The Doomsday Shift

When Bill and his men took their turn-off, and headed northwest, towards Collinswood, he thought that it would be clear going but they only had gone ten miles when they started to hit problems with the debris and fallen trees that covered the highways. This took them most of the day to clear only twenty miles of highway. None of the men could even guess how long it would take them to reach Collinswood. If the entire highways were anything like the highway that they had just cleared then it would take them days to reach their destination. Bill could only hope that highway twenty-six was in better shape.

Corporal Skidmore and the Privates lifted the boat out of the back of the truck and sat it in the water. Once Lieutenant Phillips got into the boat, the others took their seats. Corporal Skidmore and the Privates used the oars, while Lieutenant Phillips barked out the orders. They were on the water over twenty minutes and still couldn't see land on the other side. The water must have covered quite a bit of land. Corporal Skidmore figured that at least five miles were under water. This area used to be farm land and this area was quite known for it's hills and dales, the water had to be quite deep because there were no hills around now. They were on the water for another thirty minutes when they could see land.

After they got back on land, they started to walk towards the base. Walking was as bad as driving because of all the debris, it was scattered everywhere.

They reached the top of the hill and could just make out the military base. They could see smoke rising into the air and there was a fire going on inside the base. They weren't close enough to see if anyone down there was alive or dead. All five men quickened their pace.

Once on the base, they could see where the fire was coming from. They had their own gas pumps and these had ruptured. Not sure whether it was from the exploding pumps or from the quake.=, but the barracks was laying in a heap. There were several officers yelling out orders and there were men running around as if they were chickens with their heads cut off. The base looked like it was a battlefield.

Lieutenant Phillips, Corporal Skidmore and the three Privates went over to where Captain Rogers was standing. Lieutenant Phillips talked quietly to the Captain. The Captain turned to Corporal Skidmore and told him of the message that came over the radio a few hours ago. The Captain told Corporal Skidmore to take as many men as he needed, then he turned to Lieutenant Phillips and told him to come into his tent, so they could talk quietly.

Once Lieutenant Phillips reported to Captain Rogers, the Captain told Lieutenant Phillips, what had happened in the town of Pennyworth. Once Lieutenant Phillips heard about the mutants and men that had escaped from the asylum, he requested from the Captain to accompany Corporal Skidmore, to give a hand in capturing these men. The Captain gave the Lieutenant permission to go and do what he could to help.

Corporal Skidmore went over to Privates Andrew, Gentry and Maxwell and told them their services were required and they were to go with him in the army's helicopter. They would be leaving in ten minutes and they were to meet Corporal Skidmore at the helicopter pad.

Corporal Skidmore was glad that the Captain had told him to pick out some men himself, he liked the three Privates that he had chosen, and he knew that they were good men that he would be able to rely on. He was checking the panel in the helicopter when Lieutenant Phillips got into the seat beside the Corporal. Corporal Skidmore turned towards the Lieutenant and asked him ,"what do you think you're doing? I'm on a mission and am heading for Collinswood Mountain, to meet up with Lieutenant Bernardi. Lieutenant Phillips said he asked the Captain if he could come along to give a helping hand in capturing the mutants. Shortly after that the three Privates entered the helicopter and nothing more was said.

When Bill and his men got on highway twenty-six, the going was a little better, but this was short lived . Highway twenty-six was a two lane highway and it snaked over a deep gully. When they came around a bend in the road, just before the gully started, they came across water. This wouldn't cause a problem to cross because the vehicles they were on were able to cross land and water, the only thing that the vehicles couldn't do was fly.

They were on the water for more then forty minutes before they spotted land. With no compass, Bill wasn't sure if they had gone off course, everything looked so strange. There was water where there never used to be, and some some of the landmarks were no longer where they should have been. Bill decided to get to land and see if he could find anything that he could recognize.

As Corporal Skidmore radioed for clearance, the men settled in their seats, Private Andrews looked at the other two men, to warn them not to say too much in front of Lieutenant Phillips. The three Privates were a little disappointed that the Lieutenant was going with them, they were hoping that they would have got away from him. They weren't too happy about how he had treated them when they had come up on him in the pick-up truck. They also knew that the Corporal wasn't too happy about the Lieutenant being with them, but there was nothing they could do about it.

Corporal Skidmore was flying over water when he noticed several crafts below. There was three crafts and they were nearing the spot where Collinswood used to be. When the Privates noticed the Corporal looking down, they looked to see what had taken the Corporals attention. Private Maxwell said to anyone in general that it must be Bill and his men from the greenhouses. When Lieutenant Phillips heard this he asked the Private, " what greenhouses was it that you're speaking about?" Before Private Maxwell could answer, Private Andrew spoked up and told the Lieutenant it was the Green Valley greenhouses. Phillips asked the Privates if any of them had seen a girl at the greenhouses, that matched the description of Dini Burke. All three Privates answered at the same time saying "no." When all three men answered the Lieutenant with the same word, he took it as the truth. Lieutenant Phillips knew that the doctors cabin was somewhere near Collinswood, his hopes started to soar. He just felt it that Dini was with the doctor.

Corporal Skidmore flew the helicopter, just beyond the water, and landed the copter, telling the men that they would wait for the men to come onto land and see if that had seen anything.

Shortly after they spotted the land, Tiny told Bill that he could hear a helicopter. Bill looked overhead and could see the chopper in the distance. They watched it approach and watched as it landed. Tiny told Bill " it looks like the army guys that were at the greenhouses." Bill's heart went up to his throat thinking that the three Privates had told their superior officers the truth and not what they had said they would say. Bill told Tiny that if anyone tried to stop them, they would have to kill them, nobody was going to stop Bill from finding his father and sisters. Tiny agreed with Bill. Within a few minutes they were pulling up at the waters edge and the three Privates put out their hands to help Bill and his men ashore.

Privates Gentry and Maxwell got into Lieutenant Phillips was so that Private Andrews would be able to give Bill a warning. Bill gave Private Andrews a nod of his head and sent a warning look to his men. When Lieutenant Phillips approached Bill and asked him what he was doing so far away from his home, Bill looked Phillips right in the eyes and replied, he didn't know it was a crime to be out, enjoying the fresh air. Lieutenant Phillips got a little upset with the way Bill had answered him, he wasn't accustomed to being answered back the way Bill had done. When Bill saw that he had upset the Lieutenant, he turned back to him and introduced his men and himself to the Corporal.

Lieutenant Phillips asked Bill the question again " what was he doing here?" Bill turned to face the Lieutenant and told him that he had no intention of telling him why he was out here and as far as he was concerned, it was none of the Lieutenants business. I don't like the lookes of you and I am not one of your yes boys and just in case you haven't noticed, my men and I are not in the army.

Lieutenant Phillips wasn't too pleased with the way things were turning out, he wanted to make friends with Dini's brother, not have him as an enemy. He thought that he would cool off and not be so demanding with Bill or his men. Maybe it wasn't too late for them to become friends.

The three Privates knew why Bill and his men were here but they wouldn't let the Lieutenant know. They thought that the Lieutenant was showing just a little too much interest in Bills sister, Dini. They knew that he was up to nothing good when he started to act funny. As soon as Private Andrews got the chance he was going to warn Bill about the questions the Lieutenant had been asking them. Private Andrews wanted to have a long talk with Bill and let him know that they had kept their word. He also wanted to warn Bill to find his siters and father and get them as far away from here as possible. Private Andrews was waiting for his chance to talk with Bill, but there seemed to be no time.

Shortly after Bill and the Lieutenant had words, Lieutenant Bernardi and his men, landed their chopper near where they were waiting. When the men saw Joann getting out of the helicopter they thought that maybe, Lieutenant Bernardi had found the missing women and mutants. They soon found out why Joann Bernardi was with them.

Bill decided to put his differences aside that he had with the Lieutenant until he found his dad and sisters, if what he was hearing was true then everyone needed each other. These mutants were too dangerous for just his men and himself, by the sounds of it there must be at least one hundred of these mutants running around. Bill and his men knew self defense but they wouldn't have a chance, going up against a hundred of these things. Bill told his men they were going to go with the military men and see what they could find. Bill went over to Lieutenant Bernardi and asked his permission for his men and himself to tag along. Bernardi told Bill he could use all the help that he could get. With this done they started to head out towards the base of the mountain.

Bill had gone a little off course when they were on the water vehicles, they had gone on a more northern route, then a northwestern one. This had turned out alright because the military men didn't want the mutants to hear them coming. They were hoping to have the advantage of surprises on their side. If the mutants were warned about the military coming, they would be waiting to attack them and and with there being only eight men and one woman, they wouldn't have a chance in hell of surviving. They would have to go slowly and carefully, if the mutants were surprised then there was a chance that they would make it.

They had entered the first line of trees, at the base of the mountain, and had been traveling off the trails that the mutants had made and were using when they came across some unusual noise. They took cover and had to wait for several mutants. They watched as two mutants went by, Bill and Tiny slipped up behind the two mutants and had slit their throat's before they could make a sound. When Bill and Tiny went back to where the others were waiting, Lieutenant Phillips started to give them shit, but before he could say too much, Lieutenant Bernardi came up to Phillips and told him he was not in command here and what these men did was the right thing to do, if we can get as many of these mutants before we get to their compound then it would be that many less that we are going to fight. If you don't agree with what I'm doing then you can take it up with the Captain, when we get back to base. Lieutenant Phillips hung his head and moved away without another word, but Captain Rogers would hear of this and how Lieutenant Bernardi had let two civilian's take over the situation.

They had gone about another fifty feet or so when they heard more thrashing noises coming from behind them, they took cover once again and waited for the mutants to pass. Doug, John and Private Gentry took out the next two mutants. These mutants were coming and going as if they never had a care in the world. Bill and his men couldn't figure these creatures out. They should be trying to hide and keep cover, but they were going back and forth as if they owned the world.

Lieutenant Bernardi was quite pleased with the way the mutants were walking around, if they thought that they could move without the fear of being noticed, then it would be much easier to have the surprise on his side. Lieutenant Bernardi told the men to take cover and rest until he had a plan to put into action.

Bernardi put Bill and Tiny, fifty feet above where they were stationed, then he placed Doug and John, fifty feet below where they were. He put Privates Andrews, and Maxwell, fifty feet to the left and he placed Privates Blackthorn and Gentry, fifty feet to the right, from where the rest were hiding. Their orders were to kill any mutants who tried to go past them. This left Lieutenant Phillips, Private Cass and Joann,, if any mutants got by any of the men stationed at the perimeter of where they were hiding, then Lieutenant Bernardi and Private Cass would handle them. Bernardi told Phillips that " he was to protect his wife, Joann." Phillips told Bernardi he had nothing to worry about, he would protect her with his life.

Joann turned to her husband and told him that Doug and John had forgotten their weapons, she would take the 357 magnum and shotgun down to them. Jack told Joann he didn't want her to take the weapons in case she ran into some mutants. Joann told her husband not to try and smother her, she was alright and she only had to go fifty feet, how much trouble could she get into, in that short of distance. Jack knew that Joann was right with him trying to keep her from any harm, he couldn't keep harm from his sons. but he sure was going to keep his wife safe. Jack looked deeply into his wife's eyes then he told her that he loved her. He gave Joann a wink and told her to hurry up and come right back. Joann picked up the rifle and the hand gun and slowly made her was down beside the trail.

When Doug and John herd Joann coming they took cover thinking it was mutants who had got through. When they saw Joann they came out of their cover and asked her " did Lieutenant Bernardi want them for something?" Joann told them she felt a little ill and her husband told her to go back to thew helicopter and wait until they came there for her. Both men didn't think anything about this as being strange, they were told what had happened to this woman's sons and they would have been in worse shape then what Joann was in,

Doug and John took to their hiding place, and Joann slowly continued her walk down the mountain path.

Joann knew that the cabin wasn't too far from where they were, she was going after Jackson, and when she got him, he would beg her to kill him, Joann was going to make Jackson suffer for what he did to her babies. Once she got that done then she would sit down and think of what she had done, she didn't want to think of anything until she got revenge for her sons murders.

When Joann didn't show back up after five minutes, Jack decided to go and look for her. Jack came across Doug and John and asked them did they happen to see Joann , his wife? John told Jack that his wife came by and said that you sent her down to wait at the helicopter because she wasn't feeling well. Jack told the men to come back up to where the rest of the men were. John and Doug watched the color drain out of the Lieutenants face when they told him about his wife, then when the Lieutenant told them to come back with him, they knew something wasn't right. Both men hurried along behind the Lieutenant. On the way back the Lieutenant made a detour and went over to where Privates Blackthorn and Gentry were, he then told Blackthorn to go get the rest of the men, he would meet them at the place where he was hiding.

When all the men were gathered, Lieutenant Bernardi tolf them what he suspected his wife was doing. All the men voted to go and track down Joann before they continued their rescue of the other women, with that done they moved out and went down the mountain trail, being careful that no mutants saw them.

Joann's trail was easy to follow, and she didn't even try to cover up her tracks. Jack knew that Joann had misled him so that he would let her come with him. Jack was kicking himself for not seeing the signs, he was too blind to see them. He also knew now that he thought about it, the signs were there all along, if he lost Joann, his life would be over. With his sons dead, he wouldn't be able to go on if anything happened tp his wife.

When they got to the shore, the men could make out Joann, on the other side of where the bay used to be. The men moved out and started to follow her tracks.