“Yeah. I believe they do.” I wasn’t sure what he was getting at.
“Then if a person’s knowledge and memories are absorbed into the group, where does their soul go?”
I didn’t know the answer. This whole thing was so confusing. I hoped part of the original human lingered for Megan’s sake. If it didn’t, it made the whole plan of trying to save her pointless. It would also explain how the doctor acted sort of normal when she was released from the tube. Maybe a piece of her still remained at least for a few moments. But that would also mean the human being inside had known they were powerless to keep from dying. Then again, what if the aliens could use the memories to play on our emotions? Act like the person we knew just to gain an advantage, and the human’s soul truly no longer existed. I could drive myself crazy trying to figure out the truth.
“I—” I clamped my mouth shut and put a finger to my lips. I motioned for Dirk to cover the right side while I took the left.
Heavy footsteps preceded a dragging sound. Dr. Collins came around the corner dragging his leg. His skin was a sickly yellow, like his liver had failed to work.
“Collins, stop.” Dirk took step closer.
“Need to find Val,” he muttered.
“I’m here.” Was it the doctor or the Colony looking for me?
The Rasper swiveled his head around and sniffed the air. “She has a message for you.”
My heart jumped like it took an extra beat. “Who’s she?”
He gave me a look that I think was supposed to mean I should know who he meant. But he answered me anyway. “My queen.”
Dirk cleared his throat. “What?”
“My queen has a message for Val. I am honored to be chosen to deliver it.”
My throat went dry. “What’s the message?” I wasn’t sure I wanted to know.
The Rasper’s eyes rolled back into his head, leaving only milky whiteness. “Val, it is time. You need to go to where the sun kisses the trees. There, all will be revealed.”
24
His words hit me like a bomb. I had the feeling of being underwater. Sounds were audible but muffled, and my vision blurred for anything beyond my arm’s length.
“Val?” The word came across faint and distant, but I could make out Dirk yelling.
I shook my head trying clear out what was dulling my senses. I pushed hard with my mind. “Yeah?”
“Can I kill him?”
It was like I had just popped my head out of a swimming pool. The sound was better, so was my vision.
The Dr. Collins Rasper pointed his finger at Dirk.
“Move.” I leveled the Glock and fired.
The bullets nailed him. Two in the chest, one in the head, but they were a split second too late.
The Rasper’s venom blew a hole in Dirk’s chest.
They both hit the floor. A mixture of black and red blood spattered the floor, the walls, probably me.
Shit. Shit. Shit.
I sprinted over to Dirk. He wasn’t moving. Wasn’t making a sound. I checked for a pulse. Nothing. A wave of guilt washed over me, almost drowning me. If I hadn’t zoned out, Dirk would be alive. I failed. Again.
I closed his eyes, grabbed his M16, and whispered words of comfort to a dead man. Dirk had saved me. I was determined to make sure his loss was not in vain.
I laid the Glock on the floor beside me and leveled the M16 toward what was left of Dr. Collins, then I waited. Sure enough the Bug scuttled out of the doctor’s remains, with a gentle squeeze of the trigger, I emptied the magazine. No more Bug.
I stood, tucked the Glock into my pants, and slipped a new magazine into the M16. I needed to find the round core, then work my way to the main level to find the others. There were three ways to go. The way Dirk and I had come, forward to the left, and forward to the right. I went left.
The corridor seemed oval-shaped by nature’s design. The floor was cement, while the walls were a black rock. Bare lightbulbs shone from sockets every twenty feet or so. Rounded doors haphazardly dotted along the wall. Okay. I could play this one of two ways. If I checked each door, I would be sure there was no one who could sneak up behind me, but it would cost me time. On the other hand, if I pushed through without checking, I would get to the other end faster, but if there was no way out, I might be trapped. Neither option was ideal. The story of my existence since the Great Discovery. I went with speed over safety.
The corridor quickly transformed from black rock walls into a true man-made structure. I was getting closer to civilization, or what passed for it. The cement floors, walls, and ceiling made it feel like I was trapped in a box. I fought through the panic clawing its way through my body. I wasn’t in my basement. Not huddling under a mildew-smelling blanket in the dark waiting for my parents to come back. I could walk. I was armed. I was strong. I forced myself to slow down, to breathe normally.
About fifty feet into the hallway, I picked up a strange noise. It was a whirring mechanical sound that seemed to be emanating from the walls. I rested my open palm on the closest wall. Small vibrations pulsed through my nerves. It had to be part of the building’s electricity or air conditioning. Yet something in my gut said it wasn’t. I had no idea if the wall was an outside wall or internal. I needed Taylor’s photographic-map-reading self to help me out. I tried to ignore the bad feeling the noise caused. I followed the hallway until it dead-ended. Again, I had two choices. An elevator that would open up to who knew where, or a set of stairs. There was no way in hell I was going to get stuck in an even a smaller box with no way to escape. The stairs it was.
I had climbed two flights before there was any way out. I readied the M16, my finger kissing the trigger, ready to eliminate any threat. I slowly pulled the door open.
It was obvious this was another cement hallway filled with doors. Most likely a mirror of the level below. Attempting to make as little sound as possible, I closed the door and continued up the stairs. Up two more flights and again another hallway. I kept climbing until the stairs ended. After taking a deep breath, I clutched the gun tight and opened the door to absolute silence.
I had found my way to the cafeteria, but there wasn’t anyone there. No one prepping for the next meal. No one filling their water bottle from the filtered machine. There were trays with half-eaten food left on tables. It reminded me of when I had ventured out of the basement back when the Great Discovery started.
People were there one minute. Gone the next. Leaving Raspers in their place.
All my nerves tingled. I rolled my neck to the side to get rid of the feeling of being watched. I kept the weapon ready and dashed out of the cafeteria toward the main corridor. Had the cylinder spun? I didn’t have any idea what time it was.
The main level was also empty.
My stomach burned. Something was definitely wrong. I crept to the shimmering door that should lead to the hallway for the director’s office. Where Taylor was supposed to be. I put my hand toward the door to try to create the password pattern, but it disappeared without me touching it. Moving down the corridor, I tried to keep my steps as quiet as possible. I leaned against the wall by the office. The whole area was eerily quiet.
I burst into the room in a shooting stance, ready to fight.
However, I was once again alone. The only noise was the pounding of my heart. I woke up the computer Taylor had been using to find Dr. Collins. The map of the facility appeared. There weren’t any dots showing people’s trackers. What the hell? I tried to refresh the page, but it remained blank. Where was everyone? It felt like I had entered an alternate reality where no one else existed. Could I be hallucinating? Had I hit my head harder than I thought back down by the sub? Or was it a side effect of the sting, venom, injection, whatever I had been given as a kid?
A soft buzzing noise broke the silence. It reminded me of a fly, yet there wasn’t one I could see. The buzzing grew in intensity. It rippled through my nerves like they were struck by a tuning fork. I had to find the source of the noise. I left the di
rector’s office and went back to the main circular room. I stood there, closed my eyes, and tried to determine where the buzzing was coming from. I let the noise direct my steps.
It led me down the ramps, past the storage, robot parts, and tank levels to a section I had never been to. I didn’t have time to ponder what Zigotgen would keep below the level that held humans in tanks. With each step, the buzzing got louder. It hit a crescendo when I stood outside a lone steel gray door. The noise was coming from the other side.
With Dirk’s gun aimed, I opened the door and stepped into complete chaos.
Nothing about what was in front of me made sense. It was not a room, but more like a huge replica of destroyed towns I had seen too much of. Parts of crumbling buildings filled the area. There were a few cars riddled with bullets. It even had the smell of decay.
“What the hell?” The words slipped from my lips.
As I reached a Jeep only a few feet away, the vehicle wavered like it was a hologram or projection. It wasn’t really there.
The buzzing was coming from down the street to the left. I moved in closer and turned onto a street named Harbor Blvd.
“Oh shit.”
The craziness of what was happening before me in the simulated town made my skin crawl like it was covered with invisible ants. Kalis, Bowie, and Zombie stood with weapons trained on at least fifteen Raspers who held out their pointed fingertips. A few bodies lay between the two groups.
Suddenly, the buzzing stopped.
“Thank you for answering our call.” One of the Raspers turned to me. He was a doctor I had seen around but didn’t know his name.
Answering their call? My knees weakened.
God. The buzzing had to be the Raspers communicating. The red beam from my weapon danced across his chest.
The Rasper doctor tilted his head. “These humans have put up an admirable fight. However, it is time for them join us or die.”
I caught Kalis’s eye. He gave a look that said keep him talking. “Why do you want them to be like you?”
“Like us. All need to be part of the Colony. Otherwise there is no balance.”
His words “like us” cut me deep like a knife to the gut, but I needed to stay focused.
“Can’t humans choose for themselves? Use their free will?” While I talked, the soldiers seemed to shift slightly.
“There is no free. One is all. All are one.”
I sensed movement on my right. I glanced over my shoulder. Carter hovered about three feet away.
“There can be an in between.”
Carter glided forward. He nodded ever so slightly.
The scenery changed to snowy roads with vehicles stranded and abandoned. The temperature was dropping quickly.
Carter knocked me to the ground, then Tased the closest Rasper. The soldiers fired. The Raspers shot their venom in blue streams.
I scrambled to my feet and dodged a blue stream that just missed my leg. “Carter, what is this place? Where is everyone else?”
“It’s the soldier training simulator. But with real Raspers,” he replied.
“Exits?”
“Watch it.” Zombie rolled across the fake-snow-covered floor and put two bullets in a Rasper sneaking up behind me.
I watched the Raspers’ movements. They were all focused on the three guys and Carter. They weren’t trying to kill me.
I took a deep breath, then yelled, “Stop!”
All of the remaining Raspers, about ten, stopped and stood still. Bowie shot one of them in the head. Black blood squirted everywhere, missing me by inches.
“Stop shooting.” I shoved the gun to my side and held up my hands. “I said hang on.”
“Val, no, don’t.” Kalis stepped closer to me, and Carter flanked my other side.
The scenery switched to a forest with a canopy of trees. The darkness of night made it difficult to see.
All of the Raspers stood there staring at me. The smell of pine filled the air.
“Stop attacking and leave this facility,” I demanded in a firm, confident voice while my insides squirmed.
The Rasper closest to me made eye contact. “You must go to where the sun kisses the trees. Only then will we stop.”
The Raspers shot more venom at the soldiers. Kalis and his team dodged the blue bolts and returned fire. Seconds later, all the Raspers were on the ground, black blood oozing from their bodies. Carter zapped the Bugs scuttling from their dead forms with enough electricity to make their metal shells explode.
A small metal shard hit my hand, searing my skin.
“Are you okay?” Kalis stepped over the carnage of bodies, black blood, and Bug remains.
My right middle finger had a small cut across the top of the inside. “Yeah. Just a scratch.” Yet it hurt more than a scratch should.
Kalis tapped behind his ear. “Dirk?”
I shook my head. “The Dr. Collins Rasper got him.”
Kalis, Bowie, and Zombie did the Omega thing.
“Where is everyone else?”
“We had the remaining survivors gather in a lab. Rollins is there to keep it secure,” Zombie said.
That didn’t make sense. I took a step back. “A lab? Isn’t there a more secure area in the facility?”
Carter glided closer. “The Level 4 lab is the most secure spot here.”
My brain spun with visions of television shows and movies I had watched before. “Level 4? As in diseases? Like Ebola?”
“This is, was, a biotech laboratory facility,” Kalis said with no hint of emotion.
“I thought certain viruses were only allowed to be kept at the CDC?” I knew I had heard something similar.
Zombie winked. “That’s what a lot of civilians think. Let’s just say sometimes you know what the government wants you to know.”
I didn’t have a comeback, so I shut my mouth. I followed the team with Carter by my side to Level 4.
Rollins stood, long gun at the ready, outside of what looked like a quad double-door containment protocol.
“Any Raspers?” Kalis asked Rollins.
“Three.” He nodded to the right where the bodies lay atop one another. “Got the damn Bugs too. You?”
“We had a big group, but we eliminated the threat.”
“What now?” Even though he seemed relaxed, I spotted Rollins’s eyes darting back and forth, missing nothing.
“Val has a new mission,” Zombie said.
Rollins directed his piercing gaze at me. “Care to elaborate?”
“Before Dr. Collins, uh died, he said he had a message for me.” I took a deep breath. “He said the queen wanted me to go where the sun kisses the trees. And another Rasper just told me the same thing.”
“Do you know what it means?”
“I have no idea.” I needed to talk to Adam. Rollins gave me another look. “Can I see the others?”
“Sure,” Kalis said. “Bowie, stand post and let us know if you see anything.”
Bowie nodded.
After a quick “all clear” by Rollins, the rest of us went through the multi-locking, retina scan, and password-protected doors.
As we entered the bio suit room, Kalis barked out, “No need to suit up. We’re going to the office, not actually near the viruses.”
Carter glided in front of me.
The office was the size of one of my old classrooms with one big desk, but three chairs, not twenty-five. I spotted Adam and Taylor and ran to them, wrapping them both in a big hug. Taylor pulled free and went back to a computer.
I let go of Adam.
“Val. I’m so sorry we left you. The ladder was a casualty of gunfire. There were Raspers everywhere. It took us about a half hour to kill them all. By then we figured you had gone through the door.” Adam did have the decency to look sorry.
I wanted to know why Rollins had made it sound easy to exit. There was nothing easy about getting out of the horrible place.
“Uh, guys, come look at this,” Taylor called from the computer
he was using. The terror in his tone made my skin break out in goosebumps.
The director got there first. “Dear Lord…” The color drained from his face.
A low buzz filled the silence, but I didn’t know if anyone else heard it.
“What is it?” Dr. Morgenstern demanded.
Taylor spun the computer around.
Raspers filled all four of the camera feeds shown on the screen.
“They’re everywhere. Our exits are all blocked. We’re trapped in here.” The director glanced at Adam.
“There has to be a way out.” Dr. Morgenstern’s trembling voice betrayed the cool exterior she displayed.
“Sure there is. We just have to take out the Rasper zombie creatures who are in the way.” Kalis tightened his grip on his gun.
Adam stood straighter. “I’m down for some more Rasper killing.”
“I have an idea,” Carter said from the back of the room. Everyone turned to look at him.
“I can gather all the robots, and we can neutralize the Raspers.” He spoke in a flat monotone voice. “They can’t hurt us.”
Kalis narrowed his eyes. “How would you kill them?”
“Same as you. Shoot them.”
Dr. Morgenstern wore a look of alarm and spun to face the director. “You can’t consider this.”
“Why not? It seems like a great plan to me.” Everyone but Adam and Carter gave me looks like I had no idea what I was talking about.
“The AI are programmed not to take lives, only stun with a Taser. If we switch their directive, they would have the ability to pick and choose who they can kill.” The director stared at Carter as he spoke.
I was obviously missing something. “Okay. So that would make them like the rest of us. I still don’t see the problem. If the AI can kill the Raspers without anyone else dying, what’s the issue?”
Carter laughed a weird laugh, making him sound like he was crazy. “The director is afraid who we would defend. Humans or Raspers.”
25
I caught Adam’s eye, and he gave a slight shrug. “Why would the AI defend the Raspers?”
Dr. Morgenstern shook her perfect hair. “It’s not that they would, but they could. The AI would then be self-sufficient. They would have free will. Free thought. Would be responsible for moral conscience decisions. And be one hundred percent autonomous.”
The Hive (Rasper Book 2) Page 16