Unknown enemy, p.12
Unknown Enemy, page 12
part #1 of Broken Earth Series
"Come on. We’ve got to get out of town." Emma jumped back in the car, "Come on!"
They looked at one another open-mouthed in disbelief at what they had seen. But they soon followed her to the car. She slipped it into gear once more, spun the wheels, and sped out of town.
Chapter 5
"Hey, Donny," Pope asked.
"Yeah?"
"We’re gonna get through this, right?"
"We made it this far. We can make it a little further."
Pope was still weak and exhausted.
"Those things, what are we even fighting?"
"I don't know."
"How? How can you not know?"
"I think it's fair to say nobody saw this coming."
"How? Aren't a lot of people paid a lot of money to know these things?"
He sighed as he nodded in agreement.
"I mean, you're not wrong, and yet here we are."
"But these guys, Master Sergeant Ross and his team, they'll get us through, won't they?"
Donny looked to Olsen, who looked no more confident that he did.
"If anyone can, these guys can," replied Donny.
He lifted his rifle. He’d noticed a rustling in the trees ahead. He had the door of the truck open and the window down, using it as a shield. Though he wondered how useful it would be against the power of the weapons he had seen. His pulse was racing once more. Olsen lifted his weapon, too, but he was barely able to get out of his seat, as he was so sore.
"Coming out!"
He recognised the voice, but Donny remained vigilant and suspicious until he could see them. Ross was leading the way, and Donny was relieved to see he’d brought everyone back with him. He lowered his rifle and sighed in relief. That’s when he spotted the pilot. His response was just as much a shock as it had been for Ross.
"This is Major Kelly," declared Ross.
"The pilot?"
"You must be the bright one," she joked.
Donny couldn't help but laugh.
"Yes, Ma'am, that's what they tell me."
"Please, it's Kim. Up there I'm a leader. Down here, I'm just a liability."
"I'm sure you can handle yourself," he replied jovially.
"I guess we're gonna find out, aren't we? So you're what's left of Boyd's platoon?"
"You knew about that op?"
"We were briefed about a missing platoon in the area, but nothing more. We were told to keep our eyes out. Can't say I expected to find you. But Major Boyd?"
"We've not seen him in days."
She grimaced and nodded in agreement.
"I feared you'd say that."
"I wish I had better news for you, Ma'am, I really do."
She gave him a wicked look at the way he had addressed her again, but it was all in good humour. He needed that right now.
"So what now?" she asked.
"We need to establish comms. None of our gear is working," said Ross.
"You don't have a sat phone?"
"Yeah, but we can't get anything."
"That's weird."
"Everything about this op has been weird," replied Ortiz.
"We've got nothing that works. No radios, no cell service, no sat phone. We’ll get back to town. See if we can use a good old hard line to reach out, and find out what the hell is happening around here."
"Whatever this is. This enemy, any idea of their strength?"
"None, we are in the dark as much as you. That's another thing. They don't seem to like daylight, or light at all."
"What do you mean?"
"So far we've only seen them at night. And any bright lights seem to cause them all sorts of trouble."
She went to the back of the vehicle and heaved the tailgate open.
"What’s she doing?" Ortiz asked.
"Whatever the hell she wants, by the looks," replied Payne.
"So we're safe to travel by day?" she asked, as she grabbed a vest and strapped it down.
"I don't know about safe, but safer."
She smiled in response to the fact that they really knew so little. They were all in the same boat now. She drew out a short-barrelled M4 carbine from a rack in the back, loaded a magazine, and checked the weapon.
"Then lead the way. Don't let me get in your way, Master Sergeant."
"Yes, Ma'am," he said with a smile. He and Ramos climbed into the front of their vehicle.
"Oh, I like her," said Ramos.
"I bet you do."
She climbed in the back beside Pope and Shaw, who looked pleased to have her aboard.
"So I guess they came and saved your asses, too?"
"Sure did, as much as I hate to say it."
"Hey, we all need a little help sometimes."
Ramos backed the vehicle away and turned them around. The thick cloud had broken, and some sunshine had returned to the skies. They soon hit the open road and rolled the windows down to take in the fresh air. For a little while they could forget all the madness. It felt like any other day as they cruised through the countryside.
"So you were born here, kid?" Jack asked.
"Sure was. Been here my whole life."
"Is it a good town?"
"Same as any other, I guess."
"I mean is it a town of good people? People that'll look out for one another?"
"I guess so, yeah, why?"
"Because I think we're in for a lot more trouble yet. This isn't some threat at the border. It's right here at home."
"You're saying you want civilians to arm and fight?" Kim asked in disbelief.
"If that's what it takes, yes. Would you not defend your home?"
"Sure, from an intruder, but what are we dealing with here? Is this some small localised thing, the prelude to an invasion, or what?"
"That's what we've been trying to figure out," replied Donny.
"And? What have you figured out?"
"Not a lot."
"Christ, we really are in the dark here, aren't we? All the places I could have crashed, and it’s right out in the sticks."
"What would you rather, a city with a few million panicking civilians?" Jack asked.
"Who the hell would strike out here as a preliminary attack?"
"Recon and advanced parties in rural areas with few resources and no military installations? You kidding me, this is exactly the kind of thing we've been paid to do for years."
"Out in the Middle East, sure. But this is the USA!"
"And you think we are beyond reach? That nobody would want to try and take what we got?" Donny asked.
"Sure, but nobody has the balls or means to," she snapped.
"You sure about that? Because last night I saw two F-35s shot right out of the sky. The most advanced fighter on Earth, isn't it?"
"Yes," she groaned.
"So someone does have the reach, the tech, and the balls."
She couldn't believe what she was hearing, but was forced to agree with Donny.
"What else can you tell me about the enemy?"
"First time we saw them fight in the skies was you. But on the ground, they’re well armoured, better than anything we carry. Their weapons fire some kind of very hot energy type thing," said Ross.
"Like a beam?"
"No, we aren't talking Star Trek here. More like a ball of light, and it melts right through whatever it touches. Our armour can just about stop it, but one shot and it’s fucked. Pope back there, and Olsen, both took shots square in the chest."
"How'd that feel?"
"Like being punched in the chest by a giant," Olsen coughed.
"What else? Identifying features? Anything that would suggest who and what they are?"
"Nothing. We only see them by night, but whatever they are, it ain't human."
"What are you saying?"
"Humanoid weaponised drones, maybe?"
"After all that you've seen, Private, you still believe that?" Jack asked.
"It's the only thing that makes any sense. You seen any videos on what can be done with robotics these days? If it’s the Russians or the Chinese, they could have some eyes up there in the sky with a line of guys and joysticks fighting this battle like it’s a video game."
"You think that's a possibility, Major?"
"Sergeant, I've seen some things like that which make me think it's a possibility in the near future, but right now? If anyone would be able to do it, it would be us, right? Or at least another NATO country, and we'd have a hand in it."
"NATO?"
"What of it?"
Jack laughed in response.
"What's so funny?"
"It’s that if you knew a little about my job, you'd find that funny."
"Okay, so what's your theory, Sergeant?"
"I work on facts. What I can confirm, what I can see and hear. What sources I trust can tell me."
"And if none of those things provides the answers you are looking for?"
"Then I keep on looking. There’s a logical answer to everything. You just have to try harder."
Donny laughed.
"Something funny, Private?" he asked in a serious tone.
"A week ago, I would have believed that. I don't doubt that you are great at this job, at whatever it is you supposedly do."
"Stop buttering me up, and give it to me straight."
"I just think on this one, you're out of your depth, same as the rest of us."
Ramos laughed, but Jack Ross didn't look so amused. He wasn't angry with Donny. He was more concerned that the Private was right. He'd never been truly out of his depth before.
"You know the things this team has been through together. Hell and back more times than I can count. Whatever this is we're facing now, whether we understand it or not, we’re going to get through it, because that is what we do. We take on adversity in all forms. No matter how tough it may look. No matter how much or little we understand about it. We take on the fight, and we win. That's what we were born to do. That's what we were trained to do."
"And when you meet a wall that's just too tall to climb? There’s only so much six men can do, no matter how great you are at this job."
"We aren't on our own, Kim. We have a whole country standing with us."
"Not right now, you don't."
"Yeah, you can't even get a call out to the next town," added Donny.
"Shut up, kid," snapped Jack.
They all fell silent, but what the two of them said weighed heavily on his mind. Jack was not a quitter. He never saw any problem as insurmountable, but he'd also never known days like this. He still didn't know what they were facing, or begin to understand their circumstances. But one thing he knew for certain, this was different. Very different to anything him and his team had ever experienced. It was exciting and terrifying in equal measure.
"Before you were scrambled, Kim, you said you were briefed?"
"Yes."
"Well, last I heard there were reports of other incidents around the country, unexplained shit setting off alarm bells. Major Boyd going missing wasn't the only one. It was just the one we were sent to investigate. What else did you hear?"
"Nothing, I'm sorry to say. You're saying other teams were being deployed like yours?"
"I'm saying we were the last ones left to deploy. Ours boots had just touched the ground at Campbell when Captain Rains sent us here."
"And that wasn't cause for concern?"
He nodded.
"Sure it was. But it wouldn't be the first time. These times we live in. We're in demand year round. You know the last time I took a real vacation?"
"Come on, Sergeant, you can't bullshit me."
He looked confused.
"Guys like you don't do your job because it has to be done, because someone has to do it. It’s the same reason I don't fly fast jets because it pays the bills. We do this because we love it."
"She's got a point," Max laughed.
"Really?"
"First chance we get for a little R&R, and who do we spend it with?"
"Each other."
"There you go. You don't take vacations, because you're already on one. You're living the dream. Your dream," added Kim.
"So what you're saying is, I like this kind of hassle in my life?"
"Damn straight. What else you gonna do, work a nine till five and sit on your ass on the weekends?"
He grumbled in agreement.
"How about you? You came from this town, have you got anything waiting back there for you?" she asked Donny.
"A brother."
"That's all?"
"That ain't enough?"
She couldn't argue with that.
"Where is he now?" Jack asked.
"He's the star football player at school."
"The team this missing kid is on?"
"I guess."
"What missing kid?" Kim asked.
"When we were in the Sheriff's office, some girl came asking for help. Said her football player boyfriend had been taken."
"And you didn't think it was linked to all this?"
"Sure, I do now, but we didn't know shit back then. This started as a search for Boyd and his platoon, how the hell were we supposed to know it would turn into whatever this is?"
Jack smiled as they passed the 'Welcome to Wood Point' sign. It was a sign that could only signify a small and traditional community. The sort of place he almost never went, at least not in his home country.
"We're coming into town now," said Donny.
Jack looked at his watch.
"Mid-morning. People should be in work and school?"
"Yes."
A car was heading towards them on the other side of the road, but at break neck speeds.
"They're in a rush to be somewhere," said Max.
"The kids round here use these roads for racing all the time."
"During school hours?" Kim asked.
Donny laughed.
"Uhh, yes, what kind of school did you go to?"
"One where we stayed in school."
Donny couldn't help but laugh again.
"We really are cut from different cloth, Ma'am."
"Maybe, but we're still in the same shit, Private."
He smiled, amused by her cursing in her well-spoken voice. Another car was close on the tail of the other, as if they were racing.
"Jesus, you weren't kidding," said Jack.
But as they drew nearer, they could see that they weren't kids at all. The couple in the first car looked of retirement age, and those in the car behind them weren't much younger. Both groups looked flustered and scared, as if they were running from something.
"They ain't no street racers. What the hell is going on here?" Max asked.
Three more vehicles appeared from a bend up ahead, all tearing out of town at breakneck speeds. One was badly smashed up, and another had one of the back doors and half the rear body missing where it looked like it had been cut away by some kind of blast. There was a violent roar overhead, and Jack leant out, looking up in horror to see a vessel pass overhead. He didn't recognise the shape, but it followed much the same lines of the fighters that Kim had been fighting. She took a look for herself and felt her heart sink.
"I thought you said they only came at night?"
"That's what we've seen so far," replied Max.
"I don't like this. I don't like it at all. Some foreign power operating in plain sight, and in daylight? They'd only dare do so if..if..."
"If they knew there was nobody to oppose them." Jack finished her sentence.
That was a troubling thought for them all.
"What are we doing?"
"We can't keep running forever, Max, and we're gonna need gas pretty soon. We stay the course, but we don't hang around. We get gas, try and reach out of the canyon, get someone at Campbell, and then we get the hell out of there, got it?"
They groaned in agreement. They had all gotten used to the idea they were safe in the daytime. Especially Donny and Pope, who had been through more than any of them. That had been some relief for them in these dark days. Now it appeared none of them were safe, not at any time. It was a daunting thought. Jack readied his weapon as they neared the bend ahead. They expected to find trouble.
"I’m feeling a little naked all of a sudden." Max looked at the modest civilian issue vehicle they were driving into what could be a combat zone.
"We've had it worse."
"And a damn sight better, too."
They took the bend and found a state of utter chaos. A police cruiser lay on its roof burning. Two dead deputies were nearby. Light pulses were flashing across the street as what looked like a turret emplacement in the middle of a junction fired on a passing car. The vehicle went into a spin and crashed into a parked van. The double barrel turret seemed to be some kind of sentry gun that had been deployed. It was the size of a common sedan and was rotating to engage them. A line of robotic-looking soldiers was striding down another street. They looked smaller than the ones they had fought the previous two nights. Two craft flew overhead, vehicles raced back and forth that clearly belonged to the enemy, whoever, or whatever they were.
"Back off, now!"
The weapon opened fire, but a delivery van slid in from a side street and took the impact. One shot burst through the panels of the van and soared right over the roof of their truck. Part of the roof was burnt away, leaving a gaping channel in the roofline of the vehicle. Max was already on the gas, and the vehicle behind was well ahead of him. More shots burst through the van as it was blown apart. He spun the wheel to bring their front end around the bend as quickly as he could. A pulse from the sentry gun clipped the front of their vehicle, taking the bumper and grill clean off, and narrowly missing the radiator. He slammed the brakes on and was in drive within a second. The wheels spun as they tore off from where they had come.
"What are you doing! We have to go back!" Donny yelled.
"We can't, you saw what was back there!" Jack shouted.
"That's my friends and family. People I grew up with. That's my life back there," he pleaded.
But he felt Kim's hand on his shoulder, and relaxed a little as she pulled him back against the seat.
"This isn't over, but we aren't going to help anyone by dying there today, Private."
He knew it was true, but it was still a hard thing to accept.
"We've got company!" Max looked at the side mirror. He moved off to the far side of the road for a better view past the other truck. There were two vehicles in pursuit.
