Brad reached in his pack, pulled a bottle of water and took a small sip. He didn’t have a lot and didn’t know how long this would have to last him. He didn’t even want to think about food, knowing all of it was in the vehicle below. He looked at his watch; it was approaching time for the colonel’s call. Brad was pissed at the man and was certain he’d intentionally led them into the dangers of the city. With all of his technology he had to have known the city would be infested.
The phone buzzed. Sean reached over and pressed the speaker button before sitting it on the roof. The men adjusted their positions to gather around it.
“Good afternoon gentlemen. From the satellite images and the location of your phone, I can tell that your travels have not gone well,” Cloud said.
“No disrespect, Colonel, but go fuck yourself!” Sean shouted at the phone.
“Excuse me Chief, but before we get into formalities, could you please give me your status?” Cloud replied.
“Roger that SIR! We are four souls, ammo black, food black, water red, transportation fucked,” Sean said sarcastically.
“I see, and thermals show you are pretty well surrounded. We must have underestimated their numbers. Could you verify that, Chief?”
“Oh yes SIR! We are positively surrounded. Thank you for the help with that by the way.”
“Okay Chief, I need you to calm down and listen. In approximately two hours we will have air assets on station. They will be delivering a large number of two-thousand pound bombs to the city in front of you,” said Cloud. “These drops will be danger close and you will need to take cover as best you can.”
“What the hell! You’re going to blow the shit out of us, Colonel!” Brad exclaimed.
“This is our best and only option. The lab folks tell me the blast and shockwave should kill, or at least temporarily immobilize, any primals in your immediate area,” Cloud said. “As soon as possible after the last bomb detonates, you will need to beat feet, by vehicle is best. Either way, you need to be gone before the primals rebound. Do you understand?”
“Hold up, Colonel, thanks for the help and all, but are you telling me you’re pulling air assets away from the States just for us?” Sean said.
“Don’t flatter yourself, Chief. Unfortunately, we have a high value individual in country that requires your talents, and you are the only ground assets within a thousand miles. We are assisting you, so that you may later assist us. Be prepared for the bomb strike, gentlemen, next contact will be in twelve hours,” Cloud said, disconnecting the call.
“What the fuck was that?” Brooks said.
“Assist them? This guy is tasking us! Doesn’t he realize we’re all messed up and stranded on a roof?” Brad said. “I really hate that guy.”
“Okay fellas, let’s calm down for a minute. All good shit, but let’s worry about that stuff when we’re far gone from here,” Sean said.
Brad stood and walked to the edge of the roof. It was a little more than a thousand yards from the building to the river, and maybe a mile to the road that left the valley. “Where are they going to squeeze two-thousand pound bombs into here? This entire place is danger close!” he said, looking at the surroundings.
They were stuck on a strip of the city about three miles long by half a mile wide. It was tucked in between the mountains and the river, the majority of which was on the far side of the river.
“I don’t know, Brad, but two or three of them would be enough to incinerate this place. I think we need to start making plans for our egress,” Sean answered.
“I shut off the Defender when I left it, so the engine was running after the impact with the building. No guarantees it will start though, and I don’t know if I can back it out,” Brooks added.
“From this location, it is less than four kilometers to the pass. If we make it to the opening, we can head into the mountains. There is a mountain trail that bypasses the highway. I think it best to stay off the roads now,” Hasan said.
“I’m with Hasan, traveling by vehicle is turning out not to be much fun. I know it’s slower but maybe we would be better in the mountains. Even the colonel said they don’t like traveling uphill,” Brad said.
“Okay, let’s wait till the drop before we finalize plans; we have options and that’s enough for now. We need to fortify something and build a bunker with whatever we’ve got. We’ll take cover in the back corner of the roof, face down. As soon as the bomb run ends, be prepared to drop in and clear the building. If we can make use of the Defender we will. If not, we will have sixty seconds to grab bags and haul ass,” Sean said. “Break down, clean, and inventory your gear. I want an accurate count of what you got and what you need from the Defender. If Cloud is on time, we can expect drops in the next sixty minutes.”
Brad leaned back against the wall and slowly started placing his gear on the roof in front of him. He still had all of his M4 and M9 magazines minus the ones he’d had in the seat pocket. The Sigma was still stuffed tightly into his body armor. He was carrying no food, and his camel back was almost dry. It would be a long night if he had to move out on what he was carrying. Brad compared notes and the rest of the team was in similar circumstances. They made a list of necessities they would pull from the Defender in case it was immobile. The list was broken down by location. Brad and Hasan would take the grunt work of pulling and carrying gear from the vehicle. Sean and Brooks would be on security and trying to make the Defender roadworthy.
Brad looked over and saw that Brooks had finished his inventory and was starting to pile the broken pieces of concrete into a shelter against the far corner of the roof wall. Hasan had gotten to his feet and was helping Brooks construct the makeshift bunker.
Brooks, peering through the hole, said it was a clean drop to the floor and he could see the primals in the store were anxious to get at them on the roof. Brad could hear them fighting with each other as rival packs joined together in the cramped space of the store—screaming and clawing, the ripping of clothing and the snapping of jaws—humanity had really been brought to the level of ravenous animals. It had been over forty minutes since the phone call with the colonel, and the primals were still frenzied below them, not giving up easily on their trapped prey.
Brad finally spoke up. “Sean, what do you think of this high value person the colonel talked about?”
“Your guess is as good as mine, but they must be pretty desperate to put us on the mission,” Sean answered. “We are pretty well trashed as it is here. For now, I say we take Cloud’s help, then when we are clear of this mess we will look at our options.”
Brooks was sitting in the corner cleaning his weapon; he looked up and nodded his approval. “I really would like to know who we are dealing with. I have never heard of this Colonel Cloud, and we work in a very small community.”
“I know what you’re saying, Brooks, I’ve had some of the same concerns about him. But for now, all we got is him and his bombs so let’s keep rolling with it,” Sean said.
He was intently studying his map and comparing it to what he saw on the ground in front of him. Brad watched Sean stuff everything in his pack and look at his watch. “Okay boys, less than ten mikes; let’s dig in and wait for the rain,” Sean said.
The men sat huddled in the hastily-made bunker and waited. It had begun to grow quiet as they lay motionless and out of sight of the primals. The sun was still high in the sky and the temperatures still sat close to a hundred degrees. Brad cautiously peeked out over the walls and saw the swarms of primals moving about in tightly packed clusters. Occasionally two groups would merge, but for the most part they stayed independent and fought with each other when the fringes of a group would meet. Brad wondered if the groups had dominant leaders; they would be interesting to study if they weren’t always trying to kill him.
His thoughts were interrupted by the sudden buzzing of the phone. “Chief here,” Sean answered as he put the phone on speaker.
“Roger Chief, this is Thunder Turkey, flight commander for today’s mud mission. This is your brief—you will be getting three total passes: one to mark and draw targets; two with lethal drops. We know where you are based on briefed imagery. Please mark your location with an IR strobe if available. These drops will be danger close. We will try and keep you out of the blast zone and the drops as close to the river as possible, but you know how these things work. Keep your heads down; it’s going to get loud for you. These are two thousand pounders. I recommend you keep your mouth open, breathe shallow, and cover your ears. Gentlemen, do you have any questions?” the voice asked.
“Uhh … I guess not. Just don’t kill us. Strobes are lit,” Sean answered.
“Very well then. Good luck gentlemen, you have four birds less than ten minutes out. I recommend you get moving right after the second lethal drop. From experience, these bombings stun the primals but not for very long. Thunder Turkey out,” said the voice as the call ended.
“Well you heard the man, let’s tighten up,” Sean said.
Brad was pressed against the back wall of the makeshift bunker watching the sky when he saw the first jet screaming in slow and low; it looked like it was floating in the clouds. “Guess there’s no reason for them to make high fast drops on these guys, not like they can shoot back,” he said.
They heard the thunder and watched the jet fly a tight line along the team’s side of the riverbank as it started launching flares and metallic decoys that burned a bright white and made a whistling sound as they flew.
“Never seen those before,” Brad said.
“Me either, but looks like they seem to be doing the whole ‘mark and draw’ trick the pilot talked about,” Brooks replied.
Brad watched as the primals lost focus on the store; they started walking at first, then running toward the noise near the river’s bank. The jet finished its run and peeled away, banking high into the sky. Brad watched as three more jets dropped in slow over the mountain. They were a lot higher but still gave the impression of floating. He watched them line up with the river, then their ordnance began to drop and scream in. Brad tucked his chin and covered his ears; he left nothing but the heels of his boots facing the river.
Brad felt the ground thrust under him as the first bombs hit. The blast wave seemed to levitate him off the surface of the roof. Then the shockwave hit the building with a force that rattled everything and dumped pieces of the makeshift bunker on top of the team’s flattened bodies. The low wall that surrounded the building’s roof held, and helped to somewhat direct the blast up and away from the men. The thunder was horrific, and the dark mushroom clouds blocked out the sun. Brad heard the debris rain down all around him. This wasn’t the first time he had seen a bomb run, but it was the first time he had been this close.
Brad’s teeth were still rattling in his mouth when he heard the scream of the jets lining up for their next run. Again he tucked his chin, covered his ears, and tried to make himself one with the surface of the roof as the next round of bombs hit. Again the roof shook underneath him and the blast wave pounded and heaved at the sides of the building, knocking the air out of him. Brad froze himself in place until he heard the debris stop raining down, then he slowly got to his knee. The air was filled with dark black smoke. Brooks and Sean were already up, rigging a rope to the roof, and preparing to drop into the building.
Brad saw that Hasan was still curled in a ball next to him; he reached out and slapped his hip. Hasan slowly rolled to his back and asked him if it was over. Brad nodded and extended a hand to help Hasan to his feet, then they made their way to the hole’s edge. Brooks had already dropped in and cleared the room.
Sean handed the rope to Brad, who quickly dropped into the hole and watched Sean and Hasan slide down behind him. Sean immediately made his way to the rear of the Defender and took up a security position. Brooks was behind the wheel and eagerly working to start the vehicle.
Brad made his way to the back door and was trying to wedge the gear out of the cargo space when he heard the Defender roar to life. “Everyone on board!” Sean yelled as he squeezed out through the opening and into the street. Brad stopped what he was doing and crawled through the rear window. Once he was in, he reached back and pulled Hasan in behind him. Hasan was visibly rattled from the bomb drops and just sat forward with his rifle between his legs. Sean slapped the back of the truck and yelled that the street was clear. Brooks stomped on the accelerator and the Defender scraped and crunched backwards out of the store front.
Brooks turned the vehicle hard to the right when he cleared the opening and Sean jumped into the seat next to him. Brooks again gunned the vehicle and it roared as it crunched over the broken glass and debris that filled the street. Brad looked out of the cracked windshield between Sean and Brooks. The streets were filled with rubble and the bloodied bodies of the primals. He was horrified to see some of them in broken and twisted positions still trying to lift themselves to take chase. The closer they got to the river, the worse damage they found. The road was barely passable where the concrete surface had heaved and buckled.
“We’re not going to get far in this,” Brooks said. “The engine temp is climbing and I have a Christmas tree of warning lights on the dash.”
“Well, ride her hard as far as it will go,” Sean answered.
“I always do,” Brooks retorted.
He dropped the Defender into four wheel drive and carefully eased the vehicle through the broken and twisted concrete.
“Eyes up back there fellas, I don’t know how long the shock will keep them down,” Sean said.
Brad looked out his window; this close to the river, there wasn’t much of anything resembling a human. All he could see was crushed buildings and garbage. Smoke was still thick in the air and fires were burning everywhere.
This city of primals has been given back to the earth
, he thought. Brooks drove as fast as he dared and soon they had cleared the blast area and the streets started to open up. The flares and decoys must have done their job drawing the primals into the danger zones, because there were still none of them in sight.