Cascade box set 2, p.55
Cascade Box Set 2, page 55
He nodded again. “Remember what I said.”
She nodded. “Hey, you’ll have time to fix the house back up before I return."
A squawk came from above them and Mo descended and landed on a ruined second floor wall of a nearby building.
Zach waved to him. "Keep an eye on her buddy!"
The E.L.F squawked again.
Zach kissed Abbey briefly then turned and got into the passenger’s side of the Humvee.
Fiona, Michael on the turret, Wyatt and Miles all watched Abbey as their vehicle pulled away. Zach however looked out the side window. As they left the destroyed town and rejoined the highway, it was all he could do not to yell to Fiona to stop so he could go back. But instead as the landscape sped by he watched the night take hold on the surrounding forests and hills.
“I thought the plan was to take her with us,” said Fiona.
“Plans change,” said Zach.
*****
Bower walked up the hill that left the town, at the head of his small column of soldiers. Alongside him were two Cascaders, a man in his forties and a woman a few years younger with her dark hair tied in a ponytail. The light from the day had almost completely been replaced with shadows and gloom and a light rain was falling.
“So how you two end up in a hole in the ground in a small town near Boston,” he said keeping up a good pace and intermittently flicking on his flashlight to light his way.
The woman spoke first. “Had a farm up in Franklin county, mostly produce but some chickens as well.”
“I always did wonder what chickens turned into?” said the man.
“Ha, yeah well we never did find out because they were all eaten by the E.L.F’s that passed through when it all kicked off. Our… daughter told us to get to the camp in Boston, that’s how we ended up here. You’re Ken? Canadian right?” she said to the man.
“That’s my name, Montreal born and bred.”
“I heard the Canadians tried to establish a few camps but they all were overrun before they could?” Said Bower.
Ken nodded. “That’s what I heard. They tried setting them up near the main cities, Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal but it was over for them even before the first—”
Bower looked in the same direction that Ken was. They had arrived at the top of the hill and were now looking down upon the faint outlines of the few homes that were standing amongst the residential area on the other side.
“What is that?” said the woman looking at a blue purple glow a few miles off.
“That’s our opportunity to get some payback—” He looked at the woman. “Natalie?”
She nodded.
“Can you sense that alien?”
She took a breath then closed her eyes. While she did Bower clicked on the radio and informed the CIC of what they had seen.
“I think I can sense something, but it’s too far away.”
Bower was looking through some binoculars. “I see you… It’s moving around some destroyed buildings about three miles out. Hard to see more than that.”
“Maybe it’s injured? Got left behind?” said Ken.
“Maybe. There’s a street that runs right up to it from the south, but we’re not using that. We’re going to split into two teams of six. Ken you’re with team alpha with me. Nat you’re with Bravo. We approach from the east and west at the same time.” He looked at the two Cascaders. “It’s going to be your job to put it down, so get your game faces on.” They nodded. He then looked at the rest of the soldiers. “No one engage unless I tell you too. Everyone got that?” A ripple of “Yes, sir” came back to him. “Let’s move out.”
As ordered, at the next junction they came to Nat and her team took the left exit and ran down the hill, using the discarded vehicles and piles of refuse as cover, while Bower and his team kept on going straight ahead descending the hill as well.
It wasn’t long before both teams were a few hundred yards away from their target.
Bower, with the others close behind clicked on his radio. “Nat, you there? Over.”
“Yes, sir… umm Over.”
“I got it in my sights, it seems to be sheltering inside the remains of some house, but it’s completely exposed from the street side. You take point and when I give the go, do your thing. We’ll hit it with you and Ken at the same time. Over.”
She acknowledged.
He looked back at the soldiers with him. “Ken you’re with me, we’re going to get close. You others take up offensive positions and when I say, rain living hell down on it.”
They all nodded and ran into the darkness keeping close to piles of rubble and any natural barriers they could find cover behind.
Bower and Ken followed them but then moved further ahead, keeping low and running along the sidewalk. Bower crouched down behind a car then peered over the hood. “Shit!”
The Hulathen was standing and looking straight at him. He turned to his side. “Now Ken!” He then clicked on his radio. “Everyone attack, now!”
A hail of crimson streaks streamed through the air impacting the Hulathen and sending it barreling backwards, while it held its head in its hands.
“It’s working!” shouted Bower who then stood and started to walk forwards, his rifle firing.
The alien stumbled backwards falling over broken furniture. It was then Bower saw another glow coming from inside the house, but this one was orange and flickering. A fire?
He continued walking and firing as the Hulathen tried to cover its body with what remained of a kitchen worktop, when out the corner of his eye a man staggered forward from another part of the house, his arms waving.
Is he shouting? Maybe the aliens got a prisoner? Or a hostage?
He wanted to keep the assault going, but the man became more recognizable the closer Bower got to the front lawn in front of the house. Heavily bandaged and covered in black grime and blood smears private Hayes fell to the ground near the alien, as bullets pinged off the walls around him.
“Stop firing!” shouted Bower running across the mud ridden ground, over the crumbled front wall of the house and into the room at the front. Ignoring the writhing blue-purple giant on the ground, he kneeled near Hayes. “Can you stand? We need to get out of—”
Hayes grabbed at Bowers arm. “Stop shooting him!”
Bower looked back at the alien whose hands had not left its temples. “We have. Was it keeping you prisoner?”
“No! He saved me!”
Bower looked non-plussed.
“Whatever you’re doing to him, stop!” Hayes started to crawl over to the alien. “Please!” He said looking back at Bower.
Bower clicked on his radio shaking his head. “All Cascaders, stop doing your thing and everyone get over here, we got a bit of a situation. Over.” He then moved closer to Hayes. “We’ve stopped. We’re going to get you help. Where’s Harper?”
Hayes’s face expressed a pain that went beyond his physical injuries. “She’s gone Cole.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
A siren sounded as the huge vehicle entrance doors to the bunker network slowly started to slide backwards. On the other side a phalanx of soldiers pointed high-powered weaponry through the emerging gap.
The Hulathen alien lay unconscious on a makeshift stretcher constructed from multiple doors, held aloft by five soldiers. Hayes propped up by Bower and others stood alongside waiting for the secure looking door to fully open.
Once it was the soldiers ran forward and surrounded the alien.
“Tell them it’s no threat to them…” said Hayes, his words barely audible.
“Hey get the medics over here!” shouted Bower.
A few soldiers ran forward with a much smaller stretcher and helped Hayes onto it. They then quickly carried him away.
Mitchell flanked by officers walked forward. “What are we? A home for unwanted aliens? You gotta stop bringing home the strays Captain.”
“Yeah well, this one might be different. Hayes told me it saved his life. Did some alien Whodoo on him and brought him back from the brink. Said its name was Elcher, the alien Joshi mentioned.”
“Elcher?” came Abbey’s voice from the back of the entrance chamber. She ran forward pushing past soldiers moving the other way. She looked up at Bower. “Did you kill him?”
“I don’t think so. The Cascaders put the whammy on it and like the other one was, it’s sleeping.”
Mitchell shook her head. “Where the hell are we going to keep this one?”
“Probably not a good idea to put it in with the other,” said Bower.
Abbey looked up. “I’ll look after it. I’ll take full responsibility for whatever happens.”
Bower looked at her. “Abbey, this is not an E.L.F to feed two times a day…”
“And how do we know it’s not a spy?” said Mitchell.
“Then why save Hayes?” said Abbey.
“As a way to get on our good side?” said Bower. He shook his head trying to skip the images of Harper that kept jumping into his thoughts. There was no time for grief.
“Look, it’s powerless against Cascaders and there’s a lot of us now, down here. If he acts up we can control him.”
Mitchell sighed. “Okay. But keep it away from all the rest of us and I want updates on its condition and any Intel it gives you, every hour and I’m posting guards around it.”
Abbey nodded then looked at the nearby soldiers. “Follow me.”
After a tiring few minutes of navigating tight corridors, they arrived at a storage chamber near the Cascaders living quarters. They placed the Hulathen on the floor and went to leave.
“I’m going to need you to unbind him as well.”
The soldiers looked unsure.
“It’s okay.”
They removed the ropes and straps and left, although two of them stayed outside.
Abbey looked down at the alien that was at least three times as big as she was. She had looked at the other Hulathen that they had prisoner, but seeing one this close was something else. She reached out and laid her hand on the armor on its arm. It felt warm and like the rest of the strange plates which covered most of the alien’s body had a kind of self luminescence, she was also sure the light was pulsing slightly.
She moved to the side closer to the alien’s head, which was mostly covered in what looked like a kind of helmet, but still allowed some parts of its skull including small horns to be exposed.
“I don’t even know if you drink or eat like we do,” she said looking down at its closed eyes.
She turned around and looked for somewhere to sit in the twenty by twenty foot space. A number of small crates stood out as good candidates. She pulled them together then sat down.
As she tried to get comfortable she thought about Zach moving further away from her, and a tinge of pain moved through her. Swallowing, she leaned back and rested her eyes.
She felt the cool air on her face before she smelled the smoke. She opened her eyes onto a scene reminiscent of depictions of hell. Mo? She looked up expecting to see her E.L.F friend carrying her, but there was no creature there, she was just floating in the air, moving across a landscape full of tiny dots scattering amongst flashes of light. She then realized she knew where she was, for out of the black smoke appeared towering buildings with gun towers firing at rectangular craft that were too quick for them.
She swept lower to the ground, against her wanting to and the faces of terror on male and female, young and old could be seen as they fled for their lives. Hulathen, more than she thought existed stalked along streets between buildings firing their weapons from their hands, instantly obliterating swathes of people. Abbey squinted as the heat from their weapons wafted over her face. Some thought back. Soldiers in tanks and Cascaders using their abilities to send legions of E.L.F’s towards the invaders but she could tell it was a losing battle. The aliens were too many and their technology too advanced. The scene changed to one of intense black and she opened her eyes.
Elcher was sitting up with his back against the far wall. He opened his eyes and looked at her. “This will come to pass, if we do not stop them.”
*****
As dark forests flew past, each person in the Humvee was lost in thoughts of the previous night’s battle.
After an hour Wyatt was the first to speak. "I haven't really sensed many E.L.F's, which is kinda weird."
“Apart from one or two but nowhere near as many as the journey up,” said Miles.
“Could the Hulathen have done something to them?” said Wyatt.
“If I were a betting woman that’s where I would put my money,” said Fiona.
“So first we lost all the animals and now we’re going to lose all the E.L.F’s?” continued Wyatt.
Zach looked out of the side window. “Five months ago, if someone had said to me they could snap their fingers and make all the E.L.F’s go away I would have said have at it, but now…”
“Now they’re all we’ve got,” said Miles.
“Yup.”
“Is it true what I heard that Cascaders can stop the Cascade? Stop the plants from changing as well?” Enquired Wyatt.
“That’s what the alien told Raj. Who knows if that’s true or not, maybe he was the reason we were attacked last night,” said Zach.
Fiona briefly looked across to him. “Not all aliens are bad…”
He looked at her and nodded. “Yeah, I know.”
“It must have been so cool to be in space,” said Wyatt.
“One day I’ll tell you all about it.”
Silence once again descended inside the cabin and towns large and small merged as they sped through them, only having to slow down for obstructions on the highway a few times.
After five hours they had passed through Connecticut and New York State and were heading into Pennsylvania. Michael ducked back inside wincing as he did and sat between Wyatt and Miles.
“I’m falling asleep on my feet up there. Nothing to look at, nothing to shoot at and my pain killers aren’t helping.” He looked at the two Cascaders. “You two sensing anything?”
“Some creatures but they are keeping their distance,” said Miles.
“They’re scared. Can’t you feel it?” said Wyatt.
“Yeah.”
“We taking a break soon?” said Michael to the two in the front seats.
Zach looked across to the driver. “Can’t see why not.”
Fiona went to respond when something caught her eye in the night sky. She leaned forward. “Is that a star? Or…”
Everyone else strained their eyes to see the speck of light.
“Hand me the binoculars, I’ll look up top,” said Michael. Zach passed them to him and he stood back up into the bracing night air.
“We should get off the highway,” said Zach.
“Is it them? The Hulathen?” said Wyatt putting his helmet back on and tightening the strap.
“It’s not moving…” shouted Michael down from the turret position.
“Take the next exit coming up,” said Zach to Fiona.
She slowed the Humvee and then moved down the off ramp.
“Can you see it?” shouted Zach to Michael over his shoulder.
“I’ve lost it, it still wasn’t—”
A column of blue light appeared to all of them, some miles off, just visible on top of the silhouette of a distant hill.
“That’s not a star!” said Wyatt.
Fiona increased their speed and they soon screeched to a stop at a junction.
“It’s moving in this direction!” shouted Michael.
The Humvee’s headlights lit a sign across the street.
“There! Drive us onto that forecourt!” said Zach.
The Humvee swerved left and right around abandoned cars and then bumped up and over the sidewalk and onto the black asphalt of a drive in. She kept going until the roof of the building completely covered them, then she slammed on the breaks and turned the engine off.
Michael ducked back inside.
Wyatt went to speak again but stopped when he saw Michael had his fingers to his lips.
One of the cars back at the junction that they just moved around, suddenly lit up, bathed in an ethereal blue-white cone of light that came from a source high in the sky.
The space inside the Humvee became thick with the sound of heavy breathing, as each watched the column of light turn off and on, each time examining a different vehicle and moving in their direction.
After what seemed like minutes but was only seconds a fifth car lit up then went dark.
They all waited for it to happen again but only intense darkness looked back at them.
“Has it—” Wyatt had to contain a yelp, as the cone of light illuminated a patch of ground just beyond where the roof sheltering them started. They all squinted trying to keep their eyes open, as the light lit the inside of the Humvee’s cabin like it was a bright summer’s day.
Zach reached down slowly and pulled his rifle up.
After about ten seconds the light turned off again and everyone let out a breath.
A minute passed, then five, then fifteen, eventually Zach spoke. “Get comfortable, we’re staying here for the night.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
Mitchell straightened her back then pushed open the door to the storage chamber. The space was already crowded and the twelve foot high alien who had to duck slightly to be able to stand upright wasn’t making it feel less cramped.
Three soldiers with high-powered rifles kneeled, pointing them at the Hulathen. Behind them was Raj, Bryce and a few other officers. But standing next to the alien was Abbey, who swallowed nervously when the general appeared.
“Thank you for coming so soon general,” said Abbey.
Mitchell walked forward pushing between the soldiers and standing in front of them. “So you’re Elcher? Forgive me if I don’t come any closer, but I’m old and I don’t fancy having to bend my neck any further back to look up at you.”
“That is my given name.” The aliens mouth movements did not completely tally with the sound that flowed from its helmet.
