Grunt Traitor (43 page)

There was a moment of silence, then:

Mason, I didn’t mean to—

Of course you did. Means to an end. Am I glad we killed the Master? Yes. Am I glad we blew the hell out of the hives? Yes. Would I do it again? Maybe. I don’t know. I can’t really say. I’m just so tired of being used and manipulated. I’m so fucking tired of being an eternal grunt. I think I want to
live
for a while. Remember what it is to be human... to be normal.

You’ll never be normal.

I can try.

Is that your last word?

Just go the fuck away.

You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty.

Mahatma Gandhi

CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO

M
OTHER TOOK ME
in as any good mother would. I’ve spent the last two weeks cutting wood, building fences, and teaching people how to shoot. I hear that there’s been no Cray in sight over L.A. since the bombs went off. There’s also rumors that GNA is working with OMBRA to use VUAA1 to kill the needlers. Without them, the vines that host the spores can’t grow. It seems as if we might be holding our own against the invaders, except for the constant sea level rise and the giant creatures you can sometimes see moving off the coast.

Then of course there’s the war somewhere out there in space. Our planet was to become another of many supply depots for some unknown alien race fighting another unknown alien race. Earth was destined to become a footnote in some alien ledger, as a place to get scrap metal, water, and whatever else it was we had that they wanted. I remember how infuriated Ohirra had been when she’d learned this. I’d come to accept it. We’d always thought ourselves in control of our own destiny. But just like something took control of me, something has taken control of our planet and doesn’t seem to want to let go. Part of me wants to know what the war is about, who’s fighting and what they’re fighting for. I want to know if our sacrifice was worth it.

OMBRA has officially charged me as a traitor. Mother told me that they know I’m here, but are leaving me alone as long as I stay put. Traitor. The very idea of me being a traitor was ridiculous, unless they meant that I’m a traitor to the idea that the end justifies the means. But I can see their side as well. I was a traitor to Dewhurst who wanted me to help the fledgling government. I was a traitor to my team, attacking them. And I was a traitor to OMBRA, refusing to return.

Whatever.

I bumped into a girl I’d known the other day at a refugee camp—Suzie from WWWSD fame, of all people. She’d lost her left arm and left eye. She has PTSD really bad. She won’t let anyone get close to her and shies away from even the most mundane conversation. She recognized me and it seems like I’m the only one who can get near without her screaming. I remember how alive she’d been, and I really want to help her get that way once more.

Just like I want to do for my planet.

It’s funny, this whole thing started when I tried to kill myself in the same manner as the director Tony Scott. One enduring theme from all of his movies was the idea that good will conquer evil in the end. I used to think the aliens were evil, but evil has to have intent. The aliens we’ve gone against
had
no intent, other than to complete the tasks they’d been set. I’d known since Kilimanjaro that the Cray were nothing more than intergalactic grunts. They are an interstellar Task Force OMBRA, populated with aliens designed to best do battle with our kind. But seeing that thing in the box and how it so closely resembled an HMID made me understand that even this Master was being controlled by something else, something more powerful. Just as Michelle had been strapped and cabled to a machine, so was this creature. Did that make it evil? No, it was just doing its job.

The evil is what Mr. Pink is doing.

What Thompson has become.

If there was one thing that I’d learned at the end of the world it’s that our true nature is revealed in
how
we do things. It’s the doing that defines us, not the end result.

When OMBRA forced themselves on me, forced me to do things, they became the same rapists and bullies I’d fought against my entire life. I had no choice but to part ways. Still, I have no doubt that they’ll eventually want me back. At this point, I don’t know if I’ll rejoin them. Perhaps I can find a way to be the grunt I once was without them. There’s still a lot more to be done. The black hole of Texas intrigues me, as does Australia. I can’t help but wonder what’s really going on in those places.

As it turns out, Mother knew of my frustration all along. I remember when we’d first met and she’d said,
“Some would say that there’s little chance to retain our humanity after this.”

I’d leaped in and tried to answer, but Dupree had said it best.
Humanity as a word is merely the condition of being human. Humanity as a virtue is associated with love, kindness, and social intelligence. You offering us a place to stay or sharing your tea is a sign of that virtue. So here we are at the end, and you’re showing your humanity
.

I feel it’s important to show my humanity for a while. Mother gave me a place and Suzie gave me a goal. I’ll see her get better, or at least try. In the end, that’s all we can do.

And of course ask the timeless question,
What Would William Shatner Do?
and then maybe do it.

They seem to have done it. OMBRA has once again accomplished what all the governments on the planet failed to do—
kick alien ass!
After last month’s reports of two contained nuclear explosions in Los Angeles, destroying the twin hives from within, hives in Luxembourg, Naples, Shanghai, Honolulu, and Santiago have also been destroyed. We’re not sure where these nukes are coming from and we’re pretty sure there are more hives than nukes, but here at Conspiracy Theory Radio Headquarters, we are happy. We need to take back our planet. We need to start building again... creating, inventing, developing technologies so this will never happen to us again. Consider the invasion, or the Great Flood, or the Black Plague, or Ebola. After each disaster, we got better. Sure, we lost lives, but as they say, you have to break a few eggs to bake a cake, so it’s okay, just as long as we can get back to where we were... and then some.

Conspiracy Theory Talk Radio,

Night Stalker Monologue #1693

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

T
HANKS AGAIN TO
Jon Oliver for giving me the opportunity to sit in the middle of the intergalactic science fiction sandbox and toss sand gleefully into the air. Writing
Grunt Life
was cathartic and I was worried that it was too dark and full of too much real post-traumatic stress disorder stories. It did turn out dark and raw, but the outpouring of thanks from fans around the world made me feel as if I’d done something right; maybe even added something to the canon that had been lacking. So with
Grunt Traitor
I continued with my role of creating PTSD-positive characters and hope that it can help many more understand that PTSD is something we can live with and use to our benefit. Thanks also to David Moore for his brilliant editing—AGAIN! Thanks to my agent Robert Fleck for doing all of his spectacular agenty things. Thanks to Brian Gross for letting me turn his brain to mush. Thanks to my own personal drill sergeant, my wife, Yvonne Navarro. And last, but certainly not least, thanks to every man or woman who ever put on a uniform (whether it be a nurse, soldier, policeman, etc) to fight for a cause greater than themselves. Each and every one of you are grunts and I’d follow you to the end of this earth and the next.

GLOSSARY

.357 Ruger Blackhawk:
Large revolver.

9mm:
Type of ammunition, also used to refer to a type of weapon.

AK-47:
Former Soviet-era Russian-made machine gun which fires 7.62mm ammunition.

AN\PVS-7:
Single-tube binocular night vision goggles.

AR-15:
Former Soviet-era American-made machine gun which fires 5.56mm ammunition.

ascocarp:
The fruiting body of an ascomycete phylum fungus.

belay:
To stop or ignore, usually an order or command.

bounding overwatch:
Also known as leapfrogging or moving overwatch, is the military tactic of alternating movement of coordinated units to allow, if necessary, suppressive fire in support of offensive forward movement or defensive disengagement.

call sign:
A unique alphanumeric identifier used in communications.

Caspers:
White supremacist survivalists living in Rancho Cucamonga.

New Panthers:
Benign survivalist group from Corona who merely want to be left alone.

Charlie Mike:
Continue Mission.

claymore mine:
A directional anti-personnel mine capable of delivering 700 steel ball bearings at 1200 mps.

CO2 scrubber:
A device which absorbs carbon dioxide.

Cray:
Initially an overarching term for all aliens, this term really only applies to the alien creatures who reside in the hives.

Cult of Mother:
A survivalist group living in Big Cieniga Spring with a leader who looks like Kathy Bates.

Devil’s Thunder:
Survivalist biker gang who control the I-15 corridor between Vegas and L.A.

DongHai-10:
Chinese-made land-to-land cruise missile capable of delivering nuclear payloads.

DZ:
Drop Zone, the location where airborne personnel and vehicles land.

ELF:
Extremely Low Frequency.

EMP:
Electromagnetic Pulse.

ethnobotany:
The scientific study of the relationships that exist between peoples and plants.

evac:
Evacuate.

exfil:
Exfiltrate; get out.

EXO:
Originally called the Electromagnetic Faraday Xeno-combat Suit, the EXO is an electro-mechanical exoskeleton with armor, targeting systems, and advanced weapons.

FOB:
Forward Operating Base.

FUBAR:
Fucked Up Beyond All Recognition.

fungee:
Common term for those infected and wearing ascocarps.

Gaze technology:
Advanced technology that allows a computer to track the movements of the eyes and allows selection and operations of virtual command trees in head-up displays.

GEOINT:
GEOspatial INTelligence.

GNA:
God’s New Army. The largest survivalist group in the L.A. area, led by a charismatic former TV star.

grunt:
The lowest life form in the military.

HALO:
High Altitude Low Opening parachute operation.

harmonic blade:
An electromagnetic Stellite-made sword mounted on the EXO which vibrates at ultrasonic frequencies, making it thousands of times more effective at slicing through armored opponents than a normal blade.

HK416:
Advanced rifle system based on the AR-15, typically used by assault and special operations forces.

HMID:
Human Machine Interface Device.

HUD:
Head-Up Display, a transparent display that presents data without requiring users to look away from their usual viewpoints.

HUMINT:
HUMan-derived INTelligence.

Hydra rocket:
Adapted surface-to-air or surface-to-surface rocket fired from a pod mounted on the EXO.

Hypocrealiacs:
The over-arching term for the aliens who have invaded Planet Earth.

IMINT:
IMagery INTelligence.

infil:
Infiltrate;get in.

JMPI:
Jump Master Personnel Inspection.

Leupold Mark 4 CQ\T scope:
State of the art rifle scope capable of providing night vision.

M16:
Vietnam-era and most common variant of the AR-15.

M4:
Modern variant of the AR-15.

M60A3:
Vietnam-era main battle tank with 105mm main gun.

MAC-10:
Compact submachine gun capable of firing .45 acp or 9mm.

MASH:
Mobile Army Surgical Hospital.

military fatigues:
Any uniform created for work or combat.

Mother:
Leader of the Cult of Mother who has a striking resemblance to the actress Kathy Bates.