Age of Monsters by John Schneider (a book to read txt) 📕

The EITS satellite had filled in a lot of the gaps – especially once Rhodes had provided his own clearance.

They knew about the 'blooms'.

The answer was going to be a tactical global nuclear assault.

It had to be burned away – otherwise the waves of destruction would keep on coming until there was nothing left.

Collateral damage was no longer a consideration.

Rhodes had also assured Lucas that would still be far from the end of it.  Then there would be the guerrilla war waiting outside the cities.

The new Mother Nature taking over, as the song once said.

“We're making this up as we go,” Rhodes had told him.  “It's not like we studied this shit at West Point.”

And once again, Lucas would be point man – the tip of the knife – the edge of the spear – death from above – that was HIS job.  He was the one who could.

He had flown nuclear drills so many times before, he used to joke about just once he'd like to pull the trigger.

Funny how words come back to bite you.

Now he was going to get his chance – and at the end of his mission, an area approximately ten square miles would be utterly destroyed.

Doctor Holland – Rosa – had been right.  He'd killed people.  A lot of people.  He knew it, for sure – he'd seen the buildings crumble.

When she had asked him about it, he had answered honestly enough – he was separate from it.  It was a larger scale.

This time, however, there was one pesky little detail.

Rhodes had come to him personally and told him what his target would be.

The assault was to come from several venues.  Wherever possible, remote silos would fire at long-range targets – they had even managed to access overseas facilities – they had accessed codes to European and even Russian nukes.  Lucas was uncertain if these codes had been hacked, or simply turned over.

Then there would also be several squadrons carrying direct payloads – the remaining forces coordinated off of both coasts – the Pacific fleet would target sites within the continental United States, while the Atlantic faction covered Central America.

Lucas' own assigned target would be the infected region surrounding the demolished town of Eureka.

“Whatever hit that site,” Rhodes said, “it attracted a party.  Because we've got a bloom growing there.  A big one.  The EITS confirmed it from satellite.”

Lucas had taken a look at the report himself.  In point of fact, it was a bit different than the other blooms.

It was actually more of an exodus – the report detailed large numbers of big Carcharodonts and carnosaurs moving up from the southern California cities.

He recognized what it was.  He had seen them.

It wasn't a 'bloom' so much as an incursion – because north was T. rex territory.

Based on what he saw now, Lucas had the feeling there was going to be a BIG fight to decide all that.

With ground-zero seeming to be right where he'd sent his wife.

And now he was supposed to drop a nuke on it.

Lucas pulled out his picture of Mrs. Naomi Walker.

Rosa had commented that he'd never called her by name – always 'my wife'.

Yeah, he'd responded.  He liked saying that.

He knew she would have made her way to the base if she could.

Or she could have stayed in the mountains where it was safe.

She could have.

Never mind that he'd told her a hundred times where he would meet her.  He'd move Heaven and Earth, he'd said.

That's assuming she'd survived at all.

“You're holding out hope for your lady, son,” Rhodes had said.  “You can stop.  There's dead silence in that whole region.  Wherever those beasts go, nothing stays alive.  If your wife survived, she's nowhere near there.  If not...”

Rhodes had stopped, looking Lucas directly in the eye.

“There's a reason I gave you this mission,” he said.  “I thought you might want a little payback.

“And,” he said, “because this is a fresh bloom.  We need this done, and you're the best we've got.”

Then he had straightened his shoulders.

“But I'll reassign you, if you want.  No shame.”

But Lucas was a good soldier.  He had accepted his mission.

Not for payback, however.

If it was going to be done, he would not have it done by someone else.

And when the time came, maybe he'd just make up his own mind.

“We need you on this one, son,” Rhodes said, before he had choppered out.

“Yes sir,” Lucas replied, with a formal salute.

Now he stood on the edge of the carrier, looking back to shore.

He wondered about his little band of refugees.  They would have been ferreted off to some barracks by now.  He wondered what the conditions were like.  He'd left without even asking.

And why should he?  His responsibility was finished.  He'd saved their lives.  It wasn't like he was supposed to babysit them forever.

Lucas found himself wondering about Rosa – she'd despised him almost from the start – although, he had seemed to have won her over right there near the end – right before he'd left her behind as well.

He wondered what she'd say about his mission today.  He actually wished he could ask her.

He was not, however, being given time.

His plane was being prepped at that very moment, its lethal cargo loaded.

Death from above.

Chapter 24

Sergeant Farrell drove Rosa to meet the others at the infirmary.  She identified herself as a doctor to the on-staff medics – offering her services.

The head nurse, a young woman – younger than Jamie – had smiled indulgently.

“Let's just get you checked out first, ma'am.”

Beyond a few bruises and a little dehydration, most of the group checked out remarkably fine – a point of wonder the young