Shades of War: A Collection of Four Short Stories (10 page)

              Boom, Boom, Boom.

              The blasts echoed loudly in the cavernous room. The flash from the shots gave the Captain another nightmarish image of what was trying to kill him. It was another version of the same creature. Apparently the shotgun was more than enough to kill these creatures because the entire weight of the creature slumped on top of him as he killed it.

              His time was running out. He knew there were more. But he had no idea how many.
His head lamp!
He was blind without it. He wasted some precious seconds on his hands his knees trying to locate it. There was no light in this dark basement. Nothing. He was alone in the dark with monsters. He was going to die. There was no way he would be able to fend off another attack.

              Desperate he started feeling into pouches on his combat harness. He thought he remembered seeing something in a pocket when he had checked one of the many compartments when he had first inventoried it. Unclipping the buckle, his bulky hands tried to find what he prayed was still there. His fingers found three slim tubes in the pouch. He pulled them out, gripped them between both fists and cracked them. Hydrogen peroxide and phenol combined and all three began to glow. The three glow sticks gave the Captain the light he desperately needed.

              Holding the glow sticks in his fist he got to his feet and held them in his fist and spun around scanning the room. There was nothing. He was sure he had seen more shadows. But now the area seemed more empty and silent than ever. Re-orienting himself he realized he was only a few yards away from what looked like one side of the basement. Moving, he made his way to the wall, sure at any moment he would be hit again.

              On feeling the solid concrete against his back he felt much better. Cursing himself for an idiot the Captain realized he hadn't reloaded his shotgun. He dug into his pocket and reloaded the shotgun. Then with a kick from a boot, he started kicking over cubicles. He wanted to give himself some space so he could see his attackers better when they came. And he knew they would be coming.

              He put two of the chem lights on the ground and looped one through his harness. The combined glow gave him some measure of radiant light. He hoped that it would be enough. Why they hadn't rushed him earlier when he was busy with the other two he had killed? But he was grateful that it had gone that way.

              Shotgun ready, he took a knee to conserve energy. His eyes strained out at the darkness past the light of the glow sticks. Time seemed to slow. After peering into the void for what seem liked hours, he glanced down at his watch. The illuminated hands told him he had only been down here for an hour. To him it had felt like days.

              Then the days ended and the Captain felt his heart drop into his stomach. He finally could see something and he knew he was a dead man. The shadows at the edge of his small lighted area had begun to move. They were not the furtive scampering movements of earlier. These were the slow methodical movement of something closing in for the kill. The problem was not that it was one thing. There were many.

              Oh, my lord there must be at least a hundred.

              He would be able to kill a few of the monsters but then he would be overwhelmed. Then the claws and teeth of the creatures here in this basement would rip him apart and kill him. Well at least he could take a few of them with him. But he was going to die here in this building.

              Then in silence he heard a click, then another and another. Targeting lasers appeared out of the darkness settling on the dozens of creatures that were waiting to tear him apart. Then the God of firepower saved him and Ford gave the officer a command.

              "Captain, get down!"

              The officer threw himself flat. Multiple muzzle flashes lit up the rooms and tracers crisscrossed the bunker as automatic weapons tore into the creatures. Ford had not come alone.

              It was chaos. The creatures scattered and flew in all directions. A few bolted right at the waiting Captain. Lying prone the Captain fired again and again at the monsters that had chosen to attack him instead of running. He wasn't really sure what was happening with Ford or the men he had brought with him. All he could do was huddle with his glow sticks, wait and kill anything that got close to him.

              He could here yelling and screaming over the din as Fords men communicated during the fight. He knew the terminology weapons were reloaded and men moved closer to where the Captain was huddled, but never once did the amount of fire coming out from the group ever let up. They came out of the darkness looking like the gods of firepower that they were. Five men plus Ford weapons ready targeting lasers on and Night Vision Goggles on.

              The Captain had at least a dozen bodies of creatures piled up around him as he rose to greet Ford. But Ford spoke first.

              "Is this what you were talking about, sir?"

              "Yes."

              "Shit. I think there's still more we better get out of here."

              "How many times have your guys saved me?" asked the Captain.

              Ford smiled. "I don't know, but I'm beginning to detect a pattern."

              One of the other soldiers spoke.

              "These are some, Lord of the Ring, looking mother fuckers."

              "Shut the fuck up, O'Niel."

              "Just saying, sarge, they look like Gollum on steroids."

              That brought a chuckle from a couple of other of the soldiers including the Captain. But Ford was confused.

              "What? I don't get it."

              "Don't worry, you'd have to be a geek to get it. I'll explain it later upstairs."

              "Damn, right! Let's get out of here."

              Moving with group the officer moved to the stairwell, then as fast they could the exited the basement.

Chapter VIII

              A day had passed since the firefight in the basement. The heavy basement door had been locked and bolted. Not taking anything for granted, Ford had assigned a rotating guard to keep an eye on that door. Ford as usual had put everything in perspective when he had told his men about the creatures in the basement.

              "I don't give a damn about a rings, wizards or elves but I sure as hell don't want some monsters sneaking up from behind us."

              The basement had had one positive side effect. The entire platoon now knew why they were holding the building. And knowing that the monsters were for real, the survivors were even more determined to hold the building. It was a slim hope. They were betting on being alive if and when Jones returned with help.

              Sadly at this point the platoon was at half strength. O'Neil, who had coined the Lord of the Rings reference, was dead. Murphy was gone too. And so were a half dozen others. Everyone had some kind of wound. Up on the second floor, the Captain knew three men were dying. It was only a matter of time. There was no medevac. There were no doctors. The wounds those men had were too grievous. Knowing they were dying, the men had refused to be moved from their windows they were guarding.

              They would die at their posts with their platoon.

              Ford and the Captain were holding another conference. Ford began as usual.

              "How's the ammo upstairs?"

              "Thin, about sixty rounds per person."

              "Shit."

              "Yeah it was the basement firefight. You guys tore through a lot getting me out of there," lamented the Captain.

              "Oh, well. We could of just left you down there."

              "No, no. I'm glad you came."

              "That's what I thought. So what do you think?" queried Ford.

              "I want to try and sneak another guy out tonight."

              "Really? Why?"

              "I think we're fucked. I've compiled rough notes of what I've had time to read out of the files upstairs. I want to sneak a guy out with them."

              "Yeah we're cooked, but in all honesty we're all so beat up I don't know if any of us could make. I think we're done." Ford sounded resigned.

              "I still think it was worth it,“ commented the Captain.

              "No, sir. You were right. Even if this fails, it was the right decision. If our guys are holding to the south, they needed to know about this."

              The conversation was interrupted as both men were knocked flat, and the world around the building began to explode.

              Ford recovered first, yelling, "What the hell?"

              "Damn artillery."

              "I know its artillery, but why now? They should have used it days earlier."

              The two men sat huddled against the wall as explosion after explosion rocked the building. So far the building had not suffered a hit.

              "Well at least they suck."

              "Right."

              The Captain found it odd that he was holding a conversation in between explosions while waiting to see if the next impact was a hit that would kill him and Ford.

              The bombardment lasted for over a half an hour. Shell after shell hit everywhere but the building where the platoon lay huddled. And then it was over. Ears ringing from explosions Ford and the Captain suddenly came to the same conclusion and looked at each other.

              "You think?" the captain asked hopefully.

              "We'll see. It might be. Not even the slanties are that bad of shots. If it was the slanties, they'll try to attack again. Let's go get the guys ready for another attack."

              Ford and the Captain moved around the building trying getting the men ready for another attack. It was an attack that never came.

              It was Hughes that saw it first from the third floor.

              "Sergeant, Captain, you both better get up here," he yelled.

              Ford and the officer scrambled up to third floor window and Hughes pointed out the window. Walking up the street like he was going for a leisurely stroll was a man wearing a US uniform.

              "Let me look." Ford grabbed Hughes sniper rifle and looked down the scope at the man coming up the street.

              "I'll be damned," he whispered. He handed the scope to the Captain.

              "Take a look, is that who I think it is?"

              The Captain held the scope to his eye.

              "Holy shit, he survived. I didn't think he would have."

              Ford was not as impressed.

              "Well, he won't for much longer if he just walks around like that."

              "Well, let's go get his ass in here."

              The men bounded down the steps to the first floor. Hurriedly they removed the barricade from the main door. Crouching in by the door, Ford screamed at the man on the street.

              "Hey, over here! Hurry, get your ass in here."

              The man saw Ford and the Captain, waved a hand, but did not pick up his pace. Ford couldn't believe the audacity of the man.

              "I can't believe you talked to him like that," murmured the Captain.

              "I don't care who he is. Stupid is stupid."

              Ford was sure that any moment the Koreans would shoot him down. But no enemy fire came. The man casually walked up the steps and stood before a crouching Captain and Ford. Not knowing what else to do the Captain got to his feet and saluted. Ford followed suit.

              The man returned the salute and spoke.

              "Gentleman, I hope what you have in here is worth it. We came a long way risking a lot of men."

              Tiredly the Captain spoke.

              "It is, General. It's all worth it. But can we please get inside."

              Ford was not to be dissuaded, general or not.

              "Where the hell is everyone? And I why are you walking up the road alone? You're going to get your ass killed. “

              The General smiled.

              "Don't worry about that. My scouts have assured me the town is empty. The rest of the Battalion I brought up from the South are about thirty minutes behind. I wanted to get here as fast as I could. So I came up with the scouts."

              The Captain was still confused along with Ford.

              "What scouts?"

              But Ford had another question. He was worried about his man.

              "Did Jones make it? Is that how you found out about us?"

              The general's face grew tight.