Them-2 - Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen – Fort Campbell, Kentucky, USA

Staff Sergeant Sean Smith, assigned to the 101st Airborne Division, was tired and wanted nothing more than to go home to his family, eat a warm cooked meal and drink a few cold brews. They had been sitting on green ramp for hours and it was nearing dark and heavy rain clouds were moving in. He should be accustomed to the routine by now, but scuttlebutt had it that something real was coming down the pipe.
Two full battalions were placed on alert and prepared for immediate deployment. The UH 60 Black Hawk’s that would transport them had warmed their engines up several times, only to shut them off pending launch.
The Black Hawk was an awesome bird. Each chopper could transport an entire fully equipped eleven-man infantry squad, or a 105-mm Howitzer and its six-man crew with thirty rounds of ammunition. It was far better than the Vietnam era Huey.
Smith was armed with the M4 MWS and his squad consisted of a full complement of infantrymen. He had two fire team leaders armed with the M16A4 and each fire team had an automatic rifleman armed with the M249 SAWS (Squad Automatic Weapon System). The squad also had one designated sniper for long range firing and several grenadiers armed with the M320 grenade launcher.  Regular infantrymen armed with the M16A4 rounded out his squad. Smith’s squad was only one squad of his infantry platoon, which had three infantry squads and one weapon’s squad.
Smith knew something was happening when a convoy of trucks pulled into the green ramp area. He stood and looked around for his platoon leader. He spotted Lieutenant Campbell talking on the platoon radio several squads over from his. The lieutenant motioned for him to move to his position.
“Ammunition trucks,” Lieutenant Campbell stated, as the platoon sergeant and squad leaders assembled on him. “Have your squads rearm with live ammunition and fragmentation grenades.” Campbell nodded his head. “This is no drill guys. The Company Commander said we’ll be airborne as soon as everyone is re-supplied.”
“Someone trying to rob Fort Knox?” One of the squad leaders joked.
“Something’s going down in Bowling Green.” Lt. Campbell gave the squad leader a hard stare. “This is no joke. Word has it that civilians have already died.”
“No enemy dispositions?” Platoon Sergeant Axelrod asked. “Riots, prison break, something else?”
Lieutenant Campbell shook his head. “We’re going in blind. Our mission is to secure a 360 perimeter at the local airport then additional information will be provided.”
In less than half an hour, the fully loaded Black Hawks started lifting off the tarmac like giant dragonflies. Bowling Green was around sixty miles from Fort Campbell, so the flight would be short.
They landed at the regional airport and secured a wide circular perimeter. As soon as all units were accounted for, the battalion commanders briefed the companies on their mission. Both battalions were ordered to make a reconnaissance in force south on Scottsville Road towards the Greenwood Mall. Smith’s company was part of the lead battalion. First Battalion 502 was to secure the north side of the mall and Second Battalion 502 the south side. By the time they deployed it was fully dark.
There was no traffic on the highway but all lights were on. It was if they had the city to themselves. Evidently they civilian authorities had ordered a curfew or people were just plain too scared to be out and about.
“Giant ants! Can you f… believe it, giant ants?” This was Sergeant Phillips, one of Smith’s fire team leaders.
“Believe it when I see it,” one of his squad members muttered.
“Captain Jenkins said they swarmed over the mall here and killed lots of people,” Phillips continued. “The Captain wouldn’t say that unless it was a fact.”
“Heads up!” Sergeant Smith commanded. They had reached the entrance to the mall parking area. Captain Jenkens ordered them to form into a three-platoon assault line with Smith’s squad as the last squad on the Company right next to the first squad of B Company.
“Do not fire without my order!” Lieutenant Campbell yelled.
They started moving slowly across the expansive parking area in assault line formation. The lights in the mall and in the parking lot were on, no doubt on a timer of some kind, so the area was well lit. As they got closer to the cluster of buildings that made up the mall complex, they started noticing vehicles that had been ripped apart. Dark rust colored stains were spread inside and outside the mangled vehicles. Personal objects were scattered about, including purses, cash, baby strollers, even items purchased in the mall.
There was no sign of civilians, either whole or in part. As soon as they had the mall completely surrounded, the battalion commanders ordered two companies to make a sweep inside the mall. Smith’s company was one of those selected.
As Sergeant Smith entered the shattered front door of the mall he was assaulted by a powerful acidic smell. It was as if someone had poured the stuff all over the hall floors. He could not identify the acrid smell but it was similar to ammonia. He noticed numerous brown smears on the hall tile and his mind told him they must be bloodstains.
Lieutenant Campbell signaled for his platoon to descend into the lower levels. Sergeant Axelrod pointed to the right, indicating for Smith to head in that direction and he went left with two other squads.
Smith was nervous and starting to sweat. He could also see beads of sweat forming on the foreheads of his squad members. They slowly made their way through the quiet corridors, checking each room as they came to it. Ten minutes later, as they quickly opened a side door, a piercing scream shattered the deathly silence.
A terrified woman was standing against the back wall of a broom closet holding a small boy in her arms. The top third of the door had been demolished but enough remained to prevent entry for the monster trying to get to them. It was a giant red ant around three feet tall and six or seven feet long. It’s sword like mandibles were steadily slashing at the heavy metal door. Had the door been made of wood, the woman and child would have never stood a chance.
They could not fire at the creature without hitting the woman and her child. Sean signaled for his squad to move to the left side of the room so they could get a better firing angle on the creature. He could see the fear in the eyes of his men.
“Aim carefully!” he screamed. “Semi automatic only. We can’t take a chance on wild shots hitting the woman and kid.”
Smith brought his rifle up to his shoulder and fired three well-aimed rounds into the huge head of the giant ant. The ant immediately reacted to the impact as the rounds tore small chucks of material from its body. The ant turned to defend itself against this sudden and unexpected enemy. The entire squad opened up in orderly three round burst of fire. Within seconds the ant was torn to pieces by the velocity of the deadly weapons. An acrid smelling fluid squirted from the foot long stinger on the ant’s abdomen and pooled on the tile floor.
Sergeant Smith started breathing again. He hadn’t realized it but he had held his breath the entire time they were assaulting the beast. He walked over to the shattered door and forced it open. It was unlocked but resisted because of the damage the ant had done to it. He reached in and held out his hands for the woman to come to him. She was still crying and muttering and her eyes were wide and glossy. She was in an advanced state of shock.
“I need a medic,” Smith said into his squad radio. “We have found a woman and her son but she needs medical attention. No physical damage but she is in serious shock. We have eliminated one of the ants, so be advised there are some still around.”
After giving his location to the Lieutenant Campbell, he ordered his squad to stand down until the medic arrived to take charge of the two civilians.
It took almost an hour to check the entire mall even after a third Company was sent in to help. They found and eliminated several more giant ants but the majority of them had moved on. They found no more live civilians. A squad moving out to extend the outer perimeter around the mall area found a large hole in the earth just south of the mall parking area. Their Battalion Intelligence Officer noted that it was probably how the ants had gotten into the mall since no one had spotted them anywhere else in the city. He surmised that the giant creatures were nesting in one of the lengthy underground cave systems and the vibrating activity from the mall must have enticed them to dig up to the source.
The ants were most likely deep in their nest but may possibly venture out in the morning to forage. Two heavy weapons platoons were concentrated in the area to prevent their resurgence and hold them at bay until a decision was made on what to do next. They couldn’t use poison gas because it was not known how many faults and cracks lead from the cave system to the city above.
Several of the huge creatures were drug outside into the parking lot and put on display so the soldiers could see what their enemy looked like. A local television crew suddenly materialized and given permission to film the monsters. Sergeant Smith didn’t think it was a good idea to allow them to do so, but his commanders were eager to get their photos on television and he was, after all, merely a sergeant.
Sergeant Smith was preparing the squad for night duties when his Company First Sergeant interrupted him.
“Got a mission for you,” First Sergeant Brett stated, pulling a city map from his trouser pocket and poking his finger at a certain area. “The General wants us to make contact with some scientists at the University here and provide them with a secure satellite radio. Seems like these scientists and a FBI Agent are the ones who first identified the threat. Old man says it’s important we secure them. They may have knowledge we need in order to get rid of these creatures.”
Sergeant Smith stood and reached for the map. “I’m going with you,” First Sergeant Brett smiled, folding the map and returning it to his pocket. “I need you and your grunts to be ready to go in ten minutes, fully armed and fully prepped. I want you to draw double ammo loads and extra frags.”
By the time they rearmed and had a quick meal of MRE’s, the ground support forces from Fort Campbell showed up. First Sergeant Brett commandeered two M2A3 Bradley fighting vehicles to transport the squad to the university.
The Bradley holds a crew of three: a commander, a gunner and a driver; as well as six fully equipped soldiers. The primary armament on the Bradley is a 25mm cannon which fires up to 200 rounds per minute and is accurate up to 2500 meters depending on the ammunition used. It is also armed with twin missiles. In addition, the Bradley carries a coaxial 7.62mm medium machine gun, located to the right of the 25mm chain gun. The armored vehicle also has turreted firing ports providing a button-up firing position.
“Due to the nature of the mission we have received permission to drive on the roadways,” First Sergeant Brett remarked. Normally the thirty-ton tracked vehicle was not permitted on civilian highways due to the damage its treads could cause.
Brett gave the command to move out. None of them realized they would not be coming back.