Death From Below

By C.S. Michaels

Tired of running and hiding from an alien race that has taken over the Earth, Titan Wolf and his group of survivors decide they don’t want to spend the rest of their lives hiding like animals. They know they need to do something, so they decide to go on the offensive and fight the merciless enemy. Although they are outmanned and outgunned, the band of fighters know they must try to take their city back.

• Language: English
• Publisher: C.S. Michaels
• Release date: Nov 11, 2019
• ISBN: 9780463259276

Book preview

Prologue

In the year 2292, the Earth was no longer a place of peace and prosperity. It had been for several decades, but all of that was shattered when an alien species from the planet Gorlan descended on the Earth like locusts, destroying everything they could while simultaneously trying to eliminate humans.

To say the attack was a huge surprise to the humans was a gross understatement. It was beyond imagination that another species would do such a thing. Not only did the Gorlanians attack the Earth, but they also attacked all human settlements on the various moons and planets in Earth’s solar system and they attacked the human settlements in other star systems.

The two species, humans and Gorlanians, had coexisted for decades, living with a treaty that allowed each species the right to colonize other star systems in the galaxy. They had agreed that the first species to set a flag on a moon or a planet would get the rights to that star system. It seemed to work fine for both species, but unbeknownst to the humans, the Gorlanians had been planning to overtake all planets populated by the humans, including the planet Earth.

The Gorlanians were like humans in many ways and their planet was like Earth, however, there were a few differences. For example, the oxygen content on the planet Gorlan was much higher than the Earth’s. This meant that humans could breathe on Gorlan without any issues, but the Gorlanians had trouble breathing on Earth because the oxygen content was so much lower. They could do it, but they became out of breath easily. It would be like humans trying to live in the mountains that had an elevation of twelve thousand feet.

The other difference was the gravity. The gravity on Gorlan was two times that of the gravity on Earth. That meant that it was much more difficult for humans to move around on Gorlan, but it was a little easier for the Gorlanians to move around on Earth.

The Gorlanian’s body structure was somewhat like the humans. They had two legs, two arms and one head. Their feet resembled flippers because they spent a lot of time in their oceans. They lived on land but were at home in the ocean as well. Because of their flipper-like feet, they could walk, but they couldn’t move quickly. It was like a penguin walking on land.

Their skin was more like a shark’s skin, both in color and texture. They were much bigger than humans, growing to ten feet and weighing five hundred pounds. Their heads were twice the size of a human’s head, and they had two giant eyes with two small ears. They didn’t have much of a nose as it was mainly two slits that allowed them to smell. Their arms were short and stubby which led to hands that contained five fingers and two thumbs.

The attack on the Earth was swift and brutal as the Gorlanians launched hundreds of thousands of fighters to bomb the cities of Earth. After five days of bombing the city, the Gorlanians sent in their ground troops by the millions.

During the initial attack, Titan Wolf, better known as Ty, was in California City, preparing for his military duty after having completed a year in the Military Academy then several months of training. He had just completed fighter school training and was to report to the military base in the southern part of California City in two days, so he could be taken to his carrier, The Constellation, which was headed for Earth then he would start his ten-year commitment with the military.

The carrier was part of the Eleventh Armada that consisted of gunships, cruisers, destroyers and support ships. They were scheduled to go on a five-year tour of the galaxy, which was the standard length of time, protecting the interests of the people of Earth.

Ty was in California City which ran the entire length of what was once southern California all the way to the land that used to be called Canada. This city contained a billion citizens, at least it did before the attack took place. Although nobody knew how many citizens remained, one thing was for certain and that was most people were killed during the bombing.

Sitting in a bar when the attack happened, Ty tried to make his way to the military base, that way he could help with the defense of the planet. By his side was Peoni Haylon who was a waitress working in the bar at the time of the attack. Staying with Ty, she accompanied him as they made their way to the base.

Along the way, they met up with four children that had lost their parents in the bombing. Not wanting to leave them to fend for themselves, Ty and Peoni took the kids with them, caring for them as they continued making their way to the military base.

After five days of traveling to the base, they connected with other survivors, growing their group which provided comfort and safety. Finally, they made it to the base, only to see that the Gorlanians had taken it over. The group of survivors couldn’t believe what they saw because there appeared to be over thirty thousand Gorlanians on the base and a couple of thousand fighters.

Knowing they had to figure out a way to survive, they found shelters underneath the terminals where trains provided public transportation. The underground shelters provided safety and kept them hidden from the Gorlanians while also providing food and water that had been stored there. Ty assumed these shelters had been designed to keep people safe in case of a major earthquake. Ty and the other found that the shelters worked perfectly to keep them safe from the Gorlanians.

After establishing their shelter, they started finding more survivors and their group expanded to almost two hundred people. This group consisted of men, women and children of all ages. There were some families, but most of the people were made up of stragglers that had been trying to find their families or that had lost their families.

Ty had come from a rich family, which happened to make and sell the trains that were used all over the continent. They were known as Titan Trains and Ty made sure nobody knew that he was part of the Wolf dynasty because he didn’t like people knowing that about him. Once people found that out about his family, they tended to treat him differently and he didn’t want that to happen.

The only person that was aware of his lineage was Peoni and that was only because she figured it out on her own. After swearing her to secrecy, she promised she wouldn’t tell anyone else, which was important Ty because the survivors had elected him their leader and he didn’t want anything to change their opinion about him.

It still shocked Ty that he had been elected as the group’s leader because he was only twenty-three years old. He assumed they wanted him as their leader since he was the only one in the group that was in the military. Most likely, they figured he would know what to do. It didn’t seem to matter to them that he was trained as a pilot and not infantry.

Although he didn’t immediately know what they should do, he started to figure it out. His priority was to make sure the people were safe from the aliens which he did by finding the shelter. The next priority was to have plenty of food and water for everyone which was no problem because they could raid the other shelters and get as much of the supplies as they needed. They were surviving without any issues, safe from the aliens and they had enough supplies to survive for many months, if not years.

After a couple of weeks of running and hiding from the aliens, Ty and his group decided to go on the attack and started launching ambushes on enemy patrols. These ambushes were small, but effective. As a result, they were able to surprise the alien patrols, kill them and take their weapons which were superior to the human’s weapons.

Boosted by the success of their four ambushes, Ty decided it was time to step up their attacks and fight the enemy. In his opinion, they could no longer sit back and let the aliens take over the planet. They needed to do whatever they could to try to drive the aliens off the planet. With the support of the group, they were now prepared to go on the offensive with the intent of taking back their city and their planet one battle at a time.

Ty was under no preconceptions about killing all the aliens. He knew it was going to be a long and drawn out war, but he wasn’t about to hide with his tail between his legs and let the aliens do whatever they wanted.

Boosted by the success of the earlier ambushes, Ty and his group were determined to fight back.

Chapter 1

Sleeping soundly, I had a dream about a vacation I took on Mars many years ago. It was a nice vacation that I had taken with my parents when I was young, probably seven or eight years old. My father let me put on a space suit and walk outside of the protective domes that surrounded the city. My mother was not happy about that, knowing the inherent danger of it, fearing for my safety, but my father let me do it anyway. It was a moment in time that I have always remembered because I had enjoyed it immensely.

Suddenly, my dream was interrupted as I felt someone shaking me. Ty, wake up, Peoni said.

What is it? I asked sleepily, trying to wake up.

Get up, she said.

Peoni Haylon was a lovely blonde with gorgeous green eyes. Her long hair was normally tied up, so it was on top of her head which showed a long, slender neck. However, today she had it down and I had to admit that I liked the look of it. Her face was round, and she had the most perfect nose, not too big and not too small. I didn’t know how else to describe it, except to say that it was perfect for her face. She was slightly taller than average and had a thin build, but still had the hour glass figure.

She was working as a waitress at the bar where we met, and she had been waiting on my table when the alien attack happened. Working there while she was looking for a teaching job after completing her education, she had hoped to find a teaching job soon, but then the invasion happened and ruined her plans, just like it did for everyone else.

It was strange how close we were becoming and how much affection I was starting to feel for her, not to mention the four kids we had rescued. After approximately three weeks of spending time together we were bonding, and I felt like we were becoming a family, which was unexpected, to say the least. I had always been determined to live my life alone and never expected to become a family man, but I was starting to grow fond of my new family. Not only was it strange that it was happening to me, but for it to happen in the environment we were living, only added to it.

Sitting up, I swung my legs off my cot, so my feet were on the ground as I rubbed my eyes. I didn’t feel like I had slept long, which meant Peoni must have had a good reason for waking me up from my sleep. It didn’t seem like I fell into a deep sleep often because I was six feet five inches tall and weighed two hundred and fifty pounds, which meant my body didn’t fit well on the small cot. I had little fat on my body thanks to all my military training. My brown hair was still short because of my buzz cut, making it was easy for people to know I was in the military.

What’s going on? I asked.

One of the guards just came running down from the terminal and said there is an enemy patrol making their way towards us, she explained, getting my attention.

Now I was fully awake, knowing this was not a good situation. How long ago did the guard report in? I asked as I grabbed my rifle from underneath the cot.

The guard just came down to the shelter and told me then I immediately came to wake you up, Peoni explained. He’s waking up Serenova and Rolondo now.

That’s good, I said because Serenova and Rolondo were my two most trusted soldiers.

None of us were actual soldiers in the military, but after the brief battles we had with the alien troops we were becoming soldiers fast. Serenova and Rolondo had been with me for almost three weeks and I trusted them immensely. I now considered them my second in command.

With my rifle in hand, I hurriedly made my way through the shelter, around all the cots that were lined up. We had been extremely lucky to find the shelter underneath the train terminal because they weren’t known to the public. Most likely, they had been built after the city had been hit with a series of massive earthquakes, which happened many years ago and killed thousands of people.

Unfortunately, even more people died because they had been trapped in the tunnels for a week before they could be rescued. With no water available, the people started dying after three days. After that tragedy happened, the government must have built the shelters, but decided not to tell the public because they didn’t want people to try to live in them, which was understandable. There were secret doors that I assumed only the train operators knew about.

The shelters were the same size as the terminals, which were fifty yards wide and twenty-five yards long. That meant it was somewhat cramped because we had a hundred and fifty cots that took up more than half the shelter. We also had a corner of the shelter that was designated for the kids to play. There was a designated eating area and a weapons cache as well.

There were portable lights, which were on large platforms that could be wheeled to different locations, although we made sure we didn’t turn on all the lights in the shelter. Since we didn’t know how long we were going to be in the shelter, I knew we needed to conserve the lights.

The best thing about the shelters was that they were stocked with food and water, which could last a hundred and fifty people for two to four weeks. The food and water had probably been down there for a couple of decades, but it could last for several decades. The shelters also had a hundred and fifty cots, blankets and pillows, which was welcomed by us after sleeping on the hard tunnel ground for several days.

Making my way past several cots, I walked over to where all the weapons were stored in our own little war room. That’s where we always met when we had something to discuss, which meant that Serenova and Rolondo would know to go there. A few seconds later, as I approached, I saw them already standing at the weapons cache, so I walked over to Serenova and Rolondo with Peoni close behind me.

Serenova Walhart was a woman with short brown hair and a brown complexion. She was medium height with a medium build. Her eyes were close together and she had small button nose. Rolondo Hinman had red hair, a pale complexion and freckles that dotted his face. He was a few inches shorter than my six feet five but outweighed me by thirty pounds which was quite significant because I weighed in at two hundred and fifty pounds. Since he hadn’t shaved in the last three weeks because of the invasion, he was growing out his beard like the rest of us, but in his case, his red hair was coming in patches.

Get Sadie, Candor and Berino, I told Serenova and Rolondo, referring to some of my other trusted troops. Then meet me upstairs.

Okay, they said and went to wake the others.

What are you going to do? Peoni asked.

I knew she was asking if I was going to engage the enemy or try to avoid them. One of the standing rules I had was not engaging the aliens in the tunnels, let alone anywhere near the terminals. I didn’t want the aliens knowing we were taking refuge down here because I didn’t want them to start bombing the tunnels, possibly destroying our shelter. Although I didn’t think the shelter could be destroyed if the terminals and tunnels were bombed, I still didn’t want that to happen. Because of that, I had no idea what I was going to do. I would make sure we avoided a confrontation with the enemy in the tunnels at all costs.

I don’t know what I’m going to do at this time, I replied. I’m just going to check out the situation.

What do you want us to do?

I need you to round up everyone down here and make sure they’re quiet. Tell them there is an enemy patrol walking down the tunnel and not to make a sound until we come back here and tell them it’s clear.

Do you think we should evacuate this place? Peoni asked.

No, that’s not necessary, I responded. In fact, we may make too much noise if we do that, so I think it will be much safer down here rather than trying to get everyone out of here. Besides, with two hundred people in our group, we’ll be much more vulnerable in the tunnels.

What happens if the aliens come down to the shelter? We won’t have anywhere to go.

It’s still safer than trying to run through the tunnels, I replied. Also, we have a lot of rifles down here, so we should be able to defend ourselves just fine. I’ll post guards just in case. Worst case scenario, everyone can escape through the access corridor.

Alright, Peoni replied, knowing the access corridor was a hidden hallway that ran parallel to the tunnels. People could make their escape through there without being seen by aliens in the tunnels.

Where are the kids? I asked, referring to the four kids that we had been taking care of the last three weeks. I wanted them somewhere safe.

All of them are over there, she said as she pointed to a corner of the shelter. They had been upstairs playing, but the guard told them all to get down here.

That’s good. I’ll be back soon.

Please don’t do anything unnecessary, she commented, giving me a slight smile, knowing I liked to attack the aliens when given the chance.

I won’t, I replied, returning her smile.

Running to the stairs, I took them two at a time until I popped out of the secret door and into the terminal. There were thirty people gathered, all of them with rifles, ready for a showdown with the enemy. I was happy to see that many people prepared to fight in the tunnel, but now was not the time to make a stand even though I knew we could take out the patrol with relative ease, since the patrols only consisted of ten to fifteen aliens.

Who was on guard? I asked.

I was on guard, a man said as he stepped forward.

His long black hair was greasy which was no different than everyone else’s hair, thanks to not being able to shower. It was unruly, and he used his fingers to wrap it around his ears, trying to get it out of his way. He had a large nose and two eyes that were set very far apart. Shorter than average, he was also very thin.

What’s your name? I asked.

I’m Shanto Macklin, he answered.

Where are the aliens? I asked.

They were about four miles that way, he said as he pointed to the west. That was before I ran back here, which means they’re probably only a mile or two away now.

How many of them are there? I asked.

It was hard for me to see, but I would guess around ten to fifteen of them.

That sounds about right. All the patrols we’ve seen have been in that range. Did they see you?

No, I was hiding in the shadows and I stayed along the walls until I was far enough away that I could sprint here and let everyone know they were on their way.

Good job making it back here in time to warn everyone, I replied.

Thanks.

I thought for a second, trying to decide what to do. Over the course of the last few weeks, we had fought four enemy patrols and killed them without any losses. Although the Gorlanians were technically superior to us in some respects, they weren’t smart when it came to war strategies. They tended to move together in a close pack and didn’t send any scouts ahead. As a result, we were able to pick them off easily.

I had no doubt we could do that now if that was what we wanted to do. We could use the access corridors that ran parallel to the tunnels to secretly move behind them. The access corridors had proven to be extremely useful and I was glad they were there. I assumed the access corridors were installed to allow maintenance workers to get from one part of the tunnel to the other without having to walk down the tunnels, minimizing the risk of getting hit by a train.

Just like the shelters, they were not known to the public and they had secret doors spread throughout the tunnels. We had accidentally found a door that led to the access corridor which ended up leading to the shelter where we were now living. The doors were hidden because they were in shadows thanks to the lights in the tunnels focusing on the middle of the tunnel and not the walls where the access doors were located, so it was low risk that the aliens would see it. However, we had stumbled across the door, so there was always a chance that the aliens could as well.

I knew that if we used the access corridors, we could come up from behind and kill all of them. However, as I told the others, I didn’t want to do that because they would send more aliens to investigate. That was the last thing we needed because I didn’t want several patrols snooping around down here. The best thing for all of us was to let the patrol pass unimpeded, so they would tell their superiors that nothing was down here.

I needed to make sure everyone stayed hidden in the shelter below the terminal. I would make sure we were ready, just in case the aliens did find the door, then we could kill them. Hopefully, it wouldn’t come to that, but if it did, we would be prepared.

I instructed several people to go into the access corridor then stand guard and wait for my next instructions.

Chapter 2

Now that I had the terminal cleared, I needed to think about what I was going to do. Obviously, I knew we weren’t going to battle the alien patrol, but I didn’t want to hide with the others. Instead, I would like to keep an eye on the aliens to see what they were going to do. I felt like I could do that with low risk of being seen.

The tunnels were dimly lit, thanks to the backup batteries that powered the lights. High powered batteries powered everything these days and they could last for months or years, depending on how they were built and what kind of batteries they were.

The tunnels were fifty yards wide and twenty-five yards high, which meant they needed high-powered batteries to light the area. The backup batteries lit the tunnels just enough that people could see to move around.

The reason the tunnels were that wide was because there were usually trains going in both directions and they needed to have plenty of room, making sure the trains didn’t hit one another. Because the tunnels were wide, and the backup batteries were only meant to give just enough light to allow people to move about in case of an emergency, only the middle of the tunnel was well lit. The sides, along the walls, were shrouded in darkness.

The tunnels were like streets because trains could drive in both directions. Like the streets above ground, the tunnels were everywhere in the city. There were even intersections, or interchanges as they were called, where trains could turn and go in different directions. The interchanges were like four-way stops except there weren’t stoplights. Everything was automated, so if there were trains coming in different directions, the on-board computers would communicate with each other to make sure one train stopped while another went through the interchange.

What are you thinking? Serenova asked, after the others left to take up their positions.

I’m not sure yet, I replied. We can easily take the aliens out, but I don’t want them to go missing in the tunnels because the Gorlanians may send more troops looking for them.

We know they will.

Yeah, and even worse, they may decide to destroy the tunnels and I certainly don’t want that to happen. I would hate to be buried alive down here.

So, what’s the problem? We’ll just hide and wait for them to pass.

Yeah, I suppose.

What’s bothering you?

We’ve seen them set bombs in buildings after they have either taken people prisoner, killed the people inside or determined there isn’t anyone in there.

Yeah, so?

What if they clear the area then decide to set bombs inside the terminal? I asked. I don’t want anything to happen to the shelter.

Well, we can watch them and if it looks like they’re going to set some bombs we could kill them.

I think that’s what we’ll need to do, I replied. If we do kill them, we can try to drag them away from here, that way the other aliens won’t know where they were killed.

They’re awfully heavy to try to drag too far, Serenova pointed out.

I know, but we’ll have to do it.

Sounds good.

I knew the chances of the aliens setting bombs in the terminal was higher than I would like, just because of what they had been doing to the buildings. The bombs weren’t enough to bring down the building in most cases, but it certainly did a lot of damage to them, usually making them uninhabitable, which I assumed was the goal. I hoped they weren’t planning on doing the same thing here.

They’re probably less than a mile away from us now, Serenova stated. What do you want to do?

Let’s go check them out then I’ll make a decision what to do, I remarked then turned to the last few remaining people that were standing there. I want everyone else in the shelter. Pass out the rifles and be prepared to evacuate or fight if necessary.

They nodded and ran for the doorway that led to the stairs that would take them down to the shelter. Once they were inside, I shut the door, then stood back and looked. There wasn’t a doorknob on this side of the door, so the door blended in nicely with the wall, making it impossible for anyone, or anything, to know that there was a door that led to a shelter.

Let’s go, I told Serenova then I started jogging down the tunnel with Serenova following me.

A half a mile later, I stopped as I saw the alien’s lights moving in the distance. It was times like this that I was happy