Emergence Boxed Set, page 66
part #1 of Emergence Series
He settled into position and centered the sights on his scope as he prepared to take the first shot. “Now, let’s unleash hell on these streets and take back what is ours.”
Chapter 32
Ivins barely felt the turbulence as he bounced in his seat in the C-130 enroute to Tampa. He took the small doll head out of his vest and stared at the blue eyes, recalling the sweet face of his daughter. He leaned forward and placed it inside a side pocket of his rucksack, then removed a small black pouch and emptied it into his calloused palm. He put two of the items back and held up the gold wedding ring, gently sliding it onto his finger. He had gotten used to not wearing it on missions, always leaving it in his locker on the Reagan. At the end of each deployment, he ritualistically donned it again, knowing he would be coming home soon, to his lovely wife. This time, he didn’t know if either comfort would present itself again, but he couldn’t give up hope. But he knew even before the pandemic that life was too unpredictable, and he clenched his fist, staring at the ring as a spiritual talisman. I will see you again, Kelly, in this world or the next one that we are also wedded in. I will always be with you. I love you.
As the C-130 transport plane circled around the outskirts of Tampa, Ivins leaned out the window and saw a massive cloud of dust to the south. He felt his stomach coil up as he studied the five-mile-wide swath of highway that was being churned into rubble as an army of drones three miles long extended into the horizon.
“My God—this is worse than Dorr described,” he said.
Both Ivins and Reisner’s teams stared out at the sight. With each mile of progression that the army advanced, the main column was joined by smaller streams of drones trotting in from the sides as the neighboring cities and towns were cleared out of creatures.
“There must be over fifty thousand creatures,” whispered Porter.
They saw a stream of mortar fire coming from the surrounding subdivisions to the south of MacDill, where the remaining elements of the Ranger Battalion and Special Operations units were concentrated, along with a half-dozen Bradley tanks.
“Looks like the sorties from the F-15s we heard about earlier didn’t put much of a dent in their numbers,” said Reisner. “They’re still advancing.”
Ivins traced the route from where the enemy was located to the periphery of MacDill, which had just come into sight. “They’re going to be on top of the base within the hour.” The view out the window was obscured as heavy rain pelted the plane. Ivins sat back in his seat as the announcement from the pilot came on that they would be landing.
He knew their teams would be immediately thrust into the fight.
The battle for MacDill had already begun.
Chapter 33
After they had made their way down below into the powerhouse that held the dam’s generators and turbines, Engel led the group past several empty work stations and a small office that had three technicians inside, who were monitoring the output dials on the wall inside. At least, Kelly thought they were technicians from the white lab coats they were clad in, but they looked more like weathered ranchers with their leathery skin.
Passing by a row of empty offices near the last turbine, Engel stopped and turned around. Steepling his fingers, he addressed the group as if he was a dam engineer about to relay a story about the facility.
“Kelly, you and your friend asked up top about how we can live so peacefully here. Usually, I don’t divulge what you’re about to see to new arrivals for a few days, but I’m betting you can handle it.” He leaned forward, patting her on the arm, which made her take a small step back. “You seem like a sharp lady, and I don’t like to keep things from people here—that just creates discord, and there was enough of that in the old world. So, I’m going to let you in on our little secret here.”
She was starting to feel like a contestant on a game show and was wondering if his little speech was going to be followed up with the offer of some prize. Either he is just the charismatic leader he appears to be or he’s a whacked-out egomaniac. Either way, I better play along. “Well, you’ve certainly got my interest.”
He spun around on his heels then continued forward, his pace quickening as they headed down a semi-circular cement staircase. The damp air was a relief from the dry desert sun she had endured, and Kelly figured they must be near one of the internal dam spillways from the sound of roaring water in the distance. The arched chamber ahead was eight feet across and had a low ceiling, easy enough to reach. Engel walked past each row of rooms, pausing every few feet to rattle off some tidbits about the output of the facility. To her right was a wall lined with control panels and gauges for monitoring the dam output and hydroelectric functions. To the left was a row of a dozen empty rooms, their doors ajar, except one at the end. Kelly squinted into the faintly lit cubicle that looked like a service entrance to the spillway below. She saw what looked like a dark-skinned man leaning against the wall inside, but then the figure slumped out of sight as if something had pulled him down.
At the closed door, Engel stopped, his body blocking the large rectangular window into the room. He slowly turned around, his index finger raised. “You know the native cultures in these regions used to say that they emerged into this world from the last one through a portal in the Grand Canyon. It’s so fascinating that every indigenous culture had its own creation story. What will ours be like generations from now as the survivors of this pandemic?”
“You seem pretty confident that the human race is going to pull through this and be around to even tell our story.”
“I am, Kelly. There won’t be a return to our former world, nor even life in our big cities, but we won’t be living in the stone-age either. We will recover from this by having small communities like this one. I am certain of it.”
“You haven’t been out on the road like I and most of the others here have, I’m assuming. From what Jared said, you were from the area and retreated here after the pandemic started—is that right?”
“Indeed, my father used to be the chief engineer here and I spent my teenager years after high school working on this very platform. When the virus struck and the cities in western Arizona fell, I sought refuge here along with a handful of others.”
“So that’s your creation story?”
He tilted his head and let out a crooked smile. “Part of it. The rest is, well,” he paused to stroke his chin, “more interesting. You see, we had only been holed up at the dam for a few days—about twenty of us who had fled here from our homes near Lake Havasu up the road. We had just returned from a resupply trip onshore, hitting a small grocery store on the outskirts of Lake Havasu. After we began to unload the boats on the landing outside the dam, the crags started coming—from the streets, the desert, the houses down near the town of Parker—God, they were everywhere. I told my people to close the doors on the dam as I and my boat crews tried to get away on the river.”
Engel leaned back against the cement wall. “The first boat crew sped off safely, but my crew was surprised by some crags that came out of a culvert along the shoreline. One of the creatures moved like a lion in heat, and he was more coordinated than the others. I had heard about these kinds—the alphas is what they were called on the shortwave transmissions around the country. This thing took down one of my men as it climbed on board. I shot it in the chest and watched it fall back into the propellers, getting its legs chopped all to smithereens.” He began pacing before the group as if giving a performance, his hands gesticulating in the air. “It was then that the other creatures—thousands of them on the beach—stopped in unison to stare at the mangled thing at our stern. The alpha tried to swim away, its arms flopping wildly. As it moved, the other creatures resumed their assault. I grabbed the gaffing hook from the side of the boat and pulled the shredded beast back into the boat propellers, watching the army of crags on the beach come to a halt again. It was like some kind of fucking puppet show—whenever I yanked the alpha into the propellers, the creatures stopped and were devoid of fuel for the fight.”
Engel folded his arms, his eyes gazing down at the ground. “In fact, they seemed to be in as much pain as the thing thrashing at my stern. I knew then that there was something more than mere grunts and body signals given off between the alpha and the other crags. I hoisted the exhausted creature up to the edge of the boat. Its legs were completely gone at this point so I hacked off its arms with my machete then tied it to the side of the boat by the neck.” He raised one arm up, his hand clenched and his face aglow with fury. “Holding my blade above its head seemed to drive home the message to the crags, who slowly began dispersing. The alpha clearly knew what the fuck was going to happen and either relayed something, or the crags knew they were about to literally lose the head of their group.” He patted the red-stained wooden handle of the machete hanging off his belt, then he stepped aside from the door. Inside the dimly lit room, Kelly could now make out the full form of the thing she had seen earlier, an inanimate creature with only a scarred torso and scabbed head resting on the ground. Its face began contorting as the interior light flickered on, followed by its eyelids fluttering. She pulled Cassie back as she stared in horror at the ghastly sight of the disfigured alpha.
“Fuck—that’s brilliant, man,” whispered Erica. “Never would’ve thought of that.”
“As long as we’ve got this monstrous abomination here, we’re safe—those things outside won’t come within five miles of this place. The pathetic minions of this thing fear losing their leader, and this beast clearly lives to protect its own kind, which would probably be lost without him—or it, rather.”
“And what if this creature decides to end its own existence somehow or it just plain dies on you?” said Erica.
“I’ve pondered those very questions myself, young lady,” said Engel. “All I can say is this: wouldn’t it have offed itself by now if it was capable of self-destruction?” He twirled his right hand in the air as if he was a maestro before an orchestra. “No, these things seem more like insects, and I believe that this creature here is incapable of bringing harm to the colony at large through sacrificing itself.”
He held up his arms. “We’ve got a nice little sanctuary here, loaded with supplies gathered from the city, and this secret weapon locked away in this room to keep it that way. Plus, I haven’t lost a single member of our community since that night—no more battles, no risky resupply missions where we get attacked, and no loss of life. Probably not many places around the world can make that claim.”
“Is that why you were broadcasting about this place—trying to get the word out about what you had done?” said Kelly, her stomach still churning from the marred beast lying helpless on the ground.
Engel chewed on his lower lip for a minute then raised an eyebrow. “Of course, but we realized we were reaching our carrying capacity a few days ago and needed to shut that down for a while.”
“And the military—are you in touch with any of them or any remnants of our government? I heard that some of our bases had survived around the country.”
“In time, we will reach out. When I tried to make contact with one of the air force bases in Nevada, they said the government was still restructuring itself and would eventually send out rescue teams. All we had to do was wait it out until that time, though no one could give me a concrete answer on when the hell that might be.”
Kelly nervously rubbed the side of her arm, averting her eyes from the alpha as she spoke in a shaky voice. “That’s a unique solution alright.”
He motioned with his hand to the stairs. “Why don’t you all get some rest, and in the morning we can talk about how you can contribute to the community here.” She nodded, then slowly backpedaled before turning around and quickly following the others up the stairs.
***
Jared moved in closer to Engel. “She and her friend didn’t check out—A and B blood types.”
“Dammit—that’s a shame,” said Engel. “We’ve only found three candidates in the past week of new arrivals.” Engel watched Kelly’s shadow disappear upstairs. “What about the daughter—you failed to mention her.”
Jared stepped back, narrowing his eyes. “She’s a kid—eight years old.”
“That’s of little concern to me.” He waved his arms in the air, his formerly charming expression dissolving. “But the continued safety of this place is of concern to all of us.” Engel’s face became rigid, his lips tensing. “So, what was her blood type? Is she suitable or not?”
Jared glanced away, then darted his eyes over at the restrained alpha, wondering who the real monster was in his presence. Jesus, Engel is willing to go farther than I thought. The others that were selected in the past were all dregs—mostly low-life gutter trash that wouldn’t have fit in here over the long haul anyway. There’s no way I’m telling him that little girl has the right blood type. “No, she’s, uhm, same as the old lady.”
Engel stared at Jared for a moment, looking over his facial features, then folded his arms and moved towards a steel lever emanating from the wall beside the glass chamber where the alpha was contained. “Pity, then we may need to start up the broadcasts again. Our remaining three donors will only last the week.” He muscled the lever down, causing a rusted iron panel to slide upward in the chamber. The sight reminded Jared of the feeding door in a tiger’s den at a zoo. The faint outline of a young man lying unconscious on his side was barely visible, like an apparition bleeding through from another realm. The alpha flopped on its side, squirming its scarred torso along the damp cement until it reached the opening. Its head arched up as its mouth opened, revealing a thick parasite which darted out into the darkness. The dim setting was filled with the sound of slurping as the creature’s neck muscles vigorously contracted while the groaning man’s body twisted, his face contorting.
Jared withdrew and moved back, a grimace forming over his chiseled face. What kind of insane world have we inherited? He blinked hard, his mouth going dry. He watched in horror as the limbless monster continued to drain the stupefied figure. Jared pried his eyes away, heading for the stairs and the outside world, where the clear air would help wipe away the memory of the horrors below. Reaching the overlook above, he leaned on the metal railing and watched people walking along the newly established courtyard area below. Since arriving at Raven’s Keep, he had seen how the other members had fallen under the spell of Engel’s bullshit, which wasn’t hard to do, given the idyllic setting inside the facility and the brutality outside the walls. The daily Jim Jones-esque sermons by Engel on how fate had guided them to his safe haven was starting to get old. Jared could see Engel was indoctrinating the desperate refugees in his own brand of quasi-messianic beliefs, trying to create an outpost of sheep while plucking out the ones favorable to his repulsive undertaking with the alpha. These people here should all be training in fighting tactics instead of acting like they’re in a fucking commune. This can’t last forever—what if that alpha dies tomorrow? We don’t even know how long they live.
As he stared into the crowd, he could make out Kelly, who had just arrived at the playgroup of other children, where her daughter was sitting. Have to warn her—get her and her kid out of here. But to where? He’d gone along with Engel’s nefarious approach since he arrived because he had the chance of being in charge of the other guards and enjoyed getting an occasional glimpse outside the dam during their recon missions, not to mention Engel explaining that he was only culling less-than-desirable people from the crowd of newcomers. His own fucking eugenics program—only now he’s willing to cross any line to keep this place afloat. He heard the squawk of a lone bird and glanced up at a raven circling above. Raven’s Keep—what a croc! Maybe I should have just stuck it out on the road, moving from town to town. Jesus, how did I ever get myself into this mess?
***
When the alpha had finished feeding, it wriggled its scarred body back into the main chamber, its ulcerous skin shearing off along the coarse concrete floor. It lay back, staring up at the ceiling then out through the glass window at the humans standing in the hall outside. Suddenly, it felt its mind filling with images from another region—flashes of a forested area amidst a large estate and catacombs of underground tunnels. A lone voice seeped into its psyche, and it felt the burning in its mangled stumps slip away as it merged with the consciousness of a more powerful being.
Soon, your suffering will end. You have done well to last this long, but your brood to the north will be taken over by other leaders like you that are moving in your direction.
The creature blinked several times, nodding its scabbed head in acknowledgement.
I have one last thing for you to do, and then your pain will ease for good. That time is nearing.
The images faded, prompting the return of its physical agony. The creature rested its head on the cold flooring, its facial muscles relaxing for the first time since it had been flung into its holding cell. After a few minutes, it tilted its head again towards the window, staring intently at the man who had done this to it. Its pupils dilated and the tingling in the base of its neck amplified. It wanted to feel the final breath drain from the monster responsible for its pitiful condition. The creature relaxed its head back on the ground, focusing on a singular crack in the ceiling above. Soon…soon.
Chapter 34
“Concentrate all firepower along the southern flank so we can get what’s left of our Bradleys engaged,” yelled Dorr into his ear-mic as he stood in the tac-ops command center. Hemmings had just rushed in and took up a position beside him, followed by Runa, who was wearing a vest.
“Sir, you requested me?” said Runa.
Dorr grabbed him by the shoulder and leaned in towards him, pointing to the satellite image of the tropical storm on the desk monitor to the right. “My analyst just confirmed that we will have a thirty-minute window of calm when this storm passes to the southwest of us. I need you to get the crop-duster planes in the air and release the bioagent over the drone army along Riverview Drive before they cut through all of our defenses. Doctor Munroe and I have a plan to concentrate them into one mass long enough to deliver the aerosol. Our other pilots are out in the fight already. Two of my men are waiting downstairs, so if you could muster up one more who can handle a Cessna you’d be blowing sunshine up all of our asses today.”
