The Vikings returned fire in a chaotic fashion. Their columns had been prepared to thrust at a static defensive line, not repel a horde. They marched toward the mountaintop expecting to find a defeated, demoralized enemy' not maddened demons at close quarters.
For her part, Nina killed with precision.
While still jogging down the slope, she raised her M4 and squeezed the trigger once. A single bullet killed a single enemy.
She darted to her left as a pellet buzzed past her head, then back to her right to dodge another. Her weapon rose. Her eye found the mark. The trigger pulled. A bullet pierced a goggle on her opponent.
She raced forward again. Two Vikings-staggering backward in the face of the onslaught-noticed her approach. Their magnetic rifles discharged. She spun and jumped and rolled behind an Oak. The unfriendly rounds tore away tree bark.
Nina popped out on one knee, fired her third shot and with it killed a third alien; the gray and black colored poncho rolled lifelessly away.
The other enemy fired with shaky hands. His shots missed high. She launched her fourth of five bullets. It missed. The alien stepped behind the tree in search of cover.
Nina immediately took to her feet and sprinted around the other side of that tree. The sound of raging battle filling the forest hid the crunches of her feet on dried twigs and leaves. She surprised the alien from behind, placing the last of her five bullets into his skull at point blank range. The top of the poncho exploded into mess.
She pulled the extraterrestrial’s rifle from his dead hands and gazed at its slender, plain barrel and the oddly shaped firing mechanism. She did not understand the weapon's rate of fire, how to clean it, or even how to reload it. Nonetheless, she understood triggers well enough. She understood barrels.
The natural-born soldier raised the strange rifle and fired at the nearest enemy fighter. She felt no recoil, only a small vibration. No smoke discharged. No casing ejected. Yet the result was familiar: one of her enemies crumpled to the ground.
Nina charged again, further down the slope, hunting for her next victim. Her eyes sorted through the churning chaos of intertwined combatants and gave it order. She lived for the fight. Now she fought not because it was all she knew, but because she had so much to fight for. She fought for the right to live. She fought for the love she felt for Trevor. She fought for her people, not as an outcast warrior but as one with them.
Nina waded into the battle knowing that when the alien gun ran dry, she could turn to her knife and should that break she would use her bare hands.
Trevor led the mob of enraged humanity and chased the Vikings not only down the slope, not only over the stream and fields of the valley below, but also back up the second mountain.
The aliens ran in terror from the devils that pursued. They screamed in horror as they realized how horrid the monsters they had unleashed. They cried with fatal regret that they had dared come to this planet of death.
The Vikings ran faster and more fearful than any man had run from any of the nightmares that had descended upon that world.
They reached the top of the hill.
Fromm stepped from behind a tree and took aim at Trevor.
Trevor threw his sword. It pierced the Force Commander’s neck.
The remaining Viking warriors-some pleading in an alien language for their lives-were slaughtered without mercy. Their blood filled puddles across the mountain.
Trevor grabbed the dying body of Fromm and carried it on top of a red rock cropping at the crown of the mountain. His rage burned. His followers gathered.
Trevor found the strength of all mankind. He lifted the commander skyward above his head as the alien gurgled blood and clutched at air.
"IS THIS THE BEST YOU CAN DO? IS THIS ALL THERE IS?"
He tossed the dead body to the ground. It thudded and rolled off.
Trevor raised his arms toward the summer sky. He shook his fists at the mysterious forces of the universe that had orchestrated Armageddon. He hollered a barbaric roar. A roar that echoed from the mountain and over the treetops and across the land.
The aliens and creatures from other worlds that heard that roar trembled.
34. Secrets
Trevor stood on the balcony and watched as the convoy of Humvees, SUVs and one Bradley left the estate. He worked his radio to talk to the man in charge of the expedition.
"How long will it take to get there?"
Stonewall answered, "We will be exercising abundant caution, but I anticipate our arrival sometime later this afternoon."
How much had changed since Jon’s expedition to Allentown last autumn! This time, after so many battles, Stonewall felt confident enough to travel the turnpike via motor vehicles, as opposed to slinking across the countryside on horseback.
The convoy included Reverend Johnny and it aimed to reach The Order’s abandoned facility, secure it, and confirm the existence of the correct enzyme. If all went well, Trevor and Nina would fly to Allentown in the morning and it would be done. The memories would be purged. The woman he loved would cease to exist.
And Trevor Stone would go on leading his crusade.
He walked from the balcony into the empty Command Center where maps and binders called for his attention.
Ten days had past since the Battle of Five Armies.
Despite the victory, their casualties had been many. So many dead, many more wounded. Yet, they would recover. Trevor knew that. In the meantime, he would need to bide his time, restock ammunition, find more refugees, birth more Grenadiers, and focus on basics.
Eventually, the war would start anew. More battles. More death. More killing.
All part of his role to play, his path to walk…alone.
– Lori Brewer-carrying seven and a half months worth of baby-wobbled toward the barn. According to Dr. Maple’s ultrasounds, she carried a girl. The first child of the new world.
Nevertheless, not even pregnancy could keep Lori from doing her work, so she wobbled toward the barn carrying a knapsack stuffed with bandages and medicine.
The animals surrounded her, jumping and fidgeting excitedly.
"Have we been good little doggies?"
Lori patted heads until she came to Seth, a German Shepherd, with shrapnel in his haunch. His bandages needed to be changed. Lori spent several minutes cleaning the wound and re-dressing it. Seth flinched a little but he flinched less with each day.
Her task complete, Lori struggled to stand. A strong arm reached in and helped her up. That armed belonged to Nina Forest.
"Oh, hey. Thanks. I don’t get around like I used to."
"Yeah," Nina gently tapped Lori’s belly. "With that big bowling ball you're carryin’."
Lori smiled but said nothing. An awkward silence persisted for several seconds until Nina broke it with the bad news: "Tomorrow."
Lori tried to find something to say. "Oh, well, I, um, well…"
"I guess there are some words you’re not good with, huh?" Nina lightened her words with a tiny smile as she finished, "Like ‘goodbye’."
Lori shook her head, saying, "No, no, it’s not goodbye. You’ll be back. You just got to get that thing out of your head."
"It’s goodbye."
Lori wanted to walk away from the conversation. It turned out there were a few things she did not like to tackle head on.
"Why are you saying that? You’ll be back by tomorrow evening."
"The person I am now won’t exist anymore."
"Allriiighty then, so what, you’ll be a six foot red head? Will your name change? You gunna have green eyes? No. You’ll be back."
Nina tried to explain as much to herself as to Lori.
"My memories of everything…everything since the crash will be gone. All those experiences. I won’t remember any of it. Not meeting you or Trevor or everyone else. Not all we’ve gone through since then. Things that have…have changed me."