Kilo-29 (Damned of the 2/19th, Book 15)

Part 35

Site Kilo-29
Winter, 1993
Day Three-Late Evening

When I arrived back at the personnel quarters I went directly to the Major's room and knocked on the door. I had to knock twice more before he finally answered, and when he saw me his eyes widened.

"Are you all right, Sergeant?" He asked me.

"Just a headache." I told him, telling pretty much the truth.

"What happened?" He asked.

I'd made the decision walking back. If I told the Major, he'd be called to testify eventually. As it stood, the only people who knew what had happened were me, three corpses, and the site. If I told the Major the whole story it would just put him in danger, drag him into the whole mess that was probably going to happen if we got out of the site alive.

"Agent Killain told me she'd mediate between me and the other agents. I was going to try to work something out so we weren't killing each other in the hallways." I was standing at parade rest, looking over his head. "During the discussion Agent Fellman, the one with the toothpick in his mouth all time, decided that he was going to eliminate me first, then move on to the rest of you."

"They'd made a mistake, gathered up around me, and when it was all over, they were dead and I was still alive. I came back immediately to let you know something that Agent Fellman let drop to rub it in that you guys didn't stand a chance." I said.

"What's that?" His tone showed me that he believed there was more to the story, but didn't want to push it.

"He called in another team, one who's job is to kill all of you. They'll be here soon, using the egress point that Agent Killain told us about." I said.

"Why do they want to kill us? We're on the same fucking side?" He asked.

"Because we've seen what happened here. The site and us would lead to massive cluster fuck. We're talking Congressional inquiries, the press having a field day, and probably protests and people losing their jobs. Maybe even doing jail time." I shook my head. "Since it would cause a major shakeup in the intelligence community, maybe even expose ongoing operations, they're using National Security as an excuse to kill everyone."

"Can we get out of here?" The Major asked.

I shook my head. "There's no way we can make it from the egress point to safety. We've got wounded, we've got one man dead, one missing."

"We can't negotiate with the CIA team, can we?" He asked.

"No."

"What's our options?" He asked.

"Same as before. Seize control of the site, open the doors, call in a biological incident team, and hope we didn't get infected with anything too bad." I told him.

"All right, let's plan it out." He told me, waving at the table in the kitchen/dining room. "I don't want to lose any more men."

"Yes, sir." I nodded and followed him in and sat down at the table.

I didn't know what to do any more.

What had happened in the egg had proven I couldn't be trusted any more.

Maybe I should have had Heather admit me to the psych ward.

Maybe it would have been better if I hadn't woken from the coma.

Maybe I should have just died in 2/19th.

Monsters don't deserve the good ending.

Maybe I didn't deserve to make it home.

Maybe I didn't deserve to make it out alive this time.

A man could find redemption under fire, but could a monster?

------------------------

"So what's the plan, Sergeant?" Kincaid asked when I finally came back to the room. The three of them were awake, eating a meal of crappy MRE's heated up on the stove and spiced as best they could while sitting on the couch.

"The four of us are going to head down to the military command center." I told them, sitting down in the overstuffed chair. Donaldson stood up, went into the kitchen, and poured some water into a cup, putting it in the microwave. "We're going to figure out which of the egress points are open, see if we can seal it, then try to open the primary doors."

They all nodded except Kincaid.

"Sergeant, we've tried that, what, twice? It doesn't seem to work." Kincaid said, sprinkling more tabasco on his food. "Anything beyond that?"

"The Major is going to pull the vehicles into the blast deflection tunnel and fort up by the primary exit." I pulled out my notebook where I'd jotted down the notes that I'd made while planning with the Major. "We're going to take control of the system, seal the site, and pull out."

"You trying to convince us, or yourself, Sergeant?" Kincaid asked. "And I've got a little question for you."

"Shoot, Private."

"What happened to the side of your head, and what's with the blood all over your uniform?" He asked.

shit

"I tried to mediate a cease fire between the suits and us. I took Agent Killain with me." I started.

"And then you killed them all." Kincaid said, breaking into a huge grin. "Toothpick die hard?"

"Yeah. I used my knife, that's never pretty." I told him. Donaldson came in and set a cup of coffee on the coffee table. "Thanks, Corporal." He nodded and I poured in the sugar and creamer.

"Fuck yeah." Kincaid said, and dug back into his meal. Donaldson sat down and picked back up his plate.

"So they're out of the way." Shads said. "That just leaves us with the things that live here and whatever the hell your old CO is."

"Yeah, you could say the suits are out of the way." I answered.

"Is it just going to be the four of us?" Donaldson asked.

"No. The Major is going to task four others, boost us up to eight." I shook my head.

"If Wilkins goes out with us, I'll beat the shit out of him." Kincaid said around a mouthful of food.

"No, Wilkins won't be going with us." I told them.

That's when the lights cut off.

"Oh you have to be fucking kidding." Kincaid snarled.

"I've got a flashlight on my LBE." Shads said. "Give me a second."

There was a thump from deeper in the suite, back by the bedrooms. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up and it felt like ice slid into my shoulder joint.

"Get your gear, gear up, we gotta get out of here." I told them, getting up.

Plates clattered down as Shads flicked on his light, panning it around. Kincaid ran over and pulled on his Kevlar and LBE, reaching for the flamethrower. Shads already had his gear half on, and Donaldson was pulling on his gear as fast as he could. I ran for the kitchen, grabbing my scattered gear.

There was another thump.

"Ready, Sergeant." Shads told me, his flashlight moving over by the door.

"Help me out, Dee." Kincaid said.

"I'm hurrying." Donaldson answered, flicking on his flashlight.

I left behind about half of my gear, not bothering with the majority of my gear. My Kevlar, LBE, gas mask, chem gear, and my weapon were first. Shads kept his flashlight on my gear. The biowarfare kit, the surgical kit, and my helmet got left behind, but I slung my ruck over my shoulders and hustled into the frontroom, turning on the flashlight attached to my LBE.

"Ready." Kincaid said, and the flashlight Donaldson was carrying moved toward us.

There was a crash from deeper into the suite, and Shads whipped his flashlight toward the noise as I opened the door.

The corridor beyond was covered in frost, snow falling from the top of the corridor, from the blank ceiling. Doors were open, and I could see flashlights in the corridor.

"Form up at the end of the corridor!" The Major yelled out. "Grab your gear and move out!"

"What the fuck?" Kincaid yelled. "Sergeant! Sergeant!"

I turned around, spotting instantly what Shads had his flashlight held on.

It was one of the things. It was missing both ears, about five foot six, skinny. Reddish, peeling flesh hung from the face. It was dressed in rags and barefoot. Hanging from a thong on its neck was strange pieces of twisted metal and colored wires, obviously some kind of decoration. Its mouth was gaped open, revealing black teeth that had all been filed down so they were sharp meat tearing teeth. Its eyes were black pits that stared at us with hatred.

It was also covered in frost.

It hissed at us, a cat-like sound that made goosebumps rise on my skin.

The door to the other bedroom crashed open, and I turned, my flashlight revealing another one. This one was missing part of its jaw, its tongue hanging down and glittering with frost. It was missing its left arm at the elbow, hanging strips of flesh glittering with frozen blood. Behind it I could see another stumbling forward, mostly hidden by the one in the doorway.

Out in the hallway, someone screamed, and someone else fired a rifle.

"Fall back to the doors! Fall back to the doors!" The Major bellowed. There was a fusillade of gunshots, and someone else screamed.

"Smith! SMITH!" Someone shouted. There was another couple shots.

Kincaid was fumbling with the ejector to his weapon.

"No! You'll fucking cook us." I called out. "Fall back." I backed out of the door, running into someone who almost knocked me down.

"They're fucking everywhere! What do we do, Major?" Someone shouted.

"On me! Form up on me!" The Major yelled.

Someone went by, half-carrying the kid with his whole head bandaged, Franks, and only half dressed himself.

"Donaldson, Shads, get the fuck out of there!" I bellowed as Kincaid moved past me, flattening against the wall. "Kincaid, pull up the rear."

"The door's opening!" Someone called out.

Donaldson and Shads moved past, and I slammed the door. I caught a glimpse of the ones in the room. They glittered with frost, staggering forward woodenly.

"What the fuck are they?" Kincaid asked me as two more men moved by. There was screaming from further down the hallway.

"I don't fucking know." I told him. Something thumped against the door.

"Stay together, men. Don't get separated. Make sure Franks and Murchison have someone with them at all times." The Major called out. I could see red lights at the end of the corridor for second before the snow thickened up. "Sergeant Ant, you and your team bring up the rear."

There was another gunshot, and someone began screaming.

"Who is that? Sound off!" The Major shouted. Everyone began yelling out their names, and I added mine to the list.

"Come on, Kincaid." I said, hefting my rifle and heading toward the screaming.

"Missing two! James and Smith!" The Major called out. "We're falling back to the motor pool!"

"Roger that!" I yelled back. Wind swept through the corridor, blowing the snow around.

It was snowing heavily in the corridor, dropping visibility. Ten steps and we saw who had been screaming.

One of the privates I didn't know was down on the tile, face down. His M-16 was in one hand, and three of those things were crouched over them. They were hacking on him, two with steak knives, the other with a meat cleaver. The kid's arm was severed, and he wasn't moving as they kept hacking at him. All three of them were badly wounded, but not bleeding, covered in a layer of frost.

All three looked up at the same time, their eyes black pits as they stared at us.

As one they stood up, and took one stiff step toward Kincaid and me.

Suddenly I knew what Tandy/Bishop had been up to.