Resistance: The Gathering Storm

canister into a rolling cargo module. It was equipped with both a cradle and clamps to hold the cylinder in place. Once the lid had been closed and secured, all they had to do was transport the module to the roof. And that, based on the earlier battle, was where Hale figured the team would run into trouble.

More than an hour had elapsed, which meant Chimeran reinforcements were on the way, or had already arrived.

So as the elevator began to rise, there was a series of clicks, clacking sounds, and a loud whine as Hale slipped a full magazine into what had been Pardo’s Bullseye. While the Marksman was ideal for some tasks, a free- for-all melee wasn’t one of them.

No sooner had that thought passed though Hale’s mind than he heard a chorus of guttural growls, screeches of rage, and incomprehensible stink-speech, and an army of Hybrids rushed the humans. Someone, or something, had released them from their vertical coffinlike storage tubes, and the air was thick with their rank odor as dozens of the raging beasts surged forward.

Fortunately, none of them was armed, but the strength of their charge was sufficient to instantly put six of the hideous creatures on the platform, where one threw itself at Gaines. The Sentinel fired through the Hybrid’s abdomen, thereby killing the stink immediately behind it in the process, but not before the Chimera managed to sink its fangs into his throat. Bright red blood sprayed the surface of the elevator as Gaines went down, his neck ripped open, his eyes already glassy in death.

Meanwhile, the platform continued to rise and Hale, Kawecki, Yorba, and Barrie poured automatic weapons fire into the ravening horde from point-blank range. The mad chatter of their weapons, combined with the screams of dying Hybrids, created a cacophony of sound.

Having emptied her Bullseye, Barrie drew both Reapers and fired them into the mob. Chimera fell like wheat before a combine, their bodies effectively blocking the beasts behind them while the elevator made its way upward.

Hale lobbed two grenades into the crowd just before it disappeared from sight, heard two slightly muffled explosions, and took pleasure in the knowledge that another half-dozen Chimera were dead.

But then the body-strewn platform delivered the team and their hard-won prize onto the building’s flat roof. The AA batteries were still operational, and even though there were fewer ?brids than there had been before, those that remained began firing on the elevator as soon as it surfaced.

The closest Chimera were only a dozen feet away, and scored hits on both Kawecki and Yorba, but they were unable to put either Sentinel down before being killed themselves. That gave the humans control of one AA gun and the northwest corner of the roof. Though wounded, Kawecki and Yorba were still functional, and already starting to heal as they took cover behind the gun mount and shield.

Hale crouched next to Barrie, and they were protected by the metal cargo box as projectiles continued to slam into it. He put the Bullseye down, and was prepping the Marksman for use when the radio transmission came in. “Hollywood to Echo-Six. We’re inbound from the south. Do you read me? Over.”

The voice was familiar.

“Purvis? Is that you? Over.”

“Who the hell else would they send to retrieve your miserable ass?” the pilot replied. “I’m still on the shit list for making that drop north of Valentine. Over.”

“I’m sorry about that, I really am,” Hale said sincerely. “So how ?bout I buy you and your crew a drink? Or a couple of drinks? Assuming you can pluck us off this roof that is. Over.”

“Consider it done,” Purvis replied confidently. “And it’ll be more than a couple. Over.”

“Don’t bring the Party Girl in yet, though,” Hale advised. “We’ve got some stinks to deal with first—not to mention some AA batteries. Over.”

“Roger that,” Purvis replied. “How’s the neighborhood? Over.”

“Nasty by now,” Hale answered. “Can you give me a couple of gun runs? Over.”

“Your wish is my command,” came the response. “I have two Sabre Jets circling at Angels five. They’d like nothing better than to hose that place down. Over.”

“Just keep them off the building,” Hale replied. “Echo-Six out.”

There was still a single Hybrid located at the southwest corner of the roof. It couldn’t bring the AA gun into play because mechanical stops kept the weapon pointed skyward—but it could plink away at the humans from behind the weapon’s shield. Hale solved the problem by launching a drone toward the stink. It flew over the AA battery, fired down on the ?brid, and killed it.

That ceded control of the entire west end of the roof to the humans as the first Sabre Jet roared in from the south. Rockets jumped off wing rails and sleeted in to hit a group of Steelheads on the ground as they jogged toward the building. Body parts were still cartwheeling through the air when the pilot fired his .50 caliber machine guns. The fighter was equipped with six of the weapons, and the hail of shells carved a path of destruction through the base. The plane was so low that they caught a glimpse of the pilot’s helmeted head as he passed the building.

Meanwhile there were still two antiaircraft cannons operating, and as the stinks turned to watch the jet flash by, one of them brought its AA gun around in an attempt to fire on the Sabre, and exposed his back in the process. Hale saw the Marksman’s reticle flash red, and fired. Blood sprayed the AA gun’s shield as the ?brid slumped forward—and Yorba nailed another Chimera with his Auger. “That’s for Pardo!” Yorba shouted.

Only one AA gun remained as another Sabre Jet made its run across the base. However, the pilot had a Chimeran fighter on his tail and barely managed to get off a flight of rockets before being forced to pull up in a desperate attempt to escape.

It was at that moment that Barrie got up and began to sprint toward the last AA battery, firing all the way.

“No!” Hale shouted and took off after her, but it was too late as a hail of Chimeran projectiles brought her down. That prompted Kawecki and Yorba to fire on the surviving stinks, both of whom ducked.

Hale paused next to Barrie’s body, then pulled a grenade and pitched it in under the gun’s shield. There was a flash of light as both Hybrids were blown apart.

Moments later the Party Girl was there, throwing its shadow over the roof, and Hale scooped Barrie up. She was surprisingly light. There was blood on the front of her shirt and her eyes were open.

“Am I going to die?”

“No,” Hale said firmly, and even though he knew he couldn’t be heard over the roar of the VTOL’s engines, he could tell that she understood.

“You’re a liar, Hale,” she said, as he leaned in close to hear. “All of us are going to die. The only question is when.”

She passed out as medics rushed to take charge of her, and the rest of the survivors entered the plane. Kawecki and Yorba made certain that the box of fuel rods was securely fastened to the D rings set into the deck. They took off seconds later with the port gunner firing like mad as a pair of Titans arrived from the north.

As the Party Girl turned toward the south, Hale knew that the mission had been successful. So why did it feel like a failure? That question, like so many others, went unanswered.

CHAPTER ELEVEN Dead End

Near Madison, Wisconsin

Thursday, November 29, 1951

It was pitch black, with only the car’s headlights to show the way.

The man called Twitch was behind the wheel, and had been ever since Henry Walker and his wife, Myra, had left Indianapolis two days earlier. Twitch was a runner, one of a very small group of men and women who dared to transport mail, medical supplies, and occasionally people back and forth between the government-controlled heartland and Chimera-occupied territory to the north.