The Shift: Book II of the Wildfire Saga (59 page)

He ducked as the first mortar impacted a building across the street.
 
The explosion sent bricks raining down like hailstones on to the pavement below.
 
Cooper’s head jerked forward as one orange chunk bounced off his helmet.
 
I’m going to find out who sold us out and kill the son of a bitch.

“
Right behind you,
” growled Swede’s voice.
 
He had a trainee as well.

“
Clutch, on the move,
” called out the voice of Master Chief Calvin “Clutch” Larkiss, one of the veterans.
 
He had been recovering from a back injury when the world had turned upside down.
 
As one of the walking wounded, Clutch had been part of the small group successfully evacuated from Coronado.
 
The North Korean onslaught had been so sudden, Cooper learned, most had been left between.
 
Cooper didn’t want to think about what had happened to the bedridden.

“
Copy that,
” replied Deklan “Juice” Johns.
 
Another transplant, but at least he was a veteran.
 
He didn’t talk much, but Cooper had to respect the man’s combat ability.
 

The second and third mortars pock-marked Park Blvd.
 
“Let’s go,” Cooper said as he slapped Jax on the back.
 
They retreated back to back toward the eastern side of the library.

“
I got movement on thermal,
” warned Sparky from the library’s roof.
 
“
They’re probing, nothing serious.
 
You got about thirty seconds before they see you.
”

Cooper and Jax turned and ran for the building.
 
The library had been used early during the flu crisis as a gathering place for the homeless when the police and emergency services began to wind down.
 
The weaponized flu had struck especially hard in San Diego and while they hadn’t come across piles of bodies like they had in their escape from L.A., Cooper was almost as creeped out by the fact that most buildings appeared completely deserted.
 
The Public Library had been no exception.

“They knew we were coming
,” muttered Swede’s voice from somewhere inside the building.

Cooper paused just inside the wide entrance and peered out looking for targets.
 
No one had followed them.
 
He kept his rifle at his shoulder and backed into the darkened library’s huge multi-floor foyer.
 
The garbage and leavings of the homeless littered the ground floor.
 
Yeah, the homeless knew we were coming as much as the NKors.
 
Bet they could hear the fighting from three miles away.
 
When it got louder, they left.
 
Smart move.

He swept the foyer and finally lowered his weapon when he was satisfied it was empty.
 
Problem is, the NKors knew we’d head here too.
 
There’s no other explanation for the mortars.
 
He looked around the circulation desk.
 
This was the last of our backup rendezvous points.
 
This mission has been fucked from the moment we jumped.
 
Someone’s going to pay for this.

“
Okay, everyone’s up off the main floor,
” reported Charlie’s voice.

Cooper turned and sprinted up the long, frozen escalator.
 
“
Let’s get the perimeter set.
 
Charlie, take the kids to that overhang on the second floor and set up shop.
 
Jax, Clutch, and Juice, you lock down the corners.
 
Swede, check the fire escapes.
 
I’ll cover the main entrance from here.”

“
Still nothing on comms,
” reported Sparky from the rooftop.
 
“
Foot-mobiles approaching from the south and west.
”
 

“Dammit,” hissed Cooper.
 
He slapped a hand on the safety railing.
 
They were good and trapped.
 
He knew this would happen sooner or later when they’d made their impromptu retreat from the base.
 
They had no choice.
 
It was either sit there and die as wave after wave of expendable NKors crashed into them, or make a run for it.
 
If they continued to run now, eventually they’d have to hole up somewhere and they’d be trapped all over again.
 
Without the Marines to back them up or comms to call in air support or evac, they were on their own.

Lose-lose situations pissed Cooper off.

“We gotta find a way to unfuck ourselves,” he muttered to himself as he peered out the gaping maw of the library’s main entrance.
 
Damn doors had to be at least three stories tall.
 
He marveled at the sheer size of the library—it felt more like a cathedral.

“
Coop
,” said Swede.
 
Static crackled over the radio.

“Yeah.”

“Got what looks like a construction exit on the north end of the building.
 
Someone was doing some repairs here awhile back.
 
There’s a couple of CALTRANS trucks parked out back.
 
No movement.”

Finally.
 
Something seemed to be going their way. “Sparky?”

After a brief pause, the sniper reported in:
“I got nothing new.
 
Scouts are still approaching.
 
The rest are all clustered at the south-west end of the block
 
I’d say about 50 or 60.
 
They try and rush us, it’ll be fun.
 
Scattered heat signatures to the north—mostly civilian I think
.
 
Yogurt’s startin’ to get a little thick, Coop.
”

“Fuckin’ A, bubba,” replied Cooper.
 
The situation was going from bad to worse.
 
More mortars landed just south of the library.
 
Two of the huge windows below him shattered, the noise almost as loud as the mortar impacts.
 
He ducked behind the railing and turned his head.
 
Jesus.
 
When they train those rounds on this place, we’re dead.

Cooper flicked his eyes down and looked at the local time displayed in the glowing blue numbers of his HUD.
 
0442 hours.
 
Little more than an hour left before dawn.
 
“Check the trucks, Swede.
 
If they got gas and we can use ‘em, they might be our only ticket out of here.”

“
I’ll cover you
,” said Sparky.
 
“
North seems pretty clear, but I got movement out of the PetCo Park lots, you need to hustle, brother.
 
They’re going to flank us
.”

“
Roger that.
 
Moving
,” said Swede.

“Everybody, listen up,” Cooper said.
 
“New game plan.
 
If Swede can get those trucks running we’re buggin’ out.
 
Everyone be ready to bounce in five.
 
Reload and grab a drink if you got it.
 
Keep your eyes sharp and for God’s sake, stay frosty.”
 
Cooper tightened the grip on his rifle and peered into the darkness.
 
If they could get out of the city, they might just have a chance of surviving the day.
 

He was surprised that NKor helicopters weren’t patrolling the skies already.
 
We must have done more damage than I thought back at their base.
 
That’s something, I guess…

Static crackled and popped when Swede reported, “
One truck’s good to go, the other’s toast.
”

Damn
.
 
“Can we all fit?”

Swede chuckled.
 
“
Gonna look like an ISIS limo, but yeah, I think we’ll fit.
 
I got dibs on shotgun.
”

“
Aw, dammit!
”
 

“Shut up, Jax,” Cooper said.
 
He couldn’t keep the smile from his voice.
 
“You got bitch seat.
 
I’ll drive.
 
Let’s go, ladies!
 
North side construction entrance, ground floor.
 
Be there in two, or I’m leaving your ass.”

Cooper was proud to see his team assemble in the pre-dawn darkness in less than two minutes.
 
A rope dropped out of the dark sky not twenty feet from the truck.
 
As Cooper made sure the last of the rooks had climbed into the back of the truck bed, he watched Sparky’s shadowy form slide down the rope in silence.
 
Hanging beneath him was a large gear bag and his rifle, attached to his hip by a second rope.
 
He landed on the ground like a ghost and loaded up without a word.

Cooper slapped the back of the truck.
 
“You kids keep your Goddamn heads down below the utility boxes.
 
We might just make SEALs out of you yet.”
 

Cooper climbed in behind the wheel and flashed a grin at Jax, wedged in the middle seat next to Swede’s bulk.
 
“
The fuck you lookin’ at?
” he growled.

Cooper shook his head and laughed.
 
He couldn’t see Jax’s face for the HAHO helmet he wore, but he was pretty sure he wasn’t smiling.
 
“HQ, if anyone’s listening, Striker is Oscar Mike.”
 

“
Got the map ready,
” said Jax, the sullenness gone from his voice.
 
Cooper could see the glow from Jax’s wrist-mounted map pad out of the corner of his eye.
 
“Where to?”

“
Head north and east. Got a known checkpoint two blocks east and one south.
 
If we can get past that…
”

Cooper knew what that meant.
 
From there, it was a straight shot—as straight as one could get in a huge city like San Diego—to the desert.
 
Or, they could head south into the suburbs.
 

Chula Vista.
 
Home.
 

He switched POVs and saw Charlie looking at the map pad on his own arm.
 
He had focused in on Chula Vista.
 
Cooper sighed.
 
The mission was a bust.
 
They were running for their lives.
 
Why not see what they could find?
 
This could be the last day any of them ever saw…

Cooper made up his mind.
 
“Hold on to your asses, ladies.
 
We’re going home.”

“
Coop—
” began Charlie.

“Charlie, I’ll make you a deal,” said Cooper as he turned the key and the big diesel roared to life.
 
The NKors
had
to have heard that.
 
He winced.
 
They’ll be on us in no time, as loud as this thing sounds.
 
“You keep ‘em off my ass and we’ll make a bee-line for your house.
 
Deal?”

“
Hoo-fuckin’-yah, LT.
”

Cooper grinned.
 
He could hear the SEALs taking position in the truck bed—woe to anyone who tried to stop this truck.
 
It bristled with automatic weapons and grenade launchers.
 
“Clear the road boys.
 
We ain’t stopping till we hit Chula!”

Cooper shifted the truck into gear and floored the gas pedal.
 
The engine whined like a turbine and the truck hopped the curb and headed into the darkness.
 
Cooper used his helmet’s night-vision mode and left the headlights off.
 
No sense in making things any easier for the little bastards…

They raced a block north, past the NKor checkpoint and turned east on Island.
 
Five blocks east, Cooper spotted what looked like a river of darkness on either side of Island Avenue.
 

“There’s the 5.
 
Turn here at 17
^th
and the on-ramp should be a block south,” said Jax.

“
You think that’s a good idea?
 
I’ll bet my left nut there’s a roadblock waiting for us,
” said Clutch.
 
“
We should take side streets and avoid the interstate
.”

Cooper thought for a second and slowed their approach.
 
Everything else about the mission had been compromised.
 
Taking I-5 north had been part of an evacuation plan should things go wrong.
 
He realized Clutch was right—the NKors probably had a roadblock at the on-ramp to I-5 just south of them.

Fuck
.
 

They raced down Island, their decision fast approaching at the dark 17
^th
St. intersection.
 
If they stayed safe, and followed side streets like Clutch suggested, it would be noon before they reached Chula Vista.
 

He checked the fuel gage.
 
Half a tank.
 
With over a half a ton of SEAL meat in the back, there was no way they’d make it.
 
This had to be fast or it wasn’t going to happen.
 

“Not enough fuel for side streets.
 
We got one shot at this—fast or dead,” Cooper said.
 
“We’re going to have to take the 5.
 
But we’re going to make our own on-ramp.
 
Hold on back there!”

Hearing no further objections, he made a tire-chirping turn south on 17
^th
.
 
He looked left and saw a white, nondescript building hugging the road.
 
Next to it,
 
behind a black wrought-iron fence, a row of houses lined the interstate.
 
He just needed one—there.
 
Cooper spun the wheel to the left and goosed the gas.
 
He heard someone shout in surprise as they crashed through a gate, flinging metal and sparks up and over the roof of the big utility truck.
 
The driveway to the small house was empty—exactly what Cooper needed.
 
The chain-link fence at the far end of the driveway collapsed like so much tissue paper as the CALTRANS truck barreled through.