“Get Cruze on the radio,” I said into my mouthpiece.
“Roger that,” replied Melanie.
I handed my map to Dawson and pointed to our position. “We’re less than five clicks from Airdrie. We’ve gotta bug out now.”
All the color drained from her face as she stared at the map, and I could have sworn I saw her gulp.
The radio squawked in my headset. “Cruze here … what’s going on?”
I pressed the PTT button. “Creeps. At least two dozen and probably a shit pile more. You were right, Cruze. I should have picked another spot.”
“Stand by,” Cruze replied as I peered out through my periscope. I could see about two hundred meters into the distance and I spotted another throng of creeps heading up through a dried ravine.
The radio hissed again. “Well we’re in the shit now so it doesn’t matter who was right or wrong. We can take down these creeps, no problem, Dave.”
I shook my head. “The sound of our gunfire will bring every monster within earshot, Cruze, we can’t stay here. Get your people up, make sure the hatches are locked tight – we’re leaving in five minutes.”
“Roger that,” said Cruze.
“Wake up Sid and Doug,” I said to Dawson. “We’re getting the hell out of here. There’s another few dozen coming up through a dried-out ravine.”
“Will do,” said Kate. She shook the pair. They were snoring loudly, almost in unison. “Stand to! Stand to! Stand to!”
Sid scrambled for his carbine, elbowing Doug Manybears in the left cheek. “Wha – what?” he said dreamily.
Doug pushed himself upright and wiped the sleep from his eyes. “Is it my shift again … no wait, I already did a sentry.”
“We’ve got company. Check the hatches, get your shit in gear and get this carrier going,” Dawson said firmly. “We’re leaving in five.”
“What’s going on?” Doug yawned.
I climbed down from the turret. “Creeps. A couple of dozen bearing down on us from Airdrie.”
Sid slipped his left foot into his combat boot. “Airdrie? We might as well have the words free food painted on the sides of the carriers!”
“Yeah, well, I did a shitty three point resection when I picked this spot,” I said angrily. “Cruze called it right and I should have freaking listened.”
“Fuck me, I gotta take a dump,” Sid grumbled as he climbed into the turret. “Let’s get clear of here - my piss bottle is full and I don’t have another one. I was looking forward to a nice peaceful crap at first light. This blows on an epic scale!”
Doug Manybears scrambled into the driver’s hatch as I checked on Jo. She was huddled in the rear corner of the APC, sound asleep. I didn’t have the heart to wake her up, so I tucked her poncho liner around her shoulders and then crawled over to the crew commander’s hatch. I cursed under my breath at my bonehead move. I probably should have cut myself some slack, given that the only map and compass work I’d ever done was a few patrols on exercise in Wainwright or Suffield, but I wasn’t about to allow myself that luxury. It didn’t matter that I had less than a year of service under my belt, or that I might have been the most organized person in Sergeant Green’s section; we were miles away from safety, a throng of creeps was bearing down on us fast and if I was responsible for getting us into this situation, it was up to me to get us out of it.
I peered through my crew commander’s periscope while Doug primed the engine. The creeps were less than ten meters away and I could easily make out their gaping mouths in spite of the darkness. I grabbed my headset and slipped it over my head, then flipped on my radio set. A blast of white noise shot through my ears as I slammed my left hand on the volume knob to turn it down.
“Ark one, you there?” said Cruze through a haze of static.
“Go ahead.”
“We’re just warming up and can leave in two. I’d offer to plot a new course but I can’t leave the carrier to do it.”
Cruze should have been placed in charge of our escape and her last statement simply proved the fact that our team should have chosen her.
The presence of metal can screw up a compass big time. I was hatches down in our APC when I did the resection and any infantry soldier worth his salt would have stepped onto the ground and walked a few feet away from ten thousand pounds of steel and iron. It was an amateur mistake that could wind up costing our team dearly. I couldn’t shoot a bearing this time, so I followed the contour lines on the map from our existing position and spotted the dried-out ravine where I’d seen that second group of creeps. It headed northwest of Airdrie and according to the map, it looked relatively free of obstacles, so I ran my finger up to a point that looked about five kilometers from our existing position and made a note of the easting and northing for a good spot to rendezvous with Cruze.
“Dammit!” shouted Doug Manybears in a voice that was probably loud enough for the creeps now clawing against our hull to hear.
I slipped my headset off one ear and leaned over his seat. “What’s going on, Doug?”
He primed the choke three more times as he pressed the start button, and the lights inside our carrier dimmed for a short moment. “This piece of shit won’t start!” he snarled. “Fuck!”
“But how? We kept our power use to a bare minimum all night. Are the batteries dead?”
“They’re nearly dead,” he said, pointing to the gauges above his head. “We need a slave, ASAP.”
I could feel the creeps hammering against the hull and I glanced over my shoulder to see Kate Dawson peering out of her viewing port, carbine in hand. Jo, who was now wide awake, was sitting with her knees against her chest in the rear corner of the APC, her hands covering her ears.
“They’re all around us!” shouted Sid. “At least three or four deep! There’s a swarm of them coming in from the east. Why aren’t we leaving yet?”
“We need a boost!” I shouted. “Hang tight and keep an eye on them.”
I grabbed the PTT button and pressed. “Ark Two … we’re dead in the water here. We need a slave to get this pig going!”
“Are you fucking kidding me?” answered Cruze, my headset filling with more and more static. It wouldn’t be long until my radio drained the last life out of the carrier’s batteries. “We can start shooting, Dave, just give us the word.”
“No. We need another diversion – something that will draw every one of these pricks away from us. I need you to get someone on the hull of your carrier. ”
“Okay, that’s freaking nuts!” Cruze snapped.
I ground my teeth together. We were up shit creek unless the lure of fresh meat could get those creeps away long enough for Doug to slip a slave cable into the receptacle on the carrier’s side. “It’s bait, Cruze. Either you or Mel needs to stand up in the rear hatch. Your carrier has to lead the creeps as far away as you can, then double back. By the time you return, we’ll have the slave cable hooked up for a boost.”
The radio hissed for a few moments and there was dead air. Cruze was probably breaking the news to her team. I was certain that she was cursing the day I was born. “Mel volunteered,” Cruze finally replied. “Make sure Sid has an eye for the creeps because I don’t know how long it will take us to get them away, or even if using Mel as a lure will work. When this is over, you and me are going to have a little chat.”
I grimaced as pressed the handset. “Fine … look, the creeps that don’t follow, we’ll take care of,” I said. My voice was flat and hard. “It’s about the best idea I can think of. Get moving, Cruze.”
The radio squawked. “You fucking owe me, Dave. Ark Two, out.”
I slipped off my headset and bellowed “All eyes on me!”
Sid dropped down from the turret as Kate and Jo scrambled to the edge of the rear compartment.
“What’s the plan?” asked Sid.
“We’re going to get out of this – got it? We need a boost. Cruze is going to buy us some time by getting Mel to go hatches up as a lure and Cruze will get the creeps following her carrier the hell away from us.”
“Jesus,” Doug said. “That’s pretty ballsy.”
“Yeah, well, if anyone has a better idea that doesn’t involve wasting a day’s worth of bullets and alerting every creep between here and Beiseker to our position, I’m all ears.”
Dawson blinked. “W-Who’s going to plug in our slave cable?”
“I will,” I said. “And that means that I need Sid and you, Kate, to provide covering fire with your personal weapons. Single shots and only if necessary. When Cruze’s carrier returns we’ll have less than no time to dick around. Doug, as soon as the engine is going I want you to get everyone the hell away from here. I’ll ride the hull and pull the slave cable back on board.”
Jo gave me a painful glance and I didn’t have time to console her. She understood I was going to be putting myself at risk, but it was my fault we’d gotten into a tight spot and I was determined to be the one to get us out of it.
“Jo,” I said, taking the edge out of my voice. “You stay down below the hatch and keep your eyes on all the viewing ports. If you see anything coming, you be sure to let Kate and Sid know about it. Cool?”
She nodded. “A-Alright. Are you going to be okay?”
I shrugged. “We’re a team here in this boat, kiddo. And we’re only as fast as our slowest person. I’ll be okay if everyone does their jobs, got it?”
She nodded again as I gave everyone the thumbs up. “All right, everyone, my life is in your hands. Sid, you let me know when it’s safe to hop out and plug in the slave cable.”
He placed a hand on my shoulder. “We got your back, Dave. Try not to worry about it.”
I chuckled. “A dead battery. An army of creeps three deep pounding at the hull of our APC. Melanie Dixon is going to be the Pied Piper. What’s the worst that can happen?”