The bodies of Delta are carried outside and laid by the front door. The soft moaning carries throughout the building at intervals. No other attacks, shrieks, or screams are heard. The few minutes of violence that once filled this space will be forever remembered but it is now just a blip on the passing line of time. The area will forever hold the fierce battle, the shouts, the screams, the gunfire and bloodshed that were created in this space and time but the world moves on and so does the passage of time and events.
“Red Team will join with Charlie. Lynn, Drescoll, move up on the left as before. We’ll try to stay in line with you. We still need to clear the building. Watch out for night runners that may still be hiding and for the injured ones,” I say getting ready to finish what we started. “We’ll move to the corner and then you sweep the back. Notify us when you turn the corner.”
“Copy that. Moving out,” Lynn responds.
“Will do,” Drescoll replies.
“Echo, cover your area but you’ll be the reserve team,” I say.
“Roger,” Greg’s voice responds in the radio.
We complete the sweep of the first floor without any further large scale attacks; or any for that matter. A few suppressed shots echo within as more injured night runners are put to rest with the added result that fewer moans and cries of pain are heard. Meeting up with Lynn and Drescoll in the back right corner, I have them take positions on the first floor to cover the balconies while sending Horace and Watkins, with Blue and Alpha Teams, up the entrance stairs to begin clearing the second floor. I take Red and Charlie up the escalator stairs, stepping over the pile of night runner bodies in the process.
The climb to the second floor is difficult as the steps are crowded with corpses. We have to step on them in order to make our way to the top as no part of the stairs is visible; the bodies move and slide beneath our boots making us stumble at times. Only a couple night runners still move under their own volition or moan and they are quickly silenced. By the time we reach the second floor, silence once more settles within the facility.
Horace and Watkins meet up with us by the escalator and we continue across the second floor finding only dead bodies. The numerous shelves are filled with camping gear, archery supplies, gun cases, and other miscellaneous outdoor equipment. The far end wall behind a gun counter is lined with rifles of every sort and the glass counter itself houses handguns of all calibers and models. Passing by a display rack, I point out the M-4- based DMR setup that Robert envied the many times we visited. He nods. The nod would have been normally accompanied by a grin but we’ve just lost a lot of friends and that weighs heavily on us. We check carefully in every nook and cranny but don’t find any hidden night runners lurking within. Assured that this part of the second floor is clear, I send Echo and Bravo to clear out the loading dock area.
Rounding the last corner upstairs, I notice a trail of blood leading away towards the restaurant set into the corner of the building. It looks like one of the night runners crawled away injured. The trail shows up as a dark smear in my goggles. I point it out to the members of the sweeping teams. Still slowly checking the aisles and tents that are set up for display, we follow the trail as it disappears into the eating area of the restaurant. Setting Horace and Watkins in a perimeter around the restaurant, I step inside with Red and Charlie Team.
Light colored wooden tables sit within the medium-sized, rectangular restaurant; some stand askew, others are tipped over and lying on the floor. Plastic brown and orange chairs add to the mess in the area. The restaurant is open to the rest of the store and the wet trail continues. Stepping carefully between the tables and chairs, I hear a low growl coming from behind one of the tipped-over tables just to my front.
Stepping up to the table with my M-4 at the ready and fully expecting a night runner to launch at me, I look over the edge. A female night runner lies on the linoleum-tiled floor. It looks up at me and emits another low growl that turns into a whimper. The light colored blouse is dark with blood and the jeans are soaked. The trail we are following leads directly to her. She was obviously injured at the railing and crawled here. Her eyes are full of pain she looks up and meets my gaze. I lower my carbine a touch and we just stare at each other.
I direct Charlie to search the kitchen area without taking my gaze off the night runner almost at my feet with only a table between us. She must have been shot in the abdomen or someplace near judging from the soaked blouse and the amount of blood lost. I haven’t seen a live night runner this close before without being pumped full of adrenaline and fighting for my life. The eyes still have a humanistic look to them as much as I can tell with the night vision goggles on. They reflect in the greenish glow like a night animal. The light gray skin shines in my sight and I make out the pulsing, dark gray veins beneath the translucent skin. I hear her shallow, panting breath over the noises of Charlie Team clearing the kitchen area.
Mullins reports that all is clear as do Horace and Cressman reporting from the loading docks. I nod an okay to Mullins, “roger” the call from Bravo and Echo, and look back down at the night runner. Her pain-filled eyes continue to meet mine and she attempts another growl or moan but it comes out as a gurgling sound and blood runs out of the corner of her mouth. The fact that the night runner is a female gnaws at me somewhat, but I raise my M-4. I swear she looks through the pain and knows what is coming and is thankful. A muted cough echoes in the enclosed area. My round enters her left eye and explodes out the back of her head. A large amount of blood, tissue, and bone splatters across the floor and her head pitches back before slumping to the floor. With that final shot, the sanctuary is ours – for the time being.
By Candlelight
“Told ya we’d clear ‘em out, sir,” Gonzalez says as we stand in silence here in the dark.
“Although I certainly didn’t expect it to be like that,” she adds shaking her head.
“Yeah, me either. It sure came at a cost,” I say. Gonzalez and the rest of Red Team just nod as there really isn’t much else to say in that regard.
A search through the offices and customer service area yields the keys to the facility. I pull the teams out and send Horace and her team around to turn the generator on. Walking back inside with Lynn and our two teams, I insert the key into the lights and the building comes alive, awakening from its prior dormant state. The aftermath of our quick but intense battle unfolds with more clarity and the inside, especially on the right side, looks as if a hurricane swept through. Clothes racks and clothes are mingled with bodies with more dead night runners filling the area near the cash registers aisles. A haze hangs in the air drifting upward toward the tall ceiling. The reek of gunpowder and a slaughterhouse mixes together seeming to form a different odor with each breath.
Outside again, I look at the bodies lying on the concrete walkway; reminders of the world we live in now; reminders that we can’t afford mistakes. Mullins walks over and kneels by the bodies with his head hung. I wonder if he thinks he made a mistake coming with us. They were with him longer than they were with us but they were our friends as well. Other soldiers drift over to where they lie. I catch Lynn’s eye and nod toward the bodies. She nods in return. We don’t have the luxury of a proper service for them. They gave their lives fighting so that we can have a safe place to live and deserve better. Time is pressing so we all gather around the bodies to pay our respects, each in his or her way.
Finishing with our service and saying goodbye to our comrades, I gather Lynn, Bannerman, and Frank. “Our biggest priority is to get the doors and window coverings installed along with removing the bodies from inside. We also need to get some diesel fuel for the generators and lay our fallen to rest,” I say.
“Bannerman, will you see to the security doors? How many will you need?” I add.
“I think we can get them up pretty quick with two teams, assuming they have a maintenance department on site with the right tools,” he answers.
“Okay, how about you take Mullins and Greg? Oh, and if there’s time, we need to set up the base radio. Frank, can you take Alpha and find us some fuel? There should be gas cans and such inside if you need,” I ask.
“Sounds good,” Frank responds.
“I’d like to put Kathy and Kenneth with you Frank and the others with you Bannerman to help out with whatever you need. The rest of the teams can start removing the bodies. We need to make sure one team provides overwatch inside at all times. One team can find some shovels inside and start digging as well,” I say
