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“This is Sierra Bravo Four, get out of there!” Reynolds shouted.

Clements caught the garbled message just in time. He turned, madly looking around for his team, seeing them as they made their way up the alley.

“Hey, wait up!” he shouted, running after them.

105

The gunfire lasted another ten minutes. A long time for a firefight. The Special Activities Division Operators fought tooth and nail, quickly changing mags, working as a team. As they neared the edge of the village, Dale saw something to his right. He raised his M4, then paused.

Rivers.

“Don’t shoot, man!”

“I told you to stay put.”

“Easier said than done,” Rivers exclaimed.

Dale suddenly knew what the man meant. Behind his old friend were Svetlana and Thompson, followed closely by Clements who was screaming frantically. “Run!”

The seven regrouped, each taking an angle, each firing at anything that moved. They were in utter madness, and the creatures kept coming and coming.

Then, despite the loud screams, the rifle reports, their ringing ears, the men heard something. It was haunting.

From the canyon walls the call came. A howl in the night, one of angst, one distraught in fury.

Ahmed called them back.

Back to the cave.

The creatures responded without hesitation. They hurried off, no longer interested in the team. They snatched up any human bodies along the way, also grabbing their own fallen ones, even mangled flesh of body parts.

The creatures began to eat as they ran, sprinting across the valley floor, headed east. In no time, they were out of visual range, for the darkness was fully encompassing, covering their tracks. The creatures of the night, these sinister beings, bound up the trail, the rocks, back to the calling of Ahmed and the safety of their cave.

106

“We’ve lost transmission, ma’am,” Michael reported.

All the screens flickered, many going black.

“What the hell?” Elizabeth exclaimed, pacing. “Get us back online.”

“Trying,” Michael said, clicking away at a keyboard.

Elizabeth called into her microphone, her voice desperate. “Hollywood One, come in.”

Static.

“Hollywood One, report. Dammit, Jeff! Where are you?” She called out.

Nothing but static.

“Delta One, Delta Two, this is command.”

Nothing.

Michael reported the bad news. “We’ve lost access to their helmet cams. Their radios. Even satellite thermal imagery is gone. They’re alone in there.”

“What does that mean?” Elizabeth asked.

“They’re getting closer to the cave.”

“Can we know who survived?”

“No, ma’am. I’m afraid not.”

Elizabeth quickly switched frequencies, calling out, “Sierra Bravo Four, can you hear me?”

Silence.

“Sierra Bravo Four, are you there?”

* * *

The Marine kept firing until every last creature he could see in his scope had vanished up the trail. He then looked back down in the valley, counting the team. Seven remained.

This wasn’t good. To make matters worse, the seven moved swiftly from the village, racing across the open desert.

* * *

“Viki, you get me patched through to the Colonel, and you do it now!” Elizabeth ordered.

Finally, the static had a lull, and she thought she could hear something. “Sierra Bravo Four, do you copy?”

“This is Sierra Bravo Four. Base, can you hear me?”

“Garbled, but yes. What’s the SITREP?”

“It’s bad. Two members down. Delta Five and Six were killed in the village.”

“Say again? In the village?”

“Roger that. They came from the valley. Hundreds of them. More than I could count. They attacked, took out two members. I see the remaining seven.”

“What’s their status?”

“Can’t be good. Lots of gunfire down there. But they’re approaching the trail, headed up.”

“They’re going in?” Elizabeth gasped. For some reason, deep down, she felt they’d pull back. She knew this had never been an option, but her instincts told her to stop them.

“They’re halfway up the trail. See some shots, must be a few more.”

There was a moment of silence, Elizabeth wondering if something had happened to Reynolds. But soon, his voice came back again. “Gave them some cover. Need to switch positions. Can’t see the entrance of the cave right now.”

“We’ll lose contact,” Elizabeth replied.

“They need me closer,” Reynolds insisted.

“Tell me, Colonel… do they have enough ammo. Can they accomplish this mission?” Elizabeth asked.

A pause. It lasted long enough that she feared she’d lost reception. Then, a pop and a crackle and Reynolds voice reappeared. “Hotel Bravo, this is Sierra Bravo One. The team will not have enough ammo to accomplish the mission. They’re going in, and they’re going to their deaths.”

“Oh, God!” Elizabeth exclaimed.

“Hotel Bravo, I’m going to provide them whatever cover I can.”

“Sierra Bravo Four, you must tell them to pull out. Mission terminated. Tell them to back off and we’ll resupply.” Elizabeth knew this wasn’t smart, she knew it might even end her career. But she couldn’t chance it. She couldn’t chance losing Jeff Rivers to a bunch of raving lunatic creatures.

“Negative on that,” Reynolds reported. “Lost transmission myself. I’m going in. This is Sierra Bravo Four, signing off.”

“May God be with you,” Elizabeth whispered.

107

Elizabeth was on the phone. Same procedure as before, seventh floor of Langley. She heard the same monotone man answer, the cryptic voice.

“We have a problem,” Elizabeth began. She gave the details as concise as possible. After doing so, she asked, “How do I proceed? I’d like to request backup.”

“You know that is not an option.”

“I want to insert an emergency GRF immediately!” she demanded. A Global Reactionary Force could be dropped in within an hour. Two, max. McClain’s team, Elizabeth thought.

“Negative. There will be no backup,” the voice said.

“They’ll be out of ammo. There’s too many. It’s a death trap!” she cried out, nearly begging, filled with despair, hopeless and becoming enraged.

“They’ll do what they can do. Perhaps if we eliminate as many as possible, we can lower their numbers.”

“It’s a death sentence for my team. They don’t know how many they’re up against. The Colonel counted many more. Hundreds. They’re setting a trap and our team won’t make it out alive.”

“It’s what they signed up to do,” the voice reminded.

“Negative. They signed up to complete this mission. They can drop back, resupply, go back in.”

“This mission is hereby terminated,” the voice said.

“Say what? By whose authority? It’s my gig.” Elizabeth was appalled.

“We’re controlling it from Langley now. Your systems will shut down. A team will arrive within the hour to pack up your gear. You’ll be on a flight back to the states tonight.”

“I’m not leaving. Not without my team. Not without Jeff,” she replied.

“You’re under orders,” the voice reminded.

“Well, fuck your orders!” Elizabeth screamed. “I’m not going to allow this to happen.”