Unknown enemy, p.18
Unknown Enemy, page 18
part #1 of Broken Earth Series
"Come on, you don't even know me."
"I know enough, more than enough. You think I'd be out here with you if I thought you were anything short of a good man?"
"Desperate times, though, aren't they?"
"Even more reason to find people you can trust. People you know will have your back. Jack Ross came for me when I needed help, and you helped when you could. I'll take my chances with this group any day."
"Group?"
"What else would you call it, Ross' team? A bunch of kids, half the damn football team, a teacher, and a lunatic survivalist, what the hell is this?"
"I have no idea."
"I know what Ross wants to do. He was born to fight, and he's gonna take the fight to this enemy, whatever they are. But what about you?"
"I'm going to fight for this town and my people."
"After coming here for a peaceful life?"
"Damn right. Someone is trying to take that away from me. I'm not going to take that lying down."
"What are you willing to do to defend this place?"
"Anything, everything."
"That's it? You'd stand your ground and die for this place, rather than leave, and maybe live?"
"If you won't fight for your own home, what will you fight for?"
"The people."
He didn't look satisfied, but he wasn't going to argue the point. The ground became progressively steeper over the next hour until it finally began to level off. They had been walking among tall trees the entire time. It was comforting to know they were well covered from anyone who attempting to look in. As they took the rest of the ground ahead of them, the view opened up to the valley ahead. Kim exhaled as she wiped her sweaty brow. She was a good few years younger than the retired Marine, but not used to such exertion.
Burns drew out a pair of binoculars. He could just make out the edge of town before the main road turned off behind a tall wood.
"That's it, about four, maybe five hours, and we can be there."
"Four or five hours?" Kim gasped.
"Hey, we're lucky to have neighbours so nearby. If we had to go on to the next town, it would be triple that, and then some."
She looked out at the vast countryside. Besides the few buildings on the edge of the town they were heading for, there was nothing but forests and farmland.
"Come on, I'd like to make it well before sundown. Miles and Ross told me about the things that come at night. Trust me, we don't wanna be tangling with them."
"I don't get this, any of it," she said, following on.
"What exactly?"
"I mean, where is everyone? Where’s the Air Force? The Army? The National Guard, why aren't we seeing anyone? Maybe they don't know what’s going on around here."
"Yeah, and maybe they’re in as much crap as we are."
They carried on, but Kim was feeling the fatigue more and more. She'd not slept well at all the last night. She just wanted it all to be over.
"This is a goddamn nightmare, isn't it?"
"It can always get worse. Look at us. We're in a beautiful place. We're alive. Things could be a whole lot worse
There was a roar of an engine overhead, and they both dropped down quickly. A bulbous-looking aircraft flew over them. It looked ugly, and absurd that such a thing could even fly, like a giant beetle with stubby wings. Heat and air blasted down on their heads as the craft passed them by.
"Look at that, what is that?"
"Not something we use, that's for sure."
"Is this like the thing you tangled with?"
"No, they were smaller. This thing looks like a whale in the sky. I'd have shot it right out of the air."
"Then a transport of some kind?"
"Maybe, but from where? We can't power something like that without lift. How heavy do you think it is?"
"Heavy, very heavy."
"Probably got the capacity of a Herc, but how the hell is it even in the air?"
"It's slowing down."
They watched with both curiosity and fear as it came in to land about half a mile ahead of their position. It soon vanished below the treeline and out of view, and the thunderous engines faded away, as it must have come to a standstill.
"Do you think they spotted us?"
He shook his head. "We'd be in a world of trouble if they had."
"Then we should go wide. Take our time and stay well away."
"No, we came out here looking for answers, and I am betting there’re some right here."
"You said yourself, we didn't come out here to fight."
"No, and I don't intend to. But I want to know what we’re up against. Come on." He took his rifle from his back and rushed onwards, hunched down low.
"Goddamn it," she sighed and ran on after him. They went for what felt far longer than it was, and the gap between them was widening. He was far fitter than she was. Finally, he came to a stop and knelt down low into some cover. She was gasping as she reached his position and collapsed, lying down flat to catch her breath.
"I wasn't made for this you know," she whispered.
"Yeah, you told me."
Burns surveyed the scene around them. He keenly studied everything before him. She couldn't help but get up to take a look for herself. The aircraft engines roared as she did so, and they ducked down lower as it lifted off, flying off into the distance. She looked back down to where the craft had been. There was an electric substation, and a number of odd-looking buildings beside it that she didn't recognise.
"What the hell is that station doing out here?"
"It used to power one of the mines, but now it roots power to local farms, and even some of the outskirts of Wood Point."
"All right, but what are those?" She pointed to the two other structures beside it.
"No idea." He studied them carefully through his magnified view. Kim was still squinting to try and make out what she was seeing, when he realised what it was.
"They're soldiers, rows and rows of them."
"What?"
He passed her the binoculars, and she finally got a good look herself. There were lines of the smaller robotic soldiers like the one they had tried to interrogate. They lined the outside of the structure, six rows tall on all sides of the cube-like buildings.
"What are we looking at here?"
"They're tapping into the power, our power," he said, and it finally began to click.
"What? Why?"
"Those machines, they have to get their power from somewhere, same as everything else I guess."
"But to need our power?"
"Not like they could have exactly brought a power source with them, is it?"
"But, whoever they are, they're advanced, and yet still they have to rely on this?"
"I guess they aren't as all powerful as we feared. This is some of the first good news we've had since the start."
"Really?"
"Sure. Come on. The larger ones come at night and seem to have a real problem with bright light. These robot things must require frequent charge ups. Those are weaknesses, and things we can exploit."
"This is crazy, what are we even talking about? We're under attack from a robot army. Have you just stopped and thought about that for a moment?"
"No, because I haven't got time to."
"Well, maybe it's time we did. This is crazy, all of it."
He slumped back down out of sight to discuss it with her, but he was unwavering in his views.
"I don't need to think about why or how. That is the enemy. No point in asking a hundred questions we aren't gonna have the answers to. They are the enemy." He drew out a camera from his pack, zoomed in close with the long lens, and snapped off a dozen photos.
"Are we turning back?"
"No, that town we're heading for. Davis. We need to reach it, and see what we can find."
"But with them between us and the town?"
"I don't think they've got a huge presence here, or we would have seen them already. They're tapping our energy, but if we stay wide of any power sources, we should be fine. Come on."
Chapter 4
"You think we're gonna make it through this?" Emma asked her brother. They were walking through a wood, carrying a pack of firewood, and picking up whatever else they could find.
"Of course we will."
"But you're always talking about the end times..."
"End times doesn't mean the end of life, not to me."
She looked confused.
"The end times I always said were coming are the end of society as we know it; breakdown of the government, financial meltdown, anything that destroys life, as you know it. That nice simple life where you can walk down a street and expect to be safe. To have others watching over you."
"And you wanted that?"
"No. Not for you. Not even for myself. I knew it was coming someday, and when it did, I wanted to be ready. Not just for me, but for you, too."
"Were you?"
"More than the rest of town, but I got hit hard, and first. I guess that's bad luck, I guess. But I'm still here, aren't I?"
"Yeah. But someone is coming to help us, right? I mean; the government has to send help, don't they?"
"Maybe. Maybe they can't. Maybe they don't even want to. But it doesn't matter why. We're on our own, and we have to get through this."
"I just..."
"Never thought your life was going to go this way?"
"Right."
"Sorry so say it. I don't like to say I told you so, but life isn't pretty. You can get lucky and never see bad times in one life time, while someone else gets hit bad."
"I...I mean, a week ago I was in school, and Sam..."
"I'm sorry about him. I really am."
"And now...now I’m shooting at soldiers, I mean, what the hell? I killed them."
"They were never living to begin with. You saw inside one of those things, nothing but circuitry. You might as well have taken a hammer to your Xbox. It would be no different."
"Yeah, except my Xbox didn't ever try to kill me."
He smiled, nodding in agreement. They were approaching Burn's cabin when he stopped.
"What, what is it?"
"Where's Mom's car?"
"What?"
There was no sign of it. She threw the wood down and rushed to where they'd left it covered with foliage. The branches had been thrown off it and lay strewn about. There were new tyre prints where the car had been driven away.
"What the hell? Where’s it gone?"
She was terrified and panicked, as if it were the worst disaster in her life.
"It's only Mom's car, like she ever really cared about it anyway."
"But, who...who would take it?"
His face turned more to concern. They were in a remote location. As far as they knew, only their group that had gathered there knew about it. He threw down the wood he was carrying and rushed to the cabin. The door was open. Olsen and Pope were casually playing cards, but there was no one else in sight.
"Where are they?"
"Who?" Pope asked in surprise.
"Lee, Foster, and the others," said Emma.
"They said they were heading out to help you," said Olsen.
He could tell from the look on her face that it hadn't happened.
"They never came our way," insisted Miles.
"Where is my car, my Mom's car?" she demanded.
"What? It's right out there, under covers," replied Olsen.
"No, no it isn't."
"Don't you think we'd notice if someone fired that thing up right outside?" Olsen went to the door, but when he got outside he froze as he saw the empty space where the sedan had been.
"What the hell? We've been here the whole time."
"Awake and listening?"
"Yeah, Miles, there’s no way we wouldn't have heard that motor start."
They noticed some movement down in the woods. Miles had his rifle off his back and in his hands in no time.
"It's all right. It's Ross!" Olsen yelled.
Miles lowered his rifle a little, but was still cautious until he could get a good view. Ross and Ortiz soon appeared, and there was concern on their faces.
"Emma?" Ortiz asked, clearly surprised to see her.
"What? What is it?"
"We saw your car tearing off towards town about an hour ago."
"An hour?"
"While we were on patrol," said Miles.
"Ah...Lee, you idiot," she growled.
"Where are your wheels?"
"We had a shot through the rad and didn't know it. It's a goner. We had to lump it back on foot," replied Ortiz.
Ross looked past them to Olsen.
"You let them go with the car?"
"No way they started that motor. We would have heard."
"Oh, come on, you ain't pushed a car away so your parents didn't hear you leave?" Miles asked.
"Shit."
"We have to go after them."
"We can't," replied Ross.
"How about your other truck?" Emma asked desperately.
"Because it's shot to hell, that's why," replied Ortiz.
"The Tuckers, how about them?"
"They're not due back for another couple of hours."
"Then what do we do?"
"There’s nothing we can do. They’ve gone looking for trouble, and they're gonna have to get themselves out of it this time," replied Ortiz.
"And Donny?" Ross asked.
"He went with them," said Pope.
Ross was shaking his head, yet understood the motivations of the young soldier. If this was his town, and Lee was his brother, he'd have done the same.
"We have to do something. Please!"
"Emma, those idiots are gonna get themselves killed. We aren't going after them," replied Miles.
"Haven't we lost enough already? If you won't go, then to hell with you, I'll go myself."
She lifted her rifle from her back and strode out to the lightly trodden path they had come in on. Ross stepped in front to block her way. She stopped and looked down, before meeting his gaze.
"Please, you don't understand. I can't lose any more friends."
"You don't think I understand this? Do you know how many friends I've buried? Plenty of those died before my very eyes."
It hadn't even dawned on her.
"I'm sorry," she whispered.
"You don't need to be sorry. I don't need you to be sorry. I need you to be smart. Not like those kids who've run off like cowboys. They've no idea what they're getting themselves into. I need you to be smarter than that. We all do."
"Smart with what? This entire situation is crazy. I'm not a soldier. I'm not like you!"
She began to cry, then staggered forward, and hugged Ross. He looked uncomfortable with the contact, but he didn't resist.
"I can't take this anymore. Not any of it. I just want things to go back to the way they were. My life wasn't anything special, but it was a walk in the park compared to this."
He pulled her away, holding her at arm’s length so he could look at her face.
"Bullshit. You say you aren't up to this? But I know you are. Who was it that saved Lee and his friends? Who was it that rolled into town guns blazing and got them out?"
She began to wipe the tears away, but could not find any words.
"You were pushing to find out what was going on here before anyone else even thought to. You were smart enough, and brave enough to try. You fought to find your boyfriend. You escaped the enemy once. You know how many people would have frozen under stress like that? And then when trouble came to town, you didn't run from it. You went for it, head on, and you saved lives. You know what that is?"
She shook her head.
"Heroic."
"Come on, you don't need to treat me like a child."
But she could tell from his scowl that he wasn't.
"I did what I had to, that's all."
"Yeah? Welcome to my world. We're paid to do that, what's your excuse?"
She shrugged.
"That boy Lee is looking for trouble, but his brother is a smart kid, and a good soldier. I'm not gonna condone what they're doing, but they might just make it back yet."
* * *
"Cut the engine, now," said Donny.
Lee slipped the stick into neutral and knocked the engine off as he turned onto a narrow track. The car slid to a halt.
"I knew this was a bad idea," said Foster.
"Really? Because you were all for it when we set off," snapped Lee.
"Yeah? Maybe I was wrong."
"Shut up, both of you." Donny got out of the car.
They were swift to follow him as he surveyed the scene. They were in an isolated spot among some trees.
"Listen up. I don't know what we're gonna face in there. Could be something, could be nothing. But I’m the only one here with any training for this. So you'll take orders from me, is that clear?"
"Come on, you've been in a uniform for what a year or two, and you want to be in command?"
"I don't want to be, Foster, I have to be. So shut your mouth and follow my lead, you get me?"
Foster looked angry, but when he turned to Lee for help, he could see he wasn't gonna get it.
"That's it? You're just gonna suck it up and take orders?"
"He knows what he's doing. That's more than we do. I lead you on the pitch for fuck’s sake, not with guns," he snapped, holding up his rifle.
"You done?" Donny asked Foster.
He grumbled, but said nothing.
"We're with you. Tell us what to do," said Mikey.
"Okay, we're here to establish what has happened to the people in town. See who’s still here, if there are survivors. This is not a rescue mission. We look around, and do what we can. If we can lead survivors out, and they have vehicles, then they're welcome to follow, but let's be real here. We're four guys with rifles, three of which have no training at all."
"We can shoot."
"Foster, you can put some shots down a range. Hit a target, maybe. Great, I could teach a twelve-year-old to do that in five minutes. There's more to fighting than pulling a trigger."
"And how would you know that? How many wars have you fought in?"
"I've fought this enemy. Fought and survived while many of my buddies didn't. You ran with your tail between your legs, saved because a girl had the guts to come and get you. So quit your tough talk. You'll have a chance to prove yourself yet."
