Chapter 12: A Covert Mission

"You ready mom?"

"Almost."

It was just past midnight as Julie shrugged her canvas backpack onto her shoulders, fastened the chest strap, and tightened all the adjustments to ensure the pack wouldn't bounce around while she ran. Inside the pack was the nearly-empty smokeball gun from the back of Eli's Sweeper team's roller. She also packed the military hatchet, and a blanket to wedge between the weapons to prevent any noise they'd make from clacking against each other. Her pistol was strapped to her thigh, a tactical knife was clipped onto her belt, and the machete hung off her left hip.

"Alright. Once we start, we need to move in silence. So, before we go...", he took her by the waist and pulled her into a deep, passionate kiss, then leaned away to stare into her beautiful gray-blue eyes,"...I love you. No matter what happens down there, I'll make sure we make it out, together."

"Mm, I love you too." With a soft smile, she lightly touched his cheek, then hardened her expression into fierce professionalism. "Now, let's go find Vivi."

She jogged down the hill, away from their car, Eli following behind her. He carried the assault rifle one-handed, with the grip tucked into his right elbow, in the 'cradle carry'¹  his grandfather taught him for long-distance running with a rifle. The hunting knife was strapped to his belt, along with the two remaining tactical folding knives, and his pistol was securely holstered on his right thigh. They decided against bringing the shotgun because they didn't have a strap for it, and they'd need both hands free to climb the defensive wall.

They had preemptively moved their car to the southern hilltop, behind the mine's entrance, getting as close to the wall as they could without risking detection, reducing the distance they would have to travel on foot. Even though the run was only about a quarter-mile, the downward slope and sandy terrain made it feel three times longer. Slowing down as they approached the wall, Julie stopped and waited for Eli. He caught up seconds later and dropped to a squat, leaned his back against the wall, and let his rifle hang from his neck. With Eli in position, Julie stepped into his linked hands, and was lifted up enough to see over the barrier, her own hands pressed against the wall for support.

From his lower position, Eli looked up, past the hypnotic underboob that peaked out of Julie's shirt when she lifted her arms, and watched her face as she scanned for nearby enemies. She looked down at him, took her left hand off the wall, and pointed upward. So, up she went. Eli lifted her higher, then gave a small push to help her over the wall. He moved his rifle to his back as he stood, turning to face the obstacle. After wiping away the sand Julie's boots left on his palms, he reached up, grabbed the top of the wall, and quietly pulled himself over, landing with a soft *thud* on the other side.

Swinging his rifle around to position, he briefly studied their surroundings. The militia's vehicle storage building was fifteen meters ahead of them, the mine's entrance tunnel was twenty meters to their right. After making eye contact with his mother, the two of them swiftly, but cautiously, moved toward the tunnel, hugging the wall as they went. There were still a few female marauders walking the streets, but they were far enough down the road to not hear Eli and Julie's invasion.

Moving away from the border wall to reach the tunnel's opening, Eli's anxiety level was skyrocketing. They stuck so close to the tunnel's arched wall that the sleeve of his shirt occasionally brushed against it. Entering the shallow tunnel, Eli felt the familiar pressure of his eyes shifting to accommodate the brightness of the overhead lighting.

He swung his rifle around to his back, drawing his hunting knife as he crossed the short distance to the wide, steel door in the cement interior wall separating the town from the mines. Julie, machete out and ready, stood to the left of the large sliding door. Eli grabbed the door's handle and prayed the damn thing wasn't barred shut, and that no one was guarding it from within. He eased the sliding door open just enough to allow entry, and Julie immediately dashed through the gap.

*Crack!*

The distinct sound of metal hitting bone caught his ears as he rushed through the doorway. Sure enough, the door had been guarded. Quickly pushing the door shut, Eli caught up with Julie, who had knocked the guard unconscious using the butt of her machete. The probably-not-dead-yet guard was hanging over Julie's shoulder, a bloody spot visible in the back of her short, brown hair. Eli took the lead, with Julie following closely, carrying the evidence of their infiltration over her shoulder like a sack of wheat.

The power in the mines all ran through a bank of sedan-sized batteries in the main electrical room, so they followed the side-corridor to their right, which would take them to their first objective; kill the lights. Distant voices echoed up from deeper in the mining facility, close to the actual mines by Eli's estimation. They ignored the far-off voices as they approached the electrical room, cautiously opening the door as they entered, and softly closing it behind them. They were alone in the room; the raiders didn't see any need to guard six massive batteries, after all.....the stupid fucks.

Julie marched to the back of the room, behind the row of batteries, and dumped her captive onto the floor. In one, swift motion, she pulled the tactical knife from her belt, flicked it open, and plunged in into the guard's throat, twice. No fucking mercy. After cleaning her blade using the dead woman's shirt, she put it away and joined up with Eli at the main powerline junction box, where the emergency disconnect switch was located.

She turned around to let Eli take the hatchet from her pack. He stood beside the thick power lines, enclosed in PVC pipes, that carried electricity from the battery bank to the mining facility, sheathed his hunting knife, and waited for Julie to throw the disconnect switch. She yanked the lever to the off position, plunging everyone in the underground facility into total, suffocating darkness....everyone except for Eli, Julie, and, hopefully, Vivi.

With their supply shut off, the power lines at his feet were no longer live with electricity, making Eli's job about a million volts safer. He slammed the military hatchet down, crunching into the hard plastic shell that protected the wiring inside. One more powerful chop, and the first electrical line was cut. Four more rapid chops, and all three main power lines into the mines were severed. Even if someone managed to stumble their way through the dark tunnels and hallways to the power switch, it wouldn't do them any good.

Eli quickly stored the hatchet back inside Julie's pack, took out his hunting knife once more, then lead the way out of the electrical room, into the mining facility. They didn't need to sneak anymore, since they couldn't be seen unless one of the enemies happened to have a flashlight when the power died, so they sprinted back up to the mine's main entryway, then down the wide bunker tunnel lined with repurposed mining facility rooms. Confused, angry shouts started coming from everywhere around them, more and more voices being added to the mix with each passing second.

Eli took one side of the main tunnel, and Julie took the other, as they threw open every single door on each side of the corridor in search of Vivi. In any other situation, Eli would find it hilarious to open a door and see a dozen women shouting, disoriented, fumbling around the room, bumping into furniture and each other, and crawling cross the floor. 

They were halfway to the rocky mineshaft entrance at the end of the concrete facilities when Julie gave a sharp whistle to get Eli's attention. He jerked his head around and stopped in his tracks, then ran across the wide hallway, to where Julie was standing by a half-open door. Peering inside, he saw what was probably the last remaining survivors of the Lancaster Militia, their feet bound together and their hands tied behind their backs, lined-up together in the far corner of the facility's large cafeteria dining room. All twenty-three surviving militia members had clearly been tortured for information, which is probably how the raiders got the armory access codes so quickly.

Three khaki-wearing women stood between the captives and the main dining area, presumably keeping their prisoners confined to the corner area. The three guards had their pistols drawn and were waving them around in the pitch black darkness, in a useless attempt to find the perceived threat that would eventually come for them. Further back in the cafeteria, five more could be seen through the serving window in the kitchen, behaving much the same as the other three. These women were at least smart enough to not shout in confusion like the dumbasses in the other rooms, recognizing the connection between the sudden darkness and the possibility of a sneak attack.

Among the bound and battered survivors, at the far end of the line, staring right at Eli's face, was Vivi. Her lower lip was split open and bleeding, her cut-off tank top exposed horrible bruises covering her ribs and stomach, a long slash had been torn across the outside of her left bicep, and blood was trailing down her neck from a head wound hidden by her blonde hair. But, despite her situation, she didn't appear scared or fragile. No, she looked fucking furious, and dangerous, like a wild tigress trapped in a cage, ready to rip her captors apart with her bare hands.

Slowly, silently, and cautiously, Eli and Julie crept into the dining room. They left the door partially open, exactly as they found it. Opening it further, or closing it, would change the volume of the confused shouts coming from the corridor into the cafeteria, alerting the enemy to their presence. Sweeper work was good training for silent infiltration. As they moved like ghosts between the dining tables, Julie raised her machete, preparing to snuff the life out of the nearest guard. Eli threw out his hand to stop her movement, then motioned for her to come closer. Carefully removing his assault rifle from his back, he passed it to her, then gestured for her to stay back, provide cover, and wait for him to grab Vivi. Almost reluctantly, she nodded her agreement.

Sweat dripping down his face, Eli slowly worked his way around the guards, to where his sister sat on the floor. She was watching the blinded aggressors closely, ready to warn her brother should they happen to notice him. Eli knelt before her, and she understood his intentions, leaning over his left shoulder as he bent forward. Lifting Vivi off the floor, he felt her bruised stomach muscles clench in pain, but she didn't let any sound escape her lips. He looked over at one of the militia captives, Kate from the armory, and moved toward her. He unclipped one of the tactical knives from his belt, then placed it on the ground beside her hands, where she could find it if she scooted a few centimeters backward.

Eli's heart was pounding from adrenaline, and stress, as he carried Vivi toward the exit. They passed Julie, who kept the rifle aimed at the raiders while following them out the door, into the wide concrete hallway. They walked past the next room over before Eli sat Vivi down to release her from her restraints. When she painfully stood up, rubbing the bruises on her wrists from the too-tight rope, Julie rushed to bring her into a tight hug. Julie didn't make any sound, but her chest heaved with silent sobs of relief. The two shared an emotional reunion for only a moment before Eli interrupted them, getting the hatchet from Julie's pack and giving it to Vivi.

Receiving the assault rifle from Julie, Eli slung it over his back, then took the lead for their escape. They had a straight path to the exit, only about forty meters between them and the metal door. Escape would be simple, if not for the fact that the hallway was filling up with stumbling, shouting, disoriented enemies. Apparently, most of the raider's forces weren't as capable, or smart, as the ones watching over the militia captives. The shambling fools were moving too erratically for Eli's family to sneak past them all, so, he tightened his reverse-grip on his knife, hardened his resolve, and moved forward, staying near the right wall.

The first obstacle to freedom was a woman with buzz-cut hair and a stocky build, who was walking toward the exit, using the wall as a guide. Eli grabbed her from behind, his hand slapped tightly over her mouth, pulled her head back, and thrust his hunting knife downward, into the base of her neck, severing her trachea, stabbing through her lungs, and piercing her heart. She let out a muffled yelp of surprise before going into spasms and falling limp. He lowered her to the floor, against the wall, as her life faded, a look of horror on her face. He withdrew his knife from it's human sheath, then caught up to Vivi and Julie, who had made use of the path he opened for them.

Julie used her tactical knife to dispatch the next enemy blocking their escape, slicing the woman's throat open, and shoving her to the floor. Vivi, now in the lead, was killing a third raider. With a powerful over-head swing, she drove the spiked end of her hatchet's axe head² through the top of the enemy's skull, into their brain, dropping them instantly. Eli moved past Vivi to the next raider in their path, grabbed them from behind, stabbed down into their neck, then pushed them aside while Julie went ahead to repeat the cycle of murder. Five more corpses were created, and they were almost to the exit, when the situation changed.

The confusion around them morphed into shouts of fury; the first body had been discovered. The dozens of enemies in the hallway were enraged by the attack, and all of them were blindly shoving each other toward the murder scene, thinking the culprit would still be near the body. They were, in a word, dumb. The raider group seemed to have been formed around a 'quantity over quality' philosophy.

Eli and his family took the opportunity to dash to the entrance. He quickly slid the door open enough to escape, then followed Julie and Vivi outside, closing the door behind them. The tunnel was now dark, the lights having gone out when the power was cut. They ran to the end of the tunnel and around the side, sneaking back to the settlement's defensive wall. That was the plan, anyway. They stopped, hiding beside the tunnel's exterior, and watched the scene before them in amazed disbelief.

A huge 18-wheeler trailer truck was parked in the street next to the militia's motor pool building, and a motorcade of new rollers, maybe fifteen or more, were lined up along the road behind the truck, and the street was swarming with a hundred of the khaki-clad fuckers unloading supplies into the motor pool. They had portable lights set up around the area now, illuminating the nightmarish mountain of corpses in the middle of town. These women weren't raiders, they were an army, and this was a military invasion.

Painted across the side of the truck's huge trailer was a massive flag, depicting the letters JSU encircled by stars. Standing by the truck, shouting orders to the soldiers, was the biggest woman Eli had ever seen. She was easily nine feet tall, with thick, tree trunk-like thighs, and breasts larger than Eli's head. She looked like a normal woman, just on a much, much larger scale.

With newfound urgency, Eli rushed his family to the border wall. He dropped into position, then lifted Vivi up, then Julie, before hopping over the wall after them. Julie was sprinting up the sandy hill, Vivi trailing closely behind, with Eli bringing up the rear. After a few panicked, heart-pounding minutes of uphill running, they finally reached the car. Julie yanked the back door open for Vivi, then, satisfied her baby girl was secure inside, quickly got in the driver's seat and switched the motor on. Eli ran around the back of the vehicle and jumped into the passenger seat, tossing his rifle to the floorboard as he jerked the door closed. Julie sped away, westward, along the hilltop, the car's tires shooting red sand up into the air behind them. Eli stressfully rubbed his jaw as he processed what they had just seen.

A fucking army? And a giant? Who the fuck are they?