Wings of Death

Night time is the right time

It was a dark night and the moon was hidden behind a veil of clouds. Since most of the power stations went out of commission after the attack, even the street lights had gone blind. They had spotted the Bloodwings using the infrared cameras mounted on the vehicles. It was a small swarm just 20 strong. However, there were two more swarms nearby. Lieutenant Amy thought it would be best to take all out before disembarking. She ordered the Shock Hounds to split and engage all three swarms simultaneously.

The Metal Guardians stayed behind while the 3 Shock Hounds split up and took offensive positions.

“Open fire!” shouted the Lieutenant.

The Shock Hounds took aim immediately and started firing cluster grenades on all 3 swarms simultaneously. Within a couple of minutes all 3 swarms had been eliminated. It was an easy battle for them since the screams of the Bloodwings had no effect on them when they were inside the vehicles. However, they could not stay outside the base for too long because the oxygen supply inside the vehicles would only last for 2 hours.

When the coast was clear, Lieutenant Amy ordered them to regroup. “I want one Shock Hound to accompany each Metal Guardian. The Shock Hounds will take the lead while the Metal Guardian will follow them from a safe distance”, she said.

The team split up again and went in three different directions to look for the supplies. Alex went with Joshua; Nathan accompanied Margaret while Mr. Harris joined Lieutenant Amy. When they had all reached their respective destinations, they reported to the Lieutenant over the radio.

“Alright everyone, the coast is clear now. Put on your vanadium earplugs and get ready to disembark. If you need to contact anyone simply speak into the radio. Do not engage any Bloodwings on your own unless it is absolutely necessary. Remember, these vanadium earplugs do not guarantee your safety for a prolonged period of time so be quick about your job. Good luck!”

Alex and Joshua were supposed to gather medical supplies from the nearby pharmacies. They found two pharmacies located close to each other and started gathering the needed medicines. It was a bit difficult to find the medicines in the dark using only a flashlight so it took them a lot of time to read the labels before picking them up. Margaret and Nathan disembarked at a mini mart and were engaged in gathering food for the entire base. Their first priority was canned food since it would last for a long time. Meanwhile, Lieutenant Amy and Mr. Harris decided to search a nearby hospital for surgical equipment. The hospital also had a large stock of oxygen cylinders. Lieutenant Amy made a note of it and planned to come back in a few days time with a larger group to collect the oxygen cylinders.

It took them a lot longer to gather the supplies than they had anticipated. It was almost 9 PM when they were done gathering all the necessary items. The Lieutenant ordered them to regroup in front of the hospital. When all the vehicles had arrived she carefully inspected all the materials which had been gathered and made a list. She thanked everyone for their efforts and promised to give them all a day off on the next day. Since there were no Bloodwings nearby they all took out their earplugs and boarded their vehicles. The Lieutenant was glad that the mission was a success. She texted Captain Elijah about their current status and then gave the orders to head back to the base.

The convoy was 35 miles from the base when they spotted a group of men in the distance. The Lieutenant had a hunch that something was wrong. She asked the cars to stop and told the drivers to zoom in on the men using the cameras on the vehicles. The men were not stranded survivors but an armed group of bandits. They had probably seen the small convoy leave the base and had planned to ambush them.

“Ma’am we can handle these punks easily. Just give us the order and we will drive right over them”, said one of the soldiers.

“Let me think about it. These people were expecting us to return by this road. I think they would not try to ambush us if they didn’t have sufficient firepower or a smart strategy in place. We should not do anything stupid”, replied the Lieutenant.

She switched seats with the driver and zoomed in on the road. The road was needled with Claymores and land mines. It was impossible to drive through that minefield. She asked all the drivers to zoom in on the road and immediately everyone realized that they were about to walk into a meat grinder. Nathan and Margaret looked at each other nervously.

“Where is Captain Elijah when you need him”, remarked Alex. It was evident that he did not feel safe in the company of Lieutenant Amy”.

“We should contact the captain”, said Nathan, turning to the Lieutenant.

“We are 35 miles away from the base. It will take him more than 30 minutes to prepare a team and come to our rescue. I don’t think the bandits are going to wait that long”, replied Lieutenant Amy.

“Why don’t we just sit inside our vehicles and wait for them to come to us? That way we can avoid the minefield”, chipped in Margaret.

“Well, our oxygen supply is going to run out in 45 minutes. We can’t just sit here and let them come to us. These men have planned everything perfectly it seems. There are at least fifty of them and they are armed with assault rifles and RPGs. We can’t engage them head on with such a small team. Plus there are civilians among us”, replied the Lieutenant. Unlike the rest of the soldiers she seemed rather calm and composed.

“Ma’am, I think we should just abandon our cars and try to make our escape through the side alleys. That is our only option”, cried a nervous young soldier.

The Lieutenant smiled and replied, “Spoken like a smart man. Wait for me here”. As soon as she had finished speaking, the Lieutenant took out a black bag from under her seat and got down from the car. She headed inside one of the buildings and soon disappeared out of sight.

“Did she just abandon us?” asked Nathan nervously.

“I knew it! She seemed too sweet and friendly to be a field officer. We never should have trusted her”, cried out Alex.

“She would never abandon us. She is second in command to the Captain himself!” replied one of the senior officers.