Sometimes I thought that night duty was more peaceful than being on guard in the daytime. With the dark came a sort of quietness and stillness. I think it had something to do with the stars.
Emmett and I were stationed at Checkpoint 3 for the night. Fort Brown was surrounded by four rows of tall fences, with a checkpoint at each. Stored inside the base were military weapons among other important things that I would probably never get to see for myself. We had a good reason to be one of the most secure military bases in the country. We had a lot to protect.
Around 1:00a.m., I saw a truck pull up to the first checkpoint. While the guards there inspected the truck for weapons or anything hostile, I looked over the truck. The cab was a plain black, but the trailer behind it was a metallic color. That seemed a little odd to me, but I kept it to myself. I had learned not to question anything unless it directly affected me.
The truck pulled through the first and second checkpoints, and when it reached us the Sergeant on duty at our station gave the go-ahead for the gates to open. The truck rolled through and I turned to watch as the gates of Checkpoint 4 opened as well, and then close as the truck drove through. I turned back to Emmett.
"Couldn't be Bigfoot," I said, "It would have been louder." He grinned.
"Aliens would make noise too, though. Think about it." I did for a second, and then cocked my head to the side.
"Huh, maybe they would." I mused, "I guess I just thought that aliens would be a little more civil than a wild animal."
"Gotta keep an open mind, Harris," Emmett said, "not all aliens are like-" He cut himself off and I looked over, seeing that his face was crinkled up in confusion.
"Smith," I whispered, clutching my gun closer to me, "What's wrong?"
"Do you hear that?" He said, looking towards the front gates and the road beyond. I stopped to listen, and I could hear something as well. It sounded like the crunching of gravel, although I didn't see anything on the road.
"Would there be anyone out there at the moment, sir?" Emmett turned to ask Sergeant Thomas.
"No, its past curfew," The Sergeant said, looking a bit worried, "I'll call it in." He turned to make the phone call, but right as he picked up the receiver a giant flash flew by overhead and I turned in time to see an explosion rock the outer structure of the main base.
"We're under attack!" Thomas yelled. I raised my gun and scanned for enemies, although I couldn't see anything through my scope. Another missile launched overhead and I heard the explosion, though I didn't turn away from the road. The emergency alarm sounded overhead, and above that I heard the voice of the Colonel giving orders to the guards surrounding the base.
"All ground troops fall back to Checkpoint 4 and engage Defense Protocol Seven," Then he said something that I didn't expect, "Protect the Artifact at all costs." We were under attack, and he wanted us to watch over Bigfoot. I hoped that whatever the Artifact was, it was as important as he made it out to be.
The few of us ran through the gates of Checkpoint 3 and on to the fourth checkpoint, where guards were forming a primary line of defense. We joined them, and then turned to watch the other soldiers from Checkpoints 1 and 2 running towards us.
About the time that they reached the midway point between 2 and 3, I heard gunfire. The soldiers started dropping like flies. My eyes widened: Where were the shots coming from? It looked as though they were being shot by nothing, until a shimmer of light crossed through path of one of the overhead lights. The attackers were being cloaked by something. Quickly, I raised my gun and shot at the anomaly, and was surprised to hear a faint grunt and a slight thump that sounded like a person hitting the ground.
"They're wearing cloaked suits." I said quietly, and a few people around me looked over at me with astonishment. The nearest Sergeant also heard me, and turned to face me.
"Harris, fall back and find the Colonel. They may already be inside the compound." I quickly nodded and ran through the cracked gate, and then the second line of guards stationed at the main entrance of the compound.
"I need to find Colonel Upton!" I said to the nearest soldier once inside the main compound. Many people were scrambling around, trying to gather and protect anything they could that was out in the open.
"He and a squadron are guarding the Safe." Someone said, and I hurried down the nearest hallway. Of course he would be at the Safe.
The Safe was the most highly secure area in the compound. It was guarded around the clock, and was reserved for only the most important objects. The Artifact had to be in there, no doubt.
After turning down a couple more hallways, I realized that the people walking around were becoming more and more scarce. They were probably all stationed around the perimeter of the compound, but it still seemed slightly eerie that there was an emergency happening and almost no one was in the corridors.
I shook out of it and rounded the final corner, and saw that another line of soldiers were standing at the entrance to the Safe, with Colonel Upton at the center.
"Stop!" He yelled, and the line all raised their guns in my direction.
"Private Harris, sir!" I yelled back, and they lowered their weapons. I walked towards them. "I have important information. The attackers are wearing cloaked suits. We don't have an exact number, but Sergeant Evans worried that they may already be inside the base." The Colonel paled, but one of his officers beside him let out a chuckle. We looked over at him.
"What's so funny, Brunswick?" The Colonel asked. Brunswick chuckled again.
"It was all so simple, really," He said, and my grip tightened around my gun. I had seen enough movies to know where this was going, but I didn't want to believe it was actually happening. "Leaking the security codes, providing the delivery schedules; it was easy to let my people in." Colonel Upton's eyes widened.
"Don't tell me you're behind all of this."
"Oh, I'll tell you all of that and more," Brunswick started, reaching into his pocket for something, "I'll tell you that I'm behind all of this, and I'll tell you that you are all about to die." He gripped something in his pocket, and then pulled it out to reveal that he had a grenade. Quickly he pulled the pin.
We all scattered in a desperate attempt to get away from Brunswick, and I dove straight ahead, right into the open hatch of the Safe. I turned to see that no one else was following me in, and so I did the unthinkable. I slammed my hand down onto the button that sealed the door. As the door locked me into the secure room, I heard what would become Brunswick's last words:
"Cut off one head, and two more will take its place."