AB (The Blake Reynolds Chronicles Book 1) (19 page)

As soldiers and Marines from inside
and around Camp Pendleton arrived, the commander was replaced by the ranking officer
at Pacific Command. It was anticipated that in the next twenty-four hours there
would be 15,000 Marines that had been spared from the infections at the base.

The larger command center had been
established by mid-morning, and a status briefing was scheduled. Blake joined all
the officers who had arrived, and the general called the meeting to order.

“As you all are aware, we have been
ordered to come up with a plan to attack the enemy with overwhelming force,
retrieve the nukes, and destroy any communication devices or hardware that we find.
We believe that the
ABs
are trying to send a message to God knows where. We have
been ordered to succeed at all costs. Even as we speak, an attack plan is being
created where we will hit them hard from all sides. More details will come
later today.”

Everyone in the room had battle-hardened
looks on their faces as they listened.

“Major Campbell, I want to put you
in charge of organizing the civilians. They will be our second line of attack
and reinforce our lines if needed. Take everyone who can carry a knife or club
over the age of sixteen who isn’t caring for children. Hopefully they won’t be
needed.”

“Yes sir,” Major Campbell replied.

“Captain Reynolds, I am giving you
the second battalion fifth Marines. I want you to be the spearhead of the
attack. I understand the rest of your men should be here by early afternoon.

“Now for some disturbing
intelligence we received last night… The enemy has continually attacked us in
small bands since this started. However, late last night, all hostilities
stopped. Not only in our area, but all up and down southern California. Some of
our perimeter patrols have reported that the
ABs
seem to
be falling back in the direction of the communications building area by the
church. At this point, we don’t know how many are there or are heading that
way, but we must plan for the worst. I’m inclined to try to intercept them, but
with our short time window, we will stick to our plans to launch our attack in
the morning.

“Also, if it isn’t unfortunate
enough to get information that all the
ABs
in our area are gathering in a central location south of
here, it appears that the
ABs
from the San Diego area are also moving north towards us to
join the other infected group. I’m getting preliminary reports from as far away
as Orange County that all the ABs in that region are heading south.”

All the men and women in the room tensed
up and breathed deeply.

“We are anticipating that, by the
time we launch our attack tomorrow, we could be facing a force of over 300,000.
Prepare the best you can, and we will meet again in four hours for an update.”

By noon, Lord Dameon called a
council of his leaders to report their status on their projects. The lead
scientist reported first. “The part we have been waiting for just arrived and is
being installed even as we speak. After a few calibrations the transmitter
should be ready by tomorrow noon, just in time for the massive celebration.”

Lord Dameon smiled when he heard
that news. Next to the stand was the commander of the scouting patrols. “There
seemed to be a lot of activity at the enemy base northeast of us, but other
than several small patrols, the enemy was heeding their warning and staying
away.”

The next person to speak was the
commander in charge of placing, feeding, and arming the brothers and sisters
who gathered for the celebrations. “As each person arrives, they are assigned a
certain area to guard until the celebration begins. It is fortunate that it won’t
be long until the celebration because we will have a problem getting food and
water to them. The unclean meat is starting to run out and getting harder to
find.”

Lord Dameon placed his hand on his commander’s
shoulder. “Don’t worry, Brothers. After the message is sent, the creators will
provide for us.”

The commander bowed his head and
stepped back.

Lord Dameon continued, “Brothers and Sisters, tomorrow will
be a glorious day. Continue with the preparations.”

It was late in
the evening when Blake entered his tent. Tara cleaned her gun and greeted him
with a hard look.

“How’s the
battle planning going?”

“They’re going well,
but we don’t have nearly enough manpower for a guaranteed victory.”

Tara continued
to wipe her gun.

“So, Tara, why
are you still up cleaning your gun?”

“I have been
given my orders.”

“Orders! What
the hell are you talking about?”

“Listen, Blake.
They need every person who can carry a gun for the attack tomorrow. I most
certainly can carry a gun, and if we don’t win, what does the future hold for
our children?”

“What about
Kaya and the baby?”

“Sue will watch
Kaya, and as far as the baby goes, it won’t affect my fighting. It just makes
me crankier,” she replied with a slight grin.

Blake wanted to
protest even more, but he knew she was right. He let out some muffled grunt as
he sat down on the cot in defeat. “Fine. The preliminary attack meeting is at
0500 hours. Finish cleaning your gun so we can get some sleep.”

As Blake lay in
bed, he tossed every few minutes. The coming events raced through his mind. He
could tell that Tara wasn’t sleeping much either.

When 0500
rolled around, Blake and Tara were wide awake. Tara was cuddling Blake closely.

They stepped
out of bed, and Blake pulled on his uniform. He softly kissed Kaya on the cheek.
Tara looked at him with both love and fear in her eyes. He gave her a tight hug
and headed for the door.

As he zipped
the flap to the tent, Blake quickly turned and pointed his finger at Tara.
“Don’t take any unnecessary risks! You hear me?”

“Just don’t
make me come and save you,” Tara replied with a smile.

The general
walked into the large tent that now served as the command center for the whole
operation. All the commanders had gathered and were awaiting their final
orders.

The general
stepped up on the small platform at the front of the tent. “Soldiers, the
attack will start at 0730 just as the sun comes over the horizon. The Navy has
managed to gather 15,000 sailors on short notice. They are currently amassing
forces on the beach near the pier in San Clemente.”

The general
then pointed at Blake. “Major Reynolds and his 10,000 soldiers will attack from
the north, where they are currently stationed. Major Barton will command the
last battalion that will attack from the east.

“There are even
a couple thousand soldiers and civilians coming from the south. They weren’t
able to provide as many soldiers due to the heavy fighting they have been in
for the last couple weeks. However, due to the enemy withdrawing to the north,
they were able to join the fight.

“Just in case
they are needed, the civilian forces have reached about 10,000, most of whom are
already in this camp. They will only be called in as a backup because they were
armed extremely lightly with hunting rifles, handguns, swords, knives, and
anything that could be used as a club. Most have never seen combat.”

Blake silently
prayed that they wouldn’t be needed. His thoughts were on Tara and his unborn
child.

The commanding general
laid out the simple battle plan. “The attack plan will resemble the old-fashioned
game of ‘steal the flag.’ Each group will fight their way straight to the
communication building, seize the control center, track down the nuke, and make
sure it isn’t triggered using any force necessary.

The briefing
took almost an hour to wrap up, and the general was about to dismiss the
leaders when he pulled out an object in a box that was next to him. It looked
like a small, cylindrical canister about twelve inches tall. The general placed
it in the center of the table.

“We also have
an ace up our sleeve. Overnight, I received a delivery of an experimental
biological explosive. It has been described to me as some kind of neutralizing
agent for the ABs. When detonated, it releases something in the air that is
supposed to kill the ABs. Luckily, it isn’t supposed to affect us.”

One of the
commanders in the front row raised his hand. “Sir, why don’t we just explode
the device, march inside, and shut down the communication device?”

“Two reasons,” the
general began as he placed his hand on the device. “First, it is only supposed
to have an effective radius of a few miles. Second, it hasn’t even been tested
on a small scale yet. Shit, to be honest, we don’t know if this thing will
work. So it should only be used as a last resort.”

“Major Reynolds,
I would like your group to be in charge of the device. Elements of your
division will most likely be the first to reach the center, and once there, you
can set off the device if needed.”

“Yes sir. You
can count on us,” Blake said.

“Gentlemen, I
don’t need to let you know that failure here is not an option. I will be
leading the charge from the east. When you hear the shooting begin, come with
guns blazing. We attack in one hour. Dismissed.”

By 0700, Blake
and his soldiers made their way south, trying to stay covered as much as
possible. They had been given orders to shoot any ABs they found. One of
Blake’s privates was ordered to shadow him at all times as well as carry the
biological explosive device.

As they headed
south Blake was surprised that they hadn’t seen any ABs yet. This worried him because
they had encountered them in this area on previous patrols. As they walked within
a mile of the target, they crept over the crest of a small hill.

What Blake saw
at the top of the hill made his blood turn cold. All he could see for miles in
every direction were tens of thousands of ABs. Blake figured there had to be
close to half a million surrounding the target. Blake called for the closest
radio man.

“Command, this
is Major Reynolds. I don’t know if it has been reported yet, but it appears
that nearly every damn AB on the entire west coast is surrounding the target. It
looks like there could be over half a million from what I can see. Over.”

As Blake let go
of the button on the radio, similar reports flooded in from the other groups.

The general got
on the radio and started telling the commanders that this didn’t change a thing.
It just made the job a little more challenging.

As Blake waited
for the final order to attack, he scouted the route ahead for his battalion
with his binoculars. Suddenly, he noticed a large white flag to his left on the
end of a pole. It was being carried by a tall, thin woman in a white dress. She
walked toward the front lines and stopped.

Blake saw the
soldiers in front of her raise their weapons towards her. There was some kind
of conversation going on with the lead soldier. It wasn’t long before he turned
and ran back through the ranks of the soldiers back to the general’s area.

The general got
on the radio. “I have been requested by the leader of the ABs to meet him
halfway across the road to discuss a way out of this conflict. I don’t believe
there is a solution, but if there is a chance to save lives, I’ll meet with him.
I will have an open microphone at all times so everyone can hear what happens. Stand
by.”

Through Blake’s
binoculars, he could see a man in a white suit accompanied by two large men on
each sidewalk across the road. The general and two of his staffers approached
from the other side. Blake heard the general’s microphone come on as the two
men approached each other.

The AB’s leader
was the first to reach out his hand. “My name is Lord Dameon. Whom do I have
the pleasure of speaking with?”

Blake could see
the general begrudgingly take the enemy's hand. “My name is General Bates. Why
have you called this meeting?”

“General, I am
not a man of war. I only desire to live peacefully with my people and await our
creators’ arrival. There is no need for war and bloodshed today. Instead, we
invite you to join in our celebration, for today we send our message to the
creators. You shall see them make this a planet a place of peace where all men
are equal, no rich or poor. No bond, only freedom. What do you say? Will you
join us?”

Blake had a
hard time believing what he was hearing over the radio.

 
“Lord Dameon, I am a man of peace also and
only choose war when it is necessary. If you will turn over the two nuclear
bombs that I know you have and let my men into your building to shut down the transmitter,
then we can talk peace.”

“General, you
know I can’t do that. Our sheer existence is driven to communicate with our
creators. This very day, we shall send word that we are here, and they will
come and show you the way. You shall see.”

“I guess we are
at an impasse then. I am truly sorry for both our sakes.”

The general and
his two aides started backing towards their lines. Lord Dameon put his hand
behind his back and pulled out a large handgun.

What Blake saw
with his binoculars and over the radio seemed to happen in slow motion, and he
was powerless to stop it. Before anyone could respond, Lord Dameon leveled the
pistol at the general's head. His two aides tried to throw themselves in front
of him, but they were too slow. The bullet entered the lower left cheek of the
general, spinning his body all the way around before he hit the ground.

The two aides
returned fire, but the ABs accompanying Lord Dameon jumped in front of him and shielded
his body from the onslaught of bullets. Within seconds, the general’s front
line opened fire. Lord Dameon disappeared into the crowd before he could be killed
or injured.

Blake dropped
the binoculars and knew that was an unspecified signal. It was time for the
battle to begin. The soldiers all around the perimeter opened fire as wave
after wave of ABs surged forward toward their lines. The bodies of the ABs piled
up quickly, and few if any actually made it to the front line of the soldiers. In
return, the ABs returned fire with a few military-style guns, but most was
light arms fire. Most of which was easily absorbed with their protective combat
gear.

The smell of
gunpowder smoke filled the air along with the screams of the wounded and dying ABs.
After about ten minutes of continuous fire Blake started to worry that they
would run out of ammunition. Blake sent runners to give orders to go off of
auto and make every shot count.

The bodies of
the ABs piled up, but still they charged over their fallen comrades. Occasionally,
a soldier would fall, but not many.

It wasn’t long
before Blake could hear the sound of clicks as rifle magazines emptied. On the
radio and up and down the lines, Blake could hear soldiers yelling, “Last clip!”
and, “Does anyone have any more ammunition?”

Blake scanned
the enemy in front of them. It appeared that half of the ABs were dead or
dying. His soldiers were taking a few casualties because occasionally a lucky
shot would come from the enemy’s side.

The last report
Blake had received from his lieutenants was that there were less than one
hundred dead or wounded of the soldiers under his command. At this point he
felt pretty damn lucky.

From the
reports on the radio, it sounded like the Navy on the west and the Marines on
the east were not faring as well. The wave of ABs that hit them caused them to
shoot their ammunition more rapidly, and they were fighting hand-to-hand and losing
soldiers quickly.

As the lines
started to thin on the east, what Blake heard over the radio next sent a chill
down his spine. The civilian reinforcements were being sent in. For a moment,
all he could think of was Tara and the baby. But as the enemy started to reach
his front line, the battle pushed Tara to the back of his mind.

Blake could see
the enemy in front of their lines were spread very thin and he noticed there
was a chance to get to the center of the ABs’ mass and advance to the command
center.

After Blake
fired his last round from his rifle, he drew his handgun. He chose three of his
patrol leaders to follow him with their patrols. He gave orders to the others
to hold the line or advance forward. If they found a way through the lines, they
should start the search for the nukes.