To some it might have sounded as if Campion had, in fact, discovered a sentimental streak. But no, he knew those bodies might be the key to understanding what had happened on Tioga. Otherwise he would have left them for the vultures.
The Sea Stallion descended, rocking gently from the turbulence and cutting under a thick cloud of embers and ash along the way. Wheeled landing gear extended in preparation for touchdown.
"You should take a respirator," the pilot suggested.
Campion nudged Sal back into the cargo area and then faced his comrades.
"You two, grab a couple of respirators and tanks from the search and rescue gear. Go out, examine the bodies, bring a couple onboard. Stay in radio contact."
Roberts seemed jolted awake by the order. His boyish face tended to display his emotion rather clearly. In this case, that emotion suggested surprise and a little fear. The source of the fear was obvious; the surprise, no doubt, came from understanding that Campion would stay onboard the helicopter instead of investigating directly.
Campion did not have time to explain to him one simple fact: it now seemed likely that Major Gant had perished on Tioga Island. That put Campion in charge not only of the naval assets assigned to the operation but also Archangel's military detachment. In short, he was now too important to risk. This was not a situation Campion liked — he was a hands-on type of man. But the good of the team came first.
Both soldiers found and strapped on respirator masks and oxygen tanks over their BDUs.
Meanwhile, the Sea Stallion slowed and descended toward the plateau, fighting bands of smoke and ripples of turbulence on the way. Finally the wheels touched earth, and after the vehicle rolled a couple of feet, the rear gangway descended. A moment later Galati and Roberts emerged from the helicopter.
Sal led the way, a Heckler & Koch G36 slung across his person just in case things were not as quiet as they seemed. Roberts followed with an M4 Carbine in his grip. Bands of choking smoke blew over the scene. It seemed that this flat expanse of rock was positioned at just the right height to avoid the magma, like a tall stone in the middle of a stream.
Campion's voice broadcast to everyone on both choppers at the same time he radioed Galati and Roberts: "We don't have too much time before dark, so make it fast."
Sal did not seem to hear, but Roberts replied, "Understood, Cap."
The pair of explorers moved away from the helicopter and approached the mass of bodies spread over the ground. The people lying on that slab of rock had started their day dressed in colorful island garb ranging from blue and yellow floral shirts to summer dresses and even a couple in pajamas and bathrobes. However, the rain of smoke and ash had turned all the clothing gray and black.
"Look at these people," Sal said to Roberts directly but to everyone else as well via his headset. "No sign of movement. Man, they are sure dead."
He stepped among the cadavers, taking note of a teenage girl with bright red hair lying on her back with dead eyes staring at eternity. He also spied a man with a crooked nose and glasses as well as a woman in a tennis skirt lying facedown.
"What killed them?" Campion called.
"I dunno. Some of them are burned, a couple pretty good. Hell, maybe there is some gas from all this shit because that's kind of what it looks like. That or asphyxiation."
"We'll recover as many as we can," Campion said. "But this is not a great spot to hang out at. Work fast."
"Wells."
Roberts's voice grabbed the attention of everyone listening, particularly Sal Galati. He left the man with the crooked nose and the woman in the tennis skirt and ran over to Roberts, who knelt next to a black man wearing BDU pants and carrying a battle rifle.
"It's Wells," Roberts repeated.
Sal nearly pushed Roberts aside.
"It's him! It's Jupiter."
Campion asked over the radio, "Is he alive?"
"Checking … hang on … damn, it's hot here. No sign of burns but he ain't movin'."
Sal bent close and cradled his friend's head.
"Maybe the gas got him," Roberts said cautiously.
"Or maybe he passed out from all the heat," Sal countered. "I'm searching for a pulse."
Wells's eyes opened, just a little.
"He's alive!" Sal exclaimed. "He opened his eyes. He's looking right at me."
From high overhead in the second helicopter came Biggy Franco's voice: "Shit man, waking up to your ugly mug probably makes him wish he was back in the volcano."
18
Lieutenant Colonel Liz Thunder sat at her desk on sublevel one at the Darwin Research facility.
She had changed from her dress uniform to green BDUs after having used a shower at the facility to clean off some sweat and mental grind. Still, her eyes carried bags and fatigue trembled in her voice. Worse, falling asleep in her office chair during the night had left her with a pain in the lower back and her left shoulder feeling numb.
Across from her stood General Albert Friez. He had spent all night traveling across the country from Washington to Fort Irwin with a few stops in between. If he suffered from a lack of sleep or physical fatigue it did not show. Then again, he seemed less a man and more a walking, talking uniform, particularly with his hat pulled down tight above his eyes. It seemed his clothing served the same purpose as a suit of armor; to protect the wearer. From what, she did not know. It was possible that his emphasis on rank and appearances was one way he managed to keep the nastiness, dirtiness, and downright horrifying aspects of his job at arm's length.
I wonder if he sleeps soundly, or if he has nightmares.
Captain Campion's voice came over the speaker phone on top of the desk.
"The doctors onboard say that his only injuries are dehydration as part of overall heat exhaustion and fatigue."
"But the other bodies you found were killed by gas?"
"That's the preliminary opinion of the medical team onboard the Peleliu, but they've only taken a look at a handful of the bodies so far. Given the eruption and all, they are guessing sulfur dioxide poisoning as the likely cause of death. But that is preliminary."
Thunder glanced at a note lying on her desk, then to Friez, who said, "That might not be the case, Captain."
Liz picked up, "According to the USGS, there are no indications of an eruption on Tioga Island. They did monitor a tremor in that area, but nothing on the scale of an eruption."
"With all due respect, Colonel, I've been to the island. I'm no geologist, but there is no doubt that there are lava flows. The task force is holding about ten miles away from Tioga and we can see the fires burning on the island in the dark. It's like some Old Testament image of hell. Just about everything on land has burned to the ground. Everything I saw tells me that this volcano went up, and that's also what Wells said when he started mumbling during the night."
"I understand that, Captain," Thunder answered. "I'm no geologist, either. But the people who are geologists say their instrumentation does not indicate an eruption in the traditional sense. That doesn't call into question what you're seeing on the island, but it does question why you're seeing it."
"I don't follow," Campion said.
"She's saying," Friez spoke, "that the lava flows and fires you're seeing do not appear to be the work of natural volcanic activity."
Thunder asked, "Wells told you he saw some kind of armed force on the island?"
"Yes, Colonel. He also says he saw zombies."
She looked to the General again, who leaned closer to the speaker and replied, "Is it possible he is suffering from delusions caused by his condition?"
"I suppose so, sir," Campion answered, "but I doubt it. I mean, he is very tired and pretty much bedridden at this point, but he's been very consistent on that. He said he, Gant, and Dr. Stacy actually got into a firefight with the things and they were difficult to destroy until some kind of plane flew overhead and dropped a chemical or some type of compound from the air."