Monsters of the Apocalypse Read Free

the scout.
"Something you would know nothing about. You are not a
soldier. Even worse, you are either a sloppy shot or a sadist.
Either way, goodbye."
    The dead
scout hit the ground while the gunshot echoed off the military compound's metal
walls and Jacob and Arian moved into the main control room.
    In minutes,
Arian had already moved through the security locks and was attaching the
off-board drive to the mainframe computer. Jacob watched as Arian opened
up the algorithm that bypassed the firewall and allowed them to access the
Alpha Team camera controls. There was the sound of a few last shots
outside of the room as images filled the twenty screens in front of them.
Some were images of city streets, some in various unspectacular rooms, one a
bathroom stall, and some were dark.
    "We now
have access to every Alpha member ever, Jacob. I just type in their
assigned numbers and they'll come up on the screens. What numbers are we
looking for?"
    "The
first ten, of course. One through ten," Jacob leaned forward in
excitement.
    Arian typed
in the numbers and up popped three images. All the rest of the screens were
dark. One image was of the inside of Jacob's home, or specifically, the
image of the interior of his pantry. The second screen was filled with
the image of Jacob's dining room table - this was being sent from Jacob's own
camera, long since removed but recently turned back on. On the third
screen, was the image of a glass of whiskey, slightly shifting with the recent
movement of being set down.
    "I'm
sorry, Jacob, I can't seem to get these others up."
    "That's
okay, that's because they're all dead. Only three of the first ten are
still alive: me, October Carnegie and Nestor Bravo. October appears to be
searching for food in my kitchen, which means the whiskey is Nestor."
    "That's
the… wow, that's the feed of Nestor Bravo," Arian said with an awed
respect.
    "Yes."
    "Huh,
it's funny, I'm nervous. Even though it's why we're here, I just can't
believe the guy exists. All my life he's been this myth."
    "He's
real," Jacob's hand affectionately patted the younger man's muscular
shoulder, "terribly, horrifyingly real."
    "What
do you want me to do now?"
    “I want you
to turn off the feed, Arian. Then turn it on. Turn it off.
Turn it on. Then wait.”
    “Okie doke.”

Chapter 4
***
    October
looked at Jacob Rothschild's mansion through the binoculars that Special Agent
Flores had procured from a bag he was now carrying over his shoulder.
October felt the giant Indian was even more intimidating in his active-duty
blacks. The lights of the mansion were on, but nothing could be seen
moving inside. There was a strike team hidden along the tree line waiting
for the command to charge. October held a borrowed gun, a model he didn't
recognize, in his right hand, painfully tight. He glanced up at the moon
above and watched as a satellite quickly passed just below it like a shooting
star with no tail.
    "How
long has it been since I've felt the rush of battle? You tell yourself
when you enter the public sector, politics or whatnot, that the battle is still
there. It's only the weapons and strategies that have changed. But,
there is a feeling unique to the moment before risking your life, not your
reputation or your office, but your actual life, in the name of something
greater. Don't you think, Agent Flores?" October turned to find
Flores staring blankly into his eyes.
    "If you
say so, Mr. President," Flores grunted and then turned his gaze back to
the mansion.
    “Mr.
President, the men are in position. I’d recommend you head back to the
edge of the...”
    “Enough,
Miho, I’m going in with them," October snapped.
    “Mr.
President, Jacob may very well be ready for us. At the very least he will
have some degree of protection and with an original Alpha Team soldier like him
that could be lethal.”
    “Please,
tell me more about the Alpha Team, Miho.”
    “I’m not
implying you weren’t one, Mr. President. I’m implying that