Overrun (17 page)

"How long are we going to
stay down here?" a timid voice brought Mel from her thoughts.

She looked over at the small boy
whose arm she had bandaged. It had been almost an hour since she had put him
down on a rickety cot and covered him with dusty blankets. She sat on a stool
by his side. Through vacant eyes she kept vigil over him while he slept,
absorbed completely in the terror of her own thoughts.

"Are we going to stay down
here forever?" he asked innocently. Mel smiled at the slight pressure with
which he squeezed her hand. "And hide from everyone that’s up above?"

"No, sweetie,” she sniffed
and ran her sleeves across her tear-soaked eyes. "Not forever. It won’t be
forever. We won’t be down here forever.”

“You know it would be o.k.,” the
boy said somberly and lowered his own eyes to the ground. “I don’t think I’d
mind it if we would be down here forever.”

“Forever’s a long time,
sweetheart,” Mel said wiping her face one last time with the back of her hand.
“I promise you it won’t be that long.”

Mel stood slowly from her stool
and gently held the boy's hand. Leading him slowly behind her, they walked to
the large door separating the bunker from the outside corridor. He hesitated
slightly when she tried to walk him out.

“It’s alright,” she said softly.
“It’s alright. We can go out here. We’ll be alright…at least for a little
while. We need to wait for someone.”

“Who are we waiting for?
Somebody coming from back above?”

“Yes. They’re coming from above.
My dad and brother. They’ll both be back here very soon.”

The boy then stopped suddenly,
but didn’t let go of her hand. He clung to it tightly and stepped in closer to
her side.

Mel looked down at his stony
expression sickened at what thoughts were now most likely racing through his
head. Images of the fate of the father he never mentioned. Thoughts of his
mother most likely shot in front of him and lying dead somewhere in the heat
and dust above.

“Honey, it’s going to be o.k.,”
she said struggling to ignore her own thoughts and choke back her tears.

She tried to walk him further
out into the corridor.

“Come on,” she said. “Come with
me. It’ll be alright. We’ll only wait for them for a little bit. A little bit
and they’ll be here. I promise. You’ll see.”

They turned a corner, and the
corridor around them became even more dark. He grasped her hand tighter in the
murky gloom and stood close to her by her side. The skin of his hand felt cold
against hers. His grip was the only sign of his presence in the blackness
surrounding them. He didn’t utter a word.

Mel strained her eyes to see
further into the smothering shadows ahead. She tried to pick through the faint
sounds coming gently from within for any sign of Brandon and her father’s return.

The young boy’s grip became
harder around her hand. Mel looked down only to see the frightened whites of
his eyes while they continued to walk.

They took a few more steps and
then stopped. The sounds had become slightly louder. They were still very quiet,
but they were now more distinct.

In a quick flash of mind-numbing
terror, she knew they did not come from Brandon or her father. She took in two
shallow gasps and fought hard to keep the panic away.

Without saying a word, she
slowly turned around and gently led the boy back the way they had come down the
corridor. Not letting go of her hand, he followed obediently after her.

In a few short minutes, they
covered the return distance back to the bunker. They were almost to the door
when Mel felt a strange and disconcerting feeling starting to settle about. She
whirled her head around in the darkness. She felt like she was stepping out of
her body and entering a terrifying dream.

Her heart pounded, and sweat
rolled down her slender neck. More noises came from the dark up the corridor
near the bunker door. She reached down and put her arms around the boy's
shoulders to stop his walk.

They stood at the center of the
passage and strained their eyes to see into the shadows ahead. She prayed to
learn the secrets they kept hidden within.

Short seconds later, she wished
she hadn't prayed so hard.

* * *

They came quickly and
effortlessly through the dim corridors. They moved through the gloom like
ghosts slipping in and out of the dark.

Vulture Squad Member Scott
Hartinson stepped quietly through the passageway. Matt W. Kastoric, another
member of the demolition squad, walked silently at his side.

Hartinson couldn’t see Kastoric
through the darkness, but he could hear his steady breaths. And he felt the
man’s shoulders holding his weapon tautly ahead of him brush lightly against
the side of his arm. Their team followed close behind. They had been traveling
through the underground tunnels for the better part of the day.

They turned another corner.
Everything was pitch black. Another ten steps and they would be at the target.
The “target” was all it was called. No one discussed much further what in fact
it actually was.

Hartinson reached over and
grabbed Kastoric’s arm signaling him to stop. When he did, Kastoric raised his
weapon out into the dark while Hartinson crouched down and pulled out a very
small dim light.

“We’re here,” he whispered
quickly unfolding and refolding a rough schematic they were able to obtain of
the winding tunnels.

He turned around on his haunches
and clicked the thin beam twice behind. When he did, the rest of the team made
their approach and fanned out along the sides of the wall.

Hartinson slowly stood while
they prepared.

Setting the explosives would
take about an hour. An hour to do it up and get it done right. He took a deep
breath and signaled Kastoric to follow him straight ahead. Slowly, they moved
side-by-side further down the corridor. Both tried hard to not think about what
it was they were there to do.

* * *

When she saw them, she felt her
heart stand still and her blood run cold. She gulped in a panicked breath and
covered her mouth with her hand to muffle the noise.

She also gently cupped a hand
over the boy’s mouth and pulled him back with her into the shadows. She held
him in close and did her best to swallow her horrified screams.

Except for his hurried breath
against her skin, the boy felt dead in her arms. He didn't move. He didn't
talk. All he did was breathe.

* * *

Hartinson and Kastoric stood in
the murky blackness while their team went to work setting the explosives along
the wall. With weapons raised and fingers tensed, their hearts hammered hard in
the silent gloom.

“Preset near complete,”
Hartinson heard someone whisper through the tiny receiver wedged in his ear. “We’re
almost done. Demo team prepare to fall back. We’re about to let it go.”

 * * *

The two soldiers were close.
Almost right on top of them. They were so close, she could have easily reached
out and placed a hand on either one of their arms.

* * *

“Team, stand clear,” the voice
whispered again in Hartinson’s ear. Tapping him twice on his left shoulder, he
motioned Kastoric to follow him further ahead into the corridor. He could hear
the soft footsteps of the rest of the team retreating back the other way.

“Stand. And clear,” the voice
said again.

Hartinson and Kastoric turned a
corner, crouched down and covered their heads with their hands.

“Let it go.”

And then the dark corridor lit
up like it was the middle of the day. The boom from the explosives thundered
hard across their ears.

* * *

Choking back her sobs and tears,
Mel watched the spreading fires from the exploded bunkers and the two soldiers
moving slowly away from them. Even in the bright light of the blast, the
soldiers did not see them. Not even once did they cast an eye their way.

The boy remained motionless next
to her. His eyes were open wide and unblinking as he watched the mammoth
flames.

* * *

Hartinson and Kastoric trudged
slowly back with their weapons now hung loosely at their sides. A few people
inside had made their way out but collapsed in the flames before they got too
far past the ruined bunker door.

Hartinson looked away and tried
to concentrate on the transmission signal coming from the receiver in his ear.

“No apparent detection from
outside. Begin the fallback. Hartinson. Kastoric. Bring us back the other way.”

Hartinson and Kastoric started
to walk by the bunker when something flashed out at them from the flames.

Whatever it was cracked hard
against the side of Kastoric’s skull knocking him down to the ground. Hartinson
ran quickly over and stood protectively over him. He raised his weapon into the
flaming passageway and crouched down across Kastoric who was sprawled out on
his back.

“Fuck,” Kastoric yelled loudly
while writhing dazedly around. His voice was barely audible over the loud
crackling flames. He rolled over onto his side and tried to pick himself back
up to his feet.

“Command Leader, Command
Leader,” Hartinson spoke quickly and quietly into the transmitter around his neck.
“Man down. And we’ve got one loose.”

“You, o.k.?” Hartinson asked
crouching down close to Kastoric’s chest while still training his assault
weapon out into the flaming corridor. The heat building up in the enclosed
passage was now starting to burn uncomfortably about his neck.

“Roger,” a transmitted voice
answered quickly back. “Confirm. Man down and one on the loose. What’s his
condition?”

“Fuck!” Kastoric screamed louder
this time. He moved his feet from a section of the corridor floor now on fire
from the blast and looked at the blood he had just wiped from the back of his
neck. “Goddamn fuck!”

The three-foot metal pipe that
had been slammed into his head rested against his leg near his knee.

“Hurt. But not injured.
Preparing to go again now.”

“Copy that. Take up pursuit.
Return to the front to lead us back out when you’re through.”

“Copy,” Hartinson responded
while grabbing Kastoric by the gear across his chest and hauling him back to
his feet.

Kastoric winced and pressed at
the back of his neck. He reached down and picked his weapon up from the flaming
ground.

“Fuck,” he said one more time
and shook his head trying to clear away the bright blurry spots in front of his
eyes.

He kicked the pipe through the
doorway of the burning bunker before turning and following Hartinson down the
passage.

* * *

Mel’s heart skipped a beat when
she saw the soldier closest to them crumple and fall. The man that had hit him
quickly dropped the pipe and darted toward them. She tried to press herself and
the boy as far back into the shadows as she could hoping he would just run by.

But it was too late. By the
light of the raging flames, he had already seen them. He sprinted over and soon
stood above them.

“C’mon, c’mon,” he whispered
loudly and grabbed the boy by his arm.

Paralyzed for the moment by
incredulousness and fear, Mel allowed the man to pull the boy from her grip.
She stretched her arms out to reach for him but her legs didn’t allow her to
get up.

The man gripped the boy’s arm
tightly and pulled him roughly after him down the corridor. The boy gave out a
shriek when Mel didn’t follow after them. He flailed his arms back towards her,
but the man scooped him up and carried him frantically away into the darkness.

Looking back towards her with
scared frightened eyes, the boy pleaded for her to follow. But Mel still
couldn’t get her body to rise up. She could barely move.

“No, not that way," she
found herself trying to yell after them. Desperate tears flowed from the
corners of her eyes. “Please not that way. We have to go above. We have to go
above if we want to get out.”

“No!” the man yelled
hysterically back trying to hold the frightened squirming boy against his
chest. “They’re all over up there…we have to stay down here!”

His voice trailed off as he ran
further away. Mel chased after him into another winding passage. But she
couldn’t keep up, and he soon disappeared from view.

She was about to call out again
when one of the soldiers appeared behind her.

She stopped in her tracks and
her breath fell short. The soldiers hadn’t seen her yet and steadily
approached. She took a step back and tried to wedge herself into the darkest
part of the corridor wall.

The soldiers soon reached her.
The first stopped about two feet in front of where she stood. The other moved
up just along her side. He was so close she could hear his breath moving
quickly in and out.

Mel closed her eyes and tried to
will her thundering heart to be quiet and still.

* * *

Their ragged breaths and heavy
steps echoed through the darkened corridor. The light from the flames was
starting to fall far behind.

Kastoric groggily kept pace
behind Hartinson. Holding his assault weapon in one hand, he still rubbed at
the back of his neck trying to clear the daze from behind his eyes.

They jogged through the corridor
still hearing the sound of footsteps ahead of them clambering periodically
against the metal grates along the floor. Finally, Hartinson stopped and
dropped down to his knees.

Kastoric halted just behind him
and raised his weapon. He leveled it out just over the top of Hartinson’s head.
Hartinson raised his arms and locked his elbows bringing his own weapon to
bear.

“What do ya got?” Kastoric
whispered.

“Straight up ahead. Right ahead.
Something in his arms. Can’t tell what.”

Kastoric pressed the back of his
raised weapon firmly against his cheek and fired two shots down the empty
passageway.