Seeds Of Hunger

Chapter 20: Fallback Point

Lieutenant Murray, United States Army Ranger, led his group of soldiers and survivors to the inner perimeter of the FOB. They heard the roars as they continued further in and slowed to a crawl as Murray sent out a recon team to scout the area. They waited patiently as they returned.

"Sir, there are three, uh, Behemoths destroying the FOB. No personnel in sight, sir. Orders?" the Sergeant reported. Murray felt the hairs stand on the back of his neck. He had no idea how to deal with these things so he turned to Carter and the others.

"How did you deal with these things before?" Murray asked, his grip getting sweaty on his M4.

"We shot the shit out of it. Aim for the eyes." Jameson replied before Carter could.

"That sums it up pretty much. You have a lot more firepower than we did when we killed ours." Carter noticed and was glad they did. The one Behemoth almost consumed all of their ammo; he wouldn't dare try to take on three without better firepower.

Murray nodded, "Sergeant, take three, and take the left flank. Specialist, take the other two and taking the right flank. When we come up the middle and throw the green smoke, hit them with the HE. Don't stop until they're dead."

"Rangers lead the way, sir!" The Sergeant said as he took his three and melted into the shadows. The Specialist did the same with his two.

"You four are with me. We'll cut up the middle and light them up. You have more experience with these things. I'll be right behind you." Carter nodded and the group moved forward, rifles leveled as they got closer to the FOB. They crouched as they got close, hearing the Behemoths roaring and crushing things in their way. Carter looked around the corner and saw multiple dead bodies littering the ground, many in pieces and all wearing a uniform. Carter grimaced but signaled to Murray who crept closer so he could see the bodies. Murray solemnly nodded and motioned for Carter to keep going. The Behemoths had their backs turned towards them as they were destroying the FOB. Carter and the other spread out in a half circle as Murray primed a smoke grenade. He threw it as he pulled the pin to set it off. It landed with a clang in between them and started to throw out green smoke. The Behemoths saw the green smoke and were half way turned around when the HE rifle grenades hit them. Blood and flesh were thrown as the shrapnel tore into them. One of the rounds caught a Behemoth in the face as it was roaring, sending bone and blood everywhere. A Behemoth caught a multitude of rounds and fell to the ground, bleeding and blinded by the explosives. A HE round exploded on the arm of a Behemoth, severing the arm and spewing blood. The arm feel to the ground with a heavy thud.

Carter sighted in on the Behemoth missing an arm and fired at it, watching the nine millimeter bullets impact on the monster. All sides opened up on the Behemoths, tearing into them as multiple rounds impacted at once. Continuous fire hammered the Behemoths as they fell to the ground without a sound, the soldiers and survivors keeping their weapons trained on the bodies as they stopped moving. Murray left the soldiers to guard the bodies as he went to the communications tent. He grabbed the microphone and keyed it, "Any station this net, any station this net, this is Saber 2-1, does anyone copy over?"

Static followed by, " Saber 2-1, this is Viper 6. What the hell is going on down there?" Viper 6 was Colonel Joshua Height, Commanding Officer of the Regiment.

"Viper 6, the FOB has been overrun. Everyone is dead. Survivors found, waiting orders." Murray said into the radio.

"Saber 2-1, be advised. National Command Authority has authorized tactical nuclear bomb be deployed to eradicate infection. Time before impact is-" Viper 6 conferred with another officer, "- t minus six hours. Advise best possible speed to following coordinates for immediate extraction." National Command Authority is the military terms for the President of the United States. Colonel Height read off grid coordinates for Murray to get to in order to be picked up away from the explosion. Murray wrote them on his pad he kept in his pocket and referenced the point on the map to a secluded hill side a few miles out of the city.