Them-2 - Chapter 16

Chapter Sixteen – Bowling Green, Kentucky, USA

“That was two old friends on an island off the coast of France.” Huck got up from the computer monitor. “They’re retired military men I met while in the service. If anyone can get their authorities to do something, these two can.”
Kalye looked sympathetically at him. “No word from our own government?”
“The 101st Airborne landed at the airfield several hours ago. They’re sweeping the area now.”
“What about the rest of the country? Any activity?”
“There will be now,” interrupted Tappy. She walked over to the television set in the lab and turned it on. A remote news team was in the process of filming a giant ant lying on the asphalt parking area of the mall. The broadcast was being beamed around the world. The creature was missing several limbs and chunks had been blown from its body armor, but it was still a formidable looking monster.
“As you can see, the military has everything under control,” the nervous news anchor explained. “They found several of these giant ants in the mall complex but quickly eliminated them. We have been told that a woman and her child was rescued and transported to the hospital for treatment. Although she sustained extensive shock, it was reported that she has suffered no physical trauma. The military also discovered a deep hole on the south side of the mall area. They believe this is the way the creatures got into the mall without being seen in other parts of the city. A military cordon has been established around the hole, or nest, pending further action.”
“That nest could run for miles,” Tappy muttered. “No one knows the extent of the secondary cave systems beneath this area.”
“Meaning they could pop up just about anywhere?” Huck asked.
Tappy nodded her head. The fear in her eyes was still apparent. Huck knew it concerned her son Jacob more than herself.
A loud knock at the exterior doors brought everyone to their feet. They had locked the doors so the children wouldn’t be tempted to sneak out and get into mischief or danger. At their age, they were not aware of the threat. To them, monsters only existed in the movies or on television.
Horse was the first to reach the door. He could hear muffled shouts as the knocking continued. He knew for certain that the ants couldn’t speak so he cracked the door open and peered out. A soldier in battle dress uniform stood there.
“Come in,” Horse stated, throwing the door wide open.
“First Sergeant Chris Brett,” the soldier identified himself. “We’re looking for Doctors Gallagher and Schmitt, and FBI Agent la Roche.’
“I’m Agent la Roche.” Huck walked over to the soldier. “The scientists are here.”
“I have orders to secure your persons and bring you back to headquarters,” Brett stated.
“I can’t possibly leave yet,” Tappy spoke up. “I am running a computer simulation and it will take several more hours. Plus, Colonel Grace is in the chemistry lab working on a sensitive project that will take time.”
Huck could see the indecision on the soldier’s face. “Do you have a sat-phone I can use?”
“Manning, get a satellite phone from the Bradley and bring it here?” First Sergeant Brett yelled over his shoulder. “Tell Smith to un-ass the Bradleys and secure the area.”
Brett removed his helmet and placed it on a small table against the wall. “Battalion Commander said you civilians were to be safeguarded at all costs. I have a fully equipped squad with me and two armored vehicles.”
“We appreciate your situation First Sergeant,” Huck replied. “However, the work that the scientists are doing is a vital component of our future security.” He reached for the satellite phone when the Specialist offered it to First Sergeant Brett. “What’s your call sign?”
“Tarzan Spotter and Battalion is Spotter One,” Brett answered.
“Spotter One, this is Tarzan Spotter,” Huck spoke into the mike. “Agent la Roche here.”
“This is a secure line,” Spotter One returned. “No need for call signs. Agent la Roche this is Lt. Colonel Rafferty. My men are there to secure you and bring you to a safe location.”
Huck explained the situation and stressed the importance of the work they were doing. “I can assure you as soon as that work is completed, we will relocate to your position,” he finally added.
“Agent la Roche, or Commander la Roche, be advised I agree,” Lt. Colonel Rafferty replied. “Intel tells me you are a Commander in the Navy SEAL’s. Martial law has been declared in this area and your reserve commission activated. You will assume command of the unit I dispatched to your location and make decisions based on your personal assessment of the situation.”
“Acknowledged,’ Huck replied, passing the sat-phone to First Sergeant Brett. Brett had a sudden look of renewed respect on his face. Before he was dealing with a civilian, now he was relieved to be working with a Special Forces Officer.
“Have your men take up positions in the lab,” Huck ordered Brett. “It may be a while before we can leave. Horse, Agent Pferd, hooked university security into one of the computer monitors so we can see just about every street and building on campus, including this one. I would appreciate it if you would have someone monitoring the visual at all times.”
“Can do,” First Sergeant Brett replied. “Since this is an operational mission, the Bradley Crew will remain with their vehicles. Sergeant Smith will establish a duty roster to man the computer monitor. Any chance the ants will attack tonight?”
Tappy smiled at the worried soldier. “They’re most likely deep inside their nest. They may send a few soldier ants to the opening of the nest to smell the air, however, I don’t think they will venture out to forage until after daylight.”
First Sergeant Brett glanced at the peanut butter crackers Jacob and Caitlin were munching on. The sight reminded him that he hadn’t eaten since early that morning. “I’ll talk with Sergeant Smith then get some chow.” He sounded relieved.
Huck returned to where Kayle was resting in a desk chair. He noticed the fatigue on her face. “It’s almost eleven now. I think we should make sleeping arrangements for the children. I doubt we will be able to leave before morning as it is.”
“There are some couches in the foyer area,” Tappy replied, having overheard his conversation. “I have some extra blankets in my SUV we can bring in. It’s not the best place for sleeping but it will better than sleeping on the tile floor.”
Four hours later, Tappy nudged Huck to wake him. Despite his attempt to remain awake, he had fallen asleep as soon as he reclined in a chair against the wall. He was exhausted from the long day and lengthy trek through the woods. Kayle was sleeping with the children in the foyer.
“I know you need your rest,” Tappy muttered, the dark circles under her eyes denoting her own exhaustion. “But I have some new data I need for you to send to the military.”
Huck rubbed the sleep from his eyes and joined her in the lab where Colonel Grace was bent over a table. He had fallen asleep himself with his head on his arm.
“My computer simulation, which I have ran several times, does not indicate good news.” Tappy handed him a piece of paper with figures on it. “Taking into consideration all the data available, I estimate there is a minimum of thirty thousand of the insects in this area. This is the minimum based on the probability that the queens produced a number of princess and drone ants before continuing to produce workers. The maximum could be as high as fifty thousand.”
“Thirty thousand!” Huck whistled.
“I also estimate that a minimum of six thousand princess ants were produced and have already launched on their mating flights. The military must immediately organize a worldwide search and destroy operation to find and eliminate all of these new queens. Each nest could eventually produce millions more of these giant insects. When I say immediately, I mean now. Not tomorrow, not the day after, right now, at this very moment. I have already put my data on the Internet.”
Huck nodded his head. “Any recommendations on how to get rid of them?”
“I don’t know the capabilities of the military. Where possible, flame-throwers would be best, if they still have them. Otherwise, I’d recommend heavily armored vehicles with incendiary rockets and machine guns. In uninhabited areas, poison gas would work best. The speed of these ants is phenomenal. For short distances they are probably the fastest animals on the Earth right now. We know that assault rifles will kill them but soldiers on foot will be in great danger.”
“You say these new queens could be anywhere?”
“There is no place on Earth safe from these creatures. I think it would be wise to say that the majority of them are still here on the North American continent, but I am just as certain that some have spread as far as South America and as far east as Europe.”
Huck passed the information via satellite phone to the Brigade Commander in charge of the 101st unit deployed at the mall. Colonel Fuller appreciated the information but did not sound too eager to pass it up the line to his superiors. A few overgrown ants did not seem to be much of a threat to his elite Screaming Eagles.
Huck reminded him that Special Operations Command was particularly interested in the information, insinuating that he had personal contacts with high-ranking officers. If the immediate threat posed by the ants didn’t get the Colonel’s attention, the cover-your-ass system would.
Now that he was wide-awake, he demanded that Tappy join the children and Kayle in the lounge and get some rest. Although stubborn and reluctant to do so, she finally took his advice. With little to do but wait, he turned on the television set to get the twenty-four hour news.
By dawn at least a dozen television crews; local, national, and cable, were on the scene at the mall. Four news helicopters were also preparing to lift off to cover the anticipated action around the ant’s nest. Scuttlebutt had it that the military was going to send men down into the nest to locate and destroy the ants. Each major news service was vying to send reporters into the nest with the soldiers.
Less than half an hour after the sun rose above the horizon, the first ant appeared at the opening. The eager unit surrounding the nest immediately fired upon the creature, blowing large chunks from its head. The severely wounded ant immediately released a strong pheromone that sent a signal to the entire nest that danger was eminent. Reacting to the strong pheromone, thousands of giant ants gushed out to protect their nest and queen.
The Company of soldiers guarding the perimeter of the opening was instantly bathed in a flood of giant ants. Within seconds every man was completely torn to pieces. As the ants spread out from the nest entrance, everyone in their path was attacked and killed. Three of the four news helicopters made it into the air. The rotors of the fourth helicopter struck several of the attacking insects and disintegrated. The news crew and pilot of the helicopter were pulled from the wreck and their bodies shredded.
The ants poured over the artillery positions and decimated the artillerymen. The only ones to survive in the open were the Bradley Crewmen who had sense enough to button up their vehicles. The thick armor of the Bradleys was no match for the giant ants and their forty-ton weight was far too much for the creatures to budge.
As the wave of insects continued towards the mall, a Bradley Troop Commander anticipated the results and ordered his armored vehicles to seal the mall entrances by positioning the armored vehicles at all major entrances. The giant ants could not squeeze through, go between, or go around the vehicles to get inside the mall. Those ants that had already penetrated into the mall were quickly surrounded and destroyed by the infantrymen.
Threatened by the death of their nest mates and driven by the release of additional pheromones, the ants spread out from the area and into the streets of the city. They were joined by thousands more ants from two of other nests hidden in the cave system beneath the streets.
“My God!” First Sergeant Brett yelled, seeing the assault on television. The remaining news crews were circling over the area feeding live footage back to their studios. His loud remark woke the others who came running to see what had disturbed him.
They watched as the giant ants attacked anything in their path. Drivers on their way to work were ripped from their vehicles and torn to pieces. Emergency vehicles, fire trucks, police cars, even several early school busses became targets of opportunity for the deadly swarm. Thousands more broke into coffee shops, store fronts, fast food restaurants, and office buildings. It was slaughter on a grand scale.
“They’re here!” yelled the soldier manning the security monitors.
Huck ran over to see for himself. Scores of the creatures were prowling the university streets and grounds. The sturdy buildings held most of them at bay, but several broke into one building with a large glass window. He saw two terrified security guards in a golf cart trying to out run several ants chasing them. They lost the race and the ant swarmed over them. Within seconds, nothing remained but bits and pieces and a pool of blood.
“They’re getting smarter!” First Sergeant Brett pointed at the television. The camera in one of the helicopters circling over the scene zoomed in to reveal a swarm of ants on the roof of a downtown building. The ants were methodically tearing at the roofing, sending large shredded pieces of tarpaper and boards flying. Within a few minutes a hole opened that was large enough for the ants to squeeze through.
“Unable to break through the brick walls, the ants are tearing open the roofs to the buildings,” the reporter noted. “The military at the mall is boxed in. At the present time, the giant insects cannot get to them but it may only be a matter of time if they start tearing through the mall roofing system. The spread of the creatures has been so rapid it is difficult to predict the outcome of their fierce assault on the city.”
The camera panned out showing a grisly scene on the streets below. Hundreds of ants were forming into a line and heading back towards the nest while many others continued to forage. It was the human body parts in the jaws of the returning ants that produced a sense of revulsion. Kayle moved quickly to Caitlin’s side and blocked her view so the grisly scene would not traumatize her.
“We’ve got to get back to the mall and help our friends,” Sergeant Smith stated. “The Bradleys are the only thing holding the ants back at the moment.”
“You’ll do no such thing!” Huck commanded. “How long do you think it will take for those creatures to make enough holes in the mall roof to get inside? How many men can you fit inside your two Bradleys? At most you could save a dozen personnel. I’m certain Colonel Fuller has sense enough to barricade the men down in the stone corridors beneath the mall until nightfall. After that the ants will probably return to their nests.”
“Might be a good idea if you stuck around.” Horse pointed at the security monitors. Several of the giant ants were tearing into the roof of the lab right over their location. They would be inside the building in a matter of minutes.