The Hive (Rasper Book 2)

by Kathleen Groger

  The thought hadn’t entered my mind, but now that he said it, my breath quickened as my mind took off in a race where I knew there would be no winners. The soldiers weren’t Raspers. Maybe they were some other type of alien using humans as hosts, which could be a reason why they were taking pills in secret.

  “What do you think?” Rollins’s voice cut through my thoughts.

  “Ah, I’m stunned. How does it run without electricity?”

  One by one the other five guys joined us in the tunnel.

  “That, my dear, is the magic of the Worm.” Kalis pointed his M16 at the almost invisible door on the side of the sleek train. A faint outline was the only thing that gave it away.

  Zombie took off his glove and placed his palm dead center on the door. Colors from every part of a rainbow danced around his fingers until they formed one continuous outline of his hand. The door instantly slid open.

  He turned and smiled. “Time to saddle up, cowboys.” He climbed in followed by two others.

  “Is it safe?” Adam asked.

  “It’s a hell of a lot safer than traveling above ground with your Raspers,” Kalis said in a tight voice, but his tone held a light note.

  I chewed on my right thumbnail. “Where does it go?”

  “To most high-level military installations in the United States.”

  The weight of his words was too heavy for me to comprehend.

  “Are you saying it goes to all the military bases? How is there a secret network underground?” I knew my questions were stupid. There was a lot I never knew about, especially at my age, but there was so much the American people didn’t know. Underground bases, hovering trains, secret experiments, and who knew what else.

  “Welcome to your government.” Kalis shrugged. “Why do you think conspiracy theories grew so popular?”

  He pointed to the opening in the silver bullet. “Shall we?” His voice was calm, reassuring even.

  As I stepped inside, the capsule rocked slightly as if I was stepping into to a small boat. The eyes of the soldiers bored into my back. Judging me. I resisted the urge to grab hold of anything to balance myself. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught Dirk’s creepy grin as he stared at me waiting for me to lose my balance.

  “Come on, civilians, take a seat,” Kalis ordered in a low voice.

  The seats were lined against the train’s rounded walls instead of facing forward. I took a seat opposite the soldiers. The black bag they had been protecting since we met was strapped into a seat across from me. I briefly let myself consider what was inside. A bomb? A biohazard they picked up at Fort Detrick? I shook my head and placed my backpack on a hook under the seat. Adam, Rollins, and Kalis took a seat on my side of the space vehicle.

  “How does it work?” I spoke in an upbeat way trying to lighten the mood. “And don’t tell me it’s classified. Who cares about that crap anymore?”

  “Well, you even seeing this is breaking a lot of fu—um, regulations.” Zombie walked to the front to a panel that looked like a small HD TV. However, instead of a movie, its display was full of buttons and dials. He turned and smiled. “What the hell. Everything has already gone to shit. You see, first I have to prove my identity.” He leveled his eye with a scanner that made the panel blink green in return. “Next, set the coordinates.” He typed. “Turn the dial for speed.” He twisted a knob. “You might want to hold on.” He put his left hand through a loop of black nylon rope. “And push the button to go.” He pressed a small red button.

  The silver bullet first lurched then launched. I slammed sideways into the metal between the seats. The sensation reminded me of a roller coaster on one of those big thrill rides. But this one didn’t have a safety bar holding me in place. I grabbed at the armrests, then noticed there were rope loops on each side. I slid my hands in and clutched the ropes so hard my knuckles went white.

  Zombie took a few steps back, holding onto loops in the ceiling I hadn’t noticed before. He dropped into the seat on my right. “Fun, huh?”

  I glanced at the guys across from me. They all looked fine, like they were riding in a car or waiting for an appointment at the doctor. Dirk had his eyes closed, while Bowie inspected his nails. I turned. Kalis and Rollins wore the same look of boredom. But Adam’s face was tinged green. Mine probably was too.

  “You okay?” Zombie asked in a concerned tone.

  “Yeah, why?”

  “Well you look like you might be getting sick or something.”

  Maybe sick of a few of these assholes. “No, I’m good. Just trying to understand this whole thing.” I could tell by the look on Zombie’s face he was different. That he actually cared.

  “The Worm has evolved over the years.” Zombie leaned toward me. He didn’t have to, I could hear him fine, but I wasn’t telling him my secret if he didn’t already know. “You see, it was originally a steam-powered traditional train that ran on a track. You probably saw the track remains when we got on.”

  I nodded.

  “Over time as technology developed, the train became electric, like a street car. Then it was made into a Maglev type. It ran like the monorail at Disney. Now it’s self-sufficient. It uses no outside power source.”

  I frowned at him. “What does it run on then? If we have technology that will operate this train without electricity, why haven’t we used it above ground yet?”

  Zombie grinned. “That’s top secret. If I told ya, I’d hafta kill ya.” His tone was joking, but I wasn’t so sure he wasn’t serious.

  I leaned my head back against the seat and took a deep breath.

  “What happened to the rest of your team?” Rollins whispered to Kalis.

  He spoke so low I was sure he thought only Kalis could hear him.

  “The damn creatures got the other seven. Good men. They shouldn’t have died.” Kalis’s voice held notes of anger and regret intertwined into an almost disgust.

  “Mine too. All of them. One came back and tried to kill me. I had to take him out,” Rollins admitted.

  Adam tapped his pinkie on mine. He’d heard them too, but it didn’t prove anything. Lots of people had died. Lots had been turned into Raspers. Lots killed loved ones who came back after them. Adam had seen his mom become one. I was thankful I didn’t witness my parents turn into one of those things. I prayed they’d died quickly and painlessly in an earthquake or some other way.

  I glanced over at the men.

  “That sucks, man.” Kalis pulled his left hand free, then tapped himself twice in the middle of his chest. “Omega.”

  Rollins did the same gesture. “Omega.”

  Omega. The end. Must be a military thing. I leaned back again. Maybe I could get some sleep.

  The train sped forward.

  When I opened my eyes, I was standing in a room. It was all white. From the ceiling to the marble floors. The smell of something antiseptic, almost clinical, filled the space. A yellowish haze followed the scent. I grew dizzy. My vision blurred. A whisp of blonde hair touched my face. I coughed to clear the gas. Then I hit the floor and all went dark. The smell shifted, changing to a mix of earthy and sweet.

  The train lurched and slammed to a stop. I came to, knocked to the side, and half slipped out of the seat, the loops the only thing keeping me in place. What the hell had I just seen? Had to have been a dream. It felt like I was seeing images that were guiding me somewhere.

  “What the hell?” Zombie jumped up and ran to the navigation panel.

  “Did we hit something?” Dirk and the rest of the soldiers were on their feet, weapons out.

  “There shouldn’t be anything for us to hit.” Kalis and Rollins flanked the door. “Zombie, anything responding over there?”

  “Nothing, Sir.” Zombie banged on the panel as if hitting it would fix the problem. He released a long stream of curses punctuated by hitting the board again.

  “Dudas, Bowie, check it out.” Kalis hit the open button, allowing the guys to slip outside like ninjas.

  I heard the two gu
ys running back, their boots echoing off the cement floor.

  “Status?” Kalis asked.

  “Sir, you should come see.” Bowie’s face gave nothing away.

  I moved toward the door with Adam right behind me.

  Kalis held up his hand. “Wait here. Zombie, stay with the train and package.”

  Kalis and Dirk left the train.

  “Oh, no way.” Adam and I dashed out before Rollins or Zombie could react. I did hear Rollins swearing behind us.

  Darkness bathed the tunnel in shadows. We raced to about fifty feet in front of the train where the four guys were gathered. “What the hell is it? Scan it.” Kalis leaned forward.

  Dirk pulled a small device from one of his pockets. After he hit a few buttons, the device emitted a bluish light that he waved over what was blocking the train’s path.

  The light let me see what we were facing.

  Black ooze.

  “It’s not a known substance. The train must have sensed it and stopped.” Dirk pocketed the device.

  My stomach dropped.

  Dudas held his weapon in a way that made me think he was going to poke the wall of ooze that pulsated from the floor to the ceiling and almost engulfed another ladder.

  “Don’t touch it!” I lunged forward and yanked his arm back.

  “I told you to wait in the train.” Kalis’s voice held more anger than necessary.

  “Yes, you did, but if you hadn’t noticed, I’m not the greatest at following orders.”

  “You can say that again,” Rollins mumbled from behind me.

  “It’s the ooze.” Adam shook his head, then took a step back. “We have to be quiet.”

  “Explain, now,” Kalis directed in a whisper.

  Adam kept backing up.

  “Where does the ladder go? Another base?” I watched the black substance move up and down as if it was breathing. As if it was alive.

  Bowie glanced around, then fixated on the red letters that were partially covered with ooze. Only FT Le was exposed.

  “We might be in Kansas, Dorothy.” Bowie’s words were sharp, cold, and a tad too loud.

  I ignored him. “We’ve seen this before. The black ooze holds tons of Raspers. And they can break out anytime, releasing an army. I think that’s why they take the dead. They put them in the ooze, and they come back as Raspers.”

  Raspers that didn’t have to be left-handed. Saying the theory aloud that had been perculating in my brain, even in a whisper, made my heartbeat slam even faster.

  “I was thinking the same thing. But I can’t figure out how they come back to life after being dead.” Adam shook his head.

  “So you’re saying they’re dead humans, taken over by aliens, and turned into Rasper zombies?” Bowie looked at me like I’d lost my mind.

  “Alien meets Night of the Living Dead,” Adam whispered.

  “Well, shit. Let’s just shoot the damn stuff,” Dirk offered.

  “No.” I cut him off. “That will awaken them for sure. Us even talking is a risk.”

  “What if we burned it?” Rollins asked.

  I bit my lip. “It might work. I really don’t know.”

  “I say burn the assholes then. All we need is a hole big enough for the bullet to fit through and we can get out of here.” Adam’s voice was deeper and meaner than I had ever heard.

  He had been there with Megan, Bethany, and me at the seminary when the black ooze had spilled Raspers. Why was he freaking out so much? The memory of what happened to Bethany made me swallow hard. And Megan. Poor Megan. I had to stop wasting time. “Will the train withstand the flames?”

  Kalis nodded.

  “Then do it,” Rollins commanded.

  “All right. Back in the train. Tell Zombie the plan. I’ll light it up.” Kalis removed an object that looked like part flare, part dynamite from a pocket in his vest.

  He watched us pile into the train. Adam sat while Bowie filled in Zombie. Rollins and I stood guard by the door, ready to fire. Dudas stayed about five feet behind and to the left of Kalis.

  Kalis broke the flare in half and tossed it onto the ooze.

  The blackness went up in a whoosh. A high-pitched, teeth-rattling squeal filled the space. Kalis ran from the flames. The stench of rotten eggs and charred meat assaulted my nose.

  Bodies sprung from the ooze. Flaming tar Raspers.

  Dudas fired, hitting one Rasper. The flames spread across the cement like an accelerant had been poured.

  “Come on,” Rollins hollered at the men.

  More burning Raspers morphed from the ooze. Kalis and Dudas both fired. I couldn’t get a clear shot around them. There had to be ten flaming bodies.

  Dudas screamed as the flames caught his pants. Kalis moved to help him. Rollins and I opened fire. A Rasper grabbed Dudas around the waist, dropping him face first into the flames. Kalis emptied his rounds into the Rasper on top of Dudas. Kalis tried to grab Dudas, but the fire burst from him. The flames rose to the roof of the tunnel as thick gray smoke shot toward us.

  6

  “We have to go now!” Rollins yelled to Kalis.

  “Shit.” Kalis dove through the doorway as two Raspers in fatigues closed in on us.

  I fired in rapid succession and nailed the first burning one in the forehead. The door to the train sealed shut as the other Rasper lunged toward me, its face less than a foot from mine. Only the closed transparent door stood between us.

  “Go. Zombie, get us out of here,” Kalis yelled before he collapsed on the closest seat.

  Kalis’s sleeve had been scorched enough I could make out a brand on his shoulder. I couldn’t see the entire thing, but it looked like it might be the Greek letter Omega.

  Zombie hit the buttons. The train lurched, made a hissing noise, but didn’t move.

  The Rasper at the door scraped its arrowhead-shaped nail across the door, sending shivers down my spine. Two more scraping sounds started overhead. We were being surrounded.

  Zombie hit button after button.

  The train rocked back and forth like a ski lift chair being blown around in the wind. Flames kissed the transparent door. The walls of the train grew hot to the touch. The scent of burned flesh coated my nose. A loud boom shook the train. My ears popped like we changed altitude. Another boom, then we launched forward. As I reached out to brace myself, it felt like my stomach slammed into my spine. We hurtled down the tunnel, picking up speed. Rollins grabbed my shirt and pulled, helping me sit down next to Adam, who had his face almost to his knees.

  “I couldn’t save him. Son of a bitch!” Kalis punched the cushion of the seat next to him.

  Bowie tapped his chest twice. “Omega.”

  The other guys, including Rollins, did the same.

  Everyone went quiet. They had lost a teammate. A friend. A brother.

  There are those moments in time that rip a person to the core. That wedge a baseball-shaped rock of regret in their throats. That leave their souls an open, gaping wound. This was one of those moments, and it required silence.

  I wasn’t even sure if Adam knew what happened. He might be in shock. I set my hand on top of his and squeezed. He raised his head. The look on his face wasn’t one of shock or sorrow. It was one of rage. “I hate them. Promise me we will kill their queen and end this.”

  “I promise.” I got his anger at the Raspers but didn’t understand it at this moment. He was weirdly happy before, then once we spotted the ooze, he switched to scared then angry. I prayed his wildly shifting moods were from the overwhelming situation and not an effect of the Bug sting.

  I leaned my head back and was consumed by nothingness.

  I let myself be lulled to sleep by Kalis and the guys speaking in hushed tones about all the crazy things Dudas had orchestrated.

  When I woke, I realized my rest had been vision-dream-free. I felt oddly refreshed even though I had realistically slept only a short time. The train continued to speed through the tunnel, and when it stopped again, it did so with a smoothnes
s that wasn’t there before.

  Zombie got up and checked the panel. “We’re here.”

  The guys all stood and checked their weapons. “Ready?”

  Adam and I nodded. Dirk hit a button. The door whooshed open. Dirk and Bowie took the lead, sweeping the platform while Zombie strapped the black bag, their “package,” to his back.

  “Clear.”

  The rest of us left the train with our guns drawn. One by one we ascended the ladder. With each rung I climbed, my thoughts raced. I had no idea what to expect. Would the landscape be destroyed like I was used to? When I exited a small building that was similar to the one we entered to find the train, the sun warmed my face. I squinted and blinked like a rabbit coming out of its warren, blinded by the light but trying to avoid hawks.

  The air smelled different here. It was sharper, earthier, less chemical.

  “Welcome to Hawthorne Army Depot.” Zombie waved his gun in a sweeping gesture.

  We stood in the middle of a field. No base in sight. White buildings spaced perfectly apart in neat rows, that reminded me of a much, much bigger version of Fort Detrick’s ammo depot, dotted the ground. The grass held a brown, charred look. One more from a fire than a lack of water.

  I turned to Zombie. He was the most approachable of the guys. It seemed like he wasn’t just a soldier following orders. He seemed more like a man doing his job, but who would rather be kicking back drinking a beer. “How many people are here?”

  “Here? None.” He winked at me.

  The little hairs on the back of my neck stood at attention. “What? Why come here then?”

  “Because the train only goes to the bases. We’ll have to walk the rest of the way,” Kalis said in a tone that indicated Zombie wasn’t to tell me anything more.

  “Rest of the way to where?” I let anger singe my question.

  “To our facility.” Kalis matched my tone. “Let’s move out. Keep up.”

  I didn’t like it. Adam gave my shoulder a quick squeeze. He knew I wasn’t happy. As we walked past building after building, a plan began to form in my mind. At the first chance, Adam and I would leave, go back to the train and go somewhere else. I had watched Zombie working the panel. It couldn’t be that hard to figure out. But the biggest challenge would be to get around the two security procedures. Maybe I could get Zombie to take pity on us and help us. Then a thought I wished I hadn’t had entered my mind. “Is there more than one train?”