Chapter XXIV
Convoy Attack.
At the same time that Alan and Dmitri entered the house at Prostead Bridge. Charlie and the rest of the expedition continue to fight of a pack of ravaging auger. As screams and shouts come through both the com links and through the steel walls of the command centre, Arnold grabs his rifle and exits the large truck and walks out into the darkness. Charlie looks over at Deryn who had not, as of yet, lifted a finger to help in the attack.
“We’ve got to do something.” Charlie said walking over to the doctor who sat by the computer, simply staring at the map.
“What can we do?” Deryn said, after a few moments. “I’m not a fighter Charlie, neither are any of them.” He gestured at the three others who looked scared out of their wits, if she was being completely honest with herself, Charlie couldn’t blame them, they may have expected some trouble on the journey, but none of them could have guested that they would have been attacked by the auger.
“Fine. If you won’t risk your necks, then I guess I will.” Charlie said before heading over to the weapon compartment and opening it, retrieving a large riffle and loading it with a stack of bullets, just as something large struck the command centre followed by another scream from the outside.
As Charlie made her way to the door a small voice called out from behind her, she turned around to see Deryn standing up.
“Aim for the necks. If it is the auger, that’s their weakest spot.” Deryn said before sitting down again, his kneels almost buckling out from under him. Charlie only nodded and headed straight outside.
Outside the command vehicle Charlie looked around at the scene of utter destruction that had filled their small camp. Two of the vehicles were on their roofs with dents and starches all over their bullet proof armour, and scattered around the camp lay the fallen, in various shapes of dismemberment. As she was looking a clicking sound brought her back to the present and looking around, she saw what had previously charged into the command centre.
The auger stared her down, twice the size of the one they had spotted previously, this one seemed to be decided whether or not, she was worth the trouble of killing, it looked her up and down, before howling and began to charge. Remembering what Deryn had said, Charlie took aim with the rifle, before firing two shots.
She caught the beast mid leap and it crashed to the ground with a thump, right on top of her right foot which gave an unusual crunching sound, as if the beast landing on it had broken several of her toes. After retrieving her foot which felt like it had been broken, from underneath the beast she turned around to see another one of the creatures on top of Buckley, who was fruitlessly stabbing at its neck with a large knife, the only result of this was that he was only enraging the beast even more as it attempted to slash at the captain’s sides. This was ended when Charlie took aim and shot the beast four times in its soft spot, it collapsed on top of the captain who winced, then began to push the beast off of him, muttering to himself. “Sinking creature.” As he did so.
Buckley got up, looking around to see who had shot the auger before his eyes fell on Charlie, his brow furrowed at the sight of the young scientist.
“What are you doing out here. You could have gotten yourself killed.” Buckley said, limping over, which took Charlie by surprise.
“You’re welcome for saving your life.” Charlie said as she looked at the captain who despite having just had an auger on top of him, didn’t seem to have any marks of the attack on him.
“I could have handled it myself.” Buckley said, as another clicking noise from the direction of the command vehicle brought a swift end to the argument.
What looked like the chief auger was standing between them and the command vehicle, its brutally scarred face told of a hundred fights that it had had with its fellows to gain the top position.
The great beast charged forward as Charlie raised her gun and fired three shots, each one hitting the neck and each one failing to bring the beast down, when it was feet away, fresh gunfire emerged from the direction of the command vehicle.
Greenville had exited the relative safety of the vehicle and was firing one of the other rifles at the beast, which sensing another attacker spun around and began charging at him. He never stood a chance, caught with nowhere to run too, the beast flipped Greenville over him as it collided with him, he flew fifty feet into the air and came crashing to the ground behind the beast, which turned around and began to rip apart the dead scientist.
Charlie screamed and took aim at the beast and fired. Nothing happened the gun simply clicked, and the beast kept on ripping Greenville’s limps apart trying to get at the tastier parts of its prey.
Arnold finally stepped in, taking out his pistols he fired six shots at the beast, who shrieked in agony and ran off, clearly afraid, of the relentlessness of the attack, dragging the corpse of Greenville behind him.
The following morning came and Deryn hadn’t managed to get a word out of Charlie since she had limped back into to the command centre, covered in blood. As Arnold returned having finished detailing the results of the previous night’s attack.
“Fifty dead, a further twenty wounded. Not a great night for the Imperial army me thinks.” Arnold said as he returned to the map. “We’re still about fifty miles away from the source, we’ll be moving out within the hour, make sure your ready.” Buckley finished.
“What about the dead?” Deryn said.
“What about them?” Arnold asked looking curious.
“Surely we should burry them.” Deryn replied, he had heard that Buckley was cold when it came to human emotions, but this was some next level even for him.
“I think not. The auger just fed, but I don’t want to remain here for longer than is necessary.” Arnold replied simply.
“Just fed.” Charlie said, her voice was croaky due to the lack of speaking but her anger was still palpable. “You want to show a little more respect, Greenville and the others saved our lives by giving theirs.” Charlie finished staring daggers at the captain who simply shrugged.
“And their troubles are over. They wouldn’t want us to be attacked again by us waiting here unnecessarily.” Arnold said before exiting the command vehicle. Charlie would have followed however the bandage on her foot prevented her from decking the captain right there and then. The damage was a lot more serious than she had first guessed, she had broken her foot, not just a few toes when the auger had fallen on her, but apart from that, no serious harm had come to her during the attack.
A week after the attack, the small convoy minus the two vehicles that had been damaged beyond repair by the auger, continues to crawl along the wasteland during a massive storm limiting visibility down to almost nothing. As one of the soldier's calls out onto the intercom system.
“Can anyone hear us in there. Come in please, we’ve got to be way off.” The soldier shouts through the coms. As Arnold responds.
“Negative it is here, the data was very specific we've got to be close.” Arnold shouts.
“I don't know what to tell you sir we're getting no visuals and nothing on the scanners.” The soldier responds as inside the mobile command vehicle is a series of computers where Charlie, Deryn and the two other scientists as well as the soldier Carl sit in front of them. As Arnold continues to talk into with coms.
“All of our intel pinpoints that the artefact is here.” Arnold states through the coms but before the soldier can come back Deryn speaks up.
“We must locate the source of the disturbance captain, press on.” Deryn said with an unusual sense of urgency for the usually calm domineer. As if on cue to these words, Carl then interrupts. Gesturing towards his screen.
“I think I've got something sir.” Carl said gesturing to the screen. “It’s very faint but that might just be the effects of the storm.” He continued as Arnold, Deryn and Charlie go to have a look at the screen to see a flashing red dot.
“That's it.” Charlie said with a surety that she didn’t know why or where it had come from other than the fact that it was right. As Arnold's voice rings over the coms systems.
“Holt, HOLT! Holt all vehicles!” Arnold shouts through the coms and Charlie could feel the brakes being applied to the command centre as the lumbering beast came to a standstill, along with the rest of the convoy. Once all the vehicles come to a holt the group disembarks from the mobile command centre and walks towards the ruins of a collection of small building. The ruins were completely weathered as if nobody had lived there for many centuries, if they were in more hospitable environments the walls would have been replace with greenery as the wilds reclaimed the building, Charlie was sure of it, instead the walls were still visible, but many had collapsed and the ones that were still standing looked like a gust of air would knock them over with ease. As Arnold slowly pushes the gates open and heads inside what remains of the ruined courtyard at least what Charlie thought must have been a courtyard, behind him follow the group of scientists being flanked by the soldier's guns raised.
