From hell alex hunter 8, p.14
From Hell: Alex Hunter 8, page 14
He flicked to a new picture that was an X-ray image of the city laid out below the smoke layer. “The greater city of Catania has over one million inhabitants and is one of the largest in Italy. Estimations from local authorities are that most of the civilians got out, but there could still be tens of thousands who stayed put.” He looked up. “Tens of thousands now missing.”
Sam frowned. “Missing? How, where? I know Mount Etna; it’s erupted dozens of times, large and small scale. The local authorities would have evacuation and rescue plans ready to go. A little smoke wouldn’t cause that much disruption and certainly not lead to that amount of disappearances.”
“Correct,” Hammerson replied. “They have, and they did. Their first action was a mandatory citywide evacuation. Then they went in to assist the remaining residents, who couldn’t, or wouldn’t, move. But those search and rescue first responders never returned – there was over a hundred of them. Plus that dust cloud seems to be corrupting all forms of communication.”
Hammerson changed the picture to one that was tracked images based on thermal signatures. “So then they sent in a Special Forces team.”
“Gladiators?” Sam asked.
Hammerson nodded. “The best, and over a dozen of them. Only one came out of that dust cloud. He said they were attacked.”
“By who?’
“Maybe not by who.” Hammerson pressed some buttons on a small remote and the thermal image enlarged. “Maybe by what.”
The HAWCs sat forward as the next image showed the huge shapes moving about in the smoke. He let the team watch for a while; the lumbering figures, their shape, and they way they moved, as they went up and down the crater side.
“Not human; what the hell are they?” Hondo asked. “What scale?”
“Nine to ten feet. Possibly a thousand pounds each.” Hammerson turned from the screen. “And they’re hot – computer analysis says they could be 120, even up to 150 degrees.”
“Not possible,” Lucas said. “How can they even function without frying their brains?”
‘Extremophiles,” Aiko said and turned to Hammerson. “In the sea of Japan, there are hot vents on the sea floor. We have found bacteria that can survive in temperatures reaching 175 degrees.”
“That’s true,” Hammerson said. “But the thing is, they’re not just surviving in extreme heat, they’re actually generating extreme heat.”
“And we have a survivor who saw them up close?” Sam asked.
“Yep, a Spec Forces team leader by the name of Janus Romano. Apparently one of their top operatives, so not prone to exaggeration. We’ll need to talk to him.”
“We need more information on what we’re dealing with,” Sam said. “Right now our unknowns exceed our knowns.”
“Agreed.” Hammerson turned back to the smoke-filled screen. “There’s something else. Computer analysis has determined that some of those things might be carrying objects. I have this horrible feeling deep in my gut that those objects they’re carrying are our missing people.”
“Oh, Jesus Christ.” Sam’s jaw clenched momentarily. “Why? What are they doing with them?”
“Add it to your list of unknowns.” Hammerson lowered his brow. “They look to be vanishing into the volcano fissures. Your job is to find out the why, what, and where. Follow them in if need be.”
“You want us to go inside a volcano, swimming in molten magma?” Sam Reid’s forehead creased so deeply it created a valley between his brows. “That’s about 2000 degrees. No suit’s gonna protect us from that.”
“Of course not,” Hammerson replied. “But good tech will allow you to get up close and personal to something that might be a tad under 200 degrees.” He turned. “And if need be, venture just inside the volcano. No swimming required.”
Sam snorted. “Getting better all the time.”
Hammerson sighed, then sat down. “Nope, not better, it gets worse. Aimee and Joshua are in there. Also missing.”
“Oh, Jesus Christ, no.” Sam just stared for several seconds before rising to his feet. His expression hardened.
Aiko looked from Sam Reid to Hammerson. “Who are these people?”
“Captain Alex Hunter’s family,” Hondo said and put both his large hands to his face to rub hard.
“The Arcadian?” Aiko’s eyes widened. “He has a family?”
“Yeah, it’s not well known, and that’s the way he likes it.” Hondo grimaced. “To keep them out of trouble.”
“Didn’t work.” Sam’s voice ground down a few octaves. “Does he know?”
Hammerson shook his head slowly. “He’s still in the Box; will be for another twenty-three hours.”
Sam’s opened his mouth to protest, and Hammerson held his gaze. “You know he needs to stay in there, lieutenant. In twenty-three hours, by the time he emerges, you will have data for me. Clear?”
“Crystal.” Sam’s jaws worked for a moment, but then he nodded. “Then what the hell are we waiting for?”
“For you and the team to get down to armory and kit up. You leave immediately – helo is already on the pad.” Hammerson stood. “Dismissed.”
CHAPTER 19
“This can’t be real.”
Aimee dragged Joshua by the hand as she weaved in and around abandoned cars, and scurried up streets that were shrouded in smoke so heavy it was like a London fog – except everything smelled of sulfur, ash, and burning.
People screamed, careened into them, or stopped to wail and grab at them, imploring them for things she couldn’t understand. At one point she felt Joshua’s hand clamp tightly on hers, and looked down to see his eyes wide and staring. She followed his gaze, but saw nothing but the thick, roiling smoke.
Then the shape appeared, shambling, enormous, and at first her mind tried to fit it into any slot it could find, telling her it was an escaped elephant with waving trunk. Then more trunks, or limbs appeared, and as it came closer, she saw it held the flailing body of some poor soul it had captured.
“This can’t be real,” she whispered.
Joshua’s shaking hand yanked hard on her arm. “Mom, this way.”
They sped on, and he pointed. “Down there.”
Men and women were piling into a doorway and at its entrance she saw steep steps leading downward. She hesitated, but Joshua dragged her down anyway.
As she descended, she prayed Alex would find them … soon.
PART 2
“The difficult we do immediately. The impossible takes a little longer.”
Motto of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers during World War Two
CHAPTER 20
Catania State Police Headquarters, Briefing Room 01
Janus Romano watched as the American Special Forces soldiers entered the room. They’d come straight from Air Station Sigonella, a shared U.S. Navy and Italian Air Force base in Sicily. They were HAWCs – he’d never heard of them before. But the first one through the door was huge, just making it under the frame, and the floor beneath his feet creaked as if he was made of steel. The two following were so wide they seemed only just able to pass into the room. The last, an Asian woman, had the cold eyes of a predator searching for its prey.
All of them focused on Janus, sizing him up, assessing, analyzing impatiently. He came to his feet, meeting their eyes.
“Janus Romano,” one of the huge men said. It wasn’t a question.
Janus nodded.
“Sam Reid.” He gripped Janus’ hand and pressed hard.
Janus returned the pressure, then felt overwhelmed and released the man’s hand.
Reid pointed to each of his comrades. “Hondo, Velez, Aiko.” They took seats and sat.
Janus did the same. “So you’re who they sent?”
“Yeah, and we’re on the clock,” Sam Reid said. “We need to know everything relevant. We’ve read your report. Now tell us what wasn’t in those reports. Things you thought were a little strange or maybe too unbelievable to put to paper.” He leaned forward. “Speak openly; you’re among friends here.”
Friends, huh? Janus inhaled deeply. What the hell. “They weren’t human.” Janus looked into each of their eyes as if searching for disbelief or ridicule. Satisfied there was none, he went on. “They were big, nine to ten feet at least, and moved faster than we expected. And they were hot, burning hot. As if they were on fire.” He felt his heart rate start to rise as he remembered.
“We saw that on the thermal vision,” Hondo said. “Can you describe them? You’re the only guy that’s been up close to them – and walked away.”
Janus’ vision turned inward as his mind took him back to the piazza. He shook his head. “They were madness in flesh … impossible.”
“Think hard; make yourself remember,” Sam said, leaning forward.
“No, I mean, those things were impossible.” Janus sipped his coffee and put the cup down. “Imagine …” He opened and closed his hands and then made a sort of knotting and clenching motion with his fingers. “Imagine if you got a lot of bodies and squashed them all together. But they were upright and walking on two legs. At first I thought it was some sort of octopus thing, but then I saw that there were two main arms, and lots of smaller ones, but normal, human ones.” He licked his lips. “The big, main limbs were made up of dozens of smaller limbs all stuck to each other, like they were all melted in there together, fused somehow.”
Janus exhaled and then drained his coffee. “The face.” He put the cup down hard. “The face on that inhuman head was on the end of a trunk, and big, covered in the blackest eyes you’ve ever seen. Eyes all over it, and more damned faces pressed into its sides.” He screwed his eyes shut. “Some of them still looked alive, screaming in agony or insanity.” His eyes flicked open. “They looked like the souls of the damned in Hell.”
“Whoa.” Hondo blew air from between his pressed lips. “That’s good, take it slow.”
“One thing.” Janus turned to Hondo. “I’m sure there were men and woman with them, like they were working with them. It was strange, as they seemed to be in a trance and had their heads covered with masks.” He rubbed his eyes with the heel of his hands. “I must be going demente.” He dropped his hands and gathered himself. “The creatures can be hurt. They ran from my grenades – when I was the only one left, I made a path through them and just ran for it.”
There was silence for several moments as the HAWCs waited for him to go on. But he had nothing else for them.
The big HAWC, Sam Reid, grunted. “Well, if they can be hurt, they can be killed.”
“You’re going in?” Janus asked.
Sam nodded.
“Then take me with you.” Janus’ face was granite in its determination.
Sam didn’t think about it, and might have already expected he would. “Good, we can use you. We leave within the hour.”
Janus looked at their suits. The HAWCs wore a dark armor that had some sort of vein-like ribbing running just under the surface. He pointed. “Heat retardant?”
Sam tapped his chest. “Stop a shotgun blast, as well as shield against extreme heat. New NASA space technology.”
“So it won’t burn?” Janus asked.
“Everything burns eventually,” Velez said. “But at least we’ll be able to get in real close … for a while.”
“Okay.” Janus stood. He wanted some payback, and these guys were going to help him get it. “Let me get my kit, and I’ll see you out front in twenty minutes.”
Sam Reid got to his feet. “Make it ten.”
CHAPTER 21
“Welcome to Hell.”
The HAWCs stood at the side of the road that seemed to act as an unofficial line in the sand where the smoke and pumiced fog began. They still hadn’t engaged their visors.
Lucas Velez sniffed. “Sulfur.”
“Sulfur, heat, and demons; welcome to Hell,” Hondo said.
“Don’t joke,” Janus said. “There is indeed something hellish about it.”
Sam took one last look at a small photograph of a girl, coffee colored and with a smile like sunshine. He’d been dating Alyssa for months now, and she was his lucky charm. He tucked the picture in behind one of his breastplates, over his heart.
He sucked in a deep breath. “Helmets up.” He then pressed a stud at his neck and a layer of shielding moved up and over his head before a clear cover slid over his face. He spoke into a small mic at his chin. “We’re now entering the blackout zone.” He checked his watch; it was eleven in the morning, 1100 hours. He started a timer. “Three hours in and out, returning at fourteen hundred hours.”
Hammerson responded immediately. “Good luck. We’ll be waiting. Over and out.”
Sam turned to see his HAWC team had their shields in place. Janus also wore a tactical combat suit with breathing apparatus.
“Move out.”
* * *
Janus led them directly to the piazza where he and his team had been attacked, and Sam raised a hand to stop them at a corner. He switched his scope from thermal to light enhance, and then to motion tracking – it was as dead as a graveyard.
But for all the stillness and silence, he felt eyes on them. They were being observed from somewhere in that huge village square.
He and his HAWCs carried the AA-12 assault shotgun and had loaded the experimental high-explosive fragmenting antipersonnel ammunition. Plus their shotguns had thirty-two-round drums, never jammed, and would blow big holes in anything from bone to armor plate. The HAWCs had a range of other weapons, but it seemed on this day, their adversaries were more elephant sized than human shaped, so they would engage with the appropriate firepower.
“We explored the church, and found it empty. But there were signs of forced intrusion and a fight that was over fast,” Janus said, and looked about a little too quickly. “There was a dog here, right here.” He pointed to the ground. “It was dead, and mutilated. But burned as well. Gone now.”
The man seemed skittish for a professional, and Sam could guess why. He hoped it wasn’t a mistake bringing him back in so soon after his lost his team. “Hey, you okay?”
Janus spun to him, then nodded jerkily. “Yes, yes, just on edge.”
“Understandable,” Sam replied. “So where exactly was your team attacked?”
Janus nodded toward the end of the piazza. “Out front of the church. They came out of the smoke … from everywhere. Dozens, maybe more.”
“Okay.” Sam took a last look around. “Let’s stay cool, and stay tight. Hondo, take us in. Velez, get on the tracker, and I want constant updates. Janus with me, and Aiko, cover the rear.”
The HAWCs headed in, their lights sweeping the darkness. Even though it was little more than midday, they barely illuminated the night-dark piazza. They moved quickly but carefully. The huge form of Hondo, gun jammed in at his shoulder, made the sulfurous smoke swirl as he pushed through it. Velez had his arm up, reading data from a small screen on his forearm.
“Anything?” Sam asked.
The stocky HAWC shook his head. “Dead; not even a mouse moving out there.”
“Aiko?”
“All quiet back here.”
“Let’s hope it stays that way,” Janus said quietly.
“Yes and no,” Sam said. “Let’s hope we find some of those missing residents. And that’s all.”
In the distance the domes and spires of the cathedral took shape in the gloom. Sam was mentally preparing his next steps when Velez jolted him back to the piazza.
“Hold the phone, we got something.” He pointed his motion sensor at the smoke, then panned it along the streetscape.
“Hold.” Sam stopped the team. “What’ve you got?”
Velez stared at the tiny screen on his arm for another moment. “Weird … gone.” He shook his head and began to drop his arm, then stopped. “Wait …” He snapped his arm out, moving it slowly over the shadow-riven piazza. “Movement … confirmed.”
“Where?” Hondo panned his gun barrel around.
Sam gripped his gun tighter. “Keep talking, Velez.”
“Eleven o’clock, approximately 250 feet.” He stared hard at the motion sensor.
“Could it be the missing civs?” Hondo focused on the direction Velez had indicated. “Can’t see shit up here.”
“Two hundred twenty feet; closing, coming right at us.” Velez cursed.
“This is how they took us out,” Janus said. “We need to pull back. In the open we were vulnerable! Just like you now!”
“Hold it together, people.” Sam’s deep voice was an oasis of calm.
“Multiple signatures – maybe it is some of the residents.” Velez walked out a few steps.
“It is not the civilians,” Janus warned.
“Hold your position.” Sam’s soldier’s intuition moved into overdrive. “Everybody stay in formation.”
“One hundred feet now, picking up speed. These readings don’t make sense.”
Shit, Sam cursed silently. “Keep talking to me, Velez.” His head snapped one way then the other, looking for cover. He found it.
“Ah, it’s all screwy.” Velez shook the wrist that held the device. “Sometimes it says just a few signatures, other times I’m reading dozens – big and small.”
Sam decided. “Move it, HAWCs – that shop front, three o’clock, double time – now.”
The group sprinted to the shop.
Velez took one last look at his wrist. “They’re here.” He turned, sighted, then fired.
Sam was first to the shop front and raised one huge leg to kick at the door. The locks and reinforcing couldn’t withstand the technically assisted kick and exploded inwards.
“In!” he shouted over the din of explosive shells being fired into the dark.
Aiko and Janus went through first, followed by Velez. Sam saw the shapes then – huge mountains of flesh with waving appendages. The things tore at his sanity as his pipe of light spot-lit them – arms, legs, faces, all pressed together. Some of them with mouths gaping in perpetual screams and insanely rolling eyes.
