Extinction War by Nicholas Smith

Author:Nicholas Smith
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction / Science Fiction / Action & Adventure, Fiction / Science Fiction / Apocalyptic & Post-Apocalyptic, Fiction / Science Fiction / Military, Fiction / Dystopian, Fiction / Thrillers / Military, Fiction / War & Military, Fiction / Horror
Publisher: Orbit
Published: 2017-11-28T05:00:00+00:00

16

Calling it the “highway to hell” wasn’t an exaggeration. Fitz sat in the radio operator’s seat of the MATV, staring in awe at the tunnel, which was wide enough for two armored trucks to drive side by side.

“Turn on the headlights,” he said.

Stevenson switched them on as they drove down a dirt ramp into the tunnel. The high beams cut through the darkness and illuminated a road that Wormers had carved under the earth—hundreds of them, judging by the fifteen-foot ceiling and wide dirt walls.

“This shit is bananas,” Rico said.

Fitz agreed. For a moment, he had almost forgotten that he was still missing his blades. The grim view was that breathtaking.

This wasn’t just an escape tunnel—it was a graveyard. The monsters that had died from the radiation bombs were everywhere. Some were burned beyond recognition, making it difficult to identify the beasts.

A mangled Variant lay sprawled in the middle of the tunnel, the headlights sweeping over sucker lips and filmy yellow eyes.

Stevenson used the cowcatcher to plow the charred bodies out of the way. Bones crunched under the weight of the two-ton armored vehicle.

“This is amazing,” Tanaka said.

“Amazing isn’t exactly the word I would use,” Stevenson said dryly.

“My ancestors had legends about places like this,” said Dohi. The normally quiet man sat in the back seat with his fingers around a necklace with a black stone that Fitz had never seen before.

“I hate it when you say shit like that,” Stevenson said. “You know how much it gives me the creeps.”

“Maybe the Variants aren’t man-made monsters. Maybe they’re demons,” Dohi continued. “The Lakota tell of a creature called Two-Face—a half man, half demon with one face that is human and one that is a monster. In some of the legends Two-Face is a cannibal, but in all of them he kills and disfigures his victims to feed his endless appetite. Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?”

Rico shuddered. “I think I liked it better when you didn’t talk so much,” she said.

“The hemorrhage virus caused this,” Tanaka chimed in. “Sorry, brother, but that’s science.”

They fell into silence as they drove deeper into the tunnel. The headlights illuminated a mound of dirt that looked like the gritty sand Fitz had lost his blades in. Stevenson eased off the gas pedal.

“Is that one of the sand traps?” Rico asked.

“Yup,” Stevenson replied. “They’re everywhere. I almost got lost trying to find my way out of here earlier.”

“Keep going,” Fitz said.

Stevenson maneuvered around a ramp of dirt that nearly reached the ceiling and continued deeper into the passage. A veiny, wrinkled arm protruded from the bottom of the pile, the claws reaching out for the approaching MATV.

“Christ,” Stevenson said. “Do you see that?”

“Keep going,” Fitz said when Stevenson slowed.

“You want me to call Command?” asked Tanaka.

“No, I’ll do it, but I want more intel before I do,” Fitz said. He couldn’t quite believe his eyes as they continued forward. The creatures seemed to have evolved into something that more closely resembled insects than humans.

“The Wormers must have dug the tunnels and then created openings above to let the other beasts through,” he said.

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