For A Few Corpses More - Pt. 6

                Nyx was wondering why she had let them do this to her. There was some trouble thinking about  it though with the banging and shaking around her head. It sounded like two robots having violent sex, at least to her it did in that moment. Were her hands shaking or was everything moving and she was imagining the extra nervousness? The feeling in her stomach built as she felt the metal pod she had been put in, against her better judgment, reach terminal velocity. Though the shielded window plate on the front of her less-than-desired mode of transportation black had turned into dark blue then lighter shades as she descended at alarming speeds. The pressure was enormous, they hadn’t warned her about that part. When the thrusters sputtered to slow her decent she felt the abrupt pushing in her gut, glad she hadn’t eaten. There was a moment where she wanted to scream. Deciding on a piercing yell instead, her profanity resounded in the small shell.

               Splashdown greeted her with resentment. The small shell did in fact pierce the ocean without breaking apart, it’s passenger beat around by the impact. The black straps cut into her shoulders roughly. Hands flailing, she tried hard to stabilize herself. Through the disorientation she thought that her pod had turned upside down but couldn’t tell as the daylight from the surface faded, the screen to the outside world going dark again. The sinking feeling was palpable. The sound of loud thumps came from all around her as the metal plates shot off the sections of the bottoms. Gel packs leveled the shell back out and gave it a push back up that slowed. There was another series of thumps, one after the other, as the blue-yellow gel packs erupted and popped.

               The color outside was returning to a normal blue as she ascended. There was a sigh of relief that she was enjoying when a red light up above the hatch came on, an obtrusive noise followed it as the door of the pod popped off with a hiss as the four bolts shot out to the sides. Water poured into the pod and struck Nyx’ boots, quickly soaking them. It was cold.

               “Shit,” she cursed, her hands feeling around for the releases of the straps that held her in.

               Water had flooded in up to her shins. The pod would soon sink back to the depths again, hiding the evidence of their arrival. Remembering to grab the MP5 machine gun before she bailed, she slung the strap over her shoulder. There was a small pop as she heard the Mithras make its escape back out of the atmosphere. This was certainly an unconventional way down.

               Hand raised to shield her eyes, she looked around for the others. Seeing the beach to her left she swam. There was a figure making it there ahead of her. Bronson was already climbing on to the beach gear in hand. Over her shoulder in the distance she could see the other pods: Dine’s, Pierce’s, and the one holding the gear. Her arms pushed hard, pulling her towards the shore.

               “You know,” Nyx said as her knees hit the sand and she took several long breaths, giving her body a moment. “That,” she paused again to make sure she would be able to get it all out and wasn’t going to throw up from the salt water she had swallowed. “That was the worst ride ever.”

               Bronson shook his head in reply, as if he hadn’t noticed. He was watching the other pods as Dine and Pierce were trying to swim towards the container that had brought all of the equipment down with them. Nyx stood and brushed herself off, looking to her partner and then back out at the two other men.

               “What’s going on?”

               “My guess,” he said shaking his head, “they’re having problems already.”

               There was a moment of silence as the two watched and the expression on Nyx’ face sank.

               “You really don’t think this,” she waved a hand around them, “all of this is going to end well do you?” She looked up at him, partially wanting a comforting answer.

               “Nope,” Bronson said re-adjusting his hat.

               Captain Dine and Pierce were swimming for the shore now. Bronson had taken a few steps closer to the water, not sure if they were going to make it. Dine had one small case in his hand, one out of the almost twenty in the pod that they had left out in the middle of the ocean. Pierce only had his gun in his hands and Bronson was pretty sure what the yelling he had heard was about now.

               “Mark this as problem number two,” Bronson said in a low tone.

               “Wait,” Nyx looked at him. “What was problem number one?”

               “He’s following behind the Captain as we speak.”

               There was a moment where no one spoke but the wind had picked up. Both men, fresh off of their swim, needed to catch their breath. Dine had thus far shown nothing but a friendly demeanor with a slight tinge of seriousness to it, making sure everyone still knew he was in charge. The Captain Dine that emerged from the water was angry.

               “Dammit,” he said dropping the case he was able to retrieve. “All of our gear went too far off, we lost almost all of it.” Dine turned to Pierce with his finger pointed accusingly.

               “And you didn’t even try to grab any of it.”

               “You’re insane,” Pierce shot back. “Those boxes are heavy, I would have drowned.”

               “You didn’t even try,” Captain Dine yelled.

               There was a flash of anger, pure uncontrolled anger that actually caused Nyx to pause. She knew he was about to hit Pierce if he said anything else. He deserved it, he was smarmy and out for himself, but she knew it didn’t help anything.

               “It’s done,” Bronson broke in and walked over to the metal box Dine had rescued.

               Dine sneered, one last glare at Pierce before turning away to cool off. There was a very real anger that stained the lines of his face. His boots left prints in the soft sand of the beach as he stepped away to hide his quick transformation back into the cool and calm Captain. Nyx couldn’t help but wonder why he had lost his cool so easily as she watched his shadow against the bright sun.

               Bronson had begun looking through the metal crate that Dine had managed to bring ashore. There were a bunch of digital pads and surveillance equipment. Useful things like binoculars, night scopes, and long range listening devices. Probably most important were the small black boxes they would use as communicators, but there were no weapons, no rations, nothing to help make this job any easier. Most likely they wouldn’t have taken everything from the crates with them, but this felt like almost nothing. He understood why Dine was pissed, or at least why he would be, but it wasn’t his fault really. Bronson thought for a first run the pods actually worked pretty well.

               He took the small black boxes in hand and checked them to make sure they still worked. Multiple blue lights and the small green one that was the most important one showed him they were. He tossed one to Nyx and paused before doing the same with Pierce who had been silent since his scolding. Placing the third on his belt, he left the last one for Dine. At least if they got split up they’d be able to find each other. The weapons they had on them would have to do. They would need to find food and water before too long though.

               Looking around at the beach and the overgrown grass around the old buildings in the distance Bronson took it all in. A few more generations and you would hardly be able to tell anything about the civilization that used to run this place.

               Rustling was faint in the distance. Shielding his eyes and looking further out to the trees he considered their tactical standing. There usually weren’t many corpses near the large bodies of water like this but their splashdown had probably made some noise and then there was Dine’s screaming to consider.

               “We should go,” he said to the group as he picked up his gear. “We’ve made a lot of noise even if we don’t count the yelling. Walkers don’t usually congregate near the water but they’ll come.”

               Dine nodded as he turned back to them. “Agreed,” he bit his lower lip. “A rough start, but we’ll make it work.”

               The rest gathered their gear quietly. Dine referenced the data pad on his arm and he pointed down the short.

               “We’ve got forty miles to go before nightfall then we need to make camp.”

               Bronson and Nyx exchanged a look as they began to walk side-by-side.

               “Now that we’re here, where exactly is this thing being kept?” Bronson asked as Dine lead the way towards the tree line and Pierce pulled up the rear, which Bronson didn’t like. “And what does it look like, or what kind of data storage device is it on?”

               “You let me worry about that,” Dine said stopping and tapping two buttons on his wrist. The small touchpad computer lit up and a hologram of a terrain map shot up in green and blue lines. “We’re headed to Fairchild Air Force Base. It’s about ten miles South West of Spokane Washington, a place we need to be at in forty-eight hours to stay on schedule.” The hologram generated a dot to show where they were on the map and then drew a line towards just outside of Spokane.

               “If they were so worried about our time they should have dropped us closer.”

               Pierce instantly regretted his sarcastic complaint. He had taken a step to make sure that Bronson was in between he and Captain Dine as the military officer stared him down.

               “I’ll spell it out. No one can know we are here or what we’re after.” Dine pointed a finger at Pierce. “This is too important and there is a long list of people who would slit a lot of throats to have this kind of power over everyone else.” His voice was rose again. “Think of the possibilities or a cure, of ridding the world of the dead once and for all. History will be re-shaped once we accomplish our mission, for the better.”

               Pierce choked on the silence.

               “Are we clear now as to the importance of this and why your opinions aren’t needed?”

               He nodded to answer Dine and continued to walk. Nyx realized that this was about to be a very long two days.

              

               Forty miles is a long way to walk no matter how many breaks you take. The sun doesn’t help. Ever since the world began to end the weather conditions had become much worse, but the heat was an aggressive killer these days. It was hot, all of the trees looked the same, and everyone was being quiet just to be safe. Bronson and Nyx were used to not talking to each other much when they were on planet. The noise could attract walkers and even a small distraction could be risking your life. Dine wasn’t saying much either other than the occasional mumble to himself as he checked his map. It was Pierce that seemed to be the most bothered by the hours of silence and constant walking.

               There were many times where he would make a noise as if he were about to say something or ask a question, he rarely got past that point. When he did say something it was always a question that he knew the answer to or could have figured out on his own, like he just wanted to hear a response. Pierce was not out of shape as much as he was just lazy and uncomfortable. He didn’t have to say much share his unsatisfied disposition with the others though.

               The sun was no longer beating down over them though and it would soon be time to camp. The group had walked more than Dine had asked them to. They were all pleasantly surprised at the lack of attention they had brought upon themselves, no humans or ghouls to speak of yet. So far so good, hunger and exhaustion were well set in though.

               “Good place to break for the night,” Bronson said pointing to a building up ahead though a clearing in the trees.

               Dine squinted, realizing they were closer to the roads than he realized. “We should try to make it a few more miles, there is still some daylight.”

               “Dine,” Bronson said glancing over his shoulder at Nyx who was sitting on a large rock, lips wrapped around the plastic bottle in her hand. Pierce was leaning up against a tree trying to catch his breath, drenched in sweat. “If you want to do the same tomorrow, I suggest we break.”

               “Okay, fine.” Dine checked his map one last time before motioning with two fingers for the group to approach the site in formation.

               There was an old one story building that looked like it had seen pretty bad days before the world ended. The roof was cracked and broken across the first half and several plants and weeds had grown up around the entryways. They moved behind it, away from what looked like the main part of some old lumber facility. Two smaller storage building with old tin roofs would make part of their cover; help obfuscate the fire for the night.

               Bronson looked to Nyx. “Let’s make a perimeter. The laser fences were in one of the crates that got left in the water, so we’ll need to take shifts on guard.”

               Captain Dine nodded, the smile was back and he wasn’t cursing under his breath about the missing equipment like Nyx thought he would be.

               “Right, Pierce while they’re doing that you go look for some wood that isn’t damp so we can make a small fire, and some extra drinking water if there is any near-by.”

               “Um,” Jonah Pierce looked up from his position he had already taken up on the ground to rest some more. “Right,” he said pushing himself up with a groan.

               Bronson motioned with his hand the directions the two would travel. They were moving together but several yards apart so that they could keep each other in eye sight. Getting further away they began to circle to the left at Bronson’s signal, the buildings would need to be checked also but the first order was to make sure there were no hostiles in the immediate area. This was common practice for them, even though Bronson wasn’t a fan of closed in spaces like buildings, even if they were large. He was always thinking tactically and encouraging Nyx to do the same thing. She had benefited greatly from his training and precise instruction. He was quick to point out her mistakes and she was a fast learner. This also gave them a moment to speak alone, which Nyx had wanted.

               “Bron,” She said moving closer, breaking their normal pattern. “I think Dine is a bit crazy.”

               “Why,” he whispered back, not looking at her.

               “Dude, he almost went nuts on Pierce. I know he’s a dick but it wasn’t his fault the tech boys didn’t do their calculations right.” She shook her head. “His outburst, then the mumbling in the woods.”

               “He is under a lot of stress,” Bronson was being sincere. “If he fails this he isn’t just losing a mission or disappointing the General, and he’s young.”

               “I don’t know Bron, come on. Something doesn’t feel right.”

               “It hasn’t since the start,” he said, “but I don’t think you have anything to worry about from Dine at the moment.”

               Nyx shook her head. The hand holding the MP5 let it rest at her side as she walked, thinking it all over and continuing the conversation.

               “Are you sure you just aren’t too focused on Pierce, I mean I know-“

               Bronson cut her off by placing a hand on her weapon and bringing it back up, barrel at the poper level, a reminder of being ready.

               “Right, you don’t let yourself get distracted,” she said almost annoyed with him. “Sorry I brought it up.”

               “No,” he corrected her. “I’m glad you’re staying alert and observing,” he paused as if he was looking for the words, about to say something else when he heard a yell.

               “No! Oh, fuck!”

               A male voice called out back from where they had left Dine and Pierce alone.