Survivors
Chapter Fifty-Eight

At the helicopter rendezvous site Jack and Holly sat quietly in some thick bushes. They were looking down onto a small bay. There were gently rolling sand dunes that were covered in thick dune grass. Only the last few meters of sand were actually just .. Sand. Every now and then Holly would glance round to see if she could see any sign of Luke or Joe. Her ears were large and hare like giving her a very odd appearance. Jack stared intently towards the sea, never taking his eyes off the horizon.

After a while Holly spoke “I think something’s happened, they’ve been gone far too long”.

“What?” said Jack, not really paying attention.

“I said they’ve been gone far too long” snapped Holly irritated by his obvious lack of concern.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m sorry” replied Jack soothingly having noticed the anger in Holly’s voice.

“I think I should...”

“No!” interrupted Jack “No, you can’t go and look for them”.

“Can’t?!” replied Holly.

“Sorry” said Joe “Wrong choice of words. I really wouldn’t advise going to look for them. I’ve said it before but in situations like these all military training says that its best for one party to stay put. Otherwise everyone ends up running around looking for everyone else. What would happen if Luke and Joe turned up here needing our help and we weren’t here to give it”.

“Yeah, but what if they need our help right now somewhere else?”

“Oh Holly, we can play the “Yeah But” game about every decision we ever try to make. Trust me, our best bet is to stay here”.

All at once Holly stiffened and looked out towards the sea. “I hear something” she said.

Jack strained his ears and eyes staring in the same direction.

“I can’t hear, or see anything” he said.

“I can” she replied turning towards him, her eyes were huge like an eagle owl. “I can see seven helicopters coming in low and fast over the sea”.

Jack grinned “You know what this means” he said “We did it, we really did it. We got a message to the island”.

“But what about Joe and Luke” cried Holly. “We can’t go without them. I won’t go without them”.

“I’m sure they’ll be here any minute” said Jack trying to be reassuring.

Within a few seconds even Jack could see the helicopters. They were only dark dots just above the horizon but they grew bigger and bigger with every second. They watched them come into the bay and start to land. Each helicopter blew up a storm of sand and buffeted the grass in all directions. The small cove that a few minutes ago had been a scene of peace and tranquillity was suddenly a maelstrom of noise and movement. The six helicopters had now all landed but the rotas continued to turn ready to take off at any moment.

“Come on” yelled Jack as he grabbed Holly’s hand and ran out across the dunes. Holly was temporarily blinded by the sand. A thin lizard eyelid flicked down over her eyes. She blinked a couple of times and her sight was completely clear. She let Jack drag her towards the chopper because she didn’t really know what else she should do. She did know she wasn’t going to get on any of the helicopters without Joe or Luke, but that moment of truth hadn’t arrived... Yet!

Some men jumped out of a couple of the choppers and started running towards Jack and Holly. One of the men beckoned to Jack to make his way back to the hedge line. Jack stopped for a moment and Holly almost ran into the back of him. By now the men had reached them and swept them back towards the bushes. All of the men carried huge guns that looked like very basic versions of Bretnels’s laser rifle. Once they had reached a distance from the distance from the choppers that made the noise of the motors almost bearable, they stopped running.

“Welcome Major Barnes” said Jack briskly holding out his hand.

“Good to see you too Jack” replied Barnes grasping Jacks hand and pumping it hard. “Never thought I’d see you again after your group failed to report back. You can’t imagine the arguments there have been back at the base since your little message arrived”. Barnes looked around “Did any of the others make it?”

“No sir, I’m afraid not” replied Jack stiffly.

Barnes shook his head sadly and put his hand on Jacks shoulder.

“I’m truly sorry son” he said.

“Thank you sir” said Jack.

Barnes then looked at Holly as if he was seeing her for the very first time.

“And who’s this little lady?” He asked in the most patronising tone Holly had ever heard in her life.”Was she one of the voices we heard on the radio?”

“Yes sir” interrupted Jack “This is Holly, and she is a truly exceptionally person. You would not believe what she is capable of”.

“Sure, sure” said Major Barnes dismissively “Now tell me why you needed all these transports. I hope it’s good news”.

“It’s better than we ever could have expected. We not only have the prototypes but many fully working weapons in several different models”.

“That’s fantastic news, well done” said Barnes slapping Jack on the back. “So what are we waiting for, let’s get them loaded”. He turned and waived to the rest of the men in the copters to disembark.

“But what about Joe and Luke” shouted Holly “You can’t go without them”.

“What about who?” asked Barnes puzzled and more than a little annoyed.

“Joe and Luke” insisted Holly “We can’t go anywhere without them. I won’t go without them!”

“We will go when I say we go” snapped Barnes.

“You can go whenever you want” blurted out Holly “I’m not going anywhere without my friends. I will not go!”.

“Won’t!” said Barnes, who was obviously not used to being contradicted. “Can I talk to you for a moment Lieutenant”. Barnes grabbed Jack by the arm and led him quickly away. Holly didn’t bother trying to listen in to the conversation, she turned and started scanning the countryside for any sign of Luke or Joe.

If she had watched she would have seen a conversation that got steadily more and more heated. Jack was obviously having difficulty explaining exactly what Holly, Luke and Joe were capable of and why they could be as, if not more important than the guns. Barnes was evidently not listening and even less interested, he just wanted the guns. Eventually Barnes completely lost his temper and did what all military men do in this sort of situation, he pulled rank, and Jack did what he was conditioned to do, he obeyed. He snapped to attention and stared rigidly in front of him while Barnes, now red with rage, screamed into his face.

By now all the men had disembarked from the helicopters and were stood around somewhat confused waiting for orders. They were tense, none of them liked being on the mainland for too long, the chances of meeting a Alien were all too real and all too dangerous. Barnes finally finished his tirade at Jack and stood for a moment panting, tired but still furious. Jack smartly saluted still staring straight ahead, then made a precise about turn and marched towards the waiting men. As he approached he started barking orders of his own, while pointing vigorously in various directions before striding off towards where the cases of guns were hidden.

Abruptly he halted in his tracks. Something had caught his attention.

“Jack! Jack! Jack!” it was holly shouting as loud as she could.

He spun round to see her running towards him. Even at a hundred yards or so away it was obvious that she was frantic.

He started running towards her “What is it Holly? What is it?”

“It’s Aliens” she yelled “Lots of them, coming this way!”