12 Entrapment (2/2)

"Alright, guys. Stay in touch. Call in when you're in position," Mako said.

Riley, Cheng, and Jenkins began moving. Each of them would travel to one spot and provoke the termites, then try to draw as many of them into the trap as possible, without wasting too much ammunition. Besides a long gun, sidearm and a couple of grenades just in case, each carried several termite eggs.

At a junction, the three parted way, each had his own target.

On his HUD Riley saw the waypoint marking his destination. The shortest pathway to it was represented by a thin line under his feet, periodically pulsing, demanding his attention.

Riley turned off all the unnecessary information from his HUD: Cheng's and Jenkins' waypoints and pathways. He would focus on his part only. Worrying about whether others were doing their job properly would only distract him from doing his job properly.

As he moved forward, Riley thought about the arrangement. With the current waypoints, they would be able to draw about 50 termites each person. That made 150 total, a far cry from the 500 they would have lured with the drone.

"The more we can trap, the less the pressure when we hit the nest for real," he thought to himself. Then he came to a decision. "With some luck, the termites might have not dispersed too far from that location. If I can draw that bulk back to the trap, it'll make things a lot easier."

His mind made up, Riley erased his original waypoint and set one at the drone's location. The pathway to the waypoint was recalculated and Riley began following it.

"Riley? Where are you going? That's not your planned waypoint! Over." Mako's voice sounded in his ear. She had been monitoring everyone's progress.

"I know what I'm doing. Over." Not hearing Cheng or Jenkins, Riley realized Mako was probably using a private channel to talk to him to avoid distracting the rest.

"You're going to where the drone was?" Mako asked, having figured out his intention "That's too risky!"

"I'll make it. Don't worry. I'll get back to you later. Riley out."

"Be careful, okay? Mako out."

Riley didn't realize how reassuring it was to be in a group until he was alone. Every shadow seemed more dangerous. The infra-red vision coated everything in a sickly pale yellow color. He found himself straining his every sense, taking in his surrounding.

Riley moved with a brisk jog, his sidearm ready, eyes scanning the path ahead. He strained his ear, listening to all the sounds. The drip-drop of water. The crunching sound of his boots on the floor. The chittering of residing creatures.

Occasionally, he saw moss, mushroom and other unknown life forms, all glowing in the dark. Rodents as large as his forearm scurrying about, rummaging through piles of refuse or fighting over scraps. Startled by his approach, they would turn and look at him, their eyes shining an eerie glow. They then would run away and crawl into an almost invisible hole in the wall and vanished.

Then the signs of other life forms gradually disappeared as he got closer to the colony. The concrete became covered with the telltale moist, soft slime that squelched beneath his feet.

Riley glanced at his destination, shown as a faint yellow diamond on his vision. He focused on it, and a number popped up to show the distance.

—- [Waypoint A] [1020 m]

The pathway under his feet kept glowing and pulsing, urging him forward.

"You've got this, Riley. You've got this. Just one meter at a time," he muttered to himself.

A termite crawled out of a side tunnel, carrying what seemed to be a lump of moss. Upon spotting Riley, it froze, then turned to run away. Riley dropped it with several shots from Cheng's revolver.

"This thing's got quite a kick," he said to himself, feeling his arm tingling from the recoil.

He reloaded while listening to the gunshots echoing through the tunnel. When it was silent save for the ambient noises, he continued forward.

As he proceeded Riley saw more and more termite activities. Ignoring the path laid out on his vision, he evaded the termites when he could and killed them when he couldn't. He kept an eye on his map to make sure he would not walk into a dead end.

The number next to his destination slowly decreased, telling him he was getting closer.

—- [Waypoint A] [620 m]… [615 m]…

"Jenkins here. I see them. Over." Jenkins reported.

"Stay out of sight, Jenkins. Riley, Cheng, what's your status? Over." Mako instructed.

"Cheng here. I'm in position. Over." Cheng replied.

"I'm en route. ETA 10 minutes. Over." Riley replied.

"Everything okay, Riley? What's taking so long? Over." Cheng asked.

"I'm fine, Cheng. Over" Riley replied.

"Riley, call in when you're ready. Mako out." Mako said, then it was silent.

—- [Waypoint A] [380 m]

As Riley poked his head out of a corner, he saw several dozen termites milling about in front of a four-way junction. To get to the drone, he needed to turn left, and he didn't want to waste ammo killing his way through.

Riley took a detour and made his way to the right branch. Opening his bag, he took out two eggs then throw one on the wall next to him, then another further away to his right. Using Cheng's revolver he shot several times at the termites at the junction, making sure to draw their attention. They begin hissing angrily and running toward him.

He then quietly retreated, knowing the termites would be attracted by the gunfire and the eggs and move further into the right branch. He circled back to the junction and turned left, heading toward the drone.

—- [Waypoint A] [250 m]

Riley tensed up as angry hisses echoed from ahead of him. Peeking out of a corner, he felt his heart skip a beat at the sight of countless termites completely filling the path. They have apparently been searching the areas around the drone to see if there were any other invaders. Several alates - flying variants - clung on the ceiling and inspected every nook and cranny, pausing only to fly from one spot to another.

Riley estimated there to be roughly 200 termites. This was as far as he could go, any further would be suicidal. On his map, he highlighted the way back to gate A and checked the distance.

—- [Gate A] [985 m]

Satisfied that everything was in place, Riley called Mako.

"Riley here. I'm in position. Over."

"Good." Mako's voice was filled with relief. "You'll move first. Over." Riley was the furthest away from the trap so he would move first. Mako would decide when Jenkins' and Cheng's turns were.

"Got it. Riley out."

"This is it!" he took several quick breaths to steel his nerves.

Stepping away from his cover, he crushed one egg under his boot. He aimed his rifle and quickly fired several shots at the alates, severing the wings of two.

Immediately, the whole swarm turned to face him, and with a chorus of shrill cries, they began rushing at him, a shapeless mass of legs and teeth and claws.

Quashing his fears, Riley shouldered his rifle, turned around and sprinted along his planned path. His eyes darted left and right while having half a mind to pay attention to the floor to avoid tripping.

When Riley returned to the four-way junction, the termites had not returned from their fruitless search. They were still hanging out on the right branch. He threw another egg near where he stood, drew the revolver and fired two shots at them, drawing their attention as well.

Certain he had a big enough lead, Riley chanced a look back. His breath caught in his throat as he saw hundreds of termite barreling toward him. Their deafening cries sent chills up his spine. Dismissing the thought of what would happen should they catch up, he forced himself to run faster.

Riley rounded a corner and almost bumped into a termite warrior. The creature was apparently as surprised as he was, as it stood still, its antennae waving in confusion. Not wasting a second, he jumped out of its striking range and snapped two quick shots at its eyes. Ignoring its painful cries, he hurried away.

As he neared the colony's edge, Riley heard Mako speak.

"Cheng, Jenkins, you're up. Riley, make sure they don't lose your sight."

"Got it," Riley answered, his breath leveled. He glanced behind, the swarm was about 30 meters behind him.

All of a sudden, Riley heard a loud buzzing sound approaching from his left. Out of reflex, he dropped down and rolled forward, feeling something raking on his left arm. Lifting his head, he saw that it was an alate. The thing spread its wing, slowed down, then latched on the wall. He got to his feet and fired two shots at its back, prompting an angry squeal, then darted away.

More intense buzzing let Riley know that several alates were behind him. Ahead, a group of termites appeared, on the way back to the nest with food. Seeing Riley, they dropped their salvage, opened their jaws and hissed in challenge.

Without slowing down, Riley unclipped a Disruptor hand grenade from his vest, activated it and tossed it in the middle of the termite group in front of him. Two seconds later, a high-pitched noise filled the tunnel, almost shaking him off his feet. Struggling to keep balance, Riley made his way past the disoriented termites.

After running forward a few dozen meters, he stopped and turned around. The Disruptor grenade had stopped emitting its debilitating noise, but the termites were still suffering from the effects. Taking advantage of the confusion, Riley readied the rifle and fired at the alates. In order to fly, the alates' bodies are lighter and less durable than the ground-based ones and can be incapacitated with relative ease. Satisfied that he had eliminated most of the fliers, Riley waited until they were focused on him once again, then turned and ran.

The rest of the trip was a lot less eventful. He only faced a couple of patrols or foragers, and either evaded them or stunned them with a shot or two. His destination kept getting closer.

[Gate A] [85 m]… [75 m]… [65 m]…

"I'm almost at gate A!" Riley said into the comm channel.

"Got it." Mako acknowledged.

As he neared the gate, Riley spotted Cheng and Jenkin's representations on his vision. They were both heading toward the trap. Pursuing each of them were several dozen red triangles.

Keep your pace, guys. You'll enter the trap at the same time." Mako said.

Turning a corner, Riley headed into a wide tunnel section, 6 meters wide and 3 meters high, with an oval cross-section. Ahead of him lied Gate A - a sliding gate consisting of two solid slabs of reinforced concrete. He bolted past the wide open gate.

"I've crossed gate A, Mako."

"Got it. Head to gate F. You'll see Cheng and Jenkins on the way. I'm closing gate D and E." Mako informed him. Riley heard a distant rumble as the two gates are closed.

The waypoints to gates D and E disappeared from his vision, only gate F remained. Invigorated, Riley followed the pathway pulsing below his feet.

He saw Cheng first, who emerged from a pathway on his left.

"Jeez, dude," Cheng said between breaths, "Did you have to lure that many?"

"It'll help," Riley replied curtly.

Jenkins joined them a few moments later. Together, the three ran to gate F.

"Gate B is closed. Gate C is closed. Gate A still open. We've still got customers coming." Mako announced.

The groups of termites chasing Cheng and Jenkins had been merged with the swarm pursuing Riley. Without a word, the trio legged it as fast as they can.

There it was! Riley wanted to shout as gate F was in sight. It was only 50 meters away…

Then he heard a heavy thud behind him. He turned and saw Jenkins had tripped over something and fallen. The swarm was closing in on him!

Without thinking, he unclipped the last Disruptor hand grenade and primed it. He ran back to Jenkins, threw the grenade at the closest group of termites, and pulled him to his feet. Cheng was covering them both, using his rifle to shoot at the most immediate threats.

"Can you run?" Riley asked Jenkins. He had to shout over the deafening shrieks of the termites and the Disruptor grenade.

"Yes!" Jenkins shouted back. Riley let him go and he continued running with a slight limp.

"Cheng! Let's go!" Riley called to Cheng, who joined him toward.

When they were about 10 meters away, Mako said over comm: "Gate F is closing… now!" and the heavy gate began sliding close.

Jenkins got through first, followed by Cheng. Riley was last. They all stepped away from the gate, guns ready for whatever managed to follow them. Sure enough, three soldier termites successfully got through, only to be met with bullets to the head. Several others were either crushed or maimed by the closing gate, so the trio did not bother with them. As the trio caught their breaths, they heard dull pounding sounds as dozens of claws futilely attacked the reinforced concrete slabs.