Riyadh
With the floor of the cargo hold tilting towards the front of the plane, Roland knew they were descending and landing yet again, only this time he had no idea where. "Take her down." he heard Ben say to Pete as the freighter began it's steady descend.
Gliding towards the runway, wheels lowered, the plane staggered against the frictionized pavement, causing everyone and everything that wasn't strapped down to lurch forward.
"Damn it, Pete!!" Ben exclaimed as he killed the plane's engines. "You nearly blew the cells!!"
"Blame friction!!" Pete yelled as he applied the brakes on manual override. "How's it hangin' back there?!" He called out to Dan and Wikus in the cargo hold.
"You could say we're fractured!" Dan yelled back as climbed down the ladder.
"I've had worse landings..." Wikus muttered as he checked the hold to see if anything was damaged. Luckily, only a pile of crashed barrels and a tool box lay in a heap of debris near the cone of the plane.
"No damage to plane or cargo, systems are still in order, Amanda might be waiting, LET'S GO!!" Dan ordered quickly as the cargo door lowered. Still lingering in their crates, Roland and Robin peeked out though the air-vents...
Brutally welcoming them was a very intense wave of sunlight surrounded by a hot, dry climate. Roland guessed it was about 28°C. Rapidly blinking his eyes to adjust to the sunlight, Roland surveyed the area. The airport around themselves seemed to be deserted. He thoughts were corrected when he heard another cargo plane landing near them and sensed two vehicles approaching.
An Oshkosh MTVR and a late 2000s Jeep Wrangler Rubicon, both in desert camouflage, pulled up to the freighter and the group. Around ten people with Norinco Type 56-2 assault rifles and Heckler & Koch HK416 carbine rifles climbed out of the MTVR while a young lieutenant and a corporal stepped out of the Wrangler. Ben handed the corporal the plane's cargo manifest, this time its actual cargo.
What was really shocking to Roland was that the all solider's uniforms and vehicles had blacked-out logos on them that looked vaguely familiar. He felt a noticeable spark in his head that he almost went into a schizophrenic attack. Luckily, he didn't.
"We're late?" Dan blatantly asked.
"Not yet." The lieutenant replied, not looking up from the manifest. "The General Mam still hasn't arrived yet, if that's what you're asking..." The lieutenant rolled his eyes upward at Dan, smirking at him.
"Just takes us there..." Dan retorted hoarsely.
"Hmph..." the officer grunted gently. "With pleasure..."
The lieutenant climbed back into the jeep. The corporal followed him. "You can sit the back. There's room for those crates." The corporal told the group.
"Don't need the crates..." Dan said he as grabbed a crowbar. He pried open both crates instantly, the human cargo collapsing in front of the jeep, revealing the last two items on the manifest. "...just the cargo."
Ben and Pete rode with the soldiers in the MTRV while Dan and Wikus shoved Roland and Robin into the uncovered back of the jeep. The MTRV drove ahead to the other landed cargo plane, while the jeep started its engine and turned for the runway exit.
As they drove past the abandoned terminals, Roland could see ruined signs hanging above in Arabic lettering. Where are we? he thought. As if to give a hint to his question, the jeep rove past a huge stone and steel sign reading "KING KHALID INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT" at the entrance to the airport. Where is that?
YOU ARE READING
World War III: Smuggler's Run
AdventureWhere the War on Terror ends, the worst is yet to come... Orphaned fourteen-year-old Orlando "Roland" Latore Speed was just another loner on the streets of Boston, when... The book follows Roland, a young outcast teen enthralled by his father's epi...
