Read Online Day by Day Armageddon: Shattered Hourglass by J. L. Bourne - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: J. L. Bourne
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from both directions. The corpses moved swiftly.
The team wouldn’t have much time.
The three men hooked up to the helicopter deck and began to descend with their gear. Even as they lowered themselves down, the three creatures contained between the wreckage began to trot over to their landing area. The rotor blast threw radioactive dust particles in all directions. Without the suits, the operators would no doubt be dead from exposure in hours, and reanimated shortly after. Their orders were surprisingly simple. Extract two undead specimens from two different radiated zones: one exposed to medium-level radiation and another exposed to ground-zero radiation.
The second their boots hit the ground, they unhooked their lines. Hammer was fifty feet above, working the controls on the winch line; it slowly descended, bringing the hook down to ground level.
The three creatures moved closer.
Hawse shot the runt of the litter and Billy shot another. They wanted the best specimen—they didn’t wish to risk a mission repeat if the specimens were found wanting.
The remaining alpha didn’t seem to notice that the other two were no longer part of its pack. The three had likely been trapped on this same section of crumbling causeway since the nuke destroyed New Orleans almost a year ago. Doc aimed his gun at the last creature and pulled the trigger.
The Kevlar net blasted forward from the high-pressure pneumatic gun at over a hundred feet per second. It hit the creature, violently knocking it to the concrete. The creature squirmed about, angrily tearing at the Kevlar netting. Hawse ran over to the net searching for a spot free from the creature’s teeth and hands. He found one and quickly dragged the thing over to the winch line and hook. The rotor wind continued to whip them about. Sounds of radioactive sand and dust particles ticking at their hood visors were audible, even over the helicopter wash. Making sure the hook was grounded, Doc attached the winch line to the Kevlar netting and backed away, raising his thumb to Hammer high above. Hammer returned a thumb and the winch line began to raise the netted and furious creature up to the bird.
Hammer soon radioed down to Doc. “It’s secure.”
“Roger, lower the winch. Do not descend. You’ll just get more dust in the chopper.”
Hammer lowered the winch and pulled the three operators back up into the aircraft. Inside the bird, the caged monster jerked about, gnashing its teeth on the metal. Its white, hollow eyes followed the men while they prepared for the next specimen extraction.
The helicopter lurched toward the ruins of New Orleans to the south, to ground zero. No building or cell tower taller than twenty-five feet remained. The nuclear blast ordered by the government as a last-ditch effort had decimated everything—including the levees. New Orleans was now a decayed, radioactive swamp. Moving south along the shore, Sam and the team scouted a place to extract the next and final specimen.
“Interstate 610 is just below. I won’t go as low as we did over the causeway. It’s a lot hotter down there,” Sam told Doc.
“I don’t blame you, Sam. Check out that on-ramp,” Doc said, pointing through the cockpit glass.
Sam lowered the helicopter down, closer to the I-610 on-ramp. “Yeah, that’ll probably work. You’re gonna have to take care of that business down there first.”
“Hawse is already on it,” Doc said, pointing back to the cargoarea where Hawse lay in the prone at the open side door, with a LaRue Tactical 7.62 sniper rifle welded to his cheek. The 10x optic would provide Hawse a crystal-clear magnified view of the situation on the ground. Sam began to orbit around the LZ like an AC-130 Spectre gunship. Hawse went to work. Billy had a shoulder bag full of twenty round 7.62 mags ready to feed the gun.
Looking through the binoculars, Billy started calling out targets and estimated range. “North side of black Subaru Forester, near hood,
The team wouldn’t have much time.
The three men hooked up to the helicopter deck and began to descend with their gear. Even as they lowered themselves down, the three creatures contained between the wreckage began to trot over to their landing area. The rotor blast threw radioactive dust particles in all directions. Without the suits, the operators would no doubt be dead from exposure in hours, and reanimated shortly after. Their orders were surprisingly simple. Extract two undead specimens from two different radiated zones: one exposed to medium-level radiation and another exposed to ground-zero radiation.
The second their boots hit the ground, they unhooked their lines. Hammer was fifty feet above, working the controls on the winch line; it slowly descended, bringing the hook down to ground level.
The three creatures moved closer.
Hawse shot the runt of the litter and Billy shot another. They wanted the best specimen—they didn’t wish to risk a mission repeat if the specimens were found wanting.
The remaining alpha didn’t seem to notice that the other two were no longer part of its pack. The three had likely been trapped on this same section of crumbling causeway since the nuke destroyed New Orleans almost a year ago. Doc aimed his gun at the last creature and pulled the trigger.
The Kevlar net blasted forward from the high-pressure pneumatic gun at over a hundred feet per second. It hit the creature, violently knocking it to the concrete. The creature squirmed about, angrily tearing at the Kevlar netting. Hawse ran over to the net searching for a spot free from the creature’s teeth and hands. He found one and quickly dragged the thing over to the winch line and hook. The rotor wind continued to whip them about. Sounds of radioactive sand and dust particles ticking at their hood visors were audible, even over the helicopter wash. Making sure the hook was grounded, Doc attached the winch line to the Kevlar netting and backed away, raising his thumb to Hammer high above. Hammer returned a thumb and the winch line began to raise the netted and furious creature up to the bird.
Hammer soon radioed down to Doc. “It’s secure.”
“Roger, lower the winch. Do not descend. You’ll just get more dust in the chopper.”
Hammer lowered the winch and pulled the three operators back up into the aircraft. Inside the bird, the caged monster jerked about, gnashing its teeth on the metal. Its white, hollow eyes followed the men while they prepared for the next specimen extraction.
The helicopter lurched toward the ruins of New Orleans to the south, to ground zero. No building or cell tower taller than twenty-five feet remained. The nuclear blast ordered by the government as a last-ditch effort had decimated everything—including the levees. New Orleans was now a decayed, radioactive swamp. Moving south along the shore, Sam and the team scouted a place to extract the next and final specimen.
“Interstate 610 is just below. I won’t go as low as we did over the causeway. It’s a lot hotter down there,” Sam told Doc.
“I don’t blame you, Sam. Check out that on-ramp,” Doc said, pointing through the cockpit glass.
Sam lowered the helicopter down, closer to the I-610 on-ramp. “Yeah, that’ll probably work. You’re gonna have to take care of that business down there first.”
“Hawse is already on it,” Doc said, pointing back to the cargoarea where Hawse lay in the prone at the open side door, with a LaRue Tactical 7.62 sniper rifle welded to his cheek. The 10x optic would provide Hawse a crystal-clear magnified view of the situation on the ground. Sam began to orbit around the LZ like an AC-130 Spectre gunship. Hawse went to work. Billy had a shoulder bag full of twenty round 7.62 mags ready to feed the gun.
Looking through the binoculars, Billy started calling out targets and estimated range. “North side of black Subaru Forester, near hood,
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