Cascade box set 2, p.59
Cascade Box Set 2, page 59
“You’re doing a hell of a job Elizabeth, I have no doubt the camp would have been overrun if it weren’t for you in charge down here.”
She briefly smiled then pulled the drawer open in her office, produced a small bottle and poured a small dose of the golden liquid into a glass.
“You might want to saver that, we might all be underground for a while.”
She took a deep breath. “It’s just… I thought we had gotten over the worse of it. Finally.”
“When we send these aliens packing, back to whatever hell hole they crawled out of, it will be it. They’ll know not to return.”
She nodded and took another sip. Zach could see conviction was starting to wash back into her. “Got any ideas on how to actually accomplish that?”
“We need the Toxin they’re working on up near Boston, although how they get it down here, is going to need some planning. Until then we play a game called, ‘don’t become extinct.’”
“What’s stopping the Hulathen from just blasting down into the bunkers?”
“They never seem to want to get in the middle of a fight unless they absolutely have too. They know there’s a few hundred Cascaders underground, but they are probably just going to wait until we go back up top.”
“So it’s a waiting game.”
“Until there’s a better game to be played, yeah.”
A knock came at the door of the small space which was the bunker’s comms room.
“Come in.”
Fiona minus her bandage, but with a small trickle of dried blood above her brow appeared. “Sam’s going back out, he says they haven’t heard from Isaiah in any of the other bunkers.”
Zach shook his head then looked back at Trow. “I have to go. Check back in an hour.”
She nodded and the screen went black. He got up and they both left, Zach nodding at the usual comms officer who had stayed outside for the duration of the private chat between generals.
They quickly walked along the corridor to a junction with the words. “Officer’s lounge” and “Infirmary plus routes to section B” on the wall. They chose the left route and were soon walking along a gantry with stairs leading down to one of the main entrances to the bunker system.
Sam was already in full combat gear, his squad minus Fisher was alongside him checking their equipment.
“Sam! What are you doing?” shouted Zach.
Sam continued looking over his gun, briefly inspecting the magazine. “Don’t try and stop me Zach. You got no jurisdiction over the justice force.”
“Actually I have, but I’m not going to try to stop you. But you’re risking yourself and four others on this mission. I want Isaiah found as much as you—”
Sam turned lifting a finger. “I’m going Zach.”
“We all are,” said Joan wiggling her nose so her glasses were on correctly.
“Then you need a Cascader.” He looked back at Fiona, who nodded and quickly left the way they came in.
Sam reluctantly nodded. “Fine.”
A silence descended upon the room.
Zach looked at Sam, who was impatient to leave. “I haven’t said this, but I need to. Thanks for putting your ass—” He looked around the others. “— All your asses on the line to come and get us.”
Sam smiled and slapped Zach on the shoulder. “You’re the head honcho, what else we gonna do?”
A noise came from the gantry and Miles appeared with Fiona, hastily putting his flak jacket and helmet on. Zach handed him his rifle then looked at the rest of the group. “Stay on comms!”
Sam nodded then looked at Miles. “You sure you up for this?”
Miles nodded.
“Okay then, let’s move out.”
The door to the surface was unlatched, and Sam, Miles and the others walked through.
*****
Sam leaned against the smooth but cold concrete wall of the towering building above him. “I do love me a good set of NVG’s.” He peered around the corner onto the dark street which ran a good way through the downtown area. Faint glows of green amidst the shapes of wreckage, slid across his view. He shook his head. “Not seeing anything moving, alien or otherwise. Flores, you seeing anything on the east side? Over.”
A brief ‘negative’ came back through his radio.
“Okay, stay sharp. Isaiah’s squad was last heard of, about three blocks over to the northeast. Let’s move to the next junction. Over.”
The small group of six were divided into two parts, on opposite sides of the wide street. They ran forward with their guns leading the way. Everyone but Miles had night vision goggles on.
“Shit,” he said under his breath as he walked on and then slipped off a piece of fallen masonry.
“You okay?” said Sam looking back.
“I’m fine,” he said rubbing his ankle.
“You sensing any E.L.F’s?”
“Other than the huge lizard thing back near the bunker, no…” He squinted. “Actually there might be something, but I can’t pinpoint it.”
Sam nodded. “We’ll keep alert.”
They all continued running forward, using what obstacles they could for cover.
“What’s that?” said Miles looking up at one of the smaller skyscrapers above them.
“Looks like some civilians are still in there. Damn it,” said Sam.
“Just leave them to it,” said Boe.
“We can’t, they’re like a beacon to any of those little green men flying around. Someone has to go up there and get them to kill the lights. We’ll pick them up on the way back.”
“I’ll go,” said Miles.
“Hell you will,” said Sam. “You’ll leave us exposed out here. What if more giant lizard things pop out of the drains of something?”
“And what if one of you go into the building and run into an E.L.F.?”
“He’s got a point, cap.”
Sam sighed. “Fine, but if you’re not back out in fifteen, we’ll have to come in after you.”
“I get it. If I run into any problems I’ll let you know.” Miles got to his feet, running out from the cover of the bus they were hiding behind, and into the stairwell of the apartment building. The entrance lobby was intensely black. He switched on a small flashlight and waved it around. A small counter sat looking unused, while suitcases lay scattered on the smooth floor. He scoured the wall until he found the sign which said stairs, and ran to them. The silence around him was as pervading as the darkness as he ran up the steps. When he arrived at the first landing he swore to himself realizing he already was starting to forget exactly what floor the lights were illuminating from.
Was it fourth or the fifth?
He placed his foot on the next step. The back of his neck felt tingly.
E.L.F.
Pointing his light up into the next flight of stairs, he ran up them, then again ignoring the exits until he got to the fourth floor. The feeling of a creature nearby was stronger but still didn’t feel like it was on top of him. He realized if he did stumble across it, it probably would have already been imprinted and therefore his attempts to stop it from killing him, without its owner around, might not amount to much. He reached down placing his gloved hand on the exit handle and gently pulled it open, peering into the darkness. Keeping his flashlight pointed down, he strained his eyes into the gloom looking for any glows seeping out from behind apartment doors, but couldn’t see any.
Fifth.
Closing the door, he shone his light upwards again. He knew there was a strong chance there was an E.L.F somewhere above him, but as far as he knew they wouldn’t have been able to turn a light on either. He walked up the stairs slowly, straining all his senses and was soon standing at the fifth floor exit.
Sam’s voice came from his radio, echoing around the stairwell. “How’s it going? Over.”
He fumbled to cover the speaker then held the mike to his mouth. “I’m almost at the source of the light… Over,” he whispered. He thought about telling them about the E.L.F, but then realized they would probably all come storming inside and that was the last thing he wanted.
Opening the door, he once again looked into the shadows of a long corridor, this time immediately noticing the faint white glow emanating from under one of the doors about halfway along. The rest of the corridor seemed empty, but he was now sure that the E.L.F was on this floor.
Could it be in the apartment with the light?
It seemed a crazy idea, but then he had seen a whole lot of ‘crazy’ in his time. He slipped through the gap of the open exit, and stepped carefully over the hard floor toward the light. Once he arrived at the door, he placed his ear to it and listened.
Is that voices?
The sounds of muffled humans whispering to each other were just audible through the white wood of the door. Then he noticed it. Some of the light at the bottom blinked out momentarily.
Definitely someone in there, maybe more.
He cleared his throat and went to knock on the door, when the entrance to the stairwell filled with the sound of boots. He sighed.
I told them to wait.
He turned back to the apartment door, when it swung open and humanoid shape constructed entirely of shadows burst outwards. Miles flung himself backwards, landing hard on the ground, his flashlight scattering behind him.
He went to try and pull his rifle from his shoulder, when an immense weight landed on him, pinning his arms to the ground. As he looked up, multiple layers of white teeth glistening in the faint light from his flashlight started to appear and expand just a few inches from his face, and with it fear started to overwhelm him.
A flashlight flooded the hallway from the apartment, this time hovering just above the double barrels of a shotgun. “Jerry, don’t you kill him. We’re just trying to scare them off,” shouted a scratchy voice.
Miles looked at the worn boots and socks just visible at ground level. “Err… hi, could you get this thing off of me?”
The entrance to the stairwell swung open and Boe appeared and immediately raised his rifle. “What the hell?”
“It’s okay Boe, don’t start shooting!” said Miles still unable to get up. Some of the creatures drool dropped on his cheek, which he flicked his head to get rid of.
The E.L.F thing above him, looked at the justice force member at the end of the corridor and let out a low growl.
“Jerry’s going to tear your friend here to bits, and I’ve got a shotgun pointed at your manhood, so you better be off, both of you!”
Boe lowered his rifle slowly and walked forward. “I don’t know what that thing is, and I don’t know why it’s on my friend here, but we only came up here to get you to turn your light off, you’re gonna attract the aliens.”
The old man seemed to hesitate. “We… he likes the light.”
“Who likes the light?” said Miles.
Sam’s voice came from Boe’s radio enquiring what was going on, which Boe quickly replied too.
“Jerry, he likes us to keep a light on when we sleep… You haven’t come here to get us to leave? Or to take Jerry?”
“No one’s taking anyone if they don’t want to go!” said Miles slightly pleading. “Jerry’s kind of heavy, can you get him off of me?”
The old man’s flashlight dipped to the ground and without him speaking, the large man sized creature slid off Miles. He quickly scrambled to his feet, and grabbed his own light from the ground. “What’s your name?” He said to the old man.
“Walter, my wife is Judith.”
Miles noticed some movement in the hallway behind Walter. “Hi Judith.” He switched his attention back to man controlling the E.L.F that was the stuff of nightmares, and had an idea. “Look, we’re out here trying to rescue some friends of ours, who were last seen a few blocks from here. I’m basically not sensing any other E.L.F’s other than yours around here.”
The creature which Miles realized was covered in a form of intensely black long thin spikes, which made it almost impossible to see unless light was directly shone onto it, sauntered across to the old man and lowered its head. Walter then started to stroke it.
“No time for games Miles, we need to be on our way. Old man, keep that damn light off!” said Boe, turning and walking back towards the stairwell.
Miles looked back at the apartment and the strange sight of the man with his E.L.F. “I have a request.”
“Yes?”
“I would like to borrow your pet.”
Sam waited impatiently outside the apartment block, but then noticed the light go out on the fifth floor. The sound of the entrance opening drew his attention and Miles appeared and quickly walked forward. “Don’t be scared, but I’ve borrowed an E.L.F.”
Sam looked confused. “What?” He then looked over Miles shoulder at the ape like form that was moving amongst the shadows in the lobby. “Can you control it?”
“Its Cascader has allowed me to partially bond with it. So yeah I can control it to a certain extent.”
“I didn’t know that was possible?”
“I leaned a lot in the arena.”
“Okay fine.” Sam looked along the stretch of buildings that ran all the way to where Isaiah was last reported. “We have about three miles to go.” He then flipped his NVG’s down over his eyes.
Miles looked back to the building and beckoned the E.L.F out into the night air, and then they all ran forward keeping as close to the shop fronts as they could. He briefly tried to track where the creature was, but its natural ability to blend into the darkness around them, made it almost impossible to see.
They arrived at the third junction. Small fires burned in some of the nearby skyscrapers, appearing as intense light green glows in their goggles.
Sam clicked on his radio. “Hold up here. I want to try his radio again. Over.”
The other group stopped, kneeling against a small wall.
“Isaiah you out there buddy. Over?”
Wind caused some tarpaulin to flap over some buildings that were part of a building site, but only white noise came back from Sam’s radio. He tried again but after a few seconds shook his head. “We go street by street. Keep your eyes on the build—” He suddenly realized the noise coming from his radio was interrupted by pauses. He held it closer to his ear. “Pause… pause… pause… long pause…”
“Morse code,” said Miles.
Sam flipped his goggles to the top of his head, and looked at the signal strength of the incoming signal. He then put the radio back to his mouth. “Joan, you picking up any white noise with pauses from your radio? And if you are, what’s the signal strength?”
A few seconds later the medic replied. “Yeah, it’s Morse code. Signal strength is about eighty percent. Over.”
“I’m at sixty here. Stay there, I’m trying to triangulate the signal. Over.”
Sam, Miles and Boe moved across the junction, where he checked his signal strength again. It was fifty percent. “Joan, move your group to the opposite corner, and check it again. Over.” He watched as their dark forms moved across the street in the distance, then stopped.
“Eighty six percent. Over.”
Sam looked at the building site Joan and the others were close too.
He’s in there, that’s where I would be.
“Stay there, I think they might be in the building site. We’re coming to you. Over.”
Sam and Boe took off across the street to the others, while Miles looked for where the E.L.F was but still couldn’t see the creature anywhere. Luckily he could still sense it.
Hopefully I won’t lose their pet.
They all converged on the street corner, with metal poles shielded by plastic tarpaulins just behind. Sam took the lead, moving along the sidewalk, trying to find the entrance to the site, while repeatedly checking the signal strength on his radio.
Eighty eight percent… Eighty nine…
A large gate laid half off its hinges. Sam stepped on top of it, testing its stability then walked across it, landing on a dusty concrete floor. Cement mixers and blocks with pieces of steel wire emerging from them sat at haphazard angles, some on their sides. They all moved forward into the open ground floor of a newly formed building.
Once inside Sam raised a clenched fist and they all stopped behind him, he went to click on his radio, when he realized there were a number of dark shapes on the ground, spread out in all directions in front of him. He walked forward slowly, flipping his goggles to his forehead, then turned on his flashlight. Lying in front of him was a man in body armor, smears of blood across his face. His eyes were open.
“It’s Briggs,” said Sam. “One of Isaiah’s—”
An intense beam of light scythed through the darkness causing all but Sam and Miles to collapse to the ground, most clutching their faces.
“Spread out!” Shouted Sam, trying to grab the closest person he could, then realizing Boe’s arm was detached from the rest of his lifeless body. He turned and dived behind a thick cement pillar, as the laser flashed across the cavernous space once more, this time hitting another pillar, illuminating some legs that were scrambling to get behind it.
He pulled his rifle from his shoulder, when a noise made him whip around.
“It’s me!” said Miles as the rifle’s barrel moved in his direction.
“You hurt?”
Miles shook his head. “No. Is there a Hulathen in here? I just saw like a laser or something…it sliced Boe in half.” He swallowed not wanting to say the words.
Sam nodded. “I know… It’s some form of weapon, but if there’s an alien on the end of it, I haven’t seen it.”
He clicked on his radio. “Joan? Flores, Jenkins? Over.”
“We’re all here Cap,” said Joan. “Is Boe dead? I can’t see him properly from over there. Over.”
Sam went to answer when another light beam, burned into the pillar above his head, causing him to further retreat behind the pillar. “He’s dead. Over.” He paused then clicked on the radio again. “Can you see what’s attacking us? Over.”
“I can’t see shit. I’m still seeing light echoes in my eyes. Over.”
