Cascade box set 2, p.62
Cascade Box Set 2, page 62
Abbey spotted the exit, but it was a few miles ahead of them and there were numerous rotting wrecks in front of them before they could get to it. She then had an idea and slowed to a crawl, then violently turned the steering wheel. Clovis slammed into the passenger’s door, grabbing hold of his seat. Their pickup lightly crashed into a yellow sedan, crumping its front bumper and they sat at a right angle across the highway.
She then pushed her driver’s door open and hunched down in the footwell, pulling her backpack over her. “Get down!” She shouted as the sound of the helicopter’s engine began to be heard.
Clovis did as ordered and they both got as much as they could under the dashboard.
While she was in the dark confined space, she mentally told Mo to keep his distance. She wondered if Clovis was doing the same for his creature, which she had seen glimpses of during the previous few hours, bounding behind them.
The pickup started to rattle as the helicopter drew close, the thunderous rhythmic chopping of the blades filling the air.
Abbey held her breath as they were momentarily bathed in shadow.
After what seemed like minutes, but was just seconds the deafening sound started to fade.
Abbey lifted her head and peered above the dashboard. The military chopper was already a few miles off, keeping low to the highway.
“We have to stay off the highway from now on, or as much as possible and we should try and travel mostly at night,” she said getting back into her seat, Clovis did the same. As she glanced at him, he nodded.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Isaiah lay on the medical bed with the bottom half of his leg encased in white plaster, and raised slightly. He looked around him at others, most of which seemed far worse off than he was.
Sam appeared at the end of the ward and approached looking glum. Isaiah looked concerned.
Sam placed his hand on Isaiah’s plastered leg. “Got some bad news buddy, Doc says they are going to have to take your leg!”
“What?” Isaiah started to push himself up in the bed. “They told me it was just a break!”
Sam shook his head. “You got some weird alien shit inside it—”
Isaiah’s eyes widened. “What?!”
Sam started laughing.
Isaiah frowned shaking his head then relaxed back in the bed. “I can’t be doing with losing any more body parts.”
Sam saw his friend looking around the ward. Each bed a vision of horror. He sighed and sat on a small chair at the side of the bed.
Isaiah looked at his friend. “I didn’t know those alien fucks had put some drone thing in the building below us. If I had—”
“I know… It’s not your fault. That tech could have taken any of us out. It was just Boe’s bad luck he was the first to get hit.”
Isaiah nodded. “They probably put those things everywhere. Going to make moving about on the surface real interesting.”
“Yeah, you got to give it to them, they ain’t stupid. They drop those drones, then leave and wait for us to come out and get taken out. Like reverse guerrilla warfare.”
“Maybe there be a way we can detect them?”
“I’m sure the people at the Core are working on that.”
“How are Mary and the kids?”
“I talked to them just thirty minutes ago. They’re okay…”
“It’s a strong bunker we built at the house. As long as they stay down inside it, they gonna be fine.”
“I’ll be happier if they were here, or in any of the other camp’s bunkers.”
“They’re better where they are, less of a target. None of them are Cascaders right?”
“No, but you know with kids, the test is sometimes inconclusive…”
“They’ll be fine. Did you see if the bar is damaged?”
“Never got a chance to go near that area, but unless the aliens have a problem with warm beer I’d say it’s still standing. From what I saw, it was mostly the gun towers that they took out, and then they targeted buildings that were being used for cover.”
“Me and a few others got cut off from the rest of the squad, made a run for it into that skyscraper that’s being built…” Isaiah swallowed. “Briggs took one in the back. I thought it just clipped him but by time we carried him into the ground floor of the building, he was already dead. Me and Kyle headed upwards to the next floor, then sat and waited for those Hulathen's to come after us. Luckily for us they didn’t.”
“I heard Kyle’s gonna make it?”
Isaiah nodded silently, his eyes glistening. He breathed in then looked at Sam directly. “How do we fight these things? They ain’t no stupid animal.”
Sam sighed. “Maybe those ‘stupid animals’ can be what we use to kick their asses.”
Isaiah nodded.
“If there’s any left. The aliens seem set on hoovering them all up for whatever reason. But I saw a little girl control Mr. Teeth—” Isaiah looked at him confused. “— Just think, T-Rex crossed with an elephant, but three times as big as either of them.” Isaiah raised his eyebrows. “Anyway that thing took down a Hulathen, squashed it like a bug and that was even after the alien got in a few licks.”
“Where’s Mr. ‘teeth’ now?”
“As far as I know inside a loading bay for the new sports arena that was going up.”
“Ha yeah, going to be strange to be cheering…” He paused lost in old memories. “Well if these aliens leave us to ourselves.”
Sam got up. “By time you’re back on your feet I’m sure all will be well in the world.”
“Just stick an M4 in my hand, I can still shoot!”
Sam smiled. “Get some rest.”
*****
Zach walked through the maze like corridors, stepping over ragged and exhausted people. Some were sitting up, some were sleeping, all were wondering when they could return to the surface.
“Excuse me?” said a women in a white shirt, her jacket over her knees.
He stopped and looked down. “Yes?”
“Are you in charge?”
“I am. Is everything okay?”
“I was just wondering how long we were going to have to stay down here?” She looked around her. “All of us here have nowhere proper to sleep. We can’t just stay in this corridor.” Murmurs rang up and down the few dozen people that were trying to make the concrete floor and walls habitable.
Zach’s head began to ache again. “We’re doing everything we can to keep all of you safe. Have you got enough food and water?”
“Yes, but—”
“Then that’s all I can do for now. When we know it’s safe to return to the surface, we will let everyone know.”
The woman smiled meekly.
He walked away, not being sure which direction to take. Hearing noises from behind a door, he knocked then opened it. Two soldiers sitting at desks looked up, startled.
“At ease. Which way is main operations again?”
“End of this corridor, then right and third door on the left, sir.”
Zach smiled. “We need to get some signs on these walls so old men like me don’t get lost!”
The soldiers nervously smiled.
As he walked away any vestige of humor left his expression. Soon he entered a large corridor with equally wide doors at the end. He pushed them open to a wall of noise.
A young woman in civilian clothes ran up to him. “General. How long do you think we will be down here?”
Zach walked into the center of the room and stood looking at various video feeds showing the different parts of the camp. “Your guess is as good as mine, Karen.”
She looked frustrated. “General, there are over twenty thousand people crammed into a shelter that was designed for seven. I’m the civilian liaison, I need something to give these people hope that they’re going to see the sky again.”
He turned to the woman a good few inches smaller than him, her hair tied in a ponytail and searched for what she required. Words of hope. “The best we can do for them right now is keep them warm and give them food and water, but beyond that it’s up to the aliens.”
She frowned, nodded then walked away.
He turned his attention back to the camp’s video feeds. A few hundred feet above his head it was a blistering sunny day. Most of the fires that were alive the night before had burned themselves out, and the different areas inside the one hundred and sixty square miles looked almost peaceful.
He looked at nearby soldier. “When was the last time we saw any of the Hulathen or their craft.”
“Last sighting was at zero two hundred hours, sir. Approximately twelve hours ago.”
“If that changes, let me know.”
“Yes, sir.”
Zach turned on his heel and left the noise, entering a small quiet tunnel which led to comms. As he walked he went over in his head what Abbey’s reason could have been to be involved with a bombing, and leaving with a man that had tried to kill him and her more than once.
He entered the small room. “Patch me through to general Trow.” He said to the officer stationed there.
The soldier did as ordered, then left the room as before.
Zach sat down.
A few moments later Trow appeared on the monitor. “How are things in bunker five?” She said.
“Bit of a tight fit, but we’re managing, you?”
“Pretty much the same. We’re monitoring for the aliens, but it has been a while since they made an appearance… do you think they could—” The general looked to her side as if someone was talking to her. She looked shocked. She looked back at the camera. “Zach, we’re getting reports of explosions at the power station.”
Before he could reply, a knock came at the door to his side. “Yes?”
An anxious looking soldier appeared. “Sir, there’s been explosions at the power station. It looks as if the camp’s electricity grid is offline.”
“Can you bring up the feeds of the station, on these other monitors?”
The soldier quickly entered and typed away at the keyboard on the desk. A scene of smoke rising from the block like building appeared on one of the monitors.
“Looks like they’re still around,” said Trow on the other monitor.
“Cutting power to the camp. Good thing these bunkers have their own generators.”
“Yeah, but what about the other five or so million that are still up top?”
“We could send a crew out there to try and restore power, but maybe that’s what the Hulathen what. What does Elijah think?” It was a question he didn’t want to ask, but he was open to any good ideas.
“He thinks we should just give the aliens what they want. Which is not going to happen on my watch.”
“He wants us to just hand over the Cascaders?”
“Yup. He said ‘A few thousand to save over ten million is worth it.’”
Zach shook his head. “Even if we did do that, there’s no guarantee the Hulathen would stop. No, get his genius brain to come up with something else.”
Trow nodded. “Well he did have a plan B. He said the aliens are waiting for us to go up top and hand over the Cascaders… but what if we use the Cascaders to draw the aliens out?”
Zach liked the idea, but it meant risking some civilians which most of the Cascaders still were. “I’ll ask the Cascaders if they would be in on that.”
She nodded. “I’ll get a plan drawn up.”
“Any word from Mitchell?”
“We are trying repeatedly, but there’s no word from them.”
He sighed. “They were radio silent for months. They’re used to being on their own. How many units we got at the outpost?”
“There’s a whole company up there, about six platoons with accompanying light armor and air support.”
“We need that toxin.”
“I agree.”
“Get in contact with the commander on the ground at the outpost, and put together some platoons to go up to Boston. I don’t want to drag that toxin out of that bunker, but we will if we have too.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
As the hours rolled by Abbey and Clovis passed out of New York State into Pennsylvania, and then by early afternoon dropped down into the northern part of Maryland, then West Virginia. The beauty of the lush green forests and hills almost made her feel queasy, being so at odds with the situation she was in.
After a short stop to refuel, they were back following roads which weaved between hills, and the kind of homes she had always dreamed about owning herself one day. Despite being a ‘city’ girl, the idea of having a country home was something she always aspired too for when she was ‘older’. Her mind flicked back to her home near the lake, and she wondered if that or any of the buildings in the camp would be left standing by the Hulathen, by time she made it back. Her hand felt by her side, for the hard shape of Raj’s box still residing in her backpack.
She presumed Clovis already knew the box was important. She wasn’t going to underestimate him again.
A familiar buzzing sensation ran across her spine.
E.L.F’s.
It had been a while since she had sensed any, but they were knee deep in a national forest and she knew if there were going to be creatures left anywhere, that is where would they would be.
She slowed the pickup to a stop as the sensation increased. Suddenly a heard of spider like creatures, covered in dark brown fur and walking on spindly legs, each one larger than the vehicle they were in, smashed through some of the small trees and swept across the road. After a few moments, they were gone, swallowed by the forest.
She glanced at Clovis and went to pull off again, when he started to speak.
“The critters need to be saved.”
“Yeah, well, we might not have much of a choice in that, if the Hulathen want to take them all.”
Clovis looked at her. “They also want to take us. We got no say in that too?”
She ignored his question but agreed with his sentiment. She pushed down on the gas and drove forward.
As they drove past small towns, heading deeper into the state, she went over the plan in her mind. Get to the outpost then use the aircraft they have there to get the toxin to the camp. It was risky. The Hulathen could take down an airplane without trying, but it was that or a few days of traveling across thousands of miles by land, and now there were E.L.F’s out there that she couldn’t detect let alone control, she didn’t want to take her chances. The other option was she would just give the Toxin to Elcher and let him do what needed to be done, but then she wasn’t sure if she would trust anybody to use a weapon of mass destruction against their own species.
Every once in a while she would glance at the man to her right, and then think of how she was going to ditch him. She wasn’t sure what would happen if she drove in through the gate in Kentucky with him seated next to her. But she still had no idea why he was taking this ride with her and that troubled her the most.
As the trees flowed by she would sometimes see creatures that otherwise she couldn’t detect. Strange unnatural shapes would pop out onto the road and then scurry away, or flocks of flying E.L.F’s would be just visible in the distance. In some ways she felt as she did in the early days after escaping the prison in New Mexico, not knowing what was around the next corner, but every time she saw a creature she felt relieved. The planet was still alive and that was a good thing.
As the sun hung low over the horizon the road they were on passed a town. Roads and multi-storey brick built buildings glistened in the setting sun.
“We should find a place to hold up for some hours. Then get back at it,” said Clovis.
She calculated it was another seven or so hours to the outpost. If they kept on driving, they could be there by midnight. “If we keep going, we can make it without stopping again.”
Clovis scoffed. “I know you want to be rid of me girly, but that town over there will probably have some good places to rest up.”
He was right. She hated it when he was right.
“Fine.” She skidded onto the left lane, drove a little further then turned a sharp left onto a road which wound into town.
*****
An assortment of around twenty young and old stood in front of Zach and Fiona in one of the common rooms of bunker five.
Fiona leaned into Zach. “These are the Cascaders that are left down here?” she whispered.
Zach nodded.
“Damn.”
Zach looked out at the group. “Some of you might know why you’re here, for others—”
“We’re Cascaders and you need us to save your asses… again,” said an overweight woman.
Zach smiled while Fiona frowned, walked forcibly towards the woman and standing a few inches from her face. “What’s your name?”
“Cynthia…”
“Do you like living?”
The woman’s hardened expression softened, despite being a few inches taller than Fiona. “Yes.”
“So does everyone else, and you—” Fiona stepped back. “And everyone in here can maybe save the camp. Think of it as another reason for us humans which outnumber you a hundred to one, not to run experiments on you again.”
A ripple of discomfort ran around the group.
“What Fiona is saying, is that we need your help. The Hulathen—”
“That the aliens?” said a scrawny young man.
“That’s the aliens.”
“So cool.”
Zach sighed. “What’s not so cool for you at least, for all of you, is that they are abducting Cascaders.”
“Why?” said an older man, raising his hand slightly when he spoke.
“Stan is it?”
The man nodded.
“You’re a threat to them. Cascaders can mess with their heads. Put them out cold.”
“Can we control them like we do to the creatures?” said the young man excitedly.
Fiona shook her head.
“Not that we are aware,” said Zach.
The young man frowned.
“So what’s the plan?” said a man in a checkered shirt.
“Sean?”
