“Breaching! Breaching!”
“Hallway clear.”
“Left side clear.”
“Right side clear.”
"Hallway coming out!"
"Coming out!"
"There's nothing here."
"You know It's not your fault, right?" Dan said, sitting beside him holding a book. "It's all been investigated and that nothing went wrong."
"Tell that to him," Hank replied as he paused the video. The laptop showed a body lying in a pool of its own blood. Flashlights stabbed through the darkness of the room save for the monitors and the blinking lights of the PC on the corner. "He fucking thought we were there to rob him," He muttered and continued the video where it showed the Glock the homeowner thought he'd use for personal defense.
"Don't worry bro, The asshole that called it in got caught and is facing multiple felonies and murder. I know someone working on his case. Said he'll likely get twenty years then a chance at parole. As far as he knows, his world is going to end." Doug chimed in on the other side of the room. He sat reclined on one of the folding chairs, his legs propped up on another as a footrest while he kept swiping on his phone left and right.
"Let me guess, that someone is the lawyer chick you got a date from last week?" Dan replied.
Doug then looked up with a grin, then pointed at Dan, "You got it."
"Does she ask for a warrant whenever you step in her house?" Hoss called from the other side of the room, chuckling.
"She usually doesn't, but she does like getting cuffed up."
"Oh, freaky now is she?"
Hank leaned back as he continued watching the video. It had been considered as a justified shooting, but Hank thought otherwise, they shouldn’t be there in the first place.
Hank hated bullies, cry bullies especially. It was not because of his past of getting victimized by one but simply of how he was taught. Caring for the weak should always be the duty of the strong, not due to some noble obligation but because it was right.
Hank paused the video and simply listened to the banter. They were in the ready room. Ready meaning that everyone inside has to be prepared to respond to emergency calls requiring their team which was mostly armed robberies or domestic disputes. Calls rarely happen which caused the location to be also dubbed as the hangout room. Everyone was required to wear their SWAT department uniform composed of tactical long sleeve padded shirts and padded pants.
Hank hated that word. Tactical. Everything could have the word attached to it. All it was is a marketing buzzword to make any product sound cool.
Hank leaned back closing his eyes. These downtimes are sometimes the worst for him. Idle thoughts kept creeping into his head whenever he had too much time to do nothing but think. The thoughts would stay there until he could find something else to do or get distracted by.
An hour later, Hank was surfing on his laptop while the others did whatever to pass the time when the door was shoved inward causing it to slam against the wall. Everyone looked up to see the Captain striding inside wearing a serious expression. Everything took attention to the entrance as it only meant one thing. A job.
"We got an emergency boys. Get your seats and shut the fuck up." The captain started as everyone complied and got on their seats. "Something just happened. The government is freaking out and is securing every human asset vital to the continuity of government. Our job is to keep a senator passing by safe until someone else comes and takes the problem away from us. We are allowed to secure the whole floor of the hotel the senator is staying and we are to make sure nothing passes by or under us. Any questions?"
"Are we at war, sir?" Hank asked as he raised his hand.
He shook his head, "It is not confirmed yet, but it's a likely bet. Whoever with, doesn't matter. Another likely bet would be a terrorist attack." he looked at us with a stern expression, "Keep your eyes peeled, ROE has changed to verbal threat first, then warning shot, then deadly force. Do not fuck this up, gentlemen! Lives are clearly at stake here and we will complete this mission. Is that clear?"
"CLEAR!!"
"Get to the trucks! Squad leaders, stay here for your maps." he bellowed. Everyone filled out the moment they finished putting in gear. They jogged out of the ready room and made their way down the halls and into the motor pool where the station's two Bearcats lay parked facing out.
The interior of the Bearcat was spartan yet spacious, but as men filled in with their gear and guns, the room was quickly filled causing everyone to rub elbows with each other.
The teams were split between two squads of five men, each assigned to the two Bearcats. The engine growled to life and propelled the eight-ton vehicle as easily as if it was an ordinary sedan.
The blue and red lights came on the truck causing every other vehicle on the road to make way. Hank looked over the given maps and memorized the location of the entrances. The building had a pair of elevators with a single double-wide stairway to serve as both as a passageway for the guests while serving as an emergency exit. The hotel had to be old for it to precede current building codes and still be operational.
The team arrived a couple of minutes later at the hotel. Hank's squad knew the drill from doing it a hundred times before in training and on the job. They filled out the front entrance and secured the lobby while the other team went secure the parking lot using their bomb-sniffing dogs.
Seeing the hardware, guests in the lobby pulled out their phones and started recording. They had no idea what is going on. Hank went to the receptionist's desk where he found the manager. He pulled him to the side to inform him what's happening. He nodded and went on to instruct the other hosts to calm the rest of the guests while he came with the team.
The manager led the way to the elevator leading up to the 7th floor. Hank assigned one of his team, Rob, to guard the lobby while the rest follow him.
The elevator announced its arrival with a ding. The team fanned out, where they informed the other guests of the recent development and were politely, but firmly, asked to pack their bags and go to the lobby where they would be assigned other rooms. Hank and the Hotel Manager apologized profusely for the inconvenience while the guests looked at them with emotions ranging from trust and understanding to annoyance and suspicion.
Confirming the guests have left, Hank assigned one man to guard each avenue of approach then went to the VIP's room and knocked. A burly black man opened the door a crack and peeked through. Hank pointed at his badge then showed his police identification. The man passed it on to someone behind him to check its validity, all the while, the two could do nothing else but stare at each other.
The man was huge. Hank measured him to weight about three hundred pounds with nothing but lean muscle hidden under his tailored suit. He bore a blank expression as he stood like an ebony statue but Hank could bet that he was busy taking a measure of him and perfectly ready to respond to threats.
Another man stepped behind the bodyguard and whispered something. "The senator will see you now," He said, then opened the door.
Hank nodded as he passed the guard. The hotel room was as what would expect from a senator. The room was spacious, it sported a sitting room with large leather padded couches connected to smaller rooms for the rest of her retinue.
Spotting the senator was no issue. She was surrounded by her aides pouring through reports and files while other men in blacks stood off to the side, watching everyone around her.
As he entered, Hank caught some of the guards move their hands closer to their sidearms, he smiled back. They nodded. The sight of a man armed with an assault rifle would have triggered their wariness towards him, but Hank didn't care as he stood by the side, content on simply being ignored.
"I don't remember asking for additional security detail." The senator called as she finished with the reports. She wore the usual office skirt and white blazer with subtle elegance. Experienced and hardened, she had crow's feet creeping up on her eyes along with the signs of wrinkles. She looked like the model for a magazine showing a strong and independent woman.
Hank smiled. "Don't worry, ma'am. We'll be out of your hair in no time," he replied, then moved to the side nearby a chair. A couple of minutes later, he took a seat, grinning at the bodyguards who remained standing.
There was nothing to do but wait.
The detail supposed to relieve them of the senator was late. Hank looked at his watch, wondering what was taking them so long. But it didn't matter that much. Hank was not the one to shy away from an easy job while he distracted himself by watching the aides, thanking God that they were all fit, young women taking the edge off the boredom by simply walking from one side of the room to the other.
Then it started going wrong.
One of the aides received a call, standing aside to answer. She dropped the call and went over to the senator's side, whispering something, causing her to stop what she was doing, and ordered someone to turn the TV on for the news.
The TV showed a newscaster reporting in the middle of a street. People were running past him as he reported panic in the streets caused by monsters attacking and killing people. The view panned from the reported and to a roadblock made of patrol cars parked perpendicular to the road with people flooding through the gaps and police holding the line. All the while, the Newscaster reported cases of people dead and wounded.
Hank stood up. He moved towards the window to gaze at the streets below. The skyline was clear of the telltale smoke of riots and violence, but there were still no reports from dispatch of any development. "Everyone, call in," Hank called over the radio.
"Hoss, stairway clear."
"Rob, lobby clear."
The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
"Dan, elevator clear."
"Doug, the street is clear. No. Wait for one." a pause, "Yeah, I think we got some commotion going on down the street south of here."
"Okay. Park the Bear right by the second squad and wait there." Hank ordered.
"Squad two left a while ago," Doug replied. "You aren't contacted?"
'Fuck.' Hank muttered, "Roger that. Get to the garage. We might be moving soon."
Everyone save the guards had their attention on the television. It currently showed an aerial view of a city's downtown. The camera panned to a bloody scene of carnage, motionless bodies littered on the sidewalk stained with blood. Human and canine figures ran around in all directions, in full view of the media helicopter above. The camera then panned to a corner lot where a man was surrounded by a pack of large dogs, their heads turned low as they stalked closer until one charged forward followed by the rest. The view panned away just as the man was taken down and started getting ripped apart.
The bodyguards reacted as one. They put their fingers on their ears then whispered something to the senator. She nodded back, "Okay. We are leaving right now. All of you have one minute to secure your personal belongings before we set out."
The aides obeyed and went around their rooms to secure their belongings. The bodyguards went to the closet near the door and pulled out luggage. Two of the bodyguards kneeled over it to press their thumb. The luggage unlocked with a positive click and swung open. Inside were enough guns, ammo, magazines, webbing, and other gear to outfit the three.
The bodyguards finished gearing up at the same time as the aides arrived. They lined up in front of the senator's security detail. "I'll make this short," the oldest looking guy started, "chopper is coming in fifteen minutes and the plan is to get to the rooftop for extraction. Madam Senator, you will stick close to me. Riley will take the lead while the rest will trail behind Stone." he looked at Hank, "The swat team will provide backup depending which way the situation develops and will be in their own independent command.
"We will move fast. Ladies, take off your heels and secure them in your person. We will use the stairs for the next three stories and do your best to keep up. The main priority here is the Senator. The chopper will not wait for you."
Everyone in the room followed the instructions given lined up to the doorway like a breaching team. The bodyguards gave a once over at the group and nodded to each other. They were about to open the door when the light went out.
The women gave an involuntary squeal, then followed by flashlights turning on and panning over the terrified women. "Guys, check-in," Hank ordered through the radio. Only to receive nothing but static.
Hank stood by the grizzled bodyguard, "Everyone is not responding. We might have a problem there. If you don't mind, imma go see if it's alright." he whispered, as it wouldn't help to tell the others.
The older man nodded, "If it's like that, then I think it's better if we both go check."
"Glad for the help," Hank replied. He was the first one out, panning to the left while the man behind him checked the right. The hallway was clear, a hand emerged around the corner waving by the elevators as Dan joined them.
Lights stabbed through the darkness and silence of the hallway as the trio made their way towards the stairway where Hoss should be. They found him laying down on his own pool of blood.
"Fuck." Hank muttered, covering the open stairway. There was no one on the other side, and Dan came over to check on their man.
There was a gash on his neck, cut almost to the bone with a very sharp knife. "Fuck me," Dan muttered as he turned Hoss around, he was still warm. "He's dead boss."
"Whoever did this didn't take his gun." The bodyguard pointed. Still strapped to Hoss was his rifle, covered with still wet but quickly drying blood.
Hank looked at his squad member and kneeled over to look into his half-lidded eyes. Hank shut Hoss' eyes and offered a silent prayer. He then unclipped his rifle and unholstered his pistol. The rifle's internals was all gummed up but the pistol was still serviceable. He tucked the pistol into his vest and slung the rifle over his shoulder.
It was a good thing that emotions had a delayed effect on Hank, otherwise, he would be torn up about losing Hoss. Reconnecting with Rob and Doug was still a possibility, but without communications, it would pose an even greater risk looking for the rest of his men. There is also their mission to think about. "We'll find this guy later," Hank muttered, turning to the Bodyguard. "Let's get your senator out safe."
"I never got your name." The bodyguard said, offering a hand. "I'm Casey."
"Hank." He took the hand, then nodded toward Dan. "He's Dan. Let's go."
They laid Hoss' body by one of the rooms and slowly ascended the stairway, one step and landing at a time, and arrived at the rooftop access. The door was unlocked. They continued to clear the rest of the rooftop and called for the VIPs when it was cleared safely.
Getting the rest to the rooftop went along without incident and there was nothing else to do but wait. The hotel didn’t have a helipad but there was a wide enough space for someone to land. Hank looked over from the rooftop to the streets below to see chaos. Something terrible is clearly happening, but they were out in the dark. The phone lines were out, and so is the electricity. The radio only worked within line of sight with the amount of radio interference in the air. Hank couldn't contact his other squad members nevermind dispatch. A thought to leave a note for the rest of the men occurred to Hank, but he quickly dismissed it in fear of it leading trouble to them.
"Heads up, a bird coming in south," Riley called out, and there was a collective sigh among everyone present.
It's a BlackHawk. The helicopter flew low below the height of buildings and weaving through avenues between buildings. It rose and flew past the rooftop on the first approach and Hank could see a minigun mounted on each side of the helicopter. It landed on the second pass blowing gravel and dust off the rooftop as it touched down.
The chopper was full. Other suits filled the seat and looking shaken. They looked at the retinue with apprehension as seats were all filled out.
"Ditch all of the nonessentials." One of the crew yelled over the rotor wash. Everyone complied and threw away their bags, save for their wallets, IDs, and their phones. They were waved to come over as the crewmen went on working to take off one of the miniguns. Hank rushed closer, Casey followed as caught on what the crew was trying to do in taking out every bit of weight they could shave. A minigun weighs eighty pounds, leaving it with the ammunition would take another person to safety.
Hank hopped on and helped the gunner in wrenching the mounted gun off the chopper. He noticed that the ammo can, containing thousands of linked ammunition, was half empty and the gun warm to the touch. They managed to take the gun off, next was the batteries, more spare ammo, survival liferaft, pilot's SERE kits, and finally the wooden crate stuffed under the seats.
With that, we managed to shave enough weight.
The chopper let off a loud whine and was taking more time taking off than it should. It lifted off with some effort and Hank watched as the chopper grew into a dot in the distance.
"Did you see it?" Casey asked as he stood beside Hank.
"Yeah," Hank replied. Everyone in the chopper was spooked. The suits kept to themselves in the chopper, not uttering a single word, most bore the thousand-yard stare. They suffered some cuts and bruises on different parts of their bodies and Hank even caught dried blood on the lower pants and shoes on one of them. He was the one shaking the most.
"So what are you gonna do now?" Hank asked Casey. They had stripped their webbings and gear and now wore them under their jackets. Hank was impressed, standing, their bulky gear disappeared under their suits to the point that the weapons would only be noticeable only when you know they were there. One of the reasons top of the line security is paid big money.
Casey shrugged, "We're still in contract, so I guess we'll go back to the company and wait if the senator still wants us back." he said, then handed over a card. "Tell you what, you move pretty good and we could always use someone like you. If you ever need some good money to pad your wallet, call me up."
"Thanks," Hank took the card and stuffed it with the magazines, "We still need to get off this building. The guy who hit my man could still be here. I'm going to find the rest of my squad and I'd appreciate it if you go with us for some added security, but that's up to you."
"We'll go with you," Casey declared, "All my life, I've never been in situations this weird. More men are always good. Ever wondered why nobody went up here to check on the noise?"
"I kinda did, but wondering isn't going to get us anywhere," Hank said. Everyone made final checks and adjustments and stowed the military hardware left under some shade, throwing in some caution tape just in case.
Hank led the way, shining the light on the way down. There should be other people moving about, but the absence of them was at the forefront of his thoughts. It was as if they were the only ones there.
They descended the stairs as carefully as they could, covering each avenue of approach along with bypassing the floors after checking the halls and finding the people keeping to their rooms, which was fine with Hank.
They reached the ground floor. An ornate door with a glass pane covered the exit. Through the glass, they could see a white barrier covering the door. Pulling at it, the door opened a crack only for the membrane stuck to it preventing it to open further as it flexed under the force but was able to withstand a full-grown man pulling against it.
"Need some help here," Hank called. Stone came forward to give a hand. The heavily muscled guy braced himself next to Hank and nodded. "On three."
Hank strained, pulling at the door. He looked over to Stone who was putting as much effort as he did. Hank could see veins popping under Stone's neck as he struggled. With another heave, the membrane gave out and the door opened, causing the two to fall backward revealing a white wall.
Casey stepped forward holding his hand out and touched the membrane. "Looks like spider silk." He muttered.
"Bullshit," Dan uttered. "No spider is big enough to do that. No way."
"If you got another guess, then be my guest." Casey offered but Dan had nothing. He turned around, opting to cover their rear.
The wall wasn't there a few hours ago. They stood there perplexed at how it came to be as they racked their grunt brains. "Try cutting it," Hank suggested.
Stone grunted and pulled out a Ka-bar from the small of his back and started hacking. After a few minutes of cutting, Stone pulled his strand covered arm and reviewed the damage. Cutting through would take too much time and effort.
"I guess we could try burning it." Hank offered and looked at the others, "Anyone of you smoke?"
No one among them smoked. None of them thought to bring anything they could use to start a fire. They were back on square one; staring and thinking of how to get through the white wall.
"Second floor." Riley called, looking up, "There's less of that white stuff on the restaurant and I think I could see a bar on the other side."
They came up the stairs and to the Hotel's restaurant. There were no bodies and no guests. Despite the absence, there were signs of struggle; turned over chairs, cutleries, and plates on the ground. The floor was covered with more of the strands and Hank kneeled to pluck at a strand only to be further convinced that it was indeed spider silk.
They moved to the end of the room, covering each door and gliding over with their rifles up. There was no movement. What should be a room filled with murmurs and eating was replaced with only a graveyard silence as they went to the back to find something to start a fire with.
A lighter laid atop an untended bar next to a still-lit cigar lying atop a glass tray. Hank picked up the lighter and glanced at the whiskey bottle laying on the side. A snifter was next to it, half-filled with the ice melted over.
Casey fashioned a makeshift torch using a retractable baton and a liquor-soaked rag. They then made their way down to the ground floor carrying a fire extinguisher and lit the torch. The wall burned within seconds revealing the darkened lobby. Hank's and Casey's team fanned out of the doorway only to find the glass-walled lobby to be covered with the same spider silk.
"What the fuck?" Dan muttered as everyone took in the sight. The lobby's walls were covered with silk, blocking sunlight from entering the lobby. Suspended in the walls were cocoon, man sized, and scattered on the floor. 'When you see big cocoons, you see big spiders. This doesn't bode well,' Hank thought.
"Holy shit!" Stone cursed. Hank looked over to him just in time to catch him backing away from one of the cocoons, foul smelling fluids trailed down, trickling at the marble floor. Inside the cocoon was a man, or what would be what's left of it. The man wore a three-piece suit marking him to be one of the guests in the hotel, his face was partially melted, digestive fluids eating through the skin and working through the muscle.
"Check the others. There could be survivors." Casey ordered. Stone and Dan went to check each one while the rest covered scanned the area for hostiles.
"Hank. I think you need to check this out." Casey called, kicking a spent brass casing. Hank picked it up and studied it. It was a 5.56x45mm cartridge, the same caliber their weapons shared.
"Hank! It’s Rob." Dan called as he stood in front of a cocoon.
It was Rob. Hank stood in front of the cocoon, the body inside was fresh, his face staring back at him as it was wrapped and stuck to the wall. His rifle hung on his person with its bolt locked back. His vest was empty of magazines, an empty pistol clutched in his hand that he fought to the bitter end.
Skittering sounds echoed down the hallway. Everyone spun around, their guns snapped to their shoulders up to meet the threat. Lights stabbed the hallway for a moment, then reduced to three as the others looked out to the sides for a possible ambush. No shots came and they fanned out. Adrenaline flowed freely as they took cover, maintaining an overlapping 360-degree coverage.
Hank took a deep breath and bellowed with his most authoritative voice. "This is the police! Come out with your hands up, or we will use deadly force."
Nothing.
They stood in place, still waiting. Hank was about to call it off as them being paranoid when more skittering sounds came from down the hallway. Hank waited, feeling his heart race as he aimed his rifle down that dark hallway. A multitude of eyes reflected, scattered from the floor all the way to the ceiling.
Hank felt goosebumps race through his body as figures revealed themselves in the light. Spiders came down the hallway. The critters stood at a meter height, their legs spanning two meters wide.
Everyone fired. Full auto. The sound brought upon by five rifles going off simultaneously in such a confined space to the point of deafening. Hank couldn't hear anything as their magazines ran out and looked over at the devastation brought by a hundred and fifty rounds sent down a hallway for under two seconds.
The massive spiders withered under the firepower brought upon by five rifles firing full auto. But there were still more running behind them, a lot more than they had ammo. "Reloading!" Hank screamed and could barely hear it over the ringing in his ears.
Hank signaled for a bounding retreat. Everyone covered each other's backs as they retreated one by one towards the stairs. Hank was the last one to reach the door. He sprinted through the threshold as it was closing. Everyone braced themselves against the door just as something heavy slammed itself to the door opening it for a crack. With renewed strength brought upon by fear of being eaten, everyone pushed back at the force and held it closed.
They spent a couple of minutes bracing the door, skittering and scratching were heard on the other side until it petered and faded out.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. They eased themselves off the door as they felt their energies spent. "Holy shit." Dan muttered between breaths, "I really thought we're going to die there."
"Yeah," Stone chuckled, "Me too. I never really like spiders but seeing them that big and going after you just puts the fear of God in me."
"I'd bet after this you'll be a good little boy and come to church early, huh." Riley quipped, and everyone laughed. The joke wasn't even remotely funny, but the recent brush of death had made everyone a little bit more than giddy.
Laughter petered out a minute, later replaced by a somber mood. The realization of how screwed they were had come down with a vengeance.
"You know," Hank called, earning everyone's attention, "I'm not really planning to die here and be a museum piece, so I need you guys to follow in on my kinda stupid plan.”
“What is it?” Casey asked, pulling a knife out and jamming it to the door. He tested its effectiveness and nodded as the door didn’t budge.
"Any one of you know how to work a minigun?"