Read Online Up From the Depths by J. R. Jackson - Free Book Online

each other before Larkin stood upright and sheathed his sword and M’Banga doing the same with his Kukri.
    “Are you here to save us?” a small voice asked. Larkin presumed it to be the brother of the pair as they looked like siblings.
    “Do you need to be saved?” Larkin asked. “You seem to be doing all right from what I can see.”
    “Please, take us with you. It’s scary here at night,” the same voice said.
    “C’mon down then and let’s have a look at you,” Larkin said. The two children moved to the end of the shelving and climbed down. Their appearance was typical of those who had lived through the initial outbreak. Their clothing showed excessive wear and their skin was ruddy with sweat, dirt and spilled meals. He blinked, Leesa was squatted down looking at each child, inspecting them then she looked up at Larkin with a smile. He stared at her image not understanding why she was here. In the past, she had only appeared in his dreams. He was sure he was awake.
    “Please sir, can you take us with you?” the boy asked. Larkin was able to confirm they were siblings, the boy looked older and still had the remnants of a school blazer. His sister, silent, stood slightly behind her brother and gripped a ragged stuffed animal with one hand and her brother’s arm with her other hand.
    “How long have you been here?” Larkin asked.
    “Since mum left us here to fetch the car from the car park,” the boy said. “She never came back and then those things showed up.”
    His sister nodded agreement but remained silent. Larkin realized that these children had been here for months, subsisting on the food and beverages that had been in the store. He looked over at M’Banga who stood to one side and watched the interaction. His features were hard to read. The Nepalese warrior looked back at him with no emotion until finally he gave a curt nod.
    “Ok, let’s get your kit together and you can come along with us for a while. Does that sound like fun?” Larkin said.
    Both children nodded then moved to gather what they could. M’Banga looked at him but didn’t say anything before he moved to the front of the store. The children, Mike and Rachel, had stuffed what they could into a couple of mesh shopping bags and were dragging those bags towards the front of the store when M’Banga stopped them. He motioned for everyone to get low then crouch walked to the front of the store and peered out the window. Larkin mimicked M’Banga and moved to the window on the other side of the door. Another group of infected or maybe the same group that had passed by previously, were gathered on the street with more flowing in from side streets and buildings. Larkin shot M’Banga a quizzical look then returned to the spectacle outside. M’Banga gestured to the rear of the store then moved quietly in that direction. Larkin lingered a few seconds longer then followed, Leesa was present again and pointing to the rear door. He turned to look in that direction then looked back to where she stood but she had vanished. With a large horde of infected on the street, they’d have to wait until nightfall then reassess the situation.
     
    ***

Chapter 9
    Firebase Cascade (formerly the City of Tenino), Washington State
     
    “Damn, that is one fucked up way to set things up,” Mike Ackley, the former US Marine Gunnery Sergeant said as he watched the soldiers of 1st Special Forces Group, Airborne work to emplace the M119, 105mm Howitzer. He lifted the Multicam Black contractor’s cap with the subdued American flag Velcroed to the front that he wore, and scratched his head.
    This long range weapon along with a dozen others had been retrieved from Joint Base Lewis/McChord during the last forage run. The plan was to get these weapons in place before winter as rain and snow would hamper such an evolution. The combat engineers had built revetments and fighting positions for the artillery pieces which allowed the Home Guard and the military