Carlie Simmons (Book 4): The Gathering Darkness (3 page)

Chapter 3

Carlie strapped herself into the co-pilot’s
seat while Matias fired up the Chinook helicopter, its roaring engine sending a
rising cloud of steam from the rain-cloaked exterior. From their position on
the roof of a three-story nursing home, they had an excellent vantage point of
the courthouse area in the distance.

“Damn, look at all those things, moving
like carpenter ants swarming over a fresh-cut tree. Sure hope Shane’s team is
clear of that mess,” Matias said.

Shane’s voice came over their earpieces.
“Timber Wolf, this is Black Bear, over—we’re in a bit of a jam here. Our
secondary extraction point is overrun and we literally just burned the bridge
behind us.”

Carlie and Matias shot glances at each
other and then back out the front window. “I miss the good ole days when you
could just call in an airstrike,” said Matias.

“They don’t have much time. There’s bound
to be a whole bunch of the mutants mixed into that crowd down there.” Carlie
leaned back and looked at Eliza. “Prep the mini-gun and have someone pull out
the SPIE Rig. This is gonna be an express ride to hell.”

Chapter 4

The Chinook made a direct line for the
forested park near the courthouse while Eliza swung open the side door and
readied the mounted mini-gun.

Rickert, a muscular black operator,
readied the SPIE Rig, uncoiling the bulky rope and waiting for the order to
drop it. The Special Patrol Insertion/Extraction or SPIE Rig had been developed
and perfected by the Marine Corp for placement or removal of personnel using a
static rope with high-tension D-rings integrated every six feet along the
length of the rope. It was their only option for quickly extracting Shane’s
team from the dense forest below.

Carlie informed Shane of their plan and he
pulled everyone back into the treeline to a small opening just large enough for
the rope to penetrate. With the helicopter hovering above, the SPIE Rig was
lowered and Shane instructed his team to line up. Everyone was experienced with
the method except for Amy and Jared, who had been briefly instructed on its
application on the airfield during a training exercise a month earlier.

Shane could hear the horde of zombies crashing
through the trees and knew they only had a few minutes. Each person clipped
their vest carabiners onto the D-rings on the rope and stood in a ready
position with their rifles aimed at the forest. He had placed Jared at the rear
and then made sure everyone was spread out and the slack in the ground line was
removed.

Just as everyone gave verbal confirmation
that they were securely fastened, they heard the mini-gun start roaring above as
Eliza began cutting down swaths of approaching undead. The hot rounds rained
down upon the group, clanking off their heads. Shane ran down the line, doing a
double-check on everyone’s carabiners, before clipping himself into the first
position. He gave the thumbs-up to Matias, who was leaning out of the window. Through
the haze of rain and gunsmoke, Shane saw a fast mutant burst through the shrubs
ahead. He fluidly leveled his M4 and squeezed off several rounds into the
blurry image. His first volley caught it in the left shoulder and it slipped
sideways on the muddy ground. Just as he prepared to fire off another grouping,
the helicopter began ascending. His jerky aim hit the ground behind the
creature’s head and it made a broad jump through the air, landing around his knees.
With the SPIE Rig hoisting the single-file team through the hole in the canopy,
Shane began butting the enraged beast in its head. Its foaming lips were
snarling as it tried to tear past Shane’s vest to his skin below. Despite the
trauma to its skull from repeated blows, its milky eyes stayed transfixed on
Shane as it desperately clawed at his chest. Shane tossed his rifle in the air and
removed his fixed blade, driving the tip up through the jaw. The creature
bellowed and loosened its grip as Shane kicked it off his vest into the hungry
crowd below.

The helicopter continued rising vertically
until everyone was suspended and free of the treeline. Everyone except Jared,
who briefly got dragged along the canopy. Matias kept the altitude and airspeed
low, proceeding forward two miles over the derelict city until he came to a
football stadium. He slowly lowered the Chinook until Jared touched down first
followed by the rest of the group as slack occurred in the rope. Once everyone
had detached, the rope was hoisted back into the cabin and then Matias set down
fifty yards away near the bleachers.

Shane looked himself over for any wounds
and then went down the line to check his team, noticing Jared, whose bare legs
were showing through his shredded pants along with one boot missing from his
left foot. His pants had been shredded along the treetops and the tattered
remains resembled a camouflage hula skirt.

Shane just patted him on the shoulder and
tried to contain his smile.

“This ain’t funny, dude. Is this why you
put me last?” said Jared.

“Actually, I didn’t know that was going to
happen. You went last because most people who don’t like heights end up pissing
themselves and I didn’t want to get rained on.”

“This fuckin’ guy,” said Jared with a
frown while he shook his head.

The rest of the group broke out in
laughter, encircling Jared as they pointed at his grubby legs. Amy tousled his
hair and then grabbed his arm, leading him off as the rest of the weary but
grateful team walked along the artificial turf to the helicopter.

Chapter 5

Upon landing at Gray Airfield at Fort
Lewis, they were met by a ten-ton army truck and two young soldiers who helped
them unload the helicopter. They stowed the salvaged booty from the medical
center and made their way along the half-mile stretch of fenced-in airfield, driving
past six Blackhawks and two Chinooks.

As the truck headed towards a massive helo
repair bay near B-Wing, Carlie sat at the back, opposite Shane, while the green
canvas flaps on the sides fluttered in the wind. She was eager to debrief and
take advantage of their three-day furlough. Carlie was exhausted and just
wanted to curl up alone in her bed. Even though she had her material needs met
at the base, she still felt like a castaway trapped on an island. With only a
handful of intact military bases left around the world and just over a dozen in
the U.S., there wasn’t any place to escape to except another base. She looked
down at her weathered hands resting on her mud-encrusted M4 then back up at the
members of the two exhausted teams. Eliza was asleep already, her head pressed
against Matias’s shoulder, who only stared ahead at the canvas canopy. Jared was
sitting beside Amy with his hand resting on her knee while she chuckled at
something he was whispering in her ear. The rest of the men were either silent
or talking about dinner.

“Hey,” said Shane, who was sitting
directly across from her. “You did good back there, kid.” He said with a wink,
knowing his joking condescension would grate on her.

“Yeah, I did actually,” she said with a
serious face then let a grin creep out.

He leaned forward just out of earshot of
the others. “You and I should get together and debrief later. I’d like to
compare notes and also give you a few pointers on your tactics.”

She only smiled and leaned back. “On
my
tactics—really?”

“I think you could learn a few things from
a seasoned operator like me.”

“Seasoned is right,” she said, brushing
some mud off his forehead. “You’re more like well-done, Tarzan.”

The truck came to a halt and they followed
the rest of the group out of the truck. Carlie slung her pack, turning towards
Shane as she walked away. “I’ll see ya around, caballero,” she said with a
smile.

Shane watched her drift into the hallway
as he rested his arm on the edge of the tailgate. Matias moved alongside him,
his hands on his hips. “I’m tellin’ ya, amigo, that nut is a hard one to crack,”
said Shane.

“It’s like we’ve always said on the
battlefield, ‘No plan survives first contact intact.’ Maybe you gotta change up
your tactics—go in for a ground assault instead of trying all this
surreptitious crap with the hints.”

Shane rolled his eyes and slowly swung his
head to his friend but was cut off before he could respond.

“Yeah, I heard you in the truck with all
that, ‘I’m a seasoned operator’ shit. Madre de Dios, women don’t like to hear
that stuff. Try something romantic for a change.” Matias raised his hands up as
he walked backwards while Shane stewed over his friend’s honest assessment.
“I’m just saying: we always tell our students to review tactics if they’re not
successful.”

Shane was left alone to ponder the advice
amidst the rumble of several trucks driving in with another team ready to
depart. He waved at the leader, a red-haired man named Kulovitz, who was in his
mid-thirties. As Kulovitz grabbed his pack and weapon, he trotted partway up to
Shane. “Hey, I heard it was quite an adventure getting in and out,” the man
said with a crooked smile.

“Yeah, that’s what your wife said last
night.”

The man just jerked his arm out furiously
with his middle finger extended, his carrot top looking like it was going to
ignite. Then he backpedaled and let out a big smile as he ran to catch up with
his team. “Remember, bro, you still owe me a rematch in poker when I get back.”

Shane just nodded and waved him on then
yanked his soiled backpack off the tailgate and headed towards the distant hallway.

***

After their debriefing, Carlie headed down
to the research labs on the lower level in D-Wing. After clearing two
biocontainment checkpoints, she stood before a thick panel of glass watching
the technicians inside bustling around like worker bees. After a few minutes,
she caught the attention of Pavel, who walked over to the window and flipped on
the intercom. They exchanged a few pleasantries in Russian before changing to
more casual English.

“We just hauled in some medical equipment
from a run in Sacramento—a couple of centrifuges and more microscope
replacement parts,” she said, rubbing her temples, holding back a yawn.

“And now I hear it’s time for you and your
team to get some much-needed R & R, eh?”

“That’s right—a few days. What about you—do
you ever leave this lab?”

“Only long enough to grab five to six
hours of sleep. We have made great progress in the past two weeks. Some
breakthroughs that should help us push the timelime up for completing a trial
vaccine.”

“Then what?”

“Then we locate some test subjects,
meaning non-human primates, if any can still be located at zoos or perhaps by making
a trip to the tropics.”

“Hmm…wonder who’s going to be doing those
salvage missions? I could go without another visit to the tropics for the rest
of my life.”

“There’s been some chatter on the airwaves
about a place in Florida that may still be intact. We are still a few months
off from needing monkeys but that will be the next factor to examine in this
equation.”

Pavel looked at Carlie, studying her face.
“I appreciate you coming down here to check on things, and on me, but you look
exhausted. Go get some rest, young devotchka.”

Carlie smiled at the endearing term and
responded with a thank you in Russian.

Taking the stairs back up to the main
level, she crossed through the checkpoint that led from the research area back
to B-Wing where her living quarters were situated. She opened the door to her
private room and noticed a yellow piece of folded paper on the floor inside. She
opened it and read the curt message
: Meet in NCO lounge, 1830. Shane.

Chapter 6

An hour later, Jared and Amy stood by the
seldom-visited NCO lounge in B-Wing. Once he saw the hallway was clear, he
knelt down on one knee and removed his lockpicking tools.

“Why are we doing this again?” said Amy,
who watched him work the delicate tools in the aperture while nervously
glancing over her shoulder down the hall.

“I told you, there’s some vintage bottles
of chardonnay inside that were just brought back by one of the teams returning
from Vancouver.”

“I’m not so sure this is a good idea. If
we get caught, it’ll be a real problem with Duncan, not to mention our standing
with Shane.”

“Shane didn’t think it was a problem to
have my ass dragged along the treetops earlier today; besides, it’s not like
they can dust for fingerprints anymore—this is the perfect crime.”

“I could go for some wine—it’s been
months.”

The lock clicked open and Jared turned the
handle, opening the door inward. They quickly inserted themselves into the lounge
and quietly closed the door behind them.

Jared held his flashlight out and beelined
for the fridge. Amy moved with her light to the kitchen counter where wooden
crates of liquor and alcoholic beverages were stacked. She retrieved a dusty
bottle of chardonnay and rejoined Jared, who had removed a large bottle of
spaghetti sauce from the fridge.

“What are you doing? I already found the
wine.”

“I overheard Shane telling Matias that he
was going to make a pasta dish tonight for Carlie using some of the spaghetti
sauce left over in the fridge.” Jared placed the large jar on the counter and
unscrewed it. Then he pulled a plastic bag from his pocket and emptied the
powdery contents into the sauce. “Just a little dried habanero peppers to spice
things up for the big man.”

“I thought we were coming here because you
said you needed to commandeer some wine, not get even with Shane.”

“Well, no reason I can’t do both.”

Amy put the bottle down and folded her
arms across her chest. “You sure this isn’t more about Carlie? I know you had a
thing for her early on. You’re not jealous of Shane, are you?”

Jared stopped stirring the sauce and
turned towards Amy, his hand sliding up along her cheek while his powder-blue
eyes gazed at her face. “Mi amor, my heart only yearns for the splendor of your
company. I love you, not Carlie. She intrigued me in the beginning but she was
never my type, believe me.” Jared slid forward and kissed Amy then leaned his
forehead against hers. She stared into his eyes and grabbed his collar. “You
are trouble, Jared Sweinhart. Sometimes I don’t know if I should kiss you or
slap you.”

They heard footsteps in the hallway and he
slid his index finger to her lips in a motion to be quiet. She brushed it aside
and pulled him in close, pressing her lips against his in a passionate kiss.
The footsteps faded and she pulled back, giggling.

Jared leaned back to the counter and
grabbed sauce then placed it back in the fridge. He retrieved the bottle of
wine and held Amy’s hand as they retraced their steps to the door and slipped
back into the shadows of the hall, returning to their room.