Apex Fallen Read online

  APEX FALLEN

  Book One

  C.A. MICHAELS

  Copyright © 2014 C.A. Michaels

  The right of C.A. Michaels to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination of are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or incidents is entirely coincidental.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced without the prior written permission of the author. Thank you for respecting the author’s hard work.

  ***

  Please check C.A. Michael’s page at Amazon.com for the next book in the Apex Fallen series and for other titles the author is working on.

  Above all, please enjoy this book!

  Dedicated to A H W, for having believed in me and supported me through the months of writing.

  Author’s Note

  This is a novel featuring a post-apocalyptic setting, but it is first and foremost about survivors.

  Most literature in the wider post-apocalyptic genre is centered on action and adventure. This story is no different. What I have wanted to do, however, is set the struggle for survival in (for me, at least) a believable and more realistic setting than that I usually encounter. Having previously worked as a staff officer in military headquarters, responsible for looking at and reviewing civil emergency plans, I am well aware just how fragile and vulnerable our society is to catastrophe and collapse. This is not to say that we are destined for disaster – all societies and civilizations are vulnerable to cataclysmic change, such is the risk upon which we base our progress and prosperity. Rather, if anything catastrophic does occur, the speed at which our current systems and engineering will cease to be of assistance to us is not often reflected in these works (of course, there are some stand-out exceptions, too). Those novels out there where fleets of vehicles, aircraft carriers and aircraft can all continue operating with impunity are just that, fiction. In reality any collapse would be amazingly brutal and wouldn’t leave our military untouched. I have tried to reflect that, to a degree at least, in the pages and narrative that follows.

  The setting and larger scenario was derived by using the Military Appreciation Process and looking at a number of key elements (the doctrinal ASCOPE framework, essentially). Over a few weeks of research a small group of my friends helped me plot the manner in which a disaster of this magnitude and scale both could occur, and then we set about over another month looking at various options in how it would play out. I hope that this thorough background research makes for both an interesting and a rewarding story.

  But, above all, I hope that this is as an enjoyable experience for you, the reader, as it was for me as a writer creating it.

  Thank you for choosing to read the first book of ‘Apex Fallen’. And please remember, regardless of what may happen in the future and no matter how helpless the situation may seem, This We’ll Defend, always.

  C.A. Michaels

  CHAPTER ONE

  It only took a second for everything to go to hell. At the edge of the street Second Squad had been blocking traffic while First Squad pushed back the crowds from the target building. Third Squad was still sweeping the objective, and had just emerged with their detainees. Only a few shots had been fired when they roared up to the compound and, since then, things had been going smoothly. The appearance of the local leader – and suspected bomb-maker – changed everything. The crowd started yelling, frustrated and appearing irate and angry in the heat. Captain Dan Martin, standing at the edge of the crowd, could feel the situation beginning to change. A few crucial details, the sudden lack of passing of vehicles and the dark figures leaving the rear of the crowd, set his mind on edge. He had drilled indicators like these into his men for the past two months. Absence of the normal; presence of the abnormal. Combat Indicators. Look for them; respond to them.

  Lieutenant Randy Butler, the platoon leader, was still at the objective. He was hunkered down with Third Squad’s leader, getting details about the raid, and his signaler, composing a message back to his higher headquarters. Not your place right now, Dan thought. You’ve lost situational awareness. You’ve lost command of your guys and you’ve lost the initiative to your enemy. Dan kicked at the dirt in front of him and suppressed a curse. He knew what would happen next.

  Next to him, Dan’s First Sergeant started to swear to himself. He’d picked up on the change in the environment, too. While Dan was inwardly shouting at Lt Butler’s failure, his First Sergeant was no doubt fuming at the lack of awareness of the two squads deployed around the objective. They all were facing out, watching their arcs but passive and failing to respond, let alone communicate to their LT, the fact that all indicators were pointing towards a storm breaking upon them. Soon, too, judging by the increased urgency of the civilians sprinting down the back streets.

  The handset on Dan’s vest crackled into life.

  “Two Zero, this is Two Two Sunray, over.”

  Two Zero was the Company Commander, so he was trying to reach Dan. Dan keyed his mike and responded.

  “Send Two Two.”

  “Two Zero, this is Two Two Sunray... we’re on Objective Normandy, we have apprehended target per. This callsign is preparing to return to base along Route Texas West. Estimated Time of Departure... ah, ETD in five zero mikes.” Leaving in five minutes, Dan thought. Too slow.

  “Two Two Sunray, we’ve got a Raven UAV in the air. The crowd around you looks hostile. Confirm you are aware of your developing situation. Advise if you need reinforcements.” Lieutenant Butler looked up from his map and papers and seemed to be momentarily stunned by the chaos reeling around his men. He scanned back and forth for a few seconds, his mouth open and his jaw jutting out. He looked, in one instant, stubborn and clueless. Not what I want from my platoon leaders.

  Dan had lied. There wasn’t actually one of the small Raven unmanned aerial vehicles overhead. By making that part up, Dan was trying to send a coded message to galvanize his subordinate into some form of action. He’d just given Randy some slack. Try and salvage this situation, Two Platoon, Dan thought to himself.

  ***

  Across the narrow street the enemy had brought forward a couple of weapons – old RPG rocket launchers and some even older AK47 rifles. First Platoon, at their road block, should have noted that the civilian traffic had cleared out but for one vehicle slowly winding its way towards them. They obviously hadn’t noticed or, if they did, they had failed to do anything about it in time. Which, in Dan’s mind, was just as bad. As the vehicle neared the humvees of First Platoon Dan could make it out as a beaten-up yellow taxi. He knew what was coming next, too. The taxi’s driver waited until he was adjacent to the first humvee when he briefly stopped and his hands left the steering wheel. He was fiddling with something below the dashboard while he stared ahead, mouthing an unheard prayer. Dan grimaced. He’d seen this exact situation play out the day before. A small flash erupted from the boot of the taxi cab and thick white smoke spilled out into the street. Suicide vehicle.

  The small, compact sound of the explosion echoing back and forth along the street was the trigger for the other couple of insurgents to open up on the gaggle of American soldiers still reorganizing themselves outside the compound. The enemy were not generally known for their accuracy and, as per normal, they didn’t linger in the aim. A small puff of smoke erupted from the point where the RPG was fired, and then the gunner fled back into a doorway, out of sight. Right after the RPG had being aimed at the cluster of soldiers the second insurgent, with the AK, rattled off a long and sustained burst before he too turned and fled.

  The
objective was now chaos. A few soldiers thought they saw suspicious movement on the roof-top opposite them and a machine-gunner opened up with his SAW. He was joined by a few riflemen around him as they peppered both the roof-top and the side of the building.

  “You’ve gotta be kidding me...” Dan’s First Sergeant drawled. The senior soldier in the company, he would have left the lack of tactical command and poor decision making shown by the platoon leader to Dan to rectify as the Company Commander. Poor soldiering skills was something he would jump on, though. And right now a squad was directing a lot of attention, ammo and violence at a building that wasn’t even a threat. “Goddamn fools. Amateurs!”

  Senior Non-Commissioned Officers wearing the reflective belts that identified themselves as umpires of the training exercise were circulating through the melee of confused soldiers, notionally killing off servicemen as they went. LT Butler was still standing in the centre of the mess, looking both angry and frustrated that his plan had gone so badly awry. Dan saw one of the umpires tap him on the shoulder and indicate that his laser receiver set was beeping. He’d been hit by one of the AK gunmen before they’d fled.

  Spitting out the bitter taste that had been lingering in his mouth, Dan stepped forward and cleared his throat. He waved his hand over his head and keyed his mike on the master channel.

  “This is Two Zero. Hold it there. Everyone, hold.”

  The umpire teams stepped back and let the squad commanders regain their grip on their men. Firing petered out and then stopped. The smoke from the simulated IED blast had almost completely cleared, and at a scan Dan guessed that six soldiers had being killed or badly wounded in that brief exchange. He shook his head in frustration.

  It was always the same story with Two Platoon. First and Third Platoons had run though the same scenario yesterday and, after two weeks of learning from their mistakes, they had pretty much aced it. They had hit the objective, kept the crowd back and secured a good perimeter – not like Second Platoon, which had let the crowd get right on top of them. First and Third Platoons had been alert when the situation changed. They both took some casualties when the OPFOR opened up, but they’d shut the enemy down as fast as they could have. They’d been ready.

  That was the difference between them and Second Platoon – Lieutenant Butler just wasn’t ready. He hadn’t learned anything over the last couple of weeks and he certainly hadn’t learned anything since yesterday, when Dan had pulled him aside and reminded him about his job. Delegate the tasks and the action, he had told Butler clearly. Get to where you can see and then keep a grip on the operation. You aren’t an operator – let your squad leaders hit the buildings and do the dirty work. You need to keep you heads up, making sure that the squads are doing their job and that you can do yours, which is plan for the next phase.

  Butler must not have registered anything. As Dan neared him he could make out an angry and slightly resentful look on the young Lieutenant’s face. No one liked failing and he knew what was coming.

  Dan’s First Sergeant charged into the assembling melee of soldiers and started laying down the law – loudly letting them know just how badly they’d fucked up. Dan stopped a few meters away from Butler and eyed up the Lieutenant. Dan had been in his exact position a few years ago. Well, not exactly the same position since Dan had made a point of learning after the first time he messed up, whereas Butler seemed incapable of linking the dots. But Dan knew how he felt at any rate.

  “Butler,” Dan said, taking his sunglasses off and wiping his brow. “Debrief with your command team and the umpires and then find me. Alone.”

  Dan left it at that and spun around. He thought as he walked away that sometimes the best way to vent was through silence. There was no point screaming right now, anyway. The First Sergeant was doing enough of that for the both of them.

  Dan moved across the street to where a vehicle had just pulled up. It was Jake, his Executive Officer or XO, who stepped out of the passenger side and offered him a disposable cup filled with coffee.

  “All good?” Jake knew it wasn’t, but kept his humor. Dan grinned back at him and took the first sip. White, two sugars. Just the way he – and everyone else in the US Army, if not all of NATO, for that matter – liked it. Jake was also a Lieutenant but he was senior to the platoon leaders and a lot more experienced. At some point during their tour Dan expected that he’d get moved into the battalion staff and Jake would get made up to Captain, making him the next commander of Able Company.

  “Butler, damn him, screwed up again,” Dan cursed.

  Jake nodded. “Anything good come out of it? Massive screw-up, or mitigated screw-up?”

  Dan shook his head as he finished another mouthful.

  “No, he’s either an idiot and isn’t learning, or he thinks he knows better than me and the rest of the Army’s training teams put together. Which makes him an idiot if that’s the case, too.”

  Jake nodded sympathetically as he looked past him at the gathering of soldiers getting their debrief points.

  “Has Prisner made any difference?” Prisner was Butler’s new Platoon Sergeant and had been transferred from Weapons Platoon to try and sort the platoon out a few days ago.

  “Not really. Not as much as I would have hoped anyway.”

  Jake cocked his head back to Dan. “Any ideas, then? Did the battalion give you any options for swapping Butler with one of the staff?”

  Normally it would be pretty forward for a Company XO and Dan’s second-in-command to talk about replacing a platoon leader, but Jake was experienced and if he got the promotion they both expected him to get, he would be inheriting the legacy of Dan’s decisions so he wanted to do his best. Dan didn’t mind Jake, either. He was a good XO and, in many ways, the closest he’d have to a friend for the next four-or-so months while he was with the Company. They’d probably end up spending that time living out of each other’s pockets in their upcoming tour in Afghanistan, so it was better he could have someone he could talk to and rely on for honest feedback and advice.

  “They offered me Charles.”

  Jake laughed briefly, and then spat at his feet. “God, that would be going from bad to worse!”

  Dan grinned again. “I know. I told them we’d stick with Butler. Even if he and Second Platoon stay on perimeter security for the first few months where we can keep them in check and where we can mentor Butler, we’d still be able to make the current positions work.”

  Jake nodded as he stared off into this distance, his mind no doubt running over the awkwardness and tensions that Lieutenant Charles would bring to the Company. Charles was a son of a retired General and he was very obviously a careerist in the Army out to make himself look good. Which would be fine, if only he was able to walk the walk as well as talk the talk. Instead, he had gained a reputation for taking the easy way wherever possible, and only picking up his game when someone was watching him. Dan, and the rest of the Company Commanders in the battalion, had picked up on that pretty quickly and he’d been sidelined to the battalion staff in pretty short order. What was worse was that the soldiers hated him. If he came into Able, Dan would have a morale problem on his hands, for sure.

  “Butler’s not a bad guy, but he just isn’t clicking, no matter how many times I go over it all with him. I’ll be gentle with him now, but I’ll need you to try and talk him through what went wrong today. He mustn’t be registering what I’m telling him because it just isn’t getting through.”

  “Ack, easy Sir.” Jake said, meaning that he acknowledged what was being said. Suddenly he was being a little more formal than normal. Dan turned to face him and realized why – Butler was standing next to him, at attention. Jake left the two of them alone.

  “Stand easy,” Dan told Butler, a little annoyed that he was acting so regimentally in the field. He took a few deep breaths to relax himself. He’s yours for the next four months at least. You need him to improve, not to lose hope. And it could be worse – you could have Lieutenant Charles in your compan
y.

  “Look, Sir,” Butler started, glancing nervously at Dan but afraid to make eye contact. “I’m sorry about that. I was trying to take on board your points from yesterday… but I realized too late –”

  Dan held his hand up to silence him. It was good, he thought, that Butler was nervous and actually gave a damn. He always had an air about him that he was angry and frustrated at everyone else when things weren’t going his way. Seeing him concerned was always refreshing. It let him know that he actually gave a damn.

  “Easy, LT.” Dan began. “I don’t think I need to go over what a complete fuck-up that was out there. And if it is your platoon that is screwing up, then that is your fuck up, since you’re the platoon leader.

  “We’ll reset the stand and you can run through it again in an hour, once you’ve had a chance to talk to and sort out your squads. Next time, though, keep Sergeant First Class Prisner right next to you, and listen to him. If you don’t, I’ll physically tie you two together with your boot laces so you can’t avoid him for the rest of the week, OK?”

  Butler seemed to relax once he realized he was not going to be screamed at. Dan had been pretty level headed over the last few weeks and hadn’t done too much yelling, but the Lieutenant was obviously on edge around him regardless. Perhaps Dan hadn’t been as reasonable and easy-going in mentoring Butler as he’d hoped he’d been. Best get Jake involved and let him see how he can communicate with Butler instead.

  “OK, LT, sort out a few points in your head and give those to your squads and let them rehearse a few times before we are back into it. Remember, though, keep Prisner next to you. At all times! You got me?”

  “Got it, Sir!” Butler almost smiled at him as he jogged back to his platoon.