Thrilled to Death

by James Byron Huggins

  “Well,” Connor frowned, grim, “I’ve got a shock for it – the last shock of its life. Now find out where that thing is. I want an exact location and direction of travel.”

  Frank quickly spoke into the headset and the computer replied, “Leviathan is two miles from the Housing Cavern.”

  “What direction is it moving in?” Frank asked.

  “Leviathan is moving toward the Housing Cavern.’‘

  Appearing in the doorway of the Housing Complex, Beth suddenly cried out, running down the steps to embrace Connor.

  Connor took her in his arms and kissed her on the neck, cheek, face, mouth. She stared into his eyes, holding his face in her hands.

  “I was afraid ...”

  “It’s all right,” he whispered. “But it’ll be here in a few minutes. We’ve got to get moving.”

  “I broke the code,” she whispered, staring into his eyes.

  Connor genuinely smiled. “Like I knew you would, darlin’.” He kissed her. “Now let’s get out of here. We’ve got to move.”

  Without words Beth turned and ran up the staircase. In a moment she came out, holding Jordan close in her arms. He was wrapped in a blanket. “He’s still sleeping. I’m not going to wake him up if I don’t have to.”

  Connor walked up and gently lifted Jordan from her arms. “He’ll be okay. He’s just—”

  A howling roar thundered through the long tunnel behind them, echoing across the expanse of the Housing Cavern. It was a lot closer than Connor had expected.

  Chesterton stepped forward. “Frank thinks he might be able to defuse the fail-safe, Connor.”

  “How?”

  “I’ve got to get into Cyberspace to do it,” Frank responded. “And that means I’ve got to get to the Computer Cavern because that’s where the Cyberspace Module is located.”

  “You take him to it, Connor,” Chesterton said, lifting an M-16 that he had secured from a weapons locker. “There’s probably going to be some kind of mechanical problem once you get there. This entire place is wrecked. Some of the electrical lines are down, and you’re the only one who can fix them.”

  Connor hesitated. He had come up with a desperate plan, something that might kill the beast, but he couldn’t set it up if he had to lead Frank to the Computer Cavern. But then he knew that killing Leviathan would be useless if they couldn’t disarm the fail-safe.

  “All right,” Connor said. “Let’s go.”

  “I’ll need Beth to help me.”

  “She’s coming, too.” Connor slung the M-203 over a shoulder, turned to Thor and Barley. “Can the two of you lay more tracks in and out of this cavern to confuse it? It’s already hurting, but we need to hurt it some more.”

  Together they nodded.

  “Good,” Connor continued. “Just open all the vault doors and lay as many heat impressions as possible. Give it plenty to look at. Wear it out. It’s wounded and it can’t feed anymore. Plus, the fight on the bridge used up all of its resources. It’s going to be starving real soon.” He hesitated. “The rest of us will go ahead and try to access the computer. We’ll meet up at the power plant in an hour to make a stand, to try and keep it from passing through the cavern to reach Crystal Lake. I think I can rig up something that it can’t cross, something that might even kill it. And we can probably get a distress signal through the communications linkup with the surface. But first we’ve got to disarm this bomb.”

  “It will be done,” Thor said.

  Barley lifted his rifle. “See you in an hour.”

  Connor turned to Chesterton. “What do you want to do? You want to come with us or stay here?”

  “I’ve been listening to Frank and I’ve realized that I don’t know a thing about computers,” Chesterton said. His aspect was fatally fatigued. “I think I’ll stay here and help them to—”

  On the far side of the Housing Cavern the titanium door shook, struck hard. The bestial roar that followed was like blood-wet fear in the air, guttural and threatening.

  Instantly Thor was moving forward, shoving Connor. “Go, my friend! Go! Go! Hurry before it breaks down the door. We will hold it here as long as possible. Disarm the bomb.”

  With Beth beside him, Connor was moving. He heard the wall behind them shattering, caught a freshness in the reptilian scream that told him a section of the vault’s frame had surrendered to the colossal, raging force. And then they had stooped under the narrowly-lifted door to enter another passageway, moving quickly.

  Beth was behind him with Frank leading as they ran deeply down the tunnel. In the distance behind them they heard the now familiar sounds of savage conflict, the roar of the beast followed by defiant human cries and the thunderous explosions of rifles and grenades.

  But there was no time to think of it, not with what loomed before them. Connor sensed it before he saw it. Light. Heat. Heavy smoke moving toward the ventilation system. And Connor instinctively looked up at the tunnel, slowing in cold fear as he understood.

  It was on fire.

  Chapter 24

  Flame before them with flames behind and Frank spun, shouting, “We’ve got to get out of this tunnel! The only other way to reach Brubaker is through Omega!”

  Connor whirled to look at the entrance of Omega. He knew the tunnel led through the cavern for a mile before it intersected with Brubaker, which would take them to the Computer Cavern. And then he remembered how Leviathan had wrecked the tunnel earlier. “But Omega was wrecked when that thing destroyed the nitrogen tanks,” he gasped. “We can’t...”

  “We’ve got to try!” Frank was screaming. “We’re dead if we try to reach Brubaker through this tunnel! It’s too hot!”

  Connor grimaced, trying to decide.

  “Make a decision, Connor! If we don’t use Omega we’ll have to retrace our steps back through the Housing Cavern!” The scientist choked on the smoke billowing up the passageway. “Come on! We’re running out of time!”

  Connor glared at the flames before them, weighing the options. But it was clear to him. There was no way. There was no way they could get through the tunnel before them. And there was no way they could retreat back through the Housing Cavern. Not with that kill-or-be-killed firefight in full force. He knew that much, for certain. Just as he knew that Thor and Barley and Chesterton would be dead themselves if they stayed in there much longer.

  “We’ll take Omega!” he shouted, angling instantly toward the entrance. “We’ll have to take our chances that the nitrogen hasn’t poisoned the air!”

  “The nitrogen should have dissipated by now!” Frank re-plied, moving quickly ahead of him. “But we can’t be sure of the wiring! GEO told me that Leviathan used flame down here, and it could have melted the steel plating. We could have lines down!”

  Jordan stirred in Connor’s arms, crying. “Shhhh,” said Connor, hugging him closer. “It’s okay, boy. We’re going to get out of here. Just a little longer and we’ll get you out of here. Daddy’s going to get you out of here ...”

  Grimacing against the flame, Connor hugged his son close.

  ***

  Collapsing to one knee, Barley shouted and centered an LAW rocket at the chest of Leviathan.

  The beast was surreal and titanic in the cavern, fully enraged. Its tail swept right and left, shattering everything within reach. Nothing could resist it—wood, steel, and wiring surrendered like smoke to the monstrous might of the beast, scattering and disintegrating wildly at its touch. Emerging fully into the cavern, Leviathan screamed hideously, shaking, dropping on all four legs to charge.

  Grim and cold, Barley depressed the trigger of the LAW and the flame-bolt struck Leviathan hard in the chest, staggering it solidly. It reared back, aflame and firing flame from its mouth that shot uncontrollably to the roof of the cavern, exploding in a hellish, mushrooming white cloud that set the entire complex ablaze.

  Hea
t, heat ...

  Heat!

  Fire rained from the roof.

  Thor fired the M-79e.

  The grenade struck Leviathan in the chest, exploding violently against the armor plating. But the beast took the shock almost in stride, leaping forward and lashing out. A long foreleg missed Thor by a hair, cleanly severing the main support beam of the Housing Complex.

  Damaged by the flame and collision of forces, the entire housing structure began to cave in, falling over Leviathan. It struck back maniacally, vaporizing steel and plywood with a continuous white stream of liquid fire, fangs, and claws. On and on it raged, slashing and striking at everything, at nothing, raging at the air, the cavern. Then Chesterton let loose with an M-16, screaming for Barley and Thor to retreat but they stood their ground.

  Thor broke open the M-79 and shoved another grenade in the tube. He quickly snapped it shut as Leviathan’s dragon-head again lashed toward him. With a shout he fired into its face. Blinding, the point-blank blast hit at less than forty feet and only the concussion threw Thor out of range as the monstrous jaws snapped shut on smoking air.

  Barley was firing, screaming, “Thor! Crawl out the vault! Crawl out the vault! Get out of there!”

  Staggering, Thor tried to obey, to retreat. But as he gained his feet he saw the beast atop him. He took a single, frantic step backward before he tripped over a shattered computer frame, sweeping black claws slashing out to tear the computer into splintered steel shreds and then Chesterton was running forward, screaming vengefully and firing the M-16 in a blinding, suicidal rage. He centered on the head, the eyes of the creature and Leviathan blinked, enraged, turning toward the object of its pain.

  “Get out of here you fools!” Chesterton screamed, firing upward.

  Barley reached Thor as Leviathan turned its full attention to Chesterton, rising up, snarling, growling. Despite its injury and its weakened condition, the beast seemed to glory in the moment.

  “Colonel!” screamed Barley, leaping forward, but Thor snatched him by the shirt as he leaped, hauling him back. Then Leviathan’s jaws descended, meeting the gladiatorial hatred of Chesterton who kept firing, firing to the last.

  “Colonel!” Barley screamed again as Thor threw him hard beneath the narrow space of the vault door. Then in a rage Thor spun back to see the beast with its head and neck raised high, almost twenty feet above the ground, swallowing.

  Teeth clenched, Thor raised the M-79, holding a steady aim at the neck, and fired again. When the grenade struck Leviathan staggered, shaken. And Thor quickly reloaded, catching a glimpse of Barley screaming and crawling back beneath the vault to rejoin the fight.

  With a calm aim Thor fired his last grenade, hitting the beast in the same location, a section of neck armor that appeared severely damaged by the LAW rocket. The explosion was fire, white, blinding, volcanic.

  Leviathan screamed, shaking lividly, whirling toward him.

  Thor bent and rolled. He blasted Barley back through the opening of the vault, grabbing the lieutenant as they collided and rolling even faster as he felt a flaming concussion strike the fire door, impacting with the power of a rocket to send a vaporous fire-cloud under the portal.

  Thor continued rolling, throwing Barley as if he were a doll until he was well beyond the door. Then Thor rose to a knee and spun back, screaming and enraged, violently whipping the battle-ax from his back.

  “Come, beast!” he roared. “Come and face me!’‘

  A hideous scream and colossal impact against the vault was the only reply.

  ***

  Smoke and narrow flame surrounded them, and Connor moved as quickly as he could, holding Jordan close. Frank was ahead of them by a dozen steps, searching the passage floor for loose wiring, testing the air for traces of heavy nitrogen.

  Beth was at Connor’s side, her hand on his arm.

  Connor squinted angrily through the smoke, smoke that thickened as they moved deeper and deeper into the tunnel. A moment earlier he had wet a cloth on a ruptured water line and placed it over Jordan’s tiny face. He knew that the cloth would protect the child somewhat from the acrid air that spiraled from the deeper part of Omega. An explosion, seeming to come from behind, shook the corridor walls.

  Beth staggered, grabbing his arm and Connor whirled to stare back, holding Jordan tight. He almost half-expected to see the hell-born beast on top of them. But there was nothing there, nothing but burning smoke, distant flame.

  “What was that?” Beth whispered, staring. She seemed frightened with a new and vivid fear. “Do you think that Thor is ...”

  “No,” Connor replied, holding her gaze.

  He didn’t know what else to say, and she knew the comment for what it was. Hope. And she didn’t question it because it was her hope as well. They turned again to Frank.

  “We’re coming into a big chamber where several tunnels converge!” he called back, holding a hand to his face. He was squinting angrily against the smoke. “Everybody stay together or we could get separated!”

  “Don’t worry about us!” Connor yelled. “Just get us to the computer so you can disarm the fail-safe!”

  Frank turned without words and walked slowly forward. He was almost instantly lost in the smoke that spiraled from the converging passageways. It was a heavy, blinding haze that flowed and overflowed into the ventilation shafts. Connor found himself choking, heard Jordan crying. He tried to comfort his son as best he could, but things were getting bad fast. The smoke was so thick that the air seemed solid, clinging to them, flowing past them like black water. He looked to the side to see Beth bending, lowering her head. And he repeated the maneuver, also bending low to stagger forward.

  Another explosion, too close, blinded them. Connor had no idea what it was, couldn’t imagine. It was a powerful electrical line grounding out or maybe a lost incendiary from the platoons. But whatever it was rocked the corridor and sent them staggering again, struggling for balance.

  Frank was screaming. “We’ve got to find the right tunnel! There’s four or maybe five, that lead out of this room! One of them leads to Brubaker where we can go straight into the computer—”

  The next explosion knocked Connor off his feet, slamming him hard against something but he held Jordan until he came off it, losing his son somehow in the air, landing numbly to ...

  Sharp pain.

  Instantly enraged, Connor tried to lift himself from the ground, found that he couldn’t move. He strained again, violently, and felt something pinning him down. Opening his eyes against the acrid smoke, he glared to the side to see what was holding him.

  A stake.

  A steel stake the size of a railroad spike had been driven cleanly through his upper arm, pinning him to the ground. Instantly Connor’s teeth clenched in a snarl and he violently tore his arm from the blood-red steel, leaving shreds of flesh. He didn’t even feel the pain as he gained his feet, immediately searching for Jordan.

  “Jordan!” he cried. “Jordan! I’m right here!”

  A terrified cry carried through the smoke.

  “Jordan!” screamed Connor. “Where are you, son? Stay where you’re at! Don’t move!”

  A wounded, fearful scream that only a child could make reached into Connor’s heart, tearing him apart, a cry that seemed somehow close but moved away quickly with terrified, searching steps until it was claimed by darkness.

  Connor cried, screaming.

  “Jordan!”

  Chapter 25

  Move!” Thor roared, shoving Barley.

  The big lieutenant staggered, shocked, but he recovered quickly, holding his rifle as he had held it during a thousand training missions, running forward. Thor followed him a dozen steps before he turned back to see the beast wrecking the top level of the vault, ravaging the upper edge as it had learned to do, in order to defeat the portal.

  Leviathan slammed the fire do
or outward, screaming. Thor grabbed Barley and shoved him into a connecting corridor, close behind him. “Run!” Thor shouted. “This is not the place to make a stand! We must exhaust it first!”

  Barley’s response was instantaneous as he leaped into a run that stretched out quickly, covering a wide yard of ground with each stride and Thor ran after him, keeping up easily.

  Leviathan pounded against the portal behind them, slamming the vault outward. The steel walkway beneath their feet was torn from place at the impact and then Thor felt the stride of the beast, pursuing, vengeful to end the conflict. As they reached another bisecting corridor, Thor sensed the quick strides nearing and he grabbed Barley by the collar, angling him roughly into a connecting hallway. Behind them the corridor exploded in flame.

  Thor dove into the entrance of the corridor, escaping the lava that filled the expanse. He landed hard but recovered quickly, rising with his battle-ax close.

  “Yes, beast!” he roared back. “Use your flame! Use your strength!”

  Another hate-filled blast vulcanized the tunnel.

  Until … silence.

  ***

  “Jordan!” Connor screamed. “Where are you?”

  The answering cry was even more distant, vanishing in the smoke-black darkness. And then Frank was beside Connor, clutching. The scientist was confused, not understanding what had happened. Connor grabbed him by the upper arms, crushing.

  “We’ve lost Jordan!” he shouted.

  Connor moved into the smoke, shouting, searching wildly. And Beth was at his side, close, staying within sight, shouting as frantically as him. But they heard only the rumbling of flame, the ventilation system straining to remove the choking congestion from this maze of corridors.

  Losing control, Connor turned back to Beth. “Where would he go, Beth? Where would he go?”

  Her dark eyes blazed, angry. “I don’t know, Connor! I don’t know what a child would do!”

  Connor realized he was panicking. And with savage cold will he dropped to one knee, taking a deep breath of whatever fresh air remained in the junction. Then he looked up, staring through tear-blinded eyes. From his vantage point, less than four feet off the ground, he could see only one section of light—an oval-shaped opening framed in a smoke-red haze. It was an avenue of bright escape from the smoke that billowed in the convergence of hallways.