Precipice: V Plague Book 9 (24 page)

I moved the
three water logged bodies out of my way when I reached the bottom of the
ladder, then spent two minutes collapsing and returning it to the pack.  A
quick search of the corpses didn’t reveal anything of importance, but one of
the two that were on patrol had a small, handheld radio in his vest.  Not
speaking or understanding Russian, it wouldn’t help me listen in on the enemy’s
broadcasts, but there might come a time when it would prove useful. 
Adding it to the pack I quickly checked my map and headed farther north,
looking for the right cross tunnel that would take me to my next destination.

“Moving to
second target,” I said into the encrypted Air Force radio.

“Copy,”
Titus answered right away.  “Don’t look like those three have been missed
yet.”

I kept
walking, exercising a lot of caution as I approached the next junction. 
It must have been raining a little harder as the small stream had grown a few
inches wider.  It didn’t look that much larger but the volume of water had
increased enough to make significantly more noise as it flowed.  Enough so
that I wouldn’t hear a threat until it was right on top of me.

I halted
short of the corner and repeated the mirror trick, moving on when I didn’t see
anything.  I had turned east, and if I was remembering the map correctly
was moving parallel to the northern boundary of the park where the girls were
being held, about half a mile between us.  I froze when the sound of a
human voice reached me, rifle coming up as I tried to locate the source.

It seemed to
be coming from ahead of me and I was about to start retreating when it grew in
volume and I realized what it was.  Another of the roving patrols with a
loud speaker, announcing that they had my wife and I could trade myself for her,
the sound coming though one of the openings that drained water from the streets
above.  Part of me was surprised that Colonel Grushkin was even trying
this.  He had to have read my file.  He had to know I would
understand that he intended to kill Katie, and my surrender would have no
bearing on that outcome.

Perhaps I
was giving him too much credit, but one does not become a Colonel in the
Spetsnaz if he doesn’t have some serious intellect to go along with all the
physical skills that are required.  So why was he even making the
effort?  All I could come up with was that he was trying to force my
hand.  Flush me out by dangling Katie and the others in the open. 
Wait for me to make an attempt and have sniper teams ready to blow my head off.

He would
know that I understood this was what he was doing.  He would also know
that I would be coming.  Only he thought I was alone and at best armed
with a rifle, pistol and a couple of knives.  He couldn’t have known that
for once Lady Luck had smiled on me and dropped Titus Bull and his shelter full
of goodies into my lap.  Not that I wouldn’t still be doing exactly what I
was doing without them, but Grushkin was going to get a hell of a surprise.

I moved as I
had these thoughts, arriving at my second target.  A repeat of the climb
up the ladder and through the man hole, then I was back underground and heading
for number three.  This was the longest walk I had, and it took some
time.  As I passed beneath the streets of Mountain Home I heard two more patrols
broadcasting the same message.  I so badly wanted to pop up and silence
them, but that would have served no purpose at this time.

Third target
addressed, I moved back south a short distance then headed due west.  The
water flow had increased again, minimally, but now the stream that ran down the
floor of the tunnels was almost reaching the walls on either side.  I
walked where it was dry, careful to not let a foot drift into the
current.  It didn’t look swift, but even shallow depths of flowing water
can take your feet right out from under you.

“Major,”
Titus called on the radio as I was approaching my fourth target.

“Go,” I
mumbled, though the sound of the water would mask anything below a full
throated shout.

“Thought
you’d like to know, you guessed right.  The restaurant is really filling
up.  At least 300 troops in there now, and more trying to squeeze in out
of the rain.”

“Copy,” was
all I said.  I had reached my destination.

I was on the
southeast corner of the park, beneath the intersection of the streets that
bordered the park on those two sides.  There were a lot of troops in the
area and I needed to be quiet, but still move quickly.  Locking the ladder
into shape, I hooked it to the ceiling and climbed.  I pressed two ounces
of C-4 into a notch between the iron ring set into the concrete of the tunnel
and the cast iron cover.  Inserting a detonator, I climbed down, unhooked
the ladder and without collapsing it headed for the next man hole.

When I was
done I had rigged every spot on the four streets that surrounded the park where
the asphalt was penetrated by an access point into the tunnels.  There
were a lot of small openings that I couldn’t imagine what they were for, but I
mined them, too.  I even found my way underneath a large parking lot that
was part of the park and doctored up it’s cover.  I was now almost out of
C-4, having retained only two ounces for an emergency.  If I did my job
and moved fast, there was at least a chance I could save my wife and my
friends.

“Heading to
the exit,” I mumbled into the radio as I started heading north. 

I intended
to go out of one of the grates that Titus and I had looked at earlier in the
day.  It wasn’t exactly close, but the risk of moving another man hole
cover was too great.  I’d gotten lucky the patrol I had killed hadn’t
happened along while I had the cover half open.  Talk about being a
sitting duck.

“You’d
better get movin’,” Titus’ voice spoke in my ear.  “Rain’s pickin’ up and
those tunnels are going to be fillin’ up.”

As he was
speaking the water reached the wall I was hugging.  I broke into a
run.  Water splashed with every step and the footing quickly transitioned
from a thin layer of water to stepping into a running stream of water.  I
pushed harder, nearly going down as the runoff suddenly surged until it was
over the toes of my boots.

I was forced
to slow, unable to run upstream without risking falling and possibly coming
down on one of the debris catchers.  Within thirty seconds the water was
up to my ankles and rising.  It was moving fast, splashing up where it
struck my legs and soaking the front of my pants.  I tried to picture the
tunnel map and guess where I was.  My best estimate was that I still had
three miles to go.

As I had
that thought, the water crested the tops of my boots and it was beginning to
get difficult to stand.  I had to lean into the direction it was coming
from to maintain my footing.  At this rate it would be above my waist in
minutes.  No way was I going to make it three miles before it was so deep
and moving so swiftly that it took me with it.  Glancing up I spotted a
man hole just a few yards ahead.

“Water’s too
deep.  Gotta climb out now,” I said into the radio as I moved closer to
the hole in the ceiling and began working quickly to assemble the ladder.

“Where are
you?”

“Maybe three
miles short of the exit.  Other than that, fuck if I know,” I answered,
locking the last section of the ladder in place.

Titus said
something that I didn’t have time to think about.  Against the wall, the
water was now at the bottom of my knees.  And I had a problem.   The
center of the tunnel, where I needed to stand to reach the eyebolts in the
ceiling to hook up the ladder, was lower than the edge where I was
standing.  That meant the water would be deeper.  Over my knees.

I made sure
my weapons were tightly secured, then took a step forward.  Between the
push on the foot that remained planted and the violent tug on the stepping foot
when it came down into the water, I was nearly upended and taken for a
ride. 

Water over
my knees, I could feel it tearing at me, trying to rip away the traction my
boots had on the concrete floor.  Putting all my energy into focusing on
the task at hand I moved forward again, but this time I shuffled my feet rather
than trying to take a step.  That helped, not having the sudden impact of
the force of the water as my foot came down, but it moved me into water
approaching mid-thigh.

Glancing up,
I spotted the bolts and tried to reach them with the ladder.  I came up a
foot short.  Grunting with exertion I slid my right foot, planted it and
brought my left forward.  Looking up, I extended the ladder, reaching out
to hook it in place.  Water was now nearly to my crotch, and I knew this
was my last shot. 

Once it had
the main part of my body to push against, rather than just my legs, I wouldn’t
be able to withstand the force.  Stretching, I managed to hook one rail
into the eyebolt closest to me, but needed to be slightly closer to the middle
of the tunnel to raise the other end enough to secure it.  I was shuffling
my right leg into deeper water just as a surge raced down the tunnel and
slammed into my ass, sweeping my feet out from under me.

The ride
through the forest in the UTV was about what Crawford had expected.  Rough
and slow.  The vehicle was a Polaris RZR.  One of the long ones that
had four seats.  It was narrow and the SEAL driving had shoulders at least
as wide as the Colonel’s.  Igor had it better in back.  Dog had
curled into one of the seats and placed his head in the Russian’s lap for the
ride.

The light
was fading by the time the driver, Master Chief Petty Officer Pedro Gonzales,
arrived.  Thick, grey clouds blocked any moonlight and now it was almost
completely black.  Gonzales wore night vision goggles, navigating between
tree trunks so thick that three grown men holding hands couldn’t have encircled
them with their arms.  Neither Crawford nor Igor had NVGs so they had no
choice other than to put their complete trust in the Master Chief.

Lieutenant
Sam followed on the noisy dirt bike.  He too had NVGs and was staying
about fifty yards back as they moved.  Both SEALs had their radios slaved
to a satellite comm unit and were in constant contact with Pearl Harbor. 
Jessica was glued to several monitors, making sure they had plenty of warning
if there were any infected or Russians they needed to worry about, but with the
cloud cover she was having to rely on thermal.

They had
been driving for over an hour, but weren’t moving fast.  The trail the
SEAL was following was very narrow and in places so rough he had to slow to a
crawl to climb over massive, exposed tree roots and outcroppings of rock. 
Twice they’d come to a sudden stop, the engine going quiet and Gonzales
motioning towards the sky.  They’d heard a distant rotor the first stop,
then the sound of a high flying jet the second.

Three hours after
leaving the clearing where they’d met the young SEAL officer they suddenly
emerged out of the forest into the back yard of a palatial mansion.  It
was built in a several acre clearing on the slope of a mountain and as they
circled to the front, Seattle spread out below them.  There seemed to be
even more pockets of light than the previous night when they’d arrived in the
Hind.

Gonzales
came to a stop in the driveway, Lieutenant Sam pulling up next to the UTV and
shutting down the bike.

“Fuckers are
bringing the city back to life, aren’t they?”  Crawford observed.

“Yes,
sir.  They are,” Sam agreed.  “Bunch of boots on the ground, came in
to the port on troop carriers.  They just brought one of their nuclear
powered cruisers in yesterday.  Big bastard.  And they’ve got a
carrier and a whole bunch of subs prowling around the north Pacific.”

“What are
they doing, and why so many ships?”

“They’re
moving in.  Taking up residence.  We’ve been watching civilians
arriving on what looks like private jets, then being escorted into the city
where they’re claiming whatever penthouse or waterfront palace catches their
eye.  It looks like Barinov is distributing the spoils of war to his
wealthy cronies.”

Crawford
clenched his teeth, seething internally at the thought of the Russians just
moving in on top of the corpses of all the Americans who were infected or
killed by the attacks. 

“What from
here?”  He finally asked.

“We’re on
foot from here, sir.  There’s a couple of miles of neighborhoods with
houses like this, then we move into suburbs with more normal homes and
businesses.  There’s still a good population of infected in the whole area
and these things make too much noise.” 

Sam stepped
off the bike and walked it over to a thick hedge of bushes, pushing it behind
them until it was well concealed from view.

“Before we
start walking, how are you for munitions?”  Crawford asked.

“Munitions
or weapons?”  Sam asked, a confused frown creasing his face.

“Don’t know
what you have in mind, Lieutenant, but I’m not in the mood to go sit on my ass
in a bio-lab while these cocksuckers just move in and completely take
over.  I intend to make life a little uncomfortable for them.”

“Sir, my
orders were to come get you and bring you back to the lab.  The scientists
say they’re getting close to coming up with something and as much as I’d like
to go along for the party, I’ve got to get back.  And to answer your
question, we don’t have anything other than small arms.”  The Lieutenant
shoved his NVGs off his face and drank deeply from a canteen of water.

“Then I
guess this is where we part ways,” Crawford said.  “Thanks for the ride.”

Crawford
climbed out of the UTV and walked to the tiny cargo area to retrieve his
pack.  The two SEALs exchanged glances, the Colonel noting the look out of
the corner of his eye.

“We aren’t
going to have a problem because I’m not coming with you, are we?” 
Crawford asked, swinging his pack onto his shoulders.

Igor and Dog
had climbed out and were standing on the far side of the UTV.  Igor had
picked up on the sudden tension and slowly began sliding farther to the side,
rifle not pointed but his hand firmly gripping it with his thumb on the safety.

“No,
sir.  We were just thinking that there’s a National Guard Armory we passed
on our way to find you.  It looked intact and I’m willing to bet it’s
still pretty well stocked.”

“Hell,
Lieutenant.  Why didn’t you just say so?  Lead the way!” 
Crawford grinned and motioned for Igor to relax.

Sam grinned
back and stepped out of the way as Gonzales turned the UTV around and headed
for the forest to hide it in the trees.  The Colonel walked over to Igor and
switching to Russian, nodded at the large house.

“This is a
nice place,” he said.  “Great view, and you would only be steps from the
forest if you needed to disappear.”

“I was
thinking the same thing,” Igor replied.  “It is like the home of a
Czar!  In Russia there would be thirty families living in so much room.”

“Welcome to
America,” Crawford smiled.  “The land of the free and the home of excess
beyond your wildest dreams.”

Igor smiled
back at him, still not sure the house really was for just one family.

“What were
you talking with them about?”  Igor asked, pulling his attention away from
the mansion.

“There’s
some Russian ships in port and civilians arriving that are laying claim to
homes just like this one,” Crawford waved at the house.  “Rich Russians
reaping the benefits of Barinov’s plan and an occupying military force to
protect them.  I’m making a stop to load up on some larger weapons then
heading down there to stir up some shit.”

“What does
that mean?”  Igor asked.

“Means I’m
going to cause problems for the people occupying my country.”  Crawford
looked up as the Master Chief returned from concealing the Polaris.

“Ready,
Colonel?”  Lieutenant Sam asked, flipping his NVGs down over his eyes.

Crawford
held up a finger, asking him to wait one moment, not taking his attention off
of Igor.

“Sure you
don’t want to come with me?  These aren’t innocents.  These are the
people that supported Barinov.  You were ready to help obtain a nuclear
bomb that would be used to destroy the Kremlin and everyone in it.  Is
this all that different?  Besides.  How long do you think you’re
going to be content to live quietly in the lap of luxury?”

Igor smiled
sadly and shook his head.

“My war is
over,” he said.  “I’ve been fighting since I was seventeen.  I’m
sorry, but I’m not going.”

He held his
hand out and after a moment Crawford shook it.  Rubbing Dog’s head, he
nodded to Igor and turned to the SEALs who were waiting a respectful distance
away.