Wings of Death

Expect the unexpected

Delta team had finally managed to reach the first cave in the middle of the forest. The cave looked like any other natural cave from the outside but a strange red light was emanating from within. Instead of going inside Sergeant Abel decided to contact the Captain first.

“Captain, it is Delta team here. We are at the entrance of one of the caves in the forest. Something feels out of place here. There is a strange red light coming from inside the cave and I think I hear some strange noises”.

“Just hold your position. Don’t move until I give the orders”, said the voice on the other side.

“Roger that sir!”

Captain Elijah asked his team to hold up and contacted Dr. Erica on the radio. He told her about the strange cave in the forest and asked for her advice. Gradually his expression changed and he turned pale over the course of the long radio conversation with her. He knew he had to speak to Delta team immediately.

“Delta team, can you hear me?”

“Yes Captain, we are holding position outside the cave. I think I hear some movement inside”.

“Get the hell out of there right now! “

“Is there something wrong sir?” inquired the Sergeant in a nervous voice.

“There is no time to explain. Just take your men and leave immediately. That’s an order Sergeant!”

“Yes sir got it. We will return to base A.S.A.P”

Sergeant Abel ordered his men to get back to their vehicles. Their mission had ended sooner than he had expected. He still could not figure out why Captain Elijah asked his team to leave without searching either of the caves. What could be inside the cave? Why was it glowing red? The question kept resurfacing in his mind as he made his way out of the forest.

Meanwhile Nathan and his team had finished searching all the remaining southern zones for survivors except one. Now they were headed towards the tall row of office buildings on Kaiser Avenue. Alex’s mom used to work in one of the offices in that area.  The two brothers walked towards their mother’s office with nervous footsteps. Alex stopped right outside the door and asked Nathan to give him some time. He was having a panic attack. So many terrible thoughts were going through his mind that he found it very difficult to focus. Nathan gave him some water and tried to assure him that his mother would be just fine.

“Hey bro, if that couple managed to survive I am sure your mom also made it. I am right here man. Don’t worry. We will save her”.

“I hope so man”, he cried and hugged Nathan.

When Alex had finally mustered his strength again they decided to head inside. Joshua was absolutely quiet and there was a serious look in his searching eyes.

It was pitch dark inside the office. The chairs and tables lay scattered on the marble floor. It seemed the people inside had knocked them over in panic. There were numerous bloodstains on the floor but no bodies. Nathan and his team followed the bloodstains to the first flight of stairs which led to the basement level. Joshua’s hands trembled in fear as they slowly made their way down the staircase. Just outside the locked basement door there was a smear of dried blood and beside it lay the decaying corpse of a middle-aged woman. Nathan shone his flashlight on its face and Joshua closed his eyes in fear.

“Phew! Thank God...It’s not mom” Alex breathed a sigh of relief.

 Joshua finally opened his eyes and looked at the corpse. Nathan knocked on the door and called out for survivors but there was no answer.

“Mom, are you there? It’s me Joshua. Please answer mom!” Joshua cried out impatiently. With every passing moment the brothers were becoming more and more nervous.

“Break the door. We need to get inside”, ordered Nathan turning to the soldiers.

Two Rain Troopers stepped forwards and bashed the door open with their shields. Nathan headed inside along with Alex and Joshua. There were trails of blood all across the floor and the walls had bloody hand-prints plastered on them. Several dead bodies lay scattered around the room.

“Mom, are you there mom?” Joshua started screaming frantically as he shuffled across the room swinging his flash light all around.

“J...Joshua, is that you?” a terrified female voice called out from the farthest end of the room. The room was quite large and the farthest end was still shrouded in darkness. They hurried towards the location where the voice came from pointing their flashlights in that direction.

In the bright glow of the high powered flashlight they saw a lady pop her head out from behind a barricade made of desks and chairs. She covered her face with her hands to shield her eyes from the blinding gleam of light.

“Mom!” screamed Joshua as he rushed towards her. Alex still couldn’t believe his eyes and froze in his tracks. The woman slowly lowered her hand and revealed her face. It was indeed Joshua’s mom. It took Alex a few seconds to register the whole situation in his head. He tried to call her but his voice was choked with tears. With tears streaming down his cheeks he slowly walked towards her. Joshua was already hugging her tightly and crying his heart out.

“Alex, Joshua, I thought I’d never see you again. You don’t know how happy I am to see that both of you are safe. I tried to contact you but there was no network and then my cell phone’s battery died”. She held her dear treasures close to her heart and showered a flurry of kisses on their foreheads. Nathan ordered his men to stand down. He didn’t want to interrupt the family reunion.

There were a couple of other survivors huddled behind the barricade. Later on Alex’s mom told them they were her office colleagues. Nathan asked his men to help the survivor’s on their feet and take them to the vehicles before informing Captain Elijah about them over the radio. The Captain told them to secure the survivors and return to the base.