Part 21 (2/2)
Rico dragged Huck away from the edge by his boots and sat down in momentary defeat, leaning against the rusty maintenance access shed door. ”What did you see, Huck?” Rico had the tone of a man that didn't want an answer.
”I saw what was left of a brave motherf.u.c.ker that took a stand. Looks like he pulled a frag and took a few with him.”
Both men sat atop the hill absorbing the heat of the Hawaiian sun through their exposure suits, a small luxury considering their current living conditions aboard the submarine.
Huck checked his digital watch, squinting at the faded numbers caused by a weak battery that would never be replaced. ”Rico, it's been an hour. We should head.”
Rico stood up and quickly unslung his M-4, surprising Huck. Flipping off the safety with his right thumb he began to take pot shots at the creatures below. He dropped ten of the undead, with no noticeable impact on the five hundred or so that walked about cooking in the tropical sun. Rico slung his carbine and walked through the shed door that sheltered the hatch and ladder leading back down.
The ladder hole reminded Huck of his grandmother's water well and how she had always warned him as a child to stay away from it or he might fall in. The water's cold down there, boy, and full of dead squirrels, she'd kid. He drank from the creek most of the time.
”Rico, we should probably radio the boat before we go down the hole, let 'em know what's going on.”
Rico nodded.
”This is Hourgla.s.s with SITREP,” Huck transmitted.
”Hourgla.s.s, d.a.m.n good to hear you. Go ahead with SITREP.” Kil's voice came back through the tinny ear mic.
”Facility is green, birds are unavailable. Commie reports that the birds are locked out and controlled by another ent.i.ty. Going ahead with secondary objectives. Copy?”
”Yeah, good transmission. Listen, about Griff, he . . .”
”We know,” Huck responded. ”We're topside now, headed back down. Intend to exfil tonight. See you back at the boat, Hourgla.s.s out.”
”Roger, Hourgla.s.s. See you soon.”
Huck went first down the ladder, mindful of the sound they had heard earlier. He pointed his carbine down as he descended. Reaching the tunnel floor they pulled their masks and began moving back to where Rex and Commie were. It was a few hundred yards to the turnstiles, allowing enough time for both men to adjust their eyes from the sunlight back to the NODs. Reaching the metal gate Rico pulled the handle. It didn't budge.
”We're locked out-gotta pick it,” Rico said.
”Okay, I'll pick the d.a.m.n thing, you try the radio. Maybe Rex has his on; he's not that far from here. The signal might make it through a few walls, maybe.”
Rico keyed the mic, walking back and forth from the vending machines to the gate, trying his luck with different areas to maybe get lucky with his signal ducting.
Something moved somewhere in the darkness.
”Huck? You hear it?” Rico said, jogging back to the gate.
”What?”
”Something's in here. Don't know how far, but no doubt it's probably something f.u.c.ked up and headed this way. Hurry up!” Rico whispered, trying to avoid unnecessary noise. The tunnel propagated sound in unpredictable directions.
The lock gave unexpectedly and Huck fell inside. ”We're in, Rico-move it.”
Rico watched the blackness down the tunnel. His NODs would only grant a few meters of visibility in the total darkness. Something had moved out there, Rico knew it. He walked backward with his weapon up, through the gate, shutting it behind him. They moved side by side down the pa.s.sageway, back to Rex and Commie.
”It's gonna be a problem on the way back, man,” Rico warned.
”I don't see how. It's pitch black and those things can't see in the dark.”
”Yeah, but we don't really know what this radiation s.h.i.+t does to them, man. Could be f.u.c.ked up.”
”Oh, shut the f.u.c.k up! We'll make it out. The cave doors only had a few inches of gap. Those things can't fit through. If there are any in here with us, it will only be one or two. Griff wouldn't have f.u.c.ked us like that, man.”
Huck's statement had the desired effect, causing Rico's att.i.tude to s.h.i.+ft perceptibly. They threw the hatch and walked into the room where Rex and Commie waited.
”You guys were gone a long time. What did you see?” Commie asked. His pack was closed, gear packed tight and ready to move out.
”We found the exit. That's the good news, I guess,” Huck said solemnly.
”Spit it out, Huck. What's the s.h.i.+tty news?” Rex demanded.
”Well . . . Griff . . . didn't make it; he hugged a frag and took about half a dozen with him. Not much left, but it's him out there.”
”He's not . . . ?” Rex asked.
”No, he's real dead, for sure. I wouldn't leave him any other way,” Huck said, looking at the ground, all too tired of seeing the pain in the eyes of his team members.
Rico pulled the notepad from his pocket and showed Rex the topside layout.
”There's a steep drop on the north side, seventy-five, maybe a hundred. The south side is above the tunnel doors where Griff is . . . was.” Rico s.h.i.+fted from sadness to anger as he spoke. ”I don't care what you wanna do, boss. If you wanna drop down on the south side and shoot 'em all, I'm with that.”
Rex was startled by Rico's sudden change in temperament. ”No, we'll take the north side and get out of here unscathed. Ammo is our LIMFAC. Make radio contact?”
”Affirm,” Huck acknowledged, smacking on a fresh stick of gum. ”They know about Griff, saw it from the eye in the sky. Told 'em we were Oscar Mike back to the boat tonight. What happened here?”
”Commie tried again to bring the satellites up under his control. No dice. Someone else has the reins.” Rex glanced over and saw that Commie was packed and ready to move. ”Going somewhere?”
”Yeah, out of here, fast. I've done everything we were fragged for. The intel is burned on two DVDs in my pack. I'll give one to you before we leave just in case. They're duplicates.”
”Good idea. Although if you don't make it back, I might as well stay here. Old Man La.r.s.en would tie me to the sail and slap my b.a.l.l.s with a car antenna if we lost our HVA.”
This made Huck laugh so hard he spit out his gum. In his head, the captain was dressed like General Patton with a car antenna instead of a riding crop. He laughed even harder, doubling over red-faced.
”Not that d.a.m.n funny, Huck.” Rex walked over and stole a piece of Huck's stale gum from the table and turned to face Commie. ”Anyway, what happened with the trace?”
Commie replied quickly, almost as if reading from a script: ”The trace stopped in Alaska. I couldn't get beyond the firewall there.” He pulled his pack straps tightly and walked back over to the terminal. ”I'm shutting down the mainframe. I doubt anyone will ever come here again but there is a possibility that we may need the systems at some point.”
”I don't care if you download p.o.r.n and set everything on fire-we're done here.” Rex moved to the center of the room to lay down the plan. ”We're moving out when the sun goes down. Should be clear inside and Commie knows the place, so Rico-you and Commie go find some rope somewhere, four lengths if you can. We'll make do if you can't. Me and Huck will hold it down.”
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