Page 75 of Monsters within Men
Noah and Zeke raced through waterlogged streets that streamed with debris. Drizzle still trickled down, obscuring their vision as they made their way to the meeting point. When they’d turned the final corner, after jumping over several lake-sized puddles, Savannah waved her gun at them under a large oak tree. He scanned the group. Eight soldiers, dressed in black. One soggy dog. Each member of his flock accounted for.
Wolf brushed against him as they joined the rest of Squad E and he allowed himself three seconds of smoothing the dog’s ears before he launched back into CO mode. “Status report.”
“No injuries. Tracking system popped back up a second ago. Target remains in the same location, approximately ten meters under ground level, half a klick from here,” said Vitt.
Noah turned to Splat. “King, do we have visuals?”
“Tech support radioed me a few minutes ago to say support systems were rebooting ASAP.”
“Roger. We’ll wait for all systems to be live. Then we’ll enter the building, locate the target, tranquillize, then bag-and-drag it to the vehicle.”
Simple.
Things were back on track.
twenty-one
Noah
Thirtyminuteslater,theten of them gazed up at a large, derelict warehouse. Vines twisted around a metal shutter gate that probably hadn’t opened in a decade. Above it, a faded sign proclaimed it the property of the Juicy Orchard Cider Company. Its logo, an apple with a grinning face and legs, possessed a slightly deranged feel. Half the building’s grey slate roof had collapsed into itself; several tiles lay scattered on the floor nearby.
“There must be a basement,” said Habib. Everyone stared at the map open on their visors, looking at the red flashing dot they were now only a handful of steps away from. “It’s still underground.”
“Grand,” said Aoife, grinning. “With any luck, it’s found the cider stash and we’ll get down there to find it completely sloshed.”
“We can only hope,” said Vitt.
“Aww hell, no,” said Splat. “Even better if it leaves the cider for us. We’re going to need it by the end of this cake and arse party.”
They surveyed the perimeter, damp, shivering, and miserable. Eventually, they concluded the types were entering and exiting through the caved in roof. Noah and Splat debated the possibility of blowing up a part of the wall, but Noah expressed concern that it would jeopardise the structure of the building, potentially cutting them off from the target permanently. Splat sulked before eventually agreeing.
“Let’s just cut through the shutter,” Habib said, already growing bored with the argument. Habib swung his backpack around and produced a small circular saw.
Noah groaned. “That’ll take ages.”
“It’s this, or scale the wall and jump down the hole in the roof.”
Sighing, Noah gestured for Habib to go ahead. The squad formed a circle around Habib while he cut the metal shutter painstakingly slowly, producing soft sparks of light. Splat resorted to knock-knock jokes to entertain himself and only stopped when Frankie finally cracked and told him to shut up.
Habib pushed the metal outline of a small archway backwards, and it fell with a satisfying thud. Splat whizzed the drone through. Finding it empty, they sent Wolf ahead to do a last sweep. After he returned, barking twice before sitting down to give the all clear, they all hurried inside, eager to be out of the drizzle.
“Thank the heavens,” Aoife declared, perching on a wooden box. It disintegrated under her weight, sending her sprawling downwards. The entire squad howled with half-suppressed laughter before Noah reluctantly reminded them to be quiet.
“Where’s this cider at, then?” asked Savannah, peering around at the dim space. Around ten high shelving units divided the warehouse, but it was largely empty. A scattering of rotten wooden crates littered the shelves, some spilling onto the floor. Near the back, two yellow forklifts sat plugged into the wall. Noah gave the signal, and they fanned out in pairs, inspecting the surroundings, taking photographs of everything for HQ. Noah, alone with Zeke for a few seconds, squeezed his hand for a moment before letting go. Even through Zeke’s helmet, he caught a beaming smile that sent his heart into a flutter.
Get it together, Forrest. This is not the time, nor the place, to be acting like a lovesick teenager.
“Boss!” Splat called them over to the corner, which housed a door that led to a tiny corridor. “Stairs.”
Noah stared down the dim staircase that spiralled around to a pitch-black basement. Splat sent the drone down; it hurtled merrily off into oblivion.
“Listen up. For most of you, it’s your first live capture mission. Remember, we arenotusing ammunition down there. Not unless you want Murphy to put a bullet in your head.” A small round of nervous laughter circulated. “Sanders, Walsh, and myself are all carrying the tranq guns. Leave it to us, and don’t forget it takes ten seconds or so to take effect. Bates, Fleming—I’m leaving you up here with Bianco this time,”—he gave Splat what he hoped was a pointed look—“as I knowshewon’t run off and leave you.” He grinned to show he was joking.
“Depends if I see any cider or not,” Vitt said.
“The rest of us will head down.”
“Uhh… boss?” said Splat. He was fiddling with the buttons on his helmet. “The feed’s gone dark.”
