Anvil (2 page)

I ran with
Katie’s body cradled against my chest, bouncing with each step I took. 
Irina and Rachel were right behind me and slightly to either side.  Rachel
was still firing the Russian rifle.  Irina grabbed mine where it hung from
its sling and released it so she could join the fight.

Within ten
yards we ran out of the concealing mist that had been created by the detonation
of the Claymores, and even though it was night the remaining Russians spotted
us and opened up.  Rachel had abandoned single shots in favor of short
bursts and I could also hear my rifle being fired in the same manner.  I
angled for the corner of the building I’d been behind when I’d shot the Russian
Major, rounding the bend and running directly into two soldiers who were
charging towards us.

I stumbled
from the impact, somehow managing to maintain my footing as both of them were
sent sprawling.  One of them fired as he landed on his back, but the
bullet went wide.  Rachel put a round through his head and pushed me.  I
kept running.

Directly
ahead was the small parking lot, and though I couldn’t see the manhole I had a
pretty good idea of its general location.  There were two bodies near the
center of the asphalt area and I headed for them, glad to hear both rifles
still firing behind me.  I nearly tripped over the cast iron cover, not
seeing it in the dark and rain, lying on the pavement where it had been blasted
by the charge of C-4.

Boots
skidding on the ground, I came to a stop at the open hole and looked down.  There
was the sound of water rushing through the tunnel beneath my feet and I cursed,
somehow having forgotten the torrent that had nearly washed me away
earlier.  If we went down there we’d be swept up and carried who knows
where, but my hesitation was resolved when a bullet blasted a chunk out of the
asphalt at my feet.

“Down the
hole,” I shouted at the two women.  “Storm tunnels and they’re full of
water, but we don’t have a choice.”

I put Katie
down and yanked the rifle sling over my head.  Extending it to it’s full
length, I put a loop around Katie’s wrist and snugged it tight before attaching
the other end to my belt.  Irina and Rachel were keeping up a steady rate
of fire, but I didn’t have time to look and see how close the Russians had
pushed in on us.

Reaching up,
I grabbed Irina and took my rifle back, pushing her towards the hole.  She
balked at the edge.  I lifted her off the ground and dropped her through,
a short squeal cutting off when she went into the water. 

“Get in the
hole!”  I yelled at Rachel, dropping to a knee and targeting several
soldiers who were heading our way.

Without a
word, Rachel stepped to the opening.  She sat and swung her legs into the
void, then with the rifle tucked tight to her chest scooted her ass forward and
dropped out of sight.  I fired a long burst at the approaching Russians,
dropped the rifle and shoved Katie’s unconscious body through the
opening.  Her weight hit the end of the sling and nearly pinned me across
the manhole, but I was able to swing my legs around and drop through with her.

The water I
plunged into was cold, taking my breath away as I went under.  I was
immediately in the pull of the current and was turned upside down and slammed
into the wall as the sling attached to my belt jerked hard.  Fighting the
force of the flood and the weight of Katie’s body, I flailed for the
surface.  After what felt like hours, my face broke into the air and I was
able to take a partial breath before being dragged beneath again.

I was
worried about Katie, afraid she would drown or be slammed into a wall.  It
took every ounce of energy and concentration I possessed to even manage an
occasional breath.  The rest of the time I was completely submerged,
tumbling in the current and completely disoriented.

This went on
for a long time as I was carried along in the pitch dark of the tunnel
system.  I was battered at intersections with other tunnels, getting spun
about like a top when the flows merged, then the main current would take over
again and pull me under.  I had no sense of time or direction, my entire
world compressed into a battle for air.

Breaking the
surface for a rare breath, I had a second to hear what sounded like the roar of
a massive waterfall.  Before I could confirm the sound, I was savagely
tugged back under by the sling that secured Katie to my body.  Fear for
her coursed through me, worry that she was unconscious and couldn’t fight to
get a breath.  There was absolutely nothing I could do to help her. 
I was barely keeping myself alive.

Lungs
burning, I kept struggling, breaking into the air again and taking a ragged
breath that felt like there was a fair amount of water in it.  The roar
was louder now, deafening, and the turbulence that had kept me pulled under was
subsiding.  That was the good news.  The bad news was it felt like I
was accelerating as the water sped towards whatever was making the din.

Then I
remembered Titus telling me all of the storm drains fed into a single giant tunnel
that disappeared underground, supposedly filling a reservoir for the air
base.  Was that the roar?  Were we about to be swept into an
underground storage tank where we’d be trapped and die?

Fear surged
anew and I fought harder, trying to reach anything to grasp onto, hoping to
stop our progress.  But the tunnel walls were smooth and there was nothing
for my flailing hands to grip.  Just blank concrete.

The water
was smoother now, flowing very fast as we approached the bone shaking
roar.  I looked for Katie, but there was no light.  Only perfect
darkness.  Kicking to keep my head above the surface, I grasped the sling
and started pulling.  At first I didn’t understand why it was jerking,
then an elbow slammed into my face.

Reaching out
I grabbed Katie’s arm, intending to pull her to me.  I was caught
completely unprepared when she yanked it away and grabbed my arm with both of her
hands.  She was alive!

But she was
infected and immediately began pulling herself to me.  A hand brushed my
neck and I realized she was attacking.  Or trying to attack.  Using
both hands I shoved her away from my body, feeling a hard tug on my belt when
she reached the end of the sling.

I don’t know
if she tried to continue the attack.  Perhaps it wasn’t an attack at all, rather
an attempt at survival.  I never found out.  Without warning the
world dropped out from beneath us and we were falling. 

We were
still in the water, and it took me a moment to realize we were in a
waterfall.  Would there be a deep pool beneath us or would we crash onto
rocks or perhaps more concrete?  Were we about to be sucked into an
underground storage reservoir that was full to the ceiling?  There was
time for those thoughts to run through my head, then I was plunging deep into
more cold.

Struggling
against the force of the water falling on top of me, then a tug on my belt as
Katie struggled, I thought I was done.  My lungs were on fire, spasming
from all the water I’d inhaled.  My body wanted nothing more than to
cough, expel the bad air and take a deep breath.  With a supreme effort of
will I controlled the urge as I was pushed deeper.

My ears
popped from the pressure before the downward momentum ceased, finally allowing
me to move farther away from the tons of water falling into the pool. 
Fighting a current, and now what felt like Katie’s dead weight pulling on my
belt, I stroked for the surface as hard as I could.

Another
current caught me and dragged me along as I ascended.  After an eternity I
broke through, sputtering and coughing.  There was a hard tug from the
sling that pulled me back under as I was drawing in a breath.  What felt
like several gallons of water came with it, causing my lungs to seize up and rebel. 
Madly fighting, I reached air again, racking coughs expelling partially inhaled
water through both my nose and mouth.

There was
another tug on my belt, not as hard, and I realized that Katie was unconscious
again.  Or drowned.  Panic set in and I frantically pulled on the
sling until I could grip her arm and pull her to me.  She was limp, head
flopping lifelessly to the side when it cleared the surface.

The surface
of the water was smoother than it had been in the tunnels, growing calmer by
the moment as the strong current swept us along.  It took me a second to
realize I was able to faintly see Katie’s head, wet hair obscuring her
face.  Glancing up as I kicked to keep us on the surface, I was surprised
to see a night sky.  Not stars and the moon, and I noticed there was a
soft rain falling, but even with the cloud cover there was enough light for me
to faintly see in a few shades of grey.  We were above ground in a river!

There wasn’t
enough illumination for me to be able to see far enough to spot either bank. 
I assumed the current was close to the middle, so I made it simple and struck
out in the direction I was already facing.  I had my left arm around Katie’s
chest and snaked under both of her arms.  I held her on her back, tight
against me with her face out of the water as I swam. 

My body was
battered, cold and numb.  I couldn’t feel much and everything I could feel
was hurting.  I didn’t think I was moving faster than a slow crawl, but I
refused to let my limbs stop moving.  If I stopped, we’d be pulled under
and it would be over. 

I have no
idea how long I kept at it, fighting the current and the dead weight of my
wife’s body.  It could have only been five minutes or five hours.  I
was operating in the mode I remembered from Special Forces selection and
training.  The body has gone farther than it wants to, farther than it
thinks it can, but the mind refuses to allow it to stop. 

Until you’re
dead, there’s always that one more ounce of fight in your limbs.  As long
as you
believe
you can go on, you can.  Give up and fail, or be
determined and succeed.  In selection and training, giving up just means
you don’t pass.  In the field it will usually mean you’re going to
die. 

With
awareness of nothing other than focusing on continuing to swim, I was surprised
when my feet struck bottom.  I had made it out of the current and reached
the shore, finally looking up and seeing a narrow strip of rock studded sand
only a few feet in front of me.  Trying to stand, my legs wouldn’t obey
the command from my brain and I wound up on my knees.

Crawling
forward, I dragged Katie through the water and finally succeeded in pulling
both of us onto the bank.  I was panting, shivering and nearly delirious
as I turned and began performing rescue breathing on her.  The first
couple of breaths were almost more than my tortured lungs could take, eliciting
deep coughs that didn’t do her any good and just made me light headed.

Calming
myself, I put my hand under her neck to tilt her head back, bent over and
pressed my mouth tightly against hers.  I breathed for her, growing
dizzier with each exhale.  I kept at it, the world around me shrinking
with each breath into her body until it completely closed in and everything
went dark.

Rachel
dragged herself out of the water.  She was shaking from the cold, teeth
chattering as she got on her hands and knees and tried to make her way up the
sandy bank.  The wind was blowing from the north, instantly leaching away even
more body heat than the dunking.  She raised a shaking hand and shoved
dripping hair out of her face, trying to see her surroundings.

She was on a
steep embankment, the roiling surface of the river only a few inches from her
boots.  Shivering hard, she wanted to curl into a ball and rest, but knew
that if she didn’t find a way to warm herself she would die of
hypothermia.  Maybe there was some shelter from the wind if she could make
it over the top of the bank.

Pushing on,
she caught her breath when a figure silhouetted against the dark sky suddenly
appeared over her.  She had no weapons, having lost the rifle when she
jumped through the manhole.  Her mind screamed at her to fight as hands
reached out to grasp her arms, but her body refused to respond.  She just
stayed where she was, not really feeling the strong grip on each of her upper
arms.

“You have to
stand,” Irina said to her.

At first
Rachel thought she was hallucinating.  Irina?  How was she here and
able to be up and moving around?  It must be an infected that had grabbed
her!  She tried to resist, tried to pull away, but the hands were too
strong.

“Rachel! 
It is me, Irina!  We have to get out of the wind!”

Irina pulled
hard, finally lifting Rachel’s upper body until she was resting on her
knees.  She stared back with vacant eyes, a flicker of recognition passing
through when the Russian woman put her face close.

Pulling
hard, Irina got Rachel to her feet, wrapping her arms around her body to keep
her from tumbling back to the ground.  Guiding the taller woman, Irina
helped her reach the top of the bank.  The wind was stronger here and
Rachel began shivering uncontrollably and would have fallen if not for Irina’s
support.

“You have to
walk or we are going to die,” Irina gasped, taking a step and pulling Rachel
with her.

It took them
several minutes to cross forty yards.  Both stumbled several times,
somehow managing to stay on their feet.  Irina was heading for the leeward
side of a small bluff, the wind steadily decreasing as they approached. 
They finally made it into the shelter of the terrain, both women collapsing to
the sandy ground.

Rachel
immediately curled into the fetal position, her entire body racked with violent
shivers.  Irina was cold, her extremities numb, but she was also proudly
Russian.  From early childhood she’d delighted in participating in annual
polar bear plunges.  Competitive to a fault, she would stay in the ice
choked water until all the rest of the participants had returned to shore and
donned warming cloaks.  This water was cold, but it was far from what
she’d done for fun when she was growing up.

Despite her
ability to endure the cold, Irina knew that Rachel was already in trouble and
she, too, would be soon if she didn’t do something quickly.  Looking
around, she moved to check a darker shadow at the base of the bluff, but it
wasn’t what she hoped for.  Continuing her stumbling walk she paused at a
small hole, getting on her knees to peer inside. 

The hole
opened into a cramped cave.  She couldn’t see into the darkness, but
pushed herself through the opening anyway.  She had to make sure it was
large enough for both her and Rachel or it would be a waste of time to go get
the other woman.  Finally satisfied there was room, she crawled back out
and made her way to where Rachel still lay shivering.  Irina could hear
her teeth chattering before she could see her on the sand.

“You have to
get up.  I have found us shelter,” Irina said, pulling hard on Rachel’s
arms.

It took a lot
of effort to get Rachel on her feet.  She was taller, and weighed twenty
pounds more, but Irina was persistent.  Twice they crashed back to the
sand when Rachel’s frozen legs wouldn’t respond, but eventually Irina’s
determination paid off.  With her support, Rachel was able to begin
walking.

Reaching the
cave, the next challenge was to get Rachel inside.  As soon as they
stopped, she sank to the ground and tried to curl back into a ball.  Irina
had to settle for grabbing her wrists and slowly dragging her inside. 
Once she had Rachel lying against the rear wall, she went back out and gathered
brush to conceal the entrance, piling it up as she backed into the cave. 
She had no idea how well the camouflage would work, but it was the best she
could do.

Rachel was
shivering so hard her muscles were beginning to stay clenched.  Working as
quickly as her numb fingers would allow, Irina removed the other woman’s soaked
clothing.  If the wet garments remained against her skin, they would
continue to draw out her body heat.

With Rachel
stripped bare except for a pair of cotton panties, Irina quickly took off her
own wet clothing.  She pressed her body against Rachel’s bare back, the
skin so cold she momentarily shrank away.  Steeling herself for the
discomfort, Irina wrapped her arms around Rachel and adjusted her hips so her
pelvis and legs were tightly spooned against Rachel.  Together they
shivered, Irina concerned that their bodies wouldn’t warm up.

Irina
squeezed tight as she began shivering.  This told her that the small
amount of heat that had remained in her body was being sucked out by Rachel’s
frigid skin.  Together they shook, Rachel drifting in and out of
consciousness and Irina struggling to remain awake. 

She was
frightened that she would fall asleep.  If that happened she would relax
and her body would shift away, allowing cold air to circulate and rob both of
them of the precious warmth.  As she lay there, her mind went to thoughts
of the past few hours. 

The deaths
of Scott and Martinez, both defiant to the end.  She grieved for Scott who
she had grown to like, but thoughts of Martinez brought a profound sense of
loss.  Tears flowed as she thought about what might have been. 

The two
women hadn’t particularly cared for each other at first, but over the past few
days they’d had an opportunity to talk and come to know each other.  Irina
sobbed as she replayed the last moments of Martinez’ life in her head. 
She couldn’t say that she had fallen in love with her, but it was closer than
she’d been in many years.

“Are you
OK?”  Rachel’s voice startled her.    

Irina was
surprised that Rachel was awake, then she realized that she had lost all track
of time and had been in a state of near delirium as she reminisced about
Martinez.  Both of them had stopped shivering.  While she was
definitely not cozy, she recognized that they had warmed enough to be out of immediate
danger. 

“I am fine.”

Irina raised
her face from the tangle of Rachel’s long hair, realizing she had been crying into
it.

“I think you
saved me,” Rachel said, gently lifting Irina’s arm off her body but not
scooting away from the warmth of the other woman.

“No more
than you would have done for me,” Irina replied.

“How did you
find me?”  Rachel asked a moment later, sensing Irina’s mood.

“I was
already out of the water and saw your head bobbing.  I ran along the bank
after you until you made it to shore.”

“Thank you,
again,” Rachel said.  “I haven’t exactly been kind to you.  I’m sorry
for that.”

“Emotions
have been running high,” Irina said, finally releasing her hold on Rachel and
sitting up.  She scooted a foot away and crossed her legs.

“Did you see
John and Katie?”  Rachel asked, sitting and turning to face Irina who
crossed her arms to conceal her bare breasts. 

“No.  I
do not even know if they made it into the tunnel.  It is fortunate that I
saw you,” Irina answered.

“We need to
look for them.”  Rachel reached for her wet clothes.

“If you put
those on they will draw out your body heat,” Irina warned.  “We must wait
until they are dry.”

“We don’t
have that much time,” Rachel said.  “They could be in real trouble, just
like I was.”

Despite
Irina’s warning, Rachel dug through the pile until she found her pants. 
Rolling back on her ass, she stuck her feet into the legs and pulled them over
her knees.  That was as far as she got before peeling them back off.

“Oh
shit!  They’re freezing,” she breathed.  “Can we start a fire to dry
them?”

“With
what?”  Irina shrugged her shoulders without removing her arms from over
her breasts. 

“There’s
ways to start a fire without matches.  Aren’t there?”  Rachel asked
in a plaintive voice.

“Yes, there
are.  But those ways only work if you have dry wood, tinder and a source
of heat.  We have none of that.”

Rachel
stared back at her, finally shaking her head.

“Then we
should put them out in the wind.  They’ll dry faster.”

“It is still
raining,” Irina said.

“You’re not
helping,” Rachel grumbled even though she realized the Russian woman was
right.  “But we can’t wait.”

“Wet clothes
in the wind will drain body heat very fast,” Irina said, reaching out and
placing a restraining hand on Rachel’s arm when she reached for her discarded
pants.  “We cannot help them if we are incapacitated by the weather.”

Rachel
cursed, knowing Irina was correct, but still reluctant to give up.  She
racked her brain, trying to come up with a way to dry the clothes faster.