Jack let out a breath, calming himself. Today is our D-Day.
The village was well awake as Jack and Dee walked down the path, heading for the FOB. Signs of the battle were still evident, but everyone had pitched in, trying to get the town back to normal. He nodded a greeting to the two guards posted at the old hotel entrance.
They stopped outside the War room and knocked. Jack paused to look around the harbour. At the far end of the bay, three helicopters sat idle on the concrete. Army personnel were loading supplies into them and refuelling them.
“Enter,” came Ben’s muffled voice.
Jack pushed on the door and stood to one side to let Dee past.
Ben and two sergeants stood at the large table, a couple of maps spread out in front of them. He smiled as he saw them. “Ah. Jack, Dee. Good morning.”
Jack hesitated, unsure whether to salute or not. Dee walked over and hugged Ben, saving him from his indecision. “Morning, Captain.”
“Jack. Dee. This is sergeants Hollis and Bryant. They’re going to assist us on this mission.”
Jack shook both their hands, noting their strong grips. They looked like serious Army. He was glad for their help. They were going to need all the support they could get today.
Ben looked each of them in the eye. He pointed down at the map in front of him. “All right. This is what we have. We have three choppers and thirteen soldiers. Including us. We need to come up with a distraction so we can enter that hell-hole and extract the boys and any other civvies alive. I’m going to plant explosives and, once we are clear, blow that meat locker to hell.”
Jack grinned. Yes. A big kaboom would do the trick. Smash that cursed place apart and flood the land, returning it to the river valley it once was, drowning the demons from hell with it. Images of war movies played through his mind, men screaming and explosions ripping them limb from limb. He glanced up at Dee, smiling at her. He looked back to the map, tracing the Waikato River with his finger back to the other hydroelectric dams farther upstream. A spark of an idea formed in his mind. “Captain, how much explosive do you have?”
“Enough. What are you thinking, Jack?”
“Well, okay, this is crazy, but what if we set off a small explosion here at Arapuni?” Jack pointed down to the map. “It’s what, twenty kilometres upstream? As far as we know, the Trophy King reigns over them as well, if there are Variants in there too. So we head south in one chopper while the other two head north. At a set time, we set off the explosion, hopefully pulling enough Variants out of Karapiro. We skirt around the mountain and then drop in, landing on the roof.”
Jack watched as Ben stroked his long beard. Then he smirked at Jack, a twinkle in his brown eyes. “I like it, Jack. We don’t want to cause too much damage and cause the dam to fail. We also don’t have the means or time to work out how long we’d have before any wall of watery death would reach Karapiro if there was one. Okay. Here’s what we’ll do. Hollis, Bryant, you each take two men in a chopper. Fly north to Hamilton and swoop upriver. I’m thinking the collaborators are housed at the town next to the lake. It’s the only logical location. It’s close enough for them to guard the Variants, but far enough away for them to feel normal. I want you guys to attack them after you see some of their forces leaving. Once we arrive and land, Hollis, I want you to fall back as backup for extraction.” Ben looked around at each of them, letting the plan sink in.
Jack nodded his head. It was crazy, but it was all they had.
Ben looked over at Dee and Jack. “Dee, Jack. When we get inside, you lead us, Jack. You know the layout better than anyone. Kill as many of those bastards as possible. Then get out. If I order you out, you go. Understand?”
Dee looked at Jack with a grim expression on her face. He knew what she was thinking. Ben was telling them to save themselves. Jack looked over at the sergeants, meeting their gazes. They looked back at him, determined. He felt inspired by their inclusion. “What if we play some crazy music out of the loudspeakers for added distraction?”
Ben glanced over to him. “Such as?”
“Well, I was thinking of For Whom The Bell Tolls by Metallica.”
Dee barked out a laugh and shook her head at him.
“If whatever that music is distracts those bastards, then play it! It worked for us in Vietnam on occasion,” Ben replied, smirking.
Both the sergeants chuckled, and Jack couldn’t help but laugh with them. It was a nervous laugh, but it felt good to release it and share it with the others.
The meeting drew to a close as Ben outlined the rest of the plan, going over the timing with them. He handed each of them a digital watch and they synced them.
Jack moved over to Dee and hugged her. “Let’s go get the boys.”
“Yeah, let’s end this.”
Jack turned to the sound of knocking. Eric pushed the door open. “Don’t forget about me!”
Jack grinned and shook his hand. “Eric. You made it.”
Eric nodded at the gathered Renegades. “Let’s do this for Tony, for all those we lost.”
Ben stepped around the table and grasped his shoulder. “Yes. Let’s do it for Tony. You’re in charge of the explosives. I want ten small bundles made up, six with five-minute timers, and four with two-minute timers.” He paused, looking around the room. “Just so you all know, I haven’t okayed this with Command. I’m giving you all the chance to back out now. Those that want to come, we leave at 1100.”
Jack smiled at his words. So what was new? The rescue of him and George had been off the books too.
Dee reached over and grasped Ben’s arm. “We’re Renegades, right?” Looking at each of them, she carried on. “So let’s Renegade!”
Dee’s words were answered with a cheer and an “Oo rah!” as the council broke apart. Each Renegade moving off to prepare.
Jack felt strangely calm as he headed for the armoury. Hold on boys. I’m coming.
TWENTY-FOUR
It was the smell that woke Boss from his coma; the putrid stench of decay and death. It surrounded him, seeping into his pores and assaulting his nose. He tried breathing in through his mouth, but that made him gag. The thick air tasted like rotten meat. Bile rose up his throat and he vomited the acidic liquid out. He gasped for air, but breathing in the polluted air made him gag again. He forced himself to calm his breathing, to focus.
His breathing under control, his other senses kicked in. Excruciating pain lanced up his arms and legs, threatening to return him to his coma. Turning his head, he could see sharp bone protruding through his left hand. He struggled against the fastening as panic set in, his heart thumping in his chest. Boss turned to look at his right hand; that too was fastened with bone. And he could feel another one through his foot. Waves of pain cascaded over him and he clenched his teeth together, riding it out. What was it Dee had said to him? There is always a way out?
He peered through the dim light. He could see another figure strung out on a rack of bones across from him. Boss shuddered, realising what had happened; he had been crucified on a cross of bones. He could make out Beth’s blonde hair a few metres to his right. She was still, eyes closed. Boss prayed she was alive. He glanced around the room. It was a large open area, as far as he could see through all the bones and entrails. The walls, floor, and ceiling were concrete. A steel set of stairs rose up from the floor to a small metal landing. Pivoting his head, he could see another set of stairs at the other end of the room.
In the center of the room, bones had been piled up into a throne. The Alpha they called the Trophy King sat on top. A small cage made from bones lay to one side. Inside it, a small figure was curled up.
The Trophy King was watching Boss, his yellow eyes glaring at him. He leant his head back and bellowed. The bellow shook the bones. Boss screamed, and desperately tried to wrench himself free. He had tried to remain strong for George, for Beth. He had tried to protect them from the beasts. But he had failed. Now the Alpha was to have his revenge. An avid gamer, Boss had spent hundreds of hours facing monsters; when the monsters became reality, though, he ran and hid. Dee had inspired him to fight and survive, to live on.
He looked around again as despair washed over him, pulling him into its dark embrace. Hundreds of skulls on spikes lined the walls. Skulls of all different sizes. The Trophy King bellowed again, rising from his throne. Variants poured into the chamber, surrounding him. He reached down and pulled the figure from the cage, then pointed at Boss and howled. The gathered Variants joined in. The howls grew in intensity, rattling his teeth and hurting his eardrums. Boss gasped as he recognised George’s red hair. Tears flowed freely as he contemplated their fate.
The Alpha lifted George up, grasping the boy around the neck with one of his huge claws. He picked up a shard of bone with his free claw and, with another look at the crucified Boss, stabbed George in the eye. George’s scream tore into Boss, shattering his soul.
“Leave him alone! Kill me! Just please, leave him alone,” Boss screamed at the Trophy King.
The Alpha shoved the still-screaming George back into the cage and, with an astounding jump, leapt in front of Boss. His sucker mouth pulled back, revealing rows and rows of sharp teeth. His rancid breath fumed out. With a snarl, the Alpha jabbed the shard of bone into Boss’s leg, twisting it. Boss screamed in pain and fought to free himself. He didn’t care if he died trying, but he just wanted to kill this monster from hell. He managed to lift his left hand off the bone, and feebly hit the Alpha on the shoulder. The Trophy King hissed at him and clenched his wrist in his claw, cutting into the skin. Then he slammed Boss’s hand back onto the bone nail. Boss screamed again, his voice growing hoarse. The Alpha bounded over to the crucified Beth. She was now awake, the horror evident on her face. Her gaze met Boss’s as tears streamed down her cheeks. The Trophy King turned to him again and bellowed. Turning back to Beth, he stabbed her in the right eye with the shard. Beth let out an agonised scream, squeezing her remaining eye shut as blood poured from her now-ruined one. Boss cried with her, trying to comfort her with his empathy.
A Variant leapt in front of Boss, and he felt crushing pain on the side of his head as his vision dimmed and faded to black.