The Raid (6 page)

Chapter 17

While this was going on, Marcus and Kim slipped around to the east side of the base and Jocelyn dropped another section of perimeter fence for them to slip in.  They skirted one building and came to a second larger building.  According to Jocelyn, this is where the prisoners should be and the upper floor was a secondary control room where the self destruct should be located.

Marcus checked the small window on the back door to be sure it was clear.  No one was in sight.  Marcus and Kim quickly ran to the stairwell and up to the next floor.  By all indications, the second floor was where the prisoners should be.  At the door to second floor, Marcus stopped and waited on Kim to catch up.  With his pistol drawn, he stepped through the door quickly and Kim was right behind him with her pistol drawn.  The hallway was clear.  Cautiously they made their way around the entire floor.  Every room was clear and the entire floor was deserted. 

Marcus began to worry that maybe they had made a miscalculation or maybe Jocelyn had intercepted some bad intel.  They were wasting precious time.  The dinosaurs outside were still wreaking havoc.  Hopefully they would keep it up.  The gunfire hadn’t ceased since they had been in the building. 

Marcus and Kim made their way to the stairwell and up to the third floor.  Overeager, Marcus almost made a mistake and stepped out of the stairwell.  As he started to swing the door open, he noticed a member of the Jackals at the end of the hall looking out the window.  He quickly stepped back and gave Kim the quiet sign.  They waited a second and eased out into the hall.  They were tiptoeing down the hall toward the man when he turned around. 

“Hey! What are you doing here?” he yelled as he tried to draw his own pistol.  

Marcus and Kim both shot at the same time. The man slumped to the floor.  It was a good thing they had silencers on the guns or it might have brought some unwanted attention.  Halfway down the hall Marcus saw what they were looking for.  Someone had punched a hole in the wall and through a steel door.  There was a chain and lock through the door.  Apparently the Jackals didn’t have a key to lock the door and had made their own makeshift prison cell.  Marcus looked through the small window on the door and quickly spotted three prisoners.  There was a man and woman that he didn’t know, and lying on the floor was his brother David.  He was bloody and bruised but he looked like he was alive. 

Marcus took out a small laser and started working on the chain as Kim kept watch.  It took about two minutes to make it through the hardened chain.  Finally, he told Kim to get ready.  He stepped back, then put his shoulder up against the door and shoved.  The door swung freely open as Marcus and Kim rushed into the room.  The two jumped back as they burst into the room.

Almost in unison they yelled, “Please don’t hurt us.  We are unarmed.”

Marcus could see the fear in their eyes.  They were scared and it was then that he noticed they were battered and bruised also.  It wasn’t as bad as David but they were still hurt.  Kim rushed over to David lying on the floor and lifted up his head.

He weakly opened his eyes a little and looked up at her.  They opened wider when he realized who it was. 

“Kim, is that you?” he asked in wonderment.

With her help he sat up on his elbows, and then Kim said, “Look who came with me.”

David took his eyes from Kim and looked at Marcus standing there with his pistol still drawn.

“It can’t be,” said David taking his hand and rubbing his eyes.  David squinted and looked at Marcus again laughing.  “I’m seeing things.  That looks like daddy when he was younger.” 

David was still chuckling when Marcus stepped over and stuck out his hand and said, “Are you going to lie there all day?  I’ve got things to do and people to see.”

David grasped his hand and with Kim’s help, Marcus got him to his feet.  David was sobbing as Marcus gave him a big hug. 

“My little bro,” said David as he weakly tried to hug him tight. “We always thought you might be alive.  I guess Kim finally found you.”

“Well… actually…, he found me,” said Kim hugging them both.  The man and woman just watched in bewilderment. 

Finally Marcus spoke up and said, “We can finish this when we get home.  Kim, take them to the helo and head for home.  I’m going to set this place for self destruct and I’ll be right behind you.”

“Marcus, NO,” said Kim. “Just leave it and let’s get out of here.”

“I can’t do that.  I could have saved lives if I had done something about the Jackals earlier.  I have to finish this.  Don’t worry, like I said I will be right behind you.  Jocelyn is going to help me do this and we won’t have to worry about them again,” said Marcus.

Kim could tell Marcus was determined so she didn’t push any further.  With the woman following behind, Kim and the other man put David’s arms over their shoulders and headed to the helo.

Leaving in front of them, Marcus headed to the stairwell and up three more flights of stairs.  Stopping at the stairwell door, Marcus eased it open and scanned the entire floor.  The secondary control room was huge.  Except for a few small side rooms, it covered the entire floor.  There were huge displays lining the walls and computers everywhere.  It took Marcus ten minutes to find the correct computer. He was glad he had Jocelyn talking him through it or he would have never found it.  He had just initiated what he thought was the startup on the destruct system when he heard a voice behind him.

“What are you doing?” said the voice.

Marcus turned to see a man in military camouflage with a pistol pointed at him.   Marcus put his hands in the air and said, “The boss just sent me up to run some diagnostics on the perimeter.  He wants the perimeter fence back up and running ASAP.”

The man moved forward slightly and said, “Liar.” 

Marcus jumped to the side and narrowly missed being shot.  At the same time, he drew his own pistol and shot the man.  The man fell onto the floor, struggled for a moment, and then was still.

“Whew. That was close…” said Marcus.

“Marcus, we have a problem.  Someone has already set the self destruct.  It has been running for ten minutes already.  You only have five minutes to clear the base,” said Jocelyn.

Marcus was up and running for the door.  “Has Kim cleared the area yet?”

“Yes, Marcus.  They have taken off and are already several miles away.  The other helo is malfunctioning.  I was able to get it close to the building but I’ve had to reboot the systems,” said Jocelyn.

“Just get it going!” he yelled as he flew down the stairwell.

Chapter 18

As fast as his legs would take him, Marcus flew down the last flight of stairs.

“Joce! Is it ready to fly?” asked Marcus as he raced out the door and across the parking lot towards the Black Falcon helicopter.  Marcus could tell that the blades and rotor still were not turning. 

“Negative.  Systems are finishing their reboot.  I will update you as soon as I have a systems status and run a quick diagnostic,” said Jocelyn.

“Forget the diagnostic… Just crank it up and let’s get out of here,” yelled Marcus.

About the time he reached the Falcon helo aircraft, the huge blades started to rotate. He jumped into the cockpit and they lifted off.  Marcus watched out the window as the helo gradually gained altitude.

“Joce, are all systems functioning?” asked Marcus.

“Flight controls and most of the defense systems are up.  Stealth mode is not functioning.  I repeat. Stealth mode is not functioning.  Also, the interior monitors and secondary systems aren’t functioning either,” she said.

“Take us out over the Shenandoah National Park and away from the city and step on it,” said Marcus.

He checked his watch.  Fifteen seconds.  Marcus didn’t know who started the self destruct sequence.  It might have been the man in camouflage or it was possible that it was set remotely.  The man he encountered didn’t seem to fit the Jackal profile. Ten seconds.   It was puzzling to Marcus.  He did notice the funny emblem over his left chest pocket.  Five seconds.  He turned and saw the white hot flash as the Quantico military base exploded into a massive huge cloud.  He felt the helo shake and jump around as the concussion struck the aircraft.  It took a few seconds but Jocelyn finally got the aircraft back under control. 

“That was a close one Joce,” said Marcus breathing a sigh of relief.

“Yes… Marcus we have another problem.  Anti-aircraft missiles and guns have been detected.  They’ve locked on to us.  Deploying countermeasures,” said Jocelyn.

Marcus looked and saw the Falcon eject a stream of fireballs.  Two missiles struck the countermeasures and exploded.  The whole aircraft shook.  Marcus was confused.  Who could be firing on them now? The instrument panel lit up with warnings.  Bullets began striking the aircraft.   In a matter of a few split seconds, the cabin filled with smoke.  There were bullet holes and cracks in the windows. 

“Joce, set us down,” yelled Marcus.

“Marcus, I’m trying. There isn’t anywhere to land,” said Jocelyn. “And I’m losing control of the aircraft.”

Marcus looked down then at the forest below.  There wasn’t a clearing for miles.  Jocelyn’s voice was breaking up in his ear piece.

“Mar… systems fail… I’ve lost co…” said Jocelyn.

Marcus’ earpiece went silent.  The only sound he could hear was the muffled sound of the giant rotors slowing down. Everything seemed to slow down and move in slow motion.  The helicopter was going down. Nothing he could do but pray… Marcus could almost hear each “whoop whoop” as the helo blades would make one turn. “Whoop whoop.”  The odds of him surviving this were practically zero.  “Whoop...whoop.” His mind raced.  He wasn’t thinking about crashing; he was thinking about his short life. “Whoop…whoop.” He had to grow up so fast just to survive. “Whoop….. whoop.” Of course some would say that he had lived a lifetime in his few short years but it really only felt like he was getting started.  “Whoop…… whoop.” He hadn’t lived long on this earth but maybe, just maybe, he had made a difference in someone’s life.  “Whoop…… whoop.” He did take relief in that at least he knew that Kim and David had made it and he had saved several lives over the past few months.  “Whoop……. whoop.” He regretted not doing anything about the Jackals sooner but he was glad he finally came around.  “Whoop…….. whoop.” Sweet Wynd.  The thought of her brought a smile to his face. He truly loved her. 

As the aircraft struck the tops of the trees, all the faces of the people he had loved were flashing through his mind; his dad, mom, sister, brother, his new found family, and sweet Wynd.  Tears welled up in his eyes.  There was a violent twist and Marcus was thrown up against his harness as the blades cut through the trees.  Marcus was trying to hold on but he was thrown violently around and slammed up against the roof of the helo and then there was …nothing.

Meanwhile, Kim, David, and their two passengers were still in flight headed for home.

“Jocelyn, has Marcus cleared the base?” asked. Kim.

“Affirmative.  He cleared the base,” answered Jocelyn.

Kim breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed.

“However…” began Jocelyn.

Kim sat straight up.  “However WHAT?” said Kim loudly.

“Marcus’ helo was under heavy fire.  The stealth mode malfunctioned.  I tried to control the helo and bring it down safely but it was too heavily damaged.  Based on my assessment, he has crashed in the Shenandoah National Park,” said Jocelyn.

Kim yelled, “Turn us around and take us back! NOW!”

“Negative, Marcus overrode the fail-safe for this mission.  His command was to get you back home no matter what happened to him.  The command is locked and there is nothing I can do to change it,” said Jocelyn.

Kim went into hysterics.  Weakly, David tried to calm her down but to no avail.

Kim started to kick the front console and screamed, “you sorry piece of garbage, TURN US AROUND!!”

“Damaging the helo is not in your best interest. Calm yourself or I will be forced to react,” said Jocelyn. 

“I’ll show you calm!” screamed Kim as she continued kicking the console.

A small dart shot out and stuck in Kim’s arm.  In the matter of ten seconds, her kicking slowed then stopped as she lost consciousness.  The helo continued its flight home.

Wynd and some of the others were listening to the conversation between Marcus and Jocelyn.  She sat on the edge of the recliner in front of the giant screen and prayed. 

The voices cut out, there was silence, and then Jocelyn spoke, “Wynd.  I’ve lost contact.  The drone that was travelling with them is malfunctioning.  I’ve routed another drone to the area but it’s still an hour away.”

“Did he go down?” asked Wynd with her lip quivering.

“Based upon my last readings of the aircraft’s trajectory, there’s a ninety-nine point nine percent chance that he crashed,” said Jocelyn.

Tears started flowing down Wynd’s face.  Virginia, Danielle, and Lauren all gathered around her and hugged her tight.  Everyone was crying.

Not moving from the living room, Wynd and the others paced the floors praying.  No one spoke.  After what seemed like a lifetime, Jocelyn spoke, “the drone is coming up on the last coordinates where Marcus was when I lost contact with him.

The giant screen flashed on.  The drone was flying just over the treetops.  Everyone held their breath and prayed.

There was an exclamation from Wynd as the drone came upon a section of forest where the trees had been broken and a slight smoke trail was rising from the forest floor.  There at the bottom of the forest floor amid several broken trees was the destroyed aircraft.  Standing next to the helo was a huge tyrannosaurus rex. Blood was evident on the larger pieces of the aircraft that were intact. The t-rex raised his massive head upward toward the drone and let out a blood curdling roar.  There was total silence in the room, and then gasps as everyone took in the whole picture of what they were seeing. Wynd dropped to the floor.

“No, no, no, no, noooo…” said Wynd quietly.