The exterminators started to return after half an hour. They came with armloads of something Jack couldn’t quite make out, and then would head back out to search for more. Their bounty was bright and colorful, whatever it was, and they built a pile where they’d been dropped off. He could only imagine the same was happening all over the Gaza Strip.
He suddenly realized he’d lost track of the walker, and found it again as it passed within feet of his window. Both he and Albright ducked and silently lipped curses as the alien vehicle filled their view and lumbered casually by. That was the closest look he’d gotten at one of their vehicles, and every feature reinforced the feeling that it was a living, breathing creature of its own. Jack had no idea what to make of that, so he filed the thought away for later.
He considered using the Molotov while the walker was in range, but put the idea out of his head as quickly as it appeared. With the way his luck had been, the walker would shrug off the flames, and then proceed to tear him to pieces with its anti-infantry guns.
He raised his head up for another look around and caught motion from the corner of his eye. It was Cozar standing in the window across the street, waving his arms like a madman. He was trying to get Jack’s attention. When Jack signaled back, Cozar pointed down toward the ground floor and mouthed some words. Jack wasn’t too great at reading lips, but managed to pick out, “Get down. They’re coming.”
It clicked. Jack grabbed the back of Albright’s poncho, scrambled across the floor and slid into the pile of parts and debris. They found a small hollow and pulled a loose ventilation grate down for cover. It was only a few seconds before they heard footsteps in the stairwell, and then one of the jackrabbits marched into the room.
The little bastard looked left and right carefully as he entered, then hopped and slowly walked across the floor. For a second, he looked like he was about the turn and leave, but then he saw the two rows of Molotovs sitting on the floor.
Jack cursed his stupid rookie mistake. As quietly as he could, he clicked his rifle’s fire selector over to fully automatic, and got ready to gun the creature down.
The jackrabbit crouched down and looked at the bottles. He put his ornate long-rifle behind his back where some kind of clamp automatically latched onto it, then he picked up and examined one of the bottles.
Jack had never been one for prayer, so he hoped Albright was gripping her crucifix for both of them.
Then the jackrabbit lifted up his black mask and revealed the all-too-human face beneath. His mouth and nose were small, angular and elegant, in contrast with the huge, expressive eyes that took up half his face. He lifted the bottle to his nose, took a sniff and winced, then put the bottle back down and replaced his mask.
He took one more look around the empty room and left.
“Son of a bitch,” Jack said. He’d been holding his breath the whole time.
Albright said, “I coulda killed him. Knifed him. It would’ve been easy.” The little doctor was always full of surprises.
“And when he didn’t return, we’d have to deal with the rest of the pack.”
“True.”
They waited another ten minutes before climbing back out of their hole, during which time Jack didn’t hear any gunfire, screaming, or any activity what-so-ever. It was a good bet his people were still alive.
The exterminators’ strange hunt went on through the afternoon, and at the end they sorted their findings into stacks. Jack and Albright watched from the safety of their high window the entire time, only occasionally forced to duck as the walker again strolled by.
Then, as dusk approached, the aliens loaded their bounty into the lowered walker, mounted up and left. Two rhinos and a single jackrabbit stayed behind, probably to make space for the cargo and wait for the next ride.
Jack had no intention of staying overnight.
Chapter 28:
Scarification
A couple minutes past sundown on the Gaza Strip, the sky was blue-grey and the last shred of light was in its death-throes when Jack heard the jeep’s horn in the distance. There were two quick honks and then silence. A cattle call.
The three exterminators at the far end of the street reacted immediately. The two rhinos made short, deep grunts between each other. The jackrabbit’s long pointed ears pricked up, then it pointed one of its long, clawed fingers across the fields to the East.
The exterminators conversed for a few, then turned and headed to investigate, with the jackrabbit bounding out ahead and the rhinos lumbering behind. They disappeared into the distance, and several seconds passed before a rifle shot rang out, followed by a pained and plaintive cry.
Jack and Albright hit street-level and scurried from cover to cover, Cozar and Hartnell meeting them along the way. They moved down one side of the street with their weapons at the ready, and returned to the three story building that’d previously been their camp.
There, they found Nikitin on the top floor with his back against the wall, next to the hole that had been his lookout. “Stay down,” he said, “They didn’t see me, and I aim to keep it that way. I clipped the little one, but it wasn’t a kill.”
“How far out?”
“Nearly across the field. They grabbed their wounded and bolted for cover in the buildings.”
“Good,” Jack said. “If Chase and Trash have a clue between ‘em, they’ll find somewhere to hide.”
“So what’s the next move, chief?” Hartnell asked.
Jack looked over the field. The crops were the only cover from one side to the other. They obscured vision, but offered no real protection, especially if the rhinos started shelling with their artillery.
He had no choice, though. He couldn’t just leave Chase and Trash to fend for themselves, and they needed that jeep. There were no reinforcements coming, and it was a damn long walk to Al Saif.
“Cozar and Albright with me. Hartnell and Nicotine, spread out and cover us.”
Nikitin opened his scope’s lens-cover. “I’m always staying behind.”
“Price of being a good shot,” Jack said with a snicker. “Just think… if you couldn’t hit a school bus, you might be squad leader instead of me.”
Nikitin gave him a knowing nod. “Right, right. Get a move on, joker.”
They flew back down the stairs and cut into the field as quickly as they could. It wasn’t fast enough, and the worst possible thing happened. They were spotted.
Something thumped hollowly in the distance. The air whistled above and stars raced down from the sky, exploding all around with bright flashes and brittle cracks. “Get down!” Jack yelled. He dove forward on top of his rifle, and listened to the shells hit one after another. One two three. Four five. Six. Two rhinos with three shells a piece. The enemy had to reload.
“Move it!” he called out and climbed back to his feet. “Thirty seconds to the next salvo.” He kept his head down and raced forward, waving the others on with his hand.
Jack couldn’t see anything ahead but tall plants, and rushing through the dense crops made it felt like they were moving as fast as motorcycles. His boots crunched in the soil, and the sound of his ragged breathing filled his head. Then the distant artillery thumped again.
Rifles cracked from behind them, cutting the artillery fire short. More stars fell from the sky, but before they landed, Jack and his team were already down on their bellies, ready to wait them out.
The first went off far behind them, but number two was close. Too close. Jack’s head rattled, his ears rang, and for just a brief second, he was somewhere else completely.
Silence.
Then he came surging back into the present, like surfacing from a deep-water dive. Someone tugged at the back of his poncho, and he heard Albright’s voice barking, “Back on your feet, soldier!”
He cleared his head and climbed up. More artillery fire awaited them and the situation wasn’t going to get any better. “Break right!” he called out. “Head for the rocks and find cover.”
“Jack?”
