SNAFU: Heroes: An Anthology of Military Horror

And time was running out.

“So now what?” Olsen asked. “If this bloke was stupid enough to invite those things inside, we’ve lost what little sanctuary we had. There’s nothing holding them back now.”

“I wouldn’t go that far,” Cade replied. “This is still holy ground and its difficult for creatures of that ilk to trespass on it, invited or not. And given the way they ran out of here with their tails between their legs, I’m not so sure that they’ll try again tonight. If they do, we’ll be waiting for them, as always.”

Cade’s quiet confidence was just the thing his men needed to hear. They’d been through a lot together and hearing his determination to hold fast to their mission no matter the odds was somehow reassuring.

“I don’t want any more surprises, however, so we’re going to stand watch in pairs. Duncan and I will take the first watch and—”

Riley’s deep voice overrode Cade’s with ease. “Nick and I will take first watch; you need to rest.”

Cade opened his mouth to argue, but then shut it again without saying anything. Riley was right; the use of his Gift on top of the battle they’d just fought had stolen the last of his energy and if he didn’t get some sleep he’d be useless when he was needed.

He caught the stony look his master sergeant was giving him and smiled in his direction to show his acquiescence. “Right, as I said, Riley and Olsen will take the first watch. I want one of you by the main entrance and the other stationed at the top of the basement stairs. Leave the door open so we can hear anything going on in the basement; might give us a few extra minutes of warning if it comes to it.

“If you hear anything unusual, anything at all, wake me up, understood?”

“Roger that.”

Satisfied that his men knew their duties, Cade wandered over to the nearest pew and stretched out on the wooden surface.

Within moments he was sound asleep.

* * *

Cade. 

Wake up, Cade.

The voice pulled him from his dreams as smoothly as a fish on a line, dragging him up from the depths to leave him lying open-eyed on the hard wood of the pew on which he’d laid down to rest.

He blinked the sleep from his eyes and slowly sat up.

Around him, the room was silent.

Still.

No one moved; no one even seemed to breathe. It was as if everyone but him was frozen in time; locked in the space of a single moment that stretched on and on into eternity.

Cade felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up.

The voice, one he knew all too well, came again.

Cade.

With his heart pounding in his chest and his pulse racing wildly, he jumped to his feet and looked around. It only took him a moment to locate her standing at the top of the steps, the door to the basement open behind her.

Gabrielle.

She was wrapped in a long robe with the hood pulled up to partially obscure her face, just as she’d been the last few times that he’d seen her, but he had no doubt that it was her. He would know her anywhere.

When she saw that she had his attention, she turned and disappeared down the steps.

Cade hustled down the aisle and over to the doorway. He was just in time to catch a glimpse of Gabrielle as she stepped off the stairs and into the darkness of the room beyond.

He hurried to catch up.

When he reached the bottom, he found her waiting by the iron door leading beyond the church. The barricade he and his men had erected only a short while before had been cleared away and light could be seen emerging from the depths of the tunnel beyond.

What the hell was going on?

This wasn’t the first time Gabrielle had appeared to him and when she had deigned to do so previously it had always been in his best interests, so he wasn’t worried about her leading him astray.

At least, not too much.

Still, it wouldn’t hurt to have some idea where he was headed.

“Where are you taking me?” he called to her across the room, his voice sounding unnaturally loud even to him in the stillness of the church.

She said nothing in reply, however, simply turning and walking into the mouth of the tunnel.

Cade followed.

Once inside the passage, he was surprised to discover that mining lights had been strung along its length at some point in the past; he hadn’t noticed them earlier in the evening when he and his men had discovered the entrance. The bare bulbs cast a dim light on the earthen walls around him, but at least he could see well enough to follow along in Gabrielle’s wake without tripping over the occasional pile of rubble that lay along the floor.

The air inside the tunnel was cold and smelled of damp earth and old decay, causing him to eye the walls and ceiling uncomfortably. They looked sturdy enough, but he’d be thankful just the same when he emerged at the other end.

Wherever that might be.