spread across the hangar floor.

Looking up at the tall, arched roof overhead, I know that we won’t have to worry about a significant buildup of heat within which could show on any thermal imaging systems that may be perched high overhead. I just hope that our ruse worked, although there’s really no way of telling until we land and set the first boot on the ground.

After a while, the sky overhead slowly changes to a deep blue. The sun has descended below the cloud cover slowly inching eastward. The soldiers pack up their games and Lynn positions them with overlapping fields of fire toward the hangar entrances. Night is coming and, with it, the night runners are sure to make an appearance.

Just before total darkness settles in, I lay a line of ammonia from several jugs in front of the doors to try and mask our scent. Finishing, I stand next to the door and find that I can’t detect any hint of our odor. I realize that I hadn’t thought to ask or test Robert to see if he is able to see in the dark, or has enhanced hearing and smell. I’ll have to do that after darkness falls. Right now, with nighttime closing in, we have to keep our attention focused to see if our location is a secure one.

Just before the interior goes completely black, there is a rustling among the teams and night vision goggles are lowered. We crouch or kneel on the hard surface, and wait.

Night falls. The tension emanating from each one of us can be felt. I can reach out and touch it. The hangar walls have thick insulation to keep the large enclosure warm in the winter months, but even so, we all hear faint shrieks drifting to us, riding on the cool, night air.

* * *

With his breath streaming behind him, Michael runs across an open field with part of his pack spread out to the side. He feels others as they race through the trees nearby, chasing down the various scents of prey hanging in the night air along game trails. Most nights, they hunt the surrounding countryside, finding enough to keep the pack fed.

As he races with his pack, hoping to catch food that may come into the field, attempting to elude the ones running through the trees, he only concentrates with part of his mind. The rest of it is tuned to the packs of his brethren far away. He’s felt them over the past nights as they’ve slowly made their way closer. Their large numbers have spread across the area where the ones he rescued once were. A while ago, he had felt their cries of suffering and went to help, rescuing those currently in his pack and eventually gathering them all together.

He senses the other strong presences in that direction and doesn’t know why they haven’t gathered in larger packs like his. If the stronger ones called, the small packs fending for themselves would surely gather.

Another of his mind is also searching for the death coming from the night sky. For the last few nights, and some of the nights before that, he’s sensed packs vanishing from his mind as they hunted the streets. Along with that, he’s seen the images of their panic from the light that pours down from the sky, felt their agony as those lights fell within their midst. Each night, he’s felt the anger rise within him, to the point that it almost consumes him. His kind is being decimated from that which he cannot see or fight.

He knows that the time for him to meet with the other strong presences is close at hand. In one regard, Sandra was right, they are going to need to take the fight to the two-leggeds if they are going to survive. With the losses he’s felt each and every night, he knows they won’t have a chance unless they kill them. They will lose many if they attack, but he now feels they will lose more if they don’t. The two-leggeds must go.

The next night, knowing it will be a long journey, Michael sets off with a few of his pack at first darkness. He keeps wide of the two-leggeds’ lair and constantly checks the sky for any sign of the death that floats in the darkness. Gazing into the cold night sky, seeing the thousands of twinkling lights blinking at him, he watches and listens for any signs that his pack has been seen. There isn’t any of the roaring from above that comes just before the rain of death. In the back of his mind, he has the feeling that he should know what it is in the sky but, every time he thinks about it, it frustratingly fades.

His run across fields and through streets holds off the cold that threatens to envelop him when he stops. The nights have been getting colder and it may get to the point that they won’t be able to go out in search of food. The pack will have to hold up in their lair, huddled together for warmth. That’s one of the reasons that he’s had some of his pack locate the food hidden in old two-legged lairs and store it. He knows of no way that they’ll be able to hunt if it gets too much colder, at least for long periods of time. In some capacity, hidden deep within the folds of his mind, he knows the cold won’t be permanent and the warm nights will return. They just have to make it until then.

A sliver of moonlight reflects off the water over which he runs with his pack behind. His exposed skin tingles from the radiated light, reminding him of the painful ball of light that keeps them to the night. Using one of the old two-legged paths used to cross the waterway, Michael quickly runs across and vanishes into the woods on the other side. Wary that he is approaching the area where he felt packs being decimated, he doesn’t want to stay in the open and be spotted.

Climbing out of the valley, he pauses on the edge of where some two-leggeds’ buildings begin. Standing in the tree line, he squats and listens. He doesn’t hear the roaring sound coming from the sky or feel any of the packs in the area permanently vanish from his mind. The other packs are spread for as far as he can sense, running through the night searching for food. Numerous images come to him: one pack running by a host of lairs, another relishing the taste of blood and fresh meat, and more filled with the eagerness of the chase. The night is filled with the shrieks of his kind.

He reaches out to the stronger presences he’s felt from afar, feeling each of them stop in their tracks as his thoughts reach them. Sensing each of them turn in his direction, he sends out a call for them to attend him. Several are hesitant, being nearly as strong in terms of presence as he; but in the end, they all turn toward him.

Shooting the Gap

Throughout the night, although we hear faint shrieks continuously—some drawing closer—there aren’t any night runners that approach and test the hangar’s integrity. We stand down after a while, turning the safety of the teams over to the watches set by Lynn. Before finding my sleeping bag on the hard floor, I ask Robert if he has the ability to see in the dark. Removing his NVGs, he glances around and tells me that he can see just as well without them. As he’s not used to it, it’s a little disconcerting for him at first, but he quickly catches on. I don’t know why with having this ability, that we aren’t sensitive to the light; but I’m thankful that’s the way it is.

We further test his hearing and smell and find that it has been enhanced as well. Once we return home, I’ll have to check this out with the others. And, I’m sure there are others like us that we haven’t run across yet. It may be that we have to incorporate this aspect of opening up when we are out in order to find them. They may have shut down their senses by this time, but it’s worth checking out nonetheless.

The next two days are spent with training sessions and reviewing the plan, however, that really doesn’t encompass much time at all. For the most part, it’s spent in boredom with card games taking up a majority of the time. There’s only so much boredom that will cure though. Spread across the concrete floor, team members lie on their bags willing time to pass. We have imposed a radio blackout, so we haven’t had any contact with the compound.

By the late afternoon at the end of day two, we’d pretty much walk unarmed into a dragon’s lair to break the monotony; anything rather than to have to spend another day in the shelter. As the day winds down, the listlessness turns to activity as we gather our gear together, checking our packs and weapons. Other than our M-4s and various grenades, Lynn has brought several M-240s along, one for each of the teams that will be holding the security forces at bay within the hallways. We would have used them before, but they are a touch unwieldy in close quarters. We also have CS grenades with gas masks just in case.

The tedium prevalent during the two days has vanished, replaced by mounting tension, and, one might say, eagerness. Luckily for us, the 130 is parked near the hangar so it won’t be too much of a dash across open spaces. Outside, the cloud cover that began rolling in a couple of days ago is holding. It hasn’t brought but a few showers but it’s a thick cover which will help conceal us.

Hoisting their gear, the teams gather near the large hangar door, which we sealed shut. Removing the lock, they crowd together.

“Everyone ready?” Lynn calls across their heads.

“Hooah,” they respond en masse.

With a last look over everyone, Lynn and several others push the door open just enough for the teams to pour out. I join in the exodus, running across the grit-covered tarmac, hearing the sound of a hundred boots pounding on its hard surface. There is only that, the sound of hard breathing from those nearby, and the slight rattle of equipment. We flow across the gray pavement toward the 130 and, before we know it, we are racing up the rear ramp, the heavy footfalls changing to the ringing of boots on its steel surface.

Staying behind to shut the hangar doors, Lynn and her team are the last ones to enter. We were outside for nearly fifteen seconds and I hope that any attention on our encampment was directed elsewhere. Within the cargo compartment, there is a din of noise as gear is laid on the deck to be tied down and the soldiers find places to sit on the red nylon seats. Robert, Craig, Bri, and I make our way through the tangle of legs and packs on our way to the cockpit.

We don’t have much time as I want to be airborne while we still have the heat from the mid-afternoon. The clouds overhead have warmed the day and I want as much heat around us as we can get. The engines are going to push out a tremendous heat plume and my desire is to minimize that to any extent we can.

With the rear ramp closed, I do a quick start of the inboard engines. Thankfully, the engines come to life and we have a full tank of gas. I’ll taxi with those two and start the remaining two when we reach the end of the runway to minimize our heat signature. I flew past many of the checklist items after starting, so we are all knees and elbows in the cockpit getting the aircraft ready. Craig is crowded beside Robert busily inputting our route into the NAV computer.

I speed us along the taxiway to the end of the runway which is conveniently located next to the guard base. I would assume it was planned that way so the F-15s based there could make a quick takeoff.

Our dog and pony show continues right up to the runway threshold. I barely get the other two engines online as we pull onto the dirt-covered surface. Through the windshield, dark gray pavement stretches ahead, partially visible under swirls of dust. Without slowing, I push the throttles up and we start down the runway, the power of the engines vibrating through the fuselage. Pulling back on the controls, our front wheels release their grip on the runway, followed by our main gear shortly thereafter. We are airborne and, three hours from now, it will be go time.

Staying low over the city, I bank to the east. The clouds are still high above us but, across the landscape, I see the dark gray of showers connecting some of them with the earth. We really couldn’t have asked for better conditions, well, other than wishing for things to go back the way they were.

I bring us over the Columbia River, watching for the high-voltage power lines that I know stretch across it in places. I have those heavily circled on my map. It’s only a matter of minutes before we find ourselves in the Columbia Gorge; steep, forested slopes rise sharply from the edges of the wide waterway. This will keep us hidden until we break out onto the high desert plateau of Central Oregon and Western Washington.

Shooting at a hundred feet over the Columbia River and close to the southern line of hills, the turbulence bounces us like a paint shaker. Being the only real pass through the Cascades, the winds coming through the narrow defile are usually strong. In the past, they’ve had to close the highway to semis due to the winds.

Lynn had hooked into the intercom upon her entrance.

“How’s it going back there?” I ask, knowing it can’t be very comfortable for the soldiers.

“How much longer is this going to be like this? Too much longer and we’ll be worthless when we get there,” she replies.

I guess that’s my answer for how it’s going.

“Not much longer, but we’ll be hugging hills all of the way so I have no idea how long it’s going to be bumpy,” I state.

“If I didn’t know better, I’d say you were doing this on purpose, Jack. Oh, and I’m not cleaning up the mess back here.”

I chuckle and tell her that she can send the worst cases up to the cockpit. Being able to see outside will help and, perhaps more importantly, they’ll be facing forward.

Although it may be a different story for those in back, it doesn’t take us too long to navigate through the gorge. Emerging out on the other side, I turn us south to keep close to the rough terrain of the Cascades.

Thirty minutes later, at a point midway between the cities of Redmond and Madras, still bouncing through the mountain waves as the westerly wind pours through passes and across the slopes, I turn us eastward. Here is the narrowest point between the Blue Mountains and the Cascades. From this point, I guide us through a long ravine that cuts through the Blue Mountains and drops us into the head of a valley just north of Boise.

Still hugging the slopes, I circle the valley. The turbulence is less severe as we make our way along the slopes of the Salmon River Mountains. North of Idaho Falls, we cut into the Rocky Mountains and turn south to avoid the rolling plains of Wyoming. This is a very circuitous route, but we have the time and fuel.

Climbing ridgelines and plummeting into valleys, I hand the controls over to Robert. Initially, he’s a little hesitant crossing over the ridgelines and brings us too high over the deep ravines but his transitions soon become smoother. The overhead cover of clouds has stayed with us, which is a good thing and we’ve had clear visibility. Looking to the east, I see that trend seems to hold.

The day begins fading as we draw abeam to Salt Lake City and turn east. Only a little over three hundred miles remain, just over an hour of flight time. However, that time will be spent racing through ravines at night. I brief Lynn on our position and time remaining, warning her that we may be in for more bumps but that it should settle down come nightfall. She makes some form of answer which, if I heard correctly, involves something about my genitals and a vise. Surely I heard that wrong but I don’t ask for an elaboration.

As much as I’d like to follow the interstate directly to Denver, I have planned our route far away from the roadway. Although it’s almost night, I have no idea what they may have in place to observe that route and I don’t want to announce our arrival. It would really suck to have made it away clean only to be discovered on their doorstep.

With Robert at the controls, and my hand hovering close to the other set, we fly from ravine to ravine, heading ever eastward. The darkness closes in, making the night flight all that much more interesting. We bring our altitude up as the terrain rises steeply and without much warning. Luckily, the aircraft is equipped with FLIR (Forward Looking IR), making it a little easier.

We break out of the mountains near the town of Boulder. The change is abrupt. One minute we are wrestling the aircraft through steep-sided ravines and the next, we are shooting out over open plains. I have Robert turn north to hug the slopes rising off the plateau as I head into the back to prepare.

I feel the familiar coldness settle into place as I begin donning my gear. First, I pull on the dry suit and put my fatigues over it. I’ll have to vent the suit at times so that it doesn’t build up body heat which will make me visible to thermal imaging. Buttoning my shirt, the emotionless feeling I remember from the past envelopes me. Attaching my chute, I ensure that the sling holding my M-4 is snug. I then check that my leg holster holding my Beretta, with the suppressor in a pouch alongside, is securely strapped on. I haven’t done this in a long, long time and, truth be told, not that many times.

Feeling ready, I shuffle close to the ramp and give a nod to Lynn. She, in turn, relays the information to Robert. I feel the aircraft bank for several seconds before it levels again. Barely noticing the rank stench of vomit in the back, I focus on the upcoming drop. No longer are there thoughts of self-doubt or second-guessing. It’s one step at a time, making sure to keep my impatience in check.

The cloud cover that rolled across the western part of the country, allowed us to leave Portland early. That gives me almost eleven hours of darkness remaining.

Plenty of time to make it there. Just keep your shit in check, I think, seeing the red light illuminate near the ramp.

The aircraft begins a shallow climb and slows as the top of the ramp raises up. The bottom part then lowers into a level position. I don my goggles and begin the shuffle step to the edge of the ramp. I feel a hand on my arm and turn to see Lynn standing next to me, looking up. The roar of the aircraft and the wind outside make it difficult to hear her.

“You be safe, Jack. Although this isn’t the life I had planned for us, it’s the only one we have. You’ll seriously piss me off if you get hurt,” she shouts.

“I love you, too,” I say, to which she smiles.

My eyes are focused on the red light, waiting for it to change to green. The interior is lit with red lighting meant to preserve night vision and outside, past the open ramp, it’s completely dark. The aircraft levels off from its shallow climb and I know we’ve reached five hundred feet above the ground. The light turns green.

Opening up quickly to see if there are any night runners in the area, I’m relieved when I don’t sense any. I shuffle the last couple of feet and throw myself off the back edge of the ramp, vaulting into the black void. With the chill air blowing against my cheeks, I feel the turbulence of the aircraft plowing through the air for a split second; and then comes the familiar feeling of free-falling. That only lasts for a second as the harness pulls tight against me, slowing my descent drastically. There are only a few moments before the ground and I will meet so I quickly look up while pulling down on the risers slightly to feel the tension. The dark chute against the night sky makes it hard to define, but it feels like it is fully deployed. I release my drop pack and look down.

With my vision, I am able to see the ground and it looks far too close, like it’s rushing up to meet me. I totally forgot how disorienting a night LALO jump can be and fight my initial instinct of starting a parachute landing fall. All of the ground below me looks flat, so I quickly steer toward what looks like the middle of a field. Raising my sight to a level attitude, I relax my knees slightly and wait for the first feel of contact with my boots.

Feeling the ground, seemingly at the exact moment that I lift my eyes, I roll into the PLF, ending up on my back. I pull the quick releases and hear the parachute fluff to the ground. Far off, I hear the drone of the 130 which quickly fades. I’m surrounded by silence.

I pull in my gear and release the harness. Donning my pack and ensuring that all of my equipment made it to the ground with me, I stand to get my bearings. If the drop was accurate—and there’s no reason to think it wasn’t—I should be about three miles west of the bunker.

There are very few landmarks to guide on which makes positioning difficult. I undo my fatigue top and unzip the dry suit in order to prevent any heat buildup. With a bead string attached to my vest to mark distances, I set out on an easterly heading. We had planned the drop to be directly west and, being computer controlled, I have no doubts that my heading will bring me to the facility.

Time passes, and it seems like I have climbed over a hundred fences. Walking slowly and having to navigate ditches and barbed wire, it takes me about two hours to arrive near the outer fence of the bunker. Looking through my night vision binoculars, I see the outer perimeter. I’m still far enough away that the cameras won’t be able to pick me up, but I maintain a low profile nonetheless.

I’m hesitating as I know that, once I start forward, things could get interesting. Looking at facility photographs and mission planning in a warm room is far different than looking at it face on. With a deep breath, I focus on the fence poles, counting them until I come to the one that the terrain and closeness to the exit building makes it the best option to go through. It is also the best in regards to angles from the fence-mounted cameras.

The terrain outside of the fence is composed of knee-high stubble which should help minimize my profile as I crawl through it. If I should actually encounter any mines, they’re going to be hard to mark without the cameras picking up the markers. Instead, I’ll be laying a trail of dark brown 550 cord along my path, making sure that it’s hidden amidst the grass stubble yet still visible to those looking for it. The cameras look through the surrounding terrain at an angle, so the grass should conceal it easily enough.

The fact that I haven’t been assaulted or heard any sound of pursuit to this point leads me to believe that we were able to leave Portland and arrive unnoticed. Removing my vest, I tape strands of the grass to it and my pack, which I will be pushing ahead of me as I go. I have to adjust the stands to make sure they look the same as the ones in the ground when I’m crawling. If they are at vastly different angles, I might as well be carrying a large blinking sign with a neon arrow.

Sealing my dry suit and fastening my fatigue top, I replace my vest. With a last look at the compound through the binoculars, I stow them and lower myself to the ground. It’s going to be a long, slow crawl, so I set my mind into that frame. I begin by slowly pushing my camouflaged small pack ahead, choosing the best path through the tufts so that I don’t create a trail. Burrowing through the clumps, ensuring my body remains below the tops of the grass, I follow.

Inch by inch, I push my gear and drag my body closer. After each movement, I use the toes of my boot to close the grass behind me. My mind is clear of any thoughts other than the next foot of dirt. I know that I have a couple of hours ahead of me before I arrive at the fence so force myself to be patient.

About a hundred yards from the fence, I begin probing the ground in front of my pack with the blade of my knife. I test the area ahead and just to the side, pressing the edge gently into the soil in order to locate any mines that may have been laid. Satisfied that all is clear for the next foot, I push my pack ahead and pull myself along, only to do it again. On the dirt behind me, I trail the cord.

As I draw close and can discern the motion of the cameras, I slow even further, timing the camera movements. Two of the cameras are equidistant from the part of the fence where I’ll make my entry. They aren’t rotating a full one-hundred eighty degrees, so I’ll be able to get inside of their visibility cone outside of the fence. I imagine in my mind what the monitors in the security room are showing; low-light imaging with a thermal overlay, or alternating the spectrums with each pass.

I time my movements when they are both facing away. Each of the cameras is on a constant rotation, with each rotating at slightly different speeds, so it takes a little timing on my part. If they were on random offset schedules, it would be a lot more difficult. However, random offsets are hard for the security personnel to tell the difference between someone messing with the cameras and the computer-generated algorithm, so most security systems utilize synchronized rotations when using multiple cameras.

I lie down and become part of the landscape when one or both of them pan my way. Periodically, as I’ve lain on the dirt, I’ve opened my dry suit to allow any body heat to slowly escape. Moving as slow as I am, there isn’t much heat generated on its own, but with the suit on, some is. With the cold air surrounding me, I have to keep my movements slow to prevent any heat build-up which will be easily picked up.

I look at the cameras and, noting they are facing away, I push my bag forward over probed ground. So far, I haven’t found any evidence of mines, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t there. It could mean that I’m just lucky. I’m in the smallest of gullies, really just a low spot in the ground that extends a distance. I pull myself along and settle close to the ground, my boots quickly pulling any tipped grass stalks upright.

There are times when I can only move the pack and have to lie low due to the cameras overlapping. It would be so much easier if the cameras were in synch so I could time them, but nope, they have to make it difficult.

I’m close enough to hear the faint whir of the camera motors. I lay tight against the earth as they pan over me, feeling thankful that the facility didn’t want to draw attention to themselves by placing lights around the perimeter. That would have been a lot of lights, but it would have made what I’m doing next to impossible. Use of lighting would have interfered with the camera systems but not enough to make them useless. This place is relying on their technology to spot anyone approaching when they should have a mix of soldiers and technology.

By the time I reach the fence, my elbows and knees are raw from dragging myself across the ground. Through the links, I make out the shape of the small exit building a hundred yards on the other side. The plan was to signal with clicks on the radio that I had reached the fence, however, with the ability to speak to Robert over a distance, I open up and inform him. He’ll then relay the information to Lynn. The radio will be used as a backup just in case.

Of course, thinking of it in that way is just redundant. Aren’t all backups used just in case? I think, lying next to the fence.

Weird thoughts filter through my mind at the oddest of moments sometimes. It may be my brain taking a break from the focus or stress. Whatever it may be, I’ve had some of my weirdest thoughts while out on missions.

Removing a chemical spray can from my pack, I set to work on the links next to the fence pole, spraying the corrosive liquid on the mid-point between the intersecting links. Keeping one eye on the cameras a couple of posts away in both directions and my other on the field, I spray upward for a few feet before directing the liquid horizontally.

Finishing, I separate the broken links quietly. Although the odds are pretty slim, there is a chance they have microphones attached to the cameras so I have to maintain silence. I push the fence slowly inward and crawl through the opening. Kneeling on the other side, I hook the separated links back to their counterparts making it appear that the fence is unbroken.

Pulling my pack on, I run toward the small, square building that serves as an entry, or exit, to the escape tunnel. Fortunately, the entrance is faced away from me so I quickly make my way to the rear. Crouched against the concrete brick wall, I listen for any sounds that might signal that I have been caught. There is nothing except a very light breeze that flows across the grass stubble.

Removing a folding pole ladder attached to my pack, I inch around to one side of the building and extend the ladder to the roof. Ascending quickly, quick being relative with trying to keep the ladder from sliding to the side, I climb onto the roof, pulling the ladder up behind me.

Crawling across the sloped surface, I make my way to the front and peer over the edge of the peak. There isn’t any light illuminating the front and directly below me is a stationary camera within reach. Looking closer, I see that the camera is connected with a coaxial cable which will make the connections easier. I roll out of my pack and remove one of the switch assemblies that I made prior to leaving.

The switch has one small length of coax with a quick connect end attached to one of the input/output ports. A small recording device is also attached. The whole assembly, even with the recorder, which I attach to the wall alongside the switch, is small.

Leaning over the edge of the roof, I remove the protective covering from permanent, double-sided mounting tape and place the switch assembly and recorder against the wall behind the camera. No one should notice anything out of the ordinary. They’ll think the contraption is part of the camera system, unless they are IT techs who will notice that the switch and its associated gear is not part of the original system.

With everything in place and hidden for the most part, I unscrew the coax cable connected to the camera making sure that I keep pressure so that the signal isn’t interrupted. I then quickly remove the coax cable I was holding in place and slide the quick connect cable from the number one switch port to the back of the camera while placing the end of the original cable into the single main port on the back of the switch. The whole move takes less than two seconds which shouldn’t trigger an alarm. There may be a small blip on the monitor in the security room which may or may not be noticed. I quickly screw in the original cable and push back from the edge.

With one hand on my M-4, I lay still and listen. If the blip was noticed, a security team will be sent to investigate. It wouldn’t be in my best interest for them to emerge from the door and look up to see my smiling face as I fuck with their camera. Emitting small breath plumes, which I cover as best as I can within the fold of my elbow, I wait fifteen minutes, which should be more than long enough for anyone to show up. There’s nothing but the darkness surrounding me and the cold of the roof that seeps through my layers of clothing, chilling even the dry suit.

Inching back to the edge, I insert the reconfigured network sniffer and connect it to the mirrored port. Harold said it should almost instantaneously configure itself, but I give it a few seconds. Removing the sniffer, I insert the recorder into the same port and watch the small display to verify that it’s picking up the video feed, noting that the video isn’t sending time and date information as part of the data. That will most likely be displayed by the video system in the security room itself. The fact that the camera isn’t rotating makes it much easier as I won’t have to clip the video to present a continuous path as it goes through a looped playback.

I set the recorder to ‘record’ and let it run for a minute. Moving the recorder to an open port, port two, I set it to do a looped playback. Now the tricky part. I plug the sniffer into the switch on port three while pulling the cable from the camera, which I reattach to the mirrored port as per Harold’s instructions.

The small display on the recorder shows the low-light image from the front of the building with small differences in the heat showing up from a thermal overlay. If it all works correctly, I should be able to work on the door without being seen and the system will still show that the camera is online and sending video. Satisfied, I place electrical tape over the small recorder display and, with my chest hurting from hanging over the edge of the roof, I move back and wait for any response.

Either I really fucked up and the security team is laughing so hard that they can’t move, or the contraption is functioning the way it’s supposed to. Regardless, no one comes to investigate.

Giving it another measure of time, I climb down from the roof, smooth over my tracks, and edge toward the front, keeping my senses tuned to the area around me for any sound out of the ordinary. I especially watch the door looking for the barest hint of movement. With a deep breath to calm my racing heart, I hug the wall toward the steel door leading inside.

Internally, I feel both numb and anxious. The conflict of emotions stems from maintaining my entire focus on the next step while also feeling the anxiety of knowing that I could be discovered at any moment; the racing heartbeat, senses tuned so fine that even the noise of grass bending under a boot sounds loud, nervous sweat oozing from pores. Without the ability to force the mind to focus, those emotions would run wild, causing fingers to slip and fear to escalate.

Taking out a flashlight, I shield it, letting only a thin beam of light exit. Shining it in the crack of the door, I see a metal strip a couple of inches above the bottom. Actually, it’s two strips of metal in contact with each other. If these two strips separate, it will trigger an alarm, or at the very least, it will display an alert.

Taking my steel slim jim, I run it behind the latch and ease the door ajar, opening it only far enough so that the latch won’t re-engage, and so that the magnets at the bottom of the door stay in contact. Taking a thin set of calipers, I place one of the small magnets Bannerman located in the narrow jaws and tighten it enough to hold it in place. Easing the doors open so that the metal strips remain in contact, I gently slide the calipers in the gap behind the door-side contact. Luckily the door opens outward or this would be impossible. Any slip here and it will be over. The facility will be alerted and my ass will be hanging out over a very large cliff.

As I draw the door open more, I move the magnet in the caliper along frame-side contact, slowly replacing the door sensor with the magnet. The magnet rotates slightly and, with a click, it snaps onto the metal strip set into the jamb, completing the circuit. Opening the door barely wide enough, I slide through the gap and step inside.

I gently ease the door closed behind me. The sensor on the door will move the magnet I placed out of the way while keeping the circuit closed. The magnet is likely to stay attached to the door or metal frame. It won’t fall off so it shouldn’t be noticed by anyone unless they happen to look very closely.

With the faint click of the latch, the outside world is shut off, at least from my mental perspective. Crouching with the door at my back, I let out a sigh. I wasn’t sure that I would have been able to make it this far. Now that I’m inside, I know that each step will take me closer to a point of no return. I pretty much came to that point when I jumped out of the 130, but now each step takes me closer to situations where I could be caught.

Ahead, concrete stairs descend to a small landing before continuing down to the right. Concrete-poured walls rise to either side, joining with a slab overhead. Except for a faint glow of light emanating from somewhere down the steps, it’s dark. I look to the top of the door searching for a camera but don’t find one. I’m pretty sure I don’t have to worry about night runners here, but I open up just in case. There aren’t any around that I can sense. I take a few moments to calm my rapidly beating heart. I forgot just how much I hate being inside of buildings.

Looking at my watch, I note that I have plenty of time before the dark of the night ends. I still have a ways to go, along with the probability that there are more difficult security measures to beat. A few deep breaths bring my heart rate down but the underlying anxiety remains.

Rising, I test my pack and gear to ensure that there isn’t any sound that issues forth from movement. With my carbine held at the ready and hugging the wall, I begin descending the steps. Near the first landing, I place my mirror at the corner and look around.

The stairs continue down to intersect the end of a hall where a very faint amount of light is being cast from some source farther along the corridor. Close to the ceiling, on the near side, large conduits are anchored to the slabs of concrete overhead. At my end of the hall, the conduits continue through the wall. Step by step, I start down, my senses tuned for any sound, for the movement of a shadow showing in the faint light.

The stairs and hall have the musty scent of not having been used in a long time. It also has the distinct smell that all concrete rooms and stairwells seem to possess. Although the air is chilly, the stairs and hall are dry and I feel a hint of warmth. At the bottom of the stairs, I look around the corner once again using the signal mirror.

At the far end of the hall, about thirty yards away, there’s another steel door with a keypad next to it. In the corner on the far side of the door, twin floodlights cast a brilliant light down the hall that reaches almost to the stairwell. I see another stationary camera positioned above the door. The conduits, which are almost directly overhead, continue down the length of the hallway and through the far wall. At intervals, steel rods hang down from the ceiling to hold brackets that are supporting the steel pipes.

Three of the conduits are large ones placed side-by-side with others running between or on top. Several smaller ones are held by brackets as they run along the wall. I look for placards that might indicate what they are being used for but don’t see any from my vantage point. I guess I’ll just have to take the risk that none are being used for hazmat waste or radiated water. It would make it a little difficult to hide if I glowed in the dark.

The pipes themselves look in good shape, and I don’t see any leaks dripping from seams or attachment points. The brackets also look to be in good condition. Backing away from the corner, I extend the ladder from one of the steps to the conduits. In my youth, this wouldn’t have been much of a problem, however, it’s all I can do just to keep the ladder steady as it wants to roll to the side. Scaling it, which is much like trying to make it across a rope bridge, I manage to get to the pipes without bringing them down or tumbling into the hall.

Slowly easing onto the pipes, I test to see if they’ll support my weight. There is only a faint creak as I lie across the rounded surfaces. From this vantage point, I’ll be out of view from the camera over the door. For that matter, I’ll be out of sight from anyone or anything below provided they don’t look very closely through the small gaps. Resting for just a moment, I remove my handgun and screw on the suppressor, replacing it in the holster designed to carry it with the suppressor attached.

I begin inching along the conduits. I have to move slowly so I don’t create any movement which will be picked up by the camera. There’s also dust on the very tops which I have to be careful that I don’t send down through the cracks. With the flood lights, I can be pretty sure that the camera is capturing video in the visible spectrum with maybe a thermal overlay. Any sway of the pipes or dust falling down from them will be noticed.

Reaching the first bracket with the steel rod attaching it to the ceiling, I maneuver around it, keeping to the wall side. I am placing my pack ahead of me with each movement similar to the way I traversed the field. My M-4 is secured to my back. If I need a weapon, which will be a short-lived time, I’ll use the handgun strapped to my leg.

I slowly make my way toward the door. It’s not too far to crawl, but it still takes a bit of time. I feel the dust in my nose and keep having to wipe it to prevent a sneeze. The inside of my mouth feels chalky with the grit and it’s annoying to say the least. The anxiety within grows as I draw closer, expecting the door to open at any moment. Not that they could see me, but it opening will mean that my entrance has been noticed.

Reaching the wall, I rest for a moment. The nervousness and effort of crawling has taken a little out of me. I’ve come to the next phase of infiltrating the bunker. I just have to get by the security door and then I’ll be in the main facility.

The camera is just to the side of me. I’ll have to lean out over the pipes in order to reach it, but it shouldn’t prove to be more of a challenge than the one outside. Readying another switch and recorder, I stretch out and place them on the wall as before. I have to take care that I don’t cast a shadow from the lights either across the lens or on the floor below.

While readying the equipment, I keep an eye on the top of the door just scant inches below. If someone were to walk through, I’d be readily visible and in a precarious position. My only hope in that case would be to drop down, draw my handgun, and begin firing. I may or may not get them; but in any case, my sojourn, and our plan, would come to a quick end.

I make the switch with the cables and pull back to the top of the conduits. I check that I’m not casting a shadow against the wall and wait knowing that there’s a greater chance that a reaction team will respond to this latest glitch. They might have overlooked one from the outside, but there’s no way—providing it was seen—that they’ll ignore a second one from a different camera. The switch, sniffer, and recorder are well camouflaged behind the camera and look like part of the system, at least to the casual observer.

Due to the thick walls and door, my only warning is the sound of the latch clicking. The hinges creak as the door swings open. Pressed flat on my stomach with my head turned to the side, I hold my breath and mentally wedge tighter between two of the large conduits, hoping to hell that my shirt tail isn’t hanging down between them. I imagine feeling the tug and ‘Hey, what do we have here? You okay up there, buddy?’ I told you my mind goes into strange places at the oddest of times.

With the opening of the door, voices in mid-conversation carry loud and clear just a foot and a half below.

“…told him the system was buggy but he said, ‘Just go check it out. It’s not like you have anything else to do.’ You know how Walsh is,” one voice states.

“I know, I know. But it isn’t like there is really anything for us to do,” a second voice says.

“Okay, Walsh, we’re here. What do you want us to do?” the first voice says.

“I can see you,” I hear a voice that sounds like it’s coming over a radio. “Do you see anything?”

“That depends on what I’m supposed to be looking for. There’s just a bunch of wires,” the first voice replies.

“Okay, it looks like it’s working. Go check the outside one,” the radio voice says.

“Really? Come on Walsh.”

“Just go check it out.”

“Okay, fine. I’ll go smile pretty for you.”

“You know this is because I cleaned him out last time. He still owes me so he’s…”

Oh fuck, the camera. If they go check out the camera, there isn’t going to be any pretty smile for Walsh, I think, feeling things start to go sideways.

The group heads down the hall toward the stairs and outer door, the boots heavy on the concrete. It sounds like there may be five or six of them, but I don’t dare lift my head or risk the mirror to find out. The conversation fades and dies out as they turn the corner and enter the stairwell. Once they are out of sight, I reach over and unplug the cable to the camera and quickly replace it, hopefully causing a glitch in the system that the reaction team will respond to before making it outside. Taking some electrical tape, I quickly cover the small screen of the recorder and fold back into my position waiting for them to return.

The sound of footsteps in the hall is there before I know it. They aren’t running steps, so I don’t feel that they are alerted but I remain tense. There’s the chance that they will still head outside and check on it. I can’t keep pulling the wire; that was a one-attempt-and-done kind of maneuver; unless I want to see what the afterlife is like, and I’m not all that eager to find out right now.

“Okay, Walsh, we’re here. What do you want?” a voice says as the footsteps halt almost directly below me.

“The camera flickered again. What do you see?”

“I see the same damn thing that I saw a minute ago.”

“Okay, well, it’s still working. I’ll just write it up,” the radio voice says.

“Do you want us to still check the outside one?”

“No, come on back. It’s obvious we’re having the same problem that we had on the east wing last week.”

“Okay, we’re on our way back.”

“You had better hope that the cards haven’t been moved or that you peeked,” the leader’s voice says, now directed at one of his teammates.

There’s a beeping sound as one of the people a foot below slides a keycard across the keypad, followed by a loud click as the magnetic lock releases.

“I wouldn’t do that.”

“Bullshit! I know you better than that you—”

The voices are cut off as the door closes and the lock engages.

I take my first deep breath. It’s not that I was holding it in but I was taking very shallow breaths to minimize any sound. My racing heart begins to subside after a moment, helped by the deep inhalations.

That was fucking close, I think, giving them some time to make sure that they don’t come back suddenly, one of them having discovered that they dropped their favorite good luck charm. I roll over and remove the tape. I then proceed to set up the recorder and have it run on a looped playback.

Satisfied that no one dropped their lucky charm, I remove several items from my pack, don it, and drop to the floor next to the wall. The lights are angled so that I’ll be fine with my shadow if I stay near the door and wall. I lean the ladder against the conduit and mentally place its position in my mind so I don’t accidentally bump it and tip it over. Overlooking small details like that have been known to ruin many a day.

The door on the bottom is sealed too tightly, so I don’t bother trying to put a fiber cam under it. It’s apparent that there is a reaction team that will respond and I’ll have to work quickly. And, although not alarmed, the security room personnel will now be more watchful. I remove a two-inch strip of magnesium and place it between the door and the jamb where the magnetic lock is.

Looking between the gap, I don’t see any magnetic sensors. The mag lock itself will notify anyone that the door has been opened, but there’s no way to avoid it if I want to get through. Digging into my fatigue pocket, I take out a flame torch. This is different than a lighter as the flame is barely visible and doesn’t cast any light. If I used a regular lighter or a match, the flare might cast a higher level of light and be seen in the camera. Lighting the magnesium strip, I place a ceramic coffee cup over it to cover the flare of light caused by the intense heat. If this were an inward opening door, the flare would be seen from the inside but the door stop prevents any light from leaking to the other side.

The strip burns quickly and I remove the cup stashing it in a pocket along with the lighter. The door still has some resistance but I yank it open and, grabbing the ladder, slide through. Quickly placing the ladder against the conduit on the other side, I take a rag sprayed with a diluted lemon juice mixture and wipe the walls, door jamb, lock mechanism, and door, to remove any char marks that the magnesium made. I then close the door and scale the ladder quickly, pulling it up with me. Taking a small spray bottle with diluted lemon-scented room deodorizer, I give a light spray like I was Febrezing the living room to remove any lingering burn smell.

I know it won’t be long until the reaction team shows up and I push myself a few yards down the conduits before coming to a stop. Almost level with me, florescent light fixtures hang from the concrete ceiling and extend down the inner hall. This hallway is long, being made to provide an escape tunnel that exits far away from the main facility, and the lights extend beyond my line of sight. Although they illuminate their immediate vicinity, they are spaced far enough apart that the corridor is cast in an overall gloom. I look to the top of the door I just entered and verify there isn’t a camera placed there. If I can manage to elude the guards who are surely going to show up, I will be inside the main facility. Not close to being where I need to go, but at least inside.

Without the door and walls blocking the way, and the fact that there is little to absorb any sound, I hear the response team approaching from a distance. Their boots ring on the concrete surface and, this time, there is no conversation. This is the second time they’ve been called out to the same location, so they are wary.

I can’t see them as I am pressed as flat as I can be between two conduits that are closest to the wall. I can tell they are more alert by the difference in their footsteps and by the lack of chatter that they previously exhibited. They aren’t trying to be quiet, but they aren’t exactly discussing their card game either.

“Okay, Walsh, we’re here. What’s up now?”

“It’s like I said, the monitor showed the door being opened a few minutes ago,” I hear a voice state over a radio.

I hear a bump against the opening bar. “It’s closed now. Are you sure it wasn’t us entering before?”

Their demeanor is different and more professional. It’s like I thought, they aren’t alarmed or on high-alert, but they are definitely cautious.

“No. I have that recorded. This alert came about ten minutes after,” the radio voice says.

“Okay. I don’t see anything, but we’ll check it out. Jenkins, you and Graham go check the outside door.”

I hear the door opening as I presume the two head through it on their way to check the door. If they check any farther it will, again, show that the camera isn’t working. They’ll go on high-alert and begin searching the building. If that happens, our mission is done for and I’ll be hard-pressed to escape. However, there’s nothing I can do about that now. Taking shallow breaths, I will myself to complete stillness. Flashlight beams pan along the ceiling and along the outer edges of the pipes. Slowly moving my hand, I rest it on the butt of my Beretta.

If the soldiers searching below me decide to jump or otherwise check out the tops of the conduits, it won’t be hard to find me. If they do, I’ll draw and fire. They’ll more than likely have armor vests on so I’ll have to go for the head. If I survive, I’ll make a run for the outside door, taking the two out on my way. I’ll have surprise on my side, so it shouldn’t be difficult providing the distance isn’t too far.

Beams continue to pan along the corridor and I feel my heart beating in my ears and neck, my blood pressure increasing with the tension. The group below me, four of them to judge from the number of flashlights, walk down the hallway playing their lights on the walls and ceiling. They continue for a distance before returning.

The click of the magnetic lock signals the return of the other two. I’m guessing they didn’t venture outside or I would have heard something over the radio, aside from an increase in activity.

“We didn’t see anything,” one of them reports.

“Did you check around outside?”

“No, we just checked the door and it was locked.”

I hear the one who seems to be the team leader sigh. “Okay, never mind. Walsh, did you note anything on the door outside? Do you have an alert that it was opened?”

“No. There’s nothing to indicate that it was opened,” the radio voice states.

“I’m thinking it could be the same glitch down on this end. I suppose it could be something electrical. I don’t see anything here and we’ve checked almost the entire length of the hall. There’s nowhere anything could be hiding.”

“Alright, I’ll note the door and cameras in the maintenance log and have them checked in the morning.”

“Say, do you guys smell something?” one voice questions.

“No. What’s it smell like?” another asks.

“I don’t know. It was there for a second. Wait, there it is again. It smells like, I don’t know, lemon?” the first voice says.

“Wait, yeah. Now it’s gone. Jenkins, are you putting on cologne again trying to get that corporal’s attention?”

“Fuck you guys.”

I feel a small amount of relief as their dialogue heads back to the good-natured conversation they had earlier. That means they’ve gone back to being at ease. However, I’ll have to be more careful from here on out as any further ‘glitches’ will put them on high-alert. Their voices fade as they make their way back down the hall.

I let out another sigh of relief and take several deep breaths. This isn’t simple by a long shot, but it sure is a hell of a lot easier than it was going into the night runner lair to get Lynn. I guess it helps if you don’t have inhabitants that can smell what you stepped in four days ago or hear your organs as they process chemicals. And, to me at least, humankind is more predictable than, and not as relentless as, the night runners. If these had been night runners, they wouldn’t have let up until they found me.

Lying on the conduits, I suppose I should feel a touch of exhilaration at getting inside the main facility, but what I feel is tired and drained. I send a message to Robert and quietly stash my gear back into my pack. Refocusing, I lock the tired away into a compartment. Moving my gear ahead of me, I bend my knees and, pushing up with my elbow and side of my heel, I move another foot down the pipes.

It’s a long arduous process, slowly passing from one light fixture to the next, from reflected light to gloom. The fixtures become both my mark of progress and my next goal. Being designed to exit far from the main facility, the tunnel is naturally a long one. As tedious as the crawl along the pipe is, pausing along the way for periodic rests, it also serves to create some time between the noticed events and hopefully reduces the alert level of the security personnel. I’m guessing so as no one else has entered the tunnel since checking the door.

I can’t believe I’m doing this, I think, reaching the end of the corridor; or at least the end of the long tunnel.

My arms and legs are stiff and aching from the exertion. The tunnel takes a right and, using my mirror to peer around the corner, I see that it takes an almost immediate left. The conduits, for whatever reason, proceed across the hall at my location before continuing to follow the path of the hallway. At the juncture where it bends to the left again, a steel door with a wire mesh window is set within the wall with a sign above denoting ‘Security’. Above the door is another camera pointed down to the ground at the entrance.

The pipes are on the opposite side of the hall to the camera, which will make it interesting to install a rigged switch. I’ll be able to reach it if I lean outward, but that will make me visible to anyone approaching the room. I double-check the camera angle before pulling the mirror back to ensure that it won’t spy me crossing the hall across the top of the conduits.

Settling away from the corner, I mentally run through the scene and my next steps. I’ll need to set up a similar loop recording, make sure the hall is clear, drop down and bypass the door, then proceed in, eliminate the personnel within, set the proper monitors inside on playback, notify the teams, and hold off until they arrive.

Seems simple enough, I think facetiously, shaking my head.

I take a few moments, visualizing the steps over and over in my head. My heart is pounding solidly in my chest. I think about turning back as every nerve in my body is thrumming from the tension. Getting here has been the easy part compared with what’s coming next. I wish there was a way I could take out the reaction squad without anyone knowing, but I just don’t see a way to do it and remain undetected, let alone remain alive. I seriously contemplate giving it up. However, I don’t see a viable alternative than to proceed.

I continue wrestling with my opposing thoughts. I know that inching across the hall on the pipes will constitute a go-no go decision for me mentally. Making that first move is difficult as this is the part where too many variables come into play. Not to mention that a bit of luck will be necessary to pull this off, most of that coming from no one showing up at the security room while I’m inside. At least it’s only me at this point.

Okay, Jack, come on. You’ve done this before, I think, steeling myself to continue. This is a no-brainer. You know what needs to be done and how to do it. I calm my racing mind, Settle down, focus on the next task at hand. There is nothing but the next thing.

I hold the visualization of accomplishing each step firmly in my head. I recheck my gear as a final step and check the hallway and room once again. It’s all clear. From my angle, I can only see a linoleum floor through the window of the security door. There aren’t shadows of anyone moving inside, only the florescent shine of lights.

Lifting myself once again, feeling the ache in my arms as they resist further movement, I crawl across the hall. My eyes alternate between placing my gear and body, and the light emitting from the window. A few quick pushes and I’m across. I listen for any doors opening or footsteps echoing off the concrete walls. I don’t know what’s around the corner as yet but, keeping in mind the diagram Harold found, the corridor should continue for a short distance ending with a door entering into the large equipment bay, around which the whole bunker is built. There should also be a branching hallway about halfway down with other rooms opening off from it.

It’s a short crawl to the next corner. With the way the conduits are situated, stretching nearly across the hallway, I can’t see much. Setting my pack to the side, I grab another switch assembly. Listening intently and not hearing anything, I lean out from the pipes making sure to keep myself from the front of the camera. The florescent lights are spaced such that I don’t cast any shadows from my position. With one hand braced on the far wall, I place the device. In this precarious position, I have to be careful that I don’t slip. Below me, there is a loud click as the magnetic lock of the door disengages.

The door, just seemingly inches below me opens and a guard steps out. I freeze in mid-action, one hand against the wall and my other holding onto the device. My breath catches in my throat as the guard is just a little over a foot and a half directly under me. My sight is filled with the top of his head. Beads of sweat form on my face and I don’t know how he can’t hear my heartbeat.

Holding the door open, he turns back inside. My shoulder is screaming from holding my body up with my hand on the wall; my stomach muscles trembling.

“Did you make the annotations in the maintenance log?” the man below me asks into the room.

“Yeah,” someone inside answers.

“Okay, I’ll be back in a bit.”

The man steps away and the door begins swinging slowly closed. It’s a good thing I had my fatigue top tucked in as the tails would have brushed the top of his head were it hanging out. He passes under me muttering something so far under his breath that even I can’t pick out the words. I keep a close eye on him as he walks down the hall. All I need right now if for him to have forgotten something and turn back. There’s no way he’d miss me looking from his present position.

With the pneumatic hinge holding the door, it eases shut ever so slowly. Just before it closes, still holding the device, I inch my hand down and place my finger between the jamb and the door. This will keep the door from closing and engaging the magnetic lock. The sound may make the guard turn. That’s just human instinct, to turn toward a sound even if we know what it is. I can’t hold if for long as a lot of security doors will also have an alarm if it’s left open for too long. The guard turns to the left down the hallway that leads to the other rooms. I remove my finger and the door closes, the magnetic lock reengaging. Somewhere down the hall, I faintly here a door open and close.

I place the gadget on the wall and look to the hall where the guard disappeared. ‘I’ll be right back’ rings in my head. I wish I could see into the room better to get a clearer picture of the layout and how many are in there. A plan forms. I finish setting up the gadget and push back to the pipes, donning my pack. Although the guard damn near caught me with my pants down, it may actually work to my advantage.

On the edge of the pipes between the two hallway corners, I lay on my side with my suppressed Beretta in my hand, listening for the sound of the guard returning. It takes a while but, even though I don’t hear the door he went through opening, I do hear his footsteps echoing off the walls. I hear the beep of the keypad next to the door and the lock clicks. Disregarding my pounding heartbeat, I roll off the conduits.

The guard swings the door open as I hit the ground just behind him. He starts to turn at the sound but I shove him through the door before he gets the chance. He stumbles inside with a yelp and I follow hard on his heels. I instantly take in the surroundings; a wall of monitors opposite the door with a bank of equipment in racks to the left. Sitting in front of the monitors are two additional guards who turn at the sound of their comrade. Without hesitation, I lift my handgun and fire.

I send two rounds into each of the guards whose surprise is short-lived. One guard crashes backward into the controls from two rounds impacting his cheek and nose. He then topples to the ground leaving a red smear across the control board. The second is spun around in his chair as two projectiles slam into his neck and mouth, spraying blood into the air. He falls heavily to the floor beside his overturned chair.

Rounding on the third guard, who is recovering from his stumble and starting to reach for his own handgun, I fire point blank into his forehead. His head rocks sharply backward and stops. It then moves slowly forward as if he doesn’t know that he’s already dead and is trying to right it. He then slumps to his knees and falls face forward. The door behind me closes with a click.

The second guard, hit in the throat and mouth is gurgling, air bubbles forming from the holes in his throat and mouth. Noting that these guards aren’t wearing armored vests, I walk over and pump two rounds into his chest. His shirt flutters upward from the striking bullets and his wheezing/gurgling ceases.

I look overhead at the door to see if they have a camera installed inside and I’m glad to see that there isn’t one. There are dozens of monitors filling the wall above a control panel. Most are from the fence line but others show the interior. I see the ones of the hallway I just crept through playing through their loopbacks. They don’t look any different than the others with regards to quality and look natural. One monitor shows a room with several guards sitting around a table playing cards. I assume those are the ones who responded to the doors and cameras. Another monitor shows a location that looks like a control room for a space launch center with manned consoles and several large screens to the front. I continue to look but, other than the ones mentioned, I don’t see anyone moving around. Unfortunately, after looking over all of the feeds, I don’t see any depicting a barracks or where the majority of the security personnel are staying.

All of the monitors have locations imbedded into the video feed which makes it rather convenient. Studying the controls, I find that it’s rather intuitive. I’ll place the fence monitors into playback mode when the others arrive. If there is an alternate security room, they shouldn’t notice anything out of the ordinary unless they look at the small time stamp in the lower corner. The possibility of a secondary security room is the reason I placed the loopback over the room I’m currently occupying.

“I’m in. Land and send the teams,” I send to Robert.

“Okay, we’re on the way,” he replies.

Now is the time for luck to take the reins for a little while. It’s going to be some time before the teams arrive and it’s just me. I remove my pack and place it against the wall near the door. Holstering my Beretta, I remove the M-4 strapped to my back. Uprighting the overturned chair, I place two of the guards in the seats, arranging them as best as I can. Using speed tape, I secure their legs to the seat and do my best with their upper bodies while keeping the tape hidden from the back. I push the chairs close to the console to hold their bodies up. It won’t hold up for anything more than a cursory inspection, but anyone passing by the window and glancing in shouldn’t be alarmed.

Dragging the third guard out of view, I remove his shirt and begin mopping up the copious amount of blood on the floor and console. In case you didn’t know, wiping spills up from a linoleum floor is a bitch. I end up having to use the guard’s pants as well. On a table opposite the equipment racks, there are three hats. I take two of them and place them on the two guards. Standing by the door, I look over my handiwork and chuckle thinking that I could actually make it look right. It’s like something from the horror section of a wax museum, but it should pass a quick inspection, especially as anyone walking by will be expecting to see guards at their stations. A lot of it is about what others expect to see and accommodating that vision.

There’s really nothing else for me to do so I station myself against the wall just inside the door, watching the banks of monitors and ready for anyone to enter. I won’t have any warning other than the lock disengaging so I stay alert. Although I’d never tell anyone, there’s a part of me that didn’t expect to make it this far and the effort has left me feeling drained. Along with being tired, there is a deep anxiety about having to wait so long. It’s the unknown and the anticipation of it that will fuck with the mind…and that’s where I am at the moment.

A Pale Horse

The hours seemed like days in the back of the 130. The perpetual turbulence made it seem like she was riding a bucking bronco. Not only was the jarring constant, but the back end also swayed to the sides as the aircraft rode the choppy air. The smell was atrocious, and it became too much for several of the soldiers. Although she threw the cat litter concoction on the messes and cleaned it up as best as she could, the stench still threatened to gag her, the sweet smell of the scented kitty litter seeming to actually make it worse.

It’s like Old Spice mixed with vomit, she had thought as yet another jarring crunch threatened to grind her hips into her shoulders. The sinking of the sun brought some calm to the turbulence.

That was hours ago and, since then, Jack had jumped out into the night. Riding in the cockpit since his exit, there had only been one update from Jack, relayed through Robert, saying that he was at the fence and proceeding. Since then, silence. For the past couple of hours, there has only been the droning of the engines as they turned in circles to the north.

Lynn knew it would take time for Jack to get inside, but her worry increased with each repetition of their flight pattern. Her bottom lip was sore from constantly gnawing on it. Several times, she had to restrain herself from asking Robert to call for an update. Each time, she stopped herself thinking that it might interfere with what Jack was doing. Any disruption could cause him to falter at a critical point. Instead, she just resumed her pacing and bit into her already sore lip.

“Lynn,” Robert calls but she is lost in her thoughts.

“Lynn,” he shouts, this time the call penetrating her consciousness.

She turns to Robert who is looking at her from under his helmet. “He’s inside. We’re going in.”

Relief floods through her. The moment is short-lived though as she knows their part is coming up, along with the fact that Jack is inside without any support.

“How long until we’re on the ground?” Lynn asks.

“Twenty minutes,” Robert replies.

Lynn gives a nod and heads into the back to inform the teams. With the news, the passive sitting that they’ve been doing for hours becomes an explosion of silent activity as they rise and begin gathering their gear. Straps are removed from the tied-down piles, packs are searched through and donned, weapons and mags are checked. Satisfied that they’ll be ready upon arrival, Lynn dons her own gear and heads back into the cockpit.

Robert and Craig are talking with each other and setting up for the approach as she reenters. Robert turns and lets her know that Jack didn’t find any mines on his way through but left a brown cord centered on a safe route. She listens as he describes the fence and pole number to enter through. He mentions that it doesn’t look like the response teams are wearing armor vests so center mass shot will be effective.

“Oh, and he said he left a key under the mat,” Robert says, finishing.

“What the fuck does that mean?” Lynn asks, searching for the relevance.

“I have no idea,” Robert says, and turns back to flying.

A few minutes pass with the deck tilting periodically under her feet. Outside, there is only darkness which, now that she knows they will be descending, makes her anxious. From her vantage point, it looks like they are flying into an abyss and she expects a mountainside to suddenly appear out of the dark. The moment and image passes quickly.

In the darkened cockpit, illuminated only by dim red light and the faint glow from the instruments, Lynn looks to Robert and notices he isn’t wearing NVGs. She never really thought about it before with the frenzy of activity, but she now knows that he must have gained the same night vision capabilities as Jack. The aircraft banks again and levels.

“Sis, you better get strapped in,” Craig states.

“Yeah, this could be a little bumpy,” Robert chimes in without turning.

Lynn places a hand on Robert’s shoulder, giving it a squeeze and does the same to Bri. Resting her hand on Craig’s shoulder, he turns and gives her a smile, which Lynn returns. Craig then turns back to the front, moving his hand to the gear handle and pushes it down.

Lynn retreats to the cargo compartment and sits on one of the red nylon seats. The roar of the engines change pitch as Robert alters the throttles to keep them on airspeed and glide path. She holds up her hand with her fingers extended.

“Five minutes,” she calls.

The shout is passed down the line of soldiers gripping their carbines between their knees.

With the yell, there’s a collective sigh. The hours of drilling holes in the air is nearing an end. Ahead, there is a coming fight. It’s not an ‘if they meet the enemy’, it’s a definite. They are going to wage battle against those that struck at them. In their minds, though, there is no glorious song being played; there is no warm feeling of justice being served. There is, perhaps, a thought of their fallen comrades, but not the feeling that they are going forth to avenge them. Inside each is tension and anxiety about the upcoming action. Each one is lost in their own thoughts—none of them the same. Some have loved ones on their minds, those that are with them or that they’ve lost, some worry about getting shot, while others think about the people around them; their buddies or comrades. No heroic speeches are made. None are needed. They know what has to be done.

The jolt takes them all by surprise. The aircraft rocks back and forth. They are down. Lynn hears the engines reverse their thrust and is thrown against her straps. Before the aircraft comes to a complete stop, the rear ramp begins to lower. Red light dimly illuminates the interior, only bright enough to keep everyone from running into walls.

“Let’s move,” Lynn yells, seeing the ramp fall past the level position.

Soldiers rise and head down the ramp. Outside, the roar of the engines idling fills the night air, making it difficult to be heard. It’s completely dark outside but all of the soldiers have their NVGs on. Lynn directs the teams to the side of the aircraft, making sure to stay away from the huge props which are generating gale force winds to the rear.

Once to the side of the aircraft, after verifying that everyone is present, she gives a wave to Craig who is looking out of one of the cockpit windows, wearing his own set of NVGs. Knowing she has his attention, she gives a clear thumbs-up. He nods and the rear ramp begins closing. The big engines begin revving up. Everyone on the ground turns their back to the aircraft and kneels as the 130 starts turning away from them.

Lynn feels the wind and dirt swirl around her. After it passes, she turns to see the 130 facing in the opposite direction, lit only by the green glow of her goggles. The roar of the engines increase and the behemoth begins rolling across the lumpy dirt field, picking up speed quickly. It vanishes beyond her sight but she can hear the engines roaring, straining to gain enough airspeed for the 130 to lift off the ground. The noise of the engines seems to go on forever and there’s a moment of worry that the aircraft won’t get aloft. Then, the roar changes pitch and she knows that it’s safely airborne. The sound slowly fades until there is only the quiet of the night and the noise of shifting soldiers. They’re on the ground and ready to begin the next phase of the plan.

Lynn quietly and quickly organizes the teams. She hasn’t heard from Jack since the last relay from Robert but she has to go on the assumption that everything is still on plan. They landed not far from the bunker so they won’t have to travel as far as Jack did. Lynn sets a line of march with two teams in the lead to the left and right with Lynn and Black Team behind. The others follow in spaced intervals.

Before long, they reach a position directly west of the correct pole but far enough out that the cameras won’t be able to see them. Over the radio, she clicks twice to initiate communication and let Jack know that a message is following. Hearing his replying clicks, she then clicks the pre-briefed number of times to signal that they are close to the fence. A minute later, she hears the signal letting them that it’s okay to proceed. Again, she feels a measure of relief that Jack is okay.

Lynn has the two front teams spread out to find the cord Jack left to indicate the safe passage. The brown cord on the ground will be hard to find, especially with night vision, so Lynn has them proceed slowly.

Of course, if I know Jack, he’ll have hidden it as well, Lynn thinks as they start slowly forward.

A soldier from Blue Team stops, bends down, and holds up his arm. He signals to Horace who, in turn, signals Lynn. Hidden within the grass stubble is a thin cord snaking its way across the ground toward the fence. If they hadn’t been carefully looking for the line, they would have missed it. Lynn traces it with her eyes and is unable to see any evidence of Jack’s passage. Bending closer, she makes out scuff marks along the dirt only after parting the grass. Shaking her head, she gathers the team leaders and tells them to follow the cord in single file.

Reaching the fence without incident, Lynn sees where Jack cut it. The teams are through quickly and race across the intervening space to the exit building. It’s completely quiet except for the swish of grass against pant legs. Reaching the structure, the teams fan out forming a perimeter.

Lynn peeks around the corner to the front and immediately sees what Jack meant by leaving a key under the mat. Looped on the door handle is an ID card. Taking the card, she places it against the screen above the keypad next to the door. A light turns green and she hears the click of the door unlocking.

She takes a quick peek inside to ensure that the way is clear. “Everyone, inside and quickly.”

Horace leads her team inside, taking the forefront. Lynn feels the tension emanating from each soldier as they pass. On the heels of Blue Team, she leads her own inside. She watches as Horace checks around the first corner of the stairs and moves on. At the bottom of the steps, they begin moving down a hall. It’s not wide enough for the teams to spread out so they move in a single column, each soldier staggered on opposite walls. They move at a crouch quickly down the corridor, Horace and another, on the opposite wall, lead with their M-4s trained on the security door at the end.

From here, anyone they meet will be taken down quickly. There won’t be any call to surrender. They are still extremely vulnerable in the enclosed space and it wouldn’t take much to hold them up. A couple of people sighting around corners could wipe out all of the teams in a short period of time. Having only a couple in front, it will be difficult to achieve fire superiority. With these thoughts in mind, Lynn hustles behind Horace and moves her team to the door.

Swiping the card, it releases and, with Horace ready, she swings it open. Horace darts inside ready to deliver fire should she see anyone on the other side. There’s only a corridor that stretches past her line of sight, illuminated by widely separated lights hanging from the ceiling.

The air is dry yet chilled as they move quickly down the hall, figures darting in and out of the light, fading into the gloom between the pools of brightness, the sound of many boots shuffling on the dusty concrete floor, heartbeats racing.

Horace holds up near a corner at the end of the long tunnel and waves Lynn forward. Peeking around, Lynn spots a door with ‘Security’ placarded across the top. Over the door, only because she is looking for it, she notes Jack’s handiwork on the camera.

Sending a series of clicks, she signals Jack that they are at the security room door. Lynn sees a shadow through the window and the sound of the door unlocking. Directing Horace to station her team at the adjacent corner, and making sure their backside is covered, she takes her team and enters the security room.

She immediately takes in the scene and is taken aback by guards sitting in chairs at the console. Looking closer, she sees that they have long since left this life, becoming quickly obvious by their slouched positions and blood stains on their collars and shoulders. Another body lies partially stripped of its clothing in a corner. And, standing near the wall by the door, is Jack.

“Took ya long enough,” he says.

“What happened? Did you get bored?” Lynn asks, smiling.

“One can only play so much solitaire,” he states, waving an arm to one of the computer terminals on a table. Sure enough, there is a half completed game on the screen.

“Jack, you didn’t really…” Lynn questions, to which Jack shrugs and turns to the monitor banks filling one wall.

“We’ve been pretty lucky so far, but we don’t have a lot of time. I’d rather initiate things on our own terms than be discovered and have to fight our way through. Here,” Jack says, pointing to one of the monitors, “this is the reaction team. They’ll need to be taken out first before we move into positions in the equipment bay.”

On the monitor, Lynn sees a group of six soldiers that are playing cards around a large table. She notes that their carbines, M-4s, are slung on the backs of their chairs. The soldiers themselves are clad in multicam fatigues and wearing vests. The edges of bunks can be clearly seen in the foreground of the video. Jack then directs her attention to a diagram outlining the general room structure of the facility with room numbers annotated.

“We’re here and they’re in this room here,” Jack says, pointing to a room not far from their present location.

“That’s just down the outside hallway,” Lynn says.

“Yeah, and it needs to be done quickly and quietly.”

Lynn continues to look at the diagram, etching it into her memory.

“There are some other differences on this plan than on the diagram Harold showed us. They’re minor differences, but ones we need to be aware of,” Jack says.

“We can go over them when I return,” Lynn states.

“You’re going?” Jack asks.

“Of course. You don’t think you’re the only one who can handle things, do you?”

“No, but I thought—”

“We’ll cover the next step when I get back,” Lynn says. “I’ll be taking Black Team with me. The other teams are in the hall with Horace covering toward the equipment bay.”

“They’re exposed out there.”

“That’s why I need to get going. I’ll see you in a sec,” Lynn says, gathering Black Team to point out the monitor and room diagram.

“I guess I’ll just sit here and finish my game then.”

Lynn knows Jack has no intention of finishing the game, if he ever really played it to begin with. More than likely, it was already on the screen when he entered. Although, if that’s the case, why isn’t she seeing a screen saver. Lynn shrugs and gives Jack a smile before turning back to brief her team.

In the hall, Lynn places a hand on Horace’s shoulder and leans in to whisper her intention of taking Black Team down the hall that exits a short distance away.

“You’re in charge until we return. Keep this hall clear. I’ll give a short whistle before we reenter the hallway which you’ll return if it’s clear,” Lynn says.

“Will do,” Horace replies. “We’ll be here if you need.”

There hasn’t really been much talk of rank for a while except for everyone calling Jack ‘sir’.

We’re going to have to work that out when we get back, Lynn thinks, rising with the rest of her team.

Creeping against the wall, Lynn edges toward the opening just ahead. The silence is almost enough to hear, if there was such a thing, and the tension seems to press the walls inward. Step by step, with her M-4 aiming unwaveringly at a point in front of the opening, Lynn closes in. Ahead, the main corridor leads to a security door that then enters into the large equipment bay.

That’s for a later time, she thinks, nearing the intersection.

Kneeling, she peeks around the corner. Florescent fixtures light a hallway with doors branching off to the left and right down its length. It’s the door at the end that she focuses on. Behind it, six soldiers are wasting their time with a game of cards, trying to chase the boredom of their watch away.

Briskly rounding the corner, she quickly moves down the hall, checking each door as she passes. Two of the nearer ones are easily identified as bathrooms by the placards. Her teammates behind check the others finding that they are storage rooms. Lynn keeps her focus on the doorway ahead. If it opens, she and her team will charge forth. It will be uglier but they can’t risk a firefight, especially an extended one. They are still vulnerable from the hallway behind.

At the door, she stacks next to it with another teammate on the other side. Handing the keycard to a third team member, she signals Jack that they’re ready for entry. They’ll enter with four, the other two maintaining security in the hall. In the control room, she knows that Jack will be setting the monitor to its playback function.

“There are bunks to the left and right of the door. The room past that is open with a large table in the middle. There should be six around that, but stay flexible as they could be moving around. We go in firing. Watch for anyone going for an alarm, they’ll be our priority target. Are you ready?” Lynn whispers.

Hands tighten on their carbines and they shuffle to get into position.

Lynn feels her heart beat thudding against the walls of her chest. Adrenaline courses through her as she and the team wait for Jack’s signal. One of the bathroom doors opens behind her.

A soldier steps into the hallway wiping his hands on his pants. He looks up and his eyes go wide seeing six-armed strangers in the hall. He’s so startled that he takes no action as his mind tries to fathom that what he is seeing is real. The amazement is short-lived however as muted coughs signal rounds being delivered from her two teammates guarding the hall. The soldier rocks backward and slams into the door jamb. As he falls back, his arms jerk with each bullet strike as if he’s on the end of puppet strings. He slides down the frame and slumps to the ground.

“Fuck it, we’re going in,” Lynn states.

The third member of her team lays the ID card Jack delivered against the keypad. With a corresponding loud click of the door unlocking, Lynn’s teammate pulls on the handle. Lynn sweeps into the open doorway, her carbine up and ready.

Six pairs of eyes turn toward her from a table in the middle of the room, their glances more curious to see who has entered their watch room. Their inquisitive looks rapidly change to alarm as they see armed strangers pouring into the room, barrels aimed directly at them.

Lynn observes the change of expressions as she depresses the trigger. Rounds spit out of her suppressor, speeding toward a target on the other side of the table. She sees but barely notes as he crashes backward out of his chair. While continuing into the room, she switches her aim point to another soldier sitting next to him, who is grabbing for a weapon slung on a chair. He too is sent spiraling out of his seat.

Stepping farther into the room as she fires, making room for those sweeping in behind her, Lynn notes the four others fall before they can grab for their weapons. None of them even made it out of their chairs. She scans the rest of the room, paying attention to the bunks, but doesn’t see anyone else. The air is filled with the odor of spent gunpowder with an underlying smell of sweat and blood. Cards, spattered with blood, are scattered across the table. Six bodies lie on the floor amidst overturned chairs. Lynn and another of her team put rounds into the chests of those lying either dead or dying. It’s over in seconds. The first round has been played.

Looking at the bodies, Lynn feels a touch of remorse. These are, after all, just soldiers that were doing their thing before she and her team put an end to them. Lynn retrieves the ID cards from their bodies as they may need them in the next phase of their operation.

With the room clearing of the light smoke, the iron smell of blood, torn bodies, and bowels fills the room. Lynn takes a last look at the bodies to make sure they are, in fact, dead. She then gathers her team and, leaving the room, closes the door behind, shutting off the sight and smell of the devastation.

* * *

Lynn leaves the security room on her way to deal with the reaction squad currently whiling away their time playing cards. Looking to the screen, nothing has changed; the soldiers are still around the table. I’ll switch over to a playback function once I hear the signal that Lynn is stacked and ready. That way, if there is an alternate room or the screens are being displayed elsewhere, they won’t be alerted that we’re inside and commencing an attack.

A few minutes later, Lynn signals. I reach up to the playback function on the control panel only to see the monitor go dark. Switching back to the live feed, the video comes online. I try again with the same result. Placing it on the live feed once again, I am about to send someone to inform Lynn when I see her and her team sweep into the room. It’s messy but over quickly. I scan the other monitors to see if there is any response to the quick reaction force being taken down. Nothing on the monitors indicates that anything has changed. The control room people are going about their tasks as if nothing happened and the equipment bay remains empty. It becomes apparent that there isn’t a second security site or monitors being watched. If there was, they could hardly miss what just happened and there would be alarm bells ringing, or at least the phone.

Lynn returns to the security room and informs me that there were, in fact, seven.

“Seven? Really?”

“Yeah, there was apparently one in the bathroom. I don’t know whether he was with the reaction team or not, but there was someone in there who came out at the wrong time,” Lynn relates.

“In the bathroom? For this long? No one has come or gone from the room or showed up on any of the monitors. What the hell was he doing in there for so long?” I ask.

“I don’t really want to know,” Lynn answers.

“No, you’re probably right there. And, it’s not important unless he’ll be missed somewhere. At any rate, let’s cover the differences in the layout. We’ll have to change our plans…but not much,” I say. “And keep in mind that there are some blind spots from the cameras in the equipment bay.”

We lay the diagram on the table and go over the changes. The only real alteration is that there is another door leading from the equipment bay that seems to lead to other rooms that appear to be quarters. The original plan was for Lynn to have four teams hold the main security forces at bay and keep an eye on a fourth door leading to the maintenance areas. Now, in addition to the three doors leading to the barracks, she’ll have to designate one team to cover the other two. The rest of the plan stands as originally designed; Horace will take over the control room, Watkins will cover the tunnel, main entrance from above, and provide a reserve force, I will lead the four of Red Team to cover the doorway leading into another large set of rooms. Because the bay is so large and filled with vehicles, we won’t be able to maintain a visual with each other so we’ll be relying on squelches from the radios to indicate that everyone is in position.

“Are we ready?” I ask, following our brief.

“Give me ten minutes to brief the leads and for them to update their teams,” Lynn says.

“Okay, but we can’t afford to loiter here. That lone person is making me nervous. He’ll be missed somewhere if he wasn’t part of the reaction team. And, it’s only a matter of time before someone stumbles into us,” I state.

“I know, Jack. Ten minutes.”

Lynn exits into the hall with the diagram. I brief Red Team on the changes; which for us, there really aren’t any. The waiting and the time we’ve already spent inside is making me anxious. I wanted to flow from one action to the next but controlling multiple teams takes time. I note the lines of tension around the eyes of each member of Red and Black Team as we wait for Lynn to finish. We are on the verge of a firefight that could go sideways at any time. If we can hold the security forces inside of their quarters, we’ll stand a chance. If they break out, we’ll be outnumbered four-to-one on their home turf.

Lynn returns and gives a nod. We’re ready. Weapons are rechecked. Lips are drawn tight from tension and game faces are on. If the others are like me, their hearts are pounding in their ears. We head out into the concrete hallway where the teams are gathered, looking like a football team about to take the field.

Horace’s Blue Team will enter first to secure the doorway to the control room with Red Team right behind. Lynn will take her four teams to the first line of vehicles near the doorways leading to the maintenance rooms, security barracks, and other quarters. There, she will direct the placement of claymores just inside the halls, ensuring that they cover the halls before wedging the doors open. If the doors close, it will place the security forces behind protective cover and allow them space to react. By wedging the doors open it will give the teams clear lanes of fire down the halls, forcing the responding security forces to wade through gunfire pouring into the enclosed space.

Once she is finished with that, Horace will enter the control room and take it over. We’ll be hard-pressed to stop any alarm from being triggered at that point but, by then, it will be too late. The soldiers rushing out of their quarters will be met with hundreds of steel ball bearings rocketing down the corridor. From there, Lynn will keep the remaining soldiers pinned in the hall with directed fire. Red Team and I will then enter the door into what looks like the headquarters. If the leaders of this outfit aren’t in the control room, we’ll find them beyond our doors.

At the door leading to the equipment bay, we stack in order of entry. Each team lead has a key card courtesy of the security room guards and Lynn. Horace looks to me.

“Let’s do this,” I say, giving her a nod.

One of Horace’s teammates holds the card to the reader. The door unlocks with a loud click. Horace pushes it inward and flows inside with the rest of her team, going to the left along the inner wall. Red Team and I follow on her heels. Behind me, I hear Lynn and her four teams rush through the door and race toward their positions. The teams have entered like a fast moving fog.

Ahead, two guards are posted on the outside of the control room. This was one of the blind spots on the camera so they come as a surprise. Horace fires a burst into the nearest one, sending him flying against the other standing next to him. The second guard’s face catches a spray of warm blood. Startled by his companion launching into him, he staggers and turns only to catch Horace’s second burst that stitches him across his chest and up. He too falls to the ground across the body of his colleague.

I spread out to the side of Blue Team, focusing on the steel door leading to the control room, anticipating a response and soldiers to rush out. None show. Horace and her team move the bodies from the door and take stations to the side. I move with the three others of Red Team and stack next to a steel security door leading farther into the complex. Horace clicks that she is in position and I follow suit.

* * *

The telephone rings beside Gav’s bed. It’s not often that she’s disturbed while she’s getting her few hours of sleep. She opens her eyes, instantly alert but taking a moment to place her position. Stretching and yawning widely, she turns and wiggles toward the phone, picking it up on the third ring. She notes the incoming call is from the control center.

“Yes,” she states tersely into the mouthpiece.

“Nahmer, sorry to bother you,” the voice on the other end says.

“Yes, yes, what is it?” she asks, coming more awake and annoyed at the supervisor’s attempt to placate her.

“Well, we’ve been picking up squelches over the scanner for the last couple of hours. At first we didn’t think it was anything but, well, it seems like there is a certain repetition to them. They come and go but they’ve been coming more frequently in the last hour and there’s definitely a pattern to them,” the supervisor briefs.

Instantly awake, Gav throws her legs over the bed and sits rigidly upright. A surge of adrenaline electrifies her. Along with a sudden feeling of apprehension comes a feeling of foreboding…and fear.

“Have you called the security office? The reaction squad?” Gav asks.

“They are our next call, Nahmer, but I wanted to notify you first.”

“Can you patch through what you’re hearing?”

“One moment. We haven’t heard anything for a little bit.”

Gav waits and hears a faint hiss as the frequency is fed into her phone. At first there’s nothing as she strains to hear, then there’s a series of definite squelch breaks that come through clearly. Hearing them, another surge of adrenaline floods her system.

“You idiots, that’s communication and coming from nearby,” she says, flying off the bed and standing upright.

“Call the security office and reaction squad. Sound the alarm,” Gav says, knowing it may already be too late.

She quickly dons fatigues as a shrill alarm sounds throughout the facility. As she pulls the quick releases on her boots tight, a series of dull explosions vibrates the floor under her. Anger envelopes her, but then, that vanishes like a breath blowing out a candle. A deep calmness settles in its place. The blasts tell her that it’s too late. She can only hope the security forces can push their way through; but, in her thoughts, she knows that is doubtful. She knows who has entered the facility and, having been there before—only on the other side—the only thing she can do is wait for her guests to arrive.

* * *

Lynn emerges into the large equipment bay on the run. She is momentarily taken aback by how vast the interior is. Humvees and Strykers are parked in neat rows to one side with a large expanse to the other for maneuvering the vehicles and for maintenance. The one thing she notes with satisfaction is the lack of anyone inside. With a fleeting glance to the side, she sees Horace deal with two guards that are posted in front of a steel door. The sight is lost as she enters a line of Humvees and dashes with the other teams down the column. The doors against the far wall that are her objective are in and out of sight as she runs by the vehicles. All eyes are focused on the doors, ready for an emergence of soldiers that would indicate that they’ve been spotted.

However, their luck holds as all of the teams arrive into positions across from the doors without incident, spread out, and take cover behind the vehicles. A line of Strykers are in the column behind her, some with .50 cal turrets and others with 105mm cannons.

Grabbing Mullins, she whispers, “I want you to take your team and start three of the fifty cal Strykers when we open fire. I want those guns online lending support. Concentrate on the three doors, but keep the others under observation.”

Mullins nods and gathers his team. They ease ramps down from three of the armored vehicles as Lynn sends Green Team, Drescoll’s old team now led by Jordan, to the doors to begin placing claymores. While the two remaining teams, hers and Cressman’s, stand guard, Lynn sees to the placement of the M-240s so that they have fields of fire down the hallways.

This is almost too smooth, she thinks, watching the last of the claymores being placed. I really hope the security forces are inside those doors. It would really suck for them to come streaming out from another unknown entrance.

With that thought, she trots to the end of the vehicles to get a better picture of the interior. It’s dimly lit, but it’s not dark enough for NVGs to be used. Looking around, she doesn’t see any uncovered entrances other than the large hangar-like door leading out. Satisfied, she returns back to her position. Examining the hallways, it’s completely dark inside except for faint glimmers of light showing on the floors and walls, emanating from small windows inset into the numerous doors leading off the corridor.

She signals the others that they are in position and ready. Moments later, the air is filled with high-pitched sirens. It has begun. Steadying herself with a sigh, she leans against the hood of a Humvee and sights down one of the open halls.

She doesn’t have long to wait. Along the length of the halls, faint glimmers of light turn brighter as doors are flung open. She looks to Jordan, whose team is holding the claymore clackers, signaling for him to wait. Soldiers begin filling the darkened hall, many stumbling out of the doors donning vests and arranging their weapons.

“Now,” she yells to Jordan, her voice barely heard over the screaming siren.

Three rolling blasts shake the floor, drowning the sound of the alarm. Gray smoke pours from the open doorways completely blocking the view inside. Lynn senses more than hears Strykers behind her start up.

“Open fire,” Lynn shouts, her mouth dry from the adrenaline in her system.

Unseen and unheard bullets fly into and through the smoke still drifting out of the corridor through the top of the doorways. The three M-240s resting on the vehicles and the .50 cals behind soon join in the fray, lending their heavyweight fire to the suppressing fire of the teams.

* * *

Horace jumps as the alarm goes off, filling the large, open bay with its shrill noise. The sound tells her it’s time to go, having been given the word to or not. She heard the clicks denoting that Sergeant Connell was in position and ready. The next move was Horace’s anyway. With a nod to her team member by the keypad, she braces herself for the entry. She has an idea what the interior looks like having had Sergeant Connell brief her. The mag lock opens and she pushes the door inward, storming inside. With the alarm sounding, the time for stealth and quiet is gone, to be replaced by speed.

Inside, there is a flurry of activity among the rows of consoles. Technicians are running from one workstation to another. Some of those still seated have phones plastered to their ears. The rest are furiously hammering away on keyboards. Oddly, her entry toward the back of the room is unnoticed in the frenzy. She sweeps across the back, her M-4 aimed toward the interior. Four of her teammates follow with two remaining by the door to prevent anyone entering or leaving. The door closes, muting the sirens.

With Blue Team lined across the back, she bellows, “Everyone freeze! Don’t move an inch and, if you would be so kind, hang up your phones.”

Four technicians near the front bolt from their workstations toward a door situated near a corner on the far wall. The tiered room descends toward the front with each line of workstations a step lower than the ones behind. This layout is so a supervisor at the back can oversee the whole room, which gives Horace a commanding field of view. Before the four have taken two steps, Horace nods to her team members.

With Horace covering the rest of the room, the other three direct suppressed gunfire against the four attempting to make it to the door. Their clothing puffs from multiple bullet strikes, sending them headlong to the floor where they lie in a heap next to and over each other.

“Now, let’s try this again,” Horace states, as the three bring their weapons back into alignment, aimed at the rest of the technicians. “No…one…move!”

The last command wasn’t necessary as everyone in the room has frozen in their tracks.

“Okay, if everyone would be so kind to hang up their phones. No more words, just set them into their cradles. And then place your hands on the monitors in front of you.”

One of the technicians to the side continues talking with someone on the other end, his words unheard but, by his facial expressions, he is rushing to get his words spoken.

Horace lifts her carbine, centers her red dot, and pulls the trigger. A single round coughs out of the end of her barrel. The sub-sonic bullet streaks over terminals to crash into the side of the man’s head. A small spray of blood leaps into the air from the brute force of the impact. His head jerks to the side and he falls across his workstation looking as if he’s taking a nap, his hand still gripping the telephone handset. Several streams of blood, mixed with bone and tissue, run down the monitor screen in front of him.

Nodding to one of her teammates by the door, he strolls to the station. Removing the bloodied handset from the man’s grip, he places it on the cradle. There is the sound of multiple handsets being hurriedly placed in their respective cradles, and Horace notes everyone’s hands in sight on top of the monitors. She has control of this operations center but it’s a tentative one. What she does securely have is everyone’s attention.

Nodding to her other teammate by the door, she has him take out the overhead camera.

“Who’s in charge here?” Horace asks, bringing her carbine back to cover the entire room.

Several eyes dart to a man standing in the first row of workstations. The others in the room look from her, to her team standing watch, to the bodies on the floor in the front, their shirts darkened with blood, to the man lying in a widening red pool at his terminal.

“I… I am,” the man answers.

“Okay, you are now responsible for what happens to your people. You do what I say, when I say, and don’t cause any trouble, you all get to live. You don’t and…” Horace says, leaving the last part unsaid but nods toward the bodies.

The man hangs his head, understanding that, for him and his group, the fight is over before it really began. It’s not that they are fighters to being with, but the realization that they’ve lost hits him. He can only imagine what is going on inside the rest of the complex. Whatever it is, he and his staff will not be of any help.

“What is it you that want us to do?” the man asks, looking up.

“First, are any of you armed? With any kind of weapon? I don’t care if it’s a butter knife or a letter opener, I want to know,” Horace asks.

The man shakes his head.

“Know that we’re going to search you. If we find a weapon on anyone, they die along with the person next to them. So, let’s be sure of your answer. Is anyone armed?”

“No, we’re just support staff. We don’t have any weapons,” the man answers.

Turning to the teammate next to her, Horace has him go down to the far door the four were running for and wedge it closed. There are only eleven personnel remaining in the operations center but, with two doors and having to cover all of them, she feels spread thin.

She has the technicians line up against the wall and searches them. The supervisor is true to his word; not a one of them has a weapon. After removing a phone from a windowed conference room to the side of the main control room, she herds her captives into it, telling them not to talk with each other.

“Just so we’re clear. If there’s a word spoken between anybody, or if I think anyone is passing messages in any fashion, they’ll meet the same fate as those other unfortunate ones,” Horace tells the supervisor.

He nods his understanding and enters the conference room with the others.

“The operations center is under control,” Horace speaks into her radio.

* * *

Sergeant Montore is jolted awake by the alarm blaring in the squad room. Only temporarily confused, he springs into action, jumping off his upper bunk to the left side so he doesn’t come slamming down on his bunkmate below. Dressing quickly, he grabs his carbine hanging from the bunk post, slams a mag in and checks that the safety is on. There’s a flurry of activity as the others of his squad are doing the same.

Fucking drills, Montore thinks as the lieutenant enters from his room in the back, yelling for them to form up by the door. At least it does break some of the monotony.

Forming with his teammates, Montore has a fleeting thought that maybe this isn’t a drill knowing what happened to Bravo Company the other week. The lieutenant makes his way through the waiting squad to the door. Opening it, he waves them through, telling them to meet in the equipment bay to await further orders. The ones in front of Montore enter the hallway, some still donning their vests.

Montore is about to enter behind the others when a large blast fills the corridor. Those outside are torn apart and thrown down the hallway. Smoke rolls past the doorway carrying the smell of gunpowder. Stunned, Montore reels backward.

Amidst the instantly confused scene, he notes sparks showering off the walls and floor. Before he stumbled away from the door, through the smoke, he caught a brief glimpse of winking lights coming from the vicinity of the vehicles. Even startled and stunned as he is, he knows they are under attack by someone inside the complex.

Heavy caliber slugs begin impacting the walls, tearing large chunks from the concrete. Those remaining of his squad hunker by the door in shock. To step out of the door is to walk into a shower of steel and death. Several try to direct fire into the equipment bay from the doorway but are immediately hit. One heavy round slams into the door frame as Montore screams for those of his remaining squad to get back inside. Dragging their wounded, they leave the door and take positions behind semblances of cover, ready to repel any invasion into their room.

* * *

Lynn directs fire from the teams into the hallways. Inside their narrow confines, with the smoke clearing, she sees several bodies in each one. They are really nothing more than dark lumps within the gloom. They have the upper hand at the moment, but she knows that may not last. Once the soldiers, whom they have momentarily pinned down, overcome their initial shock, they’ll react. She’s outnumbered but has the advantage of position. However, even with that, she has to do something if they are to maintain their fire superiority.

The blast of the siren stops. With the alarm gone, the sound of the fight comes to the forefront. Behind her, there is the heavy thud of the .50 cals as they send their heavy bullets into the hall. To the sides, there is the tinkling of empty cartridges bouncing across the concrete floor and vehicles, the calls of ‘reloading’, and mags hitting the floor with metallic rings. The M-240s chatter away, adding their fire. Lynn walks down the line, talking to each solder, telling them to conserve ammo and put out just enough bursts to keep the opposing force’s heads down.

There is movement at the fourth doorway as it swings open. Several people peek out from behind the door and into the bay. By what she observes of their clothing, they are civilians. She can’t determine if they are maintenance folks or operations room technicians. Who they are doesn’t really matter. She needs to keep the equipment bay clear. A volley of gunfire sparking off the metal door sends them scrambling back inside.

Lynn briefs Jack on the situation and their need to keep the opposing forces off balance before their four-to-one numbers start making a difference.

“Are you sure you need to go in?” Jack asks.

“We need to do something. We don’t have a limitless supply of ammo,” Lynn answers.

“Okay, you’re there and I’m not. Do what you see fit.”

Walking down the line, Lynn briefs the other team leads on her plan to commence a room clearing operation, cautioning them to conserve their ammo. She briefs Mullins to gather as much .50 cal ammo as he can find and begin to use it sparingly. It may be the only thing that keeps the opposing forces at bay.

Taking Black Team, she approaches the first hallway, keeping to the side out of the line of fire. Waving the team covering the door to hold their fire, Lynn steps into the hallway. It’s filled with a lingering odor of gunpowder and the stench that accompanies death. The walls are pock-marked from the numerous rounds that smacked into them. Deep gouges show where the .50 cal rounds slammed into the concrete. Chunks of concrete are scattered across the floor, with concrete powder coating the bodies.

Making sure the ones in the hall have passed the boundary of life, she steps over the shredded bodies. Cautiously and warily, trying to avoid the pools of blood gathered around the still forms, she edges to the first door, keeping her attention on all of the exits.

She directs three of her team to cover the hall farther down. Readying a grenade, she nods to one of her teammates at the doorway. He opens it just enough so that she can toss the grenade in and they fold back against the wall. She gets ready to follow it up with a flash bang and they’ll sweep inside. The door shakes as the grenade goes off.

Ready to flash and enter, Lynn’s attention is caught by a different kind of flash. Strobe-like flashes light up the hall from the three she posted to cover the corridor. Turning sharply, she catches the last hints of sparks off one of the doors. Looking to the three, they are intent on a doorway several doors down.

“What is it?” Lynn calls, bothered that those inside the room might get a chance to recover.

“Someone opened the door and poked their head out,” one of the soldiers says without taking his eye from the doorway.

“Did you get them?” she asks.

“No, we’ve been made,” the soldier answers.

“Everyone out! Now!” Lynn shouts.

The team begins backpedaling quickly while keeping a watchful eye on the doors. One them opens suddenly with a flash of movement. In the dimness of the hallway, Lynn hears something metallic bouncing across the concrete floor.

“Grenade,” she yells.

The team turns and dives for the entrance. In mid-air, Lynn hears a tremendous explosion and feels a concussive wave roll over her. Above the blast, she hears a scream of pain. She lands hard on the unyielding surface, banging her chin which momentarily stuns her. Recovering, she notes three of her teammates on the ground.

Rising, she and her two remaining team memebers drag their comrades a short distance away from the hallway opening. Seeing what happened, the other teams direct a flurry of fire which envelopes the corridor. Under the covering fire, using the drag handles, they pull their wounded to safety.

Looking at her teammates, Lynn sees that two have been peppered across their backs and the rear of their legs. The two are covered in blood from many small wounds. One is moaning while the second is out cold. The third has superficial wounds along one arm.

“See to them,” Lynn directs her two remaining team members. “Stop the bleeding and dress the wounds as best as you can.”

The two immediately begin taking care of their own. Black Team, with the exception of Lynn, is out of the fight.

* * *

The grenade goes off, decimating several of the remaining survivors of his squad. Sergeant Montore’s ears are ringing from the tremendous concussion. Recovering, he quickly checks himself and looks around the room. It’s barely recognizable. The few pictures remaining on the wall hang askew, their glass coverings shattered. Mattresses are half on and half off the bunks with chairs thrown about. Hanging in the air is the smell of gunpowder. Several of his squad are screaming in pain. Some of the others aren’t moving at all. The door opened and closed so quickly that they didn’t have a chance to react.

Montore and a couple of others are the only survivors. Directing those still on their feet to help the wounded, he knows that they are out of the fight, regardless of what transpires. He has one of his teammates watch the door but knows that they will be hard-pressed to stop a mouse from entering, let alone armed combatants. He resigns himself that this won’t end well and becomes absorbed in helping the injured.

* * *

Seeing the wounded being taken care of, Lynn proceeds down the line checking on the teams’ ammo supply.

“Are you okay?” Cressman asks as she checks on his team.

It’s then that Lynn feels a burning sensation across her forehead near her temple. Rubbing her hand across it, her glove comes away smeared with blood. Removing her glove, she tenderly pokes at the cut to find that it’s just that, a cut, but bleeding like scalp wounds will.

“Let me see to that,” Cressman says.

“No, I’m fine,” Lynn says, moving on down the line.

Lights flare on the floors and walls in the hallways from multiple doors opening. Silhouettes form in the light like a multitude of shadow puppets. Grenades are lofted from the open doorways. Some land in the corridor but a few make it a ways out of the hall forcing the teams to take cover behind the Humvees. A series of explosions rocks the end of the bay. Shrapnel is hurled into the vehicles and walls with heavy thuds and pings.

Lynn, crouched behind the hood of a Humvee, her ears hurting from the blasts, hears the .50 cals behind start chattering. Rising quickly after the explosions cease, she sees soldiers trying to make it out of the hallway, only to be thrown back by the three heavy machine guns. Lynn adds her own fire to the fray and the forced rush is beaten back. Two more are wounded but are still in the fight, only marginally hampered.

The teams continue to pepper the hallways at intervals with bursts of fire to keep any curious heads down. In front, Lynn observes the carnage from the attempt of the security forces to sweep out of their quarters. More bodies lie within the hall with several on the concrete floor in the bay. Some are attempting to crawl to the sides, trying to get away from their pain. Moans can be heard coming from several who are lying still. Rivulets of blood seep out from the bodies, following the uneven contours of the floor.

“Should we do something about them?” Jordan asks.

Lynn looks at the devastation and really doesn’t have an answer. The humanity aspect of her says that they should help any wounded, but that would involve depleting her forces further and they are barely holding their own. She knows the opposing companies have been hit hard but doesn’t know exactly how badly. Right now, the safety of the teams is paramount.

With a sigh, she answers, “There’s not much we can really do except listen to their pain from a closer angle. We just don’t have the personnel to treat them without depleting our own firepower. I hate to say it, but we’ll just have to leave them where they lie. Afterwards, we can treat them. Until then, we’ll just have to suffer their moans and screams.”

“Lynn, Horace has the ops center under control. How are you doing?” Jack asks over the radio.

“I heard. We have the security forces bottled up for the moment, but who knows how long that will last. The room clearing was unsuccessful and they just tried rushing under a volley of grenades. We beat them back with the help of the Strykers,” Lynn briefs.

“The what?” Jack asks.

“We have three Strykers operational and are using the .50 cals. That’s the only way we were able to force them back into their quarters,” Lynn states.

“Good thinking. That never occurred to me.”

“Jack, they have the ability to communicate with each other. I don’t know if that’s by phone or radio, but they are coordinating their actions. From what I see, they have twenty six down and almost double that wounded. We have five wounded, two immobile and three ambulatory. Black Team is out of action, but we need to do something, and soon,” Lynn replies.

“I’m working on it, Can you hold?” Jack asks.

“For the moment, yes,” Lynn responds.

“You have Watkins if you need.”

“Jack, we’re going to need more ammo before this is all said and done,” Lynn states.

“Horace, can you find out where their armory is?” Jack calls on the radio.

“Standby,” Horace answers, moments later returning. “They say it’s in rooms off the barrack’s hallways.”

“Well, we aren’t getting to that,” Lynn says.

“Horace, if things are under control, and if you can, send part of your team to give Lynn some of your team’s mags,” Jack radios.

While waiting for Horace’s teammates to show up, Lynn directs Mullins to send the drivers with him to scout the other vehicles for ammo. Her teammates return from patching up their compatriots. Black Team is back to having four members available.

“Hold out as best as you can, Lynn. I’m on my way in,” Jack says.

* * *

Crouched by the entrance with Gonzalez behind and Henderson and Denton on the other side, I hear the alarm begin blaring. Looking behind, I watch as Horace enters the control room. A short time later, across the equipment bay and out of sight, explosions rock the interior as Lynn triggers the claymores. I don’t hear an ensuing firefight with the exception of the M-240s firing and the heavy staccato of heavy machine guns. I can’t see in that direction and hope that those aren’t being used against us. If so, then this will be a very short sojourn into the bunker. I contemplate calling Lynn to find out, but I know that she more than likely has her hands full at the moment, and doesn’t need any distractions from my end. If she needs help, she’ll ask for it.

Hearing Horace confirm that she has control of the operations center and conversing with Lynn, I know that it’s our turn. I’ve waited because it would be a lot easier if those responding came to us rather than us entering and running into them, especially seeing there are only four of us.

We have waited long enough, though. The time has come for us to head inside. We have the upper hand at the moment but, like Lynn said, that may not last long. We need to keep the push going to capture the facility, and to do that, we have to capture the leadership. With them in hand or down, the rest should fall as they won’t have anything or anyone to fight for. However, it’s getting to them and then convincing those still fighting that it’s not worth it.

With a nod to Henderson, we unlock the security door and sweep inside. We enter into a brilliantly lit, wide corridor. The highly polished floors and painted walls, with pictures along the length, are so starkly different than the equipment bay that I’m momentarily startled. Walking from the concrete interior, filled with military vehicles and an ongoing firefight, into this feels like I’ve entered into some time-dimensional warp and stepped into a posh office building. Along one side of the wide hall are windowed offices, their interiors unlit.

Gonzalez and I spread to the side with Henderson and Denton behind. The hallway is the only place that’s lit…which makes me nervous. We’re in the light, whereas, anyone waiting for us will be hidden in the shadows. Luckily, there is a switch panel by the door. I’d hate to shoot out the lights as that would give notice to our location. If anyone is in this part of the complex, they know we’re already inside but not our exact location. With only four available at the moment, I would rather not get into a firefight, especially being in the open like we are. There aren’t any cameras here, so we at least have that going for us.

“Denton, hit the lights. We’re going in on NVGs,” I whisper.

The lights go out, plunging the hall into darkness. I see differing shades of gray and I hear subtle clicks as the others lower their NVGs into place.

Our boots squeak softly on the polished surface as we begin making our way down the hall. Checking the rooms as we pass, alert for anyone hiding within, I note that most don’t appear that they are being used, with some completely devoid of furnishings. The desktops that do appear are clear, only waiting for paperwork to be strewn across their surfaces.

Ahead, an intersecting hallway opens to the right as we proceed down the main hall. Conference rooms begin to appear between the offices as we slowly make our way past. In the distance, as I near the intersection, the main hall ends and turns to the right.

If I remember the diagram in the security room correctly, this area is filled with office space and what may be individual quarters farther in. At least the room sizes and adjoining bathrooms indicated this could be the case. Those are the rooms we’re trying to get to. If they’re occupied, then they will more than likely hold those in charge. I would have thought they would be in the operations center, but perhaps they didn’t make it before the alarm went off. If that’s the case, they could be anywhere.

However, the hall we’re approaching wasn’t indicated on the diagram, so all bets are off. At least, I don’t remember it being there, and it wasn’t on the original plan we studied at our compound.

Near the corner of the branching hall, I radio, “Lynn, Jack here. Can you spare three from Alpha? This place is a little bigger than expected.”

I’m worried about having our backsides covered if we proceed farther. No matter if we continue straight ahead or take the right, it would be easy for anyone to come up behind us and trap us.

“That’s fine, Jack, but it takes our reserves down. We’re still good for now, but we can’t keep this up forever,” Lynn answers, the sound of the heavy weapons chattering in the background.

“If you need those three, pull them back and we’ll deal with it,” I state.

“Copy that.”

The branching corridor is lit, casting a wide ribbon of light into the main one. I creep to the corner while we wait for the three from Watkins’ team to show up. Placing my mirror around the edge, I see that the corridor extends for a distance with some unlit windows facing the hall. Closed doors are placed at intervals along its length. Reaching up to a bank of switches, I flick them into their closed position, causing the hall to go dark… with one exception. Light issues from a window about half-way down.

* * *

Gav sits in a conference room, waiting. She observes the lights go out and recognizes that the end has arrived. She’s been on the giving end enough times to know when it’s here. She looks to the handgun in her lap. She will greet her guests peacefully enough but wants it ready. If whoever is approaching comes in shooting, and she is to die, she won’t go down without a semblance of a fight.

It’s how she always pictured it, but perhaps not in this manner. She always knew, with her chosen profession, that her life would end early. There were very few who went on missions that made it to retirement; well…to an old age that is. They were always retired in some fashion or another. She knew she had been pressing her luck, was on borrowed time each time she went out. She had thought, however, that her end would come in some firefight after having been discovered. When she accepted this position, if she really ever had a choice, she counted herself fortunate that she had made it. Until now, that is.

“Well… so be it,” she murmurs, placing the radio, through which she had been monitoring events, on the table and resting her hand on the gun in her lap.

* * *

The three from Alpha arrive and I direct them to watch the hall to our front. I want to take the corridor to the right, toward the room with the light showing. It may be a trap or it may have been left on as someone hastily departed. However, it is the only sign of human presence that I’ve seen since we entered this section, which means we may be getting closer to those that have to inhabit this place.

With our backs covered, we enter the side hall with our M-4s ready. We check each office and door we come to, trying not to focus on the light ahead. I feel the desire to rush to it, forgoing our security, and have to force myself to be patient.

Looking in each window as we pass, I think that it would be nice if this night vision carried the ability to see in the thermal spectrum as well. The rooms we pass are smaller in nature and the lack of many furnishings makes it easy to see if someone is hiding inside. The doors without windows are checked with a fiber optic camera and reveals only partially empty storerooms. It takes time to cover and check them all but we gradually inch closer to the light.

The lit room is the next one on the left. I crouch and make sure none of the others stray into the light, yet can still provide cover in either direction. Though the three from Alpha are out of sight covering the main hall, there’s still a chance that someone can come out of the doors we checked. Without knowing if there are connections between the rooms, it’s possible that we could be circumvented.

I peek into the room at the corner of the window. I don’t use my mirror as it may reflect light back inside and truly act as a signal mirror. That would kind of defeat the purpose. The quick glance reveals either a conference or lunch room. Against the far walls are cabinets above long counters with a sink in the middle of one. It’s sparse, but it’s kind of on par for the course with what I’ve seen so far. In the middle of the room is a round table with chairs tucked in around it. And…seated on the far side is a woman clad in fatigues, staring directly at me.

She doesn’t move, scream, or make any other sign that she has noticed me other than to maintain her gaze. She knows that I’m here, and it seems as if she was expecting for me to look in from this exact location. I’m a little startled. Realizing that the need for secrecy is up, I stand.

Motioning to the rest of Red Team, I let them know of the person in the room. Positioning Henderson and Denton to cover the hall, I boldly walk into the light with Gonzalez trailing. Turning the handle, we enter, covering the woman with our carbines, my finger rubbing along the trigger, watching for the slightest move. If she blinks wrong, I’ll send a burst into her at point blank.

Gonzalez sidles to the right of the room, covering the woman from separated positions so, if she decides to take us under fire somehow, she won’t be able to get both of us. Gonzalez, her lips drawn tight, keeps her M-4 barrel pointed unwaveringly at the woman. The woman remains seated and smiles at Gonzalez’ move.

“Captain Walker, I presume,” the woman states with a slight accent.

“And you must be Nahmer,” I reply, to which she nods.

“Please remove the gun from your lap and place it slowly on the table,” I say, with my red dot centered on her chest.

She tilts her head slightly and her expression alters to that of a quizzical nature.

“Your right shoulder is sagging. Only a very little but enough to give you that extra quickness and so that it won’t betray your actions as much when you go for it,” I say.

She smiles again and moves her hand. My hand tightens on my carbine and I feel the pressure as my finger squeezes harder on the trigger. I hear Gonzalez move a step and she gives a low growl. If it didn’t involve me having to look away from this woman, I would turn to stare at Gonzalez. Granted, we haven’t worked that long together but, in all of our actions, I’ve never heard her give a menacing growl of warning at anything. It’s probably because she is remembering Allie and is just itching for a reason to fire. Here is the woman who, in all likelihood, gave the order that ended with Allie’s life being taken; unceremoniously dropped to a sidewalk, lying in her own blood.

The woman, Nahmer, pauses, and then very slowly lifts a handgun from her lap with two fingers holding the trigger guard. She places it with equal slowness on the table next to a radio that is periodically broadcasting low voices over the airwaves.

“With your left pinky finger, slide it across the table,” I say, to which she complies.

“Gonzalez,” I say, indicating for her to retrieve the weapon.

Gonzalez moves closer and retrieves the handgun. She then moves to a position slightly behind and to the side of the woman, looking her over to see if she can observe any other weapons. She looks up and gives me a subtle shake of her head.

“Before we go on, I should ask if you have any other weapons on you,” I state.

“There are no others,” she replies.

“You know that, if I search you and find others, any further discussion we may have will be over.”

Nahmer nods her understanding but makes no move to remove anything else. I call to one of the Alpha team members to join us. Upon his arrival, I have Gonzalez search Nahmer, coming up with nothing more.

“Satisfied?” Nahmer asks, following the search.

“For the moment,” I answer.

More voices sound from the radio. The volume is turned down, so I can’t make out the individual words, but the ones I do hear seem confused and worried.

“So, Captain Walker, where do we go from here?” Nahmer questions.

“Well, you order your troops to surrender and we’ll have more discussions once that happens,” I reply.

“And why should I do that?” she asks.

“You are still trying to play cards you no longer hold. If you don’t, everyone in here will be dead within the hour. You and I both know that, so quit trying to play a game in which you’re no longer at the table.”

“Why should our casualties and what happens to us concern you?”

“They don’t, but I’ll lose people trying to root them out. We’re prepared to do that, but if that happens, you won’t like the way you die,” I state, staring directly into her eyes.

So far, she hasn’t tried any womanly wiles. I’m sure she knows the affect that can have on some but perhaps knows that it won’t be a player here. And, even though she is still trying to play the game, deep down she knows that she is hanging on by only a very thin thread. A wrong step and that thread will snap like it was never there.

“So, Captain Walker, you are offering me a quick death instead, then?”

“No. I may be offering you the only hope at life that you have. But I’m tired of playing this game.”

“Very well. What can I say? You won, I lost. That means you get to dictate what happens. May I use the radio?” she asks, nodding to the radio in front of her.

I get the feeling that she brought the radio here knowing full well what it would be intended for and how this was going to go down. At one time, we may have worked together, but events have transpired that make that impossible. Sitting in front of me is a person who was a ghost in all senses of the word; more of a fairy tale than real. If half the stories of her are real, or if the stories are only half real, then there is a remarkable mind behind those eyes.

“It had better be a clear and short conversation. If I get a whiff of any code being used, it will not end to your liking. Do we understand each other?” I ask.

“Only too well, I’m afraid. We aren’t really that much different,” she responds.

“Lady, we are worlds apart.”

With a sigh, she picks up the radio. “How would you like for this to go down?”

“First of all, you give the order which each commander will verify, indicating that they will comply. Each room will empty according to the orders of my team lead. Then, you will contact the remaining personnel with the same order. I warn you, Nahmer—” I begin.

“Call me Gav.”

“I warn you, Nahmer, if there’s any shot fired after you give the order, you know how it will have to end,” I finish.

“I would have thought you above clichés, but it will be as you say,” Nahmer states.

She then turns up the volume and contacts the companies, telling them to lay down their weapons and to comply with the commands of the opposing forces. After I hear the corresponding verifications, I radio Lynn and let her know what is transpiring.

Soldiers begin emerging from the barracks on Lynn’s orders and she rounds them up, placing them into small groups against one corner of the bay. She places those under guard and then gathers the operations center people, followed by the rest of the personnel. Barring anything unforeseen, we have the complex under control.

I continue to keep Nahmer separate so she can’t communicate with the others or initiate some other kind of action. I mean, who knows, she may have the place rigged to blow just in case.

With the security forces and personnel rounded up and under guard, Lynn directs two teams to search the maintenance areas and quarters for anyone else, finding no others. With her radio call that all is clear, I feel an immense relief. My body, which has been under continuous stress for hours on end, relaxes to some degree, allowing fatigue to replace the adrenaline which had been my mainstay. We’re not out of this yet so I can’t allow my guard to fall.

Part of the problem now is that I have no idea what to do with the prisoners. I guess I really didn’t expect to have any, so I hadn’t given it much thought. We just aren’t set up to take prisoners, and I don’t know what we would do with them in the long-term. I don’t trust them enough to fold them into our structure as they may cause problems in our group. But we can’t exactly kill them in cold-blood either. Well, we can and may have to if we can’t think of something else, but the thought doesn’t really sit too well with me. Turning them loose may just cause the same problems for us down the road.

If I thought the soldiers were truly evil, then it would be an easy decision. It may be that they were only following orders. However, even that isn’t a good enough reason to attack without provocation. There is the chance that they may not have known what was going on. That’s the problem I’m wrestling with. They may have been pulled directly from the military, or they may just simply be hired guns. If they are only hired mercenaries, that wouldn’t explain all of the military vehicles sitting in the equipment bay. Those had to come from some military base, or perhaps directly from the manufacturer, which implies high-level connections in the past.

And then there is this Nahmer herself. She is far too dangerous to have with us or to leave her to her own devices. We have several dead to attest to that. The deep anger I felt at the loss of our people is allayed to a degree; both from the tiredness creeping over me and from standing face-to-face with our antagonist.

“Where did the security personnel come from?” I ask Nahmer, who remains seated.

“They were selected from various units and were ordered here,” she answers.

“So, they are regular soldiers. What will they do now?”

“I can’t speak for them, but I assume they will do whatever you tell them to do,” she replies.

“What do they know?”

“Next to nothing about the reality of this place, which I assume you already know about seeing you’re here,” she responds with a questioning look.

“Yes. I know what you and the others did, and why,” I state.

“Well, they know what happened…but not who or how. As far as they know, they are guarding one of the last establishments of government.”

At least I know the status of the soldiers under guard. However, that doesn’t mean that I can trust them or that they don’t have some other orders. It’s a tough decision, and one we’ll have to make soon.

“Lynn, I’m going to call Robert and have him land to drop Harold off. He’s the only one who can possibly decipher the equipment in the ops center. Can you send a team to escort him?” I radio.

“Things are under control here. I’ll send Watkins and then I’m joining you. I want to get a look at this bitch,” she answers.

I open up and give Robert a brief synopsis of where we stand. “Land in the field and drop Harold off. Alpha Team will meet you. How’s your fuel?”

“We have enough for a few more hours but that’s it,” he replies.

“Okay. Shut down and Alpha will return to provide security.

“Okay, Dad. We’ll be on our way shortly.”

“Lynn, Robert is on his way. After Watkins escorts Harold in, have him return to the aircraft for security,” I call.

“Okay, Jack. I’m on my way.”

Gonzalez maintains her alert guard, having replaced her M-4 with her handgun. Lynn arrives looking a little the worse for wear. Her bloodshot eyes tell of her tiredness, but she enters the room with a look of grim determination. Seeing Nahmer sitting calmly at the table, her lips tighten even more.

“Are you alright?” I ask, seeing blood streaks on one side of her face.

She runs her fingers across the wound. “Yeah, it’s just a scratch.”

Nahmer looks from Lynn’s entrance to me, her calm expression never leaving.

“Before you discuss what to do about me, or do anything else, I would beg your indulgence with something,” Nahmer asks, her accent only slightly betraying her origins.

“You are not in a position to ask for anything,” Lynn states firmly.

“That is true, but I would ask it nonetheless,” Nahmer replies.

“And what is this indulgence you want us to give you?” Lynn asks, staring hard at Nahmer.

“I have some… business to take care of before you decide what to do with me,” Nahmer says, her implication clear.

“They are here? In this facility?” I ask.

“Yes, they are.”

“Why would you want to see them dead?” I question.

“Because, it was their foolishness that made me lose,” she asserts.

As much as her winning would have been the end of us, I can understand her desire.

“We’ll escort you,” Lynn asserts, taking any decision out of my hands.

Nahmer rises with both Gonzalez and Lynn covering her, their faces tightened by anger and alertness. With Nahmer leading, we gather Henderson and Denton and proceed farther into the complex, turning down several halls. We walk slowly to make sure we aren’t being set up for an ambush, but it seems this part of the bunker is empty. Rounding a corner, Nahmer comes to halt.

“See that door with the camera overhead?” Nahmer asks, pointing. “That leads to their quarters.”

I also note the keypad next to the door.

“Give me the entry card or passcode and we’ll handle it,” I say.

“No, this is something I have to do myself. This is the indulgence I am asking for,” she replies.

“No, we’re going with you,” Lynn states.

“If they see you, they’ll more than likely lock us out, if they haven’t done so already,” Nahmer says.

“So, we’ll wait them out,” Lynn says.

Nahmer chuckles. “Good luck with that. They’re well supplied in there.”

I stare into Nahmer’s eyes and see that she is speaking the truth. I don’t see any falsehood written in them, but then again, she was an operative. It’s a risk, but I feel that she’s being honest.

“Go then, and make it snappy,” I state.

I return her handgun, making sure she only has a single mag. As much as the risk is that she’ll just flee or try to organize something, I understand on another level what she wants to do and believe that she’ll return. It’s something I can’t fully explain other than a knowing and that, even though we ended up as opponents, we were once in the same game together. All of this was conveyed in that single look.

With a nod, Nahmer turns and walks down the hall, the sound of her boots echoing off the walls of the wide, empty hallway.

“Jack! You’re just letting her go? Just like that?” Lynn asks, incredulous.

“She’ll be back,” I answer, watching Nahmer swipe a card and enter.

“Yeah, and how do you know that? And what will she be back with? And how many? Sometimes you just amaze me, Jack,” Lynn says, obviously not happy.

“She’ll be back,” I say, looking to Lynn.

“What, you know that from that look you two shared? That’s what told you?” Lynn states, her anger mounting.

‘Jealous much’ wouldn’t be the appropriate response, so I press my lips together to prevent the words from being uttered. Besides, I know that this isn’t where her reaction is coming from. It’s been a tense day and one filled with adrenaline. I understand what she is saying, and I just don’t know how to explain it, really even to myself. I try to but do a very poor job of it.

“It’s a weird kind of honor, but honor nonetheless,” I end up saying.

“I know you have your reasons, and I love you for them, but they’re just hard to take sometimes. I can’t believe you’re going to let that woman go. The woman who gave the order that was meant to kill you but killed Allie instead. And destroyed Greg’s team while almost killing him as well.”

“I haven’t forgotten, and for that, she’ll pay. I just don’t know what that means yet,” I respond.

“I do. Kill her. With her around, those soldiers under guard are more of a threat.”

“I’m aware of that… but… more than likely, she also knows these systems better than anyone and we need that info.”

“Harold can figure it out, and we have the technicians,” Lynn says.

“That may be the case, but what if he can’t and we eliminate the one person who does know. We need to wait and find out what she knows. These systems can help us with the night runners who are gathering at our doorstep. It will also help us find survivors,” I respond.

“Fine, Jack, but I don’t like it.”

“Me either,” I say, turning back to watch the door.

* * *

Gav swipes her card and hears the door unlock. Feeling the handgun firmly in her grip, she opens the door and steps inside. The posh carpet and surroundings of the foyer tell the story of those who reside within. With a sigh, she walks through the foyer toward the conference room. The men, who orchestrated this whole mess, will know what is happening and that’s where they will be waiting for her to report. She’s surprised they haven’t summoned her yet, but that would only have been a matter of time.

Before entering the chambers, she checks the mag, clicks it back into place, and tucks the handgun in the beltline at her back. Knocking on the heavy wooden door, she hears “enter.” Inside, it’s just as she’s witnessed numerous times, five elderly men sitting around the polished conference room table. They are dressed in suits which she could never really understand.

I mean, who are they getting dressed up for? Each other? she has thought countless times.

However, that doesn’t matter at the moment. They’ll make nice burial attire.

“Have you come to report on the disturbances, Gavrielle?” one man asks, sitting at the head of the table.

Disturbances? Even now, they are so out of touch with reality.

“I have,” she answers.

“Then tell us what you are doing about the intruders,” the man says.

Calmly, Gav pulls the handgun out and fires point blank at the man at the head of the table. The report of the gunshot fills the room, muted to a degree by the plush carpeting and books lining the walls. The round leaves the barrel and strikes forcefully just to the left of his nose. Blood sprays outward, splashing on the two men on either side. The man rocks backward in his plush chair, tipping to one side and falling heavily to the floor.

All of the men’s eyes widen from shock, looking from their fallen member to Gav, their mouths open. Wasting little time, Gav aims at the next man and pulls the trigger. A wisp of smoke trails out of the barrel following the bullet as it streaks toward her target. The man joins the first on the floor, lying in a pool of blood soaking into the thick carpet. The men recover from their shock and twist to get out of their chairs in an attempt to get away from the vengeance that is being administered.

Their soft lives make any attempt weak at best. Gav fires at one who is attempting to rise. The bullet slams into the side of his head, launching him across the arm of a chair, his weight toppling it. He comes to rest with the overturned chair lying on top of him.

The two remaining are bolting for the door, the term bolting being relative. She fires into the back of one of the fleeing men. The silken threads of his suit coat puffs from the projectile passing through on its way to find flesh and bone. With a scream, he lurches forward, his hand automatically going to his back and the sudden pain. His legs give out from the intrusion upon his body and he falls face forward just before the open door.

The last man stumbles out of the doorway, making a feeble effort to close it behind him. Gav calmly walks across the room, one once filled with the fragrance of expensive cologne. Now it holds the rank odors of death. Passing the man bawling in pain from the bullet wound in his back, she fires one round into the back of his head, silencing the cries.

She hears frantic scrambling from the remaining man as he tries to make it to the outer doorway, his panting from fright and exertion audible. Stalking behind, she removes something from her pocket and places it in her mouth, tucking it between her cheek and gum. Rounding a corner, she spies her quarry almost to the door leading into the hallway.

Without slowing, he plows into it which opens under the force of his impact. He stumbles backward and, regaining his balance, starts forward once again. Gav raises her handgun and fires.

* * *

I continue to watch the doorway that Nahmer entered. Lynn is silent as she stands beside me but I can feel the anger emanating from her. I know she doesn’t understand my decisions at times, well, most of the time if truth be known. And she has a valid reason as they sometimes seem illogical, even to me. However, I’ve stayed alive by going with my gut instinct, as illogical as it may be.

Gonzalez and the others of Red Team stand watch covering the hallway, but I note their speculative glances aimed toward me. They all startle, going to their knees and bringing their M-4s to bear as the door suddenly swings open.

A man in a suit stumbles, going to his knees and then falls forward to the floor. He frantically turns his head, looking at something, or someone, within the room from which he just fled. Nahmer walks out and stands beside him. Looking down at the man, she raises her pistol and fires. The man slumps to the ground.

I sense the tension coming from Lynn and the others.

“Hold your fire,” I tell them, still watching the scene ahead.

Nahmer looks in our direction and very slowly places her weapon on the floor. With her hands raised, she walks toward us. We escort her back into the conference room where she takes her previous seat.

I begin asking questions about the systems in place, but she forestalls me with an upraised hand which brings an almost violent response from both Lynn and Gonzalez.

“Before we go any further, the man you have, Harold I believe, will be able to figure them out,” Nahmer says. “Plus, you have the technicians.”

“Harold? You know about him?” I ask.

“Yes. We photographed him in your compound and ran him through our system. He was the one who disappeared after we caught him in our network. I assume that’s how you figured this all out,” she answers.

“Wait, you sound like we’ve already made a decision about you,” I say.

I catch Lynn’s nod in my peripheral.

“No, but I have made a decision that will save you from having to make one,” Nahmer says.

“You didn’t?”

“I did. I’m afraid that I made a wrong choice many years ago, and it has now caught up with me,” she states. “And I’ve continued making the wrong choices when I should have made the right one. I should have approached you long ago but I became caught up in the game. There is no place for me in this world anymore.”

“Jack, what is she talking about?” Lynn growls.

Nahmer’s eyes clinch from pain and a trickle of blood streams out of one nostril. Recovering, she wipes a hand across her face, smearing the blood across her upper lip and part of her cheek.

“I see that I don’t have much time left. I’m sorry for your losses, Captain Walker.”

Her eyes clinch tightly shut once again, then her whole body relaxes and her head falls to the table with a thud. Blood slowly trickles out of her nostril, forming a small pool beside her head.

“Holy shit!” Gonzalez exclaims. “Why in the fuck would she do that?”

“Because she’s been dedicated to her cause for so long that it meant everything to her. She knew we couldn’t keep her around so she opted to make it her choice,” I say, looking at the body lying on the table as if napping. For all of the wrongs she did to us, the woman was once a legend.

“Good. She just made it easier for us, that’s all,” Lynn says, checking Nahmer’s pulse.

Harold arrives with Alpha, who leaves him in our care before heading back to the aircraft. Even though we have things under control here, it’s still nighttime and anything can happen. It’s possible that night runners could be heading in our direction, following the sound of the 130 landing. So far, we’ve been lucky with that and we may be too far from any of their lairs for them to be a factor. Robert is keeping the aircraft locked up and can sense them should any draw near, but there may be others around besides night runners. Doubtful considering where we are standing, but not impossible. Seeing as we may be here for a while sorting through documents and files, and feeling nervous about Robert and Bri being outside with only one team to guard them, I call and have Alpha escort them and Craig inside.

On arriving, after a brief, Harold sits at a console in the operations center and begins going through manuals and documents. I have a few technicians, under guard, released to him to answer his questions. With the leadership gone, they become helpful without any attempts at evasion. I still don’t trust them or the soldiers but, from what I observe, they are being compliant.

Harold takes to the ops center like a kid in a candy factory. He’s a frenzy of activity that seems disjointed to me but I’m sure it makes sense to him. Soon, the desktop at the console is spread with papers, files, and notebooks. I’m thankful for the time we’ll have to spend here as it puts off any decision about the soldiers. The survivors, of which there are close to three hundred, outnumber our entire group back at Cabela’s. That could make for problems down the road if they take it in mind to be troublesome. I’m sure they are viewing themselves as prisoners, and as such, it means that we are still viewed as an opposing force. With the training they’ve been through, they will see it as their obligation and duty to escape and/or be disruptive. Perhaps seeing that we have regular duty soldiers with us, they’ll change their perspective. I’ll talk it over with Lynn and the other team leads to see what they think.

After giving Harold some time to give things a cursory scan, and knowing it will more than likely take days or weeks to compile everything, I head into the operations center with Lynn. We may not have all that much time with the 130 just sitting out there. I’d like to clear out of here and get back to Cabela’s soon as we still have a very big threat infiltrating from the north. It may be that we have to either come back later or leave some teams in place. The prisoners are a sticky issue though.

I take a seat next to Harold, who is so completely absorbed by his work that he doesn’t notice me arrive. Getting his attention, he looks up startled to see me.

“Well?” I ask.

Harold transitions from his absorption to the present. I fully expect him to launch into a series of statements that have nothing to do with each other, like when he found the files on the CDC Director’s hard drive. But he takes a minute to compose himself.

“There’s a lot here, and I’ve only begun to scratch the surface of it. One thing, the information we found on the hard drive is correct. They…” he sweeps his arm to indicate the entire facility and those within, “…initiated this whole thing but things went wrong almost immediately. Like I originally thought, they didn’t anticipate the night runners and that interfered with the staffing of the other sites. From all appearances, none of them made it into operation. There’s more but I’ll have to dig deeper.

“I also found the reason for the failure of the satellite comms. According to the few logs I’ve read so far, they discovered our means of communication with the Santa Fe and had the comm channels blocked.”

“Can we unblock them?” Lynn asks.

“We’re fixing that now,” Harold indicates, pointing to a technician at a nearby console.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea? I mean, letting them have access like that?” Lynn asks.

“I’m monitoring it. I’ll know if they tap into something they shouldn’t. So far, they’ve been nothing but helpful. I don’t know if this Nahmer gave them different orders, but they’re being cooperative for now,” Harold answers.

Restoring the satellite communications, I try contacting Leonard to no avail. I’ll keep trying at intervals, but at least I know that we have the ability to do so without having to conduct a search for him.

“This,” Harold holds up a notebook, “is a list of other survivor camps that they’ve found. They have them designated according the number of people and capabilities.

“You can see ours here,” he opens to a page.

Each of the lists has numbers, capabilities, and observed activities, to include increases and decreases in population and contacts with other groups. It’s a fairly comprehensive listing. Our camp includes high-res photos of our group, listing the leadership structure. Looking over the notebook, I’m impressed with what they were able to derive from just photographs. Of course, Nahmer had mentioned they ran some through a system they have in place.

“How many are there?” I ask.

“That’s hard to say, as some don’t appear to have been updated in a while. Most of the ones indicated in this notebook are situated in the western part of the country,” Harold replies.

“So there are some overseas, then?” Lynn asks.

“Well, not many it seems.”

“Do these give an indication of what is going on elsewhere?” I ask.

“Yeah. Keep in mind, though, that I’ve only brushed the surface of all of this. But, from what I’ve read so far, it’s not a pretty picture. Europe is mostly gone. According to the notebook, there are a few camps still in existence near the Mediterranean, but they don’t have many people in them. And what they do have seems to be dwindling. The notes indicate that large parts of Europe and Asia are covered in a radiation cloud. Basically, most of Europe and Asia are wastelands, or soon will be,” Harold says.

“Is that going to reach the West Coast?” I question.

“I looked into what they have regarding that and, from all appearances, we’ll see an increase in radiation levels along the seaboard…but nothing lethal. They were monitoring that. Apparently, they intended to bring the reactors online as one of their first steps but, as you well know, they didn’t get that chance. The numerous reactors worldwide have either gone critical, or will shortly.”

“You mentioned survivors in the western part of the country. What about the eastern half?”

“I’m afraid it’s the same as most of the rest of the world. There are a few groups, but they are in the same shape. Their population numbers are shrinking. And,” Harold says, forestalling a question I was forming, “it doesn’t appear that we can do anything about them. The radiation levels are too high. Even if we could go in and get them, there’s nothing we could do except watch them die. Many of those indicated in the notebook have vanished altogether.”

“Okay, so what about the rest of the world?” I ask.

“I mentioned a few groups around the Med but that’s a no-go for the same radiation reasons. There are apparently some nomadic tribes in northeastern Africa, but they were only identified and not updated. Perhaps they didn’t think them a threat. There are some indications of encampments along the western coast of Africa and a few in the interior. The areas surrounding the Indian Ocean are gone, along with Japan. Most of the cities, irradiated or not, have very few, if any survivors. There is apparently some still living in parts of the South Pacific Islands, but those appear to be mostly native tribes. There are, though, some small settlements scattered throughout them. Australia, with only a few places that people could escape to in the interior, is mostly gone. According to the notes, there are some living in the countryside along parts of the eastern Australian seaboard and for a short distance inland,” Harold briefs, referring frequently to files and notebooks stacked on the desk.

Punching a few keys, Harold directs my attention to the large screen at the front. The image slowly resolves itself into a map of Northern America with an overlay of thermal images. Most of the map shows in blue, indicating little to no heat. However, across the eastern half of the US, dozens of orange, yellow, and white glowing locations appear.

“These are the hot spots from nuclear reactors in various stages of meltdown. From the looks of things, most of them have had their fuel rods evaporate the cooling ponds and are generating a tremendous amount of heat, throwing off radiation plumes. The winds are generally carrying those eastward. I pulled up several visual images which show that many of the plants have had explosions, more than likely from a buildup of gasses,” Harold briefs.

The image dissolves and is replaced by a world map. Besides the eastern seaboard of the US, Europe is one big, glowing location with whites, yellows, and oranges mixing together in a swirl. That continues, although slightly abated, through the western half of Asia. The eastern part of India shows a few spots as does the eastern regions of China. Japan has disappeared and can only be identified by glowing ovals.

Staring at the screen, shocked by what I’m seeing, it becomes readily apparent that vast tracts of the world are uninhabitable. I feel for those survivors caught in the swirling radiation plumes.

The screen changes. Harold briefs that I am now looking at an overlay of radiation levels. Red covers the areas where the nuclear reactors are, or were, and stretches in a generally eastward flow. The entire continent of Europe is red and only changes to a yellow near the central part of Asia; plumes from the reactors coating the continents. Red streams out of Japan and drifts east, fading as it crosses the Pacific.

“How long will it be like this?” I ask.

“I don’t really know. Possibly for hundreds of years,” Harold answers.

“What are the chances that it will reach here in dangerous levels?”

“They were monitoring that and the reports indicate that it won’t reach here in harmful levels. It would be a good idea to keep checking with the Geiger counters, though, for as long as they’ll last. We’ll lose this satellite coverage in a few months,” Harold replies.

“Can we designate new passes with the satellites to update the information?” I ask, still stunned by the images.

“That’s possible but, according to the technicians, there’s not a lot of fuel remaining to keep the satellites in orbit. We have, at best, a couple of months if we don’t task them too heavily. While the electronics onboard are solar-powered, the fuel that keeps them in orbit is running out. After that depletes, their orbits will decay and they’ll burn up in the atmosphere, the remaining pieces falling to earth. There is one keyhole satellite parked above our compound that they were using to keep tabs on us.”

“Can we use that one to locate the night runner lairs and keep track of their movements?” I ask, sitting up straighter.

“Yes. We should be able to. We may not get much aside from the information we gathered from the AC-130 video, but we can use it to monitor them,” Harold answers.

“Can you set up a relay from this site to ours?”

“I can, but it will take some work. However, there’s no way I will have the capabilities that I would here,” Harold replies with a questioning look.

“We’ll talk about that later,” I say, the idea running through my mind. “Speaking of night runners, did they do any tracking of them?”

“It looks like there was some attempt to catalogue them, but it’s incomplete. It looks like they gave up after only a few cities. There are indications that the night runners are suffering the same fate as some of the identified camps in the radiated zones. They are dying along with the survivors.”

“Okay, I know you haven’t had a lot of time to study it, but now for the million dollar question. Why didn’t they use the system to activate the nanobots? Is it that they didn’t need to because everyone was already dead or changed into night runners?” I inquire.

“Well, here’s the thing. Aside from the fact that their plans went awry with the appearance of the night runners, from the logs I’ve read and from questioning the technicians, it appears that they’ve lost communication with the satellite that was to trigger them. I mean, they lost the ability to transmit the instructions. They are still receiving telemetry data, but here’s the kicker, Jack. According to all that I’ve managed to read so far, the night runners may still have those things floating around in their heads.”

“Wait, do you mean that the night runners may have the nanobots still active inside of them?” Lynn asks, incredulous.

“According to this, yes. Although, the percentages of those having them would be the same. The bots were administered in two-thirds of the vaccines. Remember, the vaccine was the cause of the night runners, not the bots,” Harold states.

A dawning light rises inside of me. “So, correct me if I’m wrong, with a flick of the switch, we could get rid of two-thirds of the night runners?”

“That’s what I’m saying. It’s theoretically possible. However, we can’t communicate with the satellite. The technicians state that they’ve been working on it since they arrived. It has been their number one priority but, to date, they haven’t been able to transmit to it,” Harold responds.

“Work on it. There hasn’t ever been anything more important in all of your life.”

Epilogue

The three boats set a course for Bangor. Santa Fe is in the vanguard to provide for security to the front with the Maine behind and the Jefferson City trailing. This will give the greatest area of coverage to hear anything with the passive sonar and provide for security. If they are approached from any direction, one of the boats will be able to pick it up while the others maneuver silently for an optimal firing position. They have a ways to go to reach the port but are traveling slowly and quietly. Finding each other has made each of the captains well aware that there still might be others hiding in the depths.

Leonard stands in the control room contemplating the events of the past few weeks. He knows he isn’t the same person that surfaced outside the San Juan Strait seemingly so long ago. The world is a much different place within which he and the crew have to adapt if they are to survive.

The mood within is solemn as they make their way quietly under the surface. Some had families that may have been aboard the drifting ships of the fleet. Leonard knows that others are holding onto the slim hope that their loved ones escaped the horror and made their way inland. While not promoting that hope, Leonard isn’t discouraging it either. Their brief times ashore have shown that there are some who have managed to survive but the odds are very slim. And those odds decrease with each passing day. If they can refit and contact Walker, they may be able to find out if any are still alive.

“Sir, transient noise, bearing 255 degrees,” the sonarman calls.

“What it is?” Leonard asks, making his way to the small room.

The sailor listens intently on his headphones for a moment. “Sir, it sounds like an Alpha Class sub, two thousand yards. I’ve designated it as contact Hotel One. It’s running quiet, but not quiet enough.”

“Bearing and distance changes?” Leonard inquires.

“Bearing and distance is remaining constant. I’d say they’re shadowing us, sir.”

“All stop. Steer 060 degrees. Run silent. We’ll drift out of the Maine’s path so they won’t run into our tail. It’s obvious the Alpha has heard us, but they may not know about the others. Lock in a firing solution and ready all tubes. Standby with the counter measures,” Leonard orders.

With the threat, the crew comes out of their stupor. Quietly and efficiently, they ready the boat according to Leonard’s orders. Leonard hopes that the boat going silent will alert Maine and Jefferson City that something is amiss and that they will be able to locate the Alpha just a little more than a mile away.

“What are they doing?” Leonard quietly asks the sonarman.

“They’ve gone silent as well, sir.”

The Santa Fe continues to drift on its new heading. All sounds from the Maine vanish as well. Leonard trusts that they heard the Alpha and that the Jefferson City, taking the hint from them, is maneuvering for an advantageous position. Looking to the sonar compartment, Leonard notes the sailor shake his head indicating that he hasn’t heard anything further. More than likely, there are four boats in close proximity, all drifting or maneuvering silently. With that many in the same area, the chance of a collision is magnified exponentially. Giving the other subs time to get into position, knowing the Maine will be at a huge disadvantage should the shooting start, Leonard issues an order to break the stalemate.

“Give a single active ping on my mark. Be ready with the counter measures, a snap shot, and to dive deep. Only fire on my command. Ready, mark.”

Far from shore, the sonar blasts through the salt water.

* * *

Squatting inside of the tree line, Michael senses the other leaders cautiously approaching. They seem wary of his call but it could be that they are just being guarded because of the danger from the sky. Michael feels eagerness emanating from the pack members he brought with him as the scents of prey reaches them. The woods smell of food and Michael has to periodically send images to his pack lest they run off to hunt. The scents stir Michael’s own excitement and the urge to race after the prey but there are more important things to do. He may get the chance later but, for now, he waits for the others to close on him.

Watching the open fields between him and the abandoned two-legged lairs lying a short distance away, with one eye on the sky above, Michael sees several of the leaders emerge from the sides of the buildings and come to a stop. They eye each other as much as they do the night sky. Sending an image of welcome to them, Michael sees them turn in his direction and lope across the field with their packs following.

He feels their hesitation as they close, stopping a few paces away. After all, Michael didn’t give a reason for bringing them together, he just sent the call. Looking to the dark sky, he sends for them to get out of the open and into the trees. They can choose to keep their packs with them or send them on a hunt, but the open areas hold danger.

The leaders send images of agreement, having felt the loss of many of their own in the previous nights. They move farther into the trees to stay out of sight and find a place where they squat in a circle. Michael feels the strong presence of the others but he holds the advantage over them. If he wills it, they will follow him but he would have to keep a continual eye on them. The memory surfaces of the trouble he had with Sandra. He’d rather they follow because they have the same goal and not because he wills it. If he has to, he will but he’ll try convincing them first. One way or the other though, the two-leggeds must go.

Michael points to his chest and verbally says, “Michael,” introducing himself. His voice croaks from the lack of use with that form of communication.

Several of the gathered leaders look at him, startled. They can understand what he said, but it’s still foreign to them, with them having a different form of communication. Some even rise as if to flee but settle back almost immediately, recognizing that they too can do the same. Michael sees expressions of recognition from some of the leaders. Others look at him quizzically, not having understood the sound he made. Michael only stated his name verbally to see where the others stood with regards to their abilities and to assert a form of dominance. He can do something they can’t, or at least something they didn’t know they had the power to do.

Sending a mental image, Michael introduces himself and the others respond in kind, settling into the situation more, and becoming relaxed. Not really knowing what small talk is, Michael sends images of the two-legged danger facing their kind. Sending images of the lair which Michael and his pack vacated just prior to being hit, he shows the demolished structure to demonstrate just how dangerous the two-legged are and their capability of destruction. In addition, he shows them his images of when he followed the two-legged in Sandra’s lair, how they could sneak inside without being heard or smelled.

“I understand what you say, but these two-legged haven’t been seen in a long time. Their blood and flesh was tasty and yes, they were dangerous, but they’re gone,” one of the leaders sends.

“They aren’t gone. There is a large lair of them still which endangers all of us,” Michael retorts.

“What does that have to do with anything? If they are in their lair, they cannot hurt us. We will hunt them like any of the others,” another says.

Michael sends an image of the two-leggeds’ lair. “You won’t be able to hunt them in their lair. You won’t be able to get to them.”

“Then what danger are they if they stay in their lair?”

Michael, playing his card, sends an image of the fire that rains from the night sky and kills many of their packs when they are out on the hunt. The others shy away from the image as if it were actually above them, with many looking up through the branches arching overhead.

“The rain of death is from the two-leggeds.”

Silence folds around their circle as the leaders take in this information, slowly recovering from their fear. Michael has purposely shut himself down to a large degree so that their ‘conversation’ can’t be heard by the other pack members squatting in the woods.

“How can you be sure this is from the two-leggeds?”

“I just am,” Michael replies.

“We cannot fight this thing in the sky. Why have you called us?”

“We can attack their lair,” Michael states.

“You said we cannot do such a thing. You said we won’t be able to get to them. So what are you saying?” another leader asks.

Michael sends them images of when he helped some of his current pack members over the high wall when they couldn’t get out. “We can do the same to their walls.”

“If it is that easy, why haven’t you and your pack done it? We have felt your numbers. Surely you aren’t afraid with so many?”

“There are many of the two-leggeds, and you know how tough they are to bring down. These are even stronger,” Michael says, showing more images of his encounters.

“We will lose many if we try that.”

“We will lose more if we don’t. If we are to survive, the two-leggeds must go,” Michael says, sending another image of the rain of death and packs vanishing under its onslaught. “The night death will kill us all.”

“Perhaps we will just move then.”

“Where will you go? You are already moving because of food. You have felt the packs and know that they are everywhere. How much time until food runs out?” Michael gives them an image of the countryside around. “Where will you hide from the killing ball of light? There is nothing past here that will shelter you.”

The pictures Michael presents cause a stir and then long moments of silence. They sense the truth in the images. Michael senses their amazement that there is anything other than what they’ve seen; that there is such a thing as large open areas without shelter. Coming on the heels of their amazement is fear. If they are to hunt in this new area, and with nowhere else to go, they will have to face the night rain and the decimation of the packs.

The silence continues as the leaders, each with their own thoughts, try to think of another way. With the images Michael sent them, they know that a direct attack on the two-legged lair will result in many of them dying. On the other hand, many of them are already dying and that will continue.

In communion with each other, the leaders arrive at a decision. “Very well, we will attack. Show us what we must do.”

If he were capable of doing so, Michael would smile inwardly. As it is, and as much as he can hold a sensory perception, he feels satisfied. He shows them once again how to scale the high walls by placing things against them, and that they will need to gather all of the packs together if they are to be successful.

“It will take many nights of running to gather the packs. Some are far away and will have to travel. Finding food for so many will be difficult,” one leader states, who stands above the others and is speaking for them.

“Tell to them to stay in place but to be ready when we call,” Michael says. “Until then, inform them to begin gathering items we’ll need to get into the lair.”

“When will we go?”

“Soon,” Michael says.

The meeting concludes. The leaders run off into the night and Michael, knowing he will be hard-pressed to return to his lair before night ends, finds a place to shelter before spending the rest of the night hunting underneath the trees.

# # #

About the Author

John O'Brien is a former Air Force fighter instructor pilot who transitioned to Special Operations for the latter part of his career gathering his campaign ribbon for Desert Storm. Immediately following his military service, John became a firefighter/EMT with a local department. Along with becoming a firefighter, he fell into the Information Technology industry in corporate management. Currently, John is writing full-time on the series, A New World.

As a former marathon runner, John lives in the beautiful Pacific Northwest and can now be found kayaking out in the waters of Puget Sound, mountain biking in the Capital Forest, hiking in the Olympic Peninsula, or pedaling his road bike along the many scenic roads.

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Content

A New World:
RECKONING
A Novel by John O’Brien

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

AUTHOR’S NOTE

Prologue

Uninvited Guests

Into the Night

Bird of Prey

Tempered Steel

Diamond in the Rough

Revelations

Shooting the Gap

A Pale Horse

Epilogue

About the Author

Connect with me online

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