Cascade box set 2, p.35
Cascade Box Set 2, page 35
After checking with Diaz that there was no E.L.F’s nearby, they found the exit to the small roof which sat at the bottom of the tower. A cool breeze washed past everyone as they stepped out onto it.
Freeman looked up, then quickly looked down.
“You got any experience climbing?” said Zach.
“Some, with my dad when I was a kid. But that was with ropes.”
Guilt threatened to overtake Zach’s thought processes, if this guy fell to his death it was on him. “If you don’t think you can do this, we won’t, we’ll just leave.”
“I’m fine, sir.”
Freeman moved up to the closet steel beam, made sure a small bag of tools was secure on his shoulder, then took hold on the slender looking metal and pulled himself up.
Back in the studio Hayes sat looking at the notes that Freeman had left him on how to transmit. There was also the plan of where and when any choppers should be sent, if they had arrived at the outpost. It all seemed pretty simple, but he kept reading over it anyway.
Harper, Diaz, Bower and Zach kneeled near the edge of the roof, watching down into the valley for any sign that anything was heading their way.
Freeman carefully reached for another diagonal piece of metal and lifted himself up. He looked down at the others now forty feet away. He took a deep breath and looked up. Still some way to go. He resisted looking out to the city, that was a distraction he didn’t need.
“So many friggin monsters,” said Harper looking at the newly formed jungle and life within.
“Not helping,” said Diaz looking down the sight of her rifle in the same direction.
Zach looked up at Freeman, who was now halfway up the tower. Not far.
Freeman stopped for a break and looked up. He could now see the antenna along with a few small dishes. He could also see a tangle of frayed wires, like they had been chewed on. That’s got to be the problem.
A wave of newfound strength flowed through him, and he reached for the next beam as a strong wind started to buffet him. As he climbed his mind showed him images of hanging off the face of a sheer cliff, with his father above shouting at him to keep going. He paused momentarily and smiled, then reached for the next beam.
Almost two hundred feet below, Diaz looked up shielding her eyes from the noonday sun. “He’s almost at the—” A jolt of sensation ran through her. She quickly turned and looked down the sight of her rifle again towards the city.
“Yup we see them,” said Bower. A multitude of dots were jostling and moving around the huge plant covered buildings, including some that were taking to the air. “Tell me what’s happening Diaz?”
She closed her eyes. “There’s so many… it’s like they have all become aware of us, I don’t know what changed!”
“Could be the generator, they’re picking up on it somehow,” said Zach. He stood and looked up the tower. Freeman was at the top working on something, but it was hard to tell what exactly. He then looked back at the street from the way they came to the apartment block and the two Humvees sitting outside. He looked at Bower. “I’m going to get the Humvee and bring it back. Keep him protected best you can!”
“Can’t Fiona bring it back?” said Harper.
“She needs to stay with the family,” he said running across the roof.
At the top of the tower Freeman briefly looked down seeing Zach disappear through the roof exit. The sight troubled him but he continued fusing wires back together, cutting the frayed parts off and then rejoining them, using his teeth when he needed to as a third hand.
Back on the roof, Diaz looked on as the dots in the air started to take shape as they grew closer, and the trees in the valley shook and shuddered. “We can’t hold that many E.L.F’s back, not even if we had ten times our number!”
Bower clicked on his radio while looking up at the tower. “How long? Over.”
Freeman swore, then dropped the wire he was holding, letting it swing back against the beam and unclipped his radio. “Few minutes, I’m almost done. Over.” He then attached it back to his jacket and grabbed the wire again.
“You got thirty seconds, then you need to start climbing down. That’s an order. Over.”
“Yeah, yeah,” said Freeman to himself concentrating on the plastic and metal strands in front of him.
“They’re gonna be here sooner than that!” shouted Harper, nervously moving her rifle left and right at the airborne creatures now clearly visible.
“If anything comes within twenty feet of us, we open fire, everyone got that?” said Bower.
“Yes, sir!” they both replied.
“Diaz, the first biggest meanest looking SOB you see, you take control of it, and use it to protect us!” said Bower.
“That’s the plan, sir.”
Freeman clicked on his radio. “It’s done! I’m climb—” He finally looked out at the city and realized what was only a few seconds away. Without hesitation he slid down the closest beam, just as what looked like a beetle the size of a large refrigerator flew past him, filling the air with a high pitched buzzing noise.
Inside the studio Hayes had heard Freeman’s message, and then gunfire started up soon after. He looked down at the piece of paper again, just to check one final time and started clicking on the screen in front of him. Screeches of unknown creatures came from outside as he adjusted frequencies, then clicked on the large transmit button. He then sprang out of the chair and ran forward a few feet, before realizing he had left the piece of paper on the desk, turned around, grabbed it and then ran into the recording story, where he started to relay the message to whoever might be listening.
Blurs taking on the forms of large and small creatures filled the air over the roof, swooping and swiping at the three soldiers desperately trying to defend it.
A large bat like creature squealed then dived towards them.
“I got this!” shouted Diaz, throwing her hand out in front of her. The creature stopped like it ran into a wall, then hovered.
As Diaz was straining, Bower noticed a swarm of foot long creatures covered in spikes flying towards her and let rip with the M4 straight at them. The bullets crashed into the creatures, battering them and causing them to stream around her.
The bat creature then turned in mid-air and started attacking the things around it. Diaz then immediately concentrated on another nearby creature.
As Freeman continued to slide down the posts and beams his gloves began to fray and tear, causing the cold hard metal to grind on the inside of his hands. He looked down. Half way. Just as he went to descend again, a creature the size of a truck with four legs and an upper body of tentacles slammed into the base of the tower, crumpling one of its legs and causing it to start to lean to one side. He lost grip with one hand and for a moment was hanging in mid-air, before grabbing hold again with his other hand, but the tower continued its tilt to the side.
“They’re coming from the ground as well!” shouted Bower, now shooting into the air and at the ground as creatures came clambering up the nearby hill towards them.
Hayes ran out onto the roof. “I’ve sent the message!”
Somewhere within the noise of anger and fury around them, a car horn sounded. They looked down onto the street and Zach was on the large gun of the Humvee firing at multiple targets left and right.
“Die!” shouted Harper as she let loose with a volley of bullets toward a cat-like creature that was about to spring forward onto the roof from a nearby tree.
“Jump!” shouted Bower to Freeman, who was now only twenty feet from the ground.
Freeman looked at the concrete below and then let go. He hit the ground hard twisting his ankle, then rolled a few more feet. Bower immediately ran to him, lifting him back up. He then turned to the others that were constantly firing at the chaos of movement around them. “We’re leaving!” he shouted.
They all ran back to the door, ducking as talons and claws swiped through the air just above their heads. Once inside they kept on going, running down the stairs and corridors. Freeman hopped along as fast as he could with Bower helping him. Soon they were all back in the lobby. Zach had already pulled the Humvee up outside and explosions went off all around.
They ran outside, firing at the creatures, both on land and in the air that started to move towards them.
“Come on!” shouted Zach on the big gun, firing hot metal in an arc all around them. They all piled into the vehicle, with Bower in the driver’s seat, and the others squeezing into the back.
“Hand me more grenades!” shouted Zach, as the others scrambled to pass more of the explosives up to him and Bower slammed down on the gas pedal, causing the Humvee to screech away back onto the nearby road.
Zach threw them into the area behind them, as the others kept on firing at the things that were still pursuing them. He then ducked back inside. “Just get us the hell out of here! Fiona has already left with the other Humvee, we’ll meet up with her.”
Bower took a steep turn and soon they were heading away from the tower at speed. Some of the creatures flew towards them, but then soon stopped and turned back to the tower, which was now being attacked from all sides and was leaning at a forty-five degree angle.
Zach watched as the tower crashed into the building next to it. He then clicked on his radio, breathing heavily. “We made it. We’re on our way to you. Over.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
The browns and greens of the forests sailed past a hundred feet below, as Abbey and Mo soared above them. The sky was a deep blue above her and a cool wind washed over her face. For a moment she felt free. Free of her past mistakes and free of what might be waiting for her in the future. She smiled and closed her eyes letting the floating sensation wash through her, taking with it her fears.
In the back of her mind a repeating thundering sound started to make itself heard. She opened her eyes sheepishly, and looked into the sky and treetops around her. Nothing could be seen. She then realized it was coming from behind them, and recognized what it was. It was the sound of rotor blades.
She had no idea who was flying the helicopter or why, she just knew she didn’t want to be seen.
“Down!” she shouted at the creature above her, who immediately started descending.
About half a mile ahead of them was a road winding through a valley. On both sides were old style houses and a large red brick building, which looked like a school.
“There! Take us down near those houses.”
Mo did as asked, swooping over treetops and then lower to the asphalt of the street. He let go of Abbey’s arms and she jogged forward a few steps, before stopping and looking at the sky around them.
“Mo, we need to hide!”
The helicopter sound increased now filling the entire valley, but still it couldn’t be seen.
She ran towards a wooden house with a large front white painted porch. At the side she spotted a wooden basement door. Running forward she grabbed the edge of it, and pulled it up revealing stairs that ran down into darkness. Holding it open she beckoned Mo to land and then to descend. Which he did just about fitting within the square hatch.
As she quickly walked down the steps behind him pulling the door closed, the thunderous noise of the helicopter filled the air all around.
She waited on the stone steps with only the light creeping through the cracks in the wood above her head, to see where she was.
The planks rattled as the helicopter flew overhead. She wasn’t an expert on aircraft but she was pretty sure it only had a single engine. Oh Zach, I hope you’re not in that.
Soon the drumming sound was receding into the distance. She could hear Mo a few feet from her, but had no idea what he was doing. Pulling the flashlight from her pack, she switched it on.
His hands were covered in white goo as he dived them into a bucket of white paint.
“Mo!”
He looked up blinking into the flashlight’s beam.
She walked down the rest of the steps, looking for a cloth. “Leave that alone! We’ll be spotted a mile away with you like that!”
He backed away looking down.
She grabbed a light gray piece of material from a nearby shelf and started wiping the paint from his hands. She shook her head. “I’m going to need some spirit to get this off, wait here and don’t poke your hands in anything else!”
The rest of the basement was full of the usual items people have no room for or want to forget. Mostly empty shelves, boxes, crates and a large stand up refrigerator populated the space, along with a set of wooden stairs. She set the flashlight down on a box to give Mo light to see, then slowly walked up the steps. The door at the top was already partially open.
She presumed there was no one in the house, but just in case she questioned ahead of her. “Hello? I mean you no harm.”
There was no reply, and the silence around her was so deep that she had no doubt she was alone. She pushed the door at the top of the stairs open and stepped out onto a neat hallway, lined with wooden panels and old sepia photos hanging on the walls.
She stopped for a moment to take in a world which was gone long before the Cascade happened.
She then walked into a small kitchen and started opening cupboards. Each one was full of food, cans, jars and bright packets. She grabbed the first, which was a packet of cookies and started munching on one. They were a bit soft, but the sugar instantly made her feel more alert. She stuffed them, along with some others, and a few cans into her pack and kept looking. It wasn’t long before she found a bottle of spirit.
She ran back down to the basement with it, then back up the stone steps pushing open the external door. Light flooded in and she switched off her flashlight. She then spent a few moments cleaning the paint from her pets hands.
Taking one last look at the dusty belongings around her, she walked up the stone steps into the alleyway, with Mo following close behind.
He ran a few steps into the backyard, spread his wings and took off into the air.
Abbey had a quick look at her map, checked where the sun was, then walked forward onto the front lawn. She sensed Mo above her, and raised her arms. It wasn’t long before she was flying once again in a northeasterly direction.
CHAPTER THIRTY
Zach, Bower and the rest watched the large helicopter descend quickly and land on a flat grass verge that was at a highway junction.
It had only taken them around thirty minutes to get to the rendezvous point, but without a message coming back to them they had no way of knowing that the broadcast got through. The sun was just hovering over the horizon when Zach’s radio came to life with the sound of the helicopter pilot’s voice.
Soon it was on the ground, but the rotors kept turning as the pilot didn’t want to stay there for too long. Two people climbed down the small set of steps to the ground, both of which were known to Zach.
Wyatt and Miles walked towards them smiling.
“Thought you had need for some extra Cascaders,” said Miles, dropping his pack onto the ground. “There’s also—”
Doctor Joshi tripped on the bottom step from the chopper and stumbled onto the grass with a large bag in his hand.
“Raj?” said Zach.
Just as he went to reply, Michael appeared behind him, smiling.
Zach’s surprise was evident, and Michael laughed. “I hear there’s some good E.L.F eating out here!”
Zach laughed. “There is plenty of choice that’s for sure!” He hugged Michael, and shook Raj’s hand. “Why?”
“I need to see what’s happening out here with my own eyes,” said Raj.
“Well it’s good to have you with us. Although you might change your mind when you see what the cities are like.”
Raj smiled. “Well that’s why I’m here, to see how things are developing.”
“Hey kid, good to see you again!” said Bower to Wyatt.
Wyatt smiled awkwardly.
“Hey it’s my partner in crime!” said Diaz, patting Wyatt on his back.
Fiona stood with Ada and her two children.
“You’re safe now, and within a few hours you’ll be at Brads, and he’s good people.”
Ada moved forward and hugged Fiona, as did the two children.
“Oh…” said Fiona a bit overwhelmed. “I’ll drop in on you back at the camp, okay?”
The family smiled and walked to the helicopter.
Fiona joined the rest. “You got another Cascader on that thing right? Because it looks like you’re all out here.”
“Yeah, there’s two actually, they seem to know their stuff,” said Miles.
“Good,” said Fiona.
Bower and Harper helped Freeman limp to the helicopters side door, where he shook both their hands, saluted and then climbed aboard.
The door then closed and the engine increased in pitch. Everyone backed away as the grass and dust flew up in a swirl and the helicopter rose quickly into the sunset.
“Right, where am I staying for the night?” said Michael.
As if answering him, a rumble echoed in the distant hills, which was not from the aircraft that had just taken off.
“We better find somewhere to shelter for the night,” said Zach. He pulled out his small pair of binoculars, and scanned the buildings in the small town nearby. “Everyone find space in one of the Humvees, we’ll find somewhere nearby.”
Just a few hundred yards from the highway, an old apartment block sat with stores below. The small convoy with everyone crammed in, pulled into the buildings parking lot and everyone got out.
“Harper, Hayes, and what’s your name?” Bower looked at Michael.
“Michael.”
“Surname? Son.”
“Chang.”
“Go with them, check out this block.”
Michael briefly looked at Zach, who nodded in reply. He then followed the other two down a narrow shadow laden alley at the back of the block. Bower, started to unload the Humvees.
Raj walked up to Zach, carrying his pack. “Have you seen much E.L.F activity on your journey up here? We saw quite a bit from the helicopter.”
