The Raid Page 4

  His mind finally came to terms with his conclusion. Life was precious and he had lives to protect and he would do it until his dying breath. The Jackals were the ones that didn’t value life and his elimination of them was actually protecting precious lives and he took comfort in that. Finally satisfied with his analysis of what had happened, Marcus drifted off into a deep, dream-filled sleep.

  Chapter 13

  Marcus was on the swing set in his back yard. His dad was pushing him higher and higher.

  “Higher, Daddy. Higher,” said Marcus.

  “Son, I’m pushing you too high already. I’m afraid you might fall out,” said his dad.

  “I won’t fall out, daddy. I’m a big boy now,” yelled Marcus as he flew higher.

  “Yes, you are son, and I’m proud of you,” said John.

  When Marcus slowed enough, he jumped out of the swing and ran to his dad who had squatted down. He jumped into his big arms and squeezed him as hard as he could. His dad laughed and hugged him tight. After the hug, the big man looked down at Marcus resting on his knee and said, “I love you, son. Don’t you ever forget it.”

  “I love you too, daddy,” said Marcus.

  Then his dad reached over and started to roughly pull his eyelid open further. Marcus was confused. What was his dad doing? It was starting to hurt… Then his dad said in a little girl’s voice.

  “Mawcus. Mawcus. Ms. Virg has bwekfust weady. Mawcus, r you goin’ to wake up?” asked Twig. “Wyn said to get you up owa we wuz eatin’ widout you.”

  Marcus finally realized that he had been dreaming and Twig was on the couch trying to pull his eyelid open to wake him up. He growled real big, grabbed her, and started tickling her. She loved it when he did that.

  Finally he stopped and told her to go tell them that he would be up in a minute. He just needed to wash the sleep out of his eyes. She took off and ran upstairs.

  After washing his face, brushing his teeth, and running a comb through the mangled mess of his hair, he headed upstairs for breakfast.

  After a hearty breakfast everyone got started on their chores. Marcus and Kim sat down on the couch and started to plan their impending raid with Jocelyn. Jocelyn brought up satellite footage of the base and the exact locations of the perimeter fences that were in place to protect against the dinosaurs.

  “Joce, how many are occupying the base?” asked Marcus.

  “From all indications, there are about forty-five. Ten more are arriving with the prisoners. From the radio chatter I’m hearing, most of the prisoners have been eliminated. There was also some infighting and several of the Jackals were killed. David is considered ‘high value’ because of his military experience and he is okay for the moment,” said Jocelyn.

  For two days, Kim and Marcus worked on learning and memorizing the layout of the base and formulating a plan to rescue David. It was the day before Christmas Eve. Marcus and Kim decided that the early hours of Christmas morning would be the opportune time for the raid. From experience, Marcus knew that even in this post apocalyptic world, Christmas was a special time and hopefully it would help catch them off guard.

  With the helos, they thought they could be in and out in less than an hour and on their way home. Marcus and Kim spent the rest of the day checking the helos and weapons they would be taking.

  Chapter 14

  Virginia cooked them a big breakfast Christmas Eve night. Breakfast for supper was one of the little things that his parents always liked to do. Virginia thought it was a grand idea and made it happen. The kids ate until they were stuffed; pancakes, bacon, sausage, biscuits, gravy, eggs, and milk. Then they went to bed early to make sure they didn’t interrupt Santa Claus. You could sense the tension in the room so the adults’ appetite wasn’t as good. Everyone was worried about Marcus and Kim. Marcus and Kim were also sharing in their nervousness. Marcus ate lightly and Kim only picked at her food.

  After cleaning up from their meal, everyone sat around talking. Wynd and the other ladies asked them questions about what they were going to attempt. Marcus tried to answer all their questions. He knew they were nervous and scared about what might happen. Marcus tried to reassure them. He didn’t want to but he explained the fail-safe he had set up in case something happened to him and Kim. It would establish a hierarchy for the administrator of Jocelyn. After explaining everything as best as he was able, Marcus and Kim went outside to finish their final preparations.

  As they went about doing the final diagnostics on the Black Falcons, Kim said, “How is Wynd taking all this?”

  “I can tell she’s scared but she also knows that it needs to be done. She was a prisoner of theirs and she said she prayed everyday for someone to rescue her,” he said.

  “You really love her don’t you?” said Kim smiling.

  Marcus turned a little red and said, “Umm…”

  “You don’t have to answer me, little brother. I’ve seen you around her. I haven’t seen anything that can put a smile on your face quicker than you seeing her walk through the door,” laughed Kim.

  Marcus turned a deeper shade of red and kept working. Finally, they stepped back, decided that they were ready and walked back to the house. About that time Wynd walked out.

  “Marcus would you like to take a walk with me?” asked Wynd.

  “Sure, I would love to,” he said.

  He stuck his elbow out and she placed her arm in his. It was dusky dark as they started walking down the little dirt road that led out of the compound.

  The temperature was almost freezing but neither seemed to notice. Wynd just leaned into Marcus as they walked down the road.

  “I checked the weather forecast. There’s actually a possibility for snow tomorrow. That would make a great Christmas,” said Marcus.

  “Maybe, but I think the best Christmas would be for you to make it home safe,” said Wynd.

  “Don’t worry. We will be fine. I think with Joce’s help and the new helos we have, that we could be in and out without ever firing a shot,” said Marcus. “We should be home in time to see everyone’s presents tomorrow evening.”

  “I sure hope so. When are you leaving?” asked Wynd.

  “We are leaving around one or two in the morning. Those Black Falcons are fast so we should be there by about five in the morning. Hopefully getting there at around dawn will help catch them off guard,” he said.

  They had walked until they were on the little bridge that crossed the stream. Wynd stopped and Marcus turned to face her. He noticed a tear running down her cheek. He pulled her to him and hugged her tight. She wrapped her arms around him and held on for all she was worth.

  “Marcus Rainwater, you had better come back to me,” she said with her head on his chest.

  He brought his hands up and tilted her face toward his and said, “Baby, look into my eyes. I promise you that I will come back. I give you my word. Besides, we have to exchange presents when I get back.”

  With that he pulled her face to his and kissed her deeply. Then he held her as the only sound that could be heard was the sound of the water flowing under the bridge. After a little while, he walked her back to the house.

  As he was going to his room for a short nap before leaving, he turned to her and said, “I’ll see you tomorrow evening”

  “You are not going to get off that easy. I’m going to be there when you take off in the morning,” said Wynd.

  Marcus grinned and said, “If you insist.”

  “I insist,” replied a smiling Wynd.

  Chapter 15

  It was almost twelve thirty when Marcus slipped by Wynd. She was sound asleep. He paused for a minute just to look at her. She looked like an angel. He slipped out of the room and Kim was already there loading the helos.

  “It’s about time, sleepy head,” said Kim.

  “Sorry, sis, I needed my beauty sleep,” said Marcus.

  “That’s for sure. You probably need a couple of week’s worth to help that ugly mug of yours,” laughed Kim. Kim wouldn’t a
dmit it to him but she thought Marcus was extremely handsome. She couldn’t let her little brother get the bighead though.

  They were almost finished when Kim got in the first helo. Marcus shut the doors on the second one and headed to the first one. There wasn’t any reason for them not to ride in the same helo. After all, Jocelyn was the pilot for both of them. He was about to get in the first helo when he saw Wynd out of the corner of his eye.

  “I told you that I insist,” said Wynd. She was wrapped up in a robe but she was standing there shaking in the frigid weather. Snow was beginning to fall.

  He walked over and hugged her tight.

  “You walked all the way out here in this freezing weather?” he asked.

  “No, silly,” she said as she pointed the opposite direction. The MAV was parked about fifty yards away.

  The blades on the helo were starting to turn. He hugged her again and she turned to go. He reached out and grabbed her shoulder and pulled her to him.

  He looked into her eyes and said, “Wynd, I love you.” He kissed her and held her tight.

  Wynd was speechless as Marcus turned and got into the helo. Stunned she walked over to the front of the MAV and waved weakly as the helos started to lift off.

  Finally getting her voice, she said, “I love you too.” It was too late as the helos turned and headed out of sight. She started crying as she got in the MAV and Jocelyn drove back to the house.

  Chapter 16

  Marcus had always loved flying. With his dad’s job in the military, his family had flown all over the world. He sat back and enjoyed the ride. Kim was busy making sure everything was ready.

  “Marcus, there seems to be a slight malfunction in the other helo,” said Jocelyn.

  Kim spoke up and asked, “Is it affecting its flying capabilities?”

  “No. There just seems to be some abnormalities in the diagnostics that I am reading,” said Jocelyn.

  “Do we need to continue with just this one?” asked Marcus.

  “Negative. The errors have cleared up,” said Jocelyn. “Everything is operational.”

  Marcus leaned back again, relaxed, and enjoyed the flight. It didn’t seem like any time had passed when Jocelyn announced that they were thirty minutes out.

  “Have we been detected by anyone?” asked Marcus.

  “Negative Marcus. Stealth mode is fully operational. No one should be able to see or hear us,” said Jocelyn.

  The first glimmers of the sun’s rays were just touching the overhead clouds as the base came into view.

  “Joce are you linked with the base?” asked Marcus.

  “Yes and No. This base is different. I am only linked to the operational systems. I can lock and unlock the gates and doors but that’s about it,” she said. “I’m continuing to try and break into their network but I haven’t made any progress yet. Apparently the Jackals haven’t figured it out yet either.”

  “Are you sure there’s a self destruct on this base?” asked Kim.

  “Yes. If you can get to it, it will destroy the entire base,” said Jocelyn. “The defense department put them in a few years ago in the event of a hostile takeover. They should still be functional.”

  “Joce set us down about a mile away. You can bring the helos in closer when we are almost ready to leave,” said Marcus.

  They landed in a small clearing. Marcus and Kim jumped out, grabbed their weapons, and sprinted for cover. Jocelyn had done a scan of the area before they landed and noted that this area was teeming with dinosaurs. Normally that would have been bad, but for Marcus’ plan to work right it was essential. Jocelyn had a drone circling above to keep a lookout and help Marcus and Kim avoid any dangerous dinosaurs.

  Following Jocelyn’s instructions, they covered the mile in a matter of minutes. The base was enormous but based upon Jocelyn’s analysis, only a few buildings at the southernmost tip were being used. The Jackals had these buildings surrounded with the invisible perimeter fencing. Marcus and Kim stopped and hid behind a large tree that had fallen and surveyed the base. Using his binoculars, Marcus carefully surveyed the perimeter. Although the sky was changing from black to gray, it was still relatively dark.

  Near the edge of the perimeter fencing, he spotted one guard in the guard tower smoking a cigarette. He was pacing to try and stay warm in the predawn hour. Using hand signals Marcus let Kim know about the guard he spotted. She brought the large sniper rifle around and Marcus nodded. Taking a huge silencer out of her pack, Kim screwed it on the end of the gun. Moving into a better position, she lay prone underneath the huge tree and took aim. Marcus looked through his binoculars again. He watched the guard continue to walk back and forth. Then he heard the air vacuum of the silencer and the guard dropped immediately to the catwalk of the tower and didn’t move. Marcus gave Kim the thumbs up and jumped over the tree and headed to the tower.

  He whispered as he was going saying, “Joce, you can drop that section of perimeter fence now.”

  Immediately, Marcus could see the slight shimmer of the fence for a second and then it winked out of existence. He ran by the tower into the court yard and then behind some barrels that were against the closest building. He took out a small speaker and placed it behind the barrels. He then took off and ran low all the way back to where Kim was waiting.

  “You sure this is going to work?” whispered Kim.

  “Positive. Jocelyn isolated the high frequency sounds of a dinosaur fight. Only the dinosaurs should be able to hear it. I know that when I rescued Savannah, they came running from every direction to that wounded allosaurus,” said Marcus.

  He waited another few minutes and then told Jocelyn to start the sounds. Dawn had fully broken but the sky was still overcast with clouds. It looked like it was going to snow. It was another fifteen minutes before Marcus saw the first dinosaur. He smiled because the first one out of the forest was a magnificent Spinosaurus. It was one of the largest ones he had ever seen and then it got even better. Two more stepped out of the forest behind it. They weren’t as big but they were still huge. They walked slowly toward the perimeter. Marcus could tell they were looking for prey. They walked right up to the guard tower. Their height matched the level of the catwalk and he could see them sniffing the fallen guard. There was some hesitation and then one of the smaller ones grabbed the guard. It raised its head, shook the guard back and forth, and then the other smaller spinosaur started fighting with it for the guard. The larger one walked on into the court yard. It looked left and right then raised its head and roared loud enough to shake the windows. An unlucky member of the Jackals came running out of the barracks next to the courtyard. Lightning fast, the Spinosaurus grabbed the unlucky man. Others poured out of the barracks. Then, it was total chaos. Other dinosaurs were coming in from the forest. People came running from the buildings and were firing their machine guns. You could hear the screams of the men and the roar of the dinosaurs.

  Chapter 17

  While this was going on, Marcus and Kim slipped around to the east side of the base and Jocelyn dropped another section of perimeter fence for them to slip in. They skirted one building and came to a second larger building. According to Jocelyn, this is where the prisoners should be and the upper floor was a secondary control room where the self destruct should be located.

  Marcus checked the small window on the back door to be sure it was clear. No one was in sight. Marcus and Kim quickly ran to the stairwell and up to the next floor. By all indications, the second floor was where the prisoners should be. At the door to second floor, Marcus stopped and waited on Kim to catch up. With his pistol drawn, he stepped through the door quickly and Kim was right behind him with her pistol drawn. The hallway was clear. Cautiously they made their way around the entire floor. Every room was clear and the entire floor was deserted.

  Marcus began to worry that maybe they had made a miscalculation or maybe Jocelyn had intercepted some bad intel. They were wasting precious time. The dinosaurs outside were still wreaking havoc. Hopefully
they would keep it up. The gunfire hadn’t ceased since they had been in the building.

  Marcus and Kim made their way to the stairwell and up to the third floor. Overeager, Marcus almost made a mistake and stepped out of the stairwell. As he started to swing the door open, he noticed a member of the Jackals at the end of the hall looking out the window. He quickly stepped back and gave Kim the quiet sign. They waited a second and eased out into the hall. They were tiptoeing down the hall toward the man when he turned around.

  “Hey! What are you doing here?” he yelled as he tried to draw his own pistol.

  Marcus and Kim both shot at the same time. The man slumped to the floor. It was a good thing they had silencers on the guns or it might have brought some unwanted attention. Halfway down the hall Marcus saw what they were looking for. Someone had punched a hole in the wall and through a steel door. There was a chain and lock through the door. Apparently the Jackals didn’t have a key to lock the door and had made their own makeshift prison cell. Marcus looked through the small window on the door and quickly spotted three prisoners. There was a man and woman that he didn’t know, and lying on the floor was his brother David. He was bloody and bruised but he looked like he was alive.

  Marcus took out a small laser and started working on the chain as Kim kept watch. It took about two minutes to make it through the hardened chain. Finally, he told Kim to get ready. He stepped back, then put his shoulder up against the door and shoved. The door swung freely open as Marcus and Kim rushed into the room. The two jumped back as they burst into the room.