Nicholas Smith - Extinction Age

Wood palmed the table and bowed his head slightly before glancing back up at the soldiers. “Make no mistake, gentlemen. We have entered the age of extinction. It will be up to men like us to protect our species from vanishing. I promise you one thing… I will do what I can to ensure our great nation survives.”

Just like Colonel Gibson promised , Beckham thought ruefully. Career brass like Wood talked a big game, but in the end it wouldn’t be his ass in the field defending their country.

“I’m needed at Central Command now,” Wood said. He took a moment to scan the soldiers one last time and then turned to his staff. “Until I return, Lieutenant Colonel Jensen will be in charge. I’m sure he can answer any questions as he distributes individual assignments. Good luck,” he said on his way out.

The doors to the mess hall slammed shut, and the hollow thud echoed across the room. For a moment, no one said a word. Then Jensen took Wood’s place at the front of the table.

“Gentlemen,” he said. Though his voice was calm, his demeanor told Beckham he still carried the weight of the Truxtun on his shoulders—not to mention the subsequent loss of his command. Even Wood’s parting words hadn’t cheered the man up. Of course, Wood hadn’t made the temporary transfer of command official, and Beckham suspected the men he’d left behind would remain loyal to him, even if Jensen wore a higher rank than they did.

Jensen’s hands shook as he grabbed the closest map and flattened a crease with his palm. But when he glanced up, his eyes had hardened back into the commander Beckham had come to know over the past several weeks.

“Listen up, everyone. We will be dispatching three fire-teams from Plum Island. Sergeant Mikesell will take Alpha squad, and Sergeant Valentine will take Bravo.”

Beckham looked for the Medical Corps soldiers. They were standing next to each other at the far end of the table. Unlike Valentine, Mikesell was a bulky man with fat covering old muscle. He didn’t look like he’d be much good in a fight.

“Master Sergeant Beckham will take Charlie team,” Jensen continued. “Our target location is the Raven Rock Mountain Complex in Pennsylvania. As many of you know, it was the backup site for the Pentagon and the alternate joint command before the Hemorrhage virus hit. When shit hits the fan, that’s where they send the big boys. Vice President Cheney favored this location when he was in office. It was among the most secure facilities in the world, but apparently it wasn’t secure enough. Central Command lost contact with the complex several days ago.”

Jensen continued once the murmurs had died down. “Final radio transmissions paint a dreary picture. The Variants infiltrated the tunnel system and killed everyone, as far as we know. While the mission is to primarily retrieve caches of chemotherapeutics from a FEMA warehouse located inside the complex, we are also being ordered to look for any survivors. There were some very important people at Raven Rock when it went offline.”

Smith pulled a pen from his chest pocket and drew a circle on a map of the complex. “There are several entrances to Raven Rock. Alpha will scout for survivors through portals A and B.” He marked another location and said, “This is the approximate location for the underground FEMA facility. Bravo and Charlie will locate the warehouse and secure the caches.”

“Pretty simple,” Jensen said. “But for those of you who have been out there, you know shit ain’t ever simple anymore. Expect heavy resistance inside the complex.”

Smith waited a few seconds for Jensen’s words to sink in and then said, “Any questions?”

“Do we have reason to believe anyone is alive?” Chow asked.

“Our intel is limited at this point,” Jensen replied. “I’ve been told Central Command already ran an evac mission that failed. Their team never made it out. Chances are slim, if you ask me.”

Beckham glanced over at Mikesell. Beads of sweat ran down his forehead. There was no doubt that his was the toughest mission of the three.

“Anything else?” Jensen asked. After a beat, he said, “If not, then find your team leaders for further instructions. Good luck, men.”

Beckham squirmed through the crowd to find Horn. “Big Horn…” he began to say.

“Don’t even say it, Boss. I’m coming with. Besides, if I don’t go, my girls are going to join their mother in less than a month anyway, right?”

Even though he wanted to shake his head, Beckham found himself nodding. When he went to pat Horn’s shoulder, he had to pause and uncurl his fingers. He’d kept his hand balled into a fist during the whole briefing.

Kate did her best to ignore Corporal Cooper and Corporal Berg. The men shadowed her and Ellis even after they finally left the lab. It was after ten o’clock when Kate and Ellis finally got back to their quarters. The twins stood guard in the hallway.

“We’ll be right here if you need anything,” Berg said.

Kate nodded and hurried away. She was anxious to get back to her room, where she hoped Beckham would be waiting.

“Good night, Ellis,” Kate called.

“Night, Kate,” Ellis said. He opened his door, gave her a sad look, and then shut it softly behind him.

Kate stopped to use the bathroom before she continued to her room.

“Reed?” she said, gently knocking on her door. She pushed it open and smiled when Apollo greeted her, tail wagging.

“Jesus, Kate, where have you been?” Beckham said. He was standing in a pool of moonlight bleeding through the window shades. The light accentuated the muscles in his tight-fitting t-shirt, and without thinking Kate rushed over and wrapped her arms around him.

“Whoa,” Beckham said, stumbling back a step. “Don’t forget about my shoulder.”

“I’m sorry, Reed,” Kate said.

“It’s fine. Hardly hurts at all now.”

“No, I mean I’m sorry for what I’ve done.”

Beckham rolled his head back and searched her eyes in the glow of the moonlight. “What you’ve done?”

Kate bowed her head. “The experiments… the Superman protein. If it wasn’t for me, you wouldn’t…”

“Slow down, Kate,” Beckham said. “Breathe.”

Taking in several deep breaths, Kate focused her thoughts. “You’re going out there to get the drugs, aren’t you?”

Beckham seemed to consider her words for a moment and then nodded. “Tomorrow morning. I’m leading a strike team with Horn, Chow, and Lombardi to Raven Rock.”

Kate was too tired to protest. And even if she did, it wouldn’t matter. She knew him well enough to know that he would never leave his men or back down from a mission.

“I understand,” was all Kate managed to say.

Beckham studied her and said, “You’re okay with this?”

“What can I do? My work ended up killing billions and creating monsters. And now you’re going back into harm’s way. Because of me.”

“Chances are I’d be going out there anyway, Kate. Besides, if your drug works, we could end this.”

Kate felt a tear welling in her eye. She wiped it away with her sleeve. This was not the time to be weak; this was the time to pull on whatever strength she had left and tell Beckham what she’d learned from the tape.

“Colonel Wood is connected to Colonel Gibson,” Kate whispered.

Beckham ran a hand over his closely trimmed hairline. “That’s a pretty serious allegation, but honestly, it’s one I considered myself.”

“Remember the video of Lieutenant Brett? The one where Colonel Gibson is shown interrogating the Marine?”

“Yeah…”

“Wood was there.”