Cascade box set 2, p.34
Cascade Box Set 2, page 34
As they laid in the darkness on the hardwood floor, they could hear the metal railings they had just used as a guide, twisting and bending, until there was a snapping sound. Zach scrambled forward as quickly as he could and pushed his back up against the door, just as something pushed on it. He quietly took his rifle off his shoulder and gripped it. A sniffling grunting noise came from outside, and then something shuffling away, receding into the night.
“I think it’s gone,” said Fiona.
Zach turned the light on briefly again, just enough to get the lay of the room around them.
“Help me with this,” he said getting to his feet and walking to a heavy looking sideboard.
They both lifted and carried it, shuffling across the floor until it was up against the door.
“Let’s get upstairs.”
Remembering where the stairs were, they both walked up them, feeling the wall until they were onto a landing with a deep carpet. He turned the flashlight on, and pointed it down. They were in a hallway with striped wallpaper with large black and white photographs of yachts. They walked towards the back of the house, opening a bedroom door, then walked to the large back window which gave them an unparalleled view of the city.
Both of their mouths fell open as they both looked across at the light show on display.
“Diaz was right, that’s some UFO shit,” said Fiona.
Zach held his rifle up and looked down the scope. Rectangular shapes with lights at their four corners and one larger one in the bottom center were hovering over one of the vine covered monoliths. An intense beam would shine down every few seconds as if the strange shapes were looking for something.
As he watched in silence, a strange sensation began to creep over him. A realization that what he was looking at, the Cascade and even Abbey leaving was all connected, but he had no idea how.
He pulled his radio out and clicked it on. “We’re safe. We’re about two miles east of your position, on the second floor of a home. Over.”
“You seeing the lights?”
“Sure am.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
The morning light streamed into the bedroom through a gap in the curtains. Zach opened his eyes then looked to his left, Fiona was still asleep. He slowly sat up, then walked to the window and looked out at the city they had been up most of the night observing. The scene a few miles away was its usual fury of E.L.F activity, and from what he could see was no different to the day before.
“Are they back?” said Fiona stretching.
“Not that I can see.”
“Ugh, I wonder if there’s any kind of running water back at the restaurant, there’s only so many times I can sleep in the same clothes.”
Zach continued watching through the window. “I doubt there is.”
“Any word from the others?”
“No.”
“I’m going to go look downstairs see if I can find any food.”
“Okay.”
She briefly looked at him standing there, then left the bedroom.
Both of them had spent until daybreak watching the strange craft hover over the city and then disappear into the heavens. Not many words were exchanged between them as the hours rolled on, but they both agreed that whatever they were, they were not human made. Zach felt like he was beginning to get a glimpse into the bigger picture of how the Cascade came about, but for now those were thoughts he needed to keep to himself.
She stood in a large kitchen which obviously had belonged to people of means. Large glass external doors allowed a view of the city which was probably even better than the bedroom windows on the floor above. Just outside was a wooden deck, most of which was missing. The rest was snapped and splintered planks which sat on the edge of a precipice to the valley below. Fiona hoped the foundations of the house were not similarly damaged.
Flying creatures flew by in the distance, hundreds of feet above the ground, but parallel with the house. She ducked down below the kitchen counter. Crouching on the ground, she started opening the ground level cupboards around her.
“Ah,” she said pulling out cans of spaghetti which looked like they had been in there long before even the Cascade happened. She looked at the top of the tin. “Best before 2010”
“Maybe not,” she said to herself, putting it back.
Peering up over the counter she couldn’t see anything in the sky, and started opening the higher cupboards. Most were empty but one revealed a packet of plain crackers. She opened them and started crunching down on one.
Zach appeared in the kitchen doorway. “We should get back.”
A short time later, they were back in the restaurant. Everyone was sat near each other on tables and chairs.
“I’m just going to call it, those were some alien fucks,” said Harper.
Everybody was silent, including some that were shifting uncomfortably in their seats.
“I mean, right?”
“I don’t know of anything in the military that could maneuver like whatever those things could,” said Zach.
“Me neither,” said Fiona.
“I know our mission is recon to Boston, but we have stumbled upon something pretty big here, maybe it’s time to think about returning to Texas,” said Bower.
Zach knew he was right, but leaving Abbey out here was not an option. “Some of us should return.”
“I don’t think dividing up is a good idea,” said Bower. “We have also only got one Cascader, which means one of the groups will be left exposed.”
Ada cleared her throat as if she wanted to say something. She was sitting near the bar, with Reed and Emilia close by. Zach and Fiona looked across at her.
“There’s something you want to say?” said Fiona.
“I heard you talking last night, about private Diaz? That she can control the monsters?”
“Yeah?”
“Well, Reed has the gift too. That’s how we ended up with Rory, we were in a bigger group, out there, in the city. One day, we were caught out in the open by these things, most of us were killed, but my boy saved myself, Emilia… and Rory. He saw that and from then on kept us close to him.”
Zach got up and sat near Reed. “Is that right, you can sense the creatures, and control them?”
The boy nodded.
“Can you sense them now?”
He nodded again.
“Okay so now we got two Cascaders, even better, let’s get the hell out of this place and get back on the road south,” said Harper.
Zach lowered his head thinking out a possible way he could continue his journey to Boston without a Cascader at his side. They made it from New Mexico to the camp by luck and the fact that the area had a low density of E.L.F’s, but up here in the northeast they were everywhere. His luck wouldn’t hold out long enough to get him to his destination, and that’s even if he could find Abbey. There was only one option if he wanted to continue, a Cascader needed to go with him.
He jumped to his feet in frustration, making Reed jump. Then walked into the kitchen area behind the bar.
Fiona looked at the rest. “I’ll talk to him.”
When she walked into the gloom of the long room lined with silver-chrome worktops and appliances, she found him leaning up against one of them. She walked up to him and put her hand on his shoulder.
“If I go alone, the chances are I won’t make it out of the city. But if I take a Cascader it means, taking Diaz, and that would leave the rest of you under the protection of a child. Which is also not something I could live with,” he said not looking at her.
“I’ll go with you, we can run and hide. Like how we did when we left the prison.”
Zach looked at her, his eyes wet and red. “You have seen the city, there must be a hundred different species of E.L.F all within a few miles radius, any one of which we wouldn’t stand a chance with.” He hated each of the words that were coming from his mouth, because he knew what they ultimately would mean. If he went it would have to be alone, and that would also mean almost certain death. Abbey was a Cascader, there was a chance she could get through this. If he died trying to find her, she would never forgive him, or herself. He sighed.
“Look, we take—”
A noise made them both turn around.
Bower was standing there. “I’ve got an idea.”
*****
Bower, Zach and Freeman looked out of the restaurant window at the radio tower which reached into the sky, a mile to the west.
“How do we know we can even broadcast from that thing?” said Zach to Freeman.
“If we’re lucky they would of had a back up generator. We get that running with some of the fuel we have, then we can transmit to the camp.”
Bower patted Freeman on his back. “Meh, this is nothing, a quick run over there, hook up the cables, and then we call home, simple. Done it a hundred times before.”
“We did it once,” said Freeman.
“Well that’s better than never,” said Bower.
Diaz and Harper appeared behind them. “We’ve got the spare fuel ready downstairs, we just need carry it.”
“Still not sure we shouldn’t just drive it to the location, and keep use of the fifty Cal,” said Bower.
Zach shook his head. “You said it, there’s a safari park of E.L.F’s just a few miles from here. The less we can bring attention to ourselves the better, and as soon as those vehicles engines start up it’s noise and heat.” He walked to the back of the seating area, where Fiona was with Ada and her kids. “We’re ready to go. I’ll stay in touch on the radio,” he said to Fiona, then smiled and looked at the two children. “We’re going to send a message back to our camp, and then we’ll probably have to go for a short ride, and then you get to take a trip on a helicopter.”
“Really?” said Emilia almost jumping out of her seat.
“Yup, all the way back to our base. It’s not the camp, but it’s safe there and you can rest up before the journey back to the camp.” He looked up at Ada who smiled and nodded back at him.
Fiona nodded too and then he, along with Bower, Diaz, Freeman and Hayes quickly descended the eight flights of stairs and emerged into the bright sunshine of the morning.
Diaz immediately closed her eyes, her head twitching from side to side.
“Harper, Hayes you’re carrying the fuel at the start, if it becomes a problem Freeman and I will take over.”
They both nodded and ran to the Humvee, carefully lifting the heavy metal canisters from the backseat.
Bower then looked at Diaz. “Anything?”
“There’s E.L.F’s floating around, not far, I can’t get an exact sense of where they are, just that there close.”
Zach emerged from the back of the other Humvee with a handful of grenades, two he clipped onto his jacket, the other two he handed to Bower who did the same.
“Let’s move out,” said Bower.
They all ran out of the parking lot, staying away from the road and cliff edge that ran down to the river, instead keeping close to the fences and trees which sat at the back of homes and businesses further back.
“There’s something coming!” said Diaz.
“In here!” said Zach, as they all ran under the cover of a small group of trees and bushes.
There was a loud rushing noise and the air grew noticeably cooler. A creature looking like a huge manta ray rose up from the drop-off to the river below. Its wings were easy a hundred feet across and as it passed overhead, dust, rocks and earth swirled around them like a mini-hurricane. Its long tail clipped one of the trees nearby sending its topmost branches crashing to the ground just a few yards away.
As the sound of its wings grew quieter they all sighed in relief.
“We need to move, now,” said Diaz.
Springing to their feet they scuttled forwards through the trees and across the overgrown lawn area, that ran along the road. Soon they arrived at a junction, with one of the roads that ran up to the tower.
Harper and Hayes stopped out of breath.
Bower grabbed took one of the canisters. “I didn’t realize you two were so out of shape, might be time to hit the track when we’re back at the camp.”
Freeman took the other canister.
“We got this, just make sure the path to the base of the tower is clear,” said Bower to Harper and Hayes, who then unslung their rifles and ran up the small hill which headed towards the tower.
The rest followed closely behind. A short while later, they were all running along a small pathway which had an impressive view of the city in the distance. The radio tower rose two hundred feet above their heads.
“There’s an entrance over there,” said Zach pointing to a set of dark glass windows and door.
They quickly moved across the parking lot which sat with two vehicles still parked, and up to the entrance which had a small wall of sandbags around it. Zach tried the door, opening it first try. They all ran into a lobby area which was shrouded in shadow even with the sun blazing outside. Around them were sheets lying on the floor, together with buckets.
“Looks like people were living here at one point,” said Diaz.
“Let’s see if this roll of the dice has paid off,” said Bower. “Hayes, Harper split up and if this place has a back up generator, find it.” He then turned to Freeman. “You’re running this show, where to next?”
“Just need to make sure their transceiver is still operational, usually it’s inside an equipment room.” He walked across the lobby looking at the signs above the various doors. “This way.”
Soon they were walking along a dark corridor making Zach turn his flashlight on.
“In here.” Freeman pushed open a plain door to reveal a large circular desk, covered in computer keyboards and screens. Beyond was a large glass window which had a sign that said “Recording studio” above it.
“Now what?” said Bower.
“No creatures seem to have gotten inside here, that’s good, but it’s a modern setup, if we don’t get the main power online to these computers, we’re not transmitting anything to anyone.”
As Bower clicked on his radio to see if Hayes and Harper were having any luck, Zach walked into the small sound studio. All over the walls were newspaper clippings combined with printouts of images of various creatures, and scenes of battles between them and soldiers. Most of which looked American, but some had other uniforms. His foot slid on a piece of paper, which he picked up. “Nature’s revenge!” said the headline from the front page of a newspaper.
“Zach?” said Bower.
Zach walked outside.
“They say they found something in the basement. Freeman’s gone down there to check it out. Looks like this crazy plan might work.”
“The crazy ones usually do.”
Freeman’s voice came from Bowers radio. “They got a generator. Hasn’t been used since way before the Cascade, but we’re putting the fuel in now. We should be good to go in a few minutes.”
“That’s what I’m talking about, Kentucky outpost here we come,” said Diaz.
Zach clicked on his own radio and gave Fiona an update.
Just as he finished all the screens around him lit up, and white noise came from a speaker somewhere in the walls.
“That’s my boy,” said Bower.
Freeman reappeared with Hayes and Harper, he walked straight to the chair in front of the circular desk, sat and swore.
“What?” said Zach.
“It’s all password protected.” He began looking around and feeling under the desk. “If we’re lucky they kept it somewhere close.”
“Look under the keyboard,” said Hayes.
“Who keeps their password under their keyboard?” said Harper incredulous.
Freeman lifted the black plastic set of keys. Strapped to the bottom was a white piece of paper with seven letters and one number written on it.
“Ha!” said Hayes.
Harper rolled her eyes.
Freeman quickly typed the password in, and the screen changed to one of rows of numbers and boxes with digital versions of old style electronic meters. “Okay, someone go into the studio and start talking on the mike.”
Harper jumped forward quicker than anyone else. She looked through the glass, and Freeman raised his hand. She then started singing, which boomed out of all the speakers around them.
Freeman scrambled to adjust the volume, while the others winced.
Bower looked at Harper, moving his hand across his throat. “Stop!”
She did.
“Right, we’re ready to go. I just need to hit this button on the screen and we should start transmitting.”
“Let’s do it,” said Bower.
Zach walked into the studio. Harper smiled and handed him the mike.
Freeman used the mouse and tapped on the button. A part of the screen flashed red. “What?” He said leaning closer to the monitor.
“What’s the problem?” said Hayes.
“We’re not transmitting, it’s saying there’s something wrong with the transmitter.”
“You mean the two hundred foot tower of metal outside?” said Harper.
Freeman sat back in the chair. “Yup.”
“Fuck,” said Bower. “We were so close.”
“Maybe that’s why they left this place, their antenna was busted,” said Hayes.
“Yup,” said Freeman. “There might be a fix. If I can climb up it.”
“That’s some climb, and we don’t have any rope,” said Zach.
“What choice we got?” said Freeman.
Everyone looked at Bower, including Zach.
“I don’t know, your ass is going to be out there for everything to see.”
“Either I go up and see if I can sort the issue, or we give up and go back to the apartments, pack up our stuff and drive all the way back to KY.” Freeman then looked at Diaz. “You got my back right?”
She hid her anxiety. “You know it.”
“Right, let’s get this done,” said Bower.
