Night of the Crane | By @WendyyWolfe

19. Zero600

As if an alien invasion wasn't enough to worry about, Macallan now sat across the table from his twin brother Macenna.

His jaw was clenched with offended injustice and the small room where the morning brief was held filled with unrequited tension. But only Macallan seemed to notice, while Sargeant Reese went over stats and new info received from neighboring black sites, Macallan stewed in his anger.

As promised, Reese had hustled them out of bed at six am, well at least he hustled Macallan out of bed because James had been up since five and had a shower and was sipping coffee in the canteen when Macallan walked in.

"Mornin' daisy." James said with a side glance.

Macallan merely grunted, following the smell of the coffee.

James smiled.

Macallan brought his coffee and sat down at the table with James taking a long drink of his hot brew. As soon as the caffeine hit his stomach he felt better and actually managed a small smile, but his improving mood was short lived as Reese came in and motioned for them to join him.

Now, as they gathered around a long table Macallan grit his teeth and did his best to remain calm when he really just wanted to wipe the floor with Macenna's face.

There were eight men including Macenna in Reese's group and Reese introduced them again. More for Macallan than James because it seemed like James already knew these men.

There was Rosie, Shannon, Lewis who went by 'Lew's', Omar, Murfee, Jones and Tac. They nodded off recognition as Reese barked their names, purposely skipping Macenna.

Macallan nodded stiffly.

The girls were noticeably absent but that didn't stop the smug look on Macenna's face.

The man who went by the name of Rosie, began by reporting what he had learned late last night after talking to the dispatcher at a black site in North Texas.

The black site there was situated near a government artillery plant and military troops had staged a massive operation there, now known as Operation Scatter Orb.

All civilians in the southern sector were encouraged to make their way to any of the staging areas in their sector ASAP.

A huge naval fleet hugged the Gulf Coast under the orders of the United States Marines and had joined forces with the Naval and Coast Guard Fleets around the world to lock up the ports under Operation Guard Safe and included enlisted men as well as all able bodied seamen of any kind, from fishing liners to cruise ship personnel.

Medical ships and cruise ships had been commandeered to distribute food and medical supplies where ever it was needed.

As expected, electrical grids around the planet had gone offline and the black site commanders in the US relied solely on the military continuation of government communications put in place decades ago. These would have to suffice. It would only be a matter of time and even that would disappear.

As Macallan listened the news became more disturbing.

Ground troops were reporting that survivors were relating stories of strange blue beam light towers appearing in seemingly random places and that people, in most cases, people they knew, were using them as some kind of escape portals.

These were people who had been reported dead.

James and Macallan looked at each other and Reese turned to them.

"Something you've experienced?"

James nodded.

"Not the blue beams but the dead returning as foot soldiers, yes. Humans are being used. Used to infiltrate and annihilate."

Macallan was beginning to understand.

He had tried to explain what he and Dylan had experienced with Deputy Thibodaux to Lacy. No wonder it had seemed so out of this world. Your own loved ones turning on you was kind of hard to accept.

Macallan swallowed the lump in his throat.

"How can we, ever expect to win a war like this," he said stiffly, ignoring James' hand on his arm.

"We won't win it like this Mac. We gotta play their game like them. Back at the bar. Jonna. She was one of them too. I knew I should of finished her off but I didn't. I let it go because I doubted my own instincts. I wanted to get us to safety and now we're safe but Reese, well let's just say he took care of it."

"Yeah because how do you kill your own friends and family!" Macallan shot back furiously. "No wonder Lacy thought I was insane when I tried to tell her what happened."

Macenna stood up slowly. He placed his hands on the table and leant in toward Macallan. "Don't you get it dumb ass? That, is exactly what they're hoping for," he said with deadly calm.

Reese stood up too.

"Macenna. It can't be accomplished with divisive attacks on each other either,"

Macenna gave Reese a look of disdain, his eyes hooded and one side of his mouth curled into a sneer.

"It's true Reese! He's always been too soft. Just like mother," Macenna growled. "So kind and fucking tolerant!"

Macallan stood up and James with him.

"Enough!" Reese yelled. "I won't put up with insolence here! There is too much at stake for quibbling over asinine personality conflicts!"

Macenna stood back giving Macallan a cold stare.

A shout from outside the door ripped through the room and disrupted the building tensions. "Heads UP, Macenna! We got POG's coming our way just four clicks out from the gate!"

Macenna turned with a jerk and headed out the door. Reese and the others followed. James held back with Macallan who stood clenching his fists.

"Mac," James began.

"No. Don't tell me how I need to act or feel James." Macallan interrupted.

James held up his hand. "I was just going to say, it's not worth your energy man, and these guys, well, their on your side whether you know it or not. So for now just put it aside for Lacy's sake. I don't care what your brother thinks or says. We need to concentrate on the issues facing us right now."

Macallan gave him a grim look but if he was going to say anything to James' personal critique of his life, it was cut short by a shrill scream coming from the comms room.

Both Macallan and James bolted for the door almost running over Lacy who was running in.

"Macallan! Mac! Mac! It's Dylan! I saw him in the monitor!" she exclaimed breathlessly grabbing his hand and pulling him toward the surveillance room.

James was right on their heels and soon the whole group was standing behind Macenna peering into the fuzzy, black and white image of a small group of people climbing the hill toward the hidden gate.

Reese sucked in his breath. "Mary Mother of God," he whispered. "It's Dingo, Tilley and some of their transports. Fuck me running! They survived," he said hesitantly as if he might not believe his own eyes.