Stephens pulled his chair close. “Bro, when I saw you come off that Medevac, Murphy was with you. They tried to save him, but it was just too much.”
Jacob chewed his lower lip, not speaking. Stephens looked at the door and sat back in the chair. “I told the doctors about your family; they used the Red Cross to locate them and get ’em here.”
Jacob forced a smile. “Thank you. That means a lot to me.”
“But that’s the thing. This is a military hospital. I told them you were part of Second Squad, Jacob. It was the only way I could get them here to you.’
“You what?”
“Our forces are so jacked up right now, they don’t know up from down. They didn’t question it. I just had to lie, man. I didn’t want your family out there in one of those camps when you woke up.”
“Is your family here too?”
Stephens looked away then back at Jacob. “I don’t know where they are. Last word I got, they were moving them south some place toward Atlanta, maybe Fort Benning. I don’t know. Contact’s been cut.”
“I’m sorry, Stephens,” Jacob said just above a whisper.
Stephens shook it off. “Don’t be sorry, bro. I know they’re okay; I can feel it. Listen, Jacob, we need to talk, man; everything is gone now. We got pushed back across the border and refugees are pouring across faster than the Canuks can find room for them. The United States south of Milwaukee is lost and The Darkness is spreading down into Central and South America. They thrive in warm weather. Europe is the same way; cold areas are stable while they move and spread south.
“Those ponds we found? They use them to breed and multiply. Most of the dumb ones stay close to their little birthing ponds, but the stage three types… hell, they’ve been spotted way far north.”
“Stage three?” Jacob asked.
“That’s what they’re calling the smart ones, the ones that shoot back. The fully evolved ones.”
Jacob nodded his head, remembering the briefing about the lizard men.
“So, what’s next?” Jacob asked. “Where do we go from here?”
“That’s why I needed to talk to you. I got your family in here, but for them to stay, you’re gonna have to enlist—and I mean for real. This base is only for military families. I listed you as a private with Second Squad. I don’t know if that’s gonna last or not. You better hope it does, ’cause if it don’t, they gonna send your wife and daughter out to the camps. You too probably, once you get healed up enough to walk. There just isn’t room on base for everyone.”
“I can’t leave them again,” Jacob said.
“It’s going to happen. You need to heal up and go back with us if you want to keep them safe. The generals say we won’t last two winters if we can’t push them out; we can’t survive this far north. We’ll all starve.”
“So, I have a choice of leaving my family to go fight, or leave with my family for these camps?”
Stephens shook his head, frowning. “The choice is yours, Jacob.”
The Shadows BOOK II
Global Joint Base Meaford
Day of the Darkness Plus 90
The gas furnace roared to life, the blower whining as it forced warm air through the ducts running along the ceiling of the old wooden barracks. Heavy beams and thick wooden walls reminiscent of Bavarian craftsmanship, the buildings were rumored to have been constructed by German prisoners at the end of World War II. Solid and well-built, they stood the test of time by housing training armies for generations.
Jacob lay motionless, listening to the sounds of men snoring over the rumble of the furnace blowers. Light spilled into the open bay barracks from a row of windows high on the wall. He stared at the bottom of the bunk above him, where he'd tucked a small wallet photo into the mattress springs. Laura and Katy in happier times, sitting on a beach near Chicago, Lake Michigan glistening in the sun behind them. He knew they were safe on the other side of the camp. He knew to keep them there that he would have to persevere. He was a soldier whether he like it or not.
South America went dark soon after the first attacks; no word from anyone south of Mexico City by the second week. The Darkness thrived once it was introduced into the damp, warm climates. They grew the fastest in the jungles of Honduras and Nicaragua, spreading through the rivers and wetlands. Once stabled and the countries decimated, the creatures turned and charged north with little resistance. Unable to contain the advance, many of the border states became victim of carpet-bombing by both the US and Mexican Governments. Jacob heard the rumors of nuclear strikes around the globe. At first, they were whispered as being used to end the crisis, but after the bombs fell with poor results, the talk of their use was hushed.
Jacob’s family was spared the worst, finding sanctuary in a small military base north-west of Detroit just over the northern border in the safe zone. Safely across the border, they were hinged on the front lines of the conflict. But Jacob’s sanctuary came with a price; nobody got a free ride. Laura would soon be assigned work supporting the camp, and Jacob would be tasked to augment the defense forces.
He thought he’d seen enough already in the war to know what to expect from his training. Jacob volunteered for service and as soon as his wounds healed, he was placed into the next training cycle. An Army recruiting sergeant in dress uniform stopped by his small housing unit to help with the paperwork—a two-page contract and a small government agreement stating that his family would be allowed to stay on the camp in exchange for his service.
The second form was a sort of insurance policy. Laura and Katy would be allowed six months free time on the camp in
