“I don’t know, man. It sounds crazy. And I mean, I trust you and all, but that doesn’t mean that these guys will.”
“Just get me in front of them and I’ll explain it the best I can. If they don’t believe me, then we’re doomed anyway.”
John slammed on his brakes as an explosion rumbled through the city. Rounds of gunfire snapped like Fourth of July firecrackers, and men and women screamed.
They jumped out of the car and ran two hundred yards towards the entrance to the National Guard checkpoint. Military vehicles of all varieties surrounded what looked like a Chinese restaurant that had been turned into a command center. Soldiers walked the perimeter with rifles, stopping occasionally to gawk up at the sky but not knowing what to shoot or what good it would do. One of the men stopped his patrol when he saw Reno and John approaching.
John pointed to the badge on his uniform and the guard at the entrance waved him closer, where he stopped to talk to the guard as Reno joined him.
“Who’s in charge here?” John asked.
“That’s a damn good question.” The patch on the guard’s chest read Rodriguez. “This attack has been relentless. We’ve lost a lot of people.”
“Well, if you want to beat these sons of bitches, then you’ve got to get my friend here to whoever’s handing out orders.”
Rodriguez looked at Reno, from his shoes to his chin. He smiled before turning back to John.
“What does some EMT know that we don’t?”
“I know why that exploded.” Reno pointed at the flaming obelisk a few miles away. “And I know how to finish the job.”
“Bullshit.”
“He’s telling the truth,” John said. “We just came back from the wreckage. Found one of the guys that caused the explosion.”
“The guy,” Reno said, making sure Jack would get the credit even if he had already passed away.
A building exploded nearby and bricks shot through the air. Reno ducked and covered his head. People from inside the restaurant cried out.
“Goddamnit!” Rodriguez said.
“You’ve got to get me to your commander right now, or there isn’t going to be anyone left to follow orders.”
Rodriguez pursed his lips, and then he nodded. “Stay close to me.”
Rodriguez crouched down as they headed around the side of the restaurant to a parking lot around back that was bustling with activity. Reno followed. To his right, a military transport pulled up and several soldiers jumped out and ran by. Reno looked left and saw the fire in the sky. Soldiers positioned on the edge of the Cumberland River were firing at the pedestrian bridge. Reno followed their aim and saw several aliens firing back at the troops. He ducked his head and followed John and Rodriguez to a green tent in the northwest corner of the parking lot.
Rodriguez entered first, then turned around and waved Reno and John to follow him. Inside, three soldiers stood behind a fold-up table with a map of Nashville lying on top of it.
“I don’t know if that’ll work,” one of the men said.
“We’re running out of goddamn options!”
Reno swallowed. It was clear who was in charge. The man who’d just yelled and spat looked up. Reno glanced at the man’s chest and saw the name Rupp on his patch, almost hidden behind a full array of combat-earned medals.
“What are you doing here, Rodriguez? And who the fuck are they?”
“These men say they know how to beat the aliens, sir. They say they can help.”
Rupp glanced at Reno and John. “They can help by getting their asses out there and firing back at those fuckers. If the EMT doesn’t know how to shoot, then I’m sure you can give him a quick lesson. Now, get the hell out of here so that I can—”
“I’m sorry, sir, but that’s not how we can help,” Reno said.
The man bit his lip as he glared at Reno. “You better have a damn good reason for interrupting me, son.”
“Yes, of course, sir. What if I told you I know how to take down that obelisk?”
Rupp raised an eyebrow. “I’d tell you that someone already tried that, and they failed.”
“Not totally, sir.”
The ground shook from another explosion that caused the sides of the tent to flap. Unsteady on his bad ankle, Reno lost his balance and fell forward, grabbing onto the table to keep himself from falling.
“There isn’t time for this,” Rupp said. “So, if you want to help, then get out there and fight those bastards.”
Reno made a fist and narrowed his eyes. He slammed his hand down on the table.
“Don’t you get it? Your weapons aren’t doing jack shit to them! The only way to get them to stop attacking us is to take that obelisk down! And I know how to do it. So, you all can either sit here trying to come up with a plan, and die in the process, or you can get me on a transport truck with explosives and soldiers, and we can bring the rest of that obelisk to the fucking ground and end this tonight.”
Rupp removed his hands from the table and stood up straight. He put his hands on his hips.
“You better be right if you’re gonna talk to me like that.”
With everyone’s focus on him now, Reno explained what Jack—really, Maya—had figured out. The obelisk’s power source came from beneath the surface, geothermal heat powering a sophisticated motor. But a motor, nonetheless. Destroying the motor would bring down the dome and give Nashville a fighting chance.
“So, you’re saying that if we get you to that beacon with enough explosives, you can bring the dome down?”
“Yes, sir. That’s what I’m telling you. Jack had the right idea, but he didn’t have enough firepower.”
Rupp looked into the faces of the men surrounding him. Then he turned to Reno.
“Rodriguez.” Rupp kept his eyes on Reno.
“Sir?”
“I want you to take mister…”
“Reno Harvey, sir.”
“Mr. Harvey and his cop friend here and grab as much PE-4 as you can find, along with detonators. Hook up with Gibson’s squad and take a transport over to Centennial Park. Hopefully, this guy is right, and we can bring that fucking dome down.”
“Yes, sir,” Rodriguez said. “I’ll go right now and—”
The ground lifted and then vibrated, knocking the men into each other. What sounded like a jet engine mounted on a Harley Davidson roared overhead.
“Look out!” someone outside yelled.
“What in the hell?” Rupp walked around the table and out the door.
Reno and the others followed him to where several people were pointing towards the river.
One of the alien ships had buzzed the National Guard checkpoint, gone over the pedestrian bridge, and now hovered about 100 yards above the top of Nissan Stadium. As they watched, a beam of light shot down from the bottom of the spacecraft. After a split second of total silence, a tower of fire erupted from somewhere near the fifty-yard-line and turned into a blazing mushroom cloud.
“Get down!” Rupp shouted.
Reno fell to the pavement and covered his head. The ground trembled for several more seconds and despite the screaming people, he heard debris landing all around him and in the river. When the shaking stopped, he looked back.
The mushroom cloud of fire had turned into an angry, dark storm cloud of ash obscuring whatever remained of the Tennessee Titans’ home turf. Reno feared what he would, or wouldn’t, see once the wind whisked the smoke away.
But he didn’t want to wait around until that happened.
“Rodriguez, you’ve got to go now!” Rupp said.