The tiltrotor banked again. Outside of the cockpit windows, the huge Maelstrom Platforms on the wall were an imposing sight. The tiltrotor sailed right between two of them and the world beyond The Bastion swung into view. The crowds of the Scourge were dark waves rippling across the valley.
“Damn,” Cruz muttered. “That’s a whole lot of Scrags to kill.”
McKinney grunted. “I’ll kill half on my own. I don’t need you assholes.”
“You better leave the other half for me!” Jameson’s voice was a little high-pitched with excitement. “I’m getting myself a pool with my house!”
“I’m eyeballing a hot tub myself,” Mikado chimed in. “Me and Cruz are going to sit back and soak in a hot tub of champagne when this is all over.”
“Don’t include me in your plans. I’m going to be too busy riding my electro-car around blasting my stereo,” Cruz shot back.
The voices of the forty men and women anxiously waiting to set down filled her headset as they joked and ribbed each other. It was the best way to keep anxiety down before they landed. Soon they would be on the ground and speeding toward the gate.
The roar of the Maelstrom Platforms’ opening fire drew everyone’s attention forward. As the tiltrotor began to descend, the Scourge rushing toward the vehicle were destroyed by the barrage from the wall. Bodies dissolved as they were shredded by the Maelstrom Platform rounds. Blood clouds filled the air and the wipers on the cockpit windows of the personnel carrier cleared the red mist from the glass. Special Constable Jes Cormier, the driver, glanced over at Omondi.
“It’s going to be messy down there,” Cormier stated.
“We knew it would be,” Omondi answered.
“Those guns are fucking awesome!” Jameson exclaimed as the Maelstrom Platforms continued to vaporize the Scourge rushing toward the tiltrotor and its cargo.
“Tiltrotors going silent in five seconds, Cormier. Get ready to roll,” Omondi ordered.
Maria braced herself for the landing. The tiltrotor released the carrier and flew upward. A second later, the personnel carrier landed in the thick paste of the pulverized Scourge. The engine roared to life and Cormier slammed it into gear. The carrier treads sunk deep into the bloody mud before finding traction and surging forward. Maria quickly swiveled her chair around, summoning her console. It flipped out of the floor and over her lap. The radar and cameras on the outside of the carrier revealed a mass of Scourge heading toward them.
“How many more bursts do we get from the guns?” Maria asked.
Omondi was watching his readouts, too. “Status on the guns,” he barked into his headset, speaking to the SWD directly. A growl emanated from his throat and he held up three fingers to Maria.
Frowning, Maria dragged her screen around looking for a viable path through the oncoming Scourge. “Punching in coordinates for where they should fire.” She quickly transferred the information to Omondi’s console, as well as Cormier’s.
A quick nod from Omondi and the driver confirmed their course of action. Omondi transferred the coordinates to the SWD as Cormier swerved to avoid a mass of Scourge coming in from the opposite direction of the city.
“Maybe we should have walked,” Maria muttered.
“Quicker to the gate this way,” Omondi reminded her.
“Except that the Scrags think we’re a meal on wheels,” Maria answered.
“Platforms firing in three...two...” Omondi’s voice vanished under the roar from the Maelstrom Platforms.
Looking up, Maria saw the Inferi Scourge just ahead of the personnel carrier dissolving into clouds of viscera. Cormier kept the carrier moving forward straight through the muck in the air and a few of the soldiers cheered as the windows were coated in blood.
“That’s what I’m talking about,” Jameson said, high-fiving Mikado.
The platforms continued to roar, punching a path through the crowd of Inferi Scourge. There was a hard jolt as the carrier found an old abandoned road. Cormier turned onto it and accelerated. A triangular-shaped plow extended out from under the nose of the carrier, the edges sharp and glinting in the growing light of the sunrise. The vehicle sluiced through the Scourge hurling themselves at the vehicle. Again the platforms sounded, shredding the Scourge before the vehicle.
“Exciting morning, isn’t it, Vanguard?” Omondi said as he studied his console. “Bet you’re glad you didn’t sleep in.”
“Wouldn’t have missed it for the world.” Maria’s eyes never strayed from her readouts and screens. “Shit. We got a massive crowd coming up from the southwest. The guns won’t be able to hit them at this range and we’re not going to be able to push through.”
“I see them,” Omondi grunted. “Shit. Cormier, sending you a new course heading.”
Cormier whipped the carrier about, the treads grinding a few Scourge into the pavement, then they were off the road again, bouncing across the wasteland.
The platforms roared one last time, creating a path through the ever-growing crowd of rampaging Scourge. Cormier continued to deftly wind her way through the massive throng, avoiding the worst clusters.
Glancing up briefly, Maria saw the faces of the creatures they had been sent to kill. As always, she was struck with how human they appeared. Their thrust out hands and screaming faces could easily be seen as a wounded person crying out for help. Instead, the Scourge were howling for the humans they believed were inside the vehicle.
Bending over her console, Maria continued to study the increasingly-complicated patterns of the Scourge as they flowed toward the carrier. The vehicle so far had been able to push its way through less-compacted areas of the crowd, but the Scourge were closing in on them far more swiftly than anticipated. They were terrifyingly fast and agile.
“Looks like you might get your walk,” Omondi said, the images from his console reflecting on the visor of his helmet.
“It’s getting tricky,” Cormier declared. “See any paths for me?”
Maria slid her fingers over the screen scanning for any weak spots in the crowd. “Not yet. Looking.”
“Vanguard, that situation from the southwest has become dire.” Omondi’s voice was clipped and hard, but the strain in his face said it all.
She could see the tidal wave of dead humans building and heading straight toward the carrier. The Scourge were clustering into one massive battering ram.
“Find a way past it, Vanguard!” Omondi ordered.
“Looking!” Maria’s fingers swept back and forth over the map, her eyes skimming over the information swiftly. “No weak spots. They’ve closed in around us.”
“Brace yourselves!” Omondi called out.
The wall of bodies struck the carrier, shoving it completely around. The soldiers inside braced themselves as the torrent of Inferi Scourge assaulted the carrier. The howling cries of the Scourge filled Maria with dread as they pounded against the sides.
Cormier quickly activated the protective shields that slid over the cockpit windows, blocking out the view of several Scourge trying to scramble over the plow, but only managing to cut themselves in half.
“Dead in the water,” Cormier groused.
Silence filled the carrier as the soldiers awaited their next order. Denman’s gaze was fastened on the readouts coming in from the soldiers. Maria didn’t need to be told that the brain scans were all showing mass activity. Her head felt like it was about to explode. They had been positive they could make it to the gate without being overrun. They were only halfway there.
Omondi turned off his console and it folded back into the floor. Swiveling around in his chair, he looked into the faces of the forty men and women watching him.
“We walk,” he said simply.
A few people exchanged nervous looks.
“We’re Inferi Boon. We get out and they see that we’re not...human and they will leave us alone. All they want to do is infect us. Make us what they’re, but we are already the walking dead. There is nothing to fear.” Omondi unbuckled himself and picked up his bolt weapon. “Let’s get moving.”
After deactivating her console, Maria slid out of her harness and joined the other soldiers as they prepared to disembark.
“We’ll have to go out the top to avoid being crushed,” Omondi said, motioning for Jameson to climb up and open the heavy hatch above them.
The young man quickly scaled the ladder to obey.
“Everyone keep together. Once the Scrags no longer identify us as potential victims, they will most likely remain where they’re standing. We’re going to have to push our way through.” Omondi’s eyes trailed over the soldiers crowded around him. “Nothing like an early morning walk, right, Vanguard?”
“Absolutely,” Maria answered. She hung her bolt weapon over her shoulder and forced a wry smile. “I hear the view is pretty at this time of the day.”
Omondi chuckled.
With a loud creak and a clang, the hatch folded open and the stench of the Inferi Scourge filled the enclosed space. The Inferi Boon Special Ops had a diminished sense of smell, but a few winced as the pungent scent of death washed over them. Maria was glad she didn’t have to breathe. Since they didn’t have to worry about breathing in any biological or chemical weapons, their armor was lighter due to the lack of air filters. Maria wished they had left them in.
