by Greg Ramsay
Barton spun his kynari which cut a deep gash in Lia’s side taking with it a section of their armour. He kicked her into the air, jumping after Lia’s ascent then kicked her in mid-air, sending her into the wall with a loud slam. As Lia slid down the wall, the Leader shot tendrils from his hand, joining them to the hilt of their blade in secret. Barton didn’t seem to notice what the Leader had done while he walked towards Lia to finish her off. He strode in front of her as she sat crumpled on the floor laughing.
“Don’t tell me that’s it!” he said.
Lia laughed with their joined voice. “Not even close,” they growled.
Barton had a disturbing smirk on his face; his mask was half broken off. He raised his blade a third time.
“TRY SOMETHING NEW!” they yelled as Lia and the Leader coursed crimson energy through the tendrils snaking across the floor into the blade that was turned to Barton. He turned shocked as he saw the black blade begin to glow red at the run.
Lia’s joined voice yelled, “RELEASE!”
Crimson energy exploded like raging fire scorching the ground and searing the air as it enveloped everyone violently. The eyes of the Leader’s mask reflected blood red as the flames ate away at Barton’s exposed flesh. It burned the side of his face to dust as his armour began to disintegrate. His sadistic visage remained just long enough for Lia to hear him say, “This isn’t over. You’ll remember...or you’ll die!” He raised his arms to her raging fire as it consumed him, then he collapsed smouldering to a husk coated in a black pool like demonic blood.
The Leader grabbed Barton’s damaged kynari in both hands, bending it over his knee as he poured energy into it. The jeopardized kynari finally overloaded; its black energy exploded out in raging waves which enveloped Leader form Lia in a spherical explosion. The out-of-control black energy wreaked havoc on Lia; their armour burnt off her when she shielded herself with her arms. The Leader relocated most of the armour at her chest to form a shield in front of her face as the explosion reached its climax. All that could be seen was horrifying blackness until the power finally radiated outwards. Lia rested unconscious against the wall; all but a small area where she had been shielded was scorched black. Parts of her face had burns, but her appendages were far worse. Only shreds of her already ruined armour remained to cover her unconscious body. Her hair draped across her face as she slept.
Chapter 8 – Epicentre
Hours later Lia awoke in a daze and slowly stood up. Her wounds had been healed by the Leader while she slept. She went to take a step forwards, but was interrupted by a small metallic clanging. She looked down to find her kynari laying at her feet. The Leader’s katana had disappeared, their combined power that formed it had been spent. The device looked strangely beautiful even in its drained state; its golden body still gleamed. Lia looked a little farther after retrieving it from the ground, finding a disgusting black pool on the floor. It was all that remained of Barton, save for his broken kynari.
Lia then continued to search through the cavernous underground complex for a way to destroy it, then escape. She walked down another small hall attached to the room in which she and Barton had fought. It wound around an unseen bend leading to a small square room. All that was in the room was a supply locker, a terminal that was attached to hundreds of cables that draped down from a partition in the ceiling, and a small steel elevator identical to the one Lia used to reach the underground complex. Approaching the heavy-looking terminal, she tapped its keyboard.
The screen came to life, a key and password request window popped up. Lia didn’t have any idea what the password could be. She tried the company name, slogan, Barton’s name; she even tried imputing “L strain”, but nothing worked. She searched thoroughly around the room, finding nothing of significance. She looked in the storage locker, which contained a lab coat and a silver two-pronged device; she inserted the device’s prongs into corresponding holes in the terminal’s body. The key requirement was satisfied. Then she back-tracked to look through the lab coat’s deep pockets. She found a neatly written note. It was a strange excerpt from a diary of sorts that had been left within the coat by accident. It said:
Feb. 20, 2342
I have successfully made it to the underground security facility––my tools are stored here––and I am getting stronger by the day. They tried to shut me down, told me I was mad when I supported the growth of our evolved race over the humans they once were, now that doesn’t matter. The 5.0 version of the L strain is far beyond that of its predecessors, and is exhibiting such through its ability to control the alpha beings that I let in here. They cannot hurt me now, I rule them, and with my command terminal I can use the cameras of other associate buildings worldwide to watch humanity’s rebirth. The infection spreads quickly and efficiently with each host it consumes, already the majority of humanity has been converted. When I finally reach my full strength, I will rise to take control of our new world, free of disease and suffering.
Lia looked at the date displayed on the locked terminal; it said March 18, 2342. The date felt unfamiliar, like she had lost all concept of time. She thought for a moment about Barton’s egotistic ranting, and decided to try inputting “Evolved”. The terminal processed for a second, then bleeped as a message came on-screen that read: “Welcome to the security centre control terminal, Head Scientist Barton.” A small menu appeared once the message had cleared options for lockdown, security calls, and for centre power status. Choosing the power option displayed a diagram of a reactor linked to ten nuclear power cells, each showing their current load status. With little consideration, Lia amped the entire power quota to dangerous levels. A warning of critical mass appeared, before a countdown came onscreen of imminent meltdown.
Lia ran towards the elevator. It opened as soon as she pressed the button. She boarded immediately, quickly beginning to ascend to the above ground complex as warning sirens began to whine throughout the complex. The time seemed to pass agonizingly slow as the elevator shot upwards; the alarm blared through its speaker deafeningly. When it reached the main level, its doors shot open. Lia ran for the doors with adrenaline pumping through her veins. She ran full tilt through the lab, through the lobby’s large doors, and ran halfway down the long, treed path before she heard the explosion starting. Lia dove to the ground in advance of the sudden devastation she sensed ripping through the underground complex. Flames raged through the terminal room, melting the huge pillars in each of the connected rooms, travelling up the elevator shaft, to explode violently into the top of the complex. Once the fire reached the top of the complex it obliterated the domed roof of the main building before it flew into the sky raging outward. The explosion radiated out towards Lia.
Just then the Leader recovered; his black armour shot around her. He drew the kynari as the nuclear fire roared towards them. The Leader quickly formed his katana; he drew the blade back then quickly swung it forward as he said, “Release.” Crimson fire flew from the blade radiating towards the nuclear energy in a violent collision. The Leader then stabbed his blade into the ground gripping the hilt in both hands. Millions of large tendrils exploded from the ground around Leader form Lia. Quickly the tendrils formed spiked plates that coalesced into a small dome supported by an inner web of tendrils until they were completely sealed in. The red power was overpowered by the explosion; it quickly enveloped the shielded Lia. The fire burned the shield tendrils a bright red. The force and heat began to break the dome apart. Lia’s armour started to dryly shatter as the explosion dissipated. The charred red tendril dome broke away disintegrating as Lia stood, her armour following suit. Lia looked to the ground beside her, exposed and dazed once more. The Leader’s blade still jutted proudly from the ground, then as she pulled it free it receded into the kynari. The device’s body glowed a brilliant gold for a short time as though it had taken in some of the energy. She couldn’t help but smile at it as she gently held it in her hand. Suddenly tendrils shot from her arm, grabbed her weapon; seemingly absorbing it in
to her body by her hip. Shocked she turned to the land around her to get her bearings.
She stood on a little pocket of protected land, braced by columns of tendrils. The surrounding area was torn into a smoking pit. The MiraiCorp complex had been completely destroyed on the outside. Lia was certain Barton and all his monstrous research had been eliminated with it. Jumping off her little pillar of land forcefully, she practically flew to the end of the scorching hot pit.
The Leader laughed coldly. The next time you need to destroy a building try not to get yourself enveloped in the process!
She laughed and said, It’s all good. I have you to protect me.
He scoffed, Consider yourself fortunate you do.
How did you pull that off, by the way? she asked.
I used our energy as well as my power to create a shield then used the kynari to channel the nuclear energy. Using that energy to reinforce my tendril shield was enough to save us.
Lia was surprised. You can channel energy that isn’t generated by your will in the kynari as well?
Yes, It channels any energy presented to it based on the will of its user. Without an outside will to govern it, it remains inactive.
How is it that you know so much about it?
It bonded with you, and as an extension it also bonded with me. Being that I’m in the deepest recesses of your mind I know more of your capabilities than you. Hence, I can absorb it to learn from it so to speak.
Lia took in his words, still confused. Thanks, she said.
Never thank me! he said with sudden ferocity. I told you before, I don’t care about you. Anything I tell you is just in the hope that you might save yourself for once.
She thought for a moment. You can drop the act; its fine to care. We share a life now after all.
The Leader within her didn’t reply; he remained silent. Letting the subject drop, Lia began to walk forward. She didn’t have a destination anymore, but the fight was over; now finding a place to settle the only thing that crossed her mind.
Lia walked for days, just trying to find anywhere free of the infection. Although she now needed the creatures for food, if she could find somewhere, anywhere not infested with them, she might find people. It seemed unlikely, but it was a nice little hope; it gave her a reason to continue her journey as she wandered out of Utah.
She passed through the Utah-Colorado border passing around jammed together cars. The abandoned cars were the last remnants of their occupants who tried to flee. It was an immediate clue to Lia that the creatures had spread through Utah, how far couldn’t even be speculated. She walked along the highway that connected the borders and the same gruesome sights met her eyes as she walked, except for one surprise. As she walked along she saw a military armoured Hummer in front of her. Its armour left it relatively unscathed by the creatures’ attacks, but you could still see claw marks engraved in its sides and roof. While walking around it, she looked through the windows. It had pistols left ready on its passenger seat, but no blood. Lia assumed the occupant had been the one to force the area clear of vehicles outside when he was attacked. The concrete guard on the side of the highway had been badly damaged during the fight by one of the creatures. Her body healed quickly, but without shoes or her armour, her feet complained profusely as her armour was gradually receding. leaving them exposed. So, she decided to climb into the driver’s seat of the Hummer to rest there for a moment.
The weapons beside her were mostly empty save for one pistol, which was essentially useless, since pistol bullets just clattered off the Leader’s armour. Lia looked toward the steering column, seeing the key in the ignition. She didn’t care if it attracted the attention of creatures. Besides, she needed to consume; she was weakening. The fight and explosive escape from the MiraiCorp complex had depleted her energy which she needed to sustain her armour. She turned the key; to her surprise the beastly Hummer growled to life. She reversed through the damaged cement guardrail, heading along the side of the highway until the car-pile cleared. She drove over an overturned car that leaned on the side of the guardrail, using it as a perfect ramp to get back on the highway. The Hummer managed to take her almost to the other end of Colorado without incident before it finally ran out of gas.
It had spare tanks in its back section that served to increase its mileage. She also found a pair of urban camo pants, combat boots, and a black t-shirt in a small storage compartment. She pulled over to the side of the road in front of a general store, grabbing the clothes as she abandoned the vehicle. She decided to search the store; she found junk food, but not much else. With some food in her stomach her strength began to return. She changed into the clothes she found in the Hummer, then left the store. She walked down the dirty sidewalk for a couple of blocks when she heard low growling. She looked beside her as a large black husky walked out of the alley staring at her, poised to attack. Lia hesitated, surprised to see a being that wasn’t one of them.
“Hey boy, how are you?” she said gently. The dog’s demeanour relaxed. “You must be hungry, just hang on a minute.” The dog looked at her with a slightly uncertain look as she backed away toward the store. She grabbed some beef jerky for the dog and as she went through the door, she found the dog sitting patiently outside. She smiled at the dog as she held out some jerky for him. The dog sniffed it, before accepting it, his tail wagging, then he suddenly ran off. Lia yelled “Hey! Where are you going?!”
As Lia chased the dog across derelict streets, she found herself running directly into an open apartment building. He slowed down slightly when he started climbing stairs. Ten flights of stairs later he was on the top floor with Lia following closely behind. He walked up to a door engraved with the number thirteen and barked sharply. Suddenly the door swung open; Lia took a startled step back. A Caucasian man’s head poked out. He looked at her standing there looking like a wannabe soldier. He then looked at the dog,
“What did you bring back now Wanderer?” The dog wagged his tail. The man turned towards Lia, “What’s your name?”
“Lia,” she replied.
“Lia huh? Where do you come from?”
“Utah, I think, I don’t really remember.”
“Well, what’s your surname then?” he asked her.
“I don’t remember,” Lia said as she shrugged, a confused look etched across her face.
“You’re definitely not one of them then; those bastards know everything!” he said with a pleasant smile on his face. “Come on in, if Wanderer likes you enough to lead you here, I may as well introduce you to our little gang. I’m John by the way, John Marks,” John said as he opened the door for her.
Chapter 9 – Interrogation
She walked into the open apartment; people sat with guns at their sides on couches they had re-arranged like a circle conference. A tall lithe-looking African American woman in combat fatigues, hand resting on a rifle, glared up at John.
“Who’s this?” she asked bluntly.
“Her name’s Lia,” John said. “Wanderer led her here.” The woman looked at him like he was a complete idiot.
“You think you can just trust her, all because the dog led her here?” John looked at the dog, which had lain down at his feet.
“Wanderer knows the difference between a shifted and a human; if she was a threat he would’ve never led her to us.”
“I suppose you’re right,” the woman agreed, her demeanour relaxing, only slightly, as she turned to Lia. “What’s your full name?” she asked Lia.
“Lia...” she replied awkwardly.
“That’s all?” the woman asked.
“Yes, that’s all I remember,” Lia replied.
“Hmm,” was all that came from the woman as she considered Lia, deciding whether she could be trusted. Lia considered it a good sign when the woman eventually said, “I am Captain Bailey Steele; you already know Sergeant John Marks.” She indicated Marks, and then a slender long- haired woman beside her. “That’s Gunnery Sergeant Suzan Black, and the big guy beside her is Pr
ivate Bob Grant.”
Lia looked over at Private Grant; he was indeed a big fellow––a well-muscled tall African American man wearing combat fatigues. He had a double-barrelled shot gun on his shoulder. He also had two pistols at each side as well as an assault rifle similar to Steele’s slung on his other shoulder. Lia looked over at Gunny Black. She was a slender white woman in the same style fatigues as the others with short cropped brown hair. She had a katana strapped to her back with two bulky high-calibre pistols strapped to her outer thighs. Sergeant John Marks, the man who had permitted her entrance was of average height, as muscular as Grant, and also wore combat fatigues. He carried a rifle with a pistol holstered to his belt.
Lia said, “Hi” to the group. The others nodded; Steele just stared at her coolly. John indicated she could sit on the couch across from Steele. She remembered the Hummer that had carried her to where she met Wanderer, looked back at the combat fatigues the group all wore, then asked Captain Steele. “Were you guys a part of the convoy that got attacked defending the highway?
Steele looked at her intrigued. “Yes, we were,” she answered. “How do you know there was a convoy there?” she asked, now on guard again.