by Maxey, Phil
“Umm…”
“The alien has gone. How does it help us now to argue over that fact?”
“Well I guess—”
The more Erin talked the more Abbey knew who was really in control of the bunker and the few thousand people that resided inside its labyrinth of tunnels.
Raj you need to finish that toxin.
A short while later, she and Erin were walking back to the Cascaders living quarters. No words had passed between them. Suddenly he stopped and stood in front of her.
“I’m sensing some hostility from you.” It was a statement from Erin not a question.
Her mind raced trying to discover the best way to hide her true feelings. “Well…”
“Yes?”
“I don’t like how you were towards Zach.” It wasn’t a lie and did a good job of covering up the truth.
He looked confused. “I have not shown any anger towards him. Did he say something to you?”
She could feel his waves of persuasion wash over her and she had to answer with honesty. “No…”
“Then I—” A soldier appeared behind Abbey and in front of Erin. “Yes what is it?”
She turned around.
“General Felton is on comms in the CIC for Ms. Reisner,” said the soldier.
Immediately she started backing off.
“We will clean up this misunderstanding, later,” said Erin. She nodded and followed the soldier out of the corridor.
As she turned the corner, out of the view of the leader of the Cascaders, she let out a breath.
“Is there anything wrong ma’am?” Said the soldier.
“I’m fine, let’s go.”
Soon they were in the CIC. The soldier pointed her to a headset that was lying on one of the desks.
She picked it up and held it to her face. “Zach?”
There were a few seconds of delay. “I’m here Abbey. The signal is being relayed through the outpost in Kentucky, so there will be some delay. Are you okay? Over.”
A flush of warmth ran through her. A single tear began to run down her cheek which she brushed away, hoping no one around her had seen. “I’m okay! How are you? Have the Hulathen left? Err… Over.”
“We managed to get around twenty percent of the population of the camp, into the main bunkers, including most of the young, sick and elderly, the others are sheltering in smaller bunkers and other buildings. Some Hulathen and their craft have been spotted within the walls of the camp, but not to the extent as before when they attacked in larger numbers. They took a number of E.L.F’s and Cascaders. Any sign of them up there? I heard that Elcher was there? Over.”
She went to reply when Raj appeared in the small room, she could see the sweat on his forehead even from a few feet away. He walked straight to her.
“Hold on, Zach. Over.”
Raj leaned in close to her, trying to look less suspicious to the soldiers around him. “I did it.”
“Did?... oh.”
“You ready to go?” He whispered.
She subtly nodded then felt his hand press on her side, the side that was hidden from everyone else in the room. Her fingers drifted to his and took the small flat box from him.
“Get that to the labs in the camp, they will know what to do with it.” He then backed away.
“I’ll tell Zach you said hello!” she said a bit louder than she needed too.
Raj smiled then looked around the room and left.
“Zach? Sorry, right, yeah where was I…”
On the way out of the CIC she played the plan of how to leave the bunker system, over in her head. It seemed easy enough, the only problem is that it relied upon a man she hated more than the one she was trying to escape from.
Before she entered the corridor to the Cascaders living quarters she tucked the five inch long flat container under the front of her top, hoping it wasn’t too obvious. She thought about stashing it somewhere within the tunnels, but if the fate of humanity was inside the box, she wasn’t going to risk it being out of her sight.
Maybe I can just run. Grab my stuff where I left it and go.
She played with the idea, but then discarded it. She had no idea how far Erin’s influence reached, and she wasn’t going to risk getting all the way to the main exit to the tunnels just for his words to start flowing through her mind, and for her to change direction and be pulled back.
Taking a deep breath she walked into the corridor. The two Cascader guards were standing outside the double doors as always. She smiled at them as she approached, and one of them opened the door for her. Entering, the scene was the usual one, some Cascaders sleeping, some playing games, while others were involved in conversation. And as always Erin with a small group of cohorts was at the end of the room sitting at one of the tables. She saw him look up as soon as she walked into the room. Clovis was standing against the wall not far behind him.
She walked to her bed, picked up her single pillow, turned it over then placed it back down. Sneaking a quick glance over her shoulder, she saw Clovis kneel down, open one of the kitchen cupboard doors, then after a short pause, close it and walked in her direction.
Time to go.
Not wanting to look in Erin’s direction, she walked away from her bed and towards the double doors. Clovis started to follow when she was a few feet in front of him.
“Where you going? Come join us Abbey!” shouted Erin across the long room.
Suddenly her legs felt heavy. Looking down, her feet had stopped moving forward. The doors were only a few yards away but it might as well have been miles. She felt a breath on her neck.
“We gotta go,” said Clovis just behind her.
“I’m trying,” she said within gritted teeth.
Clovis walked past her, pushed the double door open, took a look back then disappeared from view.
She swore under her breath and pushed even more effort into her thighs. She took a tentative step forward.
“Abbey? Come play poker with us!” This time Erin’s voice reverberated through her. She started to turn when the kitchen cupboard exploded.
Muffled Screams filled the air. Abbey realized she was on the ground, her head against the side of a bed. She unsteadily got to her feet, trying to see through the thick smoke which filled one half of the room.
Bomb.
In a flash of panic she pulled the box from under her top. It was undamaged. She then looked at the people around her, most were getting to their feet as well. Some had trickles of blood across their faces. She staggered forward then suddenly realized she felt lighter. At first she couldn’t understand why, then when she saw Erin unconscious on the ground, she knew she had her answer. Some of the others around him were also out cold, some were bleeding. She wanted to stay and help, but knew this was her chance. She turned and headed for the doors.
*****
The cool night air washed over her face as she pushed her head up and out of the manhole. There was still a ringing in her ears, but as soon as she pulled herself free of the ladder and stood upright on the street, the sounds of the E.L.F’s around her filled her mind, drowning out the constant drone. She slid the cover back over the hole and looked around her.
They’re coming.
She could sense them. Cascaders, moving towards her position from underground, moving through the tunnels. She could feel their anger, their hate.
‘In the side street, near the ruins of the clock tower’.
Burt’s voice rang through her mind. For a moment panic started to overwhelm her and she suddenly felt alone in the complete darkness of the small town.
Focus… they’re coming…
“I know!” she shouted into the night. She quickly rummaged around her backpack, which she had earlier hid in one of the maintenance cupboards near the entrance to the tunnels, and found her flashlight. She switched it on and swept it around her.
“Okay, that’s what’s left of the library… police station… so clock tower should be…”
T
he stunted triangular dark shape was just visible against the lighter night sky behind the buildings in front of her. She took off, being careful to avoid the numerous craters which lay scattered across the concrete and ran down the street in front of her. Soon she was at another junction. Switching directions, she jogged forward until she caught sight of the rubble of what was left of the eighteenth century historic building which stood off the main street of the town. A small dark alley to the side beckoned. As she ran forward a tingling sensation filled her and she knew she was no longer alone.
She stopped and looked up, pointing her light in the same direction. A loud squawk filled the silence around her and huge wings created an updraft scattering her hair.
With a loud thud Mo landed on the concrete in front of her and hopped from foot to foot, mildly squawking.
“Mo!” She spring forward and hugged the monkey bird creature briefly.
“We have to go!”
He held his hands out.
“No, not flying. I have a car…” She ran forward to the alleyway and shone her light along it. Burt’s pickup sat proud, only just fitting within the width of the dirt path it was parked on.
She took a step towards it and realized at the same time as her pet did that they were not alone. Clovis stepped out of the shadows near the vehicle.
“Thought you’d come for his piece of crap truck,” he said, smiling.
Mo went to spring forward, when a growl came from further along the pathway, causing the Simivem to pause.
“Yeah, I got me a pet too. I had more but you killed them all.” Clovis walked to the passenger’s door of the pickup. “So we leaving or what.”
CHAPTER FIVE
As the dark forms of the newly growing landscape flowed by, Abbey’s mind kept threatening to shut down, and for her emotions to turn off. She had one hand on the wheel and the other on the only weapon she managed to smuggle out, a fully loaded Glock, a present from Bower.
They had been driving for about half an hour, and not a single word had broken the silence inside the cabin.
I’m responsible. He’s going to kill me. I’m responsible. They think I’m with him. Erin will hunt me with the Cascaders. I’m responsible. The aliens…
She let out a scream and slammed on the breaks, causing both of them to lunge forward.
The truck sat idling. She wanted to pull the gun out and shoot him. Kill him in cold blood and throw him out of—
“You got something you want to get off your chest, girly,” said Clovis.
Her head whipped around to him. “We agreed you would just cause a distraction! People were injured! Women and Children!”
“Was anyone killed?”
“No… I don’t think so, but that’s—”
For the first time since they started talking he looked at her. “That bastard wasn’t killed?”
“No, I think he was just knocked unconscious or something. Was that your great plan? Kill him, maybe take his place? He’s going to come for us, you know that right?”
Clovis looked forward. “We should keep on moving.”
“Where are you even going? Everyone in the outpost or camp, will want you arrested! Or dead!”
“I thought your boyfriend was in charge of the whole shindig.” He continued before she could answer. “He seemed okay with me back in the bunker.”
She knew the only reason Zach left Clovis alone was because he was part of Erin’s Cascaders, but like her, she also knew Zach was biding his time, and when the Erin problem was resolved, Clovis was next.
“He thought you might be useful, otherwise you would have been in jail.”
Clovis laughed. “Only one man ever got the better of me, and that ain’t your boy, Zach. The other man, we need to find a way to take care of.”
She sighed then pushed down on the gas pedal.
Soon they were riding on a stretch of highway that seemed to float above trees and hills. Occasionally a river, its waters rippling in the silver light of the moon would pass below. They both sensed the lack of creatures, but remained silent nonetheless.
The road descended as they entered a large town and more forgotten wrecks of vehicles started to slow their progress.
“Take the smaller roads,” said Clovis.
Abbey ignored him, instead keeping to weaving in and out between the warped metal blocks that were now rusting and falling apart.
“We ain’t gonna get through the—”
“I heard you the first—” She slammed on the breaks as an E.L.F standing two story’s high stood looking at them. Its head, dog like, was covered in scales and flowed into a more primate looking body. Its eyes shone line beacons, illuminated by the pickup’s headlights. It stood on two stout legs, its mouth partly open, revealing canine teeth a foot long.
“I’m not sensing it, why am I not—”
Before Abbey could finish the creature charged forward knocking a green sedan and a white pickup to the side. They crashed up against the slim walls which lined the road.
She threw the pickup into reverse and slammed down on the pedal, causing the wheels to spin until they gripped and they surged backwards, smashing through vehicles.
“Its gaining!” shouted Clovis. He briefly closed his eyes, lost momentarily in concentration. “Why ain’t this critter stopping!”
With each new impact the pickup lost speed, and the E.L.F bounding towards them got closer.
An almighty crunch stopped them in an instant and sent them lunging forwards, their seatbelts just stopping them short of the windscreen.
Abbey shook her head on landing back in her seat and looked at her side mirror. “We’ve crashed into a semi!” She flicked the gearstick back into drive, pulling the steering wheel to the right and hit the gas, but the pickup resolutely refused to move. “We’re stuck!”
They both scrambled to pull their seatbelts off as the creature disposed of a final vehicle between them and itself, and with a roar leaped forward into the air. Abbey flung her door open, grabbing her backpack with one hand and her Glock with the other and dived to the side. Before she had even hit the ground, the sound of metal crumpling, clashed with the shattering of glass and the ground around her shook.
Not bothering to look back, she clambered over the wall in front of her, and immediately fell, not knowing in the dark when she would hit the ground. She soon did and began rolling down a steep embankment. As the earth and sky changed place she sensed Mo nearby, and managed to send him the emotion needed to stay away from the huge creature that just attacked them.
Finally she came to a stop against something solid, but in the dark she had no idea what it was. With her head still swimming, she looked back up to the only point of light for miles, the single remaining headlight of Burt’s pickup. The huge creature was still slicing angrily at his vehicle, bits of it being torn off and then thrown into the night sky.
Not coming after me.
She slowly got to her feet with no idea of what was around her, and felt her wrist which was aching.
As the E.L.F continued its attack on its metal enemy, she realized the ground she was on was solid. She had a flashlight in her backpack, but with an eighteen foot mound of death just tens of yards away from her she wasn’t about to turn it on. She felt behind, her hand touching something cold.
Metal fence or guardrail? Maybe I’m on a side road.
As her eyes begun to adjust, she noticed a large monolithic building a few hundred feet away and started jogging towards it.
*****
It had only been a few hours since Sam returned with Isaiah and another injured justice force member, and Zach was already deep into R.E.M sleep when a loud knock shook the door of his small but well laid out room. “Yup, I’m awake, what?” He half shouted.
The door opened a small amount and a young soldier’s face appeared in the gap. “Sir, sorry to wake you, but we have Mr. Crenshaw on comms in main operations, he wants to talk to you, he says it’s urgent.”
“I’l
l be there.”
The soldier left, closing the door gently.
Zach went to lift his head, then regretted it as the painkillers he had taken some hours before were wearing off. Waiting for a lull between throbs, he sat up and looked back at his pillow. A small dark patch of blood had formed from the bump on his head. He reached up tentatively feeling the small egg shaped lump, then grimaced on how sore it still felt.
He sat for a moment thinking of Abbey, and what she must be having to contend with all the way across the country.
Monsters, now aliens. What’s next? Zombies?
He allowed himself a brief smile then got dressed.
Soon he was back amongst the bustle of the bunkers main operations room. It was half the size of the one in the cave network, but still impressive, especially considering a few weeks earlier it didn’t exist.
The soldier from before saw him enter and pointed to a headset lying on a nearby desk.
Zach placed it carefully on his head. “What can I do for you Brad? Over.”
“It’s Abbey, Zach. Over.”
The pain in Zach’s head intensified as did his heart rate. “What about her? Is she okay? Over.”
“As far as I know she’s fine, but she has gone Zach. There was an explosion of some kind in one of the rooms in the bunker network, a number of people were injured. Mitchell is saying it was Abbey’s doing. Over.”
“What?” It was an instinctual response and one that left his mouth before what Brad had said fully settled in his mind.
“Yeah it makes no sense to me either. There’s something else… It appears she might have left with Clovis. Over.”
Zach started to feel dizzy, the room swaying in sync with the pounding at the top of his skull.
“You there Zach? Over.”
“I’m here—” He looked at the nearby soldier. “Hey, I need some painkillers and some water.” The solider nodded and quickly left. “—Sorry, yeah. I find that hard to believe… Unless she was kidnaped? Over.”
“That’s what I said to Mitchell, but she says people saw them leaving separately. She left, right after the explosion, and he left shortly before. Over.”