Authors: Shawn Chesser
Returning the nod Cade asked, “What is it, casual Friday?”
“No, I figured I’d dress like a spook today,” Tice said as he did a slow pirouette, showing off his getup.
Cade wasn’t impressed. “So you’re going to stand out like a bullfighter’s cape...
and
you’re tagging along again?”
Cracking a big grin and patting his pistol like he was on one big safari, Tice replied, “How in the hell could I miss out on an opportunity like this? Besides... I gotta have
something
interesting to tell the grandkids.”
What bunker is your family safely tucked away in?
Cade thought to himself. “So you’re sold on the cure thing huh? Gonna have a big brood and live ‘til the ripe old age of... pick a number, any number.” Cade didn’t allow him the time to answer. “That’s a pretty cavalier attitude. I, for one, am not going to let the idea of a cure take the place of vigilance... and I suggest you do the same.”
“I’m only trying to keep my mind off of the task at hand. Nash ordered me to come along and arm the devices when it’s time. Shit... don’t get me wrong, it’s nothing but bravado and stupidity that’s holding me together, and in case you are curious... I
am
wearing my
Depends
.”
That final crack broke the ice, causing Cade to smile. “Have you seen Desantos?”
“He was putting his kit in the helo the last time I saw him,” Tice stated. “Hey man... I can’t wait to get into one of those sand rail jobs. Are those things as fast as they look?”
“Faster,” Cade replied, “and if Cowboy’s driving... I hope you brought an
extra
pair of those
Depends
.”
“Hell yeah...” the spook said enthusiastically as he walked away.
Making his way around the Ghost Hawk, Cade was forced to step over one of the ground crew, who was laying prone, readying the bird for flight.
“These helos need more upkeep than all of the Housewives of Beverly Hills combined,” the man said as he sensed Cade nearby.
Cade didn’t get a chance to respond. Mike Desantos had called his name from somewhere out of sight, requesting his presence in the hangar adjacent to the tarmac.
When Cade located Desantos the man was in the middle of the monotonous task of reloading the magazines for his MP7.
“How many more do we need?”
“Only six, which means we will both have ten. Three hundred rounds apiece... that oughta do it... you think?” Desantos said tongue-in-cheek.
“If it doesn’t, then we need to go back to Q and qualify all over again.”
Both men laughed at the notion of a thirty-five year old and a dinosaur the General’s age going through that grinder again.
“Cade... I’ve given this a lot of thought. This is my last rodeo. I am done. Finito. No mas.”
“Sir, if anyone in the spec-ops community... or at least what’s left of it, deserves to hang up his spurs, it’s you.”
“Thanks for your permission... I feel better already,” Desantos said halfheartedly. He pinched the bridge of his nose and absentmindedly adjusted his tactical helmet. Somewhere outside the wire a murder of crows cawed angrily, no doubt fighting rapaciously over someone’s carcass. After an uncomfortable silence the General continued, “I had a tough decision to make and if it were fifteen months ago it would have been a no brainer.”
Cade knew exactly where this was going.
“I am going to recommend that Captain Gaines take over command of the Unit... he’d be a fine leader. Hell, he already is. That fucking mission to get the Alpha from Bethesda,
that
was a cluster fuck going in and he shoulda lost more than the seven operators. No slight on you, Wyatt, but you are still getting back up to speed.” Desantos looked his good friend in the eyes and held the gaze.
Cade didn’t feel the need to say anything but he opined anyway. “For what it’s worth... Ronnie is the best choice for the command, Mike, no hard feelings here, friend.”
“Well damn Wyatt, once again, I am glad that you approve,” Desantos said with a wink and then collected the magazines and his suppressed MP7 and strode purposefully towards Jedi One-One saying, “Let’s get this goat rope into the air.”
***
With a thunderous cacophony the Four Chinooks lifted into the air, the whomping of their twin rotors echoing off of the prefab buildings. Special Operations LSVs, or Light Strike Vehicles, were internally stowed inside three of the dual rotor helicopters. The fourth helicopter carried a chalk of Rangers and a trio of the three hundred pound nuclear devices, strapped down safely inside of the cargo hold. The Rangers of the 75th would be available as a quick reaction force if the mission was compromised or to help secure a landing zone if a medevac extraction became necessary.
As the Chinooks crossed the wire, the noise and rotor wash disturbed thousands of feeding blackbirds which took flight at once, momentarily blotting out the sun, wings flapping to escape the noisy metal monsters.
“This Alfred Hitchcock moment was brought to you by Night Stalker aviation,” Ari Silver quipped as he waited a tick for the angry flock to dissipate so he could power the wasp-like Ghost Hawk into the air.
“Mike, did I already miss the Scrabble banter?” Cade asked Desantos as his stomach started to breakdance when the helo rocketed into the air.
“Yes... but I didn’t... and Limo is still not a word according to Durant,” Desantos answered, rolling his eyes.
Durant flashed an enthusiastic thumbs up as Ari banked the ship hard to starboard.
With a firm handhold on the bulkhead and looking more than a little bit green, Tice asked, “Do you guys ever get used to these G-forces?”
“Those are
not
G-forces, gentlemen,” Ari said, talking over the inboard comms. “I got to ride a catapult launch off of the Reagan... in the back seat of an FA-18 Super Hornet... now
those
were G-forces. I quickly discovered that I was a
puker
.”
“
You
...
a puker?
I would have never guessed the way you bounce us over the tree tops trying to make
us
toss our cookies,” Lopez intoned. “Now you know how sick I was carrying that dirty
demonio
up the stairs in the CDC.
Madre
...”
I wonder if Lopez is ever gonna get over that
, Desantos thought to himself.
Tice hijacked the brief moment of silence. “While I have everyone’s attention, let me talk about the devices. I wanted to rig them to detonate remotely but the fail safes are such that they have to be set up in place and
then
the codes can be inputted. These warheads were designed to be delivered on a cruise missile... so I did my best.”
“What are the codes?” Desantos asked.
“I made it real easy to remember in case I go down... Independence Day...” Tice waited for one of the men to ask him when it was so he could good naturedly bust someone’s balls.
“7-4-1-7-7-6,” Maddox stated, “easy enough.”
“No, it is not as easy as it sounds. You are not going to be able to roll the things off on the move and simply scram. The devices are in two pieces: the timers that I MacGyvered and the warhead itself. I know what I am doing... because I’ve worked around these things for a while, and even
I
couldn’t mate the two pieces in less than three minutes.”
Lopez couldn’t keep quiet. “That’s a lot of time to be in the middle of a Z swarm...”
“All the while trying to focus on the task at hand,” Cade added.
“Best case scenario... how long will it take one of
us
to mate and arm the bombs?” Desantos asked.
Tice shifted in his seat to look directly at Desantos before answering the question. “That, General, depends upon how close to the herd you want the bombs.”
“You are the expert. You tell me. How close do they
need
to be placed to decimate all of the Z’s?” Desantos pressed.
“I would have to see them up close and personal... the herd that is,” Tice stated.
Desantos mulled over his options. He didn’t have the opportunity to gather all of the necessary info before the mission. The closer the herd got to Springs, the deadlier the fallout from any detonation would be... assuming the wind patterns worked in their favor. If the wind funneled down the valley, which was a rare occurrence, then it didn’t matter if the detonations happened in Denver or ten miles outside of Springs... they would all be irradiated. The bottom line was, they really were flying by the seat of their pants, and that is exactly why he requested the silenced special ops sand rails be brought over from Fort Carson. The 10th SF boys had been using the stealthy, heavily armed dune buggies to a great advantage on their Z clearing ops north of Springs. Getting in close and quiet would be paramount if they were going to be able to take out the entire herd of dead with just the two five-kiloton devices. Desantos decided at that moment to do a real time aerial recon of the herd. “Ari, we need to buzz the walkers before you take us to the staging area.”
“Copy that General. Durant, have you seen my nose plugs?”
Durant played along, “They’re probably back in your billet next to the Costco-sized jar of Vicks Vapor Rub. You D-Boys are probably used to smelling the rotters by now. Night Stalkers... we pride ourselves in operating
above
the stench.”
“You
prima donnas
better take us low,” Desantos ordered.
Passing by on the starboard side of Jedi One-One, above eye level, rose the gigantic monolithic red rock formation known as Castle Rock.
“Walkers on the port side,” Ari said.
Cade felt the Ghost Hawk slow as Ari took them alongside the herd at seventy-five feet above ground level. The smell was indeed intense.
In unison the walkers slowly panned their heads in order to see the semi-silent helicopter. White faces tracked the helo as the herd continued along I-25.
The scene reminded Ari of the old footage he had seen on the History channel where Russian soldiers filed lockstep past Khrushchev or some other long dead premier, marching stiffly, faces submissively turned towards their superiors in the stands.
“Why do you think they are following the Interstate?” Maddox asked Desantos.
Desantos obliged. “They’re following the leader. We got to see the UAV footage of the start of this exodus yesterday. Some of it might be attributed to snippets of memory... we all spent a good chunk of our lives in a car, in a rocket seat as kids and then driving ourselves everywhere. Not to mention the fact that most people, even when they are still living and breathing, fall victim to the herd mentality.”
Maddox bobbed his head up and down in agreement.
“I think the overpasses are the way to go. We place the bomb in the center... I will arm the device and then we’ll call for egress,” Tice stated. He focused on something outside and then asked, “These stone mounds on the right side... what are they called?”
“Castle Rock,” Ari answered.
“That formation is in just the right spot to contain the blasts
and
provide a little bounce back. Call it a double whammy on the horde. The trick is going to be timing the movement of the Z’s. If we don’t pop them at
just
the right moment then we are going to have
glowing
walkers showing up at Schriever.”
Ari waited until he was sure the spook was finished talking and then said, “I paced them at less than two knots. That means the main body is moving between one and two miles per hour... give or take.”
“Put us down and we can hash it out,” Cade said, obviously itching to get it done.
Ari’s voice overrode the comms. “Gaines just called in, wondering where in the H- E- double-hockey sticks we are. His words, not mine. He’s got the buggies offloaded and devices loaded and they’re ready to go. Over the comms it sounded like Captain Gaines was eating potato chips... I was salivating at the thought and I had to ask him.”
“
Well,
what was it Ari
?
” Lopez inquired.
“Popcorn... don’t ask where he got it because he wouldn’t tell me. He is saving some for us though,” Ari stated.
“I’d love to see any one of you try and eat popcorn near those Chinooks,” Sergeant Hicks, the door gunner/crew chief, quipped.
That last visual brought laughs from all of the men.
Desantos was glad to see that his operators were loose and ready to go.
Outbreak - Day 9
Castle Rock, Colorado
Two minutes had elapsed between the Z over flight and CWO Ari Silver’s God awful singing that was currently violating everyone’s eardrums. “
Let’s all go to the lobby. Let’s all go to the lobby and get ourselves some treats
...”
“Make him stop,” Lopez begged.
Ari brought the stealth chopper around the back of the well-worn five-story movie screen and settled her next to the cinderblock projection/lobby building.
Although Cade hadn’t been to a drive-in theater in years, he still thought fondly of the Foster Drive-in back in Portland. It had closed and was out of business before Raven was born but the place had always been a favorite haunt of his and Brook’s when they were younger.