Caldera Book 2: Out of the Fire by Heath Stallcup

Author:Heath Stallcup [Stallcup, Heath]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: DevilDogPress

Colonel Vickers had headed out before daybreak in a light chopper for an overhead view of what his men were facing. The number of bodies being returned to the makeshift camp simply weren’t adding up compared to the number of vehicles cited, and he wanted a firsthand view of what was being reported. Donning the helmet that allowed him to see what the IR cameras captured, he could discern a number of heat signatures in the woods; most burned much brighter than others and from what he had gathered from Andrews, the infected should burn brighter. Their body temperatures should skyrocket, their brains would swell, they would undergo a transformation that, for all intents and purposes, would make them appear feral.

As the chopper climbed higher and Vickers got a better view, he was beginning to see just how spread out the infected were. While his soldiers were hunting them in standard formations, the infected were out hunting the uninfected and wildlife in small packs or single units. He sighed as he realized that standard military tactics simply weren’t going to work.

He keyed his mic and told the pilot, “Take me back.”

He sat back in his seat and tried to think. This situation was worse than trying to ferret out insurgents in some damned cave. You could always bomb the entrance to the cave and starve them out or cut off their oxygen supply or simply cave it in. No, these damned things could scatter to parts unknown. If just one of the infected got through his nets…got into a heavily populated area, it would spread like wildfire. Vickers shivered at the thought.

True, they wanted to weaponize the virus, but not to be used on U.S. soil. It was to be used on somebody else. Somebody not American. Infect an enemy nation and let them deal with their own population and stop being a threat to us. At least, that was the plan as he knew it.

Vickers shook his head and made the decision. He needed more troops. His ghost unit was effective, but couldn’t possibly cover the area necessary in the time they had. He needed something that could wipe them all out quickly, before they spread. If only this was Buttcrackistan, he could…yes, he could. He could order up a tactical strike.

A Massive Ordnance Air Blast Bomb (MOAB) or Mother of All Bombs, dropped right here. The blast should be sufficient to level the area, the concussion would kill anything living, kick up enough soil and debris to effectively bury the evidence and not put any more troops at risk.

Vickers felt his heart race as he considered the risky proposition…how could he convince his bosses that it was necessary? Could he convince them? The populace wouldn’t have to know that it was the military. Yellowstone is quite active. There have been theories of how it could ‘blow’ at any time. Perhaps they could spin it that it was a minor volcanic eruption. Somehow the volcano erupted, but just enough to blow off pressure here?

Well, that was for the spin masters.

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