Cascade box set 2, p.73
Cascade Box Set 2, page 73
Bass ran from the room, down corridors packed with refugees and the injured until he reached a junction. He went to move in one direction, but then stopped and went in the other. Towards the infirmary.
The sounds of groans and screams reached him even before he pushed open the double doors. Nurses pushed past him in the opposite direction. The people he had come to find were already out of their beds, no doubt given up for those worse off.
Isaiah spotted him and hobbled over on a crutch. “Give us a gun, we can fight!”
Wyatt, in a wheelchair, rolled up alongside them. “I can get in their heads, I just need to be close enough.”
Four more walking wounded, two women and two men joined them.
“Good, everyone follow me,” said Bass.
They moved as quickly as they could to the closest armory, picked up all the kit they could carry then made their way towards the main doors.
In the capital, in bunker twelve, Ray crouched down behind a concrete wall. The large previously secure steel door just a few yards around the corner, was buckling. He looked at the grime covered face of the young woman next to him and nodded. She handed him a long tube. The booms and sheering sound filled the small tunnel space around them. Ray peered around the corner, then instantly pulled back when a laser beam streamed along the corridor. He reached up and felt the warm patch on his head.
“Good thing I don’t have much hair.”
The girl gave a faltering smile in response.
“Get ready to run.”
She nodded.
He pulled the lighter from his pocket, flicked the flame on, then lit the fuse to his bomb.
The door then buckled completely and flew open, slamming back against the concrete wall. Then came the sound of heavy boots.
Ray watched as the fizzing sparkle moved along the fuse wire towards the bottom. The Hulathen moved closer.
He uneasily got to his feet, threw the bomb around the corner, then with the girl ran. He only got five feet before the explosion filled the corridor with flame and heat. The sound of tumbling brick and cement quickly followed.
On the surface, a few miles away, Mike Lardner of the justice force ran along the sidewalk dodging masonry that was falling from above. The air was filled with a thick layer of dust, and explosions of rock and steel echoed off the pockmarked concrete walls. A young woman, carrying a child ran out from lobby doors. He threw his arms over her then pulled her towards him, shepherding her back the way he had just come. “Run to the bunker entrance in the plaza!” He shouted as she ran for her life and her sons.
He ducked inside the entrance of the apartment block. The bodies of soldiers and civilians alike covered the wide street, mixed with huge blocks that had fallen from high above. Military vehicles sat motionless, only crumpled memories of what they once were.
He clicked on his radio. “Flores, Baxter, Jenkins? You out there? Over.”
His radio crackled, just barely audible over the sound of battle in the nearby streets.
“Here… Hulathen…Over.”
“Say again? Is that Baxter? Over.”
“Yes! We’re pinned down in the park on fourteenth. Over.”
“Are Flores—” Two people emerged from the dust and ran past him. “— And Jenkins with you? Over?”
“Yes, and four others. Over.”
“Stay there I’m coming to you! Over.”
Turning, he ran into the street, hopping over the dead and rubble, when something solid slammed into his back, sending him flying through the air until he was stopped by the side of a burning APC. Dazed he scrambled to his feet, then pulled the M4 rifle from his back and turned. Two Hulathen were walking towards him. Just as one of them went to raise their weapon bearing arm, the ground shuddered, almost knocking the aliens from their feet. Mike fell back onto the APC.
A deafening roar boomed out and an E.L.F ten story’s high, stepped over the APC and crashed down on the Hulathen, killing both of them instantly.
Mike looked up at the four-legged reptilian creature trying to see the top of it.
“Are you okay?” said a child’s voice from nearby.
Mike still in shock at what just happened, flicked his head to his right. A young girl was standing, clutching a soot covered teddy bear, looking back at him. He staggered forward then crouched down in front of her. “Is he yours?” He said looking back at the towering creature.
“His name is Mr. Teeth. Are you okay now?”
Mike nodded and smiled, putting his hand on the child’s shoulder. “You and Mr. Teeth saved me.” He stood back up. “Is there anyone with you?”
She shook her head.
“My friends need your help, that okay?”
She nodded.
He leaned down, picked her up in his arms, then ran towards his original destination. Mr. teeth slowly turned and followed.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Mary Tanner looked out of the window of her farmhouse. It was over fifteen miles away from the large buildings of the capital, but the flashes of explosions, and multiple streams of the alien’s weapons were clearly visible.
“I can smell the battle,” said Irene standing behind her. “You can’t stay up here, you need to get back down to the bunker.”
“They’re destroying everything we built!” said Mary with tears in her eyes.
Irene walked forward feeling the edge of the double bed, and put her hand on Mary’s shoulder. “We’ll rebuild, we did it once, we can do it again.”
Mary’s head jolted forward and she lifted the drape. “There are people out there!” She then turned and went to walk out of the room.
“Mary! We can’t help everyone!” shouted Irene, but Mary was already halfway down the stairs.
Mary passed Tyler and Addison in the corridor, both armed with rifles.
“What’s going on? Are they coming?” said Addison.
“There’s people out there, they need our help,” said Mary pulling open the front door. Smokey air wafted in.
“Go with her!” shouted Irene to the two teenagers from the top of the stairs.
Mary ran across the lawn, onto the sidewalk, then into the center of the road. A man, woman and boy were running towards her. Behind, some fifty yards away a group of Hulathen were marching towards them.
A house parallel with the aliens, ignited in flames as intense beams converged on it.
Mary ran forward to greet the family. A shot rang out, making her look back. Tyler was aiming at the aliens.
“No!” She waved at the young man and Addison to get back inside. “Get back to the bunker!” She beckoned the people towards her, shepherding them towards her house. She dared not look over her shoulder as they all ran onto the lawn, but then stopped dead in their tracks. A Hulathen landed in front of them, as if it fell from the sky, blocking their path. Bullets started to ping off the back of its armor as those inside the house let forth a volley of shots.
Mary knew what was about to happen and reached out. A burst of energy streamed from the alien’s hand and tore through the front wall of her home. She grabbed the hand of the boy next to her and went to run, when she realized the alien was now pointing its weapon at them.
She closed her eyes then felt the wash of heat flow over her, together with a piercing sound which hurt her ears.
After a second a voice at the back of her mind was trying to wake her from her frozen state. Opening her eyes, her mouth fell open at the crater which was now sitting where the Hulathen once was. She also realized they were bathed in a large shadow.
As she looked up the piercing noise repeated and she watched as pulses of energy streamed from a large craft which hung in the sky. Each bolt of plasma impacted the ground and scattered the group of Hulathen.
She had no idea what was happening, but pulled the young boy and his parents with her forward, running around the large smoldering hole and up the stairs to the front door.
“Are you in here? Are you hurt?” She shouted running into the living room, which was covered in rubble but was empty.
“We’re okay!” shouted Tyler from the entrance to the bunker.
Mary ushered the family past her and into the stairwell. “Get inside, you’ll be safe in our bunker.”
She went to follow them, when she heard footsteps behind her.
“Mary?”
She turned and despite the shock ran forward to embrace Sam. She pulled back. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. Are you okay?” He looked past her to Tyler watching from the top of the stairs to the bunker. “Is everyone okay?”
“We’re fine. Where have you been?”
He backed away. “I can’t stay, I just needed to make sure you were all okay. Get into the bunker, and don’t come out until you hear from me!”
She nodded then watched him turn and move down the steps and climb into the back of a small craft, which then ascended into the air.
*****
Zach held on to the armrests of the seat on the bridge, and looked at the virtual screen of the camp’s capital. The room he was in shuddered.
“They are focusing their weapons at the ship,” said Klept.
“Is it a problem?” said Zach.
“No, they only have personal beam weapons, they cannot penetrate our shields.”
The large interstellar warship, weaved in between the broken skyscrapers.
“Then give them hell.”
Klept hesitated as if not understanding, then nodded and tapped away at his screen.
Volleys of spherical energy spewed from gun turrets on the bottom of the ship, slamming into the streets and sidewalks and vaporizing any Hulathen close by.
Fiona looked at the panel in front of her, noticing the small neon dots that were approaching from all directions. “I think their craft are coming at us!”
“Cube gates don’t have any offensive capability,” said Klept.
Zach got to his feet. “They’re retreating!”
The ship hovered over a large group of Hulathen that were bearing down on a group of people. The humans appeared to be trying to defend an entrance to a bunker, that was positioned in the middle of a park area.
“What the hell is that?” said Fiona looking at the huge dinosaur like creature being set upon by hordes of aliens.
“Mr. Teeth…” Zach said under his breath.
“What?”
“Defend that creature and the people around it!” said Zach.
Klept tapped away but looked troubled. “I’m having difficulties targeting the Hulathen, they are too close to the humans!”
The only Hulathen on the bridge nodded to himself. “Get lower. I kill Hulathen.” He went to leave, when he felt Fiona’s hand on his own.
“Be careful,” she said.
He nodded to her, then was gone.
On the ground, Mike ducked as another laser beam flashed over his head, slicing a statue behind him clean in half.
The E.L.F known as ‘Mr. Teeth’ had withstood a battering from the Hulathen, but had kept them all alive by taking out a good many of them. The large creature was now bleeding from multiple wounds and its movement was sluggish.
“We can’t hold this position any longer, we need to get into the bunker tunnels!” shouted Mike.
“Look up!” shouted Joan next to him.
“No…” Like something from a sci-fi TV series, a craft as big as a football pitch was descending through the smoke. Mr. Teeth roared at the sky. And then something unexpected happened. A single figure fell from the bottom of the ship, and landed in the center of the aliens.
“They are sending in reinforcements!” shouted Jenkins.
Mike strained his eyes to see through the dust and smoke. Something was wrong with the picture in front of him, but at first he wasn’t sure what. Then he realized the Hulathen were facing away from him. He looked at the soldiers next to him. “I don’t think that ship is one of theirs, I think they are here to help us!” He sprang to his feet. “Come on, attack!”
They all emerged from their positions of cover and ran forward, trying to target any Hulathen that were close enough to fire upon.
Mike sprinted into the smog. As he did two Hulathen flew backwards, landing on the ground beside him, dead. An explosion made him look up at the smoke covered sky. A black cube gate craft suddenly came through the smoke, clipping the side of a skyscraper and crashed into the ground.
“They’re running!” Shouted Joan kneeling on the ground behind a small wall.
Mike ran forward until he was in the center of the small park. In front of him two Hulathen were fighting in hand-to-hand combat, like two giant gladiators from a roman arena. One of them slammed his fist into the others uncovered face, causing him to stagger backwards. Mike raised his rifle, but wasn’t sure which to fire at.
The Hulathen moved forward but on realizing Mike was close by, turned and moved towards him. Just as he was a few feet away, a park bench smashed across the back of the head of the alien, causing him to fall to his side. The other Hulathen then leaped forward pinning the disorientated alien to the ground, raised a large sharp piece of wood, and slammed it down into the blue skinned alien, driving it deep into its skull.
Mike hesitated then quickly raised his rifle at the victorious alien.
The alien turned then smiled. “I’m good guy,” he said pointing to his chest.
Mike looked around as people started emerging, walking forward, all in a daze, all looking at the large blue skinned being.
The Hulathen pointed upwards at the craft hovering a hundred feet above them. “Good guys.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Major Hoxted pulled the charcoal black beams from the stairwell, and pushed further down, trying not to fall as her boots searched for each new step to the main operations room under the main house at the outpost. She passed each piece of wreckage up to a man, one of the ten people that survived Erin, and then the battle afterwards.
“It’s not far!” she said to those above her. She kicked forward and rubble and wooden planks fell backwards onto the floor of the underground room. She then climbed over the remaining blockage until she was standing, looking at the smashed computer screens and conference table. She walked over to a stack of shelves, then pulled them further away from the wall. Computer screens and computers sat neatly arranged in a row. “They look intact! Get down here!” she shouted.
Captain Cruz pushed some of the other items out of the way on the stairs, and jumped down into the room. Then came another soldier who immediately walked over to the computers. “Don’t look damaged.” He said.
Hoxted looked back to Cruz. “How long until we have the antenna back up? And the generators?”
“We’re a bit short on manpower, but maybe a few days.”
“Okay, before you start on that see what water and food you can find. We’ll use the hanger as a base for now.” A mini film of Brad falling backwards at the junction played out in her mind and a wave of sadness flowed through her. She looked back at Cruz. “How is she?”
“Alive.”
An hour later Abbey stood in the middle of the cemetery which ran along the south wall of the outpost. In front of her sat a large hole, and around her hundreds of the primate like E.L.F’s she first discovered months earlier, and had spent the last few days journeying back with, to the outpost. The chief of them, her keyring still part of his necklace, grunted and a channel opened up, showing a clear path across the mud stained grass. At the end walked two soldiers carrying Brad’s body covered in a blanket, followed by Major Hoxted and those that were left who were not badly injured.
They walked solemnly forward and laid the body next to the grave. Abbey felt numb. She had seen him get shot as she fired upon Erin, seen it all happen in slow motion just a few feet from her. A hand touching her arm jolted her back to the world around her. Hoxted looked at her and briefly squeezed her hand.
The two soldiers jumped down into the hole and dragged then lowered Brad into it. They then clambered out and picked up two shovels near a mound of earth.
Hoxted looked at the woman next to her who looked ten years older than she actually was. “You knew him more than anyone here. Do you want to say anything.”
Abbey looked at her with red eyes, then back down at the vague human shape beneath the dark green blanket. “I didn’t know him that well, but I can say that he was a good man, that gave a damn about all of us.” She briefly turned around to the smoking ruins of the outpost. “That’s why he wanted to build this place up. He believed from the ashes of the Cascade, something good could begin again. He fought for what he believed in.” She wiped away a tear from her cheek then looked at Hoxted. The major nodded to the two soldiers who began filling in the hole.
Suddenly the early evening air filled with grunts from all the E.L.F’s standing around, then just as quickly stopped, with all the creatures slamming their fists into their chest and holding it there.
Abbey didn’t need to be able to communicate with the legions of creatures around her that had won the battle against the remaining troops that were loyal to Erin, she could sense their pride, and that they were honoring the man that had saved her.
As the hole began to fill with dirt the primate creatures started to filter away.
“I should get back. We got a small antenna up, we might be able to get comms working again,” said Hoxted.
Abbey nodded and the remaining people left until only she was left. She pulled out a small leather bound flask from her jacket. It was one she had taken from the lifeless body of her friend after he died. She unscrewed the top and drunk a sip. She went to pour some onto the dirt mound when one of the soldiers that was just with her, appeared running back from the broken walls nearby. He was shouting something, but she couldn’t quite hear. She moved towards him cupping her ear. “What is it?”
The soldier stopped some yards short, out of breath. “We just got a message from the camp in Texas.”
“Yes?”
He took another breath. “It just said. It’s over, and I’ll be there soon.”
