Chapter 50
Once they were back on board the
Farragut
,
Carlie gathered her two teams into a huddle on the deck as sea spray splashed
around their feet.
“You’ve all done a damn fine job and I’m
proud to work with such incredible warriors. I especially want to commend Staff
Sergeant Boyd’s clairvoyant powers at knowing about the change in exfil plans
and providing that spectacular fireworks show,” Carlie said, looking at the sergeant
and then at each person around her.
“I’d go into combat any day with you,
Ms. Simmons,” Boyd said.
She gave him a slight nod and then put
her hands on her hips. “Let’s stow our rifles, packs, and gear back at our
bunks for now. The XO has set a course towards Galveston. We’ve got a few days
of ocean travel ahead of us before we can fly back to Barksdale Air Force Base
and then on to White Sands. Get some chow, a shower, and some well-earned
rest.”
She moved over to Pavel, who was
standing behind the group with his shoulders slumped forward. “Amy will take
you down to medical to get your leg checked out and then find you a quiet bunk.
Later, I’d like it if you could meet with the commander, myself, and the rest
of my team so we can get a few answers to much-needed questions,” she said, touching
his arm.
While Amy escorted Pavel along the deck
and Boyd’s group dispersed, she walked up to Shane, Jared, and Matias. “The XO
wants to speak with all of us directly to go over what we saw in the smugglers’
encampment and the makeshift laboratory buildings. He’s expecting us on the
bridge in an hour so clean up those swarthy mugs of yours and then I’ll see you
all up there.”
Carlie walked down below and immediately
headed for the berthing area to drop off her pack and vest. She habitually
secured the safety on the M4 even though she knew the weapon was empty. She
kept the Glock and fixed blade on her belt and made a mental note to resupply
her magazines.
She grabbed a pair of dry fatigues while
retreating into the tiny restroom at the back. Stripping down to her underwear
and bra, Carlie paused before the mirror, staring at her taut face and the lines
of tension that radiated out like gnarled roots from her temples. Her bloodshot
eyes reminded her of how little she had slept this past week and the lack of alone
time.
She splashed water over her face, still
looking at her reflection as if it belonged to someone else and then realized
how tightly she was gripping the edge of the sink. Carlie lowered her head, taking
a deep breath while her mind raced through the events of the past few hours.
After several minutes of practicing rhythmic breathing, she reached for her
hair brush and, with great concentration, began trying to unsnarl her golden locks.
With each successful pass from her head to her shoulders, she would stop and
take a deep breath, trying to reassure herself that there would be order in the
world again one day.
Chapter 51
Master-At-Arms Richards was at the rear
deck getting ready to cut loose the tugboat when he saw Boyd and his men walking
by. “Excuse me, would you guys mind giving me a hand with this for a second?”
Boyd nodded and then walked down the
steps to the rear deck. He hadn’t removed his crusty vest or grenades and
chunks of jungle mud shook loose with each step. His three men followed behind
him.
“Looks like you boys could use a hot
shower,” said Richards, who was grinning. “That’s the one thing about you army fellas—always
getting gunked up.”
Boyd looked at the man’s white fatigues
that held a crease in the pants. “Never could’ve joined the navy as I don’t
know how to iron and don’t carry a mirror in my pocket everywhere I go,” Boyd
laughed.
“All jokes aside, I’m glad you guys made
it back alright,” Richards said, untying the massive ropes from the deck
attachments as Boyd held onto a handle on the rear of his life vest.
“Yeah, I hear that. My first and only
visit to Cuba and I didn’t even get to enjoy a decent cigar.”
As Richards bent down to release the
rope, Boyd felt a powerful tug on his arm and saw the cloth fabric of the life jacket
tear loose from his grip as a sickly yellow hand reached up and grabbed
Richards’ arm, pulling him over. Boyd lunged forward to grab the man and saw
three mutants scrambling up the sides of the Destroyer. His men reached for
their rifles instinctively but only heard the sickening sound of their weapons
firing dry.
Chapter 52
After changing, Carlie walked down the
narrow gray corridor past the stairs leading to the engineering level below.
As she stepped through a hatchway into
another hallway, she heard commotion on the up-bound stairs ahead and saw Boyd
jumping from the middle step onto the floor a few feet in front of her. Dozens
of sailors were frantically pushing each other out of the way to get down,
their eyes rollercoaster wild. Then she heard screams from above and saw a
young man at the top of the stairs get violently yanked up. The red lights on
the wall beside her began flashing.
Over the cacophony of sirens and
screaming crew members came the XO’s voice on the intercom. “This is the
commander; the ship has been breached. All section chiefs secure your levels
and close off….” She heard shooting and then yelling. “Shit…kill them…kill them
all…” The sound of gunshots on the bridge was replaced by screams as if a rabid
tiger had been set loose on the vessel. Carlie stopped moving forward as the
fierce shrieks of the XO went silent and she could hear hissing sounds coming
over the intercom.
Chapter 53
Carlie’s instincts, refined from years
of protective training, were urging her to rush towards the threat but the
stairs were blocked by dead crewmen and she knew her Glock only had a partial
magazine left in it.
“You don’t…you don’t want to go up
there,” Boyd said, trying to catch his breath. “I saw at least three of those
things climbing onto the ship. They killed my guys right before my eyes” he
said as sweat ran down his left cheek and mingled with a spatter of blood on
his neck.
She turned and retraced her steps
through the last hatchway only to run into Matias, Shane, and Jared, who were
running towards her.
“You can’t go back that way,” yelled
Matias.
She swung her head towards the stairwell
leading down to engineering and jumped over the railing with the others on her
heels. The hatchway that led into the hallway towards the rear deck was still
open and they climbed inside. She grabbed the handle of the vault-like door and
started to close it then spun her head back towards the others. “Wait, where are
Pavel and Amy?”
“They must still be down in medical in
the opposite direction,” said Shane.
“Alright, Boyd, you stay here and see if
you can direct any others this way. Then close the hatch until I return, said
Carlie. “I’ll radio you on the intercom when we are heading back this way.”
She glanced at the waistlines of Shane,
Matias, and Jared and saw that they were still carrying their pistols. Carlie
pulled out her Glock and did a magazine check, counting off four rounds.
“Hey, I know you’re an ace with that but
you don’t want to be firing full-metal jacket rounds down here,” said Shane.
“If it passes through one of those things and pierces a fuel line or the
missile loading area, we’re all gonna light up like that beachfront we just
came from.”
Carlie grimaced and then reluctantly
reholstered the pistol and removed her nine-inch tactical blade. “It looks like
we’re doing this the Roman way, fellas,” she said, looking back at the others.
Chapter 54
As they darted past the stairwell they
had just descended, Carlie and the others ducked through two more hatchways
that hadn’t been secured. After ten minutes of quietly navigating through the
passageways, they reached the medical room on the right.
Upon entering, Carlie detected movement
in the far corner and saw Amy raising a pistol at her. “Whoa, it’s me, take it
easy,” Carlie said, lowering her blade.
Amy breathed a sigh of relief and yanked
on Pavel’s sleeve behind a large metal cabinet.
“Anyone else in here?”
“No, I don’t think so.”
Jared was keeping an eye on the hallway
with Matias when he ducked his head into the room. “Hey, why don’t we just seal
off the hatches on either side of this hallway and hole up here?”
“Because this location is mid-ship and
there’s no other escape route out of here if we do,” said Shane. “The
engineering area back there has exits to the outside deck at the stern.”
“We’re going to have to make a run for
it the way we just came,” Carlie said, grabbing a fire extinguisher from the
wall. “Grab as many of these as you can find. They may come in handy for
blinding those things.”
“How many of those things are up there,
do you think?” said Amy.
“Boyd said he saw three of those
fast-moving monsters on the main deck below the bridge. I don’t think the other
type can swim,” said Carlie.
“What do you mean, swim?” said Jared.
“Those things are brain-dead animals.”
“It’s a moot point since they are here,”
said Carlie, pushing past the entrance. “Keep your formation tight and let’s
roll.”
Chapter 55
As they made their way along the narrow
passage, the red emergency lights were all that illuminated the way. Carlie
walked with her right blade hand extended while keeping her left hand at mid-chest
to parry incoming strikes as she had been trained to do through many years of
knife fighting. The Secret Service used a medley of empty-hand and blade
training methods that took the best from Filipino Martial Arts, Krav Maga, and
Army Combatives. She had had to use her close-quarters skills in non-lethal
encounters many times before while protecting dignitaries in crowds but never
figured she would be fighting her way through a ship of hungry flesh-eaters.
As she neared the stairwell by the rear
hatch, Carlie reached for the intercom button and relayed the message to Boyd
to open the door. She saw the round handle beginning to turn and the hatch
release which caused the well-worn hinges to groan and echo off the metal
walls.
While she motioned the rest of the group
to climb into the other section, she heard the clanking of metal steps behind
her and saw a tall mutant land gracefully on the deck below the stairs only
twenty feet away. Carlie marveled for a second at its cat-like grace in
descending. It was nothing like the clumsy figures she had battled before and,
with the benefit of more lighting, she could see there was a cunning predator’s
determination in its gaze. Its face bore a smooth yellow complexion without any
of the wrinkles of the other mutants and its well-etched muscles were evident
through its torn garments. As she crouched lower to prepare for an offensive
strike, the creature moved forward, parting its lips slightly while purposefully
hissing through clenched teeth.
She raised her blade higher and saw
Shane move next to her. “Let me blast this fuck and then you can go to town on ’em,”
he said, lifting the fire extinguisher and unleashing a haze of white mist as
the creature rushed for them.
As the fog filled the air, Carlie lunged
forward, ducking low and slicing the creature deeply across the right
quadriceps muscle until she felt it hit the bone. The mutant shrieked and
collapsed on one knee as its injured leg gave way. Carlie raced around behind
it and went to slash its neck but the creature spun, viciously jerking her boot
and sending her onto her back. Shane rushed forward and struck it in the side
of the head with the fire extinguisher, knocking it into a storage locker. It
stood and limped towards him, grabbing him by the throat and lifting him off
the ground with one hand.
Boyd rushed out from the hatchway with
his machete but the creature slammed its other hand across his jaw, sending him
into the wall. The enraged mutant stood hulking before Shane, its ropy muscles
flexing violently as if its torso was plugged into a high-voltage outlet.
Carlie shook her head and sprung back on
her feet. She jumped on the creature’s muscular back and drove her blade deep
into the cervical region, partially severing the spinal cord. The mutant’s
strength wavered and it released its grip on Shane. Carlie dug the blade into
the hilt and saw the tip come out the other side of the neck. She began swirling
the handle while a spray of blood ushered over her hand. The creature snorted
in a breath as it tried to grasp behind at Carlie with its weakening arms.
“Why can’t you die already?” she yelled,
driving the blade in further until she heard the neck snap like a handful of wet
twigs. The creature instantly collapsed in a heap on the floor. Carlie yanked
out her drenched blade and kicked the crumpled beast in the ribs then she collapsed
on the floor next to Boyd and Shane.
Shane was rubbing his throat and gulping
in air. “Shit, that bastard was strong.”
Boyd sat up, wiggling his jaw back and forth
then rolling his tongue around his mouth. “Christ, I think that thing knocked
my tooth lose.”
“Let’s get to the rear deck and then
figure out a way off this ship. No way in hell we can risk battling any more of
those things without firearms,” said Carlie, who was still catching her breath.
As they helped each other up and the
others moved out from the hatchway to help, they heard a scream come from the floor
above as the last crewman was killed. Then they saw two creatures leap over the
railing and land in the middle of the stairwell.