The Bloodless (26 page)

              “Not at this moment, but if anything else arises in the moment I will let you know.”

              “Very well.”

              We stopped off at my shack where my crew was assembled. The newcomers had set off to town to find a spot to rest and wait and I had some last minute things to say to my guys. ”Ok,” I started, everyone’s eyes on me, “let’s try and have a repeat of last time, as far as the no casualties goes. I am certain that this one doesn’t house experimental labs with genetically modified beings waiting to kill us in it. Should just be a regular power station. Stay vigilant though, that’s not an excuse to get lazy. Now, you may have noticed a small change in the lineup for this run. Blink here is going to take Pillar’s place who was all too willing to give it up on such short notice. However, this may turn out to be a good thing as he actually gives us a huge tactical advantage.”

              “Yeah,” Burns said, “how huge?”

              “Enormous. Once inside we should be able to shut down the station in about half the time it usually takes. Also, he should give us a pretty good idea of our surroundings going into the station, so there shouldn’t be any surprise there. We just have to hope we don’t do anything to set off any alarms because this time it might not work out as well.”

              “Why not?” asked Crowder.

              “Well, since we’re getting closer, Bloodless numbers are going to increase, significantly and in direct relation to our proximity to the main compound.”

              “So you’re saying if we fuck up now,” Saturn said, biting on one of her bullets, “it’ll be huger than before?”

              “Hugest yet,” I responded. “So let’s not fuck up, yeah? Burns, you got anything?”

              “Not this time boss. Ya’ll know the drill. We all comin’ back, or none of us is comin’ back.” Burns looked around at the group for a moment and then added, “That goes for this group. That don’t mean I want the others dead, but we in this with us, not them. That’s the reality of it all.” Everyone nodded solemnly then packed their gear up.

              We set out just after dusk as this was the security drones’ least active time of the day. Each walk had started to become longer and longer. Fox and I discussed the possibility of setting up an alternative forward operations base, but we hadn’t found anything worth exploring at that point. Setting up any kind of permanent or even short term residence that close to the main compound was a risky move due to the constantly patrolling Bloodless. However, with another three substations to go, we were running out of options.

              Normally we would walk in small groups to our destination but since it was so far this time, we walked as one. This strategy didn’t give us much long range vision but it turned out we didn’t need it for this trip. It was well into the night when we arrived at the same warehouse Pillar and Crowder were attacked and met Natalia’s mercenary group. We decided to stop there for a bit of a rest and some last minute planning.

              I sat my pack down and stood my rifle next to it. I was just getting ready to go and talk with Fox when I saw Crowder walking my way. “Daniel,” he said as he approached, “what do you think about using this place as a rendezvous point in case we are forced to retreat for any reason?”

              “Seems like a pretty good idea,” I responded. “Are you expecting a need to retreat, Crowder?”

              “Not sure,” he said.

              “Not sure? Something on your mind man?”

              “Nah. Well, not so much my mind. I just have a weird feeling about this one,” he said and he definitely had an uneasy look on his face. I didn’t respond, I just let him continue, which he did after a moment of silence between us. “It’s just, when we put those sensors around the station, all those drones kept flying exactly where we were placing those things. Do you think they know we were there, that those things are there?”

              I could detect a slight sense of panic or reluctance in his voice, “It’s hard to say but I don’t think you set off any alarms, judging by the fact you made it back from the station without being openly attacked.” It was a tough job trying to assuage Crowder’s fears. He’s an instinctual guy and words don’t usually change instincts. Luckily for me Fox just happened to walk over at that point “Good,” I said to him, “Crowder here is worried about your Phazers. He’s afraid the drones that fly around this station will be able to detect them.”

              Fox looked at Crowder knowingly, “I can understand that. You placed them out in the open, yes?” Crowder nodded. “Good job, just like I asked. However, you have no need to worry Crowder, those devices are completely undetectable to the drones in that area.”

              Of course Crowder still didn’t look reassured. “Okay, let’s call this rendezvous point Alpha. It can be our fall back point.” This seemed to ease his worries, if only slightly. I announced it to the rest of the group and they unanimously agreed. The only problem was that, once we set off again, suddenly a sense of reluctance began to creep up inside me. Not my usual sense, mind you, but a different, somewhat foreign feeling. I assumed it was due to Crowder freaking out and put it to the back of my mind.

              The walk wasn’t too long from that warehouse and we weren’t slowed down by Pillar’s need to test her gun every thirty minutes. We made good time. Once my waypoint guide began to beep at me, which let me know we were within sight of the station, I pulled everyone off the road and gave them their final assignments. Fox did a quick check-in with the Phazers to make sure they were still online and once we got the go ahead from him, we all struck out on our different paths after allowing a small Bloodless patrol to pass by our location.

              “Seems like this whole stinking thing is working,” I said to Burns as we made to leave.

              “Yeah,” he said, his eyes screwed up from the smell, “still don’t make me like it any.” I laughed and nodded at Buggs as he walked away on his own.

              We went in similar groupings as last time with the only difference being that Crowder went with Burns and Blink went with me. It was interesting because Crowder seemed a little let down when I paired him with Burns, not sure why as he definitely had it easier than we did. Going inside the station was always the most dangerous part of the whole thing. But he accepted his role since he is a team player and went with Burns. They were to watch the service road to make sure no patrols made it through.

              Once we had all reached our staging points we began to prepare diligently. The next part was crucial and had to be timed perfectly, to the millisecond. Blink and I had to wait about a half mile from the entrance of the south sector and wait for Fox’s signal. It was up to him to disable the security drones as we made our way to the entrance because the Phazers didn’t take them out permanently, that would set off other alarms.

              “Okay,” I whispered into my communicator, “is everyone in place and ready?” I heard four affirmatives and then waited for an all clear from Fox. Before Fox gave it, I gave Blink the signal to switch over to the new settings and after a few moments, it appeared as though he did, and then shortly after that Fox came over the communicators with the go ahead. With that, we were off and moving quickly. Blink scanning the surrounding area constantly as he moved in a very precise manner, Fox’s calm and unwavering voice guiding us the entire way.

              There were no close calls with Fox guiding us as we made sure to do exactly as he said, exactly when he said it, and soon we found ourselves standing outside the service entrance of the southernmost branch of the station.

              The door was sunken far into the wall as this corridor held a few special rooms for employees, mostly break and restrooms. I reached out for the handle to open it but before I could, Fox whispered loudly over the communicators, “No, don’t touch it! I still have to disable the building’s security.”

              A few more moments passed and everything around us suddenly became quieter, as if something had powered down. “The system must be down,” I said to Blink. I tentatively reached out a shaky hand and when I wasn’t stopped I grasped the handle and turned it. It opened easily and smoothly. We were in.

              The inside of this sector was dark. Dim emergency lights lined the corridor but didn’t help much as they only lit the immediate vicinity about them. This left large pockets of shadows that ran all the way down the hall so that I wasn’t able to see the end of it even though it was a relatively short distance. I looked to Blink at this point. “All clear,” he said calmly.

              “How’d the scan coming in look?”

              “Nothing unusual per your reports and thorough knowledge of existing patrol units. No additional groups were detected.”

              “How ‘bout in here?”

              “I detect only two heart beats currently within this facility.” I turned quickly to him. “They are ours,” he added, easing my fears.

              “Ok,” I breathed, “lead the way to the main control room.”

              And Blink did just that. He nodded and promptly headed north down the corridor. I looked back and forth and a few doors that we passed, always on the alert for anything suspicious. After the last station I always assumed there would be more like it, so I paid closer attention to everything. However, it was just as I suspected going in and as I remembered. The rooms were nothing more than break rooms. My uneasiness faded steadily as we made our way down the hall and soon we were at the door that lead to the main sector. We met nothing through the door and soon found ourselves in the control room.

              Once in there it didn’t take very long to do the shutting down and in no time we were getting ready to leave the station. It went so according to plan that it felt unnatural, almost too easy. I wish it was. “Okay,” I said confidently into my communicator, “that’s it. Let’s get out of here.”

              “Uh,” came Crowder’s faltering voice and that fleeting moment of triumph quickly excused itself from my body. “We’ve got issues out here Daniel.”

              “What kind of issues?” I asked hoping they maybe just forgot extra ammo.

              “Major issues,” Burns responded. “Something big is going down and coming this way.” And in the background I heard several successive explosions that didn’t sound too far from their location.

              “Hang tight guys, stay outta sight we’re coming out.” I said and motioned for Blink to run. We hurried out of the station as fast as we could but once outside I immediately wished we could’ve stayed inside. It was just like exiting the previous station, except on a much larger scale. Ten times larger. A full blown war was being waged before our eyes. I had no idea what could have started it, I thought we had been so careful. “Someone give me some information,” I yelled over the communicator.

              Fox was the first to respond, “Those idiots!”

              I was surprised to hear the anger in his voice. “What happened?” I asked.

              “It’s Brantley’s squad! They decided not to wait after all!”

              At that point it sounded as though Fox has entered the fray. Screams and gun shots could be easily heard on his end. “Okay,” I shouted, “we’re coming to you!”

              “Don’t! This fight was over before it began!”

              “How many are dead?” Fox didn’t respond right away. “Fox,” I shouted into my communicator again, “what’s the count?”

*****

              We were all gathered at the warehouse again, none of us hurt but Fox had some blood on his features as he had briefly entered the battle. This area that housed the warehouse wasn’t completely developed, in fact, for the area, it was very underdeveloped. The construction crews cleared out everything to the sides and around the warehouse and its land, but behind it was untouched wilderness.

              We found ourselves gathered around a smoking hut off to the side of the building in the parking lot that was still littered with the bodies of wasted Bloodless. “So. Brantley’s crew, they’re all dead,” I said to Fox.

              “Every last one.”

              “What about Natalia’s crew?” I asked, glancing at Blink.

              “It is hard to say, the carnage was awesome. I could not see specifically who was who. It was nothing like I have ever seen before and that’s saying something.” I wasn’t sure what that meant exactly but knowing Fox I am sure he had seen some shit in his time.

              “So what do we do, Daniel?” Saturn asked, fear hiding behind her eyes. She obviously was hoping we would just go home, an idea that didn’t seem too bad at the time.

              “I don’t know,” I said distantly, “I don’t know.”

              “We have to go back man,” Burns said fervently, “can’t just leave ‘em like that. We have to help.”

              “Hey,” I gave Burns a stern look, “we did what we came here to do and we made it out alive! Let’s not go fucking that up because those assholes decided to go out on their own!”

              “Please be advised,” Blink suddenly said, “enemy units are imminent on this location. ETA is ten minutes.”

              “Well that settles it,” I said quickly, “we’re falling back to HQ.”