Cold Hatred (Book 2 & 3 of the Damned of the 2/19th) -Updated and Rewritten

Cold Hatred Part: 19

"Aine looked human, but I knew better.

And Alfenwehr stripped her of her meager disguise in

the dark and cold of the War Fighter Tunnels as we howled

our bloodlust and the metal met the meat.

Everyone in the cold and dark with her saw her as I saw her.

Something not quite human. Something as primeval as the

forests her bloodline dwelled in since humans wore animal skins."

Warfighter Tunnels

2/19th Special Weapons Group

Restricted Area, Alfenwehr West Germany

Late Winter- January, 1986

Day 12 of Repairs

Day 4 of the Second Incident

Early Morning

The sound of automatic weaponry echoed in the tunnels and without thinking I broke into a run, heading down the hallway. "Let's go, Actual!" Bomber called out behind me and I knew they were behind me. I swapped out the APERS in my 203 for a Willy Pete round on the run, figuring it was better than the meat-axe I had loaded.

The tunnel was curved for blast deflection, but still led further into the mountain. The lights were still on, and our boots hammered on the steel grate and then the brushed steel plates that made up the floor. The gear I was carrying was heavy, but months of training made it so I barely even noticed it. I could hear the rattling of the gear that we hadn't or couldn't be secured as we hoofed it down the hallway. The hallway widened and narrowed around us; we passed the choke points and four sets of blast shields. Twice the hallway curved.

The Nazis had built the tunnels originally, the Army Corps of Engineers had expanded on them and fortified them, modernized them.

When we rounded the corner we could see the control center up ahead. The lights were on. I saw what looked like Corporal Lancer pop up from behind one of the ballistic shields, fire off a burst, and duck back down.

"Down!" King snapped, and we all dove to the floor a split second before bullets howled over our heads. I pushed myself up on my elbows and started crawling as fast as I could.

"Echo-Five Actual coming in!" I bellowed out, wishing I could get better traction on the steel with my boots. More bullets howled over us, and King swore, but we kept moving. I saw the LT come around the edge of one of the ballistic shields, on his stomach, waving us forward.

A grenade went off and several of the drop ceiling panels fell down on us, one shattering on my helmet. Someone started screaming up there, and I pushed it harder, scrambling as fast as I could.

Corporal Lancer popped up again, I could see that the side of his face wasbleeding and his helmet missing. He fired another quick burst and ducked down again. Weaponsfire came from the direction he was facing, my right, as well as on his left, across from me. The bullets whipped overhead and one of the lights shattered. My brain automatically ran the angle and I knew that whoever was in the tunnel across from us was laying prone.

I managed to get up to the LT and he nodded. "We're under attack from two directions. Not sure how they got in." I nodded, waving King forward. "We've got three down, one in that grenade blast, six wounded."

"Roger that. What do you want us to do?" I asked. King came forward, dragging the pig beside him.

"What happened out there?" the LT asked.