The Ghosts Left Behind - Part 3
As the three aircraft ascended away from the mountain their deafening thumping echo stretched across the mountain range for dozens of miles, bouncing from empty valley to empty valley. Their noise fell over the area's silence for what seemed like hours.
Groenlund quickly instructed his men to fan out across the abandoned facility, forming a perimeter, with Isaac's team at the center of it. All that inhabited the facility now were dead leaves blowing aimlessly in the wind through abandoned jeeps across the large concrete staging area they had just landed on. Intel believed it had once been used to load the regime's nuclear bombs onto sleds that ran back into the mountain to be tested. A creaking, rusting crane seemed to confirm this theory.
"Colonel Anderson," Groenlund called over the radio through his breathing mask, "get me a radiation measure, please."
"Watson," Isaac called to one of his team members, "you know what to do."
Rescue Officer Lucy Watson activated a Geiger counter and began taking measurements. "Readings are consistent with what the sniffer detected. At these levels our twenty-four hour stay will be safe."
"Groenlund," said Isaac.
"I heard," Groenlund answered. "Okay, lets split up. All teams move out. First check in at twelve-sixteen hours. See you all at the summit." Groenlund took one hand off of his assault rifle and motioned for everyone to move. "Colonel Anderson," he called, "you're with me."
Isaac nodded. "Right. Watson, Hidalgo, Mancera, with me. Everyone else, good luck… Captain Harania…" Aasav turned around. "We're the first UNIRO field team on UNIRO's first ever mission," Isaac smiled. "Don't make us look bad."
"Yes, sir," said Aasav, firmly shaking Isaac's gloved hand.
Watching his friend leave, Isaac soon lost his excited smile. He looked up at the looming dead mountain that he had heard so much about. Something moving in his peripheral vision made him turn swiftly to his right. Hanging a few feet up a flagpole that still hosted an old tattered Northern flag was a gas mask. One of its lenses was cracked.
"You all right?" asked Groenlund, walking up behind Isaac, pointing to the mask.
"Yeah," said Isaac. "Its just, I can't begin to imagine the hell this place was."
"Was?" Groenlund chuckled through his respirator. "Is... Hundreds died here and hundreds of thousands more still could if we don't figure out what's going on. It's Pandora's box."
What sounded like a large tree branch snapping suddenly shrieked across the mountainside from several hundred feet up above them. Groenlund and his men raised their weapons and scanned every inch of their vision. Isaac could hear his breath accelerate in his respirator. The wind picked up and began howling through the trees, as if to hide the echoes of the broken branch.
"Down, down, down," Groenlund instructed in a whisper, taking a knee.
Isaac did as he was told, signaling for his own personnel to do the same. With high ground all around he felt exposed. He saw Watson swinging her head back and forth. She sounded like she was hyperventilating.
"Watson," Isaac said, gently placing his hand on her shoulder, "are you alright?"
"Yes, sir," she said. Her mask was fogging up.
"It's, okay," said Isaac calmingly. "The best of the best are watching our backs."
Another loud snap came from above. Watson's head snapped up so fast Isaac though she'd broken her neck.
"Anyone have a contact?" Groenlund asked, this time with more urgency. No one in the immediate team did. "All teams, all teams, be advised we have a possible contact four hundred meters due north of the LZ. Something seems to be breaking heavy branches. Stay sharp."
Everyone waited a few more seconds before speaking.
"What the hell was that?" Watson asked.
"An animal?" suggested one of Groenlund's men.
"Can't be," said Isaac, "they're all dead."
A low hissing sound began, so low that it was almost a moan. The ground started to shake. Just as Groenlund was about to radio the rest of his platoon everything stopped, yielding to the growing wind.
"Okay, the better question is what the hell was that?" asked Rescue Officer Hidalgo.
No one tried to give an answer this time.
"North Team," called Groenlund, lowering his gun, "lets move." He knew they were being watched.