Conquest ~ Indian Hill 3 ~ A Michael Talbot Adventure (24 page)

“D
ee
,
what the fuck are you doing?!” I screamed.
“And
where the fuck did you get red body armor from?” My body may have been able to react instantly but my mind was having great difficulty coming up to speed. D
ee
dropped the now lifeless body of the private as he began to raise his shock rifle. Realization came in a flash, I opened fire as I watched my round fly helplessly off the armor, I raised the muzzle and watched as the Genogerian
'
s head exploded in a spray of crimson and gristle. By now
, every
one wa
s awake and ready, I pulled my
clip out and went to reload when I realized that unless I had an extra magazine shoved up my ass it wasn’t going to happen. Nobody paid any attention to my clothing or lack thereof,
our number had just been reduced by
one and the threat that had not been a
ss
essed was still very much imminent. Tracy came out
of
the door
,
her pistol at the ready just as what remained of our enemy hit the floor. D
ee
came running up the hallway from behind the dead shock trooper. He
would have
joined him if I hadn’t jumped in the middle of the hallway. It was then as I stood in front of God and everyone that my nakedness started to become an issue, especially since I was in a halt position, legs apart, arm
s over my head and outstretched—
it didn’t leave much to the imagination
.
S
till it was worth it, I had saved my friend. But
had
I
? How the fuck had they f
ou
nd us?
W
e hadn’t seen so much as a patrol as we marched
t
here and then hours after we stop
,
the
y
find us? I was about to ask D
ee
this
,
but his roar cut me off.

“
Get in
to defensive positions, there are about twelve of them and they’re right behind me!”
H
e bent to pick up the fallen snouter’s rifle. A moment of apprehension sliced through me like a winter wind, the
rifle was at my side but at that
distance I wouldn’t miss. D
ee
caught the gesture but said nothing as he ran past me and into my room.

“You heard him
,
get some cover!” I yelled. “Aw fuck
,
I don’t want to die with my clothes off, that’s embarrassing
,” I said
to myself.

“Not from where I’m standing
,”
Tracy added. God
,
I loved that
girl we were about to enter in
to a firefight and she was making jokes.

The first shock troop
er
rounded the corner
,
the now familiar blue streaks lighting up the hallway as he fired blindly. Tracy threw me a fresh clip as I dove for the floor. She steadied her rifle against the doorframe as her shots found their mark. The second trooper had begun to round the corner and jumped back after he saw his two fallen comrades.

“Hu-mans!”
c
ame the
inhuman
voice,
“
throw down your weapons
and we will not kill you here.”

They really weren’t all that good at diplomacy, he made it abundantly clear
that
while they may not kill us here
,
they most definitely were going to kill us.

“Ummm,
no!” I shouted as I motioned for Tracy to get me a grenade. She might be
an excellent shot but she had a terrible throwing arm, the grenade nearly bounced off my skull as she tossed it at me. I rolled out of the way and placed my hand out and
caught
the explosive before it hit the ground.

“Nice toss
,” I said
.

She shrugged her shoulders and mouthed ‘
S
orry.’

My han
d throbbed from being driven in
to the ground from the heavy weapon,
thank the heavens she hadn’t aimed for my crotch, it would have been hours before I felt like a man again. I pulled the pin and overhead lobbed the grenade down the hallway, but tonight my aim was about as good as Tracy’s. The grenade hit a light on the ceiling almost directly over the first snouter I had killed.

“Fir
e in the hole!” I yelled as I
g
ot up, grabbed Tracy and dove into the room. The explosion rocked the building like a hurricane force wind, for
a
moment the world lit up like
a Walt Disney parade
. And then everything was unsettlingly quiet. It wouldn’t stop the snouters
,
it would
, however,
give them paus
e for their next plan of attack
and I believed that would involve reinforcements.

“Get dressed
,”
I whispered to Tracy. “We’re going to have to get out of here in a hurry.”

“D
ee
,
watch the door.” He had been looking out the window,
presumably
for the
reinforcements that were on the way.

I hurriedly began to dress
,
almost as fast as I had taken them off.

“It’s me they followed
,” Dee said
never
,
turning from his post at the door.

“Huh
?” I said,
half
falling,
trying to put my socks on.

“I’ve been traced
,” he said
with a touch of melancholy.

“How can you be sure?” I asked with my t-shirt
half over my face.

“They didn’t just stumble across us, Mike. They were looking. If I hadn’t been outside doing my prayer ritual, they would have killed us or captured us all. When you leave you will have to leave me here.”

I paused
,
pulling
up my pants
.
I must have looked somewhat foolish arguing with an alien with my pants halfway
up
my legs.

“Not a fucking chance
,
D
ee
.”

“They will find your Indian Hill if you take me.”

He was right and we both knew it.

“Fuck! How long until reinforcements
,
D
ee
?”

“I do not yet know how strong their landing invasion is
,
but my guess is not more than
ten
minutes.”

“
Can
we cut
the tracer
out
of you
in the
next five minutes?” I asked
futilely
.

“Possibly
,
if we knew where it was
,” he answered
.

“Yeah
,
that does present a problem.” Tracy came back in the room fully clothed
c
arrying a radio. She turned the volume all the way
up
. The noise was almost as disturbing as
the dozen or so armed snouters
.

“Any chance you could tell me what you’re doing
?”
I shouted.

“Infestation removal.”

My eyebrows furrowed. I thought maybe she had lost her mind. She then proceeded to sweep the irritating device across Drababan’s body. The pitch changed dramatically every time she got anywhere near his right thigh.

“I think I found our snitch
,” she said
as she shut
off
the radio.
She
pull
ed
a large knife out of a sheath tied to her ankle.

“Shit
,
we got company
,” I said
as I watched two troop tra
nsports land across the street
from our apartment complex. Troops began to stream out.

“Mike
,
you need to leave, before it’s too late.”

Who was he kidding
?
I thought
.
It was
already too late.

“
Sergeant
!” I yelled as I ran to the doorway.

“Sir!
” came the reply
from two rooms down.

“Have someone light up one of those transports
—
we need to buy some time so we can get
good and gone
.”

“Done!
” came the reply
.

“Tracy
,
grab your gear we’re getting out of here.”

“What about Drababan
?” she asked
.

I didn’t answer her as I spoke directly to Drababan.

“We’ll take out who we can. Good luck
,
my friend.”

“Do not worry yourself about me
,
Mike
.
Y
ou are doing the right thing.”

“Yeah
,
well just because I’m doing the right thing doesn’t make it feel right. Keep the radio
,
D
ee
.
I
f you make it out of here, I will contact you tomorrow on channel three.”

If I thought the grenade had produced a bright light I was wholly unprepared for the effects of the rocket launcher, the troop transport and a good third of its troops
had now found their way to what
ever heaven they believed in.

“That’s our cue
,
Lieutenant
.
L
et’s
go.” I stopped to hug D
ee
on our way out. “Good luck
,
my friend.”

“Don’t believe in luck
,” he answered
as he hefted the large rifle.

“Well,
good luck anyway
,
you big lizard.”

“As opposed to you, monkey man.”

I grasped his arm, “I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

“
Gropytheon
be willing
,”
h
e responded.

CHAPTER THI
R
TY-SIX

Dennis’ hearing came back
minutely
, the first thing he noticed was the beating of his heart
,
laboring
with the effort
as he
put as much distance between himself and the aliens new outpost. The image of the d
ying
g
unney
was
still fresh in his mind.
He
had just crossed the Dedham
-
Norwood line when he felt more than heard a rumbling from his chest. At first he was perplexed as to its origin, he was reminded of the huge earth movers that had helped shape the new Indian Hill.

That’s it
,
h
e thought to himself,
m
achinery
. Instinctually
,
Dennis dove
farther
in
to the cover of the surrounding woods, moments bef
ore three huge troop transports
hovered by. They were not the same as the flying transports
,
but they were very similar. The front
was low and steeply sloped to the cockpit, the turbines that kept the machine afloat bent the trees back, so much so that Dennis feared they might snap in two and expose him. Dennis did not by any stretch of the imagination like that they were going in the same direction he was. Had the aliens not killed
the gunney
? But somehow got him to reveal where the Hill was? “Oh God
,
no
!” he screamed
. Dennis
went
farther
into the woods in an attempt to pick up the railroad track and the express route to Indian Hill
.
H
e began to run for all he was worth.