Nuclear Rising

by Christian Smith

  Squinting in the light and rubbing her head where a fresh trickle of blood sits is Brig, reaching down to give Helen a hand.

  “Well,” Brig says, opening one eye. “That happened.”

  I chuckle in reply. “I feel like we should all get t-shirts for surviving that mess.”

  “Even so,” Brig says, reaching down on the stairs below to pick up a crate. “There’s enough radiation here probably to make us sick – especially you Quinn with your soft, supple skin.”

  I cast her a dirty glare. But it was probably true.

  “Put on these jumpsuits and throw these masks on to be safe,” Helen says, reaching down into the crate. “One for each of us thanks to our dearly departed friend here.”

  I take a mask and jumpsuit and start wrangling myself into them. “So does anyone know why that big ass missile just decided to explode on us?”

  Brig shakes her head, replying glumly. “Whatever your buddy Sledge did there with the battery, I might venture a guess and say he got what he wanted.”

  “But Sledge-“

  “You can’t always trust everyone kid,” Brig says, strapping her mask around her face. “Except me of course – I’ve saved your balls so many times, you’re going to owe me for the rest of-“

  She stops.

  Just then a sizzling noise fills the air like a hundred hornets and immediately we all look around.

  “There!” Helen shouts, pointing to a glowing blue orb that sits in the sky where the rocket just exploded. Only this time there weren’t any shockwaves, just a floating blue orb about the size of a house.

  “That can’t be good,” Brig says.

  “What is it?” Bree asks.

  “I don’t know,” Brig states, pulling out her pistol and knife. “But I’m guessing we need to get far, far away from it.”

  “Oh man,” I say. “More running?”

  “Not yet,” Brig says, winking back at me.

  “So what’s the plan, Brig?”

  She takes half a minute to reply, then says, “We head Southwest to Mechanicus tribe. They can take us in as refugees and hopefully we can find some work there and try to set up a new life. There should be a couple cities along the way we can hop between for protection from skulks.”

  “No,” Bree says, still half conscious. “I can’t leave – this is my home. I need to find daddy.”

  Helen reaches her arm around Bree in a side hug, and says, “This was our home too Bree. It’s gone now, but we can find a new one – we all just need to stick together now. And I’m sure we’ll find your father before we leave.”

  “No!” Bree shouts, escaping from the side hug. “I’m not leaving. This is where I grew up – this is the only thing I know now.”

  I stare into Bree’s scared eyes as they dart away. “Look Bree,” I say. “Ever since I woke up, I’ve been chasing the life I used to know. That life is long gone now, I realize. And now, I’ve figured out that no matter where we are, we have each other now. We’re family, whether we’re in the middle of an explosion or staying at some crazy farmer’s house of horrors. We stick together to survive.”

  Bree nods quietly, pursing her lips, then sighs heavily. “Okay.”

  “Glad we’re settled then. One more thing,” Brig says, reaching down the cellar stairs one more time, bringing out a couple large assault rifles and some ammo clips. “If we’re heading out, you’re going to need some more firepower Quinn – put away the nail bat and pea shooter pistol from Terra.”

  I smile, taking the assault rifle as Bree takes the other one and puts it around her shoulder.

  “Just don’t shoot me please,” Brig says, throwing me an ammo clip.

  So with radiation-proof jumpsuits, masks and an armament of weapons to boot, we make our way back toward the main gate of Vantage, all the while hearing a buzzing in the background from the slowly emanating orb of death hovering above.

  Coming to the center of the melted city, we hear a crowd of voices as yelling, sobbing, and cursing fill the air. A group of about fifty people huddle together, some of the women embrace each other with tears while the men huddle over in the corner, probably discussing what to do next. Along a wall of metal from one of the weapon shops, various men, women, and children all lay in the shade with varying degrees of injuries – burns, cuts and the like. As we approach, a few turn toward us, eyeing us with suspicion until-

  “Daddy!” Bree calls out, running toward the large man, now covered with blood and dirt in his beard, but otherwise unscathed.

  “Oh my little flower,” Eyre says, picking her up off the ground in a bear hug while the rest of us approach. As we do so, the General turns to us with those same fiery eyes and grunts, “You!”

  Immediately a crowd of battered soldiers encircle the three of us.

  “General,” Brig says, gritting her teeth with a hand against her lucky knife. “This was the doing of the Terra tribe, not Quinn or myself.”

  “And how do I know that?”

  “Because,” Brig replies. “If we’re being honest, the level of expertise required to rig that battery to explode like that is way beyond our dim-witted friend here.”

  “Hey!” I yell. But then shrug when Brig glares at me. “Probably true,” I concede.

  “Plus,” Brig continues, letting her knife fall in her belt. “Like it or not, loverboy here is googly-eyed over your daughter – I doubt the last thing the boy would do is blow up her home.”

  Eyre strokes his beard, stared down at Bree who mumbles something about it being true, and then stares with fierce eyes back at me.

  I say, “It’s true sir. I’m not the brightest kid on the block, but I do love women. It’s a problem really.”

  Silence stills the group of soldiers while the General stares us down.

  Then a low rumble issues out as he grunts.

  “Dammit - We have that in common I guess boy,” he says, another chuckle. “But I swear, if you ever do anything with my daughter, so much as a kiss, I will have your nuts hanging in my trophy room.”

  I snort before I can help it.

  “Something funny boy?” Eyre asks.

  “No sir,” I reply, though Bree is trying to contain a laugh as she looks at me.

  “Good,” he says. “Be on your way then – I believe you three were leaving anyway, and as you can see I have more than enough to take care of with what remains of my people.”

  The circle of soldiers dissipates as the group of men return to their huddle, leaving Brig, Helen and I alone.

  Staring back at Bree, I feel torn. I can’t leave her again.

  Helen also appears torn, and Brig realizes it as she shrugs and says, “Okay honey. You head over and help the wounded while I check our supplies out. Quinn – don’t-“

  “I know – Don’t touch the General’s daughter.”

  “I wasn’t going to say that,” Brig says, “But that works too.”

  Helen gives Brig a kiss and giddily walks away toward the bloodied bunch of people laying against the wall. Brig lets out a toothy grin in reply.

  “Wow – I’ve never seen that before,” I mutter to Brig, immediately getting an irritated glance.

  “What? Two lesbians kissing? Come on Quinn.”

  Laughing, I reply, “No Brig. I’ve never seen you smile before!”

  She punches my arm, leaving a fresh, dull ache in its place.

  A couple hours pass as the waning sunlight begins to give way to twilight. There’s some laughter in the air as a bowl of boiling chicken soup gives a warm meal to the survivors. Some of the groups split off, every now and then bringing back a survivor who Helen immediately begins to treat as one of the sole survivors with any kind of medical expertise until Jake Manley is found in a pile of rubble, his father having been crushed by his own clinic. Other groups find supplies – ammo and food, and begin creating a stockpile in the plaza nearby.

  “Gather round,” Eyre calls out loudly, motioning to everyone to assemble near him.

  “We
have lost a battle today,” He says quietly. “Hundreds of our best friends and family instantly gone. We will mourn them the rest of our lives, but we will celebrate the fact that they were all warriors who have gone on to rest in the life beyond.”

  A couple sobs settle over the crowd.

  “But we will never stop fighting – and I swear to you all this day that our tribe will rebuild. Because we are fighters. We are survivors. We always have been and we will continue to fight to survive.”

  Some shouts from the crowd ring out in agreement.

  “That’s why-“

  He’s cut off as a terrible din rises up outside of the gates.

  A noise like a thousand banshees shrieking in unison forms a dissonant cacophony in the distance along the bridge.

  “What is that?” I look over at Brig, who surveys the noise, reaching back for her rifle.

  I do the same, as the sound like a rushing waterfall inches closer to us at an incredible speed.

  More shrieks fill the air, and as the sound gets closer, I recognize it immediately as-

  “Skulks,” Brig states matter-of-factly.

  “What? Why?” I say, as Helen rushes over to us.

  Brig looks around, and with an audible sigh, points up toward the glowing blue light. Helen nods in silent agreement, looking over at Brig nervously.

  “Uh,” I say. “What’s the deal – fill me in since I don’t have telepathic powers.”

  “That ball of energy trapped in the sky,” Brig begins. “Skulks are drawn to any kind of energy, especially large concentrations of it. They feed off it, worship it, especially something radioactive like that. Remember Al’s Electronics, our dear skulk friend Al held onto that little phone and was willing to die for it just because it had some energy. Imagine what a huge nuclear floating ball would do.”

  “But that would draw every skulk for miles to Vantage?”

  “Exactly,” Brig says, picking out a couple grenades. “That must have been the plan all along – If Sledge, or Rose, or even your Queen over in Terra orchestrated it, they couldn’t have known about the missile. That was just collateral damage – the plan was to wipe out the Sempers with Skulks I bet.”

  “No…They couldn’t have wanted that…not even Celeste.”

  “How many times do I have to tell you kid? You can’t trust anyone.”

  The footsteps were coming.

  My heart was pounding.

  The group of Semper survivors in the area close into a tight circle in the plaza, even the wounded stand and grab a weapon as we all wait.

  I make my way to Bree, who stands next to General Eyre, holding a shotgun in her own hand while shaking slightly. I squeeze her hand and smile.

  “Hey,” I whisper. “We’re going to be fine.”

  She attempts a worried smile in reply, as her father turns to Brig, his eyes showing a fierceness that comes from battle.

  “Elliot,” he grunts, looking at Brig. “I need you to promise me something.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Promise me you’ll get these people out of here if I don’t make it out.”

  Bree looks up, nearly on the verge of tears, and he smiles back, kissing her forehead.

  “We’ll worry about that if you don’t make it, sir.”

  “Promise me Elliot.”

  “Okay,” Brig says. “I give you my word.”

  “Good,” Eyre replies, then stares at me like he’s about to do something he’ll regret. “And you Quinn York. Promise me you’ll get my daughter out of here. Alive.”

  Looking up at the massive man, I feel incredibly small.

  But I reply, “She’ll get out of here – I promise.” I pat him on the back nervously and smile like a fool, while he rolls his eyes. Before I can stop myself, I say, “Oh. And I kissed your daughter already.”

  His face immediately turns red.

  “What did I just tell you? If I get out of here, boy,” he spits. “Your balls are mine.”

  “I just wanted to come clean, since I feel like this is one of those moments.”

  “You’re an idiot,” both Eyre and Brig mutter under their breaths.

  As we wait, the shrieks draw nearer, until finally a beady-eyed creature with nasty red and black boils covering its body crawls out half-hunched into the plaza area.

  It lets out a deafening scream.

  A hundred screams follow.

  Fifty of us ready our weapons.

  CHAPTER 26

  Grand Finale

  “Hold your fire!” Eyre shouts.

  Before us stands a line of twenty grotesque creatures, their teeth gnashing in the air at some unknown force, drops of spit and mucus splashing through the air like hungry dogs before a meal. I look into their eyes, immediately wishing I hadn’t. While some have dark circles that fill their whole eyes, others look so bloodied, they well up with red tears in the corners with only a small dark circle in the center. Their bodies are covered with boils, pustules that ooze, and though most have all their limbs, I spot a few that have no arms that look even more rabid as they bite an invisible force. Most are clothed in tatters, some have a whole pair of pants and only a few have a pair of broken shoes covering their feet.

  They are living burn victims. Scorched with deep, red scars that leave their skin raw, muscles and tendons occasionally dangling out the flesh that’s left. Most of the monsters are bald, with wisps of hair visible on their heads or faces, a few of the once female skulks actually have a mostly full head of brown, blond or red hair. Their shrieks grate in our ears like metal scratching on metal, a horrible noise that makes our skin crawl.

  “Why are they waiting?” I whisper to Brig. “They should be trying to rip us apart by now.”

  She shrugs, her gun aimed at a large skulk in the front with an enormous, bloated belly. Brig replies, “Probably just sizing us up. They run on instinct now. They aren’t motivated by fear. Just a need to consume.”

  “Well that’s reassuring,” I mutter, looking at several of the Semper members, many shaking slightly from the tight nerves.

  After another minute of standoff, the skulks grow quiet, a silence stills the land around us, a worse sound than the shrill hisses.

  They were waiting…

  A deep rumble shakes the earth, though this time it comes from in front of us. A hateful roar like a lion sounds in the distance and the skulks all fall to their knees, twitching maniacally as they hiss between gritted teeth.

  “Looks like they’re scared of something,” I say.

  Brig shakes her head. “Don’t mistake fear for obedience – I’m guessing something worse is coming.”

  Somewhere behind me, I hear a child start crying, and my grip tightens against the rifle.

  The roars grow closer.

  A metal fixture at the opposite end of the plaza near the skulks is suddenly hewn to the ground by an enormous force and out steps the most hideous creature I had seen since I’d awoken.

  A massive skulk, at least eight feet tall knocks several smaller skulks to the side as it steps into the plaza, just several feet away from us. Instead of two arms, four long, muscled arms with a wingspan as long as its giant body reach out with long gnarled fingernails, grabbing a couple skulks and tossing them with little effort into the crowd of waiting monsters, where they immediately rip off limbs and bite into the broken skin of their comrades.

  Though the other skulks are nearly naked in one way or another, this skulk appears mostly clothed, with a ripped button-down shirt with one sleeve missing and the sides open for the extra arms. Bulky mismatched brown and black combat boots cover feet larger than both my feet combined. But probably the worst part of the monster is its hideous face. Bulging blue pupiled, bloodshot eyes appear to look in different directions, a cheekbone, sharp and jagged juts out of the ragged flesh covering its face, while its nose is nearly non-existent, the cartilage being consumed long ago.

  Its mouth is wide enough to eat a normal human’s head whole, and when it opens,
I can see jagged rocks, pieces of glass and metal stuck in the gums of the creature where teeth would have been, though they are long lost except for a couple in the front. Its tongue drips with an acrid slime as it licks the thin dark lines where lips used to be. One ear is missing from the side of its head, where only an oozing hole remains, crusted with dried blood and black rot.

  My throat tightens and I want to scream out, but I remain steady.

  Somewhere behind us a bloodcurdling high-pitched scream rings out, making me flinch and look back and I’m expecting to see a group of women fleeing the scene.

  Only, it’s not women, not even one woman.

  Jake Manley runs screeching at the top of his lungs to the streets behind us, throwing his weapons off his belt between curses and screams as his rotund body lumbers behind a pile of dirt and metal heaped in the street.

  “Idiot,” Brig says.

  “A true warrior,” I mutter.

  The creature steps forward passively, a wicked smile with glinted glass and metal showing. It surveys the crowd, looking even more formidable from just a few feet away. We all wait with bated breath, our fingers locked against the triggers of our guns.

  Suddenly, a gravelly noise, half-growl and half-rasp comes out from the giant skulk as its eyes fix against us.

  “Your leader? Who?”

  Nobody moves. Nobody speaks.

  Most are in shock that a skulk is even talking – it was assumed that none of them had any intelligence other than a need to kill or consume energy.

  “Your leader?” The voice says again, this time more growl.

  From somewhere in the crowd, a voice yells, “Go home you shit bag!”

  With uncanny speed for something so large, a hand reaches down to a large, bald man with tattoos all over his body, holding him between two of the massive hands like a doll.

  Clicks of guns cocking are heard all around the crowd.

  Heavy breathing comes from the monster skulk as it lifts the man up to its mouth, a large tongue, forked like a snake hanging out as fresh drool and hot breath soaks the bald man.