Contagion -The Hybrid War - Book Three
Chapter Eight.

Meanwhile, life in Cheyenne Mountain was far from easy, due to the destruction of storeroom three, the food supply, now had to be partly rationed, to dry pack army rations. The president’s team asked a question.

“General Hughes, intelligence has revealed that the Undraus cooperation has a private military base established at the mid base of Bear-Ridge Mountain, in Canada. From all accounts it is heavily fortified, and by the latest technology, including enough food rations to last over twelve years.”

General Hughes examined the file marked above top secret. “It states here sir, that I am to take section thirteen along with unit eleven Bravo four and acquire at all costs the base and its equipment.”

The President took back the file; the General saluted and left the room. As the door closed, Elaine sat quietly within her office observing the Presidential office.

“Seth, I think it’s about time that we acquired those provisions, send Major Armstrong and his unit to these coordinates.”

Major Armstrong headed up an elite unit of ex-military, who were now on Elaine’s payroll. Certain section of the unit were direct clones from the Portland Institutes research lab, been genetically enhanced for this particular type of military operation. Elaine then connected her neural bio link.

“Seth, establish a direct feed link with the Undraus computer operating from Bear-Ridge Mountain.”

Within seconds the computer had been infiltrated, scanning through its system, Elaine overrode all command and backup files, and turning off all defence system without alerting the system operators.

“Seth, I want you to monitor the base and send out a low frequency call as found in file 2876/invitation.”

“Yes Mam, when would you like to activate that particular file?”

“Immediately.” Elaine replied.

At that moment unknown to the military unit serving at the base, they were broadcasting a sound that had been Bio-genetically created to mimic an animal in stress of injury, but at such a low frequency that it was inaudible to the human ear. Within seconds, predatorily animals from across the state started to make their way towards the source of the sound.

Robert moved carefully over the large boulders, there progress was hindered now by blinding snowstorms and high winds. In the distance, they could see various flashes of lightning; on occasions a strike would suddenly hit the mountain above them sending wood and shattered stone cascading down the mountain. Robert held firmly to the tree branch and pulled his bulk upwards, and then securing a rope to the tree he passed it down where various members of his family reached upwards to try and prevent it from swaying in the wind.

“Graham you’re the largest, lift your brother Alex onto your shoulders and try to reach the end of this rope.”

Robert could see that their efforts were been hindered by the wind. It was at that moment that another volley of lightning hit the side of the mountain, and the resulting impact had sent tons of shattered rock cascading onto the ridge just above them. Instantly each member of the family pressed their bodies against the side of the mountain praying the debris would pass them by. It was not until the dust settled that they realized Robert was nowhere to be found, nor was there any telepathic contact.

“Robert, Robert, where are you?” Sadly, no matter how loud they called there came no reply. It was then that one of the brothers found a patch of blood.

“He must have been hit by some of the boulders as they came down the mountain.”

There was a stunned silence, as they re-grouped, and they stood at the edge of the ledge and looked downward from the direction that they had just come from.

“That must be over two thousand meters to the ground, if he did fall after been struck...then there is no chance that he would have survived.”

The slope below them was not a straight drop, but was a steep incline, that had given them considerable obstructions and over two days of climbing, to just reach the ridge where they now stood.

“Over there...look.” cried out one of the hybrids.

As the group turned to view the sight before them, they could see a magnificent waterfall, some three hundred meters to there right, above it stood the ridge that Jamie’s Paa had fallen from.

“We shall have to follow Jamie’s example, if Robert did fall then there is little to no chance of him surviving, we shall have to go forward and rescue Jamie and Juliet.”

“Yes brother, but some of us should stay behind and try to replace Robert, Juliet would appreciate that.”

There was a moments silence at the thought of their loss, then without speaking they divided, three stayed behind while the remainder made their way to the ledge that overlooked the fall.

Meanwhile deep underground, Virgo raised his huge body and sniffed the air; within seconds the other bears stopped eating the human flesh and raised their heads.

Within a blink of an eye, the male cat had leapt from an overhanging rock, and broke the neck of the weakest bear, then left again before the other bears could respond. Virgo turned his head and looked at the dead animal, then without making any sound had communicated its thoughts to the other bears.

Walking over to the dead creature Virgo grasp his teeth into the bear’s throat then dragged its body away from the rocky outcrops and to the water’s edge. As he did this the female cat and her cubs dragged two dead humans away, although in no way was the food as sustaining in quantity as a bear, nonetheless it was meat and something to eat.

Jamie felt himself tiring, he had been in the water with Juliet for some five hours, and they were now far from the water’s edge, where the bears had been feeding. Even when lightning illuminated the area, they could no longer see the shoreline.

“Juliet I’m tired, and I am sorry, but the cold is getting to me.”

Juliet swam closer to Jamie, and then embraced him.

“Listen son, I know it is not much, but rest awhile, I will stay as close as I can.” It was then that they heard something entering the water; the noise was distant and possibly came from a considerable height.

“Shish son, quiet now, it may just be rocks falling.”

After some period of intense suspense Juliet heard a voice calling to them.

“Over here, over hear.”

Turning and staring into the darkness, Juliet could just make out the shape of something approaching them, as she reached over and took the torch from Jamie, Juliet shone its light onto the approaching child.

“Turn out the light.” Came a shouted reply. “It’s the animals; they will see the light and work out where we are.”

As the child reached them, Juliet could see she was no older than twelve or thirteen years in age.

“Child who are you?”

“Please Miss, you must get out of the water, there is great danger if you go much further.”

Jamie looked at the child, blinked then rubbed his eyes.

“Ginning...is that really you?”

There was a moment’s stunned silence as the two realized who each other were. “Please Jamie, please you must leave this water, there is great danger ahead.”

From the distance as they were drifting, they could hear a strange noise.

“Please you must follow me.” Begged the child.

At that the child turned and started swimming away, Juliet looked at Jamie.

“I am unsure what it is that has scared that child, but I do not like the sound of that noise as it reminds me of an impending doom.”

At that Jamie and Juliet swam in the direction of the child, before long they could see she was grasping a rope, which had been suspended from an overhang some two hundred feet above them.

“We will have to climb the rope; it’s the only way to the safety of our home above.”

“My child, who else have you living up there?” enquired Juliet. The child looked at Jamie. “It’s alright Ginning she is a friend and one who you can trust.”

It was then that they heard the cry of a baby.

“Come...please we must climb, I will explain later.”

Within seconds, Ginning started climbing the rope; it was not until a lightning flash illuminated the scene before them, that they could see her poorly unclothed body reaching the top of the rope.

“Please Jamie do not stay in the water” cried out Ginning. Juliet took hold of Jamie, embraced him close to her body and took a firm hold of the rope.

“Hold firmly to my neck son, I will climb for the both of us.”

Within minutes she had found the various knots that had been tied into the rope and made her way to the top.

It was then that she could see the distant shape of five children, hiding in the shadows.

“Ginning...please child, take Jamie and wrap him in something warm”

There was a moment’s silence, and then the child walked from the shadows. Even though she had just returned from the water, her cold and shivering body was covered in grime.

It was evident, now as she stood by Juliet, and after dragging Jamie’s body onto firm ground, that she was hungry and desperately needing care.

“Child, where are your parents?” enquired Juliet, it was Jamie, who on sitting up looked at Ginning, there was a moment’s stillness, and then the child ran and embraced Jamie.

“It’s ok Ginning, we shall look after you and your kin now.”

From his words Juliet reasoned that he was aware of her circumstances.

“Jamie, son, could you tell me who these people are?”

As Juliet spoke, from the shadows emerged the remaining children, with one carrying a baby.

“We are kin of Jamie’s miss, we and our family sheltered here when the men with guns came.”

At those words Juliet could see tears in her eyes.

“Where are your parents now child?” she enquired.

Jamie looked at the children as lightning flashed and illuminated them.

“Frank, Peter, Jenny, it is me, Jamie.” It took the children some seconds before they responded, and then the three who knew Jamie, took hold of the hands of the remaining two children and led them to Jamie’s side.

“They don’t talk any more miss, not since they saw those bears kill our kin like.”

Juliet looked at Jamie then back at the children.

“Where are your clothes, and how long have you been here?”

There partly clothed bodies looked frail, and with what little clothing that they had on, been ripped and dirty.

“We were bathing in the warm pool when the loud noise came.”

From her eyes Juliet could see the fear in her.

“Warm pool, what do you mean?”

“That’s what I was trying to warn you about, when the earth shook, the water you were in started to become warm.”

Jamie looked over to Juliet, “Paa told me, that he once came across a warm spring of water that was separate from the lake.” Looking at Ginning, Jamie described the area as his Paa had told him.

“Yes, that’s the place; we were bathing there, when the earth shook, and part of the roof fell in and buried some of our clothing. Marr and her sisters were swimming like in the centre of the pool.” She paused and stared into the darkness,

“Ginning, child, we are here now and can look after you, please do go on and tell us what happened.”

Ginning looked at Jamie and then back to Juliet.

“It was the water miss, it got really hot and burned our feet, so we ran out of the water and stood on the dry rocks, even then they were kind of warm to the touch.”

Juliet looked at Jamie, “Go on child please continue.”

“We looked for our mar and her sisters, then there came a kind of mist from the water and a bubbling noise. It got so hot like that I could not touch it.”

She paused for a moment, and then continued talking.

“Ma and her sisters never answered our calling, and that was when Paa and his cousins came to our side, and took us to safety, he said Ma and her sisters had gone to heaven.”

Juliet reached out and embraced the child, then undoing her shirt she pulled out two tins of meat, opened them, and fed the starving children.

“Tell me child when did the bears take your kin?”

“I cannot say miss, but it was a long time ago, Paa and his cousins had ventured outside the caves and brought back some wood to make a fire.”

The child was replaceing the memory difficult to brace.

“Before they left us, one of our kin had climbed the rock face and found us this ledge, where we could stay in, then Paa brought us up here for safety, and then went to try and get some food and wood.”

Jamie had recovered a little; the water had been so cold, that had he stayed there much longer he feared he would have died.

“Did your Paa and his kin replace food and wood?”

“Yes miss, he built a fire by the water’s edge, and started cooking the buck that they had killed, and it was then, that Joe started climbing the rope, to bring us down.”

Juliet could see the fear in her eyes, although it was still dark, Juliet’s animal like eyes had become accustomed to the poor light, and had a greater ability of seeing in the dark than humans “

It was then miss, then that the bears came, they killed Paa, Joe and the others, then ate their bodies, later they dragged away the buck.”

Juliet shuddered at the thought of the brutality and of the suffering of the children.

“What have you and the children been eating?” The child reached down and picked up a bug. “This miss, the cave is crawling with them.”

It was then that Jamie reached out and touched Juliet gently on her shoulder.

“I know son; I can hear them.”

From below, Juliet could see the shape of Virgo, he had seen the light and heard their talking, knowing that he had killed humans in that area once before, he had made his way in their general direction. On realizing their presence below, the children went into a well-rehearsed practice, taking hold of a well-stocked supply of rocks, they started hurling them from a considerable height, hitting occasionally the bears below.

Although the rocks were not large enough to do any real damage, the bears found the continuous bombardment unpleasant and repeatedly chose to retreat. “Ginning, it’s alright, as large as that bear is, he nor the others cannot climb up here, safe your strength.”

At that Ginning spoke to the other children then threw one last rock.

“Ginning where is the baby?” It was the oldest child who walked forward from the shade.

“This is Kathleen miss; she is the Childs mother and has been trying to breast feed the baby.”

As Juliet looked at Kathleen, she could see she was no older than fourteen, and on looking at the baby Juliet could see it was small and undernourished.

“How old is the baby child?”

“She was born about a season before the big earths shake miss.”

Juliet thought for a moment, and then estimated the baby was no more than eighteen months of age. Embracing the baby to her chest, she wrapped the baby in clean clothing and rocked it gently.

“Listen children, we must replace a way to leave here, outside we have men folk with guns, food and warm clothing.” Ginning looked at Jamie then back to Juliet.

“The only other way from here miss is through there.”

Juliet looked into the darkened area behind them, lifting the torch she switched it on, to her surprise she could see a long cavern, but at the end the roof had caved in blocking the way, it was from there that the children had found their endless supply of rocks and stones to throw at the bears, Jamie stood up and walked into the cavern.

“I can feel a breeze, which must mean that there is a way through.”

Juliet handed back the child then walked over to Jamie. “Ginning could you and your kin form a line, we will lift some of these stones and see if we can replace a way through.”

At that, they began passing the rocks to each other, before long Jamie could feel warm air passing through the darkness.

“Juliet shine the torch over here.” As the light reached the area, Jamie could see that they were making considerable progress.

“Jamie, can you see from where that warm air is coming from?”

Its presence was welcome, as it warmed his cold body.

“Not yet Mam, but I can hear some noise, like from a distance.”

“That will be the pool.” Said Ginning. “It’s not far from here, down a big slope and into a rocky area, at times, part of the water used to cross into the lake.”

“Is that why you risked your life to warn us child?”

Ginning looked at Juliet,

“Yes miss, when the lightning lit the sky, I could sometimes see over the water like, it was then that I saw something moving in the water.”

Ginning paused, as she moved her body into the warm air. “It was some time before I could see again, but then the light came back, and I could see you were human and not animals.”

Juliet looked at the child, realizing it took considerable courage to have entered the water and come to their aid.

“Thank you, child, you had no way of knowing if we would harm you or not, what you did was very brave.”

Jamie moved a heavy boulder, there was a rumbling noise, and then several rocks fell. As the dust settled there was an area large enough for an adult to just squeeze through.

“Look, we can get through here and replace a way out.”

“Wait.” Cried out Juliet.

“Ginning is there a way to the area where the bears are?

“No miss when the ground shook it made some rocks fall and sealed that part from the water. They now have to enter the water and swim around this ridge, that’s when the water gets hot and makes it impossible to stay in.”

Juliet smiled, she at least felt a little more secure in the knowledge that old Virgo and the cats would have to replace another way around the rock face if they wanted them as a meal.

In a distant furrow some two hundred meters below the ridge where Robert had fallen, lay a batch of brambles covering an open gully. There lay Robert, his ribs were broken, he had a partially fractured neck and a broken arm. “Robert...Robert can you hear me?” The futile effort of his brothers was in vane; they had walked clear past the area where he lay.

Meanwhile a few hundred meters above them, their kin were standing by the waterfall.

“I cannot see how old Paa could have found an entrance into that cavern.” Said one of the hybrids.

They had bound several large pieces of wood together, and then estimating its weight to be that of a large human adult, they threw it into the water. As it descended into the fall and eventually made its way over the edge, the group watched as it hit the surface below, it disappeared from sight, and then emerged again some hundred meters further along the river.

“It cannot be from here that he entered the cavern, we must follow the water down river and see where it takes us.”

After communicating with the group below, they re-joined each other, and then made their way to the river’s edge. It was another day of walking before they could see that section of the river, as it appeared to disappear under a section of overhanging rock.

“It’s just possible that some of this water has found a way under that ridge.”

Alex looked at Graham as he pointed to that area. “We must build another bundle to throw into the water.”

Graham, One of Alex’s sons, moved over to a fallen tree, picked up a huge section of broken trunk and lunged it into the water. Instantly the current caught it and carried it in the direction of the overhang, and within minutes it disappeared from sight and failed to return.

“So that’s where he must have entered the watery cavern below.”

There was a moment’s silence, as they realized it was a near impossibility to safely pass through, no matter to replace a way back out.

“We will mark this area, and then look to see if we can replace a safer way in.”

At that they placed several huge rocks upon each other to indicate the area, and then made their way further down river.

Robert opened his eyes, and called out telepathically to his kin, there was no reply. As he tried to move his body, he realized the extent of his injuries and remembered what had happened.

Overhead through the brambles he could see the occasional flash of lightning, revealing to him that he was in a furrow some ten or more meters deep.

“At least I will be safe here.” He thought to himself, and then slowly he rolled onto his side, and pulled himself into a seated position. He knew that eventually the electrical storm would cease, giving him a temporary window to telepathically communicate with his family.

As the sky once again lit the area, Robert could see his backpack, and one broken rifle. Reaching his hand to his side, he felt the familiar touch of his hunting knife.

“At least you have not abandoned me.” He thought, and then pulling it from its sheath, he reached out and took hold of a large branch that had broken from a shattered tree.

The Undraus troops had not yet realized that their defences were down, it was not until the screams of some soldiers, who were sleeping in the outer parameter tents. Their bodies were being ripped open by a variety of wild animals. It was then that those within the encampment realized to late, as to what was happening, several different sections were under attack from bears, mountain lions, wolfs and other zoo animals that had escaped and made their way towards the open invitation of an easy meal.

As the troops fired their weapons into the frenzy of the darkness, there was again even further panic, as their computerized night vision goggles suddenly failed to work. They were plunged into instant darkness. Elaine breathed in slowly and deeply. Closed her eyes, and then asked for forgiveness for what she had done. It was another five hours before Elaine’s troops arrived at the coordinates, they were using the adapted cargo pods, and hovered over the area.

From their advantage point, they used their night vision goggles to pick off the animals one by one. Each kill meant fresh meat, within seventeen hours all signs of human and animal life within the encampment below had ceased.

“Elaine the area is clear, can you instigate the boundary neuro laser canons and instruct the computer to grant us landing rights.”

Within minutes his request had been acted upon, the cargo pods had landed, and the troops disembarked, found the supplies, loaded the cargo pods and then went about skinning and cutting up the meat for transportation.

It was another twenty-seven hours before the cargo pods returned to collect the troops and supply of fresh meat, and three additional cargo pods that were parked there left by the Undraus troops.

“General Graham, I want you to take pod three and seven, from your team, and go to the area that Robert described, in been where the women and children are sheltering, retrieve them and bring them to safety.” Instructed Elaine.

As the cargo pods along with the captured ones returned to their base, cargo pod three, and seven, manoeuvred into an easterly direction, although General Graham never had the direct co-ordinates for the area where they were heading. He had served at the base, as an acting officer, and had been on many local manoeuvres years before it was closed.

Now he was a General and some considerable years older, however he took pride in his military abilities and used his extensive memory of the terrain below, to manoeuvre the pod in the general area of the caves.

The troops from General Hughes, were soon to be arriving at Bear-Ridge Mountain, making their way to the encampment, they were horrified to replace a mass of dead bodies strewn across the land. Elaine watched their actions through the bio- sensors.

“Gentlemen, I shall turn off the bio defence mechanism.” Stated the Undraus computer.

The soldiers looked stunned as they had not realized they had been detected, and they were also concerned as to who it was that was addressing them.

“Who may I have the pleasure of talking with?” Enquired General Hughes,

“I am Seth, military computer seven four two eight, I am programmed to recognize certain bio signatures, as I have no further human life detected within the encampment. My program instructs me to recognize if approaching personnel is human and friendly.”

General Hughes paused, and then looked at two of his under officers.

“Do you think we can trust this computer?”

“You certainly can General Hughes.”

Came the reply. “I have accessed your service file, and note you are under the direct authority of the presidential security unit. Mrs. Undraus held the president in high regard and authorized under set conditions for your access.”

Unknown to them it was Elaine talking to them; such was her cunning that she used the situation to her advantage.

“It was the electrical storm that somehow interfered with my circuitry and defences, by the time I re-established my connection. The damage had been done.”

General Hughes moved his unit to the outer parameters, where Seth had instructed them to enter. It was then that Elaine turned the military computers defence against the unsuspecting troops.

Within moments there was not a single life spared, the carnage turned Elaine’s stomach, as she viewed the scene before her. Elaine had taken this action as a few days earlier she had overheard the presidential team, secretly order the General to take his troops and take over Elaine’s new home, and to terminate her and her family.

“Dear lord, what have I done?” She thought to herself, and then she smiled, “My family, yes it was for my family that I took these measures.”

At that she dispatched her troops to the area to collect the munitions and clothing, plus any additional supplies that had accompanied them.