V Plague (Book 11): Merciless (29 page)

“Head out into the field when we get there,” I shouted to Rachel.

She nodded to let me know she’d heard.  While my head was inside the vehicle, I’d noticed the speedometer.  We were driving a steady 25 miles an hour.  Straightening, I looked at the pursuing females.  They were staying with us.  Not gaining, but we weren’t pulling away from them.

A couple of minutes later I felt the vehicle turn, then we bounced over a series of bumps as Rachel left the tarmac.  Looking out across the field I could see that we had several acres of open space to work with.  Keeping half an eye on the approaching river, I opened fire on the leading edge of females when we had covered half the distance from the runway.

The grenades did their job, the ground erupting amongst the infected.  They were shredded, pummeled and disemboweled by the force of the blasts.  But more were right behind them, undeterred by the death of the leaders.  I fired more rounds as Rachel steered us into a gentle curve, following the river bank.

Another group of females fell and still more leapt over their corpses with screams tearing the night.  Firing again, I paused to reload, then resumed pumping grenades into the quickly diminishing group.  It didn’t take long for the last of the females to go down. 

They weren’t all dead.  Some were still alive, somehow, but with mortal wounds.  Legs shattered or missing.  Torsos ripped open, their entrails spilling out onto the ground.  But they didn’t cease their efforts to catch us.  Even as they expired, the females used the last ounce of energy in their shattered bodies to drag themselves another foot.  Their determination was amazing.  And terrifying.

Verifying all of the females were either dead or dying, I banged on the roof and Rachel stopped.  Far in the distance was a solid mass of bodies, slowly making its way in our direction.  The males.  The difference in speed between the genders still amazed me as I had time to watch the next wave of infected.

“We’re fueling.”

I recognized Creed’s voice in my earpiece.

“Copy,” I said.  “Clear of infected in your area?”

“Mostly.  Had a few males straggle in behind the tanker, but not enough to cause any problems.”

“How much more time you need?”  I asked, eyeing the slowly approaching males.

“We should be rolling in ten minutes.  The tanker has a high volume pump and it’s going fast.  We’re going to park it to the side and leave a sat phone and charger in the cab.”

“That works,” I said.  “Let me know before you start moving so I can sweep the runway.  Don’t need any surprises.”

“Copy that, sir.  Good luck to you.  Hope you find her.”

“Safe flight, Sergeant,” I said, ending the conversation.

The bulk of the males were still on the runway, the fastest of them just stepping into the grassy field.  And they looked like they were slowing.  I wasn’t going to guess whether they were getting tired, losing interest or just acting like an infected.   
     

“Hit the horn again,” I shouted.

Rachel pressed the button, the strident blare immediately focusing the attention of the approaching herd.  They sped up slightly, then their progress was impeded by the footing change.  The series of bumps we’d driven over caused many of them to fall.  Then the ones behind would trip over the body on the ground.

“Jesus Christ,” I muttered, chuckling despite myself.

No, I probably shouldn’t have been amused by all the poor bastards who had fallen victim to the virus.  It was probably bad form on my part.  But that didn’t mean it wasn’t funny.  Even if they did want to tear me open and feast on my guts.

Finally, they sorted themselves out and began making headway.  I gave them another couple of minutes, then unleashed some high explosive hell.  Their slower speed meant I could be more selective with my targets than with the females.  Instead of rapidly burning through a lot of ammunition, I took my time and placed one shot at a time where I thought it would do the most damage.

Soon, only a handful of stragglers remained.  I put a single grenade in their midst, all but two going down and staying still.  After a quick check of the surrounding area, I let the Mark 19’s muzzle drop, using my rifle to quickly dispatch the final pair.

“I’m clear,” I said to Rachel.  “See anything?”

“All clear,” she called a moment later.

I activated my radio and called to check on the status of the refueling.

“Done and starting engines now,” Creed replied quickly.

“Copy.  Sit tight while I check the runway.”

He acknowledged my order and I tapped on the Humvee’s roof to let Rachel know to start moving.  She turned us towards the runway, and accelerated.  After a couple of hundred feet, she gave up trying to avoid the bodies scattered across the field.  The ride got rough as we bounced over corpses, then we reached the tarmac.

It only took a few minutes to drive up and down, making sure there weren’t any straggling infected that could cause a problem.  At the far end of the runway, I could see the big jet swinging around and lining up for takeoff.  Rachel pulled to a stop near the field where we’d slaughtered the herd of infected.  After a moment we got out of the Hummer to stand at the edge of the pavement.

“You should go with them,” I said.

“You should shut the hell up,” she replied without looking at me.

A moment later she reached out and took my hand, giving it a squeeze.  I moved a little closer to her, then called the all clear to Sergeant McCrary over the radio.  He acknowledged my transmission and almost immediately the jet’s engines began thundering.

The plane started rolling, slowly at first, but rapidly building speed as it approached.  I turned my head, checking the runway, then went back to watching the jet when I didn’t see any infected.  Before it reached the point where we were standing, the front landing gear left the ground.  A couple of seconds later the rear tires lifted off the tarmac and the big jet climbed at a steep angle.

It was no more than a few hundred feet in the air as it passed over where we stood.  The noise was nearly overwhelming, vibrating internal organs against my rib cage.  But I was smiling and so was Rachel when I looked over at her in the moonlight.  She noticed me looking at her and leaned close, kissing me softly.

“Much better than the last time we did this,” she said.

“The takeoff or the kiss?”  I teased.

“Asshole,” she muttered, still smiling.

“Yep,” I laughed, squeezing her hand and heading for the Hummer.  “Let’s go get that sat phone and see if we can get an eye in the sky to help us find Irina.”

“What then?”  Rachel asked as she got in the passenger seat and slammed the door.

“Beats me,” I said.  “Haven’t thought that far ahead.”

“What if we don’t find her?” 

“We’ll find her,” I said with more certainty in my voice than I felt.

38

“You’ve had an eventful day, sir,” Jessica said.

Rachel and I were parked next to the empty fuel tanker.  I was standing on the tarmac, speaking on the sat phone, while Rachel occupied the elevated gunner’s position in the vehicle to keep watch on our surroundings.

“That pretty much sums up my life, Jessica,” I answered, smiling.  “Please tell me you’ve been keeping an eye on the area.”

“Not a close one, but I’ve looked in when I could,” she said.  “There’s a lot of things going on that have kept me occupied.”

“Anything I need to know about?”

“The Army and Marine units left Idaho.  They’re in Nevada now, at Groom Lake.  I hope they’re looking for the aliens.  We could sure use some help.”

“What the hell are they doing in Nevada?”  I asked.

“Heavy Russian presence along the west coast.  They don’t have a clear path to make it to Hawaii.  They took out the Russian ground forces in the northwest, then moved to a more secure location.”

“Do you know if my wife is still with them?” 

I hadn’t forgotten about Katie for a second.  But my concerns had been put aside while I took care of business.  Now that I had a moment to think about her, the fear and worry threatened to take control of my emotions.

“Yes, sir.  She is.  And the virologists from Seattle are there, too.  I’m sure she’s being taken care of.”

I was quiet for a moment, thinking about my wife.  Then, again, I had to set those worries aside and focus on the task at hand.

“Thanks, Jessica,” I said.  “Now, I’ve got someone missing in Omaha, and I need you to help me locate her.”

“I don’t understand.  Aren’t you on the plane?”  I could hear a keyboard clacking over the open circuit.  Assumed she was bringing up a real time satellite image.  “Sir?  What the hell are you still doing in Nebraska?”

“Not leaving a friend behind,” I said.

Jessica was quiet for a moment.

“Where do I start looking?”  She asked.

I explained the situation to her.  Described the location where I’d last seen Irina, the vehicle she was driving and her direction of travel.

“Are you still recording?  Can you go back and see what happened to her?”

“Yes, sir.  I can.  But I wish you’d called me before staying behind.  What if she’s dead?  You’ll have missed the flight for nothing.”

“Not for nothing, Jessica.  There’s some Canadians on that plane that haven’t been vaccinated.  They’re starting to turn.  The sooner they get to Colonel Blanchard’s location, the sooner they stop dying.  They couldn’t afford to wait.”

“Copy that, sir,” Jessica said gently.  “I’ll start looking right now, but it’s going to take some time.  Do you want me to call you back?”

“Yes, but don’t hang up.  Can you transfer me to the Admiral?  I’ve got something he needs to know about.”

“Stand by, sir.  I’ll get you over to him, then call when I have something.”

There were a series of clicks, then a long stretch of silence.  I was starting to think I’d been disconnected and was preparing to place another call when one of Packard’s aides finally answered.  He didn’t want to let me speak with the Admiral, saying he was in a meeting with his senior staff.

I got a little brusque, then a little colorful about what would happen to the man if he didn’t get the Admiral on the phone.  It wouldn’t have surprised me if he’d hung up in my ear, but thirty seconds later the transfer was made. 

“Major.  We’re in a bit of a crisis here.  What’s so urgent?”  Packard asked when he picked up the call.

“Sir, sorry to interrupt, but something you need to know about.  I’m at Offutt Air Force Base.  When we arrived, there were two platoons of Spetsnaz here, searching USSTRATCOM.”

“I was aware of their presence,” the Admiral said.

“They were looking for something called the Athena Project, sir.”

“Say again?” 

I could tell by his voice that I’d captured his attention.

“Took a personal diary off a dead Spetsnaz.  One of the Rangers with me reads Russian and translated the most recent entry.  They were here specifically to find information on the project.”

There was a sudden, low babble of voices and I realized I was on a speaker phone.  I remained silent as several discussions took place on the far end of the call.

“Major, what did the entry say?”  Packard asked when the hub-bub died down.

“The Russian soldier didn’t understand why they were being sent.  It was just a passing reference to why they were here.  He was more concerned about the damage the war has caused and wanting to go home and bury his family.”

“Did they find what they were looking for?” 

A new voice spoke up.  I had no idea who it was, but if the Admiral was OK with them asking, so was I.

“Yes, they did.  They had a top secret, SCI file and were on their way out with it when we intercepted them.”

Packard spoke up before anyone else could chime in.

“Could they have transmitted the contents of that file before you stopped them?”

“I don’t believe so, sir.  The troops that were conducting the search were neutralized while we were below ground, inside the old SAC bunker.  There’s no way they had comms to get a message out.  We were several stories beneath the surface, surrounded by hardened concrete.”

“Where’s the file, now?”

“In my possession.”

I probably should have found a way to get it on the plane, but had been more focused on getting those people safely in the air.

“Have you read it?”  An unknown voice asked.

“Haven’t had an opportunity,” I said.

There was more silence for a moment.

“Anything else?”  I could tell the Admiral was addressing his staff, so I remained quiet.

After a few moments of silence from the other end, Packard spoke again.

“What’s your status, Major?”

“Still in Omaha, sir.  I’ve got a missing team member to find.”

“What about our Canadian friends?”

“On a flight west, sir.”

I didn’t feel like going into details about me having stayed behind.  It wasn’t important at the moment, and it sounded like he had bigger things to worry about.

“Major,” a different voice interjected.  “Is there any way for you to send us the contents of that file?”

“No,” I said, understanding the reason for the request, yet still irritated.  “I’ve got a sat phone and that’s it.  This is all paper, and it’s a damn thick file.”

“I’m going to turn that plane around,” Packard said after a moment.

“Sir, you can’t do that,” I quickly said.  “None of the Canadians have been vaccinated, and some have turned already.  They need to get to Colonel Blanchard before we lose any more.”

“Major, this is a priority.  If this is something the Russians want, then we need to know what it is.”

“Understood, sir,” I said, forcing myself to remain calm and patient.  “But the Russians don’t have the information.  It’s safe for the moment, with me.  Turning that plane around will almost assuredly result in the death of more of the Canadians.  Deaths that could be prevented.”

There was a brief, muted conversation before the Admiral spoke again.

“Very well, Major.  The Colonel has some Ospreys at his location in Nevada.  With auxiliary fuel tanks, you’re within their range for a round trip.  I’ll have him pick you up.  Flight time from Groom Lake to Omaha should be about four hours.  Coordinate with Seaman Simmons.  Packard out.”