The Red Phoenix 12: Strength Comes in Numbers (47 page)

“One? What are you guys doing?” asked Chris.

“C’mon you guys!” Kerry cried.

“Go! I’ll draw their fire!” One hollered.

Chris was scared but knew it was the only way for them to escape as the helicopters drew closer.

“We’ll be just inside the trees! Hurry!” said Chris as he and Kerry ran for the jungle.

***

In the helicopter, the gunman locked and loaded his large caliber machine gun.

“Looks like we got some hostiles down there,” said the pilot.

“There are four of them,” said the co-pilot.

“Yeah, yeah I see them,” said the gunman. Well, well, it looks like they want to play, boys,” said the gunman into his headset, adjusting his sunglasses.

“Brave little bastards, I’ll give them that,” said the pilot.

“I’ll say. They’re hardly taking any cover down there,” the co-pilot added.

“Did you ever read the Old Testament story of David and Goliath?” asked the gunman, laughing.

“Negative,” the pilot replied.

“David stood with a slingshot in front of a mighty giant with a sword,” the gunman responded. “Except this time, David turns into a blood splatter all over the rubble down there,” he added laughing with the pilots. Batter up!”

“Focus on the pilots, clones,” said Kirk One, holding up his AR-15 for a careful, steady aim, exhaling.

The helicopter gunman began firing, raining a hell storm of large bullets down on the wreckage, putting holes in partial walls, sheetrock, layers of concrete and asphalt, trailing a row of shots, leading up to Kirks One, Four, Seven and Nine.

“Fire!” hollered Kirk, taking two shots at the same time as Four, Seven and Nine.

Each of their shots shattered through the windshields of the three helicopters, hitting the pilots and co-pilots, causing the helicopters to swerve. One of them jerked to the right, another to the left, causing them to collide into each other, breaking their propellers off and multiple panels off the sides. The third one moved upwards as the pilot and co-pilot’s bodies slumped over the controls, causing the gunman to fall from his seated position. The falling gunman waved his arms and legs through the air, screaming, until he landed on the remains of the destroyed building, ending him.

Kirk and the clones rushed towards the trees as the three helicopters came down, hitting the surface in the background, ricocheting over layers of concrete, striking against demolished cement structures until they exploded into fireballs, sending the front end, fin, propellers, and panels of the body into the air and against the massive piles of asphalt and concrete walls.

Chris watched, astounded, from inside the first thicket of trees as Kirks One, Four, Seven and Nine crawled under the thorny branches, moving them out of their way until they reached the clearing. They stood, regrouping with Chris and the others.

“That was the most amazing shooting I’ve ever seen,” said Chris.

“All because of your training,” Kirk One replied.

“I don’t recall teaching you guys to shoot at helicopter pilots fifty yards away that are at an elevated position,” Chris stated.

“It was easy, really,” said Kirk Four.

“What are you saying? You could make that shot every time?” asked Chris.

“I don’t see why not,” Kirk Seven replied.

“Yeah, me too,” Kirk Nine added.

Chris looked at his clones, turning around, amazed.

“You’re making that look again, Chris,” Kerry stated.

“I’m just astonished at their abilities,” Chris responded.

“Hmnph,” Siddoway grunted, refusing to be impressed.

“Well, Alex, here we are in the jungle,” said Chris, climbing up on the boulders, noticing the enormous hollow log opening, hearing the sounds of unseen animals in the area. “Now what?”

“We head through this cave-sized log and go as far as we can,” Siddoway replied. “It should get us at least a couple of miles through the trees.”

Chris stared at the log’s opening, troubled by its wide, tunnel-like appearance.

“You’re serious about going in there?” he asked.

Kirks One and Three shined their lights into the entrance.

“Trust me, the wildlife out here doesn’t care for people too much,” Siddoway responded.

Chris stared at him with doubt.

“You’re going to have to trust me,” Siddoway stated.

“Okay guys, whoever has weapons with lights, we’re in the lead,” One stated.

Chris leaped down to the entrance of the log opening.  Kirks Six, Nine and Ten turned on their mounted lights, following One as they led the group into the strange, hollow tunnel. Chris noticed there were razor-sharp spikes, four-inches in length, protruding from the sides and rounded-top of the tunnel as far down as they could see.
What the hell kind of cave-log tunnel is this?
he wondered.

***

Braddock jogged from the southeast point of entry then climbed into a military helicopter. The medics on board pulled off more of the web off his back and on his sides and dabbed his facial injuries that were bleeding with gauze pads.

“Hold that on your forehead, sir,” said a medic.

“Ready to head to base, Commander?” asked the pilot.

“How many birds went down?” asked Braddock.

“Three sir,” the pilot answered, angry.

“Go over the trees where Michaels and Siddoway entered, on our way back to North Base,” Braddock answered.

“You got it,” the pilot replied, lifting off the ground.

***

Chris, Siddoway and the clones made their way down the hollow log. They were a half mile in. Chris looked down the tunnel as a feeling of anxiety came over him. He began to perspire on the back of his neck and down his spine. He closed his eyes and resorted to his breathing techniques, exhaling in a quiet tone. He struggled with flashbacks of
members in his platoon being tied up, lying on the ground, screaming as Iraqi soldiers went to decapitate them with a combat knife
. His breathing picked up speed as fear began to take hold of him. Another flashback came in.
After a few members of his platoon were beheaded, an explosion occurred, killing the Iraqis and allowing Chris and those who were still alive to escape
.

“Chris? You’re sweating again. Is the tunnel bothering you?” asked Kerry.

“I’m fine,” he replied, catching his breath. “Just fighting off some thoughts.”

“I think I’d rather be in the sewer tunnels than in here,” said Kerry.

“Really, even with the serpent creatures?” asked Chris, smiling.

“It’s just that it looks like there are eyeballs and teeth or something on the walls in here,” Kerry replied. “It’s like were being watched.”

Chris shined his light along the walls of the tunnel as they continued. He noticed there were round, eye-like things with pupils on the walls the size of a quarter that seemed to move with them as they headed up the tunnel.

“That is weird,” he said, watching the spikes along the walls and at the top of the passage.

He noticed a subtle wave of movement ripple across the top like the inner walls could sense their weight walking on the floor, causing vibrations. Chris noticed his footing seemed to become softer as the seconds went on.

“Alex?” he asked.

“Yeah.”

“You told me that you didn’t see the end of this tunnel-thing, right?”

“That is correct,” Siddoway answered. “Why?”

“My concern is we really don’t know where this is taking us,” Chris replied. “And the footing is getting softer in here. It’s feeling more organic the further we go.”

A gust of air blew at them from up ahead and blew against them, blowing through Kerry’s hair with a foul stench. All of them stopped as the tunnel softly shook.

“Ah, that smelled horrible,” Kerry moaned, covering her nose and mouth like she was about to vomit.

“Okay guys, I think it’s time we back up,” said Chris.

“What? There could be soldiers waiting for us back there,” said Siddoway.

“I don’t feel good about going any further,” Chris insisted.

“I told you what the rest of the jungle is like, Chris,” Siddoway stated.

“I know you did,” Chris replied. “Number Four? Hand me the blow torch.”

Chris held on to the gas cylinder as he aimed the flame nozzle at the wall.

“What are you doing?” asked Siddoway.

“Just going to test something,” Chris answered.

He pulled the trigger, casting a spray of fire against the wall. The tunnel shook, causing everyone to stagger, followed by a noise like a large beast was roaring.

“This isn’t a log, it’s a mouth!” yelled Chris.

The blades grew larger out of the sides of the walls and the top, changing into sharp teeth as the tunnel continued to shake with a low-pitch growling sound. Kirk One hollered, grasping the back of his neck as a tooth came down at a fast pace, cutting the back of his neck. Another descending tooth sliced Kirk Eight on his arm. A tooth cut Kerry on her shoulder. A fourth tooth stabbed Ten on his side. A fifth grazed Chris on his upper thigh as it jutted out from the side of the wall.

“Ah!” Chris cried, pulling away from the sharp tip of the blade-like tooth.

“Three? Freeze it! Freeze it!” cried One as they were caged in the teeth.

Three struggled to aim his weapon upwards then cast a freeze ray around the diameter of the tunnel, forming a ring of solid ice, avoiding the blade-like teeth. Kirk One fired his weapon, shattering the ice ring, causing the far end of the tunnel to break in two, exposing the outside, allowing daylight to pour in. The unseen beast continued to roar in the distance as the attached side of the tunnel shook like the beast was in agony until it collapsed downward and quit moving. The roaring noise faded in the short distance.

The portion of the tunnel where Chris and the others stood remained still like it was dead after being severed from its main artery. The blade-like teeth shrunk back to their original sizes as the quarter-sized eyes closed along the sides of the walls.

“Everyone okay?” asked Kirk One.

“I think so,” Chris answered, catching his breath, gripping his upper thigh, feeling pain.

They began to climb down from the broken-in-two tunnel mouth that rested on the boulder tops. Chris helped Kerry down as the clones leaped to the ground with their weapons.

“What in the Lord’s name was that thing?” Chris asked as he walked on with Siddoway.

“This mutation was peculiar, Chris,” Siddoway answered, passing the collapsed half of the beast’s log mouth-like tunnel. “It disguised itself as a harmless hollow log or what seemed to be a safe passage for something living to pass through.”

“And when the victim gets far enough inside—”