Tales of the Forgotten (10 page)

13.

Brooks
turned the vehicle around and they raced back down the road. Brad kept looking
behind them to see the dust cloud of the mass but it didn’t come. Within thirty
minutes Brooks called out that they had hit the mark. He dropped the Defender
into four wheel drive and cut off the road into the rough terrain. The going
was now very slow; the terrain was extremely uneven and jagged rocks would
often scrape the sides of the vehicle. Sean and Brad had to get out of the
truck and guide the Defender across the broken ground.

“We
are going too slow. If the colonel was right, we should see signs of the mob
any time now,” Brad said.

“I
know, just keep pushing … Wait, there’s the trail, looks like a real piece of
shit too,” Sean said, pointing. The trail was nothing more than a two-track cut
in the terrain; it looked barely wide enough for a donkey. They tried to
maneuver the Defender onto the broken path but only somewhat succeeded. Brooks
did the best he could maneuvering it up the side of the mountain until the rock
walls just got too narrow and he couldn’t squeeze it through.

“End
of the line, guys. Get out and grab as much gear as you can carry; ammo and
water have priority. We move in five minutes,” Sean barked. The team grabbed at
the gear and started throwing on their heavy packs and attaching rifles. Brad
filled all of his pockets with boxes of ammo for his weapons. Anything they
couldn’t carry they secured in the vehicle. Brooks locked all of the doors and
put the keys in his pocket.

“Here
they come,” said Hasan, pointing at the large dust cloud forming on the
horizon. Then they heard the moaning. Sean lifted his rifle to his eye and saw
two runners still at least three hundred meters out and closing fast. There
were another dozen or so behind them running to catch up.

“Oh
look, it seems they sent some of their faster friends ahead to greet us,” Sean
said, settling into a good prone firing position. “I suggest you boys get
moving up that trail now. Let me cut down this advance party and I’ll be right
with you.”

He
put the cross hairs on the lead runner’s chest and pulled the trigger. The
heavy 7.62 round hit the primal’s center mass and knocked it off its feet,
severing its spine. Quickly, Sean adjusted his aim to the next crazy in the
pack; squeezing the trigger a second time he hit it low, shattering its pelvic
bone. The primal went twisting into the dirt. The rest of the pack was still
out of a reasonable range for his rifle so he got back to his feet and jogged
up the trail. Finding a place where the cavern walls narrowed, he dropped his
pack and pulled a claymore mine from a front pocket. Sean carefully placed the
mine pointed back toward the charging primals, then connected it to an
improvised trip wire.

When
Sean caught up to the group they had just found a place in the mountain that
looked climbable. Brooks dropped his pack and pulled out several hundred feet
of rope. He tied one end around his waist and the other end to his pack, and
then connected his pack to Brad’s. Sean did the same with a rope from his bag
and tethered his bag to Hasan’s. They made loops in the lines which they
attached together with D-rings. They clipped the rings to the men and Brooks
quickly ascended the rock face, with Sean close behind him.

Brad
and Hasan struggled to keep up with the SEALs and soon were falling far behind.
When Brad was only a quarter way up the rock face, Brooks pulled himself over
the top. Brooks grabbed the rope and started pulling up Brad and the two packs
below him. The tension on the rope assisted Brad and his pace quickened. He
looked to the left and saw that Sean had also reached the top and was pulling
Hasan up just as quickly.

A
loud thunder clap shook the canyon and they saw a blast of smoke and dust shoot
up the trail from the claymore. Sean yelled to the men to keep climbing, that
the primals were less than a hundred meters away now. Brad pulled on the rope
and willed himself up the wall.

When
their packs were nearly twelve feet off the ground the first of the primals
found them. Brad heard them moan and scream, and Brooks yelled at him to keep
climbing and not look down. Brad struggled the last twenty feet completely
exhausted until Brooks was able to reach down a hand and pull him over the rock
face. Brad lay back just as Hasan plopped to the ground next to him in a heavy
sweat. The crowd of primals below them was growing louder, and Brad peered over
the ledge. There were only about six of them down there now, many with obvious
wounds from the claymore, but they were screaming at the top of their lungs.

“Let’s
shut these fuckers up, Brooks,” Sean said, lifting his rifle.

“On
it, Chief,” Brooks answered.

With
three quick shots each, the primals at the face of the wall were silenced. The
team began to hear the sounds of the larger mass approaching the trail. It was
a thunderous roar, reminding Brad of the sound of a freight train. The dust
cloud slowly crept up the narrow trail and blinded them from seeing the floor
below.

Brooks
turned, put his pack on, and started heading higher up the mountain. The rest
got the hint and followed him to higher ground. Soon they were on a very high
ledge overlooking the valley that Route A76 cut through. All that could be seen
of it now was a cloud of dust. The mass seemed to fill the valley floor like
flooding waters filling every crevice within reach. They could hear them
rumbling down the trail below. The moaning had stopped with the loss of their
prey, or at least they couldn’t hear it over the stampede of the mass.

Sean
stepped near a stone wall with a high rock overhang and dropped his pack, then
took a seat next to it. “Hasan, are you familiar with this place?”

“I
am sorry, friend, but I have never been up this mountain. I know a place
farther to the west, possibly down the trail below, but it would be more than
two days’ walk,” Hasan answered.

“Fair
enough. Well, let’s settle in here. I’m fairly certain these things can’t scale
cliffs, so let’s wait for direction from the colonel,” Sean said.

14.

They
arranged the gear in front of them and took stock of what they had. They evenly
divided the ammo, food, and water between the four of them. They built a
campsite under the rock overhang but elected not to build a fire; no sense in
risking detection with so many primals below them. They leaned back against their
packs. Not wanting to waste water on the chemical heaters, they silently ate
cold MREs while waiting for the phone call.

Four
hours came and went with no word from the colonel. It was approaching evening
and the temperature was dropping. Sean took the phone from his pack and checked
it to verify he had a good signal and that the battery was charged. Brad looked
out over the valley with his binos, and saw that the cloud had diminished. Most
of the mass had passed, but they could easily still make out several groups of
a hundred or more moving through the valley.

Just
as Brad was sitting the binos down, the phone buzzed. Sean reached for it and
pushed the speaker button.

“Hello,
this is Chief Rogers,” he said.

“Good,
good, I take it that by answering the phone you are still alive. I can
triangulate your phone’s location and you seem to be in a fairly decent spot.
Unfortunately, the satellite window has closed and I cannot provide you with
real-time imagery data until tomorrow morning,” Colonel Cloud said.

“Okay
Colonel, let’s cut the bullshit, what’s the plan?” Sean barked.

“First
things first, Chief. What is your status?”

“We
are four strong, ammo is green, food and water is green,” Sean said.

“How
much water, Chief?” asked Cloud.

“We
have three days; five, if we ration it,” answered Sean.

“Very
good. By our estimates, the main body of the mass should have passed you. You
will see remnants of the mass over the next ten to twelve hours. There is a
high probability that large percentages of the mass will linger in the area for
weeks; not everything about these things can be plotted to certainty,” Cloud
said. “You should stay in your current location for at least another ten
hours.”

“No
problem there,” Sean said.

“Colonel,
this is Staff Sergeant Brad Thompson, can you answer some questions for us?”
asked Brad.

“Sergeant,
I’m sure you have a lot of questions, but I only have limited time available to
you; you’re not the only assets I am working right now. I need you and your
team to get some rest. Tomorrow I want you to scout to your vehicle, verify it
is operational, and wait for my call,” Cloud responded.

“Hold
on, not so fast, Colonel. I appreciate you helping us out today, but if you
don’t answer some of our questions, I’m going to end this call and we can go
back to surviving. We have done pretty well so far on our own,” Sean said.

“Okay,
I understand your concerns; go quickly, what do you want to know?” Cloud asked.

“First,
there are other survivors, Colonel, close to a dozen soldiers and two hundred
civilians are held up at the customs compound in Hairatan. Can you help them?”
Brad asked.

“Son,
we are aware of the people at the customs compound. At the moment, we do not
have resources to assist them, but we are always looking for a way,” Cloud
answered.

“Colonel,
this is Petty Officer Brooks. What’s the situation in the States?” Brooks
questioned.

“Short
answer? We are in a fight for our lives. We were given some prior warning about
the attacks and we took it more seriously than most of our allies. After the first
strikes, all civilian air travel was stopped and borders were closed. That
helped. We still had a few people fall into the coma phase on the longer
international flights before we could turn them back. Most of those stories
didn’t end well. Mexico and Canada both fell quickly. We are not sure why. We
did well in the first few days of the outbreak. The fences along the southern
borders and the Rio Grande River did a lot to slow the migration. Also the
southern border was well monitored and defended; we were able to rally troops
from Fort Bliss and Fort Hood to slow most of them. Eventually, there were too
many and we had to pull back into hardened areas. Most of the population is
living behind walls in safe areas now,” the colonel said.

“And
what are those?” Brad asked.

“Hmm
… well, currently the Midwest is considered a fortress. Michigan is naturally
fortified by the Great Lakes, and we have moved many of our resources there. We
are confronting the hordes on the passes in the Appalachians. Everything west
of the Mississippi, between the river and the Rockies, is holding well. New
York and most of the East Coast fell, as did every other state with a high
population and stringent gun laws. Most military installations are well
defended and we are pushing back as the primal virus extends in duration. We
are in a fight for survival, guys, but all is not lost,” Cloud explained.

The
U.S. team members looked silently at each other, their expressions bleak.

“I’m
sorry, gentlemen, but we really are out of time. I will contact you again in
twelve hours. Good luck,” the colonel said as he ended the phone call.

“Shit,
I don’t know about you guys, but I still feel like I’m in the dark here,” said
Sean.

“So
the plan is to just sit here until morning and wait for another call? This trip
isn’t going so well, is it,” Brad replied.

15.

They
slept lightly that night. It was the first time they had slept in the open
since they’d left the safety of the compound. Even though they were well above
the primals, they felt very little security in their perch high on the ledge.
Brad nodded off several times, but bad dreams made it difficult to stay asleep
so he soon gave up and sat staring at the moon in the distance. He heard a
grumble from Brooks and watched him sit straight up, gripping his rifle,
sharply looking in every direction before lying back down and instantly
drifting back to sleep.

“Night
terrors,” Sean said, “one of the many benefits of this job.”

Brad
turned, and seeing that Sean was also awake, said “What happened in Teremez,
Chief? How did you lose your team?”

“Not
really a highlight in my career, Brad, it’s not something I enjoy thinking
about.”

“Brooks
has never spoken about it either; not since the night we first met.”

“Getting
out of Teremez wasn’t easy; we both left a lot back there. Did you know Brooks
was getting out of the Navy? Teremez would have been his last mission. Funny
how things work out,” Sean said.

“No
shit! No, Brooks didn’t tell me that. I figured he was a lifer just like you,”
Brad said.

“Ha.
Nope, Brooks is a scholar. Don’t get me wrong, he is the best at what he does,
but he had plans to leave the Navy and go back to school. Guess that won’t be
happening now.”

“What
about you, Chief? What will you do when you grow up?”

“I
don’t know, man, at one time I thought I’d get me some land and a cabin out in
Wyoming … raise dogs. You know, something simple, maybe find me a wife. I’ve
never been good with women, but who knows?”

“Well
Chief, I think your plans for hiding out in a cabin in the middle of nowhere
are still possible in this brave new world,” Brad said, laughing.

“Yeah
maybe you’re right,” Sean smiled. “Try and get some sleep, Brad, going to be a
long day tomorrow,” he said, rolling back into his pack and pulling his watch
cap over his eyes.

Brad
was wide awake as he watched the sun come up. He opened his pack and grabbed a
protein bar for breakfast. He had very few of them left, but felt today he
would need it.

“We
have just under an hour before the next phone call,” Sean said.

“What’s
the plan, Chief?” Brooks asked.

“I’ve
been scanning the trail. I haven’t seen any sign of them up here, looks like
the valley is mostly cleared too. Let’s make our way back to the rock face and
see if we can get a better look,” Sean said as he hoisted his heavy pack to his
shoulders. The rest of them strapped on their battle rattle and heavy packs as
they joined him for the trek back down the mountain.

When
they reached the rock they had scaled the day before, they cautiously looked
over and saw nothing. Slowly, they lowered their bags over the side. Sean
quickly rigged a rappelling seat and helped Brooks over the edge and down the
face of the rock. When Brooks signaled it was clear, Sean told Brad he was
next. Then he helped Hasan down. Finally, by setting the rope over a large
boulder, Sean was able to lower himself over the wall and recover the rope
behind him.

Back
on the ground they packed and stowed their climbing gear. The team sat
silently, listening to ensure they were alone. The trail was very quiet; there
were no signs of primals other than the battered tracks in the sand. When they
were confident in their security, Sean gave the order to move out. Brooks as
usual took point, and they cautiously made their way back to the Defender.
Brooks paused them on the trail several times to listen, but they failed to see
or hear anything. When they found the vehicle, it had been shifted hard and was
sitting pressed against the rock face at an odd angle.

“Looks
like the mass pushed the truck pretty hard,” Brooks said.

The
team moved to the vehicle and, working together, were able to get it back on
all four wheels.

“Check
the engine,” Sean said to Brooks. Brooks got in the vehicle and it cranked
hard, with poor results, but once the fuel had settled back to its normal spots
the engine finally turned over and purred back to life. Sean slid his finger
across his throat, giving the signal for Brooks to shut off the engine.

“So
what do you think, Brooks?” Sean asked.

“Hmm
… I think we’ll have to back out of here for a ways, but we should be able to
turn around where the trail opens up. If you guys ground guide me we can get
back to 76,” Brooks answered.

“Sounds
good. OK guys, let’s get hidden in these rocks until we get the call. Brooks,
take Hasan to that ledge; I’ll be with Brad over there,” Sean said, pointing to
a large overlook near them. The men split into two parties, moved to their hide
positions, and sat silently waiting for the call. Right at the twelve hour mark
the phone buzzed. Sean lifted the phone and hit the speaker button.

“Chief
speaking,” Sean said.

“Good
to hear from you, Chief. What is your status?” Cloud asked.

“Four
souls; beans, bullets, and hydro are green; transportation has been secured,”
Sean rattled off.

“Very
well, Chief. Imagery satellite is up; if you move quickly you should be able to
get through the mountain pass moving south with only light resistance. We are
tracking half a dozen masses near the city at the mouth of the valley. We
suggest you stick to the west side of the river when the road forks. The larger
masses are all congregated to the east. I need you to understand the eastern
side is completely overrun, and there are more of them flooding in from up the
valley on that side. The Air Force destroyed the bridge across the river in the
first days of the withdrawal. So the most dangerous masses will be trapped on
the far side of the river, but there will still be resistance on the western
side. From the satellite images, most of the primal populations converged on
you yesterday, but be on alert as some may have stayed. You will see primals
today, Chief, there is no avoiding it.”

“Where
are you leading us, Colonel? Why don’t we just find another route? No
disrespect, sir, but this sounds like a great deal of bullshit,” Sean said.

“HQ
wants to get you through the mountain range as quickly as possible. Travel will
be more difficult in the range, but for the time being the primals tend to walk
downhill and do not seem interested in moving into the higher elevations. I
know you have more questions, but we need you to get moving, Chief. We will
talk again in four hours,” Cloud said, disconnecting the call.

“I’m
really starting to not like this guy,” Brad said.

The
men moved back to the vehicle and, being cautious, were able to reverse it out of
the trail and back into open ground. The sides of the Defender were now heavily
dented from its night with the primals, but for the most part it seemed to be
holding up well. Hasan boarded the truck with Brooks, while Sean and Brad
walked ahead, guiding it over the rough terrain and back to the road.

When
they pulled the truck back onto A76, Sean and Brad boarded the Defender. Brooks
picked up speed as he raced down the road to the south.

“If
we make good time, we can be in the heart of the mountains in three hours,”
Hasan said.

“Then
that is the plan,” Sean replied.

It
didn’t take long before they saw the first pack of primals. It was only a group
of about fifteen, but they were immediately alerted to the presence of the
team. They all suddenly stopped in their tracks, made a quick change of
direction, and sprinted for the Defender. Brooks intentionally steered the
vehicle into them, trying to lure them away from the paved surface of the road.
When they were within a hundred feet he cut the wheel hard, raced around them,
and back to the highway. They had to do this several times before they got to
the higher mountain pass.

“This
pass continues for fifty kilometers before it opens in the river valley,” Hasan
said.

The
road had narrowed to no more than twenty-five feet wide with high cliffs on
both sides. Brooks drove as quickly and safely as possible. He saw primals just
as he passed a curve in the road; they stood blocking the narrow canyon. The
primals paused momentarily before they moaned and started their charge. Instead
of driving through the primals and destroying the Defender, Brooks cut the
wheel hard so the vehicle sat across the road with the passenger side windows
facing the mob. Quickly Sean and Brad took aim with their rifles pointed out of
the windows.

Brooks
and Hasan exited the truck. Brooks aimed across the hood, while Hasan climbed
on the roof and took up a prone position. They started firing together, and the
mob quickly fell apart and separated. Hasan’s loud AK echoed off the canyon
walls and could easily be heard above the roar of the primals. Brad put the red
dot on his targets’ necks and pulled the trigger, watching them fall. He didn’t
know how many there were; he just focused on finding the target, squeezing the
trigger, and locating the next target.

Brad
was counting the trigger pulls in his head.
Nineteen, twenty, twenty-one
—he
knew it would be time to reload soon. But before his bolt locked to the rear on
an empty chamber, he ran out of targets. He opened his door and stepped out into
the road. The strong cordite scent of expended rounds hung over the primals’
stench. He could see a hundred-foot path of dead bodies, and had started to
walk forward to examine one when he heard Brooks yell.

“We
have another wave approaching! Reload and make ready.” Brad dropped his
near-empty magazine and loaded a fresh one before leaping back in the vehicle.
He looked up, put the dot on the face of the lead runner, and waited for it to
get into range. The primal fell to Sean’s rifle before Brad could pull the
trigger. He pivoted to the right, finding another runner.
One, two,
he
said to himself as he pulled the trigger and watched the primal drop.
Three,
four, five.
And another fell.

This
group was larger, and they had gotten to within fifty feet of the Defender when
Brooks threw a grenade as hard as he could into the mob.

“Frag
out,” Brooks yelled.

Brad
watched Sean pause in his shooting to duck his head just before the grenade
exploded, then he rose back up to continue working his rifle on the mob. The
frag grenade hadn’t killed many of them, but it did manage to knock several of
them off their feet and tripped up several more. Knocking them down was just
the leverage the team needed to gain an edge and finish them off.

This
time when the firing stopped, they rapidly loaded back into the truck and sped
down the road around the primals’ corpses. They didn’t see any more in the pass
as they made their way onto the road leading to the river valley. When they
reached the end of the pass, Brooks pulled the vehicle to the shoulder and Sean
stepped out with his binoculars to scout the valley.

 The
terrain ahead of them was very green and miles wide. They could see the river
and how it flowed through the center of the city. Sean traced the river south
with his binoculars through the valley and spotted the fork in the road. Just
as the colonel had said, several large masses were on the eastern side, trapped
there by destroyed bridges. Scanning further, there appeared to be one main
road along the western bank of the river. For the moment the approach looked
clear, with only small packs of stragglers in the streets. Sean walked back to
the Defender and approached the team.

“Okay
guys, we’re going to roll through town weapons hot. I can see bad things on
both sides of the river, but the eastern bank looks the worst. With the
condition of the road, we can get through this valley in about ten minutes,” he
said.

“Cloud
said to stay away from the eastern side?” Brooks asked.

“That’s
correct, we’re going to hit this fork in the road and stay on the approach
running along the west bank until we get out of the city. Brooks, you drive
hard, man; no stopping. If we have to hit them, slow down to under thirty so
you don’t crush the fenders,” Sean said. “Keep your windows down and armor and
gloves on. I don’t want glass getting broken. Remember, controlled shots.
Priority targets are those in front or to the sides, we can outrun the rest. Do
you have any questions?” he finished.

“What
if they mob the road? Are we going to shoot at them?” Hasan asked.

“If
the road is blocked, then Brooks will hit a side street until he is free to
break south again. I’m hoping the weapons fire will draw the crazies to where
we
have
been, instead of where we are going. I realize it’s a risk, but
those things will be moaning anyhow, so going silent won’t help us,” Sean said.
“If there are no more questions, top off all of your magazines and let’s mount
up.”

Brad
didn’t say a word during the brief. He didn’t have a good feeling about this
op. It was clear that the colonel wanted them to move through the city, and the
intel did appear to be solid. Brad just didn’t get the urgency. Why it was so
important for them to get through the valley today? Why couldn’t they wait
until things cooled off more? He moved back to his spot in the rear passenger
side of the Defender, topped off his M4 magazines, and pulled the spares he
kept in his rucksack.