Fulcrum: V Plague Book 12 (12 page)

“That’s what we heard?” 

Long looked freaked when I told the group about the dam
vibrating and the ripples on the surface of the water.  Everyone glanced
around nervously when a low frequency rumble started up, seemingly coming from
everywhere at the same time.  It wasn’t loud.  In fact, I’m not sure
I so much heard it as felt it.

The kids began talking to each other in frightened voices as
the rest of us looked at each other with the realization that our path across
the river was in danger of disappearing.  After a few more seconds, the
bass rumble subsided.  Making up my mind, I yanked open the rear of my
Humvee and dug through the gear in search of a toolkit.

“Long.  You and Sam go find the maintenance hatch for
the closest set of bollards,” I said, still digging.  “Igor.  Find a
high spot.  You’re on overwatch.”

“What can I do?”  Caleb asked.

I spied the tool kit I was looking for and pulled it from
under a pile of ammo cans.

“Keep your group together and close to the vehicles. 
When we get these bollards retracted, we’re going to have to move fast.”

He nodded, and I took off at a trot to where Long had found
and opened a large steel plate set into the side of the road.  Rachel and
Dog came with me, and I was surprised when I noticed Tiffany running with us.

“What are you doing?  You need to stay with your
group,” I said.

“You might need me.  I was an engineering student at
Cal Tech.  I’ve worked with hydraulic systems before.”

If I hadn’t been running, I would have stared at her in
surprise.  She was a beautiful young woman, and also a softball
player.  I would have guessed just about anything other than an
engineering student at one of the best schools in the country.

“Chauvinist,” Rachel mumbled beside me.

I didn’t take the bait, just shut my mouth and slid to a
stop next to the large opening in the ground.  Long and Sam were already
down in the hole, flashlights illuminating what, to me at least, looked like a
very complicated system of thick hoses, pumps and tanks.

“Think you can lower the bollards?  Without
power?”  I asked Tiffany.

She nodded, took the tool kit from my hand and with the easy
movement of youth, dropped into the cramped pit.  Sam and Long looked at
her in surprise, then up at me.

“Give her room,” I said.  “She knows what she’s doing.”

To their credit, they didn’t hesitate to move aside. 
Tiffany took Sam’s light and squatted to inspect the hydraulic system. 
Long stood behind her, adding additional light to each area she looked at.

“Contact!”

Igor’s voice over the radio.  I spun to look in the
direction of the parked Humvees.

“Talk to me,” I said, frowning in concern when I heard a
faint report from the suppressed sniper rifle.

“Female coming fast.”  Two more shots.  “Large
group.”

“Long and Sam, get your asses up here!  Infected
attacking!”

Two more shots from Igor in close succession.

“Go!  I’ll stay with her,” Rachel said, pulling her
rifle around on its sling.

I nodded and ran for the vehicles, not waiting for Sam and
Long.  Steady fire from Igor continued as I dashed around the crashed
pickup.  The kids were lined up behind the Hummers, rifles at the
ready.  As I approached, I could see Caleb moving from girl to girl,
giving them instructions and encouragement.

Beyond was a group of at least forty females, charging
directly at them.  They were still outside 100 yards, and as I came to a
stop next to Caleb, Igor fired again, sending one of them tumbling to the
pavement.

“We’re ready,” he said.

“I see that,” I answered, oddly proud of the young man.

I glanced around at the sound of running boots, seeing Long
and Sam come around the wreck.

“Have everyone hold their fire.  None of your rifles
are suppressed and will make too much noise.  We’ll take care of the
infected.”

While Caleb spread the word, Long, Sam and I spread out and
opened fire.  Igor kept shooting as well, and the numbers of infected
still alive quickly began to dwindle. 

“More coming,” Igor said as a well-placed shot from Long
dropped the last of the first group.

“How many?” 

“Many.  Shitload.”

Despite the situation, I couldn’t stop myself from grinning
at Igor’s use of the English language.

“Caleb.  Bigger group coming.  Can these girls
really shoot?”

“Yes they can,” he said with complete confidence.

“OK, get them into the rocks on either side of the
road.  Have them hold their fire until I yell for them to start shooting.”

He nodded and quickly split the girls into two groups. 
After a brief set of instructions, he sent them on their way, remaining in the
middle of the road next to me.

“Rachel, any progress?”  I called on the radio.

“She’s found the release, but we can’t turn it.  The
wrench is too short, and neither of us are strong enough.”

Shit!  I glanced down at Caleb, noting the sling
supporting his right arm. 

“I’m going to help with the bollards,” I shouted over the
radio and to Caleb.  “Keep me updated.”

As I turned away and began running, Igor fired the first
shot at the new group of infected.  I briefly wondered what the hell they
were doing all the way out here, but it didn’t matter.  They were here.

Another loud groan sounded as I pounded down the road. 
I spared a brief glance to my left, not liking it when I saw the surface of the
lake.  It was dancing again, the same ripples as before distorting the usually
calm water.  I had no idea if this was normal, or a precursor to the dam
failing.  For that matter, this could go on for months or years before
anything catastrophic happened.  Or the whole thing could collapse in the
next ten seconds.

Shutting my thoughts off, I skidded to a stop next to Dog,
who was guarding the opening into the maintenance pit.  Rachel and Tiffany
were shoulder to shoulder, both gripping a small wrench as they tried to turn
it.

“Make room!”  I shouted, jumping down a moment later.

They scrambled out of my way, Rachel holding the light for
me.  Beneath a nest of thick hoses was a large tank with a complicated valve. 
Several of the lines were attached to it at the top, a thick bolt sticking out
of the side.  A small, chrome wrench was hanging from the bolt head.

“This will let the fluid out of the system. 
Right?”  I asked Tiffany.

“Not out,” she said.  “It releases it into that tank
and depressurizes the whole system.”

I didn’t have time to ask any more questions. 
Thrusting my arm into the tight space, I grasped the wrench and tugged. 
It didn’t budge.  Taking a breath, I re-gripped the tool and pulled with
all my strength.  It didn’t budge.  Sweat popped out on my forehead
as I kept up the pressure, but I soon backed off with a creative string of
curses.

“Sam.  Sitrep?” 

I was pushing hoses out of the way so I could get better
access to the wrench and took advantage of the moment to check on the
team.  As soon as he answered, I could hear suppressed rifle shots being
fired very quickly.

“There’s a whole mess of ‘em, sir!  We’re engaging the
leading edge, but we’re going to need every rifle we’ve got in a minute.  Sure
would be nice if you could hurry.”

I reached for the valve, starting to say something to Sam,
when the next groan from the overstressed dam sounded.  Maybe this one was
worse, or perhaps it was because we were below ground, but it was intense
enough to rattle my organs against my ribs.  There was a gasp from Tiffany
and Rachel both, but I didn’t have time to look at them.

Grasping the wrench with both hands, I pulled with a grunt
of effort.  At first, it wasn’t budging, then it suddenly released with no
warning.  My knuckles banged into several things that hurt like hell as I
stumbled backward, then there was a loud rushing sound, like water in pipes, as
the hydraulic fluid flowed into the tank.

The groan subsided as I stuck my head out of the hatch to
check the bollards.  They hadn’t moved.  Was Tiffany wrong about how
to release them?

“They’re not moving!”  I shouted.

“Mechanical locks in the shafts,” Tiffany yelled back.

I looked down to see her grab a hammer out of the tool kit
and worm her way past a couple of hoses.  Looking at the ceiling, she
extended the hammer and hit something with a sharp blow and quickly stepped
back.  The bottom of a bollard appeared, descending rapidly until it came
to a stop with a dull thud I could feel in the concrete floor.  Checking
outside, I confirmed that one of the bollards had indeed retracted.

“You’ve got eleven more.  Can you get all of
them?” 

“No problem,” Tiffany said as she headed for the next one,
hammer swinging from her hand.

“Go.  Sounds like they need help,” Rachel said. 
“I’ll call if we need you.”

I met her eyes briefly, then climbed up onto the road. 
Telling Dog to stay and protect them, I ran for the vehicles.  Before I
reached the crashed truck, I heard the unsuppressed rifles the kids were
carrying start up.  That wasn’t good news.  There must be a lot of
infected coming if Igor, Long and Sam couldn’t hold them off on their own.

Reaching the lead Humvee, I cursed when I saw how many
females were bearing down on the group.  Two hundred, at least. 
Bodies littered the road, but there were still more infected charging towards
us than there were lying dead on the asphalt.

Taking position behind one of the Hummers to use its hood
for a shooting rest, I joined the fight.  Putting down three females, I
paused when I saw several run at an angle and into the rocks.  The same
rocks I’d had Caleb send the girls into. 

“Females are going into the rocks!”

I shouted into the radio, pulled the trigger on two more, then
slapped Caleb on the back.

“Go pull your girls out of the rocks before the females get
to them!”

He nodded and disappeared as I engaged another fast
runner. 

“Igor.  Is your position secure?”  I called.

“Da,” he said, continuing a long string of invective in his
native tongue as he kept firing as fast as he could cycle the bolt on the
sniper rifle.

I kept firing, but the females were pressing in.  I’d
like to say that every shot each of us was putting downrange was dropping an
infected, but that just wasn’t the case.  We were easily missing as many
as we were hitting, and more were cutting away from the asphalt and heading
into the desert.  I couldn’t tell if they were zeroed in on the girls, or
if they were trying to flank us.

The volume of unsuppressed fire from my right dropped as
Caleb rounded up the girls and moved them back onto the road.  Seconds
later, the first group joined me at the vehicle and resumed shooting. 
Caleb ran past, shouting for the rest of the girls to come down to the Humvee.

“We got the last one.  Heading across the dam!” 
Rachel’s voice over the radio.

“Watch your ass,” I said in between shots.  “Got a lot
of females and they’re trying to flank us.  Some may leak past and get to
you.”

“We’ve got Dog,” she said, her voice bouncing as she
ran.  “We’re good.”

I didn’t like the idea of them heading to the far side by
themselves, even if Dog was with them.  By now, Rachel was at least as
good with a rifle as many trained Soldiers I’d worked with, but there were
still only the two of them.  However, there wasn’t a choice. 

What I’d thought had been only about 200 females was still
coming.  Apparently, there had been some slightly slower ones behind them. 
But only slightly.  They raced around the curve in the road, coming into
view, and the bitches just kept on coming.

I had just changed magazines when a scream to my left
snapped my head around.  A female had made it past us and raced onto the
road to tackle one of the girls to the ground.  Rifle still in my hands, I
took a long step and swung the stock.  The high-impact plastic solidly
struck the side of the female’s head with enough force to snap her neck and
send the body tumbling away from the frightened girl.

Well, maybe frightened wasn’t the right word.  She
couldn’t have been more than 17, but she leaped to her feet, bleeding from
several wounds and delivered a solid kick to the corpse before turning and
continuing to fight.  Damn.  I was starting to like these kids!

Moving around behind her, I spotted and killed three females
who were picking their way amongst the rocks.  One of them was coming up
behind Igor, who hadn’t been aware of her approach.

“Igor, get your ass down here!”  I shouted as I fired
on another infected that was trying to reach him.

He fired two more shots then jumped up and half ran, half
slid, down the hill.  A female charged him before he reached the pavement,
leaping to wrap herself around his upper body.  The big Spetsnaz soldier
grabbed her by the throat and twisted, slamming her head against a rock and
ending her fight.

“Rachel, you OK?”  I shouted, stepping farther back and
scanning the rocks for more females.

Two on the right side managed to avoid my fire, the bullets
blasting chunks out of a couple of boulders instead of putting them down. 
They ducked, using the rugged terrain to their advantage and I lost sight of
them.

“We’re fine,” Rachel answered, panting.

It’s nearly a quarter of a mile across the top of Hoover
dam.  Not really that far, but when you’re racing the clock, and attacking
infected, it can feel like forever.  They were probably running flat out for
the far side.

“Females are starting to leak through.  Keep your eyes
open.”

The volume of fire coming from my team and the girls was
ferocious, but we were barely holding our own.  And I was starting to
worry about our ammo situation.  Dropping a charging female, I dashed to
the back of the Humvee that was carrying most of our ammo, screaming for Caleb
to join me.