Unknown enemy, p.5
Unknown Enemy, page 5
part #1 of Broken Earth Series
"All right, this is the target they were supposed to hit," said Ross.
They carried on at a steady pace, but watching all around like hawks. The sun had come up. There was little cloud cover, and it was a hot day.
"I could have been kicking back on a beach right now, my every need attended to," smiled Jose.
But the others didn't look impressed. None of them wanted to be out there. They'd all been looking forward to some R&R, and didn't much like being reminded of what they were missing out on. They strolled to the target area without spotting anything unusual. Dunn had got their first and was checking footprints and bullet casings that were scattered about.
"A fireteam went through this range, very recently."
"Yeah, and by the book," added Ramos.
Ross was glad to hear that nothing untoward had gone on yet.
"Where'd the team go from here?"
"Not toward the extract," replied Jose, as that much was obvious.
"To A," replied Dunn.
"Why? Why would they do that?"
"Trying to hit both targets before the competition got there?" Olsen asked.
"And risk taking a bullet for it, I don't think so. Whatever is at that other site it drew this fireteam in, and I want to know what that was." Ross gestured for Dunn to lead the way.
"I don't like this. I don't like it at all," said Ramos.
Ross nodded in agreement.
"Something isn't right about any of this."
"What's your assessment?"
"What's to assess? We've got shit to go on, but we'll get to the bottom of it."
Dunn followed the tracks to the other range. As he drew near, he stopped and knelt down.
"What is it?"
"Full auto fire."
"They can't have had a solution from here," Ramos stopped beside him.
"If they weren't firing at the targets, what the hell were they firing at?" Ross carried on through the range. That’s when he spotted a body.
"We've got a man down here." He went forward, still cautious, and looking around for any sign of trouble. He half expected to trigger some trap any moment, but there was nothing. No sign of life, except their own. He turned the body over. The man was long dead, and a hole burrowed into his chest. The same body Shaw and Owen had looked over.
"What the hell?" Ramos asked.
"Payne, Dunn, Olsen, I want a twenty-metre perimeter right now. Ramos, Ortiz, find me the rest of this soldier’s team!"
They could see the concern on his face. This situation just got very real. They'd all lived through many horrors, but never anything this close to home. He checked the dog tags of the man and noticed one was missing. He checked over the body for any other evidence of what had happened. There were bullet casings all around and an empty magazine, too.
"Whatever happened here, it happened fast," he whispered to himself. He looked up at the trees and all around, looking for some sign or piece of evidence.
Ramos was back in no time at all. Ross was hoping for some good news, but he could already tell that wasn't gonna happen.
"We've got four more bodies, including the other team’s leader. All of them hit by the same kind of weapon that killed the Corporal here."
"What kind of weapon does this?" Ortiz asked as he returned.
"Nothing I've ever seen. Looks like it was done with a cutting torch," replied Ross.
"But this had to be ranged fire, or how else did they get into such a firefight? I mean, they opened up with everything they had. Whoever did this to them, where are the bodies? Two fireteams don't just get wiped out without a scratch to the enemy."
"With a well laid ambush, maybe," replied Ramos.
"You kidding me? Look at how many shots they got off. They must have hit something."
"Then the enemy took their casualties with them, didn't they?" Ross snapped as if expecting Jose to have known that.
"You said one of the other fireteam leaders is among them?"
"Yes, and tracks leading away from the scene."
"Fast tracks, whoever left here alive, they were running, fast," added Dunn.
"They ran?"
"More like sprinted like hell."
Ross couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"I know they're rookies, but the Captain told me this was the finest platoon of regulars on base. I refuse to believe they merely ran from the enemy and left their comrades to die. This isn't adding up."
"Whatever hit these boys it hit them hard, and at night. They wouldn't have been expecting any real combat. A hard and fast attack with enough casualties could have caused them to run," replied Olsen.
"I know who trained these boys, they wouldn't have run unless they stood no chance of victory. Now what kind of force would you need to give these teams that kind of impression? Something to strike the fear of God into them?"
"Us," replied Payne.
He was right, and that was terrifying.
"I want to know where this trail goes, now!" Ross roared.
It was unsettling to them all. They were used to the unknown, but not to being left so dumbfounded. They'd expected to find some answers, and yet they'd been left with more questions. They followed the tracks and soon reached the fallen tree that had nearly crushed Donny, and stopped at the scorched stump.
"They were pursued."
They were each as confused by what they were seeing as each other, and it was cause for concern to grip their weapons a little tighter as they went on. They could hear the flow of water ahead and stepped out into a clearing where they found more bodies. One had an M240 machine gun beside it, but the dead soldier was still clutching his rifle.
"What the fuck happened here?"
"Some crazy shit, Jose."
"No, no, no. We've seen some crazy shit, but this, this is freaking me out," he said as he had the jitters. Any other time Ross would have told him to get his shit together, but they were all on edge now.
"There are still two missing," he said, peering over the edge.
"You think they jumped?" asked Olsen.
"If they did, I don't want to imagine what was on their ass. I'd not take that jump for a million bucks," said Ortiz.
"I’d take it," replied Payne.
"Yeah, because you ain't right in the head," replied Ortiz.
"All right, enough!"
"You're all on edge, I get it. Don't think I am just cruising through this myself. But we have seen crazy shit before, and we have got through it. We will keep our shit together and do our fucking jobs, you hear me? This is what we do, and if we can't, who else is there?"
Ortiz looked a little sheepish, but at least keep his mouth shut.
"How far to their extract point?"
"A couple of klicks."
"Two soldiers made it out of whatever hell they saw here. I want to know what happened, and more than that, I want to get our boys out of here if they are still alive. God knows they deserve it."
"Thinking we should have brought some heavier hardware," said Payne.
"We've got enough firepower to raise hell, and we have plenty of times before. Dunn, lead the way. I want some answers, and I want them now."
It wasn't long before they reached the extract point. A rocky outcrop that was relatively flat and a natural landing ground for helicopters. There was a pile of debris on one of the rocks that Ross closed in on.
"What is that?" Ortiz asked.
"The emergency beacon," replied Ramos.
"Whoever struck here knew exactly what they were doing. They worked through two fireteams like they were child conscripts."
"And Boyd and the rest of the platoon?" asked Olsen.
They looked to Dunn for answers, as he was the best tracker they had.
"They must have peeled off a long way back. There’s no sign of them."
"Nothing makes sense here," said Ross.
Chapter 6
Emma lifted the screen on her laptop and hit the home screen a few times, but couldn't get any access.
"Goddamn it, why does this never goddamn work?"
She kept hitting the button to refresh, but she got the same response every time. Finally, she slammed the lid and threw it down beside her. She was frustrated, anxious, and bored. That is when her eye caught her family photos, her, her mom, and her brother. He was wearing Army fatigues and a bandana. It brought a smile to her face, and also a thought. She leapt from the sofa and rustled through a drawer until she found car keys. They keys to her mom's car.
"Only in case of an emergency, well, Mom, that time is now, and where are you?"
She pulled on a jacket and went out the door. It was a relatively new BMW. A needless expense that seemed pointless, as her mom was barely ever around to use it. She turned the engine over. The battery was low, and it struggled, but finally the engine fired to life.
"Miles will know what to do." She reversed out on to the road and took off.
* * *
Burns pulled off the road towards the viewing point where Sam had supposedly gone missing. As he drew near, he saw another truck parked there with a few guys nearby. He'd hoped it would have been the Sheriff's deputies, and yet he kicked himself for even dreaming they would be putting so much effort in. As he drew nearer, he could see it was Lee and some of his football buddies. Burns groaned. He didn't need that sort of hindrance right now, or amateurs messing with the scene.
"Hey, Mr B, what you doing here?" Foster asked as he drew his truck to a halt.
"Looking for answers, same as you." He got out and took his rifle from its rack.
"Whoa, Mr B, what are you hunting, big game?"
"This isn't a joke."
"You think some kind of animal did this?"
"No idea, Lee, but I know Sam is a smart kid."
"So you don't believe the Sheriff either?"
"Willis hasn't needed to give a shit for a long time, he's just forgotten how."
He strode over towards the edge where Emma said she and Sam had been standing when he tried to show her how to shoot. He was looking out at everything he could see. Until finally he turned his attention towards the tree and held up his right hand in the shape of a pistol as if mimicking a target range shot.
"What are you doing Mr B?" Foster asked.
"Working."
"You're a teacher, not a detective."
"Nope, but I'm the closest thing you've got to one right now. I understand shooting better than any of you, and I know the land, and the wildlife better, too."
"So you're gonna help?"
"I'm gonna find Sam Marshall, yeah."
"You think you can?"
"People don't just disappear, not round here. We'll find him, Lee, I just hope it's in time."
"Time for what?" Mikey asked.
He shot up as if suddenly suspicious of them.
"Tell me this isn't some big joke. Tell me it isn't a stupid prank? Tell me!"
But they quickly backed down in the face of his wrath.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, no, nothing like that," protested Foster.
He could see the genuine look of fear in their faces. They weren't playing games.
"Mr B, we can help here. You need some extra eyes, and we want to find our boy."
"I understand, Foster, and I am sure he would be glad to hear it, but I need to do this alone."
"That is some lone wolf crap."
He looked angry and stormed forward as if looking for a fight.
"And what are you gonna do? You can't track, can you? You can't fight either."
"We can fight." Foster reached down for the pistol in his waistband, just as Sam had carried one. But Burns got to it first and locked his hand onto the weapon, holding it where it was.
"This isn't a game. You can talk and act as a gangster as much as you like, but stuffing a pistol down your pants and talking like some hip-hop video doesn't make you tough. It's those guns of yours that got Sam into this trouble in the first place."
"What are you talking about?" Lee asked.
"That's what he was doing out here. Showing off his piece, trying to show Emma how to shoot."
"What the hell? Boy gets a pretty girl like that all to himself, and he tried to show her how to shoot? I don't buy it." Foster backed away, and Burns let go of his weapon.
"I'm telling you, that's as I heard it. Carrying that weapon and using it is what probably got him into this mess. You might carry guns, but you haven't got the first idea of how to use them. Any dumb piece of shit can pull a trigger, but it’s everything you do up to the point of that moment, and everything that follows, that is what really matters."
"Come on, that's bull..shit," exclaimed Foster.
"You think we train our young men and women for years to go into combat for no good reason?"
"What would you know, you're just a teacher?"
Lee smiled, knowing what Foster didn't.
"You see, son, if you listened more, you'd know a whole lot more."
"What's he talking about?"
"Fifteen years in the Corps, that's what I'm talking about," he replied angrily.
"I...I had no idea, Mr B."
"No, you didn't. So stop talking crap and listen more. I’m going to look around and see what I can find out, and you boys are gonna go back to town. Better still, you can go and check on Emma Tyler for me. She’s been through hell with this, and she isn't thinking straight. There’s a lot of that going around right now. Swing by her house, and check she is doing okay, and don't do anything stupid. Remember, it's not her fault that all this happened. This is your spot. You're the idiots who brought guns out here and drew some attention to yourselves."
"We didn't mean for anyone to get hurt. It was a little harmless fun."
"Yeah, I get that, but things have changed. Please, leave me to this. I got it. Get back to town, and make sure Emma is okay."
They climbed back into their truck. Lee spun it around, but stopped and wound down the window.
"You will find him, won't you?"
"I'll do my best, I promise you."
"And if someone has hurt him?"
"Then they'll have a lot to answer for, and I'm not in the mood to be polite about it."
Lee nodded in appreciation.
"Thanks for doing this. Mr Burns. I know you don't need to be out here."
"Yeah? What else you think I got to do?" he joked.
They tore off into the distance, and the smile was wiped from his face as he realised how true that statement was. Aside from the odd hunting trip, he rarely managed to get out of the house on the weekends, after drinking himself into a stupor in the hopes of not reliving the horrors he had witnessed time and time again. This was the first time he'd had some real thing of purpose to do outside of school hours in years. He was thankful of something to do, even if it terrified him. Something was off about this entire situation, and nobody was looking into Sam's disappearance, or nobody that could make a difference.
He headed back over to the spot where he had been pretending to take aim at the tree. He was trying to retrace Sam's footsteps. It wasn't easy. He didn't have precise info to work on, and the torrential rain had washed a lot away. He lowered his hands from the imitation firing position and strode forward towards the tree. There was no sign of the gun or bullet casings. He figured the Sheriff's staff had picked them up, or the weather had taken them away.
The tree was riddled with bullets, so much so it was a miracle it was even still standing. There had to be a couple of hundred holes in the trunk. He shook his head and thought about it more, realising it was just the kind of stuff he did when he was in school. He stepped past the tree and spotted the remains of the pool of blood Emma had mentioned. It was impossible to miss in daylight. He looked around for anything else worth seeing, but there seemed to be little evidence of anything. He could see several sets of footprints in the mid. One pair was clearly from the sort of cheap work boots the sheriff or his deputies were wearing. Two other pairs came from some more fashion conscious footwear, like Lee and his buddies would wear. But there was nothing else.
That struck him as odd. No sign of Sam's footprints anywhere from beyond the base of the tree, nor anyone who might have been his attacker.
"What on Earth happened here?"
He looked back and forth, trying to make some sense of it. The rain had corroded some tracks, but there was still plenty showing. There should have been enough to tell which direction he went. He looked up the tree, as he was running out of ideas, and yet it was empty. He began to widen his search. At first he found nothing, and that puzzled him further, when he spotted something unusual. A large leaf had been imprinted into the mud a few metres away from the blood, as if something heavy had pressed on down into the mud. There was an outline around the leaf print that could be a footprint, but it was of no Human shape.
"What the fuck?"
He looked up and saw another exactly like it along the way, and another. A single footprint of unusual shape and size, and pressed so deep into the ground they had to be far heavier than any normal sized Human, but only the one print. He tried to make sense of it in his mind, and he couldn't. He kept following the track until finally it passed through some long grass, and he noticed the print was not central, but off to one side.
"Whatever you are, you are good at concealing these tracks," he muttered.
Aside from the grass having been knocked down, there was no print at all, only from the other foot where a leaf had clearly gotten stuck. He knew what to look for now. He pulled out his phone and took a few snaps of one of the prints. He tried to send them on, but could get no service.
"What a surprise," he complained.
He looked at the tracks again. It made no sense at all, nothing from Sam, and no sign of his body. He imagined whoever laid these tracks had carried Sam away, but why? He didn't like this at all. In his stomach he wanted to turn back, or call for help, but who would he call? The Sheriff? Useless. He had to keep going. He had to know the truth, and he owed it to Emma to find it out as well. He began to think of Ross' arrival and what he was doing there. A team of what had to be Special Forces operators in a remote town. They had to be there for whatever he was now tracking. It couldn't be a coincidence. He wished he had some way to reach the man, but there was none. That is the way they operated. He clung on tightly to his rifle. He had no idea what he was getting himself into, but he knew it was trouble.
