Chapter 25
Katie disappears into the leafy trees where she had left her father earlier. They’ll be covering us from the above where the Grey Ones won’t be able to see them hiding with sniper rifles.
After a few minutes, her voice erupts over the walkie-talkie speakers, “Raven to Alpha Dog. I am in position with Nighthawk. I repeat, I am in position.”
Colonel Kirk Samuels replies, “Roger that.” He clips it back on his waist and says, “Let’s move out.”
The burrows look like giant ant hills clustered together in what used to be a garden. I bite on my lucky dagger’s blade, preparing myself for the worst. After climbing up the dirt mound I slip headfirst into the burrow. Army crawling, I move downwards in the darkness. My hands sink into claws marks in the cool dirt. With Cano following closely behind me we move deeper and deeper into the burrows.
With the sunlight behind me, I drop into a large chamber. The room echoes with a thud when Cano jumps out, landing right behind me in the darkness. It’s so dark, I can hardly make out the dirt wall behind me. Standing tall, I reach into my pocket and pull out the small flashlight. I shine the light around the chilly chamber. Burrows are connected all over, presumably to get above.
As I continue to shine my light around the dirt room, a mysterious figure stops me cold. My body jolts in surprise before I realize it’s wearing a hooded mask. I pull my own hood up and wave a hand. Across from me the masked figure does the same. It’s Colonel Kirk Samuels. From around the chamber a few more masked Guerrillas slip out from the burrows. When I see Travis I know it’s him because he’s still wearing the silver tungsten wedding band on his finger. Like mine, the inside is inscribed with the words “Ever Ours”.
We all glance around the room at one another until a younger man asks, “What now?”
There has to be more to these burrows than this chamber alone. One must lead deeper to their living quarters. Or else, why would there be so many in this one spot?
“Check the burrows for any that head downwards.” I order.
The Guerillas stare at the Colonel, waiting for his approval. With a heavy breath he says, “Do what she said.”
The two brothers shrug their shoulders at one another before lowering their masks. Beams of light brighten the burrows as we flash them inside. Each of the tunnels seem to go back up to the surface.
When I’m about to check the fifth burrow, Travis whisper, “Over here.”
Without hesitating, we all hurry over to the wider burrow that he’s shining his flashlight inside. His dimples sink in from the broad smile across his face. I roll my eyes and push past him.
When I peek inside the dark hole I can see that it noticeably heads straight down. Almost too steep to climb back out of. My fingers skim across the dirt where hundreds of claw marks are dug into. As I chew on the inside of my cheek, I listen for any sounds from our enemies.
It’s completely silent.
I stare down the burrow and whisper quietly, “What’s the plan, Colonel?”
When I turn around to face him, he’s peering over my shoulder at the burrow behind me. His dirt covered fingers rub his freshly cut chin hair, still staring off blankly. When he finally replies he says it so quietly I have to lean in to understand him, “Two men need to stay up here just in case.”
“Just in case what, sir?” A younger boy speaks up. His voice sounds uneasy, scared. He doesn’t sound ready at all for this.
“In case we fail.” The Colonel replies casually.
“I will. I’ll stay behind.” The same younger Guerrilla says, with his hand raised above his head.
Almost immediately, the one next to him raises his hand and says, “Yeah, me too.”
“Okay. The rest of you, follow me.” Colonel Kirk Samuels says motioning to the burrow.
“I would like to go first.” I whisper loudly. This is the perfect time to show them that I can do this.
The Colonel freezes. As he stares at me, his face still uncovered by his hood, he remains silent. I can’t decide if he’s thinking it over, or thinks I’m stupid. Either way, I want to go first.
Travis grabs my arm quickly and says, “No. I will go first, sir. I am the one with training.”
“So? You trained me. I can do this. Besides, I’m faster. And we both know that I’m better at being silent. I can do it.” I reply stubbornly.
“I’m going to have to go with Travis on this one,” Jace’s voice chimes in. He’s been so quiet I almost forgot he was here.
I shoot a dirty look his way and say, “This isn’t a war against humans. This is a war against aliens. And I have been in this war just as long as the rest of you.”
“I’m sorry, Isabelle, but I’m going to have to agree with them.” Colonel Kirk Samuels says while shaking his head. His eyes shift to Travis as he states, “You and I will go first.”
Travis lets my arm go and nods. He drops the hood back over his face and steps up to the hole. As he climbs in first, the Colonel speaks to us.
“Wait sixty seconds before coming.” He’s swallowed by the darkness as he climbs down after Travis.
I count to twenty in my head before turning to Jace. “Why did you side with Travis?”
“Because he was right. You’re a mom, you can’t be selfish anymore.” He replies firmly.
“I want to do this because I’m a mom! I have to make sure that we can have a better world for Ty, and Allie, and all of those other kids back in the tunnels.” I whisper angrily.
Before he can say anything else, Cano begins to growl at the burrow that leads below. His body tenses up, flexing his muscular frame as he steps forward. Before I can process what’s going on, he leaps inside of the hole. His body slides down the steep hill, disappearing from my sight.
“Cano.” I whisper.
I chase after him. His growls become silent as I scoot feet first deeper and deeper. Near the end, a stench I have become familiar with fills my nostrils. When I reach the opening, I gag on the overpowering smell.
At my feet are mutilated corpses covering the dirt floor. I focus ahead to where Cano stands. I move carefully as I step in between torn limbs to where Travis is crouched down beside the tough dog. His hand is wrapped around his chain collar, holding him back from an opening ahead. I peer over at what Cano is eagerly clawing for. Attached directly to this chamber is a smaller one, filled with Grey Ones. They’re stacked on top of one another, similar to a dog pile in football. Their grey bodies fill the entire room from wall to wall, and floor to ceiling. My breathing suddenly stops as I stare at the sleeping creatures.
I move the flashlight around the room. All four dirt walls have a chamber like this one attached.
Each one is filled with the sleeping monsters.
“There has to be at least five hundred of them, maybe even a thousand.” I whisper, barely loud enough for Travis and the Colonel to hear me.
“Let’s just grab one and get the hell out of here.” Travis whispers back.
“What the…”, Jace begins to say as he steps up beside me, stopping himself when some begin to reposition.
Instinctively, my hand reaches out and latches onto Travis’ when one rolls on its side. It faces us, with its eyes still shut. I can see the small nostril slits slightly moving while it breathes in and out. When its pointy ears begin twitching, I quickly turn off my flashlight before they can notice our group huddled together less than ten feet away. In the darkness, I can’t tell if its black eyes have opened or not, but by the sound of its even breathing I assume it’s still asleep. That, and the fact that it hasn’t screamed out and destroyed us yet.
The sound of Jace’s whisper causes me to jump. “You want one of these alive?” He asks in disbelief.
“If possible. We need to be able to find out more information from them.” The Colonel whispers back through the darkness.
“How are we going to get one of these out?” I mumble.
“Does anyone have a tranquilizer?” Jace’s whispers sarcast
ically.
When my eyes fail at adjusting to the pitch blackness I turn my flashlight back on. Careful not to point it directly at them, I stare at the one that is still facing us. It seems smaller than the others.
“What do we know about the Grey Ones and their weaknesses?” Colonel Kirk Samuels asks quietly.
I am the first to respond, “They don’t go out in the sun. They can heal quickly, but we can still injure them long enough to escape if we…”
Jace cuts me off and jokes, “If we don’t get out of here, they’ll rip us apart and eat our remains.”
Ignoring him, I continue, “If we can get them where their skin isn’t armored. Travis and I can lure one up to the next chamber where the rest of you will be waiting. We’ll need to move quickly though so we can get back out in the daylight before the others make us their next meal.” I squeeze my lucky dagger in my fist.
Before anyone can argue I step towards the sleeping chamber. The smaller one is laying on the outskirts of the group, closer to us. I wonder if it’s smaller because it’s younger. I glance over my shoulder at Travis and motion at the sleeping beast. He’s the only one still down here, him and Cano. Jace and the Colonel must have headed back up to join the others.
Cano follows Travis, his muscular body flexing with each step he slowly takes. Before I can decide what to do next Cano leaps past me. His sharp white teeth bite down into the smaller one’s muscular arm, causing it to wake up shrieking. Immediately, all the others jump awake at the sound of the alien screams as he drags its heavy body towards the burrow. With our faces still concealed by our hoods Travis and I begin shooting our silenced pistols at the ones chasing after Cano. At first, they’re confused by our camouflage. But it doesn’t take long for them to sniff our scents and turn on us.
“Let’s go!” I shout.
With Travis following right before I dart for the burrow. The moment I reach the entrance Cano lets the thing go. It’s time for them to chase us. I lead the way up through the dark tunnel. My fingers digging into the claw marks left behind. As I climb up the steep dirt hill I know that this is not the time for error. One slip and Ty will become an orphan.
It only takes seconds to reach the chamber, but it feels a lot longer than that. I pull myself out of the tunnel and land on my feet; followed by Travis, who does the same. We watch the tunnel opening in silence while we wait for our brave dog. Suddenly, he leaps out from the darkness with the injured Grey One right behind.
“Fire in the hole!” Colonel Kirk Samuels yells.
I throw my arms to shield my head. When I duck to the ground, he throws an incendiary grenade into the burrow.
Flames light up the tunnel with the screams echoing in side. Before the lured alien can attack, the others jump on top of it. Trapped beneath them, it screams louder than the others. As I stare the creature, I realize that it’s a lot closer to my size than all the others that I’ve seen. Its high-pitched scream rings loudly in our ears until someone jumps up from the pile and kicks it in the head repeatedly. Eventually the thing stops fighting back and falls silent.
“Did you kill it?” I yell running over to the pile.
“No, it’s unconscious.” Jace’s voice says from behind the hood.
Turning to the side I notice the flames in the burrow are almost burnt out. The sound of their claws digging in the dirt, comes closer and closer. We have to get out of here.
“Grab it and let’s go.” I yell loudly.
Travis throws it over his shoulder. With its grey body slumped over his back he heads towards the burrows we came through. While he climbs into one, I find another to get me to the top. Cano leads the way for me through the same one I entered before. When we crawled down I hadn’t noticed how steep these tunnels actually are in places. I dig my boots into the dirt and use the claw marks to grab onto with my hands.
When Cano reaches the surface a few yards ahead, his black hair shines in the sun. As I push forward, my muscles burn with such intensity I don’t know how I’m still going. The sound of congested breathing is right behind me. When I twist around, I find a Grey One coming for me. A muffled scream erupts from nearby, but it’s not of theirs. It’s a man’s scream.
I think about reaching for a dagger, but decide against it when I realize it’ll be too difficult in this position. The monstrous being screams out behind me and swipes its long claw at my heel. I move quickly and find myself at the entrance. In one swift motion, I push myself out; just in time to avoid being attacked. I land face first in the tall dirt pile stacked around the hole; getting a mouthful of dirt. As I spit out the dirt I notice Travis’s black boot. When I flip over on my back I find him with his rifle aimed down the burrow. A loud bang rings out when he pulls the trigger, shooting the creature before it can reach daylight.
“Go!” He screams.
I hop up to my feet and run towards the military truck. From here I can see that Jace and the Colonel have already chained up the unconscious alien in the very back. The Colonel is sitting beside it, aiming a shotgun at its head. From the burrows, a man calls out for help. I turn around to find one of the younger brothers poking his head out from a hole. Before Travis can get to him, his body gets yanked back inside. His frightened screams only last for a second or two.
Turning to the Colonel, I yell, “Give me the key!”
As he rips off his dog tags, I turn to find Travis. He’s sprinting at me with his gun still in his hands.
“Here.” Colonel Kirk Samuels says, tossing the entire chain over to me.
I catch it and move quickly to the driver’s door. I climb inside and push the key inside the hole. When I turn it, the engine roars loudly.
“Raven to Alpha Dog.” Katie’s voice comes over the walkie-talkie. “Is ET ready to phone home?”
“ET is ready to phone home in fifteen seconds.” I reply quickly.
“We’re on our way. Over and out.”
Travis hops in the front passenger seat with Cano jumping in right after. He aims his gun out the window, and yells, “Drive, Isabelle!”
When I spin the vehicle around, Katie and Chris emerge from the trees. I shift the clutch from first gear into second and drive towards them. It’s been so long since I’ve driven stick that I’m surprised I haven’t killed it. When we pull up beside them, Katie jumps in behind Travis with a sniper rifle in her arms. She climbs into the back and crouches behind my seat. Chris follows her with the same sniper rifle, crouching behind the passenger seat. Once Travis slams the door shut, I step my foot on the gas.
We drive away with the gardens in our rear view mirror. The Grey Ones’ screams echo from the burrows, all the way back to the warehouse.